I have 5 active "stories" out of 11 at the moment. That's a lot for me. *Mental check and advertisement at the same time. Bonus!* He never said it back, New Lovers, Intense Nightmares, A Better Childhood, and No Easy Way. Yep. Now, forget about those other 4-10 "stories" (for now), and focus on the one at hand, or rather key. A Better Childhood!

I've noticed that some of you guys are confused about her random outburst at the end of the last chapter. Here's my way of thinking.

She overreacted and got all freaked out about Dwayne because, a, she never forgot him in the first place. Now every time she thinks about Mrs. Hendricks or Gabe, she'll be reminded of that past. Then, b, he could have raped Ella. "Gabriel" could have been Ella's child if she didn't step in and save the day. Finally, we have point c, he could have raped her. She could have been on the run and had a child to take care of. Unlikely, considering the fact that taking one look at her wings would set him off, but still. Out of character, yes. Important to the plot, yes. Now Onwards!

Max's POV

Months after the September incident, things had just gotten intimate, when my cell phone went off. My head snapped up and I sighed. Always a mood killer.

"Leave it," Fang urged, pushing me back down, "It's probably just your mom or Ella."

"What if it's important?"

"Just leave it, they'll call back." Again, I sighed. I guess he was right.

Not even 10 minutes later, I heard my phone ring a second time. Slowly getting up and throwing on a robe, I answered, "Ella, if this is about that incident in September, I don't wanna hear it again! I don't care how out of character it was for me!"

She simply sniffled in response, "Max, my dad's been murdered."

Fang's POV

"You're going to Delaware?" I asked; my voice barely above a whisper.

"For the millionth time, yes, I'm going to Delaware!"

I stood still and repeated through clenched teeth, "Delaware!"

Max breathed out slowly, "Mom wants me there for David's funeral."

"Two weeks, Max? I can't parent alone for two weeks!"

"I have faith in you. You can do this." Okay, now that was patronizing. I glared, and she mirrored the intensity.

"I'm going,"

"Max, I need you."

"You'll be fine. How hard can Star and Sky really be? You're blowing this way out of proportion." When I didn't budge, she added, "I'm with them a minimum of 19 hours a day. Do I look like I have any gray hair yet or that I've pulled any of it out? Trust me, they're well behaved girls."

"If you pulled your hair out, that would explain the excess hair in the drain every morning," I grinned. Max showed no mercy. She tackled me and started to beat me with pillows. Finally, she let me up after I almost died of laughter. I know, me, nearly dying of laughter? Well, you would too if your wife tickled your feet. That crap makes me giggle like a school girl and wheeze like a fat jogger, if you know what I mean.

3rd Person POV

Max was wrong; dead wrong. Star and Sky may have acted perfectly around their mother, but they were little brats with their dad. Fang was constantly working to keep the girls out of trouble. Star often ran around the house at speeds he couldn't comprehend. Sky was almost never visible, taunting her father to find her. It was if Fang had aged years in just 2 weeks. Silence was rare, screaming and crying most commonly heard from the outside hallways. Sky and Star knew just what to do to get their ways; always.

The girls were always scaring their father half to death. The number one most terrifying moment had to have been when Sky decided to take a fly around the too small apartment. She spread her 3 ½ foot wing span and took off from the couch. Star was ready at the huge window overlooking the parking lot. If it wasn't for Sky yelling out, "Ready for launch! In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!" Fang wouldn't have seen his daughter just after she went airborne.

"Sky, get down! Star, close the window! This is dangerous." The window was promptly shut, but Sky was still up in the air.

"Sky, get down from there, now!"

"You gonna yell at me!"

"If you weren't up there in the first place, I wouldn't need to yell!"

"You yell!" He winced. At almost 5, neither one of his daughters knew how to use an "indoor voice"

"Not if you come down right now,"

"Okay!" And just like that, she was descending. She would have hit the ground with a thud, if it hadn't been for her father, leaping and skidding to save his daughter. She simply giggled and rolled from his grasp.

Fang's salvation didn't finally come until the end of the night. Hearing Max's voice always melted away his stress and seemed to calm the girls. Bedtime was still a huge hassle, but somehow Max made it more endurable. Every night, Fang and his daughters spent the time to learn what was going on in Delaware in exchange for hyping up what good girls Sky and Star were those days. Never once did they mention the punishments or the bad behavior, but Max knew she wasn't getting the full story. Some days all they would offer was a simple, "Our day was good."

Max missed her kids and husband like mad, as did they, but as the days dragged on, everyone's excitement bubbled down to not only the return of Max, but also the close proximity of Sky and Star's 5th birthdays. "One whole hand, mommy!" They always felt the need to announce before the typical I love you's and goodbyes.

Then, the fun part began. Bedtime. The set time was no later than 9 o'clock. Period. But naturally the princesses of the house found some way to delay the time. 10 o'clock, sometimes even as late as 11 on weekends, the girls talked and whined their way to a later time.

Whatever time the girls finally settled down enough to lie in bed and listen to a story read by their father, Fang was relaxed as well. If he loved talking to Max while she was away, he loved reading Star and Sky a bedtime story and watching their eyes slowly drift shut. The snores of peace and harmony heard from their room late at night always reminded him why he put up with half their crap. They were his daughters, and he somehow managed to love them unconditionally day in and day out. No matter what.

Awe. I've always thought that Fang would make a good father, and this last sentence proves that he's not totally insensitive. It's always good to have a little bit of father, daughter, more daughter, bonding, ah?

Review?

~Faxisthegreatest123~