A/N: Okay, brace your selves….this is the longest chapter I've ever written!!!!!!


I hate flying. Always have, always will. I sleep my way through the flight, or I won't make it. I'll start to hyperventilate and all types of junk. I don't know why, but I do. I have to sleep or do something to get my mind off of the fact that I'm sitting over 5 miles in the air.

"Shelt, I need something to occupy my time on this damn plane, cause if I don't got something to do that, I'll start freaking out…didn't you always notice that I always sleep or read on these flights? And I forgot my book!" I started freaking out.

"Baby, calm down, I'll think of something to occupy your time," he said, smiling that sexy smile of his.

"What are you thinking, Mr. Benjamin?" I said, smirking at him.

"Well, you'll see when we get to South Carolina." He said, putting his arms around me after putting his CD player on. I lay my head on his shoulder and fell asleep to the gentle up and down movement of his chest.

"Wake up baby, we're here." came Shelton's voice, waking me from my deep sleep.

"Shelton, leave me the hell alone. I want to sleep." I grumbled, not wanting to wake up. I was always an evil little bitch when people tried to wake me up.

"Come on, wake the hell up woman," he laughed. I flipped him off and pulled my hoodie over my head. I felt a tap on the top of my head.

"What?"

"Get the hell up baby girl. My mama's waiting for us."

"Okay, okay, I'm up, I'm up!" I muttered, wiping my eyes. We got off of the plane and walked to baggage claim. We were walking towards the parking lot when we heard someone shout.

"Shell-shell, Shell-shell, over here!"

We turned around to see a tiny female version of Shelton running towards us. Shelton let go of my hand and screamed.

"Kai! Kaire!" The girl jumped in his arms and he spun her around in a fierce hug. "Where's mama, Peanut?"

"Over Big mama's cooking. It is Sunday Shell-shell. She sent me to pick you up."

"How you doing Kai?" he said into her hair.

"Not too good. Craig is back." She said, squeezing him a little tighter.

"Did he hurt you and mama?" he said.

"NO, they just argued a lot, then he went into all this junk about how he never wanted us, and blah, blah, blah, he left about ten minutes later." She said, looking down.

"Peanut, don't worry, he comes back, he's dead, I promise baby." He said with his eyes full of a hatred I'd never seen there before.

"Okay big bro." she smiled. She turned to me, who was standing there, twirling my hair like a ditz. "So, who's the broad?"

"Kaire Jasmine Benjamin, be nice," he said, plucking her in the forehead.

"Sorry, but who is she?"

I looked at her. She was very pretty. She was about 5'5, a head taller than me, and had pretty brown eyes. Her hair was in a bun, and I noticed that she had on jeans and a leotard underneath leather jacket what was open.

"This is my girlfriend, Ariel."

"She a chaser?"

"KAI!"

"I'll take that as a no."

"Kaire Jasmine…"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. My names Kaire Benjamin, but you know that thanks to my annoying brother who used my full name in mixed company," she said, shooting Shelton a look as she said it. "What's you name?"

"My name's Ariel Cena, good to meet ya!" I laughed, shaking her hand.

"How old are you?"

"17. Shelton already told me you're a year younger than me. What grade you in?"

"I'm a senior, same as you."

"I'm not in high school anymore."

"You dropped out?"

"No, I skipped a grade, and my birthday's in June."

"Oh. Sorry about being a little bitch earlier, but I have to look out for my brother, you know?"

"Yeah, I'm the same way about my big brother, it's cool, I completely under stand."

"So, how old is this brother of yours…." She said, slyly.

"Too old for you" Shelton jumped in.

