Finding New Ways to Have Fun

After the brief interruption from Whitney, all eyes turned back to look at Skye. The young woman still wore a stunned look on her face. Rachel spoke up first.

"Fred never told you about the charity?"

"I've heard about the annual charity ball on New Year's Eve. Who in town hasn't? But he never said it was for his wife this year."

Bridget moved a few steps closer to Skye before she asked the next question. "Did he tell you that this is the tenth anniversary of Cassandra's ****? That this Sunday will be exactly ten years to the day?"

Skye shook her head with a whispered, "No."

"This whole trip is in honor of Cassie, and he invites you without telling you that? I'm going to slap the shit out of that dick!" Gabriela exclaimed as she watched the young woman's lip quiver.

"I'm going to kill that asshole!" Lacey bellowed. "Where's the car keys? On the hook?"

"Lacey, wait! Don't make things worse," Rachel yelled as her daughter left the kitchen.

Only Sean reacted quick enough to grab the petite redhead around the waist as she reached the turn toward the foyer. "Hold up, Lace. Listen to your mom."

A strong hand grabbed Sean's arm and tugged. "Let go of my girlfriend."

Sean turned his head to stare into Austin's eyes. "This is not the time for your jealousy crap. Listen to her," he ordered, nodding his head back to the kitchen where Skye could be heard crying.

"He's got a point, Rusk," RJ told his former understudy. Anticipating an issue, the college student had quietly followed the teens out of the room.

Austin loosened his grip on Sean's arm. "I think you should listen to your mom too, Lace."

With glistening eyes, Lacey nodded, leading Sean to pull his arm back. A moment later, the French doors opened. Lana strode in with Peyton on her heels, Jared followed behind them carrying Ramsey with JoJo bringing up the rear. Seeing Bridget and Rachel comforting a crying Skye, they all stopped.

"Great, what happ--," Lana started to angrily ask before stopping as her mother vigorously shook her head no and motioned for them to keep walking. "Oh, okay. We'll take Rammy to her room."

"Liscee, Jerid's gonna puck meee," Ramsey said with a dopey grin upon seeing her best friend after the group started to walk out of the dining room.

"Are you drunk?"

"Yes, she is, and no, I'm not going to fuck her," Jared quietly answered, the last part for Sean's benefit.

Once the group headed down the hallway to the master suite, with JoJo veering off toward her room, Lacey, Sean, and Austin all looked at each other in disbelief at Ramsey's condition.

"I'm so sorry," Skye sobbed.

"Why would you be sorry?" Rachel asked as the others looked at one another in surprise.

"You're all here to remember your friend; then I show up as her husband's girlfriend. You must resent my being here."

"Nonsense, we all know Fred's struggled with losing Cassie and hoped he could move on," Bridget explained. "We don't resent you at all."

"I-I should leave." The upset woman tried to get off the stool but nearly fell over in her distraught state, ending up back on her seat.

"No, you can't leave," Lacey declared, rushing over to her side. "You've been nice and kind to me when I had no one else to talk to."

"See, we don't want you to leave," Rachel stated, wondering what her daughter had needed to talk to Skye about. Thinking it had to do with Austin, she frowned slightly at him.

"And I don't think you should confront Fred in your condition," Kimberly remarked.

"Why not? Fred needs to deal with this," Gabby demanded. "I say we park right down on the couches and ambush him the moment he gets back."

"No, Kimberly's right. Skye's had a few drinks, and she's just had a shock," Rachel said, looking at the crying brunette who Bridget held. "And considering that Fred's likely had a few over there, this a conversation best left for a little later."

"Well, someone needs to give him a talking to."

"Not you, Gabby. You're too much of a hothead. Maybe Harvey should be the one to deal with this. He knows Fred best," Bridget suggested.

"Whatever we decide, I think Skye needs some peace and quiet," Rachel replied. "Maybe we should take her to her room."

"Should we take her to a different room?" Kimberly questioned. "That way, she's not there by herself when Fred returns."

"Someone could stay with her?" Bridget suggested to her friends.

"I can," Chastity offered, wiping the moisture from her eyes.

