4.27 The Proposal

The girls had a rare evening free to sit and watch TV. It just so happened to be a full moon, so the mood was sombre as they remembered their old tradition they shared with Bonnie; full moon movies. They couldn't bring themselves to watch a film, and so were watching old re-runs of Reticulated Splines, a sit-com that was cut before either of them were born.

Kaity was messing around on her phone. It had fallen out of her hand while she was taking Autumn up to bed earlier that evening, and she was surprised that it wasn't smashed to smithereens. It was still working fine. Shaena was swirling the wine around in her glass, watching the red liquid trace an arch around the rim. Neither of them had spoken for a while, and neither were finding this sit-com particulaly funny, not even with alcohol.

"YES!" Kaity jumped to her feet and did a victory dance. "I completed that level, Shae! I've been stuck on it for weeks!" Referring to the game Sweet Squish that everyone in the world seemed to be raving about these days.
"Well done." Shaena smiled. She'd never got into the game herself, finding it boring after level five, but Kaity must've been up to about level sixty by now.
"Now I bet I'll get stuck..." Kaity trailed off when she was interrupted by her phone ringing, and Shaena watched a smile spread across her lips. It must be Winter. "Hi I finished that level just now." She spoke into the phone, barely taking a breath between her greeting and her announcement. "Are you proud?" Kaity turned to face Shaena a little and grinned with her tongue between her teeth, biting back a laugh. Winter, like Shaena, didn't care about that game either, and they'd both got quite annoyed over the past few months with Kaity's obsession. They'd be talking and think she was listening, until they'd ask a question and she wouldn't respond. "No, I'm not going to delete it, idiot! It's taken me ages to get this far so why undo all my hard work? ... Well if you played it even once then you'd love it too. ... Whatever. You're such a loser, you know that?" Kaity laughed at either herself or something Winter was saying, Shaena couldn't tell.

"Anyway, what's up? ... You just finished work?!" Kaity turned to face Shaena again. "He just finished work!"
"Yeah, I got that Kaity." Shaena smiled as she pressed 'ok' on the TV remote, bringing up the information banner and revealing the time. 8:33PM.
"You what?" Kaity asked into her phone again. "Why? It's like, nearly midnight..."
"Half eight." Shaena corrected.
"It's half eight." Kaity repeated into the phone. "A proposal? What does that mean? ... Yes, I know what it means, stop being stupid. What proposal? You knew what I meant. ... What do you mean 'wait and see'? You better come over here right now otherwise I'll hunt you down and- ... Yeah, whatever. Do you want me to pick you up?"
"Kaity, you've been drinking." Shaena reminded her.
"Oh, yeah, sorry, you'll have to walk 'cus me and Shae have drunk nearly a bottle of wine between us. Sorry. ... Ok. See you in a bit. ... Bye!" Kaity ended the call and flopped back onto the sofa.

"Winters coming over, he says he has a proposal." Kaity explained.
"A proposal?" Shaena raised an eyebrow and grinned, causing Kaity to lean over and playfully slap her leg.
"No. Just stop with all that. It's bad enough the twins 'casually' mentioning things like that, I don't need you to do it too. I swear they're plotting something."
"Kaity, they're eight."
"Yeah? So? Anyway, this proposal is for both of us, and I don't think he's into that..."

The girls went back to slowly drinking wine and watching the ancient unfunny sit-com for just over half an hour.

There was a knock on the front door before the girls heard it open and close, and Winter entered the room.
"What have I told you about locking the door?" He scolded them.
"It's our door, if we want it unlocked we'll leave it unlocked." Kaity stated. Winter gave her a desperate look. "And, as Shaena has no more psycho-exs, then we don't really have to worry."
"What about people who read the papers and go crazy with jealousy and walk in here?"
"We don't live in Bridgeport, Winter. Most nights I don't lock the door when I sleep, and nothing's ever happened." Winter looked worried at that admission, but decided to leave it. He walked over and pecked Kaity on the lips, before sitting between the girls.