"He's 21." I laughed, as we began to walk towards the parking lot. We got to a blue Lincoln Towncar and got in. Shelton was driving, and Kaire got in the back eat with me, we started talking. We really hit it off, and we were a lot alike. She reminded me of Kristin, my best friend in Boston. We talked about our favorite movies and books, and what she wanted to do with her life. She was surprised that I was in the WWE, and it finally clicked that I was John Cena's kid! SO she's a little slow in the uptake, big deal. After about 45 minutes, we pulled in front of a nice two-story house. It had a huge back yard, and the front yard was full of pretty flowers.

"Leave the bags in the car baby girl; we're not staying here, just having Sunday dinner."

"Great, I'm starved!"

"Oh, no…"

"What's wrong Shell-shell?" Kaire said.

"This girl eats A LOT! A whole damn lot," he laughed, causing me to give him the finger, which made Kaire, burst out laughing. We walked up the drive way and on to the porch. Kaire walked in, but I froze.

"What's wrong baby girl?"

"What if they don't like me Shelton? I mean, What if they completely hate me?" I said, looking up at him.

"You don't have to worry about that baby girl, they'll love you, because I love you, I promise." He said, lightly kissing my nose.

"Have I told you I love you lately?" I said, hugging him.

"Yeah, and I love you too." He said, taking my hand and walking into the house. When we walked in the house, about 7 kids under 10 bombarded him.

"SHELTON!!!!"

"What's up rugrats? Where's my mama?" he said, hugging all of them.

"Big Mama sent her to the store." The oldest one said.

"Shell, Mike hit me again!"

"DID NOT!"

"Yeah you did!"

"He did Shell, I saw him!" another voice piped up

"Stop being a Tattle Tail Shawn!"

"Come play with us Shell!"

"I'll meet ya'll in the back yard in twenty minutes, IF, ya'll be good, and say hi to my girlfriend here. This is Ari ya'll, say hi!"

"HI ARI!"

"Hey, you guys," I laughed. They ran through the house and out in the back yard.

"Well, look a-here, if it ain't my grand son the wrestling star!" a woman said, walking around the corner. She was tall, at least about 5'8, 5'9, and round, but she was powerful looking. I was guessing she was about 65, 70 years old, but she had this presence about her that made me feel like I had to respect her.

"Big Mama!" he said, hugging her.

"How was your flight?" she said with a strong South Carolina accent.

"It was good, it was good." He said, smiling.

"They feed you on that flight?"

"No ma'am, even if they did, I'd still be hungry,"

"I bet you would, baby. Now, who is this beautiful young lady over here," she said, looking at me.

"Big mama, this is my girlfriend Ariel Cena. She's in the WWE too."

"Come on over here, and let's have a look at you." I walked over to her. I was wearing some jeans, tennis shoes, and a shirt that said 'Daddy's Girl', with a 'Word Life' Hoodie over it.

"Well Michael, I must say, she's right pretty." She said, smiling at me. "How long you two been together?" she said to me.

"Almost a year and a half." I said, fingering the locket Shelton had given me for my birthday.

"That's nice. Well, don't stand in the hall way all day, come on and meet the family!" she said, motioning for me to allow her into the living room. There were a lot of people, mainly men sitting around watching football.

"Boys, turn that TV down for a second." The TV turned down instantly. "Now, this is Michael's new girlfriend. Her name is Ariel. I expect for you all to treat her like family." She warned them, giving them all this look that said 'do as I say or else'. "Now, Ariel, this is James, Marcus, Leon, Jesse, Paul, David, Russell, Mark, and the little scrawny one, that's Cory." She said, pointing to each person in turn. She left the room, and the TV was turned back up.

"Hey, who's playing?" I asked the one she pointed to as Leon.

"Carolina and New England." He said, staring intently at the TV.

"Ooh, that's my team!" I said, flopping down on the floor next to Leon. Shelton picked me up, and sat on the floor, plopping me on his lap. We sat there watching the game, obviously cheering for opposite teams.

"Come on New England!" I shouted at the TV, causing the whole group to stare at me. "What?"

"New England?" Leon said, laughing at me.

