I don't own Race to Witch Mountain or Sanctuary.
Chapter Two: Negotiations
(Seth Point of View)
Seth sighed walking into the house after Sara. Kayas and Alana had already left and he was frustrated. It was the weekend and in a couple of days his long vacation for spring break would be over, and he'd be back in school (or rather touring the school with Jack and Alex, as that was their excuse since he wasn't really allowed to go to school due to the nature of the adoptions, but Jack and Alex were 'volunteers' and they brought Seth and Sara along, so the kids go to be around the school and learn a little bit, even though they weren't officially enrolled, or necessarily sitting in the classrooms learning). That, and they'd be meeting all the demands of hundreds of fans every day. He wasn't looking forward to it. In all honesty he was considering asking his mom and dad to 'homeschool' him (in which he and Sara could learn in secret without having to fear that the government knew that Jack and Alex were educating him). But he didn't think they'd do it, after all the comments they'd made.
"You need to be in a public school, Seth. It's good for your emotional health because then you'll have a need to interact with others around your age," Jack had told him.
"Besides," Alex put in. "You need to learn to deal with the paparazzi and all of your annoying squealing fans. It's a fact of life for you that won't go away and being in a school environment will help you learn to deal with it."
All in all, Seth was annoyed with this. He did NOT think that going out in the public was a way to learn to deal and cope with things. And he thought their reasoning went beyond what they had told him. He got the feeling that they felt that if they didn't put Seth and Sara in that setting where they were forced to interact with others, whether their age or not, daily, then they'd waste away emotionally and they'd be in a worse emotional state than they were in right now because of what they had gone through. And Seth couldn't help but wonder if they were right. Would he be in a worse state if he wasn't forced to interact with others daily? After all, it was these things, these nuisances, that kept him from dwelling and thinking on all the terrible things that had happened to him. It kept him from doing nothing but laying in his room all day in a gloomy state and dwelling on nothing but that, feeling self-pity for himself. But at the same time it was keeping him from working through what had happened to him, and thus getting better in his opinion. Not that he wanted to work through it. Personally, he didn't think he'd ever be ready to work through it.
Seth thought that it was pointless. Surely there were other ways he could interact with others and yet be 'homeschooled' at the same time? Like signing him up for extra-curricular activities? After all, Jack and Alex certainly had more than enough money each to do that. And they could disguise what they were doing by attending the activities themselves, and just saying that Seth and Sara were playing on the side instead of participating. But no, they thought that the best way was school, so of course he was required to attend! They wouldn't even consider hiring him and Sara a private tutor (which they'd disguise by having a friend come over and receive the tutoring beside them so that they could say that they were paying for the education of a friend)!
Sara had turned around and started watching him. The boy knew that even without her mind reading she could understand him and his thoughts; or rather she was good at interpreting what he was feeling. After all, she had gone through pretty much the same thing. "It's hard, isn't it?" she whispered to him quietly, pity on her face.
Seth looked away from her, not wanting to meet her eyes, and nodded. "I feel like I'm being pushed to do more than I can handle. Jack and Alex are nice and all, and I know that they care and are trying to do what's best and all, but sometimes I wish they'd back off a little. It gets overwhelming the way that they're trying to push us more than we're ready for." But even Seth had his doubts on his last statement. As Sara stayed quiet and started gazing at the floor, Seth looked at her, an incomprehensible expression on his face, and suddenly asked her, "Do you think that they're pushing us more than we're ready for? Do you think that they've made the right decision? Do you think that we would have been worse if they hadn't decided what they've decided?"
Sara didn't answer for a while. Instead she kicked at the floor. "No," she suddenly firmly stated finally. Then she found the courage to look up at him and the boy saw some pain her eyes. "Believe me, I've felt like you've felt. But then I've thought on things and realized that they were right. We would have just been vegetables if they hadn't pushed us. And if they don't continue to push us then we'll wind up as vegetables. It's what they're forcing us to do that is keeping us distracted and able to function."
"And what about the paparazzi?" he challenged. "Because of the way they're pushing us, we have a lot to cope with now. They could have done it differently. They could have hired private tutors and then sent us to some extra-curricular activities. They have the money to do that."
