1x1 with x_fire

Kristen glanced up from the book she was reading as she heard Demitri wandered into the room. She stood up form the bed in enough time to catch the keys he was tossing her. Raising an eyebrow curiously, Kristen wondered why her husband had tossed her a set of keys, and then he explained what they were to and Kristen grinned.
"She's going to be thrilled." Kristen said, laughing happily. "When should we tell her? Now or later?" Kristen wondered curiously. She was pretty sure that Maddie was still outside, she'd heard the girl leave through the back door just a few minutes ago.

"Zach's doing better by the way." Kristen murmured, just to let Demitri know. "Even though he shifted, being in his wolf form is healing him. He was able to walk downstairs; he got to Alayna by himself." Kristen said, a small smirk on her face as she thought about their son who was probably curled up, sleeping next to Alayna downstairs.

Looking back at the keys, Kristen couldn't help but sigh. She couldn't believe that Maddie was old enough now to be driving. She had her licence, and now she had a car. Kristen felt a small sting in the back of her eyes and she sighed deeply before glancing back at Demitri with a weak smile.
"Time goes by so fast I guess." She said in small explanation to her sudden mood change.

"Now" Demitri murmured, "Better then doing it in front of Zach, he's bound to be a bit jealous that she's getting a car, even though he'll get one once he's old enough to drive" He murmured. Nodding at Kristen's explanation, he shrugged slightly, all life went by fast to him, it worried him that his children may grow old and die one day, especially if they didn't allow him to change them, well if Maddie didn't. They were still unsure of Zach had the vampire immortality yet or not.

"Lets go talk to her" He murmured, taking his wife's hand to lead her downstairs. He knew Maddie would be eccstatic, he just hoped she was responsible. They had already laid down the ground rules of driving with her and she knew any bad decisions could lead to the vehicle being taken away, but it still worried him a bit. Shaking the melancholy thoughts from his head, he pushed open the back door, glancing around for Maddie, before he spotted her a little ways of.
"Hey" He greeted casually, he'd let Kristen break the news. "How was school and practice?" He added, since he was actually curious. He knew how Zach's day had ended, and he was glad to hear that shifting, while initially bad, was healing Zach up, he knew the teen had been worried about missing practice and all that.

Kristen nodded gently and allowed Demitri to lead her out of the room and outside to the back yard.

Maddie was there, sitting on top of the monkey bars, letting her feet swing. She was humming a tune to herself, but Kristen couldn't regcongize it since Maddie stopped the instant she heard her parents open the door. Turning to face them, Maddie smiled and jumped down from the monkey bars, sitting on a sing instead.

"Hiya." She said, smiling lightly. "School was fine. Gerry's back from Madrid, which was a great surprise. We have half of our classes together, and he got me out of a fight today. I didn't start it, relax." Maddie added quickly, knowing her parents were very quick to jump down her throat about her fighting. "And I didn't lay a hand on the girl, she was just yelling, and I was yelling back." Maddie said with a small shrug.

Kristen shook her head gently. "Can't you just have one day without picking a fight?" She asked.
"It wasn't on purpose." Maddie murmured. "Anyway. Practice was tough. Gerry gave me a ride there and back here. I had to do five miles on the ice today in under two hours, which sucked but..." Maddie shrugged to say that she didn't mind. She glanced between her parents then and a small frown came to her face.

"What's up?" She asked, mildly curious as to why they both came outside to talk to her rather than just calling her into the house. Kristen glanced at Demitri with a smirk before she held out the single key for Maddie to see. The young girl eyed the key curiously, and Kristen watched as a light of realization came to Maddie's face.

"Oh my God..." Maddie said, her eyes growing wide as she stood up from the swing. "Is that...for me?"
"Mmhm," Kristen answered and Maddie grinned from ear to ear. She squealed lightly, taking the key from Kristen and hugging both of her parents at once.
"Ohmygosh, thankyouthankyouthankyou!!!" Maddie said, jumping slightly in her excitement. She had a car!

"Its being delivered tomorrow" Demitri said with a grin, "So you'll have it when you get home from school" He added, grinning once more at Maddie and Kristen before disappearing inside to change out of his work things. On the way he paused in the living room to gently rub Zach's ears and take a peek at Alayna's drawing.
"Finally got him to model for you hey" He teased gently, Alayna was always trying to draw the kids in their animal forms, but their inability to sit still made it difficult, drawing them while asleep seemed to work best.

