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Post by Miss Jack on Aug 8, 2008 0:24:57 GMT -5
"I hate these things."
"I understand your frustration. Older, never wiser."
A well aimed shoe flew at Armand's head, and he ducked gracefully out of the way. He glanced over at his brother, but Alexander was already turned, facing the window once again.
Alexander leaned on the glass and a after few moments, it steamed against his warm skin. He tipped back again.
"Who are you watching for?" Armand asked, genuinely curious.
Alexander shrugged and Armand's gaze dropped to Alexander's wrist, where the worn-out, black friendship bracelet hung. Armand smirked. "Ah."
Alexander shot him a frosty glare over his shoulder. "Don't give me that noise."
"What noise?" Armand asked innocently.
"The ha ha look who did get wiser noise." He ground his teeth together and his voice dropped. "I wish I didn't invite her."
"Why not?" Armand frowned. "I want to meet her. She's a Dream and your face got all funny, like amused and tender at the same time, when you talked about her. I think everyone wants to meet her."
Alexander gave a strangled noise of despair and pressed his forehead and fingers to the glass, slowly sliding down. "I knoooow. That's the point! Meanwhile, you brought the girl you're probably going to marry. What's that going to look like with me and Nellie? It'll be great. 'Vince, meet Sheep Girl, Sheep Girl, Vince.'" A series of inventive curses colored the air, followed by a whimper. "My life sucks."
Armand rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well so does Zizzy's." He cringed a little thinking about it, adjusting the collar of his shirt. "You're not getting my sympathy tonight."
"Yeah, yeah. It's all about Zizzy now. Give me a break."
Armand gave an indiscernible grunt, mouth tightening at the edges.
"Sorry. I like Zizzy. I'm happy for you. Yadda yadda."
Armand chuckled tersely. Alexander and Zizzy got along fine. More than fine. Alexander had been the first person Zizzy had turned to during the entire Iker mess when she couldn't trust him with her problems. And although Armand wasn't sure if Alexander had been working through some pent-up guilt, or if their friendship was really that strong, or if it was a weird combination of both added to Alexander's ever present unpredictablity, but it made him glad, reassured, to know that Alexander did like Zizzy. Not such a big deal, except that Alexander passed out the award with more stinginess than Scrooge.
------------------
Jack found Pia in their room, wrapping his arms around her from behind and kissing her neck. The gesture had become so frequent and natural, it felt like nothing more than saying 'hi'.
"So, still sorry we didn't just settle for a set of puppies?" he asked. "Or give them up for adoption? Actually, the oldest one is starting to grow on me. The little twerp that looks like me, on the other hand..."
His grip loosened and he twisted his head around as the door slammed downstairs. A slow grin spread over his face. Johnny complaining about the lack of hospitality, Vince telling him to shut up and Simon's calm voice smoothing things over in a matter of three words.
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Post by Princess Katie on Aug 8, 2008 1:20:41 GMT -5
Pia reached back to stroke Jack’s hair. She loved this way of saying ‘hi’. She rolled her eyes, but smiled. “Most days, I wish we traded them for puppies. Or shoes. But they’re okay, I guess. I think we should keep them.” She finished tying the bow on the present box, and handed it to Jack. “Here, take this. Come on.”
--
There was a sound like someone hitting a ceramic dinner plate against her door.
“Hey, Finola!” Genevieve called out into the hallway. Her friend had a rather distinctive knock. “Hold on, I’m coming!” The Princess put the final touch on her deliciously raccoon-esque mask of eyeshadow before pulling open the door. She was still dressed abnormally gothicly, but she had gone for more tact. She didn’t feel like having another fiasco, not on her brothers’ day. She was dressed in a heavy black velvet gown with a black tilt hat, a demiveil of black lace falling into her eyes. The most surprising element of change was that she bleached and dyed a broad strip of her hair blinding hot pink.
Finola looked completely unimpressed when Genevieve opened the door, but her hair turned pure white from shock for a split second, before melting back into an undulation of crayola hues. “Gennie!”
“Yeah, Finola, I know. I—“
“No, you look good. I like it.”
“Oh. You…do? Don’t tell my mom, she won’t let you over anymore.”
