1x1 with x_fire

Alexi's eyes grew wide as she nipped him, then yelped as he was pushed backwards, tripping and falling onto the bed. He glanced at her, suprised by the sudden roughness, not that he minded, she had just suprised him.
"Maria?" He arched an eyebrow, just lying on his back on the bed, fairly comfortable. He laughed softly, letting his fangs slid out, biting into his lower lip in a calm manner. He felt his fang puncture and cursed as a small droplet of blood appeared on his lip, where his fang had been.

Demitri nodded, smiling as Maddie laced her fingers with his. The little girl was half-awake, though she fell asleep again with Kristen's reassurance.
"Guess everyones fairl worn out" He commented tiredly, watching as Keith and Alayna practically passed out on the couch.
Keith sighed, nudging Alayna.
"Come on love, bedtime" He said, standing up and stretching.
"See you guys in the morning"

Maria laughed quetly, bitting her lip gently as she watched Alexi, taking her steps slowly and smoothly towards the bed. "Alexi." she replied, her voice gently and sweet. Her eyes darted to his lip the moment his fang drew blood and she sighed, shaking her head. Folding her arms over her chest, Maria stood near the bed, looking down at him.
"What on earth am I going to do with you love?" Maria asked, shaking her head again..


Kristen nodded to Demitri, watching as Alayna stood up slowly. Alayna yawned and strecthed lightly, rubbing her stiff neck and sighing.
"Yea. Night." she murmured, waving gently, eyes half closed as she headed out of the room, waiting for Keith at the bottom of the stairs.
Kristen sighed, rubbing her eyes gently, looking down at Maddie who was out like a lightbulb at this point. She didn't give much leave for Kristen to move around at all. Kristen shook her head with a smile on her face before sighing. She picked Maddie up gently so that she could lay properly on the bed, putting the little girl back against her side.
"Sheesh what a mess..." Kristen murmured, shaking her head at the blood-stained bedsheets and blankets.

Alexi laughed.
"Well, as stated in a previous conversation, I am your prisioner. So do with me what you want" He teased, wiping away the blood, and licking his finger absentmindedly. He glanced at her, blue eyes dancing with amusmant. He tightened his abs in anticipation, grinning at her all the while.

Demitri smiled.
"Sleep tight" He called in a semi-exahusted voice, as he rolled onto his front again. His back burned as the cold air hit it and he let out a small gasp.
"Kristen?" He said, wincing, each movement was turning into agony, and he couldn't handle it right more. It was bad, very bad. He gasped again, biting into the pillow, minus his fangs, to try and keep from screaming.

Maria seemed to think about this for a moment. A small growl started in her throat before she pounced on Alexi, pinning him to the ever protesting bed and kissing him roughly at first before she eased up. At one point, Maria could tast Alexi's blood and her eyes grew wide and she pulled from him, covering her mouth for a moment. For some reason, that didn't seem right to her but Maria quickly recovered, rubbing her lips with the back of her hand and shaking her head.


Maddie turned in her sleep, away from Kristen and onto her back. Kristen's eyes shot open and she quickly looked over at Demitri. Fear lanced through her and Kristen sat up slowly reaching over to brush her fingers gently over Demitri's back. Kristen snatched her hand back, shaking her head. "No." she murmured. This couldn't be happening. Not again. "Shit." Kristen cursed, looking around quickly for Demitri's phone. "Goddamnit." Kristen murmured, searching through the blankets and sheets frantically before finding the device. She quickly dialed Sven's number, holding the phone to her ear and forcing herself to breath deeply.
"Alexi, we've got a problem." Kristen said, looking towards the door, hoping the vampire would hear her as she waited impatiently for Sven to answer. Her eyes darted to Demitri periodically as the dail tone rang in her ear.

Alexi smiled at Maria, before freezing as he heard Kristen's voice.
"Shit" He jumped up, rushing out of the bedroom and blowing into Kristen and Demitri's, not bothering to stop and knock.
"What's wromg?" He asked, noting Kristen was on the phone. Demitri was biting his pillow, and his face spasamed occasionally in pain. Hesitantly, he walked over, seeing more blood on Demitri's back, and what looked like fresh blisters.
"Oh damn" He growled, feeling the heat. He snatched Maddie off the bed, not wanting the boiling hot blood to touch her.

