Adjusting

Chapter 21

Like I told Carlos, I was planning to sleep the day away. Fang had other plans. Kissing my lips, at around six in the morning, he ran his cold hands down my stomach.

"Cut it out."

"Maxie, you know what today is?"

I opened my eyes. "Hypocrite."

Fang frowned. "Me?"

"Yes you."

"On what?"

"You won't kiss me at midnight because it's clichéd but you'll celebrate Valentine's Day?"

Fang considered this before putting his forehead against mine, our lips touching slightly. "So does that mean that you want me to take back the chocolates I bought you?"

"Fuck no."

He smiled a little. "Such a dirty mouth to use in front of our daughter."

"Oh, as if after she's born she won't hear worse from you."

"Me? Curse? Never."

I pushed him off me. "Fang, I just want to stay in bed all day long, alright?"

He sighed. "Fine. What about the candy?"

"Bring it to me, would ya? And then go get the kids ready."

He got out of bed. "I have work at twelve. You want me to take Lucas?"

"No, leave him."

"What about being alone?"

"What about it?"

Fang shook his head before walking out of the room. I closed my eyes again. Life was good.

"I can't do it."

"Yes you can."

Tyler frowned at his teacher. "No!"

"I'll draw you a heart, Tyler," Alex said, grabbing his paper. They were making Valentine's Day cards and he was having trouble.

Shaking her head, Ms. Kerry walked away to go help someone else.

"Who are you gonna give it to, Ty?" Alex asked him.

"Mama."

"I'm giving mine to…Juan."

"Why not Marcus or Victor or Manny or Christian?"

"Christian is mean," Alex said, talking about her eleven year old brother. "Victor is mad that I broke his stereo."

"How'd you break it?"

"I spilled water on it."

Tyler giggled. "What about Marcus?"

"He's not talking to me."

"Why?"

"Him and Crystal broke up. He's not talking to anyone."

"And Manuel?"

"Manny isn't home. So I'm just gonna give it to Juan. He's nice."

"Yeah," Tyler agreed. Alex gave him his paper back. "Last night, Daddy said that if I act up today, you can't spend the night anymore."

"So you're not gonna be bad, right?"

Tyler frowned. "I'm never bad. Other people are just mean to me. It's not my fault."

"Still. I don't want to not spend the night."

Tyler started drawing. "I hate it here."

She giggled. "We should runaway."

Frowning, he asked, "What's that?"

"Victor did it once. You just don't come home. You find a new home."

"Where would we go?"

"I don't know…Let's go to Tank's doghouse."

Tyler smiled. Today was Monday so Alex was coming over after school. "Can we bring Max?"

"I'm not sure. I don't think so."

He sighed. "What about Snickers and Bear?"

"And Wa-wa too. Yeah, they can come."

"Good," Tyler said, drawing a picture of Max. She was going to love the card. She loved anything he made for her. "Te quiero."

"Te quiero," Alex told him.

Lucas giggled as we shared the last piece of cake. He licked his hand before grabbing some more. I rolled my eyes.

"You're so cute. You know that, huh Luke?"

"Ma-ee!"

"Yeah."

"Hi," Lucas squealed.

"Hi."

I jumped, turning my head. "Bone! What, how, why-"

"Key," he said, waving it in the air. "Fang said that you were upset today. Check on you."

"I'm not upset. I just wanted to be alone."

He walked over and kissed my head. "Food?"

"I'm eating cake."

"I'll make you something, if you want."

"No."

He shrugged, giving Lucas a kiss. "Hi."

"Hi!"

Bone went over to the fridge and started making himself a sandwich. "Work tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"Me too."

"Good. Luther?"

"Not sure."

I sighed, letting Lucas play with the rest of the cake. "Happy Valentine's Day, by the way."

"Yeah, you too."

I got up. "Can you clean up Lucas for me? I'm going to go lay back down."

"Yeah."

I kissed my baby's head before leaving. I was in bed, asleep, when I felt something touch me.

"Stop, Fang."

"Bone."

I sighed. "I'm sleeping."

"I wanted to know if it was time for Lucas to take a nap."

