Chapter 6

Glenn was his best friend, he talked to him quite a bit. "Not sure if I want to take the firestarter to a hillbilly resort in the middle of the woods." He remarked in a grunt, referencing Claira. Though… it would also be hilarious to see her try to pull that on Glenn… he'd squish her. He was usually a gentle giant unless provoked.

"You Bound her though, so she won't be able to use her magic anymore…right?" Brooklynn frowned at the hesitation on his face, tilting her head slightly and listened as he explained quietly how Claira COULD unbind herself. With enough practice, at least. "Isn't there a way to…take them away from her permanently, at least until she's…old enough and more mature to handle them?" Brooklynn did not need her house being set on fire because of a raging hormonal teenager.

"Sure, if I want to turn her into a vegetable or pop her ass into a coma." Mark pulled his hands back to make room for their food. "You can't just take magic from someone, not without hurting them badly in the process. It's… a part of them." And that was usually only reserved for the evilest, vile of people. He could have made the list in his younger years.

"So, if she unbinds herself, she can potentially blow us all to hell. Great. Fantastic."

Brooklynn needed a drink, a nice stiff drink and rubbed her temples, wondering if it was a good idea to get their kitchen done. What if Claira set the kitchen on fire again? They were well off financially, but replacing a kitchen over and over again didn't sound appealing either.

"Hi, what can I get for you folks today?"

"I'll take a beer with a cheeseburger and fries." Brooklynn ignored the incredulous look on Mark's face and waited for him to give his order before the waitress walked away to put their orders in.

"It'd take a lot of control of her magic, and a lot of power to break those binds. There is no way she can anytime soon." Mark said confidently. He was a Hell of a lot stronger than his daughter and had years to perfect his art, so to speak. "And with Bastet lurking, fueling me, we're fine, darlin'. When she simmers her shit, I'll start teaching her how to control it." If she didn't want to control it, he'd just Bind her again.

"She really scared me last night with that fire."

To the point where Brooklynn actually needed a shot of strong whiskey she procured from their small bedroom bar. Mark had been insistent on it upon moving in during remodel and Brooklynn didn't overly mind. She enjoyed a good stiff drink once in a while herself and, having a child, was extremely stressful.

"Thanks." She smiled at the waitress and took a long drag from her beer, sighing in contentment. The shake would be taken to go, but this beer tasted heavenly at the moment. "I trust your judgment, so if you say everything is going to be fine, I believe you."

"She's a teenager, hormones and magic are a bitch to juggle." He knew that one for a fact. "On top of periods…" Mark also possessed a penis, so… he couldn't sympathize with the period thing. He had gone through voice cracking and awkward boners, figuring that might be worse than plugging up a leak. "And… maybe our kid is just a jerk." He hoped not, missing his sweet little girl who didn't set things on fire. Mark had to wonder if Claira had honestly thought that one through; she could have killed her own mother.

"I know you checked him out, but…I grounded her for a reason. I want to see how she acts when she's not around Seth so much, to see if he really is the reason behind her attitude change. I know it's stupid and Melina even agreed when I told her about it, but I have to test this out to see if it's true." With Bastet following Claira around at school now, if the Familiar saw anything out of the ordinary whenever Claira and Seth were together, she would let Mark know immediately. "I just a weird vibe from him and I don't know why…"

"Because he has a penis and our daughter is having hormonal issues."

That was just a tale as old as time. He wanted to blame Seth too, that was his first thought when Claira had started acting up. However, at the same time, there were too many people who were inclined to blame everyone except their actual kid because there was just no way it could be THEIR kid acting a fool. Factor in magic, he was eyeballing his daughter all the way. Brooklynn nearly choked on her next pull of beer, swallowing a little too hard and coughed, covering her mouth.

