Broken

Chapter 9

"It's break," James explained to the younger boys. "That means there's no school."

"Even for Sam?" Neo asked.

"Yeah," James said, going to sit down on the couch. I sighed. A week with all my boys…

Chris looked up at Cody. "Hi."

"Hi."

Giggling, the youngest of the house got up and walked out of the room. A minute later, he came running back out of the hallway, Fang running after him.

"Got you," he said, picking the toddler up. Lance, who was on the floor, giggled.

"Hi, 'ang."

"Hey, Lance," he said, smiling at him. "How's my three year old today?"

"Good," he said, going back to the toy truck he was playing with. I went and curled up in the chair.

"Can I go over to Dr. Martinez's tonight?" Lucas asked.

"Call her," Fang said, getting down on the floor. Jason climbed up onto his chest, giggling.

"Hi, Daddy."

"Hey, Jay," Fang greeted, giving him a kiss. "Max, I know that we took the day off, but tomorrow one of us has to be up at the store."

I sighed. "I know."

"I vote you."

"Haha, you're so funny."

"Thank you."

The twins got home a few minutes later. They were arguing.

"Tyler, what you did was stupid."

"No! It's not my fault."

"What's wrong?" I asked them as Tyler closed the door behind him.

"All I did was borrow Tabitha's homework," he said.

"So?" Fang asked.

"Not my homework," she said, frowning at him. "He took my project, turned it in as his own, so I didn't have anything to turn in."

"Tabitha, why'd you let him do that?" I asked, frowning.

"He stole it from my locker," she said, crossing her arms. "I went to go get it and it was gone. I thought that maybe Adeem was just messing with me, but he said he wasn't. Tyler had already turned it in."

"You are so grounded," Fang told him. "Go upstairs."

"But-"

"Now!"

Tyler ran off, yelling about how much hate he has for us. Whatever.

"Tabitha, did you tell the teacher that it was your project?"

"No," she said. "We have different class periods. Before I got to her class, he told me had had taken it, but I didn't say nothing."

"Why not?"

"Because he'll fail that class this semester without it," she said. "After break, we only got two weeks before Christmas and the semester ends. He'll fail. I don't want him to fail, Max."

Fang shook his head. "We'll talk about it later, Tabitha."

"Can I go over to Adeem's?"

"I'll take you when I take Lucas to Dr. Martinez's house."

"Okay," she said, running off up the stairs. She didn't seem that mad about what Tyler had done, so I didn't care that much. If it were me and Iggy and he was failing something, I would give up a grade to save him. Fang was just overreacting.


Cameron had just finished her shower when she heard the phone ring. Damien was at work and it was only her and Samantha at home. He had picked the five year old up from school and dropped her off before heading in.

"Sam! Get the phone for me."

Samantha, who was in her parents bedroom watching TV, giggled, going to grab her mother's phone off the dresser.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Hello?"

"Hello," she said again, this time more of a greeting than a question.

"…Who is this?"

"Samantha," she said. "Hello."

"…Is your mother there?"

"Yes."

"Can I talk to her?"

"Um…hold on," Sam said, going the bathroom door. "Mommy?"

"I told you to stop calling me that."

"Phone for you," she said in her normal cheerful voice.

"Well, who is it?"

"I don't know."

"Ask, Samantha."

"Who is this?" Sam asked into the phone.

"Uh…tell your mother that it's Mary."

Samantha gasped. "Mommy! It's Jesus' mommy!"

"What?" Cameron opened the door and took the phone. "Hello?"

"Cameron?"

"Yeah," she said, going over to the mirror. "Is this one of those Mormons? It's bad enough when you come to my door, but-"

"Cameron, it's me. Mary."

Her breath caught for a moment as she leaned against the counter. It wasn't the support she would find in Damien, but it would have to do. "What do you want? I mean, not to be rude, but…what?"

"Well I…I'm in town and just thought that we could…how's that girl?"

"Samantha? My daughter? Fine."

"No, the other one."

