The Sound of Pulling Heaven Down

"So have you had sex in every room yet?"

"I fail to see how that question is relevant, Jojo."

"So that's a 'no' then?"

Tetsu tsked, shaking his head at the other male that sat on the couch, a three year old Isobel seated on his lap, completely fascinated by the twenty one year old's hair style. Tetsu was probably the closest thing she came to when it concerned someone putting large amounts of effort into their hair; styling and dying it. But this was something completely new to her. Part of his head was shaved, the short strands of hair bleached blond, and a portion down the middle of his head was left, dyed a deep, rich blue and styled in an upright way, fanning out over his head. This was perhaps Isobel's first encounter with a mohawk.

And it was "babysitting" her.

Technically he wasn't doing it alone, since the lover of the little girl's father was also present. Morgan had to head off attend some teachers meeting, and since the twin's parents were also teachers, it was up to Tetsu to look after the little ones. He was going to be left alone with them, his only tasks being making sure they were bathed, dressed then sent to bed. However, a surprise visit from his best friend had left the Asian male with an aid to help him deal with the children, although his biggest concern was the adult rather than the little toddlers.

"I think she likes me," Jojo commented, bouncing the little girl up and down on his knee. He flashed her a bright toothy grin, to which the little girl began giggling at.

"He has metal in his mouth!" she exclaimed, pointing at the man's face with her tiny hand.

"That's because Uncle Jojo is an idiot, Izzy," explained Tetsu while attempting to wrestle Christian out of his t-shirt so that he could put him in the bath.

"Hey, that's cruel, T-chan!" the older male replied with a slight whine to his voice. "I think my piercings are sexy, and a sense of self expressionism." Green eyes fell to the girl in his lap. "Self expressionism is all about telling your parents to go fu-"

"Play in the park," Tetsu cut in quickly before his friend could destroy her little mind with his foul tongue.

Jojo stuck out a pierced tongue at his friend. "Well that's not just grand at all," he replied, annoyed that he'd been cut off so harshly. The Irish male had yet seemed to grasp the fact that he was in a room with two very impressionable minds, and that Tetsu didn't want Madeline to come and pick her children up tomorrow only to find out that they knew some very offensive words.

"Why does he talk funny?" Christian asked, now free of his shirt, looking to Tetsu for answers. "Is that 'cus he's an idiot too?"

"That's because I'm Irish!" came Jojo's gleeful reply. "Don't I sound cool?"

"I think you sound funny," Isobel informed him. "Papa Jon's is better."

"Had I known that I was going to be insulted by a three year old, I wouldn't have come,"

"No one asked you to visit, Jojo," Tetsu replied curtly, grabbing Christian and lifting him up. "Come on, it's bath time."

"No bath! No bath!" protested the child, wriggling in the male's arms. But Tetsu wasn't relinquishing hold, and marched off to the bathroom. "You've barely been here half an hour, and already you're infecting them, Jojo," he grumbled, loud enough for his friend to hear him.

There was a sneer at the younger male's back, watching him head off into the bathroom. Once he vanished from view, he returned his attention to the little girl. "So, you come here often?" he asked in a flirtatious tone.

"I come here all the times! This is Daddy and Uncle Tetsu's house!" Obviously, the pick-up line had been a complete failure with the little girl. Isobel was perhaps a bit too young to grasp the concept.

Jojo chuckled lightly, shaking his head. "You'll understand one day kid. T-chan and I will teach you about all the lines guys use, and the best replies to make them leave you alone. I know some really smooth pick up lines too."

Isobel had no idea what this new person in her life was talking about, but he did have an interesting sounding voice. however, his hair was much more interesting than anything he had to say. "What's with your hair?" she finally asked.

One hand ran over the tips of the gelled hair, drifting over the full length of the mohawk. "It's called a mohawk."

"Can I have one?"

At this, Jojo laughed. "I don't think your Daddy would like that very much, Izzy," he told her, ruffling her brown hair affectionately. "Not forgetting that it doesn't make your hair very nice to touch, and it's really hard to get it to stay like this. Maybe when you're older, you come see me, and I'll give you a really cool one. How's that sound?"

"I don't have to get metal in my face do I?" she asked, looking up at him with big blue eyes.

"No, you don't have to get metal in your face. Don't forget, it's all about self expressionism and - "

"Telling people to go play in the park!"

"Well, that's one way of putting it." He knew that it would one day come back and bite him in the ass. Hopefully, he wouldn't be around when it happened. He didn't want his old history teacher, Chemistry teacher and drama teacher on the war path.

You Belong To Me

It was cold outside, but the way the sun filtered through the gap in the curtains was warmed by the glass. Little particles of dust danced in the light, and it all seemed so peaceful, so calm. It had been snowing during the night, but it was so warm curled up under the blankets that neither seemed bothered by the weather outside. One of the pair moved, slowly waking up from the world of sleep. Warm blankets drifted down over bare shoulders as the half-asleep body moved, rolling over onto his side. Eyes slowly opened, revealing deep dark brown rises, gaze searching for the happy little digital numbers that greeted the world with the current date and time. It was not singing this morning, no need for an alarm to rouse them from slumber. He had all the time in the world to wake himself up, and after acknowledging the time, a hand worked it's way up through the blankets to run long fingers through his long ginger hair.

Eyes fell to the body slumbering beside him, and a soft smile curled at his lips. Leaning down, light kisses were dusted over the other's shoulders, working up a neck line. Slowly, the other started to wake, letting out a soft moan as he was treated to such a wonderful way of waking up. Rolling over onto his back, a warm smile pulled at the corners of his lips. Fingers of his left hand found themselves winding into those soft strawberry blond locks, fingertips brushing tenderly over the scalp.

"Well good morning to you too," he purred, tilting his head to allow those lips to continue pleasing his body.

Nat hummed his response, lips more busy with another task than to form words. His eyes had slipped closed, and with careful movements, the male positioned himself over the other, teasing at the base of an earlobe with his teeth. Hands wander fingers up the bare torso, drifting over the soft, smooth flesh, sliding upwards and encouraging sleepy-limp arms to lift and wrap around his shoulders.

