3

Aria

I feel tears welling up in my own eyes and I turn to look at Maddy who has visably paled. He silently leaves the table, following Moira out of the room. We both know that she is going to need him for comfort. Halona is the volatile one, who is all piss and vinegar, ready to give as good as she gets. Moira is the exact opposite.

Moira is highly emotional and sometimes overly sensetive. She takes things to heart and gets hurt very easily. Maddy and I are the quiet ones. We tend to keep to the old adage, if you can not say something nice, do not say anything at all. But Maddy also has a bit of my Mom's fiery spirit in him, just like Halona. Mom is where they get that spit-fire temperment. She could be a real pistol when someone pissed her off. Dad was lucky just to be able to keep up with her most days.

Dad was like me. He was laid-back, quiet and easy going. Caring and compassionate to his family, friends and even to strangers. He was so loving and giving. He was content to hang in the shadows and observe other peoples fun, rather than have his own. His idea of a good time, was reading books. He was the one to always step in and mediate the problems or defuse the situation. Much as I am doing now. I am glad to know that I get something from him.

I turn to look at Halona who sits there with tears streaming down her face. "I really didn't mean to say that! I am so sorry!" She bursts into noisy sobs. I swipe at my own tears before I move around the table to take her into my arms. She buries her face in my neck as she wails. "They hate me now! They will never want to talk to me again."

"Nobody hates you, Lona!" I tell her, stroking her hair. "You just sa-" I break off, not wanting to pile it on her at the moment. She feels bad enough already. I know that she didn't mean to say that to Maddy.

"I am a thoughtless bitch! I know this! It's just that I say things before I even think them. Bad things. The wrong things." She cries out. "I can't seem to stop myself!"

"I understand. That sometimes happens to the best of us." I hold her tighter. I know first hand how easy it is to say the wrong thing, because I was in the same situation just a few hours ago. I know how she feels now.

"I never would have tried to use Mom and Dad to hurt Maddy or Mo! I just wasn't thinking when I said it! I was just really freaking annoyed that he wanted to meet my date before I can go out with him." She pulls back, wiping the tears off of her face with the back of her hands. "I mean, it's kinda archaic. It is his passive equilvalent of sitting on the front porch with a shotgun and threatening him. It is super embarassing."

Halona doesn't understand why this means so much to Maddy. He tells them that if their dates do not come to the door and pick them up, then they don't deserve to have the girls as a date. He says that it is a matter of respect and good manners. He thinks that if a guy values you, he won't just pull up and honk the car horn at you, expecting you to come running out. He will get his lazy ass out and make an effort, coming to the door like a gentleman and walking you out. If he opens the door for you, he is a keeper.

"You know that he only does this to protect us. It is his way of showing us he loves us. But you have to think, Mom and Dad did die and leave him in charge. He stepped up to take care of us. He had to deal with planning the funeral, selling the house, enrolling all three of us in this school and moving us here, while still actually taking care of us. He also had to take care of Grandma those first few weeks because she couldn't cope with the loss of her child. The whole world dropped on his shoulders when they died.“

I stroke her back and continue. “Instead of getting to mourn them and fall into despair as we did, he had to carry us all. He pushed aside his pain and did whatever we needed him to do. Yes, he is just our brother. The same big brother who use to pick on us all our lives, but he is also a damn good provider and my personal hero! So, I get why you sometimes balk at his heavy-handedness but you also need to look at it from the other perspective. He is new to the whole head-of-the-household, fatherly role. We just have to stick with him as he gets use to it. But please, try not to make it so hard on him."

"I don't mean to make it hard on him.." Fresh tears fill her eyes.

"I know you don't." Maddy says from the doorway.

Halona knocks her chair over jumping up and running into his arms. He picks her up and holds her close as she sobs. "I am so sorry Maddy! I didn't mean to say that! I am so, so sorry.."

"I know, squirt." I can see that his eyes look bright with feeling as he comforts his sister. Moira comes into the room and rushes into my arms. I hug her tight. The last time me and my sisters hugged like this was the day we buried our parents. I lose myself in the closeness, as the room falls silent once more. We should really do this more often. Not the whole, harsh words and tears thing. The hugging.

Eventually we all pull away from one another and sit down at the table once more. The food has long since gone cold but no one says anything about it. We all just sit and eat. After a few moments, Halona tells Maddy, "I will see if Liam will pick me up here tomorrow so that you can meet him."