"Yeah, I'm a Boston Native!" I said, laughing back at him. I was loving spending time with Shelton's family. They were so open, and close knit. And they welcomed me and hung out with me like they'd known me for ever. When the game was over, I collected my $25 from Shelton, because he said Carolina would win.

"SHELL, MAMA'S HERE!" Kaire's voice floated through the window. Shelton stood up, carrying me with him. I screamed, and laughed, as he walked through the house and into the kitchen with me over his shoulder.

"Shelton Michael Benjamin, put me down!" I laughed.

"Nope, I like carrying you around." He said, slapping my ass.

"Michael, put that child down." A voice said. I was guessing it was his grand mother, because he obeyed instantly, and put me down. "Now, what has gotten into you that you're playing in my kitchen?"

"Sorry big mama," he said, grinning sheepishly.

"It's alright baby. Now introduce your mama to your friend." She said, smiling at me before turning around to stir something in a big pot. It was right then that I remembered that I was starved.

"Mama, this is my girlfriend Ariel. Baby girl, this is my Mama, Caroline." He said, putting his arm around me.

"Nice to meet you, finally." I said, smiling.

"Same here. Now that we've met, SHELTON MICHAEL BENJAMIN, GET YOU HIND PARTS OUT OF THIS KITCHEN!" she laughed, pushing him out of the door and into the back yard. I looked around the yard, and saw that all of the kids were playing two-hand touch football. There were about twelve kids out there between the ages of 8 and 17.

"YO, SHELTON!" a voice shouted. We looked over and saw a teenage guy walking over towards us. He had chocolate brown skin, his head was shaved, and he had deep chocolate brown eyes. He was HOT, I mean not as sexy as my Shelton, but still pretty hot.

"Hey Rome, what's up dude?" Shelton laughed, giving him a manly half-hug.

"Trying to survive, you know?" he said, smiling.

"How's Kara?"

"She's still at Spellman, she got her a dude that goes to Morehouse…preppy type motherfucker, you know the type I'm talking bout, brown noser."

"Yeah, I know." He laughed. "Rome, this is my girl, Ari. Baby girl, this is my favorite cousin Roman." Rome looked at me and smiled.

"What's up Kid?" Shelton said, looking at him weird.

"I know her already."

"How?" Shelton said eyeing me.

"I'd never ever forget little Ireland." He said, watching as my face went from confusion to recognition.


"Roman Pierce?"she shouted. He broke into a bigger smile and pulledher into a hug. "Shelton, Roman was like my big brother when me and Matt were in the orphanage. He got adopted two months before I did.

"Really?" I said, scratching my head

"Yeah. I was his little Ireland. He protected me when Matt couldn't. The three of us were joined at the hip, and I was always just one of the guys with him." She said, smiling at him.

"Ireland?" I said confused.

"Yeah, her eyes are this piercing, shamrock green, and shamrocks are from Ireland." He said, smirking.

"So, guess what, punk?" she said, looking at my cousin.

"What?"

"You'll never guess who freaking adopted me."

"Who?"

"Well, when's the last time you watched wrestling?"

"Uh, Armageddon, but I didn't see the whole thing."

"Well, my dad is none other than John Cena."

"YOU'RE LYING!" he laughed. He remembered Matt's obsession with John. "Wait a minute…you're telling me, that right now, in the WWE, Shell's tag team partner is MATTIE?" he blurted.

"Yeah! What's up with you? Where'd you go man?" she said looking up at him.

"Nothing, actually, this is my third home. The first house, I got shipped out to Cleveland for a year. The second one, I ended up in Barstow, California for about a year and a half. And when I was 13, I got shipped here, and I'm 20 years old, working at my Uncle D's Garage. How many you get?"

"Just the one. It's been great, though," she said, wrapping my arms around her waist. I rested my chin on top of her head and pulled her against me.

"Hey, Shell, what you guys doing tonight?" Rome said, smirking at me.

