Hey guys! Welcome back! Deadlines are about to kill me. Reviews are at the bottom (much thanks for those!). HIT IT, CRISPER!

Crisper: (hits it)

Instead of just four plates, Jesse and Missy ended up setting a table for eight. Tonight was family-night in the Smith house, and even though it just meant their uncles Lukas, Axel, Radar and their aunt Olivia were visiting, Jesse and Missy felt like they were dining in the presence of a published and well-known book-author, the King of Boomtown, the Manager of Redstonia, and the Supervisor of Internal Affairs of Beacontown. They knew they needed to pick a story with taste.

Missy took a bite of her pita and tomato sandwich and set it on her pink plastic plate, glancing at her brother. "Jesse, do you know a story to tell?"

"Dad's telling the story, not me." He spread his peas across his blue plate with his fork.

"That's what I meant. What are you doing on your plate?"

"I'm moving them around so I don't have to eat them."

"Just put them in your sandwich, or maybe give them to Dewey." Missy toed around under the table for Lukas's famous pet ocelot. Her bare feet met with a warm snout, and Dewey mewed softly. Jesse leaned under the table, saw the cat, and popped back up.

"Excuse me, Uncle Lukas,"

Across the table, Lukas paused his conversation with Petra. "Yeah, Jesse?"

"Um, can cats eat peas?"

Petra sent Lukas a smirk that made him chuckle.

"No, Jesse, they'll get sick. Don't try to feed Dewey, either." Jesse sent his sister a weary look. She just frowned and shrugged before going back to her sandwich.

"Alright, then." He reluctantly shoved a spoonful of peas into his mouth.

"So, Jesse, di dyou figure out which story you wanted your dad to tell?" Petra asked.

"Not yet, Mom. We're still choosing." He turned to his sister. "Think of anything?"

She nodded with a hum, but she was still frowning. She leaned over to his ear. "I have an idea, but it's to tell us the story of Aiden and the Blaze Rods. What if Dad gets angry again?" She whispered.

"But he might probably say 'yes' this time. We're old enough to hear, and he said we could choose. Just ask."

"You ask him."

"But it's your idea."

"Jesse, Missy," they flinched when their father called them, "I've already told you two it's not very nice to whisper at the dinnertable."

"Oh, we were just choosing a story, Dad." Missy said.

Jesse grinned. "Did you find one, then?" The two children sent each other a worried look. The adults giggled at their sincerity when Missy placed a professional hand on Jesse's shoulder and nodded. Jesse inhaled, a nearly unnatural smile on his face.

"Um… is it alright if you tell us the story about…."

"The one about Aiden?" Missy squeaked.

"But this time, the whole thing."

"Because we're old enough this time!" It felt like the warmth and happiness at the table drained out of the whole house. The adults seemed taller and Jesse and Missy huddled together. Jesse Sr lowered his brows and folded his arms. Petra's happy face fell, and Lukas looked down. Axel, Olivia and Radar seemed to get quieter.

"Jesse, Missy," they focused on their father, "what have I told you about that story?"

"But you said tonight we could pick one, and that's the one we want to hear." Missy said.

"Missy, you know you still can't hear that story." Petra said.

"Well, why not?" Axel's loud voice made the tense children flinch and their caught-unawares parents glare.

"Axel, you know 'why not'. Please don't tell me I have to explain it to three of you tonight." Jesse's hands turned into gentle, disappointed fists.

"I'm just sayin', it's about time they heard, it's not even that bad."

"Yeah, it's not even that bad." Jesse said.

"You be quiet!" Jesse thrust an intimidating finger at his son. "You be quiet, as well!"

"Axel, how could you say that? You know what went down up there." Lukas said. (dear lord no pun intended)

"I know, but he's in jail now, so—"

"And that is all these two need to know, Axel." He said, hitting his fist on the table.

"But—"

Olivia tugged gently on his arm. "Axel, Lukas is right, just leave it alone."

"I just don't see what's so bad about it."

Petra facepalmed so loudly it made Missy and Jesse flinch. "Axel, would you please shut up?" She barked. Radar started slipping under the table.

