(Ask and you shall receive and all that. I emailed to ask that Juliet be added to the character list and she is on it now. Thank you fanfiction!)
Alex stood with her mouth open. Not that Juliet's wasn't also open but the former vampire was stuffing food in it as fast as Alex could rummage through the refrigerator and cupboards. Already Juliet had demolished two slices of pizza, the leftover section of Mrs. Russo eleven cheese lasagna, half a box of cookies, three different flavors of yogurt cups and a bowl of mint chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. And she wasn't slowing down.
"What's going on? JULIET!" Mrs. Russo entered the kitchen and stopped, aghast at what the girl she already thought of as her other daughter was doing. "Stop that!"
"I'm sorry Mrs. Russo," Juliet apologized. "It's just, well. its all so good and I'm so hungry."
"I've seen you eat food before," the puzzled mother responded.
"Yes, but to a vampire regular food has no nutrition value. And it doesn't have any flavor. I suppose to balance out how keen our, I mean THEIR, sense of smell is the taste buds are basically non-functional."
"I can understand that, Juliet dear. But you are going to have to eat a little bit more intelligently. Your human body needs fruit, vegetables, stuff like that as well as," Theresa looked at the scattered containers and bowls and shuddered," That stuff."
"Yes Ma'am," The sitting teen replied in embarrassment.
Theresa hugged the young woman. "It's alright. Everyone gets carried away occasionally with something. But others around here should have known better." She fixed Alex with a steely look.
"I'm sorry."
"Oh my," marveled Alex's Mom. "That's a first. An actual apology rather than 'Did I say I was sorry?'. Juliet, you are a good influence."
"Mom!" Alex rolled her eyes while the other teen giggled.
"Never mind. The important thing is its Saturday and it's time to go to the mall."
Neither teen took any convincing of that. The trio spent all day and most of Sunday shopping. By the time Monday morning rolled around Juliet had a full wardrobe, Alex had added several outfits and even Theresa had picked up some new shoes and a couple of dresses. Jerry had spent the weekend arranging for the documents required to register Juliet at Tribeca Prep.
Monday morning came and the entire Russo family took their new "cousin" to school. Now without difficulty Juliet's schedule was arranged so that she and Alex were in most classes together and that their lunch period coincided. Justin would PE at the same time as Juliet although their classes were different.
The registration went smoothly and the older Russos went on to the Sub Station where they waited on pins and needles all day until the four teens appeared after school.
"How did it go?" asked Theresa the moment the foursome was in the doorway.
"It was very nice," said Juliet. "I really liked everything about it. I'm already looking forward to tomorrow." She smiled and headed upstairs.
"Well?" Theresa turned to her children and lifted an eyebrow.
"Mr. Laritate really likes her," Justin said and then grinned as he looked sideways at his sister. "He says she must take after my side of the family."
Alex loftily ignored her brother. Almost. "But he also said he thought she might be a genius too when he saw her test scores. As far as I know there's only one Russo whom he ever called a genius."
"As I recall that was an "EVIL genius."
"But still a genius."
"Excuse me," Jerry interrupted. "Juliet?"
Justin shrugged. "I kept an eye on her at PE. The girls are playing volleyball. She wasn't familiar with the game but she seemed to catch on quickly and has a great serve." He looked at Alex, who shrugged.
"She seems to get along with everyone. She's friendly but not pushy. The teachers like her. We had a quiet lunch."
"A quiet lunch?" marveled Max. "What are you talking about? Oh, that's right."
"What's right?" Everyone in the room chorused together.
"Alex had gone to the restroom when it happened," explained max.
"When WHAT happened?"
"When Juliet went to return her tray and Gigi and her watchamacallits showed up."
"The 'Wannabes'," Alex immediately identified her long time nemesis' side-kicks. "What did they do?" she demanded. "I'm beginning to think it's long past time to turn someone into a frog."
"Calm down Alex," advised Justin. "Let's find out what happened before you start turning people into frogs."
"I don't know exactly what happened," Max rushed on. "They stood around her and I couldn't hear what was being said but Gigi had that patented nasty smile on her face. She started to get all up in your face with Juliet and then she just stopped. I saw her eyes get really wide and the whatever-you-called-them started to back away. Then Gigi started walking backwards until her back was against the wall and Juliet was right up in front of her. The funny thing was I never saw the smile leave Juliet's face but I think I'd be scared of her if she smiled exactly like that at me."
The impromptu meeting dissolved and Alex headed up to her room, finding Juliet unpacking her book bag and opening her science textbook. "Okay," she said as she slid her arms around the other girl and rested her chin on a convenient shoulder, "What happened with Gigi?"
"Oh is that her name?' answered Juliet, who turned her head and kissed Alex on the cheek. "If she introduced herself I didn't catch her name. I just thought of her as 'Bitch and the Bitchettes'."
