Another story that occurred to me. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I only own Robert, Mia, Rachel, Sasha, Amy, and Jessica.

Family Can Always Be Found

Robert held Mia's hand as the two of them walked through the thick forest, checking to make sure they didn't leave tracks as they moved along, trying to cover more ground to get away from the police and the orphanage they had gotten away from. The lady that ran the orphanage wasn't very kind and she would separate siblings when families came to adopt children. While the children were never hurt under the lady's care, they were all scared of her.

"Robby?"

The voice of his five-year-old little sister brought the ten-year-old back to the present. "You okay, Mia?" he asked her, knowing the walking was tiring her out.

"Where are we going?"

Robert looked around and turned back to her. "I don't know," he said. "But I'm not letting anyone take you away. We won't be separated."

Mia looked up at him. "You promise?" she asked him.

"Cross my heart," said Robert, remembering that their mom and dad used to say that long ago, before they were killed in a plane crash.

He then noticed how the light seemed to be slowly fading and gently squeezed Mia's hand so that she would understand they had to keep walking and would find a good place for shelter so they could rest. Robert looked around for a good spot, not noticing that he and Mia were being watched as they stopped for a moment and Mia sat down, letting Robert decide the path.

Suddenly, Robert felt something rough and strong wrap around him and he heard Mia scream. "Robby!" she cried out in fear as she was lifted in the air by something strong. Robert tried to break free.

"Mia!" he cried out as his bonds tightened a bit. He watched as his little sister was lifted into a tree and he was dragged towards that same tree and saw the roots of the tree shut like a door, leaving him trapped in the dark. Suddenly, some powerful lights came on and Robert squinted a little before his eyes adjusted and he saw his captor.

He screamed when he saw it was a green monster with long green vines, one blue eye, and a mouth full of teeth. It looked like a futuristic Venus-flytrap plant. One vine wrapped around his mouth, silencing his screams.

"Easy," said the monster in a scratchy, but calm voice.

Robert shivered as he looked up to where he saw his little sister had been taken and hoped she was okay.

Mia had been struggling in the strong tendrils that held her as she was brought face to face with a mummy. She screamed loudly, but the monster placed a hand over her mouth to muffle her screams. Tears then formed and fell down her face as she was then released into the mummy's arms and she squeezed her eyes shut, covering her face with her hands.

She then heard her captor chuckle, but it wasn't a cruel chuckle. It was more of an amused chuckle, making her peek up at him through her hands, which seemed to amuse him more.

"Don't be afraid, little one," he said.

She shook a little as one hand reached towards her and she curled up a little. "Go away, monster!" she squeaked out.

Then she felt his hand gently pat her head. "I'm not a monster, little one," he said. "If I was a monster, would I do this?"

Mia felt him tickle her knees and she giggled, giggling even more when he lightly tickled her neck and then lightly tickled her stomach, her cute giggles making him chuckle.

"Cootchie cootchie coo," she heard him coo at her as she continued giggling before he stopped tickling her, holding her in his arms.

She looked up at him and his green eyes looked back at her, but seemed to be smiling as he then picked her up with his hands and lifted her in the air in the familiar game of 'airplane' as he leaned back with his back resting on a broad branch growing upward at an angle from the branch he was currently sitting on. Mia, recognizing the game immediately, giggled as she put her arms out so that they acted like wings. "Airplane!" she giggled out, giggling more when he bent his arms a little and then straightened them again, making her go up and down.

"Up, and down. Up, and down." he said in a deep, playful voice, which made the little girl giggle harder before he brought his arms down again so that she was resting on his chest. Mia giggled again and looked at him thoughtfully. He sure didn't act like a scary monster. This monster acted playful and funny.

"You're funny," she giggled at him.

The mummy chuckled lightly. "Feeling better, pumpkin?" he asked her as he very gently pinched her cheek so that it didn't hurt her and she nodded, a big smile on her face. Then her stomach rumbled and she quickly looked away, but he saw her fear. "What is the matter, little one?"

Mia looked at him and then looked down as her stomach rumbled louder and she tried to turn away, but he sat up and wrapped his arms around her, seeing the problem.

"You're hungry," he said and reached into his backpack beside him, pulling out some food that he had. He gave it to her and she looked unsure. "Go on. It's yours," he encouraged, getting a feeling that she had been somewhere that hadn't given her much to eat. She hesitantly ate the food he gave her as he rubbed her back. Soon, she felt better and her stomach felt better too. "Better?" he asked her and she nodded. "Good."

"Who are you?" she asked, thinking this kind monster had a name.

He chuckled. "My name is Snare-Oh," he said. "And what about you, little one? What is your name?"

"Mia," she said and held up five fingers on her right hand. "I'm five."

Snare-Oh smiled at the child's cuteness. "Well, Mia, what were you and your brother doing here in the forest?" he asked her.

