All characters that are from the TWILIGHT saga by Stephanie Meyer belong to Stephanie Meyer. All others belong to me. I do not receive profit for these stories except for the joyous enjoyment of reviews.
This story follows right after When I'm Gone: Third Installment to GONE Saga, so if you haven't read that one or the two before, please do.
The timeline of the story will coincide with Gabriel Michael Laskaris' growing up years, starting at Seth and Rosa's wedding day, April 12th and will progress from there.
AN: Emmie, 8yrs/4thgrd: Marc, 13yrs/7thgrd: Brad, 12yrs/7thgrd: Bailey, 12yrs/7thgrd: Carlos, 1yr and as always, Gabe's age is next to the chapter.
Enjoy and please, please review!
Chapter Forty-Seven (11yrs old)
First Week of June
"So we're all in agreement," Gabe looked at his cousins, pushing the drawn map to the middle of the table, "This is the trail we want?"
They were all sitting around the kitchen table at the Laskaris' home, their summer vacations having started a couple of weeks ago. They had used the last two weeks of May to explore all available trails the forest had to offer, all four treating Sam's agreement to give the one trail for the use of their bike races as serious business, even going as far as researching, discussing and deciding together as a team for the best option.
"This one's the best," Marc tapped his finger against the map, having drawn it himself after careful exploration on his bike and one foot, "It has lots of twists and turns as well as room for any changes we may want to make."
Bailey wrinkled her nose, the only one of the four still undecided, "I still like the second one better –with the constant incline, it will help us build endurance."
"But the trail goes up into the mountains," Brad leaned his chair back on its two rear legs, "Dad stipulated we couldn't go into the mountains."
"Besides," Gabe tapped the map in the middle of the table, "This has the most miles and it goes around the far outside of the forest."
"Plus," Marc picked up his lead pencil, taking the map in discussion and the second map, "This part of the trail butts up against the other one –we can combine this steep incline into the track."
"That would be cool," Bailey bit the corner of her lip as she tossed her head back to dislodge the long bangs from in front of her eyes, "It'll give two options in one track."
"We can dig a trench on this half of the track," Brad pointed at the point of the trail in question, which had widen considerably with the addition of the steep incline, "About five feet wide –it'll help with our jumps."
All maps had been drawn by Marc, being he was the one with a visual photographic memory on top of the artistic ability and because of that, he was the one sketching in the changes the rest of them were suggesting.
"We can use that dirt to put a ramp further up the track," Gabe pointed at another part of the trail, "Catch some serious air."
Marc drew in the changes as they were suggesting them, Emmie walking into the kitchen towards the refrigerator. She picked out a juice bow, the four older kids continuing their discussion of changes and additions to their chosen trail.
Removing the straw from the plastic covering, she poked it into the foil covered hole, taking a sip as she moved to stand by the table between Marc and Gabe, watching Marc as he continued to draw in the changes, all the while making notes on the margins.
"What are you doing?"
Gabe dropped his chin into his chest for a few seconds before looking over at his little sister, "None of your business, nosy."
"Hey," Marc kicked out at Gabe from under the table, "Don't be mean."
Emmie gave him a big smile as he pulled the map to where she could see it as he explained, "Uncle Sam is letting us use one of the forest trails for our bike races. We're just thinking of ways to make it more challenging."
Emmie took a sip of her apple juice, pointing at the map, "What's that?"
"That's going to be a trench, five feet wide," Brad grabbed a piece of paper from the stack on the table, taking one of the pencils to draw it out, "Maybe three feet deep? It'll cut across half of this wide part of the track."
Emmie nodded as she took another sip, "What about this?"
"This is going to be a ramp," Gabe answered this time, playing with the pencil he was holding, "We've taking the dirt from the trench to make it."
"Mhm," Emmie made a face that Gabe knew very well –they were about to get a lesson in nerd speak, "What's the distance between the ramp and the trench?"
They all looked at each other, Gabe finally shrugging as he gave an estimate, "About ten…fifteen feet?"
"Mhm," Emmie made that face again, taking a sip from her juice box as she looked over the top of her glasses at them, "Is the ramp for height or distance?"
"Height."
"Distance."
"Both."
Emmie pushed the black rims up her nose, blue eyes big behind the glass as she blinked a couple of times, "Then fifteen feet isn't enough distance between the trench and the ramp."
