.Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait but I had a lot of school work and exams are coming up so this chapter was delayed a little. Thank you to all my reviewers! You inspire me!

Anyways, there's one thing I needed to point out Ozuma, Miriam, Mariah, Rei, Tala, Aaliyah, Kai, and Pares's grandparents are in there late 60's, early 70's. I know this might not seem important but some of you might get curious about their age later on in the story.

If you guys don't mind can you please give this fic a rating in your reviews? Between one and ten. One being the worst and ten being the absolute, super, duper bestest. Thank you!

Anyways, enough of my babbling and on with the story.

Chapter 19: Baby accessories, Moving in, and New Year's gone bad.


Normal P.O.V

The next few days were pretty uneventful. Unless, of course you count the agony the boys were put through when the girls dragged them to go baby shopping.

Mariah, Miriam, Paree, and Aaliyah had gone through the information on the whole marriage project and discovered that the school will not be providing any baby accessories or other things that they would need, so they decided to take the matter into their own hands.

Rei was awoken by a strange beeping sound. He squinted his eyes and looked around before getting off his bed and trying to investigate where this sound was coming from.

He didn't have to look very far because the sound was actually coming from his computer. He went and sat at his computer desk and looked at the screen in confusion. The beeping stopped and something else started.

"It is now 8:30 am, on Saturday, December 28 and you've got to get dressed and high tail it to your girlfriend's house pronto. Otherwise you will suffer a gruesome fate." said a robotic voice from his computer.

Rei raised his eyebrows in surprise. He picked up his phone and dialed Kai's number.

"Hey Kai. Are you up, yet?" Rei asked.

"Yea, no thanks to that bitch. She hacked into my computer and sent me a message to meet her at your girlfriend's house. I'm guessing Mariah did the same?" Kai answered.

"Yea, she did. So, are you going?" Rei asked.

"Yea, I really don't want to know what Paree would do if I didn't. Tala and Ozuma are already there." Kai answered.

"Alright, I'll see you there then." Rei said before hanging up.

'This better be good. As cute as she is, Mariah has really bad timing. ' Rei thought as he got dressed and grabbed his car keys on his way out.

Paree, Miriam, Mariah, and Aaliyah watched the four disgruntled, sleepy, and bored looking boys standing in front of them at the moment

"So, what did you call us for?" Ozuma asked glaring at Miriam, while trying to suppress a yawn.

"Well, we were looking through the outline for this project and we found out that the school is only providing the baby, not any clothes or anything for it." Miriam started.

"I don't think I like the way this conversation is going." Tala stated after hearing that.

"So, we decided that since we are the parents, we should go and get the stuff that the babies will need." Aaliyah said, ignoring Tala's comment.

"Yea, and since you are the fathers and it's obvious that you won't be doing much to help us take care of the babies during the project. We thought it would only be fair for you to pay for everything." Paree added, a small smirk making it's way onto her face. Which made Kai gulp in fear.

"In other words, A BABY SHOPPING SPREE!" Mariah finished cheerfully.

The boys looked at the girls for a second and the next thing the girls knew…

THUD.

All four boys had fainted onto the floor in a small pile.

"Maybe, we should have made the announcement sound a little less exciting?" Miriam said looking down at Ozuma's still form with a frown.

"Yea, I didn't know that they would take it this bad." Mariah said going over to Rei and trying to bring him back to consciousness.

The girls all started laughing and soon were on the floor in hysterics.

Slowly, one by one, the boys came back to consciousness and looked at the girls, who had now managed to sober up.

"Ready?" Paree asked them, with a smile.

They boys just got up and walked towards their cars with the girls following them.


Tala and Aaliyah were driving towards the mall now. The others were ahead of them.

Tala parked the car and got out, waiting for Aaliyah. Aaliyah smirked at him and started walking towards the door. She looked back and noticed Tala was still standing by the car.

She rolled her eyes and went back to where he was standing and stood in front of him with her hands on her hips.

"Why are you still standing here?" She asked.

"Do I have to go? Why can't you just do the shopping with the others?" Tala whined, like a little kid.