---

Serena sighed contently as she walked back into the house after a good, long ride. Chase had enjoyed it, the cooling air giving him some extra energy and she had gotten some great jumps out of him. Maybe she'd do some competitions that fall, she knew the riding club in the area always offered a few.
"Hey" She grinned at her mother, wiping a strand of hair from her eyes. "I was thinking about doing some cross country competition" She murmured, looking at her mother curiously. "What do you think? Chase was awesome today and if he keeps it up I bet we'd do good in a show or something" She added, combing some of the tangles out of her hair.

Maddie was grinning at her father as he darted off and Kristen laughed, tossing an arm over Maddie's shoulder.
"I can't believe you guys got me a car so soon!" Maddie said. "What is it?" she asked then.
"You'll see tomorrow." Kristen murmured to which Maddie rolled her eyes gently as they walked back into the house.
"I can't wait." Maddie said grinning lightly. She sighed as her phone went off. Checking her phone, a small smile came to her face.
"So you mentioned that Gerry's back?" Kristen asked quietly.
"Mmmhm." Maddie said as she replied to a message from the boy.
"Why not invite him over?" Kristen asked. "I'm sure you two didn't catch up entirely during the day."
"Maybe tomorrow." Maddie said with a small nod. "I've gotta start a paper, and I'm so going to be early. My legs are still killing me." Maddie said, hugging her mother once more before disappearing up into her room.

----------

Alayna glanced up as Demitri wandered into the living room for a brief moment.
"Always easiest when they're asleep." Alayna said with a grin and a nod to Demitri. She was nearly finished with the rough outline, and could pretty much do the shadowing from memory. Zach was still fast asleep, and she was almost certain that the boy wouldn't be waking up any time soon. So she wasn't exactly rushing her drawing.

---------

Maria glanced up from the magazine in her hands when Serena wandered back into the house.
"How was the ride?" she asked, smiling at her daughter as she listened. She tilted her head gently; Serena was a great rider. They had known that from the first time she was placed on a horse, but Maria and Alexi and never pushed her towards competitions. Hearing her daughter bringing it up, Maria closed her magazine and smiled curiously.
"We could most definitely look into it." Maria agreed with a nod. "So long as you feel that the competitions and training won't cut too deep into your school work, I don't see why you couldn't start." Maria said, resting her head against her arm.

Serena smiled, "I was thinking of just trying one to see how it went. I don't want to commit myself if its something neither me or Chase enjoy" She said with a shrug.
"I think the local riding club does little things on the weekend, I remember hearing about it" She added thoughtfully, "I'll look at their website" She grinned flipping her hair back again.
"I'm going to go shower though, I smell like a horse" She added, waving to her mother before disappearing up the stairs and into the washroom. She sighed contently as she quickly showered, washing her hair thoroughly before stepping free and wrapping a towel around herself. Back in her room she checked her phone, a happy grin on her face as she saw that Jordan had texted her. Replying, she set about dressing and drying her hair, wondering how she was going to break the news to her parents and brother that she was seeing the other teen again. Her parents hadn't disliked Jordan or anything, so they would be easy, Nick on the other hand...she didn't even want to think of how he'd react.

----

Sami tossed the bags in the backseat of her car, letting out a relieved sigh when she was able to finally sit down. She had texted Maria, asking her what she'd need for a cruise clothing wise and had recieved like a ten page list in return. She had just been thinking of getting a swimsuit or two, apparently that was all wrong and she needed all sorts of different things, up to and including formal wear. Sighing, she rubbed her now aching head and started the car, anxious to get home and as far away from the mall as humanely possible.

"Oh I see." Maria added with a small nod to her daughter. "Definitely look into it because if we need to sign you up for this weekend's competition we'll have to do it soon." Maria added as she gathered her things, tidying up the house as she wandered about.

Hearing that his sister was finally back and what not, Nick wandered out of his room and down to her's. He knocked gently before opening the door.
"How long have we known Allison?" He asked, somewhat randomly. Then he saw the grin on Serena's face and he raised an eyebrow curiously.
"Did you have a good time out riding?" Nick murmured curiously.

