In celebration of mid-terms being over and the fact that I feel the need to update this story, ta da! Chapter Seven :)

As always, I do not own The Sorcerer's Apprentice or related characters. They are property of Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney.

Many wonderful thanks to Spitfire47 for the beta help and feedback.

Again, constructive reviews, critiques, and general reviews are greatly appreciated and welcomed! Please enlighten me with your thoughts and questions :)

Chapter Seven

Emily found herself wondering where in the world Veronica had learned to cook, considering the food was superb. Emily knew her sister back in the states was more than an adept cook since she went to the culinary institute and taught her how to cook for herself and Dave. She thought no one could compare to her sister. She was wrong, obviously.

It was probably practice, and lots of it.

She still felt oddly out of place considering Becky asked her father how his trip to New York City went. He said it was quite successful, and Becky all through dinner was looking at her like she was some famous movie star. She wasn't sure exactly why and had to hide the blush creeping up on her face. Praise came not as often as one expected for her.

She wasn't Drew Barrymore or Sandra Bullock.

She wondered why, maybe it was because both she and her son were from across the pond. Certainly being in a place where a lot of foreigners don't normally go could add some excitement to her life. It seemed that Becky was very interested in what New York was like and asked her father. He answered that he should ask Dave or his mother because they used to live there.

That was a fifteen minutes ago, but now they were on dessert and she saw a flash of a gold cover of a hardback book that Mr. Blake pulled from his satchel that he had brought to dinner.

She knew that book. The cover illustration she had illustrated herself, and when Becky saw it her smile lit up and she know knew why she was excited.

It seemed Becky was a fan of her work, and learned from Dave that she drew the illustrations. She had a black marker in her purse and got out of her seat and asked Becky if she wanted her to sign it for her.

Becky looked like she died and went to heaven. Her father, all the while, had an amused look on his face when she personalized it for Becky.

After Becky was done asking her all sorts of questions, mostly referring to how she got so good at drawing (her response: lots and lots of practice) and helped the Blakes clear the table. She saw that it was fairly dark outside and grimaced. She knew that it wasn't probably a smart idea to socialize on the first day of move in and they had a lot of things to do, her son and she as well as Mr. Blake and his family. She wouldn't be starting her job till Tuesday officially considering she did need some move in time and getting used to the time zone.

After dinner it seemed that Becky had once again whisked her son away and told her that Becky wanted to show him something and she nodded that was alright with her. She said she would help Veronica with the dishes, even though she said they were their guests she would have none of it.

She asked what Veronica did for a living and told her she ran a small antiques shop down in the main square of the village. She also asked where Veronica learned to cook.

At this Veronica just shrugged her shoulders and said she had a long time to learn. Emily just brushed it off, but she couldn't get the feeling that there was something deeper to her answer. Her mind also jumped that she needed to call her mother and asked Veronica if she could use her phone for a long distance call.

Veronica nodded her head and said it was fine and directed her to a handset and picked up the phone and dialed the necessary numbers and on the other line was her mother.

"Oh Emily I was wondering when you would call so you're in England safe I assume, I heard what happened at Victoria Station, people think it's a terrorist attack," her mother breathlessly told her. Emily her knew her mother was a little worried, and she assured her that she was fine.

She talked to her mother about the first class upgrade and her mother stopped her. "Oh I forgot to tell you, Marthie is in town we were just having tea and I think she wants to say hi," she said. Emily smiled.

Marthie Stutler was George's younger sister, and probably the only relative on his side of the family she kept in contact with. George's family hadn't been big on her marrying their son, although they let it happen for his sake. She always got the sense that she wasn't good enough or something else.

He had come from old money and she was an art student, his family was originally from England as well, in the southeast. She was an American, apparently not a very promising future in their eyes.

That was all old, and the fact is that Marthie was there for her and Dave while the rest of the family just left the funeral and didn't say a word. She at first thought it was grief, but after a few weeks and months and not even a birthday card for Dave she ended up calling Marthie to see what was going on.

Marthie had just told her that they were worried about her and Dave. They thought it would be better to break contact, even though Marthie believed this was silly. Eventually, Marthie moved out west to help them out, saying that if no one else in her family was going to help out she might as well seeing as George was her favorite brother and she loved Dave with all her heart.

