Authors Note: You. Are. All. CRAZY. Well, at least the people who answered my question were. SERIOUSLY. All of you (and I'm really thinking it was all of you) said you preferred the cold. AHHHHHHHHHH. Nooo. I HATE the cold. Ugh. Bring me the heattt.

(I just realized that this chapter is coincidentally titled 'Flames')

Chapter Eleven:

Flames

"Happy Birthday!"

I was immediately engulfed in a tangle of bedsheets and children, having suffered their ambush early in the morning. Groaning I sat up, pushing the covers twisted around my body down towards my feet. I wiped at my sleepy eyes, blinking at the two innocent kids in front of me.

Angel was grinning from ear to ear; her pearly whites flashing in the dim light streaming through the slightly grimy window. Neither of them had turned on the light in their haste. Gazzy was smiling as well. His blond hair was spiked as haphazardly as usual, and he laughed at the expression I must have been wearing.

"What are you guys doing?" I demanded, my voice coated with the drag of sleep. I squinted at the clock, reading that it was just a little past seven in the morning. Pushing a strand of hair behind my ear I turned to glare at them incredulously.

"It's your birthday!" Angel proclaimed with a giggle, sliding her skinny arms around my legs and tugging to get me off the bed. I shook my head at her attempts, poking her with my foot to get her to stop.

"It's what?" I asked in groggy confusion.

"You forgot?" Gazzy looked astounded. "How could you forget your own birthday?"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah!" Angel insisted, flipping her hair over one shoulder in a way she must have seen me do a thousand times. I had to fight a smile at this. My not-so little baby was picking up my habits like they were her own.

"I guess . . . I did forget," I admitted somewhat sheepishly. In all that had been going on, my eighteenth birthday had taken a back seat to it all. Especially the last week or so since Angel and Gazzy had come back home. We had been busy melding them into our new lifestyle, while I had simply been spending as much time with them as possible. Making up for time lost, I suppose.

So yeah, this date hadn't been foremost in my thoughts for quite awhile.

"Well it is . . . so what do you want to do today?" Ella's voice floated over to us from across the room. We all looked simultaneously to the side. At some point she had awakened, and was now laying propped up on her elbow, staring over at us.

"I don't really care," I replied with a shrug. "Whatever you guys want is fine by me."

"Max," Gazzy complained, rolling his eyes. He shook his head in a way that suggested he thought I was completely inept and incompetent. "It's your birthday. You get to pick what we do. That's how it works."

I laughed, climbing to my feet. Once I was standing I turned back to my two siblings, who were still sprawled on my bed. With a wide smile I said: "Then let's have some fun today."

Gazzy complied with a whoop, standing a bit shakily on my bed. He vaulted off the mattress, landing on the floor with a thump that resounded through the house. Shooting me a sheepish look he quickly fled the scene of the crime, just as Mom's voice shouted up the stairs; something I wasn't paying enough attention to, to discern.

Angel, heeding Mom's warning, stepped off as normal; planting her feet firmly and quietly on the ground. I ruffled her curls as she passed, and she stopped momentarily to grin up at me, her blue eyes suffused with a kind of happiness I wasn't accustomed to. Then she skipped out of the room as well, her pink shirt darting from sight soon after.

When I turned back around I found Ella sitting up, perched on the edge of her own bed. She was watching me carefully, a calculating look in her brown eyes. I raised an eyebrow at her questioningly. It was a moment before she deemed it necessary to elaborate.

"It's just . . . You'd do anything for them, wouldn't you?" she inquired, sounding thoughtful. "No, don't answer that. I already know it's a yes. I can see it. Anybody can see it. You care about them more than anything."

I stared straight back at her now, silently wondering where this was coming from.

"I can remember the bare minimum of my life before Mom turned to drugs and my sorry excuse for a father left us for his new family. And even then, most of it is the bad stuff. I know pain like you would never believe. There are people in this world that are way worse off than I am, but that doesn't take away from the fact that I worked hard for everything I have. Angel and Gazzy are my life. Everything I ever did was for them. Those two kids didn't deserve to be raised the way they did. That's why I did everything in my power to give them the upbringing they're worthy of. I don't regret a second of it."