"So what did I do to deserve this?" Evander asked, although he wasn't complaining. Waking up like this was simply wonderful. By now, Nat had mapped his entire body, and over the years had learned of nearly everything that could get his toes to curl and his pulse to race. Just waking up in his arms was pure bliss.

"You were born," came the husky reply from the lips currently buried into the crook of the brunet's neck. "Then you agreed to go out with me," he added, lifting his head up to look at that beautiful face. Strands of hair fell from their spot behind his ear, falling forwards and framing his face. He often considered allowing it to grow much longer, but always seemed to just settle on keeping it shoulder length. Evander held no complaints and was happy to run his fingers through the soft strands, pushing them away from the smiling face to allow the light to catch his features.

Evander let out a soft chuckle, leaning up to capture those smiling lips in a delicate kiss, only for Nat to take over, tongue slipping into his mouth and using gentle persuasion had him laying back down again.

Things were starting to heat up, when outside the room, there were sounds of a door being unlocked, opened, then slammed shut again. Both males froze in position, listening intently to what was going on beyond the bedroom. "Do you think it's Theo?" Evander asked in a hushed whisper.

"Whoever it is, if we pretend we're not here, maybe they'll leave," Nat suggested, keeping his own voice hushed so that whomever it was moving around in their apartment would think the place to be empty and leave.

There was the sound of keys being tossed onto a counter, followed by what could possibly be a bag being set down. "Uncle?" called out a feminine voice. Nat cringed, dropping his head onto the pillow beside Evander's. "Is anyone home?"

"Just when it was getting to the good bit too..."

A soft laugh erupted from the smaller male, gently patting his lover's back. "We should go see what she wants," he said. "It might be important"

"I should write her a list of all the ways I know to twist Theo around," he replied, rolling over and falling onto his back. "I'm not getting out of bed."

"You're not going to subjugate your niece to seeing you almost naked," the brunet said, poking the red head's side affectionately.

A cheeky grin spread across his features, one Nat had perfected years ago. Arms folded at his chest, hands linked together. He wasn't getting up anytime soon, even if what he had planned had been rudely interrupted. She took after her father way too much, inheriting his knack for appearing at the most opportune moment for ruining the perfect moment. "I can always take my boxers off."

Evander gave a light smack to a bare shoulder before untangling himself from the sheets and finding something to pull on to go and see what Belle wanted. Pausing at the door, he looked back at his love still remaining in the bed. Chuckling softly to himself, he turned and headed out of the room, calling out for the young girl to find out what was the reason behind her unannounced visit.

Through These Times

It was snowing outside. Actual snowfall. snowflakes were drifting down from the clouds above so fast that it was building up to be quite the snowstorm outside. The whole world was coated in white, like icing upon a cake, making it seem so much brighter. It was probably freezing cold outside, but inside the home, it was snug and warm. It was like the scene from a Christmas card, with the tree in the corner, all decorated and lit up. Cards from friends and family were all neatly placed around the large mantle, the fire burning away. It was nights like these that would be remembered forever.

In the Stewart household it certainly would be.

It was a week away from Christmas Day, and tonight there was a planned gathering of friends and family. Madeline and Jonathan were in the kitchen, preparing the large buffet that was probably going to be devoured in a matter of moments once everyone arrived. There had been a few cancellations, and some people had been unable to make it, but they were still expecting a full house. Even with the weather, and the possibility of it become worse as the night drew on, people were still likely going to turn up. Roxie and Zephyr had turned up yesterday with a bag filled with presents, saying that they'd love to come and join, but they had a flight to catch, and wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

Christmas carols were currently playing on the radio system in the lounge. When Madeline became pregnant with Jake, they moved into a house in the suburbs. It was a little farther away from the school than the adults would have liked, but the house was much larger than the apartment Madeline had before the twins were born. not to mention there was a huge garden out back, and the neighborhood was very friendly. Christian was sitting Indian-style on the couch, watching the flames dancing in the fireplace. His sister was around, and Ainsley was sitting on a beanbag that looked big enough to eat her, combing the hair on her toy horse. There were sounds of someone knocking on the door, and voices in the hall. It seemed that more people were arriving.

"Well, don't we look like a wet weekend?" chimed a voice, breaking his thoughts. Then a weight landed on the space beside him. There was snow in his brown hair, and his nose was red from the cold. Blue eyes that seemed almost clear looked at him, and a grin spread over pierced lips. "So what's got your underwear in a knot?"

Christian chuckled softly, tilting his head to look at the older male sitting beside him, ruffling his fingers through his long hair and shedding snow, and now droplets of water all over the couch, and him. "Hello to you too, Roo."

Reuben kept the lazy smirk on his lips, leaning back against the cushions, stretching out long legs before him. "So there's this thing, right, and you totally have to dance naked to get in, but you totally have to do it, otherwise you'll never get laid for the rest of your natural life," He nudged Christian in the arm with his elbow. "My Dad's done it, we should totally do it too."

Eyebrows furrowed, unsure of what exactly it was that Reuben was talking about. "Are you asking me out on a date?"

Lazy smirk turned into a toothy grin. "Why Christian, I thought you'd never offer!"

"Ben, be good," came the voice of the young man's father, dropping a bag onto his son's lap. "He's talking bull again. Just ignore him, Chris, it's what I do." And there was the briefest glimpse of a sly smirk on the older man's lips.

"But Daaaaaaad!"

"No buts. Now go ask Maddie where she wants you to put the gifts."

Roo stuck his tongue out at his father, but did as he was told, slipping off the couch and taking the bag with him, heading off to find Christian's mother.

Christian looked up at the mathematician. "Hello Alastar. I didn't think you guys would be able to make it."

"Morgan would kill me if I didn't show," he said to the teenager, sitting down beside him. "David's here too. Hopefully Jon can keep him from flirting with your mother too much."