"Chilling at home, watch a movie maybe. Wanna come? It'll just be me, Ari, and Kai anyway. Leon'll probably tag along too." I said, smirking at my best friend.

"When have I turned down the option to stay at your place? I've been using your room whenever Kelly kicks me out anyway." I laughed at him and slapped him in the back of his head laughing.

"You still mess with old girl?" I laughed.

"Yeah, what can I say, she can't get enough of me!" he laughed. I laughed as Ari made the sound of a whip cracking, then looking away as if nothing was said.

"You little Leprechaun!" he yelled laughing. She shrieked and started running around the yard. Roman chased her around the yard, and I jumped in, picking Ari up and throwing her to Rome. We started playing catch with her.

"Shelton Michael Benjamin, stop being a fucking asshole and stop throwing me to the guy who used to play Barbie's and Cabbage Patch Kids with me!" she laughed. I nearly dropped her from laughing so hard.

"Tough-guy, thugged-out Roman Pierce used to be bullied into playing with Barbie's and Baby Dolls by a then four and five year old Munchkin?" I laughed, running from my cousin and trying not to piss my pants at the same time.

"Says the guy who had to help his sister practice for her ballet recitals!" he screamed, now running from me. Ari was sitting on the back porch laughing so hard she was crying.

"Okay, okay, come here Barbie-boy!" she screamed at Rome, who jogged over to her.

"Don't call me that." He said, flopping down next to her.

"Nope, I have cutesy nicknames for everyone. It usually is just a play off of their names or something, but Romeo isn't all that cutesy. So you're Barbie-boy." She said, pinching his cheek. I laughed, because no one, not even his on-again-off-again girlfriend touched his face. But to my surprise, he just laughed!

"Wait, wait, wait, Rome, how in the hell does lil miss five foot three over here get to pinch and prod your face when Kelly gets cussed out for brushing crumbs off of your face?" I said, laughing.

"Cause, I'm Ariel Nicole Cena, and I can do that!"

"Because she's like my baby sister, and she wouldn't listen even if I told her not to, so why bother?" he laughed.

"DINNER'S READY!" a shout came out of the kitchen window.

"About time, I'm starved!" Ari laughed.

"Not more than me!" Rome countered.

"Is that a challenge Barbie-boy?" she eyed him, smirking.

"You're so on, Ireland." He said, winking at me. I picked up what he meat, and grabbed Ari by her legs at the same time Rome grabbed her arms. Leon, who we'd watched the football game with, grabbed her around the middle, joining in on our game.

"PUT ME DOWN!!" she screamed, laughing at our antics.

"Put her down!" a scream came. We looked up and saw the figure standing in the door.

"Aw, it's just Peanut. Leon, tickle her, right on her sides, she can't take it!" I yelled. Soon, Air's screams filled the air, and suddenly, I felt a huge weight on my back. "Kaire, get off my back!"

"Put her down!"

"Get off!"

"Put her down!"

"Get off!"

"Put her down!"

"Get off!"

"Put her down!"

"Get off!"

"Put her down!"

"Get off, or I'll make you!"

"Put her down!"

With that, I flipped her over my shoulder and started tickling her. Rome and Leon were still working on Ari, till, of course the call came.

"Shelton Michael Benjamin, Roman Eric Pierce, Leon James Benjamin, get off of those girls and get in this house and eat!"

"Yes big mama," we chorused immediately, all getting up and walking to the house. Kai was on my back, and Ari jumped on Rome. We walked into the dining room laughing and joking. We sat the girls down and stood behind a chair. We joined hands, prayed as a family, and sat down. Ari was between me and Rome; Kai was between Rome and Leon. Ari, Rome, and Leon were in a fierce eating contest, everyone cheering, my grandma just laughing the whole time. In the end, Rome won, and Ari came in second.

"Told you you wouldn't win, Ari." I laughed.

