Shawn's on Dancing With The Stars. I found out from my friend, Meggers, who's also my writing partner.
We all know what this means. She's more than likely done with gymnastics. She's always changing her mind, keeping us on the edge of our seats. But, oh well. I have feeling she'll go back. She's said she just has the passion or something cute like that.
Anyways, speaking of my writing partner, due to popular demand, here's more Gymnastia.
We're doing these little "Flashbacks" of Nastia as a child, so here you go.
WARNING: Don't read if you don't have a buttload of time.
Nastia awoke with a start, practically hoping out of bed. "It's my birthday!" she squealed, hoping around her room. Anna laughed outside the door. "Well then, good morning..." she chuckled, opening her arms for a hug. Nastia leaped into her arms. "I'm five now!" Anna nodded. "You certainly are. Go get ready, Daddy's ready to head over to the gym." Nastia nodded eagerly. She pulled on her leo and leg warmers and hopped down the stairs. "DADDYYYYY! I'm ready!" He laughed and picked her up, swinging her around. "Happy Birthday, my big girl." Nastia grinned. "Ready to go?" he asked, carrying her out to the car. Nastia nodded. He loaded her into the car and made it over to the gym, where Nastia hopped onto the bars immediately. Valeri rolled his eyes. "Steven will be out soon, don't hurt yourself." He went off to his elites and started their conditioning. He watched as Steven came over to the bars and lifted Nastia off of them, causing a loud giggle from the young girl, and smiled. He was glad she was having a good day. Conditioning ended and he began training his group on beam, glancing over at Nastia every once in awhile. Meanwhile, Nastia was twirling on bars, enjoying herself. When she attempted a bit of a bunny hop release skill, something the younger girls would do for fun, she lost her gripping and slipped off the bar. Steven ran to catch her, but elbowed her eye....hard. It took a minute for Nastia to register the pain, but when it did, she screamed, getting up and running to her father immediately. "Daddy." She wailed, trying to hug her father and point to her swollen eye at the same time. "Steven hurt me!" She continued, crying. Valeri told the elites to carry on. He picked up his little girl, and carried her into the WOGA office. Once seated, he pushed back her hair that was covering her face. "I don't want him to be my teachwer no more." She stated. Valeri bit his lip. "Alright." He said. "Why don't we give the rest of the class just one more try, then see what you think?" Valeir negogiated. Nastia shook herh ead wildly. "No. No Steven!" Valeri inhaled sharply. He was about to do something he never thought he would do. "Do you want to play with Elites?" He finally managed to choke out, automatically knowing her answer. "DUH, Daddy." She replied, hopping off his lap, running into the gym. As she passed Steven, she stuck out her tounge. Once she reached the Elites, Roberta reached down to pat her on the head. "You an Elite, squirt?" Nastia nodded enthusiastically. “My daddy said I can play with you guys! Isn’t that coooooooool?” She had forgotten all about her eye. Roberta smiled and nodded. “What happened to your eye, kiddo?” Nastia looked slightly confused, but then remembered. “Big Ol’ Meanie Steven hurt it.” Roberta tried to hide her smile and patted Nastia’s head again, then picked her up and put her on her back. “Well that’s too bad. How about a piggy back ride, birthday girl?” Nastia squealed, “yes please!” Roberta trotted around the gym, Nastia giggling all the while. Valeri soon entered the room and glared at the two of them, who instantly stopped in their tracks. “What are you two doing? Goofing off? You know better than to….” He glanced at his daughter, tears beginning to well up in her swollen eye. He sighed, “goof off without inviting me to join you,” he smiled. Nastia clapped her hands and jumped onto her fathers back. He bucked her off and sent her flying into the pit. She laughed hysterically, landing in the pit head first, long legs flailing, trying to free herself. Valeri heard muffled screams, and bit back a smile. He jumped into the pit, digging through the foam blocks, finally freeing his daughter. "I almost died in there, Papa!" Nastia said, seriously eyes wide open with fear, clinging to her father's neck. Valeri nodded. "There, there." He mumbled with a heavy russian accent. "'Tis alright, babygirl." Nastia looked up at him. "I've almost died TWICE on my birfday, Papa!" Valeri modded once more. "You have, haven't you?" She glanced over at Steven. "Make my eyes, better, Papa." She said. "Peas?" Valeri sighed. “I wish I could, precious,” he said, pulling his daughter out of the pit, “but we’ll just have to wait for them to heal. Do you want to go see mama and see if that helps them get better?” Nastia nodded. “Mama makes eberything