Chris let out a soft chuckle. Al and David had been together for as long as he could remember - apparently they had gotten together long before he was even talking. Al was a very reserved man, while David was almost like his direct opposite. Well, they did say that opposites attract. "My Dad's not here yet. I hope he isn't riding his bike in this weather." Brown eyes glanced to the window, watching the snow falling down from the sky. "Is it cold out there?"

"Freezing. We were going to detour and pick Bailee and Jenny up, but the snow was just too bad where they live. I'm surprised if they can even get out their house."

Resting his elbow on his knee, chin slipped into his hand. "Maybe Dad won't be able to make it..."

There was a friendly pat to his shoulder, and he looked up to see Al offering him a kind, friendly smile. "He'll come. You're his family, he'll go anywhere and brave anything for you."

Christian found himself smiling back. He was going to thank the older man, when Ainsley climbed off her beanbag and wandered over to them, wanting to show Al her new horse. Al looked a little bemused, having very little experience when dealing with girls, but he tried his best, asking those questions adults asked children, such as "What's it's name?" and other such things. Leaving Al to keep his little sister company, Christian stood up from the couch, stretching to work the muscles in his back. Taking another glance to the world outside, he headed off to find the source of all the voices, which lead him to the kitchen.

"Christian!" exclaimed a blue eyed brunet, wrapping strong arms affectionately around the teen. "Wow, you're getting bigger."

"You saw me on Friday. You teach me photography,"

David grinned. "I know, but this is the time when people tell you how long it's been since they last saw you, and bring you ample amounts of socks and underwear."

"If you've bought my son either of those, I hope that Alastar picked them out. I don't want to have some sort of kinky, edible underwear in my son's stocking," warned Madeline, waving a spoon in the older man's face, her other hand propped upon her hip, giving her a very threatening and menacing look.

"Damn, I knew I should have bought some edible underwear now!" the man teased.

"Morgan bought him some last year. It was quite a fiasco explaining it to Ainsley," Jon commented from his spot by the stove.

Madeline let out a heavy sigh, wandering back to what she was doing. "He buys his son kinky underwear, but keeps telling his daughter that she should never have sex."

"Oh, so, I'm allowed to buy him kinky underwear?"

"No!" came both the voices of Jon and Madeline. "Sometimes I worry if you're not worse than his father, David," Madeline added.

"David's my hero in the sex department," added Reuben from his perch on the only available space on the kitchen counter. "I get all my good pick up lines from him."

Madeline narrowed her eyes skeptically. "See, worse than his father."

Adults were crazy sometimes. Especially the adults that came visiting his house. Why his mother insisted on playing hostess was beyond him. Jonathan said that that was just who she was, and that he found that side of her endearing. It had been a staff gathering that had resulted in the twin's conception. They were memorable events, and usually something they all talked about for a long time to come.

"So where's Izzy?" Ben asked the room, since there were three members in the room that may have an idea of where Christian's twin may be.

"I think she's upstairs with Jake," the Scotsman replied. "He wanted help with his homework or something."

This caught Ben's interest. "What sort of homework?"

"Not maths," Chris replied quickly, attempting to steal one of the mini sausage rolls, only to have his hand swatted away by his mother. "I think it was French or something."

Roo pouted, crossing his arms at his chest. "I suck at French."

David chuckled softly, ruffling his adopted son's hair in a fatherly manner, causing him to whine and try to bat the larger hand away, only for David to switch hands and continue messing his hair up anyway. "Looks like you lost your chance to score with Izzy," he teased.

"I've still got Christian to try my chances with," Roo replied, grinning up at his father.

Chris threw the older male a look that screamed 'don't you dare even think that', which made both Reuben and David laugh. Even Madeline chuckled to herself, standing on tiptoes to whisper something into her husband's ear, which caused Jon to laugh too.

"I don't see why you guys think I can't get either Izzy or Chris to go out with me," Roo said, still pouting, thrusting out his chest as if he'd been offended by something they all had said. "Come on, Madeline, you know I'd be a really good boyfriend; to either of them."

Madeline deflected her son's hand away from the sausage rolls once more. "I'm not saying you'd be a bad boyfriend, I just think that they're still too young to be dating."

"We're seventeen," Christian shot in quickly.

"I was in my twenties when I started dating your father. That's how old you're going to be,"

"Don't you think that's a little strict, Maddie?" David asked, leaning against the kitchen counter beside Reuben, the pair of them having managed to expertly steal a plate of sandwiches from under the woman's nose and were now happily eating their way through it. "I think they should be allowed to spread their wings. I mean, Bailee were only young when they met, and now look where they are," he beamed happily. "I'm gonna be a grandfather soon."

"I got all my dating advice from David," Roo added, munching on a mouthful of cheese and ham sandwich.

"And somehow, I don't think that thought comforts her," Jon said, chuckling softly, pouring the mixture he'd been stirring over the top of a cake that sat on the counter nearby. Desserts were never his strong point, but he was getting much better.

"Oh come on, Madeline. Let me date one of your kids!"

Christian was trying not to laugh at the older male's persistence. He didn't know whether he was joking or not, Roo was a little hard to figure out sometimes, even if he did display his emotions for the whole world to see. "I think I'll pass on the dating Reuben thing," he informed them, trying his best to hold in his laughter.

"So that just leaves Izzy!" the twenty two year old exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "Come on, I'll treat her real nice."

Slowly, a smirk spread across madeline's features. Wandering up to the young man, she lightly tapped him on the nose, standing so close she would seem threatening - if Reuben wasn't taller than her. "You can date Izzy. If, you get both Morgan's and Tetsu's permission"

Clear blue eyes widened at her, mouth falling open. "Oh shit, I'm doomed...."

Pull out some hope for me

Christmas. Christmas held mixed feelings in the household. Firstly, there was one member that seemed to go a little bonkers around Christmas, putting up decorations and generally making the house very festive. The other adult held mixed feelings, because even if it was a joyous time, it was also his birthday. While many people claimed that a birthday on December 25th was "cool", people actually got away with giving less gifts because he received presents that were both fir Christmas and his birthday. People could be so lame. Not to mention, he was also another year older. This year, he was turning forty. The current forty-something was currently acting like a big kid, popping up from behind the couch with a can of snow spray and coating his son with the stuff.

