Chapter Text
“Nooooooooooo…..”Ashlyn wails. “I don’t wanna go…………………”
Ali puts her hands on her hips and looks at her fiancée in disgust. “Seriously, Ash? It’s only one weekened….not even 48 hours. You can suck it up!”
“That kid is the devil incarnate!” Ashlyn points her finger at Ali. “Every time I see her she makes some sort of snotty comment about all the drawings on my arms. Last time I saw her, she told me that my new tattoo looked like a kindergartner drew all over my arm. Do you know how expensive that tattoo was?”
The “kid” that Ashlyn was referring to is Ali’s half-sister, Madison. Although Ali isn’t necessarily Madison’s biggest fan, Ashlyn was going to have to learn to get along with her. Especially since the wedding is three months away and Madison is in the wedding.
“She’s eight.” Ali grins. “She’s a pain in the ass but you’re essentially fighting with an eight year old.”
“She started it!” Ashlyn snaps, reluctantly picking up her duffel bag. “I will go but I swear to God…if she says one snotty thing about my newest tattoo I am going to throw her in the ocean.”
“Okay…okay…honey…” Ali says in a rather condescending tone as she gently pushes Ash towards the door. “
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The ride from D.C. to the Outer Banks is a long one. Traffic on 95 is a nightmare followed by even more nightmarish traffic into Kill Devil Hills. By the time they arrive to the beach house, Ashlyn is cranky.
“Be nice.” Ali warns as they step up to their dad’s beach house. Every summer Ali’s dad, his wife Vicky, and Madison rent out the beach house for two weeks. All the kids, including Kyle and Ali’s two stepbrothers try to make it down for at least a weekend.
“One word, Al…”Ashlyn says through gritted teeth.
Ali rolls her eyes as she lightly knocks on the door.
“Oh….you’re here! I’m so glad you’re here!” Vicky immediately opens the door, grabs Ali then Ashlyn into a warm hug. “Ken! Ken, Ali and Ashlyn are here!”
“Good to see you.” Ali grins. Although she is very close to her own mom, Deb, Vicky is as good as they come in regards to stepmoms.
“Madison is just so excited to see you.” Vicky says as she ushers them into the living room.
“Oh I bet.” Ashlyn says with a fake smile. Ali, in turn, gives her a warning look.
“There’s my big girl!” Ken gets up from the couch and reaches out to hug his daughter. He then does the same with Ashlyn. “You ladies must be hungry. Vicky steamed some crabs and we thought we would have dinner out on the porch. Should be done in about a half hour.”
“Sounds great.” Ashlyn scans the room for Devil Incarnate. Usually she is lurking around somewhere.
“Can I get you something to drink in the meantime?” Ken offers.
“Bourbon and Coke if you have it?” Ashlyn says.
“Figures. You will be drunk before dinner like last time.” A platinum blond heads pops out of nowhere. Madison.
Ashlyn shoots Ali a knowing look then slaps on a fake smile. “Ha! Good memory! How are you doing Madison?” If it had been any other kid, she would have scooped them up in a bear hug but this kid, although insanely beautiful, was un-huggable.
“Fair. The kids in my class are mostly idiots. There is one that still pees himself.” Madison says matter-of-factly.
Ken gives them a sheepish look. “Madison, we talked about this. Some kids have weak bladders so you need to be kind and NICE.”
“He needs to be nicer to us and stop peeing his pants. He smells like Great Aunt Helen’s cat’s litter box.” She retorts.
“Hey, I brought you something, sweetheart,” Ali says suddenly, bending over to give Madison a hug. Madison skirts around the hug and looks Ali square on with her light blues eyes.
“Is it another soccer jersey because I have been dying to get my thirtieth soccer jersey.”
“Madison!” Ken says sharply. “What has gotten into you?”
Madison’s face colors slightly. “Sorry.”
Ali touches Madison’s beautiful, light blond hair. “It’s okay. Why don’t I get that out for you? It’s in my suitcase. And, yes, it is a tee-shirt.”
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Dinner, despite the sour look on Madison’s face, is somewhat enjoyable. By the time dessert comes around, Tanner and Cody, Ali’s stepbrothers, arrive. Tanner works for Bank of America in Charlotte and Cody is in law school, so Ali rarely gets to catch up with them.
“I’m so glad to see you guys!” Ali exclaims, jumping up to hug them.
“Dad,” Madison says suddenly.
“Yeah, baby?” Ken reaches out to touch Madison’s face.
“My stomach doesn’t feel very good, I think I’m going to skip dessert and go to bed.”
“Really?” Vicky frowns slightly, reaching out to touch Madison’s forehead. “You don’t feel warm. What’s the matter?”
