The whole family was seated at the kitchen table. Due to the not so recent growing the family had done in the many years that have passed. Nani had to get a much larger kitchen table. Large enough to seat, five experiments(myself included), three people, Pleakly, and Jumba. Soon they would have to make room for one more. Nani was pregnant with her David's first child.

You couldn't tell by looking at her, she was only one month along. Nani had been worried about how they would afford it. But, I assured here that if she was ever in trouble. I would be more than happy to give her a loan. She was the only person besides Jumba who knew about my finances.

Everyone was having their own conversations. Lilo was unusually silent, David was talking to Nani's stomach, Dad was laughing at some story my brothers were telling him, and Jumba and Pleakly were in deep discussion. I just stayed silent poking at my mashed potatoes with my fork. Everyone's plates were almost empty. We had roast chicken with potatoes for dinner, and Pleakly had set out a bowl of a thick bubbling green paste. I still haven't figured out what it was, but it smelled like fish.

Pleakly, he was quite a character. I must admit I tried to avoid him as best as I could. One time when I was younger I had wandered into Jumba and Pleakly's room. When I opened his closet, I had found that it was full of nothing but women's clothing. After that I tried to keep my distance. You could get used to the cross dressing, but I still thought it was strange.

"Oh my god Simon, What happened to your nose?"

I looked up from my potatoes at Nani, who had noticed the metal band on my nose. Everyone's attention was now on me. Elvis glared at me. I knew what that look meant. It basically meant say anything I'll beat you into the ground. I swore Jumba almost looked triumphant.

I cleared my throat struggling to find an excuse. "I...I had an accident in my lab." I finally said. Jumba gave a laugh.

"Really? How?" Nani asked.

"Yes." Jumba said, leaning on his elbows "How?"

I racked my brain for another excuse. Why did Nani have to know every damn detail? "I fell down the stairs, and When I fell my nose hit the railing." Seeming convinced she turned back to David, who continued talking to her stomach. My little ruse had fooled her, but Father was giving me a strange look. Suddenly Jumba angrily pushed out of his chair and stormed out of the kitchen. Seconds later I heard the front door slam.

"What was that about?" Asked Pleakly, but no one answered him. Sighing, I looked back down at my potatoes. I should have just told my father the truth about what had happened. Looking back now I wish that I did. If I had told him maybe this whole mess could have been avoided, but I couldn't. I hate to admit it, but I was afraid of my brothers, and what they might do to me if I did. It wasn't so much Aaron or Presley. It was Elvis I was scared of. Truth be told he really was a sadistic little jackass.

But deep down I was afraid of what my Father would do. I was afraid that if I actually did tell him. He would say that he didn't care, or even worse. He would tell me that he hated me, and would flat out blame me for killing his mate. I think that would be worse than if he had been the one beating me. Oh well. For now I would just have to put up with it, but not for much longer. My brothers may have enhanced strength and all of those other powers, but I have my mind. They were using their advantages, and I was using mine.

"Hey, Simon."

I looked over at Lilo who was poking me in the side.

"What?" I asked her. She leaned forward beckoning me with her finger. Moving closer to her, I listened intently.

"I was wondering If you could do a favor for me."

"A favor? What kind of favor?" I asked.

"There's an early Hula lesson tomorrow, and it won't be over until late. We've been doing a lot of practicing for the festival that is coming. Anyway I was wondering if you could do the rounds for me?"

"The rounds?" What was that? Ah yes, now I remembered. Every week or so Lilo had to check all of the experiments that inhabited the island, and see if they were still happy in the one place they truley belonged. It was a pointless ritual in my opinion, but she was their caretaker so she considered them her responsibility. She was very passionate about the whole thing. Probably because she went through all the that trouble to capture them.

"I don't know Lilo, I have a very important project I'm working on." Suddenly a thought occurred to me. "What about one of my brothers? I'm sure one of them would be happy to help you."