But Sara shook her head. "I don't think that would have worked," she responded in monotone. "I don't think that would have been enough. Besides, at school we have friends that we can interact with. I think that it would have been too difficult and too much for us to be put in a situation where we would have to make more friends. That, and we wouldn't have the energy to differentiate this time whether or not they were using us and were just hanging around us because of who and what we are, because we're drained emotionally. Plus, it would raise questions in the government as to what they're really doing with us, and our adoption would be in question. It's far easier to hide the fact that we're getting a little education in school because Jack and Alex frequent volunteers. But if they start volunteering a bunch of places where kids are, extracurricular activities, having someone else homeschooled in their home, they'll begin to figure out that it's an excuse to get us involved in human things, in human activities. Right now they have a legitimate excuse because the adoption states that we can't be alone by ourselves, so they have no choice but to bring us along since they don't have another approved adult to take us in during that time, and the only other adults that they would think of approving and have approved are busy and working during the time that they volunteer. Besides, working in the school where we used to attend probably raises a lot of suspicions already, so they're taking a big risk for us."
Seth nodded. What she said made sense and he found himself agreeing with her. But he didn't like agreeing with her. He'd rather be right, even though he knew that being right was not good, and it was far easier to deny that he wouldn't go into that terrible state and to lie to himself that he would have been fine regardless.
Some footsteps were heard and Alex smiled when she saw both of them. "Ready for lunch?" she asked them. The two of them nodded and followed her.
As they passed through the maze of a house, Seth glanced around at all the photos of him and Sara lining the wall. One thing was for sure – they really did love them and they were very proud of them, and they wanted to show them off. The photos were sometimes portraits, whether individual or family, but they were usually taken when they'd made various accomplishments. Usually these photographs annoyed Seth but today he was grateful to see them. It only reminded him that he was loved, as opposed to... well, you know.
Seth blinked when he walked into the dining room, and instead of seeing a meal, he saw practically a banquet. "What's with all the food?" Sara asked a puzzled expression on her face as she looked at all the lumps and piles of food.
Jack grinned. Oh, no. Did he do this?
Alex smiled a bit shyly. "I've, uh, been teaching Jack how to cook a bit."
Nothing could replace the hilarious looks on both Seth and Sara's faces. It was an expression of horror, an expression of, 'You did what?'
Suddenly, for which Seth was embarrassed that he blurted out without thinking a few seconds later, Seth, in a high pitched voice inquired, "Is it edible?" for which his sister hit him on the arm and Alex gave him a certain look that said 'don't ask that right now, you'll hurt his feelings!' Seth turned a deep red and Jack sighed.
"I didn't cook it all," he admitted. "But, I uh, kinda messed up a little so we ended up overcooking a storm. That and I just cooked excess anyways."
'So there is edible food on the table,' Seth thought and was relieved a bit when he heard that Alex had cooked some and Jack had allowed her to not only help but teach him. That was somewhat of a relief, though not completely. Seth still had his doubts.
The two kids sat down and Jack began dishing the food out eagerly like he had done once before when he was eager for everyone then present to try his creations. Seth guessed that the man still hadn't figured out that his wife had lied to him about the tradition in the one cooking for the first time passing everything out. And so it had become tradition.
The boy pulled his tail, which was constantly curled around his body closer to him and tighter against his stomach (since he didn't like showing it off because it was an embarrassment to him and only a reminder of what he had gone through, even though the whole world knew about his tail and thought it was cruel what had been done to him). Both kids' tails would react with their emotions, along with other things, whether they realized it or not. For one time, Seth had noticed that his tail was wagging like a dog and how it will wag it's tail when laying on the ground when it is happy to see its master and friend, when Jack came into the room to see how he was doing shortly after the adoption. And Seth had been happy then. The boy hadn't realized that his tail was wagging and it was only when Jack mentioned something that Seth had realized that he'd unintentionally brought his tail out and was using it. Jack had merely asked why he did that with his tail and when Seth realized that Jack had been referring to more than one incident Seth explained that he hadn't realized he and Sara had been using their tails, and the boy asked how often he had been using them. According to Jack, he and Sara brought it out quite often. That disturbed Seth a little but slowly he got used to the idea of his tail and that it was now a part of him, even though he still didn't like it. But it was also useful. Usually Seth tried not to pay attention to it. He tried to think of his tail as always wrapped around his waist. But, truth be told, he did exercise his tail in secret so that he could make it strong.
