Was there an ingrained predisposition that drove women to be so difficult? He was convinced there was due to the sheer amount of stress they brought to the lives of others. And the ones in his life were no different. Combined with the other stressors in his life, they would probably be driven to an early grave. Trying to keep the peace between those he was friends with, tolerating one who despised him, and figuring out another, it was a bit much at times.

Things with Ryan were as normal as he could hope for after the incident with Vicky and seeing as neither was about to tell him what was said he brushed it off as nothing more than two strong willed women trying to intimidate the other. Now the tiny blonde took the stories told about the babysitter from hell more seriously, questioning his friends about the past abuse they suffered. In no time she and Trixie, who was really a caring person once she dropped the snobby façade, were in agreement that he should make the redhead leave as soon as she could afford a place on her own. After hearing about all of his friends being too terrified to return to the Turner house she urged him to get his dad to kick her out. While that was by far the best course of action and the most sensible one once all her past actions were taken into consideration, he couldn't do it. They'd made a deal and he wasn't about to go back on it when she was attempting to keep her end.

Surprisingly Vicky had made attempts to keep her word. Only a week ago he'd coaxed Chester back into the house after a lot of assuring, bribing, and a bit of begging. If he could show that an effort was being made by his roommate to try to act like the average human that passed the threshold of his home then they wouldn't have to worry, or nag him, about it. The blonde was the best person to help him accomplish this as whatever opinion he gave on her behavior would be honest; no sugar coating for his friend's sake, no fear driving him to downplay any worrisome signs that she was going to once again be a terror. Now when he said she was attempting to be better it didn't mean she wasn't messing with his friend for laughs. Apparently she'd made some threats when he was nine that still freaked him out which she'd brought up that day he ran out of the house and continued to bring up to make sure he remembered his place. Other than that she didn't bother them. Actually she'd been civil the last time Chester'd been over. Believe it or not she greeted him the same way she did Timmy, a quick hey followed by a nickname (Snaggletooth). No luck in getting the others to brave a visit yet though.

As for whether or not he believed her story about an ex-husband, he had come to the conclusion that she was telling the truth. Was it the whole truth, no but that didn't change the fact that it was true. Sure there was plenty of contradictory evidence from her past but his own logic had ultimately been the deciding factor. That and the fact that the woman's pride wouldn't stand for receiving charity she didn't need. Lying, cheating, manipulating, all ways for her to get what she wanted by her own means. Charity required letting someone feel pity for her. And if there was one thing Vicky hated above all else it was being perceived as weak. No one would ever convince him this was all some elaborate ploy for some unseen goal. There was no way her pride would allow her to rely on the kindness of others, to be dependent on them, unless it was absolutely necessary and even then she'd only bear it until she was back on her feet. Another big reason was because owing anyone else a debt would drive her insane. Debts gave one person varying levels of control of the other. Why would a power hungry person like her give that to someone willingly?

Then there was the younger she-devil who now had it in for him. Unless they stopped fighting Tootie would soon loathe him as much as she hated her own sister, which he really didn't have a problem with. Their friendship ended a long time ago so it wouldn't really be much of a loss. Thing was, they still shared some friends who would be forced to choose a side, he couldn't put them through that. For their sakes, along with a week of being pestered by the rich girl duo, he went to see if it was possible to patch things up with Tootie. They'd argued until a shaky compromise had been reached; Tootie wouldn't start anything on his family's property and he wouldn't complain when she bitched about her sister. Other conditions applying solely to him were also made before she'd agree to it. It was hardly fair and a terrible solution to the problem but it'd do for the time being.

Veronica and Trixie, they were good friends most of the time, until Tootie was pissed off. Since there was no way she'd budge first the pair made him apologize first. It wasn't fair to put him in that situation merely to keep their social standing at school intact but it was nothing new. Better he dealt with whatever was making them walk on eggshells than get their boyfriends involved when he ignored their complaints. Elmer would complain nonstop about how much grief Tootie gave Trixie, how it upset her, and wishing he knew how to fix it. At least Francis came right out and told him to make things right. Life was easier when his ex was kept relatively happy.

