Like with the previous two mornings, the first thing that had greeted her had been the rays that had shone down from the three spheres that her home-planet orbited; she had accidentally overslept but one of her father's female staff had made sure to open the drapes in her room to let the rays come in—this action had been the cause of her waking up.

It felt great to be back home again and it felt great to have each and every one of her family back to being where they should be; the mansion that she had been born and raised in no longer had that empty feeling in it. It felt full again, which was an oh so great feeling to her and, she presumed, her father.

She had gotten out of bed, then had taken a quick shower, then had gotten dressed, then had noticed the time—with it going on 9:00, she was very near to missing out on breakfast and on saying hello and good morning to her father. After running the brush and comb that were on her vanity through her hair, then checking to see if she was okay, facial-wise, she left her room then went straight down to the second and then first level of the house; while on the way to the kitchen, she wondered if she and her father would have five extra family members joining them for that morning's meal.

"Probably won't—they're probably still too nervous to join me and daddy in becoming a full family." she thought after exiting the stairwell that ran around the foyer's left side.

While the events of their being led from the ship had been hairy they had been extremely good after entering the mansion; her father had walked around them gently then had led them to one of the stairways that ran up to the second level. She had followed them; after reaching the second level, she had gone on to the third level, where her bedroom was. With it being the hour that it was, she had gone straight to bed and then gone to sleep—her mother and brothers, she had been told a few hours later, had conked out as soon as they had been put in the room that they were currently still taking up on the house's second level.

She had seen nothing of her brothers, or of her mam, for three days now; daddy, who had been taking their meals up to them these past few days, had seen plenty of them, and had spoken a good deal of them after leaving them alone, but she had seen not a hair of them. Daddy said that he was going to give them another day to two days before making the decision on moving them up to the chambers that they were to sleep in—her brothers, that was; she was sure that her mam would be taking up her daddy's room again.

She was looking forward to seeing them moving about the house and getting to know them all again; they were all very different now... had all grown into strong, healthy, mid-teenagers that acted and reacted differently to what they had when they had been six hundred, five hundred, a hundred, and four months of age. Regardless of how changed they were they weren't to find anything overly different in the mansion—much of it was the same; their old baby and kiddie chambers were still intact, the stables and horse pastures were the same, the sheep and goat pens were the same, and so was the general make and model of the place's interior.

On the day that she had gone from being nine hundred and ninety-nine to one thousand, she had been moved from being on the house's second level to the third; the baby and kid chambers would all be located on the house's second level while the big kids' rooms would all be located on the above levels. If any of her father's adult kids decided to remain under his roof, they'd be moved to either the fifth, sixth, or seventh levels. Daddy and mammy's chamber was on the second level, as was her father's office. She was quite sure that her brothers' chambers were all on the same level of the house as hers was.

"This is one of the new things that's been put in the house," she thought after stopping to take in the clock that was on the first level's main hallway.

It was new, yes, but, in regards to its age, it was a right old piece; the cherry red wood was nicely polished, but it still carried that ancient look to it, and the glass that housed the clock was very clean. The pane of glass, that was before the two weights, and the pendulum, was also very clean. The bronze and copper trim decor that was on the wood was also very well polished. Her daddy was one for bats and this one clock had had a good fancy in him—it had bat designs and carvings on it. After looking at this clock, then doing another time acknowledging, she went on her way to the kitchen.

"Morning daddy," Eshal said after entering the smaller of the house's two kitchens. Her father was in the room; he was working the stove.

"Morning Eshal, sleep well?"

"Yes, you?"

"For a few hours—been up for the last five hours... the final-final touches to your brothers' chambers were done last night." her father replied.

He had said the exact same thing yesterday and the day before yesterday; she was hoping that this would be the final time that he'd say that the final-final changes to her brothers' rooms had been done—her daddy, while a grown man, and while a man who knew well how to hold himself after not getting in a decent night's sleep, needed his rest.

Her daddy was revered in much the same way that other daddy's were—he was her hero. She looked up to him for everything and she pretty much showered him with untold amounts of love and respect daily. Of the many things that she marveled about with him it was mostly his strength that she took great notice and pride of—not once had he buckled down under the pressure, or under the heartbreak of losing most of their family, and not once had he called the search for her mam and brothers off. Really, to her, if it hadn't been for her father's drive to find their missing family her mam and brothers wouldn't be known to be alive or wouldn't be in the mansion.