"So, you were gunna ask us to marry you?" Shaena giggled, Winter shared in her joke, and Kaity just huffed and rolled her eyes.
"I'm sick of all this marriage crap. It's not funny." She moaned. "Have you two got something to do with the twins sudden obsession?" Ignoring the question, Winter decided to get to the point.

"We've got to a point where we can successfully predict the weather, and weather patterns. Every few years the weather goes from hot to cold, and then reverses back a few years later."
"Good for you?" Kaity hinted at the fact she didn't really care about all the sciency stuff.
"Yes, great for me." Winter rolled his eyes. He wasn't really hurt by her comment, he knew she didn't really care about the weather or his job, but faking a little interest at a time like this would be nice. "Anyway, so the scientists originally on the case seem to think they'd never have reached this conclusion without me, and are going to name the cold season after me-"
"What's a season?" Kaity asked, suddenly interested now she realised her boyfriend was some kind of science hero.
"A season, I'd have explained this if you'd let me finish my introduction, but it's what we're calling the years with similar weather. So, we'll have a cold season and a hot season. The cold one they're naming after me, so that'll be 'Winter'."
"Oh wow! I've got a famous boyfriend." Kaity grinned. "I mean famous for actually doing something, not like me." Winter smiled.
"Yeah, I guess I'll be pretty famous. Anyway, they want me to name the hot season, and I wondered if you two could help me?"

"Name it Kaity!" Shaena laughed. "You'll forever be immortalised as the parents of weather."
"Ew, don't." Kaity said, scowling at Shaena's fits of giggles.
"I wasn't going to." Winter chuckled. "I wondered if you wanted to name it Bonnie?" Kaity and Shaena looked at each other, both clearly thinking the same thing.
"Bonnie would have hated that." Kaity stated. "But... She'd have loved to name something like this after her best friend in the entire world."
"So... We're back to Kaity?" Winter asked, confused.
"No. Her mother. Summer." Kaity explained. "She died only a few weeks before her, and she was an amazing woman. Always bright and sunny and happy, never upset, so... Yeah, perfect for warm weather." Winter looked at Shaena, and she nodded her agreement.

"Ok, Summer it is." Winter smiled, putting his arm around Kaity. "What are you watching? Is this Reticulated Splines? Why are you watching this crap?" The girls giggled.
"How old are you that you remember this?! They stopped this when my mum was just a child!" Kaity asked, half embarrassed that she didn't know her own boyfriends age.
"Only thirty-five. I was only young when they cancelled it." Kaity looked at Shaena with her eyes as wide as they could be. Shaena laughed at her.

"Do you know how old I am?" Kaity asked.
"Yes, twenty-four."
"Don't you think... Don't you think that's kinda a massive age gap?"
"Considering we'll both live until we're well over five hundred, and Leighton, the closest thing you had to a boyfriend before me, is two hundred years older than you, no. Do you?"
"I guess when you put it like that, then no." Kaity replied, settling her head into his chest to watch the awful sit-com.

_____

"Does this mean you won't have to work late anymore?" Kaity asked, sleepily.
"Well, I didn't want to say anything until I knew for sure..." Winter trailed off, taking a deep breath.
"That doesn't sound good, then." She stated.
"I'll most likely have to travel again. To explain about the seasons to the rest of the world." Kaity pulled away from his arms and propped herself up.

"So, that's it? You're jetting off around the world for the rest of my life now?" She snapped.
"No, that's not what I said-"
"No, because you didn't want to admit it. That's what you're doing though. You're just abandoning your son to tell someone about some sun and snow, don't you think that's stupid?"
"Kaity-"
"No, I'm not done. You're a father, you can't just leave your kids for months at a time for your career. Do you ever see me leaving them? That conference was the only time I've ever left town overnight, and you're not ready for how much it hurts." Tears started rolling down her cheek, and Winter wiped them away with his thumb.
"Are you done?" He asked softly. Kaity waved her hand, exasperated, indicating him to continue. "Right, I'm not abandoning any kids, I'll most likely be out of town for a few nights at a time, and no more than once a month. You'll barely know I'm gone." He reached for her, and she pulled away further, sitting up now.