"Let's get downstairs, first," Rachel stated. "Are you okay going back to your room?"

Skye nodded in agreement. Bridget helped her to her feet, and Kimberly offered to help too. As the four women slowly walked away, Lacey turned to her mother and Gabriela.

"That's not even all of it. Finn had no clue that his father was dating Skye until he arrived today. She was already upset about that."

"What the fuck was he thinking? Sandbagging your girlfriend like that is awful," Gabby furiously declared before turning to look at Sean and Austin. "You two better not pull shit like that on your girlfriends."

Scared of the feisty woman's fury, both teens shook their heads no.

---

"I can stay with her."

"You sure?" Bridget asked, surprised by Kimberly's offer.

"I can stay. I want to help her," Chastity added.

"I'm sure. It's probably better if I'm the one with her in case Fred returns early," Kimberly replied. "You can go back to organizing the pictures."

Bridget thanked the platinum blonde, closing the door behind her as they left. Skye laid on her side on the bed, staring straight ahead in thought. Kimberly, not wanting to interrupt her thoughts, glanced around the room, thinking over what she could do to pass the time.

"I feel like such a fool."

Kimberly spun back around to look at Skye as the young woman continued.

"I thought dating an older man would bring less drama and bullshit. Instead, it seems like it's worse."

Sitting down on the edge of the bed near the brunette's legs, Kimberly felt sorry for the in-the-dark girlfriend.

"I think there's drama and bullshit no matter who you date. It just depends on the size and severity of it. I...I wasn't a very good wife during the last several years of my marriage. I know I changed, but I still hope I'm not a terrible person."

Skye looked at her curiously, waiting to see if the about-to-be-divorced woman would explain her intriguing statement. Instead, Kimberly shifted the conversation back to Fred and Skye.

"You have a perfect right to be pissed at Fred. He did you wrong in such an awful way. But you should give him a chance to explain." Seeing Skye's look of disbelief, Kimberly further elaborated. "Yeah, I know. What I will say is that I've been around Fred more than most of the women here. My husband--ex-husband-- has been close friends with him and Harvey since they were little. So, after Cass died, we tried to be there for him as much as possible. We saw him struggle to cope with losing her. Maybe we should have done more, but living out of town limited our ability."

Up to now, Kimberly had struck Skye as a standoffish, self-centered woman, so she was pleasantly surprised in seeing this more caring side to her.

"The old Fred was a happy-go-lucky guy. He and Harvey made a great team. Fred always cracking jokes and trying to cheer everyone up around him while Harvey planned the good times. Unlike nearly everyone else, Cassie didn't find him all that funny or entertaining. That pushed him to work hard for her attention, and shockingly they fell in love. Losing her devastated him. He's tried to avoid that pain with ****, work, and young women."

"Great, so I'm just another in a string of girls to show up and disappoint Cassandra's friends," Skye glumly remarked.

"No, don't think that. You've made a nice first impression on us. If you hadn't, you would know. We've pushed out a few doozies in the past. Well, more like Rachel and Bridget have to protect Finn."

"Yeah, Finn. You know he had no clue we were even dating. I would think a father would tell his son that, wouldn't you?" Skye questioned.

"Maybe once upon a time, Fred would have. He was a great father when Cass was alive, but afterward, he just wasn't there for his son. Rachel, and Bridget to a lesser extent, practically raised him. He mostly lived with his grandparents, and Fred was like a divorced dad showing up here and there."

"That's so sad for both of them."

"So you can see why I think you should at least give him a chance to explain. I'm not saying you should forgive him or stay with him. Just talk first before making a final decision."

"Thanks, Kimberly. You've been so kind."

"I have my moments. Now, try and get some rest. I'll stay with you for a while."

---

Bridget closed the bedroom door behind her, thinking to herself that at least for a moment, Kimberly could remind her of the girl she knew in high school. Noticing how upset Chastity appeared, Bridget ushered her over to the stairs.

"Son of a bucket! Mr. Singer always seemed so nice. How could anyone be that mean?"

"People are complicated. Throw in a tragic ****, and they'll get even worse," Bridget explained, giving the upset receptionist a side-hug.