Sven picked up his phone.
"Hello?" He asked, confused, why on earth was Demitri calling him, he heard Kristen cursing on the other end, along with Alexi.
"Oh shit" He stammered, glancing at Vlad and gesturing for him to go start the car. Grabbing his bag, he kept the phone pressed to his ear, before following Vlad outside.

Demitri winced, feeling the veins bursting in his back as blood ran down his tortured skin. God damn it hurt, why? Why was this happening again. A strangled growl escaped him as Alexi burst into the room, cursing and grabbing Maddie. He wanted to speak, but was to scared he'd start screaming or something. The pain was intense, but it was some how different this time, not was bad as before, but bad. He glanced at Kristen, hoping she couldn't feel it. Sometimes that was how it worked, sometimes they didn't feel the pain, if they were close enough.

Maria's head turned, hearing Kristen. Her eyes went wide as Alexi ran from the room. She was quick to follow him, stopping only to tell Jason to stay in th guest house. Following Alexi upstairs, Maria frowned, hearing him curse and Maddie cry quietly.

The jult of being pulled from the bed woke her up, and the wave of pain from Demitri hit her the moment she was awake. Maddie's eyes went wide and she turned to look at Demitri, fearful and scared. "No.." she groaned quietly, shaking her head before digging her face into Alexi's shoulder.

Maria winced at the child's actions, looking at Alexi. "Maddie come here. Alexi needs to help Demitri." she said softly, keeping the worry and fear from her voice. Maddie let Maria take her, putting her hands to her chest as Maria rocked gently, trying to soothe the child.

Kristen just shook her head. Her face was pale as she looked back at Demitri, seeing the blood trailing down his back. Sven answered the phone, but just at the moment, Maddie screamed quietly, having woken up. Kristen looked up as Maria took the child, and Maria caught her eye, nodding and taking Maddie out of the room, much to the little girl's protest.
"This just started. He-he was fine before." Kristen stumbled over her words, feeling her throat constrict. She swallowed hard, shaking her head, the phone still pressed to her ear though she hoped at this point, she didn't need to explain to Sven what was wrong.

Sven nodded, "I'm on my way Kristen, just try and keep the burns under control with cold water and ice. I thought this might happen again" He said, keeping his voice calm and reassuring, "Twenty minutes Kristen, can you do what I asked for twenty minutes?" He knew she had to, Alexi would help, but this was all he needed her to do. He had anticipated something like this happening, mainly because the blood had been in Demitri's system for so long, that the blood they had used hadn't been enough to counteract it all, just to supress it. They didn't need more of Demitri's relatives blood, but he'd die before the rest of the blood worked it's way out of his system.
"Do you even know what to do?" Vlad mumbled, shaking his head.
"I have no idea. I'm hoping this book will help" He nodded at a large, vampiric medical journal. It was ancient, from back when the posion had been normal.

Alexi let Maria take Maddie, before rushing into the washroom and filling a bowl with icy cold water and grabbing a cloth. Walking back into the room, he wrapped his hand in the cool cloth, and began to bathe Demitri's sore back, wincing at hsi brother's tensed reaction.
"Demitri chill" Alexi murmured, though he doubted that was exactly easy right now. Demitri laughed harshly, and Alexi sighed, pressing the cloth to the burns and wiped away the blood so they could assess his injuries.

Kristen nodded as she listened to Sven, wacthing Alexi as he started doing what Sven said. "Yea." she said, sticking to simple phrases. Part of her was numb at this point, almost unable to register that this was happening once more. "Just hurry." Kristen pleaded before closing the phone and tossing it towards the pillow. She watched Alexi for a moment, looking at the bucket and shaking her head.

"I can't believe this." Kristen said, cursing again before getting up from the bed. The world spun on her for a moment, but she forced herself to the bathroom, grabbing a cloth and soaking it in the icy water, rubbing Demitri's face gently before going to the burns he had over his shoulders and arms.

Alexi nodded, looking up at Kristen as she worked. She stuck to his arms, shoulders and neck while he did lower and upper back.
"I can't believe this either" He murmured, sighing and shaking his head, this was exahusting, and he was worried sick of Demitri and Maddie. "Kristen, I'm so sorry this is happening again. Sven and Vlad will find out what's wrong" He said, trying to keep her reassured, he knew she was beyond stressed as was he.

