Pain Gives Way

[Maira]

Hope was still in a daze over what had happened the week before. She had her first kiss from a boy and had been beaten, literally, senseless for it by her foster mother. Yes, at 17 she was rather old to be kissing a boy for the first time but she'd never had the chance, or inclination, before last week. Now it would be a long time before she gave into any sort of feelings, romantic, lustful or otherwise.

Her bruises were a lovely shade of yellowish purple now, healing but still ugly, and they covered her from her face down onto her chest, shoulders and back. The concussion had been mild and was healing, if not healed already. The sprained wrist... that was another story. She was still in the brace for that and likely would be for a couple weeks yet.

All in all, she thought herself quite a pretty picture for prospective foster parents who had come to visit her today. All of them so far had said no with varying degrees of pity, disgust, or disinterest showing on their faces and ringing in their voices. For the most part it was the pity she heard and saw. She didn't let the pity or anything else get to her, or at least she didn't say anything. In all honesty it cut her like a knife but what could she do? If she spoke up to try and explain things would go wrong and the people would leave. If she didn't they still left.

Nobody wanted a 17 year old girl with a rough past in their home. So many figured she was close enough to being out of the system that some other smuck would take her and be done with her in a matter of months. Only nobody did. For the past four days she'd had interviews with prospective new homes and all of them had turned her down for one reason or another. So, here she sat, waiting for the last appointment of the day. She didn't expect anything to come of this one either so when the door opened she didn't even bother to look in the direction of the new people. She didn't want to see their reaction to her so she'd wait until she was sure they'd had a chance to get their expressions under control.

After a few moments, the Child Services lady cleared her throat and said softly, "Hope dear, there's a couple here to meet you. Their names are Dion and Tobin, why don't you say hi?" Hope did her duty and turned to face the two people in the room she didn't know. She smiled, got up from her chair and walked across the room extending her right hand (not the one in the brace) and offered it first to the woman then the man saying softly to them, "Thanks for coming, its a pleasure to meet you both." Then she went back to her chair and pulled her knees up to her chest. She watched them with her chin on her knees and waited for them to reject her too.

[Demeter]

Dion groaned as the phone hanging on the kitchen wall began to trill. She quickly lowered the temperature on the stove and dashed over. Thanking whoever thought up the bright idea for getting a long cord for the kitchen phone, Dion hurried back over to her pot of soup while she talked on the phone. "Hello? Oh, Hi, Nancy. Yeah, I'm a bit busy. I've the trio of monsters, plus Lani and Bram but those two are currently napping. What? No, its no problem. Let me just talk to my husband. No, we have the space. We've got the spare room and Tempest's old room. Not to mention the basement. So, yeah, we'll probably be out in the morning or late afternoon."

After hanging up the phone, Dion tapped her wooden spoon against the side of the pot and watched the three boys chasing each other around the background. They had the room for another person in the house and Nancy had said the girl was of unknown angel ancestry. If her bloodline had only recently manifested, she needed someone to speak with and be around.

That night, when it was just Tobin and herself awake in the little sitting room off their bedroom, Dion brought up the phone call. They'd been sprawled on the overstuffed couch, she laying lengthwise with her feet in Tobin's lap and he leaning against the arm of the couch, book in hand and feet on the coffee table. She put her book down and reached out with a toe to poke him in the arm. When he turned his attention to her, Dion squirmed. Even after some twenty odd years of marriage, his eyes could still turn her belly to mush. "Nancy called this afternoon. You remember Nancy, my friend from the foster home. Anyways, she has a new girl living with her, the victem of abuse, been in the system nearly her entire life. Well, the girl apparently has no unknown angel heritage and it manifested recently. Nancy's home is over crowded at the moment and the girl needs the attention. Other then being abused and of unknown heritage, she's painfully shy. Do you think that we could take her in and give her a home rather then a house till she turns 18?"



Dion stared at the house and swallowed. She'd been back sevearl times since taking Faith into her home as a daughter but that didn't help with the memories often brought on by this place. The insecurty she'd felt when she herself ran still lingered but not as much these days. She pushed open the car door, climbing out onto the sidewalk. The house hadn't changed much. The lawn was still just a little shaggy while the house looked just a little shabby.

