Just Like Sugar

Disclaimer: We've established that I don't own Wizard's of Waverly Place.

Let's get to it.

8

/

"Justin we need to talk about this," Juliet bellowed grabbing for her four-year-old's arm, "Come here, you need to get ready for day school, Rose!"

Justin watched as his daughter resisted her mother's efforts, "Rose, listen to your mother," he eased warningly, "and Juliet, there's nothing to talk about."

Rose began pulling and yanking away from her mother's arm, dropping to her knees in her struggle. Her efforts were futile as her mother tightened her grip around her small wrist, "Mommy! Stop it! You're hurting me! Ugh! Let go!" Rose whimpered.

"Justin, I'm tired of going to bed alone and waking up alone, it's been a week, she's settled in," Juliet huffed finally releasing her daughter allowing her to fall on her bottom.

"Sheesh, thanks Mommy," Rose exasperated pushing her dark hair away from her blue eyes, "I need to go get Sir Poops A Lot," she continued, grabbing her doll, standing to her feet, "And now Clarabelle has wrinkles!" Rose brushed at her baby's dress, brows furrowed in concentration.

"Rose, stop calling your sister that," Juliet said softly, "it's not nice. Her name is Lilly."

"No! Lilies are for frogs. She isn't a Lily pad," Rose responded, folding her arms with a pout.

Justin chuckled softly taking a sip from his coffee mug. Juliet sent him a threatening look; surely, he wasn't helping and they weren't done with their conversation. It was frustrating to see Juliet all riled up again. But truthfully, Justin didn't mind bearing with the attitude, after all, he had options.

He could bury himself in work at the hospital, sleep in one of the guest rooms, or… he could just go out to the guest house with Alex.

"Lily Pad. I'm going to go find Lily Pad. And we're going to go on a frog hunt," Rose said eyeing her mother with newfound determination. Before long, Rose had run off and up the stairs to find her sister.

Juliet stood to her feet, "We were invited to lunch over at the Bloch Estate at 3. I need to get the girls to day school on time in order for us to get there promptly."

"I'm can't go," Justin answered simply taking another sip of his coffee, "I promised Jordan I'd look in on his operation today. A patient is suffering from chest swelling after her bout with costochondritis; they think they've found a clot."

"Alright," Juliet answered with a deflated sigh, "good luck then. I'll call Marie and reschedule, we can have dinner instead."

Justin nodded in agreement as Juliet planted a soft kiss on his lips, "Okay, I'll see if Alex will watch the girls."

"No," Juliet emphasized carefully before replenishing the smile on her face, "I'll just tell Zelda she can't take the night off."

"No," Justin countered rather firmly, "I already had a car come for Zelda; she's gone back into the city for the weekend."

"She'll just have to come back, Justin," Juliet paused to gather her words, "I do not want my children being left alone with her."

The 25-year-old hopped out of his seat, and began to make way to the kitchen, "Then I guess we don't have dinner plans, Juliet. Zelda is off for the night, and that's that. It's not up for discussion."

"Don't berate me like I'm a little child!" Juliet exclaimed hurrying in behind him, wagging her finger at the back of his head.

"Then act your age, Juliet. One second, you're Suzy Homemaker, the next, you're acting as if you're in some middle soap drama."

As Justin turned to face his wife but instead she left in a huff, "I'm taking the girls to day school, Justin. Do whatever it is that you want to do. I don't care!"

"I will, it is my house, you know," he called after her critically.

The sound of the screen door opening interrupted his childish antics. Here he was, criticizing Juliet for being immature when he was guilty of doing it himself. In walked Alex dressed in a pair of jeans and an oversized painter's shirt. Her hair was tussled to one side of her head, covering up half of her face.

"I need a favor," she said in greeting as she hoisted herself onto the island counter.

"Good morning to you as well, Alex," Justin droned pouring himself another cup of coffee.

"Do you think you could drive me into the city today," Alex continued. She turned her head and busied herself by looking out of the window towards the beach. A few days prior she'd learned that it wasn't the Hudson Bay but it was in fact the Atlantic Ocean that coasted upon the estate.

"What for," Justin asked casually walking over to his sister, pulling at her legs.

"It's been a week since I've gotten here, I need groceries and I wanna go see Mom and Dad and Max," Alex shrugged pulling her legs and Justin towards herself.

After a moment of thought, Justin eased himself out of his position between her legs and nodded grabbing his coffee cup from the machine. "Yeah, I have to go up to the hospital anyway. And get off the counter, Juliet would throw a fit if she saw you up there."

Reluctantly, Alex slid down and took her seat on a stool. "Can I take Rose and Lilly with me?"

Leaning against the counter, Justin said, "They have day school."

"Lilly is only two," Alex deadpanned.