Demitri let out a small, relieved sigh. The cold water felt good, but it wasn't amazingly soothing, as his entire back was burning. Alexi was moping up the blood as quickly ashe could, trying to keep it from burning him, which was a relief, but he just wanted the pain to stop. Blackness began to close in on him, and he welcomed it. His eyes flickered once, before his entire body went limp.
"Demitri?" Alexi dropped his cloth, kneeling by his brother's side. "Demitri?"

Kristen swallowed hard, breathing deeply. Her heart was racing now, though she wasn't doing anything, and her need for air was increasing. She took breath after breath, but nothing seemed to help. She stopped moving, her hand clucthed in the cloth against Demitri's shoulder. She stared distantly at the cloth as darkness ebbed at her vision.

Kristen's whole body went tense then as she fought against it. "No..." Kristen breathed, her eyes wide, though still distant. "No, don't do this to me Demitri." Kristen moaned, swallowing hard, trying to keep her breathing straight. That was becoming more difficult now. Her body felt heavy, and she couldn't move her hand if she wanted to. Faintly she could hear Maddie screaming and crying in the hallway.

"Maria, go get Keith and Alayna" Alexi hissed, dropping his rag to grab Kristen, holding her for a minute.
"Kristen, just breath, please. Demitri'll be fine, I promise. Just breath" He gently lay her down on the couch, Keith had mentioned a block earlier, he was going to see if he could put one around Kristen, prevent her from feeling what Demitri was, he needed her help. "Hurry" He growled, wincing at the ferocity in his voice.
"Kristen, stay with me, eyes open, look at me" Alexi kept his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to focus on him. Keith could do the block, just until Demitri was better, then it would be fine, but he couldn't let her and Maddie suffer this way.

Keith yawned, he heard Alexi panicking upstairs, and sighed. He sat up, "Alayna, something's up" He shook her gently, vanishing his wings as he stepped into the hallway, and nearly ran into Maria and a visibly upset Maddie.
"Oh damn" He growled, eyes growing wide, he understood. Cursing, he turned, dashing up the stairs, pushing open the door and wincing at the sight. "Alexi?"
"Keith, shit, finally" Alexi whirled, sighing.
"Keith, I need you to put a block up, between Demitri and Kristen. She can't survive feeling the pain he is, it isn't built for her body.
Keith sighed, "I can do that" He walked over to Kristen, placing his hands on her shoulders, and begining to mutter in latin. Light flared, surrounding the girl, severing her connection with Demitri, in the physical sense. She would still be aware of him, but his pain was now only his pain.
"Kristen?" He asked, his voice soft.

Kristen was falling back as Alexi reached out to grab her. She was sweating now, though it was cold, and her body was shaking. Her throat was dry and her breathing wasw ragid. She heard Alexi, though he sounded faint, off in some other place. Her eyes fluttered, but whether they were actually opened or not Kristen didn't know. "I-" Kristen couldn't even speak, her breath catching in her throat.

Maria flinched at Alexi's voice, holding Maddie tightly in her arms. The child had started crying again, and Maria was doing everything she could to keep her calm. "Shh Maddie. It's going to be alright." she murmured as she walked down the hallway and practically flew down the stairs.

Alayna gasped as Keth shook her. She rubbed her eyes roughly looking around and over at the clock. It was past midnight. "What's wrong?" she asked as Keith got up from the bed and ran into Keith. Her eyes went wide, not needing to be awake to understand why Maddie was awake and clinging desperatly to Maria. "Oh no." Alayna murmured, sitting up then and waving Maria to come into the room.

Maria sighed, glad that she didn't have to explain to Keith and she watched as he disappeared up the stairs. Maddie was still crying and Maria turned to Alayna, smiling thankfully before going into the bedroom and sitting on the bed. Maria and Alayna shared a look before Alayna's shouolders fell.

Kristen gasped shrewdly, needing the air desperatly back in her lungs. Her eyes shot open and her body julted as she realzied she was laying on the couch. Chest heaving, Kristen looked from Keith to Alexi. Part of her fell empty, different and she looked at them both, confused. "What happened?" she asked, her voice harsh. Fear lanced through her, thinking she had passed out or something.