-----------

"Yea about two weeks." Carlos murmured as he tapped his laptop gently. "They'll be fine without me Keith, I promise. The transition went perfectly and Jackson can take care of being CEO for two weeks." Carlos promised, grinning as his friend caved. "You're a diamond mate. Ciao." Carlos said before changing lines to his travel agent who was on the other line.

"Right so let's get the flight at the end of the week." Carlos said. "Yea I'm liking the idea of a week and a half around the gulf and Carribean, she'll enjoy that." Carlos said as he listened to the typing of his agent. "Of course Lucas, do I travel any other way?!" He asked, laughing as he heard Sami's car pulling into the parking lot downstairs.

"Great. Put it on my tab and I'll be down to pick up the tickets tomorrow." Carlos said, clicking the phone off and closing his laptop as he heard Sami fumbling with the keys.
He raced downstairs, opening the door for her and laughing at the amount of bags in her arms.
"I thought you hated shopping." Carlos teased, taking some of the bags from his mate to help her inside.

"Since we were six, we met her in elementry school" Serena responded, putting down her hair straigtner and closing her laptop, she'd been looking up the horse stuff her mother had asked her. They just needed to fill out the application and pay the fifteen dollar fee for a paddock for the day, then it was all good. She'd show her mother after she spoke to Nick.
"Yea, riding was awesome, I think I'm going to enter a show this weekend" She murmured, turning to face her brother a bit more.
"Why do you wanna know about Allison?" She asked, unconciously moving her phone away from Nick, lest he try and peek at her texts, anything to keep the conversation on him and away from her and Jordan made her life significantly easier.

----

Sami groaned, "I do hate shopping" She muttered. "I texted Maria asking what I'd need for a curise, here I was thinking a swim suit or two, but she sent me like a ten page list!" She groaned, dumping the stuff on the floor and kicking a bag sourly.
"Why does someone need formal clothes for a cruise? You're on a boat for crying out loud. Or clubbing clothes? She said I needed clubbing clothes" She added, sounding somewhat hysterical, it had been a really long day.

Flopping on the couch, she left the offending bags on the floor, she'd deal with them tomorrow.
"Incidently, Alexi said I can have two weeks off whenever I want, provided I do one closing shift before we go" She said with a grin, she didn't mind closing the club, Alexi hated it however, so she was fine with that tradeoff.

"Since we were six?!" Nick asked, eyes wide for a moment. He frowned lightly as he leaned against Serena's doorway, crossing his arms over his chest. Why did it seem like he was just now noticing her? And noticing every thing about her as well? The thought kinda bothered Nick, but at the same time he didn't want to think about it too much.
"Enter a show? For what?" Nick asked curiously. He had heard her talking to Maria downstairs, but he wasn't exactly sure what this show or competition thing was about. Serena was more of the horse-person than he was by a long shot. Nick could ride, and that was about as much has he knew.
"Um...just curious." Nick murmured with a small shrug.

-------

Carlos sighed and let Sami rant about. "Your first mistake was texting Maria. You should have asked Kristen." Carlos said, chuckling softly. "Maria will always give you a ten-page list, because she feels the need to cover every little thing." Carlos said.

"The formal attire, she was right about though. On cruises, every other night there's a Captain's Dinner." Carlos explained. "People tend to dress formally for it. Even though we're going to be on a boat, it's quite a large boat." Carlos explained with a small smile.
"Well, I spoke with my travel agent, who has never failed me yet, and he recommended this cruise that actually leaves at the end of the week." Carlos said, walking around to the back of the sofa to rub Sami's shoulders.

"It's for a week and a half, so it's good you asked for two weeks off." Carlos added. "I already called Keith, and let my secretary know that I'll be on leave for two weeks, and everything else it taken care off." Carlos added, kissing her cheek gently.
"So there's nothing else to stress about." Carlos added, smiling at her gently.

Serena arched her eyebrow at Nick, but shrugged.
"For cross country jumping" She explained. "Chase was really good today, so I figured it might be fun to try some competition with him" She explained, pulling on a hoodie and carefully zipped it up, grabbing her laptop and slipped her phone in her pocket.
"Did you finish your history readings?" She asked, heading downstairs to show their mother the forms.
"Here's the stuff Mum" She murmured, giving her mother her laptop, Maria knew her password and she really had nothing to hide on her computer, plus she knew Maria wouldn't go searching through her stuff.
She grinned as her phone viberated and she slid it free of her pocket, beyond relieved that she couldn't blush. Responding to Jordan's text, she glanced at her mother curiously, wondering what she thought.
"I can pay the entry fee" She offered. Both she and Nick helped out at the club occasionally, and their parents paid them well for it, plus for odd jobs around the house.

