Fame < Infamy

Part 4

It was a three day trip to get to Nashville. The first day was uneventful and we stopped at a little hotel in Vegas. Everything seemed normal at first, we went to bed, slept till noon, and then decided to get lunch before setting off. And that's when we realized that Rydel wasn't her normal self. Which honestly shouldn't be all that shocking to us anymore.

"Can I has a kid's meal, pwease Elly?" she asked Ellington. He looked confused a second and then nodded.

"Course you can, Madi," He said calmly, "Which one do you want?"

"Chickie nuggets!" She exclaimed happily. The smile on Ell's face as she giggled honestly warmed my heart a little. He scooped her up (which for a smaller guy like him probably was a challenge) and kissed her forehead.

"Okay, Princess," He responded. She snuggled into his chest and beamed up at him.

"Who is that one?" Rocky asked Ross. Ross glared and walked away, obviously still pissed off about the whole mom and dad thing. Oh well. They'd get over it eventually. And if not, that's not my problem.

Rocky and I ordered and headed to the table, Rydel was snuggled up with Ellington in a booth in the corner. Ross sat next to him, clearly playing with her and Ryland sat across from them, a bright smile on his face. A flash of jealousy hit me then. I don't know what it was, but it was clear that they were all close. Rocky and I weren't included. But whatever, we could make memories in Nashville. Rocky pulled a chair up to the table while I sat next to Ryland. They immediately got quiet. Rydel peered up at me curiously, confusion evident in her face.

"Who you?" She asked. I smiled and handed her a French fry, which she accepted by stuffing it in her mouth.

"I'm Riker," I said, "That's Rocky."

"Hi Iker!" She giggled, "I Madi!"

"Princess Madi," Ell corrected her, she merely stuck her tongue out at him and giggled as he planted another kiss onto her forehead, "Rocky and Riker are your brothers, like Rossy and RyRy, angel."

"Bwothers?" She asked curiously, looking us both over, "Why come I no see you before?"

"We were away, D- uh, Madi..." Rocky replied. She nodded.

"Did you bring me a gift?" She asked.

"Madi, we don't ask for gifts," Ell lightly scolded, "you know better. Say sorry." Rydel nodded sadly.

"I sorry," She whimpered, tucking her face into Ellington's chest. He stroked her hair.

"Eat your chicken nuggets, and we'll forgive you," I said, booping her nose. She nodded and began eating almost immediately. Watching her made me sad that I probably wouldn't have kids. When I was younger, whenever people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would happily answer "a daddy!" Mom and Dad thought it was the cutest thing, and as each sibling was born I grew more and more protective as if they were my own children. Obviously, over time that changed. Mom and Dad became more concerned with Ross's acting career that was supposedly going to take off and Ryland's football, and so I began to look after Rocky and Delly. Mom and dad didn't care that much about Delly's talent in dancing, or Rocky's skills with guitars. I made sure I was able to go to all of her recitals and his band concerts. I made sure she went to all of her dance classes and he went to his private lessons. Maybe I didn't pay for it, but I was the reason they were there. Looking where we ended up, it's probably best that I won't have kids of my own. The world probably couldn't deal with another kid like me. Didn't stop the feeling that I'd missed out though, but I'd dug my own grave and I fully intended to lie in. Well, if the law ever caught me.

Ell also had a look on his face of pure joy at this alter and I could tell that he also wanted kids. Madi was completely at ease with him, would only leave his side for four or five minutes at most. By the time we'd left the restaurant and we're getting back on the road, she'd fallen asleep curled up into him. He had to carry her out, no one dared wake her up. It did my heart good to see my little sister smiling again. She had a look of innocence and of happiness on her face for the first time in many years. What Tyrone did to Rydel didn't matter to Madi, what mattered to her was whether or not her Elly was beside her. Maybe this was Ell's chance, who knows if they'd ever be able to have kids.

We drove in silence for a couple hours. Madi eventually woke up and kept herself entertained with Ellington and the toys he'd bought before we left Vegas. The sounds of her giggles and the CD that was stuck inside of the car's player were the only noises that filled the car. That was until Rocky's phone went off. He talked quietly, but obviously we could hear what he said.

"Yeah, yeah. We're on our way.... No, don't worry. It'll get done... Whatever, I'll call you when we get there... Bye..."

"What was that, Rocky?" I asked curiously.

"That was him. And I forgot to mention, he has a job for us."

"Which is...?" I asked. Rocky really wasn't a man of many words, which was a pain in the ass when you needed him to explain things.

"We're going to kill Priscilla Parker, his son's fiancé and the head of the Nashville social scene."

Filler, yes. But I really enjoyed writing this. Madi is my favorite of Rydel's alters and my favorite to write for. But we will see the others soon.