Picnic in the park (Slate attn Holly)

[Slate Cummings]

Slate had taken his brother and sister to the park for a picnic lunch and fresh air or as fresh as the air in California can be.

He had stopped at Subway for sandwiches for each of them. He had gotten his favorite, the meatball sub. The kids got the kids' meal complete with some cheap toy that would probably break within a day or two. He had also stopped and picked up extra drinks, just in case.

Once they reached the park, the kids took the food to a nearby picnic table while Slate set up a badmiton net, the afternoon activity. That certainly beat sitting at home and playing video games all day.

They ate their lunch and joked around for a bit.

"So is your girlfriend coming?" K.C. teased him.

"What? Who?" Slate replied innocently.

"She means Hol-ly," JD teased back. "The one you get all smoochy faced with!" He puckered up and gave air kisses.

Slate grinned. "You little stinker!" He went over and started to tickle his little brother. It was all in good nature.

The boys continued to rough house until JD exclaimed, "I gotta pee!" Slate let the poor kid up.

"Go on kiddo." Slate told him unaware that a certain blond had crept up on him.

[hollyknowles]

The weather was nice, though looking like it was going to cloud over and maybe rain later. If it held off long enough for Holly to meet Slate at the park, that would be good. Slate seemed to be a really good guy, he was sweet, funny, and his accent was delish. She really rather liked him. He made her laugh.

Hol had dressed in a simple pair of black jeans and a sleeveless forest green blouse. She wore her hair loose, hanging down her back in golden rivers. She looked good, and she knew it. Parking her Mustang in a parking lot not too far from the park itself, Holly headed out. She kept an eye out for Slate, remembering he said he was going to have his siblings with him. Siblings were something that the blond bombshell did not have to worry about. She was an only child and she liked it that way. No one to pull Mummy or Daddy's attention away.

Walking up behind the trio once she found them, Holly managed to keep her presence quiet as Slate tickled his little brother, letting him a moment later. She folded her long legs up as she took a seat in the grass next to Slate. "So..what's this I hear about smoochy faced?" She teased with a warm smile.

[Slate Cummings]

Slate froze when he heard the voice. How long had she been there and how much did she hear?

"So..what's this I hear about smoochy faced?"

Oh god! She had heard what JD had said. His face went a light shade of red. "Umm well, you know how kids are they like to say things they have no clue about." He laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'll go and wait for JD." KC teased as she walked away, she couldn't wait to get home and spill the beans to her folks! No amount of bribes could pay her off with this news!

"Go ahead, K, and keep him out of trouble. Understand me?" KC rolled her eyes. "I'll keep my eyes on him."

Once the two were gone, Slate sat there next to Holly. "I'm glad Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum didn't scare you off there, I'm happy to see you." There wasn't any secret that they had gone out a few times after a rocky first meeting. It wasn't until he played hero and saved her designer bag from a purse snatcher that things started to bloom.

"Saved a bit of lunch for you, if you want. I had to feed the monsters quickly."

[hollyknowles]

Holly had to smile. "Out of the mouth of babes right?" She tossed her hair back behind her shoulder as she made herself comfortable. "So..did you volunteer to watch them or did you get stuck doing it?" She asked. "The sibling dynamic is a new one to me...I'm an only..thank god." The blond beauty slanted a glance at the young man. "Not that there is anything wrong with them I'm sure..I just like having all the attention." She sent another bright smile over at the Southern boy.

"I think you'll find that it takes a lot to scare me away...I mean.." She trailed off, having been about to say that she'd been with Nick for a year, and his wrin Patch was a real doucebag. However, there was that rule about not bringing up your ex in front of a possible new guy. "I'm glad that you called me actually..I was gonna be sitting at home, watching movies all day." She smiled. "I'm happy to see you too.."

Slate mentioned having saved some of his lunch for her. "Oh..No, I think I'm ok..I had something before I left the house, since I wasn't sure what was going on today."

[Slate Cummings]

"Umm yeah that's it." Slate grinned. he stopped to watch her toss her hair over her shoulder, she had some finesse to it. It was like out of a shampoo commercial. "I volunteered to take them out. I figure its my brotherly duty. I just want them to remember times like this. I also think of it as sort of pre-parenting." Oh god, he did say it. Not that he wanted to be a poppa right away but it was something that sort of played in his mind.

