When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Skidadle

"Really, we have money. You don't have to treat all nine of us."

I was once again insisting that Glory didn't have to pay, that we had money, but she insisted. And so we followed her out the laundry mat and down the crowded sidewalks of New York. The Flock was linked together, me and Angel at the ends since we each needed an arm to carry someone. Trent received some stares, some weirded out, some sympathetic, some just grossed the fuck out.

"Acting like they've never seen a baby before." I rolled my eyes. "Didn't anyone ever tell them that it isn't nice to stare?"

"Ma-ma," Trent said. I looked down at him.

"Yes, Trent?"

"I gotta go." I nodded and called to the rest of the Flock and Glory.

"Trent's gotta take a leak. How far is the place from here?"

"Really far. It's in China Town."

"Okay then." I looked around, finding a McDonalds to my left. "Can we go in there so he can pee?"

"Yes, of course." I jogged in, letting go of Iggy' hand and rushing into the McDonalds. Trent's thighs were tight around my waist as he held his pee in.

"One more minute," I said to him, going in to the bathroom and running into the first stall I saw. He pulled his pants and underwear down, sitting and peeing with a sigh. "Sweet releif, huh?" He giggled and scooted off of the toilet, wiping and flushing like a pro. "They potty trained you?" He nodded with a smiled. "Thank God." As I picked him up and walked out of the stall, looking at him, I heard gasps. I looked at our company and came to an embarrassing realization. I was in the mens room. A guy was standing at a toiletry, holding his manhood. "Uh-oh." I laughed awkwardly. "Gentlemen." They were all teenagers, and therefore, tried to keep me in there. I growled at them. "I have a boyfriend, sickos, and this is my baby." I left them with shocked faces. "Gimme five," I whispered to Trent. He gave me a high five and I laughed.

"Mind telling me why you just came out of the guys' bathroom?" Nudge giggled.

"Went into the wrong bathroom. Happens to the best of us." She laughed and shook her head. "I was fricking harrassed by a mob of teenaged boys in there. It was quite scaring." She laughed again, but Iggy was serious.

"Did they touch you?" he asked me, assessing me from head to toe.

"No, Iggy," I said, giving him a reassuring smile. "I'm okay, really."

"Okay." He ran a hand through my hair.

"Ma-ma tol off sickos. She got bo-fend an I her bay-ba." I smiled.

"Did she now?" Iggy asked.

"Yup," he said, nodding and making his curly hair bounce up and down.

"How much money do you all have? Maybe I could give you some?" Glory asked us as we exited the McDonalds.

"We have an infanant amount, actually." I showed her my credit card that'd been in my pocket. Cruella'd tried to give Cam the password, but every time I'd kick or shock the inside of out head, making both her and my head hurt. "My bottomless beauty." Her eyes widened. "My parents left me a lot of money. Let's leave it at that."

"Okay then."

"Now you know why I was turning down your invite. I could treat half of New York to a dinner at the most expensive place in New York."

"I see that." She smiled and I sensed 6 forms running at us from behind. Erasers.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. We have to jet. Guys, Sresare!" They nodded and said goodbye to Glory, before we all ran ahead.

"No alleys," Max groaned. "No flying." At the word, Trent, who was clutching my neck for dear life, skot up straight and wings shot through his shirt. They had audurn feathers, lined with white and were about 7 feet across.

"Whoa." It took me a second to realize I had to hide his wings. I took my jacket off and put it around the back of him. He tried to get his wings out again, but I shook my head, telling him we'd get in trouble if he had them out. He stopped and stuck to clutching my neck.

"Alley in 10 yards," I said, feeling the opening before seeing it. They nodded and when we reached it, we turned, me removing the coat from around Trent so he unfolded his wings. I whispered, "Fly," in his ear. He flapped his wings and was off, flying a little clumsily, but flying, nonetheless. "That's my boy." I jumped and unfolded my wings, flapping and carrying myself up. The Flock followed closely behind. I heard the Erasers cursing at us from below, and smirked. A little too soon, Jab. I heard the bang and everything happened in slow motion. It was like, I was slowing time down. I saw the bullet, where it was going. Straight toward Trent. I shot forward, sheilding him. The bullet hit me, clipping me in the shoulder and wing. He grunted and gritted my teeth, whispering, "Fly," again so that Trent would keep flying. I let him go and tried to fly, but my wing was on fire.

