Surprised? So Am I...

[Tori]

Since the lock-up at home, unpacking and such, Katie thought it was time to get her boys out of the house and into the fresh air before they got a little too out-of-control. Especially Kyle, who was running ahead of Katie holding onto Kyle's twin brother, Connor, who was curled up in her arms sucking his thumb. "Kyle! Come here!" Katie shouted, when all Kyle did was look back with a blank face as Katie grabbed hold of his hand. "You run off like that again, we'll go home, you hear?" she scolded the little boy, who seemed to just be pouting.

Finally making it over to the playground and explaining to the boys to stay close to where she could see them, Katie let them both head off. Kyle being the first to climb into the sandbox immediately digging a hole like a little puppy, tossing sand out of the box and onto the grass. While meanwhile, Connor hadn't moved an inch from when Katie set him down. He looked over at his crazy brother then back at his mother raising his chubby arms up, wanting to be held some more. "Connor, go play. Let mommy sit by herself for a little while." with that, Connor didn't give up, he tugged on Katie's pant legs, whining. "Connor, you're okay. Go play with your brother." she repeated, gently wiping away her child's hands off of her, nudging him along to play with his twin. Leaving with a whine and pout, Connor gave up, and toddled on over to the sandbox where his brother seemed to be rolling around in the sand now.

Katie watched her boys a while, making sure they were getting along today, since some days Kyle like to poke and bug Connor, today didn't seem to be one of those days. She watched the twins build little towers and castles out of the sand, tossing it around, having fun like little one year old boys do. Katie sighed, leaning back on the bench she was sitting on, leaning her head back to try to catch some of the warm sun coming her way from behind the clouds.

[Dani]

Nick made his way towards the playground, willingly allowing himself to be led by his excited younger brother and sister. Most people would have minded having their arms nearly yanked out of their sockets by two little kids, but he didn't mind at all. Sammy and Molly had been through a traumatic ordeal, not with only the hurricane, but with moving to a new town as well. Having moved to a new town himself when he was Sammy's age and having witnessed a tornado just a short year later, he could certainly sympathize.

As soon as Sammy saw the sandbox, his eyes immediately lit up and he began running faster, causing Nick and Molly to nearly trip. "Jolleeeeee!!!!" he yelled excitedly, still showing signs of the broken French that the speech therapist couldn't completely eliminate from his vocabulary. Nick shook his head and laughed. Clearly his speed was no match for a four year old's. "Go on ahead little man," he said, releasing Sammy's hand and prodding him along.

As soon as they reached the sandbox, Sammy immediately went right to work digging a hole in the sand with his tiny hands. The bigger that the hole got, the bigger that his smile grew. Molly, amused by her brother's antics, joined in as well, throwing the sand up in the air and laughing happily. Happy that his siblings had settled in nicely, Nick made his way over to the bench, stopping dead in his tracks when he saw who else was sitting there. Katie? She lives here too? Are we still on for our date? So many urgent questions formed in his brain, yet he couldn't ask them, not yet anyways. Before he could find out if he still had a chance with her, he first needed to find out if she remembered him at all. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he strolled up to the bench and stood in front of her. "Hey," he said a bit reluctantly.

[Tori]

Connor was the first to notice two new rugrats hopping into the sandbox throwing sand beside them. Babbling with sand flying throughout the air as he pounded his little hands against the sand, he crawled over to the little girl, who had been tossing around sand as well, and joined in with her. While Kyle on the other hand, didn't notice the others like Connor had, and continued rolling in the sand making sand angels and giggling.

Laying out in the warm sun, her head tilted back filling up the warmth of the sun as much as she could for the day before they had to leave. All things changed then when someone decided to stand in Katie's shade then. Katie furrowed her eyebrows, her eyes still shut, thinking maybe if she hinted at them they would move. "Hey, whoever is my sun, you better mov--" she was interrupted suddenly at the mysterious shadow's voice. Her ears perking up, as she finally opened up her eyes. It was him! I'd know that self-conscious voice anywhere! "Oh. Hey you." she replied with a charming smile. "Didn't think I'd see you in this town."

[Dani]

Molly smiled at the little boy and happily tossed more sand in the air. After throwing a few more handfuls of sand in the air, she balled up some in her tiny fist and handed it to the boy. "Heeere," she said, trying to keep the sand from falling out of her hand. Sammy, fascinated by what the other boy was doing, rolled around in the sand and tried to mimic him.

Nick sighed as he watched his siblings become one with the sandbox. He knew his mom would have a fit once she got a load of exactly how much sand Sammy had managed to accumulate in his hair over the course of a single afternoon. Oh well, at least they're having fun, he thought to himself. Focusing his attention back on the beautiful girl sitting before him, he smiled and sat down on the bench next to her. "Yeah, I didn't expect to see you here either," he said. "But I'm sure glad that I did."

