A Kitty and a Shot

"Mrrowow!" Sean sounded, using his one hand to mimic a cat's paw reaching forward.

Bridget sighed, not knowing how to respond. Harvey had no such issue.

"I think I'll take back a little of that praise I just said about him."

"Knock knock," came from the doorway.

A cute, dirty blonde peered into the hospital room apprehensively. She had a friendly face framed by black eyeglasses in the 1960s cat eyes style. Those glasses caused Bridget to breathe a sigh of relief. At least, Sean has a reason for suddenly morphing into a cat.

"Fawn, what are you doing here?" the suddenly relieved mother asked.

"Brandy wasn't in any shape to drive herself here, so I did," Fawn Graff responded. Besides her position as the school librarian of Honey Hollow High School, the dirty blonde also happened to be one of Brandy Fallon's closest and oldest friends.

"Mrrowow! Pussycat," Sean repeated with an addition.

Struggling not to laugh, Harvey bit his lip.

"Uh, is he okay?" the new arrival asked in concern.

"Don't mind him," Bridget assured before launching into a quick explanation of her son's reaction to the painkillers. "So, where is my sister?"

"Oh, Brandy's talking to a few of the nurses," Fawn revealed, motioning to the nurses' station. Walking further into the room, she hugged Bridget, who had moved forward to greet the woman that she'd known for a good twenty-five years.

Stepping back from the hug, Fawn nearly collided with a blur that rushed into the room, bypassing her and Bridget. The blur didn't stop until it flung itself into Harvey's arms.

The youngest of the Fallon sisters by a decade, Brandy shared the family's sharp blue eyes and blonde hair. Unlike her older sisters, the baby of the family had golden blonde hair rather than caramel and a less curvy but more athletic figure. And while Bridget had amassed a fun-loving reputation growing up, her little sister outdid her, proving a flair for daredevilry and mischievousness that matched their father.

Watching as her kid sister sobbed in Harvey's arms, Bridget crossed her arms in annoyance. That annoyance grew as she watched Harvey reassure Brandy with whispered soothings. Finally reaching her breaking point after a long day, Bridget cleared her throat as Sean warned Harvey to watch it.

"What am I chopped liver?"

"Oh, hey, Bee."

"Don't 'Hey, Bee' me!" Bridget snapped as she double-checked the clock. "If you insisted on showing up tonight, you could've done so earlier than two minutes before visiting hours ends."

"Oh, that? Don't worry about that," Brandy stated without a care. Turning toward Sean, her face brightened to see her nephew holding his arms out wide. The hug proved interesting as Sean nearly pulled Brandy into the bed with him. Then, standing back up, she laughed at the big ass grin on his face. "Hey, kiddo. You had us worried."

"Aunt Hottie came to see me!"

"Oh!" Brandy sounded, glancing back at a giggling Fawn. "What's happening up at your cabin, Harv? Has he been teaching you a few of his ladykiller moves, Seanie?"

"Harv's trying to screw all my nurses. They're my nurses," the teen said glumly, similarly crossing his arms as his mother had.

"Wouldn't that be fitting, Bran?" Bridget said in a cutting voice. "I mean, Harvey is your big brother, after all. So that would make him Sean's uncle, and a person to pass off his knowledge to."

"Yay! New uncle!"

"So, I consider Harvey to be family. What's wrong with that? I didn't abandon him after Bev and the rest of you did," Brandy responded, her smile vanishing. "One of us needed to let him know that they still cared about him."

"No one abandoned him. Harvey still talks to Mom and Dad on occasion. And I--"

"On occasion?! They treated him like a son. Maybe he would be one now if Bev had bothered to listen about what really happened."

"How would you know what really happened? You were six when they broke up," Bridget pointed out.

"Mom sat me down and explained--"

"Mom did what?!"

"Okay, girls, let's all calm down," Harvey attempted, but the stern glares from both Fallon sisters shut him up.

Only Fawn appeared nonplussed by the bickering, having seen it numerous times over the years. Walking right in between the warring sisters, she went to hug Sean.

"Pussycat, pussycat!" Sean greeted his librarian with a loud purr.

The purr worked to break the tension between his mother and aunt.

"Oh, that's adorable," Brandy commented after getting filled in about the painkillers.

"Yes, it's wonderful," Bridget replied sarcastically. "But it's time for you to leave. They take visiting hours quite seriously around here."