Gabe groaned, dropping his head onto the table, "This is why I didn't want you to tell her –she's going to get all technical on us."
"Shut up," Marc slapped Gabe's shoulder, giving Emmie his attention, "What do you suggest?"
"Simple physics, really," Emmie sucked up the last of her apple juice, "The steeper the incline, the higher the jump. A forty-five degree angle will take you fifteen feet of distance but only about four feet of height. Now, if the lip is at an eighty degree angle, it'll take you seven feet up into the air but not very far."
Gabe ran his hand through his hair as he looked sideways at his sister, "Why isn't fifteen feet enough?"
"Because you need distance to build up speed," Emmie placed her empty juice box on the table, plucking the pencil out of Gabe's fingers as she took the sheet of paper Marc held out for her, "Two times the speed equals four times the height and distance."
"That is so cool," Brad stared in awe at his genius cousin, Bailey's eyebrows lowering over her dark brown eyes as she asked, "How do you know this?"
"Oh god, now you're going to get her going," Gabe muttered under his breath but none of the others paid him any attention –they were all too busy watching Emmie draw graphs and equations on the paper.
"The learning channel," Emmie labeled the vertical side of the graph height in feet, the horizontal bottom line as launch angle, "They showed this cool episode last week on physics applied to everyday life. Also, Embry explained it to me because it's what he does."
Marc watched carefully as she labeled the horizontal top line distance in feet before proceeding to draw the differing angles, explaining all the while: "These work best if you're going fifteen miles per hour but if you go twenty, you'll jump higher and get further. For that to happen, you need, at least, thirty feet between the trench and the lip of the ramp. Forty feet would be optimal."
Putting the pencil down, she pushed her glasses up again, taking her juice box and throwing it towards the trashcan in a forty degree angle, smiling as it went in without touching the edges, "Just like that."
Marc chuckled, always finding Emmie's confident and somewhat cocky attitude amusing. Gabe –not so much.
"You're eight years old," he gave her a pointed look as he took back the pencil she had taken from him, "You shouldn't use words like optimal –it makes you sound like a nerd."
"And you shouldn't use words like nerd. It makes you sound ignorant," Emmie headed out of the kitchen, stopping under the archway to look over her shoulder at him, "That's nerd-speak for stupid."
Marc, Brad and Bailey burst out laughing, Emmie looking pleased with herself as she disappeared into the living room.
"Burn," Brad grinned at his cousin, his dark brown eyes dancing with mirth, "How does it feel to get the verbal smack down from an eight year old?"
The corner of Gabe's mouth hiked up into a smile, "Kinda proud, actually. She needs to learn to be tough or those six graders are going to eat her for breakfast. So how about we make a list of the things we need?"
They turned to look at Bailey, her reaction somewhat offended, "Oh, because I'm the girl, I have to be the secretary?"
"No-o," Gabe gave her that 'duh' look of his, "You have Brady at your beck and call so he'll be the one to ask."
"Oh," Bailey dropped her eyes, taking a sheet of paper and pencil, "He'll probably be able to help with the big stuff, like shovels."
"Rakes," Brad grabbed the edge of the table to keep from falling back, having tilted his chair a bit too far, "To clear the trail of rocks and twigs and stuff."
"A wheelbarrow," Marc kept studying the equations Emmie had left behind, drawing different diagrams on clean sheets of paper, "To transfer the dirt from the trench to the ramp."
"Plywood," Gabe leaned forward to point at a part on the trail where a ten foot crevice cut through a stream several feet below, "For the bridge here."
"Rope," Bailey wrote it down on the list, "That way we can rope off the entire track to keep animals off of it."
"Oh," Brad slapped his hand down on the table as a distressing thought popped into his head, "What about rain? The run-off will totally ruin the trail."
They all stared at the map, their collective brains going a mile a minute as they tried to come up with a solution.
"What if," Marc held up a finger before drawing in some markings beside the trail that faced the incline into the mountain, "We have some sort of drainage system? This way, the water is re-routed to the sides instead of down through the track, which will keep any rain damage to a minimum."
"Oh."
They all nodded, slow smiles spreading at the brilliance of that idea, Gabe tapping his finger against the map, "You know who can help us design a diagram for that?"
"Who?"
He looked over his shoulder towards the living room where the sound of the television was coming from, "Emmie!"
Second Week of June
It was hot, unusually so, but within the heart of the forest, a coolness hung in the air, the thick foliage keeping out the sun's heat while filtering its noonday light.
