Living
Chapter 28
August
"You guys are good."
I frowned at Tyler. Was this not the boy that gets angry when I'm pregnant? "What?"
He nodded. "You got a lot of babies. You have to be good at finding them."
I looked at Fang. Four more years and I swear… "Anyways, yeah, I'm pregnant again."
Tabitha shrugged. "Can I go now?"
Fang nodded and she left, running back up the stairs. Jason made a noise from the floor, banging a block against another.
"Baby!" James started bouncing. Cody watched him with sleepy eyes. It was only eight in the morning and Cody wanted to go back to bed. "New baby!"
James birthday had gone on much as Cody's. The only two differences? No Adeem, obviously, and James was not as nice as Cody. He refused to let Samantha touch his toys. Then she started crying and he felt bad, so he tried to force stuffed animals in her face.
Lucas laid his head against my arm. "I'm never getting my own room."
I gave him a kiss on the head. "Nope."
Samantha was crying.
"Shut up!"
Cameron was not in a good mood.
"Dada!"
"He's not here!"
Samantha started stomping her feet on the ground. Mommy wouldn't let her go play outside. It wasn't fair!
Cameron didn't like screaming unless it was her own. "Samantha, you stop it right now or else…I'll make you go take your lap right now, no lunch."
The threat didn't faze her. Cameron picked her up and took her upstairs to her room, where she sat her in the crib before leaving. There. Now she could peacefully watch Judge Mathis.
"But she made her skip lunch," Damien continued to protest.
"I would have spanked her," Dan commented, to which Trinity rolled her eyes.
Samantha was happy now. Daddy had come home and rescued her. Now she was at her granny's house, sitting in his lap. Nothing was better than Daddy's lap.
"Hi," Samantha told him, smiling. He gave her a kiss.
"See? I don't think that she was doing anything bad," Damien went on. "I just think that Cameron was being mean."
"Damien," his mother started. "Maybe she behaves better around you. Tammie used to act worse with me, than Dan."
"Yeah, but not Samantha."
The toddler patted his chest, looking up at him innocently. Damien gave her a kiss. Yawning loudly, she laid her head down on his chest. She was sleepy. All that crying can wear you out.
"She's sleepy," Damien said, standing. "I had better go back home. Bye, Mom."
She smiled at him, going to take the spot he had just vacated. "Bye, Damien. And goodbye, Samantha."
Samantha just made a noise, not even opening her eyes. Damien went out to his car and put her in.
"You know, Sam, you've got to be nicer to Mommy," Damien began as he pulled away from the house. "Don't cry so much, and maybe she'll like you better."
"Bana!"
"I know, sorry I even suggested it," he said, sighing a little. "It shouldn't be your job. You're just a little baby. Are you my baby, Sam? Huh?"
She giggled. "Dada!"
"Yeah," Damien said, staring at the road, though he wanted to be cuddling with her. "You wanna watch TV when we get home? Hmmm?"
She was already wiggling in her seat in anticipation.
Jason was playing with Fang and Neo as I watched Pokemon with all the other boys. I hadn't seen Tabitha in a few hours, but I'm assuming she's just up in her room.
James yawned, laying his head against my shoulder. "Max?"
"What?"
"I wan' a poke-mon."
"Yeah," Lucas agreed. "Pikachu!"
"This Pokemon is stupid," Tyler said. "I like old Pokemon. I hate Dawn. I want Misty back."
Whatever that means… I watched the rest of the show with them before taking Cody and James with me into the bedroom, for a nap. They didn't really sleep anymore, but they would at least rest.
"Hey," Fang said, coming into the room ten minutes later. He had Jason in one arm, Neo on his shoulders. "We're napping too."
"'kay."
He laid the two boys down before getting into our bed. James and Cody giggled as he wrapped the blankets around all of us. I closed my eyes as James gave me a kiss on the nose. Cody giggled and I heard Neo squeal.
"Hey, boys, if we're going to stay, we have to be quiet. Mommy's sleeping."
James cuddled against me lovingly. Sometimes I think he loves me more than my own kids…
"Artemis, are you awake?"
He grunted.
"I need you to-"
"Vickie, I just got home from work," he said. "Chill for a little."
"I've been stuck in this house all day, pregnant, and with your dogs. You owe me some attention."
"Do I now?"
"Yes."
"Give me an hour or two."
"Bone, I just need help reaching something."
He groaned, getting up from the bed. "Why do you have to be so freaking short?"
"Because I'm fat."
"You're not fat, you're pregnant."
"Then what do you call it before I was pregnant?"
"You were just preparing."
She rolled her eyes.
A week later, it was the first day of school. It was also the same day that Bone and Victoria had their baby. The joy.
I had just dropped the kids off at school, when he called me. I had all the other kids, and Fang was at work, so I didn't go down there. I think he wanted me to, but whatever. He needs to grow up sometime.