----

Sami nodded in understanding.
"My fatal mistake" She said with a chuckle, smiling as Carlos rubbed her shoulders.
"End of the week? Wow, so where are we departing from?" She asked, they'd probably have to leave a day or two before the boat left, since they needed to get to wherever the heck they were going.
She grinned, this was going to be awesome, an entire trip, just her and Carlos, no family and gods she hoped their was no drama. She wasn't sure she could take anymore of that.

"Oh." Nick said, stepping aside as he watched his sister gathering things to leave her room. "Yea I just finished. Pretty easy read." Nick murmured with a small nod.
He wandered after her downstairs just because he was slightly curious and mostly bored. They hadn't been assigned all that much homework, so Nick didn't have much else to do for the rest of the night.

Maria glanced up, taking Serena's laptop and looking at the website.
"It's a small fee, we can take care of that." Maria said, waving a hand gently. Her eyes skimmed over the rules, regulations and what not before she nodded in agreement.
"This'll be fun." Maria said, grinning as she looked up at her daughter, who in turn was grinning at her phone.

"Hey, can I go with Dad down to the club tonight?" Nick asked, linking his hands behind his head. He glanced around curiously then and frowned.
"Where is Dad? Still at the office?" Nick murmured softly.

-----------------------

"We leave from Moscow," Carlos said. "I couldn't get us a straight flight so soon, so we stop in England for about two hours, and then we fly to Miami. The ship leaves from the port there." Carlos explained. It was a good bit of flying, but it was going to be well worth it.

Leaning down, Carlos kissed Sami's forehead gently. "So technically we leave on Thrusday afternoon from Moscow, and we should get to Miami Friday afternoon and the Ship leaves Saturday morning." Carlos added with a small grin on his face.
"When I got to get the tickets tomorrow I'll have the cruise itinerary as well, so we'll know more tomorrow." Carlos said, still rubbing Sami's shoulder softly.

Serena grinned.
"I hope so" She murmured, "If we do good at this and we both enjoy it, maybe I can look into more competitions. Provided it doesn't interfer with my school work" She added, knowing that that would be the condition. Maybe Jordan would come to the show? That would be awesome. She smiled again, before glancing curiously at Nick as he asked about their father. Glancing at the clock, she realized Alexi should be, at the very least, on his way home.

As if on cue, Alexi wandered through the front door, a grin on his face.
"Hey" He murmured, looking at the kids, after he'd dropped them off on school, he'd gone to the club to work out details for that night. They were doing a big themed thing, and he wanted to make sure everything was on track.
"Whats everyone up to?" He asked, rather surprised to find everyone in the kitchen area instead of spread all over the house.

----

Sami nodded in understanding.
"Sounds lovely" She murmured, she didn't really mind flying, especially since she knew Carlos would have gotten first class, which was nice and comfortable. Coach for long distance sucked, but first class would be fine.
"I guess we'll solidify plans tomorrow then" She murmured, glancing at the wall calendar curiously and mentally doing some math.
"Does your agency take care of everything?" She asked curiously, that would be awesome if they did, since they'd need to spend the night somewhere in Miami.

Maria nodded in agreement to Serena just as her husband wandered through the door. She smiled, standing up and tugging him over to see the page that was still up on Serena's laptop.
"You're daughter is signed up for a show this weekend." Maria said, showing Alexi the details on the page. "She went for a ride today and said that Chase was doing fairly good so she's interested." Maria explained.

"Aaaanddd I wanna tag along to the club tonight." Nick said, almost like an after-thought. "I'm done with all my homework already." Nick added so that neither parent need worry about school work. "And it's the start of school so I doubt they'll assign too much work this week in general." Nick murmured, smiling lightly.

-------

"Yes, Lucas assured me that he's taking care of everything." Carlos said. "You're more than welcome to come along with me tomorrow if you need reassuring." Carlos said smirking lightly. "How about you stop worrying about things for half an hour, come upstairs and relax." Carlos murmured softly in Sami's ear, kissing her neck gently.