The little girl looked down for a moment. "Wanted to get away from mean lady and bad home," she said.

That statement made Snare-Oh realize his hunch was right about the young girl being in a bad place. He held her in a gentle hug.

"Don't worry," he said. "You won't be going back there."

She looked at him. "Robby was looking for somewhere we could stay," she said.

The alien realized she meant her brother, who Wildvine was currently trying to calm down. "We'll help you and your brother," he said to her and then saw night coming on. "Get some sleep, little Mia. You'll have a new home tomorrow."

Mia yawned and rested her head on Snare-Oh's chest, listening to his heartbeat, which made her fall asleep as he used some of his tendrils to form a blanket for her as he wrapped a protective arm around her, a plan in his mind as he lay back and listened to Wildvine and the young boy.

Robert screamed again as he tried to break free, but it was muffled due to the vine around his mouth and the plant monster simply tightened his hold a bit, making the boy stop squirming as the vines were a bit too tight and Wildvine, realizing this, loosened his vines a bit so that they were snugly around the boy. "Are you going to calm down?" he asked him.

The boy looked at him with fearful eyes and Wildvine sighed. "Don't be afraid," he said. "I know I look scary, but I won't hurt you."

Robert lightly moved his head, giving the plant alien the impression he wanted to talk, so he removed the vine from the boy's mouth. "What have you done to my sister?" the boy asked. "Where is she?"

"She is with my friend," said Wildvine. "Don't worry, he won't hurt her."

"How do I know you're not lying?" asked Robert.

The alien sighed a bit again and noticed how the boy flinched when he moved closer, looking at Wildvine with eyes that held a fear of being slapped in the face. Wildvine looked surprised.

"Did someone hurt you before?" he asked gently.

Robert looked down and that gave the alien the answer as he gently tilted the boy's chin up with one hand so that Robert was looking at him. "I understand why you're afraid, but would a monster try to calm you down?"

The boy shook his head. "Then am I a monster?" Wildvine asked.

Robert paused as he realized his captor's point. If he was a monster, wouldn't he have hurt him already? "Well, if you're not a monster, then what are you?" he asked.

Wildvine chuckled at the boy's response. "I'm an alien. A Florauna, to be exact," he said.

He watched the boy's face light up. "You're an alien? For real?" he asked excitedly. "That's so cool!"

The alien hadn't expected that response, but seeing the boy was now calm, he chuckled and released him, letting him stand up. "What is your name?" he asked him.

"Robert," he said. "My sister is Mia. Is your friend an alien too?"

"Yes, he is," said Wildvine. "An alien mummy, similar to Earth's buried Pharaohs in the pyramids."

"Wow," said Robert, now feeling amazed and realizing that his sister was safe. He didn't hear her crying or screaming, so that gave him hope that the alien she was with was friendly. "So, who are you?"

"I am Wildvine," said the plant alien as he playfully, but gently tugged, the boy's cap down a little, chuckling as Robert straightened his cap again. "I'm curious as to why you and your little sister are out here when you should be home."

Robert suddenly grew somber and looked down. "We were in an orphanage," he said. "It's not a nice place."

"Ah," said Wildvine, realizing what happened. "So you ran away to find another home?" he asked.

"Yeah," said the boy, looking up at the alien. "You're not going to send us back, are you?" he asked fearfully.

The alien picked up the boy with his vines and brought him closer to him as he held the boy in his arms like a father would and rubbed his back. "Shh," he said gently. "You're not going back to that place."

That calmed the boy down. "Do you know where we could go?" he asked.

"I do, actually," said Wildvine. "I live in a mansion with several friends of mine and the owner is a very dear friend of mine. Snare-Oh and I will take you and your sister there tomorrow and I'll talk to Rachel. I'm sure she would love to have you and your sister become part of the family."

Robert looked hopeful. "You mean it?" he asked, hopefully.

"Yes."

The boy felt tears come to his eyes as he hugged Wildvine in gratitude, and received a hug in return. "It's nighttime," said the alien. "You need to rest."

To his surprise, Robert didn't argue, but nodded and watched Wildvine make a make-shift bed with his vines, setting Robert on them and the boy smiled as some more vines came up and covered him like a blanket and more vines formed a pillow. It was very comfortable. "Thanks, Wildvine," he said, a yawn following his words.

"You're welcome, Robert," said Wildvine with a smile. "Sleep well, little buckaroo."

The next morning, Robert met Snare-Oh and Mia met Wildvine and afterwards they all headed off with Snare-Oh carrying Mia and Wildvine carrying Robert, the aliens insisting that the young ones rest more.

It was definitely an eventful day as Snare-Oh and Wildvine tickled the children when they stopped to eat some lunch and the children ran up ahead a bit for a while before becoming tired again and Snare-Oh gave Mia a piggy-back ride while Wildvine did the same for Robert. The children both giggled, making the two aliens smile.