Clinging to Tobin's hand, Dion mounted the steps and knocked on the door. She'd already decided that they'd be bringing the girl home, even if she turned out to be a wild child who just acted shy. When Nancy showed them into the tiny parlor, Dion's heart broke. The girl was grown but they way she curled into her chair seemed so childlike. After the greeting, Dion scooted forward and kneeled on the ground next to Hope. "I know what you are thinking, that we're probaby going to say thank you, but no. I've seen it before. So, how would you like to come home with us?"

[Shinigami]

Tobin had been comfortable, lounging on the sofa with his feet propped up on the coffee table. His wife's feet were settles in his lap and he was reading a good book, happy that this was how most days ended, at least until retired to bed. He heard Dion shift on the couch, so he wasn't surprised to feel her foot shift, using her toes to poke him and get his attention. He lowered the book, smiling as he eyed his wife and waited for her to say whatever it was she wanted.

When Nancy was mentioned he seemed to sit up a bit straighter. Mentioning her always made him a bit nervous, but she and her orphanage had been accociated with goods things as well, such as when they adopted Faith. He settled back into the couch cushions when the girl was mentioned, not even bothering to think about his answer. He knew what he was going to say, and so did Dion, which was probably why she always laid everything out in the open when talking to him. They knew eachother much too well to dance around important issues.

Tobin smiled, "Of course. It's not like we don't have the room, and being around this family can cure anyone of their shyness eventually. And I'm sure the kids would be happy to have yet another sibling." At that he chuckled. "Actually, I think the -grand-kids would be more delighted, getting another aunt to pester and play with." Everyone thought it was odd for them to have grandchildren already, only being in their mid-40's (and looking even younger), but he was delighted, and spoiled them rotten, just like a good grandparent should.

***

Tobin had been out of the car not long after it was turned off, having driven, and was waiting for Dion. He would have opened the door, but just as he thought to do so Dion had opened it herself and stepped out. He extended his hand to her, offering her a comforting smile as well. He clasped her hand tightly as they stepped up to the door, Dion clinging back just as tight.

Though they had agreed to do the interview, it was only a formality and something that was required during adoptions. He was quite certain that the both of them had already decided that this girl would be their daughter, even if they would only be foster parents, from today on. Dion had filled him in on some of her details, such as her name and age. She was 17, and close to be on her own anyway, but that would never deter them, she still needed a family, a home, and they were willing to give it.

As they were introduced, Tobin couldn't help but notice how insecure the poor girl, Hope, was. She was just waiting for them to refuse. Most couples didn't like taking older children because they wanted a tight emotional bond. That didn't always happen when the kid was old enough to know they had been orphaned or abandoned. When Dion kneeled next to Hope and spoke, a fond smile tugged at Tobin's lips. He was waiting to see her reaction when she finally realized she wasn't being passed over.

[Maira]

Hope watched as the woman made her way towards her in her chair, when she knelt down her eyes widened a bit but there was not really any other reaction on her part. None of the others had bothered getting that close to her. When the woman, Dion as Nancy had introduced her, started talking to her Hopes eyebrows practically climbed off her forehead. "What?" she asked surprised, followed by, "You really mean it? "

She straighened up in her chair, let her feet slide off the chair onto the floor, and looked at Nancy her eyes begging the woman to tell her she wasn't imagining things. Then she looked to Tobin and asked, "She's serious?" Then looked back to Dion, "You're really serious?" Hope knew she probably sounded desperate and needy asking like that but she couldn't help herself. Four days of constant rejection and somebody finally said yes.

Then, all of a sudden, suspicion bit her on the butt and her hopeful eyes narrowed. Before she could stop it her thoughts tumbled out of her mouth, "But you guys are so young, why would you want somebody like me? Somebody my age and with my....past?" She'd been about to say 'problems' but she wasn't sure if anybody knew what had happened to her the night Natasha had beaten her. The wings, the claws... How could a nice young couple like them possibly be able to deal with her?

Any hope or happiness she'd felt melted out of her and she pulled her knees back up to her chest again and looked away from Dion's open friendly face. The view out the window would be much less painful than looking at Dion and Tobin trying to scramble to come up with something to excuse them from their earlier decision. At least they had given her momentary hope.

