Authoress' Note

Ok, so I am sorry if updates are going to be a little more scarce… My dad is heading overseas for a year on Wednesday as a civilian contractor for some the military. I cried because he will be in the middle of the warzone.

I do have a new boyfriend that will help me through it though. I praise God for him and pray to God that my dad will come home safe.

Iggy is enjoying a stay in the drier. I decided that I was mad at him. He insulted my cookies so I shoved him in the drier.

Anyways, Enjoy.

Zoey P.O.V.

My dad told Jake to join the hug. He literally told him he was family too and needed to be in the hug. I beamed up at Daddy and he understood everything I was trying to say. I was so happy to be surrounded by my family. I hugged everyone back and we smushed each other for a few minutes.

When we all finally broke apart, Mom and Daddy went upstairs to 'talk about things.' I didn't even want to know what they were really doing, so I took Jake outside. I really wanted to fly right now but his wing was sprained. I settled for sitting on the swinging bench out on the back porch. I really wanted to try to figure out my power again. I figured I would try to help Jake and make him a set of crutches. As much as I loved having him hold me all the time, my shoulder was starting to hurt.

"Jake, how do you make your power work?" I asked him. Maybe the way he concentrated would help me.

"Well, I usually think about what I want things to look like, not what they do look like. I don't think too hard about it though because then I over think it." He said.

"Ok, so you think about it, but you don't think about it. How helpful…" I said with a smirk. He laughed and said, "Well, just don't think too hard… Just, I don't know. I just do it."

"Alright," I said, "I guess I'm going to try." I walked forward and thought about a pair of crutches. How I wanted them too look, how tall they were, and I just looked at that image in my head for a few seconds.

I felt something rush through me, almost like a sort of electricity. I opened my eyes and saw the fuzzy image of a pair of crutches starting to form. I got excited and lost my concentration. The electricity stopped and the fuzzy image vanished. I gave a defeated look to Jake and said, "I got excited. I lost my concentration." He laughed at me.

I must have been trying for longer than I thought because Daddy came out and said, "What were you concentrating about?" I told him about my power. He nodded and sat next to Jake. I shook my head at my dad and tried again. I saw the crutches in my mind again. I felt the surge of energy. I kept my eyes closed tightly. The electric surge calmed down all on its' own. I opened my eyes and there in front of me was a pair of gray, hospital issue, crutches. I picked them up and handed them to Jake.

"As much as I love to have you hold me, my shoulders are beginning to hurt." I said. Daddy smiled. Jake got up and put the crutches under his arms. He lifted his hurt foot off of the ground and tried moving around. He got the idea quickly and tried walking up the stairs. He stumbled a little bit and I helped him get balanced again. I laughed at him and we almost fell over each other. I caught myself on the stair railing and grabbed his elbow, preventing him from falling. I stood him up and I stood up. I helped him up the stairs and when he got to the top one, he went up it all by himself. They grow up so fast…

We walked in the door, without me having to help him, and Mom walked up to us.

"Where did you find these?" She said, motioning towards Jake's crutches.

"Well, Mom, I made them." I replied. Mom's face split into a huge grin. She hugged me and said, "Oh sweetie, I am so proud of you." I beamed up at my mom and all of my aunts and uncles came over to me. They asked questions. A lot of questions. Most of my uncles wanted to know about Jake, trying to figure out if he was good enough for me, of course, while most of my aunts wanted to know about Jake to know if he an amazing guy, also of course. I answered questions for a while with Jake at my side. I noticed that Mom was missing and figured that she was with Dad.

Max P.O.V.

Rather than listen to Zoey answering questions for her aunts and uncles, I decided to go out on the porch. No one was there so I sat on the swing and began humming that old lullaby. I still didn't remember the words, or where I heard it, but the tune was stuck in my head permanently.

I can't say that it bothers me though, it's soothing. I sat there lightly rock on the swing humming to myself when I saw something out of the corner of my eye start to fuzzily fade in. I grinned and stopped humming when the fuzzy figure stated, "That tune suits you."

"That shade of red suits you." I said, referring to the color of the porch that he just was. Fang flashed a full-blown Fang smile and moved to sit next to me. I leaned into his side instinctively and he wrapped an arm around me. We sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Fang said, "You know, I love you Max."

I smiled and said, "I know. You know I love you too Fang." He nodded and we lapsed back into comfortable silence

"Fang, did you ever think about just running off. Just getting married tomorrow in a pair of blue jeans with Iggy as your witness and Ella as mine?" I asked. I wanted to know if he thought about it too.

"I did. I thought that we should have something normal in our lives, though. Not just a life where we live in fear. I want to get married to you, Maximum Ride, in a white church with a preacher telling us to say our vows. I want to see you walk down the aisle in a white dress. Something that you like, something that is simple. I want Jeb to be there, I want your mom there, and all of the flock. I want Zoey, standing there with you. Maximum, I want you to be mine." He said. I kissed Fang and he wiped the happy tear that fell from my eye.

I looked into his eye and saw the love that he had for me. I loved him, and he loved me. I kissed him again, this time more aggressively. I found myself in his lap a few minutes. Fang pulled back and said in a husky voice, "Max, you're making things… hard."

I felt what he said before I really understood it. I giggled in his ear and said, "Think of Iggy that time he streaked through the E house and then refused to put any pants on."

Fang's face turned green and I laughed.

