‘What are you up to today?'

‘I let Kenzi talk me in to helping out with her school's blood drive.' Rachel smiled as she typed out her response to JC's question.  Ever since they had lunch together the other day, they had been messaging each other frequently. ‘And by helping, I mean offering up a pint of my blood.' She laughed when JC sent her an emoji that had its eyes wide. ‘You could always come and join us.' She sent an emoji with its tongue sticking out, knowing JC's fear of needles.

‘I like to keep my blood in my body thanks.'

‘Same here, but Kenzi found out that I apparently have the rarest blood type. She's already earmarked the date when I can donate again.'

‘As long as she leaves enough for you.'

‘My daughter's pimping me out to all the draculas she can find. She might as well put a sign in the yard that says, ‘Tasty O neg blood here!'  She put a bat emoji after the text and sent it. She tried to get out of the blood drive, but she didn't have a reason that was good enough as to why she couldn't donate.

‘That is completely disturbing.'

‘I'm gonna have to start sleeping with one eye open.'

‘I wonder if asking my blood type was a ploy to get me to come and donate.'

Rachel furrowed her eyebrows at JC's message. ‘Who asked you for your blood type? Kenzi?'

‘Yeah. The other night. She said she was graphing it for some type of science homework.'

‘That's strange.' Rachel sent to him. She didn't see her homework involved any graphing of blood types. What she saw had to deal with paternity related stuff. Honestly, she hadn't looked over McKenzie's homework, so there may have very well have been more to the homework and polling people of their blood type. Kenzi could have gotten the information via text or messenger; she'd have been none the wiser. ‘It could have very well been a ploy though. Why don't you come and donate?'

‘And embarrass myself by becoming hysterical and probably fainting? I don't think so.'

Rachel grinned at the reply. ‘I'll hold your hand.'

‘That may be worth it.' The message was sent with a winking emoji.

Rachel blushed seeing JC's reply. There had been no shortage of flirting in their messages, from either side. Each time JC flirted, she blushed so hard she was sure her face was red as a tomato. It happened every time she sent a flirty message to him. Her face would flush with embarrassment. The messages were nothing too risqué.  It was all light and fun. A lot of teasing that made her sigh and wish.

‘After, we're heading to Lance's to hang out. Eat his food. Take advantage of his pool. Joey, Mel, and the kids are coming too. You should join us.' She held her breath at the invitation. She knew Lance wouldn't mind JC stopping in. She wasn't sure if she could take the looks that he and Melissa would send her though. Lance didn't even know she was talking to JC.

‘Sounds like fun. What time?'

The smile was permanently etched on Rachel's face. She quickly sent him the time she was planning on being at her brother's and then sent him the address to Lance's new place. ‘Can't wait to see you.'

‘Same here.'

"Mom! Are you ready to go?" McKenzie called up the stairs before she ran up them.

"Jeesh it's like a herd of elephants," Rachel said when Kenzi came in to her room. "You sure there was only one of you coming up the steps."

McKenzie rolled her eyes. "What's taking you so long? I told Briahna we'd be there at 11. We need to get a move on." She eyed the phone in her hand. "Who are you talking to all the time?"

"A friend," Rachel replied. She grabbed the tote off her bed. It held a bathing suit to change in to, a cover up, sunscreen, hair ties, and other odds and ends. Most of the items in the bag were a permanent fixture. Anytime they went to the pool or the beach, she grabbed the bag. All she had to do was stuff a towel and whatever bathing suit she wanted to wear inside. "You ready to go?"

"Just waiting on you," McKenzie replied with another eye roll. "I've been ready forever."

"You keep rolling your eyes like that, they are gonna get stuck in the back of your eye sockets," Rachel turned her daughter around and herded her toward the door. "Then what are you gonna do?"

"Look at how big my brain is."

Rachel laughed as she stopped by the counter to grab her purse. She double checked to make sure she had everything she needed. When she turned around she saw McKenzie shouldering a bag. "What's in there?" McKenzie was already wearing her bathing suit; Rachel could see it tied around her neck. Towels were already at Lance's.

"Old photos I wanna show Uncle Lance," Kenzi replied. She tried to keep her face neutral hoping her mother wouldn't suspect anything.

"Why do you want to show Lance old photos?" Rachel asked as they made their way outside to her vehicle.