"We're going on vacation, there's nothing else to worry about." Carlos added as he pulled away from Sami, a devilish grin on his face.

Alexi grinned, "Really? I can't wait to see that" He said, hugging his daughter lightly. He was proud of her, Serena had worked hard to train her horse and she defintely deserved to show that off. He grinned at Nick, nodding in agreement.
"Of course you can come, you know I don't mind" He murmured, ruffling his hair. "I'm not closing tonight anyway, so you'll be home at a semi-decent hour. What about you? Do you want to come?" He asked his daughter. Serena looked thoughtful.
"Can I think about it?" She asked curiously.
"Of course, we're not going till later anyway" Alexi reassured, smiling lightly at the pair.

----

Sami stuck her tongue out at Carlos, "I'm not worrying, but I'd like to tag along tomorrow" She murmured. "I'm closing tomorrow night" She added, thankfully Luke and Mitch had drawn the short straw and were closing tonight. She normally didn't mind closing, but on theme nights she knew that it was going to be extra difficult.

"Mmm I can't wait" She exclaimed, following Carlos upstairs, mutterin under her breath about teasing vampires. She really couldn't wait to go on vacation, she really needed a break and she had no doubts that Carlos needed one as well.

"Really, really. I think she'll do fantastic as well." Maria said, placing a kiss on the top of her head.
Nick grinned, hearing that it was fine for him to tag along tonight. "Sweet." He said and that darted up to his room to shower and get ready. Even though they wouldn't be leaving for a while, he needed something to do.

"If you don't want to go darling, you're more than welcome to stay here with me tonight." Maria murmured quietly. "I'm not a fan of themed nights." Maria said with a small wink. Even though the club-goers thoroughly enjoyed themed nights, Maria could only stand it for a little while before the costumes and attitudes of the night started to annoy her. Most recently, she'd been staying home since they had enough staff without her.

----------------

Carlos growled playfully, hearing Sami muttering under her breath. He turned around and stopped suddenly so that they were nearly a hair apart.
"Last time I checked, you enjoyed it." Carlos whispered in response to her muttered comment. He grinned, revealing sharp fangs for a moment and disappearing up to their bedroom with a laugh.

--------

"I have some bad news."
Alayna gasped as she looked up suddenly. Standing in the corner of her vision was a dark-clad figure which Alayna was sadly getting used to seeing. Part of her tensed automatically when Anna stepped out of the shadows of Alayna's mind.
"What do you want now?" Alayna asked quietly, glancing down at the sofa. Everything, she realized, was in black and white. Alayna frowned. "Am I dreaming?"
"For the moment." Anna admitted.
"Answer my question before I wake myself up." Alayna said, spinning a pencil into her hand and pressing it again her open palm. Anna stepped forward and held up a hand. Alayna's grip loosened and she lost hold of the pencil entirely.
"Don't kid yourself." Anna said, shaking her head. "I have more power over you than you can imagine."
"Oh and that's why you're here?" Alayna asked.
"No." Anna said. "The knife, where is it?" She asked and Alayna swallowed.
"I don't know. I told you this already."
"You were supposed to ask her about it."
"Why do you need it?!" Alayna asked. "And why the hell should I be helping you anyway?!" She asked even louder, standing up against the fallen angel. Anna's hand snapped out, gripping Alayna's neck tightly. Alayna coughed and the pain and winced as the magic pulsing in Anna's hand. It made her nauseous.
"You do what I say because I say so." Anna said. "Get me that knife, or I'll make you watch as I kill these shifters and vampires you love oh so dearly. Am I clear?" She asked, flashing Alayna bright orange eyes; the only source of color in her mind. Alayna could barely nod and Anna sighed.
"I'll give you two more weeks, but that's it." The fallen said before letting Alayna go. Alayna fell to the floor so hard that the jolt woke her from her dream.

She woke up coughing, sitting up suddenly from the couch. Rubbing her neck, Alayna looked around in a daze, her heart pounding. She sighed once her breathing was in check and the pain ebbed away from her neck. She was back in the living room...and only a few minutes had passed. Running a hand through her hair, Alayna stood up to get some water from the kitchen.