"Yes, you do. Now, let's go." Aaliyah said and moved to walk back to the mall doors, but when Tala didn't move she grabbed his hand and dragged him along.

When they got inside they saw the others looking at them impatiently. Aaliyah just rolled her eyes and started walking with the girls towards a children's store.

"What took you so long?" Paree asked in an annoyed tone.

"Tala got scared." Aaliyah answered shortly.

"Oh. Yea, Ozuma did too. I think they're scared because they're afraid someone they know will see them shopping for baby things." Miriam said with a thoughtful look.

"Probably." Mariah agreed.

The girls looked back to see that the guys were walking behind them very slowly. They rolled there eyes and grabbed the boys by their arms and dragged them into a shop.

"Aww, look at this!" Paree squealed immediately upon entering the shop. She picked up a little white shirt that said "It's all about me."

The girls all commented on how cute it was before searching the store for things.

A saleswoman with brown hair and blue eyes came up to the four couples.

"Hello! Can I help you with anything today?" She asked with a smile.

"Oh hi! Um…yes I'm looking for clothes for a new born baby boy." Paree said.

"Same here." Aaliyah added.

"And I'm looking for some clothes for a new born baby girl." Miriam said.

"Same here." Mariah added.

"Oh I see, well follow me. And I'll show you where you can find everything.." The saleswoman said, and lead the girls deeper into the store. The boys reluctantly followed.

"So, I'm assuming this is for your nieces and nephews?" The saleswoman said as she watched the girls place different types of baby clothes into their shopping carts.

"No, it's for our children." Paree answered simply, not noticing the look of shock on the lady's face.

"I see, well if you need any help don't hesitate to ask." She said before leaving to help another customer.

"Did you see that look on her face? She wasn't expecting that." Miriam said with a snicker.

"Hey, where'd the guys go?" Aaliyah said suddenly as she looked around for Tala.

"Over there." Mariah said pointing over to the toys section.

The girls got everything that they considered cute, which was about half the baby clothing there and called for the boys to come and pay.

Kai dumped a few baby toys into the cart Paree had.

"Having fun?" Paree asked with a smirk. Kai just rolled his eyes and followed her to the cashier to pay for the things..

Ozuma placed a baby suit and a few toys into the cart Miriam had.

"What the heck is this?" Miriam asked picking up the baby suit Ozuma had dropped in there.

It was a small astronaut suit complete with a helmet.

"I don't know. I just thought it looked cool." he said with a shrug.

"Whatever, you're paying for it." Miriam said as she placed all the clothing on the counter to pay for it.


Aaliyah, Tala, Rei and Mariah were already done paying and were waiting outside.

"Next stop is the…furniture shop." Aaliyah said after consulting her list.

Tala looked at her with the same confusion on his face as the other boys had.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because we need to get a crib." Aaliyah answered as they entered the shop.

They went over to the cribs section and started looking around.

"Hey guys!" They heard a familiar voice shout.

The eight teens looked behind them to see Tyson, Hilary, Max, Emily, Kenny and Ming Ming.

"Hey Hilary, Emily, Ming! What are you guys doing here?" Mariah asked with a smile.

"Baby shopping for the project. What about you?" Emily asked.

"Same. So did you have to drag the guys along or did they agree to come?" Paree said.

"Surprisingly, they agreed to. Well, actually I had to bribe Tyson. I told him I'd make dinner for him if he came along and he did." Hilary answered with a smile.

"Yea, I told Max, I'd show him how to make a remote control car." Emily said with a roll of her eyes.

"I just asked Kenny to come." said Ming Ming, the girls just rolled their eyes at this.

"Ours were scared. They actually fainted when we told them about going shopping for baby things. But they don't seem to really mind it now." Aaliyah said snickering a little about the whole fainting incident.

"So, did you guys get everything or are you still looking?" Miriam asked, the three girls.

"Yea we just ordered the cribs, so we just need the car seats. Well, we'll see you guys later." Hilary said and the three girls walked off.

Tala, Kai, Rei, and Ozuma made their way over to where the girls were standing.