"I wish Mr. Diamond was here to make it right."

Reaching the top of the stairs, Bridget noticed Jared at the end of the hallway entering the great room, realizing that he must have finished helping Ramsey to her room.

"Thanks for waiting for me!" Bridget heard someone sarcastically yell from the main room. Seconds later, she saw an angry Whitney storming down the hall toward her. Worried about the teenager, Bridget slowed to a halt and waited for the young blonde to reach her.

"What's wrong, Whitney?" When she realized the teenager planned to keep walking past her and not answer, Bridget reached out and gently grabbed her arm. "Please, tell me what's got you so upset."

"Are you upset about Mr. Singer, too?" Chastity inquired.

Unaware of the drama with Skye, Whitney shot the honey blonde a confused look. "Why would I be made at Uncle Fred? No, I wanted everyone to have fun on this trip, but everything seems to be falling apart. People are mad at each other, actually fighting, and the people I want to help get together aren't cooperating. Not to mention that damn heater in the sunroom is acting up. So maybe no more hot tub!"

Seeing how upset the teenager felt, Bridget softly grabbed each of her hands and tried to calm her down. "Hey, it's alright. Everyone just finally arrived today. We have plenty of time to have more fun, and you'll have more opportunities to get your friends together."

"But I wanted this trip to be perfect!" the young hostess whined.

"Nothing is ever perfect, honey. But we can try and make it as close as possible. Now, how about you and the other girls get changed and come join us. We might be old broads, but we can still have a good time. That sound good?"

"Okay," Whitney replied, flashing a tiny smile.

---

"Where should we put these?"

"I thought of storing them in the den, but with Harvey sleeping in there, I'm not sure," Bridget responded to Rachel's question.

They were discussed what to do with the boxes of pictures while packing them up. After Skye's revelation, only Lacey and Gabriela felt strongly about looking through any more photos. Lacey sat scrolling through the laptop with Gabby next to her, drinking her wine and pointing out each picture's details to the teenager. Robin sat on the other side of Lacey with Sean next to her. The lone male teen in the kitchen sat bored and paid limited attention to the screen's images. Austin had abandoned them to flip through channels on the flat-screen television over by the fireplace with RJ.

"How about the pantry?" Gabby suggested, taking a sip from her wine.

"The closet?" Bridget responded, looking over at the door between the kitchen and the stairs.

"Harvey might call it a closet, but you know he lives in a mansion, right?" Rachel jokingly remarked. Walking over, she opened the door, presenting the pantry to her friend.

"Closet, my ass! That's as big as the bathroom," Bridget noted. She surveyed the shelf-lined room, and seeing several empty spots and a small table, she turned to look back out. "Sean, grab that box and bring it over here."

Sean followed his mother's orders. He made several trips with boxes as his mother moved a few items around to create more space for the night. Standing inside the small room with her, he heard a loud voice speak up in the kitchen.

"Oh, hell, no! You can't be serious?" Rachel asked. "Go back and put on some actual clothes, young lady."

"What's wrong with this? I wear outfits like this all the time at home or school," Lana stated.

"Well, you're not at home or school; you're around my friends and their children. Show a little respect for me and your father."

Curious, Sean leaned out of the pantry to check what Lana wore. His eyes bugged out when he saw her ass encased in an extremely tight pair of pink yoga pants. While she argued with her mother, the busty redhead turned enough so that Sean could see she wore a matching pink sports bra. It was a very tight sports bra that pushed her breasts up, creating an eye-popping amount of cleavage above the front zipper.

"Sean, hand me that smaller box first," Bridget said, drawing her son back into the pantry.

"How is this outfit disrespecting you and Dad? I have a bunch of these in different colors, and you never complained before. Help me out here, Lace," Lana told her younger sister.

"Keep me out of this."

"I think you look great, sweetie," Gabby remarked, eyeing her best friend's daughter up and down.

"You would," Rachel replied sarcastically.

"If you got it, flaunt it. That's my motto."

"See, Mom, Aunt Gabby approves." Rachel rolled her eyes at an argument she'd heard from her oldest daughter hundreds, if not thousands, of times in her life.

