"Hey, baby," said a voice. A male voice. Alex's voice. Sarah spun around from the Starbuck's counter she'd been waiting at for nearly 15 minutes and smiled up at the 17-year-old boy standing by her.

"Hey," she whispered, her heart going at a thousand miles per hour.

"What do you want," Alex asked in his low, manly, smooth rasp. Sarah giggled girlishly.

"I'll have a frappé, thanks," she said, blushing. Alex smiled down at her.

"Fruity," he murmured sexily, before turning back to the counter and ordered two orange frappés.

When they had both finished their drinks, and spoken for a while, Alex looked at Sarah deeply.

"I just love your dark, sparkling eyes, Sarah. They're such a turn-on."

Sarah smiled, but she felt awkward. Inside, she scolded herself for feeling that way. Why am I so childish and frigid?, she asked herself.

"You OK?"

"I'm fine," Sarah replied, still slightly uneasy, "fine."

Meanwhile, at the house, Jake was lying in bed, listening to his music, hoping that Sarah was OK.

"SARAH?" called Kate's voice from downstairs. Jake's heart leaped. He heard footsteps and his door opening.

"Jake honey, is Sarah in her room? She left her clean bedlinen downstairs. I know it's nearly twelve at night, but I just thought-"

Deep down, Jake wanted nothing more than to burst out that Sarah wasn't here and had gone out dressed like Lorraine and he was terrified for her, but he couldn't betray Sarah like that.

"She's got, uh, a sour stomach, Mom, she's in the loo. If I were you I'd just tell her you've got the bedsheets and leave them by the door."

"Oh, well, OK then. Does she need any help?"

"No," snapped Jake, quickly, "no, she's good." Kate nodded and informed the absent Sarah about the clean sheets, then went back to her room...

"So," smarmed Alex, stroking Sarah's face, a few blocks from the Baker house.

"So," she whispered.

"I guess you're wanted back home now."

"Uh-huh."

"So I'll see you soon, babe." Sarah looked up, and before she had a chance to speak, she felt his lips pulsing against hers, fast and passionate. His tongue slid inside her mouth. 'Gotta do something', she told herself, moving hers to meet his. Soon, they were apart. Alex grinned, then walked off into the darkness. Sarah turned towards her block, her head spinning, a thousand different emotions racing through her head. When at last she got home, she climbed onto another trash can, stumbling in her giddiness, and leaned up to knock on Jake's window.

"J-Jake!" she hissed. Jake woke up, and hurriedly opened the window, dragging his sister through it. Sarah bounced onto the bed next to her brother.

"Sarah?" Jake questioned, looking at her lipgloss smeared mouth, suspiciously.

"Yuh," she said quietly, looking down and going red for the umpteenth time that day.

"Sarah I know what you've been doing. You just went out to see a guy, didn't you." Sarah glared at Jake.

"So what if I did. You're my KID BROTHER, Jake, just keep away, I can look after myself. Anyone, it's one, I promised I'd be back now. So just go back to sleep." Sarah walked out of the room and tiptoed into hers, taking off the clothes, slipping on her pyjamas and throwing the clothes under her bed. Then she tucked under the sheets, wiped off the tell-tale lipgloss smears and lay there, playing the kiss over and over and over again...

"BREAKFAST!" called Tom, the next morning. Jake got out of his room and watched Sarah, Nigel, Mike and Kim pound down the stairs, laughing and yelling. Jake smiled, at least Sarah hadn't been, affected, by last night. She was still good old Sarah.

When everyone was downstairs at the table, Kate leaned over, kissed Tom, and handed out the breakfast.

"Charlie called from college," Tom announced, "he wants us all to go see his big game on Sunday!"

"Cool!" replied Henry, buttering Kim and Jessica's toast.

When everyone had consumed their breakfast, Kate and Tom went through the usual fiasco of sorting out everybody's school transport arrangements.

"Lorraine, you take Sarah and Jake to school, then you and Henry can go to High School, and Tom, you take the rest."

When everyone was gone, Kate lay back on the comforting maroon sofa and sipped her tea, enjoying the oasis of calm she now inhabited. For an hour or so, anyway.

BRRRING BRRRRING!

"Grrreat," Kate muttered, placing the coffee down heavily on the coaster, and picking up the phone.

"Hello, Kate Baker?"

"Mom..." snivelled a voice.

"Nora?"

"Mom, can I come over, please?"

"Sure, um, what is it, you don't sound so good."

"You'll kill me..."

"Why, what is it? Please honey, just tell me."

"I'll be right over, Mom-"

'Beeeeeeeeeep'

Kate looked at the phone, puzzled, before replacing it, then waited for her eldest daughter to appear.

Fifteen minutes later, there was a familiar knock at the door. There was Nora, dressed in smart cream trousers, and, in contrast, a blue t-shirt. Her face was pale, she had rings under her eyes, and her hair was flipped carelessly out of her face.

"Baby," soothed Kate, hugging her tearful daughter, "you look terrible. What is it?"

Nora wiped her eyes nervously.

"Mom..." she began, unsteadily. "Mom, I'm going to have a baby..."

After she had got over the initial shock, Kate took Nora's arm gently.

"You should sit down."

Once they both were, Kate took a gulp of coffee and gazed at Nora, who was gazing at the floor.

"How did this happen, Nora?"

"Mom, I didn't want a baby, I didn't even want to, y'know, I just... Well Hank got burgled, and-"

"HANK!"

