Broken

Chapter 29

Tabitha was sleeping when she felt breathing in her ear. "What are you doing?"

Chris whined, wiggling a little. "Shhh. I'm sleeping."

She turned a little. "Where's Lance?"

"Here," he said from the foot of the bed.

"Get up here," she sighed, moving over some. He crawled up between her and the wall. Chris smiled at her, closing his eyes again.

"Night," he said, about to go back to sleep.

"Why are you two in here?" She asked, frowning at them.

"We figured out how to fix the problem," Lance told her.

"What problem?"

"Where the new babies are gonna go," Chris explained.

"Yeah," Lance agreed. "We'll stay with you and they can have their own room."

Tabitha sighed. "I don't think that will work, Lance."

"Yes, it will," he said, smiling at her. "We won't go through your dresser no more."

"Yeah," Chris said. "We don't like your stickers."

Tabitha stared at the ceiling. "I don't have a nightlight."

"We don't need one if we have you."

Tabitha took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Boys, I like you more than I like the others."

"We know."

"But, I like having my own room better."

"It's okay," Lance said. "You'll get used to us."

"Yeah," Chris said. "And we won't even ask stupid questions."

"Like what?" She asked.

"Like why girls' got boobies," Lance said, staring at her. "Neo already told us. It's so when they fall, they have an airbag, like in a car."

Tabitha closed her eyes. "Let's just go to sleep."

"Why? It's break, Tabitha," Lance said, staring at her. "No more school for a week! It's great."

"Like Tony the Tiger," Chris said. "It's great!"

"Just sleep."

After ten minutes, they were both out. Sighing, she laid there, having to suffer through Lance's snoring and Chris's chocolate breath. The only thing worse was when Lance started drooling. What a life.


"What?"

I nodded. Today was the first day of break and I was already tired of the kids. "Pick something."

"Max, all the fliers you have are old," Tyler pointed out. "They're all for stuff that already passed."

"…Well you're all going to do something."

Tabitha pushed off the couch. "I'm going to take up guitar."

"Drums," Tyler said, though he didn't walk off.

"Karate," Cody and Jason both said.

I looked at Lance and Chris. "What about you two?"

"I'mma learn to ride a bike," Chris said.

"That doesn't count."

"Um…Soccer," Lance said.

I glanced at Fang. "Do they have soccer in the winter?"

"We're in Arizona. It don't get cold enough to not have it, so maybe."

"I'll learn magic," James said.

"Fine," I said as he and Lance ran off, Jason and Cody not far behind. "What about you, Chris?"

"Bike!"

"Chris-"

"Max, let him learn to ride a stupid bike."

"Fine," I said, rolling my eyes. "Ride your stupid bike."

Then it was just Neo left. "Well?"

He sighed. "Can I learn piano?"

"What?" Fang frowned. "N-"

"Where would you get a piano, Neo? We have no room for it."

"I could get an electric keyboard. Right?"

"Right."

"Okay."

"No," Fang butted in. "Piano is for girls."

"Is not," I said, making a face at him. "Beethoven, Bach…I know more, but I would rather just hear you name one girl that you know who plays."

"Lady Gaga."

"Oh, we all know that she's a man."

Neo frowned. "So you'll buy me a keyboard?"

"No, your dad or Dr. Martinez will," I said. What? We got too many kids to buy a freaking keyboard that he'll probably use once. Besides, with the way my attitude has been changing lately, tomorrow I might not even want them doing stuff.

"Baby, sit down," Fang said, gesturing to the couch. Jumping up, Neo ran out of the room, off to see what the other boys were doing. Tyler just looked at me.

"Can I do something else?"

I frowned at him, sitting down. "Yeah. Go play in your room."

"No, Max, I mean another project thing."

"Project?"

"The thing you were just talking about. I chose drums," he reminded.

"Oh." I grabbed the remote. "I'm already over that, Tyler."

He frowned. "So I can't do it?"

