NINETY-SEVEN

Jack Johnson sprinted forward with a burst of energy he never knew he had, pushing through the crowds, with every brush of their clothes feeling like sandpaper, till he grabbed his sister by the arm and pulled her off the road, right before a motorcyclist passed by.

He looked at her, scared, as she just breathed heavily, smiled, then said,"Keep up."

With that, she was gone.

He obviously had to chase after her.

***

Forget about us going to pick them up, they picked us up, at work.

Rose worked in a small supermarket and I worked in a library at the moment and somehow they tracked us down... thirty minutes after school closed, we expected them to play or socialize with others but,"They were too loud..."Jack Johnson said, almost in tears,"...and blandly pathetic, a lot of them had social issues which made them technically unfit by law to be teaching school children."He continued, then shot a short glance to his sister, but she didn't return it.

After that, we decided to make something nice for them, going through their first day without crying or making us feel beloved once, especially after they ran into Ruby's, Lucy's, the twin's and Junior's arms... abandoning us.

"Oh..."I said, disappointed and hurt.

"Tommy, they just missed all of us, remember, they came to us first."Rose said, then kissed my cheek.

"Oh..."I said, relaxed and educated.

We...Lucy wanted to bake their favourite apple pie for them, so I was about to go get some groceries when Scarlet Sapphira ran to me, snatched the money from my hand and sprinted out the door, yelling,"A dozen apples, got it!"

I shrugged, she had never given me a reason not to trust her before...where were my keys?

***

"Hello sir!"

The fruit sellar looked around and saw nothing but a red bump, till it raised a hand.

He shifted his glasses and his position and was awestruck by the little girl's appearance then asked,"Aww, what can I do you for you little cherub?"

"One baker's dozen apples please."She spoke.

"As you wish, my child, say, where do you live?"

"Why do you wanna know where I live? Do you see me asking about your home, unsatisfied wife or general private life?"She asked with a sudden frown.

He sat there, stunned for a moment, before his smile returned and he gave her the order, she gave him the money, snatched one more and was about to munch into it when he caught her hand and asked,"What are you doing? You only paid for twelve."

She had an ambivalent expression on her face as she asked,"You don't know the meaning of baker's dozen, do you?"

He then said,"I'm going to say no."

She sighed then spoke,"A baker's dozen is a terminology which arose in medieval England, where a person was given thirteen orders, originally loaves of bread and not twelve, as the law had strict implications for them to accurately serve their customers with dire consequences for breaking the law, therefore, the last one was free."

She was about to eat it again when he yelled at her to return it, and she burst into tears.

A crowd gathered and asked the matter then he said,"This little brat wanted to steal an apple!"

Looking at the order and the one she was holding, they were already skeptical till they asked her side of the story.

"He...he...he asked me what I wanted and I said...I said I wanted one baker's dozen apples and he gave me only twelve!"

"You don't understand the term baker's dozen, do you?"

"For shame..."

"You are trying to deprive this little angle of her order? How dare you?"

"Shame on you..."

"She is no angel! Look at her! Red hair doesn't go with black skin, she's dyed it or some kind of hybrid chimera thingy that has come to haunt me!!"The man bemoaned.

Scarlet Sapphira began to cry silently and the women in the crowd also began tearing then one of them slapped the man and said,"First a thief and a bully, now a racist?! This is America! You can have any natural colour of hair you want! Little girl, what's your name?"

"Sc... Scarlet Sapphira."She almost whispered.

"And where do you live?"

She whispered the location in the woman's ear and she gasped and said,"No wonder you look so, now you run along and give your parents what they asked for."

She nodded, beamed a pretty smile which melted their hearts, then said,"My parents are going to bake a big apple pie!"Demonstrating with her hands the magnitude of the baked dessert.

"Awww..."Everyone apart from the fruit sellar said.

"Can't you see what she's doing?!"He yelled.

The woman frowned at him then spoke to Scarlet Sapphira,"I'm sure it's going to be absolutely delicious."

"Oh don't worry..."Scarlet Sapphira said, flashing a grin to the man,"...it will be now."

She then happily skipped away after stuffing the last apple into the basket and the people spoke all their criticism to the fruit sellar, till the woman said,"Also I've hidden this for a while now but, I want a divorce..."

Scarlet Sapphira arrived a little late with one extra apple and when I asked the reason, she sighed then asked back,"You haven't heard of the term baker's dozen before, have you?"

