By the time Maddy got back inside, Alfred was holding Matthew back from punching Lovino, who just shouted right back at the blond. Brittany was watching them, looking like she was trying to decide if she should intervene. Maddy sighed and walked over, gently grabbing Lovino's arm. "Enough."

He stopped and looked at her over his shoulder. "What?"

"I said enough." She repeated, her voice commanding attention even though it wasn't very loud. Everyone in the room knew that she was irritated, just by her tone. They also knew not to mess with her when she was pissed. "Go talk to Severus." She said once Lovino had calmed down and was facing her.

"But Ragazza-"

"No buts!" She was done letting the two of them 'work out' their problems on their own. Clearly, she needed to intervene. "Go on. The two of you have a lot to talk about."

Lovino sighed and walked away grumbling. "Ficcanaso."

"I heard that."

The irritated growling started up again but was muffled as he left the house. Maddy shook her head, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"Since when do you know italian?" Matthew asked, snapping her out of her momentary happiness.

Her eyes darkened and she glowered at him. "Since Lovino decided to handle my pregnancy better than you."

His eyes widened and then he crosses his arms. "Is that why you went to live with him?"

"You lived with Lovino?" Brittany piped up, her eyes wide.

Maddy smiled slightly at her best friend. "Yes, I did. It was only for a couple months though. It was right after Matthew kicked me out."

"I didn't kick you out!"

"You may as well have." She looked around, an icy pang of horror going through her as something occurred to her. "Where's Chris?"

"With Francis. Where he always is."

"Who's Chris?" Brittany asked. "How many kids do you have?"

"Si-" Maddy stopped, clamming up for a minute before taking a deep breath. "Five. Three girls and two boys. Sev is the oldest, then the twins, then Bell and Chris is the youngest."

"And... the girls are the ones who are missing?"

There was a collective, but somber nod. "What are the girl's names?"

Maddy felt her face heat up and she looked at her feet. "The twins are Brittany and Selene. Abelia is the youngest out of the three of them."

"You named one of your daughters after me?" Brittany wasn't sure if she should feel honored that her best friend had named one of her children after her or be a bit more concerned about the mental state her friend was in.

"Yes, I did. I thought you were dead."

"What's she like?"

"Her uncle." Maddy smiled again. "He's a terrible influence."

"Hey!" Alfred snapped. "I am not a terrible influence! Is it wrong for a girl to be close to her uncle?"

"Do you have any idea how many fights she starts at school?" Matthew asked his brother, raising an eyebrow questioningly. "Selene just threatens to fight people, Brittany actually does it."

"Besides, Al," Maddy broke in. "You gave her an eagle for a pet. Birds of prey don't make good pets."

"They like each other."

"That's not the point! It's an eagle!"

Alfred scoffed. "You're just jealous because you don't have one."

The blonde rolled her eyes. "I am not jealous of the fact that my daughter has an eagle. I'm just happy you didn't try to give Chris a wolverine or badger or something. And if you want to see jealousy, you should look at him." She gestured to Matthew.

"I told you, I'm not jealous anymore!"

"Oh, grow up! You're just as jealous as you've always been. You may like to think you're over it, but it's painfully obvious that you're not. And of course, you never told anyone you thought I cheated on you because you wanted everyone to think it was my fault we broke up and that you're the victim here!"

"Would you rather they think you're the victim?" Matthew snapped.

"Selene?" Maddy just barely managed to hear Brittany mutter questioningly. She smiled again. "Before you ask, Brittany, she was named that because of TLC."

"Does she know she's named after a fictional lunar princess?"

"Yes, she does. I gave her the series for her birthday."

"I still can't believe you actually named our daughter after a fictional character," Matthew muttered, glaring at her.

"You could've argued, but you didn't. If you didn't want her to be named after a fictional lunar princess, you should've said something. Besides, Sev liked it and-"

Matthew scoffed. "That child has you so wrapped around his finger, he could commit murder and you'd let him get away with it."

"I am not wrapped around his finger! And even he did commit murder, I certainly wouldn't let him get away with it. I may threaten to murder people, but I've never actually done it because I'm aware that it's against the law. Just because he's a mama's boy doesn't mean I treat him any differently than the other children."