"Remy can't wait to see Lance," Cody said, caring for his baby doll. Fang thinks that he's becoming gay, but he's not. He's just going to be a good daddy, that's all. Fang's going to scar him if he keeps saying that stuff.
James was rolling around on the ground. "Remy is cool, Max. He's 'unny too."
"Is he?" I was trying to calm Neo down. He had fallen and scratched his knee.
"Yep," James said, yawning. "I'm hungry."
"We'll eat lunch later. You just ate breakfast, James."
Jason, who was playing with blocks, made a loud noise. Once Neo calmed down, I sat him on the ground and he crawled over to his friend. Jason wasn't really playing with Neo, but they were nice to each other. Jason was so young that he would play near someone, but not really interact with them.
"I gotta go poop," Cody said, getting up.
"Cody," I sighed. I really, really hope this one is a girl. He left the room to go to the bathroom. At first, he walked towards my bathroom, but I told him no and sent him upstairs.
James looked at me. "How come people poop?"
"Remember that book we read? Everybody poops? Yeah?"
"It never said why," he pointed out.
"Because you got to get the food out. You know, pee is drinks, poop is food."
James considered this. "Okay."
He got up and went over to Snickers. "Hi, kitty cat."
Snickers meowed, letting him pet her. Fox got up and jumped onto the couch with me. Like I've said before, I hate Snickers. She hates me too. I think it might be the who 'locked her in a shed during winter to hide her from the kids' thing I did, but whatever. Now Fox, he's a good cat. Does that mean that I wouldn't lock him in a shed too? Hehe, no.
Last year, Tabitha would have jumped for joy when she saw Adeem in her class. In her mind, at least. However, that was before he was mean to her.
Luckily for Tabitha, her desk was far away from Adeem's. As far away as you could get in a classroom, anyways.
"Okay," the teacher began. "For our first assignment of the year, we're going to do a group assignment."
She started listing off who was in what group. When she finished, Adeem and Tabitha were both left over.
"Oops," Mrs. Drey said, smiling a little. "I must have forgotten to put you two in a group. Here, be your own group."
The whole point of the activity was for the group members to write about what they did over the summer and then read it back to the other people in their group. Adeem smiled at Tabitha as he pushed a desk next to her.
"Hi."
She blinked. "Let's just get this over with."
He pulled out two sheets of paper from his backpack. "Here."
She took it from him, frowning. "I could have gotten my own paper."
He shrugged. "Why does it matter?"
"Just shut up and let's do this."
Deciding to try and please her, he began to write. Tabitha wondered selfishly for a second if she was in any of his writing.
"Are you done yet?" She asked three minutes later.
He nodded, finishing his last sentence. "You go first."
Her whole paper was without his name at all. Adeem didn't let is hurt him. So what if she was being mean? When he read his, her name was all through out it.
"You make it sound like we were together a lot," she complained.
"We were," he pointed out. "Hey, you know that guy? The one with the guitar? Can he still teach me or-"
"You're so stupid. Do you not know that I'm mad at you?"
"I know," he said. "I just don't know why."
"Because you said that you weren't my boyfriend."
"I'm not!" He glanced at her. "Am I?"
"Not now."
"Was I ever?"
"No."
"Then what's the problem?" He frowned. "I thought we were friends and then you just stopped talking to me. Why?"
"I don't know."
He shrugged, turning his paper into a paper airplane. Then he threw it at the teacher. That not only got him sent to the office, but also her. What did she do?
"Jason's feet smell bad."
"Stop smelling them," I told James, sighing.
He just giggled. I was trying to sleep, but not really. I was just resting. I couldn't sleep with all the boys around. Fang should be home soon, though, and then I have to go to work. I'll just sleep there.
About ten minutes later, Fang did make it home. He gave me a kiss on the head. "You better go get to the store. Keith is there and said he'd stay for ten minutes."
I groaned, getting up. "Bone call you? The baby was born."
"Healthy?" He asked, sitting down in his chair. Cody climbed into his lap.
"Yes," I said. "Lance John Chill."
Fang made a face. "John?"
I shrugged. "I just love the name Lance though."
"Sure," he said, shaking his head. "Go to work, Max. Don't forget to pick up the twins too."
When I got to work, Slice was there. "Hey, Slice."
"Keith, Max, but it's alright," he said, smiling at me. He had cut his hair short and no longer wore any of his piercings. "No customers anyways. You need me to stay or you got this?"
"You can go," I said, sitting down behind the counter. He smiled at me before leaving. I was asleep when giggling woke me up.
"Hi!"
I sat up. "Hi, Samantha."
She giggled, hiding her face in Damien's leg. Damien ran a hand down her head. "Hey, Max."
"Hey," I said. "What time is it?"