[Demeter]

Dion snorted and caught Hope's chin in her hand. She didn't force the girl to turn her head but applied gentle pressure. "Who ever did this to you deserves what they got," Dion said, motioning to the marks that marred Hope's skin. "I'm not as young as I look. Hell, I have a two grandchildren. Besides, Hope, I know more about you then you think. I know about your past, your problems. I know people with pasts like yours. And I know what you are." Dion shuffled closer, leaning into Hope's side. "The claws, the wings, the absolute fear you must feel when you think you're a monster," she whispered into the girl's ear before leaning back and wiggling a hand with suddenly longer nails at the girl. "Well, it doesn't really matter what you think of us, we are taking you home. Nancy, start the paperwork!"


After all the nessicary papers had been signed and Hope had packed her belongings into a suitcase, Dion hustled the girl into the car. Once they were on their way, Dion turned in her seat and looked back at Hope. "You'll like the house, it's big with plenty of places to hide. Most of my children still live at him. Rayne, Hawk and Essence all live on the same floor you'll be one and Tempest, Faith and their baby, Bram, live in the attic apartment."

Dion reached back and patted Hope's knee. "I know this must seem odd but once you settle in, you'll understand that you're not as much of a monster as you think you are."

[Shinigami]

Tobin waiting patiently as Dion kneeled by the girl to talk to her. It wasn't that he was indifferent to the adoption, but he wasn't quite certain how the girl would react to him. He wasn't a very forcefull person anyway, and he knew he had hated his personal space invaded as a child, so he wasn't willing to do it to another unless he knew they'd be comfortable. Tobin was worried when Hope began to openly doubt what Dion was saying, but he knew his wife wasn't one to give up. He chuckled lightly at Dion's exclaimation about taking her home, shaking his head in the process.

As Nancy left to get the paperwork for them, Tobin sat at the nearby table, closer to Hope, but not too close. Dion had already hinted that there was more to them that met the eye, and she had mentioned knowing others who had rough pasts. Hell, before the couple had met they had each had their share of pain, and even after getting married. He gave Hope a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, we understand what you've been through, at least to some extent, and we're willing to do what we can to help."

Nancy was back in the room with the papers, and Tobin stood to fill out what needed his signiture as did Dion, and once all the paperwork was filled out Hope was set off to pack her things. Dion seemed quite excited, and Tobin could do nothing but smile the whole time as the girl and her belongings were hustled into the car. When they started on their way home he listened to Dion speak of their children and smiled, looking up into the rearview mirror as he spoke up. "Rayne is only a year older than you, so you two should be able to get along. And don't mind Hawk much, he can get testy from time to time."

His eyes flicked back down to the road so he could keep an eye on were he was going. Tobin was wondering who would end up being home by the time they got there.

[Maira]

Hope's reaction to Dion touching her, even just her chin, was to stiffen but there was something about the gentleness in Dion's touch that made her give in and look at the woman when she tried to turn Hope's head towards her. As she listened to Dion talk and then watched as Dion's fingernails lengthened, Hope's eyes grew wide but not with excitement. She was terrified, Dion had gotten that one right, and seeing somebody else do what she'd thought was just her... It was even scarrier.

She just sat with a neutral look on her face as Dion ordered the paperwork started and she and Tobin signed all the places they needed to sign. Once that was done she was told to get her things together and that she was going home with them today. From four days of rejection to suddenly, and in quite a hurry, finding herself being taken home by somebody was a bit overwhelming.

It only took her a matter of moments to gather her few things and shove them into her suitcase then she was being whisked out of Nancy's home and to Dion and Tobin's car. The drive was quiet for a while and then Dion started giving details to Hope about her new foster siblings and the house. At the mention of a baby in the house, Hope's eyes shifted from the scenery outside the window to Dion. She never made it common knowledge but Hope absolutely adored children. If she was lucky maybe sometime Faith would let her babysit. Not wanting to seem rude, but not knowing what to say she just smiled as sincerely as she could manage then turned her gaze back out the window.

It wasn't too long after that that a huge beautiful house was outside her window and she couldn't help but gawk. "Whoa," she said under her breath and when the car turned into the driveway, Hope looked at Dion and asked, "This is your house? You said it was big but..." Her voice trailed off and she looked out the window again and just stared at her new, if likely temporary, home.

[Demeter]

Dion grinned at Hope as she looked at the house with her eyes wide and mouth open. "Yep, this would be where home is for us. It was my maternal grandmother's and when my mother passed on, it went to my older sister but, seeing as how she's chosen to live in the middle east with her husband and his family, she left it to me." Dion popped open her door and,clambing out of the car, opened Hope's for her. "Lets take the tour."

As she led Hope around the grounds, she pointed out various bits of things. When they rounded the corner, Dion stopped to let the girl take it all in. The backyard was a bit more extravanget then the front. "Thats the greenhouse, never locked so feel free to do science projects in there. There's the pond, herb garden, rose garden, a bit of land that we never cleared and, of course, the play area." Dion pointed to the corner of the yard closest to the house that was covered in toys and play equipment. "In additon to Bram, there's Lani, thats my other grandchild, her step-brothers, Seb and Gareth. And Rowan, my nephew. They are all over here on a regular basis."

Dion led the girl into the house, pointing out the kitchen, dining, living and family rooms on the main floor. She showed Hope the door to the basement before shooing her upstairs. "This will be your room, bathroom's down the hall and my room is up on the third floor and then there's the attic." Dion pushed open the door to the spare room. It was sparsely decorated but the bed was cushy and it had a view of the backyard. "I'll let you get settled in."

Dion went downstairs and sat down on the couch while levering her feet out of her shoes. When Tobin joined her, Dion leaned against his shoulder. "Thanks for this. Do you think we did the right thing, swooping her out of there so fast?"

[Shinigami]

Tobin had stood back and allowed Dion to spirit Hope away on a tour through the house. He followed the two through the backyard and into the house. He had planned on taking Hope's bags upstairs, but she hadn't had a chance to set them down before Dion began to show her through the house. Instead he headed towards the kitchen, closing the back door.

He started making tea, poking around to fridge to see if there was anything in there that Hope could make a snack out of if she got hungry. He found plenty of food to fill the fridge, assuming either Faith or Rain had gone shopping while they were gone. The tea had finished and he poured two cups, one for himelf and one for Dion, as he wandered out into the livingroom. She had already been sitting on the couch and he joined her.

Tobin smiled as his wife leaned against him and he held out the second cup of tea to her as she began to speak. "Don't worry about it," Leaving a kiss on Dion's temple. "We did the right thing. She may be a little overwhelmed, most likely confused, but we did the right thing. She deserves a chance at having a home, and learning about who and what she is."

[Maira]

The whirlwind tour of her new foster home had Hope's head spinning and by the time Dion showed her to the bedroom that would be hers, she was more than ready for a bit of time to herself. Once Dion turned and headed back down the stairs, Hope set her suitcases down and shut the bedroom door. With the door closed, she was alone and able to think over what had happened in the past couple hours.

Rather at a loss of just what to do with her stuff, Hope ignored her suitcase and headed over to the window. The view of the backyard was great, she could see everything that Dion had pointed out to her except the herb garden which was around the corner of the house. As she watched, she saw four children bolt from around the side of the house to the play structure in the back corner of the yard. As it was three boys and a little girl, Hope assumed it was the four children Dion had told her would always be over playing. Which meant their parents were likely going to be visiting too. "I hope i can just hide for a while," Hope muttered to herself at that thought.

Just in case she would be expected to make an appearance, Hope went to her bag and pulled out her hair brush. She already had on her nicest clothes so all she could really do was brush her hair to make herself more presentable. After brushing her hair, Hope looked in the mirror above her dresser and flinched. The bruises were getting downright ugly even if they were starting to feel better. They weren't exactly great for a good first impression but she couldn't do anything about them.

Letting out a defeated sigh, Hope wandered back to the window and watched the children for a few moments. She heard the front door to the house open and voices call out and she knew it was time for her to go down. She may as well get this done and over with.

Closing the bedroom door behind her, Hope made her way to the top of the stairs and just watched silently for a moment as a dark haired woman, who looked strikingly like Dion, gave Dion a hug and then Tobin. She thought she heard the word, "Mom" and figured it was one of Dion's older children. Maybe one of the ones that didn't live at home? Either way, she needed to go downstairs and just watching wasn't going to make it happen any quicker or make the meetings any less awkward.