The paparazzi had asked him and Sara about their tails before, for which, when Seth and Sara started crying at the question, Jack had gotten pretty upset at the reporters and told them to leave the kids alone and stop harassing them with questions. Since Jack was being very protective, he was very intimidating and they left Seth and his sister alone after that. The reporters tried to get the sympathy of the public but the public only supported Jack and his decision even further, making them and their photographers even less popular than they already were after certain incidents. And with the recent laws nowadays they didn't dare get close to him (which laws Jack and Alex and their celebrity friends had encouraged be created, which excuse they used was that she and her husband shouldn't be harassed, and the government didn't like the aliens being filmed so it didn't bother them at all that the law was created).
But Seth and Sara couldn't help but feel embarrassed by their actions on the screen, and Jack and Alex spent the night comforting them after the embarrassing scheme, and told them that it wasn't their fault, and that there was nothing to be embarrassed about. Seth believed them.
Sometimes Seth wished his tail could be taken away from him, and he could have his old self back. But he knew that that was impossible, and to even attempt would be deadly. Seth didn't want to die so he was stuck as he was. He knew his uncle had been truthful with them there because Jack and Alex, doubting the man's word, had taken Seth and Sara to a doctor (which they didn't like; Jack and Alex only took them because the kids kept complaining about the state of their bodies) and the doctor, after doing a thorough examination just to be sure informed them that it was indeed impossible and would be foolish to attempt, even fatal. And so they left it at that, Seth and Sara unhappy with their circumstances.
But there was much that they were happy about. They finally had a family, had parents they knew they could trust and were comfortable with. They finally, for the first time in months, felt loved and felt like they were with people who wouldn't betray them, even with simply informing them that there was a major secret that affected them that they were keeping to themselves. No, Jack and Alex weren't like that. They were open and honest with the kids, even if it was hard for them, because they knew that the kids needed that. And so, Seth and Sara felt like they were in an environment in which they could heal from their emotional scars.
The boy glared at the food on the table in front of him, warily looking at it. Did he dare eat it? Did he dare to take a bite out of it? He glanced around. "Uh, Alex?" he began as he waited for someone to pick up their food and try it, so that he could see their expressions. He could see that Sara was waiting for the same thing. He didn't even know which ones Jack had cooked and which ones Alex had cooked. He only trusted the ones Alex had cooked. Such was his distrust for Jack's cooking, especially after that incident where he had received more-than-metal-hard volcano rocks to eat that were supposedly pancakes.
Alex looked at him. She was also waiting for someone to take a bite. 'That's very encouraging,' the boy thought dryly. "Will Jack try first?" Seth questioned her, giving her a knowing look. Meanwhile Jack looked and listened in on the exchange going on.
Alex turned to her husband instead, trying very hard not to hurt his feelings. "I don't know, will you?" she asked Jack.
The man smiled in embarrassment. "I, uh, guess," he stuttered. He picked up his omelet and slowly put it to his mouth. The rest of the family watched intently, Jack being the guinea pig. But when he chewed and swallowed and even said, "Mm," with no apparent difficulty, the rest of the family was convinced that everything was all right and they all dug it.
As they ate Seth and Sara subconsciously unwrapped their tails and they flickered back and forth. Jack and Alex ignored this, knowing that it would only pain them to make mention of it and they had no intention of hurting them. Besides, this was normal for them, at least since getting their tails it was. It happened every meal. Even the guests were usually polite enough to ignore it. But occasionally they would have to glare at a guest for staring at this, and thus almost bringing it to the attention of the kids. There were fair close misses.
For this reason they were also very careful when they went out to eat and they would make sure the restaurant had a private space so that they could take Seth and Sara in there where their tails wouldn't get noticed and thus embarrass the kids. It was also useful since every member of the family, including Jack and Alex for their books that they had published, were celebrities. It helped them to have some peace while eating. But the main reason they did this was because they didn't want to pain the kids about their tails.