"Yeah. Put him in bed with me."

I felt Lucas curl into my back and then the bed dipped.

"Bone, go away."

"I'm taking a nap too."

I sighed, going back to sleep.

"Hey, Cam," Damien greeted as she opened the door.

Hey."

He kissed her cheek. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah. Where are we going?" She asked, walking out of the house.

"You'll see."

"Damien, come on," she complained, getting into his truck. "Tell me."

"No. We'll be there soon anyways."

"Why can't you just tell me?"

"Because I don't want to," he said, getting in.

"Why not?"

He turned up the radio. "Because I don't want to."

"Damien-"

"We're going to eat."

"That's all?"

"No."

"What else is there?"

"I'm not gonna tell you, Cameron."

"Why though?"

"Because you would freak if you find out what we're doing."

Yeah, because she wasn't 'freaking' now. Cameron sighed. "Please, Damien?"

"It's nothing to worry about, alright?"

She sighed. "You're sucha jerk sometimes."

"…Really?"

"…No. But please tell me."

"Sorry, I can't."

"Yes you can."

"Okay, so I can but I'm not going to," he told her before turning the radio up louder. After about ten minutes later, they pulled up in front of a house.

"Who's house?" Cameron asked, recognizing Luther's car in front. "Luther's?"

"Nope." Damien got out of the truck, hurrying to her side of the truck to open the door for her.

"Then who's?"

He grabbed her hands, leading her up to the door. "You ask a lot of questions. More than Alex."

She rolled her eyes. "Just tell me."

"No," he said before knocking on the door.

"Damien," the woman hugged him.

He let go of Cameron's hand to hug her. "Hi Mom."

The woman was obviously Tammie's mother, though she was older and…a lot skinner. "Hi. And is this your girlfriend?"

He didn't even tell her! If she knew that he was taking her to meet his parents she would have…had…have…freaked, just like he said.

"Yeah," Damien said, smiling.

His mother smiled at her. "You can call me Trinity."

"Okay," Cameron said, feeling awkward. Damien grabbed her hand again as his mother went back into the house.

"Mad at me?"

"No. Not right now."

He laughed a little, leading her into the house. "Good."

The doorway led to the living room, where Luther was sitting on the couch, next to a man. He smiled at Damien.

"Finally here, huh?"

"I got caught up at work," he said before looking at the other guy on the couch. "Dad, this is Cameron."

His father's hard eyes found her. Just like he thought. His son had finally done it. Turned into the same kind of man as Luther and that other, malnourished boy they hang out with. "I'm not interested in meeting a slut."

"Dad!" Tammie yelled from the other room. She walked into the living room. "You did not just say that."

"I told you all that I did not want to meet his floozy."

Luther made a noise of shock. "Damn, I didn't think you'd actually say it."

"I've said it before, we don't use that kind of language, Luther," the man said, turning his attention back to his television. Damien wasn't so easily deterred.

"Take it back, right now."

It was a rare occasion for him to talk back to his father so it took him a moment to realize that he was talking to him.

"Excuse me?"

"Take it back."

Cameron moved back, towards the door. "Damien, I'll just-"

"Now," Damien repeated. His eyes darkened, resembling his fathers. He looked like his biological mother, except for his eyes.

"Mom," Tammie called. "Come here for a second."

Luther sighed, standing up. "Come on, Damien. You knew that he wasn't happy about-"

"Why can't you just except that maybe I'm happy? Did you want me to live alone for the rest of my life?" Damien continued, glaring at his father.

"I'm not talking about this right now. I told you that I didn't want you bringing her over her yesterday. Now leave and come back when you're without…her."

Cameron was almost to the door when Damien grabbed her hand again, holding it. "Yeah, because clearly, Cameron's the slut. She's not the one pregnant again, Tammie. She's not the one sleeping with a different person every night, Luther. So clearly, she's the whore-"

"Damien, watch your mouth," Trinity said, walking into the living room. "What's wrong?"

"I told you not to let him bring some hussy-"

"Shut up!" Damien yelled at him. Cameron pulled on his hand.