The soft chirps and creeks of insects and birds went silent as they moved through the trees only to pick up again after they'd passed by. The whisper of the breeze was the only sound not intimidated by the presence of a predator, its soft whistle fluttering anything light enough to move.
"According to the map, it should be up ahead."
Marc looked down at the list of coordinates he held in his left hand, a compass in the other, "It would have been nice if your dad had taught us how to use this damn thing before tossing us out into the wild."
Bailey laughed, folding the topographical map her dad had given them, Gabe and Brad having a similar map but at the other side of the forest.
"I told you, I've plotted the points. Since we've found three of the flags, I've obviously done it right. Or does it bother you to follow a girl?"
Marc scoffed at that, tucking the compass into the pocket of his jeans before carefully folding the list of coordinates, "Please. It wouldn't bug me so much if this weren't another attempt at keeping us busy -and apart."
Bailey gave him an apologetic look over her shoulder, "Dad caught me and Brad tying a rope from the tree near the cliff."
"Are you fucking kidding me?"
Bailey laughed at the disappointed look on his face -it would have been awesome to swing right off the cliff into the crashing waves ten feet below, "That's exactly what he said!"
Marc shook his head, shifting the straps of the backpack he was carrying, "Man, that would have been awesome -just like flying."
"Exactly," Bailey stopped, catching sight of the bright blue fabric tied several feet up in a pine tree, "There it is!"
Marc tilted his head back, shrugging out of his backpack, "I'll get it."
Bailey turned to scowl at him, "You got the last one."
"Fine," Marc shrugged, sweeping an arm out in a grandiose gesture, "It's all yours."
Dropping her own backpack, she walked around the tree, looking for a branch within her reach but the closest one was about six feet above the ground and although she was the tallest girl in her class, it was still several inches out of reach.
Marc crouched down to unzip his backpack, pulling out a bottle of water as he watched her jump in an attempt to grab the branch. This was the reason why he had agreed to this capture the flag scavenger hunt thing -Bailey was downright hilarious whenever she was dead-set on doing something she couldn't do.
"You know," she glared at him, placing her hands on her hips, "Instead of smirking, you could help."
"Oh," Marc swallowed a mouthful of water before closing the bottle, "Now you want my help?"
"Well, if you'd rather Gabe and Brad win..."
Marc chuckled, tossing his bottle into the opened backpack before moving to stand by the tree, "This wouldn't be necessary if you had talked Brady into getting the stuff we need like we had talked about."
"I was doing fine with that," Bailey placed her hands on his shoulders as he crouched down, her foot secure in his linked hands, "It was you three who screwed it all up, not being able to keep Dad out of the garage…I should have known you'd all make horrible look-outs."
"It's not good to piss off the guy holding you four feet off the ground," Marc muttered, his face turned to the side to keep her knee from introducing itself to his nose.
Bailey laughed at that, planting her hand on top of his head as she reached up with her other hand, the bark scraping her fingertips, "Just a little higher."
"Just a little higher," Marc groaned, his arms straining as he lifted her up a bit higher, "You're not as light as you think, you know."
"Shut up," grabbing onto the branch, she let go of his head, pulling herself up, Marc ducking just in time to avoid getting kicked in the face.
"So I'm thinking we find a place to eat lunch after this," Marc watched her as she maneuvered up to the next branch, easily snagging the blue flag.
"You're always thinking about food," Bailey looked down to where he was, dropping the flag into his hands, a folded piece of paper pinned to it, "What do we get?"
He unfolded the paper once Bailey was standing on the lowest branch, "The wheelbarrow. Good thing too, I don't think all our allowances pooled together would cover the cost of one."
Crouching and grabbing the branch she stood on, she swung down, letting go and landing on a crouch, her hands keeping her from falling on her face. She dusted off her hands as Marc stuffed the flag and their prize into the front pocket of his backpack with the others, "Okay, so far we have one rake, sixty feet of rope, a plywood sheet and now the wheelbarrow. Let's hope the guys find the shovels."
Marc nodded in agreement, "If not, we'll be digging with our hands."
She almost made a comment about having the Laskaris pack dig for them but the sight of him running his fingers through his hair before stretching his arms over his head had her blank out, the sun slanting over his face bringing a disturbing thought into her head…he was actually quite cute.