"Almost two thirty."
"Shit," I said, standing up.
"Max! Don't curse."
"Sorry," I said. "Look, could you hurry? I have to go get the kids."
"Just need my order, that's all."
I went and quickly got it. "There."
"I'll go get them," Damien offered as he paid. "I mean if you-"
"Great! Thanks."
He sighed. "Can you keep Sam then? I'll get her when-"
"That's great, whatever," I said. "Drop the kids at the house, okay?"
He frowned. "Fine, I g-"
"Bye," I said, ushering him out the door. Samantha got upset at first, but calmed down when I turned on the radio. She loves music for some reason. She started bouncing up and down, giggling.
"You like this song?" I asked her. Samantha just wiggled around, giggling loudly. "Huh?"
Samantha didn't talk that much. She just laughed, really. I mean, she's stuck with Cameron most of the time, so she really didn't have anyone prompting her to talk like I did with all our kids. I had an obsession with teaching them to do stuff. Cameron just wanted Samantha to stay alive. Besides that, she wasn't too concerned with her.
"You're such a good dancer," I told her. "Your hair looks pretty today too."
She climbed up into my lap as the song stopped and as the station turned to commercials.
"Hi," Samantha said, patting the counter.
"Hi."
She giggled, shaking her head. No one had put her hair up today so it just flung around, making her laugh.
"Can you say my name? Huh? Can you say Max?"
She looked around the store, apparently finding me boring. "Na ta."
"Yeah, I know," I said. "Sometimes I can't even say my name."
Damien came back and quickly picked up Samantha. "I missed you. Don't you think that I love you? How were you? How was she, Max? Was she okay?"
"Fine, Damien," I said. "How were the kids? Did they say?"
"Good," he said. "Oh, and Tabitha got sent to the office."
"For what?"
"Her and Adeem did something to a teacher, I don't know," he said, starting towards the door. "Bye, Max."
"Bye," I said, sighing.
Bone frowned. He thought that he was used to loud noise, but nothing this loud. "Why?"
"He's just upset," Victoria said, rocking the baby.
"Why?"
"I don't know, Art," she said, sighing. "He's scared. This is his first night in our apartment."
Victoria wouldn't let Nina come into the guestroom. Or the baby's room. Whatever. Bone was not the happiest person in the world like he thought he would be. And he was ecstatic the first two hours after Lance was born. Then, it wore off. And now, here they were, two days later. He didn't remember Carol crying this much. Lance was loud and annoying. He was scaring the dogs too.
"Yeah, but how do I fix it?"
"You just soothe him," she said, still rocking the baby. "Go back to bed, Artemis. You can get him next time."
Bone sighed, leaving the room. Nina was hiding under the kitchen table and Bubba was under the couch. He tried to coax them both out, but they just refused. Sighing, he went back to bed. He always thought that his kid would be the best. He wouldn't cry, he wouldn't poop too much, he would just be perfect. His dream was crushed and even his dogs wouldn't comfort him.
It was so unfair.
Tabitha sighed, sitting down at her desk. It was now time for recess and Adeem had gotten her in trouble again. She kept trying to ignore him, but it wasn't working.
"Never, in my thirty years of teaching, have I had two students like you two," Mrs. Drey went on. Adeem made a face, wishing he could sit next to Tabitha so that she could see it.
"You are both third graders," the teacher continued. "You cannot act like first graders."
Adeem laid his head down on his desk. You steal one kids backpack and all of a sudden you're a bad person.
"I didn't do anything, though," Tabitha tried. And she really hadn't. Just as she was telling Adeem to give Mark his bag back, the teacher came up to them. That's what she gets for trying to be a good person.
"She really didn't," Adeem said. "She was just trying to get me to-"
"Enough! I do not find it honorable to stick up for someone when they are just as guilty as you," Mrs. Drey said. Tabitha frowned. It wasn't fair.
"She really didn't-"
"Stop it before I send you both down the office."
Adeem was faced with a dilemma. He wanted to go to the office. The principal was cool, and he'd probably miss the rest of class today. Tabitha, though, clearly didn't like that idea, so he shut his mouth.
"Now," the teacher started again. "You have got to stop miss behaving. Stealing is a very big offence. You have no idea how bad it can get."
He drowned out the rest of what she said with the music from the headphones of the Ipod he stole. He was in the back of the class, so the old hag couldn't see them in his ears. Life was good.
Damien was watching Justice League when Cameron walked into the bedroom. Samantha squealed at the sight of her mother.
"Hi!"
Cameron ignored her, going into the bathroom. Samantha frowned. Then her daddy started giving her kisses to make her feel better. It worked. He had gotten her giggling when Cameron came back into the room. Suddenly, Samantha's attention was back on her mother.
"Mama!"
"Shut up," Cameron said, going to get into bed.
