Song of the South

First Morning

Kinsey headed upstairs, feet getting heavier and heavier with each step, leaving the small group downstairs. Bella and Jesse were snoozing quite soundly on their bed and Lane was surprisingly still fast asleep in his car seat. She quickly changed into her pajamas and crawled into the other bed. It didn’t take but a few minutes for the road trip from Texas to South Carolina plus the previous few days before Kellie and Eric had arrived plus the emotional conversation she’d had just a short while ago to catch up to her. She was fast asleep before she even knew it.

“Sissy! Cakes!” Bella exclaimed, pushing on Kinsey’s right arm

She had rolled onto her stomach sometime in the middle of the night.

“Huh?” Kinsey sleepily stated

Bella ran out of the room not bothering to answer the question. As Kinsey laid there, she took a deep breath. Suddenly Bella’s statement made sense. The smell of freshly cooked pancakes wafted to her nose! She sat up and looked around. She was the only one still in the room. Cautiously she left her room and slowly made her way downstairs. Children’s laughter could be heard from the kitchen as well as a few adults. Apparently most people who were when they arrived last night were still here.

She entered the kitchen and stopped. Her siblings were happily eating breakfast, and being fairly good from what Kinsey could tell, and seemed to be making friends with Stella. Lane was quiet in his car seat on a chair next to Lori. She was keeping an eye on him while talking with Kellie.

“Good morning, Kinsey!” Barry stated as soon as he saw her

“How did you sleep?” Kellie asked

“Morning. Just fine, thank you.” Kinsey replied as she moved to have a seat

“Bill and James are running a bit late. They’ll be here in about 45 minutes.” Eric stated as he set a fresh platter of pancakes on the table

“Bacon is done!” Brent exclaimed from the stove

“Yaaaaa!” Hayden yelled, making the whole group laugh

“What would you like to drink Kinsey?” Kellie asked after standing up to refill her coffee mug

“Orange Juice would great if you have it.” Kinsey replied

“Dig in, honey, before all the kids eat it all!” Lori told her

Kinsey nodded before snagging two pancakes for herself. Someone slid the bottle of syrup over to her. Daisy put a few pieces of bacon on Kinsey’s plate for her. As she was drizzling syrup over her pancakes, Kellie set a glass of OJ next to her. The younger woman thanked her and smiled. With everything done, Brent and Eric found seats as well. Brent asked what the plan was for the day. Eric said that he was accompanying Kinsey to the meeting she had to get to.

Kellie said that she was going to stay here with the kids but was thinking of someplace to take them since none of them had been to Charleston before. Eric suggested museums or one of the parks. Lori said she’d love to take Stella too on whatever outing Kellie took Kinsey’s siblings. Once Kinsey was finished eating, she took her dishes to the sink and washed them out. She excused herself to go clean up. Eric just watched her leave the room.

The kids were in good hands so Kinsey grabbed her toiletries and headed into the bathroom. A nice, hot shower sounded really good at that moment! After stripping down, she got the water temperature adjusted to her preferred temp. She stood in the spray for a few minutes just enjoying the hot water. She was even more tense than she cared to admit and the water eased that a bit. Finally she got down to actually bathing, washing her hair, and shaving.

She tried not to take too long but the hot water was doing her some good. She had brought her outfit into the bathroom with her so she could get ready in one place. Besides, the smaller kids liked going in and out of her room and the last thing she needed was to be half-naked when one of them pushed her door open and one of the men downstairs walked by!

Kinsey had never been taught how to properly do her make up, and even if she had, but she usually didn’t have much time in the mornings to do it. She quickly ran her brush brush through her hair then gathered up her toiletries and pajamas. She was sitting on her bed trying to not panic at what the day might bring. She finally grabbed her purse and made her way downstairs. Bill and James had arrived and were waiting in the living room with Eric.

“Oh sweetie. I didn’t see that bruise last night. Did your mother do that too?” Bill asked, eyes staring at the bruise on her upper arm

Kinsey just nodded her head yes, avoiding looking any of them in the eyes. Eric’s gaze followed his manager. He frowned seeing it again. James was scribbling down more notes. Bill suggested they get going. Eric offered Kinsey one of his leather jackets to wear to cover up the bruise and the bandage on her arms. Kellie, trying to lighten the mood, said that Kinsey looked better in Eric’s jacket than Eric did. Everyone laughed and Kinsey smiled sheepishly. It smelled like Eric and she found she liked the smell.

Eric said he wanted to drive. Bill and James let Kinsey ride up front. Troy was in a local hospital where Bill’s doctor friend was looking after him. She just looked out the windows as Eric drove to the designated location. Bill and James were talking about something but Kinsey wasn’t paying much attention to the conversation. Eric noted that she was intensely quiet on the drive to the hospital and up to where her father was. Bill told Kinsey that they would give her some time alone with her father before they came in to get down to business.