A/N: Hey again! Here's the second chapter. Not a lot of action, but I don't want to jump straight into it. Jack will be appearing in the next chapter (half way done with it!) and I have a basic plot outlined in my head. There won't be much Mallie/Jack interaction for a few chapters, but hopefully you'll be able to put up with that!

Thanks for the faves and follows! Please review! Enjoy!


Despite the fact that Mallie had curled up on her bed in the corner of the room farthest from her door, she could still hear the children exchanging and marveling at stories about different fairy tale characters.

She couldn't believe the two Bennett (their last name which she learned later on) children had such a colourful imagination. She heard Jamie describing a short mute golden man who was supposed to be Sandman that talked with popping images over his head. He talked about North who was a tall, big- but surprisingly not very fat- Russian man with 'Naughty' and 'Nice' tattoos on his forearm.

That one had made her giggle. Tattoos? Russian? Dear lord…

And then there was the supposed Tooth Fairy, who was apparently covered in feathers and had a tendency to hover over your mouth and evaluate your teeth.

"And Baby Tooth!" She heard Sophie exclaim, to which Jamie responded, very seriously: "That's right, Soph."

Sophie couldn't have been more than a few years old and was beginning to start stringing together sentences of her own. Mallie listened to her almost heartbreakingly adorable attempts at describing a "Bunny" man who was 'Big, big, big' and 'FLUFFY'. Jamie had filled the rest of the details in. Boomerang. Australian (Australian?!). Easter.

And finally, there was Jack Frost, who was responsible for Jamie losing his tooth last winter after a sled-ride that put amusement parks to shame.

Maleya sighed, running a hand through her frizzy locks, which happened to be a bad idea as her fingers caught in all the tangles. Painfully pulling her hand out of her deathtrap of hair, she sighed again, looking down at her book. She had been trying to read different hypotheses on how action potentials- and later on- the electric discharges of electric eels had evolved. It should have been simple enough, but the distraction from the other room made it hard for her to focus.

Throwing her book across her bed, she reached for another one from her bedside table. This one was an easier task, as it involved more pictures. Seeing as she'd never lived so far north before, she figured she should get used to the animals that lived here and how to identify their tracks.

That was Maleya's one true dream in life- to become a world-renown biologist. Her passion for animals and plants and desire to learn how they functioned and interacted was something that she had been born with. Her parents both had no idea where she'd gotten it from, since her mother was a businesswoman and her father was a real estate agent. It wasn't a job that they were both very pleased about her pursuing. Veterinarian? Maybe. But a tree-hugging girl facing the goodness-knows-what dangers of the field? Not so much. And it was the field that she longed for. She wanted to be a green biologist, not a white one locked in a lab all the time.

Her moment of productiveness was cut short when she heard a car outside blaring its horn. She sighed, putting her book down. That was her mother's way of asking the children to come down and help out with bringing the groceries in.

"Mommy!" David had yelled, running down the steps. Jamie and Sophie were left in his room, looking rather surprised. She walked over to the door and smiled at them.

"Parents are home. You should come meet them," Mallie said, and they nodded following her downstairs in a less dangerous manner than David.

"One day, young man, you are going to trip and hurt yourself," came their father's voice from the kitchen. He had just put down a paper bag of groceries on the counter and was ready to head back outside for another one.

"Hey," Mallie greeted her father, walking around David and putting on her slippers before going out herself. He'd smiled at her, but that was it.

Her mother was at the trunk of the car, trying to get a good grip on one particularly big bag.

"Hey," Mallie repeated, this time to her mother. Mrs. O Connor did nothing to acknowledge her daughter except turn and drop the bag on her hands suddenly.

"Take this one," she said, before turning to get the next one.

Mallie did as she was told. It was heavy and awkward to hold, but she managed, and she did not think twice about her mother's behaviour. It had always been like this. It always would be.

When everything was inside the kitchen and at their destined places- pantry, fridge, freezer, etc., Mallie's parents finally gave the Bennett kids the proper welcome they deserved. Her mother looked positively in love with Sophie, and kept ruffling her hair.