"That's hardly the point, Winter." Tears were still falling down her face, and she was looking at him like he'd just killed someone.
"Kaity, don't do this." He pleaded.
"Don't do what? Get upset that the one person I trust enough to call my boyfriend, is gunna run off around the world and meet someone better?"
"I'm not-" He stopped himself and sighed, rubbing his hand over his face, before moving himself towards the edge of the bed and pulling her into his arms.

"I'm not going to meet someone better. You're the one I want, and I don't know how to prove that to you without you running off, scared." Kaity huffed, and let him take her hand and kiss her fingers gently. "Is there a way I can prove to you what you mean to me without you shutting me out?" She wrapped her free arm around him.
"I don't know. It's hard for me to trust people, Winter."
"And why is that?" Winter asked gently, hoping tonight would be the night she finally opened up.
"Because... Because I felt some kind of connection to him. A spark of something..." Kaity sighed and swallowed back the lump in her throat. Winter waited patiently and played with the ends of her hair soothingly. "And... I know I was stupid, and I'd never been in so much trouble in my life, and probably never will be again, but... I trusted him. Looking back, I shouldn't have. Looking back I was stupid, and naive, and way too innocent for a damn seventeen year old. But... But Rose had Myles, and Jake was into Christy, and there was no boys at school that didn't bully me and call me names. I could handle it, and it's not like the three of us couldn't fight them off with our combined magic if it had ever come to that, but I wasn't about to start dating any of them... And then he appeared. He was the hottest guy I'd laid eyes on at that point, and a total stranger which only made him hotter... I let him in... And then I never saw him again, and everybody I asked didn't remember ever seeing him before that night or after..." Kaity started crying again.

"And then I was pregnant. I was seventeen and pregnant, due just a week before graduation, and I was alone and scared. And then Rose said she was pregnant, and she was all happy because she had someone there to do it with her. We told mum together, and Jake stood and held our hands, and she was disappointed in us both... But the look she gave me..." She broke down sobbing, and Winter kissed her forehead, trying to calm her enough to let it all out. "She didn't mean to, but she looked at me like I'd broken every rule in the book. I was going to be a single teenaged mother, and I didn't even know the damn fathers name. Well. The boys at school didn't bully me to my face after that. I could see all the kids whispering, and feel their eyes boring holes in me, but Rose would just link my arm and we'd walk off together. She didn't care about what the others said, because she had it all. She got married before Lucas was even born, and then the paparazzi got wind of what I'd done and started stalking and harrassing me." Kaity collapsed into his chest, bawling her eyes out, and Winter pulled her across his body, cradling her like a baby before kissing her once her sobs subsided.

"Kaity. I had no idea. I'll tell them I'm not going."
"No. You should go." Kaity sighed. "This is what you've always wanted to do with your life, and I shouldn't hold you back no matter how messed up I am."
"You're not messed up." Winter reassured her, and kissed her again.
"I am, but thanks for pretending."
"Why didn't you tell me this in the first place?"
"What, when I first mentioned I had kids within a few moments of meeting you? What was I meant to say 'Hi, I'm Kaity. I'm a nineteen year old psychic from Sunset Valley, I have two baby girls because some creep seduced me in the shower a few years ago, and now I'm scared I'll never see you again.'?" Winter smiled at her silly statement.
"No, but I'm your boyfriend, we have a son together, I'm round here most nights. You could have told me any time. You know I'll always make time to listen to your crazy ramblings."
"Gee, thanks." She smiled at him, she felt strangely relaxed now, like a huge weight had been lifted. She repositioned herself reached up to kiss him.

"You should go." She whispered in his ear. It wouldn't be so bad, would it?