*****

Saiyuri had come over to her mother's house for an almost weekly ritual; dinner, movies and playtime for the kids. It gave the whole family a chance to get caught up and spend time together and Dion was really the only one who had the room for it. The kids had already bolted around to the backyard when she made her way into the house. She found her mother and stepfather sitting on the couch having a cup of tea and she couldn't help but think they both looked rather pleased with themselves. Curious just what they had up their sleeves she leaned down and gave Dion a ahug and asked, "What did you do today Mom? You look rather smug about something." Then, while waiting for Dion's answer, Saiyuri gave Tobin a hug as well and told him, "Thiery will be over a bit later he had to work late tonight. They're getting close to opening night and they have to crunch to get the sets done."

After greeting Tobin, Saiyuri turned her attention back to her mother and asked, "Well? Aren't you going to tell me?" Just then, out of the corner of her eye, Saiyuri caught the movement of somebody coming down the stairs and her jaw tried to drop open. Instead the single word, "oh," slipped out under her breath. She took her eyes from the girl only to look at her mother questioningly for a moment and then they went back to the girl.

Hope saw the shock on the woman's face as she spotted her and she nearly ran back upstairs but something about the woman stopped her. Something called to one of the parts of her she hadn't known about until recently. "Hi," she said nervously as she closed the last few strides between them and she held out her hand to shake with the other woman.

At the younger girl's greeting, Saiyuri came back to her senses and smiled and took the girls offered hand in a shake. "Hi yourself," she answered in a sisterly tone and then asked, "So are you a new addition to the family? I was not too long ago myself so at least you're joining us sooner."

Hope just smiled nervously in response to Saiyuri's question as she wasn't really sure how to answer.

Realizing she didn't know the girl's name, Saiyuri asked curiously, "So what are we supposed to call our new sister? My name is Saiyuri by the way. Lani, the lone girl terrorizing the backyard is my daughter. Don't let her cuteness fool you, she's really quite a little Custos." Her smile was big and genuine and she hoped welcoming to the new girl in the family.

Hope smiled back and mentally made a note of what her new foster sister had told her. It would likely take her a while to remember everything about this whole family but she might as well start trying. Just then a few more people walked in the front door and Hope and Saiyuri both turned to see just who it was.

[Demeter]

Demeter sighed as she watched Rowan skid around the side of the house with the twins and Lani. She'd pull into Dion's driveway just after Saiyuri and Rowan had taken off after the other children. She followed the children around back, watching as all four launched their bodies onto the jungle gym, all four in a race to get to the top before the others. "Behave, Brats," she yelled while entering the house through the back door, an unbaked pie in her hands.

She punched up the oven before wandering into the living room, raising an eyebrow when she was confronted with a young woman. Demeter looked past the gathering of people in the room to her older sister sprawled on the couch. "Another one?" She turned back to the young woman. "I'm Demeter, I guess you could call me your aunt." Demeter gave a wave and wandered back out to the backyard to keep on eye on the munchkins and to make sure that Rowan didn't climb any trees.

Dion shook her head as Demeter walked away. "Please ignore my sister, Hope, the only people she's even remotely friendly with are her son and her lover, who is also her son's father. And, Saiyuri, I'm sure you've figured out what I've been up to by now. Saiyuri, this is Hope, Hope that is Saiyuri, my oldest child."

***

Thiery grumbled as his foot caught on the edge of his car door. After freeing himself and dumping the load of homework assignments in the back seat, he backed away from the car. He grinned when he saw Saiyuri's car, still amazed that a girl like her would choose a goof like him.

His grin grew even bigger when he heard the playful screams coming from the backyard. He bounded up the front stairs, not even bothering to knock on the door, headed into the house. He wrapped his arms around the waist of Saiyuri and blinked at the bruised, young woman standing across the hallway. "Uh, could someone explain what is going on?"

***

Dion sighed. She'd forgotten about family night. She'd been hoping to let Hope have a night to herself. "I'm sorry about this Hope, my family tends to descend right on schedule and I forgot about it. You don't have to stay downstairs in you don't want to."

[Shinigami]

Tobin blinked when the door had opened, wondering which of the many family members had decided to show up. His question had been answered as he heard Saiyuri's voice, figuring the little ones were already terrorizing the backyard as they did weekly. He hugged Saiyuri back, now quite used to Dion's oldest being around as much as their own children; so much so that at times he almost forgot he wasn't her father. He nodded to her as she mentioned Thiery's late arrival and found himself wondering who else of the family would be able to make this week.