Serena nodded, "I'll see" She murmured, Nick was a lot more interested in going to the club then she was, but theme nights were fun to watch, even if she and Nick tenchnically weren't supposed to be there, it being a bar and all. She grinned at the praise from both her parents before watching her brother take off upstairs to do stuff.
Grabbing her laptop, she flopped down on the couch and began to surf the internent absentmindedly, not really doing anything exciting, just relaxing.

---

"I can enjoy stuff and complain" Sami teased, following him into the bedroom. Chuckling, she flopped playfully on the bed, rolling onto her back as she did so.
"I can't believe we're going on a vacation" She murmured, she was sort of in shock, she had, never in her life, been on a vacation before. Running around the british country side in an attempt to esacpe shifter packs and her family defintely did not count as a vacation.

---

Zach whined as Alayna moved off the couch, disturbing him from his sleep. Lifting his head, he watched her go, eyes confused. It wasn't often she jolted around like that, normally she was rather careful not to disturb him or whomever else may be asleep. Sighing, he flopped his head back down, stretching out his body to take over the spot where she had been sitting, enjoying the heat left from her body. Yawning contently, his tongue lolled out and he drifted back to sleep, mildly hoping someone would come in and turn on the television, not even realizing what had just happened.

Maddie frowned as a chill ran down her spine that made her shudder. She stood up from her desk and wandered out of her room. She looked around the hallway before feared ebbed at her from downstairs. Hurrying down, Maddie followed the emotion into the kitchen, where Alayna was drinking a glass of water quietly and quickly.

"Layna?" Maddie murmured quietly and Alayna jumped slightly. She obviously hadn't heard Maddie wandering into the kitchen. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing." Alayna said, giving Maddie a soft smile. The girl frowned, leveling Alayna with a gentle glare. "Do not give me that look, you remind me too much of your mother." Alayna said pointing at Maddie's face enough to poke her nose. That lessened Maddie's intense gaze
"Is Zach still sleeping?" Maddie asked instead.
"He was when I left the living room." Alayna answered with a small nod.
"Uh-huh..." Maddie murmured with a small nod, wandering out of the kitchen to check up on her brother. Alayna had managed to get her emotions in check enough that Maddie couldn't read them any longer. And since Alayna was trying that hard to keep Maddie out, the girl wasn't going to pry.

Wandering into the living room, Maddie kneeled on the floor next to the couch to scratch his head gently. His eyes were closed so Maddie couldn't tell if he was sleeping, or just resting comfortably.

---------

Carlos laughed, watching as Sami collapsed onto the bed. He'd tossed off his shirt by the time she had gotten to the room, and he jumped onto the bed with her.
Holding himself over her, Carlos smiled and kissed her.
"Well we're going on vacation, and if you enjoy this one enough, we'll go on another." Carlos said, grinning lightly at Sami. "Maybe we can go around the world. See the sights." Carlos offered with a small shrug.

Zach's eyes opened as Maddie moved in front of him. Letting out a soft huff, he nosed her hand, playfully demanding more attention. He knew he needed to shift back soon, but he wanted to wait just a bit longer, lest he do more accidental damage to his finally healing leg. Yipping softly, he nudged Maddie's hand in the direction of the remote before curling up a little bit to make room for her on the couch. He waited patiently for her to hopefully understand his request before he settled down again, eyes darting around the room absentmindedly.

---

Sami grinned, "That would be lovely" She murmured, she'd always wanted to travel as a kid, but it was hard telling your family that, especially when they firmly believed in staying in one place.
"Maybe Adam'll have some good reccomendations for us" She murmured, he'd been traveling like crazy, going all over the place in the recent few years that they'd been back in one another's lives, and she bet he had some great suggestions.
She grinned and leaned up, lightly kissing Carlos' nose before beginning to wiggle out of her own clothing.

Maddie laughed softly, scratching her brother's head gently as he demanded more attention. Hearing his yap, Maddie frowned and followed his gaze to the t.v. remote resting on the coffee table.
Smirking, Maddie grabbed the remote and flicked the t.v. on. She surfed through the channels before finding a cartoon that she knew Zach enjoyed watching. Glancing back, and seeing that Zach had made room for her on the couch, Maddie smiled and sat down next to her brother.