"So how about lunch?"
Bailey didn't answer, staring at him with a strange look on her face. Dropping his arms to his sides, he tilted his head to the side, "Hey."
Blinking, she focused on him, her cheeks flushing slightly, "Uh, yeah, what?"
Marc grinned at her, "Are you hungry?"
"Uh," Bailey looked away from him, making a big deal out of putting her backpack back on, "Yeah…yeah, I can eat. There's a, uh…a little fire pit some yards from here. We can eat there."
Picking up his own backpack, he finished his water bottle before stuffing it into the dark blue bag, zipping it up before tossing it over his shoulder, "Sounds good."
They walked several yards in silence, Bailey wondering what the hell was the matter with her while Marc wondered the same thing, not sure why she was acting weird. He could always tap into her thoughts but that seemed wrong what with her being his friend and all.
"Bailey."
"Mhm?"
He watched her tuck her bangs behind her ears, not looking back at him, "You okay?"
"What? Yeah, sure," Bailey shrugged in what she hoped was a nonchalant manner –damn him for adding fancy words to her vocabulary –stuffing her hands into the pockets of her ripped jeans, "Why wouldn't I be? Look, there's the fire pit."
Marc shrugged –if she wasn't going to tell him, he wasn't going to beg.
Setting his back down between his feet as he sat on one of the logs, he unzipped it and pulled out the Ziploc bag containing his lunch –chips, a sub-sandwich and a double chocolate chip cookie the size of a Frisbee.
Looking across the fire pit where Bailey was sitting on the other log, he arched an eyebrow at the peanut butter and jelly sandwich she was munching on, "Really?"
Bailey lifted a shoulder in a shrug, "Lili packed my lunch."
"My sister packed my lunch as well but she's not letting me starve," Marc held out one half of his sub, "Here, take half."
She took the offered sandwich, the hollow feeling in her stomach letting her know there was no point in refusing, "Thanks."
Marc nodded, taking a bite of his sandwich, the rich flavor of roast beef, pastrami and mustard having him let out a low moan of appreciation. He watched Bailey as she nibbled on her half, wondering what her problem was –she usually ate with the same gusto as the rest of them.
"I was thinking," Marc took a full bottle of water from his backpack, twisting the top off before taking a gulp of the cool liquid, tossing his head back to get his shaggy hair out of his eyes, "It's going to take us all summer to get the track done how we've designed it –we might need some help."
"Brady can help," she searched her bag for the bottle of water she had taken from the fridge that morning, "And it'll take more than the summer to get it how we want."
"We should start with the bridge first," Marc finished his water, placing the empty bottle into his bag before pulling out another one, "That way we can still us the track while we're working on it."
"Yeah…dammit!"
Marc smirked as he watched her kick the bag between her feet, "Forget something?"
"My water," Bailey wrapped up what was left of her sandwiches, placing them into the brown paper bag before pulling out a Twinkie, "I must have left it on the table."
Marc eyed her dessert –man, he loved those things, "I'll trade you my water for your Twinkie."
Bailey scoffed as she ripped open the cellophane wrapper, "Are you kidding me? I had to arm wrestle Brad for this Twinkie –it was the last one in the box."
"Well, then," Marc held up the bottle, looking through it at her warped image, "Guess you'll have to stay thirsty…that peanut butter will probably give you cotton mouth."
"I know what you're trying to do," Bailey glared at him, a stray ray of sun causing blue highlights to appear in the braid over her shoulder. Marc hadn't realized before how long her hair was or how shiny…and soft looking.
"Hey."
When he didn't answer, she picked up a nearby pinecone and tossed it, hitting him on the shoulder.
Marc reached up to rub the smarting area as he glared at her, "Why'd you do that for?"
"You were staring at me."
"Was not."
"Yes, you were."
"Oh, you mean like when you stared at me back there?"
Bailey's face flushed, her eyes dropping to the Twinkie she was still holding, completely missing the fascinated look on Marc's face as he studied the soft pink under the copper hue of her skin, "I was not staring at you."
Marc grinned, glad the attention was no longer on him and unable to keep from teasing her to see if that pink would get any darker, "Yeah, you were."
"You know what," Bailey stood up, throwing her dessert at him, "Have the damn Twinkie!"
Marc hadn't been expecting her reaction so he completely missed it, the Hostess dessert falling to the ground, "What the hell? You just ruined a perfectly good Twinkie!"