Like any other daughter, she didn't need him to turn around so she could take in his general appearance; with her seeing him on a day-in to day-out basis, and with his raising her for two thousand, five hundred, and one years, she knew him like the back of her hand. Her Hero had light blue skin; the eyes that looked out from his face were large, oval in shape, and were a very shiny silver color. The face and head structure that he had was very Zetakin-like—he had an upside down, teardrop-shaped head that had two holes were a nose would normally be and an O-shaped mouth in it. No hair, or ears, were present on his head.

The clear, elastic band, that was around the back of his head, was keeping his goggled glasses on tight; her father had inherited the severe form of P.S.E, or Photo Sensitive Eye, from his mother—he couldn't go outside without having his glasses on or else, he'd shriek and then experience pain and then go blind.

When her father stretched his arm out, to grab one of the plates, that were on the nearby counter-top, she saw the suction cups that he had on the ends of each of his fingers; her Hero was a tall man... not only did he stand six foot one but he also had a very firm, strong body that was full of hard muscle.

Her daddy was wearing a burgundy tuxedo and shoes; the jacket that went with the tuxedo had a tail on it that went down to the floor. She didn't need to be told that he was also wearing a burgundy neck-tie, or a burgundy vest that had dark burgundy ties on it, or a white, button down, long sleeve shirt—whenever he wore a burgundy tuxedo, he always wore them items or something very similar to them items. The shirts that he wore always had belled cuffed on the ends of their sleeves—when her father stretched his arm out for the plate, she had been able to see the lace-like, belled cuffs that were on the ends of his worn shirt.

Her father's name was TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit; he was the son of the fearsome DuruVile Bolushi Surfeit and the very nice and understanding Ashaklar Zoopray. He was a conqueror, like his father, but he was very unlike his father in a lot of ways. An example of how much of a better man he was in regards to his own father lie in how he fathered his children—he was a good daddy... one who never disciplined unless he had to and one who was patient and understanding. Granddaddy Duru was the exact opposite of him—she knew that he liked to teach his children respect through harsh disciplinary means... and she also knew that he beat his children as a way to get them to know who was both the dominant one and the one in charge.

"So, everything's all ready for them?" Eshal asked.

"As far as I can tell, yes." TazirVile replied. After a few second of silence fell between them, he grabbed what he had just made then turned and went towards the kitchen's stationed island. "Today'll be like the last two, Eshie. Just you and me; let your mother and brothers calm down a bit more before formal introductions and then "leash-releasing" occur."

"Okay," Eshal said, she had already planned on leaving her just-returned family be for a while. "When will you be showing them their rooms?"

"Hopefully today," TazirVile replied as he placed a plate in front of his daughter. With that done, he turned, then went back to the stove, then started making himself a plate. "If not today then tomorrow."

"Mam going up with them?"

"Of course—they're rather close to your mother. I don't think they'll be leaving her side for a while." TazirVile replied. "Don't you be but so buggy on your mother now. Let her have a chance to settle down too."

"Okay, maybe if she settles down they will too?"

"If that doesn't happen then it'll take a few days to a week or two before they all calm down." TazirVile said.

Her father, from what she had been told, had gone through two interior designers before settling on the one who had done most, if not all, of the rooms that were in the house; the general building had been constructed by a man by the name of Tuuyan Fuugwin while most, if not all, of the interior had been done by a team organized by a woman named Ksacna Volu. Mrs. Volu and Co., working by the design that her father had come up with, had done an exceptional job in making the whole house look good and stable.

The smaller kitchen was really where she and her father had taken their meals in for the last sixteen hundred years; with her mam and brothers being missing, there had been no point in just their plain two-some taking up the large dining room, which could seat up to eighty people at a time. The room that she and her father were in was very well lit up; the beam that was in the ceiling not only went all the way around the room but it was also mount-free. The light shone on everything that was in the room thanks to there being no sides to keep the light's rays suppressed. The ceiling was an eggshell blue color and so was the floor; the floor that was in the room had a built-in heating system in it that kept the feet of anyone who wandered in with no shoes or socks on warm. The walls had blue and sea-green tile on them.

