Tear Down These Walls (51 page)

With a big smile, Teagan says, “Most definitely.”

Suddenly, they hear, “EGGEN! HAPPY MEAL!”

“Uh oh,” Teagan laughs with a slight eyeroll. “I’m being paged.”

“She is really cute,” Victoria declares, grinning at Kya.

“Yes, she is,” Teagan agrees. She can’t help but smile. Kya gestures to
her, so Teagan walks over to her. “What’s going on?”

Kya grabs Teagan’s hand and drags her to a table. “Happy meal!”

“You are doing such a good job of pronouncing that,” Teagan praises.

“Kya is…..smart.”

Excited, Teagan says, “That was good, too! You’re on a roll today.”

Confused, Kya looks up at her. “Kya no oll.”

“It’s just a figure of speech,” Teagan replies. Kya still looks confused.
“Ignore me.  Where’s your happy meal?”

“Dah-dah!” Kya exclaims, sitting down at a table.

“Hey, why don’t we do this,” Mike says, setting down his drink. He grabs
the next table and pulls it to the one they are at. “There we can all sit by
each other.”

“You sick?” Kya inquires.

Mike gives her a peculiar look. “No, I’m not sick.”

Laughing, Teagan says, “No, she thinks you are Isaac.”

“Oh,” Mike chimes. “My name is Mike. That is Isaac.”

“Say gain,” Kya instructs, looking at him closely.

“Mmmm-ike, Mike.”

“Miiiiike,” Kya repeats.

“Very good, Kya,” Teagan states. Kya giggles and claps her hands.

A minute later, Kellen walks over and sets trays down in front of them.
Everyone comes up behind him. “Here’s your happy meal,” Kellen says to Kya as
he rubs her head.

“Tanks, Dah-dah,” Kya chimes, opening it up. “Uggets and French fies!”

“Yup,” Kellen retorts, as he sits down. “You are being spoiled today. Usually
you get the apple slices.”

With a mischievous look, Kya giggles, “French fies, Dah-dah get Kya
French fies.”

“Yes, he did,” Kellen laughs. “Eat up, so you can play.” Kya picks up a
chicken nugget and takes a big bite out of it. She chomps and chews. Teagan
laughs. Kellen rolls his eyes.  “Her therapist has been trying to get her
to eat a little better.”

“She’s five,” Teagan asserts. “Give her a break.”

“So, don’t you have school today?” Kellen asks. “You can’t all have off.”

Isaac snorts and shakes his head. “Some idiot called in a bomb threat at
Grandid Hall. We think it was because there was an important exam there today.
So, they cancelled classes.” He takes a long drink of his soda and glances at
Teagan.

“That’s horrible,” Kellen states. “Hopefully there isn’t really a bomb on
campus.”

“There was a call last year, but no one was ever caught,” Isaac tells
Kellen, while eating a French fry. “They think it’s the same person. They have
already been looking for three hours, and nothing has showed up. Like I said,
we all think it’s because someone didn’t want to take an exam, but hey, free
Friday off.”

“Big plans?” Teagan asks.

“Going out tonight,” Isaac replies. “Karaoke.”

Teagan smiles. “Well, have fun.”

“Are you going to come?” Isaac asks.

“Nope, we are going to make tie dyed cupcakes,” Teagan says cheerfully.
“Right, Kya?”

“An ghetti,” Kya mumbles with food in her mouth.

“Oh yeah, I’m making my grandma’s spaghetti for them,” Teagan declares.
“I told them it’s pretty good.”

Throwing his hands up, Isaac exclaims, “You are making spaghetti and
didn’t invite us! How rude!”

“It will be at Kellen’s,” Teagan replies. “Next time, I promise.”

“You guys can come over tonight,” Kellen offers with a shrug. “There’s a
fight on. Kya goes to bed around 8. So, it could be fun.”

Mike and Isaac look at each other. “Fight.”

“Is that putting a damper on your evening?” Teagan asks Emily and
Victoria.

“Hell no,” Victoria chimes. “Hot guys showing off how strong and fit they
are. Sign me up!”

“I concur,” Emily laughs. “Drool.”

“Okay, sounds good,” Kellen says. “I haven’t had people over at my house
in a while.  That will be nice.”

Teagan asks, “When do you want to come over?”

“Can I learn how to make those cupcakes?” Emily asks. “I want to make
them for my nephew’s birthday.”

“Sure,” Teagan says. “Is that all right if my friends come over to help
bake?”

“Show Kya room!” Kya exclaims.

“Yeah,
wait
until you see her play room. I’m quite jealous,”
Teagan states with a smile.

