Disclaimer: I am not James Patterson, thus, I have no claim to ownership over his characters.
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Chapter 2
Max, Matt, Icarus, Peter and Wendy were indeed a sight to behold as they came home from school. During the beginning of the year when they were still new to the local school Frannie would drive the hour or so into town to pick them up from their school. Max soon saw what this was doing to Frannie and agreed to fly home, despite what remarks this might bring from the other kids. Besides, the way home was longer by road than it was 'the way the bird fly's' so to speak.
"How was it today?" Frannie came out the front door as they touched down in the clearing in front of the house.
"Fine"
"Good"
"Fine"
"Ok"
"It was the best day I've ever had in my life!" Icarus said sarcastically as they filed past her into the house.
Max kept walking and never changed her pace even up the stairs. She even skipped a few steps when she fluttered her wings excitedly. The last thing they heard from Max for a few hours was the slam of a door.
"What up her butt?" Peter asked while Wendy laughed.
Matt, who was sitting on the sofa with the television remote in his hand, gave Peter a small nudge with his foot.
"You should know Matthew." Icarus remarked as he sat down at the piano and struck up a soft chord.
"Just because she's my sister doesn't mean..."
"Not just you Matt, all of us should. It's only been a year, you can't have forgotten already." Icarus didn't look up from the keys while speaking.
"Right, well..." Matt looked down sullenly, inadvertently picking at his fingernails.
"Come on you four, your homework can't be done already you just got home from school. C'mon, get up." Frannie snatched the remote out of Matt's hands and shooed the twins into the dining room where they normally did homework.
Frannie walked up to the piano and sat next to Icarus. He didn't pause or acknowledge Frannie at all, just kept his head pointed towards the keys as his fingers glided over them
"It's Thursday, Kit's coming home tomorrow..." Frannie seemed to be looking for an answer.
"Yeah" is all Icarus said.
"So have you talked to Max lately?" Frannie tried another stab at conversation.
"Nope"
"Do you want to talk about anything?" Frannie stroked her fingers through his beautiful white hair.
"I'm good" Frannie got up and started to walk towards the stairs.
"If you ever need to talk...with me or Max, we'll always bee here. I know you haven't done a lot of that." Frannie continued up the stairs to try and comfort Max.
She remembered having the distinct thought that it hadn't been this hard to talk to the kids since they had first met.
"I'll be fine..." Icarus whispered to himself while a soft tear splashed onto the piano keys.