"Damien, it's fine," she mumbled, just wanting out of there.

"No, it's not."

"Dad, you should just stop, okay?" Tammie asked. "Cameron's not one of Luther and Bone's friends. She lives across the street from Fang. You know Fang? The married one?"

"Still doesn't change anything."

"Dan, can I talk to you in the kitchen?" Trinity asked, frowning at him.

"I'm watching TV."

"Now."

He groaned, getting up. "She better be gone when I get back, Damien."

Once he was gone, Damien's grip slackened on Cameron's hand and she was able to pull away. She felt like crying.

Tammie, though she had never been found of Cameron dating Damien, felt like she should say something. "Cameron, Dan is-"

"It's fine," she mumbled before finally getting out the door. Damien followed her.

"Cameron, wait."

"No, Damien. Take me home," she pleaded, getting into the truck. "Please, just take me home."

"My mom made dinner and…" he just trailed off. Cameron really looked up set. Their first Valentine's Day together and she was going to cry. "Yeah, home. I'll take you home."

It was a silent ride home. When he finally got to her place, she ran out of the truck and into her house, closing the door behind her. For a moment, he figured that he should just go back to his parent's house and call her tomorrow. Then he realized that she was his girlfriend and he should comfort her. Sighing, he turned off the car and went up to her door. She had left it unlocked.

"Cameron?" He called. Nothing. He sighed. "Cam, come on. Where are you?"

Closing the door behind him, he checked all downstairs. She wasn't there. He sighed, going up the stairs. He checked the guest room and Tommy's room. Still nothing. That meant that he had to go to her bedroom… He had never been there. He knocked first.

"Cameron? Are you okay?"

"Go away. Go back to your dad's. I'll call you tomorrow."

"No, Cam." He paused for a second, gathering his bearings, before opening her bedroom door. See? Nothing to worry about. She in bed, her purple covers brought up over her head. "Cameron…Move the covers."

Was he in her bedroom? "No, Damien. Leave me alone."

He sighed, closing the door. "Not till I know that you're okay."

"I'm fine."

"Lying is a sin," he told her before going over to the side of the bed. "If you don't move the covers…I'll get under them too."

He was bluffing. That would make them both blush. "Now who's lying?"

Taking a deep breath, he slowly lifted the covers a little before crawling under them. "Not me."

Was he really in her bed? Oh God, he was. What did that mean? She closed her eyes. "Leave me alone."

"No, Cameron," he said before moving closer to her. It was dark under the covers but warm.

"Why would you do that to me? I know that we haven't been together that long but I thought that you…cared about me."

He frowned, pulling her to him. "I do, Cameron. A lot. I brought you there because I care. I wanted you to meet them."

"You know that he didn't want to meet me."

He sighed. "Yeah, I know. But I thought that he'd warm up to you."

She laid her head against his chest. "I thought that you didn't date. That's what Max told me after our first date."

"…You're my first girlfriend."

"Then why would he think that you…that every girl you're with-"

"Because Luther used to set me up. Look, Cameron, that doesn't matter. He'll get used to you, I promise," he told her, running a hand tentatively down her back. Cameron closed her eyes. "I like you, Cameron. A lot. None of them are going to change that. Especially my dad."

She sighed. "I guess you should be happy he said that though. At least he cares about you."

He was trying to read into what she had said but it was hard. Did that mean that her dad didn't care about her? What if he said that and was wrong? "Yeah but he's still an idiot."

Cameron smiled a little. "What time is it?"

"A little past seven."

"Raw doesn't start till eight."

"Yeah…"

"We should eat dinner."

He took a deep breath, liking the smell of her. "What do you want?"

"Let's just order a pizza."

"Okay," he said. "And, Cam, I'm so sorry that I ruined Valentine's Day."

She looked up at him. "Ruin? Damien, you didn't ruin anything. I just found out that you care enough about me to walk out on your dad. This is the best Valentine's Day ever."

He smiled a little. "Yeah."

Fang made me go out to dinner with him. Mom was watching the kids while we went out.

"Tyler's mad at you," I told Fang, cutting into my steak.