"Well, I could ever beat Roman. I came close, but I never could." She said, pinching Rome's cheek again. Everyone laughed, and then caught on to what she said.

"Roman, you knew Ariel before today?" Big Mama asked.

"Yes ma'am. She was like my little sister when I was in the orphanage in Pittsburgh. I haven't seen her since I was nine. I got adopted by that family in Cleveland two months before she got adopted by John Cena." He said, looking at her.


"Wow, talk about a family reunion," one of the older teenagers whose name I remembered was Cory.

"Yeah, creepy, huh?" Rome laughed. We finished eating and then we went to Shelton's family's house. It was a nice place. Four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a huge backyard with this amazingly enormous trampoline, and the basement was a gym for Shelton or Rome to use/practice studio for Kai's dancing. When we got back to Shelton's house, Shelton, Kaire, Leon, Rome and me went up in his room, which was painted blue and black. We were sitting around on the bed, and his desk chair, and the floor, hanging out. It was around 2:00 am when Kaire spoke up.

"Shelton, my recital is in two days."

"That's the day before Christmas Eve, right?" he said.

"Yeah, you coming?"

"Of course, Peanut, that is, if Ari doesn't mind sitting through a two and a half hour ballet." He said, looking at me.

"What show is it?" I said, trying to hide my excitement.

"The Nutcracker."

"Oh my god, that's like my all time favorite!" I blurted out.

"No way, mine too!" Kai said, smiling. We started talking about all of our favorite parts and dances, when all of a sudden Shelton piped up.

"HOLD IT! I got it, ballet, that's your third passion!" Everyone got this confused look on their faces.

"No it's not!" I said quickly, trying to cover it up.

"Oh yes the hell it is! I could tell, that look in you eye gave you away baby! Wrestling, music and ballet! I figured it out!" he laughed.

"Okay, okay, you caught me. But you can't tell anyone, especially Allie and those Hardy boys, deal?"

"Oh hell no, I figured it out, I'm telling everyone!" he laughed.

"You won't tell, I know it." I said, slyly.

"How?"

I got up and whispered in his ear the one thing that would keep his mouth shut.

"Now that's just low." He said, giving up. The boys laughed, because they didn't know what I told him, but Kaire, who thought on the same lines as I did, looked at me, and smirked.

"No sex." We said at the same time.

"That's just wrong, Ireland." Rome laughed.

"Whatever. It worked, didn't it?"

"I got an idea!" Kaire piped up.

"What?" I said. We'd become fast friends.

"Let's play truth or dare!" she said, laughing.

"Yeah!" I laughed.

"NO!" Rome, Leon and Shelton yelled.

"Why?" me and Kai said, pouting.

"Kaire knows why. Every damn time we play, she only picks truth." Leon complained.

"Yeah, and last time we played, I ended up locked out side my locker room ass hole naked!" Shelton muttered

"Well, let's play Truth or dare for us, and Dare or Double Dare for Kai." I said, eying her.

"No fair!" she grumbled good-naturedly. The boys got in this type of huddle thing and then turned to me and Kai.

"We're in!" they said.

"Cool, now…Rome, Truth or Dare?" I laughed.

"Dare." He said confidently.

"Okay, I dare you, to call this number and do a prank phone call." I said, writing down the number. Shelton looked over my shoulder and read the number. Then he looked at me, laughing.

"Good one, baby girl!"

"No problem, Ireland." He said, picking up the phone. He dialed the number and put on a pretty good valley girl accent.

"Like hello? Is this Becky's house? Like no way! No way, this is so like, her house! Well, like, who is this? Well, like hi, Glenn. You sound, like, kinda hot! Like, this is Megan! Well like tell Becky to like, call me, Bye bye!" he hung up the phone and we busted out laughing.

"Ireland, that guy was pissed! Who the hell did you have me call?"

"My Uncle Glenn…also known as Kane!" I said, laughing along with Shelton as his jaw dropped.

