A.N. I'm a terrible person, but I'm not going to excuse myself, I'll just give you the chapter to read. Please enjoy.

Chapter Four

"Tala, Miguel, and Emily. What delightfully… unique names," Amber mused as she sat at the edge of the armchair, glancing over at the trio occupying the sofa underneath a string of holly.

"Yeah."

The tension in the room would have stopped a chainsaw in its tracks, never mind being cut by a knife. Her palms grew slick as she struggled desperately to come up with a topic of conversation, but so far the trio, mainly the redhead, had blocked her on every route. School? They went. Homework? It was fine. TV? Okay. She was losing the only marbles that she had, and Kai had legged it, muttering something about needing the bathroom, so that left her alone with the three kids from the Shining, and her dead godmother staring at her from every corner of the room. She was half tempted to gather them all up and lock them outside - and she wasn't even sure which 'them' she was referring to.

Every so often a flutter of laughter would drift from the kitchen and the tension would ratchet up another level. The knuckles on the oldest son were bone white, and she was certain that at any moment he would leap up to defend his mother's honour. Scarily, Amber wasn't quite sure of the outcome in that fight. Thus, she felt it was her duty to sit here in the living room with her knees pressed lightly together, just in case she needed to leap up and defend Nicolai. Not that he deserved it for leaving her here as well; he'd simply smiled and told them to get acquainted.

She didn't want to be acquaintances with the Adams Family in Technicolor!

Her cheeks were beginning to hurt from all the fake smiling so that when they began to talk again in low murmurs, she gave up and grabbed the remote. Eff them, then. If they were going to be rude, she was going to be ruder. In fact, it would just serve Hiwatari right if she got up and left. Why should she be down here making herself uncomfortable?

She should be at home, basking in the flashing cheer of Christmas lights, with a roaring fire, and watching Hocus Pocus - why the Halloween film was scheduled to show so close to Christmas was anyone's guess; during the Summer she'd seen Home Alone three times. Of course, she would feel wrong watching it without Kai; not that he actually liked the film, she just enjoyed forcing him to watch it, always had really. She tried to bribe Kai to watch it with her, but even the threat of telling his father whose panties he'd found in Kai's room with rarely worked. Kai was very careful about his father not finding out the names of girls that Kai slept with. She kind of understood. It was one thing for your parent to know you were having sex and quite another to actually have them know who you were having sex with.

Personally, she just wanted to have sex.

With Mystel. Of course.

"You Kai's girlfriend then or what?"

"What," she responded, eyes glued to the screen. Then she registered the question with a blink. "Wait, what? Me and Kai? Yeah, no we're just friends."

"Friends?"

Was friends a foreign word here or…? She studied the two boys to work out if they were being serious; then jerked a shoulder. Well, she supposed, they probably hadn't much experience with platonic friendships with the opposite sex. She could understand, the one named Tala was extremely good-looking, and not just that, he was confident in his skin. But he also reeked of that type of arrogance she could never really get over.

"Yeah. I live next-door. We grew up together. I pretty much live here." For some reason she didn't think she was impressing on them just how much she and Kai were not romantically involved in the slightest. Honestly though, Kai was kind of out of her league sexually, and she was fairly certain that she didn't want to be in that league. That league had different rules altogether, ones that she wasn't quite comfortable with. If she couldn't get her own boyfriend to sex her up, how on earth was she to get some random stranger?

"Right."

Dismissed, she resisted the urge to stick her tongue out. They really were the oddest group of siblings she'd ever seen. The girl, Emily, sat quietly at the edge of her sofa, knees together, hands primly folded as she stared at the floor, while Miguel slouched back in the seat, staring at the ceiling. Then there was Tala, sitting in the middle of them, legs stretched out and his eyes eerily locked on her. He made her skin itch and her neck felt warm. It was like being attacked by fire ants. Maybe she should attack Kai with fire ants for leaving her here with the Brady Bunch from Hell.

Another burst of laughter from the kitchen and Tala sat up, fists clenched tight on his knees and she tensed. "You know, Nicolai is an awesome guy, a great dad, really supportive and he has his own teeth." Because that's what Tala needed to hear. Dumbass. She wasn't selling him off at a horse sale.

"You selling my dad now, Ember?"

Amber snapped her head to the door as Kai slipped in, hands casually dipped in the pockets of his slacks, shirt open at the neck, as he gave her a look of faint amusement.

"I thought your name was Amber?" Emily spoke up, looking confused.

"It is. Kai thinks he's funny." She sent him a dark look. "He's not."