The kids were surprised that the food actually tasted good. Seth had been cautious before, mainly because of his first encounter with Jack and food combined, so he wasn't entirely sure that the food had even been edible. But now that he was confident that there was nothing wrong with it, he dug in and ate as much as he could until his belly ached because he was so full.
If there was one thing that Seth and Sara liked a lot about Jack and Alex it was that they let them eat as much food as they wanted. Seth knew the reason why: he was still recovering from his near starvation experience, even though that took place months ago. But it had been so traumatic that the doctor figured that it would take them a few years physically until they were at a point where they weren't in a starvation phase.
And what made it comforting and worthwhile to live with Jack and Alex and have them as their parents was that they never complained about Seth and Sara eating them out of house and home. The kids felt loved, which was what they needed.
Seth's tail twitched even more, and when he realized that his tail was twitching, that was when he put it down some. But he kept it out. That was when he noticed Jack and Alex and Sara glancing in his direction. He put his food down and stared back.
Jack cleared his throat. "Seth," he began. "Is there any particular restaurant you want to go to for your birthday?"
Seth frowned. "No, not really," he admitted. What he wanted more than anything was to stay home and spend some time with his family that way. He really didn't want to go out in the public where he could possibly be harassed by crazy fans of his.
When Jack began again that was when he realized that he hadn't understood the man's comment. "We were thinking about having a dinner public birthday party."
Seth froze. The food that he had just picked up dropped with the utensils to his plate in a 'plop' and the boy looked at Jack, his expression saying, 'Seriously?' His mouth was open in shock and possible horror that they would pursue such an avenue. He wanted to say something but all he could express was, "What?" If there was one thing that Seth didn't like about the adoption it was that he was aloud to do anything that people would do with other pets, including dogs and cats and others, and since some people gave their animals birthday parties, Jack and Alex had an excuse. That was about the only time that they were truly aloud to 'give' them things, but even then it wasn't truly giving since it would technically belong to Jack and Alex according the the laws and the adoptions. After all, if someone gets their dog a new dog bed as a present, despite it being for the dog and given to her, it technically in the eyes of the law belongs to the owner. Christmas was the only other exception when they could receive 'gifts', or other celebrations, religious or otherwise, when gifts are exchanged, and thus things are given to 'pets'.
Sara looked away, not wanting to get involved in the conversation, especially when Seth glanced in her direction. She felt awkward, as did the rest. Alex was kind of fidgeting, trying to look at anything, anyone but Seth. Jack was strangely calm, knowing that this was a sensitive topic for the boy. Finally, Jack blurted out admitting the truth, "It was Alex's idea!"
Alex whacked him hard under the table for which Jack cried out, "Ouch!" rather loudly and he turned to his wife. "What!" he exclaimed.
Alex tried hard to put a smile on her face, trying to comfort Seth, and she turned to the boy and said, "I merely thought that might be the most appropriate way to do this because then we're all sitting down and then you'll be flanked by me, your sister, and Jack, or rather Jack and I will be flanking both of you, with you two in the middle. That way you're not actually around any of them to where they can harass you. But the restaurant that you pick is up to you. It will need to be with a private section though."
Seth got up. "I'm not doing a party!" he stubbornly exclaimed and then he stomped to his room. If he had done this in public the government would have counted it as disobedience and his adoption would have been in danger, but thankfully they were in the house, so Seth knew that he was safe to express his emotions, as long as there weren't any windows nearby.
He collapsed on the bed. "Why me!" he cried, dreading a public birthday party. Why did Jack and Alex have to cave in? Couldn't those other people leave him alone? Why did they have to know what he was doing twenty-four seven, what he liked and disliked, the things that he bought (or rather had bought for him since he couldn't technically 'buy' things)? It was none of their business!
There was suddenly a soft knock on the door. "Go away!" Seth cried out and turned around in his bed to where he was facing the wall opposite the door. But the door opened regardless and he heard footsteps approaching his poster bed.
The person sat down on his bed beside them. "Seth?" Alex's soft voice sounded, seeming calm like she did whenever she tried to comfort him. Seth didn't respond but instead he ignored her. So Alex gently brushed some hair that was ready to fall into his eyes out of his face and only then did Seth look up at her and speak to her.
"Why do we have to do a public birthday party?" he asked. "I know that you're only doing this because you finally caved in."