"Why don't you two stay for dinner?" she asked, smiling sweetly at the two of them. Mallie felt almost a twinge of envy in her guts.

Her mother was, in all honesty, drop dead gorgeous. With long black hair and an olive-toned hue, Myriam O' Connor's Mediterranean ancestry shone through despite her family having lived in this part of the world for generations. She was slim and always looked so professional with her clean and ironed blazers and pencil skirts. Since today was an "off-day" she wore loose fitting trousers instead, and her hair tumbled down her shoulders in loose waves.

That was probably the one thing Mallie envied the most- her hair. As Jamie smiled politely and explained that he'd promised Mrs. Bennett that he'd be home in time for supper, Mallie glanced over at her father, who was cutting up carrots on a cutting board. He had some Irish blood, and Mallie had inherited his bright ginger hair. He had a short beard and dark framed glasses. He was a gentle person, but his deep voice made him seem scary and intimidating.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Mallie looked back at Jamie and Sophie. "I'll take you kids home," she offered, and Jamie grinned up at her while Sophie skipped to Maleya's side and grabbed her hand.

"I'll be back soon," Maleya announced, and her father nodded. David asked if he could tag along, but their mother insisted he go wash up and get ready for dinner instead.

"There's plenty of time to play tomorrow," she told him sternly, and with a defeated sigh he waved to his new friends and trudged slowly to the guest bathroom to wash up.

Mallie held the door open as the Bennett kids walked out. The sun was setting already. The days were getting shorter and shorter…

"So, do you have any idea if you'll be in the same school as David?" she asked Jamie, her left arm swinging involuntarily because of Sophie, who continued to skip.

"Yeah! Though I think I'm one grade higher than him," Jamie said, looking down. "Doesn't mean we can't hang out at breaks and lunch time, though!"

"That's great. I'm glad he's made friends already," Mallie said, smiling at him. She looked down at Sophie, who was staring aimlessly around her, deep in thought. "And how about you, Sophie? Are you excited about school?"

"School's gross," she said, and Mallie couldn't help but laugh. "Bunny said he'd get me present if I did good," she continued.

"Bunny?" Mallie asked, not really getting it.

"Bunnymund! Hop, hop, hop!" Sophie yelled, taking a short break from skipping to give three hops.

"The Easter Bunny," Jamie said, as though that was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Ah, right," Mallie answered, carefully stepping over the low bushes that surrounded her lawn. They walked around to the front door of the Bennett's house, and Jamie opened the door.

"Jamie! Sophie! There you are!" Mrs. Bennett's voice greeted them. She was a very pretty woman with hair the same colour as Jamie's. "Oh, and you brought a friend!" she said, suddenly stepping into view. "Hello! I'm Joanna," she introduced herself, and Mallie took her hand.

"I'm Maleya," she reciprocated, feeling slightly shy. "We just moved in to the house next door," she explained and Mrs. Bennett gave her a warm smile.

"Well then, welcome to the neighborhood! I hope you'll like it here," she said before looking down at her kids. "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes, so get ready!" She commanded and the two kids took off. Further down the hall, Mallie saw what looked like a greyhound jump on poor Sophie. It licked her face with such enthusiasm that Mallie wondered if she should notify Mrs. Bennett.

"You're welcome to stay, of course!" said Mrs. Bennett offered.

"Oh, that's kind of you. We're actually about to have dinner as well. Jamie and Sophie said they'd promised to be back home at around this time, so I thought I'd walk them back," Mallie explained, and Mrs. Bennett looked genuinely disappointed.

"Well, thank you for taking care of them," she said and Mallie nodded.

"No problem. My brother is about Jamie's age. They all seemed to have a good time." Just then, something began beeping in the kitchen and Mrs. Bennett's eyes widened.

"Ooh, that's the timer! I have to get going then, but I'll make sure to drop by and say hello to you and the rest of your family!" Mrs. Bennett promised and Mallie grinned and said her goodbyes, before walking back out to the street. She heard the door shut behind her and waited a few seconds before exhaling loudly.

Well, that had been nerve-wracking.