Disclaimer: Not mine, no profit made.

A/N: A chapter all about the various Caine kids. Next chapter will be the last one.

Exchange Program will be the CSI/NCIS crossover, but it probably won't come for a few days. I'll need to rest and get up to speed with DLG before I tackle another big project.

Oh, and Speedfanatic, I'm guessing that the Parliament/Congress thing is just another difference between Australia and America. I'd change it, but I can't be arsed. I'm guessing you all understood what I meant anyway.

-DT-

Ray Jr. smiled to himself as he sat at the dining room table, working on his English homework. There was a Cop Ball tonight, so he was babysitting the twins, and Suzie had been asked to attend an evening seminar, so Madison was under his care as well. Ray got along well with his younger half-sister. He'd had to give her several marrow transplants and blood transfusions when they were younger, and as a result they'd spent long hours in the hospital talking.

The cancer was now in remission, and hadn't posed a threat for several years, so things were looking good for the little girl. But she still called her big brother whenever she got into trouble, or just needed to talk. Yelina had never really warmed to Suzie after she'd found out about the relationship to her husband, but she'd also never gone out of her way to be hostile towards her. She also accepted her son's friendship with her husband's illegitimate daughter, even if it still hurt that he'd been unfaithful to her. She wasn't going to punish the innocent children for that.

Right now, Madison was also finishing her homework, but she was working on maths. Every now and then she'd ask Ray for help with a problem, or to check her answer. Truth be told, she was much better at maths than Ray had been at her age, and he was a little proud of the fact that it was partly because he would teach her things that were technically beyond her school level. He reasoned that as long as she didn't know it was too hard, she'd do her best to understand – and she usually did, after a new concept was explained a couple of times.

Rosie and Will, on the other hand, were playing on their Gameboys. They loved the text-based adventures that Ray had found cheap on EBay, and Horatio had figured that it was helping to improve their reading skills, so he didn't try to stop them. Every now and then one of them would come over to ask for help with a word, but mostly they could work things out for themselves. Ray smirked to himself – he really did have a very talented family.

After a while, he stretched and glanced at his watch. It was time for dinner. He rummaged around in the freezer and extracted tow large pizza bases, then found some tomato paste, shredded cheese and various meats. Madison and the twins put down their projects and came to watch. Ray liked experimenting in the kitchen, and they always loved trying his random creations.

"What is it tonight, Ray?" Madison asked. Ray smiled.

"This one will be chicken, cheese and chocolate. This one is tomato, cheese, bacon, capsicum and salami."

"Wow… that sounds great!" Madison's eyes were wide in expectation. Rosie nodded in agreement as she signed to Will what they were going to be eating. The grin on his face was enough to express his delight.

Ray smirked at the reactions as he prepared the pizzas. He was certain that they would be a hit. First he prepared and put the bacon concoction into the oven, and finished the chicken and chocolate one while the first cooked. He figured that they could eat the pizzas one at a time, ending with the chocolaty goodness as a sort of desert.

True, Yelina would be horrified if she knew what they'd eaten, but Ray wasn't planning on leaving any evidence for her to find.

The oven timer rang and Ray pulled out the pizza. He quickly put the other pizza in to cook, and then sliced the first up. They all dug in, and Will gave Ray the thumbs-up sign. Rosie nodded in agreement.

"This is great, Ray! Thanks!"

"Yeah, this is awesome," Madison added her appreciation. Ray ducked his head and smiled in embarrassment. He hadn't gotten up the courage to tell anyone yet, but he really wanted to be a chef when he left school. He was already looking at getting an after-school job in a local restaurant, and hoped that his mother wouldn't mind. Then again, he already knew that she didn't want him to be a cop, so hopefully she'd be okay with it.

The pizza was gone within minutes, and they waited not-so-patiently for the second to finish cooking. This too was polished off rapidly.

"Wow…" Madison murmured as she licked the last of the chocolaty-cheesy goodness from her fingers. "That was amazing."