Cameron raked her brain for a second. "Tabitha?"

"Yeah."

"She's fine," she said, frowning. "Why wouldn't she be?"

"Well, I just thought that…she and Timmy were so-"

"-young," Cameron said. "Young enough to not even care, alright? Trust me, he's the last thing on her mind, always."

That might have seemed like an uncouth thing to say, but what did anyone expect? Cameron was an uncouth kind of person. She hid behind her money and supposed maturity. In reality, she was no better than those girls in Tabitha's class that would be your best friend one day, your worst enemy the next.

It was silent for a second. Then Mary spoke again.

"I just wanted to know if you wanted-"

"Well, I don't, okay? You have your life and I have mine. The two things that connected us are gone and it's for the better."

Mary hung up on her. Cameron hung her head, sighing.

"Okay?" Sam asked her, staring at her mother. "Mommy?"

"I'm fine," she mumbled, not even finding the strength to correct her. "Go watch TV."

Samantha ran back over to the bed, cuddling against Bubba. The dog might drool a lot, but he was very cuddly.


"So did he get in trouble?" Adeem asked.

"Yeah, my dad grounded him," she said as she helped him clean his room up. His dad would be home soon and he had told him to have it done before then.

"You guys get grounded too much."

"Tell me about it."

He got bored with cleaning and decided just to take the punishment, so he sat down on his bed. "Let's do something today."

"Like what?"

"I don't know," he sighed, laying out on the bed. She finished putting his clothes away before joining him.

"Wanna watch a movie?"

"We've seen all the movies I have."

"What about listening to you play guitar?"

He rolled onto his stomach, his side now pressed against her arm. She thought about moving it, but didn't.

"That's boring too."

They laid in a somewhat comfortable silence for awhile. Then his cell went off.

"It's one of your friends," he said, having read the caller id. "Here."

"I don't want to talk to Jenna," she said, handing it back. "Tell her I'm not here."

"You're always here."

"Adeem."

He put the phone under the pillow. "There, just let it ring."

"Why'd you put it under there?"

"I hate my ring tone."

She smiled at him. "I don't think that it's boring."

"What?"

"Earlier when you said that hearing you play guitar is boring," she reminded. "I don't think so."

"Yeah, well, I do."

"Whatever."

He reached over and grabbed the remote, turning on his TV. "Go turn on my X-Box."

"You turn it on."

"I'm comfortable though."

"So am I."

He sighed, getting up to go turn it on. "You're so annoying."

"Is that in the rules?"

"Not that I know of."

"Remind me to add it."

"I won't."

She smiled at he grabbed a controller and laid back down next to her. "What game are you playing?"

"Why does it matter? You don't pay attention anyways."

She shrugged. "It was just a question."

"Yeah, well, it was stupid."

His phone went off again, this time it was a text. Sighing, she reached under the pillow. After reading it, she said, "That was Jenna again. Her and Tony broke up."

"Again?"

"Yeah," she said, looking at him. "Have we ever broken up?"

"I don't know. We've gone without you talking to me before."

She moved around until she was comfortable, laying so that she was facing him. Adeem was now very into his game and clearly didn't care to pursue the conversation any further. She sent Jenna a text back before just laying there, watching his face.

"That's annoying and creepy," he told her after awhile.

"Well, what else do you want me to do?"

"I don't know," he said with a shrug. "Just don't be a creeper."

She looked back at his phone. "I asked Max for a phone again."

"And what did she say?"

"That she just got me a TV, I should stop asking for so much."

"Too bad you weren't my sister."

"What?"

"I just meant, if you were my sister, you could have all the stuff I could."

"Then though, I couldn't be your girlfriend, stupid. It would be incest."

"You and your technicalities."

She smiled, laying her head on his upper arm. He glanced at her, but just kept playing the game.


I yawned, cuddling into the chair. "Fang?"

"What?" He called from the kitchen.

"What are you making?"

"Dinner."

"Fang."

"Chicken strips and fries."