"Not when it comes to a bigwig like Harvey. Your nurse friends told me all about what happened with that creep Merton," Brandy recounted. "Fawn and I can stay as long as we want because of Harv's influence."

"Yes, let's talk about you and Harvey's influence. What's this about underage drinking, fake IDs, and calling 'Big Brother' for help?" Bridget challenged with hands on her hips.

"Oh, you heard about that?"

"I finally did!"

"What's the big deal? That was a decade ago," Brandy shrugged. "And don't play the angel, Bee. You weren't one at the same age."

"I was smart enough not to get caught," the older sister replied proudly. "And where were you?" Bridget asked Fawn, expecting the more studious friend to have kept Brandy out of trouble back in college.

Instead of responding, Fawn and Brandy looked at each other guiltily. That left it to Harvey to answer.

"Uh, I think I did mention helping get a few of Brandy's friends out of trouble too that night."

"Fawn!"

"Oh, knock off the act, Bridget," Brandy said, rolling her eyes. "Which of your friends should I call up for dirt? You know that Tinny and Gabby will tell me anything."

"Don't you dare!"

"Like that's going to stop me."

"I'll tell Mom and Dad," Bridget threatened.

"Please, it's been over ten years. Mom will probably love that I called Harvey."

"Then I'll tell Bev," Bridget warned, pulling out the nuclear option.

"Y-You...that's uncalled for, Bee!"

"Maybe if Harvey hadn't bailed you out, you'd have learned from your mistakes. I never managed to get arrested."

"No, you just got knocked up."

Harvey's eyebrows shot up. Fawn did too with a squeal, but for a different reason.

"Sean!" the school librarian exclaimed, turning around as she rubbed her behind. "That's a no-no!"

"Yes-yes!"

"Did he..."

"He pinched my ass," Fawn answered her friend.

"Sean Seamus Fallon!" Bridget exclaimed in a combination of embarrassment and horror. Rushing over, she began to scold her son for his inappropriate behavior.

"Didn't think the kiddo had it in him," Brandy remarked.

"I did," Harvey commented. "You know what? I'm not taking back what I said about Sean. If anything I should help--"

"Um, what's going on?" Whitney questioned from her bed.

"Oh, that's great, Sean. You went and woke Whitney up," his mother admonished him. "She needs her rest."

"I think most of you woke her up," Fawn muttered. Standing between the two beds, she was closest to Whitney, which the teen noticed.

"Miss Graff?" Whitney replied, confused by the school librarian's presence.

Fawn expressed her relief that the two teens would be alright after their scare. Whitney nodded her thanks, but attention was on the leggy blonde standing near her father.

"I know you. You're Sean's aunt," Whitney said, putting the pieces together. "We've met, but someone didn't tell me the truth," she added, shooting a dirty look her father's way.

"Now, pumpkin, it's complicated..." Harvey trailed off under the withering gaze.

"Yeah, it's complicated. Your dad and my sister, they--oh, does she know?" Brandy asked Harvey.

"Uh, no, I've never told her."

"I think I have an idea," Whitney hissed. "Or at least the little that he knows." She flicked her hand over at Sean, who appeared to be humming a song about kittens.

"I've so wanted to get to know you, pumpkin. Can I call you pumpkin? Wait, don't answer that until you get to know me," Brandy said, talking a mile a minute. "So, you see, there's the whole thing about Bev and how that makes your dad uncomfortable. And then your mom doesn't like me so that--"

"Oh, she doesn't like anyone fun," Whitney stated.

"Don't I know it! And I'm definitely fun." Then, looking over her shoulder, Brandy asked Sean, "Aren't I the fun aunt?"

"Aunt Hottie is the funnest!"

"And let me tell you, Whitney, I've been just waiting for a niece to hang out with."

"Might I remind you that you already have two nieces. Biological ones," Bridget reminded sarcastically.

"I dearly love Peyton and Brynn, but they can be so boring," Brandy responded, earning a giggle fit from Sean. "Peyton's more like Bev than you, and Brynn...that poor girl. I shudder at the thought of anyone being Bev's kid."

"I'm sure Peyton will love to hear you say that," Bridget remarked.

"Whoa! I did not say that she's like Bev. I only said more like her than you," Brandy protested. " Don't you put words in my mouth. It's just that Peyton can be so uptight at times."

"Uptight!"

"Better lay low for a bit," Harvey advised Sean.

