Chapter 5

A/N: Hello again! Thanks for all the reviews! As those of you who are regular readers have probably figured out, I tend to update every Monday. But, I didn't last Monday for two reasons: 1) I didn't have as many reviews as I would have liked, so I decided to wait another week as people probably had a busy week and hadn't found the time to read and review yet, and 2) I hadn't quite finished the chapter yet. lol! So yeah, please keep those reviews coming, and I'll keep the story coming! I know this sounds like a lie, but it really does inspire me to write more. And at the moment I have a few new ideas brewing for another fic… but I'll try and get this one under my belt before I get starting anything new:p

Anyway, this one takes a little jump ahead (because, well, it needed to), but I'm sure it won't throw you off! Please take the time to review when you're done, I always love hearing from you!

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Two months later

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Diana and Maia sat quietly watching TV one evening. Things had been pretty busy recently. Maia had started school again, a teacher coming to their home every day. And Diana had been constantly in and out making plans for the adoption, etc.

Their show ended, and Diana quickly switched off the TV and turned to face Maia.

"So…" she said, "tomorrow. It's the big day." Maia turned to face her and nodded in reply.

"Are you sure you still wanna do this?" she asked nervously. Maia nodded again.

"Are you?" she asked back.

"Positive," cane Diana's strong reply. She was about to say something else when the doorbell rang, forcing her to get up and answer it. She opened the door, and on the other side was –

"Marty!" she said, surprised. He flashed back a grin.

"Shouldn't you be at college?" she asked.

"Finito, sisso," he replied, walking inside and engulfing Diana in a ferocious hug.

"Graduation was yesterday," he added.

"Yesterday!" Diana said, "why didn't you tell me! I would've come! Were mom and dad there?"

"Were they at your graduation?"

"Good point," Diana replied. At the moment Marty spotted Maia coming towards him.

"Oh hello, who's this little lady?" he asked.

"That's Maia, remember?"

"Should I?"

"I only called you last week to give you an update, Marty. That's why you're here, isn't it? Maia's party?"

"Ohhh! Maia! Your kid!" Marty replied, finally catching on. Diana rolled her eyes at her little brother's stupidity.

"Well come here then," he said to Maia, stretching his arms out, "we're family now!"

"Almost," Diana added, "from tomorrow."

"Tomorrow's close enough, now come give uncle Marty a hug!" he demanded. Maia smiled shyly as she approached him, and he wrapped his arms around her ferociously, just like he had Diana.

"It's nice to meet you," Maia said sweetly.

"And polite too!" Marty said with a smile.

"So," Diana said, approaching the two, "you moving back home then?"

"Mmm… no. No, no… no. Actually I was wondering if -"

"Marty, no -"

"- I could stay here with you for a while?" he asked, cringing.

"No, Marty, can't you stay with one of your techie buddies?" Diana asked.

"They live in Wisconsin. I don't blend well with the heartland," he replied.

"Well can't you rent out a – what happened to your glasses?"

"What glasses?"

"Since you were four years-old you've worn glasses – where are they?" she asked. Marty grinned mischievously.

"Contact lenses. They're revolutionary. They got me laid."

"MARTY!" Diana gasped, her eyes widening.

"What? They did."

"Not in front of Maia…"

"Oh… sorry," he cringed.

"Maia, sweetheart, do you want to go get changed into your pyjamas? I need to have a little chat with uncle Marty…" she said pointedly. Maia obliged and scurried off to her room.

"Please, Di, please, please, please," Marty begged, dropping to his knees in front of his sister. She looked at him, arms crossed defiantly.

"On three conditions," she offered.

"Got it."

"Number one, no talking about getting laid in front of my daughter, or me for that matter, or anything else inappropriate."

"Done."

"Number two, do NOT mess with my computer again and install useless programs -"

"Frogger was not useless -"

"- or mess with any other electrical appliance, or quite frankly anything in this house."

"Fine," he sighed.

"And number three, never ever wear that t-shirt again," she said, pointing to his Spock t-shirt, "I do not want it advertised that my brother is a Trekkie."