"Why?"

"He thinks that you don't love him."

Fang rolled his eyes. "He'll get over it."

I ran a hand down my stomach. "If you say so."

"I told him about misbehaving and look! He didn't get in trouble today."

"That's good."

"Yeah."

We were silent through the rest of dinner. After dinner, Fang took me out to get ice cream before going home. When we go there, Mom was yelling at Tyler and Alex.

"What's wrong?" I asked, closing the door behind me.

"They snuck out of the house," Mom raved. "While I was bathing Lucas, they just took all their stuff and tried to runaway."

I frowned, looking at the kids. "Runaway where?"

"To Tank's dog house," Tyler told me. "It's okay, Mama. We'd visit on holidays."

I rolled my eyes. "Fang, take care of it before driving Alex home. I'm going to go take a shower."

I went into the master bathroom, yawning as I started to undress. Once I was done and went back into the living room, Alex was gone and so was Mom.

"Hey, Tabby," I said, sitting down on the couch. She was in the chair, drawing. "Did you have fun while we were gone?"

"Yep," she said, smiling. "I made Tommy a card at school."

"Yeah, I know. Tyler gave me the one he made."

"He's so dumb."

I frowned. "What? Why?"

"He should have given it to Alex."

Rolling my eyes, I laid down on the couch. "Tabitha, maybe they don't like each other like you like Tommy. It's okay if they don't."

"But they do Max," she insisted.

"Sweetie, not everyone has to be in love with someone else."

She frowned. "I'm not in love with Tommy. Yet."

Great, that really relieved me. I closed my eyes. "Where's Tyler?"

"In bed. Daddy made him because he was bad."

"Lucas?"

"He's in his crib."

"You should go to bed soon too, baby."

"I will, Max. I have to finish coloring this though," she told me, never looking up from the paper in her lap.

"What is it?"

"A picture for Luther."

I smiled. "That's nice of you."

"I know."

And that brought the niceness back down. "Was school good today?"

"Yeah, I guess. Tyler didn't get in trouble."

"I know. That's good, huh?"

She shrugged. "Ben didn't give me his cookie though."

"Why not?"

"Because Tonya told him that my smelly boyfriend would beat him up if he did."

I sighed. "Why do you like Tonya, Tabitha?"

"Because she's my best friend, Max," she told me in a duh tone of voice.

"Well I know that. I just meant why is she your friend?" I asked. "She's mean."

"So is Tyler."

"Never mind, Tabby."

She got up, setting her drawing on the coffee table. "I love you, Max."

I smiled, keeping my eyes closed. "I love you too, Tabitha. With all my heart."

Content, Tabitha skipped off, going to get in bed. Fang came back from dropping off Alex around that time. He went over to the couch and gave me kiss on the lips.

"Have a nice shower?" He asked me, picking my up into his arms.

"Yeah," I told him. "What about your back?"

"What about it?"

"Doesn't it hurt?"

"Eh, it's fine," he said, carrying me into our bedroom. He left briefly to check on all the kids and feed the dog. When he came back, he brushed his teeth before stripping down to his boxers.

"Night, Fang."

He kissed my head. "I love you."

I smiled a little. "Yeah, I love you too. And is Tyler in anymore trouble? About the running away thing?"

Fang shrugged, lying on his back. "Nah. They were just playing but you know your mom."

"Yeah," I said, even though that was a lie. "Goodnight, baby. I love you."

Fang traced Kevin's name. "Good night Max and good night baby."

I smiled a little. "You're such a dork."

"That's why you married me."

"Definitely," I joked. Fang laughed, closing his eyes.

"See you in the morning."

"Yeah."

He rolled onto his stomach and wrapped a hand around my waist. I ran a hand over his arm, sighing. This day had been a good one for us. No fights, at all. The best Valentine's Day ever. Sure as hell beats the diapers I got last year.

"So what are you going to do about me working till Saturday?" Cameron asked Damien.

He glanced at her. "What time is your lunch break?"

"Two."

"Let's eat lunch everyday together."