“Bring your swimsuits,” Kellen suggests. “We can go into the hot tub
afterwards.”

Mike nudges his head towards Kya. “Are we allowed to bring beer?”

“I prefer you not get stupid drunk, but yeah, you can bring beer,” Kellen
says. “I do have a very large selection of different beers and liquor at my
house already.”

“For when the guys come over,” Teagan says as she nudges Kellen in the
ribs.

“Pretty much,” Kellen laughs.

Interrupting, Victoria goes, “So, about having guys at your house…can Kyle
come over, too? He was going out with us tonight.”

Kellen’s eyebrows raise. “I didn’t know you two were actually still
seeing each other.”

Victoria bites her lip and says, “We didn’t want you to know since you
and Teagan weren’t talking.”

“You have been lying to me!” Teagan laughs. “You’re so not a part of that
study group. I was wondering why you were meeting up with them so often.”

Shrugging, Victoria replies, “We didn’t want it to be awkward. Tonight
was the night I was going to tell you.”

“Hiding stuff from your best friend, what am I going to do with you?”
Teagan playfully scoffs.

Emily looks at Victoria. “Actually, we had a little plan.”

“What was that?” Teagan asks.

“I was going to invite you, and Kyle was going to invite Kellen and
pretend
that he didn’t know you were going to be there,” Victoria declares
mischievously.

Teagan bursts out laughing, “I would have been so pissed, but….so happy
at the same time.”

“Really?” Kellen chirps.

“I wanted to kick you in the nuts, but I still missed you terribly,”
Teagan states softly.  “Probably why I was still so pissed, I knew I
missed you.”

Kellen leans forward and kisses her. “I missed you, too.”

“Awwww,” Victoria sighs. “Things are as they should be again.”

They kiss again and smile at each other.

*            
*            
*            
*             *

“Okay, baby girl,” Kellen says softly. “It’s time to go to sleep.”

“No tired,” Kya mumbles, as she yawns.

“Oh, I think you are,” Kellen replies in a whisper. He pulls her blanket
up and tucks her in. “Teagan and I will be downstairs if you need us.”

“Amaras?” Kya asks.

“Yes, I will turn the cameras on,” Kellen states. “Go to sleep, okay?”
Kya nods. “Good night, Sweetheart.” Kellen kisses her on the forehead. He
stands up and walks to Teagan, who is at the door.

Teagan smiles. “Good night Kya.”

“Night, Eggen,” Kya yawns.

Kellen turns off the light and leaves the door open a crack. Teagan looks
up at Kellen. “You’re a good father.”

“I try,” Kellen says.

They start to walk downstairs, and Kellen takes his cellphone out. He
opens an app.  Teagan looks over his shoulder. “What’s that?”

“I control the cameras in the house from my phone and computer,” Kellen
says. “It’s password protected, and only I can turn them on and off while we
are in the house. Once the alarm is set though, all the cameras are on.”

“Where are these cameras?” Teagan inquires slowly.

“Almost every room in the house,” Kellen states, as he turns around at
the bottom of the steps. “Why?”

She looks at him hesitantly. “In the bathrooms?”

“Kya’s,” Kellen states. “But only when she is upstairs by herself. She
has poured shampoo and toothpaste all over the floor and unrolled an entire
roll of toilet paper into the toilet. Lots of stuff….she is very sneaky.”

“Not in the other bathrooms?” Teagan inquires.

“God no, invasion of privacy!” Kellen enunciates. “Why are you asking?”

“What about your bedroom?” Teagan barely whispers.

Realizing the source of Teagan’s curiosity, Kellen says, “I got the
cameras installed after you left that day. I put them up in the house so I
would know if the crazy bitch tried to sneak in again.”

“You know,” Teagan teases. “You shouldn’t call your girlfriend a crazy
bitch, especially to her face.”

Kellen bursts out laughing. “You are the farthest thing from a bitch that
I have ever met.”

“You just wait….” Teagan retorts. “PMS can surprise you.”

“I think I can take you,” Kellen murmurs, stepping up to her. “I can put
all that energy to some good use.”

“Oh, there will be none of that until the camera comes down from your
bedroom,” Teagan whispers.  “I don’t want to be filmed again.”

He bops her on the nose. “I didn’t have one installed in my room in the
hopes that someday you would be back in it. And if you ever decided to give me another
chance, I was going to leave that decision up to you.”

“Why would you want a camera in your room then?” Teagan asks.

“To watch you sleep,” Kellen murmurs in her ear.

Trying really hard to be serious, Teagan whispers, “That’s really
creepy.”

“Why? You’re a beautiful woman, and I am fascinated by you. I have
watched you sleep.”

