the doorbell rang downstairs, making dan perk up from his toys. he dropped his small fire truck on his carpeted floor and ran downstairs, hiding behind his mother as she opened the door.
"oh, hello darling!" his mum greeted mrs. lester. "you here to drop her off, then?"
the woman nodded, gently pushing reagan out in front of her. "don't worry dear, you're going to stay here with dan while we go and pick phil up. i'll be back in a few hours."
the girl broke out into a large smile. "danny!" she shrieked, wrapping her arms around his neck.
the two giggled and ran upstairs to dan's room as the adults chatted for a bit longer. they clambered up onto the bed and began jumping on it, laughing the silly faces they made.
"h-how long are y-you s-st-staying?" dan asked breathlessly, flopping onto his pillows.
reagan continued jumping around the tired boy. "mummy said i can stay for dinner, and a little bit after that. she said it's a long drive to burninghum."
daniel giggled. "I th-th-think you mean b-burmingham, s-silly," he corrected.
she jumped on top of him, blowing on his face. "shut it, you." she scowled playfully at him.
he pushed her off and slid off the bed, kneeling in front of his cars once again. "c'mon ree! h-help th-the fire f-fi-fighters save the ci-city!"
reagan climbed off the bed and kneeled beside him picking up a plastic soldier. "oh no! the library's caught fire! quick! someone call the firefighters!"
the two played for hours, not even stopping to have dinner, until they eventually collapsed on the floor of the fort they'd made, looking out the window with hooded eyes. dan's mum came into the room, the phone pressed against her chest.
"reagan, are you about ready to go, sweetheart? your parents should be home any minute now," she called quietly.
the girl nodded sleepily, not even looking at mrs. howell. she chuckled, leaving the room and continuing her loud conversation with whoever she was on the phone with. dan reached over and began playing reagan's soft brown hair, twirling it and putting it into what he thought was a braid.
"r-ree, who is p-ph-phil?" he whispered.
she looked at him, pulling his hands from her hair and straightening it. "he's my new brother. mummy and daddy told me that they couldn't make a brother or sister anymore, no matter how much i wanted one, so they decided to adopt one. i haven't met him yet, but i'm sure he's nice."
as if on cue, the lester's car pulled up in their driveway, making the two children perk up. reagan's parents got out of the car; her father opened up the door in the back, and a boy with bright orange hair climbed out.
"t-that's phil?" dan asked, staring at the sad looking boy.
reagan nodded. "i heard he's four years older than us, too!"
dan's eyes widened. he looked at his friend in awe. "he's t-ten?" he gasped.
"i know, right? it's crazy! he's in the double digit age," she said, watching phil walk into her house.
"reagan! time to go, darling!" dan's mother called from the den.
the two hopped up and raced out of the room, scrambling down the stairs. daniel helped his friend put on her coat and shoes before reaching on his toes and pulling the door open.
"bye, dan. you should come and meet phil tomorrow! i'm sure you'd looove him," she teased, giggling.
dan turned red, looking to his mother. "c-c-can i, mummy?" he asked.
mrs. howell, cocked an eyebrow. "we'll see about it, honey. now say goodbye to reagan, she's really got to get home."
dan turned back to the girl, grinning. "b-bye, ree-r-ree. see y-you later!" he kissed her cheek and pushed her out.
she laughed and blew a kiss toward him. "bye danny!" and with that, she was off home.
daniel closed the door and turned to his mum. "sweetheart, what was ree teasing you about with phil?"
he shrugged, heading toward the stairs. "sh-she t-th-thinks i'm going t-to get a crush on him,"
her eyes widened and she crossed her arms, watching her son. "and is there a chance of that happening, then?" she asked cautiously.
he smiled sweetly at her, beginning to climb the steps. "m-maybe. he s-seemed c-c-cute."
----an----
and here's the beginning of stutter !
im sorry, i dont really know how to portray someone with a stutter, since i dont have one myself, but i tried my best
hope you all like it so far !
love ya xx
