Five, Six, Pick Up Sticks
Part Three - It's my party, and I cry if I want to
By Carolina
super_carolina1@yahoo.com

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. This is the last part of my diminutive er story. Thanks again for your support. I'm sorry this part isn't as funny as the others and I'm sorry it took me so long, I've had a lot of personal problems I won't bore you with. Still, I hope you like it.

"Elizabeth! Are you ready? Your friends will  be here any minute!" said Isabelle Corday as she finished blowing a balloon and hung it from the ceiling

"I'm coming mother!" said Lizzie, stressing the 'mother'. She didn't think her mom you actually stay for her party. Why would she? She had missed nearly all the other ones. She ran down the stairs to the living room and stood in front of her mom, ready for the usual inspection.

"Oh Elizabeth, you look beautiful" Lizzie was wearing a pink dress her mom had bought her on a small boutique in a secluded street in Paris. It came to her knees and was met by her stockings, which came up and stopped just below her kneecaps. Lizzie hated that dress, but she had no choice but to wear it.

"Mother, it's a pool party" protested Liz

"I know it is" said her mom, inspecting every inch of her daughter "But you are the hostess and you have to look your best" she fixed Lizzie's hair some more "after everyone is here, you can change"

"Oh jolly good" Liz rolled her eyes

"I hope that wasn't sarcasm now, was it?" her mom looked down at her with her hands resting on her hips

"No" Lizzie said, daring her mother. At that moment, the doorbell rang "I'll get it" said Liz as she ran towards the door

"Elizabeth, we open the door like a lady, not a horse chasing after a rabbit" called out her mom. Lizzie rolled her eyes again before she let her first guest in

"Hi Kerry!"

"Hi Lizzie, Happy Birthday!" Kerry said enthusiastically as she gave Liz her present, she walked in followed by her mom

"Hi Mrs. Weaver" said Liz

"Hi honey, Happy Birthday. You look so beautiful"

"Thank you" said Lizzie "It is my mother's attempt to show off her daughter so that others think she is a good parental example"

A couple of streets away, the boys were walking towards Lizzie's house, all with their gifts on their hands. Mark's gift was so big, he had to bring a dolly with him to drag it down the street.

"What did you get Liz, Mark?" John asked curiously

"It's a teddy bear?" he said excited

"A teddy bear? It looks like you wrapped your grandmother in there" Dave said, annoyed at the fact that a boy would get something that big for a girl. "Who cares about the gifts anyway, I just wanna go into that pool" he said as he looked down his pants, making sure he remembered to put on his swimming trunks, not that it would have made a difference if he did or not. He turned backwards as he walked, a habit which had cost him 12 stitched already "You guys remember about the bet right?"

They all rolled their eyes and moaned a "Yeah"

"Luke?"

"Luka!" Luka rolled his eyes and slapped his forehead with his hand "How hard is it to remember that name, Luka, Luka!"

"Alright, alright, keep your 'Hlace' on" Dave said as he started laughing uncontrollably, but when he sees that no one else is laughing, he approaches Peter "Get it Pete? 'Hlace' is Croatian for pants"

Peter looked at him with an annoying look "I get it, and it's not funny" Dave sees Peter face and walks away from him

"First of all, that's not how it's pronounced, or written" Little Luka looks at the camera. "And second, how would you like it if I called you Dove?"

"It wouldn't bother me" Dave said in a tone of superiority, Luka just gave him a threatening look

"Come on guys, settle down" said John as they entered the gates of the Corday Residence

Luka looked around in amazement "Wow"

"I bet she has her own mail man" added Dave as he stepped on some flowers. John got up on his tip toes to ring the bell, after a few seconds, Lizze opened the door

"Hi Guys" she said excited "Hi Mark" she said in a sweet voice

"Hi Lizzie" Mark said and smiled shyly

"Oh come on!" Dave said as he walked in and handed Liz a bag "Happy Birthday barb wire head" After Dave, the rest followed in, wishing Liz a happy birthday. "Where's the pool?" asked Dave

"It's in the back, you can go through the kitchen" she pointed with her finger

"Great!" said Dave as he ran towards the back, followed by Luka, John, and Peter. Mark walked in with Liz, helping her with the gifts

"Wow Mark, that's a big present" Liz said excited

"Really?" Mark said modestly as a lock of his hair fell on his forehead "It's nothing" Liz stared at him dreamily, God she loved that straight brown hair



Dave ran through the kitchen and opened the glass door which lead to the backyard. Outside, Kerry, Jing Mei, and Cleo were on the pool, while Abby was sitting on the edge, her feet on the water. On a small gazebo, Kerry's and Cleo's mom were talking to Abby's dad. Dave took his shirt and pants off, threw them in the air and ran into the pool, jumping with his legs wrapped around his arms "JERONIMO!" he fell in and splashed Kerry, Jing Mei, Abby, and Cleo.