For normal people, putting frozen stuff in the oven and then eating it is easy. Having so many kids though, we had to make a lot more than what normal people eat.

"Where are all the kids?"

"Neo and Jason are in their room, Chris and Lance are in the playpen, Tyler's in his room, Tabitha's already gone, and so is Lucas."

"Cody and James?" I asked through a yawn.

"Trinity came by and took them out."

I pulled the blanket one of my boys had kindly given me during my nap up tighter around me. "You over there, Lance?"

"Wan' out," he whined.

"You know how to climb out," I told him.

"No."

"I know that you've been sneaking out," I said. "Getting cookies for you and Chris, huh?"

He giggled. "Love Max."

"Yeah, whatever."

Chris giggled. "Hi."

"Hi, baby."

I fell back asleep for awhile. Fang woke me up.

"Food, Max."

"Not hungry."

"Yeah, you are."

"Oh, like you'd know my hunger level."

He just sat a plate in my lap. "Eat."

Neo, who was now downstairs, had changed the channel. It was now on some cartoon.

"Neo, change it back."

"No," he told me, cradling the remote.

Chris, who was on the floor in front of me with his food, giggled. He held up his favorite toy, his stuffed tiger.

"What is that? Huh?" I asked him. "Is that Mr. Tiger?"

It was in fact one of Sam's toys, but she had given it to Chris when he was born, in favor for an old baby doll Tabitha had.

"Yes," Chris said, still giggling. He was a very happy baby.

Fang came into the room and made Jason move over some so that he could sit between him and Tyler on the couch.

"Tomorrow, can I see Sam?" Neo asked. "Please?"

"Of course," I mumbled, my eyes starting to droop again.

"Eat, Max," Fang said. "Don't make me go over there and feed you."

For some reason, I don't think he was kidding. Sighing, I ate a little.

"No want yours?" Lance asked me. "Me wan' it."

"No," Fang told him. "You ate enough, bubba."

Lance pouted before getting up to throw his trash away. When Fang wasn't looking, I would start handing him and Neo fries. What? It's not like I was going to eat them.


Damien got home late. Around eleven, to be exact.

"Hey, Cammie," he whispered, coming into the bedroom. He had already gone into his daughter's room to check on her. "You still up?"

"Yeah," she mumbled, her back to the door. "Guess who called today."

"Uh…my mom?"

"No," she said, turning to face him. "Mary."

"Oh," he said, not sure how he was supposed to react. "Are we happy or-"

"She told me that she never wanted to see me again, remember? I had to just forget about her. She cannot just suddenly decide that she wants to be friends again."

"Right," Damien agreed, nodding his head. So they weren't happy… He got into bed with her, pulling her to him. "Are you okay?"

She scowled, looking up at him. "Are you okay? Huh, Damien? Are you okay?"

"I don't get the…I was just trying to be…"

"Are you okay?" She repeated. "Come on, Damien, your life sucks, right? Are you okay? Tell me, are you?"

He frowned. "Why are you so mean to me?"

"Because I hate you."

He let her go, getting out of bed. "If you hate me so much, maybe we shouldn't-"

"Don't start, you big baby," she spat, trying to make him feel the pain that she did. "You're not even worth worrying about. Go cry to your mother and come back to me when you grow a pair."

He left the room and went into Samantha's. She was sleeping. Damien got into bed with her, pulling her tight to his chest.

"Daddy?"

"I'm going to sleep in bed with you," he said, closing his eyes. "I love you, Sammy."

"I love you too, Daddy," she said, going back to sleep. "Night night."

"Goodnight."


Around Tuesday, I think the thrill was gone for the boys about all being home together.

"Stop!" Neo yelled, trying to take the soda from Lucas. "Mine!"

"No, it's not," Lucas said, just pushing him off. "Go away."

I sighed, watching them from a kitchen table. What? I'm not getting into that. Lance, who was in my lap, started bouncing.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, looking down at the baby. "Huh?"

He just giggled, leaning against me. "Love you, Max."

"I know you do," I said, cuddling him to me. Chris, who was on the floor playing with Fox, looked up.

