Notes: Waah! . 'tis Saturday and I promised to do my best to have Ch. 16 up this weekend…soo…Yes. I was reading through WoD…I would like to apologize to anyone who has read it…x.x There are so many spelling errors...Well, in the first few chapters at least. Missing letters on the beginning or end of words…Yeah…It was driving me crazy as I read it…I think I'll go through an edit it soon….

There's on review that I'd like to respond to O.O; From…Damn…I can't remember their name! It was…The Phoenix of Black Flames! XD Right. The review was "Mickey is not bad!" (it was not a user so I couldn't reply to them…) Besides that, I want to remind everyone…I have nothing against any drivers! Like ANY race fan who's favorite drived is involved in an accident, I tend to get quite mad at the driver(s) that have caused the problem for my driver. X.x When someone causes Dale Jarrett or Kevin Harvick a problem, I get angry. I'm sure any race fan can understand that. For example…Just last weekend, Green (I think it was him…) blamed DJ for a wreck when it was not DJ's fault. X.x DJ did not purposely cause a problem or cause the wreck. I was mad at Green then but, after the race, I was over it. That's just how it goes when you're a fan. To add to that, do you know how boring this fic would be without driver conflict? X.x Right. Aaaaanyway…Oops. The I'm missing the Bush race… -changes channel-

Chapter 16

"Cherise!" Rei gasped, catching his daughter and lifting her into his arms. "What are you doing here?"

"Auntie Martina said we should come watch you race! So we all came!" Cherise answered cheerfully, hugging her father around the neck. "Aren't you glad to see us, Daddy?"

"Of course I am! Where are the others?" Rei asked, looking up. Three women, one carrying a girl the same age as Cherise, were walking towards the garage. "Hey, you guys!"

"Hey there, Rei," the woman holding the girl greeted, smiling. The other two waved. Kai glanced between Rei and the woman, surprised at how unalike they looked. The three women, who looked nearly identical, had brown hair. The woman holding Cherise's sister had her hair cut to about shoulder length while the other two had about waist-length hair. "Long-time, no-see."

Rei smiled putting Cherise down and hugging each of his sisters. "I hear this was your idea, Martina," Rei said, taking the other girl from her.

She grinned, shrugging, "Yes, well, Cherise and Natasha were missing you and we were worried about you." (A/N: Hmm…I think Rei was adopted.)

"And we wanted to get away from the Devil," one of his other sisters, Diane, added, making a face.

Rei groaned, not wanting to think about the 'Devil' right now. "Can't blame you there. You guys hungry?"

"I am!" Natasha chirped, not so shy now that food was on her mind. "I'm hungry, Daddy!"

"Alright then," Rei said, smiling as he set Natasha down. "Let's go find some place to eat then…"

"What? You're not going to introduce us?" Tala asked, sounding offended.

Rei rolled his eyes, "This is Tala and Bryan." Turning to Kai, Rei smiled a little. "And um…This is Kai…"

Martina came forward, hands on her hips. "So YOU are the one we've been reading about. Hope you are being nice to Rei," Martina said teasingly.

Kai glanced over at Rei, frowning slightly. "Not so much today, no…Rei, can I talk to you?"

Rei, looking both startled and worried, nodded. "Yeah, sure. Tala, Bryan, can you guys take them to get something to eat?"

Tala nodded, motioning for the women to follow. With one last curios look at Kai, Martina left with the others. Rei followed Kai into the office in the back of the garage, watching him as he shut the door behind them.

"What's up?" Rei asked after a moment.

Kai sighed, turning to face Rei. "I'm sorry about earlier. For snapping at you…"

Rei nodded, perching on the edge of the office desk. "It's okay," Rei replied, fiddling with the end of his wrapped hair. "What is bothering you today, Kai?" (A/N: It's hard to write this while watching Princess Mononoke O.O;)

The older driver looked away, shaking his head. "I don't know…Part of it is just frustration, I suppose…but also…" Kai looked at Rei, moving to stand in front of Rei. "I was wondering why you never told me about your daughters before…"

Shrugging, Rei rested his arms on Kai's shoulders, rubbing the cloth of his scarf between slender fingers. While Rei still wore his race uniform, Kai had had plenty of time to shower and change. "At first it was because I didn't know you that well and I didn't think you'd care…After that, when I knew you better…It was because I was afraid you might be angry or that you might not want to deal with children…"

"Hmm…I don't like children," Kai muttered, laying his forehead against Rei's. "But that's because the only children I seem to meet are spoiled rotten."

"That's not Cherise and Natasha at all! They aren't spoiled," Rei objected, frowning.

