Broken
Chapter 28
Samantha didn't want to go home, really. Luther's house was huge and she still had to keep her music videos turned down. At home it would be horrible.
"Are you sure?" Damien asked her as they pulled up to the house. She glanced at him. In reality, she didn't want to go home, but she knew that her dad wanted to.
"Yeah," she said, nodding her head a little. Damien smiled at her before getting out of the truck. He got a few of the bags.
"Can you get some of those, Nicki?" He asked, walking to the door. Samantha took her time as she grabbed the bags before slowly walking into the house. Her mother was on the couch, watching TV. Samantha looked at her, but she didn't even acknowledge her.
"Thanks," Damien said as Samantha sat his bag down in his room. "Take Nessa's bag to her room for me, but try not to wake her, alright?"
She nodded, walking away. After putting the baby's bag in her room, she went into her own room.
"Wow! Dad, is it mine? Is it?"
Damien walked into the room. "What?"
"The stereo," she said, staring at it. "And look, Pink Friday!"
She picked up the CD and put it into the stereo. "Is it?"
"I don't know," he said, frowning. "I didn't buy it."
Vanessa started crying and he left to go tend to her. Running from the room, Samantha headed down the stairs.
"Is it mine?"
"Shut up," Cameron told her, frowning. "I'm trying to watch-"
"Did you buy it for me?"
"I said shut-"
"Cameron," Damien warned, walking down the stairs with the now fine Vanessa.
"Yes, Samantha, I bought you the stupid stereo," she said. Samantha smiled, rushing over to her. She gave her mother the best hug she could since she was still laying on the couch.
"It's Nicki, but that's okay," Sam said, letting her go. "It's mine though? For keeps?"
"Yes," she said, having to bite her tongue to keep from yelling at her to get lost.
"Great!" She ran back up the stairs. Damien smiled a little.
"See? It's good to be nice," he said, going to sit down in the chair. Vanessa leaned against him, happy that he was back. Grinning down at her, he asked, "Did you miss me while I was gone? Huh? Daddy went to a funeral. Yeah."
"How was it, anyways?" Cameron asked. They had talked on the phone last night, but he hadn't been in a very good mood. Apparently, his mom had been very uptight. Her father had just passed, after all.
"Alright, I guess," he said, shrugging a little. "How were you, Vanessa? Did you and Mommy have fun?"
"No," Cameron answered for him.
"See? That's exactly what I'm talking about, Cameron."
"What? It's the truth," she said, going into defensive mode. "She cried a lot and wasn't happy. I think that she missed you."
"Oh," he said, looking back down at the baby. She was making little noises. "Did you miss me, Nessa?"
She looked up at him and smiled. Giving her a kiss, he said, "She just doesn't know you that well, Cameron. Give it some time."
"Right," she said, rolling her eyes.
I was sleeping when something wet touched my ear. I pushed it away.
"Why is Tank in bed with me?"
"It's me, baby."
I opened my eyes to see Fang in bed with me. "What do you want?"
He went back to my ear, not answering the question. I sighed, allowing him to.
"What did you do that you want forgiveness for?"
He ignored me.
"Was it just for being a jerk for the past month?"
Fang pulled away from my ear and just pulled me to him. "I just wanted to kiss you."
"You and your freaky ear fetish."
"Me and my freaky Max fetish."
I leaned up and kissed him before settling against him. "My stomach is good today."
He rubbed my tummy. "That's good."
"Yeah."
I glanced up at him. "Do you think that we can do twins?"
Fang held me to him. "We have before. And it's kind of late now."
I sighed. "This is our last baby."
"You mean babies," he said, running a hand down my stomach.
"You looked really shocked yesterday, when I told you."
"We're just running out of room."
"Yeah…" I looked back up at him. "Fang?"
"Hmmm?"
"If these really are our last two…I think that you should get a vasectomy."
"Ha, no."
"Fang."
"No," he said, kissing my head. "I never said that these are our last. You did."
I frowned. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Max, if you think about it, including Kevin, we only really have seven kids. Without him, six. That means that plus these two is nine, or eight without Kevin."
"Thank you, but you're my husband, not math teacher."
He sighed. "I'm just saying that we shouldn't stop until we have a girl."
"Tabitha."
"Another one."
"Fang."
"She's going to be gone soon, Max. I want her to have a sister before she moves out."
"Seeing as she says that's fifteen, I think that we've hit the end of the road."