"Damien-"

"No, Cam," he said, rolling onto his side. "I want to see you and I am."

She moved close to him, laying her head on his chest. They were in her bedroom, Raw on TV, a box of half-eaten pizza on the floor.

"Fine. I'll call you at one, alright?"

"Okay," he said, smiling a little. "Hey, Cameron?"

"What?"

"…You're really pretty."

She hid her blush in his chest. "And you're cute."

Cute? "Like dog cute?"

"No…likeifyouaskedmetomarryyou,isowould."

"What?" He frowned. "You were talking to fast."

"Just that you're cute in a good way." She closed her eyes. "Stay with me tonight?"

He leaned down, kissing her on the lips for the first time. "Yeah. Of course."

Again she had to hide her blush.

March

"…Are you awake?"

I groaned. "Is Luther here?"

"No."

"Then I'm sleeping. Leave me alone."

Damien sighed. "Max, I need you to ring me up though."

"Is Cameron with you?"

"Yes," she answered.

"Then I guess I have to," I sighed, sitting up. "More mangas?"

"Uh-huh."

Lucas crawled around the counter, going to them. "Hi!"

"Hi, Lucas," Cameron smiled down at him, picking him up. "How are you?"

He giggled. "Hi!"

Damien pulled out his wallet. "Where's Tyler and Tabitha?"

"School. What are you guys doing?"

"About to go eat."

"Wait, what time is it?"

"Almost twelve."

Shit. "Where's Bone? He was here when I fell asleep?"

Damien shrugged. "In the back I guess. Why?"

"I need to go pick up the kids."

"His car's gone," Cameron told me. "We can, if you want."

"Please and thank you."

Damien picked up his stuff. "Come on then, Cameron."

She gave Lucas a kiss before handing him over. "Bye-bye, Lucas."

He waved to her, giggling. "Ah-nah!"

I gave him a kiss, sighing as they left. After about twenty minutes, Damien walked back into the store with only Tabitha.

"Tyler got in trouble," the five year old announced before I could even say hi.

I frowned. "What?"

"Yeah."

"Where is he?"

"You didn't answer you phone so Daddy came and got him. He was mad," Tabitha told me, climbing up onto the stool next to me.

"What did he do?" I asked, glancing at Damien. He was waiting for me to tell him he could leave. "Go, Damien."

He gave me a smile before leaving. Turning my attention back to Tabitha, I asked, "What did Tyler do?"

She took a deep breath, getting ready to tell me the story. "Jackson called him stupid and Tyler said he was gonna kill him but Alex told him not to. Then, at recess, Tyler and Alex were swinging and Jackson came up behind him and pushed him out of the swing. Alex still wouldn't let him do anything. Then, at nap time, Jackson stole Bear from Alex's cubby. Tyler beat him up and then picked up the scissors and said that he was gonna stab him. The teacher yelled at him and then called you and then Daddy. Tyler's not allowed to come back, ever again."

I frowned, reaching into my pocket. My phone was off. Damn it. I turned it on and then called Fang.

"Where the hell have you been?" He said.

"At work. My phone was off. What happened with Tyler? Tabitha told me that he got kicked out of school."

"…He tried to kill a kid, Max."

I sighed. "Look, I'll be home soon. I just have to find out what happened to Bone."

"What do you mean?"

"He left while I was asleep. I'll talk to you later, alright?"

"Yeah, okay."

Fang hung up. Sighing, I called Bone.

"Hello?"

"Bone, where are you?" I demanded. "You just left me sleeping in the store! What could make you-"

"My aunt called. She was at my apartment."

I stopped. "Are you okay?"

"Fine."

I sighed. "Bone, I really want to come and talk to you or whatever but Tyler just got kicked out of school so-"

"For what?"

"Some boy was picking on him so Tyler beat him up and then tried to stab him."

Bone laughed. "Good. If I knew that someone was picking on him, I kill their father."

"Bone, stop it. And everyone picks on him. That damn teacher never does a fucking thing about that."

Tabitha gasped. "Max, Ms. Kerry is very nice."

I sighed. "Bone, we'll talk back later, alright?"