Alex giggled. "Go on."
Juliet shrugged and snuggled closer to Alex. "She made some remark about you and I suggested it would be best if from now on she didn't talk like that. When she laughed and asked why I thought she would do that I told her that it would avoid the necessity of me tearing her head off and stuffing it up her fat butt."
Alex's mouth feel open, an action she had noticed happening more and more to the whole Russo family lately. "You didn't!"
"I did."
"And she believed you?" Alex asked, somehow feeling the question was foolish.
"Sweetheart, I may not be a vampire anymore, but I still know how to frighten someone. My Father taught me well."
Laughter bubbled up inside Alex at the image of Gigi being faced down so decisively. Juliet joined in and the two girls kissed. More than once. In fact they were still kissing when Theresa called them down for supper.
Hours turned into days. Days turned into weeks. It seemed like Juliet had always been a part of the Russo family. Jerry and Theresa had a long talk with the two girls, explaining they understood about their feelings for each other but strongly suggested that at least for now they keep their relationship under wraps. The girls agreed, especially since the adults relaxed the strictures about exactly who slept in which bed at night, as long as not too much noise was made. Alex was tempted to mention something about the pot calling the kettle black but decided not to open THAT can of worms. It was true however that her parents were still very much in love and had a habit of making others aware of it, although not on purpose. And being in love herself helped her understand them even better.
School was fine. Gigi and her followers seemed to find ways to be in other parts of the school whenever Alex and Juliet were around. Justin reported that to his knowledge Gigi had not mentioned either of them, nor had he or Max heard of any rumblings of revenge. Good. Alex thought she must be mellowing as the idea of turning Gigi into a frog, although appealing on general principles, seemed less important than it had in the past.
There was one fly in the ointment. If Alex had not been so attuned to Juliet's feelings she might have missed it. But at the end of the discussion of Gigi Alex had noticed a slight but perceptible catch in Juliet's voice when she mentioned her Father. And since that one time the former vampire had not mentioned her parents and had always changed the subject if anything was said about them.
Well, who could blame her, the teen wizardess thought? What if something had happened to separate her from her own family? The thought made her stomach turn over. Her Dad, her Mom, her brothers; all were too important a part of her life to imagine being without. She acknowledged that she hadn't always felt that way. Sometimes she had thought they existed solely to get in her way. But she knew better now.
After thinking it over she did the one thing she always did in a situation that important.
"Daddy? Can we talk?"
"Sure kitten. What is it?"
"Daddy I'm worried about Juliet." Alex proceeded to tell her father her observations and thoughts. After she was done he sat there and pondered for a little while.
"I see what you mean." Jerry said thoughtfully. He shook his head. "It must be awful to be apart from your parents, especially when the last time you were with them was such a bad scene." He suddenly hugged Alex. "And it's got to be awful for Alucard and yes, for Cindy, to be separated from their daughter like this. I know it would be awfully tough for me and your Mom if we didn't have you." His eyes twinkled. "of course there HAVE been times..." he let the thought trail off with a grin and hugged her until Alex squealed.
"What can we do?"
"Leave it to me for right now. I mean that Alex," her Dad warned. "I've seen that look in your eyes before. This time you listen to me, okay?"
Alex sighed. Why did she have a harder and harder time acting like she used to?
"Okay Daddy."
Several days passed. Then one evening Jerry took Alex and Juliet aside.
"Alex, this concerns you but I really need to talk to Juliet."
"Yes Mr. Russo?"
"Juliet, I want to tell you once again how much we love having you here. You have become like another daughter to me and Mrs. Russo. Well," he shifted his weight and colored slightly in embarrassment, "Maybe like a daughter-in-law. But here's the thing. I think that you need to sit down and talk to your parents."
Juliet looked at him and then at Alex. "What did you tell him?"
Alex took her girlfriend's hands. "Juliet, please listen to Daddy. I know that you didn't part from your folks in the best of circumstances. Not only was I there but you go out of your way to keep from mentioning them."
"Juliet?" Both girls turned their attention back to the man. "I talked to your father. He's glad to know that you are happy, but he misses you. I think you re mother does too. I'm not saying you should move back in with them," he added hastily. "We love you, you know that, right?'
"Yes I do," Juliet whispered, her smile contrasting with a single tear that rolled down her cheek.
"You need to clear the air with your parents. Vampires or whatever they love you too. Your Dad is afraid he's lost you forever. Please. It would be good for all of you."
"Will you go with me Mr. Russo?"
"Absolutely. And so will Alex."
"Me?"
"Sweetie, Juliet is in love with you. Is this forever? I don't know. You're young but as a writer I know once said 'Cupid shoots his arrows and cares not where they land'. You are the most important person in Juliet's life. You need to be there."
"The I will be," Alex said firmly as she took Juliet's hand. "When do we go?"
"Right now."
(To Be Continued)