The island, that was placed in the room's center, was what she and her father had taken to eat on this morning and on the mornings that had happened over the last sixteen hundred years; it went around in an elbow, up to six people could eat at it at a time. The surface of the kitchen island was black marble while the cabinets that made up the piece were cherry wood. Five, tall, dark stools were placed at the island—she and her father, who was now taking his place at the "table", were sitting on two of them.

The counter-tops that were in front of her had a few containers on them—long toothpicks were in one while cooking utensils, like spatulas and ladles, were in two others. The counter-top that was two down from the one that the containers were on had a cutting board and a knife block, that contained all sorts of knives in it, on it; the refrigerator, which had a built-in ice-maker on it, and which was a very shiny silver-chrome color, was in-between them two counter-tops. The interior of the refrigerator was spacious; it contained much of what she and her father consumed either on a meal or snack-time basis. A red wood china cabinet was near to where the room's northern corner was; it had all sorts of plates, bowls, trays, and other eating vessels on it. The spice rack that was on the cabinet's lowest shelf had all of the spices that either her father or one of the staff used when they were cooking. The open space that was below the main part of the china cabinet contained four holders that candy and cereal were in.

Behind her sat two stoves; one was for normal cooking while the other had burners on it that were suited for venison meat. The counter-tops that stretched to the left and right of the stoves had the room's sink, a microwave, a blender, a coffee pot, a can opener, and a toaster on them. Near to where the room's southern corner was sat a stacked oven—this was a relatively new piece that had only been added to the room after her mother had come into her and her father's lives; mam had been one for baking sweets and other dessert-like items and daddy had made an effort in purchasing a cooking appliance that she could use without having to worry about having to wait between cooking the things that she had made.

"That appliance hasn't been used in a while—wonder if mam still likes baking sweets and desserts and wonder if she'll go back to using it again." she wondered as she started in on her breakfast, and as she struggled to not look at the two pantries that were between the china cabinet and stacked oven.

The plates that she and her father ate their breakfast off of had two honey-flavored pancakes, that had a touch of vanilla inside them, on them; four slices of maple syrup bacon and three pieces of link sausage had been made and then placed beside the pancakes after the pancakes had been made and then placed on the plates. The protein shake that she had for her morning beverage was something that her father made for her every morning; to her, it was nothing more than a chocolate drink that had whipped cream in the center. Her father's beverage was very much like her own.

Her father finished his breakfast before she did; after standing up, then collecting his silverware and plate, he went towards the sink. He washed the dishes that he had used then he went to the counter that was two down from the sink; he was fast in grabbing a large tray, that several dishes, platters, plates and silverware, and five glasses were on, then he turned towards her.

"Keep it down, Eshal." TazirVile said after taking up the tray. "You know the score—no loud noises for a few days."

"Yes daddy." Eshal said.

As he left the smaller of the house's two kitchens, then went down the hallway, that, except for the dark green rug, that had more than enough white and light blue "floral" designs on it, looked very similar to that of what was located in the employees' quarters, he couldn't help but admit that the mansion did have that old feeling back to it. He had pretty much felt that old, fully occupied feeling creep back into the place right after he and his family had stepped foot in the place; like with Eshal, it felt great to have the old place feeling this full again and it felt great to know that the ones that they had been missing for this past sixteen hundred years were back to being where they were.

He had slept for three, maybe four hours before finding himself being wide awake; the excitement from having the full of his family back to being under his roof again, coupled by the fact of his having his wife in the same building, had caused him to not be able to sleep for long. Like with the previous two mornings, he had gotten up at four; he had showered, had taken care of the basic necessities that one did when they were in the bathroom, then had gotten dressed. He had gone straight up to the third level to check into the rooms that his sons were to inhabit either sometime today or sometime this week.

Since Hazaar was so nervous around him he was being extra careful when he entered the room that he and his mother and brothers were in and in approaching him; with this son of his looking to have an interests in trains he had made a point in having something train-related rigged up in his chamber. A set of shelves, that were level with each other, had been placed all around the room; a train track had been placed on these shelves and then an electronic train had been placed on them. A remote, that ran on both batteries and that could be charged up via a wall outlet, was what controlled the train—a set of buttons on this remote would make it possible for his son to have real-like train noises be heard while he was using the train.

