Topic: Together

Olivia Storm

Date: 2015-11-14 00:14 EST
Though Johnny was supposed to be on leave of absence, the rash of fires in Rhy'Din was keeping the Fire Brigades busy, and he had been called in more than once to help. Tonight was no exception as more fires broke out in Rhy'Din, presumably the act of arson. Johnny wasn't usually one to complain, but between Liv being pregnant, four kids to take care of, and the constant string of arsons, Johnny was nearing exhaustion. He didn't even have the energy to fly in and announce he was home with his usual vigor. He just pushed in through the front door, covered in soot and dirt and sweat, looking weary and perhaps just a little bit angry.

As soon as the door opened, the usually raucous atmosphere of the house reached out to envelop him, apparently gleefully focused on Mummy until the moment Daddy got home. He got a fleeting glimpse of Fliss lunging out through the living room door in a failed attempt to catch Maria before his youngest daughter was overtaken by a child that wasn't his, who threw her arms around his waist and declared loudly, "The Burny Man's having a baby!"

Huffing her silent giggles, Maria wrapped herself around Johnny's waist from the other side to Lyneth as Fliss pushed herself up from where she had landed on the floor.

The teenager rolled her eyes. "You are way too perky, Lynnie."

Obviously surprised by the greeting, especially from a child that wasn't his own, he glanced down at Lyneth, careful not to touch her for fear of smearing soot on her face. "Uh ....Hello to you, too." He looked over to find Maria hugging his other side. He would have plucked them both up from the floor, if he wasn't covered in soot and dirt. It wasn't the greeting so much that surprised him as it was observation that he was having a baby. "Actually, Liv is having a baby. I'm just along for the ride." He looked over at Fliss. "Is there something going on I should know about?"

Fliss waved a hand at him with a smile. "Mom had a panic, don't worry," she assured him. "Lucky Piper was here, or you'd have got a phone call." Climbing onto her feet, she grabbed her little sister, reaching out to tickle Lyneth into letting go of Johnny. "Alex is kind of glued to Mom's bump right now."

"Where's Lucas?" he asked, wanting to account for the final member of their household, who had become one of the family, whether he liked it or not. "Livvie!" he called, wondering where she was exactly. "I'm home!" he called as he stepped further inside. It wasn't really unusual to find any of the other Granger children at their house, as they often got together for playdates and such, and though Fliss had told him not to worry, he couldn't help it. It had been a long day already, and all he wanted was a shower and dinner and to relax with his family.

"Doing laundry," Fliss snickered. She'd been laughing on and off about Lucas taking the first opportunity to escape the stressful tension in the living room, even if it had been to do an unexpected load of laundry.

Liv's voice called from the living room. "In here, sweetheart!" She'd obviously been forcibly inserted onto one of the couches, wearing different clothes than she had been when he'd left, and Piper was busily soaking and scrubbing the cushion from one of the armchairs.

Lyneth's mother looked up at Johnny with a reassuring smile. "Good grief, you look tired."

Tired or not, he was confused as to what was going on in his living room. He looked from Liv to Piper with a confused look on his face, though everyone seemed in good spirits, which was reassuring. Everyone but him anyway. "Would someone care to tell me what?s going on?" Though Lyneth had already spilled the beans, Johnny didn't seem to have gotten the hint.

Liv caught Piper's eye and blushed, obviously deeply embarrassed by something. She gently patted Alexei's hand. "Why don't you go and find the girls and play for bit, love?" she suggested to the little boy. "Daddy's here now, he can look after me."

Alexei frowned, serious about his role as man of the house when his father wasn't there, though he was just a small boy and Lucas was older. "Will you be all right?" he asked her, with obvious concern. It was no secret that he adored his mother and wanted to help.

Liv smiled, stroking her hand through her little boy's hair. "I'll be fine," she promised him fondly. "Things like this happen when pregnant women are very nearly all the way there. I know I panicked, and I'm sorry I worried you, but we should thank Piper for making sure we didn't all turn into screaming fools, shouldn't we?"

"Thank you, Mrs. Piper," Alex told Piper dutifully, at his mother's reminder. There were too many Mrs. Grangers at Maple Grove, and so they had settled on first names. "Love you, Mom!" he said, touching a kiss to her cheek before darting away, pausing a moment to give his father a hug. "Wow, Dad, you stink!"