"Okay. Thank you." Maddy says.

"If they both have dates, that just leaves me and you." I tell him, looking at him. "I will cook the meal, then I can eat up in my room so that you two can discuss your work without interruption."

"You don't have to do all that-" Maddy begins.

"Nah, it's no big deal. Really. I don't want to try to have an awkward dinner with you and some nerdy tutor from your school." It is not my idea of a fun Saturday night. I would much rather cook, clean the kitchen and hen go upstairs and watch a couple of old romance movies. 

Maddy goes to Hamlet University, a supernatural school in our town of Hamlet, Virginia. It is a town in Virginia that no one really knows about thanks to a cleverly spelled cloaking magic but it is still a town that is recognized by the commonwealth.

When the town was founded many years ago the Vampire master who founded it compelled the surrounding towns to treat it as a town but to mostly forget about it. I am not really sure how it all works because I pretty much zoned out when we were learning about the town the other day. That was the day that Mr. Bradbury wore his hair parted to the left and his top two shirt buttons were undone and my eyes were riveted to his throat. I would have forgotten my own name if asked, I was so distracted by him.

"Whatever, kid. What are you planning to make? It is Saturday, so it is international cuisine night."

"French cuisine." I prombtly answer him.

My siblings and I have upheld the tradition that my mom started many years ago. One Saturday a month she would cook something from other cultures. Everyone loved trying new things and so it became an every Saturday thing that still continues. I have had to recycle many dishes over the years, making the siblings's favorites, but sometimes I still manage to find some dish that I haven't made before.

"No! Save it until next Saturday! Please.." Moira begs.

"No can do." I tell her with an evil grin. French is Moira's favorite. I am planning on making my favorite French dish, Coq Au Vin. It is wine braised chicken, that I roast in the oven. It has mushrooms, garlic and bacon. "By the way, I need you to go buy some wine in the morning, please. Red." I say to Maddy.

"Coq Au Vin?" He asks and I nod. "Okay."

"If you don't mind, I will go with you to the grocery store. I have a huge list of things that I want to get. I want to make a full course meal tomorrow. I have been planning it all week. Since you will have a guest over, it seems like an even more perfect time to try it."

"Yeah, sounds great. I mean, you don't have to try and impress him. The guy is really chill. But if you want to make it, I assure you that we will eat it." Maddy tells me with a grin.

"I want to." I tell him. I have been planning this since Tuesday night and I have a full menu worked out in my head. I think that it is going to be amazing.

"What time do you want to head out?" He asks me, before shoving a huge bite of meatloaf into his mouth.

"Early. Around eight because I have a ton of cooking to do."

"Better you than me!" Halona says. "I plan to sleep until noon."

"Oh, that will be a nice change of pace. You usually sleep in until two!" Moira teases her, making us all chuckle.

"Bite me!" Halona hisses playfully.

"No thanks!" Moira responds unfazed.

After the meal, Moira and Halona clean the kitchen since I cooked. The two of them invite me to watch a movie with them but I decline. I am so tired. I am going to go read in my room. I eventually fall asleep with my book in my hand. My dreams are full of Mr. Bradbury in all his glory. It is not the first time that I have dreamed of him or the first time that they have been a little more than PG. But this is the first night that I have dreamed of Mason joining the two of us

I jerk awake to find sunlight flittering in through my window. A glance at the clock shows that it is a little after six. I get out of bed and grab some clothes, heading downstairs to the bathroom. My dreams left me flushed with heat. A cool shower will hopefully get me back to normal.

In the bathroom I turn on the shower, turning the cold knob a little further than the warm. I strip out of my clothes and get under the spray of water. When the cold droplets hit the center of my back, chill bumps break out over my skin and I shiver. My teeth chatter and my muscles tense. I turn the knob for the warm water just a little more. I wanted to cool off not turn into a human popsicle.

I quickly wash my hair and my body before I get out of the shower. It is mid January in Virginia and apparently it is a cold day, because the old house has a draft that takes away my breath. I quickly throw on a pair of my brother's old sweat pants and an old hoodie that belonged to my father. I dry my hair and leave it hanging down my back. I open the door to leave the bathroom and run into my brother, looking almost zombie like.

"Kid. It is barely seven. Who showers this early in the morning?" He grumbles, looking barely alive. My older brother is not a morning person.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up!" I quickly apologize.

"It's fine." He says, kicking the bathroom door closed behind him. 