“Um…stomachache.” Madison says quickly.
“Okay. I will be up to tuck you in soon.” Vicky says.
“Or we could have Ali do it,” Ken suggests. “You never get to see your big sister and it would give you a chance to talk for a minute.”
“No thanks. Would rather have mom do it.” Madison says unapologetically, not even looking in Ali’s direction.
“It’s okay. We can catch up on the beach tomorrow.” Ali winks.
“Sure.” Madison looks at Ashlyn. “Maybe Ashlyn can scare away all the sharks with her scary tattoos.”
“Madison!” Vicky and Ken say simultaneously.
Madison’s face flushes slightly.
“Apologize right now!” Ken snaps.
“Sorry.” Madison flips her long hair across her tanned shoulder and gets up from the table. “Night everybody.”
Ken shakes her head as Madison slinks away. “I’m sorry, Ash, Ali. She’s a really sweet kid most of the time. I don’t know why she gets like this when you guys are around. Maybe she’s just showing off, trying to impress you?”
Ashlyn takes a swig of her bourbon and thinks to herself, “Maybe she needs a swift kick in the ass.”
“So….who’s up for cards?” Vicky says, trying to cut through the uncomfortable silence.
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As Ashlyn predicted, Madison spent the entire weekend being a little tyrant. When they played volleyball on the beach, Madison aimed the ball right at Ashlyn’s head-the whole game. One time the ball even hit Ashlyn squarely in the nose. When they went for a walk on the beach, Madison made a comment about how Ashlyn’s tattoos scared off a small group of children digging in the sand. When they rode their bikes for ice cream, Madison kept slamming her bike into Ali’s bike. Finally, Ali snapped and told her to knock off. Then Madison started crying, making Ali feel bad. When everyone sat down for crab, Madison’s mallet accidently found its way to Ashlyn’s pinky fingers. Vicky had to throw ice in a bag to keep down the swelling.
When it was time to go home, Ashlyn hurried to the car before Madison could plot anymore.
“Ash, I’m so sorry.” Ali said once they were on the road. “She’s been a little mean before but she was a total ass this weekend.”
“Tell me about it.” Ashlyn held up her injured pinky finger.
“Awwww, babe, let me see it….” Ali gingerly grabbed her pinky finger and kissed it. “At least the good news is that we don’t see her very often, except for Thanksgiving.” Even though Ali lives 30 minutes away, Madison is never interested in doing anything with her. When she was smaller, three or four, she jumped on any outing with Ali. Granted Ali didn’t have a whole lot of time to spare but when she did she would take her out to the soccer field to kick the ball around or take her to the zoo in D.C.
“She’s not evil like this with Tanner and Cody.” Ashlyn adds bitterly. “What is her beef with me? Kids usually love me.”
“I don’t know.” Ali gently rubs Ashlyn’s finger. “She doesn’t really like me either so don’t feel too bad.”
“True.” Ashlyn leans back in the passenger seat. “So, do you think we can stop at a liquor store on the way home? Since you’re driving, I think I need a cold one.”
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A week later, Ashlyn unexpectedly shows up at Ali’s practice. Ashlyn plays for Orlando so she splits her time between D.C. and Florida. This week happened to be a partial week off, so Ashlyn hopped a plane to see her one and only.
“Hey! This is a great surprise!” Ali runs over and hugs Ashlyn. “Thought you were working out.”
“Ali….you haven’t gotten anyone’s messages?” Ashlyn holds Ali at arm length, her face paler than normal.
“Um no. My phone is on the bench and we’ve been drilling. What’s wrong?” Ali brushes away a sweaty piece of hair that has escaped from her bun.
“Kyle called me…..”Ashlyn voice cracks. “Oh god Ali…..I don’t know how to tell you this…”
“Tell me what?” Ali’s heart begins to race. “Is something wrong with Kyle?”
“No….”Ashlyn eyes fill up with tears.
“Then what is it?” Ali can start to feel herself getting irritated.
“Your dad and Vicky were killed in a car accident last night. They stopped off for food on a remote exit off of 95. As they were headed back to the highway a drunk driver hit them head on.” Ashlyn lets her own tears fall as she watches Ali’s knees buckle underneath her. Quickly, Ashlyn grabs her by the underarms, and pulls her into a tight hug. “I’m so sorry, Al.”
Ali pushes her away so that she can see her face. “What about Madison?”
“Madison is alive.” Ashlyn rubs Ali’s arms. “She’s at the children’s hospital in Richmond. From what Kyle said, she has bruises from the seatbelt, some cuts from the glass, but she’s going to be okay.”
Ali processes this for a moment then collapses into Ashlyn’s arms sobbing.