While his staff had the credit to how most of the rooms had been set up he had personally seen to putting the train track and train in Hazaar's room and he had also seen to rearranging some of the things that had been put in Bile's, Lhaklar's, and Lazeer's rooms. During the rearranging, he had taken notice of some of the clothing that Bile and Lazeer owned—most, if not all, of Lazeer's pants were ripped at the knees and most, if not all, of Bile's shirts had two to three tears in their chest and stomach regions; he had thought long and hard on discarding them clothing items, and then getting these two sons of his a new set of clothes to replace them, before deciding to leave the clothes be.

For all he knew, Bile and Lazeer might well of made the tears to their clothing themselves—torn or ripped clothing might be their style right now; he had no right in saying what style they were to wear and he had no right in saying what they were or were not to wear.

Everything, from the models to most of the posters to the collectible items, had been set-up in their rooms; the only things that weren't in the rooms were the cigarettes, the bags of weed, the bottles that were lacking their tags, and any posters that had explicit material on them.

"I'll let my wife take care of the disposal of them items." he thought as he entered the foyer of his home.

The hallway that came off his foyer branched off in either direction; the one that he was on, which ran straight to his residence's front door, was short but relatively comfortable to the eye. The foyer wasn't much changed—the gold chandelier, that hung down from the room's light copper-colored ceiling, was the same and so were the twin staircases that wrapped around the room. The two, long candelabras, that had been standing beside the staircases' right hand volutes, were gone but the normal-sized candelabras were still on the volutes. The floor underfoot was wooden; it had a glowing rust-red finish to it.

The many bat portraits and family-orientated photographs that had been on the walls at the time of his wife's and sons' disappearance were all still up; all of the photographs that were on the walls were of him, his wife, and their children—the ages of his young in each photograph varied. He, like any other proud father would do, had made and then placed a new photograph to the walls of his foyer after each new arrival to his family was born

The heavy wooden door that was his residence's entrance had photographs on either side of it. A photograph of Eshal from when she was a newborn was the first photograph that he looked at; another of her, from when she had been a young toddler, was placed below that. The photograph that was below the one of a then-toddler Eshal was of him and Angel; the two of them were holding a few-week old Lhaklar between them. A small photograph of a then-toddler Lhaklar, who was playing beside a mud puddle, was below that one. On the door's other side there was a photograph of him and Angel holding a newborn Hazaar; a photograph of him, Angel, Eshal, Bile, and a very young infant Lhaklar was below that and, beside that, hung a photograph of him, Angel, Eshal, Bile, Lhaklar, and a very young infant Hazaar. The final photograph that he looked at had his youngest son in it; he and Angel, despite looking very upset over the premature birth of their son, were looking down at their youngest child fondly.

So many memories; he was really surprised, and really glad, that Lazeer was still alive. His youngest son, despite being a preemie, was a very healthy youngster.

After looking his foyer over, and taking in the many photographs, and allowing the many memories that were contained in them to flow through him, he turned then went up one of the room's staircases. Once on the balcony, he went down the hallway a ways; when he stopped, he was before the door to the chamber that his wife and sons had been put in. He knocked twice, then he waited for the come-in signal to be given, then, after being told that he could come in, he opened the door and went in.

"Morning," TazirVile said after entering the room and then closing the door behind him.

"Good morning," Angel said. She turned and then looked at her sons. "Boys, what do you say?"

"Morning." the four boys said in unison.

"Everyone alright this morning?" TazirVile asked while placing the tray, with its assortment of plates and dishes and silverware and glasses on the room's solid black marble bench.

"Peachy," Hazaar said.

And, with that small verbal exchange between he and his just-returned family, he knew that it was going to take a few more days before everyone was calm, cool, and settled to living back under his roof.

After opening the door, and then walking into the room, he had been hit by a blast of tense air; it had been so thick... he might of been able to cut through maybe half of it with a knife. His sword might well of been able to cut through it all the way but, with the air being as thick as it was, it might of also had issues in doing so.

The room that he had put them in was one that Angel knew of; after being found to be wandering both the interior and exterior of his home, and then after being cornered by Gloar, his neighbor and good friend, and then being captured, he had placed her in this room for "safe-keeping". Bile had just been born at the time that his wife, who hadn't been his wife at this event's occurrence, had been placed in the room but he hadn't been with her at the time; it had taken him a week to two weeks before finally having mother and newborn son be returned to one another—and, at the time that this had happened, she had escaped him with the child that he had just returned to her. The idea of putting her in this room was really very simple—if she was in a room that she knew of then, maybe, she'd calm down sooner and, maybe, the boys would follow in her example in also calming down.

