Trace must have phoned my mother the night before as she was banging on the front door at seven the next morning. Will had called after a party last night to say he wasn't coming home (he was probably shacking up with some girl he met and relying on me to cover for him), and Uriel was nursing a hangover – the result of the news that another one of our brothers had found their soulfinder – so it was left to me to entertain our parents.

I groaned at the sound of the door, rolling off of the couch, my makeshift bed while I was staying here, and pulling on yesterday's shirt which had been lying on the floor.

"Hey, Mom. Dad." I opened the door to see my parents standing there, Mom holding a bunch of flowers which were presumably for Trace and Diamond. Wondering why they were here, I showed them into the sitting room, picking up my laundry as I went. With Mom being a total ball of excitement, and Dad the lovesick, submissive husband who would do anything to please her, they must have left Wrickenridge at six to arrive in Denver at this time. And they must have come here to disturb me instead, worried about waking Trace up early. How considerate of them.

"Where's Uri?" Mom asked me, once they were sitting at the kitchen table with coffee.

"Still asleep. He was up late last night, not feeling good, so I wouldn't wake him if I were you." I lied.

"Oh, my poor baby!" I rolled my eyes at my mother, who still saw us as kids, despite the fact that Uriel was a grown man. "And Will? Where is he?" She asked.

"Staying at a friend's house," I lied again, not really having any idea where Will was. They owed me big time.

"So," Dad changed the subject, "Trace told us you've already met Diamond?"

"Yeah. He wanted me to check her over after what happened last night. She's lovely."

"And he also mentioned she has a sister your age, Xav."

Again, I rolled my eyes. My parents, who had found each other in their teenage years and been married ever since, were optimistic that all of their children would find the same happiness, insisting we tried telepathy with all girls of the right age. Crystal and I were the same age, but that was about all we had in common. Fate would have to work in some pretty strange ways for us to end up as soulfinders. Plus, it was apparent from our first meeting that she was not exactly keen on me.

"Yeah. Crystal."

"And have you tried talking to her?"

"She doesn't do telepathy, Dad," I told him, my way of explaining that we would have to live in another universe for Crystal Brook and I to ever end up together.

My parents were eager to meet Diamond and so Trace invited the family to his apartment. Since he was busy cooking for the event (thankfully he is less like Zed, who struggles to make toast, and more like Yves in that department), and I was already familiar with where they were staying, he asked me to pick up Diamond and Crystal after I finished work at the hospital, much to Crystal's disdain. I chatted to Diamond and found out that her and my brother were planning on getting hitched as soon as possible, which Mom would be ecstatic about.

Crystal remained silent in the back of my SUV, iPod plugged in on a high volume. She had claimed she was still feeling shaky after the mugging, and made herself scarce. My guess was that she was staying out of the way, feeling like a burden to her sister and I felt really bad for her, but she obviously didn't like me, so there wasn't much point in saying anything, especially not in front of Diamond.

Mom and Dad received Diamond, as they did all my brother's soulfinders, with embarrassing enthusiasm, accepting her as part of the family immediately. Mom engulfed Trace's slightly taken aback soulfinder in an enormous hug, exclaiming about how she had always wanted daughters and now had three. Zed, Yves and I hid our laughter as Phee and Sky went pale at Mom's suggestion of a bonding shopping trip.

I spent most of my time with Will, Vick and Uri, the soulfinder-less of our family. Victor, despite his lack of soul mate, seemed to be taking things well, unlike Uriel, who managed to fool everyone else while I knew better. Will was so laid back that, while he would have liked to find his soulfinder, he never worried about things like that, and I was trying to focus on more important things – getting into college and then actually paying for it.

"Xav, you're not doing well in the dating department at the moment, are you?" Victor smirked.

"You're just saying that because you're jealous, and because you know that you're so scary only the people you put behind bars would be willing to go out with you," I shot back, "and what the hell is that meant to mean anyway?"

"He's talking about Crystal, brother," Will chipped in.

"What about her?"

"How you like her but she obviously doesn't like you back." Uriel had decided to attack me as well, hiding his smile.

"I do not like Crystal. I have a soulfinder to worry about."

"And what if she is your soulfinder, Xav? She's the right age. We've all been talking about it behind your back." Vick decided to inform me.

"Great. Thanks for that guys," I said sarcastically, "but she is definitely not my soulfinder. We have nothing in common."

"And Sky and Zed did? She's right over there with Sky and Phee, Xav. I could always just go and tell her you like her. Set things in motion." Vick threatened, smirking.

"Do that and I will break your face," I promised.

Author's Note:

Hey, so this is my first fanfic. I'm not too keen on this chapter but it's kind of a filler, so I'm sorry if it wasn't too exciting.

Anyway, thanks to guest reviewer Ruby and xxx-benedictbrothersfan-xxx for their reviews.

I'm not really sure if many people are reading this at the moment, so I'll update if I get a few more reviews.