"Do what, Ty?"

"This class," he said, staring at me. "It's gonna start next semester, but it's after school. Plus it costs fifty bucks."

"For what?" Fang asked, wanting him to get to the point.

"It's a writing class," he said, now turning his vision to the ground.

"Fine," Fang said. "Just go away."

"Fang."

"What?"

Tyler looked at me. "So I can do it?"

"Santa will think about it."

"Max."

"Yes, Tyler," I said, rolling my eyes. "You can do it. Now get lost. I'm trying to watch TV."

He ran off, leaving Fang and I alone. He was watching me as he sat in the chair, but I refused to look at him.

"Wanna go lay in bed?" He asked me. "It has to be more comfortable than sitting on the couch."

"No," I said, shaking my head. "I'm fine. Why? Your back hurting you?"

"…You said that kind of mean."

"I meant for it to be mean."

Fang frowned at me, standing up. "Fine. I'm going to the attic."

"Great," I said, rubbing my stomach. "Dexter says he hates you."

Fang frowned. "They're girls, Max."

"We don't know that."

"We will soon," he said, starting up the stairs. "Call me if you need me."

"Okay, I won't."


Damien held his youngest to him, smiling down at her. They were in his bed, cuddling. Vanessa was very cuddly.

"I'm home," Cameron said, walking into the room. "Where's Samantha?"

"In her room," he said, not looking up. "Oh, and it's no longer Nicki."

"Why? What happened?"

He glanced up. "She's discovered Lil' Kim. It's Kim now."

"Great," Cameron said, laying down. "Is this Kim better or worse than Nicki?"

"It depends on your taste," Damien said. "Honestly, I don't care for either of them. Strictly speaking on female rappers, I prefer Queen Latifah."

Cameron groaned. "Damien."

"What?" He stopped making faces at Vanessa.

"She's gay, you know."

"…Lying is a sin, Cameron. And so is crushing dreams."

"Oh, you dream about her, do you?" She turned on her side so that she could stare at him. "Should I be jealous?"

He blushed. "I don't dream about…that's nasty, Cameron."

"Calm down," she said, sighing a little. "My neck hurts."

"Why?"

"I slept on the couch last night."

He kissed Vanessa. "Yeah, I noticed. Why did you?"

"I don't know," she said, closing her eyes. "I just didn't feel like moving."

"Me and Nessa enjoyed the bed, though," he said, smiling at the baby.

"She slept in here with you?"

"Yep," he said, bouncing the baby a little. "She was fussy last night, so it was just easier to keep her in bed with me."

Cameron stared at the baby as she began to giggle, looking up at her daddy. It made her smile a little and feel good inside, even though she didn't want to. The baby might not know a lot, but she knew that Damien loved and took care of her.

"You know what, Nessa?" Damien asked her, knowing that she couldn't respond. "I love you. Did you already know that?"

She patted his stomach, still giggling. Laughing a little also, Damien ran a hand down her back. For as much love as his baby had for him, he had even more. She was the best thing in the world, save Samantha, who was equal to her, but different in ways. Sam was great because she was his first baby and taught him how to get things done. Vanessa was great because she was there for him while he and Cameron were having problems.

"Do you work tomorrow?" Cameron asked.

"Yep."

"Take Samantha with you."

"Cameron-"

"I just meant that it's break. She doesn't want to be stuck here the whole day and I'm not going anywhere."

"Oh," he said, though her suggestion had had dark undertones. "Well, I'll ask her, alright?"

"Yeah, whatever," she said, now slightly irritated with him. Damien just went back to the baby, who didn't care if he accused her of things, so long as he still cuddled with her.


Tyler was sleeping when he felt something touch him. Slowly, he opened his eyes.

"What?"

Jason smiled at him. "I want you to play basketball with me."

"No," he said, rolling over. "I'm sleeping."

"You're always sleeping! You and Mommy always sleep. Play with me, Tyler. Please?"