betta.” Valeri smirked. He loved how much Nastia adored Anna. They were like clones of each other. It was adorable. “Alright then, lets go,” he said, carrying her over to the office her mother worked in and knocking. “Come on in,” Anna replied from the other side. As they entered, Nastia reached her arms out towards her mother. “Mamaaaaaaa,” she half whined, rubbing her eyes. Anna took her daughter from Valeri and held her close. “What’s wrong, angel?” Nastia cried into her mother’s shoulder. “My eyes hurtttttttt and daddy almost killed meeeeee!” Anna held her close. "Shhhh it's alright." Then there was another knock on the door. "Come on in!" A young girl, around 7 years old, poked her head in. She had blonde hair and freckles speckled across her cheeks. Her green blue eyes sparkled. "Mrs. Anna?" she asked tentatively, "Do you have any extra tuff skin?" Anna nodded and shifted Nastia to he other side of her body. "Yes, I do Hollie, come over here and I'll give it to you." Hollie walked over to Anna, who was rummaging through a drawer. Nastia meanwhile, had found the Tuff Skin, and had it hidden behind her back, giggling softly. Hollie noticed and smiled at Nastia. Anna turned away from the drawer while Nastia was still concealing the Tuff Skin. "I'm sorry Hollie, I can't seem to find it!" Anna stated, looking at Hollie. "Maybe you could check with Coach Yevgeny?" Hollie nodded, turning away, going along with Nastia's game. "I founded it, Mama!" Nastia said, revealing the Tuff Skin from behind her back, shaking it in front of her mother's face. Anna laughed. "And where was that?" She asked. "I have magical powas and made it 'pear!" Nastia said! Anna chuckled. “I’m sure you do!” Nastia grinned wide, holding the Tuff Skin high above her head. “You can’t reach it, Mama!” she laughed, waving it around. Hollie grabbed it from her and twirled around the room, sticking her tongue out at Nastia. “Now I’veeeee got it!” Nastia glared and pushed off her mother’s lap, chasing after Hollie. “Be careful girls!” Anna warned, not wanting them to injure themselves. “Give it baaaaack Hollieeeeee” Nastia whined, pouncing on Hollie’s back. Hollie, not expecting the force, fell forward into the trophy case that held Valeri, Anna, and Yevgeny’s medals, breaking the glass completely. Nastia’s mouth fell open, Hollie let out a gasp as she stepped backwards. They both stared at the case. Once it registered what had happened, the two girls turned towards each other. “Your fault!” they exclaimed, almost at the same time. “Nuh uh! Yes huh! Nuh uh!” “Girls, what’s going on out there?” Anna called from inside her office. Nastia looked like a deer caught in the headlights as she dove into the pit. Hollie followed. “We’re gonna be in hugeeeee trouble!” Hollie whispered to Nastia, tears forming in her eyes. Nastia nodded in agreement. Hollie rambled on. “We’re gonna have to do soooo much conditioning and press handstands and giants and I don’t wannaaaaa be in trouble, Nastie!” she shouted, revealing their hiding spot. Somebody tapped Hollie on the back. "WHA-". She demanded, turning around. "Oh." Her tone changed. It was Valeri, holding Nastia, seeing what all the choas was for. "So. What happened?" He inquired, clamly. Hollie started openly crying. Nastia patted her on the back. "It's 'kay, Howwie." She said, trying to comfort the older girl. "My papa told me that they have-what was it called' gain papa?" She turned to her father. He whispered into her ear. "Insurwance!" Nastia finished proudly. Hollie sighed loudly, obviously relieved. "But it doesn't mean you aren't off the hook." Valeri nodded, with a smirk. Hollie tensed up again. "Uh-oh." She glanced at Nastia. Nastia shrugged. Valeri continued. "I think that you should have to go clean the glass." Nastia smiled. "Together." Valeri added. Hollie nodded. “Yes sir,” she said, looking down at her feet. Valeri patted her on the back and put Nastia down. “Off you go then.” The two girls trotted over to the broken glass and looked down. “I’ll go get a broom,” Hollie said. Nastia nodded, stepping around the glass. She picked up a few pieces carefully with her hands, not wanting to cut herself. Hollie returned with the broom and began sweeping, accidentally hitting Nastia with the end of it. “OWWW!” Nastia yelled dramatically, though it hadn’t really hurt her. “Sorry!” Hollie shouted, going over to see if her friend was okay. Nastia scrunched up her face and threw the handful of glass she had in her hand at Hollie’s face. “MEANIE!” she screamed, kicking Hollie’s shin. Hollie yelped and instantly began crying, then bent down and picked up a handful of glass and threw it back at Nastia. “NO! YOU’RE MEAN!” she retorted, running over to the benches. Nastia screamed bloody murder, running towards Hollie and tackled her to the ground. “GIRLS!” Anna shouted, coming out of her office to see what the commotion