"Dave!" screamed Kerry as he came to the surface and splashed her in the face with more water. Three more were heard when Luka, John, and Peter jumped into the pool. Peter immediately swam towards Cleo.

"Hey Peter" said Cleo on her yellow bikini. Of the girls, Cleo was the tallest one, her body would later in high school be the envy of all the girls

"Hey Cleo. I thought we were walking here together" Peter added

"My mom got her day off, so she brought me" she said pointing to her mom, who waved to Peter.

"Is she ok?" asked Peter

"Yeah" Cleo smiled

"Why is she so serious?" he continued

"She's always like that" Cleo noticed it for the first time

While John and Luka talked to Kerry and Jing Mei, Mark and Lizzie walked from inside the house.  "Woooo!" everyone yelled out, making Mark and Lizzie blush. The yelling ceased when Liz's mom walked in after them



Dave got out of the pool and upon watching a trampoline near it, ran backwards with enough space to do a flip and show off to everyone. He was midway into his amazing jump when a voice called out "David!", causing him to slip and fall down

"What the hell?!" He turned around to be face to face with his nemesis "You invited the teacher?!" he yelled out to Liz, who came running with Kerry to say hello to Miss Nelson

"Watch your language David, we are not in a race track" the teacher said as she walked to the gazebo with Kerry under one arm and Liz under the other

"I'd like to race you..." Dave continued mumbling under his breath until he reached Carter "Hey blockhead"

John, who was talking to Jing Mei, turned around out of habit "What?"

"It's time we move on to Operation DTT" he whispered

John stared at him, confused "What?"

"You know, Operation DDT" he said while looking around, making sure no one was hearing them

John and Jing Mei exchanged confusing looks

"Operation DDT! Operation DDT!" he screamed and then lowered his voice while getting closer to his two friends "Operation Destroy The Teacher"

"What?!" John and Jing Mei said in unison "How are you gonna do that? And why?" Jing Mei added

"I don't know, I spent most of the time trying to come up with a catchy name" he looked lost in thought and then snapped when a light bulb lighted up "You're from China, I hear you people are wicked smart, tell us what to do?" he said to Jing Mei

"Us?!" John looked at Dave

"Come on, she has it in for me, she must be stopped" he whined

"Well maybe if you hadn't put laxatives into her coffee, she would treat you better" John warned Dave

"Ok, so, are you gonna be a part of DTT? Or are you just gonna stand there and criticize it?" Dave crossed his arms. John just rolled his eyes and walked away, so Dave just turned to Jing Mei

"Come on, rickshaw, spill it" he was getting desperate

"Why me?" she said

"Because you're a teacher's pet, and you know her weaknesses" he added

Jing Mei looked insulted and took a step closer to look him intensely in the eyes "You know, I could let you get away with DTT..."

"But?" he stared back

"But I think it's time someone teaches you a good lesson, Dave Malucci" she said in a teasing tone as her arm swung back and came forward, her small fist hitting Dave right in the face, causing him to fall backwards. As he was on the ground, Jing Mei bent down next to him, grabbed his face and planted a kiss in his lips. Dave looked at her with a terrifying expression, she flashed him a smile and walked away. He touched his lips with his fingers "Egg Roll"

"Hi Abby" said Luka Kovac as he pulled himself up from the pool and sat next to her

"Hi Luka" Abby said in her small Minnie Mouse bathing suite

"Why aren't you inside the pool?"

"I can't swim" she said as her feet splashed the crystalline water

"That's too bad" he looked down and up again when an idea popped into his head "Hey! My dad can teach you how to swim. He's the best swimmer in Croatia!" he said excited

"What if I drown?" she asked with a worried expression on her face

"He wont let you. And I'll be there too"

"Promise?"

