Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. James Patterson does.

I'd like to thank my beta reader again. :)

.oO0Oo.

Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, Ella, and I hid in the bonus room upstairs while we waited for the entertainer to leave. It was supposed to be her job to manage all the kids, so I was hoping Angel and her friends didn't get too crazy.

Our time upstairs was somewhat uneventful. I ended up leaving after Nudge suggested that we play Truth or Dare because I was tired of her games. About twenty minutes into my "Max Time", I accidentally fell asleep. As I'm told, I was asleep for about an hour before Nudge and Ella paraded into my room and woke me up.

"Max!" Ella sang. "It's time to wake up Maxie-poo!"

I groaned and rolled over.

"Grandma just called," Nudge said as she bounced up and down at the foot of my bed. "She's coming over early."

My eyes snapped open. "How early?"

"In about," Ella checked the clock beside my bed, "half an hour."

I jumped out of bed, practically knocking the girls to the floor in the process. "What?"

Nudge nodded. "The house is really messy, so we should probably start cleaning. Angel's friends left and so did the entertainer. Also, Angel got a bunch of gift cards, and she wants to go to the mall tomorrow. Oh, remember that really cool store there? The one with all the balloons hanging from the ceiling? We should go there. And I also have to—"

Ella finally clapped a hand over Nudges's mouth to stop her rambling.

I didn't stick around to see the look Nudge shot Ella; I was already bounding down the stairs. Skidding across the hardwood in my socks, I started shouting out orders to everyone in the living room. "Angel and Gazzy, you can clean up all the presents and toys. Iggy, you can clean the kitchen. Ella and Nudge can clean the living room when they get downstairs," I paused. That left Fang and I. "Um... Fang and I can... Supervise! Fang and I will supervise."

Iggy started to protest, but I shushed him quickly.

"Now, get to work!" I said, ushering everyone out of the room. Supervising was more fun than I thought. Fang and I sat down on the couch with two cans of Coke and a bag of chips.

"You know," Fang put his feet up on the coffee table and looked at me, "being a parent isn't so bad."

I laughed and took a swig of my coke. "It's like we have a whole army of little slaves."

Fang leaned back and laughed.

It was nice to have a moment like that. We weren't fighting or glaring at each other. It wasn't awkward or hard to get along. It was these moments that I missed the most..,

.oO0Oo.

In twenty five minutes, the house was spotless. We were all sitting in the living room, anxiously awaiting the sound of the doorbell. When it did ring, we were all frozen for a couple seconds. Grandma was known for being... difficult.

I finally got up and answered the door. The door was only about halfway open when the smell of peanuts, lotion, and heavy perfume hit me. There she was, wearing a long black coat, a knit scarf, and carrying a large Tupperware container.

"Max!" she enveloped me in a hug before I could protest. She pulled back and held me within arms' length, looking me up and down. "Sweetie, you're already taller than when I last saw you."

"Which was last week," I muttered.

Grandma brushed passed me and made her way to the kitchen, plopping down the Tupperware on the counter. She was almost immediately tackled in hugs by Nudge, Angel, Ella, and Gazzy. Iggy and Fang had stayed on the couch.

Angel rushed to the container on the counter and opened it. Her eyes opened wide. "She brought cookies!"

My spirits perked at the mention of food. Maybe the old lady wasn't all bad. An avalanche of childhood memories rushed back to me, and I crinkled my nose. The cookies were a bribe.

Five minutes later, Grandma and the rest of the traitors, I mean, my family, were all gathered in the living room with the cookies and a board game. Even Fang and Iggy had joined them in their cultish activities. I had stayed in the kitchen with a stack of cookies (that I had snatched) and my own bitter thoughts to mutter about. I was about three cookies into my pile when I sensed someone behind me.

"Fang," I muttered without turning around. "What do you want?"

"I want to know why you're acting so strange." Fang's question was simple.

"You know why," I replied.

Fang obviously didn't because his eyebrows shot straight up.

"She reminds me of Jeb." I sighed.

"Go on." Fang leaned on the counter beside me.

"Ever since Jeb left, she's been so fake. She's so judgmental, and no one else seems to notice."

Fang nodded and looked at me. "Do you remember when we used to hang out at her house? She would make us cookies, and let us play in the pond by her house?"

"I remember."

"We would catch frogs and get all muddy. Our moms would get so mad. And then after we would go get ice cream and—"

"I get it. What's your point?"

"I would look at your relationship with her, and then I would see your parents fighting." He took a deep breath. "And as soon as you called me after your parents got divorced last year, I knew something had snapped."

I put my head in my hands. Fang was right.

"I just don't get why she's so—"

I was cut short by the whirlwind of heavy perfume that entered the kitchen and cackled like a madwoman.

"Why don't you join us in the living room, Max?" Grandma walked in but paused and put her hands on her hips. "Were you two—"

I couldn't hear the rest of her sentence because I was busy choking on a cookie.

Luckily, Fang spoke for me."No, Mrs. Batcheldor. Max and I are just friends."

Friends? Fang hadn't referred to our relationship like that in years. Maybe something was changing.