was. Anna's mouth fell open, creating a lopsided "O". "What the.." She mumbled. "VALERIIIIIIIII." Her husband ran in, gasping. "What's wrong now?". Anna gestured to the two girls standing together, looking guilty. Nastia had a cut above her right eyebrow, while Hollie's hands were scraped and she had a gash over her left kneecap. Valeri shook his head. "And we were going to train bars for TOPs today, Hollie." Anna glared. "So. You want Hollie to train for TOPs, huh?" Valeri nodded enthusiastically. Anna sighed. "So. They are bleeding all over, and all you care about is freaking TOPS?!" Valeri looked down at floor shamefully. "Umm.." He started, but just then Yevgeny jogged in. "Heyas, what's all the commotion-" He stopped when he saw Anna's expression. She. Was. LIVID. "Oh, shoulda known it was you, AnnaBear." He said, lifting her chin up, teasing her like a big brother. Meanwhile, Nastia had left the office during all the yelling, and was now hiding, once again, in the pit, crying. "I dunn want mommy and daddy to fight." She sniffled, talking to herself. “Nastia?! Nastia, where are you?” Anna called, looking around the gym for her daughter. Nastia poked her head out of the pit. Anna glared. “Over here. Now.” She commanded, pointing to the floor next to her. Nastia nodded and hopped out of the pit, going over to her mother. Valeri glared at both of the girls, while Yevgeny finished cleaning up the glass and headed back over to the group. Yevgeny tried to make the girls smile as best he could, making goofy faces at them. Hollie almost smiled, but then she saw the looks on Anna and Valeri’s faces, and stopped immediately. “I’m sorryyyyyyyy!” Hollie cried, looking down at her feet again, “Don’t tell my mommyyyyy!” she wailed, crying into her leo. Anna shook her head. “You’re staying the night with us tonight anyways. I was going to wait until after gym to tell you.” Hollie hinted at a smile when she heard that, but Anna quickly cut her off. “Don’t assume it will be an enjoyable experience just yet.” Her frown reappeared. “And you,” Anna pointed at Nastia, “What were you thinking?” Nastia sniffled. “She hit me with a broom,” she said quietly. Hollie blushed in the background, silently pleading with Nastia not to say anything more. Her parents would ground her and possibly take gymnastics away if they knew that their money was going toawrds their child being hurt. Nastia shook her head. "She didn't actuwawwy." Hollie looked semi-relieved. "I was just wyin' that way I wouldn't get in trouble." Nastia started crying alligator tears. "And now I know that I'm gunna be in more twouble 'cuz I wied to you and papa." Nastia buried her head in her hands, smiling to herself, letting herself know that she had done a good job in protecting her friend. She'd rather get in trouble than have Hollie leave..forever! Anna nodded, falling for the girl's shenanigans. "Okay. Thank you for 'fessing up, Nast." Nastia looked up. "And because you told me the truth, and also because it is your birthday, after all, then you are out of trouble." Hollie hugged Nastia. "You too, Hollie." Anna nodded at the 7 year old. "Consider it your early birthday present." Hollie blushed again, and mumbled a quick thanks, hurrying out of the room. Nastia sighed. Anna patted her daughter on the back, then tilted her chin up. “Let’s take care of that cut, hmm?” she said, picking Nastia up and carrying her into the office. “Hollie, come back in here,” she shouted out the door, motioning for Hollie to join them. Valeri grabbed the first aid kit and handed it to his wife before heading back out to the floor to help some of the level 6s with floor routines. Anna sat Nastia on her desk and allowed Hollie to climb up next to her. She rummaged through the first aid kit, looking for wipes and peroxide. Nastia cringed. She knew what was coming next, and she didn’t like it. Wiggling, she tried to get off the desk, but to no avail. “Sit still,” Anna soothed, holding onto her daughter’s legs as she poured peroxide onto a cotton ball, “It will only sting for a second.” She placed the peroxide on the cut above Nastia’s eyebrow, much to her daughter’s protests. Nastia squealed and kicked and bucked, trying to get the dreaded liquid away from her. “Owieeeeeeee!” she cried, rocking back and forth. Hollie put a comforting hand around the younger girl’s shoulders. “It’s okay, Nastia. I know it hurts, but only for a lil bit. Then it feels alllllllll better.” Nastia sniffled, trying to stop the tears, as Anna pulled the cotton ball off. “There. All better,” her mother said, lifting Nastia off the desk and cradling her in her arms for a moment. Once she seated Nastia in the chair behind the desk, she reached for another cotton swab. “Alright Hollie, your turn.” Hollie tried to put on her brave face for the younger girl. She knew Nastia looked up to her, and she didn’t want to seem afraid, no