A/N Pyscho Angel has won, but does not want an OC in here. The quote was "You, foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach!" from Harry Potter. So difficult, was it not? (Note sarcasm.)

Arigato!

"Eric! Eric! That's my teddy!"

Eric's contraption cut off Chrissy's beloved teddy bear's head. In between physics and Eric's dismay, my favorite thing is playing with Chrissy. She reminds me so much of myself when I was her age. Innocent and naive. This adds more to my hatred towards Eric because he takes all of Chrissy's toys and cuts their heads off.

"You moron! Give Chrissy back her teddy! You know she can't sleep without it! You heartless little monster!" I screamed.

"Eric stop doing this!"

Eric started to run around holding the stuffed animal high in the air. Eric looked scrawny, but he was very fast on his legs. When we caught him, he threw the toy in the air to pass it to Lilly, who was taking a break from books and saw this one way trip to extreme fun.

"Give it back, Eric!" Chrissy shrieked.

Everyone started shouting. Everyone was yelling at Eric and Lilly to give the bear back excluding Seb who was spreading paint on the piano keys. The door opened and Evangeline came in.

"All right,you lot!" We kept yelling. "Quiet! You're driving your poor father to distraction. Stop it."

She took the bear from Lilly and gave to Chrissy whom was hitting Eric. Eric's suit-like vest jacket thing came undone and his shirt was untucked.

He looks cuter that way, I thought.

I shook my would I think that?! Eric is my enemy for Pete's sake! He is nothing more than the enemy. Oh, who am I kidding I -

"Lilly, what's this word?" Evangeline asked, showing her the word and bringing me back to reality.

"Lovingly. He took her lovingly by the hand."

"What's your book about, Evangeline?" Torra asked.

"Is it interesting?" I asked.

"It's about a daughter of a nice man who remarries after his wife dies and the stepmother's horrid to her."

"Why doesn't the man stop her from being horrid to her?"

Simon, who had turned to the window after Evangeline came in, turned back around yo answer. "Fathers all turn bad when their wives die. They don't care anymore."

"Or when they lose them to a divorce," Eric added.

"Leave my mother out of this!"

"Simon, yours does."

"No, he doesn't. Does he read to Chrissy like he used to? Does he play cricket with us like he used to? He doesn't even sing "Loola-bye" to Aggy anymore. We hardly see him."

"He loves you , Simon. You know that. He's just had a lot on his mind since-"

"Since Mother died."

The air in the room grew tensed. I felt out of place and at the same time understanding. Mum started drinking since Dad spent more time on work and never came out of his study. I lost my parents emotionally so I knew how it felt.

"You used to be his close as anything."

"Not anymore. All he cares about now is getting himself a nice new wife."

"Well, I dunno if that's true or not, but perhaps it will be nice to have a new mother."

"Don't you know anything about the world, Evangeline? Whoever he marries will be vile and treat us like slaves."

"You don't know that."

"Plenty of hard evidence for it." Eric came over, looking like his usual self, much to my dismay, with the fairy tales book. "There isn't a single stepmother in there who is halfway decent. They're an evil breed." Evangeline opened the book as he said this.

I stood up and stood near Evangeline. "I have to agree with him on this one, Evangeline. My father married again and asked me to visit them. When Dad was around, Jane was as sweet as honey. When his back was turned, she was as fake as vinegar. She's a quack I tell you."

"Anyway, who likes other people's children?"he asked, fixing up his invention.

"I like you."

"Yes, but you're a servant. You're paid to like us. That doesn't count."

A hurt expression crossed Evangeline's face as Eric cut off another doll head.

"Eric, don't say that. I do believe that Evangeline likes you all genuinely. Besides, it isn't very nice to call someone a servant," I put gently.

"Well, I've got work to be getting done with," she said, picking up her book and left.

Seb ran after her, asking, "I really am hungry, Evangeline. Could you maybe bring me some secret toast and jam?" Evangeline ignored him. "All right, forget the jam,. Just some secret toast!"