"No," he said, pushing the boy away. "Go play with Neo."

"Neo's dumb," he said, crossing his arms. "Please?"

"No!"

"Fine," he said, walking away. "Meanie."

After he was gone, Tyler laid there for a few minutes before getting up. When he went downstairs, Max was gone from the couch and Neo had replaced her.

"What are you doing?" Tyler asked.

He stopped jumping. "I'm pretending it's a trampoline."

"Well, cut it out," he said, going into the kitchen. Lance and Chris were in there, playing with toy cars.

"Hi, Ty," Lance said, smiling at him. "Wanna play with us?"

"No," he said, opening the fridge. "I'm gonna make hotdogs. You want some?"

"Do you make them like Max?"

"No, they're not going to be burnt."

"Okay then," Lance said as Chris rolled a car towards Snickers, who in turn hissed and ran off.

"Leave the cat alone," Tyler said, getting a pot out of the cabinet. "How many do you want?"

"One," Lance said.

"Five!"

"Chris," Tyler sighed.

"I can count to five," he informed his big brother. "Wanna hear?"

"Sure," Tyler said, going ahead and putting one in for his brother.

"One, two…I know the rest," he said as Lance snickered. "I do!"

"I know," Tyler said as Fox strode into the room. Chris forgot his anger at not knowing how to count and started playing with the orange cat. Tyler sighed, waiting for the water with hot dogs in it to boil.

"What are you doing here?" Tyler asked as Bone came out from the garage. Not answering him, he ruffled Tyler's hair before looking at Lance and Chris.

"Hi," Chris said before giggling. "Are you Lance's daddy?"

Bone nodded slightly.

"No," Lance said, not looking up. "Fang's my daddy."

Tyler frowned at him. "Who told you that?"

"Fang," he said, going back to his cars. "Not really, but he said that I could pretend, if I wanted."

Tyler started looking for hotdog buns. When he found none, he just got some bread out for them. "You guys want ketchup or mustard?"

"None," Chris said as Tyler handed him his. He gave the bread to Fox, just eating the hotdog.

"Ketchup," Lance said. Tyler got him his before getting a plate out for his six he had made.

"Lot," Bone commented.

Tyler shrugged, turning the stove off before running out of the room and back to his own. Lucas was back.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm on facebook."

Tyler blinked. "You're eight."

"Nine! I'm about to be ten, though."

"Whatever," Tyler said, sitting down on his bed. "I'm gonna go to Dan's on Thanksgiving."

Lucas kept messing around on his father's laptop.

"You wanna come? James and Cody are coming. We're going to-"

"Why would I want to go?" He glanced at his brother. "I hate Dan."

Tyler frowned. "Dan is amazing. He knows a lot too."

"That's what you think," Lucas said. "He's really just a racist."

"He is not! You don't even know what that is."

"Yes, I do," Lucas said, making a face at his brother. "How many times do I have to say that I'm nine before it sinks in?"

Tyler took a bite of one of his hotdogs. "You're just a brat, Lucas. Even Max doesn't like you."

"No!"

"Yes," Tyler said, stilling chewing. "She just pretends to like you."

"Like Alex did with you?"

"Take that back!"

"Never," Lucas said before running from the room. Tyler just sat there sulking while eating, not even enjoying it anymore.


The next day, I went into work, even though I really didn't want to be. Naomi was there with me, doing something in the back. I was trying to ignore her though. For some reason, I just can't shake the feeling that she doesn't like me.

Anyways, around noon, Samantha and her mom came into the store. Cameron had on her normal, oversized, white girl, white sunglasses. The only thing was, Samantha also had a pair on.

"Hey," I said to Cameron, glancing at Samantha. "Where's Damien?"

"He's at work," Cameron said.

"Where's Vanessa?"

"With him."

"Huh?"

She sighed. "He was going to take Samantha, but she said no, so I made him take the baby."

"You can't handle them both?"

"I can," she said. "I just don't care to."