It was dusk again when they arrived at the Grant Mansion. The two aliens saw Whampire standing on the front porch with Sasha as they watched the sunset. Sasha turned with a smile to the aliens. "Snare-Oh, Wildvine, you're home!" she said with a smile.

"And they have two little ones with them as well," said Whampire.

Snare-Oh and Wildvine set the children down, but Mia hid her face in Snare-Oh's leg and Robert stayed behind Wildvine, a bit unsure. Rachel then came out with Amy behind her.

"Hey, guys!" said Rachel. "Welcome home!"

"Snare-Oh!" said Amy, running into her fiancée's arms as he picked her up.

"My Egyptian star," he said fondly. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," she said and then spotted Mia peeking up at her. "Aww, who's this little cutie?" she asked with a smile.

"And this young one?" asked Rachel, spotting Robert behind Wildvine.

"These two are Mia and her older brother Robert," said Snare-Oh, gesturing to each child. "They are in need of a home."

Rachel smiled brightly. "I believe that can be arranged," she said. "For now, let's go in. There's hot drinks for everyone."

They all went in and the aliens took hot tea while Robert and Mia drank hot chocolate. The various aliens surrounding them didn't bother them because they were amazed.

After a bit, the two kids sat in the living room, feeling better after having baths and eating some warm dinner. A huge yellow alien came into the room with a young woman beside him. Robert looked up in awe.

"A gorilla alien?" he asked in amazement.

"He does look a bit like a big monkey," said Mia, giggling a little.

Shocksquatch laughed a bit, not taking offense as he knew they were just little and he was a gorilla-like alien anyway, so it didn't bother him.

"So you're the two little ones Rachel told us about, eh," he said.

"She told you about us?" asked Mia.

"Of course she did, sweetie," said Jessica. "So that we can adopt you two."

Robert and Mia went still for a moment. "What?" asked Robert.

Shocksquatch smiled. "Rachel talked to us because Jessica and I have been planning on adopting a little one should a child be needing a home. When we heard about you two, we immediately decided to adopt you," he said.

It was quiet for a moment. "Will we be separated?" asked Mia, hugging her brother's arm and he hugged her back protectively.

Jessica came forward and crouched down to their level. "No, you won't be separated," she said. "Shocksquatch and I are adopting you both. You won't go back to that orphanage ever again, nor will you have to worry about that lady again."

Robert looked up at them. "So, you're going to be our mom and dad?" he asked them. "Just like that?"

"Just like that, eh," said Shocksquatch reassuringly.

Mia looked up at Jessica and lifted her arms up, making the young woman smile as she lifted the girl into her arms, holding her as Mia hugged her. Robert looked up at Shocksquatch uncertainly, but felt the large alien pick him up too, holding him in a fatherly way as Jessica came over with Mia and Shocksquatch wrapped them up in his left arm, hugging them as he hugged Robert in his right arm, bringing all three in for a big hug.

"Mommy, Daddy," said Mia, hugging her new mom and snuggling into her new father's soft fur.

"Can we call you that?" asked Robert, hoping they would say yes.

Shocksquatch chuckled. "Of course you can, son," he said as Jessica nodded. Then, the judge came and Jessica signed the papers as did Shocksquatch, who then took the children upstairs to their new rooms while Rachel and Jessica talked with the good judge who wished them all well.

"He's always so nice when he comes to help us with legal matters," said Jessica.

"Yes," said Rachel. "I'm considering asking him to perform the marriage ceremony for us and our fiancées."

"That would be great," said Jessica as the two headed upstairs where they heard laughter and looked in and saw Shocksquatch holding his two children in a hug and tickling them, making them laugh as they tried to escape his hug, but he was too strong. Finally, he let them up and both of them hugged him. "I love you, Daddy," said Mia.

"I love you, Dad," said Robert.

Shocksquatch smiled. "I love you too, my little ones," he said, hugging them as he felt pride fill him that he was the father of not one, but two wonderful children.

Rachel watched as Jessica went in and the children hugged her and said they loved her. She hugged them and told them she loved them too.

Smiling, the owner of the Grant Mansion quietly walked away to let the new family have some family time and she went downstairs, walking right into Rook's arms. He hugged her and she returned the hug, smiling at Snare-Oh and Wildvine, who were watching and they smiled back before moving to their rooms.

"I believe we're going to get our wish about having a big family," she said to Rook.

He smiled. "Yes," he said. "Especially in the future when more little ones come."

Rachel knew he was thinking about the children that would be half-alien, half-human and she smiled.

"Indeed," she said as she let Rook pull her in for a kiss as the only background noise was Robert's and Mia's laughter.

How about that? The family gets bigger and more are coming.

Please leave a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418