Kai smiled slightly, raising an eyebrow. "Now, Rei, I said nothing of the sort."

"I know…But they aren't…Really, I think you'll like them. Especially Natasha," Rei said, still playing with Kai's silk scarf; he liked the feel of the cool cloth. "Natasha's extremely shy and new people make her nervous but I think the two of you will get along well. I mean…If you- If you want to…"

Kai nodded, wrapping his arms around Rei's waist. "Of course I do. They're your daughters, right?"

"Well…Cherise is…Natasha is adopted," Rei said quietly.

"Adopted? Does she know?"

Rei nodded, looking sad all of a sudden. "She remembers her parents, too. According to the adoption agency, her parents gave no reason for not wanting her…They just took her there and went on their way…The same way that my parents did…"

Kai was silent for a few moments before he responded. "You were adopted, too?"

The younger driver nodded again. "Yes…When I was six…That's part of why I wanted to adopt Natasha so much. I wanted to give her the chance at the kind of life I had growing up."

"I see…" A few more moments of silence before the Kai asked the question that Rei had not wanted to be asked.. "Who is Cherise's mother…?"

Rei sighed heavily, shifting back a bit and looking away. "She used to be my best friend…Her name is Mariah…" (A/N: XD Yup. I made up my mind. Just so you guys will all go "Ah, man! Not Mariah!" XP 3 I know you love me.)

"What happened?" Kai asked, watching Rei's face.

"I suppose you could say that I got to see how she really was…Living with her was hell…That's where she earned the nickname 'Devil'."

The silence that fell after that was longer than the others. When Rei turned his gaze back to Kai, the older man was looking elsewhere, lost in thought. What's he thinking about…? Rei wondered, studying Kai's eyes as if trying to read them.

"Kai…?"

"Did you love her?" Hardly more than a whisper but Rei heard it.

Did I love her? Did I feel the same with her as I do with Kai? Was I happy with her at all? Leaning forward a little, Rei kissed Kai's cheek. "No, Kai. It wasn't love. Not with Mariah."

Kai turned his head to look at Rei again, his gaze questioning. "And me…?" (A/N: I'm not going to hurt you…I'm just going to bash your brains! O.o; -Watching The Shining-)

The smile that Rei offered was reassuring. "Yes, Kai. It is with you."

Kai relaxed, suddenly feeling guilty for even asking. "I love you, Rei."

"Love you, too, Kai."

The sound of Kai's cell-phone startled them both and Kai muttered something about Tala being a jackass on purpose. Tugging the phone from his pocket, Kai flipped it open and hit send. "What the hell do you want, Ivanov? …Then eat…Shut up, you idiot. I'm not like you…You're the pervert…I bet Bryan would agree with me…Yeah, right. Like you can stay off of him for more than 12 hours…Can not…Can not…Sex-fiend…Can't deny that, can you?…Fine, whatever. We're coming…Pervert." Kai hung up, returning his phone to his pocket. "Our presence is requested."

Rei laughed, standing up. "What was that about?"

"He accused me of molesting you," Kai answered, taking Rei's hand and tugging him out of the office. "If only they hadn't come back from their trip so early…"

"That reminds me…Did you get in trouble with the officials…?" Rei asked as they headed for the restaurant where the others were waiting.

"Only a warning, since I didn't actually hit him…" Kai said, sighing. "He got a warning, too though…For the way he was trying to block everyone…"

"Well, at least it was just a warning…"

"No kidding…Sorry for distracting you, by the way," Kai said, glancing over at Rei.

"Distracting me?"

"After the accident. You were distracted. I could tell," he said. "You would have done much better had you been focused on the race."

"Yeah…It's okay."

"No it isn't…"

"Don't argue with me," Rei scolded, squeezing Kai's hand. "I said it's okay and you're going to agree with me."

Kai laughed, pausing to pull Rei closer and kiss him lightly. "Yes, sir. Whatever you say."

"That's better," Rei started walking again, smiling. "I'm hungry…And you're buying dinner."

"Ah, so there IS a punishment."

"Nah! You're just nice like that," Rei replied, winking at Kai.

"I am? You should have told me sooner. I never knew I was so nice."

"Learn something new every day, right?"

"A known fact."

"I'm hungry…"

"Let's eat then, Tyson."

"Hey now! I'm offended!"

XP Yeah…There you go! Chapter 16! O.O Is this the first chapter without a race? It's either the first or the second…o.o; Oh, well…There was no way to fit a race in XD I don't like the idea of jumping an entire week in the middle of a chapter O.O; So…Yeah. XD Hope you all enjoyed that. Time to call my brother-in-law and see if I can use the computer in their room…-skips away- Thanks for reading and please review! Later!