[Tori]

Connor laughed and cooed at the little girl's excitement. Smiling widely back as she handed him some sand that was quickly sprinkling back on the ground as she held it out to him. "Sand!" Connor squeaked, grabbing the last bit of sand that was left, tossing it back in the air giggling and kicking his legs excitedly, before grabbing a handful of sand himself, handing it back over to the little girl as she had done for him. "Sand?"
Watching his brother toss sand over his head, Kyle laughed as well, until noticing another little boy seeming to copy what he was doing by rolling around in the sand. He laughed, as he continued rolling around, sand getting all in his hair and possibly some in his pants and shoes too.

Katie looked over to where Nick was, seeing that her boys were having some fun over there. She gave a small giggle and a slight shake of her head before turning back to Nick with a sweet grin towards his last comment. "I'm actually glad you ran into me too. I mean, I was starting to worry about you. What happened to MABtown and all. I'm just glad you're alright though." she smiled up to him, lowering her arms from across the top of the bench down to her sides, her hand just inches from his.

[Dani]

Molly squealed happily as the boy handed her some sand in return. "Yay!" she yelled excitedly, as she stretched out her little hand to accept what she could of the sand. "Tank cue!" She sat down in the sandbox and started making tiny piles of sand with her hands. To anybody else, it would have just looked like a bunch of dirty old sand, but to Molly, it looked like a masterpiece. “Britty!” she exclaimed, smiling up at the boy. At the sound of Molly’s voice, Sammy stopped rolling around in the sand and went over to join her. “Wanna play?” he asked, holding out a handful of sand to the other two boys as an open invitation.

“You were worried about me?” Nick asked, a huge spark of amusement forming in his blue eyes. “That’s good, because I was kind of worried about you too.” Relieved that she had remembered him, he placed his hand on top of hers. Ordinarily he would have been reluctant to do so, but considering what had happened between them at the movie theater back in Mabtown, he figured that there was no harm in holding her hand. “Did you know that if you call directory assistance and don’t know the person’s last name, they’re pretty much useless?” he asked with a grin. “And did you know that there are one hundred and eighty five people named Katie in this town, plus three other neighboring towns?”

[Tori]

Connor only smiled as the little girl took what was left of the sand from his hand and thanked him. He continued creating the tower of sand with the girl, feeling just as proud of it as she was. Then suddenly twisting his little body over slightly seeing the other boy toddle on over along with Kyle. Connor frowned slightly, he just had a feeling that his brother was going to either stomp or somehow wreck the "sandcastle" he had worked so hard on making. Just like how he always wrecked everything he had made. Weirdly enough though, Kyle didn't. Instead, he grinned at the little boy holding out another handful of sand slowly piling back onto the ground, grabbing what was left in his hand, and toddled over to the pile to pour it on the castle the other two were making. "Coo'!" Kyle screeched, obviously meaning to say 'Cool', while Connor sat between him and the girl clapping his hands proudly giggling.

Simply nodding, Katie smiled even deeper hearing that he had worried just as much for her. "You really did?" she shockingly asked, glancing down at her hand now underneath his own, looking back up into his gorgeous blue eyes shining back at her. She giggled, hearing how many Katie's there actually were around here, realizing just then that she never told him her last name. Then again, she didn't know why she would in the first place, they had only met one other time. "Really, now?" she laughed, "And I bet none of them are as cute or hot as me. Am I right?" she chuckled, flipping her chocolate colored hair back with her other hand as extra amusement for him to smile about. She loved the attention anyway. So she might as well keep it coming, right?

[Dani]

Molly smiled as the two little boys joined in to help her with her sandcastle. She had never undertaken the difficult task of attempting to build one all by herself and didn't think that she would be able to accomplish it. Almost satisfied with the outcome, she plopped a final handful of sand on the pile and stood back to look at her hypothetical castle in amazement. "Yay!" she said, clapping her tiny little hands. Sammy, not wanting to be outdone by his sister, also tossed a handful of sand onto the pile. "All done!" he said proudly.

Nick blushed and nodded his head. His desperation to find her had seemed almost comical to him, but after hearing himself recount the tale to her aloud, he realized how creepy it sounded. "Yeah, I did," he admitted, trying to downplay what he had done. "Apparently Katie's not just a beautiful name, it's a popular name too. Funny thing is, you're only the second person that I've met in my entire life named that." His blush grew deeper at her next question. Well, seeing as you're the most beautiful girl that I've ever seen in recent memory, I'll have to agree with you..... "Th-they don't really provide descriptions of the people," he said. "Even if you give them one..." He gulped, recalling the snickering of his sister in the background while he had described "an attractive girl with long silky brown hair and big blue eyes" to the person on the other end of the line. "Yeah, you're right."

