"You," Kerry answered. She pulled out her stylus and scribbled an answer, checking the time of the message and seeing a few hours had passed.
Hey sweetie! How's the sightseeing going? I just got up and found your message waiting. Tell Alastair I said hello, and don't do any shopping until I get there! Have fun. It's going pretty good here except I think I freaked Angie out with my tat.
She tapped the stylus against her chin.
Maybe you could come up here with me sometime and we can stay by the lake and go sailing. Aside from my family it's not really so bad.
K
A soft knock came at the door, and she turned. "Yeah?" She closed the PDA cover and stuck the device in the mid leg pocket of her carpenter's pants
The door opened, and Angie poked her head inside. "Hey, you up?"
"Believe it or not," Kerry turned and walked toward the door, "I am." She smiled at her sister. "Ready for breakfast?"
"Let's go." Angie opened the door all the way to let Kerry out. "Those are cute pants." She studied her sister's clothing. "They look comfortable."
"They are," Kerry agreed, as she followed Angie down the hallway. "How's Andrew? He up?"
"Downstairs waiting on us. You don't catch him missing a meal." Angie chuckled as they walked down the stairs together. Today she herself was dressed more casually in deference to their impending packing, a pair of sweatpants and a cotton shirt. She had her hair pulled back into a ponytail as well.
"Ah, we must be related." Kerry smiled easily as they reached the bottom of the steps and headed into the kitchen. "Looks like it's going to be a rainy one outside, perfect day for packing." She looked around as they entered and spotted her nephew in his highchair, and immediately headed in his direction. "Hey cutie!"
Andrew looked up from his tray, his eyes opening wide at this new distraction. He pointed at Kerry with his spoon and gurgled, his head tipping back to follow her as she approached. "Gah!"
Kerry crouched down next to the high chair and offered him a finger to squeeze, his dark cap of hair and blue eyes making her smile. "What are you up to, little man?" she inquired. "Is that good stuff there?"
Angie motioned for the quietly waiting cook to put their food down, and she took a seat on one side of the table, watching her sister with an indulgent smile. "You're a natural with kids," she observed, as her son giggled in delight, dropping his spoon and slapping at his aunt's wiggling fingers.
Kerry looked up from playing patty cake with the baby. "He's adorable," she said, then turned back to the chair as the cook came back with two plates. "Tell you what, Tiger, let's both eat, then we can play some more, okay?"
She got to her feet and ruffled Andrew's hair, and then joined her sister at the table, taking a seat and putting the crisply pressed linen napkin over her lap. "I love kids," she said, as she picked up her fork. "Long as they aren't mine."
Angie cut off a bit of her egg white omelet and put it on her toast. "Really?"
"Yup." Kerry tasted a bit of the egg, finding it as bland as she'd feared. "Tell you what," she said, "I'll do all the heavy lifting today but you have to let me cook breakfast tomorrow."
Her sister chuckled. "I forgot to warn them we had a chow hound descending on us. You still do the cooking down in Miami?"
"Sure." Kerry got up and went to the sideboard, evading the cook's belated attempt to intercept her and using the container of milk meant for the coffee to provide her with a glassful instead. "Dar doesn't mind cooking, but when she does, we either get something scientifically bizarre or like breakfast the other morning. She sat down with her milk. "Strawberry cheesecake."
"Yikes." Angie watched her sister tear into her breakfast with some bemusement. "So you don't want kids? Have you talked to Dar about it?"
Kerry looked across the table, for a moment, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"Ooo," Angie waved a fork at her, "sorry. Didn't mean to piss you off. I was just asking."
After a moment, Kerry relaxed, and she gave her sister an apologetic look. "Sorry. Usually people who ask me invasive personal questions don't have any good reason to," she admitted. "Dar and I have talked about it, sure."
"Ah."
"Dar thinks she doesn't have the patience for it," Kerry said. "I, on the other hand, know damn well I don't have the patience for it, and I just don't want to be a parent." She went back to her plate.. "It may sound selfish, but I like my life the way it is, and I like the freedom of being able to go and do what I want to do when we want to do it."
"I don't blame you," Angie interjected mildly. "I was just curious Ker, because you really seem to like kids that's all. You always said you never wanted to end up a soccer mom."
Which was true. "We have a dog," Kerry said. "That's enough for us, though I do have to admit I once told Dar she had to have kids so the gene pool wouldn't lose out on hers." She paused as she heard a beep from her pocket. "Speaking of." She pulled the PDA out and opened it. "I have no desire to perpetuate mine."
Angie motioned for more coffee, prudently letting the subject drop. Her sister had, without a doubt, certainly grown up a lot in the last couple of years and taken on more than a hint of the steely will Angie remembered all too well from their father.
Definitely not the time to bring that up either.
"YOU KNOW, DAR." Alastair politely held the door open for her as they re-entered the hotel. "I have to say, going to a medieval torture show in the Tower of London with you has to be one of the most unique experiences I've ever had."
"Glad you enjoyed it." Dar strolled into the lobby, a bag slung over her shoulder and a relaxed grin on her face. "Gonna hang that flail up in your office?"
"Erm--"
"Tell everyone I gave it to you," Dar cheerfully suggested. "That'll stop people in their tracks."
Alastair looked at her sideways for a long moment, and then burst out laughing. "Do you have any idea what my wife would say?"
"Where's mine?" Dar bantered right back. "Hey, it beats a jar of jalapeno jelly."
Her boss clucked his tongue and shook his head. "I can see this trip is going to get me in a world of trouble." He sighed, as they walked through the lobby to the elevators, entering one of the narrow, wood lined cars and pressing the old fashioned round button for the top floor.
Dar leaned against the back wall of the lift and folded her arms over her chest watching the floor indicator rise slowly. "What time are we doing dinner?" she asked. "Are they late or early here, I forget."
Alastair folded his hands in front of him his back against the side wall. "Early, I think," he said. "I think we're set to meet at seven. They've got a car arranged to take us somewhere or other." He glanced sideways at Dar. "Anything you don't care to eat? I'm not sure what they have in mind."
"Vegetables," Dar said, succinctly. "Anything else I'm all right with. I want to check in with the office, and get a shower, so seven sounds fine." She stifled a yawn with one hand, as the doors opened. For a moment, neither of them moved. Dar gave her boss a wry look and exited the lift. "Sorry."
"Not into the old courtesies, Dar?" Alastair chuckled.
"I'm usually the one holding the door," she admitted. "Learned it from my Dad."
"Me too," the older man agreed cheerfully. "He was a proper Southern gentleman who brought his sons up to be courteous to ladies and respectful to men even if you didn't like 'em."
Dar grinned. "My father's Southern also, but he played by a little different rules," she admitted, as they both left the elevator and exited into the hall. The space had sedate carpet and, surprisingly, striped wall paper, but the lighting was dim, and it made the hall a little dingy.
"So I remember," Alastair murmured. "I think we finally did get all the mildew out of the carpet up in the kitchen near my office. "He really did mix it up with Ankow, didn't he?"