"It's a prestigious academy," he explained.

"Private school, why am I not surprised?"

Justin eyed Alex carefully, watching the way she tugged at her sleeves smiling at herself, "We went to a prep school when we were younger."

"Our parents didn't shuck out twenty grand for us to attend school though," Alex laughed, "there was no tuition; that school was in our district, there's a difference."

"Whatever," he gave up easily, "you think you can handle watching the girls tonight instead? Juliet and I are supposed to go to dinner at the house across the water."

"House? Justin you don't live in a neighborhood filled with houses, they're fucking castles."

"Can you do it?"

"Of course," Alex nodded standing to her feet.

"You think you can be careful with what you say around the girls?" Justin asked hopefully wondering just how much he could get out of her.

"Only for you, kiddo," she smiled before heading back out of the side door, towards her cottage.

/

An hour or so later, Alex had showered and dressed in an outfit a bit more presentable. She'd made her way into the main house in order to find Justin. The walls were lined with alternating gilt-framed floor-to-ceiling mirrors and paintings, all more or less gloomy portraits of pale skin men and women in ornate gowns and suits, dating back from medieval to modern day. Juliet stood tall and proud, doe eyes glistening with joy and sincerity, staring straight ahead in a flourishing white gown. Alex reached up slowly to touch Juliet's painted hand. Immediately, it sent a chilling sensation down her spine.

"These are the Van Huesens," Justin's voice said, noticing her awed expression. "There's a set just like them in the Transylvanian house. Most of them are dead… all except Juliet and her parents and her grandparents. She wanted to have her portrait made young, before she became immortal."

Alex directed her eyes at Justin grudgingly, "You bought a house in Transylvania?"

"I haven't seen her look like that in a while," he continued on in a daze.

"Justin, she looks stoned out of her mind," she quipped. Her eyes met Justin's and they both laughed.

Justin smirked, "Yeah, maybe so. Rose says she looks like a queen and that we're all her mother's subjects. Oh, and she wants a portrait just like it one day."

"Rose and Lilly aren't spawns of vampires, are they?"

"No, they're spawns but they won't grow up to be vampires. It's wizardry that we have to worry about."

"Oh right." They came to the end of the hallway and entered a vast, open room, two floors high at the least. Coarse wooden columns, thick as tree trunks, supported the ceiling. The walls were painted a soft orange. And the furniture, the plethora of furniture, seemed to be lost in the large space. At one side of the room was a fireplace, fire roaring under a marble mantel that reminded Alex of pictures she seen of Rome or Greece. On the other side of the room was a bar, complete with a short, stubby man behind it rearranging the drinks.

"Oh my God," Alex inhaled sharply, "you didn't tell me you had a bar."

"I didn't think it was important, we don't use it," Justin slouched down into the couch, "He only comes every now and again to restock after we have parties."

"You haven't had any parties," Alex said raising an eyebrow. Justin averted her eyes away, "Oh, you haven't had any parties that I've been invited to."

"But other than that, the bar is at your discretion," Justin laughed, "we don't want it going to waste."

Alex nodded before asking, "Where's Juliet?"

"She left with the girls," Justin answered before raising his arm and pointing to a small door, almost invisible, camouflaged against the wall, "I want to show you this, come here, it's cool."

"Orange doorknob, really Justin?" Alex smiled as he pulled the door open, leading them into a small, cozy den. There was a couch, a desk and a bookshelf that encased the entire room.

"I was thinking of having Max turn this into a lair for me, when the girls are ready, so that I can teach them here," Justin said. He brushed his fingers over a small picture frame thoughtfully as he leaned up against the dark wooden desk.

Within the small space, Alex felt her body inching closer and closer to Justin. The sound of her heart beating echoed in her hollow chest. Their eyes met and they both froze solid for a moment.

"That's a good idea," Alex crooned, "it's going to be so exciting when the time comes."

"We've had a lot of alone time lately," Justin spoke suddenly.

Alex closed her eyes, moving in closer, closing in the remaining space left between them, "Me coming back was inevitable, this was inevitable. Why'd you bring me in here?"

Justin crossed the room and plopped down on the couch, propping his feet up on the arm. Alex followed behind, sitting so that she was straddling his lap. The room was dark, lit only by the small table lamp on the desk. But despite the lack of light, Alex could still see the stress in his blue-gray eyes. Carefully, she took her hand and dug into his hair, pushing his head back into the seat cushion of the couch. His breath hitched in his throat and his eyes rolled back at her touch.

"She stopped talking to me. Unless it's about you, complaints of course, or another dinner party that she wants me to attend. It's fucking annoying," Justin sighed.

The soft sounds of the house met with his pause. Alex had no words to share. It was time for Justin to speak, and only Justin.