"Why? What did I do so wrong, huh?"

"You mean to tell me, after all we told you, that you can't see what's so bad about what he done?" Jesse folded his arms again.

"But Dad, what did he do that was so bad?" Missy gently asked. Everything froze, and Jesse and Petra looked at their kids face-on. The calm before the storm.

"Go to bed, now." They both shouted in unison. The two children quickly stumbled from their chairs and ran to the stairs. During their gangly rush, Jesse put a hand on her sister's shoulder and a smirk on his face.

"At least I didn't have to—"

"And you're finishing your peas in the morning!" Petra added. His smirk wilted into a miserable frown as they ran upstairs. They both ran to their shared room, and Missy climbed to the top of her bunk bed. Just below, Jesse flopped onto his.

"I told you Dad was going to be mad at us."

"Well, it's not my fault! You get on his nerves, too. You made Mom tell Uncle Axel to shut up."

"Nu-uh, we both did! You helped." Missy buried her head into her pillow and cried softly. Jesse fingered and pinched his blue comforter, staring at the other end of their darkened room. A few minutes passed, and Missy lifted her head. "I still want to know what Aiden did."

"Me, too. I remember the first time Dad told us about it." Jesse sat up and hung his legs over the edge of the bed. "He said that Aiden used to be Lukas's friend, but after he took the flint-and-steel to Sky City in the portal, he and some more of Lukas's friends did something so bad they had to go to jail for a long time."

"But that's all he told us. Why can't we know the rest?"

Jesse stared at his feet. He felt his sister shifting on the top-bunk, and then he saw her feet peeping down. "They think we're just babies." He groaned, kicking his legs and falling back onto the covers. "I really wanna know about it! Axel said it's not even that bad, so what's so bad about it?"

Missy lifted a brow. "Why don't we find out?"

"But we can't ask Dad again! He'll yell at us, and Mom will have our hides!"

"No, I mean we don't have to ask them, we can go to Aiden ourselves!" She jumped from her bed and landed with a thud. Jesse nervously glanced at the wide open door, expecting Petra to leap from the shadows any second with a switch. "We already know where he is, right?"

"In the Sky City world?"

"Yeah! And Dad said the portal isn't even far from here, or at least when he told us the story that's what he said. All we have to do is find Aiden, ask him what he did, and then come home!"

Jesse stuck out his lip and poked his chin. He slowly looked up and gasped. "You mean… running away? Missy!" He leapt away from her and hid under his covers. "Missy, that's bad!"

"No, it isn't, it's…." she glanced at the floor, then smiled and looked up. "It's like going on an adventure, Jesse! Like what Mom and Dad do."

Jesse threw off his blanket. "Wait, really?"

"Yeah. An adventure." She shuddered just a bit but smiled all the way through. Jesse frowned. He could feel the pita bread rising in his stomach.

"But… what if Mom and Dad find out?"

Missy glanced down again. "They won't find out. We won't tell them, because it's a secret, okay?" She walked to Jesse and took his hand. "Tomorrow, after school, we'll find the portal and go there. We'll be back before dinner, like what Dad says sometimes."

"But sometimes he comes back late, and Mom gets angry. What if we do that?"

"We won't. Dad's old, sometimes old people forget. We're not old."

"But… but, what if?" Missy saw tears in his eyes. She leaned and gently kissed his nose.

"It's gonna be okay, you'll see. Goodnight." She clambered up the ladder, yanked her covers over, and laid on the pillow.

And she didn't sleep a wink.

Well, that's all we have for tonight. What happens next, you may ask? Find out next time, in TWP! But it looks like there's time for some REVIEWS!

Emily The Avenger: I know, right?! I just loved writing those two. More cuteness and cuddles on the way!

Ariza Luca: I'll do my best, friend!

Alice Forshadow: Glad to see your energy! This story will make you laugh, I'm sure.

Watcher321: Lol, thanks!

ItzJaiden: Stop, you're making me blush!

Well, close it, Crisper! Close it before the deadline kills me!

Crisper: (closes—

It's too late… the deadline got her….