"Mom, please! Anyway, I-I went over to help him, he was in a pretty bad way, shaking and everything, 'cause the robber had threatened him with GBH, y'know. I know we're hardly best friends any more, but I just guessed it was my duty. I hugged him, and told him it would be OK, then... well Mom please I hope you'll understand but all my old love for him came flooding back and we kissed and then we oh my God it's awful please you know what I mean Mom, Mom?"

"Nora dear, stop gabbling, I understand. So this was a few weeks back, right?"

"Right," Nora choked.

"I think you should stay here a while, just to sort things out. I won't pretend I'm not angry, but you're 24 years old, not 14, and I realise this wasn't intended. I couldn't very well turn you away, could I. So you run back to your apartment and collect some things, then lock up and come back over here. OK?"

Nora agreed, then slipped back out of the front door. Kate sat down heavily, and put her hand on her forehead. This was too much for one morning!

That afternoon, after a tale about Nora being 'unwell' being spun for the kids, there was a very loud rumbling sound out front. Mark went to investigate.

"EVERYBODY!" he called, "New people are here!"

A loud stampede later and all the Bakers (apart from absent Charlie) were gathered at the window in the front room.

"I don't see anybody," said Kim, "only furniture, and removal men."

"They're probably already inside," retorted Lorraine.

"Shall we go over, say hello?" asked Tom. Kate paused, remembering the disaster that had resulted when the Shenks had come and greeted them for the first time.

"Why not?" she asked, smiling through (slightly) gritted teeth.

"I'll come!" called Jessica.

"Me too," Kim yelled.

And so a few minutes later, Tom, Kate, Kim and Jessica were congregated outside the big house opposite. The door opened, and a pleasant looking man in his early 40s or so stood at the door.

"Hello," he said, " you must be the people who live opposite, right?"

"Right," grinned Tom. Then a woman came to the door, dressed in Ralph Lauren jeans, and a tight silky cardigan. She smoothed her honey-coloured hair, licked her lips and came to stand by her husband.

"Oh, hi! Lovely to meet you. I'm Lorna, Lorna Kershaw, and this is my husband Jack. And, you are?"

"Oh, sorry, I'm Kate, Kate Baker, my husband, Tom, and this is Jessica and Kim."

"Two little girls, how lovely," Lorna mused, patting her hair into place.

"Uh, well, actually, we have 12 kids. 5 girls, 7 boys. They're at home."

Tom grinned at the astounded Kershaws.

"Ranging in age from 6 to 24."

"Wow," smiled Jack, "that's a lot of kids!"

"Sure is," Lorna put in.

"So, uh, do you live alone, you two?" enquired Kate.

"No," replied Jack, "we've got kids. Two. A girl, and a boy. Wait a second... STEPHANIE? SIMON? COME DOWN AND SAY HELLO!"

There was a short silence.

"To who?" called a a deep, sort of husky, but nevertheless childish boy's voice grumpily from upstairs.

"To some people from opposite," called Lorna. Jessica and Kim glanced at each other as they heard feet come downstairs. When they arrived, Lorna ruffled the boy's spikey hair and grinned.

"Simon's 13 and Stephanie's 14, aren't you, darlings?"

Simon was quite short, with wide apart blue eyes, spikey, honey coloured, blondey-brown hair, and one raised eyebrow, as though he were scorning of everything around him. He dressed pretty much like Jake, in skate clothes. Stephanie was taller, a little slimmer, but inevitably, curvier, with longish golden hair, and blue eyes. She wore a chocolate brown cropped cardigan, a pink vest top, a dark denim mini skirt, and high-heeled sandals were slipped on her feet.

Both the kids had the same unimpressed expressions on their faces.

"Simon baby," cooed Lorna patronizingly, "uncross your arms, and Stefi, hand off your hip. It's not polite."

The children obeyed reluctantly.

"Well," said Tom at last, a little embarrassed, "come over any time, uh, it was really nice meeting you, welcome to the neighbourhood!"

"Yeah," smiled Jack, "sure is different back home, huh?"

He got a brief 'you're-so-dumb' glance from both kids, then turned back to the Bakers.

"I'm from New York, Lorna's from Alabama, the kisd were born in Texas, then, when they were 6, 7ish, we moved to New York, then last year we went to Alabama for family reasons. Anyway, yeah, it was great meeting you," he finished.

"You too," simpered Jessica and Kim.

"Bye!"

Back at the Baker house, it was all questions for Jessica and Kim.

"Well, what were they like?"

"Do they have kids?"

"Are they nice?"

"Well," began Kim, "the guy, Jack, he seemed nice. His wife Lorna was OK, but she seemed kinda, you know, vain?"

With that, Jessica gave a remarkably accurate impression of the hair-flick lip-lick routine, much to the amusement of the others.

"Did they have kids?"

"I'm getting to that part, Kyle!" she snapped. "Yeah, they do. Stephanie and Simon. They both seemed pretty full of themselves. They looked as though everything around them was really dumb and pointless. They're, like, 13 and 14? The girl was pretty and girlishly dressed, the boy dressed kinda like Jake. He was pretty cute," she admitted coyly, blushing a little.

"Are ya gonna make friends with them then?" Nora asked, wrapped in a duvet having just taken Kate's advice and taken a good long sleep to aid the worry.

"We could try, but it would be easier if they weren't so up their own arses," snorted Sarah.

"I don't know, it seemed like there was more to it than that," mused Kim. Mike laughed.

"You really do see the best in everyone, don't you Kimmy?"

Hope you liked it, lots more action coming soon! xxx