Abruptly popping up from her place on the soft mattress, she tied her hair back in a scrunchie and made her way towards the door. He put an arm up to block the exit.

"I have to go check on the kids", she argued, giving him a nervous smile.

"I just did"

"I need to put them to bed"

"Done"

"But Heaven wants me to read her a bedtime story" She was sure that she was whining now…

"Heaven hates those stories"

"I can change that!" She gulped. "What about Adonis?"

He chose to ignore her now, tenderly pulling the black scrunchie from her hair. Curls fell free, spiraling about her face. She reached for the scrunchie, but he tossed it across the room and started to advance on her. Her mind raced, thinking of a thousand excuses that she had heard in the media. The flu? Too risky. Small pox? Too fake. The dog ate my homework. The dog ate my homework? She mentally scolded herself in attempt to regain control of her train of thought. Then, remembering a line that her mother had used while she was still around, her eyes lit up.

"I have a headache"

He only imprisoned her in his arms and whispered affectionately in her ear. "I'll make it better"

Scrambling away, she lost her balance and tumbled across the amber carpet. Her head found the door to the shoe closet and she yelped in pain. That was twice today… Looking up, she saw Stanton looming over her.

"Serena, is there something you want to tell me?"

"No", she squeaked quickly from her place on the ground. He reached for her arms, but she only shrank away. "I'm kind of tired…"

"Not half as tired as you'll be after tonight"

She grimaced. "I'm um… er… I'm a…" A virgin. She couldn't tell him she was a virgin! What was she thinking? He had lifted her to her feet now, his arms closed possessively about her waist. What was he doing to her ear? GROSS! She pulled away and backed into the wall. The mischievous smirk that was now creeping across his lips made her uneasy.

"So you want to play hard to get?"

She took a look at her options. It was either that or she surrendered. Sure. Why not? She nodded and before he could respond, she darted away and rushed towards the door. To her surprise, he vanished from the spot. The air grew tight around her and she struggled to keep calm. "St- Stanton?"

Her eyes wide, she took slow, trembling steps towards the door when suddenly out of the corner of her eye stirred the darkest of shadows.

"AGH!" She screamed as it took form from behind and strong arms enveloped her, clamping her arms to their sides. Then came a whisper and swift as the night breeze. "You're mine now".

She shrieked as he wrestled her onto the covers. "I quit! I don't want to play anymore!"

Apparently, he wasn't listening.

"Wait. Wait! WAIT!" She bellowed, kicking him in the jaw and he toppled off of her. She scooted a few feet back and struggled desperately to zip the back of her dress up. "I… I-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom"

"The bathroom?" he muttered, confused. His breathing was heavy now, his eyes dark with lust. He groaned impatiently and lay back on the bed. "Go on". She stumbled off of the bed and towards the hallway, but not before he could run a finger across her exposed thigh. "Hurry back".

She hurried quicker across the room now. Why did it have to be so large? She hoped he didn't see her blushing. She was sure that she was cherry red by now. Rushing into the bathroom, she shut the door tightly behind her and reached for her purse where she had left it on the sink. Rummaging through it she finally found what she was searching for. Yessss! A phone! Her fingers shaky, she ran through her call list and found Vanessa's number. Then pressing the dial key, she jumped into the tub, closed the shower curtains around her and huddled into a corner. First ring. Second ring. Come on! Pick up! Her heart lifted with relief as the phone clicked a bit and a trembling voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Vanessa!"

"Serena!" She sounded surprised. "I'm so glad you called. I've been up all night. I can't stop thinking about… are you okay?"

"It's Stanton…" Serena paused. What was she going to say? "My husband's trying to have sex with me"? It wasn't exactly a common threat.

"What about him?"

"He's… acting kind of weird"

"Weird, how?"

"He wants to sleep with me"

There was a long pause. Then Vanessa started to giggle. "And this is weird, how?"

Serena groaned. How could she make her understand without giving herself away? "Well", she started, annoyed. "It is now. I mean he was doing something to my ear and it was really-"

"Serena", Vanessa began, concern in her tone. "Are you having those panic attacks again?"

"NO, DAMMIT!" She exploded too loudly. Then, just as she expected, Stanton came strolling into the bathroom wearing nothing but boxers. He gave her an inquisitive look. "Who are you talking to?"

"No one", she replied quickly, but nevertheless, he took the phone from her.

"Hello?" he spoke into the receiver. "Vanessa? … I can't. She's busy right now… Of course not! What gave you that idea?" He cocked an eyebrow at Serena. "Bye"

Serena snarled at the thought of Vanessa. Traitor…

"You look comfortable in there", he pulled back the curtains. "Mind if I join you?"

She closed them again. "Actually I do".

As usual, he ignored her and climbed into the closed space. She stood to exit, but he grabbed her by the wrists and tackled her up against the wall. When they were no more than half an inch a part, he took her gently by the neck and pulled her lips to his. Serena's eyes widened as the tip of his tongue traced over hers, soft and sensuous. After about twenty seconds, he pulled away, leaving her speechless. Her mind had branched off into two different sets, one of which willed her escape and one that screamed "AWESOME! CAN WE TRY THAT AGAIN?" She shook the more reckless choice away before turning to glare at him. "You can't just-" He silenced her with yet another kiss. Well, okay. If you say so… She snapped back to reality as she felt him toying with her underwear lining. Maybe she was ready for kissing, but she definitely wasn't ready for this.