[Tori]

Cooing with excitement of the finished sandcastle, Connor clapped his little hands along with Molly at their job well done. He looked down at the sand then, eying a tiny rock half-buried in the sand, and picked it up, thinking the castle needed a "flag" to top it all off. Connor stood up on his two feet carefully, toddling closer over to the top of the pile of sand, carefully placing the tiny rock on the very tip top. "Ta-da!" he squealed, plopping his bottom back on the sand, clapping his sandy hands together in excitement. Kyle laughed and cooed along with his brother, until the wheels in his head started to turn suddenly. A bit wobbly, he toddled over to the castle next, grinning one of his evil baby looks he liked to give before terrorizing something amazing, and he lifted his foot, kicking the pile of sand towards the outside of the sandbox, laughing hysterically as he fell back towards the ground as he had lost his balance kicking. With his twin brother covering his face as the sand flew towards him. "Noo!" he cried out sadly, kicking his feet in frustration.

Katie let out a grin, chuckling lightly as the red on Nick's face grew deeper as he spoke. "Aw, that's so sweet." she replied, acting all modest with him. She laughed at his answer towards her last question then, pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear as he spoke. "Of course I'm right." she grinned, flipping her hair back, "When am I not right." Katie teased with him, squeezing his hand lightly before catching a cry come from one of her boys from the sandbox. Not knowing what had really happened, and seeing as Connor hadn't called his mother over yet, she just rolled her eyes looking back at Nick again. "So what made you come to the park today, anyway? Or were you just stalking me?" she gave a light laugh, clearly teasing him at the last question given.

[Dani]

Molly, angry that her masterpiece had been completely ruined by the little boy, stuck out her lip and began to pout, hoping that he would have some sort of sympathy for her. It seemed to work really well for her at home. Anytime she wanted something, all she had to do was pout and her mommy would get it for her. Realizing this, she got up and ran in the direction of Nick. Her mommy wasn't here right now, so her older brother would have to do. Feeling horrible for the crying boy, Sammy picked up a handful of sand and walked over to him. “Again?” he asked, a hopeful smile crossing his face as he held out his other hand to help the boy up.

Nick’s face remained red as Katie playfully accused him of stalking her. He knew that she was only joking, but given his previous story, Katie had every reason to think that he was a stalker. Before he could attempt to explain himself again, he caught sight of Molly running towards him, looking as though she were about to burst into tears any second. “Nickeeeeee!!!!” Letting go of Katie’s hand for a second, Nick scooped his little sister up and placed her on his lap. “Awwww what’s wrong Molly?” he asked, rubbing her head and allowing her to rest her head on her chest. He turned back to Katie and chuckled nervously. “I’m here with my little sister and brother,” he said, pointing to Molly and gesturing towards Sammy playing in the sandbox with the two boys. Holding Molly close to him with one hand, he reclaimed Katie’s hand with the other one. “Are those your brothers?”

[Tori]

Still kicking his legs through frustration, Connor looked up to find Molly running to an older boy who was sitting next to his mother. He stared blankly for a bit longer until his stare was interrupted with Sammy's hand full of sand popping up in front of his face, causing him to flinch some. "Ah!" he screeched, all smiles again, as he grabbed his own fist-full of sand piling up a new 'castle' while Kyle was busy making sand angels on the other side of the sand box, a smile still stuck on his face showing how proud he was for what he had done.

Katie watched as Nick's face continued to glow redder, and she was about to tease him about it, when a little girl came running into his arms. Wrinkling her forehead at first, not sure what to make this moment, she was soon told that the little girl was his sister as well as the little boy in the sandbox being his brother. "Aw.." she smiled, looking over to the sandbox at his next question pointed towards herself, causing her to laugh some. "Ohh, no. Their not my brothers." she laughed lightly, biting her lip a little, completely forgetting that he had no idea that she was in fact, a mother. A mother of twins to be exact. "Um, their my..sons." she said in more of a hushed tone, just imagining the chaos in her head of what would happen next. How will he react? Will he leave me, just because I'm a teen mother?

[Dani]

Sammy happily began to help the boy pile sand to create the new castle. This one would be bigger and better than the previously demolished one and would be one hundred percent secure against intruders. In his four year old imagination, he could already envision a big wall surrounding it completely. The only people that would have access to his castle were him, the boy sitting next to him, a bunch of kings and queens, and possibly his mommy. Molly, having forgotten completely about the fate of her sandcastle, cuddled up on Nick’s lap, a content smile on her tiny face.

