Chapter 4: Until Now

Iggy's POV

I was sleeping soundly on the cough as I dreamed a pleasant dream about my family. I really did miss them, and only wish to tell them the truth of why I was gone. But it was better I didn't.

Suddenly, I heard a scream. I was instantly jerked out of my sleep as I ran up the stairs. The scream was coming from the girl's room.

I ran to the open door to find Nudge holding Crystal as she screamed. Nudge was saying soothing words as she tried to calm her down. "Crystal! You have to wake up! It's only a dream. Open your eyes sweetie."

Crystal calmed down, and slowly opened her eyes. "Mommy…I had that dream again…I…I'm scared. What if he comes back? What if-"

"Crystal!" Nudge yelled, getting her attention. "You don't have to worry. He's gone. They're all gone. You never have to worry about him again, I promise." She said, holding Crystal close.

"What happened?" I asked, sitting next to Tiara.

"Crystal had a nightmare. It comes back every now and then. When we were babies, she was kidnapped with my mom and taken to the place where you guys escaped. But then my dad and I went there and we saved them before uncle Gazzy blew up the building. She keeps have a dream that he's not really dead, and that he's gonna comeback to get us."

"Whoa. That is scary." I said, looking at Crystal as she cried. Then, I got an idea. "I'll make you some of my world famous hot chocolate. If you're anything like your mom, you'll definitely feel better." I said.

"Ok." She said. I stood up, and grabbed her hand. She picked up her glasses, and followed as I lead her down to the kitchen. I walked her over to the table, and got to work on the hot chocolate. As I was making it, something acquired to me.

"Crystal?"

"Yea?" she asked looking at me as she wiped her eyes dry.

"If you and Tiara are twins, how come you have to wear glasses, and she doesn't?"

"Well," she said as she put her glasses back on, "I went to the doctor, and he said that it was a trait that was passed on, and that not all traits get passed on. He asked if anyone in my family had vision problems, and my mom said that when she got pregnant with me and Tiara, that my dad was blind. Then he got his sight back after an operation. The doctor said that he was surprised that I wasn't born blind. He said my vision shouldn't get any worse, and that I have to wear glasses or contacts. I can see when things are up close, but I need them to see far away."

"I see" I said. "Here you go." I said handing her the hot chocolate.

"Thank you." She said. She sipped it slowly so as not to burn her tongue. Her eyes instantly flew open as she tasted it. "Whoa! This is delicious!"

I smiled and laughed. "Thank you. I have my own special secret to making it. Your mom used to beg me to make it for her. Especially around Christmas when it was cold."

"I can see why." She said, continuing with her drink. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why did you leave the flock? I mean…where have you been this whole time?" she asked, curiosity in her eyes.

I sighed. "I left the flock cause I needed some time to myself. I wanted to go off on my own. I had something's that I needed to figure out on my own."

"Did you figure them out?"

"Yea. And that's why I came back. I wanted to be with my family again, but I knew that it was gonna be tough. I knew I would have problems coming back. Especially with your mom."

"Why?"

"Your mom and I were close. We were like brother and sister. I knew when I left that I was breaking her heart. It was hard, but I had to."

"Were did you go?"

"I wasn't really in a specific place. I kinda just flew from place to place. Staying there for a couple days or so. Eventually I found an apartment in Chicago where I stayed for about a year or so."

"Oh." She said finishing her hot chocolate. "I think if you really apologize, mom will forgive you, and you can stay with us." She said, hope in her voice.

I smiled, and walked over to her. I kissed the top of her head. "I wish it were really that easy. But I'm gonna have to do a lot more then apologize to get her to forgive me. So what's it been like living her with your mom and grandma?"

"It's great. I love it. Especially when we have family parties. I love hanging with my cousins, and my brother and sister are great. Well except when we all fight. One time, we broke a vase, and my grandma freaked. She was yelling at us for almost an hour, and we got grounded for 2 weeks. Nad and I freaked out cause we had nothing to do, and didn't know how to handle it. Tiara on the other hand, she was used to it."

"What do you mena?"

"She's always getting grounded cause she's always getting into fights. She's the toughest girl on the block and at school. Me and Nad are the only ones who can or even will stand up to her. Everyone thinks it's cause she's our sister, but then I remind them about this one time that I got into a fist fight with her at school."

"I see. But why exactly does she fight so much?"

"Because people make fun of us." Tiara said, walking into the kitchen. "Can I have some hot chocolate too?" she asked, sitting at the table.

"Sure." I made her a cup, and hand it to her before asking, "So you fight cause people make fun of you?"

"Yea. They have ever since we started school. People make fun of us cause our dad left us. They also try to make fun of our mom."

"How?" I asked, a little worried.

"They call her a slut, and a whore, and a skank." Crystal said.