"Because they are funny. Briahna's bringing some she found too. We think they're funny. Uncle Lance and Joey look like dorks."

Rachel laughed as she put her seat belt on. "You two better be careful. Lance and Joey have a lot of photos of the two of you looking awfully dorky."

"I bet there are way more dorky photos of Uncle Lance and Joey than there are of me and Briahna."

"I am not taking that bet." Rachel backed out of the driveway and onto the street. "I know there are a lot of funny photos out there of them. The best ones of your Uncle Lance are from Aunt Stacy's wedding."

"How mad was Aunt Stacy?" Kenzi asked as she sent Briahna a message stating that they were finally on their way.

"Oh Sweetie, there isn't a word to describe how livid she was," Rachel laughed at the memory.  Lance had bleached his hair so blonde that it was nearly white. She couldn't even remember why, but it was right before Stacy and Ford's wedding. Lance had shown up with the hair job and Stacy had hit the roof. The wedding photos still made her laugh.

"Maybe she should get back at him by dying her hair some funky color for his wedding." Kenzi couldn't wait for December. Lance and Michael were finally getting married. She was so excited to officially have another uncle. She thought Michael was the greatest. "I should tell her. Maybe as a joke, she could show up with a wig that's bright purple hair."

Rachel laughed at the thought. "You know. I bet Lance would probably get a kick out of it and make her wear it the entire time."

"We all could show up with our hair bleached."

"Now that sounds like a good idea."

*~*~*~*

JC pulled up the curb in front of Lance's house and put his car in park. The road in front of Lance's house was empty, telling him that Rachel and The Fatones had yet to arrive. He checked the clock on the dash and saw that it was after three. Spring break season had started, which meant there was a lot more traffic than usual.  It had taken him a long time to get to this area than it should have been.  Traffic had probably derailed Rachel's travel time as well.

He hadn't been to Lance's new house but knew that he had moved from the place he'd been renting in Burbank. In the group chat he had with Lance, Joey, Chris, and Justin, Lance told them what a nightmare the contractors were.  The house was supposed to be finished, but there was still work being done. He wondered if the work was completed since he was having people over, or if they were partying around the mess.

Getting out of his vehicle, he jogged up the brick steps that led to the gate in front of Lance's house. Rachel told him the gate would be unlocked which is opened when he turned the handle. At the front door, he rang the doorbell.

"Hey man!" Lance said with a smile seeing JC on the other side of the door when he opened it. "What are you doing here?" He pulled JC into a one armed hug before stepping aside and allowing him to enter.

"I heard you had free food man," JC grinned following Lance into the house. "I take it the construction is all done?"

Lance groaned. "Yes. Finally. We can actually eat in our own kitchen again. Let me tell you C, it was such a shit show. Last week in the middle of the radio show, they cut the power to the house. The whole show just goes dark."

"You're kidding?" JC laughed.

"Man, we were scrambling trying to figure out what happened. I about lost my mind on the workers here." Lance shook his head. "I told them before they even started working that I had a radio show between three and five and they just..." he groaned again and shook his head. "But everything is finally done. They are gone. I have a working kitchen. We aren't tripping over cords. Don't have boxes piled everywhere. No sheen of dust coating everything."

"I'm surprised you even stayed here while they were working." JC knew he wouldn't have been able to stay in a house that was under construction. He would have stayed with friends or a hotel until the work was finished.

"It wasn't supposed to take as long as it did. Before we moved in they were ahead of schedule. It's why we moved in. They only had a couple weeks of work left." Lance shook his head. "When we moved in and the work just stopped. Hell, they didn't even show up half the time. So, what are you doing here? How'd you hear about free food?"

"Rachel invited me. It was either give blood or come here. That wasn't a difficult decision to make."

Lance stared at JC, searching. For what he didn't know. Rachel inviting him had been the last thing he expected. As far as he knew, his sister hadn't seen his bandmate in years. She didn't even have a lot to say about him when he brought up the photo McKenzie had posted. That should have been a clue.  Normally if he mentioned one of the guys, Rachel would ask how they were. This time she didn't.

"What?" JC asked, beginning to feel twitchy under Lance's stare. "I can always go if you don't want me here?"

"Right," Lance rolled his eyes, laughing. "So Rachel invited you..." he crossed his arms and grinned at JC. "What did that happen?"

"About 11 this morning."

"Out of the blue she said, ‘hey, let's go get stuck with needles and then eat Lance's food'?"