"Max, now I will be able to remember of today will be Iggy streaking… Thanks." I got an idea after he said that.

"Fang, just you wait until tonight, when I get you upstairs. Iggy won't even cross your mind." I said and winked at him.

"Max, I love you." He whispered into my ear.

"I love you too." I said as I settled back into his chest.

We rocked on the swing and I sat on his lap for a while after that and we talked. We talked about Zoey, we talked about England, I told him about Tracy, and I asked him if he had heard the lullaby.

"I've never heard the words. The tune sounds very familiar though." He said after I hummed it to him. I nodded and we sat for a few more minutes.

"Fang, Max, do you ever plan on coming in here?" We both heard Iggy yell. I groaned and scooted off of Fang's lap. Fang sighed and got up. He held his hand out to me and helped me up. We walked into the house, hand in hand.

Zoey P.O.V.

"But why were you flying around? OMG! It must be fate! I wonder if-" Mom and Daddy walked in, holding hands.

Aunt Nudge ran up to them and said, "OMG, guys! I want to talk to you about the wedding. I thought that maybe Fang should wear a dark blue tuxedo instead of black because he wears enough black already. And Max, you should wear this dress! It is so pretty and simple. It's all flowy and long too! It would look amazing on you!" Aunt Nudge held up a picture of a dress out of some magazine.

"Nudge, can we talk about this later? I had some ideas of my own, okay?" Mom said.

"Okay, Max! We can like, collaborate! It'll be amazing!"

Aunt Nudge walked back over to me like she was going to ask more questions. Before she could start I said, "I think I'm going to sleep outside tonight, and I'm going to go ask Uncle Iggy to come with me, for old time's sake." I said. Aunt Nudge sighed and plopped down in the chair I was just in after I got up.

"Ok sweetie, go make sure it's ok with Ig, first." Mom said.

"Oh, and Jake isn't going with you." Daddy hollered after me. My cheeks heated up and I tried to hide my blush but even the blind man, Uncle Iggy, noticed.

"Hey Uncle Iggy?" I said once I found him. He was sitting in the corner of the kitchen witch was attached to the living room where everyone else was.

"Nice blush, kiddo." He said. My face heated up even more, if that was possible.

"Uncle Iggy, do you think that you could take me camping in the backyard like we used to when I was nine?" I asked him. He looked at me, well more like my left ear, and said, "Kiddo, anything to get out of the house. I don't want to hear your parents as much as you don't."

I laughed. Uncle Iggy added as an afterthought, "Bring that Jake kid. I want to meet him." My face paled. Uncle doesn't meet people the normal way. He either tries to blow them up and see how they respond, or he questions them like he's in the FBI or something.

"Uncle Iggy… Is that really the best idea?" I said hesitantly.

"Oh, come on Zo, you know what, you can be there when I question him." He said with a smile.

"Please, can you try to do this the normal way? Without bombs or explosives or questionings? Just do something with him. Have him help you make the fire, act like a normal person. Please? He's really important." I begged Uncle Iggy.

"But I'm not a normal person. I am an, AVIAN AMERICAN!" Uncle Iggy stated with grandeur. I hit my forehead with my palm and shook my head.

"AUNT ELLA?" I hollered out to the living room, "Can you please come here?" Aunt Ella appeared in the kitchen a few seconds later.

"What, Zo?" She asked.

"Can you tell Uncle Iggy that he needs to be nice to Jake tonight?" I said, crossing my arms and pointing at my uncle.

"Zo, didn't your father tell you not to bring Jake with you?" I blushed. Uncle Iggy covered for me and said, "I want to meet him. He is coming." Aunt Ella shook her head and said, "Ok, Iggy, be nice to Jake. Don't blow him up or interrogate him like you're in the FBI. He means a lot to Zoey. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am." Uncle Iggy said obediently. Aunt Ella smiled and leaned down to kiss him. Just then, Mom walked in, probably looking for cookies. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw my aunt and uncle, her brother and sister, kissing.

"Iggy! Gabriella!" She yelled. They both looked at her.

"What?" Aunt Ella said.

"What. Are. You. Two. Doing?" Mom yelled.

"Well, we were kissing. Can we go back to that?" Uncle Iggy said and tried to find Aunt Ella's mouth with his. She helped him out.

My mom screamed in aggravation and stormed out.

I heard my mom yell, "Mom! Did you know that Iggy and Ella were a thing?"

Grandma simply replied, "Yes." I heard various variations of the term yes from everyone in the Flock. I even heard Daddy say, "We all knew…" I thought mom was going to blow a gasket. I heard the room get quiet.

I entered the room and said, "Someone speak, or this place could be mistaken as a morgue."

I looked around the room and finally Jake said, "Zoey, come on. We have our first date." All of my earlier cockiness was gone. I opened and closed my mouth before finally just nodding. Jake made his way over to me on his crutches, which Uncle Iggy said he would only need for two or three more days, and we left, leaving everyone shell-shocked.

Iggy Note

I fought my way out of the drier. I think I need to escape. Anyone want to help me?

Anyway, Brownie is really in the dumps right now because of her dad, so I took over down here for her. Any prayers for him are appreciated.

She also wanted me to mention that if you saw the earlier update of this chapter, she apologizes for it. She was tired when she wrote it and made a huge plot hole. Brownie took down the chapter, and replaced it with this one.

So, R&R?