I am well aware that the ages don't match up. That's intentional. I'm making fun of myself. In-story, the last... Well, all the chapters of this generation have taken place over 13ish months. So... yeah... Making fun of the fact that anyone has aged at all. :p Don't worry. It'll get more confusing when the kids all age up ;)

4.26 Stone Pillar

"Yeah, so this is it. The thing that gave me wings and markings, and made me boiling hot." Kaity felt strangely powerful standing back in the spot where it had all happened, all those years ago. She stared at the blue sapphire 'eyes' of the carved face, and she could swear she saw a spark of life in them. That was impossible, though, it was just an ancient stone pillar that had popped out of the ground a decade or so ago. "Have you seen one before?" Kaity spoke after the couple had been silent for a while, breaking the uneasy tension in the air.

"No." Winter stated. He looked lost in thought, just staring at the pillar.
"Do you want me to show you how I touched it? Would that help?"
"No, Kaity. If it did this to you, I'm not letting you touch it again. Who knows what it'd do this time. I'll need to do some research before we can work out what it is and how it works."

Winter stroked his chin as he re-scanned the pillar's markings with his eyes.
"What you thinking?" Kaity asked, unable to tear her eyes from the pillar to look at him. She was starting to get a headache.

 "I was wondering." He stopped, took a deep breath and turned to face Kaity slightly. "I was wondering if you could sense its power source?"
"Its power source? Like, as in that thing you told me about my power source with the markings? The water, air, earth, fire thingy thing?"
"Elements, yes, sort of. More like what..." He sighed, trying to ponder his wording.

"More like how you knew Autumn got his magic from me. What breed of magic, if you will."
"Oh. Uhm..." Kaity tried to focus on the pillar, but she couldn't get any kind of reading. With Autumn it had been automatic, he'd felt foreign, and at first she thought she'd somehow bought the wrong baby home. "I don't know. It just feels like nothing. Maybe it's just a normal stone and the magic was just stored in there somehow-" Kaity abruptly stopped herself as she started to form an idea. Winter didn't notice, and stepped forward for a closer look.

"Winter, if I can't go any closer-"
"I'm not going to touch it. You might be right, you know. It just looks like a hunk of stone. Like a stoneage totem pole, or something."
"With creepy eyes." Kaity mumbled, barely loud enough for Winter to hear.
"Yes, the eyes are a bit... strange..."

Kaity joined Winter a few paces closer. "I don't like it. It feels like it's watching us."
"I don't feel it." Winter said, glancing at Kaity and seeing she was staring, mesmerised into the sapphires. "Do you feel like it's telling you to do something?"
"Yes. It feels like it's a part of me, and I'm scared." Kaity finally broke her gaze from the stone face, and turned to leave. "We should go before it succeeds in drawing me in."

 Winter grabbed her arm and spun her back round to face the pillar, pulling her to him. "Call me stupid, but maybe you should do whatever it's telling you to. At least I'm here this time, and while I know nothing about it, I should be able to feel anything bad before it gets to the stage anywhere near what it did before."

"Winter, it wants me to connect. Like you do with wifi on your phone, not actually touch it, but form a connection. What if I can't disconnect from it? What if it drains my power and uses it to destroy the world?" Winter breathed a laugh.

"You don't have enough power to destroy the world, but I know where you're coming from. Lets go."

 "I don't feel like leaving. I feel... peaceful. I'm scared to hell, but I feel safe too. Does that make sense?"

"Not at all." Winter kissed her temple, before pulling her to a nearby bench which faced away from the stone pillar.

"You need to stop looking at it for a bit. I think it's influencing you some how, and hopefully not looking at it will clear that up." Kaity smiled at him, already starting to feel a little more clearheaded, even though she hadn't realised she'd felt any different before.

"Thank you. How are you so clever?"

Winter laughed and scooted over.

"You're clever too, just in different areas."

"Yeah, in stuff I don't care about, or that doesn't affect me. I don't even understand my psychicism and I do that for a job!" Winter smiled at her new word.

"You know more than you realise." He replied cryptically, leaning in to kiss her.

"Oi, you! Don't you know I've been drugged by a stone pillar? You're taking advantage of a lady in my situation?" Kaity grinned.

"I'm sorry, m'lady." Winter winked, playing along with her silly game. "That was my plan all along. I thought I could drag you out to the top of this hill, and then if the views didn't work I knew the pillar would."