"Maybe if you were actually in the kids lives, they wouldn't try so hard to get your attention! Why do you think Brittany is constantly getting in fights? Why do you think Chris goes to Francis for affection? We're both so messed up that he can't even count on us to show that we love him!"

"Maybe if you weren't such an arrogant prick, we wouldn't be in this situation!"

At some point, the two had left their respective spots leaning on the wall and were now face to face, looking like the first one to breath wrong was going to get their throat ripped out. "Can I say something?" Brittany asked meekly, stepping towards them.

Matthew turned to her with a glare that sent chills up her spine. "Stay out of this." He snapped. Maddy's protective nature reared up again and she slapped him, stepping defensively in front of her best friend. "Don't you dare snap at her! She hasn't done anything!" The sound of the slap echoed throughout the house. Matthew was too shocked to say or do anything for a minute. When it finally sank in that she'd slapped him, his jaw clenched and his eyes burned with anger. Thus, their screaming match began.

Alfred grabbed Brittany and began dragging her away. "I think that's our cue to leave."

"But-"

Alfred cut her off by shoving her through the front door and shutting it behind him as something that sounded like glass shattering reached his ears. "There's twenty years of anger and regret between them. I think it'd be best if we let them take it out on each other in peace."

"In peace?" Brittany repeated, raising an eyebrow at him.

He cleared his throat. "Okay, that was a bad choice of words. Undisturbed, how about?" Just then, Arthur strolled up the driveway, looking blissfully unaware of the chaos unfolding inside. "Where have you been?"

The englishman held up a paper to go cup. "I went to get tea." He didn't seem impressed with the tea, but Alfred decided not to acknowledge that part.

"Of course you did." Severus mumbled, making both Alfred and Brittany jump. The brunette boy surveyed the woman he'd been told his entire life was his aunt. He didn't look impressed. "I hope you're happy." He said finally, after looking her up and down.

"Excuse me?" Brittany asked. She had a vague understanding that this was Maddy and Lovino's eldest child and that he was usually a pretty calm, kind person. However, right now, he looked neither calm nor kind.

The boy scowled at her. "All of mom's problems are your fault." His voice was cold and accusing, a rare tone for him. Though, he seemed to be off today.

"Severus!" Lovino snapped, grabbing his son's shoulder and forcing him back. "That's no way to speak to your aunt!"

"She's not even technically my aunt! And besides, she's nothing like what I was expecting. Mom made her sound like this amazing person and she just looks average if you ask me."

"Well, no one asked you, did they?" Alfred growled, standing protectively in front of Brittany. "I just remembered why I don't like you."

Arthur and Brittany pulled Alfred away from the two italians before he deck one or both of them while Lovino dragged his son around to the back of the house. No one spoke, they all just sat in silence.

Maddy rested her chin on her palm, watching Matthew silently. He was in the middle of yelling at her again, something he seemed to have developed a liking for in the past few years. She wondered if he would be worried about how red his face was getting. She assumed he didn't notice, considering a person couldn't see their own face without a mirror or something similar. She supposed she should yell back at him or make him shut up so his skin would go back to its normal color, but honestly, she couldn't care less. Let him run out of breath. It would give her more time to chew him out. After a few more minutes, though, her patience began wearing thin. She heaved a dramatic sigh and examined her nails for a few seconds before glancing back up at him. He was still going on and she honestly wasn't even sure what he was yelling at her anymore. He paused to take a breath and she raised an eyebrow at him, "Are you done?"

That made Matthew freeze and gape at her. He blinked rapidly, his mind spinning. How could she be so cold hearted and indifferent to him? She'd slapped him five minutes ago for snapping at her best friend and now she was looking at him like he was just some guy. "How do you-"

"It's called not letting my emotions get the better of me." She replied cooly, her eyes narrowed at him. "It keeps me from making myself look like a fool."

"Oh trust me, even the whole 'not showing your emotions' thing doesn't stop you from looking like a fool."

Her eyes widened just a fraction. She hadn't been expecting him to make a snappy comeback. It appeared that she'd rubbed off on him. She picked at one of her cuticles, trying to decide if she should be offended. She could always act offended and see how he reacted, but he might think she was being serious and that would just be annoying to deal with. Screw it. She placed a hand on her chest dramatically and looked at him with wide and (hopefully) hurt eyes. "H-how could you-" She stopped, pretending to be too emotional to finish.