Keith and Alexi breathed harsh sighs of relief.
"I put a block between you and Demitri" Keith explained. "His pain was killing you, you're body couldn't handle it. So, physically, youre seperated from him right now. I'll take the block away as soon as he's better" He said, falling back on his heels and breathing deeply. He felt a familiar tingle running over his body, his magic was regenerating itself, the amount of healing he had done in the last few days, not to mention the block was exahusting.

Alexi sighed, "Sorry Kristen, but you were dying, which was only going to make the situation worse for all of you" He heard the door open downstairs, sighing in relief.
"Sven's here" He murmured, watching as his brother raced into the bedroom.
"What's going on?" Vlad asked, arriving just behind Sven. After a quick explanation, Vlad disappeared downstairs, to see Maddie, Maria and Alayna. He stepped into the bedroom, sighing as Maddie's sobs reached his ears.
"Hey" He said gently.

Sven moved over to Demitri, taking the cloth Alexi had abandoned and wiping away some blood.
"Shit" He murmured, pulling the book from his bag, "Someone look through here, it's written in english try and find another cure. It was written when this posion was normal" He said, handing Alexi the book. Alexi sighed and opened the book, sitting next to Kristen.
"Help me?" He asked softly, trying to include her.

Kristen stared up at Keith with wide eyes, her breathing still a bit labored. "You did what?" she asked before looking over at Alexi. Her eyes went wide as he told her what had happened and she felt her body go numb at the thought. A hand went up to her head as she forced herself to sit and look over at Demitri.
"If I was..." she swallowed shuddering and shaking her head, not finishing the sentence. She had been fighting against it, or trying at least. She held her head in her hands, looking up only when Sven walked into the room. Her eyes were red from the strain of tears as she looked at the book in Alexi's lap. Nodding, glad to have something to do, she flipped through the pages gently. It had all sorts of illnesses and cures written in old english, and Kristen had no trouble reading things over.

Finding a section on posions, Kristen sighed; there was a whole listen of different ones. "Do you know what it's called?" Kristen asked, her voice rough. "There's a whole list of posions..."


Alayna looked up as Vlad came into the room. Maria hardly looked phased, having heard the discussion upstairs. "Hi." she murmured. At this point, Maddie was lying on the bed, her head in Maria's lap. Her thumb was in her mouth and her body was still shaking from her sobs. Alayna had a cool cloth and was whipping Maddie's face gently which was red and blothy from the tears.
"How bad is it?" Maria spoke quietly, her eyes leaving Maddie to look up at Vlad, knowing he would hear her. "She hasn't stopped crying, though we managed to stop her screaming ealier..."

Sven shook his head.
"No, I have no idea, something to do with heat, or fire" He murmured, fiddling in his bag for a bottle. He rolled the unconcsious Demitri onto his side and gently poured the contents down his brother's throat, wincing at the burns that marred Demitri's arms, back, shoulders and neck. Thankfully his face hadn't been burned, which was a relief.
"Find anything?" He asked Kristen, she was better at reading Old English then Alexi it seemed.

"Bad" Vlad murmured, sitting next to Maddie and rubbing her back.
"Keith but a block between Demitri and Kristen, so that Kristen can no longer feel any of Demitri's pain" He explained, Keith was still up there, helping Sven while Kristen and Alexi searched for a cure.
"They're looking up cures in an old vampiric medical journal"

"That's going to make it difficult..." Kristen said, sighing, rubbing her face and putting her finger to the paper and steadily going down the listen. Some of these things, Kristen had never even heard of. She forced herself to look for anything that mentioned fire, heat or flames. She muttered some of the names and remides to herself as her eyes wandered down the list before she turned the parchement page gently.

Her eyes were a sharp green now as they wandered back and forth. One stuck out to Kristen and she stopped to read it. It was called Red Death, and had the ingredients that made it in one colum before a remedy in the other. "Maybe it's this..." Kristen murmured, thinking red stood for fire. "Blood of a realitve..." Kristen read, squinting at the fine writting on the paper. "Or..." Kristen's eyes went wide as the words regesitered in her mind- blood of a loved one. Kristen swallowed, there was more after that, but the ink was faded and Kristen couldn't make out what it said too well.


Maddie's eyes turned to Vlad for a moment as the vampire rubbed her back with cold hands. She turned her face into Maria's thigh, not wanting to look at any of them right now. Slowly, she was calming down, but whether that was a good thing or not, neither Maria or Alayna were sure. Maddie murmured something Maria didn't catch before picking her head up, resting against Maria like a pillow before closing her eyes.
Maria turned back to Vlad. "Medical journal? Think they'll find another cure?" she asked, not as quiet, gaining a confused glance from Alayna.

