Amanda strode through the door after soccer with Will coming in behind her. Once the door was closed and she'd hung up her bag, she called out, "Mom? Pops? Are you here?"
"I'm here," Elijah said as he came to meet her. "Will? Would you mind if I borrowed Amanda for a moment? I have to speak with her."
"Sure," Will replied as his cheek twitched. "Go ahead."
They then went on their way and Elijah let Amanda into his office where Viktor was already waiting. Elijah sat next to him and they both stared Amanda down.
"What's going on, guys?" She wanted to know. "I feel like I just got called into the principal."
"Don't take this the wrong way," Viktor said as he played the good cop. "We're not trying to stifle your life or anything. We're just concerned about your association with that Tyler boy."
"What's wrong with him?" Amanda asked. "I think he's cool."
"Cool or not, he's bad influence," Elijah said. "You should stop seeing him immediately."
"No," Amanda shook her head and got up. "I don't think so. Goodbye." They both watched her stride from the room and then Elijah rose to go after her, his mouth open in indignation at being so willfully defied.
"Let me talk to her," Viktor urged as he tried to get Elijah to sit back down. "I think it will register more than if you do it."
Elijah nodded and managed to stop blustering long enough to watch Viktor leave the office and run after his daughter.
When Viktor finally reached Amanda and put a restraining hand on her arm, he asked, "What's so important about this Tyler boy that you have to defend him as fervently as you are?"
"I defend anyone whom Daddy feels is troublesome or beneath him cause that's usually not the case and he's just being judgmental," Amanda replied. "And I believe that with Tyler, it's the same. If you think the same way he does, you should be ashamed of yourself!"
"I know it's in your nature to think the best of everyone and feel for the underdog, but he gives me really bad feelings," Viktor told her. "What if it turns out I'm right and he's a bad boy? What if he hurts you?"
"Then I'll deal with it," Amanda replied stiffly and pulled her arm out of his grip. "You're my teacher. You're not obliged to take care of me. Especially when I know you don't really care about me at all and have always thought I was more annoying than anything else. Maybe it would be better if we just parted ways permanently and let each other live our own lives."
"I don't think that's possible," Viktor told her. "When you were two years old, you attached yourself to my leg and haven't let go of me since. And I'm not about to let go of you now."
"Fine," Amanda said flatly. "Just…don't wreck every chance I have of having a social life, you got me? Let me make my own mistakes."
"Fine," Viktor replied. "If something goes wrong, don't come crying to me."
"I won't," Amanda scoffed. "You can be sure of that." She then turned and strode back to Will, apologizing for the wait and hoping that the unpredictable effects of his resurrection surgery hadn't troubled him and he was still sitting upright.
It was with thoughts of Tyler in mind that Elijah decided to take Christine and the rest of the family on a trip to one of the other, fancier houses like he'd promised.
"Which one are we going to?" Christine asked from next to Amanda in the backseat. "And I wish I could have brought Eva with me. I think it would have been fun."
"I honestly have no idea how Eva-Michelle would handle a trip to a place like where we're going," Elijah replied. "I mean, I suppose it would be familiar to her, considering she's got Original blood on both sides, including that of my father. But she just never seemed like the sort of girl to be enchanted by things like that. As for which one we're going to…it's one of my most recent acquisitions. I got it at the beginning of the 1930s."
"How interesting," Christine got out. "What made you just decide to buy a new house?"
"I needed a place to recover," Elijah explained. "I had a relationship with a certain woman for most of the twenties and it took a lot out of me."
"I messed you up so bad you had to get a new house and become a hermit in it?" Selina asked. "Wow!"
"I never said it was you," Elijah told her, taking his eyes off the road for a moment to stare at her. "What makes you think that?"
"Well, who else would it be?" Selina wanted to know. Then she paused. "Don't tell me you let Katherine get the best of you."
"I'm surprised to hear you speak slightingly of her," Elijah remarked. "I thought the two of you were good buddies now."
"Not all the time," Selina shook her head. "Just when you date women that you shouldn't and need to be saved from yourself."
"It wasn't a date," Elijah repeated for the thousandth time. "It was a meeting."
"Yeah, I don't think you and my mom would work together long-term," Christine added from the back seat. "The fact that the guy I always thought was my father was a werewolf should tell you something about the type of men she prefers."
"I would be careful, Christine," Selina told her. "Elijah might think you're calling him less than manly and that would hurt his feelings."
"And for your information," Elijah told his new daughter, trying not to sound affronted, "I am a werewolf now. Not every one of them that's male has to run around with ripped jeans and no shirt, their brawn being more important to them than their brains. Selina's uncle, for instance, was quite the scholar. I choose to follow his lead."
"Speaking of," Selina said, "If you ever wanna talk to Uncle Jake about stuff, I'd be more than happy to take you."
"Don't be silly," Elijah brushed off the suggestion. "I've handled things well enough so far, and I want to continue in that fashion."
"Well, all right," Selina replied. "If that's what you want, then that's what we'll do."
"Thank you," Elijah nodded. "I appreciate it."
"Can we put the radio on?" Amanda asked, leaning forward and wrapping her arms around Elijah's head rest. "Please?"
"Sorry," Elijah told her. "I promise I won't bicker with your mother anymore."
"That doesn't bother me," Amanda replied. "I just want to listen to the radio."