"Shuttup and kiss me you idiot." Kaity demanded.

And so they kissed for a while, enjoying the warm air and peace and quiet of the countryside. They didn't really care if the paparazo saw them up here. Something had changed in Kaity when they started officially going steady, and while she'd rather be left in peace, she just didn't care what the papers said anymore.

"I'll do it." She said, pulling back quickly and surprising herself.

"You'll do what?" Winter asked, confused.

"What the stone wants me to. I want to. I want to help you understand it better."

"Kaity, I was going to take a small scraping of the stone or something, I don't want you to do anything that dangerous."

"It won't be dangerous. The worst it can do at this stage is drain my powers, and that wouldn't be so bad..."

"Except it might kill you. I'm not letting you do it."

"You're not my boss, though, so I don't care what you're going to 'let' me do. I'm doing it." She protested, throwing his arm off her shoulder and storming over to the stone pillar again. Winter sighed, and stood what he deemed a safe distance away, but close enough to rush over if he needed to.

 "Kaity, I really don't think you should-"
"I don't care what you think I should do." She retorted, inside she was battling with herself, trying to fight the impulsive urges to say things that would make Winter leave for good. She was shocked he'd stuck her out this long...
"Kaity, it's watching you." Winter's firm voice broke her thoughts.

Kaity wasn't really sure what to do, so she raised her arms the way Rose had tried to show her to use her witch magic. She'd never got the hang of witchcraft, and could barely summon an apple with her wand, let alone cast some kind of spell with her bare hands.

She was shocked when bolts of blue and purple magic flowed from her hands and into the stone. It was as if the pillar was sucking her magic out, though she felt strangely energised.

Winter watched as the pillar began to shake, its deep blue sapphire eyes glowing green and an odd blue mist began to engulf it.

"Kaity! Stop!" He shouted, worried that it might fall and crush her.

"I can't! I don't know how!" She shouted back, as a loud clap of thunder echoed off the mountains, the once cloudless sky filling with dark, omimous clouds.

Winter was suddenly at her side, pulling her into his arms as luminous green rain began to fall, the colour of the drops matching the new colour of the pillars eyes.

"I didn't know how." She whispered, terrified.

"It's ok, it's over now."

 "What does this mean?" She aked, pulling back a little.

"I don't know." He replied. "How do you feel?"

"I feel fine, I don't feel any different. While it was happening I felt powerful, but I couldn't stop myself." She was shaking, and Winter started to lead her back to the car as the green rain subsided and the dark clouds disintergrated.

"It's ok. It's over now." He whispered soothingly, pulling her close.

Yeah, that isn't a pose clipping badly in that last pic, it's EA not accounting for the muscle sliders on the shoulders... Official sliders that came with the actual game, I might add.

I don't know what's going on in the bench scene with Winter's torso (and the trousers... Lets remind ourselves this is PG...). 

4.25 'Manipletif'

 "I need my shirt back, miss." Winter muttered, wrapping his arms around her and surprising her. She'd not even been aware that he was awake when she'd crept downstairs to start breakfast, and hadn't heard or seen him come down the stairs right in front of her.
"Well, you have to wait. I don't like cooking naked." Kaity smirked, pushing herself into his crotch to indicate she was literally only wearing his shirt. Winter pulled a face, looking into the pan on the hob.
"I didn't think you liked cooking at all."
"I don't. I can't cook, but I'm feeling confident today."
"What are you making?" He asked after the off-white goop in the pan.
"Waffles, silly!"
"You don't cook waffles in a frying pan."
"Well, I do." She replied, stubbornly. Ending the conversation.