Finally there was his dear mother. There never seemed to be an appropriate word or collection of words to describe that shattered relationship. Everything he did, everything about him, he was a never ending disappointment. Every flaw was used to snuff out any sense of self worth or confidence he managed to get from being around people that cared. Which was why they rarely exchanged more than a few words these days, should she managed to get more in she'd start to tear him apart with verbal abuse. Lately he hardly even got a glimpse of her other than dropping Hope off at her apartment or by chance seeing her before her latest boyfriend sped away from his house. In a way he was thankful for that.

However there were days it gave him mini heart attacks. His dad was driving him home after training for his new job when they saw his mother speeding away. Ms. Turner was not a patient woman, if he didn't answer the door she left Hope sitting on the doorstep. Timmy had lost track of the number of times he'd pleaded with her to walk the short distance over to the Dinklebergs' instead to avoid having his sister sit outside in the elements. Wanda could always be counted on to bring her inside as long as it wouldn't draw attention but with another human in the house she couldn't risk it. All she could do was use her magic to look after the child until he, his dad, or neighbors were able to get her. Thirty seconds later they pulled into the Dinklebergs' driveway and the brunette had been out the door and across the yard before his father had stopped the car. Oddly enough the front door was open, had his fairies done that? His mother no longer had a key and his roommate was out for the day so it probably was them.

So imagine his surprise when he saw his roommate, the living nightmare of every child who met her, holding a giggling Hope. The little girl had managed to grab fistfuls of red hair to the older woman's displeasure and there wasn't much she could do about it. One hand was holding the child while the other was occupied by the decorative bowl that had been on the coffee table. Hope had probably picked it up when the redhead let her roam around. The appropriate thing to do would be to help but the brunette instead stood in the doorway laughing. It was hard to remember this woman was evil, had chased him with medieval weapons, and meant to be feared when she looked so out of her element trying to dislodge the tiny hands from her hair.

Seeing her brother, the raven haired girl gave both fists a yank.

"Dammit Turner come get this brat!"

"Nah, looks like you've got it covered."

"TWERP!"

Rather than take the source of Vicky's pain, who was trying to grab more of the red locks, he took the bowl and went into the kitchen. He could hear squeals of delight from his sister as she was reprimanded. When he returned he couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of his ex-babysitter holding the happy child at arm's length, still reaching for the woman's hair. So small children were her weakness, go figure.

"Hate 'em this young; not old enough to scare into shape and still fragile."

"You just don't know what to do with a kid who likes you."

"Don't be silly you all loved me."

"Funny. Did my mother say anything?"

She handed the girl to him before plopping down on the couch. " 'I'm not paying you', " she smirked, "and 'back for her in a month'. "

Hope buried her face in his shirt, cooing happily. "A month? School starts back next week!"

"You could always let me babysit."

He gave her a skeptical look. "….no."

"Jeez Turner, only tryin' to help."

Rolling his eyes, Timmy put Hope on the floor, went to the hall closet, and pulled out the baby gate to put in front of the stairs. The child immediately made her way over to the redhead. "Mrs. Dinkleberg watches her while I'm at school."

"Yeah and she'll be thrilled to be stuck with a kid until you get off work too. Look my manager is switching me to the day shift, I can watch Twerpette while you wor- What's with that look?"

Oh I don't know maybe because there's always a catch.

"What's the catch?"

There was a pause she considered lying but she was still on thin ice for the whole scaring-his-friends thing so it was in her best interest to be honest. "I don't work for free."

With a shake of his head he went into the kitchen to get dinner started.

"Hey Turner."

Don't. Despite himself, he looked back at her.

The sly smirk on her face was a bad sign, "I accept alternate forms of payment."

"Ow! What the hell was that for?"

"I'm sick of having my hair pulled."