"Not my fault you can't catch. Now give me the water."
"What," Marc stood up, keeping the bottle out of her reach, "No."
"The deal was my Twinkie for your water," Bailey pointed at the ground, the smug look on her face making him angry, "There's your Twinkie."
"Oh…okay," Marc twisted the top, having every intention to pour out the water into the ground, "I'll just give you the water like you gave me the Twinkie."
"No!"
This time he was prepared, keeping a grip on the bottle as she lunged towards it, their combined grips causing the loose top to pop off, water cascading over both them. Laughing as water dripped down her nose, she kept her hand around the top of the bottle as she twisted into him, hoping to get enough leverage to pull it out of his hand. Marc squeezed the bottom of the bottle, laughing louder as water erupted out of the opening, splashing her on the face.
She let out a laughing shout, hooking her foot around his ankle to topple him back but he was already leaning over her, his arm around her as she kept tugging at the bottle in his hand. Losing his balance –and unsettling hers –they fell, Marc twisting in mid-air so she would land on him and not the other way around, a grunt escaping him as her elbow dug into his side, "Oh god, that's my liver!"
"Yeah, well," Bailey laughed as she sat up, pushing her wet bangs off her face, "That was my water."
"And that was my Twinkie," Marc sat up, plucking at his wet t-shirt, the awkwardness returning as soon as they looked at each other and realized how close they were.
Staring into his dark brown eyes, the random thought of how they matched her favorite –and secret –teddy bear flitted through her mind, a blush creeping up her cheeks as she looked down at her jeans. Marc wasn't sure what to do about the awkwardness occasionally creeping up between them whenever they hung out without Brad and Gabe but he was certain bringing it up wouldn't be a good idea so instead, he pushed himself to his feet.
"Were you going to kiss me?"
Marc stared down at the top of her head in surprise, her soft voice making something inside him shift, "What? No!"
The silence that followed was heavy with tension as he kept staring at the top of her head, Bailey keeping her eyes on her jeans as she tugged at the threads coming loose from the rip across her knee.
"Did you…want me to kiss you?"
"What," Bailey's brown eyes swung up to look at him in shock, "No!"
The tension got heavier as they stared at each other, Bailey finally getting to her feet, wiping her hands against her jeans as she bit the inside of her cheek. Neither one knew what to say or what to do –they had verbally crossed a line they hadn't been aware of even existing and now, both were lost as to what happened next.
Without giving it further thought, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into him, his closed lips landing right on hers, both holding their breath as they stared at each other.
Seconds ticked into a minute then two before they pulled apart, Marc not sure what to say as he stared at her in wide-eyed apprehension.
"That was…" Bailey reached up to touch her mouth, her own eyes wide as she took in a deep breath, "It was…disgusting."
"Yes," Marc agreed, both of them wiping their mouths simultaneously, their laughter easy and free as they moved away from each other, the awkwardness completely gone, "Definitely not doing that again –it was worst that Einstein licking my face in the morning."
"Hey," Bailey punched him on the shoulder as she adjusted the straps of her backpack over her shoulders, "It was no picnic on my side –like swallowing a spoonful of sugar…nauseating."
"That doesn't sound so bad to me," Marc grinned at her, laughing as she rolled her eyes at him, "Anyway, I'm thinking of asking Robyn out on a date."
Bailey gave him a wide eyed look of surprise, "You just kissed me –and now you're telling me about asking another girl out on a date?"
"Like you care?"
"I don't," Bailey took the offered bottle of water he had pulled out of his backpack, "Her friend's a bitch."
"I'm not asking her friend out."
They stared at each other for several seconds before bursting out in laughter, Bailey pulling out the map for their scavenger hunt, "Good thing too…I heard the playboy reputation can come back to bite you in the ass."
Marc laughed, adjusting his backpack before following after Bailey as they moved into the trees, "Well, there's only one way to find out if that's true, right?"
Bailey laughed at that, looking over her shoulder at him as she threw out her usual insult at him, "You're such a dick!"
June 21st
He could tell she was about to cry but he wasn't entirely sure why.
Putting his arms around her, he pressed a kiss on her cheek before speaking into her ear, "Are you okay?"
Rose nodded her head, swallowing back a couple of times before she spoke up, her voice slightly husky, "It's just…he's growing up so fast!"
