You Get The Cake, I'll Start The Car

About two hours after I had gotten Alec’s call, I lay on the bar of Bella Rose throwing straws at the ceiling listening to Xander talk to his girlfriend Emily on the phone while setting up and Alec playing with Scarlett, our daughter while we waited for the other workers to arrive. Alec had called last minute to have me pick Scarlett up from her kindergarten class… which she was way too smart for, but no, they wouldn’t let her skip a grade. Which I thought was stupid. I mean, the kid was five and she could do long division, but they wanted her learning addition with kids who didn’t even know how to wipe their own asses yet.

“Mommy! Mommy! Guess who daddy says is coming in tonight?” My daughter squealed excitedly running up to the bar.

“Who baby?” I asked, rolling over onto my stomach and lifting her up onto the bar next to me.
“Avenged Sevenfold!” she half squealed half screamed. Both of the guys covered their ears and protested, but I was used to it.

“Awesome kiddo, but you still have to stay behind the bar with mummy or daddy during bar hours okay?” I smiled ruffling her flaming red hair. She nodded and hugged my neck before lying down, mirroring my position. I heard Alec chuckle from next to us.

“You two,” he grinned before leaning down to kiss Scarlett’s forehead and sit on a bar stool next to us, “So tell your mother what you did at school, Scarlett.”

“Uh oh, full name, what is it this time?” I sighed.

“The meanie lady asked us to sing a song so I did!”

“Oh shit,” I muttered, “What did you sing?”

“She sang Beast and the Harlot… again,” Alec said sternly.

“But its all bible like!” the tot protested

I chuckled and shook my head. I never should have told her that… or shown her the scripture the song was based off of.

“Ella! It’s not funny!” Alec growled exasperatedly.

“Sure it is. Not my fault the teacher doesn’t like the fact that we know more about the bible than she does and we’re not even Christians. It wouldn’t be a problem if she were homeschooled or in private school,” I replied in a sing song voice. Alec just groaned. It was an old argument between us. He wanted her to have a steady normal childhood, but I thought she would be fine being homeschooled and traveling like we used to. Scar was way too smart to be in a public school, even in gifted. I learned firsthand how ‘mainstreaming’ kids just turns out bad for everyone.

“I like mummy’s idea! That teacher lady’s mean and dumb!” Scarlett piped up, “She don’t even let me speak Greek or Latin in class!”

I gave Alec a pointed look. Scarlett spoke Latin and Greek fluently and was working on Italian slowly but surely. That came from Alec, who could speak five languages last time I checked and his parents, who insisted that every child should be at least bilingual.

“All they do is Spanish! And not even good Spanish!” my daughter continued her rant, “I like Un-kee Xan better! He funny when he teaches me!”

“Okay okay, I get it. Do we have to do this now? We open…” Alec checked his watch, “Five minutes ago. Fuck.”

Scarlett and I giggled but I rolled off the counter to my side of the bar and pulled her back behind it.

“Go do whatever needs doing. I know Xander’s going to piss himself the moment Jimmy walks in, so you should probably get him a spare change of pants,” I said, waving him off before grabbing Scarlett’s bag and pulling out a snack and coloring book to keep her occupied.

Alec smiled at me and leaned over the counter to kiss my forehead and the top of Scarlett’s head before running off to be bouncer or some shit like that.

I guess I should explain. You see, Alec, Xander and I go way back. Alec and I have been best friends since we met at Morgan’s arcade while playing hide and seek in the play-place. We hid together in the “family” bathroom and have been inseparable ever since. Xander was just kind of stuck with us because he’s Alec’s identical twin, and I mean identical. Other than their differing hairstyles and tattoos, the only other way to tell them apart by looks is to drop their pants… Don’t ask.

So anyway, when I was sixteen I ran off to spend the week with his family after my sperm donor pissed me off. A lot of things happened that week, but most important was Alec and I had sex… That and I discovered the wonders of absinthe, and before you ask, no, the two weren’t related.

About a month later I found out I was pregnant after puking all over dear old dad.

Needless to say, the bastard kicked me out and I moved in with the twins, who at the time were nineteen. I swear their father about shat himself with excitement. For some odd reason he thinks I’m a good influence on his sons. I guess it’s because when we were little, I was. His mom has publically stated that sometimes, she loves me more than them. Somewhere in the past five years, though, Alec and I decided we were better off as friends. I think it was somewhere in the middle of our rendition of ‘Take Me or Leave Me’ in the middle of an island Greek village when Scar was two. On a side note, the natives loved it… until Alec fell of the table, that is. Apparently they didn’t find his bodily harm as amusing as I do.

So now Alec and I are just friends, which actually works pretty well for us. I lived with them in a nice house and my sisters lived in a mother-in-law-suite-turned apartment, So that way, I didn’t have to pay shit for rent. Not even the occasional blow job.

“I’m here! Don’t stab me! Class ran late. Stupid freaking Entertainment Law ran long!” Monica, my best friend and the other bartender yelled as she ran inside and jumped over the bar, tripping and landing on her face… well actually a vampire Hello Kitty doll, “Oh Hey, where’s Scarlett?”

“Here Auntie Em!” Scarlett exclaimed, running over to hug her while she was still on the ground. Monica made an ‘oomph’ noise when the toddler sat on her stomach, but somehow managed to get into a sitting position, shifting Scar to her lap.

I just laughed at the two and shook my head. At least with Monica here, I wouldn’t be the only bartender.

“Guess what auntie Em!?” Scarlett squealed.

“What?” Monica asked excitedly.

“My favorite band is coming in today!” Scarlett exclaimed before screaming again.

“Gods damn it Scarlett stop screaming already!” Xander shouted as he sat on the bar next to me, “Going deaf is not what I want to do today!”

I punched his shoulder, “Stop yelling my daughter you asshole!”

“Who’s an asshole?” came Alec’s familiar voice as he walked in the door with a group of men I instantly recognized.

Avenged Sevenfold.