"Hi," Samantha said, waving at me. I smiled at her.

"Hey, Nicki."

"Kim."

"Uh-"

"Don't ask," Cameron said. I'm sure she added an eye roll, but I couldn't see pass her sunglasses.

"Hi," Naomi said, coming out of the back with a box. "Heard you come in and got Damien's order."

"Great," Cameron said, again, probably rolling her eyes. She didn't like Naomi either. Though, in Naomi's defense, Cameron didn't like any woman, really.

"Aw, you got the same glasses as your mom?" Naomi asked, setting the box down. I went ahead and rang them up, not wanting a lecture from a twenty year old on work ethic.

"Yep," Sam said, smiling.

Naomi walked off again, more than likely to finish inventory.

"Why'd you buy her glasses like you?" I asked as Cameron handed over the money.

"She wanted them," she said, shrugging.

"I needed them," Samantha clarified.

Cameron lifted them off her eyes, sliding them onto the top of her head. Seeing this, Samantha mimicked her, wanting to be just like her mom.

"What are you guys doing today?" I asked.

"Shopping," Cameron said as I gave her the box. "You're stuck here?"

"Yeah," I said, sighing. "It's better than home, though."

"Why?"

"Lance and Chris have decided that they're moving in with Tabitha, so Fang's trying to get some of the other boys to convince Chris and Lance to move in with them."

"Why do they want Tabitha?" She asked as Samantha ran off.

"I don't know," I said, sighing. "She's nicer to them than she is the rest of us."

Cameron made a face. "Maybe you should think about making Luther take James back. That's one kid down."

"No," I said. "No way would I let Luther have him."

"Damien's parents-"

"I hate Dan."

She sighed. "I guess we could take him."

"And put him where, Cameron?"

"That's the same thing that you're thinking. It'd be easier for me just to put the two girls together than you having to mash three boys or four."

"Still," I said, shaking my head. "Just getting him out of the house doesn't make that big of a difference."

Cameron shrugged as Samantha came back. "You'll figure it- Samantha, put that back."

She was holding a Goku plush. "But I want it."

"And?"

"Please?"

"Fine, just shut up," she said, handing me a five. "Keep the change."

I didn't make them ring it up, because as soon as they were out of the store, I just pocketed the money. What? I basically steal time by just sleeping on the job anyways…


"So where'd you get it?"

"Yesterday, I was in the garage, when Bone came out there," Tabitha said. "I didn't even know that he was over. Anyways, he gave it to me. He said that Max told him that I wanted to learn. Then he left."

"Did he just buy it?" Adeem asked, frowning. "Looks kind of old."

"I guess it's one of his old ones," Tabitha said. "He had a lot of stuff in storage when he left."

Adeem shrugged. "Let's get to work."

She groaned. "Adeem, I'm not really learning guitar."

"You're not?"

"No," she said, making a face at her naïve boyfriend. "I just said that to get Max off my case."

"Then why are you over here?"

"Why am I ever over here?"

"To admire my hotness?"

"What hotness?"

He rolled his eyes before setting his guitar up on his bed. "Fine, what do you want to do?"

"I don't know," she said. "Did you start your writing assignment yet?"

"I'm not doing it," he said.

"What? Why?"

"Why would I?" He laid on his back. Tabitha sat her guitar on his bed before lying on her side next to him on the floor.

"I don't know, maybe you care about actually passing your class?"

"Nope," he said, shaking his head. "Not at all. Do you? You are gone in a year or two, right?"

She wasn't going to let him make her feel bad for anything she had ever said. "Yep."

He turned so that they were facing each other. "You know what I was thinking?"

"No," she said. In all honest, he always had some out there thought that was on the edge of insanity. "What?"

"We should shoot up the school."

She tries really, really hard to accept Tyler. She'd long given up on Adeem, however. "What?"

He nodded. "One last bang before you leave. Shock everyone."

"Then I would be a wanted fugitive, Adeem."

