A Very Short Update.

Finally done. FINALLY DONE! Ivan could have thrown the damn rags and bottles he used to clean the house all the way to Mars, he was so sick of the sight of them. How did such little people manage to make such a massive mess? He missed the days when all his house needed was a light dusting to stay clean – he didn't even know those kids had so many toys! Maybe he and Arthur really were spoiling them...

Speaking of Arthur, it was just about time for his tea. Ozzy and Toby were winding down upstairs, playing videogames in their room, and Winnie was sleeping in her crib. With them settled down, Arthur would be hard at work on his next book, and would most certainly appreciate a nice hot cup of Darjeeling. Ivan hummed to himself as he made it, satisfied that his day of cleaning has yielded the desired result.

That was, until he got to Arthur's study: he had to give the door a hearty shove to get it open, almost spilling the tea, and practically growled in aggravation as he saw every square inch of floor, table and even the battered love-seat covered in stacks of piles of heaps of books.

"Arthur!" he snapped, making the writer flinch at his keyboard "This is getting ridiculous! You either need to sell some of these or buy an e-reader!"

Arthur spun around in his chair sheepishly, indicating that he was all too aware of the problem, taking off his reading glasses.

"I was thinking of buying another bookcase." he admitted.

"And put it where?" Ivan challenged, pushing the books aside with his foot so that he could actually get into the room and give Arthur his tea "This whole office is covered in book shelves, and we've got three in the living room already!"

"What about-"

"No books in the bedroom!"

"Right..."

Arthur took the offered tea, taking a few sips. He and Ivan had agreed before getting married that he was going to keep his books out of the bedroom (and in return Ivan would keep his wool and needles out of it), but he was quickly running out of room – and Ivan's patience.

"What about replacing the little bookcase with a full size one?" Arthur suggested "That should fit all the extras on."

"If we do that, where will Sheila and Lila live?" Ivan pointed out.

"In the rubbish with the other rats."

"They're hamsters."

"Same thing."

"Are you going to be the one to tell the boys you threw their hamsters out?"

Arthur just grumbled, proving Ivan's point. The large man sighed.

"I'm drawing a line in the sand." he announced "If you've not read it in over two years, it's going down the charity shop: you're only allowed to keep the books you need for work. If there's something you're desperate to keep, it better be on a shelf, because everything on the floor is getting cleared out next Saturday!"

Arthur started to fluster, putting his tea down beside his computer and waving his arms about, but he couldn't pull any argument out of the air. Ivan waited for him to come up with something, but wasn't surprised when he gave up. Arthur knew Ivan was right.

"Fine." he half spat "But only everything on the floor!"

"And the chairs." Ivan warned "And those stacks on the table there."

"Fuck you!"

Ivan chuckled, kissing Arthur on the top of the head.

"Work hard." he bid, as he always did after bringing Arthur his 8 o'clock tea, and left him alone to work.

The week soon passed, and Arthur made sure his favourite (and most expensive) books were up on the shelves in his office. It was as good a time as any to organise his books while he was at it, splitting them between fiction and non-fiction, then by subject, then by authors name – his shelves hadn't been so neat since he had put them in!

Returning from the kids swimming lesson, Arthur sighed deeply, readying his soul for what awaited him. Ozzy and Toby, knowing full well what was going on, were keen to see how many of Daddy's books Papa had thrown away (and what colour the office carpet really was, too), almost pushing past him through the front door while Winnie amused herself by sniffing her hair (chlorine was still new and amazing to her).

Arthur was more than a little concerned to see Ivan sat on the stairs waiting for him, ashen faced and desperate looking, as if he had accidentally cooked and eaten the hamsters. He practically threw himself to his knees when he saw Arthur.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he pleaded immediately.

"Ivan? Sweetie, what's wrong?" Arthur asked, genuinely concerned to see the big man so close to tears.

"I had no idea he was going to be so brutal!" he swore "I just wanted to use his car, I had no idea, I swear!"

He? The penny dropped.

