Adjusting

Chapter 25

"Come on, Max," he whined as I walked him up to the house.

"Tyler, I'm not going to run to her house."

"Well I would."

I pushed the back of his head a little. Today was Alex's birthday and Tyler was going to spend tonight at her house. When we finally got to the door and I knocked, Alex answered.

"Tyler!"

"Alex!"

Why me?

"I got you a present," he said, going into the house.

"You did?"

"Yep!"

"Bye, Max," Alex said before closing the door. I frowned. Did he even care about me anymore? I let Tyler get one not girlfriend and all of a sudden I don't matter at all. Frowning, I started my short trek home. When I got there, Fang was on the floor of the living room, rolling around with Lucas.

"Hey, Fang," I greeted, walking into the room.

"Hey," he said, rolling onto his back. "So what do you want to do today?"

Tabitha was over at Luther's and Tyler was going to spend the night at Alex's house. So it was just us again…Great.

"Ma-ee!" Lucas sounded off, as if telling me that we weren't alone. We had him. "Hi."

I went over to the couch and lay down. "We could go out."

"Where?"

"I don't know."

"What would we do with the boys?"

I groaned. "I was just talking, Fang. We both know that neither of us is going anywhere."

My husband went back to playing with Lucas. The baby crawled onto his chest, poking him.

"Did-ee! No."

"No what? Huh? What'd I do?"

Lucas moved off him but his daddy dragged him back, showering him in kisses.

"No! Ma-ee!"

After a minute, Fang let the toddler go, who immediately crawled over to me. "Ma-ee!"

I lifted him up and into my lap. "What?"

Lucas cuddled against me. "Hi."

"Hi."

Getting up, Fang went to go sit down in his chair. "I put Tank outside."

I laid down, Lucas on my stomach. He giggled at me, curling into a ball to sleep. "When did being together become so boring?"

Fang frowned. "It is not boring."

"Yes it is, Fang. It's like me and you don't have anything to talk about."

"Sure we do," he said, slightly hurt by my words.

"Name one thing besides the kids."

"…What's your point, Max?"

I shrugged as best I could with Lucas on me. "I don't know, Fang. I'm just saying…forget it."

"No. What do you mean? Tell me."

"What happens when we don't even have the kids in common?"

"What do you mean?"

"When they all move out, it's just going to be me and you."

"Max-"

"Then what, Fang? By then, our sex life will be microscopic, if it exists at all. What are you going to do then?"

"Max, what's up?" Fang asked. "Why are you projecting so much?"

"I don't know," I admitted.

He looked at the TV. "What do you want to do about it?"

"Huh?"

"The problem, Max. What do you want to do about it?"

I frowned a little. "We could…do more things together."

"We spend everyday together."

"But not alone!" I said. "What about your championclix?"

"Heroclix?"

"Yeah, those."

"What about them?"

I knew I would regret this later but I went ahead and said it. "Teach me to play."

Damien wrapped his arms around Cameron's waist as they laid on the couch, making out. Her hands were in his hair, massaging his scalp. At first, he felt a tinge of jealousy that she was able to kiss like this. What was it that she did before him? Clearly, she had been with more men than he had girls. Then he realized that it was stupid to be jealous of the past. She was with him now and that was all that mattered.

"Ew," Tammie said flatly as she walked into the apartment. Cameron pulled away but Damien just ran a hand down her head, pushing it into his chest.

"Go back to Luther's," Damien said, glancing at the TV. It was some Batman cartoon that was new and trashy but it was the only thing on. Not like he was really paying attention anyways…

"Why should I? I pay rent here too, don't I?"

Cameron leaned up to Damien's ear and whispered, "Let's go to our place. I'll make you dinner."

He smiled at her. They had been back together for almost a week now and things were going great.

"Actually, my mom wanted us to eat over at their-"

"Damien!"

He frowned. "What?"

"Why didn't you tell me that earlier?"

"Because I knew you'd freak."