"Wow, no wonder Sean can't keep his eyes away from the kitchen," Bridget laughed, rejoining her friends. An embarrassed Sean shuffled his feet behind her. "Still, it might be a little too much. Maybe at least listen to your mom and change tops."

"See, Bridget agrees with me. You don't see her daughter wearing outfits like that."

"You don't think so, Mom? Look, it's Peyton! And look at what she's wearing," Lana gleefully announced.

Walking over with Ellie, Peyton stooped just outside the kitchen as everyone turned to look at her. "What did I do?"

"Proved me right, that's what," her best friend answered.

"At least her top is more appropriate," Rachel pointed out. Peyton wore a maroon sports bra that looked more like a tank top as it covered a wide amount of her skin. The maroon yoga pants showcased the incredibly toned, long legs of hers. "Couldn't you at least--oh, I give up," Rachel conceded as Whitney walked into the room.

"What's up?" the buxom blonde asked, also wearing a tight-fitting yoga outfit. Colored in her preferred navy blue, the small top showed far more skin than Peyton's but wasn't quite as obscene as Lana's.

"Nothing now," Lana victoriously stated.

"Don't spoil the mood any further, Rach," Gabby scolded, glancing around for agreement from the others. While she did that, the mischievous mother noticed a perfect alignment. "And I know what can liven this night back up."

"And what's that?" Bridget responded.

"The what is a mistletoe, and the who is your son and the young lady standing next to him," Gabriela said, smiling and pointing at the ceiling.

Mistle--Oh, dammit! Sean cursed.

"Did I hear mistletoe?" Cheyenne questioned, hurrying over. She arrived in time to hear the older women explaining to her cousin about the cabin's rules.

"You can't be serious?!" Ellie challenged in disbelief. "I should have a right to say no. C'mon, Peyton, back me up here."

"Sorry, Elle. I barely avoided it earlier," Peyton begrudgingly informed her former volleyball teammate.

For his part, Sean's focus shifted back and forth from the mistletoe sprig hanging down to Ellie Ridge. Unlike his extremely awkward kiss with JoJo yesterday, he found the prospect of kissing Ellie acceptable. Perhaps even pleasurable as the teen recalled the leggy brunette's trips over to his house from a couple of years ago. Working out with Peyton, Ellie often showed off her long, lean legs and medium-sized breasts in her sports bras and pants.

"But he's your little brother!" the nineteen-year-old whined.

"And you have to make sure that it's a passionate kiss," Lana made sure to remind.

"Fine!" Ellie exclaimed, turning to face Sean, who she hissed at sarcastically. "Thanks for backing me up."

"Why would I complain about kissing a beautiful girl?" Sean's reply caused the older girl to blush slightly.

"Ooh, check out the silver tongue on your brother, Pey," Lana laughed.

"Did you teach him that, Bee?" Gabby added teasingly. "Because I doubt that Leo did."

Bridget didn't have the time to respond. Rather, she watched as Ellie leaned in to begin the kiss and her son reciprocated. The spectators watched as the two broke off the kiss, gave each other a quick look, and joined lips again. Gabriela and Lana clapped their hands in glee while Cheyenne started to chant the kissing song until Whitney shoved her in the arm.

A steady drum of pain in his arm brought Sean out of his fog partially. Awakening, he found his tongue locked in a battle with another while the persistent pain continued. As senses returned, the teen took a strong whiff of Ellie's vanilla scene. The return of his hearing brought a steady string of loud commands.

"Sean! Stop that! Stop that right now!" Peyton screamed while punching his upper arm.

Snapping out of the remaining fog, Sean found one hand behind Ellie's head and the other firmly gripping a toned ass cheek. Breaking the kiss, he found himself **** to hold up the slightly older teen, who sagged into him while gasping for air.

"Holy shit! We found one area that he takes after you, Bee," Gabby teased. "Way to go, Seanie!"

Bridget didn't respond. Instead, she stared in shock at how passionate her son had become during the kiss.

"Uh, I think you can stop hitting your brother now," Rachel said to Peyton.