"You're very welcome, Alex," Piper smiled at the young boy, snorting to keep her laughter in check at Alex's greeting to his father.

Liv chuckled herself, pushing up onto her feet to embrace her husband. "Come into the kitchen, sweetheart," she told Johnny. "I promise, you have nothing to worry about. I overreacted somewhat, that's all."

"I love you, too, Alex!" Johnny replied with a chuckle. Despite his long day, it was always a treat to come home to his family. He waited until the boy was out of sight before looking back to the pair of women, that worried expression on his face again. "Is everything all right' Is the baby okay?"

"The baby's fine," Liv promised him, curling her arm about his waist. "I, um ....I may have had a slight temper tantrum about all these sudden fires taking you away from home so much recently, and panicked a bit when I thought I was going into labor." She shrugged innocently as she looked up at him, trying not to look at the wet cushion Piper was dealing with.

That didn't really explain the wet cushion, and he was still looking a little puzzled as he looked from one to the other, his gaze settling on Liv as she curled an arm around his waist and he steered her toward the kitchen. "You thought you were going into labor" But you're not really, right?" he asked, a touch of panic in his eyes. For a man who could stand up to dragons and villains and fires, he looked terrified that his wife might be going into labor - an event that was going to happen sooner or later, whether he was ready for it or not.

"No, no, I'm not," she assured him, acutely aware of Piper watching them as they moved away. If the other woman hadn't arrived when she did, Liv might well have been on her way to the hospital. "I ....I thought my waters had broken, but ..." She sighed, rolling her eyes as she finished. "It turned out I just wet myself." And oh, how mortifying it was to have to say that out loud. Worse, that all the kids had seen it happen.

Johnny furrowed his brows as he took all this in. "You ....Wait, did you say you wet yourself?" he repeated, unsure if he'd heard her right. They had taken birthing classes, but nothing had quite prepared him for this.

Grimacing, Liv turned an even darker shade of red. "Yes, that's what I said," she muttered. "That's why Lucas is doing laundry and Piper's cleaning a chair, Johnny. And I am horrifically embarrassed by the whole thing."

He had to bite back a chuckle, so as not to embarrass her further. He did have a heart, after all, and he loved his Liv more than anything. "Oh, baby," he said, pulling her close, despite the grime he was wearing. "It's okay. We're gonna have to deal with more than that when the baby comes." Like spit up and vomit and poopy diapers, just to name a few.

Olivia Storm

Date: 2015-11-14 00:14 EST
She sighed, hugging into him as he embraced her, not minding at all about the sooty smell. The first time he'd held her he'd been covered in soot; so had she. "I feel like an idiot," she admitted with a faint chuckle of her own. "Thank goodness Piper dropped by when she did - I was all for going to the hospital with the kids in tow before she made me stop and think about what was happening."

"I'm sorry I wasn't here. I should have been here," he said with a sigh of annoyance. "I will be here from now on," he promised touching a kiss to her forehead before letting her go so he could make himself a cup of coffee or something. "I've been thinking ....Maybe we should go to New York and have the baby there."

"What?" Startled by his suggestion, Liv sank down into a chair at the table as he moved away to find himself a drink. "Sweetheart, what brought that on' I know things have been unexpectedly hectic recently, but they'll calm down. They always do. And just because I had a silly episode is no reason to suddenly uproot the kids from school."

"It's not safe here, Liv. Someone set fire to a playground. A playground, for God's sake! And tonight it was a homeless shelter. What kind of sicko does that' Someone's gonna get hurt, and I don't want it to be any of us." He sighed again, moving to crouch down in front of her, one hand nestled atop the place beneath which rested their unborn child. "I know Maple Grove is safe, but what about the theater, school, the ....the surf shop" There's no telling where they'll strike next, and ....I'm scared, Liv."

"Oh, sweetheart ..." Curling her fingers about his own, Liv leaned close to touch her forehead to his. "You wouldn't be you if you weren't a little afraid," she assured him softly. "And I understand your worries, I truly do. But that risk is always there, no matter where we are. There is always a chance one of us will get caught up in something. These recent fires have been mainly focused on the Seaside District, and none of the children go there. They're all coming home promptly at the end of the school day, and I barely leave the house. It's you I'm worried for. I don't want you to get hurt, Johnny."