matter how much she was. She bit her lower lip as Anna applied the liquid and shut her eyes tight, managing not to let any tears slip out. “Good girl, Hollie,” Anna smiled as she took the cotton ball off and kissed her forehead, “now that you’re both done, you can go back out and play in the gym if you want. I think Coach Valeri wants to work with you on bars for TOPs, Hollie. I think Coach Valeri wants to work with you on bars for TOPs, Hollie." Why don’t you watch, Nast?” They both nodded and darted out the door. Valeri smiled when he saw them coming. “Feeling better? Hop on bars, Hol,” he started, kissing them both on the top of the head. Hollie did as instructed, executing a perfect routine with a stuck landing. “Woohoo! You go girl!” Yevgeny and Valeri applauded from the sidelines, while Nastia hopped up and down. “Genyyyyy!” Nastia squealed, hoping onto another set of bars, “Train me for TOPs, Tooooooo!" She whined, bothering her Uncle 'Geny as much as possible. Yevgeny glanced at Valeri skeptically, not wanting to tell the young girl she was too young. Valeri shook his head. "She'll find out the truth one day, and resent all of us for it." Nastia pulled on Yevgeny's pant's leg. "Genyyyyyy. What am I gunna find out!? TELL ME!" Nastia whined, aching to go out into the gym to practice with Hollie. Valeri shared a look with Yevgeny, while Nastia dmenaded attention. She finally gave up and wandered away. "Hollie, since you've done well on bars, would you like to go entertain Nastia for a bit?" Valeri asked kindly. Hollie nodded and quickly scurried off to go dance with Nastia. "Are you gunna come to my birfday pawty, Howwie?" The little girl asked, siddenly stopping everything. Hollie beamed. "Of course, Nast!" Nastia smiled. "Yays! It's at Chuck E Cheese! We's is gunna have pizza and play games!." Then, Nastia's eyes exploded with excitement. "HOWWIE! You could spend da night afterwards!" Hollie laughed and hugged Nastia tight. “I already ammmmm, silly!” she said, ruffling Nastia’s hair. The little girl’s eyes widened. “REALLY!? YAYYYY!” She bounced around the gym and pounced onto her father’s back. “ HOWWIE’S SPENDING THE NIGHT?!?!?!!??!!” she screamed directly into his ear, still bouncing will on his back and kicking her legs. “DIS IS DA BEST BIRFDAY!!! WE IS GONNA STAY UP REALLLLLY LATE AND NOT GO TO SWEEP AND EAT LOS OF CANDY AND PIZZA AND PWAY WIF TOYS AND HAVE WOTS AND WOTS OF FUNNNNN!” She let out one long squeal, and Valeri cringed. Yevgeny tried his hardest not to laugh at his friend’s pain, and Hollie giggled from the sidelines. Valeri glared. "Nastia. Calm down, Babygirl." Nastia shook her head, causing her hair to wildly fly around her face. "NO!" She continued to yell. "I'm still 'sited for tonightt. Is it time to leave yet?" Valeri shook his head like Nastia had moments before. "How bout nowww?" Nastia whined. Valeri lossened his grasp on his aughter. "Nastia." He stated, sternly. "Big girl's don't act overly excited." Nastia stopped fidegting immedieately. "I'mma big girl. I's stops now." She said softly. Valeri nodded as he placed her back on the floor. “How about you and Hollie work off some of that energy and give me five laps around the gym. Then we’ll see if it’s time to go.” Nastia scrunched up her face. “You’s not my coach, Papa! I dun have one no more.” Valeri shook his head. “I’m your coach starting right now. Get moving!” “But Papaaaaaaa…” she whined, but was cut off by Hollie grabbing her hand. “C’mon lets go! The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can leaveee!” Nastia squealed and ran after her friend, completing the five laps quickly. “Done Papa! Can we go now?!” Valeri laughed and picked up both of the girls, one in each arm. “Yes…we can go now.” They both squealed with excitement as he carried them out to the car and buckled them in. Anna joined them soon enough , and they were on their way to Chuck E Cheese. Nastia chanted the name over and over all the way there, much to Anna’s amusement. "Chuck. E. Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese." Nastia finished her chant, breathing hard. Valeri sighed, dreading going inside the children's place. He always emerged 2 and a half hours later with an intense headache. He sighed once more, then picked up Nastia. "Let's go in." Anna said, feeling sorry for her husband. He nodded and headed towards the door, Nastia bouncing up and down in his arms. Anna grabbed Hollie's hand and led her across the street as well. Once they made it inside, Nastia squirmed, trying to get down. "PAPA! DOWNNNNN! I WANNA PLAYYYY!" Valeri groaned and set her down on her feet. "Stay where we can see you, and when we call you for dinner, come. I don't want to have to look around for you forever, got it?" Nastia nodded, completely blowing him off, and grabbed Hollie's hand. They ran towards the play area together. Anna patted her husband