Ella was quiet for a minute after that, and all I could do was watch her face for signs of distress or admiration. Eventually she looked up at me from her lap once more, her eyes glistening; something I wasn't expecting at all.

"They're so lucky though," she insisted. "They're so lucky to have you for a sister. And they know it too. We all do. You're the only one who can't see how much better off they are because of it. Because of you, Max."

"I . . ." I said slowly, at a loss for words.

"You've done so much for all of us, even me, as hard as it seems. And you're right. None of it was ever for you. Today, just . . . just promise you'll put yourself first. Just for today."

I nodded, unable to form a proper response. Was this just Ella's view on things, or was it something they had all talked over? I didn't have enough coherent thought in my mind to ask. What a way to start the day. I could only imagine how it would end.

Talk ceased between us then, as we bustled around the room getting ready individually. I, of course, was finished way before she was. I nodded to her as goodbye, and she smiled from where she was fixing her hair. Then I slipped out into the hallway, my bare feet padding lightly across the carpet.

Downstairs there was quite a commotion coming from the kitchen. Gazzy gave me a warning, apprehensive look from his spot on the couch. He was flipping through the channels, discarding cartoon after cartoon. I stood to watch for a moment, and was ultimately surprised when he offered the remote to me. I shook my head though, pushing it back towards him.

"I'm going to go see what they're up to," I informed him, already beginning to turn away.

"Good luck," he said in response.

Shaking my head I approached the kitchen, where the clattering reigned on. Prepared to dive back out just in case, I hesitantly stepped under the arch. The first thing I saw was the crazy amount of food laying about. Then I caught sight of Mom and Aunt Val bustling around the counters, looking like they'd been hard at work for quite some time. Iggy was standing at the stove as well, stirring something in a pot. Even Nudge was there, chattering her head off at the table, though I'm sure no one was listening.

As it happened, she was the first one to spot me as well. With a squeal she launched from her chair, closing the distance between her and I in record time. Without pausing she threw her arms around me in a death grip, holding me tightly. With a shaky laugh I hugged her back.

"Happy Birthday, Max!" she exclaimed cheerfully, her wild hair framing her smiling face.

I nodded in thanks, then said: "Ella's upstairs getting ready, if you want to go up there."

In a second she was flying from the room, just as quickly as she had come to me. Now that she was gone, Iggy enveloped me in a hug of his own, spoon in hand. I dodged the liquid dripping from it, narrowing my eyes at him as he tried to dangle it over my head.

"Maxie!" he crowed. "So you're eighteen today. How does it feel to be old?" he asked jokingly, his sightless blue eyes trained on a spot just above my eyebrow. I shoved him with a laugh, choosing not to respond to that.

"Get back to work!" I commanded in good nature, smiling at him even though he couldn't see it.

"Sheesh. Demanding, much? I know it's your birthday, but you don't have to go all diva on us poor, humble friends. You won't get your present acting that way," he taunted, a mischievous look coming into his eyes. That was something to be wary of.

"Yeah, yeah. Something tells me I'm better off not knowing," I replied.

Aunt Valencia took that as her cue to intervene, stepping between us with a small smile on her tanned face. She gave us both a stern look, saying: "Okay you two. Cut it out now. Iggy, you be nice to Max and get back to work. Max, don't torture the poor boy. He's in charge of making some of your food, after all."

"Don't give him any ideas," I hissed under my breath, but I'm sure he still heard me. Since he couldn't see, it seemed like Iggy's hearing was ten times better than the normal persons. Then again, Iggy was anything but normal. Nobody made bombs like he did in his spare time, just for the fun of it.

"With that being said," Aunt Val continued as if I hadn't spoken, "Happy Birthday!"

I thanked her, and she smiled before returning to the counter and whatever work she had been immersed in. Mom slid into her place, all shiny smiles and happiness. There was a certain glow about her that morning that was hard to place.

