Subj: DS: Future Imperfect 3
Date: 6/24/02 3:46:40 PM Central Daylight Time
From: Aesgaard

When the lights went on, two cherubic faces with curly brown hair were standing over Amanda and giggling and laughing. They were then pleading to her not to tell their parents as they took apart their dummy filled with clothes and returned the plastic glow in the dark skull back to their father's desk in the study. Bad feelings were forgotten as Amanda remembered how much fun her childhood was as she played with the girls and shared their world. They were sitting on the floor of the playroom playing cards by midnight. Little Elaine was playing two hands with her Mrs. Beasley doll sitting in as the fourth playing. Checking her cards, she flipped them down.

"Gin !" She grinned her toothless smile and giggled as she took the last of the cookies. Georgia scowled.

"You cheated !!" She pinned her sister to the floor and knocked over an empty bottle of Pepsi as Amanda saw the headlights dance across the wall.

She grabbed the trash up as fast as she could.

"Bedtime !!" She called as the girls jumped to their beds. Covers pulled up and tucked in within one minute, they waited as Amanda kissed them and rushed the trash into the wastebasket behind the door.

"Remember, you were in bed at eight !"

"Okay !" They chorused as Amanda pulled her sweater over her head and hurriedly returned it to Ally's closet. Returning the blouse and shoes too, she was pulling on her t-shirt and adjusting her hair as she slid down the bannister and was standing at the front door as the happy parents returned home.

"You ate all the shrimp." Ally reminded William.

"I did not." He argued back. "Matt was shoveling it as fast as I was." Ally straightened her lip and rolled her eyes to Amanda looking guiltlessly innocent.

"How were the girls ?"

"Little angels." Amanda answered. "Asleep for hours. Oh, and, uh, Maddie called. She needs money for a school thing."

"She does, does she ?"Ally grinned contently as William opened his wallet and pulled out a fifty. He was half asleep already.

"Ten dollars an hour, okay ?" He paid her for her time as Ally dismissed herself and headed upstairs. Moving directly for the girl's room, she peeked it for just a minute at their little curled up bodies, then grinned and stepped inside. She kissed Georgia lightly and then similarly kissed Elaine as she looked up.

"Hi mommie !" She sat up.

"Why aren't you asleep ?" Ally sat on the bed.

"I waited for you." The girl claimed.

"Did you and your Aunt Amanda have fun ?"

"Oh, yeah !" The girl beamed ear to ear. "She ordered us pizzas, and we played house. She even wore some of your clothes and and asked us to call her mommy."

"We wasn't supposed to tell that." Georgia whispered in her sleep.

"Oh, yeah !" The child innocently remembered as Ally grew alarmed.

"What...um..uh...else did she tell you not to tell me ?" Ally asked as Amanda's car headlights pulled away through the window of the dark room.

"I canna remember..."

"Oh," Ally put her fingers to her mouth as she uneasily stood up. "Well, you just...... go on to sleep." She wandered out in a very disturbed state. She rethought half a million incidents between the red-headed cousin and her husband as well as Amanda's repressed annoyance with her at times.

Could Amanda have feelings for William that neither of them knew ? Was there something lurking in that red-haired brain that was potentially unstable ? She felt William kiss the back of her as he entered their bedroom.

"Remember the last time I kissed you like this ?" he whispered to the ear he was nibbling.

"Yes," She gasped. "Nine months before I had Elaine."

"Oh," he stopped. "Well, that's one mistake I won't repeat."

Ally grabbed a crocheted pillow and threw it at him.

"William," She changed moods. "I don't think I want Amanda babysitting anymore."

"Why ?" He sat on the bed and took off his shirt and tie. "She's crazy about them."

"Crazy." Ally remarked. "Let's go there. Does she have any feelings for you ?"

"Ally," William was aghast. "She's been like a sister my entire life. I've looked out for her since she was born."

"But she's not your sister." Ally dropped her earrings in her jewelry box as she unzipped herself and allowed her dress to drop. "You're really what ? Third cousins twice removed ?"

"Her father, my uncle Quentin, and my Aunt Carolyn share a great-grandfather."

William told the family history as it had been told to him.

"That was Geoffrey Collins, and he was a grand-nephew of my father's ancestor in the foyeur portrait. So, we're like fourth cousins twice removed or something like that......."

"So," Ally debated. "She could have feelings for you."

"But we were raised as brother and sister !" William slipped into bed in his underwear.

"You've nothing to worry about."

"But...." Ally pressed the point.

"Your Uncle Willie is a descendant of Desmond Collins.........."

"From the New York Collinses...." William dropped to sleep.

"That's too far back. Come to bed, Ally." Ally sighed, grunted and turned to her reflection in the mirror. It looked briefly like Amanda grinning back to her as she gasped and blinked her eyes.

Back to normal, she covered her mouth with her hands.

"She's going to kill me." She whispered to herself.

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