The bed that was in the room had cost him a pretty penny—the cost hadn't been given a single bit of concern by him; he had spared nothing when it came to decorating the rooms that were in his mansion. The room's bed was one of them full-foam types; the sides were twelve inches high and the mattress was very soft and comfortable. It had a dark purple velvet blanket, and black sheets, on it; the pillows—three normal, two throw, and a single small one—were all encased in purple cases that had a gold T and S—his initials—stitched on them. To the left of the bed sat a solid black bedside table that had a simple, purple and blue crystal lamp on it. Placed against the wall that was to the left of the door was a long, black dresser that had a mirror attached to it; beside it, in the corner, was a deep red chair that had an ottoman in front of it. To the door's other side, in the opposite corner to the chair, was a black armoire; a chair, that had a simple, black cushion, that had red sparkly decor on it, was beside the armoire. The room's one bench was placed about a foot from the bed's end.

With the exception of the large, 50" tv, everything else that was in the room was old; his wife had been the one to point out the fact that he had forgotten about putting a tv in the room—along with giving her a "little" peck on the cheek, he had been fast in correcting this mistake of his.

The room's carpet was a dark red color; it was shag and was relatively soft to the touch. The walls, and the ceiling, were a light red color; a large dome light, that was currently casting a gold light down into the room, was in the room's ceiling's center.

After placing the food down he backed away; he went to the ottoman then sat down. His wife was the first to stand up; she went to the tray, then she lifted the many tops that were on the dishes, then she started making herself a plate. He was fast in sighing inside when the boys followed in her example.

"It'll be the two younger ones who'll come around last," he silently observed. His two, younger sons had kept their eyes on him all while making themselves a plate. They were now standing on the room's other side—far away from him. They were eating what they had placed on their plates. "Lhaklar's nervous but he'll come around, so will Bile. They both know this place."

"Don't stare,"

TazirVile jumped, then looked to the side—he was a bit surprised over finding that his wife was standing beside him. Having her so close to him gave him a sense of comfort; he couldn't help himself from smiling at her or from reaching his hand up to touch her.

Bile was fast in issuing a mild throat clearing; he neither said anything vocally or moved forward to separate him from his mother. Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer, while looking to be busy in eating their meals, were training their eyes on him and their mother. He paid no mind to them; he just trailed his hand down his wife's arm.

Was the old love that had been expressed between them still there? How about the connection? Was the same feeling, and the same compassion, that they had felt for one another sixteen hundred years ago still there or had it become extinguished? He really couldn't tell; he felt the same old love for the fiery red-haired woman who had unique, emerald-green eyes but he wasn't sure if she still felt it. Angel had accepted him; she had respected him and she had loved him... she had treated him wonderfully and he had done the same with her.

After touching her, then noticing that she was unresponsive to him, he felt a sort of sadness fall over him; what if his wife had decided to stop loving him? What if all of the years that she had spent away from him extinguished what had been felt between them? He loved the woman and he loved their children—Bile included in the mix. Sure, he would love to have more children with her but... but if the old love that had been felt and expressed between them was gone then how could that happen? He wasn't about to force her into being with him, that was for damn sure. He knew better than to do that; he remembered all too well that she had reacted rather nastily when her own father had tried to force her into loving him. TazirVile lowered his hand then looked forward; he did as his wife had said in not staring at the boys—he glanced at the boys from time to time for a few minutes before getting to his feet and then leaving the room.

"Did you see the look on his face!" Hazaar said after his father left the room. "He was like, 'oh, she's beside me, I gotta touch her... oh, she's cold.' "

"I saw it—he tried pulling one of them lovey-dovey moves on ma." Bile said. "It didn't work now did it? She was like stone with him."

"Man, she wasn't like stone." Lazeer commented. "She was more like steel."

"Boys, that's enough." Angel said to her sons. "I wasn't being hard or mean with him. I was just standing next to him."

"You didn't respond when he touched you." Bile said.

"You wanted to see our mother go—" Lhaklar turned around; he wrapped his arms around himself then started making kissing noises. Lazeer started laughing right after he did so. "—on our father in front of us?"