Believing Katie’s statement to be another one of her random jokes, Nick nearly burst out laughing at her. However, as her words began to replay in his brain a few seconds later, he begun to doubt himself. At first, it wasn’t so much what she’d said; it was how she’d said it. If she was really joking with him, then why was she whispering like it was some carefully guarded secret? This thought process eventually led him to several other questions. How old was she? By the looks of her, he thought she was around his age, but he could have been wrong. Then again, Mabtown had been filled with several girls his age and younger that had kids, so they still could have been the same age. Still confused, he glanced quickly over at the two adorable little boys playing in the sand with his brother, his brain plagued with questions. He wasn’t exactly sure what to ask first or if he even had the right to ask anything. “Really?” he managed to say, his grip loosening slightly on her hand. It wasn’t that he wanted to stop holding her hand, he just felt weird doing it in front of her kids.

[Tori]

With Kyle continuing to roll around in the sand, getting his hair even more covered in sand than before, like that was even possible, Connor continued piling up their new castle. He clenched his tiny fists into the sand, putting in one more clump of sand on top before finding a new flag to stick on top. He grabbed the twig, half buried in the sand and stuck a tiny leaf into one of the outer branches of the twig, finally sticking the new flag back on top of the new castle, clapping his hands with excitement once again. "Yay!" he cheered, turning around to see Kyle still busy on the other side getting dirty. He squinted his eyes into what he called a glare, turning back around towards the castle, clutching more sand into his fists piling up a secure wall surrounding the castle, thinking it would stop Kyle from terrorizing the second built castle.

At first, Katie furrowed her eyebrows, a bit confused at how Nick first responded to her having two one year old twin sons. She was about to say something, to try to convince that she was telling the truth, but beating her to it, Nick let out a simple 'Really?' sounding as though he was beginning to believe her after all. "Yeah..." she slowly nodded back, glancing down at their hands soon starting to slip apart. Which is something she was expecting, really. Taking another deep breath, looking back at him, face to face, eye to eye, she responded back, "Yes. I, Katie Fosterling, indeed have two one year old sons when I, myself, am only 18. And I couldn't care less about what you think. There my boys, and as much as I didn't want to become a mother this young, I still love them." she finished, making sure she included every detail before he could continue staring at her like she was insane or stupid.

[Dani]

Sammy cheered enthusiastically when the little boy placed the makeshift flag on top of their new and improved castle. The little boy was a genius as far as he was concerned. He hadn’t even thought of putting flags on the castle; he was mostly concerned about protecting it from dangerous prowlers. Casting a worried glance towards the other little boy rolling around in the sand, he continued to combine mounds of sand together in anticipation of the big wall.

Despite having already figured out the truth about Katie, Nick was still shocked to an extent when she spoke up and admitted it right to his face. “I…I….” he stuttered, wanting to kick himself in the head for his previous reaction. Given the circumstances, it was normal for him to be surprised, but he hadn’t meant to give the impression that he was upset or that he thought any less of her. He promptly cleared his throat and began to explain himself. “Katie,” he said, his eyes still locked with hers. “I know you said that you don’t care what I think, but I’m going to tell you anyways. I think that you’re still one of the most interesting girls that I’ve ever met. I think that the fact that you have two kids is surprising. I think it would be really stupid and insensitive of me to not go out with you just because of them. I think that we should still go out sometime, but only if you want to. I think that your kids are really adorable. I think that it’s a good thing that you said your full name just now because then I know how to find you in case another natural disaster occurs. I think…..” Realizing exactly how much he had said, he turned away from her, trying to hide his bright red face. “I think a lot of things….”

[Tori]

After a few more glares at his twin, Connor continued his piling of sand for the giant wall to protect their newly built castle. He clapped his hands a couple times when finished, to wipe off the rest of the sand off of his hands, before clapping for real this time showing his excitement for their accomplishment. "Wee!" Connor squealed, kicking his legs in the sand ecstatic that they had finally done it. And without any interruptions by Kyle, who had given up on rolling in the sand and was now babbling some song to himself while burying his little, chubby looking legs in the sand for his own enjoyment.

When Katie first heard Nick's stutter for words, all she wanted to do right then was turn the other way from him, and simply give him the silent treatment. Maybe even curse a few words at him. But instead, once Nick had found the words to speak, Katie listened more intensively at what he had to say. Damn, he thinks too hard. was Katie's first thought to his little speech he gave. Though, at the same time, she thought it was sort of sweet the way he handled the situation. Clearly, he hasn't exactly dealt with a so-called girlfriend like her before, especially when suddenly finding out that so-called girlfriend was a teen mother of twin boys. At the end of his little speech, Katie let out a soft giggle, a light smirk showing a little bit as well. "You know what I think?" she asked him back, but before he even had time to ask why, she leaned over to him, careful to not squish his sister in his arms, giving him a small peck on the lips before whispering, "I think you're one of the most amazing guys out there. Cute, and sweet. And I think that we should go out sometime." finishing with that sentence, she kissed him once more on the lips, pressing her lips harder and even longer than the last kiss she gave him.