3:16 The Meaning Of Friendship

After screaming the house down for close to forty-five minutes, and pulling at various peoples legs, Kaity finally managed to convince Madison and the Lansing children to stay without having to say too much.

She couldn't bring herself to tell her beloved cousin that if she had gone to visit her fathers grave, she would not have come home. What would have happened to her after that, she didn't know. And she could only hope that stopping her from going tonight had changed things and she would never have to find out. Besides, it was Kaity's birthday in just a few days, and she'd be starting school. She wasn't too fussed about school, she'd rather sit in the library and teach herself, but she could see the advantages of spending time with her peers too. She may be a genius, but she wasn't socially inept, and she knew having friends outside the family would help her out as she grew older.

Madison watched the young girl, effortlessly making even this battered old xylophone sound good, and wondered what had got her so panicky earlier. She seemed calm as anything now, like any child her age should. She had refused to sleep though, so Madison had decided to stay up with her until she was tired. Taylor had offered, but she had work in the morning, and Madison had forced her to bed.

A couple of hours later, Kaity started to get sleepy, so Madison tucked her in.
"No more dreams tonight, okay honey?" Kaity nodded sleepily, and Madison left her to sleep.

She headed downstairs, to get some sleep herself, and was surprised to find Taylor sitting at the table, crying.

 She took the other seat opposite her, and wondered the best approach. She had a pretty good idea of what was wrong, though.
"I told you to go to bed." She scolded playfully. "Go on, spill."
"It's Kaity." Taylor replied, after taking a few seconds to compose herself. "I don't know what to do, Madi! First the nightmares, and now... Well, I don't even know what that was today! She just freaked out and I have no idea why."

The room fell silent for a few minutes, as the sisters thought about the evenings events.
"She did seem very insistant that we stay in. I wonder why?" Madison asked to the room, knowing Taylor didn't know the answer either.

"I just wish I could help her." Taylor said quietly, as a fresh wave of tears flooded her cheeks. Madison looked at her sister, and wished she knew what to say. "If any of this has anything to do with... With her..." Taylor's tone had changed to anger, and she creased her nose in disgust as she spat out her last words. "I swear to God, Madi. I don't care if I go to jail for life, I'll do whatever it takes to get her to leave us all alone."
"Tay, you don't mean that. Sure, she's a dirty evil bitch, but if you did anything..." Madison knew exactly who her sister meant. She sighed as she tried to find the words to explain herself. "Just don't stoop to her level, Tay. You're better than that. You're better than her. You're a brilliant, kind, loving mother, aunt and sister, and she's nothing but scum." Taylor looked up at Madison, and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Thank you, Madi." She forced a smile, and jumped out of her chair, rounded the small table, and pulled her sister out of the chair and into a tight hug.

Madison was a little shocked by her sudden movements, but soon responded, wrapping her arms around her sister and pulling her closer.
"I promise you, Tay, we can get through anything together." Taylor rested her forehead on Madison's shoulder as she started crying once again.
"Madi, I love you, you know that right?"

"Of course I do! I love you too, and honestly, we can get through anything. I mean it."

_____

"All hail Queen Shaena! Ruler of the toybox, and most beautiful Queen in all Simnation! May all her loyal subjects know that today is her birthday!" Shaena had been over-the-top excited at school all day, and had even got into a little trouble for it. It wasn't just that it was her birthday, meaning she started high school tomorrow, but it was her triplet cousins birthday too. Which meant finally she and Kaity could go out to places together and do real best friend things.

It wasn't long until the party was in full swing and Shaena blew out her candles. The triplets didn't have cakes of their own, it would have not only have cost too much money, but it would have made endless cake leftovers that would most likely never get eaten. The Mattells in general ate healthily, and cake was a very rare special treat.

Shaena looked around the small gathering of family and close friends. It was mainly family. Summer and Layla were here, but Summer was practically family, while Layla surely would be one day. Shaena had hoped Summer would bring Bonnie, her daughter, as she wasn't much older than the triplets and would have made a good distraction for Rose and Jake so she and Kaity could sneak into a different room after the ritual. It didn't matter too much though, there were enough people to distract them so they could be left alone.

 The party guests were being well entertained by the family members, and the house was filled with chatting and laughter, so Shaena and Kaity headed upstairs for some private time.

"Shae, I need to tell you something, but I need you to promise you'll never tell anyone. Ever. I mean it." Kaity looked deadly serious, and Shaena was a little worried.
"I promise, Kait. Your secrets will always be safe with me."

"I have dreams and nightmares. But I don't think they're the same as what everyone else has." Kaity started. Shaena was giving her her full attention, so she carried on. "They're really real, and they feel different to normal dreams. It's like I'm standing there, watching something happen, but there's nothing I can do to stop it."
"Kaity, everyone has dreams that feel real, it's nothing to worry about."
"No, this is different." Kaity wondered if she should really be saying anything at all, what could this kind of information do to Shaena? "They come true."

Shaena looked to her feet, wondering whether to believe her cousin.
"Shae, I didn't want to tell you this, but the night before you asked to go see your Dad's grave..." Kaity trailed off, seeing Shaena's eyes light with recognition, clearly remembering how she'd made such a fuss about them not going. She still hadn't been, but hoped to go in the next day or so, as her mother had promised.
"What happened in the dream?" She questioned. As Kaity decided how much to tell her, she took a deep breath.
"I saw you, Luis and Aunt Madison at his grave. You were all dressed up, like it was a special occasion, and it was a full moon. I couldn't hear anything, it was like a silent movie, but a man appeared in a flash of blue light behind you. Your Mum grabbed you and pulled you out the way, and it looked like Luis was protecting you both. He looked angry and you were crying. The man pushed him to the side, and then tried to grab you. Your Mum fought him, and you fell over, but quickly got up again when the man pushed her to the ground too. And then he took your hand and you looked terrified."
"And then what?" Shaena couldn't believe her cousin had stopped there.
"And then it ended and I woke up. I think he was going to kidnap you or something, but I can't be sure." Shaena stood there in stunned silence for a minute. She was about to reply when Jake came in.

"Mummy says it's bedtime, Kaity. It's eleven thirty and we start school tomorrow. She also says don't expect to be allowed up this late every night." Jake continued walking through to the bathroom, presumably to wash up before bed.
"Yeah, wait a minute, Jake. She'll be in bed soon." Shaena was annoyed by the interruption at such a crucial point in the conversation.

"We should probably go to bed, Shae"
"No, wait! Do you promise to tell me every dream you have?"

Kaity turned to leave the room as she replied.
"Yeah, I guess. Look, we'll talk about this more another time, you start high school tomorrow so you should probably get some sleep too."

_____

"I seriously feel like I've not seen you in years, Summer! We need to catch up more often!"
"Oh, God, I totally agree, Tay. Can you believe we've both got kids in school now?"
The party was winding down, it was gone midnight, and as it was a Thursday night, all the guests had either work or school the next day. There were still a few milling around. Taylor didn't mind, but the few who were left she didn't even know. They must've either been guests of guests, or crashers.

"I know! Feels like just yesterday we were at high school! Hey, how about you sleep over, like old times? Bonnie's at her Dad's, so you don't have to be home til after she's finished school tomorrow. You can sleep in my bed with me." She pointed to her bedroom door as she finished, as if Summer didn't know where her best friend's bedroom was.
"I'd love that, Tay!" Summer smiled at the idea of feeling like a kid again.
"Ok, I'll just kick these guys out."

_____

The girls had been talking on the end of Taylor's bed for close to three hours, and the conversation had drifted to Kaity and her dreams. Taylor took advantage of her lifelong friend being here, and poured out her heart, spilling tears as she went.
"I just don't know what to do! What if they don't go away as she gets older? What if she has these nightmares for the rest of her life?" Taylor didn't expect a response, and she didn't get one. Summer just held her tighter. As a human, she'd not had any experiance of things like this, until Bonnie was born, the Mattells were the only connection she had to the supernatural. It was different with Bonnie, though. She was a vampire, like her father, and he was always around to support her and give advice. "I'm sorry, Sum. You don't need to hear this, and it's getting... Early. Maybe we should get some sleep? I have to be up and ready to leave the house in 5 hours."

The girls pushed up off the bench at the end of the bed, and settled themselves on top of the covers. They still had no intention of sleeping, as Taylor's nightwear, and the shirt she'd pulled out for Summer to wear, still lay on the floor where they'd left them.
"Sorry, Summer. How's things with you and Bonnie? You realise you've never properly told me what happened between you and Cortez?" Summer sighed.
"Best get comfortable, Tay. It's a long 'un."

Taylor rolled herself over onto her back, and pulled the pillow under her neck.
"Done. Spill."
"Well... It all started when we got drunk... Well, no... You know when it started, you were there, but this bit started when we got drunk. We weren't out together. He was out for someone's bachelor party, and I was just catching up with Chiquita. Chi had to go, you know what crazy hours she works, but I didn't want to yet. So I figured I'd just have a couple more drinks, and then call it a night. Then Cortez spots me, and comes over. He kept buying shots. Rounds for the group he was with, but he'd get me one every time as well. I should have stopped hours before I did, but before I knew it, it was closing time. He practically carried me to a taxi, and had to help me to my door. I insisted he stay, and he was in no fit state t think straight himself. So then, well, you can work this next bit out... And then when I was pregnant with Bonnie, he took me out to dinner once or twice, but it was just so awkward and I figured it'd never work, and I should just accept the fact that I'd followed in my mothers footsteps and was destined to be a single mother."

"And after Bonnie was born, obviously I wasn't going to stop him from seeing her, so he came round loads when she was too young to stay with him overnight. And so we ended up spending loads of time together, and then... I dunno, he just asked me to try dating again, and I said yes. And the rest, they say, is history..." Taylor giggled at the cliched way her friend ended her story.
"That's a sweet story. I hope I can find someone one day."
"Aw, Tay. You will! Don't forget you've got like a billion more years than me!" Both girls were suddenly saddned by the thought of Summer dying. It wasn't long before she'd be old and grey and thinking of retirement. Taylor was still in her prime, and it was horrible seeing her best friend age. They'd been through everything together, and Taylor didn't want to imagine life without her.
"Uh, Summer... It's three thirty. I really need to get some sleep..."
"Oh, God! Ok, lets get some sleep."

I apologise for how jumpy the party/birthdays are. I had save errors and just aged them and then threw another party in the end.

Blurry! Sorry. I think from day one Kaity was winning, but Rose caught up near the end. Because of Rose's popularity, I'll make sure she has a big part throughout her child and teen years, don't worry :)
Oh, I decorated the rest of the house now! And it's all fully furnished :)
Sorry, no more chairs though! Eek... 

 And now for the age-up picture spam:

Good, Friendly, Artistic and Brooding

Excitable, Clumsy and Absent-Minded

Loner, Brave and Loves the Outdoors

And your heir:

Genius, Clumsy and Family Oriented