"And a good morning to you too!" I call through the door.

I hear a grunt and the sound of the toilet lid being lifted, so I head off down the stairs to the first floor. I skip into the kitchen, sliding a little on the hardwood because of my fuzzy socks. I open the fridge and pull out a pack of bacon. I drop it on the counter and then rummage through the freezer and the cabinets.

Thirty minutes later when my brother comes into the kitchen I have the table set with steaming plates loaded with western omelets, bacon and hashbrowns. A tall glass of chocolate milk for me and a small glass of orange juice and a cup of black coffee for him.

"Oh, you are so my favorite sister!" Maddy says, falling into his chair and digging in. "Man, you have outdone yourself, kid. This is delicious!"

"Thanks." I slowly eat, getting full halfway through. I stand up and pick up my plate to take it to the sink.

"Woah, are you done with that?" Maddy asks, glancing at my plate.

"Yeah, I am full."

"Trade you." He hands me his empty plate and takes mine, wasting no time in finishing it off. I wash the dishes quickly, before the two of us leave the house.

I follow him outside, climbing into the passenger side of his truck. The engine roars to life and he pulls away. The first few minutes of the drive are in silence before I break it by speaking. "So, tell me about your friend."

"Hm.. what?" He asks. "Oh, you mean Cash?" He thinks for a minute. "What do you want to know?"

"Anything. Everything. Or just the basics." Geez, boys suck at giving information. You ask a girl about someone and they can give you the name of the person's third cousin's hairdresser and what size shoe their uncle wears. But guys, you ask them about a person and they think telling you their name is all the information that you need to know.

"Um, I met him when I started school. We use to hang out all the time. We would go shoot pool at the bar, we played video games and everything. He would tutor me, as well. He is so damn smart. Knows everything, I swear. He always has his nose buried in a book. We have been really good friends for a couple of years now. He is really cool. I think you will like him." Maddy says, as if that tells me everything I need to know. “We haven't gotten to hang out recently, what with everything that is going on.”

"Okay." I know I won't get anything else out of him, so I take what little information I got as a win. He's smart and likes to read. He shoots pool, plays video games and they are friends. "I feel like I know him already." Hopefully he gleaned from my tone, the sarcasm that I was trying to convey.

He pulls in to the parking lot of the grocery store and I hop down from the truck. I walk into the store and the first thing I do is grab a shopping cart. I give him a few items and send him off to look for them, while I grab all of the items on my list. I am in the produce section, looking for a bag to put my vegetables in when I back in to someone.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry. Excuse me-" I rush out, turning to find a pair of familiar blue eyes shining back at me. "We have got to quit doing this."

"Why? I kinda like it." Mason says with a huge grin.

I roll my eyes and he grins wider. "So, what brings you out shopping at this ungodly hour of the morning?"

"I am cooking a huge meal tonight and have to get started early. That means hitting the stores now. What about you?" I ask him in return. He looks half asleep and not very thrilled to be here, despite the friendly smile he is giving me.

"Ugh, we have family in town and they are staying with us. Mom is making a big breakfast thing and she was missing a few things. I volunteered to make a store run. Anything to get me out of that house. My aunt has four kids all under the age of five. My home is a zoo of little demon possessed wearwolves."

"Are they really possessed by a demon?" I ask him, eyes wide with shock.

"No!" He laughs. "No, no. I am joking about that part. Kind of. But they are little wolves. They don't shift yet or anything, but they are wild animals, I swear."

"Oh, sorry! I am kind of new to the supernatural world so I'm still learning things." I say, embarrassed that I missed his joke and actually thought that his cousins were possessed.

"That's fine." He shrugs. "I have been meaning to ask about that. Word around school is that you and your sisters come from two long line of witches. I know that your sisters' powers are the talk of the school. The incident on Halona's first day of school is still making the rounds." He is referring to the storm my sister conjured in the gym. The principal almost got struck by lightening and my sister was almost suspended. "But I haven't heard much about you."

"That is because there is nothing to tell. I am just- nothing." I say simply.

"I don't believe that for a second." Mason says, putting a hand on my arm. He looks at me and smiles. Not is the smarmy, I want you so I am turning on the charm kind of way. A genuine, friendly smile. "I would really like to get to know you better. Maybe we could hang out-"

"There you are!" Maddy says from behind me, throwing some items in my cart. I blush guiltily and Mason seems to notice. My brother quickly notices his hand on my arm and stares at him. "Who is this?”