"All right," Elijah replied. "Just as long as you don't pick a channel where they do nothing but scream."
"Does that mean you won't put on the opera channel either?" Amanda asked.
"Opera is not screaming," Elijah said impatiently. "It's-"
"Give it up," Selina urged him and put a hand on his arm. "No matter how many times you try and explain yourself, it's not gonna matter to her."
They tried to compromise on a radio station but couldn't, so Amanda and Christine both retreated into books and movies until they arrived at the house.
When Elijah told Christine they'd arrived and helped her out of the backseat, she said, "Are you sure this is the place? It could be the train station that will take us to the place we're actually supposed to go."
"No, it's the real place." Elijah replied. The building before them was Gothic in fashion, looking more like a church than a house. There were even stain glass windows in the front. Selina was beside Christine and staring too, something she noticed. "Why are you staring?" She asked.
"I've never been to this house," Selina explained. "It's the first time I've seen it, and it's…really breath-taking, isn't it?"
"Yeah," Christine nodded. "It is." She followed Elijah inside and was surprised to see a tall, thin, balding man in a gray three piece suit standing by the door. "Hello, sir," he told Elijah and reached for his coat. "Lovely to have you back. The blood supplies have been well-stocked in preparation for your arrival."
"Good, Jenkins," Elijah told him. "Because I've not come alone this time. I brought some other people with me."
"I see that, sir," Jenkins replied and tapped Christine on the shoulder. "May I take your jacket, Miss?" He asked.
"Sure," Christine smiled. She let him help her off with it and put it in the closet. Then he did the same with Amanda, while Selina, of course, took off her own jacket and hung it up herself.
"Jenkins, this is my wife, Selina, and my daughters, Amanda and Christine," Elijah introduced them to the man.
"Well, hello, ladies," Jenkins greeted them, giving a slight bow. "I hope you'll enjoy yourselves here." Then he turned back to Elijah. "Should I send people out to get your things so they can be unpacked, sir?"
"If you would, please," Elijah nodded.
"We don't even have to unpack our stuff?" Christine whispered to Amanda as she watched more uniformed men and women bustle around and confirm with each other. "Will they brush our teeth for us too?"
"No, of course not!" Amanda replied. "Well, at least I don't think they will," she amended after a moment.
Elijah gave Selina and the girls a tour of a small portion of the house and then suggested they all go to their rooms for a rest. Christine was in awe that all her stuff was unpacked and neatly folded in drawers or hung up in closets. She lay down in her bed for a little while, but then realized she wasn't tired, so she sneaked down to the kitchen and asked for a snack. She wasn't sure that her request would be obeyed, but it was, and she ended up being given a hot fudge sundae with whipped cream and cherries, which she savored before heading back to her room and shutting her eyes.
When she woke up, it was to a knock on the door. She went to answer it and saw Amanda dressed up.
"Why are you dressed like that?" She wanted to know.
"Dad wants to do a formal dinner to celebrate our first night here," Amanda explained. "Did you bring a dress or something like that with you? If you didn't, I'll let you borrow something of mine."
"I should have figured I'd need something like that," Christine sighed. "But I didn't bring anything. Thanks for your help."
"You're welcome," Amanda replied and let her to her room where she let Christine pick out one of her dresses and put it on. "I hope it's not too uncomfortable," Amanda said as the two of them looked at Christine's reflection in the floor length mirror that hung on the bathroom door. The dress she wore was dark blue and other then some ruffling in the skirt, there wasn't much decoration on it. Then Amanda helped her do her hair, then they went in to dinner.
Elijah was very pleased when he saw that Christine had dressed up, and was even more impressed when she asked if she could sit next to him. "I don't know much about all this formal etiquette stuff," she said as she sat down with her napkin in her lap and stared in dismay at all the different silverware set out in front of her, most of which she had no idea what to do with. "Will you help me?"
"Of course," Elijah said with a smile as Selina and Amanda dove into dinner without help. "I would love to."
"I have a question," Amanda said to Tyler the following Monday as he sat by her at the lunch table.
"All right," Tyler nodded. "What is it?"
"Well, my father is a bit worried about my being friends with you," Amanda told him. "So…does he have anything to worry about?"
"Of course not!" Tyler replied and magicked something into his hand. "Want a pudding cup?" He asked, holding it out to her. "It's chocolate."
"Sure," Amanda replied. They ate lunch in peace and when she talked to Rosalie about it afterward, Rosalie rolled her eyes. "If he really was a bad guy, do you think he would tell you? You really have to look out for people who want to take advantage. Keep both eyes open. Cause even someone you think you trust could turn on you at any minute."
"You seem like you're speaking from experience," Amanda observed. "Who betrayed you?"
"No one, yet," Rosalie replied. "But Daddy's always warning me about Aaron. He doesn't trust him. He says that he's the sort of human who won't be able to handle what I am, and if I tell him, it won't end well."
"Do you think he's right?" Amanda wanted to know.
"I don't know," Rosalie replied. "I mean, he wasn't always bad to me. When we were kids, you know, before his mom was killed, he was really nice."
"Well, maybe we should keep all our eyes open," Amanda replied and took Rosalie's hand. "You know, just in case."
"Yeah," Rosalie nodded. "I guess it wouldn't hurt, would it?"