***

That night, I went to tuck Jack Johnson in to bed as he hadn't come out of his room since he returned from school.

I was about to knock the door when I heard silent sobs from within.

I slowly opened the door, trying not to make any sudden movements and saw him writing with a pencil, with his tears dripping to the floor.

I ran to him and placed him on my lap and asked what was wrong, but he immediately squealed and scampered out of my grip, crawling below the sheets of his bed.

Rose walked in and asked the problem and I stood up and spoke of my ignorance.

She slowly sat by him as he violently shivered and was about to touch him when he began to sneeze.

We thought he was coming down with something, so wanted to take him to a doctor the next day.

It made perfect sense as just the previous week, he hid beneath hundreds of layers of bed sheets in the pelting rain while we had to drag his sister in as she was running beneath the clouds, trying to catch a bolt of the ever so friendly lightning.

Ruby also walked in and asked the problem and Rose said he might need a doctor, at that moment, the doorbell rang and Scarlet Sapphira immediately rose from sleeping on Lucy's lap and ran to answer the door.

Scarlet Sapphira opened it, widened her eyes after a short introduction, then yelled at the top of her lungs, making Jack Johnson yell back in fear,"Aunt Lucy! There's a super hot, probably rich guy here to see you!!"

Lucy stood up and wore a coat then walked to the door and was surprised to see... obviously...

"Luis?"She called.

He smiled nervously as she asked,"What are you doing here?"

"I came to apologize for how I acted back then, I was..."

"No, no, no, it's okay but...come in, please."

Scarlet Sapphira kept looking at the two as they made their way into the living room, grinned then said to herself,"Aunt Lucy has definitely hit the jackpot this time..."

Lucy didn't get to sit with Luis when a missile rammed him right in the chest.

Luis had never been as emotional as when he embraced his biological son again after more than half a decade.

The triplets tried to keep their distance as they weren't certain he wanted to see them, till he stood up and went to carry the three of them and place them on the couch, right beside him.

With Scarlet Sapphira, propped on her elbow and her legs swaying behind her on the opposite side of the room and watching him, Luis asked nervously,"I see things have changed since I left."

"That's Tommy's and Rose's daughter, Scarlet Sapphira."

The small thing did a cat growl and uncomfortable, he asked,"Shouldn't... shouldn't you be in bed by now? It's getting to eleven."

"I'll only be where you want me to be hot stuff."She said with a wink.

"Literally we have no idea where she gets this from."Lucy said.

The girl sashayed her way to the stairs and looked back then said,"Don't forget to call..."Then giggled.

He actually had to say, the girl was cute, just, way too young for him.

Lucy asked again what brought him back, but he asked one more question,"First, where's Lucille, I...I haven't been able to sleep thinking about her."

Lucy looked away, fidgeting with her fingers, then dismissed the children...this was a delicate matter.

Luis tried to stay calm, but his hands shivered violently as a tear fell from his cheek, hearing what had happened to the young girl, the one who made him feel, he actually could be loved...

He had to stand up and palm his face to draw attention away from the effects of his imaginary allergies, then, actually nervous, looked to Lucy and knelt before her, saying,"Lucy, I'm really sorry for everything, I want to make it up to you, please, come and live with me back in the mansion, I'm just so...so lonely."

She fought back tears as he literally begged her, but asked,"Are you sure you really want this? I have changed, I may no longer meet your standards and..."

He placed a finger on her heart shaped lips then said,"I told you never to beat yourself up because of me, I can manage any changes you've undergone, what I can no longer manage is... living alone, without you, without Junior and the triplets, without Lucille, please Lucy..."

She was breathing heavily as she asked,"What about Tommy? Rose and Ruby? They'll all need me."

"They can come too, but please, tell me you'll say yes."

She nodded with her hand over her lips, then he hugged her tightly and lifted her for joy as she began to laugh, placing down, they were close, closer than they had been in years, possibly more than five...

Lucy saw it was getting late so asked if he could stay the night.

He smiled, but declined the offer, he had already stressed her enough, besides, he had other things to do.

She walked him to his car and gave him a small kiss which caught him by surprise, before he looked up and waved at Scarlet Sapphira, then got in.

Scarlet Sapphira then frowned at Lucy and shook her head and Lucy shrugged with a smile, then jumped for joy and thanked God, her prayers had finally been answered.

Luis hit the steering wheel several times in excitement, reclined on the seat, then saw something which made his heart stop...Aqua...