"Cross my heart" he made the signal with his fingers

"You talk funny" she said with a smile while Luka laughed and jumped back into the pool



Liz came out of the house in her bathing suite and a towel around her waist, as if her hips had grown sometimes between the time she greeted her guests and the moment she walked into her room. Mark was talking to John on the side of the pool when he saw her walk out, and practically knocked John out of the way to meet her by the door "Hi Lizzie" he said sweetly

"Hi Mark, do you need to go to the bathroom?" she observed his hastiness

"No. I was just, um..." he looked at her nervously "Bye" and walked away with his tail between his legs



Miss Nelson approached Abby's dad, who looked bored with all the kids and moms around "Hello Mr. Lockhart" she said in that cheery tone which gave everyone a toothache

"Hm, Hi Miss Nelson" he put his punch and the rest of his sandwich on the table next to him

"I was just curious to know how Abigail is doing" why do teachers always call students by their entire name?

"Oh. I don't know" he looked around "Dr. DeRaad said he feels like she's making progress, but I don't see a difference"

"Well, these things take time" she added

"I know. He says she first has to come to terms with her mom's death, just admit it to someone. The other night I tried to talk her into visiting her mom's grave, but she just turns around and walks away or just doesn't listen to what I say" he said as he looked at his daughter laughing at Dave and Mark's pranks

"She'll come through" she said sympathetically

"I hope so" he looked down and up again "Hey, listen, thanks for that job interview. I think it went really well. They have full benefits and a day care center"

"Well, a friend of mine owed me a favor" she smiled and began to walk away "Good luck at your new job." He smiled



"Alright listen up everyone!" Liz said as she stood on top of a chair "We are going to play a game now!"

"Thank God." Peter whispered to Cleo

"Yeah, these brits don't know how to have fun" she said, crossing her
arms in front of her

"Let's play Marco Polo!" Kerry said, all the girls, minus Cleo, get excited

"No, no, no, no!" Dave stepped forward "I didn't walk two miles to get here and play some girly game"

"Oh yeah" Kerry crossed her arms and walked in front of him "Then what do you suggest?"

"Super Man. Right guys" he turned back to get his buddies support, but they all ignored him

"Marco Polo" Kerry said

"Super Man" Dave said

"Marco Polo" Kerry stomped her foot

"Super Man" Dave stomped his

Suddenly Jing Mei walked in and stood in front of Dave "Dave? Can we please play Marco Polo?" she said sweetly and bated her eyelashes

Dave stares at her with dreamy eyes "Ok" he said as if talking to a baby

John approaches Peter and Cleo "Wow, he's whipped"

"What's that?" Cleo asked

"I don't know. But my gamma says that about my grandpa all the time" He looked over at Dave



"Marco!" Yelled out Kerry as she swam around the pool with her eyes closed

"Polo!" around 5 very unenthusiastic voices were heard. A few seconds before Kerry reached Dave, he jumped out of the pool. When she heard the splash, her eyes opened and she jumped out as well

"Hey! You can't walk out of the pool. Those are the rules" she said firmly

"Well, there's new rules now. Anyone can walk out of the pool if they feel like it" he said

"That's not fair Dave" Kerry whined

"Hey, I'm just thinking about poor Abby, who can't swim" he said slyly

Kerry looked over at Abby, who was talking to Peter and Cleo, none were paying attention to the game "Abby's not even playing!"

"I'm sorry Kerry, I have to do something to our advantage, since you can just reach out with your cane and find us all" he turned around to get his buddy's support but got none. While he wasn't looking, Kerry got on her knee, grabbed his pants, and pulled them down, leaving Dave as naked as he came into the world. Everyone starred at him and laughed.

"I guess we won't need to worry about YOUR cane" she said before she walked away

Cleo walked towards Jing Mei "Now that's shrinkage"

Dave looked down in shock, his little David tumbling with the air. He pulled his pants back up quickly and ran towards the house.



After they played Marco Polo and Dave actually convinced everyone of playing a round of Super Man, in which he rescued everyone except Peter, who made it clear he was not to be touched, everyone sat around Liz, who was about to open her presents. Her mother is standing in front of her, taking pictures as she opened each gift.

