Chapter Seven #2
Which Emerald thrived on by making it as difficult as possible.
The most memorable one was when she’d managed to get her car practically on its side and stuck in a hole.
Thankfully, that had been when she had a smaller car.
This beast she had now, they had no chance of dragging out the same situation, so she was a bit more careful.
To make matters worse, her car that she had called Giant was being replaced soon by something even bigger.
Louis stopped his daily car in front of them. They carried on doing what they were doing. Which was mostly shouting at each other.
“Green! It is wet and slippery. You will fall off. Get down,” Vince snapped.
“Then catch me.”
Rolling his eyes, Vince moved so he could catch her if needed.
Getting out, Louis leaned on his door.
Vince waved. “Hey, Oldie. We are nearly finished.”
His lips twitched at the nickname. As the oldest, he wore it with pride. “Having fun?”
“Absolutely not,” Vince answered.
Emerald threw her hands in the air. “Yes!”
Then promptly slipped on the roof she was standing on, which Vince managed to stop.
It was good seeing her so carefree. Now that she had moved back here, Louis and Vince could watch over her and bring her back out of her shell. Her ex-husband had almost destroyed her, but not completely.
Currently, she was in temporary accommodation until she could move into the house she had recently bought. It was a big step for her getting her life back.
Leaping down, Emerald disappeared behind her car. “Is she here?” she shouted, before reappearing with her stick.
Rosie slowly stepped out of the car. Her whole body was hunched, ready to be rejected.
“Emerald, Vince, I would like you to meet Rosie officially. Rosie, this is Emerald and Vince. The best sibling and cousin a guy could ever have.”
“Hi!” Vince mumbled, inclining his head to her.
“She is super pretty!” Emerald exclaimed as stood beside Rosie to shake her hand. “Those video calls didn’t do you justice. Look at you!”
Rosie blushed so pink at the praise.
Vince chuckled.
Louis grinned. “You will learn that Emerald has little to no filter when she is excited. And she is also correct. You are super pretty.”
“Excuse me, I am a girl’s girl. I say it how it is, and make others happy,” Emerald retorted.
“Thank you.” Rosie went all shy. “Well, at least that was nice, I was expecting negativity.”
“I understand why,” Louis replied. “But I always knew they would like you. What is not to like?”
Feeling braver, she stepped closer to Emerald and watched her pack the back of the big, blue car. “And you are beautiful, too,” she whispered.
Emerald grinned at her. “You’re too kind.
“Why are you carrying a long stick?” Rosie asked.
“She pokes us with it,” Vincent answered.
How he said that which such a blank expression, Louis had no idea. Then he promptly ran away, mischief in his eyes, when Emerald got an evil gleam in her expression, planning to do just that.
Rolling her eyes when Vince stayed, far, far away, Emerald responded, “It is to check the depth of mud and water, so we don’t damage the cars. Or get seriously stuck. It also means we don’t have to stand in it.” She smirked. “Or, more accurately, Louis.”
Rosie turned to him, waiting for an answer.
So, he answered with, “I am the tallest. But we got the stick when I went in a puddle that even I nearly got lost in. I was soaking wet all day.”
Emerald cackled. “It was hilarious.”
“You have a very warped sense of humour,” Vince said dryly.
“Says you!” Louis scoffed.
Smirking, he shrugged at them. Yeah, he had the weirdest sense of humour out of the three of them.
Rosie’s eyes widened at the cars when Vince started them up to check the engines. Especially the blue one. It was massive, with huge tyres. At the front was a huge winch. The pink one and the green one had winches, but they were much smaller.
“Let me guess,” Rosie said to Louis, crossing her arms over her chest. “Yours is the big, blue one?”
Chuckling, Louis shook his head and rubbed a hand on his chin. “Actually, no. That one is Emerald’s. It is called Giant because of its size.”
That caught her by surprise, and her mouth moved for a moment before she could speak. “I would have thought she would have the pink or green one.”
Emerald smiled, not offended at all. It was a regular mistake. “Everyone assumes I like green because of my nickname. I don’t. In fact, I absolutely hate the colour. I like my nickname, though, since it is not very common.”
It was also given to her by Margot. It was special to her. When she was little, she couldn’t say “Emerald”. Green was far easier.
“Then people pick the pink because I am female. I am not a massive fan of pink, either. But I really like blue. And buttons. And gadgets. This one has the most of both.”
