Ok, before you run at me with pitch forks *cowers away* I would like to explain why this chapter took so long to be updated AND why it's so short. Christmas. So completely and utterly hectic. So I didn't really have a lot of time to make it long. Secondly, it took so long to be updated because the day after christmas day I went on holiday...where they don't have internet. Honestly, I'm not sure how I survived. But here I am! Alive and...about to be killed by my readers...so I apologise again...and again...aaaand again...

Previously...

I rolled my eyes and gave her a pointed look, receiving a tongue being poked out in return.

I swiped my index finger across my neck in a 'I'm dying now and it's your fault' look. She just ignored me, the mistake that was occurring not registering just yet.

Tasha hadn't ceased glaring at me as her left eye began to twitch. I blinked. Rose hung up her phone, slamming it closed, throwing it into her bag and walked closer to us.

"You'd think-" She gasped, realization finally settling in her brain, "Ooops!"

I groaned, "Yeah, ooops is one way to put it!"

"What the hell was that?" Tasha screeched at me. Kill me now.

Rose gaped silently for a few seconds before she spoke. "Uh, okay, well I'll leave that to the two of you... and uh, I'll see you around Dimitri. Tasha, nice to meet you."

Despite Rose's words, however, her tone was snarky as she said the last part. It insinuated that she disliked Tasha – but why?

I had no time to make assumptions though, because Tasha was slowly becoming dangerously impatient. Her foot was tapping softly on the ground, her arms crossed over at the chest.

I wasn't about to be ridiculed and bossed around by a girl and yet, I had nothing to say. What would I say? "Don't look at me like that! I deserve respect even though I'm lying my ass off to you"? I don't think so.

So, instead of raising my eyebrow and crossing my arms like hers, I looked down at the ground and sighed. What have I gotten myself into?

"When were you going to tell me you have children?" Tasha asked, her tone exasperated and questioning.

I rubbed the back of my neck. "I..."

I was frozen and at a stunning loss for words; my brain having seemed to be undergoing a momentary shut down. Did some ridiculous fate not want me to end up with this beauty? Damn fate. "Well? Why not? You know I love kids! You should have told me! I don't know why you're so worried!"

Well, that I was definitely not expecting. I thought Tasha would've given me an ass whooping and sent me on the next train out of her life. Maybe fate wasn't so bad.

I looked up from the concrete ground to look at her, study her features. At the moment she was sending me a brilliant smile that seemed to light up her features. She was glowing.

Uncrossing her skinny arms, she wrapped them around my wide frame.

I wasn't used to this; normally I was being strangled by a much stronger pair of arms – Rose – or worse yet, a slightly more fragile pair of arms with exemplary psychological repercussions – Mama. So this weak grip seemed odd and not like 'home' as I would have expected considering I just said those special three words to this girl. Strange.

"R-really?" Maybe she was just joking, finding sick humour in my stuttering and nervous exterior. But no – when my lips were pulled up against hers and a cold pair of hands found their way into my hair, I knew this was no joke.

I was safe.

I shifted uncomfortably in the tiny little – very sticky – pink chair. Yup, that's right; tiny, soft drink covered, pink chair. Balloons, streamers, little rainbow stickers all surrounded me in the room I was presently settled in.

Why I let Aisley pick our meeting place I will never know. I was sitting in the... pink chair with my legs struggling to fit under the tiny table. Aisley and Michael, of course, had no such problem because unlike me, they weren't more than six feet tall.

Plastic, decorated plates lay on the table while Michael acted like a boy who had been starved for a decade (or possibly even more), stuffing his face with whatever edible substance he could find. His sister was nowhere to be found, yet I knew she was in this building. She was probably off playing with another little girl.

"Why don't you go play? Make some new friends?"

He looked up at me from his plate, tomato sauce smeared right across his face, his devilish hair sticking up in odd places. He blinked and swallowed before answering.

"I'm a bit too old to play, Dimitri."

That shocked me. How can an eight year old say that? I could understand a twelve year old – maybe even eleven year old – but how can someone so young say something like that? My eyes widened when he dismissed my shock and just went back to eating.

"You're eight years old! How can you be too old to play?" I exclaimed loudly, making a few heads turn our way. I felt extremely out of place in this indoor-playground. It was full to the brim with kids and mothers, with only a few men walking around and even they were too busy with their own kids to have a discussion. So I was stuck talking to Michael.

He snorted and responded in a rude tone. "You wouldn't know, you're what? Fifty?"