"Bad day at work?"
"I was talking to you too."
He frowned, pulling Samantha closer to him. The baby got bored with her mother and turned her attention back on her father. He was trying to get back into the cartoon, but now Samantha wanted to play. Patting his cheek, she started babbling, trying to explain how much she wanted to go play outside.
"Stop, Sam," he complained, grabbing her hand. He kissed it, not wanting to upset her. "I know, just stop."
He didn't know though or else she would be playing outside. Cameron rolled her eyes, reaching over Damien to grab the remote from the nightstand.
"Cameron! I'm watching that, baby."
"Now you're not," she said, putting it on the news.
Damien groaned. "Why can't you go watch that downstairs?"
"Why can't you?"
"I was up here f-"
"Are you talking back to me? Are you arguing? Yelling?"
"What? Are you just going to go down the list of things I might be doing?" He shook his head.
"Why do you have to be so annoying?"
"Me?" Damien looked at her in shock. "I'm annoying?"
"Are you implying that I'm annoying?"
"Thank you, Captain Obvious!"
"Stop fucking yelling at me!"
"I'm not!"
Cameron got out of bed. "You don't even give a damn about why I'm so tense?"
"Not really, no."
"Fine!" She slammed the door on her way out.
Samantha looked at her father. "Dada?"
Damien gave Samantha a kiss. "You know what, Samantha? I'm not even going to go after her. I don't need her as long as I have you."
Cameron, who was waiting outside the door, because he always comes after her, heard this. Was her serious? Did he really not care what was wrong? All that that she just did and he wasn't even going to find out why?
Slowly, she walked down the stairs. Peter was on the couch, just lounging. She picked him up and then laid down, him on her stomach. Samantha? Over her? If she hadn't have heard it with her own ears, she wouldn't have believed it.
What was so great about Samantha? She was only one! She couldn't even form real sentences yet. She was nothing, but a child. How could he pick her? Cameron was obviously better. She had a way better biological father than Samantha did. Samantha was nothing but a…rape kid.
She shook her head. When did she become Jack? She wasn't Jack. She was better than Jack. She couldn't be jealous of a child. Then she'd just be her mother. In no way did she ever want to become her mother. But it wasn't fair. How could Damien say that?
"You'd choose me, right Peter?"
The cat meowed, cuddling against her. He'd choose Cameron over anyone.
October
Samantha was over, playing with Neo. She was a little bit older than him, but they were a better match than him and Jason.
"No," Neo complained as she took one of his toys.
"Yes," Samantha said, holding the stuffed animal close to her. It was a teddy bear. "My!"
"Samantha, stop it," Cameron said, grumpily.
"It's fine," I said as Neo moved on to another toy. "See? He doesn't even care."
"Still," Cameron said, frowning a little. The almost two year old stood up, taking her new toys with her. She went over to the stairs.
"Where are you going?" I asked her as she tried to climb the gate. When it didn't work, she sat down and stared at it.
"Da-ee," she said, pointing up the stairs. She must think that he's up there with Fang.
"He's at work, Samantha," Cameron said, rolling her eyes. "You know that."
"No," Samantha said, cuddling with the bear. "Da-ee! Me!"
Cody looked at her. "Loud."
James giggled, getting up from the chair that he and Cody had been sitting in. "Samantha!"
Running over to her, James patted her head. "Get up, Sam."
"Leave her alone, James," I told him.
"She's gotta get up," he continued. "She can just sit there!"
Cody frowned. "Shhh. Pooh's on, James."
James tried to pick Samantha up. He was bigger than her, but not that much. He dragged her a little, making her start to cry.
"See? I told you to stop, now do it."
James let her go and Samantha ran to her mother for comfort. When she offered up none, I picked up the little girl.
"Shhh," I soothed, rubbing her back. Today someone had put Samantha's hair into a ponytail so she couldn't shake it around as well. "Its okay, Samantha. Don't be upset, baby."
Cameron rolled her eyes. "Don't humor her, Max. She's just being a baby."
"She's a baby, Cameron."
"Yeah, that stole my husband."
I groaned. For the past two months, I've had to hear about Cameron and how she thinks that Damien loves Samantha more. And so what if he does? If it came down to it, Fang would let me die to save the kids. And I would want him too. That's the way it should be, after all.
"Cameron, really?"
She sighed, reaching over and taking her baby. "There, I held her. Happy?"
"Not really, no," I said. "Cameron, do you really hate her that much?"
"No," she said, rolling her eyes, as if I were the stupid one. Yeah. "I just don't like her."
Samantha laid her head against her mother, holding the teddy bear to her chest. "Mama."
"What?"
Giggling like always, she closed her eyes. "Ni-ni."
"Yeah," Cameron said, shaking her head. "Sleep, you little brat."
"Cameron!"