"It didn't quite go like that. I did turn down getting stuck with needles." He gave an involuntary shiver that cause Lance to chuckle.

"Of course you did, you pussy." Lance moved into the kitchen. "You want a drink?"

"Sure," JC followed him, eyeballing the bottles of liquor on the counter. "You do know they won't be able to drink right?"

"You ever see Joey turn down alcohol?" Lance laughed. "Besides, it's been awhile since I've seen my sister smashed. It never takes much, but now it will take even less. Did I ever tell you about the time I had to carry her out of this nightclub in Miami?"

JC's eyes widened in shock. "No way."

"Oh yeah," Lance started laughing as he remembered the details. "It was about five or so years ago. I had something in Miami. Rachel needed to get away you know, so she left Kenzi with our parents and we went to Miami-" he was cut off when he heard the front door open. Loud voices followed.

"I am never riding with you again!"

"Did you die?" Rachel laughed.

"Did you really have to kiss the road Mom?" Briahna laughed.

"Yes!" Melissa shrieked. It was the first thing she did when Rachel parked her vehicle on the curb outside of Lance's house. She got out and kissed the ground, thankful to be alive. "My God, I thought I wouldn't make it here alive. What the fuck Rach? I didn't think it was possible for you to get worse at driving."

"You're looking a little sick Bambina," Joey laughed as he sat Caleb down on the ground. His son immediately started laughing as Dingo and Foster licked his face. "Maybe they took more blood than they needed."

"I felt fine until I decided to ride with Rachel and her lead foot. I need to go back outside and wait for my stomach to catch up. I think it's still on the 405."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "You're such a drama queen."

"You put your vehicle into holes that weren't even there! I was updating my will on the way!"

"Bullshit," Rachel laughed. "You didn't let go of the ‘oh shit' handle long enough to type anything out on your phone."

"I was praying to every God I could think of..."

"With that dirty mouth, no God will let you even step foot in to any afterlife."

"I bet that dirty mouth could make any God change his mind," Joey grinned.

"Oh gross," McKenzie and Briahna exclaimed. "You think we don't get those sex jokes." Briahna added.

"Face it kid," Joey grinned at his daughter. "You are one of our little sex jokes."

Briahna twisted her face in a disgusted grimace. "That's gross Dad."

"I take it my sister's driving hasn't gotten any better?"

"Just fitting in with the other LA drivers," Rachel grinned and hugged her brother.

"Rachel, the other LA drivers were getting off the road and out of your way." Melissa dropped the bags she had brought. There were changes of clothes for everyone, plus more for Caleb and Kloey in case of an emergency. She also packed floaties and toys for the pool. With three kids, she could never just go anywhere with the clothes on their backs. She had to be prepared for anything. Anything usually happened.

"I would have let you drive Mel," Rachel turned away from Lance to face her best friend. "But I wanted to actually make it to Lance's sometime today."

"You saying I drive slow?" Melissa narrowed her eyes.

"A sloth moves faster than you."

Joey broke out into laughter. When Melissa glared at him, he tried to suppress it but it was too late. "Bambina, Priuses pass you. Grandmas pass you."

"Grandmas driving Priuses." Briahna supplied with a giggle.

"Ah fuck off, all of you," Melissa said. "I need a drink."

"The lady said you can't drink," McKenzie supplied when the adults started moving toward the kitchen.

Melissa muttered under her breath. "No alcohol my ass." After that ride with her best friend, she needed a drink - a stiff one. She turned the corner in the kitchen and stopped in surprised. She stared wide eyed at the man before her.

"Owe, what the fuck Mel," Rachel stated when she ran in to her friend.

"JC?" Melissa said in surprised.

"What?" Rachel raised her eyes and spotted him leaning against Lance's counter. His legs were crossed at the ankle, one palm on the counter supporting his weight while the other hand held a drink. "Hey! You made it!"

‘You made it?' Melissa mouthed looking at Joey, then at Lance.

"Rachel invited him." Lance shrugged, a grin on his lips.

"Rachel invited him," Melissa repeated stupidly. She watched as Rachel ducked out from behind her and walked across the room to give JC a hug. She raised her eyes brows at Joey and Lance. They weren't looking at her, they were staring at Rachel and JC.

Briahna elbowed McKenzie, motioning her to look. She couldn't keep the look off her face. She could barely keep from squealing as she watched Rachel hug JC.