"Wow! Ballerina Barbie! Thanks Kerry" she said excited

"You're welcomed" Kerry smiled, pleased with her choice for a gift

Liz picked a shopping bag from the floor and tried to make out what it was without opening it. She finally gave up and unwrapped the item, which was surrounded with newspapers "It's a..." she kept everyone in suspense "...a salami?" she looked at it with a weird expression and added sarcastically "Thanks Dave"

Dave flashed her a smile and a wink of the eye.

"Oh how charming" her mother said as she took it from Liz's hands "Let me take this to the kitchen, make sure it's refrigerated properly" she walked through a fence and without anybody noticing, threw the salami to the dogs, who devoured it in a matter of seconds

"Now mine" Cleo said excited

"Ok" Liz took a pink bag from her. As soon as the wrapping paper touched the ground

"AAHHHH!" everyone yelled out in terror, Abby ran behind her father's legs

"What the hell is that?!" screamed Dave. On the table stood a wooden doll, looking incredibly a lot like Cleo. Her hair was big and curly, her skin a little dark, and her eyes wide open, a very serious expression on its face

"It's one of my wooden dolls, I collect them." she said, insulted at everyone's reaction

"Somebody please cover it with something. It's following me with its eyes" Mark said as he looked away from the doll

"Fine!" Cleo said as she took the doll and put it back on her bag

"Well I think it's lovely" Isabelle took the doll from Cleo, and after a few minutes, came back with a cake on her hands. Everyone began to sing the traditional 'Happy Birthday' song, and as Liz was about to blow the candles, Dave pushed her head from behind, making Liz bury her head in the cake

"Dave!!" Elizabeth screamed, her face covered with icing, just in time for her mom to take a picture.



Luka was walking through the garden with a plate on his hands. Abby, who was a little more comfortable with him now, walked towards him "What are you doing?"

He turned to her "Do you want some cake? I got Elizabeth's nose print" he said as if trying to sell a car. A dog approached them

"Give it to the dog" Abby suggested.

Luka threw the remaining of his cake on the floor; the dog immediately began to lick them. Abby bent down and began to pet him while he ate. "My mom makes better cakes anyway" Luka said while cleaning his hands with his pants. He looked around "Is that your dad?" he pointed out

"Yeah" Abby said without looking up

"Where's your mom?" he knelt next to her.

Abby didn't look at him, but kept massaging the animal's soft fur. Luka looked at her and then at the dog. At his early age, he had seen too much back home to understand what was going on. She wasn't going to say anything, so he kept talking

"If you want, you can come to my house and play with my dog. We got him when we moved here a month ago. My dad says he's very smart and we're gonna teach him how to..."

"My mom's dead" she suddenly blurted out as if she had remembered his question.

After a long pause Luka added "Yeah"

She looked at him and smiled "What's his name?"

"What?" he asked confused

"I had a dog too, his name was Jerry" she said

"His name is Picasso, like the painter" he smiled

"Hey, cool dog" Dave said as he sat down next to Abby and began to play with it. "What's his name?" Abby made an 'I don't know' face "I wonder if he can swim"

"Dave, no!" Abby protested, but before she could stop him, he was already running towards the pool with the dog in his hands. Abby and Luka exchanged terrified looks, and began to chase Dave.

"Ladies and Gentlemen" said Dave as he stood on top of a chair at the edge of the pool.

Lizzie looked up "Queen!"

"And now I present to you, Superman's dog..." he thought for a while "SuperDog!" He swung the small dog forward and let him fall on the water

"MOOOOOOM!" Elizabeth cried as the small dog swam towards the steps of the pool

"Relax" Dave said looked down at her "Dogs can swim"

"She's a puppy" Liz said as she took the dog in her hands

"Well, some have to learn how to swim the hard way" he said and looked at Abby, who took this as a threat and ran away. Dave suddenly snapped when he remembered something "Oh! It's time for the race! Guys!" he ran excitedly to where each of the boys were to remind them of their contest

Kerry approached Jing Mei "What race?"