Alex let out a huge puff of breath. "It's hard to be celebrities," she murmured kindly and then looked down at Seth again as she had looked briefly away. "But it's something that you need to cope with. It's a reality for you."
Seth looked away. "I don't like reality then."
"No one does," she replied softly. "But nonetheless we have to live every day and we have to deal with it every day. Sometimes to make these nuisances go away you just have to give them what they want, or at least somewhat give them what they want. Then they don't have a real reason to complain. Seth, we're doing this for your own benefit and good. We know how hard it is on you when they harass you like that, and we're only thinking of the future. Sometimes you have to negotiate with them."
This unwittingly to her sparked an idea in Seth's mind, and he grinned widely at her. "How about I negotiate with you then?" he asked, smiling widely.
Alex, not understanding, smiled back, glad to see Seth in a better mood. But that was only until she asked, "Negotiate on what?" She regretted the idea as soon as the next words popped out of Seth's mouth.
"Negotiate on the public party," the boy grinned back. "How about we hold two private parties and have no public party?"
Alex sighed. Her expression was that of someone saying, 'Great! Just great!' "No," she responded firmly. "We need a public party. It's not negotiable."
"Then I'll do extra chores!" Seth protested. "I'll work for you a little bit to pay for the expenses of my party and the other party that could have happened!"
But Alex shook her head. "Some things are not negotiable, Seth. Besides, I can't have you work for me! That's not right! And you're in a recovering stage right now and..." she trailed off when she saw that she was getting carried away. "Sorry," she murmured. "No deal."
Seth thought long and hard for a moment. Jack and Alex 'gave' him and Sara weekly incomes if they did what little chores they were assigned to do (which was just to keep their rooms clean basically), and they earned about $20,000 each week combined, since Jack and Alex made millions each week and could afford to give them that much. "How about I buy you a new car?" he offered. "What about that sports car that you wanted? I could get you that!"
Alex's face went white. Technically, according to the alien pet adoption, they weren't supposed to be giving them any money at all. But there was specific money in their budget that they set aside to use to buy whatever Seth and Sara wanted. It was like a separate savings account, and they'd put money in there if the kids did the chores. They also used that money to buy the kids birthday gifts and other presents on special occasions. Jack and Alex handled the money for them, since it was technically in the eyes of the law, her and her husband Jack's money, and because the alien kids weren't aloud to handle any amount of money.
Seth and Sara never really used all the money that they were 'given', or rather that was set aside for them. They were usually savers, so they 'had' a lot of money, or Jack and Alex had a lot of money in the account solely used for them. Seth and Sara wished to get jobs but they knew that they never could because of the alien pet adoption and the whole family was afraid to break it because they knew the consequences of breaking it, and Jack and Alex were very protective of them. But they already broke it a little bit for they treated Seth and Sara as equals and allowed them to think for themselves, which they technically weren't supposed to do. They tried to avoid broadcasting that into the open because they didn't want the adoption annulled, so when they went out they usually didn't have the kids say much, and it was all hush hush. The parents would do a lot of speaking out in the open, and Jack and Alex or an authorized adult would always attend Seth and Sara as that was what the alien pet adoption required. But the kids weren't allowed to go to school anymore due to the nature of the adoption. But they did 'visit' the school with Jack and Alex. That and their school friends often came by. Seth wondered who was now filling in for his place in the football team, as well as Sara's position on the cheerleading squad.
Alex shook her head. "Don't be ridiculous, Seth!" she exclaimed. Then she sighed. "There's no compromising on the public party."
"Why not?" Seth challenged. "You said that sometimes you have to negotiate."
"Yeah, well that's not what I meant."
"You never elaborated," Seth pointed out, a happy grin on his face. He had caught her in her own words and she knew it. Now she would have no choice but to negotiate with him.
The woman sighed. "Don't you trust me?" she asked him, trying a different way to convince him.
"Don't you follow the rules you set for others?" Seth challenged back.
Alex shook her head. "Come on, Seth. Don't do this to me! Don't make me feel so guilty that I'll do whatever you want!" But Seth stayed silent.
"Come on," he begged. "No public parties. No giving in to the paparazzi, reporters, and others when it comes to me and Sara. And in return I'll get you whatever you want."