"Wrong pipe." She croaked out at the waiter that brought their food and smiled through watery eyes. "You're an…ass." She kicked Mark's shin beneath the table and smirked when he hissed out, beginning to eat her fries while still coughing. "Maybe you're right. Maybe this is just who Claira is right now and, if that's the case, I'm glad she's Bound. I wanna talk to her, but…I don't think it'll do any good." Maybe it was best to leave Claira alone and let the girl come to her instead.

"You remember being that age, darlin'?" He asked, once his shin stopped smarting, making a mental note to be ready to block any more incoming kicks. "I know the harder my folks pushed, the more of a dick I became." In all fairness, he had probably been 10 times the douchebag Claira was, not that it didn't seem like she was fixing to give him a run for his money.

"I was terrified at that age because of the spirits. My Mom had me in several therapy and psychiatrist offices because she thought I was going insane. She never received my…gift."

Brooklynn remembered the countless hours trying to pretend to be someone she wasn't in the therapist and psychiatrist offices. Her mother wanted her on drugs, but…Brooklynn convinced her by lying she didn't need to be drugged up. She hid her gift from her mother and took care of spirits quietly, blaming the nightmares she'd have on school.

"It's really strange, I was expecting Claira to be the same way, but she just took it with a grain of salt and I know she ignores them when they come to her." Blatantly. "She wants no part of helping other people. She's nothing like me." It broke her heart to admit that.

"Exactly darlin', you were terrified." Mark waved a French fry in the air before dunking it in ketchup, eyeballing the other half of his burger, which was called 'The Kitchen Sink'. It was LOADED, even with a cooked egg. "Maybe Claira just doesn't want to be like you, like us. Maybe she's trying to be normal." Hell, maybe she thought if she ignored the magical part of her, it would just go away. He didn't see spirits, so he had no idea how it worked.

Hers was a simple cheeseburger with ketchup since it was delicious and lettuce, no tomato or pickle. "I don't blame her, if that's the case." Something told Brooklynn it was. "There's no way for it to disappear though, spirits will come to her and if she acknowledges them, even the slightest bit, they won't stop bugging her until she helps them. It's…not an easy thing to live with. I wish she would talk to me about it, tell me how she feels, but she closes herself off. I did tell her not to tell Seth about it though, or her powers, in general. I just don't think that's something he needs to know, and she did agree with it. She said and I quote, 'I don't need him thinking of me as more of a freak than I am, Mom'. I would give anything for her to be a normal kid, but she's not and she never will be…because of us." That wasn't an easy pill to swallow either. This was why Brooklynn had freaked out when she first discovered she was pregnant.

"Then the best thing we can do for her, if she wants to be normal, is try to give it to her, Brooklynn. I can keep her powers Bound and, if she wants normalcy, she won't even consider trying to learn how to unbind them. I'm also sure I can find a spell that'll stop her from seeing spirits." Mark imagined that was hurting Brooklynn, their daughter not wanting to be like her, but at the same time, he could see why. This life wasn't for everyone.

"Really? You have a spell that can do that?"

Brooklynn frowned thoughtfully, wondering if that was what Claira wanted. Hell, she knew all her daughter wanted to be was normal. A normal 16-year-old girl that didn't have to worry about magic or seeing dead people. Brooklynn would've taken that offer in a heartbeat had it been offered to her at Claira's age. But now…she'd been doing it for so long, it was part of her and Brooklynn felt…like part of her would be missing if she could no longer see spirits and help them.

"If that's the case, we should sit down with her and ask her if she wants you to cast it. I won't fight it. I just want her to be happy again and maybe this will do it, maybe this will turn her around."

"Whoa woman, slow down," Mark ordered, after swallowing the rather large bite of his burger he had taken, glad he hadn't choked. "I said I could FIND one, I don't HAVE one. So say nothing to her for now. I don't want to get her hopes up in the event this is something she does want." That wouldn't go over well. Getting the teen girl's hopes up and then dash them if he couldn't deliver, no thanks.

"I was going to wait for you to say something to her first since this is your…area of expertise."