"They all want to see which one can swim the fastest. Whoever wins gets the other's pudding cups for a week"

"How immature" Kerry said as she walked towards John "John, you can't let Dave win the race." It was more of an order than a statement

"Why?" He was confused at her sudden determination to see Dave crushed, although not surprised

"Because!" she whined and stomped her foot on the ground

"I'll try" John gave her a weird look and walked away

"I hope you win Mark" said Liz in a sweet tone and gave him a kiss for good luck. Mark rubbed the cheek in which her kiss landed and looked at her with a dreamy expression. He tried to say something, anything, but his legs were shaking and the words wouldn't come out, so he walked away.

All the boys were standing at the edge of the getting ready for the race. Because Elizabeth was the birthday girl, she would have the privilege of counting to three. As usual, she stood on top of a chair and began the countdown "Ready?" all the boys nodded "On your marks, get set, GO!" All the boys jumped into the pool as the girl cheered at their favorites

"Come on Mark, you can do it" Liz blew a kiss to Mark, who saw it and got so excited that he began to drown

"Come on John, you can beat him!" screamed Kerry. John was ahead of Dave and behind Luka, who was head to head with Peter. Dave managed to get to John and pull his head under the water, making him stop to catch his breath. He did the same t  Peter, knowing he would have to pay for it later. Now his only competitor was Luka, who was swimming like he was racing for his life. Before Dave could pull his prank on Luka, Queen the dog jumped on top of him, making him go under. Luka wins the
race

"Yay!!" screamed Abby

"That's not fair, the dog made me drown" whined Dave

"Like you did to the rest of us?" John swam towards them

Luka stood next to Dave "I like vanilla puddings." Peter came over and pinned Dave under the water.



"Thank you so much for helping me with the party Laura, I couldn't have done this alone" said Isabelle as she greeted Kerry's mom out the door.

"It was my pleasure" she turned to her girl "Kerry, it's time to go, say good bye to Elizabeth"

Kerry walked over to Lizzie's room and knocked on the door "Liz? Are you in there?"

"I hate Dave!" was all that could be heard from inside the room

"Me too. See you on Monday!" Kerry skipped to her mother's car



"Hey, nice party Missis Elizabeth" said Dave as he walked out the door with the whole cake under his arm, little Jing Mei next to him

"Thank you David, it was so nice to see you" she said sarcastically. "Bye Jing Mei" the two kids waved their hands and walked
away

A car pulled up in front of the house "Mark, your father is here, hurry up." David Greene walked out of his car and in through the door. Isabelle fixed her hair while he wasn't looking "Oh, hello David" she said in the same sweet voice her daughter often used on Mark

"Hello Isabelle, is Mark ready?" he said trying to look into the house

"In a minute" she pushed little Mark, who was coming to greet his dad, into the house and closed the door "So, how are things going?"

He looked around nervously "Pretty good actually. My WIFE, is waiting for us back home"

"Oh, of course she is. Well, my house is your house" her flirting techniques still belonged to the Elizabethan age

"Thanks" he gave her a weird look when Mark burst through the door. "Let's go boy" David ushered his boy to their car with a little urgency.



"Hi gamma" John ran to his grandmother and gave her a kiss on the cheek "Can Peter get a ride with us?" he pointed as his best friend

"Of course" gamma looked down at Peter, who often stayed at John's house to play "Hello Peter"

Peter shook her hand "Hi Mrs. Carter"

"Strong shake. You have good hands. Ever considered being a Chef?" they walked into the car and drove away



"Well, it's time for us to go" Mr. Lockhart held his daughter's hand

"Thank you for coming, and again, I'm so sorry about Maura" she said sympathetically

"Thank you" he said

Another car pulled on the front and a tall European man walked out of it. He walked over to the front and introduced himself "Hi. I'm Goran Kovac, I'm here to pick up my son"

"I'll get him" Abby ran towards the living room, giving time for the three parents to get acquainted. She came back with Luka, Cleo and her mother.

"Do you need any more help here Isabelle?" said Michael Finch

"No, the help can clean all this mess"

"OK, then, we're out of here" the rest of the guests walked away and Isabelle was left alone with her daughter, who was still in her room



Elizabeth Corday laid on her bed right after her mom had turned off the light. Small drops of rain began to hit her window and soon, they began to pour. A soft roam was heard and seconds later, a big lightning followed by a loud thunder illuminated a wooden doll sitting on her drawer, staring down at her "MOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!"

The End

Next: What happens when the er kids hit puberty? Stay tunned for more crap coming out of my head
Carolina