"Well, I did it, so it's now my favorite baby cousin's turn. Leon, truth or Dare?"

"Truth."

"Pussy. Last year, you borrowed my car and took Karen Williams to the drive in. You came back with a couple of hickies. Did you hit that in my car?"

"You have to tell the truth too!" Kai giggled.

"Yeah, I did." Leon laughed. "Now Kaire, Truth or Truth." He said.

"No, she has to do a dare!" Rome protested, Shelton nodding furiously.

"No, I have to ask her this…an exception for this one round?" he said looking at the two."

"Just this round."

"Truth." Kai said, smirking at her brother.

"Okay, last weekend, I took you to a party. You spent a lot of time chilling with Chris Hicks, and the next time I look up, you two were to where to be seen."

"WHAT? Kaire Jasmine Benjamin, Chris is too old for you. You know I hate that guy, Peanut. Why you hanging with him?" Shelton interrupted.

"THE QUESTION IS…" Leon continued. "What exactly did you do with him when you disappeared?"

"Well, we went upstairs and we were chilling out for a while. Then he got me a drink, a Snapple Shelton, don't worry, then we started kissing. It started getting heavy, and I wanted out. He understood, gave me his cell phone number kissed me on the cheek and said to call him later. So I got up and left." She said simply. I was sitting in Shelton's lap, and I felt him tense up as she talked about her making out with the Chris dude.

"Now that the third Degree is over, Ari, Truth or Dare?"

"Dare." I smiled

"Oh, I gotta make this one good….Rome, help me out here…"

The started whispering, and turned around smiling.

"Okay, I dare you to…streak down the street naked."

"No Problem." I said, standing up and walking downstairs. We were standing on the front porch and I started shedding my clothes. I slipped my Daddy's girl T-shirt and Jeans off then I paused.

"Keep going, ain't nothing I haven't seen before." Shelton teased.

"Nope, I'm carrying the rest with me. I know you'll steal my damn clothes the second I put them down, so I'm keeping the essentials with me so when you lock me out, I'm not completely naked! Now, Kaire, how far do I have to go?" I said, un-hooking my bra.

"To the third stop sign and back." She said.

"Fine." I said walking into the middle of the street. I took off my boxers and ran down the street. I turned around and came back. I slipped my underwear back on and came back on the porch.

"Happy now?" I asked the group, laughing.

"Very," Shelton, Leon and Rome said, laughing. I flipped them off, and took my jeans from Leon. I slid them on. I kept my shirt off…it was a good 75 degrees outside, and it was December! We went back into Shelton's room and sat back down.

"Well, Shelton…you're up, truth or dare?" I said, looking up at him from sitting on his lap.

"Dare." He smirked.

"Leon, Rome, Kaire...I need you three…" I said, giving him a cocky smirk that could rival Uncle Randy's.

"Well, Shelton…your dare is, that you have to go to the 7/11 up the street and sing a Barney song at the top of your lungs." I said.

"NO WAY!" he said, looking to his cousins for help.

"Don't look at Roman, he came up with it!" I said, laughing at him. Shelton, along with Kaire and Leon, drove to the 7/11, where they confirmed me that he sang a Barney song. After that, we goofed off for a while longer, then we turned in.

"Hey, did you ever notice that Rome looks just like Tyrese in this movie?" I spoke up suddenly. We were sitting around in the living room watching 2 Fast 2 Furious, another of my favorites, but not as high on the list as the original…I mean come on, Vin Disel was just too hot in that movie…I was laying across the couch…my head in Rome's lap, the rest of me in Shelton's. Rome was playing with my hair like he did when we were little.

"Yeah, he does!" Kaire laughed. She pinched Rome's cheek, and got smashed with a pillow for it.

"Whatever," he said, and resumed playing with my hair. When the movie was over, we got up and went in the back yard. I instantly took off my shoes and got on the trampoline. I was jumping around and started doing flips and turns and inverted 450's and all types of stuff.