"And?" He laid on his back again. "I like the idea."

"You're demented," she said, still looking at him. "Who would we shoot?"

"All of our friends," he said, throwing her off even more.

"Why?"

"No one would ever expect it."

"No one would ever expect us to freaking kill ourselves, that doesn't mean that we should do it."

"Yes!" He turned again. "We should do that too!"

"Why would I ever kill myself? I'm not Tyler."

He frowned at her. In reality, this whole conversation was just to pass the time and make her annoyed. Nothing he said was for real. "Why would Tyler kill himself?"

"Why wouldn't he?"

"Because he's happy."

"Hardly."

He shook his head at her. "Tabitha, you have a million friends and a boyfriend. You're unhappy. Tyler lives in his own world, goes to church every Sunday, and still loves his mom. That's happy."

Gawking at him, she retorted, "You don't know anything, Adeem. How could he ever be happy?"

"Hell if I know, but he is," Adeem said, shrugging. "No matter how much you wish that he wasn't-"

"I do not."

"Yes, you do," he said. "You have an unhealthy obsession with it, in fact."

"What do you know?" She laid on her back, no longer wanting to look at him. "You're just trying to change the subject."

"Me? You're the one who brought up your brother," he said. "I could care less if he's happy or not as long as he stays off my back. He's your problem."

"Yeah, whatever."

He blew air at the side of her head, making her push him. Smiling, Adeem laid on his back too.

"If we ever did kill ourselves, we'd do it together," he said. "Right?"

Tabitha was too in love with herself to ever even dream of doing that. "Right."


"But why?" Cody asked. "That's not even fair."

Fang sighed. "Cody, just hear me out, alright? Think about it. Lance isn't that bad."

"He cries."

"James cries."

"Not anymore!" James yelled. "Least not recently…"

Fang sighed. "Come on, boys."

"No," Cody said, shaking his head. "Tabitha already agreed to take them."

"She was just trying to humor them."

"Then that's her problem," he said, still playing with his action figures. "Try Lucas and Tyler."

"No way."

"Jason and Neo?"

"They're going to take Chris."

"Um…we'd rather have Chris," James said.

"What?" Fang frowned. "What's wrong with Lance that none of y'all want him?"

"Nothing," Cody said, shrugging. "He's just not that gullible. Chris is."

Fang sighed. "I just don't see why you can't-"

James jumped up when the doorbell rang. Finally, his ticket out of Fang's persuasion!

"I'll get it," he said before Cody could. He ran off down the stairs, wanting to get to the door before any of the other boys. When he opened it, he wished he had just let Cody get it.

"James?" Tammie smiled at her son. "You've gotten so big!"

That's what happens when you leave for years on end and never even call. James just stood there, letting himself be hugged by her.

"When did you get glasses?"

"A few weeks ago," he said. "Fang took me to get them."

'Did he?"

He nodded as she let go of him. She looked at him again.

'You're darker than last time I saw you."

Was that a compliment? Or just a statement? Something negative? None of the above? Still just staring, he watched as she looked him over, as if checking for something she could complain about. She found none. Max took good care of him. Every other pile of clothes that Lucas gave them from his old stuff, he got first dibs. Plus, Cody was too big for Tyler's old jeans, so he got those too. Broken CD players and old clock radios all went to him and Cody. What more could you ask for?

"Is your father in town?"

So that was why she was here. James just nodded.

"Then why aren't you with him?"

That notion was beyond his comprehension. "Huh?"

"Then why are you here?"

Because his father didn't want him, because he didn't want his father, because this was his home, because Max and Fang loved him, because he loved them back, because his brothers lived here, because Tabitha was here to take care of him, because Snickers, Tank, and Fox needed him, because…because…

"Because I wanna be," he said, crossing his arms, now getting a little defiant. "And I don't want you here, so leave."

"Excuse me?"

His courage wasn't easily broken, not this time. "I said that I don't want you here. I don't care about you anymore, so leave."