People had already gotten hurt, but no one he knew or loved ....yet. She was right - the fires were confined to the Seaside and Dockside districts for now, but there was no telling if they'd spread to other districts or not. "I don't know what to do, Liv. I can't be in two places at once. I can't turn my back on the city, but I need to be here for you right now and for our family. I don't want to be selfish, but I just don't know what I'd do if anything happened to any of you." His voice caught in his throat, as he struggled to contain his emotions. It had been a long couple of days, and he was clearly exhausted and worried for his family and for the city at large.

"Sweetheart, I can't promise that nothing is going to happen to us," his wife told him gently. "But I can make some kind of provision for protecting our family. I'm sure Alexei and Maria's teachers would send us their work in progress for a couple of weeks, and I trust Fliss and Lucas to have the sense to stay out of trouble on their way to and from their campus. You are the only one I can do nothing but give advice to, and my advice is for you to forget about the city for a day or two, at least. The Fire Brigade has improved so much over the last few years - tell them to only contact you if there is a fire that is out of their control. You don't need to attend every single scene, love."

"I know, Liv, but if someone dies and I'm not there to help, that's on me." At least, that's how Johnny's mind worked. He was supposed to be a hero, and what kind of hero hid behind the walls of Maple Grove when he was needed" Then again, there was only one of him and he couldn't be in ten places at once. "It's too bad there aren't more of me," he bemoaned, though really one Johnny Storm was probably all Rhy'Din could handle. It had occurred to him that Fliss could help, too, but he would not make that suggestion, putting his own daughter in danger. At least, he knew his family was safe from arson so long as she was there, or so he hoped. "You know, I've been thinking ....we should really have a place of our own in New York. It's getting a little crowded at Steve and Lucy's, and the Baxter Building isn't very homey."

"Johnny, people die in Rhy'Din every day," his wife told him gently. "Those deaths are not your fault. We need you, especially now. I won't tell you not to go; I've always known I have to share you. But it frightens me that you're so willing to throw yourself into danger." Her hand gently caressed his cheek. She'd never come straight out and said it before, but it was the truth. It frightened her even more now they had a family together; the thought of being left alone to grieve and raise four children was a terrifying one. His suggestion about New York made her smile. "All right, then," she conceded. "A few days in New York, to look around and see if we can find somewhere that would suit us. But this is home, and this is where I want our family to live and thrive. It will be difficult for Lucas, even on our Earth. I don't want him to feel uncomfortable, love."

"I know, Liv," he told her, not looking very comforted by her words. He knew the reality of it, and he knew he was only one person, but he had spent most of his life wanting to be a hero and wanting to help people, and it was hard to admit he couldn't help everyone - but then being a good husband and father was being a hero of sorts, too. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to scare you," he told her with an apologetic frown. She had known who he was when he'd married her, and she had been the one who'd encouraged him to join the fire brigade to begin with. Her concession brought a smile to his face, happy for that, at least. It would do them all good to get away from Rhy'Din for a few days, even Lucas. "It'll be good for him to see our New York. Besides, he's part of the family now, and I'm not gonna let anyone hurt him." He touched a quick but warm kiss to her lips - it couldn't be anything but warm with Johnny around. "I need to take a shower and change. Love you."

"Yes, you do smell rather ripe," she agreed with a warm laugh, pulling herself to her feet. "I should rescue Piper from that cushion. I feel awful that she's cleaning up after me." And once that was done, dinner was on the cards, no doubt.

"I smell manly," he pointed out, with a teasing grin. So manly even Alex had not failed to remark on his father's odor. What did they expect when he'd been fighting fires all day' "I'm sure Piper has cleaned up worse messes," he said, glad the other woman had been there to help her. "Quick shower. I won't be long. Promise," he told her. It was no big secret that Johnny wasn't overly fond of water, but even the Torch needed to keep himself clean.

"I'm not going anywhere," she promised him in return, waving him away with a chuckle as the smaller contingent came haring back into the house with Bella close on their tail. "Lucas! You can come out now, I'm not going to leak again!"

"Daddy's home!" Johnny declared, announcement his return home, like he did nearly every day, and sweeping the smaller contingent up in a hug, sooty or not, though they had greeted him already. He hadn't seen the teens come in, but knew they must be lurking around somewhere.

"Fliss and Lucas are smoochin' inna treehouse," Lyneth tattled gleefully, avoiding the sooty hug to go in search of her mother. "Mummy, we was going to visit Nanny an' Fay ..."