She laughed." Ya sure, one time I asked Elvis to do it and he didn't even check half of the experiments. Your the only one I can trust with this, please." She was practically begging me now.

"Alright!" I said. " I'll do it."

Lilo smiled. "Thanks Simon!" Saying that she got out of her chair and left the kitchen. "I owe you one!" She yelled from the hallway.

"Ya right, you owe me six hundred and twenty-three not one." I said under my breath. By now Nani and I were the only people left at the table.

Nani pointed to my plate "Are you done with that?"

"What? Oh yes I am" I handed my plate to Nani. Leaving the table, I made sure to push my chair in. I was moments away from leaving the table when...

"Simon, don't forget were all going to the beach in two days."

I stopped dead in my tracks. "Nani I have a very important project I'm working on."

"Oh, come on you can take one day off to spend time with your family." She said, carrying everyone's plates over to the sink. I groaned. It seemed like everyone on this earth was against me finishing my experiment. It didn't matter now, there was no use arguing with her. Haning my head in disapointment, I walked into the living room which was surprisingly empty.

"Where is everyone?!" I yelled to the kitchen.

"I don't know!" I heard back.

Well, It looked like I had the whole living room to myself. Crossing my arms behind my back, I circled around the living room. It didn't seem like there was much to do. I eyed the television, no, forget it. I didn't like watching T.V. I spotted some books that were lying discarded beside the coffee table. What the hell I might as well. I had nothing better to do. Sitting down beside the books, I reached out and picked up the nearest one. Alright lets see what kind of reading material Lilo owned. I thought.

The first book was a large, red, and a hardcover with the title Plastic Surgeries Gone Wrong. People becoming horribly disfigured didn't interest me. I threw the book over my shoulder and grabbed the second one. This one was blue, and was called Practical Voodoo. I cringed, Lilo was a very strange girl. I threw that one away too, but the last one caught my interest. Leaning forward, I picked it up off the floor.

This book was purple. Instead of a title it had a picture of a duck on the cover. Maybe it was a book about ducks. Curious I opened the book. It had no words only pictures. On the first page was a picture of a duckling all alone in a forest, with a speech bubble above its head that said "I'm Lost." On the next page the duckling was with its family. They seemed very happy. I don't know why, but I felt sad all of a sudden. It was strange how an illustration could affect me like this. Angril,y I slammed the cover closed, and tossed it out of the living room.

I got up and was about to leave the living room. When there blocking the doorway was my Father, and in his hands was the book I had just discarded.

"Oh sorry." I said, nervously.

"Its okay." He replied. Taking a step forward, he attempted to hand me the book.

"No, its okay. I was just looking at it." I said, pushing the book away. walking past him, I headed toward the front door.

"Ugly Duckling."

"Huh?" Confused I turned around to look at my father.

"The Ugly Duckling." He said again, pointing to the book in his hand. I just stared at him with a confused look on my face. Walkingbeside me, he opened the book to the picture of the duck.

" This is Ugly Duckling." He was referring to the crying duck that was lost in the woods. "He's sad because he's all alone and nobody wants him, but on this page he finds his family, and is happy again because he knows were he belongs."

I wasn't sure were he was going with this. So, I said the only thing that came o mind. "That's great, that's uh…really interesting." I noticed he was giving my nose a weird look. Curiose, he reached out to touch it. When his hand moved towards my face, it looked like he was going to hit me. Frightened, I instinctively flinched. He quickly drew his hand back when he saw my reaction. He almost looked worried.

"I got to go." I said, turning away from him.

"Uh, Simon?" He said. I turned and faced him again.

"Yes?" He looked like he was struggling to say something.

"Never mind." He finally muttered. Sighing my father turned and left the living room, dropping the book onto the floor.

That was strange, I thought. I had to get back to my lab. I had a busy day tomorrow. At last I left the living room, and went out the front door. It was an unusually cold night for Hawaii's climate, but my lab wasn't far. Ignoring the cold, I stepped down the wooden stairs, and headed down the trail that would take me to my laboratory.