Chapter 5

The kitchen was a disaster.

Claira didn't say a word to either of her parents, simply eating the fruit and donuts provided for breakfast. Bastet was nowhere to be found, which was both weird and…unsettling. Brooklynn knew Mark used his Familiar for spying purposes and something told her the cat would be following Claira all over the place. Brooklynn wouldn't be able to cook for at least a week; the fire had caused a lot more damage than Mark first suspected. Brooklynn wanted to beat the hell out of her daughter for doing this and vowed to never let Mark unbind her, not after this.

"Christ…" She muttered, beginning to clean up where she could while Mark surveyed the damage, making a list of what he'd need to fix everything.

"I'm thinking, darlin'." At least his coffee pot had been on the other side of the kitchen, or else he would have outright strangled his daughter. Mark took a sip from his mug, eyeballing Brooklynn, who looked like she might actually try throttling Claira. "We'll take the truck to drop her off at school and then just head to get the shit for this." If Brooklynn wanted her kitchen redone, or new countertops, now was pretty much the perfect time.

"Okay."

Brooklynn was already dressed since she thought she'd be taking Claira to school by herself. Blue jean shorts and a red tank top, since it would be around 80 degrees today. It was a good idea on Mark's part not to let them be alone because Brooklynn was angry, and she probably would've done something that warranted child abuse to their daughter. That's how pissed she was. Her kitchen was ruined, and it would take a while to fix completely, all because of her daughter's magical tantrum.

"Are you ready to go then? We can stop and get something to eat after dropping her off." Mark was a big man with a big appetite and donuts and fruit wouldn't cut it, not if he planned to work on the kitchen for the majority of the day.

"If you want." His eyes were on Claira, who looked annoyed. He bet she didn't appreciate Daddy driving. She was probably remembering last night's threat to embarrass the hell out of her. Mark had come downstairs dressed for once before breakfast, black jeans and a denim vest, his hair pulled back into a low hanging tail with a bandanna wrapped around his forehead. "Eat up, Claira."

Claira was pretty sure she felt Bastet brush her ankles and peered under the table, eyes narrowing when she saw nothing. That was not all right.

"No, she's had 20 minutes to eat and it's time to go." Brooklynn wasn't waiting on her pokey daughter, not today and grabbed her purse, daring the girl to say one word to her. "And when either Dad and I pick you up from school, you better be to the car within 5 minutes or we're coming in after you."

That was the only warning Claira would receive as she walked out of the house, needing some fresh air. Just looking at her daughter right now made Brooklynn's blood boil. Was this how parents were supposed to feel? No, they weren't normal parents because not every teenager would try to burn the house down with a temper tantrum due to magic.

"Why is she being such a bitch towards me? I said I was sorry." Claira muttered, standing from the table and grabbed her bookbag, not remembering ever seeing her mother so angry. It…unnerved her since Mom was usually lighthearted and laid back, mostly.

"Let's see…. you're a fucking slob… you purposefully drag your ass when you know better, oh… and you SET HER KITCHEN ON FIRE!" He could see why Brooklynn was having issues, their daughter was turning into a big time douchebag. "No skipping classes, Claira, Bastet is watching."

"How is that okay? You sending your creepy ass cat after me?"

"Used. Pantyliners."

Brooklynn loved Claira with all her heart and soul, but right now, after seeing the aftermath and destruction of her kitchen, she couldn't say a WORD to her without snapping. She looked away as Claira stomped out of the house with a stern looking Mark following, already knowing what the issue was. Bastet would be his little spy when it came to Claira for a while now. That meant she would lose her buddy around the house for a while, which saddened Brooklynn, but she understood it had to be done. Claira had threatened to skip classes and Mark was going to make sure she didn't do it and if she did, Bastet would let him know instantly.

"Mom?"

Silence.

Claira rolled her eyes at the dramatics. "Mom?"

Silence.

"Oh my god, you're really not going to talk to me for an ACCIDENT? I didn't mean to destroy the kitchen, okay?! Geez!"

Brooklynn had nothing to say to her, folding her arms in front of her chest defiantly and stared out the window.

"This is ridiculous, I'm your daughter and you're treating me like crap!"