"You're obviously doing better." Maddie said, still scratching Zach's head softly as she watched the cartoon absent-mindedly. Her eyes wandered about the room for a moment, silently searching for what had put Alayna on edge so suddenly. Everything seemed fine...Her eyes darted to the other side of the couch where Alayna's sketchbook had fallen. She smirked, seeing the drawing of Zach that Alayna must have been working. There were a few pencils scattered around the book too...but still, nothing looked out of the ordinary.

----------

"You should ask him whenever you get your hands on him again." Carlos suggested with a small shrug before he kissed her again. It was exciting, even for Carlos; even though they were going to places he had been to before in the past, Carlos was glad he was going with Sami. His mate. That thought sent a strong sensation through him, and Carlos's hands wrapped around Sami's waist, pulling her closer against him. With his other hand, he tossed the blankets over both of them....

Zach nodded, he did feel a lot better. As Maddie flicked on the TV, he thumped his tail up and down appreciateively and licked her hand in thanks. He looked at her curiously as she scanned the room, obviously Maddie suspected something was up, she was a lot more observant then he was, he didn't really notice anyting unless it was sitting right in front of him. Resting his head on his paws, he glanced at his sister once again before settling down and watching the TV show, he was glad Maddie had found something he liked, as opposed to something she liked because he wasn't able to protest.

---

Sami grinned as Carlos pulled the blanket over the pair of them, her eyes shining in amusemant.

"Hmm that was nice" She murmured as she and Carlos surfaced from under the blankets.
"I think that needs to be a repeat preformance on our vacation" She murmured, stretching comfortably, her back popping lightly as she did so.
"I'm going to shower" She murmured, pressing a kiss to his cheek before sliding out of the bed, clutching a sheet around herself absentmindedly.
"You can join me if you want" She added as an afterhtought, slipping into the washroom, the sheet falling to the ground and pooling around her.

Maddie tapped her fingers lightly against the arm rest that her hand was resting again. The remote was in her lap and her other hand was petting Zach's head softly.
"Something's up..." Maddie muttered, still looking around the room casually. Every now and then she was glancing at the t.v. screen to make it seem that she was watching the show as Alayna wandered back into the living room.
"Need your sketch stuff?" Maddie asked, smiling lightly. Alayna chuckled and nodded in agreement, walking behind the couch as to not disrupt the children's view of the screen. She gathered about her pencils and book, and Maddie said nothing about the fact that her hands were trembling lightly.
"Don't let those cartoons rot your brain now." Alayna warned, kissing the top of Maddie's head and scratching Zach's ears gently before she left the room entirely.

-------------

Carlos chuckled lightly as Sami pushed back the covers. He rolled onto his back with a content sigh, a blissful grin still on his face.
"Mmm, that can be arranged." Carlos said with a small nod as Sami kissed his cheek gently. He turned and watched as Sami slipped out of the bed to wander into the bathroom. He chewed his lip lightly as he mulled over her offer. It didn't take long until he was pressed against Sami in the shower under the running water.

"Good Lord you know my weakness." Carlos whispered to her gently. "A soothing shower with you I can never pass up." Carlos explained, kissing her next softly.

------------

Ruffling his hair gently, Nick zipped up the loose black jacket he'd thrown over the new shirt that Serena had recently bought him. He had about ten minutes until Alexi was leaving for the club. Tugging on his sneakers, Nick made sure his phone and ipod were in his pockets as he walked out of his room.

"Hey," Nick called, tapping Serena's bedroom door gently. "Are you coming with us to the club or not?" He asked curiously as he poked his head into his sister's room.

Zach glanced at Alayna, rolling his eyes in only the way a wolf could. Cartoons could never rot brains, or so he firmly believed. Watching Alayna go, he cocked his head to one side, something seemed off, it was probably what Maddie had been picking up on earlier. Shaking his head, he refocused on the program, yawning as he did so. Maddie's rubbing was rather nice, it was soothing and he wanted it to continue because if felt soooooo gooooooood.

---

Sami laughed, "What can I say? I'm an evil genuis" She said, shuddering lightly.
"This is fantastic" She murmured, showering was a luxury she adored. A year of living outside had really opened her eyes to how much she had once taken for granted. Careful to keep her hair from getting wet, she carefully cleaned herself off. This shower wasn't necessarily for washing, just freshening up after a fantastic romp.
"So, any more plans for today?" She asked curiously, it wasn't all that late and she knew neither of them were working anymore today.
"We could go out" She offered, wondering if maybe they could go on a nice date, it would be fun.

