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Chapter 14:

Chase creaked back up the stairs quietly. He had a small grin on his face as he reached the top and walked a few feet down the hall and stopped at their door. The door was open a crack and he peered in, seeing that they were both asleep still. He felt a small giggle escape his lips when he heard Howie snore a bit, but he clamped his hand over his mouth childishly, his brown eyes sparkling.

His little hand reached out to the doorknob and he pushed the door open farther. He jumped back a little when Nastasia turned over in bed, but kept sleeping. Then he began taking small steps toward the bed. He grinned and then sprung onto the bed. " WAKE UP! WAKE UP! " he shouted as he bounced the bed a little.

Nastasia shot up in bed with surprise as Alexandria began to cry, and Howie fell out of the bed, smacking his head on the edge of the nightstand.

" Shit! What the heck?! " Howie swore groggily as he brought a numb hand up to his aching forehead. He looked up to see Chase now standing in the middle of the room, frozen in place, looking scared to death. " Damnit Chase... "

Chase looked from his aunt to his uncle, as his bottom lip began to quiver. He hadn't meant any harm, and the look Howie gave him, scared him. Without a word, he bolted out of the room.

Howie balanced himself with the bed to stand up and kept his other hand up to his forehead. He looked over to see Nastasia cuddling Alexandria and trying to comfort her. He grumbled and sat down on the edge of the bed and rubbed the back of his neck, then he turned around to face his wife and daughter. Alexandria was still fussing a little, but not as bad as a minute ago.

" Are you ok? " Nastasia asked gently as she brought a hand up to examine his forehead.

" Yeah, I'm fine, " Howie replied, gently brushing her hand away. He smiled slightly and gave his daughter a small kiss. " I'll be right back, " he whispered and walked out of the room. His body felt stiff as he walked down the hall towards one of the guest rooms, the one Chase always stayed in. It was probably from lack of sleep that night. He walked up to the door and found it to be shut. He opened it and found Chase laying on the bed, his face down in a pillow.

" Hey Chase, sorry I yelled. You sorta scared me, that's - "

" You're mean! " Chase said angrily, glaring back at Howie.

" I didn't mean to yell buddy... "

" You're mean! " Chase repeated again as he pushed past Howie and ran out of the room, the anger seething through his dark eyes.

Howie stood there for a minute as Chase dissappeared around the corner. He sighed and walked out of the room, heading back into his and Nastasia's room. He found that Nastasia was in the bathroom and taking a shower so he walked through the connecting door and into the nursery where he found Alexandria standing up in her crib. She began to coo as Howie walked up to the crib.

He leaned down and rested his arms on the crib railings and stared into his daughter's sparkling green eyes. He could see Nastasia so much in them, she was like her mother in so many ways. She smiled brightly as she placed a tiny kiss on the tip of Howie's nose.

" Am I mean? " he asked as he rested his head on his arms. " Do you think Daddy's mean? "

Alexandria wrapped her tiny arms around Howie's neck in response, giving him a baby hug. Howie hugged his daughter and picked her up, cradling her in his arms. He gave her a raspberry on her tummy and laughed as she squealed.

*****

Lauren cuddled on the end of the couch as she sipped on her cup of coffee and stared lazily at the infomercial that was on tv. Chase walked past her and sat at the other end of the couch. He had a sulking expression on his face.

" What's wrong you? " she asked, offering her son a smile. He didn't answer her, only stared ahead. " Chazzie? "

" Nothing, " Chase pouted.

" Ok, if you say so, " Lauren laughed.

Howie came pounding down the stairs with Alexandria in his arms. He walked over to the play pen and placed her down, then he walked over and bent down in front of Chase. " You still mad? "

" Mean! " was the only word that came out of Chase.

" I'm sorry buddy. I shouldn't have yelled. "

" You're mean! " Chase said and pushed Howie.

Howie lost his balance and fell backwards, landing on his behind, a semi-surprised look on his face.

Lauren looked at her son with surprise. " That was very mean, Chase. You need to apologize to Howie right now. "

" No! " Chase shouted.

" Chase Alexander McLean! " Lauren ordered, her voice raising.

" No! "

" Go up to your room Chase. "

" No! "

" Chase Alexander McLean, now! "

Tears formed in Chase's brown eyes as he looked at Lauren angrily, then ran off up the stairs.

" I'm really sorry about that Howie... "

" It's no problem. "

" No, he shouldn't have done that. I'll talk to him about it. "

" Lauren...don't worry about it. It's ok, I'm at fault for this anyways, " Howie explained as he stood up.

" You're at fault? What do you mean? " Lauren asked with confusion.

" I kinda snapped at him a little bit ago, and I shouldn't have, so I'll go talk to him in a little bit. Don't worry about it. Where'd J go? "

" He headed home about an hour ago to change clothes. You guys have that meeting with your management in 3 hours. The guys left earlier this morning too. "

" Oh yeah, alright. Watch Alexia for me while I go upstairs? Stazzie should be down in a little bit. She's taking a shower. "

" Sure thing. "