Okay, so. I worked an overnight shift last night. With the job that I have, when I work an overnight shift, I have a lot of free time. So I went a little crazy and wrote tons of chapters last night. I'm going to be posting many chapters today.

NOVEMBER 16

I left the kitchen just as the front door opened, and a large group of people came into the house. Aunt Maddie, Uncle Sammy, and all of their kids; Nathan, Michael, Emily, Erica, and Joshua. Everybody else was already there; Aunt Harper, Uncle Aaron, Rebecca, Mamie, Pappy, Grandma, and Grandpa. We were celebrating Jaxson and Cayson's sixth birthday. And, as usual, we had pretty much the entire family gathered. None of Dad's sisters could make it, though they had sent gifts and cards with Grandma and Grandpa.

Nate sat next to Becky, who had just recently turned ten. Nate was eleven, and they usually hung out together at family events, if you could really call it hanging out. They both sat with books in their hands. Michael, who was eight, ran off to play soccer with Bex in her room. She had a loft bed like mine, but with a soccer net hanging over the bottom part. Emily and Erica – four – and Jaxson and Cayson all ran out to the backyard to play. Aunt Maddie was holding one-year-old Josh in her arms. He was snoring quietly.

"Put him in the play pen, Mads," Mom said. "Kenny won't need it for a little while. She's too busy being passed between Alex's parents."

"Thanks, Mac." Aunt Maddie laid Josh down and straightened up.

Mom had her eyes narrowed in her twin's direction. "Maddison du Lac," she said, her tone accusatory. "You're pregnant again." She didn't say it as a question. She said it as a statement. Ah, her magic. She must have sensed it with her magic.

Aunt Maddie blushed slightly. "Yes. We weren't planning to have another one so close to Josh, but it happened."

"We had a really fun announcement planned, too," Uncle Sammy said. He gave Mac a mock glare. "And you ruined it, Mac."

"Well, I'm sorry. I just didn't expect her to be pregnant, not so soon after Josh. And it's another girl, huh. So you'll have three of each."

"How far along are you?" Pappy asked. "Does she have magic?"

"I'm about a month, and yes, she does have magic." It was a good thing Grandma and Grandpa knew about the magic in my family, or this would be a very awkward evening. I wasn't sure when exactly my parents had told them, but it was sometime after Bex had been born. Even though Bexley didn't have magic, I guess Mom and Dad had felt that his parents should know that it was a possibility for the next kid that came along.

"And no, before anyone can even ask, we don't have names picked out," Uncle Sammy said. "We're only a month into the pregnancy. We're not going to think about names just yet."

Aunt Maddie shook her head, smiling slightly. "No, we already know what her name is going to be. I told you, Sammy, that if we had another girl, she would be Trista."

"Whatever," my uncle replied.

"So, Aunt Maddie," I said, grinning, "you still want like, six more kids, right?"

She gave me a stern look, but she was totally trying not to smile. "Stryker Pendragon, you are too much like your mother sometimes. I think this will be our last baby."

Mom smirked. "You always said you wanted seven, though."

"Well, I changed my mind. I want six. And now I've got six, so I think I'm done."

I shook my head and sat between Grandma and Grandpa Amala. Kensley was in Grandma's lap, happily pulling on her hair, and then trying to chew on it, too. I took a bite of the carrot I'd grabbed from the kitchen. We were having a big family dinner, but not for another hour or so. And I was hungry now.

Grandpa chuckled, poking me in the stomach. "You've got a bottomless pit for a stomach, don't you? You've been snacking all day, since we got here this morning."

I shrugged, grinning. I had been a little more hungry than usual, but not too much. "I'm a teenage boy," I said. "What do you expect?"

He just rolled his eyes and shook his head. "How's school?"

"Why is that always the first question I get asked?"

"Because you're a kid and school is a big part of your life. As your grandfather, I want to know how your life is going. Which means I must ask about school."

"School's fine. I've actually got a lot of classes with my best friend, Adrian, this year. That's pretty nice. My teachers are all pretty cool this year."

"How are your grades?"

"Great. I've got an A in almost every class. I do have a B in biology."

Grandpa grinned. "Any cute girls?"

"Well, maybe."

That got Grandma's attention, too. She had been busy making faces at my sister, and not really listening to our conversation. But her ears sure perked up when she that I might think a girl was cute. She gently extracted her hair from Kensley's fist and looked at me. There was a gleam in her eye. "Stryker, do you have a crush on someone?"

"Grandma," I worried, "if you're going to be embarrassing about it, I won't tell you."

She pursed her lips.

I waited until I was certain she was going to listen quietly before I said anything else. "She's in my English class. She's pretty smart. And really cute."

"What's her name?" Grandma asked, unable to help herself.

"Brittany Gold."

"You should ask her out," my grandfather told me.

"Not yet, Grandpa. She doesn't really know who I am. And I think she might have a boyfriend, but I'm not sure."

"Well, find out. And if she doesn't, I expect you to ask that girl out, young man."

I chuckled. "Okay, Grandpa. Whatever you say."