 "You're all wet." She noted, drawing circles on his arm with her thumb, and running her fingers through his hair with her other hand.
"Yes. I had a shower, and then was going to get dressed but someone's stolen my shirt." He tugged at the sleeve of his shirt to emphasise his point.
"Hm. Well. I was gunna make breakfast and then get dressed before I got the kids up."
"You were going to serve the kids cold... Uhm... 'Waffles'?" He kissed her cheek to show he meant no harm.
"To be honest, I hadn't thought about any of that." She went back to stirring whatever it was that was now burning in the pan. "I woke up at four, and couldn't get back to sleep so I figured I could make breakfast. I tried to find a recipe online, but I think I might have mixed a few recipes I looked at together. And then-" She stopped and sighed. "This really isn't working. I think they'll have cereal today, unless Shae wakes up and saves the day." Winter laughed quietly, and kissed her cheek again, before moving around her, turning the gas off and pulling her into his arms.

"So. Now you're done cooking..."
"Winter, seriously? What time do you have to be at work? Anyone would think you couldn't wait to get out of here. Are you worried what the kids will think? I can explain to them later-" Winter silenced her with a kiss.
"You didn't let me finish my sentance, but no, I'm not worried what the kids will think. I know they've seen men here before, and I'm pretty sure we didn't wake them up when we came in last night. I have work at eight, but I was going to go home and get some clean clothes first."
"I can give you a lift? I can't be bothered to work today, so I don't think I'll open the shop. I'm still a bit drunk, to be honest, so I'd rather be cuddling with the babies when the hangover kicks in."
"Can you do that?" Winter looked a little worried that she'd just close the shop with no warning.
"I can do what I want. It's my shop, and if someone is that desperate to know their future they can knock on the door or something." Kaity suddenly started giggling.

"What?"
"Why are you only wearing a towel? Two towels... Why are you wearing both my towels?"
"Because someone stole my shirt. And I was too fat for one towel." He pouted, and Kaity nearly fell over laughing.
"Maybe you could help me get your shirt off then, fatty?" She leaned in to kiss him, and as their lips met they were interrupted.
"Mummy what were you laughing- oh. Morning Winter..."
"Ew! What's that smell?" Kaity cursed under her breath.

"Maybe later." She breathed to Winter, before turning to face the large crowd. "Well, Soph, that smell was supposed to be your breakfast, but apparently I can't cook-"
"We know you can't cook!" Jaydean laughed, bouncing Elise on her back. "You're the only one who doesn't."
"Oi, cheeky. Watch your mouth or you'll have to eat what I made." Jaydean pulled a face. "Exactly. So, cereal anyone?"

"Why is Winter here so early?" Sophie asked, not able to see how little he was wearing.
"Because we had a sleepover." She replied, not wanting to lie, but not wanting to have 'the conversation' so early in the morning, or their lives.
"Oh. Can we have a sleepover tonight?"
"No. You have school today and tomorrow. Maybe Saturday."

"But moooooommmm!" Both twins moaned.
"'But moooommm!'" Kaity mimicked, causing the twins to scowl.
"You're allowed!" Sophie pointed out, pouting.
"I'm a grown up and I don't have school. And anyway, now I'm really tired and unless you two can get your grades up to at least a B you're not allowed to be tired at school." Both girls moaned, Kaity didn't like to use their low grades against them, but she knew they could do better than the D they had both got on their last test. "Now, come on, give me and Winter a baby each and grab yourselves some cereal."

"Is Winter going to live here now?" Jaydean asked with her mouth full of cereal. Kaity's heart stopped, Winter looked equally uncomfortable, and it was up to Shaena to say something.
"What makes you ask that, honey?"
"Because everyone elses mummy and daddy live together. I know Winter isn't our daddy, but now you guys have got Autumn then maybe it's about time to think about settling down, don't you think?" Shaena and Winter attempted to hold in a laugh, while Kaity was sure she was going to be sick.
"Jay, eat your cereal and stop asking silly questions." Kaity scolded, shakily.

"She wasn't asking silly questions, mummy. She was making a valid point and you know it." Sophie spoke up. Kaity found herself glaring at her daughters, hoping they'd shut up, but they didn't appear to look at her once. Shaena, on the other hand, was finding this whole situation hilarious, and even laughed out loud. She didn't dare to look at Winter to see what he made of this mess of a conversation. "We know in this day and age you can kiss whoever you want and you don't have to get married to do it, but that doesn't mean you can't get married." Kaity thought her eyes would pop out of her head at the mention of marriage.
"Yeah, mum. I mean, look. You're never gunna find someone else who can put up with you going crazy like Winter can, so you may as well just admit that and marry him." Jaydean chipped in again.