Hard to believe but that was Chester who just yelled at Vicky for smacking him upside the head. He and Timmy were sitting on the floor of the living room among a sea of markers when she came home from work. Both teens were covered in a rainbow of scribbles, as was the black haired child happily coloring her hands green and pink. A moment earlier the blonde had allowed Hope to yank his hair which prompted Vicky to smack him. Five days of slowly teaching her not to pull hair down the drain.

"Why the hell are you idiots letting her color on skin?"

"Relax they're washable." The blonde replied.

Ever since he'd been coaxed back into the house the blonde readily exploited his friend's newfound control over the redhead to get away with things he never would have dared otherwise. It was still a gamble on if he'd get away with talking smack so he stuck by his friend to be on the safe side. Timmy was practically her landlord so she couldn't stop him from saying whatever he wanted but she wouldn't hesitate to put the blonde back in his place. The problem was finding a way to do that without breaching their understanding. Verbal threats that were carefully worded and the occasional smack to the head were probably treading the line but they worked, to an extent. Brat was losing his fear of her faster than she'd like.

"That's doesn't mean its okay."

"What's the big deal? She's having fun."

Too annoyed to deal with them she went upstairs muttering something about teaching Chester about respect.

No matter how much she wanted to act like she didn't, Vicky couldn't deny the soft spot she'd developed for the little girl. Not that it kept her from being annoyed with the many bad habits he and Chester let her get away with. Hope was allowed to do as she pleased when she came to visit which had been fine and dandy until her motor skills got better and she learned to talk. He should teach her coloring on the furniture, walls, and people were bad, people aren't giant, unfeeling toys, and not everyone's phone was for her to play with. But he also had a hard time no letting her get away with things since her life in their mother's apartment was probably hell. On the other hand he didn't want her to grow up to be a little brat no one wanted anything to do with like some people he knew (Tootie). Discipline wasn't something he was good with enforcing, not even with his godbrother. There was a reason Wanda no longer left him to look after the child alone. He never enforced anything the fairy tried to teach her son, at times undoing her hard work. Some of Poof's bad habits were his fault, especially the toddler's willfulness.

His best friend was worse than he was about letting her get away with things. Unfortunately neither of them would probably follow through with disciplining her…They'd make terrible parents.

"Wha'cha doin' Hope?"

The child was standing at the baby gate blocking the stairs, markers long forgotten, squealing when the redhead reappeared. Astonished, the blonde looked at his friend. This was the first time he was seeing Hope's fondness for Vicky for himself.

"I know, it doesn't make sense."

With a snicker the blonde began to gather up the markers while Timmy picked up the papers. Meanwhile Vicky sat on the couch with the raven haired child in tow. There was an all too familiar look on the blonde's face, he was bursting to say something he shouldn't. Great.

"Got something you wanna say Snaggletooth?"

"He doesn't need to say it." The brunette muttered.

"Didn't ask you now did I Twerp?...And what do you think you're doing Twerpette?"

Trying to untie your shoes by the looks of it.

Vicky picked the child up and set Hope in her lap. "well Blondie?"

A quick evaluation of the situation and Chester decided it was safe to say whatever he'd been thinking. Should things go south he'd have a few seconds head start before she could give chase, so why not?

"Hope probably doesn't mind you since you're not human."

"Are you implying I'm a demon Chester?" There was the faintest hint of an edge to her voice when she said his name that sent him scrambling to hide behind the unamused brunette. She cackled at the looks on their faces; one had been successfully had a fear of her reborn while the other had a I'm-sick-of-your-bullshit look. Looking down at the little girl in her lap, "what do you think Twerpette?"

In response Hope clumsily stood up to grab at the hair at the top of the woman's head.

"Stop trying to show them my horns!"

"How is your sister not afraid of that?"

"No idea. Where are you going?"

Vicky had gotten up, holding Hope, and was going to the kitchen. "To wash the marker off."

Both tried to keep a straight face because their ex-babysitter had a faint green spot on one cheek and pink on the other. They managed to succeed until the water started running.

"Dude!"

"Yup."