"Hi," he told me. He did this periodically for some reason. Don't ask my why.

"Hi," I said back, like I always would. He giggled, kissing his kitty.

"Max, can Alex and me go outside?" Tyler asked, coming into the kitchen.

"Alex and I."

"What?"

I shook my head. "Yeah, fine. Have fun."

He and Alex left, Lucas trailing behind them. I heard Tyler yell at him, but he left the house with them.

"Me go," Lance said, wiggling.

"No," I said, giving him a kiss. "You have to stay with me."

He groaned before biting me.

"Stop it," I hissed at him. I put him in the corner, next to the trashcan. He cried for a second before kicking the trash over.

"Lance bad," Jason said as I dragged him out of the room. I put him in his bedroom before going back to the clean up the trash. Little brat…


Damien had his nephew and his best friend for the day. He liked spending time with the two boys. They were cool.

"Yeah," James went on as they ate their lunch. "Dan asked me if I liked black girls. I asked him why. Gramps said he was just wonderin'. I said no."

"Why?" Damien asked. "You can't not like someone because of their race, James. You're black too."

"I know," he said, playing with the toy that came in his kids meal. "But I like blonde hair."

"I like black girls," Cody told Damien. "I even got a few girlfriends."

"Really?" Damien asked. In his experience, any girl, black, white, anything, will beat you up. Even your own wife…

"Yeah," he said, smiling. "Nothing like Tabby and Adeem, but I still got 'em."

"Cody, you shouldn't rule out other races either," Damien sighed. "Why do you like black girls only?"

"I like braids," he said. "Kira has braids and she's white, but it's not the same. And Trishia, she's black, she has way better braids than Kira. Then Moomoo, I call her that because she likes cows, like a lot, she keeps her hair puffed out, like in an afro but not. She told me that I'm the cutest guy ever. Even better than Brad Pitts."

"Pitt," Damien corrected.

"Then Kim, she's Indian, she has a really long braid that goes down her back. She likes me because I help her with her homework," he said, smiling.

Damien just shook his head. All this time he thought that Cody was a good boy. He was just a…womanizer.

"Then, there's-"

"Enough, Cody," Damien sighed.

James was still smiling. "Yeah, me and Cody got a lot of girlfriends."

"Uh-huh," Cody agreed. "Oh, and then there's my favorite one."

"Which one's that?" Damien asked, not really interested.

"Daisy," he said, giggling. "She's Asian. I don't know where Asia is, but I like it."

"Where in Asia?" Damien asked.

The little boy shrugged. "I don't know."

"I asked Dan about Asians," James randomly said. "He told me that they're bad."

"He'll tell you everyone except white people are bad."

"Yeah," he agreed.

"James, why don't you call my dad Grandpa?"

James frowned. "I do sometimes. I don't like him that much."

Who does? Well, Tyler, but he's just weird.


Fang got home late tonight. When he did, I was in bed already, half asleep with the TV on. He went into the bathroom and, when he came out, he only had on his boxers. I don't think he thought I was awake. Clearly tired, he got into bed and put his back to me. I yawned silently before rolling to face him.

"You weren't even going to turn off the TV?"

He rolled to face me. "I didn't even notice."

I cuddled against his chest. "How was work?"

Ignoring this, Fang reached over me to get the remote and turn off the TV before rubbing my back. "When's the last time you went flying?"

"A long time," I mumbled. "You?"

"Not recently," he sighed. "One of us needs to teach Lucas, though."

"Last time you did-"

"That was a long time ago."

I looked up at his face, kissing under his chin. "You need to shave."

"I don't know," he said. "I kind of like the rough look."

"The word is rugged," I told him. "Hey, baby?"

"Hmmm?"

I closed my eyes. I knew what I was about to say was going to start something, but… "You smell good."

"Thanks."

"Like girl good."

He stopped rubbing my back. "Oh…thanks, I guess."

"Like a woman was all over you good."

"What are you trying to say?" He asked, pushing me away enough to look into my eyes, but so that I was still touching him.

"I don't know," I said, looking away.

"I can't deal with this tonight," he grumbled, getting out of bed.

"Fang, you can't just walk away from me every time I-"

"Yes, I can."

"No," I whined, feeling suddenly bad. "Stay with me."

He stopped at the door. "Max, don't you trust me? Huh? Have I not proven myself yet?"

"I don't know…"

"I never had sex with her."

"Thanks, Clinton."

"What?"

I sighed. "Come get back in bed."

"Max, I can't do this tonight."

"Then when, Fang? Whenever I try and-"

"I don't like being accused of things I haven't done," he said, his eyes trying to find mine, but I refused to let them.

"All I said was that you smelled-"

"If you still can't trust me, after this long, maybe you need to look at yourself."

"Excuse me?"

"I just meant…do you really want to be with me?"

"I think I should be the one asking that."

He sighed, coming back over to the bed. "Yeah, Max, I can honestly say that I do."

"And I want to be with you."

"Then learn to keep some things to yourself."

I put my back to him as he crawled back into bed. "Whatever, Fang."

He just kissed the back of my head. "I haven't even looked at another girl since-"

"Liar."

"Well, I haven't tried to sleep with one."

Is that really good enough? He pulled me to him, settling into the bed.

"Why'd you get home late?"

"It's not like we have a set time to close, Max," he said, his breath in my ear.

"Fang, if you have ever cheated on me, now's your chance to say something. Anytime past this and we're through."

"What's up with you tonight?" He asked, kissing my ear.

"I've just been thinking about Bone and Luther and stuff."

"Well, stop. I'm not them."

"I know," I said.

"And never, to answer you question," he said, rubbing my stomach. "You know, Maxie, I've been thinking too."

"What about?" I asked, closing my eyes.

"Having another baby."

I elbowed him. "No way."

"Why not?" He whined.

"You just want another one because you're obsessed with me pregnant."

"And? What if I am?"

I just shook my head. "Fang?"

"What, baby?"

"…Wanna have sex?"

Well, that's one way to avoid talking.


"I'm thinking about being in band next year."

It was the next day and Tabitha was up in her room with Adeem. She was on her bed, going through a magazine as he played his PSP on the floor.

"What?" He looked up. "Why?"

"I don't know…everyone else is doing it."

He snorted, though it was mainly because he had a runny nose. "What instrument?"

"I don't know yet," she admitted.

"I don't want you in band," he said.

"Why not?"

"I just don't," Adeem said, going back to his game. "You'd end up playing something stupid like flute."

"Flute is not stupid."

"Yes, it is," he went on. "Or trombone, trumpet, oboe, and all that other stuff."

"You're stupid."

"Oh, you're mature," he mocked.

"I could say the same to you."

He paused his game before getting up to get into bed with her. "What are you reading?"

"A magazine."

"Again with the maturity thing," he mumbled, moving to get as close to her as possible. He laid his head down next to hers. "I noticed something."

"With what?"

"Your parents," he said. "How come they…they….why do they still like each other?"

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Your parents still hug and kiss and like being around each other," he said. "Do they still have sex?"

"I don't know," she said, blushing.

"Yeah, you do. Like, I know mine aren't."

"How?"

"They hate each other."

She turned her head to look at him. Their faces were very close now. Almost too close. "No, they don't."

"Yeah, they do," he said, nodding his head a little. "Everyone's parents do…except yours."

"If your parents hated each other, they would divorce," she said.

"Not everyone gets divorced," he told her. "A lot of people, but not everyone."

"Well…my parents have fights too."

"Yeah, but they still at least like each other."

She sighed. "Why does it matter, Adeem?"

"I don't know," he said with a shrug. "It was just a question."

She looked back at the magazine. "Whatever."

He moved closer still, so that his head was against the side of hers. Frowning a little, she told him to cut it out.

"Why? You know you like it."

"Whatever, rapist."

"How does that make me a rapist?" He asked, frowning.

"You just sound like a rapist saying that."

"It's only rape if you don't like it."

She pushed his head. "I said to stop. If my dad walks in-"

"I can hear his footsteps when he comes," Adeem said, running a hand over her arm. Tabitha moved away a little, but not a lot.

"I'm tired," she said. "Lance came into my room last night when he had a bad dream."

"Why didn't he go to your parents' room?"

"Their door was locked."

"Another way you know that they're having sex."

"Shut up about that, okay?" She pushed his head. "I don't want to think about that."

He just smirked. "Tomorrow's Thanksgiving."

"So?"

"Come to my house."

"I'll ask," she mumbled.

"Where are all those people that you normally have at your house?"

"Iggy couldn't come and neither could Nudge. Angel is in Europe with a boyfriend and Gasman couldn't get off work," she said, reaching up to touch his hair. It was going past his ears now. "You need to cut your hair."

"This is the way I wear it."

"I like it better when you had it shaved, last year," she told him. "Like that other Muslim kid's hair."

"Why do you have to compare me to the only other Muslim in the school?" He asked. "You couldn't compare me to someone else?"

She frowned, looking at him. "Did I hurt your feelings?"

"No, not really," he said, closing his eyes. "It was just kind of mean."

"I'm sorry."

He smiled. She was rare to hand down a sorry. "It's okay, Tabby."

"Is he even Muslim?" She asked. "Or is he just Arab?"

"He might not even be Arab, Tabitha. He could be Iranian, Persian-"

"Whatever."

"And even if he is Muslim, he could be Shiite."

"What are you?"

"Sunni."

"What's the difference?"

"Do you really care?"

"No," she said.

"Didn't think so."


I was at work, having taken Lucas and Cody with me. I brought them to try and make them get along better. It wasn't working out all that well.

"I hate you!" Lucas yelled at Cody, pushing him away.

"He pushed me!"

I ignored them, having already abandoned the idea of making them friends. They're brothers, that's enough for now. After a few minutes, it got quiet again. Cody had yelled before going to play by himself in the back.

"Why are you so mean to your brother?" I asked Lucas as he went back to restocking. That's the whole reason I brought him, honestly.

"I'm not," he said as he kept working. "He's annoying and annoys me."

"You annoy Tyler."

"And he's mean to me!"

"Right," I said. "Stop the cycle."

"No, I'm good."

I groaned. "You're about to be eight, Lucas. Be the bigger man."

"Maybe I don't wanna be a man."

If only Fang were here… "You know that tomorrow is Thanksgiving."

"I know," Lucas said, giggling a little. "I wish Iggy was here."

"He said that he would be sure to come down for Christmas."

"I know," Lucas said. "I'm happy."

"You're always happy." Except when he's arguing with Cody.

"It's almost my birthday," he told me. "And Christmas."

"Yeah, I know."

"I asked Adeem if he could take Tabitha to his house for Christmas, as a present to me."

I frowned. "Why?"

"Because she ruins Christmas. She just sits there and tells us that we're all going to hell for judging people."

"She does not."

"Yes, she does," Lucas said, nodding his head feverishly. "Whenever she says something about how stupid Christmas is, I tell her about how Adeem's gonna go to hell. Then she gets mad and tells me that I'm going to, for judging him. It's not fair."

"Lucas," I scolded. "Don't you talk about Adeem like that."

"Dad says that I have to," he defended.

"What?"

"Yeah," he went on. "He said that we have to pressure Tabitha into forgetting about him."

"Lucas, don't you listen to your father," I sighed. "He's just a…he's just a hypocrite."

"Don't talk bad about Dad," Lucas warned. "He says that all you do is say bad things about him because of one mistake he made."

"Oh? What would that mistake be?"

"I'm not sure," Lucas said, frowning. "It can't be that bad, though. He's a great man, Mommy. That's what Grandma says. You just don't appreciate him. You want him to be something he's not because you're a woman."

"Who told you that last sentence?"

"Dan."

"Look at me, Lucas."

He did so.

"Me? I gave birth to you. I went through hell with your father to bring you here. Me, no one else. So if you're going to listen to anyone, you are going to listen to me."

"I'm listening."

"Your father is a homophobe that is also hypocritical. Dr. Martinez thinks that your father is great because she lives in a fake world, where I'm always wrong. Dan is just a racist. Understand?"

He gave me a short nod. "I love you the most anyways, Mommy."

"I know you do."

"Do you love me the most?"

I just laughed. Lucas got very annoyed with me.

"What? Why's that funny?" He turned back to the bookshelf, but didn't keep restocking. "You just like Kevin more than me."

I stopped. "What?"

He nodded, still not looking at me. "That's what Jeb told me. You just had me to replace Kevin. I'm better than him though!"

I didn't know what I was angrier about, Jeb or Lucas's words. "When have you been talking to him?"

He froze, finally realizing his error. In typical seven year old fashion, lying was the first thing that came to his mind.

"I haven't."

"You're already in trouble. Don't lie to me anymore."

"When I'm at Grandma's, sometimes he calls. Dad told her that it's okay if I talk to him, as long as he doesn't talk about me being a weapon. Mommy, does that mean that he wants to turn me into a gun?"

I hope Fang liked last night. It'll be the last night we ever share with each other.


Fang sighed. Sleeping on the couch was not ideal, but there was no way that he was going to try and go into that bedroom again.

"Fang?"

He looked up as Lance came into the room. "Go back to bed, buddy."

"You and Max fight?"

"It's fine," he said. "Go back to bed."

Disregarding the order, Lance went over to him and crawled up onto his chest. "Seep with you."

"Alright," Fang said. Lance moved the beat up, old stuffed animal he carried around up to Fang's face.

"Wat says ni-ni."

"Goodnight, Wat."

Wat was a stuffed rat. It was the only toy that Lance had from when he lived with his mother and father. That's not why he liked it best though. He liked Wat because he was his best friend. Duh.

Lance giggled, closing his eyes as Fang wrapped the blanket up around them. Fang gave him a kiss, his mind wandering to the fight he had just had with Max. When she got home, she immediately began to yell at him before running off to the bedroom. An hour ago, he went in there and tried to talk, but she threatened to kill him so he left.

"Love," Lance mumbled, starting to feel sleepy. He loved his Max, but his Fang was so much more important. His Fang did everything for him. He played with him, helped him learn to peepee in the toilet, taught him that you have to take care of your wife. Most importantly though, he showed him how to burp. Lance loved his Fang more than he loved Wat. Now that was deep.


Tyler was over at his best friend's house for Thanksgiving. It was easy for him and Tabitha to get out of going to Dr. Martinez's, mostly because even Max refused to go. Something about Kevin. Tyler didn't care. He had a hard enough time remembering things about his living siblings. Why should he worry about the dead one?

"Where's Tabitha?" Alex asked. "Did they let her go to Adeem's house?"

"Yeah," he said, shrugging. "But who cares about that?"

She rolled her eyes, going to sit down on the bed. Tyler was on her floor, drawing. He was trying to make his own comic book. Unfortunately, it seemed that Tabitha had taken all the artistic genes in their family. She still supported him in it though. She would support him in world domination, if he was able to think about a conquest that big. Luckily, he wasn't.

"Wanna spend the night?" She asked.

They still stayed the night with each other. Not in the same bed, though. They were both starting to grow up and certain things could make that awkward, especially things that Tyler was experiencing. So, they would sleep in the living room, in sleeping bags on the floor.

"Duh," he said, rolling his eyes. Alex could be really stupid sometimes. "Have you talked to Juan?"

"About what?"

"My band playing at his wedding."

She sighed. "Tyler, I asked and he said no."

"What? I thought that we were friends."

"Right now, you're the only one in the band," she reminded.

"So? I could be like Secondhand Serenade."

"Only less hot and a lot less talented."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

She just shrugged. She said that she'd support him through anything. She never said anything about lying to him.