" What are you so happy about?," Taylor asked Isaac the next morning.
" Nothing. How about you?," Isaac returned. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't really want to tell Taylor about kissing Terry. Not yet.
" I finally got up the nerve to put a move on Maddy," Taylor grinned.
" What did you do?"
" I put my arm around her."
" That's it?"
" Hey, give me a break! I'm new at this!," Taylor defended himself.
" Sorry, sorry. So what did she do when you put your arm around her?"
" Um, she laughed."
" Are you serious? Why would she laugh?"
" Probably because I tried the old fashioned way: Guy is nervous. Guy pretends to stretch. Guys arm ends up around girl."
" Boy, you are new at this!," Isaac chuckled, " That would explain why she laughed. Then what happened?"
" Guys! Come in here and clean up the dishes from breakfast!," Walker called.
" I'll tell you later," Tatlor sighed," Let's get this over with."
" Tay! Telephone!," Jessie called.
" Thanks, Jess," Taylor took the phone from her. " Hello?"
" Hi, what's up?"
" Hey Maddy. Nothing really. My mom's driving me up a wall, though."
" Is that foster kid there yet?"
" Not yet. All I know is that she'll be here later today."
" Are you guys gonna go get her or is someone from DSS bringing her?"
" My guess is that Fran's bringing her."
" Who?"
" Fran. She's a close friend of my mothers and she's a case worker for DSS."
" Oh, I see. I hope for your sake that you don't end up with some gangster wannabe."
Taylor cringed at the thought. " Me too, believe me."
He looked up to see Zoe toddle into the room. Now that she was walking, she was even harder to keep up with.
" Hey, sorry to do this to you, but I think I'd better keep an eye on Zoe," Taylor said regretfully.
" That's all right. I understand. I'll just talk to you later," she replied cheerfully.
" I'll call you. Oh, and Maddy?"
" Yeah?"
" Um, I love you."
" What was that?"
" Nothing," he sighed. " Bye."
" Bye. Oh, Taylor?"
" Yeah?"
" I love you, too," she said and hung up.
" Taylor grinned and hung up the phone. He took Zoe's hand and led her to the play room.
***************************************************
Terry's mom watched as her daughter wandered through the house restlessly. Terry had been tense all moring, but she couldn't figure out why she was so agitated.
" Terry, is something wrong?"
" No!," she answered curtly. Just everything, she thought. I'm confused about what's happening between me and Isaac, we're always fighting, and I'm having recurring nightmares that's keeping me up at night. Wrong? She shuddered as she thought about the dream she'd had last night...
...She could almost see that person. Just a little closer. But he ran around a tree and he was gone! She decied to go back, but when she turned to go the way she had come, she didn't see a way back. She turned in circles, but she was lost. Terrified, she began to call for help.
" Isaac!," She whimpered," Isaac! Help me!"
She heard footsteps behind her. Maybe it was him. But before she could turn around to look, an arm snaked around her throat and jerked her backwards. But not before she saw the person. Not before she looked into the face of Isaac...
Why would Isaac be in her dream? Isaac would never hurt her. It was all so frustrating!
" Sorry. No, nothing's wrong," she said quietly.
Her mother almost believed her.
***************************************************
Bored, Isaac went downstairs to try to find something to do. He grinned when he found Taylor in the playing with Zoe, trying to teach her how to play patty cake. She sure is getting big fast, he thought.
" Patty cake, patty cake. That's it, Zoe! You've got it!," Taylor praised when she clapped her hands with him. He turned and grinned at Isaac.
" I think she finally got it. You know how long I've been trying to teach her that?"
" She likes peek-a-boo, too. Watch." Isaac sat in front of Zoe and covered his eyes. " Hey Zoe. Peek-a-boo!"
Zoe giggled, covered her own eyes with her hands, then brought them away with a pleased smile on her face.
" Yeah. Peek-a-boo!," he said again. Zoe copied his movements again, then suddenly, her hand darted out and grabbed his nose. Taylor and Isaac both cracked up.
" Ub, Zoe? You're kida hurtig by dose," Isaac said and gently pried her hand away.
" Oh man, I wish I had a camera!," Taylor laughed.
" Oh, yeah, aren't you real funny today? Just a regular comedian," Isaac said sarcastically.
" Oh come on! You thought it was funny too! Hey, phone's ringing!," Taylor jumped up. When he came back a minute later, Isaac was sitting on the floor with Zoe in his lap, reading her a Winnie-the-Pooh book.
" That was Fran. She's on her over with Erin now," Taylor informed him.
" Did you tell mom?"
" Yeah. She watching for them now. She said she'll call us up when they get here."
" Works for me. Hey, have you seen Zac?"
" Yup. He's in our room, working on a new song."
" Not anymore. I got stuck on a certain part and thought I'd wait for an idea to come," Zac said, coming in.
" Did mom tell you Erin's on her way?," Taylor asked him.
" Yeah. She's the one who sent me down here. By the way, when I'm done with the lyrics, we're gonna have to figure out the music for it."
" Sure. Let us know if you need any help with the lyrics. You have a melody in mind?" Isaac said.
" Yeah, I think I do. And I'll keep that offer in mind."
" So what's the song?," Taylor asked.
Zac blushed. " Nothing, really. Just a ballad," he mumbled. He bent down to Zoe's eye level. " Want a ride Zoe?," he asked her. She answered by holding her arms up. He picked her up, sat her on his shoulders, and galloped around the room. Zoe shrieked with delight and grabbed handfulls of his hair. The sight of their little brother running around with a baby on his shoulders was too much for Taylor and Isaac and they fell over laughing.
" Guys," Zac said, " I think I hear the doorbell." They all shut up and listened. Sure enough, Diana soon appeared at the top of the stairs.
" Come on up, guys. She's here."
Without taking Zoe off his shoulders, Zac led the way to the front hall. But he stopped in shock when he get there, causing his brothers to bump into him. They shot him looks of irritation before they saw the reason of his surprise.
Erin Harris was the same girl they had bumped into at the mall.