"You still want next, kid?" Lana questioned Robin. The sixteen-year-old blushed, shrugging her shoulders and planning to immediately send the picture she took to Zoey Gibble.

"No one is getting next! You got that?" Peyton roared, grabbing her brother's arm and pulling him away from her younger friend.

"Peyton, be nice to your brother," Bridget stated, finally able to speak. She watched as Lacey helped a seemingly kiss-drunk Ellie to a stool.

"Why are you yelling at me?" Peyton cried. "He's the one that was practically molesting and dry humping Ellie."

"I don't see her complaining."

"Not now, Aunt Gabby!" Peyton snapped at her mom's friend.

"Shit, your uptight ass could use a kiss like that," Lana remarked, not caring that her BFF would explode, which she did.

"Calm down, honey. It was just a kiss," Bridget said, attempting to soothe her daughter. "Ellie's fine. Right, dear?"

"Oh, she's more than fine," Cheyenne commented. Her cousin now had Lana fanning her face with her hand.

"B-but, Sean shouldn't do that. He's still a..." Peyton trailed off, realizing what she had been about to say sounded dumb.

"Oh, Sean's definitely a boy," Whitney finished Peyton's line. "Hmm, too bad you weren't in the hot tub with us earlier."

"Yeah, you two could've answered my question," Lana teased, ducking as Peyton threw a towel at her head.

"Peyton!" Bridget shrieked. "What is wrong with you?"

"Sooo, who should we set Peyton up to kiss?" Gabriela asked. Having picked up the thrown towel, Rachel now tossed it at her BFF's face.

Any tension in the room dissipated as laughter filled the room. Still, Peyton frowned as she took a seat at the dining room table. Sean softly attempted to apologize, but Ellie waved any attempt off.

As Chastity offered Ellie a glass of water, the room shifted back to earlier conversations. Lacey and Robin giggled at more pictures on the laptop.

"Ooh, whatcha looking at?" Whitney asked Lacey, peering over her shoulder. "Say, what was with all the pictures before?"

"We brought old pictures of Cassie from back in the day, plus some of you kids growing up. We put them away for now," Rachel replied.

"Aw, and I missed them! Nothing is going right today."

"Guess what?" Lacey asked, ignoring the dirty look her mom shot her. "Mrs. Toone sent over pictures from the infamous carwash fundraiser. You know that last one."

"The carwash?" Whitney repeated in excitement.

"No fucking way! Let me see," shrieked Lana.

"Oh, no! You aren't looking at them," Rachel commanded. "Don't even think of showing them, Lacey, or you're getting grounded."

"But Mom, we have to see them! It's our right as cheer captains," Lana insisted, earning a nod from the current captain.

"I've already suffered enough embarrassment from those today, so no. And I mean it!" Rachel rarely raised her voice to that don't-mess-with-me level, and Lana and Whitney knew it, so they reluctantly nodded.

"Don't worry; I'll show them to you two tomorrow."

"I swear, Gabs, you're worse than the kids most days."

"It was my fundraiser, and I'll show them to whomever I want."

"Sela was the co-captain, not you, so it was her fundraiser. She just passed off the work to you," Rachel pointed out.

"You be quiet! Or maybe I'll show Clive the pictures."

"You wouldn't!" Rachel gasped.

"I was pretty much the co-captain in everything but the title. Sela was too busy playing wealthy heiress, and you know that."

"See, this is why I never wanted to be a cheerleader," Peyton informed her mother and best friend. "Too much girly drama."

"But you love that, Pey! Or why would you be my bestie?" Lana's comment caused everyone to laugh, ending the argument between her mother and her mother's best friend.

Looking around, Rachel realized several of the younger cabin visitors hadn't returned from the hot tub. "Where's Finn?"

"I think he went to bed. He's tired from the party last night and getting up early," Peyton informed her. "And Lana pissed him off."

"Again?" Rachel shot her oldest daughter a dirty look. The middle Stratton redhead threw her arms up in denial at having done anything wrong.

Wondering about another young person missing, Bridget turned to Whitney. "How did JoJo's new bikini work out?"