"My eyes!" Lazeer exclaimed. "Mama, he blinded me by making out with himself!"

"Eat your breakfast you crazy kids." Angel said. Even though she was suppressing the laughs that wanted to come out she was happy to see that a sense of normalcy had returned to her sons.

The gold tray that had been brought up had had three dishes and two platters on it. There had been a couple of plates, some silverware, and five glasses, that had some sort of chocolate-tasting drink in them, on the tray too. A stack of honey-flavored pancakes, that had a vanilla filling in them, had been on one of the platters while, on the other, there had been maple syrup bacon slices and pieces of link sausage. The center-lying bowl had had some fruit in it; the other bowls had consisted of syrup or whipped cream.

Lhaklar and Hazaar had grabbed two of the pancakes, and then three of the bacon slices and link sausage pieces up while Bile had simply grabbed a single pancake and then four slices of bacon; Lazeer had been the only one of them to "feast" on what had been brought up. Two and a half pancakes, and then five slices of bacon, had been consumed before he had gone to retrieve two pieces of link sausage. Their mother had grabbed a single pancake, and then a small handful of the fruit bowl's fruit, before leaving the rest to them.

While the meal was good, it was lacking something—the eggs, whether scrambled or fried, were a very much missed side to their morning meals; as of the last three mornings, they hadn't been given any eggs to go with their meals. Hazaar was struggling to not throw a fuss over not having his morning eggs.

When their father returned he saw that everything had been eaten; about half of the meal's beverages had been consumed at the time that he opened the door and then re-entered the room.

"Goodness, I was gone what..." TazirVile said after seeing the de-nuded dishes and platters that were on the tray. "eight... nine... ten minutes and—"

"Boys eat a lot," Angel said. She smiled at her husband then, after noticing that he had some clothes on his person, she turned to address her sons. "Boys, think it's time for you to get dressed."

That smile of hers threw his whole train of thought, and his new plans, completely into the fire. The smile that she had just expressed with him had been used quite a lot over the years before she had disappeared with the boys; along with being used whenever she was disclosing a certain bit of trust in him she had also used her sweet, trusting smile whenever she was flirting with him. He had never not returned her given smiles—he returned the smile that she had just flashed at him.

During the trek to the third level, to get his sons something to wear, he had thought about how his wife had reacted to his action in touching her arm—she had done nothing more than stand there... she had said nothing nor had made any motions to either return his token of affection or move away from it. All she had done was stand and look at the boys while they ate their meals; all that she had taken from the tray had simply been "growing cold" on the plate that she had been holding. While taking some clothes from his sons' dressers, he had come up with the idea that she had been doing an insurance thing by taking up a position beside him—she had stood by him to insure that he'd not do anything rash with her children.

He had gone to seven schools—to Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic, then to the University of Telepathy, then to Shlane's Academy, then to the School of Gray, then to the School of Hard Knots, then to the University of Power, and then, finally, to the Academy of Evil... he was a rather intelligent individual and he had used this intelligence of his to his advantage in thinking up something that might well explain why his wife hadn't reacted to his expression of affection.

Although it was relatively well known that both men and women were rather protective of their young it was also well known that women were more prone to being aggressive and violent when it came to the relative safety of the ones that they had birthed. A woman became a most distrustful creature when her young were with her; she kept each and every person that was in her area under her eye and she didn't stick around for long after an unknown male came over to engage in either conversation or in some other activity with her. Female animals were the same way; he had bred horses for thousands of years and he had found that each of his mares, who had given birth at either sometime in the night or during the early morning hours, were very distrustful of the ones who walked down the aisle that their stall was on and that they were especially wary of the sounds that occurred around them. He and his staff had to take special care in being careful around the mares that had newborn foals by their sides; while each foal was imprinted on after being born it was usually done after they reached a few days to a week old—at this period, a mare was less prone to kicking or taking the skin from one's back or limb after he, or she, entered her stall. Cats, dogs, rodents, and even sapient, intelligent beings acted in the exact same way after having their offspring—with this being known, he had placed a figuring of his wife, who had four teenage boys to look after, thinking of him as one who needed to be kept a wary eye on.

