Port Charles Does It Better Part Two

Chapter 42

     "Why are we out here again?" Kristina asked as she and Parker made their way down the trail, well past the treehouse. Parker stopped walking and turned around so she could look at her wife. "Look Mobster Princess," She said with a smile. "It's really not that much further." Kristina put both hands on her hips. "You said that twenty minutes ago babe," She whined. Parker pulled some water out of her bag and handed it to the smaller girl. "We really are close honey. Besides, I know you'll love it when you see it. I haven't even brought Morgan out here yet."  Kristina took the bottle and drank from it. "If you say so. It's definitely getting hot." Parker gave her a look. "You are more than welcome to strip down if you want." Kristina laughed. "I should have known you would say that." Parker shrugged her shoulders and kept walking. "You can't blame me for trying." she said now also laughing.  
       Kristina picked up her pace, practically jogging to keep up. "Wait for me! I have little legs!" She said and Parker stopped again. "We will never get there at this rate." She said and Kristina shot her a dirty look. "No offense honey." She told her with a smile. She then patted her back and knelt down. "Hop on." She told Kristina, who at this point was not going to complain about the free ride. She climbed up. "All set?" Parker asked and Kristina nodded. "Alright then. Let's go.
      After about ten more minutes of walking, they came across what seemed to be a lake in the middle of the woods. "Wow, what is this?" Kristina asked as she climbed off of Parker's back. "This," Parker told her, "Is called Beaver Lake." Kristina giggled at the name. "Did you come up with that?" Parker shook her head and laughed. "Believe it or not, no. It's actually a very large lake. It stretches across a rather large portion of the county. This part," She paused, gesturing to the water, "Is just a secluded portion that happens to be on the land we own." 
      Kristina's mouth fell open. "You mean to tell me that we own a lake?" She asked. Parker shook her head. "Not exactly. It's still property of the state, but no one can be here but us considering if they do show up, it's considered trespassing."  Kristina picked up a rock and skipped it across the top of the water. "That's really cool." Kristina told her. "And you said you haven't showed this to your son yet?" Parker smiled. "Nope, you were the first. I found it when I was scoping out where I wanted to put the treehouse." Kristina placed her body into Parker's and she wrapped her arms around the waist of the taller girl as they watched the water. "I do love it. Thank you for dragging me out here." Parker kissed the top of her head. "Yeah, sorry. If I had thought about it, we could have just taken one of the four wheelers." 
        They stood there like that for a little while before Kristina heard a noise in the distance. It really carried out in the middle of the wilderness apparently. "Did you hear that?" Parker turned her ears back towards the house. "Yeah, someone is coming up the driveway. Shall we head back?" She asked and Kristina nodded. "It's probably Morgan." She and Parker stood up and dusted themselves off. "Want another ride?" 

      When they got back to the house they found Morgan and Alexis inside. "I'm home!" Morgan said when he saw his parents. He ran over to hug and kiss them both. "Did you have fun?" Parker asked him and he nodded his head strongly. "Yes!" He said excitedly as he began to list all of the things they had done. "We went to the park and the movies too!" "Well that sounds super fun!" Kristina said as he plopped down in her lap. "I'm glad you had a good time. We missed you." She said giving him at least twenty kisses all over his face. "Go put your bag up so mama and I can talk to grandma okay?" He hopped up. "Okay mom!" He turned to face Alexis. "I'll be right back." He told her and took off running upstairs.
     "I like the new house." Alexis told them. "Thank you," Kristina said. "Parker had an offer from one of the other teachers when they moved out." Alexis smiled. "Well, it's very nice. Morgan kept saying something about a tree house?" Parker laughed. "Yeah, I built him one a ways back on the trail. He never leaves it." Alexis shook her head. "I don't doubt it. He's crazy about wanting to be outside all the time."
      Kristina turned and faced her wife. "Babe, will you get us some coffee because you love me?" Parker, taking the hint kissed her wife and agreed. "Alright." She said getting up. "You like yours black don't you?" She asked Alexis who nodded."Thank you." Parker went into the kitchen so the two of them could talk.
      "I take it Molly spoke to you?" Kristina asked her mother. "Yes she did." Alexis replied. "I didn't buy him too many things this time. I did however get him a new outfit." She said with a half smile. "I hope that's okay." Kristina ran her hand through her hair. "Mom, it's not that we don't want you buying him things." She tried to figure out how to word what she was going to say. She didn't want to start an argument. "We just want you to take it down a notch. Clothes and even toys are fine as long as it's not something crazy expensive. A kid can never have too many clothes and we will never complain about you getting him things that could be classified as necessities." Kristina explained. "As far as the rest goes, you can get him stuff for your house. He needs things in his room over there, which we understand. We've got everything covered here." 
     Kristina got up and moved to the couch her mother was sitting on. "And you know you can call and ask to see him anytime." She said, hugging her mother. "We would never keep him from you. He loves you just as much as I do." Alexis held onto her daughter. These things rarely happened anymore and she was not ready to let go. "I really would never intentionally undermine your way of parenting. I hope you know that." She told her. Kristina released herself from the hug. "I do, and so does Parker. Like we told Molly, we just don't want him getting spoiled. He needs to know that a lot of kids don't have access to the same kind of things he does and that sometimes it can seem like bragging, even if he doesn't mean it that way. I guess we're just trying to teach him to value things." Alexis smiled. "I understand that fully."
     Parker came back in with the coffee and handed it out. "Everything okay in here?" She asked. "Everything is fine." Alexis said, taking the mug. "Just needed a little conversation I guess." Kristina stood up and went back to her seat next to her wife and Morgan came back in. "Will I get to see you again soon grandma?" He asked Alexis when he sat down beside her, being sure to sit as close as possible without actually sitting on her. "Yes you will young man.  I was gonna talk to your moms about seeing if I could get you more on the weekends." Morgan looked at his parents. "Please?!" He asked them. Kristina and Parker shared a smile. "Of course! Everyone needs a break from life sometimes." She said jokingly, which went right over his head. The adults got it however, "That is definitely true." Alexis said, standing up. "It's time for grandma to go now." She told Morgan, getting one more hug and kiss out of her grandson. "I'll see you soon though okay?" She told him, hugging him tight. "Alright grandma. Love you!" He said and he followed her to the door and walked her out. 
       When he came back, he plopped down between Parker and Kristina. "Did you guys have fun without me?" He asked and Kristina ruffled his hair. "Only a little." She told him. "Mama showed me this new place that we think you'll like." Parker gave her the side eye but agreed. "Yup. It's just a little bit further out than your treehouse." Morgan smiled. "If you are referring to the lake, I already found it." He said. "Can we have pizza?"  He asked and went into the kitchen. "Well," Kristina said, laughing at Parker's face of genuine shock. "You shouldn't be surprised. I keep telling you that he is just like you."