Soft mutterings drifted down the hall to the ears of the sleeping mother and father. Exhausted from lifting and pushing moving boxes around their new home, Lee and Brooke had fallen into bed the previous night exhausted. Neither wanted to answer the call of their two year old daughter, Anne, but it had to be done. Blindly fumbling to look at the alarm clock Lee pulled the covers down from over his face to see that the time was only 6:50 am. Groaning, he slipped out from under Brooke's arm, and slid onto the floor.
It's too early, he thought, as he rubbed his eyes. It should be outlawed for a child to be up this early.
Aching in places long forgotten, Lee pushed himself to his feet and quietly exited the room. The hallway was overrun by boxes, forcing Lee to squeeze his husky frame down the narrow passageway. He nearly knocked over several boxes while attempting to step over the cat, Lana, who'd found the most inconvenient place to rest. Hissing and howling Lana sprang to her feet and ran off into some dark corner of the new house.
"Sssssssssh!" came a call from the master bedroom. Followed by several thunderous steps and then a sharp closing of a door. If you asked Brooke, Lee was one of the noisiest people in the morning. "Always banging stuff around when I'm trying to sleep," she'd say. "I'm always quiet when you're trying to sleep," she'd complain. But Lee knew differently. Someone once told him that he missed his calling as a professional ninja. For a man his size he could walk around the office and no one would ever know. Sometimes startling co-workers so much, that they'd playful punch Lee and exclaim, "we need to put a cow bell around your neck so we know when you're coming!"
Thankfully for Lee the new house was newly built, so he didn't have to contend with squeaking floor boards or worn out doors that would scream in protest ever time you opened or closed them. Easing open the door to Anne's bedroom, he found the young dirty blonde girl standing-up in her crib, playing the her musical mobile.
"Daddy!" she cried, with a purple pacifier in her mouth. A huge smile was on her face and her eyes sparkled as Lee entered the room. She bounced on her bed before falling onto her butt giggling. Grabbing a stuffed toy rabbit she held it aloft for her daddy to see. "Bunny!" she exclaimed; proud of herself that she knew the type of animal she held.
"Yes baby, bunny." he replied trying to hide how tired he was. With a little less than five hours of sleep Lee picked up his daughter and took her down to their new living room. The cable wasn't going to be ready for another couple days, so he leafed through several boxes to find Anne's collection of Disney DVDs. Luckily he didn't have to look long, as Anne started to call for her morning milk, and set the video play.
Heading to the kitchen he picked up his cellphone to check if he'd received any further messages since last night. Two new messages had come in late last night. Ever since he'd received word that he would be the new Athletic Director at the high school, Lee had contacted everyone in the O.C. to let them know he'd be returning. Jay and Lori and been the first to respond, and then the flood gate of texts came roaring in. It had been well over five years since Lee had left Enchanted Oaks, but now he was back, and now he could get back into roleplaying regularly.
Anne let out an impatient whine, calling for her milk again, as Lee searched another box of dishes for her drinking cups. Frustrated from not finding one he grabbed a regular glass and poured his daughter some milk. It will have to suffice for now, he thought to himself. I just hope she doesn't make a mess. Heading back out into the living room, Lee gave the milk to his daughter and then plopped down on the grey sofa to read the latest texts.
"Nice 2 have u back. C u @ 10!" - Charles. Charles was Lee's best friend. When Lee came to Vandenburg Academy in his junior year of high school, he and Charles became good friends once Lee was introduced to the O.C. Smiling, Lee hit the arrow button to see the other message.
"Bringing a new HF adventure to play. Make a 2nd level character. Bring snacks to share. Miguel will be there too. See you at Jay's." - Clark. During Lee's second semester at Vandenburg, Lee and Clark had become roommates. They had come to know each other in choir, and had befriended each other over a shared interest in Sci-Fi, mainly space operas -- in particular Trek Wars which, unbeknownst to Lee, was also a roleplaying game. Lee had never roleplayed before, but when Clark introduced lee to the O.C., Lee got hooked.
School for Tools was playing on the TV, and Anne was calling out each of the character's names when they appeared. Unfortunately for Brooke and Lee, the TV had become a babysitter for them over the last couple months. With all their money going into their move they had little to spend on babysitting. Which left them leaving Anne in front of the picture box while they got chores and packing done around the house.So she had come to know the names of the many characters that populated her favorite rotation of semi-educational programs.
The clock read 7:15 am, plenty of time to work on a character, he thought. Lee retrieved his 'gaming bag', pulled out some paper, dice and his copy of High Fantasy and began his ritualistic process of creating his character for today's game. He was fortunate that Brooke was letting him even play today. Monday he'd have to start his new job, and there was plenty of unpacking to be done. However, Lee had convinced her that before he left for game, he would at least unpack a couple of boxes.
An hour later he was done. His dwarven swashbuckler, Redbeard MacMurray, was now complete. Anne had managed to finish all her milk without spilling too much on her or the new carpet, and was now asking for food. I guess it's time to start on my father and husbandry duties, he sighed, and set to feeding his daughter and get some boxes unpacked.
By 9:30 Brooke and pulled her self from bed and took over watching Anne, while Lee got ready for a day of gaming.
"How long are you going to be gone?" Brooke had asked as Lee grabbed up his game bag.
"I don't know. I'll keep you informed though. Okay?" He knew this wasn't the answer she wanted to hear, but with her mother being nearby now, Brooke had somewhere else she could go. He kissed Brooke and Anne goodbye and headed out. At 9:50 he had arrived. It's time to game!
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