----

Serena chewed her lip thoughtfully, she was dressed to go to the club, wearing a pair of skinny jeans, shin high boots with a low heal and a baggy tank top with a leather jacket over top. She nodded her head, she'd go, she could spend the time texting if she was bored.
"I'll come" She called, stepping out of her room as she saw Nick standing there.
"Is Dad ready to go?" She asked, grinning as he saw him wearing the T-shirt she'd gotten him.

Maddie chuckled, and she had no idea why until she looked down and saw the look of content on the wolf's face.
"Oh you are just enjoying this attention." Maddie said, shaking her head gently though she continued to scratch behind her brother's ears anyway. She didn't mind giving him attention while he was in his form. She wouldn't admit it, but Zach was slightly irresistible while a wolf-pup.

----------

"Evil genius?" Carlos echoed, laughing lightly. "I have seen evil geniuses, you are not one of those my dear." He said, passing his hands over her shoulder's and arms gently. "A temptress on the other hand..." Carlos said, grinning to himself.
"I have nothing planned for the rest of the evening." Carlos admitted. "Do you want to do something?" He asked, kissing her temple.

------------

Nick grinned. He was glad that his sister would be tagging along. Nick could find enough to do by himself if he needed to, but it was always better whenever Serena was around.
"He's getting ready." Nick said, nodding up the hallway towards their parents bedroom. Hearing Serena's phone going off for the tenth time, Nick sighed roughly.

"Who on earth are you texting?" He asked. "You're phone has been going off non-stop all day." Nick muttered, rubbing his forehead as he stepped away from the door way.

Zach nodded his head, looking smug. Of course he was enjoying the attention, it was awesome. He knew he was pretty darn adorable in this form, though Maddie vehenemently denied it, he wasn't stupd. He sighed, returning his gaze to the TV, leg twitching occasionally in response to the petting and scratching. He was still wondering what was going on in the house, Maddie seemed suspicious of something and Alayna seemed nervous and anxious, but beyond that, he really had no idea what was going on.

---

Sami laughed softly, "Temptress eh? Hmm I guess I can agree with that asseseement" She murmured with a soft smile. Rubbing her fingers through her hair she stepped free from the shower, nodding her head.
"Maybe we could go on a date? I could break in some of those formal clothing I was forced to buy today" She offered curiously. She wouldn't mind going out someplace night, it wasn't really her and Carlos style to go on fancy dates, but once in awhile it might be nice.

----

Serena grinned at her brother as she shoved her phone in her pocket.
"Just someone" She teased, knowing that that response would drive Nick nuts.
"Ready" Alexi called, stepping out of his bedroom, wearing a pair of jeans, black boots and a white wife beater, his favourite leather jacket over top.
"We match" He teased his daughter as he glanced at her. Of course Serena was much more dressed up then he was, but colour wise, they matched almost perfectly.
"We're leaving love" Alexi called to Maria, knowing his wife would hear.
"Bye Mum" Serena added, looking around for her mother curiously.

"You should go check up on Alayna later..." Maddie murmured gently, glancing down at Zach. "Something seriously wrong." Maddie explained. "Something scarred her badly. Maybe she'll confide in you if you pull that puppy-dog look you used on Mom last year." Maddie teased about his puppy-dog look, but he was serious about Zach wandering after Alayna once the woman had settled down a bit.

-----------------

Carlos sighed as Sami turned off the water and he followed out after her. Wrapping a towel around his body, he dried off quickly.
"A date?" Carlos echoed, teasing Sami gently. "Of course we could. Shall we go to dinner? Or a dance? Or the theater?" Carlos asked curiously, pulling his towel around his waist as he walked out into the bedroom.

--------------

"Who?" Nick asked, about to reach forward and tackle his sister lightly to grab her phone. Alexi walking down from the hallway knocked him off balance and Nick growled lightly.
"Ciao Ma." Nick called over his shoulder as well as he wandered down to the truck along with Serena and Alexi.
"Ciao darling. Don't party too hard. You do have school in the morning." Maria yelled after them, laughing softly to herself.