Seth chuckled as he looked into the crib where their baby was sleeping, his little arms and legs splayed out in innocent abandon as his chest rose and fell with each deep breath he took, "It sort of tends to happen when you feed him."
Rose slapped his forearm before leaning back into him, her hazel eyes still bright with unshed tears, "I wish he could stay little…I would never have to let him go."
"We could lock him in the closet when he turns eighteen," Seth kept a straight face as he looked down at her, the twinkle in his brown-green eyes letting her know he was teasing, "He'll never be able to leave then."
"I know you're joking but I'm actually thinking it might be a good idea," Rose nibbled on her bottom lip as she reached into the crib to smooth his dark hair to the side, "He's already walking and for now, he's always walking towards me but I know there's going to be a time when he'll walk away from me…just thinking about it breaks my heart."
"Ah, baby," Seth tightened his arms around her, kissing her temple as he breathed in the unique blend of cherry blossoms and sea salt that was her and him, "He might walk away but he's always going to come back because you'll never stop being his mother."
"I can't believe he's one already," Rose let out a soft sigh, looking up into Seth's eyes with a soft smile, "We've been able to keep him alive for an entire year."
Seth chuckled at that, looking down at his son as he stirred, letting out a soft hum before settling back to sleep, "He hasn't made it easy…remember how he found the one socket I missed when childproofing the house?"
Rose closed her eyes at the memory, "I was so ready to kill you."
"How about you, forgetting to buckle him in the day you gave him his first bath in the tub," Seth nudged the back of her shoulder with his, "He slipped right under the water."
"Oh god," Rose let out a deep breath, smiling as she watched her baby's eyes blink open, his little mouth widening in a yawn as he stretched, "I couldn't stop apologizing to him."
"You wouldn't let him go all night," Seth grinned as Carlos sat up, his little face brightening in a smile as he caught sight of his parents, "But here he is…one year later."
"Ma," Carlos grabbed the railing of his crib, pulling himself up on his feet as he grinned at his parents, his sunny morning disposition always in correlation to having his parents there when he opened his eyes, "Ma!"
"Hola nene hermoso," Rose lifted him off the crib, bringing him into her chest as Seth wrapped his arms around them both, "Feliz cumpleaños, corazón." *Hello beautiful baby. Happy birthday*
Carlos giggled, reaching up to touch his tiny fingers to his mama's mouth, "Ma!"
Seth laughed, leaning in to place a kiss on his son's forehead, "Today's your birthday, little man. What would you like for breakfast?"
"Ma!"
Seth laughed at that, gently ruffling his soft dark hair, "Of course you would want your mama for breakfast. That's what I had this morn –ouch! Rose!"
"You deserved it," Rose turned out of his arms, looking over her shoulder to give him a scolding look, "And you won't be getting that for breakfast anytime soon."
"Oh, like your elbow wasn't punishment enough," he followed behind them, laughing as Carlos looked over his mama's shoulder at him, his hazel eyes twinkling as he sucked on his thumb.
"Sometimes I think you like it when I do that," Rose placed Carlos in his highchair, buckling him in before clicking the tray in place, "You say outrageous things in the presence of others way too often."
"Oh, come on. Like people don't know we do it," Seth pointed at his son as Rose prepped his breakfast of blueberries and applesauce, "The proof is right there."
"Seth," Rose glared at him as she placed the bowl of blueberries on Carlos' tray, "Don't say things like that in front of him."
"He's one, he doesn't understand what I'm saying," Seth reached out to pull her into his arms, easily thwarting her half-hearted attempts to pull away, "Besides, he's currently busy with his blueberries."
Rose laughed, her long hair tumbling over her shoulders as he nibbled on her neck, "Seth! Not in front of the baby."
"Baby's going to have to get used to his daddy kissing his mama," Seth tugged at her earlobe with his teeth before letting her go, giving her bottom a squeeze as he moved towards the stove to get stuff ready for waffles, "Among other things."
Rose shook her head, her face flushed as she opened the fridge to pull out milk and eggs, taking a package of sausage links and handing it all to him, "You're incorrigible. I shudder at the things he'll learn from you."
"Only the good stuff, baby."
"Kith," Carlos looked at his mama, holding out his tiny hand as he smiled up at her, "Kith?"
"See," Seth grinned as Rose laughingly dropped a kiss on Carlos' head, the little boy pleased as he went back to eating his blueberries, "He's already learning the good stuff."