"I knew that Max raised you to be a-"

"Max raised me wonderful, so you wouldn't even know," he said, moving back so that he could slam the door in her face. Then he ran back up the stairs and to his room, where Fang was still sitting on the floor with Cody, trying to convince him to take in Lance.

"Who was it?" Fang asked.

"No one," James said, sniffling as he tried his hardest to keep back his inevitable tears.

"What's wrong?" Fang looked at him with concern. James ran to him and forced himself into Fang's lap, like he was a little kid. He wrapped his arms around Fang's neck.

"I don't want her here, Fang," he cried, the tears now finding a way past his best defenses.

"Who?" He asked, holding him, just wanting to him to stop crying. For all the love Fang had of kids, crying was one thing that he wasn't good with.

"It's not fair!" James closed his eyes, not even caring that Cody was in the room and witnessing the break down. "She can't just leave and come back. Right?"

"Right," Fang said, going ahead and making assumptions on the mystery person. "If you don't want her here, that's fine, James. It's up to you."

He cuddled against Fang, wanting to find the same things in Max, even though he knew he couldn't. Fang loved him, but not like the other boys. When he was still a little kid, Fang did, but not anymore. Fang didn't like crybabies. Fang didn't like James. He loved him, but he didn't like him.


Cameron was in the bedroom when Damien came home. He had already put Vanessa in her crib, so it was just them.

"You get my shipment?" He asked, going to give her a kiss.

"Yep," she said, turning to look back on the TV. "I left it on the kitchen table."

"Thanks," he said, pulling off his shirt. "Sam in bed?"

"In her room," Cameron said, shrugging. "I never went in there to find out if she was or not."

He pulled off his jeans before going to get his Batman sleep pants from the dresser. "Cameron, did you wash Superman?"

"Those stupid pants? Yeah. They're in the dryer."

"Thank you," he said, pulling on the Caped Crusader.

"No shirt," she told him as he picked up The Hulk.

Damien shrugged, laying it back down before going into the bathroom to take his vitamins.

"Damien, do you ever think about James?"

"Yeah," he said, going over to the toilet. "Anything specific?"

She waited for him to finish peeing before answering. "Yeah. About him staying with Max and Fang."

"He's happy," Damien said, washing his hands when she prompted.

"Yeah," she said as he came to get in bed. Peter opened his eyes, but quickly closed them again. "But they're having twins."

"Good for them," he said, taking the remote from her so that he could turn off the TV. Cameron decided not to kill him in his sleep for it, just this once.

"Don't you think that we should…like…move him in with us?"

Damien had never thought of this, nor did he think it was a good idea. "Why?"

"They aren't exactly full of space over there, Damien."

"Still," he said. "Why mess with a good thing?"

"Because it could be better."

"If it ain't broke, don't' fix it."

"Even if it could be better in the end?"

He decided to hear her out though it wouldn't change anything. "How could moving him to our place be any better, Cameron?"

"Come on, Damien, think about it," she said. "All their time goes to how ever many kids they have. Yours goes to two and mine goes to none. We have room for him here."

"Your time better go to two too, Cameron."

She forged on. "Plus, we could buy so much more stuff for him. I mean, I'm not all that fond of our kids and look what I buy them. I love James. We're so much more financially adept for him than they are."

"Cameron, if you cared so much about his welfare as far as money goes, you'd just give Max and Fang money."

She scowled at him, though she knew he couldn't see it. "I do, stupid."

"Really?"

"Yeah," she said. "To Fang, at least. No offense to Max, but I do not trust her with money."

Damien considered this before shrugging. "How much do you give him?"

"Two hundred ever two months."

Damien frowned. "Really?"

"That's not a lot, when you think about it."

"Still."

"Damien, I just want him here," she said. "The more that I think about it, the more that it makes sense. If not us, at least your parents. Max and Fang are great, but still. James should be with his family."

"James should be where he wants to be."