on the back. "You'll survive, I promise you. She loves this." Valeri rolled his eyes. "I hate it." They chose a table right outside the playground to sit, where they watched Nastia and Hollie play on the equipment for about an hour. By then, the rest of Nastia's friends had shown up and had joined the girls in playing. Valeri tried to capture Nastia's attention by waving his hands toward her. "Dinner! Come eat!" Hollie had seen him, though Nastia hadn't, and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards the table. "Dig in!" Anna said with a smile, as soon as the children had arrived. Everyone grabbed at the cheese first, totally disregarding the pepperoni pizza that layed on the table, sticky hands belonging to fellow 4 and 5 year old girls not going anywhere near it. Nastia somehow got shoved to the end of the line. Once she had made it towards the table, her eyes began to swell with tears. "Momma." She gasped through all the crying. "There's no more cheeeeese." Anna exhaled, closing her eyes. Hollie noticed the signs of an annoyed parent. "It's okay, Nast." Hollie said. "You can have my slice of cheese!" Nastia wiped her eyes. "Weally?" she sniffled through her question, looking up at the oldest girl at the party with hopeful eyes. Hollie nodded, and handed the paper plate to Nastia. "'Hank you so much Howwie! I wub you!" Nastia ran off to sit by the lone boy at the party, who all the girls seemed to like. He was a recreational gymnast at WOGA. Nastia pushed her way to the chair beside him. "Hiya." She said, picking up the pizza and muching on it. He turned towards Nastia and blushed. "Hi." Nastia smiled. "So, is you haffin a good time so faw?" The boy nodded shyly, pushing his plate away from him. “Are you done alweady?!” Nastia asked with a shocked tone, looking at his only slightly eaten pizza. The boy shrugged, and Nastia frowned, afraid he was upset about something. “What’s your name?” she asked, pushing his plate back in front of him. The boy seemed to sink lower in his seat, pushing his pizza away again. “Finn” he managed to stammer out. “Finn?!” Nastia exclaimed, jumping out of her seat, “ I LUB dat name!” Finn actually smiled at this. “You doooooooo?” Nastia nodded enthusiastically. “It’s da best name in da worlddddddd!” Finn giggled and stood up next to Nastia. “You’re pwitty, Nastyuh,” he blushed. Nastia blushed as well. “Do you wanna kiss me?” Finn nodded. “Well go ahead! Don’t keep me waitinnnnnn!” Not wanting Nastia to leave, Finn leaned in, trying to position his lips over her, and kissed her rather passionately for a five year old boy. He didn’t know how to do this, only from what he had seen mommy and daddy do. Just then, Valeri looked over. He practically dived towards the two of them, snatching Nastia quickly and smacking her once. “What do you think you’re doing, young lady?!” Nastia started to cry and rubbed her smacked bottom. "We were juss being like our mommys and daddys, papa!" She cried harder. Valeri sighed. He figured he might as well let it go. They were only five. He was just so protective of his baby, and had a hard time facing that Nastia was growing up. "I'm sorry, babygirl. JUst don't do that ever again in public." "'Kay." Nastia replied, forgiving her father. She wormed her way out of his arms and waddled off rubbing her bottom again, and hurried off to play with Hollie and Finn. Another two hours past, and after Anna had taken the girls to claim their prizes at the prize stand, and Nastia had opened her presents, Valeri loaded up the car and they headed back to the Liukin house. “Alright girls, when we get back to the house, I want you both ready for baths. That means no playing around, got it? You’re all sweaty from such a long day,” Anna commented, turning around to face the girls in the back seat. Hollie cringed. “But I’m a BIG girl! I take baths by myself!” Anna smirked. “Of course. You can use the upstairs bathroom, and I’ll give Nastia her bath downstairs, alright?” Hollie nodded and Nastia kicked the back of her mother’s seat. “I’m a big girl TOO! I don’t neeeeed you to give me a bath!” Anna rolled her eyes and Valeri chuckled in the seat next to her, muttering “good going” under his breath. She gently slapped her husband’s arm. “Alright, you can try.” Nastia squealed with happiness as they pulled up the driveway and hopped out of the car. “You can still use the one upstairs, Howwie. I’ll use this one,” Nastia pointed to the bathroom just inside the door. Hollie nodded and headed to the one Nastia had directed her to. Nastia grabbed a towel and her favorite shampoo, and climbed into the shower. She looked around the room, not really sure where to start. She’d never taken a bath on her own. She figured she’d start by washing her body and grabbed the wash cloth from the counter, lathering it with soap and scrubbing all over her body. Next, she put some shampoo in her