Nerd and the Marine by D.R. Grady Page B

know
where the cups are when there are nerds here who can show me?” He
tried to swipe a finger under her chin. Lainy dodged him with
apparent long ago earned skill.
    “ I suppose space would be
limited when your brain is only the size of a pea,” she agreed,
neatly side stepping him again. Mitch figured this must be a
brother.
    “ So, how long are you
intending for Laurie and Greg and half the munchkin population to
inhabit my closet?” he asked, taking a long swallow of
water.
    “ Mom and Dad will come
looking soon enough.” She shrugged and the man choked.
    “ You’re going to wait for
Mom and Dad to let them out?” His voice sounded strangled. Like the
water had slid down the wrong pipes.
    “ Absolutely.” Lainy offered
a serene smile.
    The man started laughing about the
same time Mitch did. Only to be rudely shaken from laughter by a
bellow. “What's going on in here?” A tall man with pure white hair
and an erect back marched into the room. This man had been military
at one time. Mitch would stake his pension on it.
    Lainy turned with a dazzlingly
innocent smile. “Nothing Granddad, right Will?” and she elbowed the
man he thought was her brother. Will didn't provide much help as he
bent double and his face turned an interesting shade of
purple.
    Granddad would have to be deaf not to
hear the cacophony behind the locked closet door. The old guy
didn't appear to have that malady as he cleared the space in record
time and opened the door with a flourish. Three kids and four dogs
fell out.
    Granddad rolled his eyes, not unlike
the teenager occupying the closet, and watched as more bodies
spilled from the space. His eyebrows rose when the older girl
exited, but she merely rose on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek and
offered a, “Thank you for freeing us, Granddad,” before making her
way to the kitchen.
    It wasn't until Lainy's sister and her
husband sheepishly left the closet under the watchful eye of
Granddad that Mitch couldn't control the lip twitch anymore and
laughed. He didn't miss Granddad's mild comment though, “Lainy's
practicing population control again, I see.” Which set Mitch off
again. And brightened the cheeks of her sister and
brother-in-law.
    “ Of course it was Lainy,
General. Who else locks us in the closet with the entire camp?”
Mitch noticed the younger man didn't seem daunted by the older man
at all.
    “ Not the entire camp, just
a few kids and dogs,” Lainy protested and Laurie rolled her
eyes.
    “ Right, Lainy. Just
remember, your turn is coming,” Laurie warned. Lainy's smile upped
in wattage about four fold.
    “ I'm not worried,” Lainy
returned, not sounding repentant at all. “I was just doing my civic
duty and preventing yet another birth in the Colson household. I
mean, really, can't you guys keep your hands off each other for a
weekend?”
    “ Apparently not,” General
Granddad intoned. “But that's not necessarily a bad thing,
either.”
    “ Of course it's not, dear,”
another voice chimed in. The camera swerved to an elegant, white
haired woman.
    “ Your granddaughter is up
to your tricks, Melody,” the man scolded.
    The woman, who had to be Lainy's
grandmother, merely cocked an eyebrow and exchanged a secret smile
with Lainy.
    She patted her perfect looking hair
and said, “Yes, love, I know. I've been teaching her everything I
know for years.” The woman took her husband's arm and tugged him
into the closet.
    “ Since we don't have to
worry about altering the population now, why don't you come with
me?” she invited. The General's lips curled up into a masculine
smile as he followed her.
    “ Want me to lock the door?”
Lainy's voice piped in impishly before the screen went
blank.
    *****
    To:
[email protected]
    From:
[email protected]
    Subject: Lainy's Detour
Routine
    Hello Lainy,
    I laughed through the
first video and before watching the next one, I had to send an
e-mail to you. Your brother must have been lurking in the shadows
during the