Now she can’t help but giggle. “In my room? Do you secretly sneak into my
apartment at night?”

“Yes, that’s why I have your code and keys,” Kellen scoffs. “I also rifle
through your drawers when you aren’t home.”

“Did you find the sex toys?” Teagan asks, completely serious. Kellen gets
a shocked look on his face. She scoffs and laughs, “Just kidding.” She winks at
him.

Kellen grabs her and kisses her hard. Murmuring against her lips, he
says, “You will never ever need a sex toy if I am around.”

“I sure hope not,” she whispers back.

“Hey,” they suddenly hear behind them. Teagan turns around. Victoria is
standing there. “We wanted some beer if that’s all right.”

“Like Kyle doesn’t know where it is,” Kellen snorts.

Kyle comes up behind Victoria. “I know where it is, but it’s your house,
and you’re my boss.”

“Right now,” Kellen declares. “I’m not your boss.”

“Sweet, so can I talk shit about my boss?” Kyle inquires with a grin.

“Sure!” Kellen exclaims. “I hear he is a real tyrant.”

Laughing, Kyle says, “Oh he is, hands down.”

“Such an asshole,” Kellen exaggerates.

“Totally,” Kyle chuckles.

“Hey, you are trashing the man that I love!” Teagan yells. Smugly, she
says, “I am the only one who can call him an asshole.”

Everyone bursts out laughing. “That is very true, Teagan.” Kellen bends
over and kisses her head. “Let’s go get everyone a beer.”

An hour later, the guys plop down on the chairs and couch. Victoria sits
on Kyle’s lap and steals his beer from him. “Hey,” Kyle whines playfully.

Teagan sits on the floor between Kellen’s legs. He starts to massage her
shoulders.  “Don’t do that; you will put me to sleep,” Teagan mumbles.

“I doubt you will sleep when the fight starts,” Kellen chuckles.

“Okay,” Emily sighs, sitting down next to Teagan. “We need to take bets.”

“I’m with whomever Kellen picks,” Teagan says. “He knows his shit.”

“Nah, I will bet against him,” Kyle states. “He doesn’t know
everything
.”

Victoria gives him a look. “You, sir…are an idiot…I’m going with Kellen.”

“I will side with Kyle,” Mike says. “Not everyone can side with Kellen.”

“Um, I will,” Isaac snorts.

“Me too,” Emily chirps. “So call it, Kellen; who is going to win?”

“I have no idea,” Kellen laughs. “I haven’t seen either guy fight
before.”

Turning around, Teagan snaps, “I call bullshit. You have to know
something about them.”

He grins. “
If
I had to make an
educated
guess, I would say
Jenkins.”

“All right, what are we betting?” Emily asks.

“Twenty?” Victoria suggests.

“What kind of bet is that!?” Mike exclaims.

Looking at him, she says, “A broke college student’s bet. Sorry, my
parents aren’t loaded.”

Mike rolls his eyes at her. “Fine, twenty.”

“Can you spot me, Honey?” Teagan giggles, looking up at Kellen.

“If I
have
to,” he shoots back sarcastically.

“Okay, okay,” Emily interrupts. “The fight is about to start.”

Later that night, they are all in the hot tub. “I can’t believe we lost.
What the hell, Kellen!?” Isaac exclaims.

Kellen chuckles and says, “I told you I had never seen them fight
before.”

“Yeah, but, ugh!” Isaac groans.

“It was twenty dollars,” Teagan laughs. “Do you need it back?”

“No,” Isaac retorts. “I just hate losing bets against Mike.”

Mike grins broadly. Suddenly, Kellen’s phone starts beeping off to the
side of the hot tub. He gets out and puts a towel around his waist. “Kya’s up,”
he states. “I will be right back.”

“Okay,” Teagan mutters, watching him walk away.

“So…..” Mike starts. “How do you feel about him having a daughter?”

Teagan turns around, “And a crazy ex-wife? I don’t know. I adore Kya, and
he is a really good father.”

“It’s a lot to take on, though,” Mike replies.

“She loves him,” Emily interjects. “You accept everything about someone
when you love them, the good and the bad.”

“Kya’s the good,” Teagan declares. “Celine is the bad.”

Victoria scowls. “That bitch almost ruined everything.”

“I was glad to hear you were going to try to get us back together,”
Teagan replies.

“We were definitely scheming,” Kyle laughs. “He was a bear for the last
few weeks.  My lord, don’t ever break up again.”

Teagan smiles. “Well, it’s good to hear I wasn’t the only one upset.”

“She wouldn’t leave her apartment for anything,” Victoria groans. “It was
ridiculous.”