He had completely forgotten about the family's weekly ritual to congregate at their house for dinner, and usually a movie and playtime for the younger kids. They had inadvertently brought Hope home to meet almost the entire family. Tobin rolled his eyes at Demeter as she walked in, assessed the situation, introduced herself and then left. 'Seems she's as impersonal as ever tonight.'

He found himself blinking again when Thiery made his entrance. He rolled his eyes, and instead of answering the man's question right away he asked one of his own. "Has this family ever knocked on a door before? I don't seem to remember any knocking. Everyone, this is Hope. Hope, this is the family. At least part of it. Don't worry about remembering anyone, or even greeting them all if it makes you uncomfortable."

[Maira]

Being introduced first by Dion toSaiyuri and then by Tobin to the man that Hope assumed was Saiyuri's husband, Hope didn't bother to introduce herself. Instead she found herself smiling somewhat nervously again. When she heard that the whole family was likely coming over that night, Hope had to fight not to shiver with nerves. So many people all at once? Crap.

Instead of taking the easy out that both Dion and Tobin offered, Hope shook her head and said softly, "I have to meet everybody sometime don't I? I'll stay down for a little while at least." Hearing the screams from the backyard she smiled and added, "I think I might go out back and wander around the yard for a while if that's okay."

As she watched the newest addition to her mother's family Saiyuri couldn't help but wonder about the girl's past. Something about her seemed familiar but she knew for a fact she'd never met the girl. She would ask Dion as soon as the girl headed outside.

Until then she turned to Thiery and kissed his cheek. "How was work today? The hellions getting insane this close to openeing night?" Then she gently dragged him over to one of the extra large overstuffed chairs and pulled him into it with her so they could cuddle and unwind as he told her how his day had been.

[Demeter]

Thiery dropped into the chair and drapped one arm over the back of the chair and the other along the arm, letting Saiyuri cuddle into his side. "Yes, the hellions are starting to lose it. When I left the female lead was yelling about something. I left it all in the hands of the assistant directior. Let her handle it. So, Dion, whats for dinner tonight?"

Dion shook her head at her daughter's lover. He really was good for the girl. "Tonight is Hawk's night to pick the food so I would expect food of the fast sort." Dion turned to look at the newst member of her household. "Go ahead and wander, Hope. This is your home as well so feel free to do what you like."

***

Ayda hopped off her scooter and, helmet still plopped on her head with the straps dangling, headed around the corner of her friend's mother's house to the greenhouse. Dion was notorious for forgetting to water the plants wintering over in the glass building. Ayda popped into the humid building and grapped the house coiled near the door. After watering the plants, Ayda exited the building.

She came across the children climbing around the play area. She nodded to Demeter, who nodded back, and hopped up the steps. Just as she went for the knob, the door jerked open and Ayda tumbled forward, onto another person and down to the floor. Ayda immediantl;y scrambled up. "I'm so sorry..." She trailed off when she relized that she had no clue who the person on the floor was. "Uh...who are you?"

[Shinigami]

Tobin smiled, happy that Hope was willing to be a little brave and deal with all the people around so soon. Their family was a large one, though, but at least they didn't -all- show up for the weekly dinner. At least they hadn't yet, and probably would never. Most of the extended family stayed distant, and in the case of his own side, he was glad. He didn't need his brother showing up to torture him weekly.

He heard the door open yet again and rolled his eyes. He was about to complain about people not knocking when he saw it was his son, Hawk. By the looks of it, he had dinner and he had the common courtesy to get meat for everyone else in the family. He could tell because Hawk was holding one bag particularly far away from his person.

***

Hawk never liked the weekly gathering, especially when it was his turn to choose the food. Though he liked cooking, doing so for the extended family annoyed him. Then there was the fact that he was a vegetarian and couldn't stand the smell of cooked or cooking meat, and that he was the only one. He had managed to stand it long enough to buy a good sized roasted chicken and make it back to the house.

He was also juggling a few other bags that had vegetables and whatnot. Since the chicken was already prepared (as he'd never survive trying to do it himself) he figured he'd make up for it buy putting together a few vegetarian friendly things that were tasty enough for his carnivorous family.