Brooklynn and Mark weren't always on the same page with communication, but they somehow made their relationship work by talking things out afterward. He assumed things about her and vice versa. It was frustrating sometimes not being on the same page, but…that's the type of people they were and nothing would change it. Brooklynn would talk to her daughter about the spirits, however, wanting her honest opinion about them, her curiosity peaked. Like Mark said, it wasn't for everyone and Brooklynn would have to accept it.

If he had been in either Brooklynn or Claira's shoes, he would have wanted that 'gift' Bound in a heartbeat. The idea of the souls of the dead haunting his life, because they couldn't navigate their own afterlife, wasn't appealing in the slightest. Now in magic, occasionally, he had worked with spirits, but usually pulled them directly out of wherever they had gone and then sent them back. Not that Mark would tell Brooklynn that, she probably wouldn't have approved.

"Good idea, darlin'."

They finished eating, paid the bill and headed home with Mark dropping Brooklynn off. "See you later tonight."

She would be picking Claira up by herself since he was hell-bent on going to work, even though he took the day off. It was as if he didn't want to spend time with her. Did Brooklynn really piss him off that badly with the kitchen deal? She watched him drive away and sighed, trudging back into the house. Maybe she should've kept her mouth shut and let him do what he wanted instead of giving her input.

"Fuck." Brooklynn muttered, tossing her purse to the side and plopped down on the couch, hating the silence that surrounded her.

"Man, I thought you took the day off?"

"Apparently my woman decided I'm not cheap enough, or competent enough, to fix her kitchen." He laughed, stepping into his overalls. "Figured I'd come feel useful here."

"Oh ouch, yeah here big man, we're backed up today."

Nodding, Mark got to work. Anything to occupy his mind at the moment as he tried to stop thinking about their conversation regarding Claira.

When it was time to pick Claira up from school, Brooklynn was dreading it. She didn't want a repeat with her daughter from yesterday. Hopefully, Claira minded herself and did as she was told by going to class, especially with Bastet watching her like a hawk. Starting the vehicle, her cell phone rang as she fished it out of her purse and saw it was Trish.

"Well hey there, blondie." She greeted with a smile, trying to sound cheerful and pulled out of the driveway, making sure her hands-free headset was on completely.

"Hey there yourself, did you get Melina's text? She's pregnant!" Trish shrieked over the line. "We have to get together for another baby shower, you know none of us probably kept anything, right?" Well, maybe Mickie, but that was due to her being prone to twins and whatnot. "You also sound sick, are you sick?"

Melina…she was actually pregnant again, after all this time. Brooklynn couldn't imagine what she was going through, happy for her friend, but she also knew this would be overwhelming to the woman. "No, I haven't checked my text messages and I'm fine. Just dealing with…a hormonal teenage girl." There was no way in hell she was telling anyone about what Claira did or the fact she had to be Bound by her own father. "Have you talked to Mel yet about the baby?"

"Uh, sort of? Long enough to tell her she's crazy. Another baby at her age?!" Trish sounded both happy and a little disbelieving. "And David is a few years older than she is." Trish figured with a teen and a preteen, this was kind of like starting a life sentence over, shaking her head. "But she did say after this one, she's having her shit tied." Not that she blamed Melina, this had been a BIG surprise.

"I don't blame her there. I still can't believe she's gonna go through with this." There were options out there for surprises, but Melina wasn't the type to kill any baby her and David made together. They truly loved each other and they were very strong people to actually go through this all over again. "She's already had a girl and boy baby shower though, so I don't know if she'll want one with this baby. We'll have to ask her before planning anything. Anyway, how are things are your side of the tracks?"

Trish had a feeling with a surprise baby, Melina wasn't going to be concerned with what she had so much that she had it. "Good. Opened my yoga studio and business is good." Trish was very into fitness and it showed in her body. Even at her age, she was putting younger women to shame and she knew it. Not that it was easy, because it wasn't.