-- There was a knock at the main door, and, ever the hostess (even in someone else’s home), Illie hopped up to go get it. Her shock was evident when her big gold eyes fell upon little Nellie, all dressed in yellow and pale lavender, on the threshold of the castle. Nellie looked equally surprised.
“Yer a Dream!” Nellie exclaimed, clamping her hand over her mouth.
“So are you!” Illie squeaked, with a good bit of excitement in her voice. Nightmares were fine and all, the love of her life was a Nightmare, her children were half-Nightmare, but it wasn’t every day she came in contact with a Dream, especially over here. “Come in, come in!” Illie took her hand and pulled her in to the castle.
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Post by Jules on Aug 8, 2008 1:40:19 GMT -5
Hugh had snuck upstairs, following Fish like a shadow, ducking into a wall when she was about to turn around. But when Genn came out dressed like that, he peeked out from the wall and became solid again.
"Geeeeeze." He blew out, obviously impressed. She's even hotter then before! But because he so did not want to turn Pink in front of her, Hugh exerted an enormous amount of will to stay neutral. He was capable of it when he put his mind to do.
So instead of letting Genn think he liked her too much, he did what most boys did when confronted with a cute girl.
"What the hell happened to your face? Get punched up?"
-----------
Zizzy was way beyond nervous. The entire day had been devoted to getting her appearance just right until she'd run the risk of being late. But she had to get this just right. This had to be perfect. They had to like her.
On her way here, she'd decided there wasn't a chance she was going in on her own without first talking to Armand, and she wanted to give him and Alex, if she got the chance, their presents in private. Stomach almost painful it was so full of nerves, she floated up her usual way to his bay window and collected on the other side before opening the large glass panes to retrieve the gifts she'd had to leave on the other side. For Armand she'd gotten that pair of Lion King tickets they had never gotten to make use of. For Alex, a very nice bottle of imported rum.
That one she definitely wanted to give in private. No need to have that opened in front of the rents. Two gift bags in hand she turned to the twins and smiled, although it came off more as a grimace.
"Happy Birthday."
--------------
Mary lounged on the couch, toying with the fringe of the pillow tucked under her arm. Johnny was making noise like always and Vince was making more in the misguided attempt to get him to shut up and like always, Simon smoothed it all over.
Illie's children (practically her niece and nephew) had already disappeared and more were coming. She could see the Dream from here, hear Illie's and the Newcomer's excited chittering and grinned. Would had invited the Shepardess? Mary turned to Vince and raised an eyebrow. "You remembered the presents, right?"
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Post by Miss Jack on Aug 8, 2008 2:16:29 GMT -5
"Shit!" Alexander cursed and stumbled back a few feet, clutching his chest. One second he was gazing listlessly out the window, and the next, the unexplainable cloud had become Zizzy.
Armand laughed. He took the gift bag from Zizzy and placed a quick kiss on her lips. "You look good," he commented, mostly because her color had returned, the effects of the withdrawal had finally left, replaced by a healthy glow.
Alexander wasted no time in peering down into his own bag. He grinned. "Well, well. We're going to get along just fine, Future Mrs. Ira." He tossed the rum on the bed, ignoring Armand's shocked and horrified expression.
"C'mon, bro. We're the life of the party."
Armand held out a hand to Zizzy. "Ready?"
------------------
"Hugh," Simon admonished his son quietly, in the soft but frighteningly I mean business tone he'd acquired after many years of playing referee to Cold Shadow. He smiled at Genn. "I like your new look, Gennevieve. It adds flair to your natural beauty."
At his side, Vince flicked a half-bored gaze at Mary. Ever a Nightmare of few words, he produced the presents from inside his cloak. Armand's gift had been his idea, and Alexander's had been Mary's, like always. Their different preferences were perfect for the two twins.
Jack and Pia entered the room and everything became a flurry of hugs and manly shoulder slaps and warm smiles. Except for Jack's rather cool avoidance of his daughter. Jack raised a brow at Nellie. "I'm not sure I recognize you," he said, more or less friendly. A hint of a grin tugged at his lips. "Who does she belong to?"
"Zounds, I'll take her if nobody claims her," Johnny said with a debonair wink in Nellie's direction.
"Try and keep the pheromones to a level that doesn't suffocate us all," Vince muttered with disgust. "She looks younger than Genn."
"She's Alexander's friend," Danny said quietly. He flashed a shy, shaky smile in Nellie's direction. "He told us. Remember?"
