No one's more surprised then Chase Stokes when his estranged step-sister shows up on his doorstep in South Carolina. They haven't talked in almost two years, but something has caused her to quit school, leave Maryland, and take up residence on his...
The rest of the cast must have felt the same way as Rudy because early Friday morning a convoy of vehicles pulled out from their apartment building to head north to Maryland. Rudy and Evaline were riding with Chase and Maddie in the back of Chase's jeep. Elaine was driving Drew, Austin, and Bella while Madison and JD brought up the rear.
When she'd first heard that they were all planning on driving up for the funeral Evaline was completely baffled as to why they'd make the trip. The more she thought about it though the more it made sense. These people were her family.
Stretching her legs across Rudy's lap Evaline asked what the plan was, "Honestly I've kind of been out of it the last few days so I haven't been paying attention," she told them.
"That's understandable," Maddie assured her from the front seat, "So I booked rooms at a hotel nearby so we don't overwhelm Jen and Mark. We'll go to the hotel and check in, but then Jen was insistent on having us all over for dinner tonight. Chase talked her into just the four of us though he thought the whole group might be a bit much," Maddie told her.
"Really? I was kind of hoping to avoid a confrontation with my dad until after the funeral," Evaline told them. "When I spoke to my mom she said he's upset with how you're conversation went on the phone," Chase told her, "Apparently he never meant to just blurt it out like he did, but I guess you tend to bring the worst out in him. I don't know why he would say such a thing about you," he said, sarcastically.
Lifting her leg she used her foot to shove him in the shoulder, "Shut up," she responded as the others laughed, "I'm going back to sleep," she decided reaching back to pull her pillow up front with her.
"That's a good idea," Rudy said as he pulled her blanket from the back and threw it over them, "Shift up a little bit," he told her as he laid across her. "What are you going to do lay on the baby?" Chase asked, looking in the rear view at them.
"No, I lay on the two pillows above the baby," Rudy retorted causing Evaline to laugh and Chase to yell. "Dude!"
"Come here little baby," Evaline baby talked him as she ran her fingers through his hair.
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Sleeping through half of the trip made it fly by for Evaline. Sometime around lunchtime Maddie woke her and Rudy up as they stopped into a dinner along the highway. After that the last four hours seemed to fly by and before she knew it they were pulling into the Comfort Inn a few miles from her dad's house.
"I'm gonna go check in and get the room keys," Maddie announced, as they all climbed from their cars. "How many rooms did she get?" Madison asked, as Maddie and Chase went inside.
"Since we're only gonna be here a few nights she only got two rooms. They each have two queen size beds plus a pull out couch," Elaine answered, pulling a small duffel bag out of her trunk and handing it to Drew.
By the time Maddie and Chase returned the others were waiting with their luggage. "Alright so to keep everyone sane Chase and Evaline are not rooming together," Maddie told them, handing a room key to Evaline.
"You won't hurt my feelings," Evaline replied, pulling the handle up on her suitcase, "Whoever's rooming with us get a move on pregnant lady needs to pee," she said before heading into the hotel with Rudy.
Waiting for the elevator Evaline smiled when Austin, Bella, and JD followed them into the lobby. "Hey roomies," Rudy greeted them as they entered the elevator. "Sorry. I'd wait for the others but I really have to pee," Evaline told them hitting the button for the third floor.
Finishing up in the bathroom Evaline opened the door and walked back into the room of the hotel, "I take it this is our bed," she said, climbing up on the bed Rudy was laying on. "Nah, JD and I are going to take this one. You can have the pull out," he told her, smiling.
"You're lucky you're cute you know that," she replied, taking her sweatshirt off before settling down next to him. "Awe you two are adorable. You have matching shirts," Bella laughed noticing what they were wearing.
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"They're actually both Rudy's I just commandeered this one," Evaline told her. "It looks better on you than it did on me," Rudy told her causing her to giggle. "You're such a sweet talker," she replied, kissing him.
Pulling away from each other at the sound of groaning they looked over at JD and Austin. "You two are going to remember there are other people in this room tonight, right?" JD questioned eyeing the two.
"What you're not interested in voyeurism?" Rudy snarked as Evaline muttered, "Oh my God."
"I've heard enough from Madison about you two I don't need the live version," JD retorted as Austin laughed. "Oh, maybe you are into it since you're talking about it with Madison," Rudy replied.
"Okay can the subject of our sex life be a no no topic?" Evaline said, waving her hands in the air. "Of course. Sorry," Rudy responded rolling over to face her, "They're just jealous," he whispered, winking as she rolled her eyes.
An hour later sitting in the back of Chase's jeep on the way to dinner with her father and step-mother Evaline couldn't help but be jealous of the others. She said as much to Rudy, "They're lucky they don't have to attend this shit show."
Taking her hand he squeezed it, "Everything's going to be fine," he attempted to assure her. "I have to agree with Rudy," Chase spoke up as he drove, "With him and Maddie there I'm sure Mark will be on his best behavior."
"Yeah, but that's what makes him so good. He's got this polite rudeness down where you don't realize he's being insulting till after the fact," Evaline replied. "Oh, I know. You picked up on that skill pretty quickly," Chase remarked.
Scoffing Evaline pouted, "I do not do that."
"Well maybe not lately, but when we were kids you did it all the time," he conceded. "Do you think we're predestined to pick up things like that from our parents?" Evaline questioned.
"What like nature versus nurture?" Maddie asked from the front seat. "Yeah I guess. Like obviously that's something I learned from watching my dad. So do you think I have the chance of being a shit mom because my mom was?" Evaline asked.
Blinking as three very emphatic no's rang through the car Evaline felt Rudy squeeze her hand, "I think you're going to be a great mom because of having a shit mom," he told her.
"Yeah, but when people become parents they don't set out to fuck up their kids. Like I highly doubt when she was pregnant with me she thought a few years later she'd become an alcoholic drug addict leaving her kid home alone while she's out scoring at a bar," she responded.
"Well if you ever have that urge I'll remind you of how you felt when it happened to you," Chase told her, "Rudy's right. You're not going to fuck up this kid because you know first hand how it feels," he said, pulling into the driveway.
Turning off the engine Chase stared at the house, "Alright let's get this dinner over with," he declared. Climbing from the car Evaline and Rudy followed Chase and Maddie to the front door.
"I want to thank you guys for volunteering as tribute," Evaline said as Chase rang the doorbell, Maddie snorted, and Rudy took a hold of her hand.
