Matty went and grabbed some pizza and sat down next to Joey.

Joey spoke, "What did your mom want?"

"She just wanted to know how I was doing. If I was alright since it was the bad men that took me that were following Leann and you."

Joey looked a little scared, "Do you think they will be after me too? I am a boy."

Phillip came over. "Hey Joey, don't worry. We won't let anything happen to any of you kids. We do think it's Matty they are most interested in. Leann possibly too. But Karbala does not think that highly of women. We don't know if they would actually take her. They probably did think you were Matty though. Mom will take care of talking to your parents. Letting them know what is going on."

Joey looked at him. "I hope all this doesn't mean I have to stop coming over here. I love it here. Mom was even starting to loosen up at letting me go to your house, Phillip. I really don't get why she hates you so much. You are actually really nice."

Phillip put his arm around Joey's shoulders. "I'm sorry Joey. Look about your mom. I kind of was not that great to her either in the beginning. I just have issues keeping my mouth shut. We never really got along. But I don't think she actually really hated me until I punched our dad that one time. Jamie had done something stupid, and dad was yelling at him. He made Jamie cry. I was just so sick of it all. The eggshells that we had to walk on. The way he hurt my mom when he left us. Leaving her to take care of two little kids all by herself. Making me feel like I ruined his life. Having Lee as a stepfather did not help. I finally got a taste of what having a father who actually loved me would be like. It just made it hurt more that my actual father thought I was a mistake that ruined his life. I just snapped, and I punched dad. Then dad and I barely talked for a couple of years until after Matty got kidnapped and I almost died."

Joey looked at him, "Our dad actually really does love you. My parents fight so much over you. I thought they were going to split up for a while. "

Phillip looked sad, "I am sorry about that Joey. If they split up because of me. I will feel horrible. I don't want that. I actually do love him. Even when I was so mad at him and almost changed my last name to Stetson. I didn't do it. I do know our dad is a good guy. He just hurt all the people I care about most in the world. But my biggest regret about that whole time is you and I never really got to know each other. I would like to change that. But we will probably have to wait until your mom calms down when she finds out about all this."

Joey laughed a little, "I would like that too, Phillip. She is seriously never going to let me come back over here. On the plus side, I don't think there's a way to make this all your fault. I mean it wasn't Irene's family. It is more Uncle Lee's fault, and my mom likes Uncle Lee. Matty and Uncle Lee are her favorites in your family. Especially Matty, I always get compared to him especially when I was in Junior Trailblazers, because Matty broke the Junior Trailblazers record for making raccoon level."

Phillip nodded, "Yeah well, the little dude was born at the Junior Trailblazers camp. Nobody can compete with him. I know all my high school records are about to get broken. But as long as its him that beats them. I am fine with it. I will still be cool at Arlington High because I am Matty's brother. Too bad you don't live in Arlington, Joey. I bet you could break some of my pitching records. Little dude does not pitch. He just plays shortstop in baseball. You would have a chance."

Joey looked at Phillip, "How come you never gave me a nickname? You call Matty "Little dude", Leann you usually call either "Munchkin" or "Runt". And well Jamie, you have a gazillion nicknames for."

Phillip smiled, "You want me to give you a nickname, Joey? I used to call you Binky when you were a baby because you loved your Binky so much. But well Carrie didn't like it. So, I stopped. I can bring that nickname back."

Joey laughed, "No, that's ok. I think I am ok with you just calling me Joey."

Phillip nodded. "Alright, Binky will not be making a comeback. You do deserve a good nickname. I will consult with Jamie and get back to you."

His mother and Leann came out of the room. He could tell his little sister had been crying. Then Leann came over and hugged Matty. "I don't want them to take you away again."
Matty smiled gently at her, "I plan on putting up one hell of a fight if they try. I have five black belts now, so I won't make it easy for them. You won't either you have two black belts. If we stick together, I don't think anyone can touch us."

Their mother came over to them and put her arms around both of them. "Nobody is going to hurt either of you. Your daddy and I will do everything in our power to protect you. Now tonight we are going to have a slumber party downstairs."

His mother and Phillip setup some roll away beds. Irene, Phillip and their three kids all slept in the game room. Matty, Leann, Joey and his mom slept in the bedroom. Leann slept in the big bed with their mother. And they had separate roll-away beds for Matty & Joey.

Matty was asleep on the roll-away bed when he felt someone tapping on his forehead, "Wake up kid." He opened his eyes, and his father was there. His dad looked tired and a little sad.

His dad moved some hair off Matty's forehead. "Sorry to wake you up. I just wanted to talk to you for a minute. Are you ok?"

Matty nodded yes "I'm fine dad. No bad dreams yet. Did you catch them?"

His dad sighed, "No. I talked to your mom. We are going to keep you home from school today. Phillip will go with you to school tomorrow. He is going to be your interpreter until the danger subsides. I am going to assign Leatherneck to go undercover at the elementary school as the janitor. I will also have agents assigned to watch over Joey. But you are the one we think they are most interested in. I won't let them hurt you again. I am not going to let anyone I love get taken by Karbala from me a third time."

Matty was confused, "Who else got taken from you? I only got kidnapped once."

His dad ran his hand through his hair, "Your mom got taken by Karbala once. It was only for a week. But it was the same man that was behind taking you."

Matty with shock, "Mom got kidnapped by Karbala once too? They hurt Mom too. You and mom never told me that. What can I do to help bring them down? Can I work for the Agency? I will be 16 in a couple of weeks. Phillip started working for the Agency when he was 16. Jamie worked there for a couple of summers too. I want to help."

His dad ruffled his hair, "I love you, kid. You are great. Maybe this summer? I will talk to your mom about it. In the meantime, you can help by keeping your eyes open. I don't want you or your sister going anywhere alone. And you do everything I taught you. If there is danger you find your way back to the basement by any means necessary. Even if it's a false alarm. If you are in the middle of a class and someone looks at you funny. You run. You leave the school. You have my permission. I don't want you taking any chances."

The next few weeks flew by quickly. Phillip loved going to school with Matty and being his interpreter. Matty got closer with Jeff and Davy. Especially Jeff, he had so much in common with him.

Matty's date with Rachel to Goofy Golf had gone really well. He had taken her to the movies on their next date. Rachel did not even mind that he kept bringing both of his parents on their dates. Even though it was a little embarrassing when his parents would start making out with each other like teenagers. When he and Rachel were the teenagers that should have been making out. But Rachel thought it was funny and thought it was really sweet how close Matty was to his parents.

The more Matty got to know Rachel the more he liked her. She just was so understanding and nice, and really pretty. Matty was starting to really fall for her.

His family then had a little sixteenth birthday for him. Jamie came home from NYC for it. Rachel, Davy & Jeff also came. His parents got him his own cellphone for his birthday. They also got him a ton of new video games. That had been a really great day. He had friends, a girlfriend, and the best family. The danger was still out there looming but Matty was happier right now than he had been in a long time.

Notes:

So the next few chapters are not going to be as fluffy but the fluff will return. We are about to get into the meat of this story. The prequel part of the sequel which is a little darker and sadder than what I have posted so far. Also the reason I rated this whole thing T instead of K or K+ for the swearing. I won't make it too graphic because I don't like that either. It is just Matty is about to get his voice back and he and Lee tell Amanda the story of going to England. And I won't have Phillip and his family for as much comic relief in the prequel portion of the story. Just remember Amanda and Phillip are fine.