Before entering Hazaar's bedroom chamber he had decided to simply take the clothes that he had retrieved for the boys to the boys and then vacate the room for thirty minutes to an hour before returning to spend a short stretch of time with them. He'd spend short stretches of time with his newly returned family then he'd spend anywhere between an hour to two hours away from them before going to spend the next fifteen to twenty minutes with them after that fist visitation was done. The idea of his spending anywhere between a few days to a few weeks of being all by his lonesome until Angel got over her wariness of him had also been thought up.

Before the new, and now discarded, plan had been thought up, he had already initiated the order for everyone in his mansion to walk around, and be, as quiet as can be; this order, in his new, and now discarded, plan had remained the same.

That smile of hers, which had given him a renewed strength of love, hope, and warmth, had made that plan evaporate completely. He was glad to see the smile and he was equally glad to of been given the opportunity to return it.

TazirVile stood in place for a few seconds before turning and then going towards Lhaklar; his firstborn son looked him up and down before reaching forward for the bundle of clothes that he was holding out to him. His son went towards the bathroom after he took his clothes from him. With his oldest born son now having some appropriate attire to wear, and now with him getting dressed in that attire, he turned his attention to Bile. His adopted son imitated what his younger brother had done then he simply waited his turn to use the bathroom. Instead of giving Hazaar and Lazeer their clothes he just placed their clothes on the room's bed—this was done as a way to not cause any fights or further upsetting to occur between them and him.

After being relinquished of the clothing that he had collected for the boys, he went towards the now-empty tray. He arranged everything on the tray all nice and neat, then he collected the tops to the dishes, then he picked the tray up and then left the room.

"I feel much better!" Lhaklar said a few minutes later. He felt like his old self again—the pair of light gray and green, plaid pants; the faint gray, button down, long sleeve shirt; the pair of medium gray socks and the pair of brown shoes had made him feel like he was no longer naked. When he exited the bathroom, he found that the room had just his mother and brothers in it.

Bile charged past Hazaar; he was fast in getting dressed and he was fast in exiting the bathroom.

"Out of my way," Hazaar, who had been grumbling, and glaring at the room that his brother had beat him to, brushed past his brother after he left the bathroom.

"I am so glad to have something on me!" Bile said after leaving the bathroom. The towel that had been around his waist was no longer on him; he was now wearing a dark blue t-shirt, that was lacking one of its sleeves, and that had a single tear on its chest, and a pair of dark brown pants. The socks that were on his feet were dark brown in color; the boots, while being the same color, were of the heavy-duty sort. "I'd be further scarred for life if I was forced to stay another day in this room with my near-naked brothers."

"Oh shut up," Lhaklar returned. Seeing as his mood was good, he said, "The wrinkles on my back aren't as gruesome as yours."

"Really? How about on your ass?" Bile asked.

"I'm younger than you, which means that I have less wrinkles than you." Lhaklar replied.

"Ma, let's chop off Lhaklar's leg to see how many "wrinkles" he has in it." Bile said.

"Last I heard, sweetie, it was rings instead of wrinkles inside legs." Angel said.

Hazaar ran out of the bathroom a few minutes later; instead of just placing his towel on the dresser he used it on Bile. Bile took two whaps to his hip, and then a whap to his ass, before turning and then going for him. While running from his older brother, he whapped the towel at Lhaklar; a similar amount of whaps were given to this brother of his before he found himself needing to "run" for his "life".

Bile and Lhaklar chased their younger brother, who was now wearing a pair of multi-brown pants, that were slightly faded at the knees, and that were greatly faded at both the inner and outer thighs, and a brown shirt that was tucked in, around the room a few times before deciding to stop. After doing what he considered a halfway decent morning workout, Hazaar plopped down on the foam siding of the bed. He put the pair of light brown socks that he had been given on then he reached for his shoes; Bile was fast in lunging for the pair of brown shoes that had light brown ties on them. He took them up then he held them mockingly.

"Hey!" Hazaar exclaimed as he jumped from the bed's foam siding and then leaped at his brother. "Gimme!"

"Can you reach them?" Bile asked as he held the shoes just barely out of his brother's reach. Hazaar leaped up for the shoes twice before grabbing the arm that they were being held in. He started pulling the arm down right after his hand was on it. "Lhaklar, catch!"

"Come on! Give me my damn shoes!" Hazaar said, he was starting to get angry. He turned his attention to Lhaklar now.