"What? I was joking."
No she wasn't.
"You know, if I wanted, I could kill you."
Frowning, Alex looked at Tyler. "Why would you say that?"
"Just wanted to make sure you knew," he said, jumping off the jungle gym. "'case you thought that you could replace me."
"Replace you with what?" She asked, also jumping down.
"You know, someone else."
"Like who?"
"I don't know," he said. "Maybe…"
"What? I didn't hear-"
"Jamie," he repeated, louder this time."
She crossed her arms. "How come I can never have any other friends?"
"Because I can't."
"What friends have I kept you from getting?"
He scowled at her. "Tons! You don't even know, Alex."
"Clearly."
Again with the scowl. "I was just telling you, Alex, that I could kill you,"
"I doubt it."
He was not happy with her at the moment. "I could and you know it."
"You sure think that I know a lot."
Ignoring this, he concluded, "So don't ever leave me. I mean, replace me."
"Right," Alex said, rolling her eyes. "You know Tyler, even if you could kill me, which you can't, it would be stupid to do it."
"I can, but just because I like hearing you talk, why would it be stupid?"
"You like hearing me talk? And it would be stupid because if I did replace you, you wouldn't have me."
"Yeah, I do. And so what? That would be the point of killing you."
"That's weird, but I like hearing you talk too, I guess. And if you killed me, then you would have me either, so that's just unproductive."
"Thank you. And what does unproductive mean?"
"Your welcome. And it means that you wouldn't prove anything. Either way you wouldn't have me, so why would it matter?"
"It just does, okay?" He was frustrated. Why did she have to be so smart? God, the only thing worse was arguing with Tabitha.
"Because that's not fair!"
"I'm not the one getting you in trouble," Adeem pointed out. "Just stop following me around."
"I'm not! You do something bad and then you come and find me."
"You used and twice," he said. "Don't you know how to speak English 'crectly?"
"It's correctly, idiot."
"No need to call me names. 'least I'm educated."
"Yeah, whatever," she retorted with an eye roll.
It was recess right now, but, as seemed to be the new norm, Tabitha was stuck inside with Adeem. It was like God was punishing her for ever being friends with him. Though, if this was Hell, she wouldn't feel so bad about being sent there.
Right now, Mrs. Drey was on a 'conference call'. Whatever. Tabitha heard what she said into the phone. It was her husband, she should just admit it. The old bat, God did Tabitha hate her. The girl normally prided herself on not being her brother, on not falling into senseless hate. But with Mrs. Drey, it was just impossible. No matter what Tabitha did, how many good grades she got, how many times she followed instruction, the woman kept putting her in with Adeem. It was like every time he did bad, they were suddenly joined and she just had to be in on it.
"If she sends us to the principal, my dad is going to ground me."
"Just tell him your acting out for attention," Adeem said with a shrug. "Always works for me."
"Ugh. You're impossible."
He shook his head. "And you're mean. We're a match!"
"I am not mean."
"Yes, you are," he said, looking down at the paper the teacher had given him. They were supposed to write down why they act the way that they do and how they could improve. Adeem wasn't feeling it, so he had only wrote one word. Butt. No matter how many times he heard that word, it would always be funny.
"Why would you call me mean? You're the one who-"
"Told the truth? Shocking, huh?"
"See? You're mean."
"No," he said. "I'm funny."
"To who? If you were really funny, how come people don't wanna hang out with you? People like funny people."
"They just don't like me 'cause they know that I'm friends with you."
"We're not friends, Adeem."
"Yes, we are," he said, smiling. "Best friends. Just accept it."
"There's nothing to accept!"
"See? If we weren't friends, you wouldn't get so mad."
"I'm mad because you're stupid."
"That right, call me stupid. It's because you like me," he taunted.
"Like you? Like you?"
"Now who's the stupid one, having to repeat my words out loud just to understand." He shook his head.
"I do not like you, Adeem."
"Then how come you called me your boyfriend?"
Her cheeks flamed. Dealing with Tommy was never this hard. "That doesn't mean that I like you."
"It's okay," he said. "A lot of girls like me. You know, 'cause I'mma be a rock star."
Tabitha snorted. "Rock star?"
"Yep…soon as I find someone to help me again."
"When's the last time you heard of a Muslim rock star?"
"Why does that matter?" He asked. "'sides, who said that I really wanna be Muslim?"
"What does that mean?"
"What do you think it means?" He looked at her. "Come on, thought you were the smart one?"
Her blush faded quickly. How dare he comment on her acumen! "What I meant was, why don't you wanna be Muslim?"
"How could I marry you if I was?"
"What?"
He nodded. "Don't worry, I won't cheat on you when I'm on the road or nothin'. Well, maybe."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I might get another girlfriend-"
"Adeem."
"What?"