Fifty my ass! How dare this kid say that! At my young age of thirty-two, I was incredibly vibrant and lively. People often compliment me saying that I didn't look a day over twenty- four. Damn right I didn't!

Outrage and anger bubbled deep in my chest but I refused to give this child the satisfaction of seeing my reaction.

Michael was smirking wickedly, but it wasn't like his mother's satisfied smirk or even her evil smirk. No – it was Jesse's smirk, through and through; that ugly, malicious smirk that made you want to beat the living shit out of someone – the one that made your eye twitch and your breathing become laboured from fury.

Luckily I was saved from killing the irritating kid when his sister decided to come and sit down. She was gasping and giggling, a huge smile on her face. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail but her long curls still fell down over her shoulder. How could siblings be so completely different?

"Hey Dimi."

"Don't call me that."

There we go.There is the similarity.

Aisley pouted but you could tell she wasn't at all sad. She looked down at her plate which was decorated with fairies and butterflies. Her face hardened considerably when she saw that it was half empty, only holding a burger. She turned to her left to glare at her brother. He looked up at her, mouth full.

"What?" He asked but I was willing to bet my platinum American Express card that he knew exactly why she was mad.

"You ate my chips!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Didn't."

"Did."

God, someone kill me! It was like a scene in a movie with the two kids fighting. Only worse because I was living it, not watching it. It was absolutely ridiculous!

"Didn't."

"DID!"

My head fell into my hands which were being supported by my elbows. They went on like this for a food was thrown and I'd had enough.

"Stop!" I shouted, not loud enough to draw attention but definitely loud enough for the two children to stop fighting.

They turned to look at me. Michael had hold of Aisley's hair while Aisley had her palm pressed into his face. Definitely a Kodak moment.

"We came here for a reason and I intend to see that reason through. Now sit down and listen!" My voice was strong; sure. There was absolutely no room for argument and by the looks on the children's faces they certainly didn't want to. They were silent so I continued, "Okay, well I'm pretty sure I should, firstly, tell you about what's going on. There's this girl-"

"We know." It was Michael who cut me off. He leant back against his chair, which happened to be blue –why the hell didn't I get a blue chair?– and smirked up at me. Evil child.

"Know what?"

I was confused. Did they know what I was going to say? Or did they know about what I was going to say? Or both?

"We know about Tiana-"

"It's Tasha."

"Whatever. What I'm saying is that we know about the wedding ring and all your lies."

I looked at Michael flabbergasted. How do they know about that? The only person I've ever told was-

Rose.

Damn it! I go and tell her one thing about my life and she tells her freakin' children!

"Yeah, that's right. Mum tells us e-ver-y-thing," Aisley spoke. That girl could be so cute sometimes – like really, really cute. And then there were times like this, when she was... un... cute. Yeah, un-cute.

Why would Rose do that; talk to her kids so freely? My mother was never like that with my sisters and was always so secretive, thinking that if she kept certain things from us that she was protecting us. But I know she did it because she loves us. Maybe it's a similar situation with Rose. Maybe she just didn't like keeping secrets from Aisley and Michael, and she wanted to have a good relationship with them.

Or maybe she just found my situation funny and wanted to tell everyone she knew.

"Okay, well that's good... I guess," I said, narrowing my eyes cautiously. "It means I can skip the whole explanation thing. Um, how do I say this..? I need you to be my pretend kids."

Sugar coating the situation wouldn't get anything done, so I let it out quickly. I had expected some kind of gasp from Aisley and an open mouth from Michael, or something relatively similar. But no – Michael looked incredibly smug while his little sister had gone back to being cute. She was laughing, grinning and clapping her hands. Her intense brown eyes were sparkling and she seemed really excited about the acting job.

"What's your price?" I asked to the two children, and I was actually quite frightened about what they would ask for. Sure, I'm rich and could probably buy Disneyland, but that didn't mean I wanted to. I don't like spending a lot of money because that's how I was raised. I didn't agree with that kind of lifestyle.

I was actually quite frightened of what they woud ask for, but I certainly didn't expect what they did ask for.

"I want-" Aisley started but Michael cut her off.

"We want to go to Hawaii!"

I'm so sorry about the length! I really am! But I am proud to say that the action is just getting started! We're getting into all the good stuff now ;)

I'd also like to say that the speed of updates for this story might slow down a bit because I'm more focused on my other story, because there are only a few chapters left. But rest a sure, as soon as I finish that story, it will be full blast a head on this one. Like, rocket speed a head.

So, um, review?

please?