Title: Yesterday to Tomorrow: Chapter Seventy-nine, Stories
Rating: NC-17 [violence, swearing, nudity, sexual situations]

Summary: The kids need stories to sleep on the bus.

Previous Chapter Just Flowers

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"And then what happened, Mommy!?" Toni gasped, her wide eyes on Alyssa.

"That's what you get to find out after your nap," she declared.

"But, Mommy," she whined.

"Naptime," Alyssa stated, closing her book and standing. "Nick is already asleep."

"But he's just a baby," Toni argued.

"And you're a big girl now?"

"Yes," she nodded, yawning slightly.

"Well then you can take a big girl nap," Alyssa lifted her off the couch, carrying her to the back of the tour bus.

They could have flown to each tour stop. It wouldn't have been an issue at all. But Chris was too superstitious about that. Whenever possible, they travelled via bus. She knew it was a Soundgarden thing, having too many issues when they were up in the air, but didn't mean Alyssa enjoyed being confined to a bus for hours on end. But she would do what was necessary to stay with her new husband, even stay on a bus for far too long.

With Toni nestled in her bed in the back and a quick check to see that Nick was still asleep, Alyssa returned to the front of the bus. She stretched out on the couch, folding her arm over her eyes, ignoring Chris where he sat in an armchair, reading over some more legal documents. She felt him looking at her every now and then, but didn't uncover her eyes to stare back at him.

"You know, I'm sure if you stared long, you would develop x-ray vision like your son had this morning," Alyssa declared.

"He had x-ray vision this morning?" Chris asked.

"Yep," she nodded. "Kept looking through the sides of the bus and telling me what animals he was seeing."

"Animals?"

"Yeah. But I think that was more of Toni feeding him animal crackers," she chuckled. "Because I really doubt there was a hippo outside the bus."

Chris laughed, "He can say hippotamus?"

"No. But I understand him well enough to know that's what he means."

"Oh, gotcha," he commented. "So according to this, Susan wants—"

"Drop it," Alyssa declared.

"But—"

"Drop the suit, Chris. Then she'll drop hers. And we'll be able to go to Seattle again."

"We can't go to Seattle?"

Alyssa's arm dropped from her eyes, turning on the couch to face him, "Love, the tour doesn't even come near Seattle. There's a lot of malice against you in Seattle. Not only because of Soundgarden breaking up, but because of this whole thing with Susan. Mend the fences with her and things will turn around."

"But—"

"I want to spend Christmas with Lily. Do what you need to in order to correct this."

"But—"

"And don't promise Toni another zoo. Let me go two cities without a zoo trip, okay, love?"

Chris chuckled at that, "But I thought you like monkeys."

"I do. That's why I mother your children."



Chris snuggled against Alyssa, his arms holding her tightly to him. She wasn't exactly sure the reasoning behind it, as usually they just lay loosely in each other's arms. But for whatever reason, he was clutching to her more tightly. And it was raising concern in the back of her mind.

"Chris?" she breathed.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Baby, you're squeezing me to death. What's wrong?"

His arms loosened around her, "Nothing."

"Oh bullshit. We've been on the road for two weeks now. And if that wasn't enough to know, I happen to be intimately knowledgeable of my husband," she turned over, making their faces inches from each other. "Did something happen at the concert tonight?"

He hesitated to answer, "No. Not at all."

"Once more, I call bullshit on you, Chris. You haven't felt this depressed in some time. What's wrong?"

Chris sighed, "Yeah, something happened tonight. But it's nothing for you to be concerned about."

"Do I need to say it again? Because I will: bullshit."

"There was this girl... woman, whatever... who made it backstage at some point. So she was there when we came offstage. And she said some things," he responded vaguely.

"What things?"

"I... It's just... Someone knows, Alyssa."

"Knows what?"

"About you and me."

"What about us?"

"Seattle."

She sighed, "And now you're beating yourself up about it?"

"Lyssie, how can you be so nonchalant about it? I more or less ra—"

Alyssa interrupted his words with a kiss. She wiggled closer to him, her entire body touching his, her hands gentling caressing him. For a few minutes he resisted her kisses, her caresses, her love.