"Why didn't Mom invite me and Luther?" Tammie asked, offended.

"I don't know," he said, running a hand down Cameron's back. "So do you want to, Cammie?"

"I…What about your father?"

"What about him?"

"Does he want me there?"

"Well no but Mom said that he'd leave you alone."

She made a noise of displeasure. "Superman, I don't know."

"You'll be fine," he said. "I'm there to protect you."

Tammie rolled her eyes. "You two are such dorks."

Ignoring her, Damien went on. "Besides, two of my cousins are there."

Tammie walked into the kitchen. "Who, Damien?"

"Roderick and D.T."

His stepsister snorted. "Them? You're going to take her over there with them there? Honestly, Damien?"

Cameron frowned. "What's wrong with them?'

"Nothing," Damien said, frowning.

"Damien," started Tammie. "You might be family to them but I'm blood, I'm real family. Even I wouldn't take someone that I care about over there with them there."

"They're like my brothers."

"You think everyone is like your brother."

He kissed Cameron's head as a reflex. When he was eight, Roderick and D.T. moved in with them because their mom was going through some…things. They stayed off and on until he was fifteen. He really did look up to them. Sure, Damien would admit that they had some run ins with some bad things but who hasn't? Tammie used to smoke pot, Luther did coke for awhile and still drinks heavily and then there was Bone, who he was sure still did all those things.

"No I don't."

"Yes you do."

He decided to just ignore her. "There is nothing wrong with them, Cammie. Tammie's just being mean. That's why Mom didn't invite her over."

"Is not," the pregnant woman said before leaving the kitchen and going into her bedroom.

"So are you coming?" Damien asked.

"I guess so…"

He smiled. "Good."

This is…fun. "This is stupid."

"Max, you're the one that wanted to do things together."

I know and I was loving it. "This sucks."

"You want to quit?"

No. "Yes."

He sighed. "Fine. You're not that great at it anyways."

"Yes I am."

"Max, you're down to two people and I still have all of mine."

"…So?"

He shook his head. "We're done."

"Fine."

Fang started to put the characters away. Lucas, who was on the floor in front of the TV, started giggling.

"Daddy!" He called to Fang.

Fang smiled. "Say it again, Lucas. Come on."

"Daddy," he cried, moving towards us. "Up!"

Fang kept putting his things away. "Hold on, baby."

I got up, going down stairs to check on Cody. He was sleeping his crib. I watched him for a minute before going into the living room. Coming down out of the attic, Fang walked into the room with Lucas.

"So are we close now?"

"Huh?"

"Are we close? Like, we've got something in common now, right?"

"Yeah, sure."

Fang sighed, sitting down on the couch. "Max, I love you, whether we have something to talk about after we stop having sex or not."

"Yeah, whatever."

He rolled his eyes. "I can do without sex, Max. You can't."

I was shocked. "Me? Please, sex with you isn't even all that great."

Fang's pride was wounded. He snorted at me. "Whatever. You're like screwing a tree."

Was he calling me fat? "You're sure not. You're like the size of what? Cody?"

Fang got up and left the room, taking Lucas with him. Whatever. Call me fat and think he'll get away with it, whatever.

"What you doing here?" D.T. answered the door.

Tammie rolled her eyes. "Gee, dumbass, take a wild guess."

"Ooh, Rod, looks like we got a certified bitch."

"Hey," Dan yelled from somewhere in the house. Tammie pushed past her cousin. "Where's Damien?"

"In his room with his girlfriend," D.T. said, closing the door.

"What? No hug?" Roderick called to her as she walked past the living room, headed to her brother's old bedroom. When she opened the door, Cameron was on his bed while he was in the closet, digging around for something.

"What did you tell him, Damien?" Tammie bellowed, coming into the room.

"What? Who, T-"

"Luther, stupid."

Cameron rolled her eyes but said nothing. Damien got out of the closet. "I didn't tell him any-"

"Damien," she warned.