In the baffled silence that followed, it was apparent no one had. "Really." Jack broke the silence. The cutesy blonde-haired girl looked like a cut-out copy of the last person in the world Alexander would willingly associate himself with.
"Every time you think one of these get togethers can't get any bloody weirder," Hat griped.
"Maybe if you wouldn't bring it to everyone's attention," Danny mumbled, cheeks rinsing with pink.
"We're happy to have you," Simon told Nellie. He shot a look at Vince that said 'Make an effort not to look like the homicidal living dead.' To which Vince flipped him the one-fingered salute. He sighed, turning to Mary. Control him, please.
"Oh, good. You're alive." Alexander strolled into the room, with a half grimace, half grin in Nellie's direction, all charm and flowing charisma. "Hello, family, loved ones. Mother." He gave her a peck on the cheek. He did the same for Genn and Illie, and then paused at Simon. "Hmmm. Simon. Shower more than once a week, and we'll talk."
"What?" Jack asked, amused. "No kiss for me?"
Alexander brought a hand to his lips and blew his father a kiss. He glanced to the side and sighed dramatically. "Don't even ask, Vince. Because I just won't do it."
Danny and Johnny chuckled, and even Vince gave him a smirk, unable to help himself. Alexander ruffed up Hugh's hair and from the entrance, Armand gave him a slow applause. "Encore," he said, hand to his heart. "Are you finished with your entrance?"
"Yep!" He plopped onto the couch beside Nellie, reaching down and squeezing her hand once for comfort. The gesture didn't go entirely unnoticed. "Seriously though, if I don't get some kick ass presents hanging out with you fogies all evening, I'm disowning this family."
"Nobody got him anything good, I hope?" Johnny faked a hopeful look. Alexander glowered.
Armand cleared his throat, a pretty quiet sound that got everyone's attention pretty quick. "Everyone," he said, and pulled Zizzy forward in front of him by the hand. "This is Zizzy." He didn't need to say much else. The hand he placed on her shoulder, tenderingly rubbing as if to give her strength, and the obviously smitten look in his eyes, spoke volumes.
Alexander barely curbed his snort of digust. Everyone immediately liked her, immediately perked up and took notice. Everyone appraising, getting a good look. Beloved Armand finally found someone? She must be perfect then. And oh, we're so very, very happy for him. He deserves this in his life.
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Post by Princess Katie on Aug 8, 2008 3:12:39 GMT -5
Genevieve smirked down at Hugh. “You know, I can’t recall whether I got punched or not. How about I punch you, and we’ll see if we get similar results?” She was clearly joking, but Finola glared at him, indicating that she would take up the same duties, if Genevieve was unable to uphold her obligations.
Genevieve smiled prettily at Simon. “Thank you, I’m glad you think so,” she said, shooting a dirty look over her shoulder at her parents, adding a silent, ‘at least someone does.’
Finola looked bored, as usual, as she sat down next to Danny. “Hat, don’t be so rude, Alexander’s friend is a guest.”
Pia sent Nellie a look of uncertainty. This was really the girl Alexander was spending so much time with? She turned about fifteen shades of pink at Johnny’s comment, but it faded in a second. Her attention span wasn’t long enough to retain embarrassment all that long. She was amazed at how casual and hodge-podge Alexander’s whole ‘family’ was. It was so foreign and cool!
Pia’s and Nellie’s looks of shock at the subtle hand squeeze were near identical, except that Pia’s was more amused, where Nellie’s was a touch more horrified. However, she didn’t move her hand away or try to wipe the cooties off on her skirt. Maybe she was trying to impress the rest of the family. Whatever the case, Nellie was pretty happy when the group attention was shifted from her to Armand and his apparent girlfriend.
Pia smiled outwardly. At least she was a Nightmare, but…she really wasn’t all that gorgeous. In a strangely maternal feeling, Pia was actually just glad that Armand looked so cheerful. She smiled graciously, a very apparent act to those who knew her (everyone besides Nellie and Zizzy). “Well, girls, we’re happy to have you. Because our parties just aren’t weird enough.”
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Post by Jules on Aug 8, 2008 3:39:25 GMT -5
Later on, she'd simply have to kill him. Why couldn't he just have let her sneak into the room instead of leading her down the stairs and making sure everyone stopped talking before introducing her? Zizzy didn't care to count how many pairs of eyes were on her at that moment, only that there was a serious deficiency of familiarity in the room.