Brown eyes watched the adult and his adopted son. The twenty four year old narrowed eyes at him, glaring daggers at his father through the thick rimmed glasses he wore. Even now, he still wore the childish style of glasses. David claimed it kept him looking "cute". Bailee wore them because they were familiar. Despite all efforts to get him to wear a pair, Reuben was adamant that he was not going to wear a pair of "milk bottle bottom glasses", which made his father chuckle.

"Aren't you supposed to spend Christmas with your mom this year?" Bailee asked, catching the towel Al had tossed to him and cleaning the fake snow from his glasses.

Ben looked up from the book he was reading to what was his older "brother". David had adopted him when he was seven, barely a year after his mother had given custody of him to his father, which meant that Bailee was now legally his brother. There was a lot of fuss, since there were still a lot of controversy with two men adopting a child, but they had succeeded, and were now one big happy family. "She's going on holiday to some tropical country this year," he replied. "She said that she didn't want me to miss out Christmas with my Dad, so I shouldn't go with her."

"In other words, Harmony would rather play with her new boy toy than spend time with her son," came a voice from the kitchen.

"You're just jealous she has a younger model," Bailee called out, stealing the can from his father's hand and dancing nimbly behind him and coating him in the remainder of the snow. They had made quite a mess of the living room. Luckily, they hadn't managed to get any on Al's new leather corner group. David had moved into Al's bungalow about a year into their relationship, bringing Bailee with him. The basement had then been converted into a bedroom for the older boy so that he and Reuben no longer had to share. Bailee had moved out, but the room was still kept the same as however he left it. His girlfriend had gone on a family holiday, leaving Bailee to spend Christmas with his weird family. Whenever he was around, David turned into a kid - even more so than normal. Since it was Christmas, he was acting even worse than normal. Reuben wondered just how he managed to stay sane.

"Hey, I'm more than enough for him," David called out, tackling his son to the ground. "Quality improves with age," he added, pinning Bails to the ground, a grin spreading across his features.

"Dad, David's beating his son again," Ben called out, uncurling his legs and stretching the out before him, resting them on the older man's back, as the two lay on the ground, wrestling for the now empty can of spray. The floor was coated, and were it not for the fact that Al had informed them both that were they to make a mess they were going to be cleaning it, Ben was certain his father would throw a fit for the state of his living room.

"If he kills him, that's one less mouth to feed," called the same voice from the kitchen.

Bailee let out a soft chuckle, wriggling beneath his father's stronger and larger frame. "Monster! How dare you be so heartless!"

"I have him wrapped around my little finger, don't I sweetheart?"

"Don't call me sweetheart!"

Reuben chuckled, listening to the chaos ensuing around him. He had no reason to be surprised, because Bailee's visits usually involved chaos of some sort. He was here for a whole week; if David didn't render the house to the ground by the end of it, Ben would be sure a higher power had some involvement.

"It looks like no one is coming to your rescue." David let out a a fake evil laugh and began tickling the brunet.

Wriggling, laughing and attempting to break free, eyes looked up to the figure of his younger brother, pleading for rescue. Pushing the thin rimmed, square framed glasses further up the bridge of his nose, Ben set his book onto the table beside him and slipped off the chair. Stepping over the father son pair, he left them to wrestle, seeking out his own father, hands slipping into the pockets of his baggy jeans as he went. He had picked up his father's dark dress sense, and it was mixed with an alternative style. David often joked that a man named Jojo had kidnapped Reuben and influenced his dress sense. Reuben had no idea who this person was, but apparently he had a mohawk. Bailee said he'd been a student at the school their father's had met at.

"You're evil incarnate!" Bailee called from the living room as Ben slipped into the kitchen to find his father removing the dishes from the dishwasher and putting them away. Hopping up onto the counter, legs swung out before him, watching the older man intently. Somehow, David had convinced him to wear a Santa hat, making the man look rather comical.

"Do you think Mom is mad at me for wanting to come and live with you?" he asked, chewing on his lower lip as he watched his father pause his actions. tongue slipped over the ring piercing the middle of his lower lip, running over the cool pink metal.

Star slipped the plates into the cupboard with a soft sigh. After closing the door, he turned to look at his son. "I don't think she's mad at you, Ben," he replied softly. "She's just...She always found it hard to be mother material. She loves you, and she's certainly not mad at you. Harmony just never really took to being a mother very well."

"But this is the third year she's gone off somewhere and left me here when I was supposed to spend Christmas with her."

Another soft sigh from his father. turning around, the man placed a comforting hand upon his shoulder, deep, chocolate brown eyes looking into his son's almost clear blue pair. "She just feels that perhaps you'd enjoy it more if you were to spend it at home, with us rather than in some random country with her. You've got friends and family here, where ever she's gone, you'll just be lonely. She's thinking about you, even if it doesn't seem that way."

Ben looked down at his hands folded upon his lap. "But what you said..."

"I was joking," Al replied quickly, leaning forwards to place a soft kiss to his son's forehead. "Now cheer up, and go and hand those two a mop. you have my permission to kick David in the shins if he's got even a speck of that stuff on my new lounge furniture. Leather doesn't come cheap."

A grin spread on Reuben's lips, and he nodded hastily, hopping down from his perch on the kitchen counter. Skidding across the tiled floor on his socks, he stopped at the door, flashing a big grin at his father. "Oh, Christian asked me if we were coming over for a Christmas party at his Mom's place."

"I didn't know you hung out with the Hearst twins," Al said, looking over at his son. "I know you guys played together when you were younger, and went to the same school, but I never thought you guys would meet up much."

Ben smirked. "Oh, we don't, Christian just came up and asked at lunch the other day. Do you know how annoying it is to know all the teachers? I loose so many cool point because you're a maths teacher."