"Where in hell did you learn that?" Rome laughed.

"My buddy Skittles." I said smiling. Shelton just shook his head and joined me on the Trampoline.

"Skittles?"

"His real name is Jeff…but we call him Skittles. I've only seen him with his normal hair color once, and that was because I stole his hair dyes one time….normally, his hair is blue, or green, or red, or yellow,-"

"Or pink, or orange, or purple, or just about any color you can imagine. Like a pack of skittles!" Shelton added, doing a back flip.

"Wow, you got some weird friends, Ireland." Rome laughed and I hit Shelton with a hurricrana on the trampoline.

"Thanks," I said as I jumped (pretty damn high) over Shelton's head and over to the other side of the trampoline. All of a sudden, we're in a wrestling match on the trampoline, and I end up giving Shelton the ANC (an RKO, but ANC are Ari's initials…get it?) and getting the pin which Leon counted.

"Okay, you win…this time." Shelton laughed. I smirked and did another back flip, landing on the grass next to the trampoline."

"We'll see, Shelly." I smirked, jumping on Rome's back. I rolled my eyes and fallowed them into the house.


The rest of our trip went off with out a hitch. I gave Ari a leather Jacket that had her name stitched into it in the same color as her car was, well, the base coat of it anyway. She got me a great gift, well two gifts really. She gave me a ring, that had my June Birthstone in it, and then, in Private, she gave me this envelope with ten blue squares in it and a letter. I read the letter and smirked.

Shelton,

These are favor coupons. You have ten. You only get ten so use them wisely. They can be used to get you ANYTHING, NO questions asked, with in reason. There are three rules: ONE, no using coupons to get more coupons. TWO, you can't use them to make me do things that Matt, or My Uncles or My Dad or anyone else ask you to do. And THREE…Sexual favors don't count. Have fun, and I love you!

Merry Christmas,

Ari

Aw, baby, I love it…though the first two rules suck…Oh well, I love you too!" I laughed, pulling her into a kiss. Next thing I know, I have her pinned against the wall, and her legs are around my waist and we're fully making out.

"Shell! Where's my pink…Oh SHIT! Sorry!" Kaire yelled, running out of my room. Ari turned red and buried her face in my neck. I started laughing at her, and let her down. I walked out of my room and found Kaire, who was still laughing, sitting out on the back deck.

"Kai, be glad you didn't come in about ten minutes later." I laughed. She smirked and looked up at me.

"Sorry about that one, I'm still getting used to the fact that I can't just barge into your room anytime I want to…I'm DELIGHTED that I didn't come in 10 minutes later, I would have been scared for life!.

"Ha, ha. Now, what did you want?"

"I wanted to know if I'd left my pink timberland boots in your room. I can't find them."

"Yeah, they're either under my bed, in my closet, or I might have thought they were Ari's and put them in her suitcase."

"Okay." We were quiet for a while after that, just sitting there, like we used to do when we were little.

"When are you coming back home?"

"I don't know Peanut, probably around February, March at the latest. I'll definitely be here for you birthday, and your graduation though, I promise."

"I'm gonna miss you so much Shell-shell. You're never here, and what if Craig comes back and you're not here to protect Mama?"

I looked down at her and noticed she was about to cry. I scooped her up and pulled her into my lap.

"Peanut, you know nothing is gonna happen to Mama. You got Rome, Leon, Mike, John, Vince, and hell, even little ass Cory to help protect you and Mama. And if I ever run into Craig, I'll kill him with my bare hands."

"No, you can't fight Shell…what about your probation?"

