3…2…1… Ch 2

Bette gave the two children standing on the front porch a half smile as she tried to calm the screaming baby in her arms.

"Juju." The middle child said. 

"What’s he want?" Bette asked the slightly older girl.

"Juice." She said. 

"Juice right, kids like juice. I don’t have any juice. What else does he like?" Bette asked. 

"Juice." The girl said. 

"Nothing else?" Bette asked. 

"Nope." The girl smiled. 

"Great just my luck." Bette walked into the house and sat the baby down on the floor. The girl and boy walked into the living room. Almost as if they were waiting for direction. 

Bette opened the fridge and looked. In the back of the fridge she found a half empty bottle of cranapple juice left over from the last party. 

Bette filled a small glass up and handed it to the little boy. 

The little girl smiled because she knew what was getting ready to happen. The little boy managed to get the glass up to his mouth with our spilling it, but as soon as the soured juice hit his tongue he let the go of the cup. It fell to the floor spilling red liquid all over Bette’s brand new white carpet. 

Bette saw it happen in slow motion. 

"NO!!!! Are you kidding me?" Bette ran over with a roll of paper towels and started dabbing the carpet. 

"Sorry." The little boy said. Bette just looked at him but didn’t say anything. 

The little girl pulled a cup of juice out of one of the bags sitting on the porch and handed it to her little brother. She took him by the hand and led him over to their baby sister. Where they say on the floor next to her. The baby crawled into her sisters lap and started sucking her thumb. 

Bette looked over at the three small scared children and sighed.  

"It’s okay. I’m not mad. We can fix it." She said. The little boy smiled. She left the mess on the floor and sat next to the kids. "I’m sorry I think we should start over. My name is Bette. What’s your name?" She asked. 

"Parker." The eldest said. 

"Then this must be Peyton and Patrick." Bette pointed at the two younger children. 

Bette examined the children. All three of them looked remarkable like her, but she never knew she had another sister but with her dad’s history of cheating on women she wasn’t shocked. 

"Why don’t we bring in your suitcases and I’ll try to find something for you guys to watch on TV while I figure out what in the world is going on?" Bette stood up. 

"We aren’t allowed to watch TV. Mommy said it would rot our brains, but I don’t know what that means." Parker said. 

"Okay. Did you guys bring any toys?" Bette asked. The little girl’s face grew sad. "Never mind. I think I’ve got some paper and crayons around here somewhere." Bette walked over to the closet under the stairs and pulled out a box full of her old toys that she had been saving for hypothetical future her children.  She set the box on the floor and opened it. She pulled out some blocks, a train set, some barbies, an old teddy bear, a wooden puzzle and some books. "I hope this will do for the time being."

Bette realized the kids only had two bags between them, a small rolling suitcase and a diaper bag. She put them in the downstairs spare bedroom and then turned her attention to the file that came along with the Will. There were letters, medical records, pictures, and schedule for the kids.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

“BETTE! THERES A CRAZY LADY AT THE DOOR!” Parker yelled running into

the room.

“What?” She said. 

“There’s a crazy scary lady at the door.” Parker said.

“Alice.” Bette said.