Al pointed a knife at him, waving it in the air as he spoke, but the smile curled at his lips said he was only playing. "I'll have you know mathematics is a very important subject."

"Oh by the way, Isobel; totally hot"

"She's twelve!" came a shout from the lounge, soon followed by Bailee skidding into the kitchen, shortly followed by his father who had shouted out. "You're a bad, bad boy, Reuben Hughes."

Ben grinned, wrinkling his nose at the older man. "Hey, I'm biding my time"

Folding his arms at his chest, Star shot a glare at David. "He gets it from you."

David scoffed, feigning a look of hurt. "Alastar, I am ashamed that you would say such a thing about me."

"Well, he didn't get his perverted, flirting streak from me. Which means it's all your fault. Since it's your fault, you get the wonderful task of calling Madeline and warning her that your son is going to be dating her daughter."

Bailee was laughing, and Ben was trying his best to stop himself from bursting out. David's mouth had fallen open, hanging agape as Al gave him a task that would involve death, even if he was just the messenger boy. Even Al had a slight smirk curled at the corner of his mouth.

"Why me?"

"Because if you don't warn her, I'll go and try and woo her without her mother warning her just what a pervert I'm taking after," Ben replied.

"I'm not a pervert! I'm...flirtatious!"

"Pffft...Pervert," Bailee added.

"You're all against me," David admitted, a childish pout forming on his lips. It was highly amusing, since he was still coated in fake snow.

"Yeah, but you're my pervert," came the soft voice of Al, now moving beside David, arms wrapping around the older man and stealing a soft kiss, to which both Reuben and Bailee let out a simultaneous "Get a room."

Make You Smile

Fingers danced over the black and white keys of the piano, carefully pressing them down so that the large instrument could sing out such a lovely tune - yet it sounded so sad, almost as if in mourning for some great loss. Crying because it hurt. Leaning against the door frame that lead to the bedroom, the father watched the son play out such a tune while tenderly stroking the small white rabbit held in his arms. Blue eyes watched as the young man played. It had been his son that had picked up the piano so beautifully, although Isobel was quite skilled too. It was a shame Christian so rarely ever played, because his music always sounded as if it was coming from the soul.

Placing Romeo down and watching the creature slowly hop away, Morgan moved from his spot to stand behind his son. Glory-May had finally relinquished hold over the piano that had been in the family for years, giving it to her younger brother, since she had refused to play for so long she was now too out of practice to be able to perform decently. Although playing the piano held such memories for all the the Hearst children, Morgan had never fully given up, and had taught his own children, with Tetsu joining in along the way. Hand placed itself upon his son's shoulder, blue eyes watching as his son's hands stroked the keys, bringing out the music. "So what's got you so down?" he asked after such long silence.

"Nothing," was the simply reply for Christian, never waving from his song.

"Yeah, and I'm the Queen of France," Morgan replied sarcastically. "Now spill the real truth. I know that song, and I know you only play it when something it bothering you."

Fingers stalled upon the keys, moving his head to look up at his father with big brown eyes. "There's nothing wrong, Dad. I just felt like playing."

"So you sneak into my home, just to play on the piano for the hell of it? No other reason?" Eyes narrowed suspiciously. "I'm not buying it."

This is how a heart breaks

Chris was a reoccurring name in the family. One was named because of their grandfather, the other was given his father's middle name. Despite similarities in names, they had distinctly different personalities. Blue eyes narrowed at his cousin, watching the other male stirring the pasta as if it was the only thing worth paying attention to in the whole wide world. He was angry, upset, irate, annoyed and so much more. Sadly, words could offer his cousin no comfort. This was something Christian had to sort out on his own, Christopher could only advise him to take that first step, he certainly couldn't make him do it.

"You should talk to her," he said, munching on a slice of green pepper. "You were the one person in the entire world she thought she could trust right now, and you're not being that person she wants...And needs."

Christian sighed heavily, lifting brown eyes from the saucepan. Glancing over his shoulder to his cousin who sat behind him, perched on the counter and stealing pieces of the vegetables he had prepared. "She did something stupid. I don't know how I can forgive her."

"Do you know what this family fears the most? Out of everything that has ever happened, do you know what the worst fear is?"

Christian shook his head. There were so many things in his family that members feared. His aunt Phoebe was scared of spiders, Aunt Melanie was scared of birds, his grandfather had been scared of heights. It was hard to find that one single fear that they all held. That, or he didn't suffer from that fear.

Christopher smiled softly. "It's that one day, one of them is going to take after grandmother. And I mean Grandma Hearst."

Christian had never met her. his own father refused to talk about her whenever he asked. Three fathers and one mother, but one grandmother he knew only of by name. Even Mrs Stewart who had died only last year, he had met on several occasions. Obviously Christopher knew more of her than he did. "Dad doesn't talk about her," he replied, stirring the pasta, adding some of the veg before Chris had chance to eat anymore. "And my Mom never met her."

"Aunt Erica doesn't even remember her," he said solemnly, glancing down at his hands. "I only know a little about her from my mother. Even she doesn't like talking about her, but one thing she has said, that everyone is waiting for the day someone does what she did." He reached out, placing his hand lightly on his cousin's shoulder and giving it a firm squeeze. "Don't let it be Izzy."

"Why would Izzy want to suddenly vanish?"

"Maybe because her brother, and best friend in the whole world, has turned against her?"

Christian shook his head, leaving the pasta to simmer while routing through the fridge for more ingredients to add. "She's got Tetsu to fall back on."

The older male shook his head. "It's you that is the most important person to her. You that she wants to help her make up with Uncle Morgan. You're the one she needs the most, and if you don't give her that, then what reason does she have to stay here?"

Staring into the depths of his fridge, Christian listened to his cousin speaking about Isobel. She had left a mark upon the entire family, and it was obvious Christopher was another one that never wanted to see her cry. Well, except for when they had been kids, and he told her the story about how Shakespeare was a vampire were-rabbit, and would eat her toes while she sleeping. Poor Isobel feared the old rabbit. The young Christopher seemed to enjoy telling his little cousins such imaginative stories, and it seemed Isobel ate them all up. Christian was always a little skeptic, especially about Shakespeare, who had grown rather old. His father had a new rabbit now, a little white bunny named Romeo, who had an unnatural fixation with chewing people's shoes. He was certain Tetsu was ready to kill him, since Romeo had chewed his way through the toes of a pair of his favourite shoes.

Dragging his hand over his hair, pushing back some of the strands that had broken loose of the hair tie that kept most back, he closed the door to the refrigerator and leaned his head against it, eyes slipping close. "I'll go tell her I'm sorry, and that no matter what happens, I'm here for her."

Christopher grinned brightly at his cousin, giving him the thumbs up. "Great! now for more important matters. When is dinner gonna be ready?"

Last Beautiful Girl

The young blonde stood in the kitchen, blue eyes focused on the older male sitting at the table. Eyes narrowed, and she was practically glaring at him, while he seemed to be more interested in newspaper. Hands pressed against her hips in a very dramatic manner, and a high sigh rolled over her lips. Despite all her efforts to try and will the man to look at her, he simply ignored her and turned the page. Slowly, she opened her mouth to speak.

"Bu-"
"No."
"Bu-"
"No."

She let out another heavy sigh, shoulders slumping in defeat. For a few moments, her eyes fell to the tiled kitchen floor, then back up to the man. For a while, she was wondering if it wasn't the man she had wanted to speak to, but her father instead. The two did look so much alike, it could be that the man sitting in the kitchen table was not her uncle, but his twin brother who happened to be her father. One thing she did know about both of them though was neither read the newspaper. "I know you're not reading that," she announced.

He turned the page. "I know I'm not. I'm avoiding this conversation with you by pretending to read it."

Lips formed a pout, and the fifteen year old stalked up to the table. Both hands fell flat down on the surface, the girl demanding she have his full attention. "But why not!?"

Slowly, agonizingly slowly, his brown eyes lifted from the text to look at his niece. "Because I firmly agree with my brother on this one."

"Fine, I'll just ask Uncle Evander," she replied smugly, as if it would solve her problems.

Nat chuckled, shaking his head lightly at her smugness. Closing the paper, he calmly folded his hands upon it and looked at his niece. "Do you honestly think that he'll side with you on this one? That, if you sweet talk him enough, he'll even offer to drive you down there?"

Slowly, she saw her back-up plan crumbling before her eyes. Since when did her uncle turn against her? "I was hoping he'd at least try and convince you to change your mind," she replied meekly.

Softly, the male sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose to try and clear his thoughts. "Look, it's not that any of us are trying to make your life hard," he began. "It's just that we all worry about you, and none of us want to see you hurt - especially your father. To him, things either matter, or they don't. Because you matter, he'll protect you, whether you want him to or not." He offered her a small, sweet smile. "I know how it feels to be on your end, he's done much the same to me. Even to this day, he still looks out for me."

Lowering herself into a chair opposite her uncle, she finally admitted defeat. "So there's no way to convince him to let me go to this party?" she asked, slumping her head down onto her arm that was curled on the table.

"I'm sorry." Reaching over, he tenderly ruffled her hair, smiling a friendly, warm smile at her. "He loves Evander, but if he ever hurt me, he'd stop mattering to Theo. If someone doesn't matter to him, then he doesn't care about them, and will show them just how much he thinks of them."

Her blue eyes lifted to Nat's face. "You mean, he'd actually fight Uncle Evvie?"

Nat nodded. "I'm old enough to take care of myself now, but your father still treats me like he did when we were kids."

"I really want to go to this party though..."

"There'll be other parties."

"None like this though. Aaren's going to be there."

Whatever It Takes

He had found the perfect ring. He had the perfect woman to give it to. What he need to know, was the perfect way to give it to her. It had to be right, where it would be one of the most memorable events in her life. He knew the one person to ask to make certain he could get it as perfect as perfect could be. Unfortunately, Jonathan was wary that that man would even allow such a thing to happen. Even if mother and father weren't together, Jon didn't know if Morgan would be willing to give her up indefinitely.

Pacing the teacher's lounger, hands constantly raking through the brown locks of hair, his head jerked upwards at the sound of the door opening. He was tense, worried deep to his core. But the man that step through the threshold was not the one Jon had been expecting.

"Sebastian?"

The older man paused with his hand on the door handle, a half eaten home-baked cookie held in his front teeth, files and folders tucked under his arm. Deep dark brown, almost black eyes, regarded the chemistry professor, wondering just what it was he had walked into. Releasing the door handle, he removed the cookie from his mouth in order to speak. "Not disturbing you am I?"

Jonathan quickly shook his head. "Oh, no, no, not at all, Sebastian. I just wasn't expecting you, to be honest,"

Sebastian moved from the door, slipping the cookie back into his mouth so that he could carefully place his workload down on the table. Biting into the crumbly biscuit, he couldn't help but feel the anxiety radiating from the thirty year old. "Are you sure I'm not disturbing you?" Seb asked, swallowing the contents of his mouth. "You seem awfully uneasy."

"Have you ever asked someone to marry you?" Jon suddenly blurted out, to fast to even retract his question.

"I'm assuming, that since I'm forty and single, you think I should have at least asked someone to marry at least once?" the historian replied, arranging his things on the table, among them being a clear plastic tub containing more cookies. He was still having difficulties with his daughter, although she was settling much more now. He was still baking to calm his nerves. Kelsea had said that she was starting to like the apartment smelling of freshly baked cookies.

Jon felt terrible for his quick question that came with little thought behind it. Sebastian, however, was acting unfazed by such a question, even with his own explanation behind why he believed Jon to have asked him.

"Do not be so cautious, Jon," he replied, offering the tub of cookies to his fellow teacher. "Infact, I have never had the chance to ask someone such a question. I take it, you are planning on asking Madeline?"

The Scot took one of the cookies, examining the baked good while the older male settled himself down to engage in his work. "Never? What about Kelsea's mother?"

Seb shook his head. "Summer was little more than sexual gratification," he responded, leaning back in his seat, dark eyes focused on the worried, soon-to-be-engaged man. "There was not even a phone call to say she was leaving for a different life, and although I found myself missing her, I soon realized that we had little as a couple. I missed her, yes, but I don't think I ever truly loved her to ask her such a deep and meaningful question."

"I see..." He was rotating the cookie in his fingers now, listening intently to the older man speak. Jon was a listener, not a talker. It had taken a while for him to get to know the man that had been hired to lessen Madeline's workload. She talked so highly of him that Jon had taken time to seek him out and get to know the man now teaching Ancient History. They didn't have too much in common, but Sebastian was rather friendly and willing to overlook differences to find out more about Jon. They weren't exactly best of friends, but Jon felt comfortable talking about more than just work with him.

"Since coming to this school, I have noticed that Madeline and yourself have an interesting relationship. It is not the asking her that is bothering you so much, is it Jon?" he asked, ignoring his work in favor of talking with the other man. "I do not know details so much as some of the older teachers, but what I have gathered, and from what she herself has told me, it is more the father of her children that you are worried about, right?"

Jon admired how Sebastian could read people. He knew the right things to say, and he was honest with his words. T.K. had a much similar respect of words, refusing to sugar coat, but Sebastian had a way with those truthful words. He nodded in response.

"I am nothing like Reid, with his psychological theories as to why people do things, but from what I can gather, I am sure he would be thrilled, if not a little jealous."

"Jealous?"

"Madeline is the mother of his children. Those children which you get to be more of a father too than he. Summer took Kelsea away before I even had chance to get to know she existed. I was never there when she was born, I could not be the man to hold her when she had a nightmare. They may not be your children, but in the eyes of Morgan, you are more their father than he is," he explained, taking another cookie for himself and happily munching away. He spoke softly, not condescending, and was merely giving his own opinions on how he saw things. "He has all rights to be jealous of you."

"Are you sure you're not Reid in disguise?" Jon asked, moving to the table and sitting down beside the other man, finally taking a bite of the cookie.

Sebastian laughed. "He is quite something to deal with. I'm hoping to break him into more social situations. I think I irritate him though, with my constant 'Don't start on the headspace shit, just smile and eat your cookie'. Ween him off the need to cling to a twelve year old just because she's comfortable, because she's familiar. He's got to learn that not everyone is a genius, and people are and will be stupid."

"You make it sound like you don't like him?" Jon and Mr. Gray had a liking for similar things, and they bonded over their love for Sci Fi programs. Morgan, however, was constantly being sent to apologize to the young teacher by Madeline. T.K. disliked him, and Morgan seemed to be siding with him.

"I admire him because he is unique. I dislike him because he has a ten foot pole rammed so far up his own arse you could hang a flag from where it came out his mouth,"

"Lovely image, Sebastian," Jon groaned.

The man laughed again. Soft, musical, his French side seeping through. "But we're not talking about Reid here, we're talking about you, and Morgan."

"I was hoping to talk with him about it today." Madeline was being kept busy by two expertly deployed secret agents that went by the names of Gwen and Zephyr who were under orders to make sure she stayed clear of the teacher's lounge.

"When he comes, would you like me to leave?"

"I think I'd like a witness if he tries to punch me in the gut for wanting to marry his Madeline,"

Sebastian picked a chocolate chip from his cookie. With all the cooking the man did, it was amazing he managed to stay in shape. "I don't have him pegged as a violent man," Sebastian replied. "Protective to the point of appearing violent, yes, but never physically violent. It's his presence that intimidates and keeps others from pushing his limit. Its what makes him seem like a bully to Reid, too. Smart, but quite the Neanderthal to someone like Reid."

Jonathan chuckled softly, imaging Morgan as some form of hairy man from ancient times.

"So would you like me to leave?"

"No, there's no need," Jon replied quickly, finishing his cookies and brushing the crumbs from his pants. "Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Sebastian. I'll keep them in mind, perhaps even tell Madeline that the father of her children is a caveman."

As if on cue, the drama teacher entered the room, blue eyes moving from one man to the other and back again. "Mother's meeting?"

"I was asking Jon if we should omit you from the single parent's club," Sebastian retorted wittily, a cheerful yet cheeky grin on his face. "Since technically you're not single. We would refuse you membership due to the fact your children live with their mother, but that wouldn't be fair to Alastar. Although, I hear two of the single men are being not single together."

Morgan chuckled. "Next thing you know, Sabby, Aidan hooks up and it's just you, with Derek."

"I'm waiting for news of Cillian's illegitimate child," he responded quickly, flashing a toothy smile.

"Morgan, while I enjoy watching you two interact so fondly together, there's something I'd like to ask you," Jon cut in, before the other two teachers could continue insulting one another. Morgan genuinely liked Sebastian, but the two men seemed to thoroughly enjoy taking jabs at one another.

"Sure, Jon. What is it?" Morgan asked, stealing himself one of Seb's cookies.

Swallowing the lump that had built up in his throat, he looked Morgan square in the eyes. "I want to ask Madeline to marry me."

blaaaah

Somebody else's song

It wasn't like she intentionally found herself out of work again, it was just that she was trying her very best to succeed on her own that her stubbornness meant she didn't ask for help when she needed it most. Christian supposed she got that from their mother, who always tried to do as much as possible on her own before she simply had to ask for help. His sister had a wonderful stage presence, and she could quickly capture the audience, but sadly there was few jobs out there for those starting on the singing profession. Their father had often expressed his desire to help her, but she always declined. She was going to do this on her own, without anyone's help.

Yep, it definitely had to be their mother's stubbornness shining through.

Christian leaned back against the kitchen counter, looking over at his sister perched upon the bar stool by his breakfast bar. It was mid-morning on a Saturday, and she was still in her pajamas, flipping through a magazine absentmindedly. She'd arrived last night, with all her belongings and that sweet smile on her face, asking her brother if it would be alright if she could stay with him until she was able to get back on her feet. Looking at her, he couldn't turn her away, not that he would anyway. Family meant so much to him, and the twins had one of the strangest families the world will probably ever see.