Alexi looked over at the book, eyes growing wide.
"Blood of-" He cut off, looking at Kristen eyes wide, worried. He sighed, shaking his head, he glanced down at the symptoms.
"I'd say this is it" He stammered, the symptoms described were exactly like Demitri's.
"Once the reciepent has recieved blood of a relative, the posion becomes neutral in the system for up to twenty four hours. After that, they need periodic doses of blood, from a loved one, for another twenty four hours. The loved one must give the blood willingly, but, they are not required to give their life, as the relative already did that" He read, glancing at Sven.
"So, one of us, myself, Kristen, you or Vlad must give our blood, every hour, on the hour for the next twenty four hours?" He murmured, shaking his head.
"We could alternate?" Keith suggested, he could donate his own blood as well. "Demitri and I are close, he's the only family I have, besides Alayna. I'm willing to help" He murmured.
Sven nodded, "Alternating makes sense, that way, no one is required to actually drain themselves" He said, he winced and wiped blood from his hands, noting his own small burns.

Vlad sighed, "It's a journal, written back before any of us, myself included were born. So it would have been written around the time this posion was running rampant" He explained.
"Hopefully, Sven seems hopeful, and as our resident doctor, I'm sure he'll figure something out" He continued to rub Maddie's back, keeping his mind occupied.

Kristen took a deep, shaking breath, turning away from the book, looking over at Demitri. She heard Alexi and the other talking, but it was somewhat of a distant humming in her ears. Her eyes wandered over to the clock. It was nearly one o'clock in the morning. Doing quick math in her head, Krsiten nodded to herself. If they did alternate, Kristen wouldn't have to give again until five in the morning. That she coud handle.

"Alright." She murmured, bringing herself back into the conversation before pushing her sleeves up. "If I give now, I won't have to again until 5. That's enough time for me to recover if we're going to alternate." she said. Her eyes wandered from Demitri to look at Alexi, then Sven and Keith before back at Demitri. Standing, she took a deep breath before bitting into her wriste with her tiger fangs. She winced at the pain and the blood that instantly ran down her arm. Kristen swallowed hard before sitting down next to Demitri and putting her bleed arm to Demitri's mouth.


Alayna and Maria nodded. Maddie whimpered quietly, though never crying again, too tired to sob at the moment. Maria glanced down at the child before growing tense. She could faintly smell Kristen's blood now and she frowned, looking at Vlad. She hadn't been listening to the converstaion upstairs, too focused on Maddie. "What the hell are they doing?" she hissed, looking up at the ceiling.

Demitri's fang slid out, sliding into Kristen's flesh, the blood coursing down his throat, soothing his aggrivated internal organs until, Sven yanked him back.
"That's enough" He murmured, quickly binding Kristen's wrist.
"I'll go next, then Sven, Alexi, and Vlad, if he wants in on this" Keith murmured, shaking his head and sighing. He stretched out, smiling at Kristen and careuflly stretched out agian. His body was sor again, and he wanted to stretch out.
"Sounds like a plan" Sven murmured, as Alexi nodded.
"So after the blood, he'll be fine, with the burning. He'll still take a lot of recovery time though" He glanced at Kristen, hoping she was up to the task.

"Demitri needs the blood of loved ones, given willing for the next twenty four hours. They're working out a scheduel for when he needs to feed. Kristen went first, she won't have to feed him again for the next while. Then, Keith, Sven, Alexi, myself, and back to Kristen again. He'll be fine after that, he just has a lot of recovery time though" He explained to Maria, having evesdropped on the conversation.
"Sven? I'm in" he called softly, knowing his brothers would hear, and understand.

Kristen winced as Demitri's fangs sliced into her arm, reminding her painfully of the day back at the school. She hadn't even realized that she had given Demitri the same arm again. Kristen was beyond releaved when Sven brought Demtiri away. She had been seeing black spots in her vision and had feared that Demitri would get close to draining her. She blinked harshly, swallowing and forcing herself to breathe deeply as Sven wrapped her wrist.
"Sure..." was all she could muster, falling back against the couch. "Wake me up when you need me." Kristen murmured, closing her eyes and letting herself pass out as she leaned back in the couch.