"You're the one that said that you called, Jason. That's not my fault that he-"

"You shouldn't have told him!"

Cameron got up. "I think that I should-"

"No, stay," Damien ordered. "We need to find my-"

"I would never tell Cameron that you talked to one of your ex's," Tammie continued.

'I never have had a girlfriend," pointed out her brother before going back to his closet. "Now, have you seen my-"

"Damien, you don't get it, do you? Me and Luther are working on our relationship, retard. I'm due in less than a month!"

"Maybe you should sit down," Cameron said. "And stop yelling. You don't want to-"

"Don't you dare tell me what to do, cradle robber."

Damien frowned. "What do that mean?"

"She's calling me old," Cameron said, crossing her arms. "I'm 27, bitch."

"Yeah? Who are you trying to fool?"

"She really is, Tammie," Damien told his sister. "And, Cammie, you know that cursing is-"

"I could ask you the same question," Cameron said, standing up. "You know as well as I do you are way too fat for the shit you wear, pregnant or not.

"Cameron," Damien glanced at her. "That's not very-"

"If I wasn't pregnant-"

"You'd what? Sit on me?"

"Stop it, now," Damien said, getting upset. Why could they just get along? "Leave, Tammie. We're busy."

"And? You told Luther-"

"He's knows so just leave," Cameron said, glaring at the other woman. Tammie rolled her eyes, leaving.

"Cammie, that was mean," he said, turning to look at her.

"And? She called me old," Cameron said, laying back down on the bed. "Are you still going to look for those stupid rings?"

"They are not stupid, Cameron. And yes, I am."

She sighed. "Are you sure that they're in your closet?"

"Yes."

"When do we eat?"

"Soon, I think," he said, still digging through boxes. "I can't believe that I forgot about them. I just- Oh! Here they are!"

He pulled out box before opening it. Curious, Cameron got down on the floor next to him. Damien riffled through the box before pulling out two rings. When he had told her that he wanted to find his comic rings, she thought that he meant plastic, worthless rings. But no, they were more adult…as much adult as you can get with these things.

"These, are my rings," he said.

"They're…nice."

"I know," he said. "One is for you."

"What?"

"Yeah," he said, looking down at the two rings. One was a silver ring with the Green Lantern's symbol in the middle. The other had Superman's symbol. Damien slipped the Green Lantern one on her finger.

"Damien-"

"It's not what you think. Just a ring."

She glanced down at him. "What do you mean 'not what I think?' What do you think I think it is?"

He blushed. "And engagement ring. And it's not that I don't want to marry you, because I do. Not right now though. I mean, if you want to right now, that's fine. We could go to the courthouse right now, like Max and Fang if that's what you-"

"Damien," she said, blushing. "Stop it."

"Sorry."

"It's fine," she told him. "And we will get married."

"Soon?"

"I don't know…will we?"

Damien didn't have to respond. Roderick walked into the room.

"Damien, get yo' ass in the kitchen. Your sister bitchin' about something and it's time to eat," he said. "And what are y'all doin'? On the floor? I never took you for a kinky-"

"Cut it out," Damien said, standing up. He grabbed Cameron's hands and helped her up too before putting his Superman ring back in the box. "We're coming."

"Whatever," he said, walking out of the room.

Damien gave Cameron a kiss on the cheek. "So you'll wear it?"

"Yeah, of course," she said, looking down at it. Figures she'd get a geeky boyfriend…but she loved him anyways.

"Hey," I whispered, crawling into bed with Fang. He moved away from me. "Fang, you called me fat first."

"I wasn't calling you fat. I was saying that you don't move."

"Considering I'm normally dominating you, I find that statement very falsified."

"You don't even know what that word means. And did you use it in the correct tense?"

"Does it matter? See, you're not denying that I am the one in charge in the bedroom."

Fang ignored me. "And it was very rude of you to-"

"Me? I'm the rude one?"

"Yes! You called me small."

"The truth hurts."

Fang got out of bed and started for the door.