"One time, this kid was picking on Crystal, and since she's not much of a fighter-"

"Except with you two." She corrected her.

"Right. Except with us, she was feeling really bad, and ran and cried in the bathroom. Then, he said 'Yea, that's right. Run away, just like your punk ass daddy!' and I got so pissed. I jumped half way across the room and kicked his butt. I actually knocked him out unconscious and they had to take him to the hospital."

I was listening carefully. I couldn't believe kids were picking on my daughters just cause I left. I was holding on to the counter, and way gripping it so hard, I think I started to dent it. "That's not right. You shouldn't have to suffer cause of what he did. Do you miss your dad?"

"Yea. I sometimes dream that he was here. I look at all our friends and see how much their dads love them and call them their little princess. When I dream, I dream that he calls us his princess, and just holds us." Tiara said as tears started to come to her eyes.

I walked over to her, and wiped them away. She looked up at me. "I'm gonna make you girls the same promise I did Nad. I'm gonna find your dad so you can meet him. I swear."

"Really?" they asked at the same time.

"Yep. Ok, it's late. You should get to bed. And when your mom goes to work, I got a special treat for you guys."

"What is it!?" Crystal asked, excitedly.

"You'll just have to wait and see."

"Ok."

"Now, off to bed."

"Night Iggy." They said at the same time as the ascended the stairs.

I walked back to the couch, and fell asleep pretty quickly.

The next morning, I was woken awake by the shouts of my three kids. "IGGY!"

"AHH!" I yelled as I feel of the couch. "What is? What happened?"

"Nothing. You said you have a surprise for us once Mom left for work. She's gone." Nad said.

"Oh right. Well I planned a whole day full of fun to make you guys feel better. Did you guys eat already?"

"Yea. So what are we gonna do first?" Tiara asked.

"Well first, I'm taking you out for ice cream. So go get dressed, and we'll leave."

"But we have camp today." Crystal implied.

"Don't worry. You can miss one day. And if your mom finds out, I'll take the blame. Now go get dressed."

"Yay!" they cheered as they ran up the stairs to get dressed.

Nudge's POV

So I just got a call from the camp saying that the kids never showed up. I drove home as fast as I could. I figured they were going to try to skip it. Well they're wrong.

I opened the door to find no one was home. Not even Iggy. I started to panic. I pulled out my cell phone, when I heard something behind me. I turned around to see a group of people. One was a scientist. He was wearing a white coat. The rest were what looked to be men crossed with tigers. They had strips, sharp fangs, and claws.

"Hello Nudge." Said the scientist. "I am Professor John Vental. And these, are my eliminators."

I watched as they all smiled, cracked their knuckles. "What do you freaks want?" I asked. As if I don't know.

"We came for you and the children of course."

"What have you bastards done with My children!?" I screamed.

"We haven't done anything to them…yet." He smiled as he turned around and walked past the Eliminators. "Take her. I want her alive." He gave the order.

They all started charging at me at once. I ran inside, closed the door, and shoved the couch up against the door. I tried to hold it in place, but knew that it would only hold for so long. But a thought hit me. If the kids weren't captured, then there was one other place they could be.

I dialed Iggy's cell phone, praying he would answer.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Iggy!"

"Nudge? What's up?"

"Are the kids with you?"

"Yea. Sorry. I kept them for a day of fun. Sorry, I should-"

"Never mind that. Iggy, some freak has come by looking for the kids. He brought some new hybrids called Eliminators."

"Oh my god! Nudge, I'm on my way!"

"No Iggy! I need you to stay away from here. Do not come back here."

"What!? Nudge, are you crazy? I'm-"

"Iggy, if you ever want me to trust you, now is the time! I need you to take care of the kids. Don't bring them back here. Please Iggy." I was crying now. I needed to know that I could trust him on this.

There was a pause. "Ok Nudge. I promise."

"Thank you Iggy. I love you." I said, hanging up the phone. Then, the windows shattered, and I was ambushed by the Eliminators. I started fighting them, but was soon knocked out. Everything went black…..

Iggy's POV

"Thank you Iggy, I love you." Nudge said as she hung up. Her voice was cracking. She was crying. I stood there as the kids stood in front of me, staring up at me.

"Iggy, what happened?"

"We have to go. We have to get to Max and Fang's house. Your mom's in trouble."

To be continued…..

Ok, I feel like I'm rushing this story a bit, but it has to be done. The whole point is for Iggy and Nudge to get reconnected as a couple. That, and also to have Iggy reconnect with his kids. But as you can see, there's a little snag with his plan. So what exactly is gonna happen? Well I don't know. Maybe if you read the next chapter, you'll know. I promise, the next chapter, is the beginning of a new adventure for them. Bet you can't wait, huh?

Remember: Keep reading, writing, and reviewing!

Later!

-dt2009