“I have the pink one. It is called Peony after Mum’s favourite flower,” Louis responded. “The green one is Vince’s. It is called Camouflage because of how well it blends in”
That really did shock her. Her mouth was moving again, and it took a while for words to squeak out. “Surprising.”
Emerald cackled again. “There is a reason behind it.”
Facing Louis again, Rosie waited patiently for another explanation.
Of course he obliged. “When Mum was pregnant with me, she wanted to be surprised by the gender, so she didn’t want to know when she had her scans,” Louis explained.
“However, everyone was convinced I would be a girl.
Absolutely no idea why, but they were. Maybe because Mum comes from a very female dominated family.
Yet that gets negated when Dad is from a very male dominated family. But whatever.
“Anyway, everyone bought pink things. Then, hello! I was a boy. It is an ongoing joke in the family that pink is my colour. I rock it, so I don’t care.”
Standing beside her, Vince carried on with the explanation. “Green is my colour, and I came just over a year after Louis.”
Oh, good idea! It would help Rosie to know their age difference. As they were all born quite close together it helped bring them all together.
“Before I was born, the family were convinced I was going to be a girl, too. However, to be safe, they went for a neutral colour and bought everything green.”
Now sitting on the bonnet and swinging her legs, Emerald said, “And blue is mine. I was last and I am just over two years younger than Louis. Because they were both born boys, everyone was convinced I would be a boy, as well. So, they bought everything blue.”
“How are you cousins? Which of your parents are related?” Rosie asked.
Vince came up to her, this time with Banjo in his arms that he had just gotten out of the blue car. Banjo wiggled excitedly in his grip to get to Rosie. Charmed, Rosie petted him and the tongue came out to give her hands kisses.
“Our dads,” Louis answered. “All our dads are brothers.”
Eyes wide, Rosie focused on the Cavalier King Charles spaniel and gave him more pets. “And who is this? Is it okay if I pet him?”
“Please,” Louis invited. “He is super friendly. This is Banjo. He is Emerald’s co-pilot, and one of her five dogs.”
“He is so cute!” As she continued to stroke his fur, she was now accepting kisses on her face. Banjo was loving it and his butt was wagging wildly. “Do you have a lead car? Who does what?”
“I am the navigator,” Louis responded. “So, I take the lead. I plan all the routes and make sure we go down the routes the right direction if needed or check if they are blocked or closed. I need to make sure we behave since bad behaviour from other people has been known to cause anger amongst the off-roading community. It damages lanes and can lead to closures.”
“I am the one that is more confident in what we are doing,” Emerald added. “As in, I have joined groups and go to trials. So, I have the most capable car with all the big gadgets. If we get stuck, my car is the most likely one used to pull anyone out, including myself.”
“What happens if you get stuck?” Rosie asked, now very intrigued.
Louis grinned, seeing how this was now perking her up. She was no longer worried.
“That is what the big winch is for.” Emerald pointed at her latest toy proudly. “And theirs. Plus, I also have a fridge for our picnic and all the supplies.”
“I am the mechanic,” Vince answered quietly. “So, I have all the tools and spare parts. I am also the problem solver that comes up with the ideas to deal with obstacles.”
Still petting the dog, Rosie pointed at the cars. “How did you get into this?”
Louis and Vince pointed at Emerald.
“I am a comic book artist, and sometimes I get to do superheroes, which means I need to do a lot of research on gadgets. Especially cars. I wanted to try a winch out, and understand what it was capable of,” she explained.
“I contacted a local off-roading group who were very keen to show me, and they explained everything they knew about it.
They even invited me on one of their routes as a passenger, and I loved it.
“As soon as I got back, I looked into it personally and got myself a car. I went out with the group for experience and to make friends, and I was told about trials. After that, I convinced the boys to join me, and here we are.”
“What are trials?”
“Basically, it is a course that challenges the cars and the drivers, but it is a controlled environment. People watch or help when you get stuck,” Emerald replied. “For example, it could be how fast you get out of a hole, or through an obstacle course, or test you to get up a really muddy hill.”
Rosie pouted in thought. She almost looked like she was excited and wanted to give it a go.
“Come on,” Vince suggested. “We are burning daylight. We have no idea how muddy the trail is, and how stuck we will get, so we better get going.”
With that, they all headed off to their cars. Louis parked his daily vehicle in the garage and headed to the pink car. Rosie got in with him.