Katie and Mox are back everybody! But only for a little bit. This is going to be a short little story that I'll post in five parts with a new one every other day. Nothing too dramatic happening in this one, I just wanted some more of Mox with his favourite girl because damn it I missed them!

Hope you like big brother Mox being back again and that you've missed the cuteness and shameless family vibes!

Here goes nothing!

Mox Puts On His Gladrags

Mox pulled the battered old truck up kerbside in front of the familiar and neatly trimmed lawn before taking some time to try and smooth his scruffy bangs out in a way that he hoped made them look recently brushed but which failed to tame the messy hair remotely and instead simply sort of tousled the strands around.

"Ah crap."

He bailed out of his pathetic attempted self-preening with a huffy little growl and then slammed the visor back before clambering from the truck with a creak of rusted hinges and crossing the lawn ignoring the keep to the path signs. His sister had wound up in a pretty sweet neighborhood in a house that had a porch with white painted wooden rails and weatherboard facing and shutters on the windows that mirrored the neighbors' properties like they were building a row of clones.

In short it was not the kind of place he belonged in –

But it was the perfect place to raise the kid they both loved.

Hopping up the steps to stand beneath the porch hang he pressed the buzzer keenly in a series of taps and then repeated them over and over to be annoying until a blurred figure loomed large on the other side of the glass.

His sister seemed angry when she got the door open,

"Damn it Jon, the boys are sleeping."

"Not anymore though huh?"

Brushing in past her he tried not to shiver at how freaking cold the outside had been which he probably should have known since he'd spent nearly all his life there but had evidently forgotten having been in Florida for the last six months. Back there it was pretty much all sun loungers and humidity with a billion mosquitos thrown in for extra luck and it was weird how quickly his base temperature had adapted and how totally unprepared it was for the thermostat back home.

He cut a path into the kitchen and threw his bags down,

"Squeaker?"

"She's upstairs getting ready, coffee first?"

His sister had flicked the button even as she had been asking him and at once the machine began to click and loudly whirr as she pulled two mugs from a tree beneath the cabinets and then set about frothing the both of them some milk. Mox slid onto a stool before the breakfast bar and then busied himself by lazily scanning the room which opened out into a big play area that was strewn with tiny toy trucks, building blocks and tiny chairs and most of which were trashed or had been broken thanks to his little nephews and their heavy handed care.

He took off his coat and his sister clanked a coffee mug.

"Oh god, please tell me you're not wearing that."

"What?"

"That terrible shirt."

"Uh – ," Mox blinked in response to her and then lowered his eyes to the called out top which was black but had been printed to look like a tuxedo with some white for the shirt and a bow tie and buttonhole and which he had thought was perfectly suited but based on her face was more possibly not.

His sister face-palmed and then began to rub her eyelids,

"I'll have to find you something else."

"Huh?"

"Because if you think I'm letting you take our baby sister to her first big school dance looking like that then you're wrong,"

Her missive was accompanied by some serious clattering as she propelled the mugs towards him half filled with hot brown sludge before slamming the beeping frother hard onto the countertop and then waving at it crossly,

"Look sis – ,"

"Put the milk in and I'll be back."

Mox blinked as she turned on her heel and stalked away from him, bewildered by her force but not by a lot since she had long been the feistiest person in their family whereas he had bursts of passion but tended to be more laid back. Katie was like that too because she was like him in everything and that was the reason that their bond was so strong since while the rest of their kin were impulsive and punchy the two of them had mostly preferred to hang time. Including when their mother had tottered home hammered and burst in loudly cussing and pitching into things and at which point Katie would pad from her own room holding a stuffed toy and crawl into his bed knowing her big brother would keep her tucked safely and protect her from their booze-stained mess of a mom.

Katie.

Squeaker.

Mox peered back at his tuxedo top and then let loose a halfway rebellious sounding snort because what in the hell was the problem with him wearing it? Not that he was an expert in fashion or haute couture. Particularly when it came to elementary school dances. Maybe he had got it totally wrong? Because the last thing he wanted was to show up his sister in front of her friends and their paunchy old men since the event that he had been somehow found himself being coerced into was a traditional father-daughter dance type of thing.

Fuck.

Not that it was a total surprise how he'd wound up there since all it had taken was one call from his favorite kid and the thought of her stood in the hall on her lonesome like there wasn't a single man that cared for her.

Bullshit.