"Baby, love, don't let whatever that bitch said to you suck the life and love out of you," she muttered. "I love you. I love, love, love you. Do not doubt that. Do not doubt us. Do not listen to whatever that bitch said. We're together as we were always meant to be."

"But—"

"No buts. Eight hundred people witnessed me profess my love and my life to you. That should be enough for you."

"But—"

"I love you, Chris."

"But—"

"Listen to me," she ordered and kissed him again. "I love you, Chris. You're my sun, remember? And nothing can take that away from me, from us. Together we are. Together we will be. Stop beating yourself up about it. Stop it. Right now."

He sighed, "But she said it was going to tear us apart."

"Nothing can tear us apart but ourselves," she declared. "And we're not letting that happen. So stop worrying. We've only been married a month and you're already worrying about our demise! Some faith you have."

Chris felt her body language change, getting angrier. So he leaned forward and kissed her, holding it until both of their bodies of emotions changed, fell insync again.

"You're too good to me."

"Damn straight," she replied, grinning. "Now go to sleep. We have another six hours on the bus to look forward to tomorrow."

He chuckled, "Least we'll be in Florida for a few days."

"Mmmhmmm. We're going to Sea World. And you're taking me to Disneyworld."

"You're such a little kid," he commented, kissing her quickly again.

"Well duh. You should know that. I was only fifteen when we met," she teased, kissing him before he could tense up again. "And you un-aged decades when you finally fell in love with me."



Squatting before Toni, Alyssa snapped on her bright pink harness, kissing her nose, "Now what are the rules again?"

"No running," Toni stated. "And no cut in front of peoples. No tripping Daddy."

"Very good," she nodded. "Nicky! We need to get your harness on."

"I no wanna," he folded his arms over his chest.

"You don't want to see the fishies?" Alyssa turned to him.

He shook his little head, "Stay here."

"But the fishies want to see you," she declared.

"Do?" his eyes went to hers.

"Oh, yes. They told me all about it. They've been wanting to see you for a long time," she answered, holding his harness up for his little arms to slip in. "Even the sharks do."

"YEY!" he exclaimed, stumbling forward to slip into his harness.

With the boy's blue harness attached, Alyssa's hands closed over his and Toni's. Together the three headed down to the hotel lobby to meet up with Chris, who was supposed to be finishing up with a press conference. The kids pulled themselves up into chairs, their legs swinging simultaneously while Alyssa checked with the desk agent as to whether or not Chris had arrived and they passed in opposite elevators. Finding they hadn't she turned to head back to the kids.

And stopped with her heart in her throat.

A man not much taller than her with a comb-over and dark khaki shorts knelt in front of the kids, her kids. Toni seemed to be chatting happily with him, but Nick had pulled his legs up onto the chair, close to his chest. His eyes were wide, staring at the man with fear tainting the colour of his irises.

Without another thought, Alyssa stomped over to the kids, plucking Nick off the chair quickly, "Come along, sweetie. We'll meet your father outside."

The man turned and opened his mouth to say something, but Alyssa turned away, her hand holding Toni's before he was able to speak to her.

"Here, Mommy," Toni held her other hand up to her.

Stopping just outside the door of the hotel, Alyssa looked down, "Where did you get that?"

"That man gived it to me."

She released Toni's hand to grasp the book, "We do not accept things from strangers, Toni."

"But he's not a stranger, Mommy," she argued.

"Oh? I've never met him before."

"Yuh huh," Toni declared.

"No, I haven't."

"Yuh huh!" she stomped her foot.

"Where?"

"At the bookstore."

Her eyes shot down to the book in her hand. Turning it over, Alyssa struggled to not gasp at the title, Kinder and Hausmitrchen. Shifting Nick on her hip, she opened the book, checking its publication date: 1812. It was an original copy of Hansel and Gretal, in German. And there was something penned on the inside cover. It clearly wasn't German, but Alyssa couldn't quite make out all of the letters. It could be French. But it could also have been Latin.

Her nerves were starting to buzz.

"Baby?" Chris's voice interrupted her thoughts, tearing her eyes away from attempting to decipher the scrawled words.

"There you are," she smiled uneasily. "Ready to go see the fishies?"

"Sure," he replied cautiously. "What do you have there?"

"Just a book," Alyssa answered. "Let's head out to Sea World."