"I can't"

"Why not?"

"I have a headache", she moaned.

"That never stopped you before"

"I didn't use the bathroom"

"You can go later"

"Vanessa needs me-"

"I need you"

She scowled in frustration at the cruel smirk on his face. Why was he making this so hard? Would she really marry someone like him? She didn't think she was the type of person that judged someone solely upon appearance.

"Stop!" She pushed him away.

"Give me one good reason"

"Because I'm…"

"Yes?"

"I'm…"

"Mm hm?"

"I'm not Serena"

He cocked an eyebrow.

"I mean I am Serena! Just not… your Serena"

Her entire body shaking, she waited for anger. Spite. Even confusion. But none of them came. To her surprise, he fell back against the opposite side of the tub, bursting with laughter. She took a few steps back. Had he gone mad? He finally ceased and looked up to smile at her. "It's been fun, Serena. But now that you're done lying, how about you tell me how you really got to the future?"

Serena sat at the kitchen table, fidgeting anxiously with a refrigerator magnet that Adonis had made at school. You're future looks bright! A huge, yellow face smiled up at her from the picture. Heh… She chuckled inwardly. Piercing, sapphire eyes burned into her back and she sunk deeper into her chair. She wished that he would stop staring. The late night brownies and popcorn had somewhat stifled the embarrassment, but it still hadn't quite finished taking its toll on her. She groaned and looked the other way when he took the seat opposite from her, spun it around, and sat in it backwards, his arms hugging the back of the chair. She took a deep breath, waiting for him to brag on his little practical joke.

"Are you still angry?"

"What do you think?" she snapped. "Why didn't you tell me if you knew already? Why did you let me make a fool of myself?"

"I didn't know"

She turned to him, a "yeah, right" clear in her expression.

"I didn't! Or at least I wasn't sure. I thought it might have been stress like Vanessa said, but then you told me you had a headache"

"So?"

"So you – the future you- never tells me she has a headache because she knows I'll fuss over it too much"

"Why?"

"Because headaches usually mean something's wrong up here". He motioned to his temple. She knew he was speaking of her power.

"But something is wrong with my power so how would that have made you suspect me?"

"Because you never would have told me anyway and if you did it would have been serious". His gave her a bright smile. "How old are you?"

"Fourteen"

"Freshman?"

"Yeah", she was growing frustrated, her fingernails digging into the bottom of her chair.

"How's high school?" his tone grew more and more casual as he went on. "Any interests? Whores? Ruthless bitches?"

She rose from her chair, her palms flat on the table. "Why are we sitting here like this? Shouldn't we be out trying to fix this or… something?"

"I suppose you're right" He shrugged disappointedly and turned towards a digital clock on the wall. "We'll discuss this tomorrow". He headed for the staircase. "Coming?"

She snapped her head around to give him a death glare. He smirked. "I thought so. You can have the bed. I'll sleep on the couch".

She nodded, standing slowly to her feet.

"Oh, and Serena?"

"Hm?"

"Don't tell anyone else about this"

"Even Jimena?"

"Especially not Jimena. Only God knows what she would do"

Serena, although unsure, agreed and turned towards the living room. She saw two tiny faces smiling excitedly from the top of the staircase.

"What are you doing up so late, mommy?"

"You mean early" Stanton muttered from the first floor. He gave them a playful grin. "First one awake when I get up there is dead"

Serena cocked an eyebrow. "Dead?"

Watching as he raced up the staircase, the squealing children not far ahead of him, she sighed sarcastically.

So I married a child abuser…

STANTONS NOT REALLY A CHILD ABUSER! Although he did take that lil dude's taffy apple in his book LOL

Someone should write a short fic about that kid comin back. Any volunteers? I mean I know if someone took my taffy apple I would be SO mad! Grrrr! Anyway this chappie was kinda fun for me…

REVIEW CORNER:

Demon Dea: O.o THE AGE COMPARISION WAS THE BEST PART? NOOOOOOO! I can't believe you thought that! Demon Dea how COULD you? (stabs her with keyboard) lol

Mini Sparky: Tell you bout them holy cows. Lol I haven't heard that in so long! I'm glad you like it! And I'm updating now, see?

Elephantsrocmysox: Just gotta tell you, I love that name. Elephants rock my socks too! Glad you think it is hilarious and I am updating Quest for Earrings as soon as I get the chance. The problem is I keep writing new stuff! This is the LAST new thing I'm writing! I SWEAR! And that Stanton fic, but THAT'S IT!

Xxspit-firexX- Hey! I know Maggie and Jimena are getting on my nerves too and its MY story Lol

Leopardfire- Oooooooooh! A new reviewer! (pokes at her to see if she's real) Kewl! Glad you love it!

Shadowings: I sent you the explanation yesterday! THANK YOU FOR ALL THE COMMENTS IN YOUR RETURN EMAIL! (tear) Lol By the way, I love your poem!