"If I have to do 8 to 10 for beating that son of a bitch within an inch of his life, I'll do them all with a smile." I said, balling my hands into fists to control my anger at thinking about my so-called father. He'd ditched me and my mama when I was three, he showed up every once in a while, then showed up a couple more times and fell in good with moms again. Lo and behold, Kaire was born, and three days after she was born, He took the hell off again. He still hangs around, trying to get in good with me and Kaire, knowing my mama ain't falling for it no more. Supposedly, he's after my money, or something, I wouldn't know, I never stick around long enough to find out. Soon after, he started getting violent. Pushing on my moms, he slapped her a couple of times, but thankfully, Rome and Leon were there since I wasn't. I swore to myself if I ever saw him, I'd beat the shit out of him for what he put my mom and sister through.

"Kai," I said, causing her to look up at me. "Listen to me. Craig ain't coming back around her no more, I promise that, because if he does, he won't be walking out of here."

"Don't say that, because I know you'll go through with it! I don't want my brother in jail! Promise me you won't fight him Shelton."

I paused. It was the first time in as long as I could remember that she'd called me Shelton. It was always Shell, or Shell-shell, or she called me by my middle name sometimes, but hardly ever Shelton.

"I'll try Peanut, I'll really try, but you know, I can't make that promise."

"PROMISE ME!" she said, nearing tears again.

"Okay, I promise," I sighed, knowing I was in some deep shit if I didn't keep that promise.

After my talk with Kaire, I went back up to my room, where Ari was going through her bag.

"Wait a minute, there aren't mine," she muttered, picking up a pair of pink Tims.

"Oh, they're Kai's then, I thought they were yours." I said, taking them from her and throwing them across the hall into Kai's open room.

"Oh. I don't want to leave tomorrow, it's so calming and quiet down here." She said, folding her pajamas and putting them in her bag.

"Who's picking us up at the airport?" I said.

'Lamar, Katie, Matt and Christy. Matt, Amy and Jeff land tonight and ten, and my dad's picking them up."

I laughed to myself, because Matt Amy and Jeff had been in Boston working on the car for almost a week. Shane was landing tonight, not the rest of them.

"Oh. I'm going to shower and go to bed now. Love you." I said, kissing her forehead. I showered and came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel to find Ari in a pair of my boxers sitting so low on her hips I couldn't believe they were still on her, and a tank top.

"Damn baby, you look better in my drawers than I do!" I joked, climbing into bed and Ari put her toothbrush back in her bag.

"I know, she said, climbing in next to me. I put my arm around her and went to sleep.

"BOY WAKE YOUR ASS UP!" a voice said. I was awoken by a stuffed pink bear hitting my face with deadly accuracy.

"Roman, go the hell away," Ari grumbled, snuggling into me.

"you heard the woman," I laughed, getting out of bed."

"Ha, ha. Ariel Nicole, get your short ass up and get out of bed!" Rome laughed, picking up another bear, this one blue. That's when I realized that Kaire was passing the bears to him from her room across the hall. I laughed at them and caught a stuffed cat.

"Rome," I whispered. "On three." I said, taking aim.

"One, Two, THREE!" he shouted, and we both nailed her in the side of the head with he stuffed animals. She jumped up and started chasing us around the house. She eventually caught Rome and started beating him over the head with one of the cushions from the couch in the living room.

"Honestly, could you four stop acting like you're 13 years old and grow up?" a voice said. We looked over and it was none other than the infamous Leon. We flipped him off and kept playing. All of a sudden, Kaire's face got really dark, and she stopped playing. She stood up and ran into her room. Leon chased after her, but I automatically knew. I looked out of the window she'd glanced out of, and saw the Black Cadillac Coupe Deville. The man got out of the car and came to the front door and knocked.

I opened the door and yelled.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?"

"Who do you think you're talking to like that? You might be able to talk to your mother like that, but not to me. You will respect me!"

"I don't have to respect shit, Craig."


UH OH!!!!!! WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN? WILL SHELTON BE ABLE TO KEEP HIS PROMISE? FIND OUT IN THE NEXT PULSE POUNDING INSTALATION OF A REAL FAMILY!