"James is a little boy would lets his emotions run him, not his thoughts," she said. "Please, Superman? Just think about it?"

He was thrown by the nickname. "Are you just trying to soften me up?"

"Is it working?"

He sighed. "I just don't think that Fang will go for it."

"Yeah, he will," she said. "If he and Max both say no, then fine. If they say yes, the worst that could happen is that he's not happy here and we send him back. Right?"

"I guess so…"

"Good," she said, leaning over Peter to kiss his cheek. "Night, Damien."

"Goodnight, Cameron," he mumbled, waiting for her to go to sleep before going to check on Samantha. She was still up, playing with her toys.

"Bed," he told her.

"Bed," she said back, staring at him.

"I'm an adult, I got bed when I want."

"Wanna have a slumber party?" She asked. "We could eat ice cream."

He went over to her and gave her a kiss on the head. "Bed. Now."

"Fine," she said, getting up. "But you'll miss out on the ice cream."

'I think I'll live."


"Any progress today?"

Fang grunted as I came into the bedroom. It was midnight and he was already asleep.

"You never called me," I said, going into the bathroom. "I tried you, but you didn't pick up."

"Busy."

I finished in the bathroom before going to get in bed with him. "What were you busy with? The boys?"

"James."

"Did he decide to take on Lance or Chris?"

Fang shook his head, opening his eyes and rolling onto his side to face me. "Tammie came by."

I frowned as I tried to get comfortable. "He was upset?"

"Very," Fang said, moving my pillows around to help me. "Better?"

I nodded, laying my head down. "Cameron came by the store."

"And?"

"She offered to take James for us."

Fang frowned. "He wouldn't like that."

"He might, though," I said, staring at him, trying to gauge his reaction. "And it's not like with Neo, where we'd never see him if we sent him to New York. James would be in town, with his aunt and uncle-"

"Who are having marital problems."

"We're always having marital problem!"

"No, we're not!"

"Then why are you yelling?"

"Because you are yelling!"

We both took a deep breath.

"I don't want him to leave, either, Fang, but we're running out of options."

"When Luther and Tammie started showing that they sucked as parents, Damien and Cameron didn't step up. We did. Now they want to take the kid that we took care of since before he could walk? No. If they want a kid, they can have Tyler."

"Fang," I said, hitting him. "You cannot say things like that."

"What? He doesn't want to be here either."

"Neither does Tabitha."

"That's different," he said.

"How so?"

"She's a girl. Girls always complain," he said. "Tyler's just an ungrateful brat."

"Take that back, Fang, because you know that it's not true," I said. "He has never said that he wants to leave."

"Only because you're here."

"And? He loves me. What's wrong with that?"

"You're the only thing that he cares about. Little demented-"

"I'm out," I said, trying to get out of bed. I would need Fang's help with that though, and he wasn't in the mood. "Fang."

"No," he said, rolling onto his back. "You're staying."

"I'll fall to the floor and land on my stomach."

"No, you won't."

"Wanna bet?"

Fang turned again and grabbed me, pulling my body closer to his. "Yep."

"Fang, let me go!"

"Yelling again, are we, dear?" He kissed my head. "Calm down. You're upsetting the girls."

"They're not girls."

"You don't know that."

"I bet they're not."

"Bet all you want," he said, closing his eyes. "And James is not leaving, Max. End of story."

"Then what, Fang? We need to start getting the babies room ready."

"We will," he said, yawning. "I just need to pick it out."

"I think that we need Lance and Chris's room."

"I know," Fang said. "I just don't know how to get the other boys to-"

"Fang, I'm over trying to be nice. Tell them that they're going to share a room and if they don't pick, you will for them, and your choice will be like Hell to them."

"This is why all of the boys like me better."

I closed my eyes. "Shut up before I try to leave again."

He kissed my head. "James was really upset about Tammie."

"Did you talk to him?"

"Yeah," Fang said. "It didn't help much."

"I'll try."