But now was not the time to act like a blithering idiot. Now was the time to be poised and cool and collected and everything they'd expect from a....girlfriend? of the Prince. That thought almost made her bolt right out the door. It was only Armand's reassuring hold on her shoulder that kept her together. Who was she kidding? She was not what anyone would expect a Prince to be dating.
"Hi. Nice to meet you all." This time her smile came off as sincere, but she still felt fake. Everyone was so familiar with each other, Nellie's obliviousness was letting her blend right in. But how was she supposed to feel comfortable?
------
"Like girls can punch." Hugh muttered under his breath and then nearly laughed as he saw the twins with their respective dates. Where they serious? One was giving him a tooth ache just by looking at her and the other didn't really look like someone Armand would pick. Hugh moved away from the perceived oppressive presence of his father and offered his hand to Zizzy first.
"I'm Hugh."
The girl smiled at him and shook his hand. Which caused a little tiny bug of lightning to skittered across him. The boy's eyes went wide, the changing of color picked up speed and he looked up at Zizzy, pretty much awed. "That's cooler then what Alex can do."
This elicited a stormy laugh from her. "You bet it is."
------
Mary sighed and swatted the hand Vince had used to flip the bird. After so long he was at least not so adverse to her touching him, although she didn't exactly recommend it for strangers. He was a bit like a wild tiger. Except smellier.
"Be nice." She warned. "Maybe crack a smile." Although it was, by far, a long shot. The two girls looked slightly out of place, but Mary was hardly the one to judge and besides 'Zizzy' looked like someone she could get along with.
Nellie on the other hand, looked completely featherbrained, if nice enough. As a dream though, what else could one expect?
"Johnny, try and keep it in yours pants, huh?"
After telling Vince to mind himself this probably wasn't the most tactful thing to say, but apparently Mary never had developed that all-important mind-to-mouth filter.
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Post by Miss Jack on Aug 8, 2008 13:52:42 GMT -5
Vince scowled moodily. "No," he said. "It would kill me," he added, before she could.
Armand beamed down at the boy as he shook Zizzy's hand. He snickered and Alexander scoffed. "Well excuse me. I guess dancing fireballs don't impress people anymore."
"I remember you," Simon spoke up. "You were there the day Armand..." He trailed off, obviously regretting his avenue of discussion when both Alexander and Armand visibly stiffened.
The moment passed and Armand smiled, leaning down to murmur in Zizzy's ear. "Can't kill me now. You'll be the number one suspect and they all know your face."
Jack offered Zizzy a friendly smile, though in typical Ira fashion, it was more smirk than smile. "Nice to meet you, Zizzy. And relax. Only a few of us bite."
"You know my parents and brother and sister," Armand said. He pointed each person out as he said them. Alexander gave Nellie a subtle, pay attention, cause I'm not sharing the favor, nudge. "This is Simon and Illie Vicerri, you just met their son Hugh, and that's their daughter Finola. Next to Finola is Danny Jenkins, and Johnny Nicholas---" He stopped as Hat noisily cleared his throat. "Sorry. And that's Hat. Where was I? Oh. Johnny. And Vince Delano, and Mary Mallon. And Alexander's friend, Eleanor Peep, of the accredited and famous Bo Peeps." He smiled his big-brother smile at Nellie. Alexander was impressed. Armand remember Nellie's name better than he did.
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Post by Princess Katie on Aug 8, 2008 21:15:11 GMT -5
Nellie gave Alexander a flat look and whispered, “It’s only noine people. ‘Ave you SEEN my family? Piece of cake.” She was attentive during introductions, however. Only nine people or not, they were nine people Nellie wanted to make a good impression. The Dream who answered the door was married to a Nightmare? How progressive! Nellie made mental notes to cement everyone else’s names in her mind. She had never been in a room with so many non-blondes. Not to mention, so many people with extraordinary hair colors. But surprisingly, Nellie wasn’t overwhelmingly afraid. Granted, she was a bit nervous, hanging around with Alexander’s family (they had a reputation), and, granted, that Vince fellow was pretty scary.
At Armand’s rather fancy sounding announcement, Nellie beamed and shot Alexander a look. “’ear that? Fa-mous.”