She was probably one of the only people who could really understood her grief and told her that her family had their own problems to deal with and they didn't want to get them involved. George had been pretty tight lipped about a lot of things, including his past and growing up in England. He told her he came to America to find his own life, and that is just what he did.

She ended up talking to Marthie about the Blakes and that was when Marthie went quiet, very quiet.

"Marthie?" She queried and it seemed that Marthie got out of whatever she was in, but she didn't sound wholly there. She wondered what was going on and asked Marthie what was bothering here.

She asked her to say their names again and what they looked like. Well this was unexpected and told her to the best of her ability and there was silence. Marthie said she had to go and gave the phone back to her mother.

Well that was the first time Marthie ever acted odd, it was normally the rest of them besides George who did that to her.

"Mom what is up with Marthie?" She said and her mother said she hadn't clue seeing as Marthie picked up her jacket and bolted. She told her mom what she told Marthie about and her reaction was much different saying how lucky she was to find a man who would help them out and a playmate for Dave already? That was certainly something.

She had to agree to that, it was certainly something.

Emily wondered what was up with her sister-in-law? It also seemed that Balthazar disappeared again to his office. She knew that a man who lived in a house like this and owned a car like his he was bound to a workaholic.

She just hoped that Becky got to see her father a lot more than George did when he was growing up. Emily remembered George telling her his father was always away for his job, but he understood the reasons seeing as he was being groomed to do the same.

She just shook her head at this, and wondered what it was with families training their second generation to go into a business or whatever. Luckily it seemed that George broke away from that tradition when he came to the states, and eventually fell in love with her.

That seemed so long ago, even if it was only seven years ago. She sighed and remembered how late it was.

It was only nine o' clock, but that was late for Dave to stay up. She told Veronica that she and Dave should get going, it was late after all. Veronica nodded her head to go get her husband, who already entered into the kitchen. She said that she and Dave should get going and was wondering if he would be able to drive them back to their cottage. Balthazar asked how much they needed to do before they would be ready for the night, considering everything Emily internally winced.

They needed to clean the sheets and towels. She refused to sleep on out of package sheets and wouldn't dare have the store bought towels touch Dave's skin before they were washed.

They also had to set the clocks around the house, as well as the alarm clocks they either bought or shipped over.

She also wanted to clean the bathrooms before they used them for the first time, considering it was the sanitary thing to do.

She had a lot of work and she was already tired at the current hour, and knowing her son would feel the same.

It seemed that Balthazar picked up on this. It was late, and Balthazar ever pragmatic thought it would be better for them to stay the night. This was when she got a little uncomfortable.

She knew the man for what? Two days at max. It was one thing to sit with someone and talk to them on the airplane, and another to share that a dinner at a pub, and even the dinner and play date was pushing it.

They seemed like a lovely bunch, they really did, but she wasn't sure. She heard stories about starry eyed Americans in another country getting into things that were than they imagined. Nice house, nice car, a daughter who lived the princess lifestyle.

What if this was a Coppala film? What if his 'firm' was really a family business of killing? What was she thinking? This wasn't The Godfather for peat's sakes! It was late and she was tired her ever constant creativity getting in the way sometimes.

She voiced her concerns that she didn't have a toothbrush or a nightgown. Balthazar said they had extras, and that Veronica wouldn't mind lending her something. Emily piped up that her son wouldn't have anything to wear but his day clothes, and Balthazar didn't seem too worried. He told her that maybe some of Becky's baggier none pink or purple related clothes might fit him. That or he would be able to do something to fix that problem.

She said that was fine as long as Dave and she could be in the same room. He led her to a very nice guest room with a queen bed. Balthazar said that they did have another room across the hall with a twin bed if Dave wanted his own room. Emily nodded at this and said that she should get Dave from Becky's room and tell him it was time to get ready for bed. Balthazar said he would be able to get Dave and bring him back here seeing as she was pretty tired and boy did she look it.

The wine that she had was starting to get to her anyways, and she replied to Balthazar she would probably be asleep within the next ten minutes. She asked Balthazar to tell Dave that and she wouldn't mind if he fell into bed just as she was about to do. He nodded at his.

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But he had no intention of bringing Dave back to his mother just yet…or there could be another tactic to use.

Sorry for the short chapter, I promise the next one will be much longer :)