"This won't bode well with your adoption," Alex growled and Seth could tell that she was afraid that the government would find out about this and hold them accountable.
"Then don't tell them," Seth pitched in. "They don't have to know. Besides, no one will know since we never announced a public party."
"I guess you're right," Alex sighed.
And Seth grinned wide, knowing what she meant, but choosing to use her words against her again. "Great!" he exclaimed and Alex's eyes widened.
"That's not what I meant and you know it!" she let out in shock, but Seth only smiled wider.
"You never specified," he pointed out and Alex sighed.
"Fine!" she snapped. "I'll go talk to your dad about this!" She got up to leave but when she reached the door she turned back. "And that doesn't mean I made any promises," she added, narrowing her eyes and pointing one of her long fingers at him.
But Seth merely shrugged as if there was nothing wrong with that. "That's cool!" he added and the woman left, shutting the door softly despite her irritation. Seth smirked widely and lay back down in his bed, looking content. He laid luxuriously, as one confident and at home, hands behind his head, and staring up at the ceiling as he smirked. "What a long day," he sighed. He fell asleep in no time at all, snoring.
(Some time later.)
(Seth Point of View)
When Seth finally went downstairs he was somewhat sleepy. As everyone was in the living room he decided that that was where he wanted to be. He sat down beside Jack, who had a newspaper in his hand. For some reason it looked like he wasn't so involved in it anymore when Seth came downstairs, despite the fact that he had it to his face. Seth's sister, Sara, had the remote in her hand and was busy watching Sanctuary, which had been running a marathon all day. She and the rest of the family were just getting into the series. She snickered when she watched Nikola and John Druitt, aka Jack the Ripper, face off in a verbal argument. "Why doesn't Nikola back off?" she asked aloud, not wanting a response.
But one came anyways. "Because he also likes Helen Magnus even though she isn't into either of them."
"The five fought a lot. I wonder why."
From beside her Jack shrugged. "Oh, self-interest, and the usual. After all, Helen Magnus was the leader of the little gang and she was also the only woman of the five. The rest were men."
Seth sat down beside them and tilted his head when Ashley's name was mentioned. "Who's Ashley Magnus?" he asked.
"She's Helen and John Druitt's daughter," Jack responded, newspaper still in hand. He was so buried in it that Seth couldn't see his face.
But when he said this, Sara turned to Jack in shock, knowing a little bit about earth culture, including that real life group of murder cases from the eighteen hundreds. "She's Jack the Ripper's daughter?" she exclaimed, eyes wide open. Jack nodded.
"But then again you never saw the very first episode, or the first season for that matter," Alex replied, watching the TV intensely.
Sara shook her head. The first season had aired after Jack and Alex's marriage and before Seth and Sara's return. The couple had liked the series when it first started, and had watched it frequently, except when Seth and Sara went missing. But the first time the kids saw the series was after they had been adopted by Jack and Alex because the series had been on break when they had first come to visit, and they had been kidnapped before the next season started. But when they were adopted and the new season had aired then they started watching the series with Jack and Alex, and that was when Sara had looked up a bit about Jack the Ripper (after she found out that there was a real Jack the Ripper because she had a hard time understanding the series, due to how cultural deep it was steeped in, and that fact was mentioned to her and it helped her understand the series a bit better).
And Seth and Sara were hooked on the TV series after that, even though they had missed tons of episodes. In fact, Jack had once offered to buy them the DVDs so that they could catch up with what was going on. As they were all on back order, they were waiting for the DVD's to come in. They had received a phone call from the place they had bought it from and they had just been informed, as of two days ago, that the products were being shipped to them and that it would take more than likely a couple of weeks to get there.
Jack sighed and gently took the remote out of Sara's hands. When she started protesting Jack shook his head. "I need to talk to you and Seth for a moment, but more to Seth," he announced and Seth turned to face the man in such a quick manner that one would think that the speed to which he was able to accomplish it was impossible. 'Here it comes,' he thought. 'He's about to let me off and say that we don't need a public party.'
Jack was taking his sweet little old time in getting ready. He placed the newspaper down slowly and took a sip of his hot chocolate that was on a stand beside the chair, and then slowly put it back down, as if he weren't eager for this conversation. "Seth," he began. "Alex told me about what you and her talked about."