Ignoring her threat, he stalked to her armchair and caught her arm, yanking her up so that he could take her seat. She froze, suddenly finding herself standing awkwardly in the middle of the room while Kai made himself comfortable, taking the remote to change the channel. That was so typical of him. He absolutely had no respect for her boundaries; he just took what he wanted. Well she had that chair and she was not giving it up to him, and if he wasn't going to move - he sent her a blade thin smile - then she would sit on him. She growled low in her throat and then closing his knees, dropped down onto them. Just as they opened.

The drop was hard and her ass smacked against the wooden floor. Hot fury flushed through her cheeks as a roar of laughter filled the room, followed by the creak of the kitchen door and then footsteps in the hall way. Great, here was her embarrassment compounded by the appearance of the adults. She had a moment to catch Kai's eyes lit up with amusement, before she covered her face and breathed deep, in, out, in, out. She could hear Nicolai's growl of annoyance, Grace's gasp of surprise.

"Sometimes, Kai. I really loathe and despise you."

"I guess you guys aren't dating then."

Why, oh why, would the earth not swallow her?!

Amber wasn't talking to him now. Not that Kai was surprised. It had been a dick move on his part to open his knees just as she decided to sit on them but it was a habit, somewhat. However, now he didn't have a distraction for dinner, which left him wide open to Grace's inane questions. He didn't even know why she cared how he did at school; he was sure his father had filled her in. She just seemed to like small talk and he really hated it. She also seemed not to care that his mouth was full of food whenever she asked her questions, smiling politely, expression 'interested'. It had occurred to him to spit food at her to see what would happen, but he hadn't quite devolved to Ian Papov's senility quite yet.

"And, Amber, Nicolai says your mother's a nurse?"

Kai suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. Did she expect Amber to tell her that no, her mother wasn't or that her mother changed jobs in the course of a day? Seriously, this was why he hated small talk. Why ask questions you already knew the answer to?

Not that his father was having much success with the Valkov brats. Tala was stonewalling him, Emily just blushed and quietly stared at her plate as if it was the most fascinating thing ever, and he was sure that Miguel was stealing the cutlery. It wouldn't have annoyed him so much if the cutlery was actually silver and therefore worth something, but it was standard cutlery, and in the Hiwatari household where dishes were a forced chore, clean cutlery was a luxury.

He'd just shake down the boy later.

Cinnamon scented the air from the two tapered candles in the centrepiece, which was ringed with holly, their flames flickering in the reflection from the steel and white ceramic serving bowls placed along the table. Low lights glowed at the ends of the dining room - which was another ridiculous point: since when did any of them eat in the dining room? Not three months ago his father had been talking about turning it into a gym. Now, suddenly, Grace appeared, and they were eating meals like a good little family. The idea sickened him - even his mother never used the dining room, though she was finicky about setting the table.

"The food is gorgeous, Nicolai."

"Teresa's a great cook," Kai answered, before quickly shovelling another mouthful of lasagne between his lips as his father sent him a dark look.

Grace simply smiled warmly across the table at Nicolai. "Well, give Teresa my compliments. She's truly a gifted woman if she can work those hours and have time to cook meals like this."

Amber jerked a shoulder magnanimously. "Well Mum likes cooking and she has a few days off between shifts so she'll cook in bulk and freeze it all. If you want I can get her recipe for you?"

"Really? I'd love that. I can never make a good red sauce. Something always goes wrong in it or it tastes too oniony."

Kai glowered over the table at Amber and jostled her foot as she smiled brightly at Grace. Traitor. Just because he had upset her, she'd now abandoned his camp. Typical female. He flinched as her heel dug into his foot. Bitch!

"So do you have a boyfriend Amber?"

"I do, yes. His name's Mystel and he's really nice. Nicolai approves of him, don't you Nicolai?"

"Hmm?" Nicolai looked up from the conversation he'd finally teased Emily into. "Oh, Mystel? Yeah, he's a nice boy."

A nice boy? "There's also a possibility that he's gay."

Whiskey eyes met his over the array of serving dishes. "Really? That's going to be your stance this time?"

"You were the one who said he wouldn't sleep with you."

"Kai, that's enough."

"I don't think that's something we should really talk about here."

"Please excuse my son, Grace."

"Are you shitting me? You decide to start this tonight? Why? Because I'm not sitting in your dark corner giving everyone the evils? Piss off Kai!"

"I was just repeating what you told me."

"In confidence, you little weasel." She stood up and slapped the napkin on the table. "Uncle Nicolai, you'll have to excuse me. I've got stuff to do."

Kai glared down at his plate, the food having been pushed around but not consumed. "Not your boyfriend that's for sure."

