In My Arms

“Kasey!” all the guys shouted as they ran into my room. First Brian hugged me and then Johnny. Next came Zacky but it was like he was being so careful because he barely touched me.
“You’re not gonna break me Zacky. I’m not that fragile.” I said laughing. Reluctantly he gave me a much bigger hug and I squeezed him as tight as I possibly could. Then Jimmy came and hugged be but he wouldn’t let go, and he squeezed me hard.
“Can’t breathe!” I gasped.
“Jimmy! Down!” Matt shouted like he was dog.
“Before you even move to get up, let me call the nurse.” Brian warned me. I nodded my head and Matt came and sat on my bed with me.
“I hope you got enough rest because you are never going to sleep again!” Matt joked with me. Once the nurse came by she took all of the wires off of me and took everything with her. Once I got showered and changed, I met the guys downstairs.
“Matt!” I called softly as we watched TV.
“Yeah squirt?” He said walking over to me. I motioned for him to bend down to my level and whispered in his hear. All of the guys had questionings looks but I went on anyways.
“Can you take me to see my sister?” I asked.
“Are you sure your ready for that?” He asked me softly. I nodded my head and he agreed.
“Hey guys we’ll be back in a bit.” He told them. He grabbed his keys and we headed out. On our way I stopped by a flower shop and got pink and blue flowers. After we found her grave he let be by myself for a while.
“I opened my eyes. You were right. All I needed do was feel love. I’ve always felt that with you. But never quite like I did with Matt and the guys. Now I know that they really do love me.” I said.
“These are for you; I know there your favorite.” I said laying down the flowers.
“Well I just wanted to say thank you for everything. Honestly you’ve been more of a mother to me than our actual mother. You always put me first, no matter what. And I love you for that. I know it’s going to be really hard to move on without you but I have a little peace knowing that you’re safe. I better go. I love you Sarah.” I said and stood up. Matt walked up to me and hugged me and we went home. When we got there only Zacky was to be found.
“Where is everyone?” Matt asked him.
“Everyone’s outback; we’re having a BBQ to celebrate that Kasey woke up!” He said grabbing a bunch of beers.
“Alright we’ll meet you out there.” He said. Once Zacky left, Matt turned to me.
“What do you say? Think you’re ready to put on a bathing suit and try to swim?” He asked me smiling.
“Promise you won’t let me drown?” I asked.
“I’ll always protect you Kasey.” He said. I nodded my head and headed up stairs to change but I stopped half way up the stairs.
“Hey Matt?” I called.
“Yeah hun?” He asked.
“Uh now that you’ve adopted me, can I call you d-dad?” I stuttered.
“Sweetie you don’t know how much I would love it if you called me dad.” He said. I smiled and ran down the stairs to hug him tightly.
“I love you Dad.” I said.
“I love you too, Kasey.” He said kissing my head.

*****

“Alright you ready Kasey?” Matt asked. I shook my head no, terrified of the water. While he held me up in the deep end, Zacky was out of the water filming us. Apparently, since this was my first time swimming they needed to capture it all on film.
“You’ll be fine. If you need me I’m right here.” He said.
“Ready? One, two, three, go.” Zacky said. Once he said go, Matt let go of me I started to kick my legs so I could float. I was actually doing it! I wasn’t drowning!
“Go Kasey!” Jimmy shouted.
“I’m coming in!” Johnny shouted and ran towards the pool. He made a huge splash causing me to try to cover my face so I wouldn’t be slapped by the water. When everyone got tired of swimming we had dinner and watched movies in the living room together. In the middle of Cheaper By The Dozen, my favorite movie, Matt got a call so he left for a few minutes.

Matt’s P.O.V.
“Hello?” I answered my phone.
“Hi, it’s Erica, Sarah’s mom.” A woman said into the phone.
“What can I do for you?” I sighed.
“Nothing. I just wanted to let you know that I’m mailing all of Kasey’s medical and dental papers over to you. The dentist called and said she’s do for a check-up. I just wanted to let you know.” She said.
“Ok, thanks for letting me know.” I said.
“Um- before you go, I just wanted to say thank you for taking care of Kasey. What we’ve put her through is terrible. She was my daughter and I let her down. But nothing can change what happened. She’s your daughter now, and she always will be. And I know that you love her a lot. Well, that’s all I wanted to say.” She said. I couldn’t believe it. She actually felt remorse for what she did. I never thought I would see the day.
“Thank you, for calling.” I said slowly. Once I hung up, I went back to the gang to see all of the guys passed out, but Kasey still awake.
“Do you think we should wake them up so they can go to bed?” I asked sitting next to her and putting my arm around her.
“We could. Or we could do something else?” She smirked.
“Oh really? And what would that be?” I asked her amused. She grabbed my hand and pulled me up from the couch, dragging me all the way up to her bathroom. I saw her grab a lot of stuff and then shove half of it into my arms.
“What’s all this make-up for?” I asked confused. That’s when a devious smile appeared on her face. Those guys were in for it.
“Let’s go.” She said. When we returned to the guys they were still passed out.
“So what exactly are you going to do?” I asked.
“Paint their faces. My sister had a lot of make-up and art supplies for her drama class. They had to learn how to create faces and she taught me.” She said simply.
“Let’s do Brian first.” She said. I nodded my head as she pulled out a bunch of stuff. A couple hours later everyone but Kasey and I had their faces painted. And each one of them were different.
“Now let’s go to sleep.” She yawned.
“Tired, finally?” I asked. She nodded her head and rubbed her eyes. I picked her up off the floor from where she finished Jimmy and set her on my hip. I had one arm under her bottom and the other resting on her back. As I was walking her towards her room she perked her head up.
“Can I sleep in your bed tonight?” She asked.
“Sure.” I said and she rested her head back on my shoulder. After we got changed, we got into my bed and fell fast asleep.I couldn't wait to see what the guys' reaction would be to their little make over.