"How does it feel?" Brooklynn remarked coolly, her voice low and somewhat dark, not cheerful and light like it normally was. "Leave me alone, Claira. I have nothing to say to you right now."

When Claira refused to shut up, Mark shut her up himself and then promptly put the radio onto Brooklynn's favorite country music station, cool green eyes meeting his daughter's in the rearview mirror. It'd lift as soon as she was through the school doors, and he knew Bastet would be there with Claira, every second of the day. It was looking to be a very miserable day indeed for the teenager.

The moment Claira was through the doors, Brooklynn burst out crying and buried her face in her hands, feeling like a horrible mother for the way she treated the girl. She couldn't help it though. That fire could've gotten out of control very fast, especially had it been by the stove. Brooklynn had moved the radio to a different location only a week ago, which was a blessing in disguise. Mark pulled her against his side and let her cry, rubbing her back to try soothing her.

"Sorry." She mumbled, taking the bandana he handed her to wipe her tears and nose, sighing heavily. "I'll talk to her civilly after school…I'll be cooled down by then and not want to strangle her."

"Let's just see how she is when she gets home."

If Claira was civil, awesome, if not… Round Two most likely. Of course, he did have Bastet spying, so… they would know Claira's mood on top of how her day went. Bastet knew what to report back to him; he wasn't trying to watch his daughter's life like it was some screwed up television reality show. He just wanted her to go to her classes.

"Do you feel like eating, darlin?" They could skip that if she wasn't in the mood.

"Not really, no." Brooklynn knew better than to lie to him because Mark could read her like a book. He would know she was lying and only doing things for him. "Maybe after we pick up what you need for the kitchen, we can get something light." At his nod, she cracked a very small smile and pulled away from him to scoot back into her own seat, so many different emotions flowing through her. "About last night, I didn't mean to snap at you like that…I think I was in shock over what Claira did and I took it out on you…" Reaching over, she grabbed his hand and laced their fingers together, heaving a sigh. "I'm sorry…"

"Don't be, it was a rough day." He rumbled, squeezing her hand gently as he drove the sort of familiar route, pretty sure it was either a Lowe's or a Home Depot they were heading toward. Not a place he frequented. An auto parts store, sure. Place that did work on motorcycles or showcased them, sure. Not this, not that he couldn't, just not his thing usually. "You sure you don't want to have the kitchen redone, darlin'?" It wasn't like it was going to really change the amount of time involved in fixing the room.

"You wouldn't mind having that done?" Brooklynn's eyes widened at his suggestion, knowing how much of a penny pincher Mark could be, even though they had more money than they knew what to do with. "I have to admit, I wouldn't mind an upgrade in the kitchen. New appliances, black granite counter tops and new cabinets would be great…" Her eyes gleamed at the thought of having a brand-new kitchen as Brooklynn slid her hand up and down his tattooed sleeved arm. "If you're okay with it, I'd be fine with that."

"Good, you can pick out what you want and what I can't do, I'll bring someone in to do it for us." Since Mark had already taken a few days off to work on the kitchen. She might as well redo it if she had a mind too. "New appliances huh?" He side-eyed her with a slight grin. "Don't like our 10 year plus shit?" It wasn't exactly something he would have thought of since she was the one used the kitchen to cook and whatnot. He was feeling a little sexist now.

"Mark, sweetheart, love of my life, that fridge is on its last leg. I've been telling you this for months and you kept waving it off like it's no big deal. So yes, new appliances. If we're redoing the kitchen, the whole damn thing is getting redone." The spark was back in her eyes and she had a smile on her face a mile wide, practically bouncing in her seat. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, Melina called me last night…and she thinks she's pregnant."

"At 40? Really?" Mark's eyes widened, wondering if she was and how David would take that. They already had two kids, way past the 10 year old mark… a baby meant starting that all over again. "She hasn't taken a test of anything to get it confirmed?"

"Yeah, I was pretty shocked myself and she said she's taking a test today. She bought it yesterday, but for some reason, she's waiting until today to take it. Apparently, her and Davey boy got frisky one night while the kids were gone and they neglected to use anything." Brooklynn explained, recalling her conversation with Melina. "They got rip-roaring drunk and yeah – if she is, it's a wild sex baby." That made Mark groan and she laughed, shrugging. "It happens. She also invited us out to see them and I told her maybe during Claira's Spring Break coming up. I don't know if that's a good idea now though."