Silence descended and he chanced a look up. Amber's nostrils flared as she glared down at him. Tala snickered, Emily's mouth dropped - probably another virgin at the table - while Miguel heaved a sigh. Grace stood beside Amber, hands on her shaking shoulders as if trying to guide her away, but Amber was glued to the spot, eyes spewing molten fire.

"Fuck you, Kai. You're such a little bitch."

He rolled his eyes, feeling his ears growing red, despite the fact that he was just stating an opinion. She had no reason to get so worked up about it. She had no trouble blurting shit like that out to him.

"Kai, just go to your room."

Kai froze. Wait, what? Was his father sending him to his room? What the hell? He wasn't ten any more. "I'm not being sent to my room," he told him, in a low tone.

"Go." Nicolai snapped back, rising to his full height that didn't put him much higher than Kai at all, which was proof that he wasn't fucking ten years old anymore.

He shoved his chair out with a loud scrape, then got to his feet, ignoring how Grace cuddled around his Amber and then he stalked to the backdoor, ignoring his father's order to come back. He stepped out into the cold night air, mindful of the ice on the back steps, and slamming the door behind him, he walked down the path towards the street lit up with glowing orange street lights and reflecting coloured lights from outdoor Christmas decorations.

Tala exchanged a fed up look with his siblings as he glanced at the clock above the table. Really, who kept a clock in the dining room anyway? Then his cool gaze turned to the vibrating teen, the furious father, and his mother wedged in the middle of it all. How was it that Grace always, always, got herself involved in these kinds of situations? It was almost as if she had no self-preservation skills at all and he knew that wasn't true. She had them; she just ignored them because her heart was too soft.

And, now, instead of cuddling around her obviously upset children, she was cooing and soothing some girl she'd only just met. Grace Valkov, ladies and gentlemen, Queen of Priorities.

He felt Emily's fingers on his leg just before she pinched his thigh. He turned to her. "What?"

"I can read the venom in your eyes clearly, so will mother if she looks this way. Stop it."

"Why? He's right. This is a farce."

"Says the guy dressed like a clown."

"What kind of clowns have you seen?"

Tala pinched his brow as his siblings began to hiss insults at each other under their breaths, because Emily would never sully herself by allowing herself to be dragged into a fight, and Miguel was as soft hearted as their mother and wouldn't want to upset her.

"Minge muncher."

And that was the line. Tala snapped his foot out, shooting it into Miguel's ankle, squeezing the boy's wrist before he could curse, while he sent Emily a menacing shake of his head because he knew she was on the verge of crying. Her eyes were wet and her lower lip trembled, and yet where was Grace? Talking in soft murmurs to her devoted Romeo. At least they looked like they were saying goodbye while Nicolai's hand had clamped onto Amber's shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly - or holding her back, Tala realised as he saw the vengeance gleaming in the eyes she'd directed at the direction Kai had disappeared. Quite frankly he didn't know why she was a virgin if she had a boyfriend, but perhaps Kai was right. Though, it had been a bad time to suggest it, at least the kid was honest, if not a tad melodramatic.

"He called me a lesbian," Emily whispered, leaning close, mouth pinched.

Tala prayed for patience. "Emily, you might be a lesbian; you might be bi. You could be anything. So could Miguel, but you know what, that's a stupid thing to get upset about. If he calls you something like that again, just nod and agree. Would you get upset if he called you a…" How to say it without upsetting her with a obscene turn of phrase?

"Cock sucker?"

Emily gasped and Tala smacked the back of Miguel's head. Hard.

"Tala! I turn my back for one minute -" It was more than one minute but trust Grace to turn around just at that exact moment.

Tala sighed and cupped his chin, levelling his bored eyes at his mother so that she could see just how tedious he was finding this shindig. "Are we ready to go?"

"Oh, but we haven't had dessert yet," Grace said, sending an apologetic glance to Nicolai. "Perhaps we could…"

"How about I put it in some tupperware and you can take it home?" Amber suggested. "Nicolai actually did the pudding."

Nicolai shrugged dismissively, cheeks pinking. "I just helped Teresa a little with the apple pie."

"He peeled the apples, cut them up…"

Dear lord, Tala mused sardonically, the man was an absolute genius; what talent, cutting up fruit and peeling them. He was beyond gifted.

Grace's face was all smiles and relief as she nodded her acceptance of the dessert. That was enough of a 'goodbye' for Tala and he stood up, seeking out his keys from his pocket. It was time to blow this joint. "Right, I'm going to go heat up the car."

"Are you sure you want to be driving in this weather?"

Tala ignored Nicolai's quiet comment to his mother and he headed for the backdoor. Even if the road was like glass, he was going home, because there was no way in hell he was staying in that house, and he definitely wasn't ready to think about where his mother would sleep.

TBC

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