"What do you mean marry me? You didn't even want to be my boyfriend!"
"I never said that. I just think it would be stupid right now," he said, shrugging. "Technically, I guess I could marry you while being Muslim. You have to be Jewish or Christian, I think."
"Why would you know that?"
"I asked my brother," he said.
"You did?"
He nodded. "Had to make sure, you know. Didn't want to go off telling you and then have to go back on what I said."
"Why do you want to marry me? I thought I was mean?"
"You are mean. Very mean."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"When do I ever answer your questions?"
"Alright, I'm back," Mrs. Drey said, coming back into the room.
Adeem frowned as she walked in, preparing to get yelled at for not having written anything down. As the teacher put her phone back in her desk, Tabitha got up and switched their papers.
"Why are you out of your seat?" The teacher asked, turning back around, just as Tabitha got back to her desk.
Tabitha just shrugged. Looking down at the paper she had given him, he realized that she must have been writing when they were talking, because she had filled the whole page. He felt bad, her only have the word butt on her paper. Adeem had no time to do anything about it though, because Mrs. Drey was now checking the girl's paper.
"Tabitha Shadows," the teacher exclaimed in shock. "Why would you write and draw something so obscene?"
Adeem wasn't sure what obscene meant, but he could make a very good guess. Along with the word, he had drawn a picture of a butt and put an arrow next to it, the words 'Mrs. Drey's crack' written next to it. Now he really felt bad.
"I did it," Adeem tried, but the older woman just dismissed him.
"No need to cover for her, Mr. Saad," Mrs. Drey said. "You do enough for her. To the principal, Ms. Shadows."
Adeem felt terrible. It wasn't until he saw Tabitha smile at him on the way out that he felt a little better. She knew that she was going to get in trouble at home, but she couldn't help it. Saad…she wouldn't mind being Mrs. Saad. Not that she was accepting his proposal. Because she wasn't.
"So?"
Tabitha looked up at me. "What?"
"You're not going to tell me why you were all smiles while your dad was yelling at you?"
She just smiled again, not moving from her spot on the bed. "Adeem asked me to marry him."
"What?"
"Well, not really. He told me that he was, though. Long as I'm Christian or Jewish or something. He said that he'd not be Muslim for me, though, so that's good."
I shook my head. "Tabitha, you can't keep acting up in class, you know."
"I don't!" She said. "Adeem does and then the teacher blames it on me."
"Well, maybe you need to stop being friends with him."
She looked serious suddenly. "We are not friends, Max."
"You're not even friends with they guy that you're going to marry?" I asked her in an amused tone.
"We're not getting married," she told me. "I said that Adeem wanted us to. That's not saying that I'll say yes."
"Why would you say no?"
"Because I don't like him."
"If you're sure."
"I am," she said, glancing at her nightstand. On it was the necklace with the ring on it that Tommy had given to her. She hadn't been wearing it that often anymore. She must have notice my glance, because she said, "I just forget to wear it."
"Okay," I said, not even feeling like getting into that. "Dinner will be ready soon."
"Did you make it?" She asked, disgust evident in her voice.
"No, Tabitha."
"Okay then."
I rolled my eyes before walking out of the room.
"Mommy!" Lucas yelled from downstairs. "Door for you!"
I groaned, going back down the stairs. "Lucas, I told you not to answer to door if I'm not downstairs."
He shrugged, running off. When I got to the door, my mood changed from annoyed, to pissed. "Just leave me alone!"
He put up his hand, not letting me close the door. True, I am much stronger than Jeb, but at that moment I seemed to forget. "Maximum, why will you not just let me talk to you?"
I stopped trying to close the door, realizing it was fruitless. "Did you ever stopped to think that I'm finally doing good? I'm better without you?"
"What about my needs, Max? What about the worlds?"
"Why is it always about the world with you?" God, you'd like think that he needed it to survive…never mind.
"I just want to talk," he said, pleading now. "Please."
"No," I said.
"Max-"
"Who are you?"
Tyler was suddenly at my side, protective as ever. "Are you a cheater too, Max?"
I held in the urge to punch something. "No, Tyler."
"Is this-"
"No," I said. "This is Fang's son. My son."
"But it's not-"
"That was the one who opened the door," I said. I knew what he was asking. He wanted to know which one Carlos was always telling him about.
"I should have figured…"
Tyler looked up at me. "Want me to kill him? I can, you know?"
"I want you to go get your dad," I said. "And your brothers and sister."
"Why?"
I looked at Jeb. "Just do it."
James cocked his head to the side. "I already got a grandpa. He's bigger than you."
Cody leaned against Fang, not liking this. "I'm hungry."
Dinner was getting cold, but I deemed this more important. Tabitha sighed loudly.
"Can I go now?"
Fang didn't even look at her. "If I were you, given what you did today, I would just sit there quietly."
