Chapter 27: It's Time

We finally entered the house, completely drenched I might add, to a snickering Flock with a peeved looking Angel and Melody as they all sat by the fire. All of their heads turned at our arrival, and they all broke out in a new fit of giggling and holding back laughter, all except the two youngest girls.

"What's going on? Did we miss something?" I asked as I took off my coat and slung it on the nearby coat rack, where it began dripping water on the floor.

"No, no. Nothing at all" answered Total, smiling widely.

"I told you the rain was going to ruin the moment" said Nudge, who was lying on the floor.

"...What's this all about?" I asked. I didn't like being kept out of a secret, especially if it was a funny one. Finally, Melody let out an exasperated huff and crossed her arms across her chest tightly.

"I gave you two the perfect moment and you ruin it! Ugh, you guys are hopeless..." said Melody with displeasure written all over her face.

"Wait a second...you mean that was you?!" I asked. Melody immediately clamed up, but Nudge was enjoying this too much to let it end in silence.

"Oh yeah, she did everything! Did you know that she could control the air and earth so well? I thought it was amazing! And she saw everything through that eye looking power that you two have. Although I did tell her that the rain would be too much but she didn't listen but you two look so funny and-"

"Ok, we get it, now breath!" I said in an exasperated tone.

Where did that girl get the lungs to talk so much?

I couldn't bring myself to turn around and look at Fang's face, but my eyes found its way to Melody, who was by now hiding behind Iggy sporting a "please don't kill me" look. I stared at her for a few more seconds before letting out a sigh.

I couldn't be mad at her. It wasn't her fault. She was only trying to make me happy.

Her explanation was right there in her eyes.

To her, I was the big sister who had too much trouble on her hands. I didn't have enough time to go look for happiness. So she wanted to look for me. And even though being rejected was not what she had in mind, she would continue trying, just because she was that persistent.

Yay me for having a determined sister.

"Anyway, putting all of that aside, who wants dinner?" I asked as I lifted up a wet bag filled with food. Several eyes suddenly turned their ravenous attention to the 3 bags that we had brought home. In all of the commotion, they had almost forgotten how hungry they were.

Almost.

"Well, it's about time! What am I cooking tonight?" asked Iggy.

"No worries. I'll be cooking dinner tonight. How does spaghetti sound?" I asked. Everyone's hungry stares quickly turned into looks of apprehension and worry. "Oh relax. You're not gonna get food poison or anything. Spaghetti is my specialty" I stated defensively.

"Uh-huh. If I get diarrhea, I'm blaming you" said Iggy as he made his way to the kitchen.

O::O::O::O::O::O

"Total, stop poking the meatball. It's not mutated" I said after watching him sniff it for at least 10 minutes now.

"Says the person who burnt cheese this morning" he murmured.

"That was an accident! I wasn't paying attention" I retorted. "Now hurry up and eat before it gets cold."

But that wasn't the real reason that he needed to eat. Everyone had been playing with their food, poking and prodding it with their forks to see if it would become a red monster. Now, since Total was taking the initiative to get close to it, everyone was staring at him, using him as a guinea pig food tester.

Total took a big gulp before he slowly opened his mouth and bit off the smallest piece of meatball that he could obtain.

"Oh no, I'm dying! I see the light, it's coming closer! All the things that I didn't get to see...hey, this isn't half bad..." he said after his melodramatic speech. He chewed it thoughtfully before swallowing the meager portion and his face soon had a large grin on it as he approved my cooking. "Wow, this is awesome!" Total said in amazement.

I sighed. "You couldn't just take my word for it, could you...?"

But after seeing that Total did not instantly gain a stomach virus from my cooking, the rest of the Flock jumped on the band wagon and began stuffing their faces. Fang tried to catch my eye, but I focused on everything but him, making sure to stare at the noodles on my plate to the bits of tomato sauce on the corners of Nudge's mouth.

Seeing Fang's eyes was one of the things I absolutely could not do at this moment, for I was too scared of what I would see in them.

"Ember this is soooooo good!" said Nudge as she stuffed another meatball in her mouth.

"I gotta hand it to you. I didn't know you could cook like this" Iggy said with a smirk. Gazzy was too busy filling his mouth to say anything.

"This reminds me of...mom's cooking..." said Melody quietly, but everyone had heard it. Dinner suddenly became a long pause of silence, and it felt like hours before someone said something.

"Do you remember your mom?" asked Angel. I glanced at Melody, who was sitting right beside me, to take in her expression. She was staring at her food with her forehead scrunched up in concentration. At one point, it smoothed out, only to return to its previous state.

"Not...really. I remember bits and pieces...like her hands and her smile...but I can't remember her face..." Melody replied. I noticed something in her eyes and my heart took a sharp nose dive.

She was about to cry.

Iggy's expression turned sour as he began to pick at his food. "So far, parents aren't really considered a good change for us..." Iggy said.

"Except for Max's mom. She was nice..." jumped in Nudge, who had acquired a sad reminiscent tone in her voice.

"Yeah...she moved somewhere when she heard that Max had gone bad...I wonder where she is now...I miss her cookies" mumbled Gazzy.

"Well, it would be nice to see my mom's face at least once..." said Melody, who had begun rubbing her eye to try and prevent any tears from falling.

Well, what do you know. Fang was right, I thought to myself.

"Don't worry about it. We'll see her soon" I said as I put a hand on Melody's head.

"We will?" she asked, turning her gaze toward me.

"Of course. If no one minds, we can leave tomorrow night and start looking for her."

"Seriously! Thank God, I'm so glad we're leaving. I mean, this place is awesome and all and it has good games and music and it's comfortable, but it's just getting old. I need to get out more" exclaimed Nudge. Melody sat quietly with a small smile on her face, seeming to ponder the thought of seeing mom in person.

"I bet your mom will be just as pretty as both of you combined" said Total and I glanced at him.

"Flattery will get you nowhere with me, now what do you want?" I asked him, not at all fooled by his sweet talk.

"Can I have more spaghetti?" Total asked with a toothy grin on his face.

"I want seconds, too!" called out Iggy and Gazzy at the same time. As soon as I nodded my approval, they all raced toward the pot with more food on it, having spoon fights in the process.

Hopefully, we won't have another gloomy moment like that again, I thought to myself.

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