"I love her. She's the mother of my children, Alex. My wife. My sole companion. I can't let it go anywhere. I'll never leave her. I can't," he said to the ceiling.

"You don't have to," Alex spoke up abruptly.

Justin sat up; their faces only inches apart, "Don't say that."

"That's what you want to hear, right?"

"I-uh-yeah, but I keep thinking that if we—"

"Stop it. I can't bear with your thinking right now," Alex exclaimed.

It was then that Justin wrapped his arms around her and placed his mouth against her own. Alex let him draw her body down easily. She lay atop him, kissing his lips, enjoying the feel of his hard body. And then, just like that, Alex pulled back, cringing and out of breath, in shock. The moment was over. Their moment was over.

"No," she sputtered, "That is not what I—this shouldn't have happened, I'm sorry," Alex jumped to her feet and hurried to the door.

"Alex," Justin growled, rolling over to his side, "I need you."

"You have to get to the hospital, I need to grocery shop," light poured in as she opened the door, eyes glued to the floor, "we can need each other later."

/

"Thank you," Alex said to the taxi driver before closing the door shut with her foot. She tightened her grip on her grocery bags in hand before pushing her way into the Waverly Substation.

It looked exactly how it did the day she left. The green chairs, tacky red pleather booths, the phony subway car. Everything was in its place; the only difference was that it was noticeably busier. At the bar, there was a line of customers, anxious and observant of the menu. Hey, there's a big overhead menu now. Behind the counter, Theresa Russo greeted customers with her brilliant smile, coffee and conversation.

"Order up!"

The sound of her father's voice boomed from inside of the kitchen. As a plate appeared in the wait window, a skinny but very pregnant girl squeezed past Theresa to grab it before heading back out into playing field. Her skin was dark, almost a mocha chocolaty brown. A mess of dark brown hair was tossed atop her head in a ponytail, stray hairs framing her delicate feature. Brown eyes. Pretty smile. And pregnant, she was very pregnant. Besides that, the customers seemed to love her, speaking to her casually and at ease. Everyone seemed to know her.

"Oh hello, welcome to he Waverly Substation," and there she stood, in front of Alex, a tray in hand, "I'm Sawyer, how can I help you?"

Alex shook her head, pulling herself back into reality. Once there, she narrowed her eyes at the girl, confused and unsure of what to say. Who was she? "Uhm," Alex began, "no, you can't, I-I know where to go, thank you."

"Hey! You can't go up there!" The girl began shouting as Alex sprinted up the stairs towards the family home.

"Theresa!" The girl shouted over the hustle and bustle of the restaurant, "Some freak just ran upstairs!"

/

Alex arrived at the door to the house, setting down her grocery bags; she reached over into the nearby tree plant carefully. Out she pulled the familiar spare key. Moments later, Alex unlocked the door and pushed her way into her childhood home.

Quickly, she dragged her bags over to the kitchen, kicking the door shut behind her, and began loading them into the fridge. The new fridge. Alex looked around and it was then that she'd noticed the drastic change in the Russo family household. Everything was all shiny and sparkly. Renovated and replaced. Dark wood and granite. It felt like she was in the Upper East Side. Juliet. The blonde seemed to follow Alex everywhere she went. It was as if suddenly Juliet was the most prevalent person in Alex's life.

"Hello? Who's in there?"

A smile played on her lips for a moment, "Max, it's just me," she answered prior to turning around.

Her brother stood tall, far above her, his brown hair falling against his dark eyes. It was like looking at an entirely different person, Alex decided.

"Holy shit," Max exclaimed rushing over to hug his practically estranged sister, "Alex, dude, welcome home!"

Words couldn't come fast enough and time stood still for a long time. Max held his sister tight as if he didn't plan on letting her go.

"Where were you? Where have you been? When did—"

Alex pulled back and laughed, "Woah there, chill, too many questions not enough brain capacity," she cracked.

Before either sibling could speak another word, the front door slammed open revealing a very furious Theresa and Jerry Russo. They both seemed to be looking for some sort of assailant but instead, they saw Alex (although, Alex was sort of an assailant in her own way).

Theresa seemed to lose her breath, bring her right hand over her heart, eyes glistening with shock and confusion, "Alex?" She didn't seem to believe it, it couldn't be true.

"Hi Mom," Alex waved awkwardly, momentarily forgetting everything.

I'm home… fuck.

/

Fin.

For that chapter at least. I hope you guys liked it. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with Theresa and Jerry, she's going to have to restate her story and all this crap that I really don't want to go into. It would all be filler, so if I go M.I.W (missing in writing) you can surely gather your weapons to throw at me.

But I do know where I'm going, I've had the spurts of ingenious thought and I have big plans for this baby. So buckle up, lovelies.

:)(: Mikki