Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own it
AN: Okay, this chapter was supposed to be combined with the last one, so just pretend that it left off with casey memorizing her new name. ENJOY!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Casey says 'But if there were already Natives living in North America, then saying that Christopher Columbus found America would be incorrect because there were already people living there." Derek said, imitating a shrill high voice.
"Oh, I sooo don't sound like that!" Casey spat back at her step-brother.
"Whatever." he dismissed her comment with a wave of his hand "Anyways, so then Mr. Connerie says" he started to imitate their history teacher but was cut off by Casey's holler.
"Do NOT whatever me."
"Do NOT cut me off."
"Why, did I bruise poor little Derek's ego?" Sam snorted into his food at this, and Derek slid his eyes over to view his soon to be ex-best-friend.
"Thanks for the help man."
"Anytime." Sam replied as he slapped Derek on the back.
"So then what happened?" Edwin asked, practically bouncing out of his chair in a vain hope that he could hear the end of the story before his show came on.
"Do not continue." Casey warned Derek as she pointed her fork at him as if this would make him stop.
"Or what, you'll bore me to death with another manifesto?"
"What manifesto?" Emily asked confused. She knew her friend was weird but a manifesto?
"Don't ask," Lizzie rolled her eyes "Or we're never going to hear the end of the story."
"Lizzie!" Casey exclaimed in shock at her sister's betrayal "You're supposed to be on my side!"
"Sorry" she shrugged "It just seems like a really interesting story."
"Thank you Lizzie." Derek turned to Casey "May I continue?"
She narrowed her eyes at him. "If I said no, would you stop?"
"Mmm, no. So anyways, Mr. Connerie says…"
As Derek continued his story, Nora looked over the dinner table to catch her husband's eye. He smiled at her and winked, laughing over the secret joke that they were having a dinner like a 'normal' family. It had been over a year since the MacDonalds had moved into the Venturi household. They had a rocky start, but the bumps were slowly being smoothed out. Sure Derek and Casey still fought, but the daily shouting matches had evolved into bickering that at times seemed almost lighthearted. Almost. Lizzie and Edwin had completely accepted the new blended family and were often each other's backup when Derek or Casey tried to boss one of them around. And Marti was well, Marti. She still thought she was a cat and had cried when Nora had accidentally sucked up Daphne with the vacuum cleaner, to which Marti said Daphne would only forgive Nora if she got a bowl of ice cream. So while the house was chaotic and Nora and George sometimes entertained the idea of shipping them off to boarding school, they knew they wouldn't change it for the world. Most of the time.
But as Nora looked around the dinner table, she still felt the need to pinch herself to prove that this was reality. Derek sat to her right, energetically telling his story while imitating Casey and their history teacher. Sam sat beside him, nodding his head in agreement to Derek's story and adding in things that Derek forgot. Casey sat across from Derek, glaring at him for daring to repeat her current school humiliation but Nora saw her daughter's lips twitch every now and then in an almost-smile at Derek's dramatic retelling. Emily was sitting beside Casey, alternating between worried looks that her friend might reach across the table and try to stab Derek with her fork and girlish adoration at her crush. Lizzie sat beside Emily, shaking her head at the fact that Casey had felt it was necessary to once again correct the teacher. Marti sat beside George trying to build a volcano out of her mashed potatoes, having lost interest in her brother's story once she found out it had nothing to do with aliens. George sat across from Nora, alternating between playing referee and pressing Derek to continue. Edwin sat beside Sam, listening intently to Derek's story so he'd be able to write it down later. For what Nora had no idea but it kept him quiet so she didn't complain. Nora loved her family, though she sometimes felt guilty that she was lying to her husband every day. But she couldn't risk being caught. She had survived ten years with this secret and she would survive ten more if it meant that she was able to keep her family safe.
But like some famous dead guy said, all good things must come to an end. And this end came in the form of the doorbell ringing. Both Nora and George stared at the door then at each other, confusion in both their faces.
"Could that be either one of your parents?" George directed the question to Emily and Sam, only to get a negative from both. As the doorbell rang again both Nora and George moved to answer it.
"I'll get it." George said to Nora, pressing his hand on her shoulder and kissing her cheek as he passed. If he had known what was on the other side of the door he would have given her more than a small peck. He would have swept her up into his arms and given her one of those romance-book kisses, the ones that make time stop and the world spin. Or he would of told her how much he loved her, how everyday he was amazed that she, a classy uptown sort of girl, would have chosen to marry him, a poor lawyer with three unruly kids and a mortgage and hadn't run screaming from the house yet. Or he simply would have held her, breathing in her scent, a mixture of perfume and pine trees which either came from the air freshener she sprayed around the house or the disinfectant she used to clean. It was an odd combination but intoxicating and completely Nora and he loved it and her. But he had no idea that their fragile existence was about to be shattered so he did none of these things, simply kissing her cheek as she smiled at him before she turned back to tell Marti not to feed her mashed potatoes to her stuffed bear. George moved towards the door, peering through the peep hole to see what looked like four people standing on his porch.
"Yes?" he questioned as he opened the door. The cold November air rushed into the house, making him instantly shiver though later he would wonder if it really was the cold or the solemn faces staring back at him. "May I help you?"
"Is this the Venturi residence?" one of the cops asked.
"Yes." he answered slowly, feeling a sudden need to block his family from the people on the porch. He could hear laughter come from the table at Derek's shrill imitation of Casey arguing her point, though he suddenly couldn't remember what it was about.
"We have an arrest warrant for a Rosemarie Delany." the other cop said. George shook his head as he started to close the door "There's no one by that name who lives here." He was stopped by the cops' next words.
"Is there a Nora MacDonald?" George stared back at the cops, taking then in. The one who had spoken first had creamy black skin, not dark but not light, and even though she looked small he had the distinct impression that he would not like to meet her in a dark alley. The second was an older white man, with a beard flecked with grey and pity that seemed to radiate from him. George's eyes drifted past him as he looked at a young woman who looked like she had been somewhere warm recently as her skin was tanned and covered with freckles. The last was an older oriental woman who was holding a huge binder and looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but there.
"Georgie? Whose at the door?" he heard come from over his shoulder as he was snapped out of his trance. He turned to look at his wife, her innocent expression and wondering eyes.
"Nora MacDonald?" the woman cop asked.
"Venturi." Nora replied as George's need to protect his family kicked in.
"Nora, I think you sho-"
"Nora Venturi, you're under arrest for the kidnapping of Natasha and Juliana Delany." the male cop said as their perfect white picket fence world came crashing down around their feet.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AN: Dum, Da DUM DUM. Betcha you didn't see that coming. Or maybe you did. whatever. special thanks goes out to JanetBanana, CEE18, Ghostwriter and ChocoholicMonkeyfish for being the only people who reviewed. And since no one really cared Cuyo En primero means 'whose on first' in Spanish. If you haven't seen this skit by Abbot and Costello, watch it. It is hilarious and you can use the lines the bug your family and friends. Oh, and Connerie means 'bullshit' in French. And so you guys (or girls) wont get confused, the Macdonalds are going to be referred to with the names they use on LWD. People are going to call them by their old names every now and then, so tell me it get's confusing and I will post the names beside each other at the beginning of each chapter.
