SF Chapter 09: TAHM Pilot III
The next morning, at the house in Malibu, Daniel and Lauren were in his bedroom, no longer in the guest room where they had started their night activities.
"Oh, Lauren, you are so beautiful," Daniel said as he gently caressed her face.
He kept stroking her, moving from the top of her face down to her cheek, and then lightly tucking her hair to the side.
He did the same on the other side, tucking her hair behind her ear.
"Why don't you look at me?" he asked affectionately.
Her head, which had been moving up and down, finally lifted. She opened her eyes and a bit shyly looked at him.
"Nothing like a morning blowing," he smirked.
Like a gentleman, he returned the favor afterward.
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After their morning activities, Lauren left through the other door in Daniel's bedroom, the one that led straight outside.
She felt a little shy to have breakfast here, since it wouldn't be just her sister and Dani's brother.
Even worse, her sister had "abandoned" her - not that she would have wanted to go, at the time she had left.
As for Daniel, he took a shower, brushed his teeth, and then went to the living room, already expecting other guests to be there - most likely his younger nephew, Jake and his mother.
He assumed that because he had seen that someone had tried to enter his bedroom.
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In the living room, Alan was sitting across from his wife and suggested, "Now, what I think you need to do is make a list."
"On one side, put what you don't like about our marriage," he said, gesturing to part of the notebook with his hand, "and on the other side, what you do."
Judith replied, anguished, "Alan, sometimes when I think about coming home to you, I start crying in my car."
He blinked. "Okay, that would probably go on the 'don't' side."
Charlie, who was coming down the stairs with his nephew by his side, argued with him, "Why would I lie? The ocean is closed today."
Judith promptly scolded Charlie when she saw what he was wearing. "For God's sake, do you think you could put some pants on?"
"Look at me, Judy." He gestured toward his own body as he came down the stairs. "I could barely make it down the stairs."
But right after that, she became even more irritated. "Daniel, couldn't you put on more than just shorts?"
Daniel, who was basically wearing only shorts and flip-flops, shirtless, said smiling, "I certainly could. I have plenty in my closet." He answered literally, completely ignoring Judith's glare.
Then he smiled. "Jake, buddy, long time no see." The two of them bumped fists.
"Uncle Dan, you already have a superhero six-pack?" He looked impressed as he stared at his uncle's body.
"Yep, and one more thing," Daniel said, doing a few magic tricks with his hand, sparks coming out of his fingers.
"Cooool!" Jake exclaimed.
"Daniel is just a show off," Charlie scoffed.
"Don't be moody, bro," his brother replied, then provoked him, "or I'll tell you what I just got this morning, which will make you even moodier."
"Daniel, Charlie," Alan looked at the two brothers and asked, "could you take Jake?" He gestured toward the deck.
"Sure," Daniel agreed. "Come on, Jake, I'll teach you some magic tricks. Let the adults talk about boring stuff."
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On the deck, Jake and Charlie were sitting on the beach chairs, while Daniel stood nearby, leaning against the railing.
Jake commented, a bit sadly, "My mom and dad are splitting up."
"Yeah. It looks that way," Charlie agreed, as he poured an alcoholic drink into his juice.
"You're lucky. When I was your age, I could only dream about my parents splitting up," he added, sipping his drink.
"Yep," Daniel agreed as well. "I was even luckier, since my parents split up when I was three years old. Fortunately, I barely remember them together."
"Hey, Uncle Jay was a good one," Charlie chimed in. "I was, and I'd be okay calling him Dad."
"Yeah, my dad is aweeesome," Daniel remarked proudly. "And he more than deserves Mami Gloria. Let the old man have a happy wife for once."
"This is so confusing," Jake complained about their messed-up family tree. He looked at them again. "But your mom is my grandma."
"Yep," Charlie nodded.
"Grandma says you're a bitter disappointment." He looked at Charlie and finished, "and she said Uncle Dan is only the best because the other two don't help themselves at all."
Daniel completely ignored the comment. Charlie just took another sip of his drink.
Alan stepped out onto the deck. "Hey, son, your mom wants to say goodbye." He patted his son on the shoulder and urged him to go.
Jake stood up and went inside to say goodbye, leaving the deck behind.
Alan sighed. "Listen, he doesn't know what's really going on, so let's just keep this to ourselves."
Daniel and Charlie exchanged looks.
The younger one finally spoke nodding. "Our little secret."
Charlie pointed inside, toward his nephew. "Why is he saying goodbye to her?"
Alan paused for a moment, then replied, "She's going to be spending the weekend with her sister in Vegas."
"What?" Daniel looked at his brother in disbelief. "She goes to Vegas? And we stay here with a kid?" He nudged Charlie. "We're on the losing team. Can we still switch sides?"
Alan shot him a look, while Charlie chuckled, but then asked, once it finally sank in, "So Jake is staying here?"
"Is this going to be a problem?" Alan asked.
Jake came back out onto the deck, smiling. "I'm hungry."
Charlie looked at his nephew for a moment, then sighed. "I guess not…"
"Thanks. Listen, I've got to call my office. Would you mind making him lunch?"
"Sure."
[Daniel, Alan and Charlie commentary]
The three brothers were sitting on the couch, at the oldest one's beach house.
"We never lived together," Alan pointed at the three of them. "When Daniel was born, I had just started college, while Charlie was… somewhere."
"Yes, this will be the first time the three of us Harpers are together. It will be legen-" "-wait for it," he added, then finished, "-dary."
Charlie deadpanned, "You need to stop with these catchphrases. And what do you think Alan is going to bring to this?"
Daniel thought for a moment, then joked, "He could be the punching bag."
"Good one!" Charlie laughed.
Alan kept glaring at the two of them, his face set in a scowl.
"Come on, bro," Daniel nudged him. "Think of this as rent, because I have this weird feeling that I'll be moving out of Charlie's place way before you…"
His brother's glare only intensified.
[Commentary ends]
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