hands and rubbed it throughout her hair. “There,” she said to herself, stepping out onto the floor, “all done.” She left the towel hanging on the door and went out into the main house, soap still on her body and suds in her hair. “I’m donnnnnne!” she announced, smiling from ear to ear. Hollie dropped the grape she was about to put in her mouth and stared. Nastia waved at her friend. “Nastie, I think you’re supposed to wash the soap off first,” Hollie commented, shutting her eyes tight. Nastia rolled her eyes. “I KNOW how to do it, Hollie. I’m not stuuuuuuupid.” The other girl shrugged. “I’ll just go find your mommy then to tell her you’re done,” she said, exiting the room. Nastia sat down at the table and started nibbling on a grape when Anna entered the room, pulled along by Hollie who pointed at her younger friend, eyes still closed. “ I toldddd you!” she whined at Anna. Anna patted Hollie on the back, signaling for her to go elsewhere. Hollie got the hint and grabbed her things, heading back upstairs to Nastia’s room. Anna looked back at her daughter, still dripping with suds all over the wooden floors, and groaned. “Anastasia, you’re getting everything wet!” Nastia looked at the huge puddle forming underneath her, shrugged, and continued eating her grapes. Just then, Hollie trotted back down the stairs. “Oh oh and Mrs. Annaaaaa,” she whined again, peeking around the corner. Anna sighed. “Yes Hollie?” “Nastia said…” she paused for a moment, wondering if she’d get in trouble for saying the word, “um, this isn’t me saying it, ‘kay? I’m just repeating Nastia. She saidddd stuuuuupid, and that’s a mean and bad word!” Anna nodded. “It certainly is. I’ll take care of it. Thank you for telling me Hollie.” Smiling sweetly, Hollie headed back up the stairs as Anna turned to her daughter again. Anna shook her head, much to Nastia's entertainment. "Whatcha doooooin'?" Nastia asked curiously, her voice muffled due to a mouth stuffed with 4 grapes. Anna exhaled, so irritated she belived that she could breathe smoke. But it was her little Nastie's birthday. So she could manage. "Girly, you have to actually wash out all of the shampoo, and rinse out the soap." anna stated. Nastia's mouth formed an "O", causing several grapes to fall out. Hollie, who had been waiting for Nastia on the stairs crinkled her nose in disgust. "Eeeeoooo!" She whispered to herself. Nastia meanwhile, was still shocked. "Oooh. Nastie didn't know that." She said, reffering to herself in third person. Anna nodded again. Nastia hopped off the chair and went to go try bathing a second time. "I pwomise I does better!" She screamed accross the hallway. Anna chuckled and waited outside the bathroom door. A few minutes later, Nastia came out, dry and clean. “that’s much better, sweetie,” she said, kissing her daughter’s forehead. Nastia grinned. “ Can I go play with Howwie now?” Anna nodded and the little girl ran upstairs. “Howwie! Wanna color?!” Hollie smiled as her friend entered the room. “Sure, if you want to. Glad to see you’re clean.” Nastia ran over to her closet and grabbed a stack of coloring books and crayons, tossing them at Hollie’s face. “There. You get those four coloring books, and I get these six,” she said, hugging the books to her body. Hollie didn’t even bother arguing. “Okay. Can we share sometimes? “ Nastia sighed. “ I guess so.” She reluctantly pushed a coloring book closer to Hollie. The girls enjoyed three hours of coloring, crazy by any kind of standards, when Nastia’s eyes started to droop. Anna walked in. “ I think it’s bedtime for 2 little girls.” Nastia lifted her head groggily and tried to register what Anna said. Then her eyes sprung to life. "Nooo, Mama!" Anna nodded. "Nooo! Howwie's awake!" Nastia pointed. Meanwhile, Hollie had fallen asleep on the Barbie coloring book, a crayon oddly sticking into her nostril. Anna sighed. "No, Nastia. Hollie has to train tomorrow. Go to bed." Nastia sighed. "Buh buh buh butttt it's only 12:00!!" Nastia wailed. "NO!" Nastia finally gave in and started grouping all the coloring books into a pile. When she had reached the last one, Hollie's, she tugged and pulled to no avail. "C' on!" She yelled at the coloring book, which awakened Hollie who had rolled over into a split in her sleep. Hollie sat up, while Nastia was still pulling the coloring book. Nastia went flying accross the room, and landed on her bottom. Hollie giggled and helped Nastia up. Soon, they were both in hysterics, mostly from being so exaughsted but also from Nastia's ride through the air. Anna walked in. "Bed. Now." She demanded. "Okay." They both grumbled, heading off to Nastia's bedroom to get a good night's rest. It didn’t take the girls long to fall asleep, curled up as close as they could to one another. Nastia had curled up into her normal sleeping position, as had Hollie, bringing her leg over her head to form a split in her sleep. It was too much of a close call though, being that Nastia’s head was right where her knee came up. It came up and smacked her right in her injured eye, waking her abruptly with a sharp cry of pain. Hollie didn’t hear a thing and just kept her knee there, resting peacefully. Nastia was pinned beneath the older girl’s leg, in pain and extremely tired. “Daddyyyyyyy,” she called into the intercom system by her bed, hoping her father would wake up. Valeri stirred in his sleep, but didn’t wake as his daughter continued to wail for him. After the fourth “daddyyyy” and third “papaaaa”, Anna reached over and lightly slapped her husband. “mmmmm,” he groaned, rolling