McKenzie grinned broadly at the scene in front of her. She wondered if the look her mom had told Melissa had nearly melted her to a puddle on the sidewalk, was the one JC was currently sending her when they broke the hug. When her eyes met Briahna's, she couldn't stop the giggle that broke free.

"Well, he wouldn't come and get stuck with us," Rachel said, turning around to look at everyone still gathered in the doorway to the kitchen. She felt the flush of embarrassment as they stared at her.

"Such a pussy C," Joey said with a grin, finally moving around everyone and in to the kitchen. He hugged his friend. "Good to see you." It had been awhile since he had seen JC.

"Speaking of pussy," Rachel said, laughter bubbling up. Eyes immediately turned to her. "You wanna tell everyone who almost ate carpet after giving blood."

Melissa snorted and started laughing. She heard Lance's deep laughter in her ear and she reached out to cover Kloey's ears. Joey was nearly bent over laughing.

"What is going on?" Michael asked coming in to the kitchen. He'd been out by the pool in the lounger waiting for everyone to arrive. He heard vehicles pull up and all the ruckus. He expected everyone to head outside. When no one did, he went to find them.

"Rachel was just telling us who ate carpet at the blood drive," Lance said over the laughter. His sister's face was beet red. Joey had one hip leaning against the counter wiping the tears from his eyes.

"What kind of blood drive was this?" Michael asked wide eyed.

"She must have had a better time than the rest of us," Joey laughed, wiggling his eyebrows at Rachel. "God C, you remember when we first met her and a cuss word would make her blush like this? Oh man, Chris and I used to keep a running score of who said the most cuss words around her. Now she's talking about eating carpet."

"I never stood a chance hanging out with the likes of you."

"What do you mean the likes of you? We were legendary. Taught you things you would have never learned anywhere else."

"Probably why Momma always prayed so hard before she went to bed every night," Rachel teased him.

"No amount of praying will help him," JC laughed. He shifted against the counter. He switched his drink to the opposite hand, and used his other to lean on the counter. The small movement put him closer to Rachel.

"Mel prays every night for me too," Joey smirked. "Oh God... Oh God..."

"This is so gross," Briahna rolled her eyes. "I thought it couldn't get any worse than the blood drive."

"What happened at the blood drive?" Lance asked coming in to the kitchen. He started making drinks for everyone. While he was making drinks, Michael started taking the snacks out of the fridge. They had cut up a lot of fruit and veggies.  They also had cheese ball on a platter. It just needed the crackers placed around it. There was potato salad and macaroni salad and pasta salad. Plus chips and pretzels.

"Can we have a drink, Uncle Lance?" McKenzie asked. She felt shy all of a sudden seeing JC in her uncle's kitchen. It was easier to talk to him behind a screen than face to face.

"Sure." Lance said and nodded toward the fridge. "Everything's in there."

"Drink!" Caleb shouted.

"Hold on," Melissa said and walked out of the room. She returned a second later with a sippy cup for her son, already filled with juice.

"So what happened at the blood drive?" Michael asked.

"Dad wouldn't stop telling jokes," Briahna rolled her eyes. "It was so embarrassing."

"I live to embarrass you," Joey grinned pulling his oldest too him and ruffling her hair.

"When the lady asked Dad what his blood type was, he said red," Briahna said rolling her eyes. "The whole place just groaned."

"Oh yeah," McKenzie rolled her eyes shutting the door to the fridge after she grabbed a can of Pepsi. "Then when Mom said she was O negative, Joey was like ‘why must you be so negative'?"

"Hey," Joey said amidst the groans. "I'm a dad. These are the jokes I'm allowed to do now."

"They're awful," Michael said.

"They're supposed to be."

"Dad jokes to go with the dad bod," JC laughed as he poked him in the stomach with his pinky.

"I have had no complaints about my dad bod," Joey slapped JC's hand, nearly spilling JC's drink on the floor. "Women like a little something to hold on to. Unlike your skinny ass. Probably need to tether your ass to the ground in a hurricane."

Lance laughed as he handed Joey a drink. He turned to start making his sister and Melissa a drink. "Joey, you have more than a little something."

"Plenty to go around." Joey grinned.

"The lady who took your blood certainly wanted her share." Melissa made a face.

"Eh, she wasn't my type," Joey laughed as everyone groaned.