"Francis!" Arthur yelled, handing Winnie to Ivan before sprinting to his office.

He threw open the door, but it was too late – his poor office had been almost decimated of books, replaced on the shelves with photo frames, nicknack's and potted plants. Francis looked pleased with himself as he finished dusting, smiling as he noticed Arthur and the boys by the door.

"Finally!" he greeted "What do you think? So much more homey now, isn't it?"

There was a horrified silence. Even the boys were stuck.

"I don't think I like this." Toby whispered to his brother.

"It's weird." Ozzy agreed "Like it's not even Dad's office."

"Francis..." Arthur growled through gritted teeth.

Twigging immediately that there was going to be a fight, Ozzy grabbed his little brother and ran off, legging it upstairs. Never one to disappoint, Arthur leapt forward and grabbed fistfuls of Francis' shirt.

"Where the fuck are my books, you bastard?!" he yelled.

"Over there." Francis pointed out, not at all riled by his aggression.

"WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THEM?!"

"I took them down the charity shop."

"BUT WHY?!"

"Because they smelled weird." the older brother answered simply, prying the youngers hands off his shirt "And all the dust they attract isn't good for the children."

Arthur could have cried – in fact, he wasn't far off. A whole room full of books reduced to just a few shelves...

"J-just the ones on the floor." he stuttered impotently "He promised!"

"Ivan's too soft on you." Francis figured "You're such a hoarder, you're just going to buy more. By the way," he added, pulling an unimpressed expression "For a married man, you sure had a lot of porn hidden in here."

"FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKING FUCK! GIVE ME BACK MY BOOKS!"

"Oh, relax."

Francis blew him off completely, going to his bag on the love-seat and pulling out a box. He handed it casually to Arthur, ignoring the fact that he looked ready to rip his poncey head clear off his shoulders.

"I came prepared." he promised "Big brother's always thinking of ways to improve your life, you know!"

Arthur stopped imagining making Francis' head explode by sheer annoyance alone long enough to take the box from him.

"An e-reader?"

"I even pre-loaded it for you, so stop your sulking." Francis told him "Now you get to keep your fiction books and have a tidy office – best of both worlds!"

Arthur grumbled. As an author himself, he couldn't exactly say anything bad about e-readers (it expanded his readership, afterall), even if he did prefer the 'weird smell' of his paper books. He decided to flick through the titles before deciding how badly to break Francis' legs. A lot of his books were already on here – it was actually a little scary. How long had been planning this? Did he just somehow know what books Arthur had. That's not creepy.

"Hang about." he figured as he looked down the titles "I've never heard of this one."

"Which one's that?" Francis asked.

"'Unwanted' by M B Shamley."

"Oh, that's one I've just finished." he reported "It's pretty good."

"Oh yeah? What's it like?"

Let me tell you what it's like! It's been a while, readers - those of you who still cared enough about 'Unwanted' to pay attention to this update, that is. Other than my short story 'Unexpected Attraction', I don't seem to have been up to much, have I?

Wrong entirely! I've been up to tons! Editing! Writing! Yet more editing! (So much editing...). It's a safe bet to say that a lot of writers on this site have aspirations to bigger things (best luck to every last one of them), and I am no exception! There is now a non-fanfiction, totally original, 100% guaranteed to blow your socks off version of Unwanted available on the kindle store! EXCITING!

Don't think it's a carbon copy of this one, either - after three months of editing, it's an entirely different animal. Stuff added! Stuff taken away! Names changed! Who are these people?! So mysterious! I'm sick of the sight of it!

If you loved reading 'Unwanted' here, you should absolutely check it out. It's my first novel available to the general public, so I'm super excited! Don't panic, though - I'm not planning on taking this one down (unless they make me), but like I said, they're very different versions. Not to mention you get to enjoy the story on any digital platform you like without people whining at you about 'still reading fanfiction.' You'll still know, of course...

Thanks for reading this far into my shameless plug of my novel - and no, I'm not sorry! 'Unwanted' by M B Shamley! Check it out now!