Fire and Desires: Book 8 (Completed)

Chapter Eight

Screams were bouncing off the walls of the living room. Sleeping bags, pillows. They were scattered haphazardly around the room. The kids were well and truly out of control.

"Alright which one of you thought it was a good idea to give them the whole box of chocolates!"

I was at my wits end. I was staring angrily at Jordan and Brandon. They both were avoiding my eyes at the moment.

"Well Brand said they could have a chocolate so he gave them one then they asked me so I gave them one. I put the box back into the kitchen but they must have found it cause the whole box has now disappeared."

"The whole box! You think?!"

I surveyed the piles of discarded chocolate wrappers littered all over the floor.

"Well we better cleaned this up before they get back."

I started grabbing up handfuls of rubbish and trying to bring order into the house. It was a hard task considering I had Peyton hanging off my legs.

"Peyton calm down. Have a drink of water. You'll feel better."

She just screamed in my face and ran off. I knew tonight was going to be challenging but adding sugar to the mix. Well that just made it all the better...not. The worst thing was Jordan and Brandon were acting like complete fools as well, encouraging the kids rowdy behaviour and adding fuel to the fire.

"Hey. I didn't sign on to be looking after seven kids tonight!!"

"Hey Izzy. Loosen up. Have some fun." Jordan whacked me on the back of my legs with a pillow.

"Idiot!" I muttered under my breath as I continued to tidy up.

"Ooh Izzy is getting all snarky." Brandon came over and presented a flower that he had taken from a nearby vase. "Perhaps this will make you better."

The kids loved the performance. They started jumping up and down on the furniture which was strictly off limits in this household. The twins started chanting.

"Kiss her. Make her happy again. We don't like angry Izzy. Angry Izzy is mean."

"Who. Who should kiss Izzy?" Jordan's eyes looked mischievous.

"Both of you. Give her two kisses. Izzy loves you both. She told us."

My face was aflame. I hadn't exactly said I loved both Jordan and Brandon to the twins but they had obviously interpreted it that way. Now both of them were looking at me with a mixture of amusement and desire. The last thing I wanted was a kiss from either of them. All I wanted was for the kids to calm down.

As Jordan and Brandon started to approach me I started backing away. In my haste I tripped over the coffee table leg that had been pushed aside in the chaos.

"Woo hoo. Klutzy lives."

Jordan and Brandon were laughing their heads off and the kids joined in too. It wasn't until they noticed that I wasn't getting up that they started to get concerned.

"Umm Izzy are you ok?"

Jordan came over and lifted me up bridal style. The kids went nuts. They thought it was part of the game.

"Put me down!" I started swatting at Jordan's chest. He obliged and set me down. The moment my left foot hit the ground I collapsed in pain.

"Izzy omg look at the size of your ankle!"

I looked down and noticed it was heavily swollen. It looked like a balloon had been inserted under my skin. Brandon shooed the kids away from the sofa and Jordan carried me over and laid me down gently. 

"Something's not right. Can you move it?"

I let Jordan touch my ankle. It was painful to the touch. Brandon had run off into the kitchen to grab an ice pack. The kids that were running amok before has suddenly sobered up and looked on quietly with anxious eyes. Brandon ran back into the room with the ice pack. Even though he gently placed it on my ankle I winced in pain when I felt its touch.

"Hey Izzy. This doesn't look good at all. I've seen enough surfing injuries to know this isn't just a sprain. I really think it's fractured. We need to get you up to a hospital."

Joshua started crying. "We were naughty and Izzy got hurt. We wished for Izzy to stay and now she got hurt and cannot move. It's our fault Izzy is hurt."

Joshua's crying set the others off and soon there was a whole chorus of crying. Brandon went over to calm them down.

"It was an accident. Izzy will be ok. We will take care of Izzy. No more tears."

Despite Brandon's reassuring words and tones the crying continued. Jordan lifted me up and I clung to him like a baby.

"I'm taking Izzy to hospital. She needs to get her ankle looked at. Brand. Look after the kids. I'll let you know what happens."

Brandon sort of looked at us with his mouth open like he wanted to object. He quickly closed it. I knew then that both guys still harboured feelings for me. We all knew that now wasn't the time to get petty though. I was in an awful lot of pain and being held in Jordan's muscular arms made me feel good. As good as it felt seeing Brandon's concerned face. I knew that I still harboured feelings for both of them as well.

"I'll call Britt and Zac on the way to the hospital. I'm afraid but I think they'll need to cut their evening short."

Jordan proceeded to carry me ever so carefully and gently placed me in the back seat of his car and held me with the seat belt.

"I just thought it would be more comfortable for you to lie down in the back." He stroked my face and kissed me gently on the cheek.

I looked out the window at the small faces pressed against the glass of the living room window and at Brandon. A single tear rolling down his face.