"Fang, it's almost twelve and you work in the morning. You need to sleep."

"I'm sleeping on the couch."

"You know that sleeping there hurts your back," I said, getting back out of bed. "I'll sleep on the couch, you sleep in the bed."

"No, Max."

"Yes."

He rolled his eyes, stopping in the doorway. "What kind of man would I be if I slept in the bed and made you sleep on the couch?"

"The type of man you always are."

"Max, get back in bed."

"No," I said, crossing my arms. Fang lost his patience and pushed me towards the bed. "Hey-"

"Go to bed," he said, pushing me down onto it.

"Don't you push me," I said, trying to sound upset but honestly, he wasn't being rough, just…Fang-like. He would suffer through horrible sleep as long as I was comfortable. But Fang didn't get it. Sleeping without him is harder than sleeping on the couch.

"Then go to bed," he said before starting to leave. I grabbed his hand, pulling him to the bed. "Fang, come on."

"No, Max."

"Please? I need you."

He was giving in. "I'm not going to lay around and let you insult me."

"I won't anymore."

"Promise?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die," I said as he finally got into bed with me. "I was kidding, Fang. You are very big. And sexy."

"Max, don't start."

"No, you really are," I told him, running my hands over his chest. "I love making love to you." I pushed Fang down onto the bed. "So much. Did you know that?"

"Maxie-"

I kissed his lips. "I want you so badly, Fang. You're my husband right?"

Fang had trouble getting his words out as my hand made it's territory on his crotch. "Y-yeah."

"Then it's my job to please you," I told him, pressing flush against him. "and please you I will."

"I-I have no objections."

Please, like it would matter if he did.

Damien pulled the covers up around them. "See? My dad was very well behaved."

"He didn't say anything to me all night."

"…But he didn't say anything bad."

"You can't say anything bad when you don't say anything at all!"

"Calm down, Cammie," Damien said, closing his eyes. "Why does it matter?"

"I don't know…I want your family to like me."

"They do."

"No, your mom does."

"And my cousins and my sister."

"Bull, Damien. I don't know about your cousins but Tammie hates me," Cameron said.

"No."

"Yes."

He pulled her to him, wishing that Peter was here. But he wasn't, he was at home. "We need to get you new sheets."

"What? You don't like them?"

"I do but…purple, Cammie?'

"Yes! It's my favorite color."

He sighed, kissing her head. "Goodnight."

"Wait," she said before he fell asleep.

"What?"

"…We never finished talking about marriage."

He frowned. "Do you want to get married right now?"

"Well no."

"Then we won't."

"Do you want to get-"

"Cammie, I don't care when we do," he told her. "Any day is fine with me. I'd be happy either way."

She cuddled against him. "I love the ring. Thank you."

Running a hand down his back, he said, "No problem. I love you, Cameron."

"I love you too, Superman."

End of August

Kindergarten should be easy, right? Wrong. The twins were in too different class, which is what we wanted. We didn't want them to be codependent on each other or anything like that and, to tell the truth, they didn't want to be anywhere near each other. So what's the problem? Alex is in Tabitha's class.

"Where's Alex?" Tyler asked. I had walked him to his class and Fang had taken Tabitha to hers.

"Tyler, I told you yesterday, she's in the other class."

He frowned as the teacher came up to us. After talking to her for a minute, I gave Tyler a hug and Lucas patted him on the head before I left to go out to the car. Fang was waiting.

"How'd it go for Tabitha?" I asked, putting Lucas into the car. Cody was with Nudge today. That's the great thing about us both having kids at the same time. That way, she could give me Amber one day to watch with Cody and I give her Cody to watch with Amber the next. We're geniuses. Well I am but whatever.

"Fine. Alex was there."

"Tyler looked like he was going to start crying. I feel bad for leaving him."

"Was he actually crying?"

"No."

"Then you have nothing to feel bad about," Fang said, pulling away from the school.

"Still, Fang. He really wanted to be with Alex."