Fang groaned. "She is not moving out at fifteen. And even if, we still have two years."
"Fang."
He moved to kiss my stomach. "These little ones could be girls, you know."
"They better be. I can't do much more."
He smiled. "I've been thinking about where they're going to go."
"I don't know. You're the one trying to knock me up as many times as that Duggar mom."
He moved back to my ear. Instead of kissing it, he just talked in it. "I think that all those haters that get mad about people having so many kids are just jealous."
"If people hate me, Fang, it's because I'm a bitch."
"You are not," he said, kissing my head. We were silent for another minute or two before I spoke again.
"When we were younger, I hated the people that had a zillion kids."
"What about now?"
"Love them, of course. Except when they think that they're family's better than ours, because that's a lie."
Fang smiled a little. "I couldn't imagine being Damien and Cameron, only having one kid."
"They have two kids and are back together."
"Of course," Fang said. "Damien might have found some huevos for awhile, but she cracked them just as easily."
"You know that means eggs, really."
"That was the point. I was making a reference by saying that she cracked them."
"Sure."
"Max-"
"I have to pee," I told him, pushing him away so that I could stand. I've never had twins before, but already I'm having to pee more than with just one baby. This sucks.
"I guess you know by now."
Tyler, who was shirtless in his bed, trying to cool down from the heat, glanced at the doorway. "Know what?"
"You know."
"Not really."
"I heard Max and Fang talking yesterday after they got home from the doctor-"
"You call Dad Fang now?"
"-and she's pregnant."
"We all know that."
"With twins."
Lucas, who was on his bed, gasped. "Really?"
Tabitha ignored him, closing the bedroom door behind her as she stepped further into the room. "Do you know what this means, Tyler?"
"That we're probably all doubling up on rooms?"
Tabitha rolled her eyes. "That is part of my point, but not all of it. Tyler, they're trying to make a new family."
He smiled as the air finally turned on again. It was way too hot in here. "What?"
"Think about it. Max is trying to erase us."
He frowned. "What makes you say that? Max loves me."
"How are you so sure?"
"The stuff she buys me, how she always tells me, the way that she looks out for me," he said. "Just because you're a teenage girl, doesn't mean that you have to buy into that teen angst crap, alright?"
"Shut up, Tyler. I just meant…Maybe we should find Lydia."
"Who's that?" Lucas asked.
"Shut up and get out," Tabitha told him.
"No," Lucas said.
"Now."
"It's my room too! And if you make me leave, I'll go tell Mom that you're talking about her."
"Fine, stay," Tabitha said before looking at Tyler. "So will you help me?"
"Help you what? I don't want to find her," Tyler said.
"Huh?"
"You heard me," he said. "I love Max. I think that she's the best mother in the world. I don't care if she has a million more kids. I'll still know that she loves me. I think that it's sad that you feel so unloved that you have to push away the only people that really love you."
"Fine then!" She turned and walked away. "I'll find her all on my own."
"Have fun," he said, closing his eyes again.
After she was gone, Lucas asked, "Is Lydia your mom?"
"No," Tyler said. "Max is my mom."
Lucas took that as a yes. "But, Tyler, you have to meet her!"
"Why?"
"What if she has more kids? Wouldn't you want to meet them?"
"They're probably as screwed up as Tabitha."
"Still. What if you start dating a girl and then you find out that she's your sister?" Then he started snickering. "Oh wait, you're never going to date."
Tyler didn't take it offensively. "That's right. I'm going to marry Alex."
That sobered Lucas up. "You really think so?"
"I know so," he said, rolling onto his stomach. "Either that or I'll just live alone for the rest of my life."
"Alone?"
"Well, here, with Max, but no other woman in my life."
"Except for Tabitha."
"She won't be here much longer," Tyler said, yawning a little. "I'm going to sleep. Wake me up when it's time for dinner. Unless Max makes it. Then I have a stomach ache."
Damien's first day back in the house and he slept through most of it. When he woke up, Cameron was in bed with him, Vanessa in her lap. She was talking to the baby, so Damien laid still, not wanting to let on that he was awake.
"Well, I told you that would happen," Cameron said to the baby, who was sucking on a pacifier. "Chess is stupid online."
Cameron was on the laptop. Damien frowned. He didn't even know that she knew how to play chess.
"Yeah, I know," Cameron said to Vanessa. "I'm getting better though, huh?"