Seth stood stalk still. Then he slowly nodded, watching Jack closely. "She said that she'd talk to you about it." Jack nodded. Meanwhile, Sara was looking back and forth, watching what was happening unravel before her as she could no longer read minds, and thus she was handicapped and oblivious as to what was going on. She watched the scene unfold with curiosity.
Jack sighed. "We did talk about it. And I must say, my starchild, my little one, my sweetling, that you have quite the persuasive manner."
Seth suddenly started grinning widely. He was getting off! He knew it!
But Jack shook a finger and Seth's grin dropped. "Ah, ah, ah!" Jack responded when he saw Seth get excited. "That doesn't mean that there won't be a public party."
Seth's face fell even more. "But I don't want one!" he whined. And Sara, by now knowing what was going on, widened her eyes. Her tail came out and flickered a little bit as she got even more intrigued and interested. And Seth's tail came out and drooped, touching the floor to where if he were walking, it would drag.
Jack sighed. "Hear me out," he begged the boy, a pleading look in the man's eyes and Seth looked straight into them. Jack seemed to hesitate before starting again. "I think that perhaps the greatest reason we wanted to have one was because we felt that they would continue to pester you until they got what they wanted, even if it took thirty-five years to do so. And that said, I'm willing to compromise. We still need to do something public for them, but it doesn't have to be the public party. We'll let you pick out what public event you want to do and we'll give a yay or nay of approval."
"But!" Seth protested and Jack shook his head.
"No buts. Now you can either decide for yourself or we'll decide for you. You pick which avenue you would rather go down."
Seth sighed. He had no choice but to do something public. But there was one other trick he was willing to try before giving in to Jack's demands. "How about I buy you another mustang?" Seth tried to negotiate and Jack suddenly stared at Seth in a manner that told everyone that Seth had struck the right nerve and item with which to negotiate with.
"What kind of mustang?" he asked, getting really interested, and Alex, who had a magazine in her hand stood up, walked over, and whacked her husband on the head. "Uh, I mean no deal, Seth," and he mouthed to Seth where Alex couldn't hear, "Sorry, but I can't disobey my wife."
'He's such a pushover when it comes to Alex,' Seth thought to himself and he sighed. "Fine," he groaned, disappointed that his latest technique did not work. He thought long and hard for a moment before replying, "I guess I'll do a public party or something with some talk show host."
Jack nodded importantly, glad that he decided for himself. "Okay then," he announced officially. "After you decide what show you want to be on then I'll set up the appointment. Or you could help me set up the occasion. And what we'll do is have a birthday party there, since according to the adoption you can't really have an interview, but you can have a birthday party. The birthday party will then be broadcast, and the adoption won't be in danger because we'll have followed the guidelines."
Seth nodded reluctantly, not liking the position he was put in. "I'll help you set it up," he decided, because he wanted at least some say in it.
The two exited the room.
Okay, so I tried to add some humor in this chapter with Jack a bit, and I tried my best to lighten things up.
Please read and review! Please may I have three more reviews, even if you review twice? It would be much appreciated. It lets me know that people are reading!
So, here you also see a little more of the restrictions that the alien pet adoptions places on aliens and those who care for them. Frustrating, isn't it? Jack and Alex have to constantly be careful because of it, as do Seth and Sara. They have to be careful not to break the rules even the slightest.
And on another note, this is a bit of an AU to our universe when it comes to the series of Sanctuary and the air dates, so that you're not confused. On the same note I am also one of many that wants the producers or someone to bring Ashley Magnus back, since killing her off was a bad idea. Bring Ashley back! It CAN be done!
Also, let me know what you thought of this chapter, any critiquing that you may have, and what you would like to see. I am open to suggestions, even though I pretty much know where I am going with this story. But it's still good to know what the audience wants so that I can change things as necessary or incorporate things in.
Also, answer this question in your review please. What do you think of Seth and Sara's new environment?
Also to answer, what did you think of Alex teaching Jack to cook? Do you think she took a big risk? Would you have reacted like Seth and Sara if you were in that same situation?
Much appreciated! Thanks to those who read, review, and answer!
Until next time, my fans!
Firestar'sniece