The door swung open and as he passed through into the house he kicked it shut behind him. The bag with the chicken in it was held as far away as his arm length would allow. He saw the small congregation of people in the living room, but he had also noticed his aunt's car as well as Ayda's scooter. He glared when he noticed the amused look on his father's face. "Can it, old man. Not a word or a throw it out and you all suffer."

Tobin raised his hands in defeat, not wanting to suffer through a strictly vegetarian meal, but couldn't manage to get rid of the smile. At least the boy had a little more consideration for others than he used to.

[Maira]

As soon as Dion had given her permission, Hope had scooted out of the livingroom and toward the back of the house, following where Demeter had gone. As she pushed through a swinging door, Hope found herself in the kitchen (which she had passed through before but had forgotten about already) and smiled at the sight of the backyard through the windows lining one wall.

Her newly sensitive nose caught a wonderful smell and had turned her head looking for the source as she'd reached to open the back door. The next thing she knew, Hope was looking up at a stranger from where she was sprawled on the kitchen floor. As she'd landed, Hope bumped some of her bruises and had caught herself on her sprained wrist. She didn't cry out in pain but tears immediately sprung to her eyes.

When the stranger asked who she was, Hope couldn't help but flinch. The pain was impairing her reason and bringing back the memories of the night her foster mother beat her. All she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and hide. Instead, she took a couple breaths and answered shakily, "My name is Hope, Dion and Tobin brought me here." The only reason she answered the woman was because if she was at Dion and Tobin's house she was likely part of their family.

In the livingroom, Saiyuri was listening to Thiery recount his day when the front door opened yet again. She smirked at the sight of Hawk carrying in dinner. She didn't have the guts to smile so blatantly as Tobin was doing but she too thought it was quite funny to see her younger brother holding what was likely meat, so far away from himself. How he survived in their family she wasn't exactly sure... When Hawk practically growled at Tobin, Saiyuri had to stifle a laugh and hide her smile behind her hand as she knew that Hawk's threat wasn't an idle one and if what she smelled coming from the bag was right, she really didn't want to miss out on dinner.

Just before Hawk entered the kitchen, Saiyuri felt a sharp wave of pain from that direction and she shivered with the sensation. Her empathic abilities, along with most all of her abilities, had only gotten stronger after Lani's birth and there were times they still took her by surprise. Worried that the pain had come from one of the kids, Saiyuri eased herself out of the chair she was cuddling with Thiery in and followed her brother through the kitchen door.

Coming into the kitchen, Saiyuri stopped in her tracks and stared at the sight before her. Ayda standing in the back door and Hope sprawled on the kitchen floor favoring her wrist. Not sure how to react, Saiyuri asked curiously, "Hey Ayda, what happened to Hope?"

[Demeter]

Ayda scratched the back of her head while sheepishly grinning at Saiyuri. "I sorta knocked her over. I honestly didn't mean it." Ayda pulled Hope to her feet and stuck out her hand. "i'm Ayda, Saiyuri's friend and Hawk's...well, I don't think we've classified out relationship yet," she said with a grin at Hawk.

After assuring herself that Hope was in one piece, Ayda bounced her way over to Hawk and took a critical look at the bags he'd set on the counter. "What did you get for us?" she asked, nose wrinkling at the smell.

Even after her transformation from silly magic user to silly kitty with nifty earth powers, Ayda remained a stranger to meat. She was that most of the pard thought her to be crazy but she and Cannon, the nifty kitty side of her, agreed that meat just wasn't for them.

Ayda peered into the bags, sticking her tounge at each until she found one of the bags filled with vegtables. She grabbed a plate from the cabniets, loaded a few vegtables onto it and opened the fridge for the bottle of ranch dressing. Before running off to the living room, Ayda peered at Hope. "I'm really sorry about knocking you down. It's just something that I do," she waved and bounced into the living room.

***

Theiry followsed his soon-to-be wife into the kitchen. There Ayda was apologizing to the new girl. Once she was out of the room, Theiry smiled at Hope. "Ayda is a klutz so you'll just have to deal. She's here more then Saiyuri these days."

Theiry took over dishing out the chicken and leaving Hawk to deal with the vegtables, handing plates and silverware to Saiyuri. "Will you be joining us, Hope?" Theiry leaned across the sink and pulled a window open. Still braced against the sink, he yelled for the brats to get inside. "You might want to stand back and out of the way, Hope, they're like mini-hurricanes."