"Okay. Call you later."

"I love you. Bye."

"Bye."

I hung up and then called Luther.

"What, Max?"

I rolled my eyes. "I need you to come into work."

"What? Why?"

"Tyler just got kicked out of school."

"…What about Bone?"

"His aunt showed up or something. Please? What are you doing?"

"I'm with Tammie."

I groaned. "Please, Luther? I need to go yell at my son."

"Well when you put up such a great argument, why not."

"Thanks, you rock."

"Right. Be there soon."

"Alright. Bye."

I hung up, sighing. "Tabitha, do a lot of kids pick on Tyler?"

"Yeah."

"But why, Tabby?"

She shrugged. "He's mean."

"You love him though, right? He's your brother."

Frowning, she laid her head down on the counter. "I love Tyler."

"Then why don't you help him, baby?"

"Why do I always have to do things for him? He never helps me! I'm tired of being nice to him. He's mean."

I ran a hand down the back of her head, giving her a kiss. "Tabitha, if someone was being mean to you, Tyler would be good to you."

"But Max-"

"No, baby. Don't. It is what it is. One day though, you're going to regret not helping him."

"Max-"

"Shhh," I closed my eyes. "I love you, Tabitha."

"I love you too."

"Noo ooo," Lucas chimed in, bouncing in my lap.

About ten minutes later, Luther came in. "Tabitha!"

She giggled, sitting up. She was fine now. "Luther!"

He picked her up, giving her kisses. "I haven't seen you in forever."

I stood up, taking Lucas with me. "Tabby, what if you spend the night with Luther tonight? If that's okay, Luther."

"It's fine. It's great." He kissed her again. "Right Tabs?"

"Yeah."

I shook my head. "Bye, guys. Say bye-bye, Lucas."

"Yi-yi!" He called as we walked out the door. He chewed on Sasuke the whole ride home, which made him quiet at least. When I got to the house, I got him out and went inside. Fang was on the couch, watching TV.

"Where's Tyler?"

"In his room crying."

I sighed, giving him Lucas. "Can I talk to him or-"

"Yeah, go ahead. Where's Tabby?"

"Spending the night at Luther's."

Fang sighed. "I don't…think that she should go there anymore."

"Luther's?"

"No, stupid. Preschool."

I looked at the ceiling. "Fang, it's almost over. It ends in May. She loves it there."

"We'll talk later."

I sighed, going to Tyler's bedroom. He was on his bed, no longer crying but his eyes were red.

"Mama!" He reached out for me.

"No, Tyler. You-"

"They pushed me out of the swing and took Bear from Alex."

I took a deep breath. "That doesn't mean that you can wave scissors around and threaten people."

He crossed his arms. "I'll kill them all if they mess with me and Alex again."

"You have got to stop saying that."

He laid down. "Daddy said that I can't see Alex anymore."

"…You can't."

He frowned. "I love Alex."

"You should have thought about that before."

The look on his face was…I don't know. I walked out of the room and back to the living room.

"How long?"

Fang looked up. "Huh?"

"How long until he can see her again?"

"Alex?"

"No, Lady Gaga. Yes, Fang!"

Sighing, he looked down at Lucas. "I don't know. Max, he can't do things like that."

"They were picking on him. That stupid teacher didn't do an thing about that. But when Tyler does something-"

"We have medical bills to pay for, you know."

"Tyler's hurt?"

"No. He broke that boys nose and right arm." Fang can say he's made as much as he wants but I could hear a trace of pride in his voice. "Max, he seriously could have hurt that boy. And when he started waving around the scissors-"

"He wouldn't have done anything."

"How do you know that? Max…I don't know." Fang pulled Lucas closer to him. "I love Tyler, with all my heart but we've got to do something before he starts Kindergarten."

"Do what?"

"I don't know. I'll talk to your mom and-"

I don't know why hearing that pissed me off so much but it did. "Why her? Don't you think that we can do something on our own for once?"

Shaking his head, Fang said, "Baby, let's…get him help."

"From who?"

"Like…a therapist. That's what the lady at the school said."