--
Genevieve tried her best not to outwardly sulk. This was not fair! NOT FAIR. How come Armand and Alexander could bring dates and everyone is simply overjoyed (if not a little confused, in the case of Alexander’s choice), but she tried to have a boy over for dinner, and all Hell broke loose?
Oh cruel world.
--
Finola’s curiosity was piqued when she saw the little lightning ball scurry from Zizzy to Hugh. “Electricity?” she ran her fingers across the chip in her cheek, “Tesla would be intrigued.” And if Tesla was down with it, so was Finola.
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Post by Jules on Aug 8, 2008 22:30:26 GMT -5
Well, she hadn't been expecting anything else from Vince since he was himself. But at a family gathering with newcomers you'd think he'd go easy on the death-to-you-all aura he had almost constantly going for him. She shifted on the couch not-so-accidentally elbowing him in the ribs.
"If it doesn't, I will." She flashed him a grin. "And after so many scorched items of clothing it stops being impressive and starts getting incredibly annoying." She winked at Alex and settled back into her seat. It wasn't too often she got out to see these guys.
"Hey Johnny, why didn't Henriette come?" She knew full well they were having an off period, but it was still fun to bother him.
Hugh ran to sit next to Vince (who was also uber-cool) and then patted the empty seat next to him (since by now, they were the only seats left unclaimed). But a moment later he was leaning over Vince's lap with no concern for the mummy's personal space issue, grabbing the gift on Mary's lap. He sprung back into his spot before she could grab it from him and she scowled.
Hugh shook it, holding it up to his ear. "I dunno Alex, I don't think this fogie got you anything decent."
Even through all her uncomfortableness, Zizzy felt a sense of warmness watching a obviously very close family interact. If she could even be one small part of this, it would be amazing. She took Armand's hand when she felt him tense, but she nodded at Simon, surprised he remembered.
Just looking at Jack was looking at slightly off image of Alexander, and they all had that same way of smirking. Deciding to take his advice, she took a deep breath.
"Okay." I can do this. I can. Just relax, none of them look appalled by your presence. She smiled at the girl. She was used to her lightning intriguing children, but not so much teenage girls. "I'm full of it." Realizing how that sounded, she shot a warning glance at Alexander. "Shut it."
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Post by Miss Jack on Aug 8, 2008 22:50:24 GMT -5
Johnny scowled, abruptly moody at the mention of his on-again, off-again lover. "I couldn't say," he managed, his voice sounding much more wolf-growl than suave womanizer. "I can't bring myself to muster enough interest to care."
Vince grunted in displeasure as Hugh crawled over his lap. Just like Alexander had been growing up, the kid seemed to have no boundary issues. But, just like with Alexander, Vince didn't mind as much as he let on. He even liked the little terd. Sorta.
Alexander twirled a finger into the air, "Whoop-dee-doo," he told Nellie with a pointed look. "I'm still royalty. More famous." Only Zizzy's comment drove his attention away, and as predicted, he did let out a snort of amusement. "You're full of something..." he muttered.
Jack spared a brief glance at Nellie and Alexander. Maybe he understood better, if only a little. Interacting together, they seemed almost like two cocky, teasing peas in a pod, only at very, very opposite ends of the spectrum.
Armand led Zizzy to the empty spot Hugh pointed at, graciously taking the position closer to Vince.
Alexander perked up at the mention of a present, a hint of a grin starting. "When are you ever going to just give me a tattoo, Vince?" The mummy raised an eyebrow. Alexander's grin grew more pronounced. "C'mon. Can't I join the gang already?" he asked, lower lip wobbling in a pretty impressive version (learned and practiced) of the Pia Pout.
Vince's left eye twitched. "Over my cremated pile of ashes," he said (growled?).
"You can take my spot," Danny said with a breathy sigh.
"Oh, dear God, no," Johnny said. Jack actually shuddered.
Alexander frowned flatly. He'd been kidding, but geez, he still had feelings.
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Post by Princess Katie on Aug 9, 2008 1:15:03 GMT -5
Pia snorted at Johnny, “Yeah, I’m sure you don’t care anymore. Just like you didn’t care two weeks ago, cared again a week and a half ago.” Despite her rather harsh criticism, Pia felt for Johnny. He had been in a very volatile on-again-off again for more than a century. She patted his shoulder with a touch of pity.
