Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Chapter 12- Wondering

Author's Note: HEY:) sorry for the hold up! I had plans, then I was really busy, then...I got bored...writer's block kicked in...yeah, the whole shaboozle. Sorry again! But now I'm back on track! Love you all! C:

3rd Person POV

Justin Russo quickly adjusted the zoom position of his shiny silver microscope. He closed his right eye, then alternated to the left, making sure to get a good look at the sample in front of him.

"Uncle Justin?" a small voice asked. He spun around in surprise, then caught his breath. It was only little Leah.

"Oh, goodness, kiddo. I didn't know you where here!"

"I just got here," she smiled.

"How'd you get in here so fast?" he asked. "and so quietly? I didn't hear the door open."

"I poofed right in!" she giggled, very pleased with herself. She lowered her voice. "But don't tell Momma and Daddy; I'm not 'apposed to use magic until we 'sort things out'." She did a near-perfect impression of Mason's accent with the last part. Justin laughed.

"Alright, just between you and me. But be warned: I'm a known tattletale," he snickered. Leah rolled her eyes.

"So whacha working on?" she asked curiously, stepping towards his work table. She climbed into the lab chair to get a better view.

Not wanting to phsyce her out, he covered the lense with his palm. "Just checking out some stuff for work," he said quickly.

"But you're a principal." she pointed out.

"My first career choice was a scientist," he replied. Leah gave him a skeptical glance. She raised her eyebrow, looking exactly like her mother.

"Ah." She replied. Justin knew by the look on her face that she saw right through him.

"Justin?" Alex called from outside of the lair. "Is Leah in there?"

"I'm not here!" Leah declared. She leaped over the couch.

"Um," he studdered. He didn't want to lie, but he didn't want to rat his niece out. Crossroads. "She's..."

"Open the door!" She demanded. Remembering that she no longer had access to the lair, he obayed. Alex quickly stepped in and glanced at his work table. She settled in the brown recliner. "Find anything out yet?" she questioned.

"Not much," he replied. "Biology is harder than it looks, you know."

"Well I would know, of all people," she sneered. "I failed Biology twice."

"Exactly."

Alex adjusted her position to where her legs hung over the armrest. "How much longer do you plan on working on this? It's been an hour!"

"As long as it takes," he replied, a tone of stress in his voice.

Alex sighed. "Whatever. Have you seen Leah? We need to be heading home soon."

"Haven't seen her," he replied, loud enough for Leah to hear. He motioned to the couch. Alex smiled.

"Oh, what a shame. I was just coming to tell her that Aunt Harper made cookies," she dramatically started towards the door, "I guess I'll have to eat them all!"

Leah's little head popped up at an instant. "I'm here! I'm here! I want a cookie!" she cried. She impulsively vanished into thin air. A split second later, she was at Alex's side. Alex jumped.

"Oh, gosh!" she exclaimed, catching her breath. She gave her daughter a puzzled glance. "Leah? How did you do that?"

"I dunno," she replied, "I wanted a cookie, and I wanted to hurry up before you ate them all, and now here i am!"

"So you just wanted something to happen, and it just...happened?" She asked.

"I guess so," Leah shrugged. She shook it off and bursted into a skip. "Lets go!"

Alex, still in shock, pulled her back by her elbow. She glanced at her brother, completely blown away. "She didn't even use a spell." They exchanged glances.

Leah folded her arms over her chest. "What?" she asked.

Justin snapped out of it. "Nothing! Nothing. Why don't you two go have some cookies? You know Poppy will eat them all if they're left out."

Alex shook it off. "Yeah! And if Poppy doesn't finish them off, Daddy will," she took her daughter's hand.

"Okay.." Leah replied. She still was unsure of the situation, but went along with it. They raced out of the lair.

Alex's POV

"This still makes no sense," I told Mason the next morning as I paced around the living room. I ran my fingers through my hair. "She phased the night before last, but she didn't tonight! Aren't werewolves supposed to phase every night?"

"That's usually how it works," he replied.

"Then why didn't she?"

"Darling, I don't know."

"But what if something's wrong with her? What if from getting her powers so early, it just pushed the werewolf part down? So now its just bottled up inside her, just waiting to unleash? What if when she gets so mad one day, it'll all burst out? Then it happens whenever she gets upset? We'll be forced to give her her way everytime she wants something! She'll turn into a spoiled brat! And then if we try to control her, she'll go 'don't make me angry. You won't like me when I'm angry!'? What if-"

Mason grabbed my by the hand and sat me down on the couch. "First of all, this is our daughter, not the Incredible Hulk. Second of all, you need to breathe. You know we won't let that happen." He kissed my hand. "I promise, Alex. It's going to be fine."

I cracked a smile. "It kills me how you can stay so optimistic."

He smiled back. "Maybe you need to take some lessons." I rolled my eyes and yawned. We had both been stuck having to get up once every hour the night before to check on Leah, not wanting her to go all werewolf while she was alone. She may be very understanding of her surroundings, but we had to remember, she's still just a five year old girl. So far, no sign of phasing; not a single hair was different.

We both jumped at the sound of the phone. I dashed to the kitchen to answer. "Hello?" I asked.

"How was Leah last night?" Justin asked with a worried tone.

"Um," I began, "she didn't change."

"What?"

"She didn't change at all last night. We even went and checked on her every hour. Nothing." I twirled the cord around my finger. "Did you find out anything?"

"Quite a bit. It's kind of amazing."

"Yeah," I smiled. I grinned at Leah, who had finally woke up from her hibernation and was now settling herself in her daddy's lap. "She is."

"Would you guys mind coming over?" He asked.

"Sure. We can disscuss this over lunch." I smirked.

"Very official," he laughed.

"Hello?" a voice interupted, "Mario's?"

"Max!" Justin and I exclaimed at the same time.

"Oh! You guys finally got caller ID? Cool! I'll take two large with pepperoni and mushrooms."

"Seriously, Max?" Justin asked. I covered my mouth to hide my laughter.

"Justin? What are you doing at Mario's?"

"I'm not, genius! I'm using the other home phone! And, you didn't even dial a number."

"Then who are you talking to?"

"Uh, me?" I reminded him.

"Oh. Hey me!" he laughed, "wait, me's not a girl. Me's a dude. Alex is that you?"

"Good job, bro." I rolled my eyes, "Nothing's faster than you."

"I get that alot." He replied smoothly. "Well, I'm gonna just walk to Mario's. Bye!"

"Make that three large! Pinnapple on the third!" I ordered.

"Got it!" He told me. "Hey, are you guys coming over today? Leah and I have a rematch on Donkey Kong to do. That kid is BEAST at video games."

"She learned from the best," I smiled, hinting to myself. "We'll be over in a bit. Bye guys."

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Ps: my 15th birthday's coming up...12 days, to be exact, not that I'm counting or anything;) you know what'd be a great present? Follow my twitter!:) ohSnap_itzShay

Ps(again): if you have any ideas or questions about this that you're dying to know, send them to me on twitter! Tag #AMTHGF (Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder) and I'll be super happy to answer! I check twitter about 80 times a day, so don't be shy! :D

-Shay