"Yeah, well he's not."

I closed my eyes. "Who's at work?"

"Bone."

"Luther's still with Tammie and the baby?"

"Yep."

I smiled a little. Tammie gave birth to a healthy, baby boy. This made Tabby happy. The thought of Luther having a daughter and replacing her was enough to give her nightmares. His name is James. So cute. Not as cute as my Cody but hey.

"Are we going to work?"

"I am. You want to go home or stay there?"

"I don't know. Do was have food at the house?"

"Yeah."

"Then take me home."

"You want Lucas today?"

'Might as well. Fang, summer is over. My babies are in school again."

Fang smiled. "I know. Ain't it great?"

"No," I told him flatly. "What are we going to do if Tyler acts out again?"

Taking a deep breath, Fang said, "He won't. He's had the whole summer to grow up."

"That doesn't mean he has."

"I don't know," Fang sighed. "Maybe he has."

"It's doubtful."

"Max, just have faith for once, alright? Damn."

He was mad at me now. Great…

"I don't like Mrs. Baylor," Tyler told Alex. It was recess and they were playing on the swings.

"I like Mr. Harry," Alex said. "He's divertido. And he knows some Spanish!"

Frowning, he said, "You can't like it there."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not there."

Alex frowned too. "I miss you and all, Ty, but I like my class. I'm sorry that you're not there."

"I'll be there soon," Tyler told her.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm gonna get kicked out of Mrs. Baylor's class and moved to yours."

Alex made a shocked face. "You can do that?"

"I can try."

"How?"

"Fighting and stealing and not taking naptime. All the stuff I normally do."

"Be careful, Tyler. Don't get kicked out like you did with Ms. Kerry."

He rolled his eyes. "You worry too much, Alex."

After a minute, she spoke again. "Manuel called me."

"He did?"

"Yep! He said that as soon as he gets back, he's gonna buy me a big gift."

"Really?"

"Yeah. And then I told him that he forgot your birthday and he said that he'd get you something too."

Tyler smiled. "Good."

"Yeah. He said that you were like brothers."

Giggling, Tyler jumped out of his swing. "Tammie had a baby."

"Really?" Alex asked, jumping out of her swing too.

"Yep. It's a boy. I told her that she could have just taken Cody or Lucas."

Alex giggled. "What'd she say?"

"That I should be nicer and other stuff. Luther said that she was just high off med-ee-cation from having a baby."

Alex started walking away, him following. "Wanna play Spiderman?"

"Yeah. You be Green Goblin."

"No. I want to be Penguin."

Tyler huffed. "That's Batman, Alex."

She laughed. "I know. But I still want to be him."

After arguing for a second, Tyler gave in. What? He was so soft when it came to Alex.

"He's so cute," Cameron squealed as they went back out to her car.

"Yeah," Damien mumbled. Luther and Tammie together made his stomach hurt. Sure, he loved James already but they could both do better. "Are you driving?"

"No, you can."

He got in, sighing. "Where are we going?"

"I'm off today," she told him.

"Me too."

"Do you want to be alone or spend the day with me?"

He glanced at her. Serious question? "Spend it with you, Cameron."

"Okay, well I have things to do today."

He held down a sigh. "Where to, baby?"

"I'm going shopping."

Knowing he should just shut up but not able to, he asked, "On my dime or yours?"

"Are you offering to buy me things?"

"If you want me-"

"Okay!"

Great… "So the mall?"

'Yeah."

Driving in silence for awhile gave Damien time to think. He never had time to do that anymore. He was either with Cameron or being bothered by Tammie and Luther. Then again, he had spent his whole life alone and in silence except for Luther and his sister so he should be glad that it was now hard to find.

"How was work?" Cameron asked him.

"You mean yesterday?"

Duh. "Yes, Damien."

He shrugged as best he could while driving. "It was work."

"That's such a cool job."

"Tattooing?"

"Yeah."

To him, it was just a way to get his art out. "If you say so."

It was quiet again for a second before she spoke. "A lot of people say that tattooing is against God."

How could she pass judgment? At least he went to church! Thinking that way made him feel bad. Cameron clearly had some sort of phobia about God. It wasn't her fault.

"And? I don't think that way and that's all that matters."

"…Does your dad think that it's good?"

"Cam-"

"It's just a question."

He stared at the rode. "Yeah, he hates it."

"Does Tammie go to church?"

"Yes," he hissed.

"Sorry," Cameron said, blushing. "I was just-"

"It's fine, Cammie. I'll answer your questions if you want."

"No, it's fine."

Great, now he'd upset her. He decided to fix it later though because he had a headache.

"I love you, Cammie," he told her.

She laid her head against the window. "Tyler and Tabitha started school today, right?"

"Yep."

"Tommy did last week."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Cameron started playing with her ring. Noticing this, Damien said, "It's a nice ring, eh?"

"Very nice."

He laughed a little. "The other day, my mom tried to ask if I was secretly married to you."

Cameron smiled at him. "No. But it'd make a good story."

"Fang and Max already have written that one though."

"…We could do it better."

"Well, of course," Damien said. "We are the better couple."

She laughed. "Yeah."

"We're like the king and queen of relationships."

"We're Michelle and Barak Obama of relationships."

"Yep. Max and Fang can be…Sarah Palin and whoever she's married to."

Cameron rolled her eyes. "Please, like Fang would ever let Max get more famous than him."

They both laughed at that.

The second day of school, we had to pick Alex up in the morning because her mother was sick and her father was at work. I dropped her youngest brother off too before going to the elementary school. Tyler was talking to Alex like nothing was wrong. Of course, they were not speaking English so I have no idea what they were talking about.

After I dropped them off, I headed to work. Luther was there.

"Hey," I said, walking over to the counter.

"Hey. Where's Tabitha?"

"At school."

"…What?"

"They started kindergarten yester-"

"What?" Luther seemed very upset. "She has to be mad at me."

"Why?"

"Because, Max," he started. "I haven't seen her to tell her that I love her and if anyone picks on her I'll beat them up!"

Luther finally has his own kid to worry about and he's more concerned with mine.

"She's fine. She loved it yesterday."

Frowning, he asked, "What about Tyler?"

"Alex isn't in his class so he's very angry."

He shook his head. "Poor Tyler."

Poor person he's going to attack one day… "How's James?"

"What? Oh, fine. He's just a baby. All he does is sleep."

I took off my sunglasses as I sat down. "Well, Fang is always watch Cody sleep and talking about it."

"Well maybe I'm just not as creepy as him."

"My husband is not creepy."

Luther smiled at me. "Where's Lucas?"

"With Fang."

"And what does Fang do with him when he starts to cry?"

"…Blow air on his feet."

"I think I won that argument."

I laid my head down on the counter. "Are you and Tammie still on good terms?"

He shrugged. "I guess so."

"Where are you staying?"

"At my place."

"That's good."

"Yeah."

"Luther!"

"Hey, Tabby," Luther said, taking her into his arms. She was getting older but he refused to stop picking her up. Tyler stomped into the store.

"And don't you ever, ever do something like that again," I ranted as I closed the door. "Do you hear me?"

Tyler frowned. "It wasn't my fault!"

"What's wrong?" Luther asked, Tabitha in his lap.

"Max is mean," Tyler said, as if I just suddenly decided to yell at him. Yeah, whatever.

"What did he do?" Luther asked.

"He got in trouble at school for pushing and name calling," I said, arms crossed.

"They were mean to me first," Tyler tried but I didn't care.

"We do not push," I told him.

"Maybe you don't but I do."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, Tyler. You can just talk to Fang tonight."

"No," he whined, suddenly changing his tone. "Mama, no."

"Yes."

Crying, he walked off to the office. Tabitha snuggled against Luther.

"I missed you, Tabby," he said.

"I saw you when I saw James," she told him.

"Yeah but I haven't seen you in a few days. I get lonely."

Tabitha giggled. "Am I still your favorite?"

I raised an eyebrow, waiting. He leaned down and whispered something to her that made her laugh. I rolled my eyes.

Cameron cuddled against Damien. "What time is it?"

"Probably four in the afternoon," he said, still looking at the TV. She had been sleeping on him for the past hour or so. "Do you have work?"

"Tonight, yeah."

They were on his couch, Batman on.

"When?"

"At five."

"Shouldn't you go home and get ready?"

She sighed, giving him a kiss on the cheek before getting up. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"No, tonight. Come back here after you go to work."

"Damien-"

"Please?" He looked up at her with pleading eyes. "I'll love you forever and ever if you do."

"Will you wait up for me?"

"Of course."

"Alright," Cameron said, putting on her shoes. It was so much nicer here now that Tammie was gone. She was actually starting to like the little apartment. "I'll see you then, I guess."

"I love you, Cammie," he told her.

"You too, omen," she said before walking out the door. Damien laid there for another hour before getting up. He and Luther were going to a movie. After feeding Peter, he left.

"Hey," Luther said, opening his front door. "You can come in and see James and Tammie but she's-"

"I don't want to. Let's just go."

The older man shrugged before following him out. "So where's Cameron?"

"At work."

Luther nodded, headed to his car. "So you'll see her tomorrow?"

"No," Damien said. "She's going to come back to my place."

"And?"

"And?" Damien repeated the other man's words.

"Are you two going to…"

"Sleep? Yes."

"Damien."

He buckled his seatbelt. "We're going to wait."

"Until?"

"I don't know. We haven't decided yet."

"Have you even talked about it?"

"No, not really. Just that I love her, with or without it."

"So she's the one that doesn't want to do it?" Luther asked, pulling out of the driveway.

"No. She wants to, I think."

"Then do it, Damien."

"No."

"Why not?"

"…I don't know."

"Are you scared?"

"No! I've done it before."

Luther glanced at him. "You really care about her, huh?"

"Yes, I do. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Sighing, his older brother figure said, "Then I guess you should wait until you're ready. You don't want to screw anything up."

Damien nodded. "I know."

"Good. 'Cause out of all of us, I think that you two will make it."

"Even out of you and Tammie?"

It took him a second to find his voice. "Yeah, Damien."

"And whoever Bone eventually finds?"

"…You're a very funny person."

He laughed a little, shaking his head. "What about Max and Fang?"

"They're already dead, Damien. They're just living as if they're not."

"But you think that she'll ever leave him?"

"No. But they probably won't love each other three years from now."

"You're giving them that long?"

Fang stretched, yawning loudly. Lucas giggled, clapping his hands at his father. It was around noon now and we were just lounging in bed, both off.

"What time do we pick up the kids?" Fang asked.

"They get out at two forty but I always go down there at around two thirty."

Getting up, Fang went into the bathroom, leaving the door open. He began to take off his clothes.

"Ew, close the door."

"I'm taking a shower."

"Still don't want to see."

Fang came back into the room, now naked. He picked up Lucas.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"I'm gonna bring him into the shower with me."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I just figured he'd like it."

I closed my eyes. Cody, who was sleeping next to me, made a noise. With my eyes still closed, I reached out and ran a hand down his little tummy. I went back to sleep until Fang got out of the shower again.

"Did he like it?" I asked as Fang dressed. Lucas, realizing he was naked, started giggling. He loved being nude. Boys are weird.

"Yeah," Fang said, still dressing. Lucas crawled over to Cody.

"Nah!"

The baby wiggled.

"Nah!"

Again with the wiggling.

"N- Daddy!" He squealed as his father lifted him into his arms.

"Come on, you harasser," Fang mumbled, walking towards the door. "We've got to get you dressed, bubba."

"Bye-bye," he called to me. I gave him a small wave, making him laugh. Cody wiggled a little.

"Is he mean to you, Cody?" I whispered, kissing the top of his head. "Mommy's sorry. That's just the way Lucas plays."

I laid there with him for awhile before getting up and putting him into his crib. Walking out of the room, I headed for the living room. Fang and Lucas were playing with blocks. I rolled my eyes, lying down on the couch.

"We need to clean house today," I told Fang.

"Eh, we'll get around to it."

"Fang-"

"Max, chill out, alright? This house ain't that dirty."

"What's up with you and ain't recently?" I asked, frowning.

"I don't know."

Lucas knocked down Fang's tower. "Nah!"

"Lucas," Fang grumbled, shaking his head. "You're so mean."

"No he's not," I told Fang.

"Yes. He's a spoiled rotten, little brat."

"Fang!"

"But I love you anyways," Fang whispered, pulling the baby to him. Lucas giggled as his father kissed him all over.

Rolling my eyes, I turned on the TV.

"Hungry?" Fang asked a few minutes later.

"No," I lied. I had to start starving again. It was the only way to put off all this weight. "You work at the store tomorrow?"

"Other job," he said, getting up. "Sure that you're not hungry? Me and Lucas are eating."

"I'm fine. My stomach's just a little upset."

Fang shrugged before walking into the kitchen, taking Lucas with him.

"You smell good," Damien said.

Cameron blushed. "Um…Thanks?"

He smiled back. It was the next day and around three when they finally woke up. The night before they had stayed up talking until seven in the morning. He loved that, being able to stay up with her and not even feel tired. The only thing better was waking up at three the next day and saying something bold about her smell.

"It's a good thing," he said, pulling her to him.

Cameron giggled. "You smell good too, omen."

"Do I?" He asked, running a hand up and down her back.

"Yeah. So good."

"…Hey, Cammie?"

"What?"

"Luther said that it's good that we're not having sex. Do you think so?"

She shifted a little. "I don't know. I guess."

"…Are we going to wait until we're married?"

"I don't know, are we?"

"I asked you first."

"So?"

"Cameron, I'm just asking-"

"It doesn't matter to me, Damien."

"But if it was up to you…?"

"…I would have had us do it a long time ago."

He blushed. "Oh."

She looked up at him. "I do like this, though. Just talking all night. It's nice."

"Yeah," he agreed, the heat slowly moving away from his cheeks. "Very nice."

She kissed his clothed chest. "You look very cute in your Spiderman t-shirt."

He knew that she was changing the subject but he decided to just let her. "Thank you."

"You're so sweet," Cameron mumbled against him. He reached down and ran his hand down her throat, making the woman freeze. He kept going until he got to the cross. Damien held it in his hand, staring at it.

"Who gave it to you?" Cameron asked suddenly.

"Huh?"

"You gave it to me and said that it was someone special. Who gave it to you?"

"Sara's father."

"Who?"

He shook his head before kissing hers. "It's not important right now."

She frowned but said nothing more on it. He didn't push her, she didn't push him. If something was truly important it would get out sometime. Cameron wrapped her hand around his that still held the cross.

"I love you, Damien."

He kept staring at their hands. "I love you too."

Rubbing his hand with her fingers, she said, "What do you want to do today?"

"Be with you."

She rolled her eyes.

When he's yelling at me, I don't really hear him anymore. I mean, I hear it but the words don't make sense. He's mad right now because Tyler got in trouble at school. Fang would never come out and say that, oh no. So, instead, he decides to just yell at me about doing the dishes. I'm not aware of it for a moment but my feet move to the door and, in a second, I'm outside. Fang doesn't follow me.

Dogs have it so easy, I noted to myself as I sat down in the chair outback. Tank was lounging in the sun, not giving a crap about anyone or anything as long as he got feed and was given attention. What a life. I closed my eyes, trying to ignore the fact I could still hear Fang yelling from inside. He just wanted Tyler to finally do good at something. It's not his fault.