“Your daughter beckons,” Anna said sleepily. Valeri groaned again, not wanting to get up at two in the morning. He had to be at work in three hours. Anna nudged him again. “Go on, Papa,” she smirked, cuddling under the covers deeper. Valeri rolled his eyes and playfully pushed his wife, getting out of bed and heading down the hall.“Papaaaa,” Nastia whined again, this time in full out sobs. “I’m coming, Nastia,” he stated sleepily, pushing the door to her bedroom open. “What’s wrong?” Nastia tried to push Hollie off again. “She’s on top of me and my eye hurtssss,” she whined again, reaching out towards her father. Valeri tried to hide his laugh and pulled his daughter out from under the other tiny girl. “There, all better,” he said, kissing both of Nastia’s eyes and placing her on the guest bed they had set up for Hollie originally. “Now get some sleep, my big five year old girl,” he smiled, kissing her on the lips lightly and pulling the blankets over her. She nestled under and lifted her head up a bit . “What are you doing?” Valeri asked, laughing. “You look like a turtle poking his head out of his shell.” Nastia pouted. “Kissyyyyyyy” she whined. “I just did!” he laughed. Nastia practically growled at him. “Okay okay, kisses,” he said, kissing her three times and pulling the blankets on her again. “Good night, my angel.” She was asleep before he turned out the light. He crawled back into bed with his wife and draped his arm around her, kissing her softly on the back of her head. “She alright?” she asked quietly, turning around in his arms to stroke her husband’s hair. He nodded. “Hollie was on top of her, poor thing,” he chuckled, kissing her tenderly on the lips. Anna hinted at a smile, but slowly drifted back into sleep as rain started to softly fall. Not an hour later, thunder rolled, causing the windows throughout the house to rattle and shake. A clash of lightning lit up Nastia’s room and she leaped up, crawling back into Hollie’s bed. “Howwieeeee,” she whined, trying to shake her friend awake. Hollie stirred and looked at the younger girl. “I’m scaredddddd.” Hollie smiled and put an arm around her. “There isn’t anything to be afraid of. It’s just thunder,” she said, putting on her best brave face. Just then, a huge grumble of thunder erupted and both girls pounced out of bed and ran down the hallway to Valeri and Anna’s room. Nastia leaped onto her father, screaming, as Hollie did the same to Anna. Hollie looked at Anna, her eyes wide with fear. Nastia curled up by her dad, trembling in fear. "Daddy. The Monsters Making noise..." She choked out. "Tey're coming to get meeee." She finished with a wail. Valeri stroked her hair. He was annoyed with being awakened so late when he had work so soon, but he forgave his Daughter, because after all, he had been afraid of the "Monsters making noises", too at 5 years old. "alright." He stated, lying back onto his pillow. "You can stay the night in our bed." Anna nodded at Hollie. Hollie was like one of their children and acted like a big sister and role model to Nastia. After about 5 minutes, everyone was comfortobly suited underneath the covers. Valeri snored, arm around Nastia. Nastia's eyes were wide open. "Ohhh." She said to herself. She sat up, causing Valeri's arm to fall, resulting in his hand smacking Hollie's leg, which, surprise, had fallen into a split position. Nastia poked her father on the cheek. "Dad." Daddddy." "Papa." "Dadddddy." She called repeatdly, trying to get her father to awaken. Once he didn't her eyes started to fill up with tears. Sniffling, she tried a couple more times, her breath wasted. She began to sob loudly, and breathed in. Then a blood-crudling scream came out of her mouth. Valeri awoke to a start and sat up fast. "Whassa pommel horse!" He cried, disorientated. "DADDY." Nastia demanded. "Nastia." He said, back to normal. "What?!" Nastia blinked. "I fogwot my teddy bwear." She said in a innocent and soft voice. Valeri shook his head. "fine." Nastia lit up. "Yay!" she clapped her hands together and shifted her weight. "But after I get it you HAVE to go to sleep." Valeri said, staring at his daughter. Valeri walked out of the the room and into the dark hallway, scratching his