I wake up and notice I fell asleep in Ophelia's bed. She's crashed out on her pillow, a small bit of drool, rolling down the corner of her mouth. I see her "frog" and gently place it in her arms.

Smiling, I quietly make my way out of her bed and to the kitchen in search of Stanley. Instead, I find a note on the refrigerator.

Rebel,

Went to hang out with Matt and Mello again. French toast is on the stove. I'll try to be home early.

Love you both,

Stanley

Sure enough, French toast is still warm, on a plate on top of the stove.

Searching the cupboards, I find some syrup and heat it in the microwave.

"Daddy?" a tiny voice asks from the hall.

"Daddy isn't here. He left to go hang out with some of our friends," I say placing breakfast on the table, and picking her up setting her in her seat.

"Do you like syrup on your toast?"

She nods sleepily, rubbing at the corner of her eye.

I pour some of the sticky, sugary substance on top of her food, and she picks up her fork, tearing into it greedily.

Making my own plate, I sit down and we eat in silence.

Stanley is really trying to make things better. And it's really sweet of him. I'm not sure who he's doing it for, but he's doing the right thing. I have to admit, I love that amazing guy.

Ophelia finishes her breakfast, getting half of it on her face.

Then I realize, Stanley is making me give her another bath!

I hate that damn bastard.

Smiling, I try to coax Ophelia into the tub without a fuss.

"Hey honey, so I was thinking after your bath we could finish the movie?"

She nods quickly, her eyes glowing. "I want to watch The Shining!"

"You can watch it after your bath. The faster you get in the tub, the faster you can watch it."

I swear, I'm witnessing a miracle, because right here at the table she strips off her clothes and runs butt naked to the bathroom. Wiping my mouth, I follow after her and see she's already in the tub.

"I have to put water in their first…" I say, biting back a chuckle.

The bath goes fairly smooth. We had a bit of a fuss when it came time to rinsing her hair, but it didn't last long.

Once she was dried and dressed, I put the movie in, letting it start from the beginning.

Heading into the kitchen, I think about what I should make for dinner. Frowning, I feel my hands starting to itch. I head to the sink, scrubbing my hands with soap and water until they burn.

Drying them, I groan as they continue to itch. Did I touch something? I know last night I touched the "frog". Maybe it's due for a wash.

Checking the corner, I see Ophelia contently watching her movie. Sneaking back to her room, I spot Croaks flopped across her bed. Taking it between two fingers, I hold it arms length away, trying to get to the washing machine.

Opening the washer, I jump hearing a small voice from behind me. "What are you doing?"

Spinning around with the "frog" behind my back, I smile. "Hey honey, I was just going to wash Croaks. Is that ok?"

Ophelia's lip juts out and her eyes start to water. "No! You'll kill him!" she screams running up to me and grabbing him from my hands. Irritated, I sigh, scratching at my itchy skin. "Fine," I mutter under my breath.

I head back to the kitchen and search the contents of the fridge, jumping as a high shrill rings through the house.

Looking around I spot a cell phone vibrating on the counter. "Hello?" I ask.

"Rebel, its Stanley. I've got an idea. Ophelia can kill anyone who's not of blood to us? Well, what if Matt and Mello and I swap blood. Then she couldn't kill them!"

I never thought of that. Very interesting idea.

"Cool, are you calling to ask my permission or something?"

"No I called to say I already did it and they're coming over now!"

A knock on the door causes me to frown. I open it to reveal Stanley holding the phone to his ear and Mello and Matt stand gawking behind him.

"I see how it is…" I say smiling.

"Let me see my niece!" Matt urges.

"She's in the back," I say, watching as they both head towards her room. I cross my fingers, praying that this works.

Stanley follows them back and I take in a deep breath and look back down at my hands. They're starting to swell, itchy and irritated. I can't think of anything that could be causing this.

"Rebel!" Mello calls.

I run to the back and see Ophelia and Matt having a stare down on the floor.

"What?! Who died?!"

"Nobody… just wanted to see what you're up to. It's been what….five years?"

"Yeah," I say shortly.

"Well I'm assuming Stanley told you…"

"Yeah," I say again, "he told me. I'm really sorry."

Mello shrugs his shoulders and Matt cheers, "I won! You blinked!"

"No!" Ophelia says whining. I laugh.

Stanley smiles, "Ophie, these are your uncles. Mello and Matt. These are Mommy's brothers."

My smile drops as Ophelia crinkles her little eyebrows together. "Mommy?"

The room goes so silent that you can hear a pin drop.

"Rebel's your Mommy, sweetheart. You know that right?"

Ophelia goes quiet and just stares at me for a real long time.

"Well, I'm just going to go leave you guys alone," I say.

"Wait…" Mello tries, but I shake him off.

"Spend some time with your niece."

"But we don't know how to take care of a little girl!" Matt whines.

"You took care of me," I say. "I turned out ok."

"You turned out dead," Mello says frowning.

But I don't reply. Just head to the living room.

My daughter doesn't know that I'm her mom….

If that's not a stab to the heart, I don't know what is.

Ok, so if you haven't read my authors notes before, read this one. I've gotten messages and comments addressing certain "issues" with my story. So I'm going to go on a little rant. First of all, I respect your opinions. I wouldn't be a good author to say that I won't take the criticism and that all comments have to be good. I'm not saying that. I'm just going to voice mine real quick. I AM BUSY! I rarely have time to update. But I promise you I have ideas for the story. It's been slow, I understand. But I'm just trying to not rush the plot. Secondly, I want to talk about the characters. This has been an OC story from the beginning (i.e. Rebel isn't an original Death Note character). I figured that was clear in the first story, but maybe it wasn't. I am not trying to get my OC's to have the spotlight. Yes the plot revolves around Rebel and her relationship with the Whammy boys and the Death Note world and all that stuff. I feel it's ok to have your OC's develop because it makes them closer to the characters and gives depth to the overall story. Yes in the past few chapters, the story has mostly revolved around Stanley and Rebel's relationship. But that's not to say the other characters are completely gone. As I said before, I don't want to rush the plot of the story and I don't have time to update everyday to keep everyone satisfied. I don't want to spoil the plot (not all stories can get right to the climax, some need to build). In the end, I want to thank you for the comments, all of them. And if you just hate my story and think its awful then don't read it. And I won't be mad. You can't win everyone over. If you love my story, then thank you. Development in the story is soon to come; I hope I haven't lost you as readers or disappointed you. If I did, I'm sorry. I'll get to updating and get the ball rolling as soon as I can. More updates coming soon. Te amo!