The baby just stared up at her mom, still sucking away. Cameron was nice, or so her daughter was slowly realizing. The baby patted Cameron's chest, still watching her.
"I quit," Cameron finally said, closing the laptop. Then she looked down at her daughter. "What do you want to do? You want to take a nap with Damien?"
As she was laying the baby down on the bed, she noticed that he was awake. "Hey, Damien."
"Hi."
The baby kicked her feet a little, her pacifier falling out. As soon as she opened her mouth to cry, Cameron picked it up, putting it back in the four month old baby's mouth. When she saw Damien smile at her, Cameron got self conscious.
"What?" She looked away from him.
"Nothing," he said, kissing Vanessa's head. "Nothing at all."
"Max!"
I sighed, walking up the stairs. "What?"
"Get them out of my room," Tabitha yelled. I walked in there and saw her issue.
"What are these?" Lance asked, holding up one of her bras. Chris, who was next to him, was unwrapping pads and sticking them on the dresser, which the two boys were going through.
"Guys get out," I told them, leaning against the doorframe. I was sleepy. "Wanna come take a nap with me?"
"No," Chris said. "Me and Bill are gonna play with our stickers."
"They aren't stickers," Tabitha yelled at him. Then she turned to me. "See? You get a bunch of kids and then make me watch them while you sleep."
"It isn't my fault that you suck at babysitting," I said, not wanting to fight with her. "Come on, boys."
"No," Lance said, pulling out her underwear. "Girls are weird. There's no superheroes on her underwear. Look, Chris."
"Now," I said, no longer finding them cute. "I'll call Fang."
"He's at work," Lance said before standing. "We'll go nap though. I'm sleepy."
Chris stood up. "Tabitha got boring stickers. No pictures!"
"Clean all this up," I told Tabitha. She made a face at me before slamming the door behind us.
"Wouldn't have happened at boarding school," I called to her.
"Or at Lydia's house!"
I thought about saying something, or asking about what she meant, but Chris took my attention by beginning to cry. He had tripped.
"Are you okay?" I picked him up.
He sniffled, laying his head on my shoulder. "Yeah."
I carried him downstairs and to my bedroom, Lance following. After twenty minutes of laying in bed, they were both sleeping, but I couldn't. I had a hard time sleeping now, even though it was the most appealing thing in the world to me. As I was laying there, I decided to call Fang.
"What, Max?" He answered.
"Are you annoyed with me?"
"Of course not," he said. "I just want to know what you want."
"I'm trying to sleep, but can't."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Sing to me."
"Max."
"Tell me a story."
"Are you serious?"
"No," I said. "Why? Would you have?"
"If we were home, in the bed by ourselves, yes."
"Really?"
"If you really thought that it would help you fall asleep. I mean, come on, it's kind of my fault that you can't. I did get you pregnant."
I frowned. "You sound like you're taking pride in that fact."
"Oh, I am. Trust me, I am."
"It's not that hard," I told him.
"Maybe I'm just good at the whole sex thing," Fang said.
"Fang, the point of sex is to have fun, not be bogged down with annoying, crying things."
"Max, sex is only supposed to be for procreation."
"I hate that word," I said. "Procreation sounds like your giving birth to a devil child or something."
"Well look at our kids."
I smiled a little. "Tabitha yelled at me today. Apparently, I don't take care of the kids I already have."
"…I like that idea that you had before."
"What idea?"
"Boarding school. Her and Lucas."
"Luke? What did he do?"
"I found a bug in my box of important things. I just know that it was his."
I frowned. "What's in that box of yours?"
"You know, my important things."
"Which are?"
"Well, you're always pregnant, so you're too fat to fit in there, so not you."
"Fang."
"You know, just stuff that's important to me. A picture of each kid, that tie that Tabitha bought me your first Christmas here, a marble that Chris gave me one day as an apology after he told me he hated me, Lucas's ultrasound picture-"
"Where'd you get that?"
"Huh?"
"You never wanted anything to do with him. Where did you get it?"
"Max, he's still my son," he said. "Besides, I got it out of your dresser drawer."
"That reminds me, Chris and Lance went through Tabitha's drawer."
"And?"
"They started opening the pads and sticking them on-"
"Max, I do not need to know that."
"Why not?"
"I don't want to think about Tabitha…doing that. It's like you and Tyler doing what he does."
"Fang, he does not do that!"
"Then what does he do with those magazines you keep taking from him?"
"He's holding them for friends."
"What friends, Max?"
"Shut up."
"Are you tired yet?"
"Fang, I'm always tired, I just can't sleep."
"Then stay up until you fall asleep."
"I want to sleep now though!"
Fang sighed. "You are so demanding,"
"Thank you."
"Yeah, well- Uh, baby?"
"Yeah?"
"I have to go," he said. "Bone just walked in drunk."
"Great."
"Yeah. See you tonight, okay?"
"Bye," I said, hanging up. I checked to see if Lance and Chris were still sleeping, which they were, before getting up and walking out of the room. The first person that I saw was Neo, who was playing with toys by himself in the hallway.
"What are you doing?" I asked him.
"Playing."
"Well where's Jay?"
"He called me a fart face."
"Do you want me to yell at him?"
"No," he said, frowning at me. "I don't want you to fight my battles, Max. How could I become a famous army general if I have you do everything for me?"
I looked at his army men strew across the hall. "Well, every big, strong, army general has someone who took care of him as a baby and kid, that still probably does when he comes home to visit."
Neo looked up at me. "Like a mommy?"
"Exactly like a mommy."
Frowning, he turned his vision back to the ground. "I don't have a mommy."
"I could be like your mommy."
"But you gots a lot of other boys to be mommy to," he said, now messing with his toys again.
"That doesn't mean that I don't still have time for you, Neo," I said. Slowly, I sat down on the floor with him. "Let's play army."
"It's not called army, Max," he said, rolling his eyes. "Girls."
"Hey."
"But you can play," he said, sliding the blue men over to me. "You're the blue ones and I'm green. I'm the USA. Who are you?"
"Um…Canada."
He frowned. "Whenever Tyler plays with me, he always makes me be the other country so that he can be USA. He always makes me be Iraq or Iran or Afg…some other word. Then he shoots my people in the head and they're all named Adeem."
I frowned at him. Tyler was nice to the other boys, but he was rare to play with them. For Neo to mention this, Tyler playing with him must be pretty noteworthy to him.
"You like playing with Tyler?"
"He's okay," Neo said, though his face betrayed him. "Sometimes it gets borin' just playing with Jay or by myself."
"Doesn't Fang play with you?"
"Sometimes. He's no fun though, because he only likes to play with action figures."
"You don't like action figures?"
"I do, but I like army too."
"Well, maybe I don't want you to be in the army," I said as I stood all my men up. "Maybe I don't want you out there, almost getting killed."
"Don't worry, Max," he said. "I'm not gonna be in the army."
"You're not?"
"Nope," he said, shaking his head. "I'mma be in the marines."
"Really?"
He nodded. "Better than the stupid army or navy."
"How do you know that?"
"I just do," he said, finally looking at me again. "Ready to play?"
"Of course."
I was in the living room, watching TV, when Fang got home. It was late, around two in the morning.
"Hey," I said as he walked over to me. Fang gave me a kiss on the lips before going into the kitchen.
"It's late," he told me.
"I can't sleep."
"Come on," he said, walking out with a coke in one hand. "Let's go get in bed."
I followed him, hoping that him being home would help me. "I haven't slept since you woke me up before you left."
"It must have been a long day for you," he said, stripping down to his boxers.
"Yeah."
After we were settled in the bed, Fang said, "You want that story now?"
"Yeah."
"Alright," he said, holding me to him. "Once upon a time, there was a queen."
"I like the story so far."
"Oh, trust me, it gets better," he said. "So anyways, the queen had married into queen hood, and her husband was an amazing king, though she worked him to the bone and nagged him a lot and had an obsession with trying to make him as miserable as possible."
I cleared my throat, making Fang smile toothily.
"But that's another story for another time," he said, kissing my head. "So anyways, the king had kids from a previous marriage, who were brats, though his later kids weren't much better."
"Maybe he has flawed genes."
Fang shushed me before continuing. "Anyways, the queen was very bitchy at times and had suddenly decided that she would do anything in her power to keep the king from his one, true love."
"Which is?"
"Com- Stamps."
"Stamps," I repeated.
"Stamps," he said. "So anyways, she hated his stamps. In fact, she even went as far as to put all of his stamps in the attic and make him be up there when he wanted to play- I mean look at them. Once, though, he found a bug in his important things box and that just pissed him off, but anyways, she hated his stamps."
"Fang, is this going anywhere?"
"Not really," he said. "I just was hoping that you'd fall asleep soon."
I closed my eyes. "It did make me tired, but for another reason."
"What reason would that be?"
"Your voice is so annoying that I want to go to sleep just to get away from it."
Fang just rolled his eyes.
"-and then the dove brought back a branch, meaning that there was dry land," Damien said, rubbing the stuffed dove against Vanessa's cheek gently. "Then they all lived happily ever after. Now for Jonah and the whale. First I need to find a whale."
Damien reached into the box of stuffed animal's that he had found in the attic and pulled one out. It was a few days later and things were going great…well, okay, but he was being optimistic. Samantha, or Nicki, was happy, so that's all that really matters.
"This is a whale, Vanessa."
The baby stared at him as he spoke. Though he could get annoying sometimes, Daddy was okay.
"Na ba."
"Yeah," he said, letting her grab it. "Then this is Jonah."
He held up a tiger that he was pretending was a man. "He's a really good guy, but God asks him to-"
"What are you doing?" Cameron walked into the room.
"Teaching Nessa about-"
"Where did you get those?"
"These? They were up in the attic," he said, moving so that she could see the box. "A bunch of stuffed animals."
"Beanie Babies," she corrected.
"Huh?"
"They're called Beanie Babies."
"Oh, right, whatever," he said, shrugging. "I just found them when I was up there-"
"Why did you take them?"
"Sam is really selfish," he said, frowning. "I figured that no one was using them, so why not? Why? Were they Tommy's?"
"No," she said, shaking her head. "My mom's."
Damien frowned. "Oh."
"She thought that they would make her even richer one day. That they would become valuable or something."
"Beanie Babies?"
She nodded. "A lot of people thought that they'd be collectable one day."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"…So?"
"What?"
"Can I use them?"
"What are you doing with them?"
"Teaching her bible stories."
Of course… "Go ahead. They weren't doing any good up in the attic."
She went away and Damien started again. The next time he was interrupted, it was his oldest.
"What are you doing, Dad?"
He sighed as she came into the room. "Trying to teach Vanessa about the bible."
"…Are those new toys?"
"Nope."
"They look new. I've never seen them."
He frowned at her. "What? Do you want to play?"
"I just don't think some baby should just get new toys when I don't."
"They're not new, Sam. They've just been in the attic."
"Nicki."
Rolling his eyes, Damien went back to Vanessa. Samantha made a face at his back before stomping away. When she got downstairs, she saw her mother on the couch, staring at the TV, which wasn't turned on for once.
"What's wrong with you?" Samantha asked, actually concerned. It was rare to see her mother without the glow of the TV.
"There's nothing on TV."
That was something she had never heard her mother say. "You watch infomercials."
"Even those aren't interesting today."
"Oh."
"Why are you stomping around?"
"He's playing with her again."
"Ugh, I know," Cameron said, moving to lay down.
"That stupid baby. No one, but him even likes it."
"Don't I know it?"
They stared at each other for a second, before Damien yelled from upstairs. He had forgotten it was Friday and Smackdown was on. He came running down the stairs, Vanessa in his arms.
"Sorry, Cam, but I need the TV," he said, sitting down in the chair and turning it on. Samantha walked away without another word to her mother. Had they just been getting along? Ew, no. Of course not. That was impossible. Right?
"Alright, alright, settle down," Tyler told the younger boys, frowning at them. "If you shut up, this will go faster."
Chris raised his hand.
"What?" Tyler asked.
"I have to go potty."
"Wait until this is over," Lucas told him.
Chris whined, but settled down after Tyler glared at him.
"What are we doing?" Jason asked, picking at a scab he had gotten from trying to skateboard. "I want to go play."
"Yeah," Lance said.
"Anyone who leaves doesn't get a vote in what we're doing," Lucas threatened.
They all shut up.
"Alright," Tyler said, sitting down in front of them. They were out in the garage, holding a family meeting. Well, a boy meeting. Minus Fang. Fox was there in his place, though. "Begin, Lucas."
He stood up, looking at the younger boys. "As we all know by now, Mom is having twins."
James started playing with a toy car he had brought with him, not really concerned with any of this.
"Since there will be two babies, I heard her and Dad talking and they're going to split up Lance and Chris and put them in someone else's room."
Lance gasped. "Not fair!"
"Yeah," Chris said. "I like my room."
"Too bad," Tyler said. "Speak out again and we'll make you sleep outside."
They frowned, but both shut up. As the oldest, what Tabitha said was law. When she wasn't around, however, Tyler was just as important.
"Now, where was I?" Lucas asked. He was taking his time with this because, normally, he got no say in anything. When Tabitha wasn't with them, he became the second in command, though, and got to give the speeches. It was great.
"About splitting Chris and Lance up," Cody reminded.
"Ah, yes," he said, nodding his head. "So, they're not gonna be roomies anymore, so they're going to put in one of our rooms. Tabitha's out, so we didn't invite her here. Plus, she's a girl and would want to control everything."
"Get on with it," Tyler warned.
"So, we're going to vote on where they go. Each person gets one vote. If it comes to a tie, Tyler will be the decider. Younger first. Where do you want to go, Chris?"
He frowned, feeling like crying and peeing. "Um…Tyler's room."
Tyler groaned.
"Alright," Lucas said. "Where do you want Chris to go, Lance?"
"With me."
"Not an option."
"Um…I want him to go where he wants."
Crap, Lucas mouthed, marking it down on the paper. Two for his and Tyler's room.
"Jay, where do you want Chris to go?"
"With Cody," he said, just not wanting him to be with them or where he wanted.
"Neo?" Lucas asked.
"Uh…with James."
"Two for Cody, two for Tyler," Lucas said. "Where do you want him, James?"
"Uh…with Neo."
"Two for Tyler, two for Cody, and one for Neo," Lucas said, glancing at Tyler. "Cody?"
"With Jason," he said, frowning at him.
"All tied up and I choose…Cody," Lucas said. "Chris, you're going to stay with Cody."
He stared crying and ran from the room.
"Crap," Tyler said, frowning. "He's gonna go to Max. Hurry with this vote for Lance, guys. It's between me and Lucas, or Neo and Jason. Lance, you just decide, alright?"
"Uh…you."
"No," Lucas whined as Neo and Jason cheered.
"What if me and Cody decide?" James asked. "Unbiased vote, right?"
"Yes," Tyler said. "Let them choose."
"Neo and Jason!" Cody yelled.
"Yeah," James said, sneering at them. "Payback."
Neo jumped up and ran off. He was almost out of the door when he ran into Max, who had Chris in her arms.
"What are you guys doing?"
Tyler smiled at me. "Playing."
"Then why did you make Chris cry?" I frowned at him. "He is a baby."
"Yeah," Chris agreed, holding onto me. "A baby."
"And you do not make a baby cry," I reprimanded all of them. "You're all older and need to act so."
"Yeah," Chris agreed, sniffling. "Older."
"A baby alright," Lucas mumbled, frowning.
"What were you really doing?" I asked. "He said that you're making him leave the house."
"Are not," Neo said.
"We were voting on where he and Lance would go, now that there will be more kids," James told me. He was always honest.
"That is none of you guys' business," I told them, setting Chris down. He was getting heavy. "It's mine and Fang's."
"It should be our choice," Cody spoke out, which was odd for him. "If it ain't our choice to get more kids here, then we should at least decide how we get divided up! You want more kids, fine, make them stay in your room!"
Tyler got up and pushed him. "Shut up, Cody."
"Tyler, don't hit him," I said, sighing a little. "Cody, you're the kid. You get no say in anything, alright?"
"Then make them leave," he said, pointing as Lance and Neo. "Or James. We shouldn't have to give up room because their dads suck."
"Hey!" Neo took offense. "You can't say that! My dad is amazing. He loves me."
"Then why doesn't he have you?"
"At least my dad doesn't curse and yell at his wife," Neo retorted.
Lance started crying, running from the room. "I want my daddy! Why don't I have one?"
Chris looked up at me. "I don't think that Lance is happy."
I sighed, walking off to go find Lance. They're all little brats.
"Alright, boys," Fang said, staring them all down. They were strewn across the living room, sitting on the couch, floor, or chair. "You want to have a meeting? We're having a meeting."
Tyler frowned. "Why are you acting like we did something wrong?"
"Because you did. All of you," he said, staring everyone of them down. "Especially you, Tyler. You're the oldest. You don't let them do that to Max."
"Do what?"
"Make her upset."
"What made her upset?" Lucas asked, frowning. They had done the meeting to decide where Lance and Chris went, not hurt his mom. He loved his mom.
"Saying that we're hurting you by having more kids. She wouldn't tell me who said it, but if I find out-"
"Cody," Jason ratted.
"Hey!"
Fang looked at Tyler and he nodded. "Fine, Cody, come on. The rest of you be warned, you are so on my list. Now go get ready for bed."