"Gotcha," Fang grunted at he caught me mid-air. He looked at me wing and shoulder and touched them, his eyes widening when both wounds closed up.

"I ain't no dumby," I smirked. He let me go and I flapped, stiff at first but then catching some good air. Iggy was with Trent. Max was in front. Nudge, Angel, and Gazzy were behind Iggy and Trent. Angel had Total in her arms. Me and Fang were behind them. I banked to gain some speed and flew ahead to be on Trent's other side.

"Ma-ma kay?" he asked. I smiled.

"Yes," I said, kissing my hand and then putting it on his nose. He giggled.

"Fang healed you?" Iggy asked me. I nodded.

"I'm not dumb. I know my fair share of knowledge about experiments." He smiled.

"But wow. Trent has wings." I swept a hand across his cheek. Scales fell off, reveiling smooth, pale skin. My eyes widened. "Wow." I read the word they told him at the Institute to stop his flying. "Fold." He folded his wings and I caught him. I started brushing my hands over his scaled. They fell off and fell to the earth like a green hail. I'd cleared off his entire face, exept for a few that decided to stay. He felt his skin and smiled. "I like ma-ma an da-da." I smiled and nodded and pulled off one of the stray one. He whimpered, so obviously the ones still therewould hurt to take off. "Sorry." I would mutter sorry every time I pulled one off. When they were all gone from his face, I brushed the ones on his neck and chest off. He shivered when I pulled his shirt up to get the ones on the front and back of him. When that was done, I brushed as much as I could off of his legs.

"All done. Well get the rest off later." I looked down and realized we were in Rhode Island.

"What do you say we rest here? It's late and we're all probably really tired." Max agreed, followed by the rest of the Flock. We landed on a borderline beach, one that went directly out into the Ocean, right on the border off the US. I dunked underwater with Trent to wash the rest of his skin off, the guys went to get wood (Lol. *eyebrow wiggle*), and the girls and Total dug a firepit. Trent was breathing underwater, as I expected, and I had to come back over water every minute or two, three tops for air. I took his pants off of him and scrubbed the rest of his scales off, making sure I didn't miss any under his arms, behind his knees and elbows, on his neck, between the joints of his wings, and any other joint or tight space. When we came out, the fire was started and everyone was huddled closely around it. Iggy'd been holding my iPod and credit card. I used my dry coat as a towel, laying it out and sitting down on it, Trent between my legs.

"Holy crap it's cold now," I shivered, hugging a shaking Trent to my chest.

"Yeah, that's because you're soaking wet," he said. He took his shirt off and handed it to me, leaving him in his undershirt.

"Thanks." I took my own shirt off and slid into his, not caring that my entire family was right there. Iggy had seen me naked already and, Total was a dog, Trent was a baby, Fang was my brother, and Gazzy could deal. Nudge, Max, and Angel were girls.

"And here." He gave me his jacket to put on Trent. I wrapped it tightly around him, taking his shirt and pants off since they were soaked.

"Tomorrow we go shopping. Again," I said. Max agreed to it. We stacked fists and laid down by the fire. I sat awake, watching Trent's eyes flutter closed.

"Max," I whispered. She was the only other person awake.

"Yeah?"

"I'm not taking your place." She looked at me skeptically.

"What makes you say that?"

"I read minds, remember?" I smiled. "I know that at times you feel like I'm taking your place as their mother. I'm not. I'm only the mother of one person at the moment." I smiled down at Trent. "I cannot even do half the things you do for the Flock."

"You provide us with shelter, clothes, food, and more. That's more than I can even do."

"You support us, keep us from falling. Max, I'm only a brick in the building. I'm vital, but not nearly as important as the cement. That's you. You're what keeps us all together. You're what keeps us unstable. Without you, one wrong move, one misplaced brick could make it all tumble down. The cement holds it together, makes sure we're intact even when things go wrong, even if their's a tornado, a earthquake, a flood, you keep us together. Don't forget that." She smiled at me. I smiled back.

"Thanks."

"No thanks needed when it's the truth."

"Sweet dreams."

"Ditto, sis-in-law." She glared at me playfully and we went to sleep.