"Why can't you guys be more like Tyson, Kenny and Max?" Paree asked them as they walked over.

"We can, but that would mean, we would have to get that crib, that crib, or that crib." Kai answered pointing over to three cribs. The first one looked like a pizza, the second a laptop computer, and the third a space shuttle.

The girls' jaws dropped in horror.

"You're joking right? Is that really what they ordered?" Mariah asked in surprise.

"Yep. They told us themselves." Rei answered with a perplexed look.

"Never mind, we prefer you they way you are." Paree said hurriedly.

After much arguing the four couples finally decided on four decent looking cribs, with small entertainment systems for the baby.

"Are we done yet?" Ozuma whined.

"No, we still need to get a stuffed animal and car seat. And why are you complaining now? You didn't complain when we were getting the clothes or the crib." Miriam said quirking an eyebrow at him.

"Because we've been walking around for four whole hours. And you're only getting what you like." Ozuma grumbled like a little kid.

"Fine I'll let you pick the car seat okay." Miriam told him like she was talking to a two year old.

"Good."

Finally, they had finished the shopping without any trouble from the boys. Except for a small argument about whether Kai and Paree's boy should have Tigger or Mickey mouse as a stuffed animal, Paree won which meant it would be Tigger.

The four couples left the mall and went to what would be their home for the next six months.


The eight teens decided to help each other set up the nurseries. So, the first stop was Kai's house.

Paree had decided that the nursery would be the room that was on the other side of Kai's walk in closet.

The eight teens started to work. Tala and Rei painted the small room, while Ozuma and Kai set up the crib. The girls put away all the small things like clothes and a small changing table.

They finished and moved onto Rei's house. The boys once again set up the crib and painted. While the girls played with the baby monitors as though they were walkie talkies.

They finished the nurseries in Tala's house and Ozuma's house, and decided to crash at Ozuma's house for a while.

The eight teens were lounging around the living room, watching T.V when Ozuma's grandparents walked in.

"Hello children! How are you doing?" Ozuma's grandmother asked kindly.

The eight teens greeted her back.

"We're hear to tell you that tomorrow Tala's grandparents and us will be leaving for Russia. To celebrate our 45th anniversary." Ozuma's grandfather told them with a smile.

The teens looked at each other worriedly before Ozuma voiced the question that was on all of their minds.

"Why Russia? I mean you know how dangerous it is, because of Boris and everything. Why don't you go to Spain or Italy?" Ozuma said, concern filling his voice.

"I understand your concern darling, but that's where we got married and you know how your grandfather feels about tradition." Ozuma's grandmother told him with a sweet voice.

"Um…can I ask a question? I know that you two are going to celebrate your anniversary, but why are Tala's grandparents going?" Aaliyah asked in confusion.

"Ozuma and Tala's grandfather's were best friends, so they had a double wedding." Rei explained. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Yes, we've been celebrating it together ever since. Well, I don't think I'll see you kids tomorrow because our flight is at six in the morning. So, I wanted to give you all hugs now." Ozuma's grandmother said looking at all of them lovingly.

They all got up and hugged Ozuma's grand parents one by one.

"Well it's getting late we should go now. Bye Nana and Papa Mariano, have a good trip." Miriam said giving them one last hug before taking her jacket and leaving behind the others.

"Bye kids!" They called back.


Ozuma was standing at the door watching the others go when he felt a hand on his back. He turned around and saw his grandfather smiling at him.

"What are you waiting for son? Go give her a ride home." he said gruffly and pushed him out the door with a smile. Ozuma smiled and ran off to catch up with Miriam.

"Hey Miriam, wait up!" Ozuma called catching up with her. Miriam turned around in surprise.

"What?" She asked, watching Ozuma catch his breath.

"I'll give you a ride home." He said with a nod towards on of his cars.

"No, it's okay. I live only a street away." Miriam answered., turning around to keep walking.

Ozuma grabbed her arm and pulled her to face him. He looked at her for a moment before saying anything.

"It's cold out. And I really don't want you to get a cold." he said with a smirk before leading her towards his car. Miriam just followed with a small barely hidden smile on her face.