"Never again," he replied, his hands clasped begging in front of Spock's larger-than-life face. Diana let out a heavy sigh.

"Alright, you can stay," she gave in.

"Thankyou!" he said, jumping up.

"But only temporarily."

"Temporarily, got it," he said, wrapping Diana in a hug.

"It's good to see you again, sis."

"Good to see you too," she replied, hugging him back.

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Diana, Maia and Marty sat at the table that night eating dinner, Maia constantly throwing questions at Marty. Diana just sat back, amused, observing the two.

"How old are you?" Maia asked inquisitively.

"22."

"What college did you go to?" she pried.

"Stanford," he replied.

"Is that a good one?" she asked, naively. Diana and Marty chuckled.

"Yeah, it's a good one," Marty smiled.

"Did you have fun?"

"Occasionally, yes, we were allowed to have fun," he replied playfully.

"Did you have a girlfriend?"

"A few," he said, casting a quick glance in Diana's direction.

"Do you have a girlfriend now?" she asked. Diana looked up at this comment and glanced at Marty with a smirk.

"Not right now, no…" he replied with a small sigh.

"Diana has a boyfriend. His name's Peter," Maia said with a hint of distaste in her voice. Diana turned to Maia, eyes wide. She was obviously not meant to let that cat out of the bag.

"Does she now?" Marty smirked. Diana shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

"Well, we've only been together for two months, I didn't think it was worth mentioning," she added.

"It feels longer," Maia said bitterly.

"Maia!" Diana scolded.

"Don't you like him?" Marty asked his niece. She hated him.

"He's okay," she shrugged. Diana let out an audible sigh. She hated the fact that Maia and Peter didn't get along. Peter was as sweet as pie, but Maia just didn't return the affection. Diana didn't like to admit it, but she thought Maia's distaste for Peter might have something to do with Tom.

There was an awkward silence at the table before Diana broke it by getting up and collecting everyone's plates.

"Marty, do you want to help me in the kitchen?" she said pointedly.

"Umm… sure," he replied, getting up and following his sister.

"So…" Marty started as soon as they entered the kitchen, "who's this Peter guy, huh?"

Diana turned around to face him and sighed. "Maia doesn't like him."

"I sorta got that impression."

"I don't know why she doesn't, he's been nothing but nice to her," she reasoned.

"Well, kids just don't like some people, Di, that's the way they are," Marty replied.

"I think she liked it when it was just the two of us. I think she's almost… threatened by him. Scared that he'll take me away," she mused.

"That could be it. But hey, I just met the kid, so don't ask me. She certainly asks enough questions, doesn't she!" he chuckled.

"Yeah she does," Diana replied, putting the dishes in the sink. "So, you, what are your big plans?"

"Plans? Martin Skouris doesn't live by plan."

"Yeah, I'd figured that out," Diana chuckled.

"I dunno. I was thinking about doing the kinda stuff you do."

"Awww," Diana cooed, pinching his cheek, "isn't that cute!"

"Well you know me, can't have an original thought of my own. I had to follow in someone's footsteps," he said.

"Huh, thank god it wasn't April's," Diana replied with a small snigger. An awkward silence followed.

"How is she?" Diana asked, slightly sheepishly.

"She's doing alright. I spoke to her last week," he replied.

"Is she coming tomorrow?" Diana asked.

"I told her about it, but… I don't think so," he said. Diana frowned.

"On a lighter note, Trevor's completely out of the picture," Marty pointed out, trying to lighten the mood. It didn't really work.

"Took her long enough. That guy was such a moron."

"Di… he was alright."

"He wasn't alright, he treated her like crap, and he treated the rest of us with zero respect," Diana said adamantly.

"He wasn't that bad…"

"He most certainly was -"

"Okay, let's talk about something else. Maybe April isn't the best of topics. What about Maia? I'm sure you'll be one of those parents that constantly brags about their child," Marty said playfully. Diana slapped him on the shoulder in mock shock and continued clearing up.

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A/N: I hope you enjoyed chapter five, my dears! Please press that little review button on your way out! A quick hint of things to come… we meet more of the Skouris family, and touch on a sore point between them… keep reading to find out more!