"Happy Birthday, sweetie," she said in that soft voice of hers, pulling me into an embrace. I hesitated a few seconds before wrapping my own arms around her. I don't know if she noticed my pause or not, and in any case she gave no indication that it bothered her.

It was the first time though, that I realized just how much taller I was than her. I know it seemed like a weird thing to observe, but she really did only come up to maybe a little above my shoulder. I also noted that she was filling out some; no longer as skeletal as she used to be.

Behind me I heard someone enter the room, and I turned to see who it was just in time to catch Gazzy rolling his eyes at our position, looking more than a bit disgusted. Things between him and Mom weren't getting any better, that was for sure. Angel trailed in after him, looking as serene as usual.

"Okay, everybody! Sit down. Phase one of Max's birthday feast is commencing," Aunt Valencia announced, herding us all towards the table. There was a smudge of something on her cheek, and I laughed and pointed it out to her. She swatted me away with a dish towel, before wiping her cheek.

We all settled in, as Ella and Nudge joined us. Mountains of my favorite breakfast foods (which were basically all of them) were passed around the crowded table, as were an abundance of smiles and laughs.

Nobody seemed to notice how fake mine were.

Here was my family. The only people in the world I really trusted and cared for . . . yet it wasn't complete. One of the most important people was missing. The phone in my pocket seemed to weigh more and more as each second ticked by . . .

Fang didn't call. Fang didn't show up on our doorstep. Fang didn't contact me at all.

Obviously this had been planned. There was no way both Nudge and Iggy just randomly decided to pop in, unannounced like this. They had arranged it all for my birthday. There's no way they wouldn't have included Fang in their itinerary. That meant he was voluntarily not here for me.

The very thought shot a sinking feeling down to the pit of my stomach.

I was snapped from my musings though, by Mom speaking. As she talked she stuck six candles into my mixture of pancakes and waffles; Iggy offering her a lighter he somehow conjured up. "Since you're eighteen today, and there are three phases of your birthday feast -breakfast, lunch and dinner- it only seems logical that throughout the day you blow out as many candles. So, here are your first six. By the end of the day you'll have done eighteen."

I smiled secretly to myself, pushing through the bitter taste in my mouth. The majority of my family was here. Fang wasn't going to ruin this day. Not after everything they had gone to to make it so special.

The wicks were lit, wax starting to drip down the sides. I was just leaning forward when the house phone started to ring. The slim possibility that it was Fang sparked in my mind, and in a flash I was out of my seat, breathlessly answering the land line.

"Hi. Is Valencia Martinez available?" the stranger on the other end inquired politely, and my shoulders drooped in defeat. Trying to mask my disappointment I turned and offered the phone to Aunt Val, saying a simple: "It's for you."

Returning to my seat, I slumped into it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Aunt Valencia leave the room, just as the others picked up a loud, tuneless version of the birthday song. I smiled wanly along with them, mechanically dispersing the flames of the candles when they were finished, as custom called for.

We all dug in after that, different conversations picking up around the table. I let my ears linger and mingle, listening to the small talk everyone was making. I didn't speak myself, though. My throat was closing up continuously, making it hard to swallow my food.

Apparently, that wasn't the end of it.

A good ten minutes or so after she had slipped out, Aunt Val returned once more. Her face was a mask of something I couldn't quite place, but she was wearing a wide smile as she took her seat across from me.

"Well everybody, I have some news."

It took a moment for everyone to quiet down, but eventually all that could be heard was the scrape of utensils as we ate. I set my fork down in anticipation of her announcement, staring at her as I waited.

"Now is as good a time as any, especially since everybody is present, to tell you all that we're moving back to Arizona . . ."

What?

Aunt Valencia shifted her glance to Mom, then Angel and Gazzy, and finally me.

"All of us."

What?

Authors Note: I'm supposed to be giving someone credit for the whole moving idea. Except I can't remember who that was, and apparently my skimming through reviews on THE wasn't very thorough. So . . . uh . . . you know who you are. I'M SORRY! :(

P.S. Anyone play any kewl instruments? Mhmm. (: