The Hills Have Ears #8

MINI MATTELL - 

LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER?

LEIGHTON Sekemoto was spotted on Mirabello Plaza yesterday evening, of course, we cornered him to ask about the CCTV images released of him and a girl who appeared to be Kaity Mattell's cousin, Shaena Lansing, cosying up behind Everfresh Delights Grocery Store a few nights ago.

 Lansing is the ex-girlfriend of psycho-killer Alex Farrah, and we wanted to know if she was next in the DJ's long line of arm-candy. He would neither confirm or deny the suspicions that the two were more than friends, but admitted that it was Miss Lansing with him on the night in question.

Attention was diverted from him, however, when Jaydean Mattell, the fifteen year old daughter of Kaity Mattell, was spotted locking lips with a mystery boy at the pool across the street. Mr. Sekemoto looked shocked to see the young girl giving such a public display of affection, and finally denied the allegations that he was the father of Kaity's twins. Of course, we now realise that may be a publicity stunt, as we soon forgot about young Jaydean with his admission. He denies knowing the true paternity of the girls, and asked us not to collar Krazy Kaity about it.

So who is Jaydean's mystery man? Who is the ellusive father of Kaity's twins? Is Jaydean taking after her mother? And just what is going on between DJ Lazy and quiet Shaena Lansing?

Ok, to clarify:

I've said before, the 'gagging order' Kaity got on her kids expires when they turn 15, so Jaydean and Sophie are at the mercy of the press now.

Leighton is not the father of the twins, and him finally admitting that may not be good news for Kaity, not that they even believe him... And yes, he said that to try and turn the presses attention back onto himself to save Jaydean the embarrassment. But it was too late :(

And I think it's about time Kaity had a little talk with her girls about being discreet.

(Jaydean has celeb level 2, Sophie has none still, so unless Sophie gains some she won't be featured. Leighton is 3, I think, Shaena is 3, Winter is 3 and Kaity is now at 4.5. This last star level is about 5000 points, so it's taking a while, but I'm now certain I'll be done before the generation is up.)

Seasons greetings!

Good news, readers! We have managed to get hold of official seasonal merchandise signed by none other than our Krazy Kaity and her long-time boyfriend Winter Snow.

But we weren't content with just that, and we knew you wouldn't be either! So we did some snooping and found a shot of local hero DJ Lazy and his new squeeze Shaena Lansing, Krazy Kaity's cousin. Of course, we got them to sign that for you too, so go ahead and snap them up before it's too late!

***And now, a message from our sponsors***

4.37 Young

  Jaydean had been invited on a date with her crush, Alvaro Chin. She was almost certain this was Lucas' doing, as he was the only one who was friends with them both. In the end she'd decided she didn't care, and had agreed to go, forgiving Lucas. For now. They'd spent most of the afternoon in the pool, mucking about and people watching, giggling at the stories they came up with for some of the other people at the pool. Now the sun was starting to set, and the teens would have to head home for dinner very soon.

  "So, Jay." Alvaro began. "I had a really great day."
  "Me too." Jaydean smiled, glad that the feeling seemed to be mutual.
  "I was wondering if... If it's too soon, just say... Uhm..."
  "Al, what is it?" Jaydean giggled a little at his sudden inability to talk properly. He'd been fine all day.
  "Do you want to be official? You and me?" The grin that quickly spread across her face told him that was a yes, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
  "Yes!" She was glowing now, and he wasn't sure he'd ever seen anyone smile so wide.

 "But there's one condition, I'm afraid..." The smile faded quickly, and he took her hands gently to reassure her.
  "I'm sure whatever it is won't be so bad that I change my mind. I really like you, Jay."
  "My mum..." She faded out, closing her eyes and shaking her head. She clearly wasn't happy about what she was about to say. "My mum is paranoid. She had me and Soph at a young age, and she wants to check out every guy we date because of it. I'm sorry, but would you mind coming for dinner at my house to meet her?"
  "Sure, I can handle that."
  "No, Al... I don't think you understand. My mum... She's..." She paused while she tried to think of a way to describe her mother.
  "I know, Jay. I've seen the papers." He smiled at her, and her worries melted momentarily. "I'll come to dinner, I'll charm your mum, and then we'll be free to go on dates and stuff, right?"
  "Right." Jaydean agreed.
  "Now. Sorry to change the subject, but I shoved a towel in the pool vent, and there's a very angry looking lifeguard coming this way..."

He held her hand tight and pulled her towards an exit, both teens laughing so hard they could barely run, and the old life guard shouting after them, making everyone turn their heads to watch their grand exit. Alvaro stopped at the exit and pushed Jaydean against the wall, hiding them both from sight as the lifeguard ran out the other exit and down the street past them. Once he'd rounded the corner and the coast was clear, the teens fell about laughing again.
  "Why did you do that?" Jaydean asked, panting for breath.
  "Why not?" Alvaro shrugged, grinning. "I wanted to impress you, and I thought that might be one way to do it."
  "You don't need to do stupid stuff to impress me."
  "I'll let you in on a little secret, Jay. There's something in the male brain that makes us do stupid stuff to impress pretty girls, even though most pretty girls aren't impressed by stupid stuff. It's just the way we're made."
  "And what do pretty girls do to impress stupid boys, then?" She giggled, chewing her bottom lip.
  "Well, I dunno. You're a pretty girl, you tell me."

Jaydean reached out and pulled him close, before leaning in and kissing him. He was obviously as surprised as she was at her boldness as it took a few seconds for him to respond. When he did, his hand automatically went to the small of her back, his other hand stroking her arm, and his tongue stroking hers. The setting sun cast long, cold shadows, and a cool breeze sent shivers over her damp, naked skin. For those moments, she forgot about the rest of the world around her, the cars driving by on the busy street, the other swimmers in the pool, the crazy old lifeguard probably halfway across the town by now. For those moments, it was just him and her. It was perfect.

  "How was your date with Alvaro?" Sophie sang his name in an effort to embarass her sister.
  "Good." Jaydean smiled shyly as her sister raised an eyebrow.
  "What did you do?"
  "Just went for a swim."
  "Just a swim?" Sophie giggled as Jaydean blushed a little.

  "You luuuurve him!" Sophie sighed and batted her eyelashes, teasing.
  "Shuttup, Sophie! I do not!"
  "Oh yeah? Then why are you staring off into the distance and smiling so much?"
  "I am not!"
  "Are too!"
  "Am not!"
  "Are! And anyway, your lipgloss is smudged, and considering the perfect state of the rest of your makeup, you reapplied after you got changed and something -or someone- smudged your gloss."

  "Ok, so we kissed." Jaydean admitted.
  "I knew it! Giving it away on the first date? What would your mother say?" Sophie joked in return, smiling and clearly happy for her sister.
  "Well, he's already coming for dinner to meet the stupid parents, and he said he'd charm her. So she won't be saying a lot. Especially if he comes when Winter is here."
  "Do I sense a new plan?" Sophie grinned, eyes glinting michieviously.

***

   "You know? I think lime is my favourite snow-cone flavour. Thanks, Papi" Elise's grandad had bought her to the festival again. He'd suggested elsewhere, but she wanted a snow-cone, and this was the only place in town that sold them.
  "I thought grape was your favourite?" He chuckled, his little princess changed her mind faster than anyone he knew.
  "It was until I tried the lime." She slurped, spitting green ice-crystals out over the chess table.
  "Swallow first." He scolded. He'd never properly tell her off, she was all the family he had left besides his sister, Lisa, and she'd not been the same since her husband Jackson died a few decades ago.
  "Sorry Papi." Elise grinned, sticky lime juice around her mouth and dribbling down her chin. He handed her a napkin, and she cleaned herself up.

Jumping off the chair, she stood beside him and stared at the plasma fruit he held in his hand.
  "What does it taste like? Can I try a bit?"
  "Sorry, Ellie, you're too young. It would only make you sick. Besides, you'll get sick of the taste soon enough, I'd rather you enjoyed real food while you can." Cortez blamed himself for his granddaughters curse. He'd passed it down to Bonnie, and she'd passed it on to little Ellie. He knew it wasn't his own fault he was a vampire, that had been a freak occurance - something to do with the fallout of the science facility disaster.
  "Where do you get it from?"
  "If I told you that, you'd only go looking and make yourself ill. I'll show you when you're old enough." He smiled at her scowl as he took a bite. There was one good thing about this curse; it gave him a connection to his granddaughter that nobody could take away. Someone had to show her the ins and outs of vampirism, and he would get to be the one to do it, even if she didn't live with him.

  "Go eat one of those people." Elise demanded, gesturing to the small group of humans up on the lawned area.
  "No, Ellie. We don't drink from people unless it's a last resort."
  "Please! Just one time, just for me?"
  "No. You know I'll do almost anything for you, but I won't drink from an unwilling human just for your entertainment."
  "But how will I know how much blood to take when the time comes?"
  "There are people who sign up as training donors, we'll go meet with them." Elise looked like she still wanted to convince him, but she knew better and dropped it.

  "We'd better get you home, you have school tomorrow." Cortez stated after a short pause.
  "Ok, Papi. Thank you for my snow-cone." She reached up and squeezed her grandfather tight. She didn't really understand why her mother had left her in the care of her friends, but she assumed she hadn't planned on dying. Cortez had never been around for Bonnie when she was Elise's age, his relationship with Summer, her mother, had been difficult until their daughter's late teens, so being able to be there for his granddaughter meant the world to him, even if it was only a few hours a week.

***

  "Leighton? It's late, what do you want?" Kaity was moody. She was always moody come bedtime when Winter was away. She hated sleeping in bed alone, and having her best friends boyfriend call her wasn't what she wanted. "If you're calling for Shae, call her yourself."
  "Kait, I'm sorry." Leighton's voice was strained.
  "Sorry for what? What have you done to Shae? I warned you, you hurt my friend, I hurt you a hundred times worse."
  "No... Not Shae..." He sighed, clearly debating what to say. "I saw Jaydean and... Who was that boy?"
  "Alvaro Chin."
  "Yeah- wait? Chin?"
  "Yes, as in that Chin. Spill it, llama."
  "Sorry. Yes, I saw Jaydean and Alvaro... The paparazzi were all over me... They saw them too. I tried to divert attention so Jay-dee didn't have to go through that.. I just said the first thing that came to my head-"
  "And what was that?!" Kaity was fuming, both at Leighton and Jaydean.
  "I told them I wasn't the father of the twins. I know you'd rather it was left to debate, but it just came out. I'm sorry... I know they'll come begging to you now, and I know Jaydean is in for a whole world of humiliation... I'm so sorry."
  "You can apologise all you want. It won't fix anything." Kaity growled before hanging up and throwing her phone onto the bed. How could he?! He had no right! She knew he had every right. He'd gone beyond the line of duty for her, letting the papers believe he was a deadbeat dad to her twins, and it was only fair that it was over for him now. And Jaydean? Jaydean should have known better. She'd watched the papers ruin her own life, and now she had to watch her daughter go through it all too? She just hoped that they just saw her talking or something.

  "I need you, Winter." She muttered to herself as she collapsed onto her bed. "Why do you have to work away?" She let a sob escape her as she reached for her phone. She just needed to hear his voice telling her it would all be ok.



Sorry, short, I know. There's an article to go with this to be posted in a couple days, then the drama picks up like craaaazy. Seriously, your head will be spinning. It's coming from everywhere. And I couldn't think of a title to this to save my life... soz :/

4.36 Naughty

"Yeah, so I didn't know the twins were grounded, and I bought Lucas and my girls round... Kaity almost strangled me..." Shaena dropped her lipgloss as she burst out laughing.
"If you'd told me you were coming, I could have warned you."
"If I'd told you I was coming, you'd have talked me out of it." Shaena sighed and stashed her makeup back in the top drawer of her dresser.
"And why would that be, Louie?"

"Well, Nana." Shaena scowled at him as he used his stupid nickname for her yet again. "You're going on a date." He stated, matter-of-factly.
"Uhmmm" Shaena pretended to think about it as she turned to face him. "Oh yeah, I wondered why I got all dressed up."
"Shae. Seriously. Who is he? Do I need to talk with him?" Luis knew exactly who it was, Kaity had told him all about it, but he wanted Shaena to tell him herself.
"None of your beeswax, Lou. I'm old enough to look after myself, you don't need to play big brother anymore."
"But I do. You're my baby sister and it hurts enough that you wouldn't tell any of us about Alex-"
"Louie!! Just forget about him. He was a worthless bag of trash, and I'm over it so you should be too."
"Shae, listen to me. Leighton doesn't exactly have the best reputation, and I don't want you to get hurt."

"So you do know who it is." Shaena stated, glaring at him. "I know Leightons reputation, I know about his past, hell, back in the day I had Kaity's twins dumped on me enough times so she could go to some last minute party that he'd organised. I know all that, and I've known him since Kaity's eighteenth birthday. I know I can trust him."
"Well, I can't trust him, so I'll just make myself comfortable here so he can't try any funny business." He picked up the remote and flicked the TV on as he lounged back on her bed.
"Louuieee!" Shae moaned. "I'm nearly thirty, I can do whatever the hell I want."
"Yeah, but you don't know what you want." Luis stated calmly, although his face showed just how worried he was.

There were a few minutes stunned silence as Shaena contemplated how to respond.
"Lou. You can trust him." She reiterated. "Do you really think Kaity would let me out with someone she didn't trust one hundred percent?"
"Well, I still don't like it. Why don't I call Layla and we'll double date?"
"No, Luis." Shaena rolled her eyes. "Is this because he's a vampire? You think he'll suck my blood or use mind control or something?"
"No. It's because he's a male and he has sperm and you're not in a place to have another child." Shaena's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her head, and she blushed a little. Luis jumped off the bed and busied himself looking at the pictures of their parents on the wall. "I just don't want you to do anything stupid. I know you think you're super-mature and can take care of yourself, maybe you can, but I'll always see you as the baby sister who used to look up to me and wear frilly little dresses. I want to protect you, I always will do." Shaena stared at him for a few moments.

She'd never really thought that her brother wanted to protect her from the world. Alex had made her stop seeing him as often, if it had been up to him she'd have stayed home alone all day. But Kaity had given her a job and people had come to visit her there quite often. Growing up without her father, Luis had filled that gap, and although Geoffrey was back in the picture now, things weren't the same and probably never would be. Luis was her rock throughout her childhood, and in his eye's he'd never left that spot through all these years.

"I'm sorry." She muttered as he turned to face her. "I guess I just thought you were being annoying, I can see why you're so worried. But really, you don't need to worry. You've seen Kaity angry, and so's he, so..." Luis laughed and pulled her into a hug.
"Ok, I won't camp out in your room then."
"You're more than welcome." Shaena grinned. "He's got his own bed at his place anyway." Luis hit her playfully on the back as she laughed at him.
"Don't even joke about it, Shae. If that playboy violates my sister, he won't know what hit him."
"I'll be sure to let him know."

***

The teens had pulled the stereo system into their room, and were having themselves an impromptu party. Sophie and Lyris were talking about a few kids in their class, Jaydean and Liana were inventing dance moves and grinding back to back, while Lucas was wondering why all his friends were female fairy relatives.

"Oh! You know who Jay likes?" Sophie blurted out between songs. Jaydean spun around to glare at her, face of thunder.
"Sophie! No! Lucas is like, his best friend! Please!"
"I'm 'like' whose best friend?" Lucas smirked.
"Luke! It's none of your business, honest!" Everyone was looking at her now, eager for her to spill it.
"Come on, Jay! You can trust me, I won't tell him, promise." He pouted and held his pinky in the air, showing he was willing to pinky-swear if that's what it took. Jaydean sighed and looked around at her friends expectant faces.
"Alvaro." She mumbled, glaring at her sister.
"Alvaro Chin?!" Lucas, Lyris and Liana asked in unison. Jaydean nodded, and went back to dancing, trying to avoid punching Sophie.

"What about you, Sophie?" Liana asked, grinning.
"She doesn't like anyone." Jaydean answered for her sister. "Or so she says." Lyris, Liana and Lucas cracked up laughing, and Sophie rolled her eyes as she went back to dancing.
"I can't help it if all the boys at school are ugly."
"Hey!" Lucas pouted, teasing.
"Well, duh! I'm going to think you're ugly because you're my cousin!"
"Soph, that's mean!" Jaydean threw her arms around Lucas' neck from behind, petting his hair to jokingly reassure him. Lucas pushed her off him. He hated people touching his hair.

"I still can't believe we're getting away with this." Lyris remarked, as Sophie waved her arms wildly in her face, inventing yet another dance move. "Won't your mum mind that you had friends over when you're grounded?"
"Yes!" Jaydean and Sophie scoffed together.
"Plumbob, she'll kill us. Especially because Winter's away over the weekend. She's always on edge when he's away."
"Soph, what you on about? She's on edge all the time anyway! She's just a bajillion times worse when he's away." Jaydean corrected.
"Why?" Liana asked, twerking against Jaydean's leg and making her stumble.
"Because, you weirdo.... I dunno." Jaydean replied.
"Because she doesn't get her nightly helping of woohoo, and she's paranoid that he'll die while he's away." Sophie offered as an explaination. Jaydean mock-gagged.
"Don't wanna think about that, Soph."
Sophie shrugged.
"You know it's true, you just don't want to admit what happens the other side of that wall." Sophie gestured to the wall that joined their room to their mothers. Jaydean ignored her and went back to enjoying what time they had left before their certain death the following morning.

***

After a late dinner, with barely any awkward silences, Leighton had pulled Shaena behind the grocery store to hide from some paparazzis loitering around the park across the street.

 "So, Cinderella," Leighton began as the bell at city hall chimed midnight, "I suppose I'd better get you home before curfew."
"I don't have a curfew." Shaena giggled, wondering if that fourth glass of wine had been a good idea.
"No, but I think I do." He sighed, leaning against the wall.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm sure Kaity has a set time in her mind where she'll come out for my blood if you're not back."

"So? Kaity doesn't rule my life, I'm three years older than her, I should be the one bossing her around. 'The night is young!' - and all that crap."
"Well, what do you want to do, then? Everything is shut except The Grind, and I'm not going into work on my night off."
"Mick's will be open." Shaena suggested.
"Kareoke?" Leighton raised an eyebrow. "If you want, I guess..."

"Not Mick's, then."
"Well, if you want. This is your night to celebrate being sane, so, if singing badly infront of strangers helps you celebrate then we'll go."
"Singing badly?! First you make fun of my mental state, and now you're saying I can't sing?" Shaena tried to keep a straight face and look angry, but it just wasn't possible and a giggle escaped her.
"Well, prove me wrong, then." Leighton smiled.
"No, it's ok. You were right anyway." She paused for a moment, thinking. "Lets do something naughty."

"Naughty how?" Leighton questioned, thousands of things running through his mind, none of which he thought she meant. She giggled a little and shrugged. "Breaking the law kind of naughty? Or just something that feels naughty?"
"I don't know. I just want to do something different and fun." It was then Leighton realised she'd not done anything that your average teenager or young adult would do. She'd been chained to Alex since she was fifteen, and there was a lot of pent-up childish behaviour that she wanted to let out.
"Ok. Come closer, someone could easily see you there." Shaena took a few steps towards him, and leaned against the wall beside him. "How naughty do you want to get? We could break into the school and mess something up there?"
"Leighton, I have a son at school. Why would I want to mess something up at the school?" Shaena pointed out.
"Good point, didn't think of that." Leighton felt a little stupid, but continued thinking.

"I've got it." He announced, looking proud of himself. "We could break into the pool and go for a swim. It isn't technically illegal, because there's no gates at the pool it's just advised that you don't go in when the lifeguard is off duty."
"Deal." Shaena agreed without even looking at him. "I hope your expensive shirt isn't dry clean only."
"It's a shirt, I can buy another." He replied, grinning, before taking her hand and pulling her across the carpark in the direction of the pool.

***

After several hours wreaking prefectly legal havoc across the city, they found themselves at the beach.
"I want to swim to the lighthouse." Shaena yawned.
"Maybe next time, it's getting kinda late... or, early. And you probably ought to get some sleep before all those kids wake up."
"Not yet, we have to watch the romantic sunrise like they do in the movies." She protested, Leighton laughed.

"There are two things wrong with that statement. One, in the movies it's always a sunset, and two, the sun rises in the east and this is a west-facing beach."
"You don't have to correct everything I say." Shaena joked, shoving him playfully. "Sometimes you can just let me sit here in my wrongness and be wrong." Leighton smiled, and watched her stare at the sky, the early morning sun making her tanned skin glow. Makeup was streaked across her face from the nights pool escapades, her hair was a damp, tangled mess over her shoulder, and she was still the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen.

He reached over and rested his hand on hers, her head spun round in shock. He'd not acted as any more than a friend all night, unsure of just how ready for this she really was, but she didn't look angry that he was touching her, just surprised by the contact.
"I just wanted to say, I've had an amazing night and I feel honoured that a beautiful girl like you would want to spend a night messing around with an old man like me."
"Thank you, me too." Shaena replied, blushing a little at the compliment.

Leighton weaved his arm around her, and they lay back and watched the wisps of clouds float across the sky.
"See?" Shaena started, gently pushing him with her shoulder. "My idea of watching the sunrise from the wrong side of town made sense, because if we were facing the right way then we'd be blinded by now."
"You're just full of great ideas, you are." Leighton smiled, and they fell into a comfortable silence for fifteen minutes or so before Leighton abruptly stood, causing Shaena to follow.

"I'm sorry, the sun is starting to burn me now, I have to get home."
"Oh, sorry, I forgot about that." Shaena apologised, pulling him into an unexpected hug.
"It's not your fault, you were nowhere near born when I became a vampire, and by now I should be used to it enough to not put myself in situations where I have to rush home."
"Will you be alright?" Shaena asked, pulling back a little. "Do you need me to make sure you make it home in time?" Leighton shook his head.
"I'll get us a taxi, and drop you off first. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Shaena asked, feeling the heat of his skin through his shirt.
"Yes. I have to be fine, we've still got to swim to that lighthouse." He smiled and watched as her eyes immediately shifted to gaze longingly at the lighthouse.
"Yes." She smiled, turning her head back to look him in the eyes. "Next time."

***

"Shaena Madison Lansing!" Kaity gasped as Shaena unlocked the door and let herself in. "You dirty stop out! I take it it was a good night, then?" She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively before giggling to herself.
"Kaity..."
"Are you ok? Have you been crying? What did he do?" She fired off her questions in quick succession after noticing her cousin's smudged makeup.
"No, we went swimming." Shaena smiled at the memory.

"Swimming, eh?" Kaity wiggled her eyebrows yet again, and Shaena rolled her eyes, wondering how in the hell she could turn anything and everything dirty.
"Yes, Kaity. We went swimming in the pool, fully clothed, and then threw stones into the lake at the park, ran up a few residential streets being as loud as we could at about three in the morning, and then ended the night at the beach watching the sun rise."

"Sounds fun," Kaity pulled her into a hug. "But in future, call me if you're gunna be out all night because I waited up to hear all about it."
"Sorry."
"Whatevs. Did you have fun? And the main thing, is he a better kisser than Alex?"
"Yes, I had fun, and I don't know, I think we're taking things slow." Kaity looked horrified. "I know, you don't understand that, but trust me. I know what I'm doing."
"Well, go sleep for a bit, I'll get the kids up and then bring you some coffee in bed and you can tell me every single thing that happened, agreed?"
"Agreed." Shaena smiled as she walked towards the stairs. Sleep sounded so good right now.




I have added links to the accessory nectar bottle and solo cups used in the poses I gave away for the blog birthday. Please go download, they're super-useful! Birthday post as reminder.

PS, it's 11/12/13 today! Unless you're one of them backwards Americans, in which case today holds no significance, move on.

4.35 Being Ready

Kaity nervously rubbed her arm as she wondered how to start the conversation. Sophie looked at her expectantly, while Jaydean, obviously assuming they were in trouble, avoided eye contact at all costs. When did they get so big? It seemed only yesterday she was feeding them in their high chairs and kissing grazed knees better. These days she could hardly keep up. They'd babble on about who was dating who and what boy was better looking, it made her feel old. She'd never been one to care about any of that stuff when she was their age, but she could at least follow who was who back then...

"Helloooo? Mum? We've got homework you want us to do, and you'll want us in bed early because we have school tomorrow." Sophie broke her reverie, reminding her that she wasn't supposed to be reminiscing in her teenage - teenage - daughters' room, she was supposed to be having a serious conversation.

"Yes, uhm, sorry. I don't really know how to start..." She trailed off, wishing Winter was here because he was the one who was good with this kind of stuff.
"Oh plumbob!" Jaydean pulled a face. "It's not, y'know, the talk, is it? Mum, you don't have to do that, we learnt it all in school already."
"No! No, it's not that." Kaity breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't that. At least this conversation would hopefully be slightly easier.

Sophie lounged on her sisters bed, stretching her legs out a little and accidentally kicking Jaydean in the process. Jaydean let out a little frustrated noise, before repositioning herself around her twins new position. The fact that she didn't have their full attention spurred Kaity on.
"I asked Winter-" No! That's not what I practiced at all! "I wondered..." She'd lost it now. They were looking at her again and she'd completely forgotton the speech she'd practiced all day on Shaena.

"You asked Winter what?" Jaydean asked as she and her sister shared a knowing smile.
"How would you feel if Winter moved in?" She paused for a split second, not even giving them time to react before explaining herself. "I mean really. If you don't want him here then he doesn't move in. I've asked Shae and she's fine with it, but I thought I'd ask you two before I told your brother because I know he won't have a problem with it.." She trailed off. The girls were smiling now, holding back laughter.

"Mum. Seriously?" Sophie asked.
"Yeah, why would we have a problem with it?" Jaydean added. "He's never had to spend time with us, or include us in the things he does with Tummy, but he does and even when he first moved here and we were annoying and bratty, he still made time for us."
"He's the only man who's ever taken an interest in us. I know all the others weren't the same, they were just for fun, just one night, but Winter is like a father to us and we'd love to have him move in."

"Thank you, guys. That really puts my mind at ease." Kaity smiled uneasily. "Do you really remember all the one-night-stands? You were very young."
"Fairies have amazing memories, mum. If you'd been born a fairy you'd remember your first steps and everything too." Sophie explained. "But don't feel bad about it! Everyone makes mistakes."
"Yeah, it just means you can't tell us off when we do stupid stuff." Jaydean joked, and Kaity gave her a 'that's what you think' look.

"Does this mean you'll get married now? And have more kids? Can you try and have a girl, please? Brothers are soooo annoying." Jaydean asked, and Sophie sat herself up, waiting for an answer. Kaity froze. She had no idea what to say. She'd not thought that far, and she'd never planned on having children to begin with!
"Uhm... One step at a time, yeah?" She stammered. The twins giggled at the flustered look on her face, and she sighed when she realised they were only messing around... Weren't they?

***

"Hello Poppy!" Elise screeched as Popcorn jumped up onto the sofa next to her.
"It's Popcorn! And he's a boy anyway so you can't call him 'Poppy' because that's a girls name." Autumn corrected her, giving Popcorn an affectionate scratch behind the ears. Elise stuck her tongue out at him, and pulled the dog onto her lap. Popcorn was always hanging around her lately, she guessed maybe he could sense her mood. She wasn't upset that Winter was moving in, as Shaena had said, now she had two mums, a dad and a grandad who she saw regularly, but she still got jealous of Autumn and his perfect life.

She related more with Josh. Everyone thought she'd hate him because his dad killed her mum, but the way she saw it, that didn't matter. Josh had barely met his father, and he'd been in jail most of his life, so why should what he did matter at all to what Josh was like? She guessed Josh felt somehow responsible, because he was a lot nicer to her than Autumn was. They didn't exactly bully her, but when they were together they'd pick fun of anything she said. She didn't really care, when Autumn took it too far that one time she'd just told his sisters and they'd sorted it out. She didn't know what they did, but Autumn walked up to her, apologised, and gave her a dandilion from the garden.

"TICKLE!!!!" Elise shouted as Popcorn rolled over on her legs, the boys glanced at her before going back to their conversation.
"Maybe she'll finally get rid of the pink?" Josh suggested, motioning to the walls, floor and ceiling.
"Do you really think my dad living here will change her? She's stubborn, I bet even if we ripped the wallpaper down she'd just buy the same again and put it back up." Autumn doubted, looking over at Elise and Popcorn to see why the dog was making so much noise. "Ellie, stop it."

Elise rolled her eyes before gently sitting the dog upright again and petting his back. They were hardly even watching the TV, so did it really matter how much noise she made? Plus, nobody cared about their boring conversation about wall paper. How old were they meant to be? There was nothing wrong with pink anyway, and there were still going to be more girls in the house than boys even when Winter moved in, so if there was a vote the house would still be pink.

***

Three months later...

  "Hello?" Kaity recognised the number as Sunset Valley Community School For The Gifted, and immediately assumed someone was dying.
"Hello, is this Kaity Mattell? Mother of Jaydean and Sophie Mattell?" The receptionist didn't sound like she was panicking.
"Yes, speaking."
"I'm sorry to trouble you, but Principal Swift would like you to come in for a chat. Today would be ideal, but we can arrange a later date if that fits better for you?" Kaity's face fell. 'Come in for a chat'. She knew from experiance that SVCSFTG didn't call parents in for a chat because they were excelling or being well behaved. The receptionist had mentioned both girls names, so they must both be in trouble.
"I can be in immediately, if that's ok with him?" She sighed through clenched teeth, trying to imagine what the twins had got up to that required her having a meeting with their principal.
"Yes, that would be fine, we'll see you shortly, thank you." She hung the phone up and Kaity growled under her breath. So much for spending her afternoon off pampering herself and making herself look pretty for her date with Winter tonight.

"Mrs. Mattell-"
"Miss." Kaity corrected automatically. She had no idea why everyone assumed she was married, the principal didn't look like he read tabloids, but most everyone else did.
"Sorry, Miss Mattell. I'm sorry to have to call you in today, I'm sure you're very busy, but your daughters were caught passing notes in class by Mrs. Mattell- Odd coincidence, that..." Mr. Swift trailed off, wondering if there was any relation.
"My grandma Lisa." Kaity clarified. She turned in her chair to the girls, who looked terrified. She gave them a look to ask them to explain themselves.

 "Mum, I can explain..." Sophie started, but trailed off and buried her head in her hands, realising there was nothing she could say. Kaity turned her attention to her other daughter.
"We're really sorry..." Jaydean mumbled.
"As this isn't the first time-"
"What?!" Kaity swiftly spun back to look at the head master.
"We sent letters home, this is the third time they've been caught passing notes."
"Those letters never made it home, if they had, I can assure you Mr. Swift, it wouldn't have happened again." Kaity growled. Mr. Swift looked a little worried at what she might do to her daughters once they left.

"Ordinarily, we'd issue detention, but when you made no response to the letters we sent we assumed they hadn't made it to you and decided a discussion with you was for the best."
"Give them detention." Kaity said, her voice cold and emotionless. "Every day for the rest of the term. They won't be attending prom, and they won't be leaving the house other than for school until they move out."
"Miss Mattell, I don't mean to criticise your parenting techniques, but I feel that level of punishment is a little harsh. They are, the majority of the time, well behaved students, and these notes haven't been the usual bullying gossip we tend to confiscate off pupils their age."
"Do you have the note? I'd like to see what was so important it couldn't wait until they got home."

"NO!" Jaydean shouted, Sophie let out a gasp as she sat up and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Mr. Swift, please! Please! She can't read it!" Kaity looked at her horrified daughters, and realised it must be something they didn't want her to know. She remembered the only time she would have reacted like that was when she was pregnant with them, if this was something like that she needed to know.
"I'd like to see it, please." Kaity stated calmly, turning back to the principle and taking the folded piece of paper from his hand. Her hand shook a little as she opened it, worried about the contents.

Jaydean - So, tonight's the night! How do you think he'll do it?
Sophie - Probs down on one knee, old skool romantic lol
Jaydean - Do you think she'll say yes?
Sophie - Dunno I hope so but maybe she'll make a scene?
Jaydean - I hope not! That would be crap! Surely she'll try not 2 make a scene?
Sophie - Wud be best if paps about, but you know how she is...

Kaity screwed the note up in anger. It was obvious who the 'she' and 'he' were in the note, she only wished her grandmother and the principle didn't. She felt embarrassed, exposed, and so angry she could just trash the small office.
"Thank you, Mr. Swift." She muttered. "I promise, this won't happen again." She gritted her teeth as a tear slipped down her face and she prayed he wouldn't notice.
"Are you alright, Miss Mattell? This really isn't that serious of an offence, their placements at the school aren't in jeopardy."
"Yes. I'm fine. I'll take them home now if that's ok by you? I'll send their brother to pick up their homework when he finishes school."
"I'll arrange for their teacher to drop it off with him. Again, I'm sorry to call you in today. No further action will be taken as I can see you're going to punish them enough."
"Thank you." Kaity sighed as she stood on shakey legs. She turned to the twins, who were both sobbing uncontrollably. They knew exactly how much trouble they were in. "Out." She pointed to the door, and they obediantly scrambled from their seats on the bench and out into the corridor.

Kaity didn't say a word as she drove them home. She didn't say a word once they got home, either. The twins sent themselves to their room, and she just stood in the kitchen in shock. Shaena came down the stairs not long after the girls bedroom door slammed shut.
"Kaity?" She asked, she knew something huge had just happened from the way she was shaking and white as a sheet.
"Winter is going to propose to me tonight." She whispered in monotone, a glazed look in her eye. "And my daughters are grounded for life." Shaena was about to question how she knew and what they did, but Kaity's phone rang and she snapped.

"Leighton!" She bellowed. "This is hardly the time to be ringing me, what the hell do you want?!"
"Uhm... Hi, Kaity... I was just calling for a chat..." Leighton was thoroughly confused.
"Well the last 'chat' I had today didn't go so good. Go *bleep* yourself." She launched her phone at Shaena before running up the stairs.
"Kaity?! Wait-!" Shaena shouted after her as her bedroom door slammed shut. Shaena sighed and glanced down at the phone in her hands. Leighton was still on the line! She held it to her ear. "Hi, sorry about that." She apologised as she climbed the stairs. "I'll try and get her back but it's probably best if you give it a couple of days."
"Nah, just leave her. I'd rather talk to you, anyway." Shaena found herself blushing as she knocked on Kaity's door. Kaity shouted a few curse words at her, and Shaena retreated to her room so she'd still be close just incase.

She sat herself on her bed, and hit the loudspeaker icon on the phone.
"So, what would you rather talk to me about?"
"Nothing in particular, I just know that you won't snap and bite my head off if I don't read your mind. What have you been up to?"
"Not much. Working, parenting... I'm getting signed off from my therapist on Friday."
"Hey, that's great! You doing anything to celebrate?"
"Nah, might have a few drinks at home with Kaity. Winter's going to Appaloosa Plains that night though, so she'll probably be a bit of a killjoy."
"Well, that's not right." Leighton went quiet on the other end, obviously thinking, and Shaena got herself more comfortable.

 "See, I have this problem that you might be able to help me with Friday night..." Leighton waited for a response.
"Riiiiight?" Shaena raised an eyebrow. "Won't you be working Friday night?"
"Ah, that's where the problem is. I have all these paid days off to take, and no reason to take them. I also have all this spare money and nothing to spend it on. So, if you were a good friend and wanted to help, you could let me take you out to celebrate on Friday."
"If I was a good friend?" She repeated, half-questioning what he'd just said.
"Well, ok, you'd still be a good friend if you didn't want to, I guess... But how about it?"
"I dunno, what would we do?"
"Anything you want! The world is your oyster!" Shaena giggled at the silly phrase, and rolled onto her stomach.
"I want to go to the moon." She teased.
"I said the world is your oyster, not the universe!"

 "The outer atmosphere?" She grinned.
"How about dinner or a movie or something?" He suggested, the smile evident in his voice.
"Those sound like the kind of things you'd do on a date." Shaena pointed out quietly.
"They do." He agreed after a couple of seconds hesitation. "Ok, so yeah, I'm asking you on a date. But you said you were being signed off and I immediately assumed that meant you were ready to... See people. I know, that was stupid, but if you think you'd be alright, where better to start than with someone who's been there all along and you already know?"
"I don't know. What's in it for me?" Shaena toyed with her hair as her heart pounded in her chest.
"A free meal and an enjoyable night out to celebrate your newfound sanity?" Shaena smiled at the lighthearted teasing
"Ok." She could hardly believe it, but she'd just agreed to go on a date with Leighton.

***

"Kaity? What happened? Shae said you got called into the school?"
"I don't want to talk about it." She mumbled into her arms. "Especially not with you."
"What do you mean 'especially not with me'? What have I done?" Winter asked, confused.
"So, Shae didn't tell you everything?" She spat, lifting her head slightly and glaring at him with bloodshot eyes. "At least I know there's one person I can trust." Winter sighed, and rubbed his forehead, frustrated.
"What the hell are you on about, Kaity? I've not- as far as I know you have no secrets to tell - how have I betrayed your trust?"
"As if you don't know already." She picked a ball of paper off the bedside table, and threw it at him. He caught it, unballed it as he walked to the bed, and sat on the edge as he quickly read through it. A heavy silence filled the room as neither knew what to say.

"I'm sorry." Winter said, touching her leg to get her attention. Kaity looked shocked, she'd obviously just expected him to tell her she was overreacting. "In my defence, I didn't expect you to find out like this." Kaity rolled her eyes.
"So, you thought you'd tell everyone you knew that you were going to propose to me, and expected me to never find out?"
"No, I told the twins and Autumn because they helped pick the ring. I wanted them to be part of the whole thing. Shaena didn't know, Josh and Elise didn't know, nobody I work with knows, none of your family know." Kaity avoided eye contact by staring at her knees while she wondered what to say. Maybe she was overreacting and blowing this whole thing out of proportion.
"Sorry." She mumbled, still not able to look at him.

Winter waited a few minutes for her to elaborate, or at least look up, but she wouldn't.
"Are we still going to dinner?" He asked. Kaity shrugged.
"I'M HOOOMMMEEEE!" Autumns voice carried up the stairs. "And I have gifts for some evil twins!"
"I should probably go sort him out." Kaity muttered, standing from the bed. Winter stood too, and moved between her and the door, taking her in his arms.

"No. Can we please talk about this for once? I hate that you just suppress everything and let it build up, meaning that when something little happens, like the twins passing notes in class, you end up shutting yourself away and crying for hours. I love you, I'm here for you, and I want you to tell me everything that's on your mind at any time."
"Winter..." Kaity tried to pull away, but Winter held her firmly in place.
"I'm being serious. Look at you, you're a mess and you won't even tell me why! You know you can trust me, and that I'll always do anything I can to help you, so why bottle it up and force yourself to go through everything alone?"
"But Autumn..."
"Autumn will be fine. I need you right now."
"But I can't talk about it because you'll just end up hating me." She started crying again and Winter held her in a tight embrace, rocking her gently.

"Because you're not ready to get engaged? I think I've worked that much out by now. It's fine, you don't need to cry about it. I'll still love you no matter what, you know that." He paused and softly kissed the base of her neck as her tears soaked his shoulder. "I want to marry you, I'd like nothing more, but I'm not going to force you to do something you're not ready to do for my own gain, and you know that, too."
"But surely you just want to strangle me for ruining your plans?" She mumbled against his shirt, turning her head slightly and inhaling his calming scent.
"Only a little." He admitted, smiling. "I'd rather buy you something to cheer you up, like dinner at an expensive restaurant... Hey, you know what? I already booked a table!" He joked, giving her one last squeeze before pulling back a little.

"You could buy me a new dress to wear to dinner..." She wrapped her arms around his neck, and batted her eyelashes, all hint of sadness gone in a flash and her eyes once again twinkling and full of life.
"Oh, there's my girlfriend! I wondered where she was!" Winter teased, giving her a peck on the lips.
"Please! I want to look my best for you." She smiled sweetly and Winter chuckled at her moods sudden U-turn.
"You have plenty of dresses, Kaity! I've never seen you wear half of them!"
"Oh, please Winter! At least get me some shoes, I haven't had new shoes in ages!"
"Ditto on the shoes, my little golddigger. As soon as I mention money you cheer right up, don't you?"

Kaity pouted before changing her tactic quickly and standing on tiptoes to kiss him. Starting slow and sweet, and becoming deeper and more passionate as he responded.
"Kaity, what are you doing?" Winter asked against her mouth, knowing exactly what she was doing - getting her own way.

"Please." She breathed, breaking the kiss completely. "I love you." Winter sighed and pecked the end of her nose affectionately.
"Let me have a shower and then we'll go."
"Thank you." Kaity grinned, kissing him again.







Principal Swift, is Dustin Swift of Misty's Ouroboros Legacy. He's not the main character or anything, but there's plenty more hunky man-meat where that came from. Head on over! (Over 18's only, please! Very mature content.)

Ok, that end scene with Kaity and Winter (Kwinter)? Kaity was basically panicking about getting engaged (incase you couldn't get that much), it's not that she doesn't love Winter, she's just being a total commitment-phobe (even though she has the family oriented trait and has had a marriage wish locked almost her entire life. Shh.). She is most certainly not a golddigger(*raps* I ain't sayin' she a golddigga'), she just enjoys Winter spoiling her, even though she has more than enough money to support herself. Winter doesn't mind, and just wants to see her happy.
...Anyone else notice she also managed to escape talking about it? It's a skill she has.

Shae and Leighton, or Shaeton, just... Just awww.
Shae has been attending therapy since her ex-boyfriend went psycho and murdered her best friend. Kaity was offered it, but.. You're kidding, right? So, Shae obviously still has emotional scars, but she's talked it all through and has come to terms with it all. That doesn't mean her life will be plain sailing from now on, but she evidently is now allowing herself to move on by agreeing to go to dinner with Leighton. Lucky for him that Kaity snapped, isn't it?
(Apologies for the *bleep* thing, not that that could offend you... I did originally attempt to make up a word, but couldn't find one to fit. In my head Kaity swears worse than a sailor, so I do well to censor her usually!)

One last thing then I'll leave you in peace. Please ignore the inconsistant time of day outside... As in, daytime at school, night for Shaeton's scene, then day again for Kwinter... That was me being an idiot and not thinking.