Blah. Here's the first update in what... 8 months now? XP If I thought I failed at updating before...

There will be a part two sort of thing to this. Just because. I have more but it's not done yet. Yess I know what you're saying. "BUT YOU HAD EIGHT MONTHS TO FINISH IT." Well, for that I blame myself getting distracted away from the National Treasure fandom and thus this story almost completely. (Darn those catchy little Broadway musicals!) I know I say this everytime but I swear on Riley's soul I'll have something up SOON! S-O-O-N! That means not waiting 8 months. XP If any of you still actually care enough to read this... I love you a load.

This is uploaded especially for Kirsten. Who has been amazingly and annoyingly persistent in reminding me to update this story. XP

I own nothing!

Nicole

Why is it that I always get to the one stuck babysitting at these types of things? Now, don't get me wrong, I love our little Ringo just as much as any honorary aunt in her proper mind would, but he can be a hassle sometimes. I think he got that from his father. Especially when he's two years old and seems to enjoy playing the game 'Let's frustrate Nicole by running away from her and hiding when she turns her back for ten seconds'. I hear it's nearly as fun as 'Let's see how many times I can throw this on the ground before the adult I'm playing with gets tired of picking it back up'. And of course, chasing two-year olds is nearly impossible for me when I'm in a dress.

It is an all around well-known fact that I have always detested dresses – they're just too girly and feminine and not my style. But this one time, I'm relenting. After all, it is Kathleen's wedding, and she asked me to. It's a good thing she picked a long one for me, so she's oblivious to the fact that I'm wearing my converse under this dress. She probably wouldn't mind much even if she did know – she's never been TOO uptight… But then, maybe never is a strong adjective. But she's probably too busy being gooey with Riley to care. Ew.

Well, anyway. While she was doing whatever the hell she was doing with her new husband, I was chasing their son around, trying to keep him from hitting his head, breaking something, or otherwise maiming himself and/or the objects around him. Really, why couldn't someone else do this? Abigail? Patrick and Emily? But of course, she had to hold the 'I've done so many things for you and never asked for anything back' card over my head. Yeah, right. But I'm a good best friend, so I agreed to do it. He did look dashing in that little tux…

"Okay, little monster, where are you?" I breathed to myself, looking under chairs and tables. After some time of this, I spotted him 'hiding' under a table, hoping I wouldn't notice. Catching a kid is an entire skill in itself. You have to be able to sneak up behind him without alerting him to your presence, which I had learned to do quite well. And since I didn't have heels on, I could move pretty quietly, if my dress didn't give me away. With all the stealth and skills of a ninja, I crept up as close to the child as possible without making noise and grabbed from behind, causing him to emit an ear-piercing shriek that I'm sure people could hear in Maryland if they listened closely. Hardly anyone seemed to notice though – it was loud in here, since a lot of people were talking and music was playing and it was just generally noisy.

"Nikki!" Ah, I just couldn't resist that laughter. How could he be so frustrating but so adorable? It's a talent, I guess. That was going to come in handy for later. After all, I'd already elected him to be my right-hand man in messing with his parents once he got older. He'd be good at it, too, I could tell. I hoisted the kid up in my arms (which was a difficult task, as he wasn't the tiny kid he used to be) and gave him the sternest look I could manage.

"You gotta stop running away from me, Ringo. I'm supposed to be watching you, and I can't do that very good if you keep running off everywhere. You got me."

"Gotchu." He nodded, though his expression told me otherwise. He gave me his little impish grin and I sighed a little before setting him down, taking a firm grasp of his hand.

"Let's go find your toys, drummer man."

And I was just about to walk away with him too, when I felt a pair of arms suddenly around my waist, scaring the crap out of me. This caused me to jump, releasing the child's hand, which in turn made him run off through the crowd. I growled a little – so close! – and turned around.

"Landon! What are you doing?" I could've screamed at him as I whirled to face him. I did love the man, but really, his good-timing radar was obviously broken because he always seemed to pick the most inopportune moments to decide to spend quality time with me.