***

Sebastian pulled Gareth off the jungle gym and ran for the house. "Dad's calling us for dinner so come on you guys." he yelled over his shoulder when his brother made to move away from the play area.

Shaking his head, Sebastian pushed the back door open and stared at the lady standing in the kitchen. He'd never seen her at Grandma Dion's house before. "Hello, who are you? I'm Sebastian but you can call me Seb or Sebby. Thats my brother Gareth but he's being a bad boy so you can just ignore him. Why are you here?"

[Shinigami]

Hawk had paused when he saw Ayda in the door, noticing the girl sprawled on the ground below her. He rolled his eyes and set the bags down on the counter. He immediately started using some of the vegetarian food-stuffs he had bought to make up a quick hot side dish, while he had cold pasta salad waiting in another bag. He smirked at Ayda's comment looking up from his cooking a moment.

He went about his business as Ayda started rifling through the bags next to him. He answered her question by waving his hand in the direction of one of the bags. "I'd avoid that one if I were you. It's chicken." He let her steal some of the vegetables, in fact, he had bought extra because he had come to know she'd do this. He was glad there was another vegetarian around, and especially happy that it was Ayda.

He smiled at Ayda's apology, shaking his head as he started getting serving plates and getting the food together. He nodded his thank you to Theiry for taking care of the chicken and went about putting the rest of the food on the table. He smiled as the kids made their way in, making sure he was well out of the way as they ran through for dinner.

[Maira]

Saiyuri smirked at Ayda's answer to her question. She had actually met the other woman in much a similar fashion. She had been coming out of the girl's bathroom in middle school, Ayda had been going in, and Saiyuri wound up with a bloody nose from the door smacking into her face... It was a good thing the two girls hit things off so well or likely Saiyuri would have hated Ayda for the monstrous bruise she sported for weeks.

When Ayda pulled Hope up off the kitchen floor, Hope tried to smile in gratitude but suddenly she wanted to be anywhere but surrounded by people. As the family started to converge on the kitchen Hope started edging toward the back door again only to be stopped in her tracks by Thiery asking if she'd be joining them, and then when he hollered for the kids. Already well aware of the pain the backdoor could inflict, Hope was quick to step away from it when Thiery warned her to watch out for the kids.

The first of the children to come through the door was a boy, one of the twins she'd thought she'd seen, and he looked a lot like Thiery. When he introduced himself, Hope's smile was instant. Children, unlike adults, held a secret key to her heart and any of them could unlock it with no effort at all. When he asked why she was there, Hope crouched down to be on his level and answered in a happy quiet tone, "Miss Dion and her husband have brought me to live here for a while Sebby." Then in a more serious tone she asked the boy, "How bout after dinner you show me around the back yard? I need to figure out where everything is out there." She hoped the boy would take her up on her request, most kids liked showing off their special things after all, but if he didn't she would just go browse around herself.

Waiting for Sebastian to answer her, Hope looked up to Thiery and finally answered him, "I guess I'll wait for my walk until after dinner." Then she looked to Hawk and asked, "Do you have enough for three? I've never been overly fond of meat, chicken in particular..." She just hoped that her foster brother wouldn't get mad at her for assuming she could have some of his food...

[Demeter]

Dion watched from the sidelines as the group of younger people converged on the kitche. She noticed the smile that spread across Hope's face. It seemed that children were a favorite of Hope's. Dion tucked that bit of information away for the time being and leaned into the kitchen from the dining room entryway. "The table's ready to go so anyone who wants to eat a table with actual chairs can go on in. The rest of you, don't spill anything on my carpet or furnature. I just had it steam cleaned."

Sebastian smiled up at the woman. "Yeah! I can show you around the backyard. I can even show you the woods and the secret place under the back deck."

Thiery watched his son as Sebastian talk to Hope and shook his head. If anyone could draw Hope out it was Sebastian. "Sebastian, go sit at the table. I don't think Dion's forgiven you for the gravy on the carpet yet." Thiery leaned across the sink again and shouted for the others once again, smirking when Gareth whined and slumped his way towards the house. "Where would you like to eat, Hope, Living room or Kitchen?"