I felt heat rise inside of me. They're treating him like he's…crazy. And he's not. "He is five years old, Fang."

"I know that, Max! You don't think that I do? I just know that he needs help-"

"No he doesn't!"

My crying upset Lucas. He started crying.

"See what you do?" Fang grumbled, giving the baby a kiss. "It's okay, Lucas. Shhh. I'm right here. See? It's Daddy. You love me, huh?"

Lucas sniffled, leaning against Fang. I sighed, running a hand over my now evident baby bump. Fang gave Lucas a kiss before setting him on the ground.

"Come here, Max."

I walked over to him, sitting down on the couch. Fang kissed my neck.

"Baby, Tyler just needs help…adjusting."

I rolled my eyes. "I said that once and you yelled at me."

Ignoring this, Fang continued. "And, he's a boy. Of course he's gonna get into fights."

"Sexist."

"Damn right."

I sighed, leaning against him. "I just want Tyler to…I don't know. Saying that I want him to be normal isn't right. He is normal. Just a different kind of normal."

Fang kissed my head. "You love Tyler. He's our baby. Of course you want him to be normal."

"Do you really think he would have hurt that boy?"

"…I don't know, Max. Maybe. I know for a fact that he wouldn't do it to intentionally hurt that boy. He just wants them to leave him alone."

I ran a hand down his face. "What about Alex?"

"What about her?"

"…He's better behaved when she's around."

"Max, I don't know if her parents will want her around him."

I frowned. "Her parents love Tyler."

Fang shook his head. "Whatever."

I curled into his body, sighing. "Bone's aunt showed up."

"…That sucks."

"Yeah."

Fang ran a hand down my arm. "Don't worry anymore about Ty, okay? I don't like you being all stressed out while you're pregnant."

"You're such a worrywart."

He glanced at me. "Again, this is the reason everyone thinks that we're in our seventies."

I just smiled.

Fang groaned from the floor. It was Friday and he was putting together Lucas's playpen that he finally broke down and bought. It was more for the new baby, seeing as Lucas is pretty well behaved but I still didn't like him running around.

I changed the channel. "I don't know, Bone. I wouldn't got see them."

He ran a hand down my jean clothed leg. My feet were in his lap, as I watched TV. He was still freaking out about his family.

"Everyone needs family."

"We're your family. Me, Fang, Luther, Tammie, Damien, we're all that you need."

He shook his head. "I don't know."

"Well I do."

His aunt asked him to move closer to them, to stay with her. They live in Massachusetts. There is no way that I'm letting her take him away from me.

Fang started mumbling to himself. "Why do these things have to be so fucking-"

"Lucas is right next to you, Fang."

He turned to see the baby. "Did Daddy say a bad word? I'm sorry. So sorry. I'm sorry, Lucas. I love you. Yeah."

Lucas banged his little toy against the ground. "Nah-ba!"

"Yeah." Fang went back to the playpen.

"Max, is it lunch time?" Tyler asked, walking into the room. It was about eleven.

"Sure. You want Daddy to make you something?"

"Yes."

"Not now, buddy," Fang mumbled, continuing to ignore the instructions. I was a hundred percent sure that I could have finished that a long time ago but you know Fang and his pride. No way his wife could do something that he couldn't. But you know, whatever. He also refused to use the instructions, saying that he was a man and didn't need them.

"Bone? Go make him a sandwich, please."

He sighed, getting up. "Come on, Ty."

I closed my eyes. "So is Alex spending the night or not?"

Fang sighed. "Not this week. I told him that if he behaves then maybe next week."

I closed my eyes, running a hand down my stomach. "My stomach feels good tonight."

"Does it?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Tell the baby that Daddy's putting up her playpen."

"Her?"

"Or him."

I smiled a little. "Well she says thank you."

"She?"

"Damn straight."

Fang laughed a little. "I think that we should start watching our mouths. Before you yell at me, I meant me, mainly."

I rolled onto my side. "I agree."

"Good."

"Are you going to pick up Tabby?"

"Yeah. And I told Alex's parents that I'll drop her at her house."