head. "DADDDDDDDDY." Nastia called. Valeri wandered back into the room. "Yes?" He asked, impatiently. "Don't let the monsters eat you." Nastia said with a serious nod. Valeri smiled and quickly ventured out of the room for a second time. 5 minutes later, he came back to a scared Nastia sitting up on the bed, eyes darting around the room, as if inspecting for monsters. Valeri handed her the teddy bear, and Nastia held it close. "Fank you ,Daddy. I missed you." Valeri smiled and kissed her. "Now go to sleep!" He said strictly, but with a hint of sweetness in his tone. Nastia nodded. She layed down. After 3m inutes or so, she changed positions and rolled over, knocking into Hollie. Hollie stirred and sat up. "What's going on?" She asked, wiping her eyes. She looked around. "Where am I?" Nastia perked up. "Sowwie, Howwie. I knocked into you. We're at my house, 'member?" hollie nodded. "Okay. I 'member now." They two children looked at each other. Nastia opened her mouth and grinned. Then choas ensued. The two girls snuck out of the room, grabbing all the coloring books and crayons the could find, and decided to play a game on the Liukin's bed. "'Kay so the game is this." Nastia said, becoming bossy. "We jump on the bed and try to cowor at the same time!" hollie smiled. "Yay! Sounds fun!" They bounded over to the bed and began their game. 3 minutes into it, Anna rolled over, causing Nastia to freak out and drop a crayon on her head. Anna awakened with a fierce glare in her eyes. Nastia quickly picked up the crayon and continued her bouncing, hopping on top of Valeri’s legs, who soon awakened with same fierceness of his wife. This didn’t phase the two girls, who just kept on bouncing around. “ Both of you. STOP.” Valeri shouted, glaring at them both. Hollie immediately quit, but Nastia was having too much fun. Papa would live. But would Nastia? Anna, having remained calm through everything all day, finally snapped. She grabbed Nastia’s ankle and pulled her down, snatching her up into her arms and carrying her to the hallway. She shut the door tight behind her. “Where are we goin’ Mama?” Nastia asked sweetly, “Do you wanna play a game too?!” Anna just glared, all of her frustration finally coming out in one hard slap across Nastia’s cheek. At first Nastia didn’t cry, too shocked to move. Her mother had never hit her before, especially not on the face.
She just stared up at her with watering eyes and began to tremble. “Mama….owie,” she said softly, still too afraid to cry. Anna didn’t have any remorse in her expression, and instead swung her arm back again to slap the other side of Nastia’s face. This time Nastia broke down, letting out a scream as if someone was killing her. “OWIEEEE MAMAAAAA” she protested, trying to get away from her mother’s grasp. Valeri, alarmed, made his way over to the doorway and peaked out, amazed at what he saw. "OH. MY. GOD." Without saying another word, Valeri picked up the hurt Nastia, and carried her to her bedroom. He placed her down on her bed. "Stay." Nastia nodded, wiping her eyes. She sure had cried a lot in her birthday. She crawled under the covers. Meanwhile, Valeri was making his way back down the hall, to see what had gone wrong with Anna. Her found her sitting with her back up against the wall, face red and eyes burning. He bent down to sit next to her. "I didn't mean to." She whispered, banging her head on the wall. Valeri nodded. "I know." Anna got up and walked towards Nastia's room. "Woah, Babe, hold up." Valeri called, hoisting himself upright. "You sure yo uwant to do this?" He inquired. Anna nodded. "Yeah. I know what I need to do." She said, continuing her walk to Nastia's room. She found Nastia curled up under her comforter. She pulled back the sheets. "Go away." Nastia huffed, pulling the sheets right back over again. Anna sighed. "Nastie, I'm sorry. Mommy's had a rough day and needed her sleep and didn't like that you were waking her up." Nastia hissed from under the sheets. Anna exhaled, closingh er eyes for a second. "You're still my little girl." Nastia hissed again, this time adding in a "But I'm a big girl. Hmph." Anna cracked her knuckles. "Alright. Then you're my big girl." Nastia poked her head out. "Weally?" Anna nodded. "Yay!" Nastia tackled her mother into a bear hug. Anna hugged back tightly, glad she was forgiven. Valeri apporached the room with caution. Once he saw his two girls in the embrace he left, a smile on his face. Once Anna let go of Nastia, a strange thought popped into her mind. "Oh Gosh..If she's like this at 5 years old..I wonder what's to come for her teenage years..?"
Excerpt Copyright (C) 2008 Megan (Name withheld for safety) and Meredith (Name withheld for safety), All plot lines, story titles and characters portrayed are property of Megan and Meredith.
Once we're done, we're hoping to get a whole copy published on Amazon or something.
Alright. Laytah.