"I don't get why Tammie has to show her head again," Fang commented. "Things were fine without her."

"Ain't that the truth," I mumbled, sighing a little. "Fang?"

"What?"

"If James ever does want to move in with Damien and Cameron-"

"Same with Neo. It's up to them."

"What about Lance?"

Fang snorted. "I don't think that we'll ever have to worry about him wanting to be with Bone."

"Is that a good thing?"

"That's a great thing."


Bone hadn't seen Samantha in awhile. He was getting along, though. It wasn't so hard anymore, living alone. No one ever tried to change the channel. No one ever drank the last soda. No one ever ate the last piece of pizza. No one ever forced him to eat. No one ever cut off his beer. No one ever told him no. Though, as Newton has said, for ever action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

No one ever watched TV with him. No one ever shared the last drink with him. No one ever bought the pizza. No one ever made him cookies to get him to eat. No one ever rubbed his stomach after he puked from drinking too much. No one ever told him yes. Yes, they'd go to the store with him. Yes, they would love to take a nap together. Yes, they would love to be taken to the park. Yes, fetch does sound great. Yes, going for a walk would be wonderful. Yes, cuddling would be nice.

Sighing, Bone laid down in his cold, lonely, depressing bed and closed his eyes, trying to imagine what life would be like now, if Victoria was still alive. Lance would love his daddy, Victoria could possibly be pregnant or already had another kid, Bubba might be dead, but Nina would still be around, happily digging holes in the backyard of that house Vickie was always talking about. And, of course, Bone would be the happiest person in the world. Yeah. Here's to what ifs.


Luther was talking to some girl, not Naomi, on the phone when there was a knock at the door. Cursing, he hung up and went to answer it.

"What?"

"I need a place to stay."

Luther's eyes widened. "Tammie?"

"No, the devil."

"Makes sense."

"Luther."

He shook his head. "Can't. I have a girlfriend now."

"When has that ever made a difference?"

"She's not like you. I care about her."

Ouch. "So you don't cheat on her?"

He snorted. "I never said that. I just don't leave as obvious crumbs in the bed."

"Fine. I'll take the couch."

"We'll take the couch."

"What?"

He shrugged. "You stay here, you're gonna have to sleep with me."

"Luther."

"What?" He smiled. "I'm a flat character. I never change."

She turned. "Fine, I'll go stay with Damien."

"Have fun," he said, closing the door behind her.

When she got to her stepbrother's place, it was around one in the morning. Sighing, she went up to the door. It took her ringing the door bell five times before someone answered.

"If it's Luther, you better go ahead and turn around."

"I'm not Luther."

Cameron opened the door. "What do you want?"

"To talk to my brother."

"He's busy."

"Tell him that I'm here."

"Um…no, I'm good," Cameron said, closing the door.

"Who was that?" Damien asked, walking down the stairs.

"No one."

The doorbell rang again. Damien made a face at her before answering it.

"T-"

"Your stupid wife wouldn't let me in."

Damien just hugged his big sister. "When did you get here?"

"This afternoon."

"And it took you think long to come here?"

"I was with someone."

"Who?"

"Why is that any of your business?"

He let her go. "Well, it's kind of late. What do you want?"

"To stay here."

"There's not room," he said. "Except for the couch."

She frowned. "I thought that you guys had an extra bedroom?"

"We did," he said. "Now it's Samantha's."

"Okay," she said slowly. "What happened to Samantha's old room?"

"Vanessa has it."

"Who?"

He wasn't happy with her. "I've left a million messages on your phone. I had another baby."

"Oh."

"Do you just delete them?"

"Damien-"

He ran off up the stairs. Cameron just closed the door in her face again, dead bolting it. Tammie stood there for a second before walking back to her car. She could go to her parents, but she never liked being with them. Sighing, she turned back to Luther's place.

"I knew you'd be back," he said, answering the door, naked.

"Let's just hurry this up."


Next chapter is the last.