Part 357

Howie walked into a cloud of white to find Sarah and Kevin covered in flour. Not wanting to get into the line of fire, he stayed in the door and watched in amusement as the two bombarded each other.

As Sarah ducked Kevin’s barrage, she missed his advance and he grabbed her in his embrace. As Kevin held her tight against him, he took the bag of flour and dumped it over her head.

Sarah squealed, "KEVIN SCOTT! STOP IT!"

Laughing, "What’s wrong, baby? You started this, you know!"

"I did not and look at me! I’m covered with flour," laughed Sarah.

Kevin turned her in his arms and wiped the flour out of her face. "You look so cute, all covered in flour."

"You dork! Now how am I gonna make breakfast?" Sarah continued to laugh as she wiped the flour off Kevin’s face as well.

"How about I take us out for breakfast?" suggested Howie from the door.

Excited, Sarah turned to see him laughing. "’D’, you’re up!" and she started to him.

Holding up his hands, "Oh no! Stay away from me! I’ve had a shower already."

"But ‘D’, I love you," pouted Sarah.

"I love you too but I don’t want flour all over me."

"Oh, come on ‘D’…give your beautifully fat…oops," he corrected seeing Sarah glaring at him, "pregnant wife a hug," teased Kevin.

"No thanks!" laughed Howie. "Why don’t you two get cleaned up and we’ll go out to breakfast?"

"I want biscuits and sausage gravy," stated Sarah.

Kevin laughed, "Your wife is having cravings."

"At least it’s not seafood," replied AJ as he looked at the mess Kevin and Sarah had made. "Good gawd! What the hell happened in here?"

Kevin and Sarah looked at each other and broke out in a fit of hysterical giggles as Howie said, "Those two happened."

"Kevin made a crack about not being able to reach around me to get the flour because I was so big so I gave him the flour."

"Remind me never to tease her about getting big," smirked AJ.

"I’m hungry," whined Sarah.

"Fine, go get cleaned up and we’ll go out for breakfast," answered Howie.

"NO! I want MY biscuits and sausage gravy," announced Sarah looking frighteningly like Jesse just before throwing a temper tantrum.

"Now we know where Jesse gets it from," cracked Kevin.

"Shut up, Kevin," shot Sarah throwing a handful of flour at him.

"’D’, you have my deepest sympathies," cackled AJ.

"You know, I need to get even with YOU for the water balloons in Minneapolis and hurting myself," threatened Sarah as she grabbed another handful of flour.

Kevin grabbed her again to keep her from spreading the mess as Howie said, "Fine, go get cleaned up and I’ll fix breakfast. I know your recipe."

"There isn’t any flour," said Kevin. "We’ll have to go out to eat."

"NO! I’m craving MY biscuits and gravy and THAT IS what I’m gonna have," stated Sarah stomping her foot.

Kevin let go of Sarah grabbing his own foot, "SHIT, woman! That was MY foot you stomped!"

Sternly, Howie said, "Sarah, we don’t have time for this. Go get cleaned up and you’ll just have to make do with ordering if at a restaurant."

Defeated and knowing Howie wasn’t going to put up with her temper tantrum, she said, "Okay, ‘D’. I won’t be long."

Going by Howie, Sarah gave him a quick kiss and as she headed out, he swatted her on the butt. Kevin followed her so he too could get cleaned up.

Admiringly, AJ said, "You CAN be forceful with her."

"I hate doing it, though," said Howie shaking his head. "Makes me feel like I’m treating her the same way Russell did. Here, help me get this mess cleaned up."

Taking the broom Howie handed him, "It doesn’t seem to bother her."

"I don’t guess so but you saw how quickly she gave in. One of the things Russell use to do to her when, in his words, she ‘got out of hand’ was to shoot her up and then tie her to the bed as punishment."

"But she knows you wouldn’t do that to her."

"Yeah, but I still don’t like doing it to her. It’s not me and it’s NOT our relationship."

"Don’t worry, ‘D’. Somehow, I think if it truly bothered Sarah, she’d tell you in no uncertain terms."

Howie laughed as he dumped the pile of flour he had. "You’re probably right. It’s hard to picture Sarah being ‘controlled’."

AJ shook his head, "Once you’re hooked, you’ll do anything to get your next fix and from what she’s told me, he had her so far gone she didn’t know what to do."

"When you were talking to her, did you ever see the fear in her eyes?"

Putting the broom away, AJ nodded his head, "Yeah, I did and you’re right, it is sickening. It makes you wonder why she ever fell for him or stuck with him after Jesse was born."

Howie leaned against the counter. "Her need to be loved and seeing the good in people. When she first started dating him, he treated her good…better than me."

"That’s impossible," responded AJ in disbelief.

Howie grinned, "Okay, so not that good but Sarah has said he wasn’t always mean to her. That didn’t start until she went to college and she broke up with him. And after Jesse was born, she said he was really good to her, wanting to be a family. She said Jesse was almost six months old when he started shooting her up. Come on, let’s go wait for them."

Part 358        Index(4)