Kai's P.O.V

I set the box down in the back of my 4x4 and slumped against the truck, while trying to catch my breath. I watched as Paree came out of the Bikonai mansion with a smaller box in her arms.

After she set it down she turned to me and looked at me questioningly.

"What?" she asked noticing my glare.

"Why do you need so much stuff? You're only staying there for a few months and you have more than half your room here." I said as I gestured to the boxes in my truck.

"It's six months and I need all of this stuff. It might not seem important but I need everything that I have packed." Paree answered with a roll of her eyes.

"You brought scuba diving gear! What the hell would you need that for!" I asked in frustration and puzzlement.

Paree just rolled her eyes at me and went back towards the house. I followed, while glaring at her the whole time.

Finally, we had all the boxes that she had packed with her belongings in my truck and were on our way to my house.

"What did you pack anyways?" I asked her.

"Nothing much. Just some hair products, clothes and jewelry. I packed pretty light." She replied. I snorted at the 'light' comment.

"If that's light I really don't want to know what you consider as heavy packing." I said as I pulled up into the parking lot at the side of my house.

"Shut up." She answered before we started taking the boxes into the mansion.

"Hey, Riley can you and some of the others get the boxes in my pick up truck. Just bring them into my room." I told my butler who nodded and went to get the boxes.

I took the box I had and went up to my room with Paree following.

We set the boxes down and soon she started unpacking her things. I just sat on my bed and watched her do this for a few minutes until my cell phone rang.

"Hey Tala." I answered after seeing the caller id.

"Kai are you done yet?" He asked.

"Almost. My bitch is unpacking." I answered and smirked when Paree threw a pillow at me for saying that.

"What about you?" I asked.

"Yea. Aaliyah, Miriam and Mariah are done already. We're going to get ready and meet you at the Chan's house for the party. We have to be there in an hour. Just thought you should know." Tala said.

"'Kay we'll see you there. Bye." I answered and I hung up. I looked up to see Paree standing in front of me.

"What did Tala say?" She asked with a questioning glance.

"He said we have to be ready in an hour for the New Years party." I answered, smirking at the panicked look on her face.

"What! But I still have to unpack, shower and get dressed and what am I going to do?" She said with a groan.

"You know you could just ask the maids to unpack everything. I was going to say that when we came into the room but I enjoyed the show too much." I said looking her over and earning a glare.

She was wearing a sleeveless top that ended above her belly button and short shorts. The opportunity was just too good for me to pass up.

"Great, now you're not only a sick minded, stupid jerk, but you're a pervert too. Just shoot me now." Paree said dramatically.

"I call the shower first!" She yelled, after her dramatic performance and started running towards the bathroom connected to my room.

"Hey!" I ran after her and grabbed her by the waist when I caught up. We couldn't stop our running and we fell onto the bathroom floor with her on top of me.

We just stared at each other for a second and then she surprised me by smiling.

'Wait! Why is she smiling? Oh god, this cannot be good.' I thought, observing her cautiously.

Then before I could do or say anything, she punched me in the gut and ran into the shower stall.

"Bitch!" I snapped on my way out.

Before I closed the door though, I swear I heard her say "Thanks for the compliment, jerk!"

'Why me?' I thought as I went to use the bathroom that was a few rooms away


Normal P.O.V

Tala and Aaliyah were currently getting, actually they were trying to get dressed.

Tala was in the part of his bathroom with the makeup tables and a small loveseat couch. Aaliyah was in the shower, bathtub, toilet and sink half of the bathroom. Tala was wearing black pants, with a navy blue shirt and a black blazer. He sprayed some cologne and got his shoes out. He waited impatiently for Aaliyah.

Tala looked over at a small clock and noticed that it was already quarter after six.

Not caring about the consequences, Tala opened the door to the other half of the bathroom and noticed that the bathtub was empty. Venturing further into the other half of the bathroom he noticed that the shower was empty too. He looked around and finally found Aaliyah.

"Hey, you done yet?" He asked walking up behind her.