"Brooklynn, Claira shouldn't be the reason we have to miss out on our friends. She can just as easily be grounded in D.C. as she can in Texas and we haven't seen them in a year." Mark pointed out, also figuring he'd be able to hit David up for this wild, drunk sex he had gotten from his wife. Now that was an idea. He got the cold shoulder more often than not, if Brooklynn had a bad day.

That surprised her because Brooklynn didn't know if he wanted to go see Melina and David. Then she remembered it was Mickie he couldn't get along with, who rarely called, and they hadn't see her or John in years. Mickie had light magic, Mark had dark and they butted heads A LOT. Not to mention, Mickie and John had two sets of twins, 4 kids, in the span of 3 years, so they're hands were full with 5 teenagers.

"If you wanna go, we can. I don't have a problem with that." Claira would hate it because it meant she'd be far away from her boyfriend, even though she was currently grounded from him anyway. "Yeah, let's do it. Let's plan a vacation to go to D.C. for Spring Break this year."

He and Mickie tended to make each other physically sick. It really had nothing to do with liking one another so much as they were at the very ass ends of their magical spectrums. During their hunt for Nemesis, they had literally repelled each other; it had been an interesting experiment he had no care to repeat, even if he did keep himself in check these days.

"Sounds good." He said with a grin, just as they pulled into the Lowe's parking lot.

The kitchen was picked out in a few hours. They had to go over every detail, both agreeing and compromising on some things. The new appliances would not arrive until after Lowe's was done with the flooring, countertops and walls. Mark wouldn't have to do anything; it was a lot cheaper than they thought to have someone else do the work as opposed to buying the stuff and doing it themselves. Lowe's gave a great discount and had things on sale, even appliances. By the time they left, it was just before noon and Brooklynn was starving, having a feeling her man was as well.

"I need food, feed me." She groaned, leaning her head on his arm while they walked to the truck. "I don't care where we go, I just really need food."

"Greasy it is." Mark was actually disappointed; he had wanted to do the kitchen, but apparently his wife thought he couldn't, even arguing it would be cheaper to just have them do it. "After we're done, I'll drop you off to home and head into work, tuck in a few hours." Because his afternoon was now shot.

Brooklynn knew he was annoyed at the fact she wanted Lowe's to do their kitchen, but honestly, it was the cheaper way to go and it made more sense. If Mark did this himself, it would take MONTHS to finish and he couldn't stay away from the shop that long. Not to mention, she wanted her kitchen back and Lowe's would get everything done within 2 weeks. Taking all his vacation days to do the kitchen didn't make sense when they had a trip planned to go to D.C. He'd get over the disappointment soon enough; Brooklynn would make it up to him tonight, suddenly having an idea. Something he could do and remodel that they'd been putting off for a while.

"Since you can't do the kitchen, because of me, how about doing the basement? I know you've been wanting to redo it and put a recreational room down there with a pool table and stuff. You can do it however you want, I won't add input or anything. Make it your mancave you've been wanting and you can do it in your spare time. You could even start it today, if you wanted, instead of going back to the shop."

"No, I'm good, darlin'." They had just left the place he would need the materials for that project. He'd pass. "Let's go get some grub." Mancave… not happening. He had his garage, maybe he'd do an add-on to that or something over the summer. "Here all right?" Mark pointed after parking along the diner front, grinning at her. "Greasy, and you liked their shakes the last time we were here."

They got out of the truck and walked inside, being seated almost instantly. They had the best shakes because of the gourmet flavors and the last time had been a caramel macchiato one. Today, she would be trying a different flavor. Brooklynn and Mark didn't go out together often due to her cooking all the time. Maybe once a month they treated themselves, along with Claira, if she wanted to tag along, but normally it was just the two of them.

"You know Glenn is gonna want us to come see him in Tennessee eventually, right?" The man had been dying to show them his freshly built log cabin for the past 2 years. "Have you talked to him lately?"