Maria nodded, listening to Vlad quietly. Maddie had fallen asleep in her map, and she sighed with relief. "I hope this is good..." Maria murmured.
Alayna nodded. "It is. This happened yesterday too. She completely passed out. Slept the whole night." Maria nodded. She moved quickly then, slipping out from under the child, and pulling the blankets over Maddie.
"If they're going to be doing this for a while, I need to get Jason out of the house." Maria murmured, shaking her head before leaving the room. She walked upstairs, knocking lightly before stepping in, looking over at everyone in turn with worried eyes.

Sven nodded, sighing, Demitri was still out, and now Kristen was too.
Alexi glanced up as Maria came in, "Do you want me to take Jason out for a bit?" He asked, grinning at her.
"I just have to be back in, uh, two hours?" He checked with Sven, who nodded.
"Unless you and Vlad switch"
"Alright, I'll take him love" He said to Maria, knowing that she didn't like taking care of newborns. He sighed and stood, stretching out.

Vlad watched Maria go, hanging his head and sighing.
"You can go back to sleep Alayna, I can take care of Maddie" He murmured, sighig and shaking his head. He carefully lifted Maddie into his arms, keeping her wrapped in the blankets. He sighed, needing to hold Maddie right now, she reassured him that Demitri was alright.

Maria grinned. "Well, I don't know how he's holding up in the guest house with all this blood." she said quietly. "I'm sure he's probably restless. I stopped listening for him a while ago." She looked over at Kristen, who was a bit pale and had a crimson red blotch on the wrapping around her wrist. Kristen was out cold, and it seemed that Demitri was as well. Maria sighed then, shaking her head gently. "I'ma tag along if you don't mind. Alayna and Vlad are with Maddie downstairs."


Alayna looked up at Vlad as he picked up Maddie. "You can leave her here..." she murmured, nodding to the massive bed. "If you want to go upstairs with everyone else. I don't mind." Alayna smiled warmly as Maddie stirred in the blankets as Vlad picked her up at held her.

Alexi sighed and shook his head, "Alright love" He murmured shaking his head and sighing. He scooped up her hand and led the way to the guest house, checking on Jason.
"Hey Jason?" He called, stepping inside and shaking his head. Everything seemed relatively alright for now.
"Wanna go hunting?" He asked the lounging vampire, he was exahusted, and the scent of all the blood had been getting to him as well.

Vlad sighed, "Honestly Alayna, I'm not ready to go up there right now. I'm more content with just hanging out with Maddie" He admitted. The little girl, being Demitri's adopted daughter, had become sort of the main point of attention in the house, and all the vampires had become enamoured with her incredibly fast.

Maria smiled then, lacing her fingers with Alexi's as they walked into the guest house. Jason was sitting on the couch, motionless. He opened his eyes, hearing Alexi and Maria walk into the room.
God yes, my throat is burning. Jason murmured, not even realizing that he ws speaking spanish, rubbing his throat gently.
Maria nodded giving Jason her free hand to help him off the couch. "Let's go then." Jason nodded, taking Maria hand and sitting up rubbing his face before standing.
"What's been going on?" he asked then as Maria steered him out the door.
Maria sighed and shook her head. "Drama." she answer simply, looking over at Alexi with teasing eyes as she walked outside.


Alayna smiled, looking at Vlad curiously before letting it be. "Alright then. You can sit out in the living room if you want, there's a T.V out there." Alayna murmured, rubbing her eyes and neck gently before slidding back into the bed under the covers that Maddie wasn't covered in.

Alexi sighed, shaking his head and looking confused, though he allowed Maria to lead him from the house. He laughed softly, letting the burning in his own throat control him now. He drifted away from the others, eyes darting back and forth, a small sigh escaping him.
So close He muttered in Russian, before suddenly, he disappeared over a dune of snow, coming upon a bunch of drunken sledding teenagers. He smiled, before everything sort of went black, which was normal when you hunted, instincts took over.

Vlad sighed, "Alright" He murmured, cradling Maddie in his arms ss he walked into the living room. He wasn't about to let the little girl go, he needed her, and he was sure she needed him as well. He kept her close and sighed, flicking the TV on and kept the volume low, so Maddie didn't wake up.