"What are you doing in here?" Aaliyah said with a small glare at him.

"Well, we're already fifteen minutes late so I came to see what was taking you so long. Mom and Dad left for Mariah's house already." Tala answered, distractedly.

Aaliyah was wearing a navy blue dress that went around her neck at the top. It went into a v-neck design, exposing some cleavage and ruffled a little at the knees.

Tala let out a whistle of admiration as he looked her over. Aaliyah's cheeks tinged pink as she tried and failed in glaring at him.

"Wow! You look awesome!" Tala complimented as he looked her over once again.

"You don't look too bad yourself. Can you help me with this?" She said indicating to a small hook on the part of the dress that went around her neck.

"Is this the reason why you were taking so long?" Tala asked as he placed the hook through the small hole.

"Yea. And I couldn't get the shower to work, so I took a bath instead." Aaliyah answered as she placed her necklace, earrings, and bracelets on.

Tala smirked and slipped his hands around her waist, pulling her against his chest. He placed a few light kisses on her neck and nibbled a little on her earlobe.

Aaliyah gasped a little before letting out a soft moan.

"How about I show you how to work the shower tomorrow? Maybe, we can have some…fun?" He said, while running his hands across her flat, satin covered stomach.

"Maybe, but right now we should be going." Aaliyah said as she pulled away from him with a small smile.

"Party pooper. I was having fun." Tala said with a smirk.

"You didn't think anything was going to happen did you? So, technically I'm not a party pooper." Aaliyah answered as she picked up her sandals and purse before heading out of the bathroom.

"Thanks for crashing all my hopes." Tala said sulking a little.

"Aw, poor baby!" Aaliyah cooed and kissed him on the tip of his nose.

"You're such a conniving little wench." Tala growled as he started his mustang and drove out towards the Chan's house.

"And you love me for it." Aaliyah replied cheekily. Tala just rolled his eyes and kept driving.


Ozuma, Miriam, Rei, Mariah, Kai, Paree, Tala, and Aaliyah seated themselves at a table in the corner of the hall and ate their dinner.

"What time is the countdown?" Ozuma asked the others. They looked at him like he had grown another head.

"I'm joking. Sheesh, no need to get all worked up about it." He said in an exasperated voice.

"Hey Rei, let's go dance." Mariah said grabbing Rei's hand and leading him to the dance floor.

The other girls grabbed the hands of the other boys and lead them to the dance floor.

They started dancing to a catchy salsa tune. The girls were being twirled and thrown into the air and everything.

Kai and Paree went to the bartender and got a few shots of tequila. Unfortunately Kai didn't know about Paree's low alcohol tolerance.

After three shots she was wobbling around and bumping into people.

"Kai, I think it's best if you take Paree home now." Paree's brother said chuckling as his sister managed to make an old lady spill her drink.

"Yea, I'm going to do that right now. Bye guys." He said to the others before rushing off to catch Paree before she fell off the table she was now dancing on.

The two of them left the party and there was still an hour left until midnight. They went out into the now rainy weather and towards Kai's car while waving goodbye to the others.


Kai's P.O.V

I decided that it would be better if we spent the night at Paree's house instead of going back to mine. It was closer and she still had about two more boxes of clothes that we had decided to move tomorrow. This way we could drop off the boxes at my house tomorrow morning before going to pick up our fake child.

I rang the doorbell and waited for the butler to open the door. I carried a not so defiant Paree up the stairs to her room and threw her onto her bed.

"Hey! I don't want to go to bed yet!." She said while pouting up at me. I took off my blazer and placed it on the doorknob of her closet. I turned around to see her looking up at me with that same pout.

"Look you don't have to go to sleep. Just change out of that dress and into your night clothes. Okay." I said talking to her as if she was a two year old.

"Okay. But you have to do something for me afterwards." Paree said, her eyes glazed over in her drunken stupor.

"Okay." I answered hesitantly.

I watched as she made her way over to her walk in closet and closed the door behind her. I let out a tired sigh as I threw off my shirt and pants in a laundry basket before getting into bed, with just my boxers on.