"Just don't tell the adults," Ray grinned and started to clean up. "If they find out how unhealthy that was I'll never be allowed to babysit you guys again."

*Our lips and fingers are sealed,* Will assured him silently.

*Thanks, Will,* Ray quickly signed back. *We kids have to stick together, right?*

*Right.* The twins then scampered back to the lounge room to play their games again. Madison stayed behind to help Ray with the dishes, even though there weren't many. After all, they'd eaten straight from the pizza trays while standing in the kitchen.

Leaving Madison to finish drying up, Ray turned to put away all the ingredients. He'd just finished when they heard a car pull up into the driveway. Madison ran out to peek through the window, then squealed in delight.

"Mum!" She threw open the door and ran to give her mother a hug.

"Hey there little girl," Suzie closed her eyes and returned the embrace. "You have fun tonight?"

"Yeah! Ray helped me with my homework, too, so I don't have any more work to do this weekend!"

"Thanks for that," Suzie smiled at Ray as she entered the house. "I never was much good at maths. I always preferred art and drama, things like that. Kinda explains why I'm in advertising, doesn't it?"

Suzie was still at the Agramont, but was now head of advertising for the whole chain. She'd even appeared in a few commercials for the hotel, and was doing well for herself. She'd also been off drugs ever since she'd first met Horatio – she wasn't going to risk returning to that life now that she had a daughter to take care of.

Madison gathered her things and said goodby tot the twins while her mother and brother talked.

"You know, Ray," Suzie started thoughtfully, "Madison's always going on about what a great cook you are. You ever think about pursuing it?"

"I dunno," Ray shrugged, trying not to show how much he did want to. "I haven't really talked to anyone about it, or thought about it much."

"Well, I happen to know that the Agramont needs a new kitchen hand. I'm sure I could convince Chef Spencer to give you a chance, if you wanted to try it out."

Ray's breath caught in his through. This was his opportunity, and he turned hope-filled eyes to Suzie.

"You'd do that for me?"

"Of course," Suzie smiled and waved a hand breezily as if it were no big deal. "Like Horatio's always saying, we're family. And I think you really do want to cook, don't you?"

"Yeah," Ray admitted. She was a lot more observant than he'd given her credit for.

"Okay then," she nodded. "You talk to your mother and make sure she'd okay with it, then give me a call. Don't wait too long though, there are lots of kids who'd love this job, and it needs to be filled quickly."

"I'll talk to her tonight," Ray promised, "and I'll give you a call tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll talk to you then. Come on, Madison," she called out to her daughter, "time to go home. Bye guys!"

With a wave to the twins, Suzie and Madison left for home. Ray locked the door behind them, still smiling.

Sure, being a kitchen hand would be hard work, but it was an opening. And if he did well, it could lead to holiday work as a junior chef. Maybe, anyway. At the very least, it would help him decide whether or not he really wanted to follow this as a career.

Taking notice of the time, Ray turned back to the twins and gently tapped their shoulders.

*Okay guys, bed time. Mum will not be impressed if you're still up when she gets back.* It had been decided that the twins would sleep there, and Horatio would come pick them up in the morning.

"Okay, just let us save,* Will signed back.

*No problem,* Ray nodded. They didn't need his supervision to get ready for bed. Ten minutes later they were both in their pyjamas and had returned to give Ray a goodnight hug.

He went up the stairs with them and tucked them up in the double bed in the spare room. They quickly snuggled down, Will clutching his old, faded Woofer, and Rosie cuddling her much-loved Dolly. Within minutes they were both fast asleep. Ray smiled as he went back to finish his homework. It was almost done; he just needed to double-check his spelling. Mrs Irwin was extremely strict about the proper use of spelling, punctuation and grammar.

Finally he was satisfied, and put his notebook back in his school bag. He could type it up tomorrow after the soccer game, and then he'd have Sunday free to play on the computer, and maybe go rent a movie. It looked like being a good weekend – and with a little luck, he'd have a job by the end of it.