His eyes widened until they looked like dinner plates. "I didn't- I mean.. I only meant-"

She couldn't take it anymore. Her hurt facade crumbled and she burst out laughing, this time actually unable to look at him. Her sides were starting to hurt, but every time she looked at him, the laughter just intensified again. "Oh my god! You- you thought I was serious!" This confirmation just made her laugh even harder and she doubled over, her laughter eventually dying down to giggles and then stopping completely. She sat back up. "Continue."

It took Matthew a minute to come up with some sort of response. "You're horrible."

Maddy raised an eyebrow at him. "Is that the best you've got? This is why I argue with Lovino. He actually responses to my sarcasm with his own instead of getting offended." Though she said the second part mostly to herself, bringing up Lovino probably wasn't her best idea. It was true that he actually sassed her back though. She assumed that was why they got along.

"Ah yes, Lovino. Amazing, perfect Lovino." Matthew growled. "How could anyone compare to him?"

"I never said he was amazing." Maddy hissed, her voice as sharp as glass and cold as ice. "He's certainly not perfect. In fact, there are a lot of things we've gotten into fights about." She rolled her eyes, wondering how so much jealousy could be contained in someone who had always seemed so sweet and kind. I suppose it's always during times of distress that people show their true colors. She pulled herself out of her train of thought, realizing that Matthew had said something and was waiting for her to reply. "I'm sorry, what? I was thinking."

"Have you ever considered that maybe, just maybe, you're not the only one who had your life turned on its head and changed forever?" Matthew asked finally, his original question being forgotten.

Maddy shrugged. "I know pretty much everyone had their life changed because of this whole…" She trailed off, searching for the right word. "-ordeal. That doesn't really mean anything though."

Alfred was leaning against the porch railing, his arms crossed casually across his chest. Brittany was chattering on about something, he wasn't exactly sure what. He tried to pay attention, but he kept finding himself tuning out her words and just watching her. It seemed she hadn't aged at all while she'd been gone and she certainly hadn't changed. He smiled as he watched her, his mind slipping to a place he didn't normally let it go. Memory lane.

The front door was suddenly flung open, jolting him out of his train of thought. The wooden door banged against the side of the house, the hinges creaking in protest. Maddy stormed out, muttering profanities under her breath.

"Maddy!" Brittany scolded. "Swear jar!"

The blonde stopped, gawking at her best friend. Finally, she smiled slightly, though it was sad and forced. "Now's not really the time, Brittany." She turned and walked down the driveway, shoving her hands in her pockets. Lovino hurried after her, talking quickly. They eventually got far enough away that no one could hear what either of them were saying, but judging by the shaking heads and the hand gestures being made, they were arguing about something. Finally, Maddy rolled her eyes, said one last thing and got into her car, driving away.

It wasn't until he turned around that Alfred realized his brother was standing behind him. "What happened? What did the two of you say?"

Matthew shook his head. "It doesn't matter." He muttered before going back inside.

Alfred sighed. He'd never wanted to pick sides in this ongoing argument, but he couldn't help feeling that maybe he should have. Both his brother and Maddy had valid reasons for being so upset, but neither were dealing with it in a healthy way. Alfred rubbed the neck of his neck, wondering if he could fix any of this, like he'd promised his niece he would.

Maddy's hands were clenched so tight around her steering wheel that her knuckles had turned white. Technically speaking, this wasn't a safe way to drive, but at the moment, she didn't care. The light turned red and she slowed to a stop, sighing. She rubbed her temples and closed her eyes. Why was everything so complicated?

She almost wished things could go back to the way they'd been before. But that would mean not having her children and those maternal instincts she thought she'd never develop when she was a teenager refused to imagine a world without her children.

The light changed again and she pulled forward, her mind still wandering. She supposed she should be paying attention and making sure she was going the right way, but there was no need.

She knew exactly where she was going.

Pinkittwice54: 1) With Francis, where he always is. 2) tea 3) it'll take the children a little while to get used to being around their "aunt"