I had just started to pull back the bed sheets when Paree came stumbling back into the room from her closet. I looked her up and down in admiration as she came up to me.

She was wearing a white, silk, spaghetti strap nightgown that only went to the middle of her thigh, exposing her long, flawless, legs to my eyes. I finally moved my eyes up to hers.

"There I did what you said. Now you have to do whatever I say." She said in a slightly childish voice.

"And what would that be?" I asked, trying to ignore the fast beating of my heart as Paree came closer and closer.

"This." She said before pulling my head down until my lips met hers. I instantly kissed her back, lettinggo of all the controlI hadand soon I had pushed her onto the bed.

I kissed her passionately, and she kissed back. I let my tongue touch her bottom lip begging for entrance and she opened her mouth to me. I kissed her harder and soon the kiss turned from a gentle and unexpected one, to a hungry and needing kiss. We finally pulled apart in need of air.

I started placing butterfly kisses down her jaw line and to her neck, stopping to nibble on her earlobe. She moaned as I sucked and kissed the tender flesh on her neck.

"Kai…" She moaned. I stopped suddenly and looked into her eyes.

They were still glazed in drunken stupor.

'I can't do this. I'm not going to take advantage of her while she's drunk.' I thought and moved off of her and to the other side of her bed.

She looked at me in confusion, before sliding closer to me.

"Kai!…" Paree moaned again. I couldn't help it as I leaned forward and started kissing her. I let my hands roam over her body and started placing butterfly kisses along her neck, slipping the straps of her nightgown off her shoulders.

She moaned again as I placed kisses along her neck line.

"Kai…please…make me yours." she begged as I teased her by placing light kisses along her shoulder.

I slid my hands down to the bottom of her nightgown, hitching it up slightly and caressing the skin above her knee.

I heard her hum a little and move slightly. I looked up from her shoulder, which I was just kissing, and noticed that she had fallen asleep.

I got off her once again and moved up so the my head was by hers on the pillow. I looked over at the peaceful look on her face, as she breathed peacefully.

'Maybe, it's a good thing she fell asleep. At least she won't kill me in the morning, like she would have if I did make love to her.' I thought, as I placed an arm around her waist and pulled her close out of habit.

Although I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.


Meanwhile…

Ozuma and Miriam just danced and talked and laughed with the others until it was time for the count down.

"Alright everyone, it's almost midnight. If you would please start counting down when that clock is on ten." Mariah's father said pointing towards a large digital clock on the wall above the food table.

Everyone turned their attention towards it and started counting down.

"10"

"9"

"8"

"7"

"6"

"5"

"4"

"3"

"2"

"1!"

They all yelled. The hall filled with noise from the noise makers little kids had to the shouts of Happy New Years.

Ozuma and Miriam looked at each other for a moment before leaning in for a kiss. They were deaf to all the noise made by the people around them.

Tala and Aaliyah were also engaged in a kiss at the moment. Oblivious to the small child that pointed to them and told them that they had cooties.

Rei and Mariah help onto each other in a loving embrace before kissing each other lightly on the lips.

But their moments of fun and the noise were soon disrupted by a loud banging of the large doors that lead into the party hall.

The three couples broke apart quickly and looked towards the doors as everyone else was.

There were four people standing there, soaking wet from the rain. From where the three teens were standing they could tell that two were men and two were women.

"Father! They're gone! Papa and Nana are gone!" One of the girls yelled and ran towards Brooklyn's father.

The other girl ran to Garland's mother and started sobbing as the first girl had done.

The elders of the Ivanov, Hiwatari, Chan, Mariano, Bikonai, and Linto families looked at the two sobbing girls and the boys standing in the doorway with dumbfounded expressions.

"I think we should discuss this in the sitting room. Come and explain what happened. You six can come as well." Mariah's grandfather said looking Ozuma, Miriam, Rei, Mariah, Tala, and Aaliyah as he said the last part.

When everyone was seated in one of the large sitting rooms in the Chan Mansion, they turned their towards the four people who had come in a while before.

"What happened Drake?" Mariah asked addressing her older brother, who was married to Brooklyn's elder sister.