"Pretty good. She's still a little too shy, but it looked great on her. Hopefully, she'll get more confident in her appearance. Guys at school should be asking her out left and right."

Not wanting to hear talk about his best friend and guys at school perving on her, Sean moved over to ask his sister about Newt's whereabouts.

"He went back with Finn. Said he was going to get changed. Maybe Jared can drag him back with him," she suggested.

"I doubt it," Sean replied, and the siblings shared a knowing look until Whitney's raised voice caught their attention.

"Really? Th-that's horrible! No, no, no, that won't do, not at all. The foundation for any outfit starts there," the teenager declared to Bridget. "I have a lot of older ones upstairs that I've hardly ever worn, if at all. They're a little smaller where it counts, so they might fit JoJo perfectly. I say we march right up there and have her try them on."

"I love the way you think. Let's do it," Bridget replied, then turning to look back at her friends. "I'll be upstairs to help give JoJo a makeover, don't get too wild down here without me."

"Uh-oh, I think Mom and Whitney are bonding. You might want to go save JoJo," Peyton remarked to her brother as she watched two blondes head toward the stairs.

"I value my life; thank you very much. JoJo will have to survive on her own."

"Hey, is this a house party at Grandma's house?" Lacey asked in surprise. "Mother! This looks pretty crazy, like movie crazy."

"Let me see!" Lana rushed over. "Holy shit, Mom!"

Rachel threw her head back, staring at the ceiling while she silently cursed Tinsley for saving all these pictures.

"Damn, Grandma's living room is wall to wall with people!"

"Look, Lan, is that a broken lamp? People are dancing on the coffee table!"

"Shit, look at the backyard! There's something on fire!"

Gabriela slowly stood up, moving back a few steps towards the kitchen's end before Rachel lowered her head and saw her trying to flee.

"Oh, no, you stay right there, Gabs. I'll let you explain to my daughters how your 'just a few people' turned into that!"

"Let's not bring that party up around your grandparents. Okay, girls? It's a touchy subject with them about me. Your mom blamed me for the damage when they freaked out."

"You know I did no such thing! My parents knew the moment that phone call ruined their vacation that you were at least partly to blame."

"Well, you should have been paying more attention to what everyone was doing. You know I'm not reliable, but you're the one that stupidly told me to watch everyone when you went off to fool around with Brett Knight."

"Gabby!"

"Damn, Mom, at least Lace and I never did something like that. The parties we threw were much more discreet," Lana said with a smirk at her mom until her sister elbowed her to get her attention. Looking back at the computer screen, her eyes lit up. "Pey, your mom is getting freaky on the dance floor, and with another girl too!"

Both Tarver siblings groaned at the news and image that popped into their heads. Peyton knew Lana's teasing over this revelation would be merciless. For Sean, he already had to deal with noticing how attractive his mother looked in her younger days. So, while Peyton needed to see the pictures for herself, Sean went and sat down at the dining room table, avoiding more material to confuse him.

The Stratton sisters continued to scroll through pictures from the out-of-control party that trashed their grandparents' home. With a substantial amount of **** in her, Gabby's limited filter was utterly gone, and she provided salacious details over who was hooking up with who, who was cheating, and the aftermath of the party. Rachel continued her efforts to shield her children and Bridget's from details they didn't need to know.

"It looks like you used to have some moves, Aunt Gabby," Lana noted, seeing photos of the woman dancing to the delight of the partygoers.

"Used to? I'll let you know, missy, I still have moves," Gabriela insisted, offended by the young redhead's comments and subsequent demeanor. "You don't believe me? You'll see!"

From his lonely spot at the dining room table, Sean watched as Jared's mom stormed over to the great room, invading Austin's channel flicking. She studied the stereo system that Mr. Diamond had set up.

"Sorry, buddy, tv time is over. It's time for fun," Gabby informed the quarterback as she turned off the television and turned on the sound system. After a few tries, she appeared to find one of the cabin owner's preset playlists, sending dance music from the 1990s out of the speakers. Turning the sound control up until the music was blaring, Gabby walked back over and looked at the others.

"Let's dance!"