"Who's there?" I asked, not wanting her left alone with one of her youngest two brothers.

"Marcus."

"The nineteen year old?"

"Yeah."

"Okay," I cuddled into the couch. "Fang?"

"What?"

"Do we want to know?"

"Know what?"

"The sex."

"Yeah. This time I do."

"Why?"

"In case it's a boy, we need to figure out what we're going to do."

"Let's move to…Maine."

"Max."

"What?"

He rolled his eyes. "Why Maine?"

"I like the cold."

"Well I don't."

"Then you can get over it."

"You know that we're not moving out of state. I don't even want to move out of the town!"

I sighed, wanting to go to sleep. "Well you figure it out, macho man, alright?"

"Yeah, alright lazy lady."

I was too tired to yell at him.

Cameron was sleeping in his bed. His bed! Damien groaned opening his eyes. Smackdown was about to start. Lucky him that he woke up. But what was it that woke him? Right, his cell vibrated. Luther had sent him a text. Instead of replying, he just called him.

"Dude, where are you? I haven't seen you since Tuesday!"

"I'm with Cameron."

"Doing what?"

"We're in bed-"

"Ooh la la."

"Shut up, it's not like that. We haven't…done that yet."

Luther paused. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah."

"Damien…that's weird."

"No, it's called having self-control."

"…So basically, you guys spend the night with each other without fucking?"

"Yes. Why is that so hard to believe?"

"Do you make-out?"

"…No. But I kissed her on the lips a few times."

"And you're sure that you're not gay?"

"No!"

Cameron moaned, rolling onto her stomach.

"I have to go, Cam's waking up."

Luther sighed. "Are you coming to the Heroclix tournament?"

"What? When?"

"Tomorrow, Damien. Remember? CJ's going to be there. You love beating his cocky self, right?"

"…I can't."

"What? Why?"

"Cameron and I are going out."

His friend was silent for a second. "What could you possibly be doing that's so important?"

"She's taking me to get new shoes."

Luther took in a breath. "You know what? Forget it. I have better things to do than talk to you right now."

"Luther-"

He hung up. Damien groaned, throwing his phone down.

"Go."

He glanced at Cameron. "Huh?"

"To your little hero thingy. We'll go shopping Sunday, after church."

"…Are you going to go to church with me?"

"No."

"Come on, Cam. Please?"

She closed her eyes again. "Go put the fish sticks and fries in the oven. Wrestling will be on soon."

He hesitantly leaned over to kiss the back of her head. "Thank you. For letting me go."

She smiled against the pillow. "It's fine. As long as you teach me to play some time."

"Yeah, of course." He got out of bed. "Go back to sleep. I'll wake you when Smackdown's on."

She rolled her eyes before doing just that.

He cried tonight. Hard. His crying made Lucas start to cry. I don't get it. He knew that Alex wasn't going to spend the night. Yet he still cried.

"You need to get your tubes tied."

I chocked. "Fang!"

"I was kidding," he said. At the moment, my lovely husband was standing in front of the mirror, naked, brushing his teeth. I was picking up the dirty clothes, about to take them out to the garage.

"How was that funny?"

"I just meant that I have a lot of names on my body."

"Four is a lot?"

"No, but-"

"Plus it was you that wanted to start tattooing your self."

"You're just jealous that your names not on my body."

"Why would it need to be?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"The rest of me is all over it anyways."

Fang blushed a little, spitting in the sink. "You're so stupid."

"Yeah, okay, I'm the stupid one."

"You are!"

I walked out of the bathroom, going to put the dirty clothes in their assigned piles. I fed Tank and gave Snicker's fresh water before going to check on the babies. They were all sleeping. Giving Tyler an extra kiss, I said a little prayer to God that things worked out for him later, that he'd stop being so angry.

"What took you so long?" Fang asked, already in bed.

I laid down, cuddling under the covers. "Nothing. I just fed the animals and stuff."

He kissed my head. "You feel cold."

"I am cold."

"Let me warm you up," he whispered, bringing me closer to him.

"With pleasure."

"Yours or mine?"

"Both."

He just laughed.