Mason quickly drops his hand. I turn to face Maddy, "He's a friend from school." Mason looks between the two of us a couple of times, then looks closely at me. I see the conclusion he has drawn and when I look down at my appearance, I can see why. I am wearing my brother's clothes. To someone else, it looks like a girl wearing her boyfriend's clothes after they rolled out of bed early to go shopping.

"Oh, Mason, no. This is my brother, Madoc."

"Brother?" He asks, seemingly a little less tense than before.

"Yep." Maddy says, still somewhat hostile.

"Maddy, go finish off my list, while I get these veggies." I tell him, shoving the list and the cart at him. I glare at him and he takes the hint, one corner of his mouth quirking up.

"Okay, kid. I will meet you at the register in a few minutes." He says. "Nice to meet you, Mason."

"Yeah, you too!" Mason says, looking relieved. I can't quite tell if it's from the fact that your brother was polite at the last or if it was because he was leaving. Probably a little bit of both.

"Sorry about that! He was a guard dog in a former life." I joke with him, hoping that Maddy hasn't scared him off..

Mason laughs. "Well, I am going to try this again and hopefully the third time is a charm." He lays a hand on my arm once more. "Would you maybe wanna hang out with me some time?"

"Sure." I answer. I really like Mason and he seems nice. He doesn't make my heart beat quite like Mr. Bradbury does, but since I am never going to date my teacher, dating the hot athlete is just as good, if not better.

"We can just hang out and watch movies, since there isn't much to do this time of year. But, if it is cool with you, we might ought to do it at your house, if you want to actually be able to hear the movie."

"Yeah, sounds good. How about you come over about two tomorrow afternoon?"

"Sure." He hands me his phone. "Put your number in and I will shoot you a text. Then you can send me your address." I grab his phone and quickly punch in my number before I hand it back. "I need to be getting this stuff back to my mom before she send those little werecubs after me. But I will text you later."

"Kay! Bye!" I smile, then turn back to the produce. I get what I need quickly then meet up with Maddy at the register. After we pay for our items, the two of us head home. Once we arrive home, I go upstairs to change into my booty shorts and to take off the socks. It gets hot in the kitchen when I am cooking so I want to be comfortable. Socks make my feet sweaty and gross.

Heading downstairs, I unpack the groceries and begin meal prep. I spend hours cleaning veggies and slicing them. That afternoon I get the chicken in the oven and I begin to cook the rest of the meal. Maddy's friend should arrive around five. I hear the girls shuffling about to get ready to go out, while I am busy at work. I fix a quick lunch for everyone and the girls eat before they set off to do their hair and makeup for their dates.

Each of my sisters poke a head in to say goodbye to me as they leave. The house is quiet, with my brother up in his room studying. Five rolls around and I hear the toll of the doorbell and then soon after the murmur of voices. I put the desserts in the oven and finish with the rest of the meal. My brother pokes his head into the kitchen. "How is the meal coming along?"

"I have already set the dining room up for the two of you. Give me a second, I am dishing up the food and then you can begin serving it." I tell him. I pour the soup into two bowls and then cut the bread and put it in a dish. "Here. Course one. French onion soup and crusty bread."

"Hmm.. looks good." He says, carrying it into the dining room. I begin cutting the chicken and plating it, when my brother comes back into the kitchen. "Alright, that was delicious. We are ready for the next course."

"Wow. Give me a minute. The two of you eat way too fast." I admonish him.

"Yeah. You should come join us instead of spending the whole time in the kitchen." Maddy says, coming to stand beside me.

"No, I'm fine. I am just waiting for the dessert to get done which is why I am staying down here. I put me a plate of food up to have later." I finish dishing up three plates and I move mine to the side where my soup and bread sits. My brother grabs the plate and bowl before he heads out of the room. "Hey!" I call call out after him. He is back in two seconds, reaching for the last two plates.

"Come on or I will carry you in there myself." He threatens me. I follow him slowly and without much enthusiasm. I don't really like meeting new people and I am always uncomfortable around strangers. He looks back over his shoulder. "Hell, the two of us sitting in the dining room eating such a grand meal alone feels like a damn date. All that's missing are the candles." He grouches.

"I have already told you Maddy, that you just aren't my type!" A voice calls out laughingly. I enter the room and stop dead in my tracks. I can't believe my eyes as I look into a familiar green pair. Holy shit, it's-

"Hello Ms. Piper."