"Puppy! Puppy!" Emma called as she pounded on Seth's door with her small hands. "Puppy, I wanna play!" She stopped hitting the door when she heard someone coming towards her. "Hi Rub." Emma giggled. "Do you wanna play horsey?"
"Get out of the way, brat." The boy scoffed and shoved Emma away from the door before entering Seth's room.
"Meanie." Emma pouted.
"There you are Emma." Sammy said as she walked up to the little girl. "What are you doing, honey?" She asked and scooped Emma into her arms.
"I wanna play with Puppy." Emma answered.
"Seth? You up man?" Sammy asked and knocked on the door. "Rob?" Sammy raised an eyebrow when Rob opened the door. "What are you doing in Seth's room?"
"I found this note." Rob handed a sheet of paper to Sammy. Sammy quickly skimmed the page and huffed.
"That son of a b..." Sammy stopped herself, remembering that she was holding Emma.
"What did Puppy do?" Emma asked.
"How about you and Max play some Chutes and Ladders Emma-bear?" Sammy said as she carried Emma away, tucking the paper into her back pocket.
"Have you guys seen Haley?" Michelle asked the group as they ate breakfast, getting ready for school.
"I haven't seen Lauren either." Hope added.
"Max, do you mind taking Emma to the den and playing some games with her?" Sammy asked, handing Emma over to Max.
"Why do I have to take her do the den?" Max asked.
"Because you're just a rabbit." Rob stated.
"Don't be rude to Maxi." Michelle snapped.
"You know I'm right." Rob scoffed.
"Speciesist." Max stuck his tongue out at Rob and left the room.
"What does that mean?" Hope asked.
"I'll tell you later Hopey. I need to show you guys something first." Sammy said and pulled the paper back out of her pocket. "Looks like Seth decided to go on a little trip." She handed the paper to Sheyla.
"Got bored, went on mission. Bye. Seth." Sheyla pinched the bridge of her nose after reading the note out loud.
"That explains why Lauren isn't here." Vickii said.
"But what about Haley?" Michelle asked.
"Seth signed me and Haley up for the mission, since you can't do lone ones and she must have followed him or something." Rob suggested.
"Haley would have gotten us up or at least taken you. You are her meister." Paul said.
"Who knows, women can be complicated." Rob shrugged.
"And men can be dumb-asses." Tori snapped.
"Seth will be back by tomorrow at the latest and we'll kick his ass for it then." Lance got up and grabbed his backpack. "Now let's go before we're late."
"Mama! Mama!" Emma ran back into the room, holding Sammy's phone. "You left this in the den."
"How do you forget...never mind." Lance sighed.
"Thank you Emma." Sammy took her phone. "Are you ready to go to daycare?"
"Can I come with you? Daycare isn't fun." Emma asked.
"I'm sorry honey." Sammy said.
"But mama!" Emma whined.
"Stein wouldn't let us just bring in a three year old-"
"Four." Emma corrected. Everyone stopped and stared at Emma. "I'm four, my birthday was yesterday."
"We missed your birthday? Why didn't you tell us?" Sammy asked. Emma just shrugged as an answer. "We are throwing you a great big birthday party when we get home from class."
"Cake?" Emma asked.
"Chocolate cake." Sammy said with a smile.
x~x~x
"Seth's going to be so pissed that he's missing this." JJ chuckled as he lit a sparkler.
"He's the one who wanted to go off on a rogue mission." Paul said, munching on some chips.
"Now make sure you keep moving Emma, so you won't get burnt." Sammy said to Emma as she handed the little girl a sparkler.
"Okay mama!" Emma giggled and ran off, waving the sparkler in the air.
"I don't like that they're not back yet." Sheyla said and took a sip of her soda.
"It's Seth and he has Lauren and Haley. They're fine." Sammy said. "Now let's cut the cake and enjoy the party."
"I got this. I worked in a kitchen." Tori said, grabbing a large knife.
"I'm terrified for my life." Fabian muttered.
"I fixed your hair, didn't I?" Tori asked. Fabian ran his hand through his shorter hair.
"Yeah."
"It looks cute." Tori chuckled, setting the knife down and running her own hand through Fabian's hair.
"Gross." Sammy said and took the knife, slicing off a square piece of cake.
"Can I have the flower?" Emma asked.
"Of course." Sammy sat the one piece on a plate and cut off a piece with the flower on it and handed it to Emma. "Don't forget to get a...napkin..." Sammy sighed after Emma used her hand to grab the icing flower off of the cake slice. "I just became my mother." Sammy yelped when her phone went off and raised an eyebrow when she discovered that her mother was calling. "Hi mama." Sammy said into the phone. "I'm putting you on speaker." She said and sat the phone down, continuing to cut and pass out cake.
"Just wanted to make sure that you were alive." Sammy's mother said.
"Is that your mom?" Hope asked.
"Yep." Sammy answered. "And I'm fine mama." She said to the phone.
"Do you need me to send anything?"
"Nein." Sammy said without even realizing it. Sammy put the knife down when her mother and Fabian started laughing while the others just stared. "What?"
"You said nein." Fabian answered.
"You just unleashed your inner German." Sammy's mother laughed. "I'm calling you Fabina from now on."
"Mom!"
"Bye Fabina." Sammy's mother hung up the phone.
"That's your mother?" Lance asked. "She's hilarious."
"Where do you think I get my sarcasm and snappy comebacks?" Sammy asked.
"Jesus?" Tori suggested.
"Yes." Sammy said.
"I knew it." Tori laughed.
"Oops, Haley texted me a while ago." Sammy chuckled and opened the message, her eyes popping open when she saw the picture. "Lance. I need to talk to you."
"Why-" Lance yelped when Sammy grabbed the front of his shirt and dragged him into the house.
"Couldn't you wait till the party's over!?" JJ called.
"Ya nasties!" Jaxon added.