"Anyone who'd scare you off isn't in their right mind." He countered, knowing he was right in that aspect. "Well maybe we can do that later, when I take the kids home." Slate knew he would love to have alone time with Holly. No brother and sister around or goofy kids from school. "But I leave that as your call." He didn't have much in dating experience but knew it best to let the lady make the decision.

"Ahh ok, that makes things easier then foodwise." How other guys did it, he had no idea. "And K.C. wanted to play badminton, its easy enough to play." He felt the tiny butterflies flittering about in his stomach.

[hollyknowles]

"It's nice that you offered to spend time with them, just don't get so caught up in sibling time that you forget about me." Holly smiled playfully over at him. "But honestly, it's cool that you spend time with them. You're a really good guy Slate." Hol gave him a real smile, leaning against him slightly.

"Pre-parenting huh?" She teased. "I don't know if I'd be a good mom...not any time soon anyway." She shrugged. "I have way too much I need to do before I introduce kids into my life."

Holly raised an eyebrow over at him. "Movies sound good...do you need to stay home with them or do you wanna come over?" She asked, picking a few blades of grass and toying with them slowly. "I think we need some more Us time...the other night was really nice." She smiled.

"Badminton hmm?" Holly grinned. "We could do a team thing...girls against you sad pathetic boys..or us against them..what do you think?" There was a playing sparkle to her blue eyes, almost challenging him. "We could put a wager on it.."

[Slate Cummings]

"They get my attention but not enough to take away from anything else." Slate told her. He grinned, the slight blush coming to his cheeks. "Its part of being a big brother, the part you never hear about until a little one comes along." He scooted in slightly closer to her. He didn't mind being a pillow, she felt comforting to him.

"I know the feeling, I want to be settled into life before I bring a kid into the world. Even though you see so many orphaned kids, I'd want to adopt over anything." This may have been more than what Holly wanted to know but this was how Slate felt.

"I can come over, just me and me alone. I know there'll be some protesting but it'll end shortly followed by some reasoning which will satisfy the younger two. Just say what time I should be over and I'll be there." Alone with Hol, that was a dream come true!

"Sad pathetic boy huh?" The grin turned to a sly one. "Your on!" He loved the challenge. "A wager, now you have me curious. Whats do you have in mind?"

[hollyknowles]

Holly smiled, enjoying the warmth from Slate's body. The wind had picked up a bit and it looked more like possible rain. She probably should have brought a jacket, but there wasn't anything in her current closet that matched what she had one. "I guess I'm missing that part, never got siblings, am good without them..." She grinned at the Southern boy.

"Adopting is good...I see you as a good dad..you're..really patient." She smiled. There were a few other qualities in Slate that Holly really liked. "Adoption is really good, so many people out there have kids that don't want them...I mean..you need a liscence to drive but not to have kids? It's wrong." She shrugged slightly. "it's like that one girl at school..the one on the crutches, rumor has it that her father beat the shit out of her..sad."


"We can take the rugrats out next weekend if you like?" Holly offered. "Maybe to a waterpark if the weather is good." Yeah, Holly had a thing for the guy obviously if she was willing to spend time with his younger counterparts. "What time can you be free of the ankle biters?" She asked. "My parents went to Tahoe for the weekend."

"Hmmm a wager...the loser could buy dinner tonight..or hmm the lower has to be the winners slave for the weekend..."

[Slate Cummings]

"I think when they fall into your life, it makes a difference. I was still in my single digits when K.C. and JD arrived so it was more of an honor to be their older brother. I suppose if they came later, I'd be more moody about the whole thing."

"You really think I"d make a good dad? I dunno in the right, or would that be wrong, situation, I can get a mouth like a sailor." He laughed, it was a side that rarely came through but it rear its ugly head once in awhile. "That's how I feel, and its given to the people something like once a year so there's no excuse for not studying up on everything." He listened quietly as she talked about the girl on crutches, he knew who she meant. "Between you and me, if I had witnessed that, the dad would be on crutches, not her."

"Sounds good to me, I'll have to see what my work schedule is like, waiting tables and getting a weekend off is rare! Today was a fluke." Had his fairy godmother been listening in? She was alone for the weekend! "As soon as we're done here, I'll drop them off and I'll be free."

"Slave for the weekend? I could go for that," He grinned and narrowed his eyes. "Hope your prepared to lose!"