"Yes, I think that's what we would all like to know." Voltaire Hiwatari said.

Mariah's brother sighed and looked at his companion.

"I think you should start, Leo." He said, addressing Miriam's brother, who was married to Garland's sister.

"Okay. We were at our jobs. We spy on Boris under different names." He added, noticing the looks of confusion on Ozuma, Tala, Rei, Miriam, Aaliyah, and Mariah's faces, "We got the email from dad that Rio's grandparents and Julie's grandparents were arriving in Russia for their anniversaries. So, we made up excuses and went to welcome them from the airport." Leo said.

"Yes, after we left them at their hotel we went back to work. The next day we found out that Boris had found four people who knew about the bonded ones, but were unwilling to speak. We tried but failed in finding out who it was until yesterday. Boris killed Mr. and Mrs. Ivanov as well as Papa and Nana, because they wouldn't give him information." Julie, Brooklyn's sister; Ozuma's cousin; and Leo's wife, finished.

"We couldn't help them in time, we tried to though. We managed to get an extended vacation from Boris yesterday so that we could get here in time to tell you." Rio, Garland's sister; Tala's cousin; and Drake's wife, added.

"What a way to start a New Year." Drake muttered in a bitter and sarcastic tone.

Everyone was quiet for a few moments.

"Well, at least you still have your jobs. Protecting the Crystal is a major priority right now. We have suffered a big loss, but when the time comes Boris will pay for it." Diego Mariano muttered trying to keep the tears of anguish out of his voice.

"Come to Bikonai Industries tomorrow and we will discuss this topic some more. For now though I think we should all head home. This was a little more…uh…excitement than we could handle today. Good night." Old man Bikonai said. As he and the other elders left the sitting room.

Aaliyah looked over at Tala who seemed frozen since Rio, Leo, Julie, and Drake had informed them of the death of his grandparents.

Rei and Mariah gave the boys a few words of sympathy and condolences before heading to Rei's house, which was now also Mariah's home.

"Ozuma…" Miriam whispered, afraid of what his reaction would be. He had a faraway look in his eyes.

Aaliyah finally managed to get Tala up and said goodbye to the other two and took him out towards their car.

"Ozuma, w-we should go now." Miriam tried again her voice shaking a little.

She gasped when Ozuma looked at her. She looked into Ozuma's eyes which had seemed to be void of any emotion. It wasn't the amused look he always had in his eyes, it was a different, sad, and angered kind of look.

"You're right. We should go." He answered his voice hallow.

Miriam led him out the doors and towards his car. She opened the door to the passenger side for him and decided to drive.

Everything was quiet between them on the way back to Ozuma's house.


Aaliyah's P.O.V

I drove on our way back to the house. I helped Tala out of the car and we went upstairs to our room.

I quickly changed into my nightdress, took off my jewelry and washed off my makeup. I went back into the room and saw Tala just sitting there on the bed.

My heart went out to him.

I went up to him and kneeled down in front of him. I bent over to take of his shoes and socks and placed them to the side. Then I took off his blazer and unbuttoned his shirt. I took these item's into the walk in closet and placed them there. I came back out and brought one of his silk pajama pants out and handed it to him.

"Tala, you should go and change and then we can talk if you want." I whispered as I rubbed his hand comfortingly.

He slowly got up and went into the bathroom. I pulled back the sheets of the bed and got in waiting for him to come back.

He came out wearing his pajama pants and got into bed. I turned on my side to face him and touched the side of his face comfortingly.

He had a haunted look in his eyes. I caressed the side of his face hoping to get some kind of reaction from him.

"They're gone. My grandparents are gone." He whispered finally in a tear wracked voice. I felt like my heart was shattering into a billion pieces, when he said this.

"I know. I'm sorry that they couldn't have been around longer." I whispered.

Tala put an arm around my waist and placed his head in the crook of my shoulder. I felt the pillow I was lying on become wet and I realized that he was crying. I let one of my hands caress his back and softly patted his head with the other, saying comforting words as I did so.