They all scattered, leaving Cody sitting there on the couch, all alone to face the wrath of Fang alone.
"Let me tell you something, Cody," Fang said, walking closer to him. "You are one of the luckiest kids in this house. Both your parents are still here with you, you don't have any abnormality that could hinder you in society, you have good social skills, and your smart. There is no reason for you ever to mouth off to your mom, got that? Because, honestly, if you want to have a house with less kids, that's fine. Go live with Dr. Martinez. See how soon you'll come crawling back to me."
Cody stared at his father, fearful of whether or not he might be getting a spanking. "O-Okay."
"Now go away," Fang said, taking a step back. "Now."
He ran off, his butt thankful for being spared.
Fang was not happy with this. He wasn't happy at all. Lance wanted to know though, so we were going to tell him who his father was. Ultimately, it wasn't Fang's choice.
"Why is he here?" Lance asked, staring at Bone. We were in the living room the next day, Bone over.
"Because, Lance, there's something that we have to tell you," I said, glancing at Bone. He wasn't happy with this either, but agreed to come, if only because I made him.
"What?"
"Bone is your dad."
He giggled, as if I was stupid. "No, Max. Who is it, Fang?"
Fang, who was standing near the door, arms crossed, shook his head. "It is him, Lance."
"No! Who is it?" He was starting to get upset.
"Me," Bone told him. "I'm your dad."
"No!" He was starting to cry. "Max! Make him go away."
"Lance, stop," I told him, frowning.
"Who's my mommy?" He asked through tears.
"Her name was Victoria," I told him.
"She died," Bone said before he could ask. Lance didn't want to talk to him though.
"Fang, make him leave," Lance said, frowning. "I want Wat."
Fang picked the stuffed toy up off the floor and brought it over to him before looking at Bone. He was already walking out of the door though. Lance hugged his toy to him, looking at Fang.
"I don't want him to be my daddy."
"Alright."
"Can you be my daddy?"
Fang frowned. "I think that I'm alright, just being Fang to you."
"I want you to be my daddy though."
Picking him up, Fang said, "Bone is a good dad."
"Left me," he said, wrapping his arms around Fang's neck. "Would you leave me?"
"Never."
Lance giggled, holding onto him. "I'mma pretend I don't know. That way, I can pretend that you're my daddy."
"Okay," Fang finally relented, setting him down on the ground. "You're still just calling me Fang, though."
"Course," he said, hugging Fang's leg. "Fang?"
"What?"
"I wanna stay with Chris," he said. "Don't make us move."
"I won't," he said, smiling down at him. "Alright?"
He nodded before running off, probably to tell the other boys that Iron Man is his father.
"Then what are we going to do?" I asked Fang.
"Hell if I know," he said, sighing. "Hey, you've got work. Want me to go in for you?"
"And leave me here?" I pushed myself off the couch. "Hell no."
"Watch your mouth," he said, kissing my head. "See you tonight."
"Yeah, tonight."
"Why haven't they told him yet?"
Tabitha shrugged, closing her eyes. "I don't know and I don't care."
He glanced at her from the floor, where he was messing with an old CD player. He had opened the back and was playing around with it.
"Well, aren't you in a good mood," he commented. "What's up?"
"…Don't you think that I have a right to find my mom? My real mom?"
"Yeah," he said, still not looking at her. "Of course."
"Tyler thinks that I'm just being a bitch."
"Well, Tyler can shut his fucking mouth," Adeem said, starting to get annoyed. "I'm so tired of him thinking that he can say whatever he wants because no one likes him anyways."
She opened her eyes to stare at him. "You have to be nice to him, Adeem. He is my brother."
"You don't like him," he pointed out. "So why do you care?"
"I just do, alright?" She shut her eyes again. "Max is having twins."
"Great," he mumbled, still messing with the thing. He wanted to make it work again, but it wasn't going so well. "Where are they going to sleep?"
"Not in my room," she said. She was on his bed, trying to take his nap. "You need to wash your sheets."
"That stain is not what you think it is."
Frowning, she said, "I just meant that they stink, nasty."
"Oh…well, forget I said anything then."
She groaned. "You make it really hard to be around you."
"I wish you made it hard for me to be around you."
"One more joke and I'm leaving."
"But Tabitha, you've just come!"
"…You're really not funny."
He sighed as Shark Bait started licking his face. "I know."