"You do know if Mom found out you were crashing here, she'd come over to find out whats wrong," he told his sibling before taking a bite out of his toast. "And then Dad would find out, and before you know it, I'll have our entire family invading my home to find out why my sister is crashing with me."

"You know they'll want to see you too," she replied, blue eyes that were exactly like her father's lifted from the page she was reading to look over at her brother. "They don't all fawn over me,"

Christian rolled his eyes, munching the food in his mouth. After swallowing he said "I've been told the stories just as much as you. You were the one that always wanted attention, and you always got it."

"Except from Tetsu," she replied with a soft chuckle.

"Even from Tetsu, Izzy. He adores you."

She tutted, looking away from her twin, resting her chin in her hand, gaze staring out of the kitchen window. "That's why I came to you, Chris, I don't want fawning over by our family. Jake moves out soon, and then Mom and Jon have the chance to finally be alone together." She looked back at her brother. "I don't want them to worry about me."

"You're jobless, and sleeping on my couch. I think they have every right to worry," he retorted.

"Trust you to be Mr.Obvious. Whatever happened to looking out for your little sister?"

Christian leaned forwards, hands propping himself on the breakfast counter, bringing his face close to his sister's, strands of soft blond hair falling before his big brown eyes. "When my little sister starts accepting help," he replied softly, lips curled into a cheerful grin. Lifting one hand, he poked the other twenty two year old in the forehead. "You're as stubborn as Mom."

Isobel swatted at his hand. "At least I'm not as gay as Dad,"

He scoffed at her reply. "Nick and I are close," he replied. "Not like that!" he added before his sister had chance for a witty comeback. "We both happen to enjoy cooking," he explained, wandering around the counter to go and get changed out of his sleep clothes.

Isobel spun around on her stool, leaning back on her elbows. "You have Mom's voice fetish. Admit it," she chirped. "You like Nick's accent"

He paused in the kitchen doorway. "It reminds me of Jon," he said, looking back at her over his shoulder. "Plus, its his sister I'm more interested in," he added with a wink.

That got her going. Walking out of the kitchen, he could hear his twin spluttering about. There was the clatter of the stool falling over as she tried to scramble to her feet, accompanied by a curse. Then she'd pick up the stool, and rush to her brother's room to find out more gossip. It was hard to pin-point which family member she got her need for gossip from, but Christian had a feeling it was possibly more from their father than their mother.

Tossing the faded blue t-shirt he'd been wearing onto his bed, Christian began searching through his wardrobe for something to wear, listening to his sister asking countless questions, wanting to know each and every detail of her brother's love life.

"You do know Dad's been harping on lately about grandchildren," said mentioned, leaning in his bedroom doorway, inspecting manicured nails as if the comment was simply passing information.

Pulling the sweater over his head, Christian ruffled fingers through his hair. "Well, he'll have to find out a way for Tetsu to get pregnant and then wait a few years, because I'm certainly not in the place for kids." He gave a cheeky grin. "You, on the other hand..."

"Am unemployed and crashing on my brother's couch," she replied quickly, mimicking her brother's grin.

"Well he's just going to have to wait, isn't he?"

"You could always do Dad's trick and get an ex pregnant. Wasn't Clarissa always wanting children?"

Christian shuddered. "No thanks. I think I'm fine without that weirdo. Besides, I think Christopher scared her so much she won't be coming near our family for a very long time."

Isobel sighed softly, resting her head against the door frame, arms folding at her chest. "I haven't seen Christopher in ages. Do you remember when we were five, and he told us that Tetsu was a girl?"

"You believed him," her brother replied, flopping down onto his bed to pull his socks on. "You referred to Tetsu as a 'she' for so long, Dad was starting to worry about you." He paused, thinking for a moment. "I think he said that he was worried that you weren't accepting him because most families had a mother and a father, but we had one mother and three fathers." He hummed softly to himself, pushing up from his bed. "I wonder how long it would have lasted if I hadn't told Mom that it was what Christopher had said?"

Isobel began laughing. "Oh dear, they would have sent me to therapy or something." Pushing away from her spot by the door, she moved over to where her brother stood examining himself in the long mirror on his wardrobe. Slender hands dusted down his shoulders, then reached up and began toying with his hair, drawing her fingers through the soft, shoulder length blond locks. Christian, despite being her twin, was taller than she was. He had their father's height, while she had their mother's. There were differences and similarities between the twins, and as they grew older they began taking more and more after one parent in looks. Isobel had her father's eyes, but had taken after her mother with size and stature. It was nice to feel like her big brother could protect her, but sometimes she just wanted to be able to stand on her own two feet and not need someone there to help her. "I guess that sometimes, they tried too hard to bring us up like a normal family."

Slowly, his sister's arms wrapped around his waist, and she buried her face into his back, holding on tight to Christian. Looking down at those small hands, he covered them with his own. "I'd never change it," he told her softly. "Even with all the bullying when the kids at school found out about our Dad being in a gay relationship, or that our parents were all teachers. All those times where we wanted to stay another night with Dad, but we had to go back to Mom, or even when Jacob was born and we were no longer the babies. I wouldn't change any of it."

"I'll tell Dad," she replied once he had finished. "And I'll go see Mom and tell her." She sighed softly, resting her cheek upon that warm back. "Thanks for reminding me just what our family means." She still wanted to succeed on her own, but Isobel would at least let her parents know how she was doing.

Christian patted her hands, and pulled loose. Turning around, he look to his little sister with a bright smile on his face. She was the families favorite, drawing people in with those eyes of her's, and being the little actress that Daddy admired. But for Isobel, her brother was her favorite. Tetsu came a close second though.

"Well, you're going to have to see Mom tomorrow anyway. It's her and Jon's wedding anniversary, remember?"

She cursed. She'd completely forgotten to get them a gift.