Gasman, who was standing with Neo in his arms, looked at the clock. "Max, I'm going to be late for work if you don't let me go."
"Go," I said. "Have fun."
He gently put Neo on the ground next to James before leaving. Jeb, who was in a chair brought in from the kitchen, cleared his throat.
"So…where's Gasman's…girlfriend."
I shrugged. "He doesn't have one, I guess."
Lucas, as always, decided that it was up to him to break the ice. "Are you married to my grandma?"
That threw us all of. Jeb looked at him. "What?"
Lucas nodded. "Like how mommy and daddy's gotta be married, are you and my grandma married? She said that you were dead."
"When did you ask Dr. Martinez about her husband?" Fang asked, frowning.
"I didn't," Lucas said, smiling mischievously.
"But you just said-"
"Drop it, Fang," I said, sighing a little. "No, Lucas, they're not married."
"Good," Tyler said. "I'd kill you if you were."
Jeb frowned, looking at Tyler. "Are you the one with cancer?"
"That was a long time ago," I said quickly. James had heard it though.
"What's cancer?" He asked, cocking his head to the side. "Is it like a dancer? My daddy likes those, huh Max?"
"What?"
He nodded. "That wha' grandpa says. Daddy liked dancers. He gonna go to a bad place for that."
Oh God. I looked at the ceiling. "James, be quiet, okay sweetie?"
Nodding, he put his hands in his lap, still listening intently. Jason, who was in my lap, got restless and began to wiggle around. He wasn't happy about so many people being around.
"Um…Tabitha's boyfriend's dead," Lucas said, still trying to make conversation. "Car accident. Boom! Then he died."
"Lucas!" Fang was mad. I was embarrassed.
"I hate you!" Tabitha ran off upstairs. Tyler, who had been sitting on the floor, took her seat next to me on the couch.
Lucas was unfazed. "I don't gots a girlfriend. 'cept there's a bunch of girls that chase me. I think it's because they know how cool I am. Like Ari. She likes me. I hate her. She bites. It's okay, I out run her."
"Just be quiet," Fang told him.
"No, no," Jeb said, looking at him with amazement. I knew that look. I hate that look. "He's quite interesting, to say that least."
No kidding.
Lucas nodded, glad that someone finally recognized his brilliance. "I can count all the way to one hundred…sort of. That's not important though. Wanna see my wings?"
"Ye-"
"No," I said, having had enough of that look. It was starting to make sense. "Lucas, go upstairs."
"Am I in trouble?"
After all the things he just said, did he think there was a chance he wasn't? "I want you to go wash your hands for dinner."
He shot up. "Be right back, Jab."
"Jeb," my supposed father said.
Lucas giggled, running up the stairs.
"Why'd you do that?" Jeb asked me, frowning.
"Because, I just realized what you were doing."
"What am I doing?"
"You know what you're doing."
"I don't know what he's doing," Tyler admitted. "I'll kill him, though."
"Tyler, go take Cody and James upstairs to wash their hands."
"And our feet," James said as he took them upstairs. "Cody's look weird."
"No!"
Fang looked at me. "Max-"
"Look, Jeb, I thought that maybe you had a genuine reason for coming, but apparently you don't," I said, suddenly become very cross with him.
"Max, what are you talking-"
"Lucas is not what you think he is."
"What do I think he is?"
"A leader."
Jeb looked at me with something in his eyes that I couldn't quite read, but knew that I didn't like. "Well, he does have the ability to speak to-"
"Stop," Fang said, finally catching on. "What? You want him to take Max's place?"
I didn't look at Fang. "Not mine, Fang. Kevin's."
Fang stared at me. "So you're saying-"
"Yes."
He shook his head. "Why would he want Lucas?"
"Because, he's the next obvious choice, it they want to stay in my blood line," I said.
"So they picked Kevin-"
"Just because I was his mother, yes," I finished.
"So that stuff that killed him, that you say that they shot into Kevin was supposed to make him...better?"
I nodded a little, the memory, no matter how old, still a very fresh, bleeding wound. "Yeah."
"Better how?"
"Fang, why have you never asked this stuff before?"
"Because I didn't want to push you."
"And you're not pushing me now?"
He looked at me with a mixture of wanting to comfort and wanting to force. "If you don't want to tell me, baby, then don't. I'm not going to make you do anything. I just want to understand."
"What's there to understand? I was a screw up," I went on. "I wouldn't do what they wanted. My child though, they could use him. It was easier than tracking down my clone or making another. They just needed him to be more…me like. They wanted to change stuff in side of him. Then, the liquid they had, was supposed to do all that. He was too young though. He just couldn't…damn it, Fang."
I hit him in the chest, but he just held him to me. "Not Lucas, though. He could take it. That's what they want him for, huh? Well they're not getting him. They're not getting any of our babies, not again."