After a few minutes he raised his head and looked at me with a grateful and appreciating look in his eyes.

"Thank you." He whispered as he adjusted our positions so that I was snuggling up in his arms while he held on to me.

"Your welcome." I answered and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

I felt his lips on my forehead before we drifted off into sleep.


Miriam's P.O.V

When we got back to Ozuma's house, which was now my home, we went upstairs to our room. I went into the bathroom and changed into my nightgown and got ready for bed.

When I went outside I saw Ozuma in the same position that he was in when I had left to change my clothes. He was just leaning against the door of his bedroom.

I sighed and went over to him. I knew how to deal with Ozuma's perverted side; joking side; violent side; and I was learning about how to handle his gentle side, but this depressing side was something I couldn't handle. This was because for as long as I had known Ozuma I had never seen him this upset. I had no idea what to do but that didn't mean I wasn't going to try to help him.

I took his hand and practically pulled him towards the bathroom. I closed the door behind us and turned to face Ozuma.

I turned to Ozuma and took off his blazer and then started to unbutton his shirt. Then, I took off his shoes. When I stood back up I noticed that he was giving me a confused and questiong look.

"I'm just helping you get ready for bed." I answered and then bit my lip nervously.

'Uh oh. Ozuma usually sleeps in his boxers only. Oh well, I should just get this over with.' I thought with a small, barely audible sigh

I reached my slightly trembling hands down towards his waist and started to undo his belt. I slipped it out of the belt spaces and hung it on a hook. Then, I slowly unzipped and unbuttoned is pants and slid them down, trying to avoid looking at that area, although I was tempted to.

When Ozuma was left in only in his boxers, I led him out of the bathroom and towards the bed and then went to place his clothes in the closet.

When I returnedI kneeled in front of Ozuma, who was sitting on the bed, and took his hands into my own small ones. I looked up into Ozuma's eyes pleadingly.

"Ozuma, please say something. You haven't said anything since we were told the Papa and Nana Mariano had…" I trailed off.

"Died?" Ozuma whispered. I snapped my head back towards him and nodded slowly.

"They were murdered. They didn't die out of a natural cause. They were murdered by that fucking, son of a bitch, bastard, Boris!" Ozuma said getting louder and louder with each word.

He was now standing up.

"I'm going to KILL him Miriam! I hate him! He took away two people who have raised me my whole life! They were always there. I mean, I know I had mom and dad, but they were usually busy with work or something. Papa and Nana used to be the ones who were always there. No matter what. And now there gone, thanks to that bloody, BASTARD!" Ozuma said, falling to his knees during his little breakdown.

I watched him and held back my own tears.

"They're gone. They're gone." He whispered. I stepped towards him and placed a placating hand on his shoulder, he turned around to face me and and put his arms around my legs placing his face against my stomach and breaking into quiet sobs. I just ran my hands through his hair and stayed silent although I could feel my own tears slipping down my face.

He stopped after a while and looked up at me before I had a chance to wipe away my tears.

He stood up and wiped away my tears with his thumbs before kissing me on the forehead, taking my hand and leading me back to the bed.

We got under the covers and I snuggled closer to him.

"They're watching us. We have to be strong for them. And where ever they are, they still have each other. Just remember that they love you." I said, without realizing what I was saying, until it had some out of my mouth.

Ozuma looked at me for a second before a small smile broke out onto his face.

I kissed his cheek and fell asleep feeling safe and warm in his arms.


There you go guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know it's kind of sad but it'll get better later. I'm sorry it took so long but yea I had exams and stuff so I didn't get much time to work on it. Anyways, hope you enjoy it.

P.S, just some quick notes.

Mariah's brother's name is Drake, he spies on Boris, married to Tala's cousin Rio

Miriam's brother's name is Leo, short for Leonardo, he spies on Boris, married to Ozuma's cousin Julie.

Julie is Garland's sister and Tala's cousin, spies on Boris

Rio is Ozuma's cousin, and Brooklyn's sister, spies on Boris

these four are 28 years old and are also minor bonded spirits

Review please!

Byez,

S-R-R