"I mean, how is she still so uptight with friends like Lana and Poppy?" Brandy questioned. "I sort of figured that they would wear off on Peyton at some point. And don't give me that look, Bee. We both know you worry about her."

"Be that I may, that doesn't mean you need to hurry off and replace her with another girl. No offense, Whitney."

"But Whitney's so fun! I mean, the stories about her make her sound like me or you. Well, before you got boring," Brandy said, meeting Harvey's eyes.

"Wait, how would you even know anything about Whitney?" Bridget questioned.

A short pause ensued as Fawn and Brandy glanced at each other.

"Nosy Nectar," Brandy replied simultaneously as Fawn said, "Me."

"I do hear stories around the school," Fawn added, but nobody paid any attention.

"Nosy Nectar?! Oh, great. I bet they have everything that happened on there," Bridget groaned.

Having been a frequent topic on the gossip site over the years, Harvey grimaced. Graham had been right. He needed to call Dalton soon if the story about Whitney had gone viral.

"Oh, it's not up on Nosy Nectar," Fawn reassured everyone.

"It's not?" Whitney questioned, sounding disappointed.

"Yeah, why's that?" Brandy asked, tapping her chin. "Maybe they don't know yet."

"Or they want to wait to hear that you two will be okay?" Fawn suggested. Tapping Sean's arm, she teased, "You going to be famous, kiddo?"

"Pussy!"

"Sean!" This time it was Brandy that scolded the teen. The other adults in the room weren't sure if he meant what Brandy thought or if he referred to Fawn again.

"You better not embarrass me, Tarver!" Whitney hissed. "We're in this together."

"Uh-huh," Sean agreed with a big nod.

"Aw, isn't that cute," Brandy cooed.

"We made out!"

"What?!" Brandy exclaimed, looking at the two teens, her sister and Harvey.

"We did not!"

"I made it to second base!"

"Seriously, what's happening up at Wasp Lake?" Brandy questioned.

"Nothing happened," Whitney declared.

"We made out; we made out!"

"You gave me CPR, and I don't even remember," Whitney insisted after noticing Brandy's smirk. Then, looking for support, she glanced at Fawn. "Miss Graff!"

Hearing the girl's gasp, everyone else shifted their attention to the school librarian. The same woman who had her smartphone out, recording the back and forth between the two teens.

"Uh, Fawn?" Brandy questioned her friend.

"What? I'm not going to pass up getting a recording of this. I could use a student servant or two around the library," the dirty blonde teased, winking at her old friend.

"Fawn Graff, you will not blackmail my son!" Bridget screeched. As she did that, her mind whirled as she attempted to recall the most embarrassing thing she knew about Fawn.

"Great idea! Send me a copy," Brandy ordered her BFF.

"Hell no!" Whitney shrieked.

Chaos ensued as everyone started to speak. It took a high pitch whistle to quiet everyone.

"I'm sorry to break up family time as it's been rather entertaining," Eloa said from the doorway. Behind her, the room occupants could see Libby, Haylie, and several other nurses watching with amused faces. "However, Whitney and Sean are still patients in this hospital. Patients who need their rest.

"Boo!"

Looking sheepishly at each other, everyone ignored Sean as they agreed with the nurses. Even Sean shut up after receiving goodbye hugs from his aunt and school librarian. Still unsure about Brandy and her connection to her father, Whitney vowed to get to the bottom of the story as the two blondes said their goodbye to her.

While that occurred, Harvey mumbled that he'd have to bribe the nurses with breakfast or something else to keep quiet about what they may have overheard. Bridget assured him that a smile and a friendly word would work, but she still mentioned what treats the nurses preferred.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Brandy said, stopping in the doorway. "I talked to Mom and Dad. Tinny got a hold of them first and let them know what happened."

"Oh, she did?" Bridget replied, leaving out why she had her best friend contact their parents rather than Brandy. "I tried to call them, but they never answered either phone."

"Part of that might be because they aren't home."

"They aren't?" The butterflies started to wake up in Bridget's stomach.

"Nope. It turns out they followed Bev down to Blackbridge to celebrate Gino and Jana's engagement," Brandy informed her sister.

"So Bev knows about what happened?"

"She sure does," Brandy replied, her eyes flicking over at Harvey. "And boy does she sound pissed. I could hear her in the background ranting and raving. See ya tomorrow!"

"You waited until now to tell me that!" Bridget called after her little sister.