Bonjour my peeps! I am so sorry for the long wait, and don't be expecting regular updates or anything, but here is another chapter of Loves Simplicity. It is short, but it is is dedicated to all my supporters and reviewers, most especially hernandezsilvaerick for the inspiration to write. Without further ado, here is Loves Simplicity.

Chapter 16: The Noise in the Night

Z

I

A

As I slept with my nose in the crook of Carter's neck, his arm draped across my shoulders, and the other holding me close to him, I couldn't help but feel at peace. That is, until I heard someone rustling around in our kitchen.

I opened my eyes and shot up, shaking Carter awake as well.

"Z? What?..."

"Carter, I think someone's in the house." I whispered.

"What?"

"Shhh." I shushed him. "Listen." Sure enough, as soon as we quieted, we heard it, a soft rustling coming from just around the corner of our bedroom.

Carter quietly slipped out of bed, threw on his sweatpants, and grabbed his wand from the duat.

I followed suit and grabbed my sweater from its place on the back of a chair, and similarly grabbed my wand.

"I'll go check it out. You get Connor and hide somewhere safe." Carter whispered.

I nodded, and opened the door of our bedroom, then quickly and quietly ran down the hallways to where Connor was fast asleep. He began fussing as I picked him up, but I quieted him with assuring whispers and the help of his pacifier. "It's okay." I whispered. I wrapped him in a blanket and quickly hid in the closet with Connor quickly falling back to sleep in my arms.

Meanwhile...

C

A

R

T

E

R

After Zia and I heard someone rustling around in our house, I sent her to protect Carter, as I dealt with the intruder. With my wand in hand, I slowly crept down the dark hallway towards our living room. The intruder was messing around in our kitchen, and apparently, he was hungry, as the light to the fridge was illuminating the room. I slowly crept up behind his unsuspecting form, but one of the floorboards creeped, and he became aware of my presence, but before he could turn around, I yelled a freezing spell, and the criminal was frozen against the refrigerator before he could have the chance to scream.

"Ow, Gods Carter! Is this how you treat your guests?"

Wait a second, I would recognize that voice anywhere.

I flipped up the light switch on the wall, only to see my sister, frozen in a block of ice in my kitchen. "Sadie, what the hell?"

Sadie muttered a melting spell, and the ice around her began to melt, and she placed it in the duat. "Wow, no hello or anything, I feel so loved."

"Sades, it is like, four o'clock in the morning. What are you doing here."

"To be fair, it is already seven o'clock in New York, and you invited me to drop by anytime." Sadie replied, then went back to her fridge raid. "Ugh, Carter, just because you guys live in California now, doesn't mean you have to go all 'health food junkie' on me."

"Sadie, you scared the crap out of us, Zia and I nearly... Oh gods, Zia!" I yelled, remembering Zia didn't know the intruder was Sadie yet. I ran to Connor's room, and when I didn't see them, I threw open the closet door. Before I knew it, I, too, was frozen against the opposite wall.

I looked back at the closet only to see Zia holding Connor in her arms, a pointed wand at me. "gods Carter, announce yourself, I thought you were the intruder." She quickly disposed of the ice, then asked, "What was the noise."

I sighed and rolled my eyes, "Oh nothing, just my idiot sister paying us an early visit."

As if on cue, Sadie yelled from the kitchen, "I heard that!"

"You were supposed to!" I yelled back.

"Well, if there is no intruder, I am going back to bed." Zia yawned, rubbing her eyes. Then she turned to Connor, who was still laying in her arms. "You want to come to sleep with me, baby?" she cooed at Connor.

"Yes please." I answered.

Zia looked at me and laughed, "I wasn't talking to you, genius." She grabbed my chin and pulled me in for a kiss, then whispered, "But you can come too."

I smiled and followed her into our bedroom, where the three of us slept soundly for another four hours, despite the fact that Sadie LOUDLY chomped away in the other room.