Nellie laughed, poking Alexander in the ribs. “So, y’ annoy everyone, not juss me? That makes me feel a lil’ better, I ‘ave t’ say.” She didn’t understand what was going on, but it was clear to even the unobservant Nellie could tell that the entire group was appalled by whatever it was Alex was suggesting. Genevieve was pulled out of her pout by Nellie’s sudden mean streak. She laughed in surprise and amusement.
“Nellie!” Genn gasped, “That was fierce!”
Nellie blushed heavily, and stared down at her lap, “Oh, sorry.”
Pia snorted and flashed an actual genuine (!!) grin at Nellie, “No, feel free to insult my son. He needs it. Really.”
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Post by Jules on Aug 9, 2008 1:40:27 GMT -5
Mary leaned over Vince (apparently no one was respecting his private space today) and yanked the present clean out of Hugh's hands, tucking it safely away from the nosy boy. "I am not a fogie and my present is perfect." Her eyes switched to a sulky-looking Alexander. "But it's not a tattoo." Even she didn't have one of those tattoos.
Hugh stuck his tongue out at the present snatcher and crossed his arms, immediately bored with the grownup talk. He slipped off the couch and began his oh-so-subtle attempt to sneak by unnoticed (he was crouch-crawling on the floor. No one said he was a genius).
Even as she laughed, inspite of herself, Zizzy was a little jealous of Nellie. She was over-thinking this, she knew, worried about saying something too rude or too trite or 'too' ten thousand other things. While Nellie made everyone laugh by accident. He was going to dump her after this. These were the people he loved more then anything and if they didn't like her, if she didn't mesh well...Zizzy had to focus a moment to keep her skin clear of lightning bugs. Even though no one else seemed to notice how quiet she was being, she could feel the pressure to say something, anything, like an anvil on her back.
Hopefully Armand would take her silence as nothing else but not yet taking part in the conversation and not her worrying herself nearly sick.
"No matter how much I insult him his ego doesn't seem to go down any." The moment the words left her mouth she wondered if it was too much, if they were all going to stare at her, if she'd cause an awkward silence...
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Post by Miss Jack on Aug 9, 2008 1:49:42 GMT -5
Alexander scowled. Clearly, this night was destined to hold plenty of "friendly" jibes, that hey, he had the ego to take. He was the irritating glue that held them all together. "Yes, well, one of my most endearing traits is to get on everyone's nerves. After a while it grows on you."
"Who told you that?" Armand asked, with such genuine concern that Alexander's lips twitched briefly from their scowl to a grin.
No one seemed fazed by Zizzy's comment, a few even smirked in amusement. Jack, still hovering at the doorway, stuck out a foot to block Hugh's exit without glancing down at him. "So are we eating first, or handing out presents?"
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Post by Princess Katie on Aug 9, 2008 2:06:51 GMT -5
“Traditionally,” Illie piped up, “it’s dinner, then cake, then presents. But, I’d say it’s up to the birthday boys to decide.”
“Mom was slaving over your cake for ages,” Finola goaded, (though it was nearly impossible to tell that she was joking unless you were extremely well acquainted with the porcelain girl’s seemingly unchanging emotions), “so you better enjoy it.”
“Finnie, stop, it was nothing,” Illie giggled, waving away her daughter’s comments.
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Post by Jules on Aug 9, 2008 2:27:00 GMT -5
Hugh looked up at Jack and sighed, standing and answering the question for everyone.
"Presents, definitely presents!" He declared and then nodded in rare agreement with his sister. "It took her almost an entire day." And he'd been roped into gofering for his mom during the baking. Which made it all that much more personal if they liked it or not.
Zizzy, finally, was starting to relax and was able to take a full breath. No one here was rude (outwardly), mean (outwardly) or otherwise unwelcoming. She was worrying too much. She could pull this off. Maybe. Turning to Armand, she nudged his foot with hers.
"What did you wish for? Lemme guess, a pony, right?"
Mary chucked her now well-handled and shaken present to Alexander without so much as a heads-up. After a century of Vince as her personal trainer her aim was good, so it landed directly in his lap. It was box-shaped only to give the illusion of size. What was in the box was a set of keys that just so happened to start the motorbike propped on the front lawn.
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