"Her kryptonite's little kids! How funny is that?"

Something in the kitchen was knocked over. "If that information ever makes its way to another human Blondie I will drill holes to the nerves of every one of your teeth and make you eat ice!"

Said blonde laughed nervously. That was not an empty threat.

The loud chiming from Timmy's phone made them both jump.

"Shit."

"What?"

"Forgot I told Ryan we'd hang out today."

"Invite her over."

"After what happened last time? No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yup." To the brunette's dismay his friend took his phone. Several minutes were spent banging on the bathroom door where Chester had barricaded himself. When he emerged he looked very smug.

"Asshole."

"The nicest one you'll ever meet. Ryan's coming over."

"What?! How, when?"

"Told her you wanted to introduce her to Hope, that Vicky was working, and now."

Timmy was dumbfounded. What was his friend thinking?

"You –"

"Later man." Before he could receive more than a couple of insults Chester was out the door.

Yeah, there was no way this could go wrong, absolutely none. It wasn't like his roommate, for unknown reasons, hated the girl on her way over. This would be interesting.

Back in the living room he found Hope playing with some of her toys that the redhead had gotten out of his room, including her mutant bear. Vicky was sitting on the stairs messing around on her laptop.

"So Blondie left in a hurry."

"Are you seriously hiding on the stairs?"

"Nope."

"Can you behave while a friend is over?"

Curious she looked up from her screen, "I haven't been?"

"Chester invited the blonde girl you chased out over, she thinks you're at work."

Damn that smug smirk, "really? This is gonna be fun."

"You promised."

"Oh I know and I'll be on my very best behavior for your lady friend."

"Smartass."

Cheeky bitch winked. "You know it."

With no other options, Timmy sat in the floor to play with Hope which more or less meant being a jungle gym to wait for the inevitable. His friend had left with his phone so he couldn't try to get in touch with Ryan before she got there. He'd finally started to relax when the doorbell rang and to his horror, the redhead was opening the door before he could get up.

"Well hey there." Vicky had one of her trademark evil smirks plastered on her face as she looked down at the petite blonde. "Lover boy can't wait to see you."

The blonde looked at him then back at the redhead who was moving into the kitchen. She didn't look too pleased to see Vicky again. Nevertheless she smiled at him. "Hey Turner."

"Hi. Sorry 'bout that, Chester stole my phone."

She shrugged as she sat on the couch. "Its fine. So that's your sister?"

Hope didn't notice a new person was in the room. So many people came and went in her own home that she no longer looked up when the door opened or reacted to unfamiliar voices. She was too busy playing with a pack of stickers that she'd found to pay attention to anything.

"Yeah this is Hope."

"Cutie."

"Hey Hope, want to say hi?"

Looking up, the child looked to her brother then to the new person on the couch. Hazel eyes widened before she held her bear to her face, some kind of if-I-can't-see-you-you-can't-see-me thing. Here he was hoping that she wouldn't do that.

"Aw, you shy?"

He swore he heard a quiet chuckle from the kitchen but that could have been his imagination. Picking her up he tried to coax her to look up from her Franken-bear. Sometimes it worked when Trixie was around so it was worth a shot but no such luck. The child refused to look at the blonde.

"She's afraid of girls."

Ryan frowned. "How come?"

"I have no idea, she does it to every time." Almost every time.

Kneeling down in front of the siblings, Ryan talked to Hope in that soft voice people use with infants. Not that it helped. Then Hope did something she hadn't done in a while, she started shaking. That wasn't good. Next she'd start crying.

But before he could do anything his sister was taken from him and in Vicky's arms. The woman talked to the child just as she would anyone else. "What's wrong Twerpette?"

A tiny smiled appeared on the child's face. When the woman pulled an angry face the girl giggled. Both teens were sat in silence. Ryan couldn't believe a child would like the woman before her and Timmy, well he really wanted to go hide under a rock. This was worse than last time if only because of the know-your-place-bitch look the redhead was giving the blonde.

Women weren't worth the drama.