"I haven't been able to see you for more than five minutes all day!" He answered in reply, moving to kiss me, though I stubbornly ducked away from him, trying to push him off me. When my hand moved onto his chest, my engagement ring caught the light, catching my attention momentarily. Yes, I was engaged – I'd finally said yes, after refusing at least 3 of Landon's impromptu proposals. He seemed to like blurting 'Will you marry me?' into the blue and I'd always respond with 'Ask me later'. That is, until I finally said yes when he pulled a ring out during our vacation – we were in the middle of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and my attention was captured by a ton of Beatles memorabilia. What can I say? My man knows me.

"I know, because I've been chasing Nicky all day… And now he's gotten away again and he's gonna get hurt and Kathleen's gonna kill me…" I finally managed to push him off me, drawing the classic puppy dog face from him. I sighed, trying to stay resilient to that face. He always pulled that face, and I always crumbled. Defeated, I gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "I'm sorry babe, I'll see if I can get Abby to…"

At that point, I'd turned around, just in time to see Nicky approaching the table where the three-level chocolate cake was standing, his arm outstretched. My muscles reacted off instinct and premonition, and I was running towards him…

And I got there just a second too late.

Just as I reached the kid and was about to pull him back, he'd given the tablecloth a hard yank, and the cake had teetered dangerously.

"No!" I began some futile attempt to keep the cake from falling, but it wasn't near good enough. With a splat, the cake fell right on top of me and the two year old. The next thing I was aware of was the deathly silence, and the sticky feeling of frosting and cake on my arms, in my hair (which had taken me a good hour to get right!) and on my face… Oh god, that was the weirdest thing I'd felt in a long time…

For a minute, I was afraid Nicky was going to start bawling… Until I heard his shrieks of delight. Some strange thing in the child found this to be incredibly entertaining. And then I heard the movement. Shoes on the tile, and two voice went up at once, which I identified as Kathleen and Riley's.

"My baby!"

"My cake!"

I sat there, stewing a moment, trying to wipe some of the chocolate off my face… Absolutely unable to help myself, I licked my finger. Well, it would have been a good cake, had it not hit the floor. I heard the rustle of fabric, Kathleen coming over to get a hold of her chocolate-coated son.

"Thanks for your concern." I stated drily, looking between Kathleen and Riley. Neither of them looked particularly happy with me… Until Nicky started laughing again, smashing his little cakey hand into his mother's face. A smirk found its way to my lips at the sight of Kathleen's perfect white dress getting covered in frosting. I wasn't meaning to be cruel, but it was just a funny sight.

"So much for the perfect fairytale, huh?" I looked at Kathleen, who rose her eyebrows at me, and then at Ringo… In spite of myself, I laughed ridiculously hard. Gathering some of the ruined cake in my hand, I formed it into a ball, fixing Riley with a wicked grin. His eyes widened.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Oh, I would." And I did. The frosting ball made contact with his face, much to my satisfaction. He stood there, a little bit in shock. And then, unexpectedly, I heard more laughter from behind me. Kathleen was laughing. Seriously? I expected her to be in tears, crying over how her wedding was ruined and how I was making entertainment out of it. But instead she was standing there, laughing her ass off with Nicky.

"Oh God… You look ridiculous, Nicole." She grinned, and then I felt some cake pelt the back of my head. I turned, and Riley was grinning mischievously at me, in that clearly Riley fashion. I grinned back, picking up a little more cake.

"Alright… This means war." And the chocolate hit his white shirt, which was, thankfully, part of his own tux and not a rented one. "Welcome to the family, Mr Poole."

And before I knew it, a lot of people (well, the ones with a sense of humor who weren't wearing rented clothes) were involved in a cake war, destroying the dining hall and our clothes. I don't imagine it was how Kathleen had ever imagined her wedding turning out, but it was still entertaining. At least it made for great memories. And wedding photos. One of which is still in a frame in my house. It's of myself, Riley, Kathleen, and Landon, chocolate-coated and looking like we just had the time of our lives, which I think we did. And right next to it is a similar photo. Two girls dancing together. One of them is in a white dress, her hair tumbling down, dress and face smudged with chocolate, and laughing. The other looks similar, only her dress is a turquoise colour, and if you look close, you can see a pair of bright red Converse shoes peeking out from underneath as they spin around and laugh together.

And yeah. Thats what I have so far. Reviews, plz? You can even let me know what a bad, bad author I've been for not updating! I deserve to be chided for that! XP