Hot Stuff (Hot Zone 1)

"We had something once," Lola was saying. "And even if it didn't continue in the same way once the girls arrived, it continued. We continued. For years."

Annabelle inched closer to the wall and leaned against the cool Sheetrock. Lola and Uncle Yank? Well she supposed it made sense even if she hadn't known or wanted to think about it before. It'd be like her as a kid thinking about her parents having sex.

"I told you then and I'm telling you now, you deserve better than me," her uncle said, raising his voice.

"Same story, different reasons. Back then you really were afraid of commitment but now you're just afraid of yourself," Lola said, pushing him.

Annabelle couldn't decipher what Lola meant but she assumed it had something to do with the reasons her uncle had come for this visit now. He was running scared, but of what she couldn't imagine.

"I'm not afraid of a damn thing," Yank yelled back, but Annabelle thought the slight quiver in his voice told a different story.

"Neither am I" Lola informed him. "And I'll prove it. Come with me to the company party," she said in a complete subject change, shocking Annabelle.

She couldn't imagine her uncle's expression right now and she actually found herself holding her breath for Yank's answer.

"I'm always at the company parties," he said.

Typical male. Annabelle grinned. Bless Uncle Yank and his stubborn streak.

"Come with me as my date." This from Lola.

A very silent pause ensued before Lola continued. "If you don't at least give us an honest try, I'm gone, Yank. Gone from The Hot Zone and gone from your life."

Unbelievably Annabelle's eyes filled with tears and her heart, already beating fast, squeezed tight in her chest. Though she was an adult, and though she knew she'd always have Lola in her life, standing here in the hallway now, she felt small and insignificant. The same way she'd felt as a child, as she'd listened to Uncle Yank, a virtual stranger, and the social worker deciding her and her sisters' fate.

&n

bsp; Powerless and out of control, Annabelle thought and began to tremble. Without realizing when, she sank to the floor and stared at the wall barely registering anything else. By the time she pulled herself together, silence reigned in the living room and she realized she hadn't even heard her uncle's reply.

VAUGHN ARRIVED HOME later than planned because Roy cornered him with football questions so he could help Todd on his day off. The other man seemed more desperate than usual to be a part of his son's life and Vaughn felt for him. After all, he'd have given anything to have a parent interested in his life. But after a while, Vaughn had pleaded a combination of exhaustion and a headache in order to escape.

He walked into a too quiet house. He didn't see Lola or Yank and assumed they were in their respective rooms. How long they were staying was anybody's guess.

He rounded the corner to the hall and shut himself in his room. Boris attacked first, hopping up and down on his hind legs like a pogo stick, never quite reaching above Vaughn's bad knee.

"Down," Vaughn muttered.

Boris sat.

"Wrong action, Q-Tip."

He wagged his tail with way too much enthusiasm and his tongue hung out as he panted.

"Don't you realize I'm the wrong sex for you to get excited over?" he asked the dog.

Yet he found himself leaning over and picking him up, holding him against his chest, as he'd seen Annabelle do, and petting his fluffy fur. Hair. What-; ever it was the dog had covering his body.

Speaking of animals, Vaughn hadn't seen the rabbit since Annabelle had arrived and as for the cat… He glanced over at his bed and saw the expected: the animal curled up in his favorite place on Vaughn's pillow.

Right above Annabelle's head.

That surprised him. He'd thought she was in her room. And seeing as how it was dinner and not bedtime, her presence in his room took him off guard.

He walked over quietly and lowered himself beside her, but the bend and shift of the mattress caused her to stir. She stretched her arms high above her head, pulling her T-shirt up high and exposing her flat, smooth stomach and her unusual outtie belly button.

He stared. He grinned. And his mouth watered at the sight, not to mention his lower body's reaction. He swallowed hard.

Annabelle opened her big blue eyes. "Hi there."