"It's Friday," Damien whispered in Cameron's ear. She pushed him away. "Come on, Cammie. We're both off today. Let's do something."
"I got you a place to paint for a reason. Go use it."
He frowned. "What's wrong, Cameron? Are you sick?"
"No."
"Then what's wrong?"
"Besides the fact that it's seven in the morning?"
"Eight."
"Oh, Damien, shut up."
He frowned. "Please? I just want us both to be up."
"Why don't you go get Samantha? Isn't she better than me?"
"Why do you always say that?"
"Because you say it?"
"Not to your face."
She would have rolled her eyes, had they been open. "Shut up, Damien."
He pulled her body to his, holding her close to him. "Fine. Sleep."
"Let me go."
"Nope," he said, giving her a kiss on the side of the head. "Wanna hear a story?"
She sighed, deciding to give into him. "About?"
"You choose."
"Tell me about…your mother." If that didn't get him to leave her alone, nothing would.
"You know all about her, but okay. She's nice and-"
"Damien, I meant your real mother."
He frowned, glancing at her. "She's not my real mother, but whatever. She's dead."
"How?"
"Overdose, I think. I only know what I know from eavesdropping."
She opened her eyes a little to look at him. "do you know what she looked like?"
"Yeah. I used to go to her father's farm, remember? He had pictures of her."
"Was she beautiful?"
"She was ugly."
"Really?"
"On the inside."
She rolled her eyes. "So she was beautiful?"
"I don't' know. I guess."
"How old were you when she left you?"
"From what I can guess from hearing my father and my grandfather, I would guess six months, maybe. Maybe four. I'm not sure."
"Who named you?"
"She did."
"Why?"
He frowned, reaching down to grab his cross that still was around her neck. "Because she said that I was the antichrist, that I was born to bring hell to her life."
"Oh, Damien."
He shook his head. "She was crazy."
"Why did your father let her do that?"
He looked away. "It's not like he ever really had that great of a feeling about me. He'd let her kill me, I'd guess, if she wanted."
"No, he wouldn't have, Damien," she said, suddenly feeling like she needed to make him feel better. "If that were true, he wouldn't have kept you after she left, right? He would have given you away or something."
Damien shrugged, letting go of the cross. "It's not important, really."
She ran a hand down his arm. "Are you okay?"
He nodded. "Now tell me about your mother."
"What? That was not a part of the d-"
"Please, Cameron?"
Sighing, she began. "Where do I start? She was just hateful. Her parents weren't much better to her, I don't suppose. She was just too rich and too mean."
"Tell me something about her, though," he insisted.
"Like what?"
"Like a story or something that you remember. Something."
Looking away from him, she started. "I remember when I was eight. I was living with her and Jack. He had woken me, Paul, and Trent up early and was going to take us to the zoo. Paul, as always, said that he didn't want to go. Like I've said, he and Jack hate each other."
"Why?"
"Because, Damien, not everyone is like you. Not everyone loves their stepparent."
"Okay, so continue."
"Alright. So Paul went back to bed, and I was in the shower. When I got out and was putting on my shoes, my mom came down stairs. She asked Jack what he was doing and then said no. He asked her why he couldn't. She said that it was because I was going. That I was bad. I didn't deserve to go."
"What had you done?"
"That's just the point," she said. "I hadn't done anything. Jack asked her what she was talking about, but she didn't tell him. She said that Trent could go, but I needed to go do my chores. When I told her that I had done them all the day before and that I should be able to go, she got into my face and told me not to talk back to her. Then she slapped me!"
"Then what?"
"Jack asked why she did that but she didn't say. She went back upstairs. Jack told me that I was okay, that I shouldn't feel too bad. It wasn't her fault. I guess it was mine, or at least that was what he was implying."
"Did he go to the zoo?"
"With Trent, yeah. It wasn't fair, Damien. I didn't do anything!"
"I believe you," he said, running a hand down her head. "Trust me, I believe you."
She sighed, closing her eyes. "Why didn't she believe me? I didn't do anything wrong."
"Neither does Samantha."
"Damien-"
"Shhh," he said, giving her a kiss on the head. "Let's just lay in bed for awhile, okay?"
"But-"
"No, Cameron. Let's just be quiet for awhile," he said. He really needed to stop talking before he said something that got him kicked out of the bedroom.
"What were you talking about, with Samantha? I don't treat her bad, do I?"
He hesitated. "Well-"
"I don't," Cameron said. "I take care of her. Sometimes I'll let her play with toys on the bed while I'm watching TV. That time when she was throwing up, I stayed home and didn't do anything so that I could watch you take care of her. I am a good mother, Damien. I'm not my mother, at all."
Sighing, he started to rub her back. "I never said you were."
"Good, because I'm not."
She was not.