He cared –

He cared so much it hurt him and so he had pretty much signed up to be her chaperone at once, having not fully thought through the several huge problems like his being socially awkward and the fact he was not her pop and also the minor issue of his forgetting to book the time off and then having to plead for a super last minute weekend swap.

His trainers had not been happy with him for that one.

His sister breezed back into the kitchen with a sigh,

"Sorry that took longer than I expected, there was a minor hair emergency upstairs, here – ," in her hand she was a holding navy shirt which she flapped at him until he reached over and took it from her reluctantly, "It's one of the better ones he has in the closet and I figure he would hate the thought of you wearing it for the night but then since he's not here he can't really complain so on that basis screw him."

Mox blinked,

"Brian right?"

He was referring to her husband and the man who had long been his brother-in-law and whom he had figured to be pretty much the perfect partner in life but based on the bitterness flooding the kitchen was evidently not the imagined white knight.

His sister snorted back,

"Uh huh, that's the asshole."

"You two havin' trouble?"

He posed the question with a frown because even though he and the elder of his two siblings had butted heads from practically the moment he'd been born, she was still his closest family and a kickass guardian to Katie and so the thought that someone maybe wasn't treating her properly was enough to get him all kind of riled up although in the end his sister merely blew a heavy sigh out then took a gulp of the coffee she had added milk to herself.

Oh yeah, crap.

"It's just – it's just your normal married couple stuff and the stress of raising three children I guess and then there's his work, I mean you know he got a promotion?"

"Um – ,"

Fortunately for both of them his sister carried on,

"It means a lot of travelling back and forth to places and meetings and overnights and it's beginning to take its toll, sometimes I feel like a single parent at the moment although Katie is such a big help with the boys."

Mox paused uncertainly,

"You – you think he's cheatin'?"

For a second he was expecting a crack around the head and so actually flinched as he shrugged into the blue shirt folds by pulling it on over the top of his snubbed clothes. His sister however simply blinked then cleared her throat a touch,

"No, I mean I've thought about it but no."

"You sure?"

"Mmhmm, it's a totally normal rough patch."

Mox wasn't sure who she was trying to convince but lost his chance to ask at the sound of hurried footsteps and the creak of a stairgate followed by an expectant pause.

"Squeaker?"

Her head popped brightly round the corner with an ear to ear beam that positively lit him right up because fuck if the kid wasn't looking so happy in the totally carefree way that a child her age should have. Her long brown hair had been curled into ringlets and then tied back into a cute slicked side ponytail and she was wearing a touch of makeup but only a very little which comprised a splash of blusher and some soft pink lipstick as well. Her fingernails too had been covered in silver varnish which Mox could see from where they were wrapped around the frame and so figuring that the kid was keen to make the big reveal to him, he stood from his bar stool and made a coaxing motion,

"C' mon Munchkin, let's see you then."

"Ta-da."

His baby sister launched herself across the threshold with her arms thrown wide but having a laughing fit as well because while she was obviously pleased with her outfit there was still a childlike baby part of her that found the process funny as hell.

Her ballgown for the evening comprised a knee length ensemble in a shade of vibrant pink which hurt his poor eyes and had a pleat in the front to make the thing more poofy, a silver sparkly belt and little sleeveless straps. Her tiny feet were clad in matching silver ballerina pumps and in the moment he was so fucking thankful for no heeled footwear that he honestly could have probably openly bawled since it meant she was still his little baby sibling and not some pre-pubescent tiny wannabe adult.

Mox blinked back at her,

"Squeaker you're lookin' beautiful."

"Really?"

Katie blushed and then bit at her lip while tapping the toe of her pumps on the hardwood like maybe her big brother was making it up.

"Would I lie to you Squeaks?"

Her head shook quickly and the conviction of her reaction melted his otherwise cold hard heart and then made him cross the kitchen towards her before tweaking her with his fingers,

"Gotcha nose."

"Mox – ,"

Behind them their elder sister bustled off to get a camera and then insisted on the two of them taking traditional school dance snaps but which Mox and Katie messed up consistently by poking their tongues out or by throwing up peace signs and at one point even making a crazy gangsta rap pose and after which their sister gave up on trying to take shots and instead made pleas for them to have a nice evening and have fun and to be careful and that sort of thing and in response to which Mox put out a gentlemanly elbow,

"Squeaker, how 'bout we getcha to the ball huh?"

Her answer was beamed and totally happy as she nodded her little head at him,

"Okay Mox."

So, next chapter coming in two days then, but I hope in the meantime you liked our start. I know it's been a while since you were reading these two but hopefully you'll learn to love them again!

Bye for now!