The twins finished their cereal, and got up to clear their bowls. Kaity braved a glance at the two people beside her. Shaena was giggling, and trying to hide the fact behind Josh's head, Winter looked a little surprised, but nowhere near how Kaity was feeling.
"So? Are you getting married?" Sophie asked, looking first Kaity, then Winter in the eye. Jaydean turned from her bowl to see their reactions.
"Just go to school." Kaity replied, trying not to cry. She couldn't believe her kids were pressuring her to get married, and it made her feel like she'd failed them in some way by not tracking their father down.

"But the schoolbus isn't here yet." Sophie pointed out, while Shaena and Winter tried to ignore the extremly awkward conversation.
"Have you done your homework?" Kaity was glad to finally see a way to change the conversation. Both girls froze and looked at each other. "Are you kidding me?! What were you doing with that babysitter last night?"
"Nothing! He just let us watch some TV." Jaydean defended their sitter. They liked Michael, he let them get away with anything.
"Right, well, tonight when you get home, you're chained to that kitchen table until every last scrap of homework is finished. Do you understand?"
"Oh but!"
"No. No buts. Homework, or I'll fire Michael." Both girls scowled again, while Kaity let herself breathe a sigh of relief that the marriage conversation seemed to have been forgotton.

_____

"It's not fair!" Sophie shouted, loud enough for her mother to hear from the living room.
"I don't care!" Kaity called back. Usually, she'd help them if they got stuck, but she was still so annoyed from that morning that she'd told them they had to do it all on their own. Sophie huffed and started scribbling in the bottom corner of her work book while she contemplated an answer.

"Hey, good call on all the marriage stuff this morning." Jaydean grinned. "I wasn't going to go any further than him living here, but that was a great idea. Do you think they got the message?" The twins had been discussing ways to get their mother to take her relationship with Winter to the next step for weeks now, this mornings conversation was just the start.

"I dunno, Jay." Sophie sighed, looking at her completed doodle on her homework. "She seemed pretty mad. Maybe it was a step to far this early in the operations? And he's not here right now. He's almost always here when he finishes work."

"Do you think we scared him off?" Jaydean asked, mortified by the idea. "We wanted him to move in, but grown ups don't work like us. Maybe what we said made them think the opposite? Maybe he decided he didn't like us anymore?"

"Jay, mum can't scare him off, so there's no way we could scare him off. For all they know, we were just asking because all our 'little friends' have two parents." Jaydean nodded her agreement. "Besides, we have a few more tricks up our sleeves before we need to worry about it."

Jaydean laughed, remembering the other possible stages they'd planned. "When do we try stage two?"
"Not for a few weeks. We don't want them suspicious, do we?" Sophie replied.
"No. I guess we better get our grades up, though. Mr Blake said he'd ring home if we didn't turn homework in again."
"Yeah, but what are we doing now? And he didn't say it had to be grade A homework, or even completed..." Sophie grinned at her sister, and Jaydean matched her expression.
"Oh, wait!" Jaydeans face fell as she remembered something. "Mummy will be so mad if we don't get better grades on our next test, though. Maybe too mad to marry Winter."

 "Jay, as far as she knows, our grades and her relationship with Winter are in no way related." Sophie sighed, rubbing out yet another spelling mistake. "How have you spelt 'manipulative'?"
"M-A-N-I-P-L-E-T-I-F" Jaydean recited for her sister. "And I guess you're right. If we do this properly they'll never know we had anything to do with it."




*dies of embarassment* What the hell is up with the ceiling tiles downstairs? I apologise... I hope nobody noticed :/ Please also ignore the ringtone in the first pic (Kaity gets more cold calls than even I do!), and the fact that something weird happened to Josh and Autumn near the end of breakfast... Dunno what that was...