"Nope, these are our shoes now." Lhaklar said. He held his younger brother's shoes up high.

"Lhaklar!" Hazaar snarled. He made a fist then he swung it; Lhaklar groaned after his fist sailed into his stomach.

"Now I know you won't be getting them back." Lhaklar said. He tossed the shoes to Bile then he grabbed at his stomach.

Lazeer, who was the final one of them to get dressed, looked on as Hazaar tried to tackle their oldest brother; all of what his father had retrieved and then given to him had been donned. Gone was the white towel that had adorned his lower half; he was now wearing a pair of dark gray pants, that were ripped at the knees, and a netted shirt that was a dark red color. The shoes that were on his feet were a multi-brown color; the ties that were on them were dark gray in color, the socks that were worn under his shoes were the same color.

Hazaar swung his fist a few times; Bile held his chest out, he acted tough with each swing then, when Lhaklar regain his composure, he threw the shoes. While Hazaar chased after his shoes he wasn't able to retrieve them; the shoes sailed across the room to Lhaklar, who either treated them like a football after catching them or held them just out of their brother's reach.

Hazaar was getting very annoyed now and Lazeer knew it; the fact that it wouldn't be long before something serious occurred was also known to him. He and Hazaar were both going through the dreaded Temperamental Phase, which caused one to get extra moody or emotional, but... but Hazaar seemed to be having a more difficult time with the phase than he was. Hazaar's experience with the phase was more anger-based than emotional; instead of being dragged down by emotional episodes, or being extremely confused due to his emotional episodes, Hazaar was more moody/angry. His brother was one who let his temper get the better of him; before the phase struck, Hazaar had just been a normal, hot-headed kid. Now he was super hot-headed, and sometimes difficult to get along with. Hazaar had tried to isolate himself several times; he had tried to stay in the room that they had shared when they had been living in their former apartment but their mother, after catching wind of his attempted isolations, had prevented him from doing so. Though he loved his brother he wasn't one to be but so quiet about his being around seventy percent fine to hang around with; the other thirty percent, he was just too damn ornery to be around.

While he was also experiencing the moody/angry episodes that were associated with the phase he was more dominated with experiencing the emotional aspects that some exhibited when they went through the phase. Their mother had said that everyone reacted in different fashions to the phase—some got particularly violent, like Bile had been when he had gone through the phase; some people were effected in a medium-fashion, like Lhaklar had been when he had gone through the phase; and some people were in-between the two, that was Hazaar. It looked like he was experiencing the phase in a lesser light—while he experienced mood swings, and snapped at others for no reason, and slapped certain things from their placed upon surfaces, or caused certain things to break, he was experiencing the more emotional side of the phase.

Even though the Temperamental Phase was being experienced he was more concerned with his eye issues; his depression over not being able to do as his brothers could when they went outside was bad and, really, he was doing nothing to get over it or to prevent it from gripping him. His depression had caused him to try the isolation thing as well—he'd just jump into bed and then say that he wasn't leaving it until after his eye issues cleared up or until something was gotten that'd give him the ability to go outside when the sun was out and in the open. Most of the time, his family had left him alone; on the times that they hadn't, a small physical or verbal altercation occurred—physical with his brothers and verbal with his mother, that was; he would never dare to place a wrong hand on his mother or cause her harm.

He ran forward right when Hazaar threw his fist into Lhaklar's shoulder; he leaped onto Lhaklar's back then he forced him to both drop to his knees and to drop the shoes. Hazaar was fast in grabbing his shoes up from the floor. Hazaar was just taking his shoes up from the floor when their father opened the door and then re-entered the room.

"Uh-uh, rule number one, don't wrestle unless its in the gym, boys." TazirVile said after returning to the room and then seeing that Lazeer was on top of Lhaklar, who was on his side.

"Sorry Tazzy, I usually don't let them wrestle inside." Angel said. "This one's on me, don't blame them."

"I'll look past it," TazirVile said. "I forgot how its like to have sons in the house—it'll take me a little while before I get the hang of it."

"Be warned, the old man just said that he's putting us boys on coat hangers." Lazeer said.

"You'll get use to them, and their antics, after a while—seems that as soon as I get use to one of their actions or hobbies they pick something else up." Angel said, she then gave Lazeer a warning glare to not make a joke out of what she had just said.