Laughing, Liv caught Maria as the little girl squirmed out of Johnny's hug, tousling the soft blond head affectionately. "Go and wash, Johnny. Everything is under control, scout's honor."

"What's the matter with everyone" You're all acting like I smell bad or something," he teased, chuckling to himself as he started toward the bathroom. "You, little miss," he said, waggling a finger at Lyneth, "are a tattle tale."

Alexei frowned up at his father. "Take a shower, Dad! You still stink!"

"Translation ....we love you, Daddy, and we will love you even more when you smell like you again." Liv laughed once again, helping Maria to wipe the soot from her face.

The little girl raised her hands. "Can we have fruit after dinner?"

Liv smiled. "Well, I was going to ask Daddy if he would mind toasting some pineapple and marshmallows for us so we can have 'smores for pudding, since we don't have any chocolate."

Johnny laughed again as he caught Maria's question. "You are the only kid I know who wants fruit for dessert instead of sweets." Despite his sooty self, he touched a kiss to Maria's cheek and disappeared to go take that promised shower.

Olivia Storm

Date: 2015-11-14 00:15 EST
His wish for an evening with his family was only too easily accomplished. While Johnny was showering, Piper took Lyneth away cheerfully, leaving the Storms to begin settling in for the night. It was Fliss' turn to do dinner, something that had already started improving since she'd been taking classes at Bristle Crios, and between them, Alexei and Maria had managed to talk Lucas into playing Scrabble with them. Liv was, of course, on Maria's team, sat firmly down and told not to move, as Bella pranced around the house, torn between the kitchen, the living room, and pouncing Johnny when he got out of the shower.

As promised, it wasn't long before he re-joined them, his uniform in the wash, and wearing his stay-at-home clothes, which meant he wasn't going anywhere, fire or no fire, unless it was a dire emergency. Besides, he couldn't keep going like this or even Johnny Storm would collapse from exhaustion eventually. Before joining the others in the living room, he went to check on Fliss first. "Hey, firestarter. What's shaking?" Though clearly exhausted, he looked far better now that he'd showered and was starting to relax.

"Nothing yet, but you can have at it with the Parmesan when we eat," his eldest chuckled, glancing toward the living room at Liv's sudden bark of laughter.

"Alex, you can't put rude words on the Scrabble board!"

Grinning at the sound of her family enjoying themselves, Fliss bent to put the lasagne in the oven to bake. "You look exhausted, Dad."

"I'll be okay. Just need a few days off," he assured her with a smile that didn't look half as weary as it had when he'd first returned home. He looked toward the living room, where the rest of the family was gathered. "What happened?" he asked, lowering his voice. He'd had Liv's version of things, but he knew she had probably not told him all of it.

Fliss followed his look, and shrugged gently. "Mom got in a strop after you left," she told him quietly. "She really worries about you, especially when you leave in a real hurry, and she was banging around in here, winding herself up about all the awful things that might happen to you, and then she just stopped and went a bit pale. She said she was having contractions. So, you know, Alex went into man of the house mode and made her sit down, and they were timing everything together, and then Mom suddenly yelped and ....well, yeah, you saw the cushion. She was totally convinced that she was in labor, and that her waters had broken, and then Piper dropped in with Lynnie. Just as well, really, or we'd all have been at the hospital. Piper made her sit down and calm down, and then Mom realized that the contractions had stopped, and they talked a bit about what happens when you're really heavily pregnant. And then Lucas ran away to the utility room with Mom's wet clothes, and Piper started cleaning up." She offered her father a wry smile. "She's really embarrassed she wet herself."

Johnny frowned, looking not only worried about Liv but about her reaction to a job he'd taken on with her encouragement. Maybe it was hormones, but it just wasn't like Liv to freak out like that. "You realize fire is no danger for me, right?" he asked, wondering what Fliss thought about it all and hoping she might be the voice of reason when Liv got too worried, though she wasn't much more than a kid herself. Johnny's frown deepened as the rest of the story came out. "Well, no more worries. I'm off duty as of today, and we're taking you guys out of school for a few days to go to New York." Where people didn't arbitrarily set fire to playgrounds and homeless shelters. Buildings just got smashed when villains got out of hand.

"Well, I know that, but it isn't the fire she worries about," Fliss pointed out to him. "It's the collapsing buildings, and the fact that if someone wanted to kill you, all they have to do is set a fire to bait you in. She's a mom, Dad. It's not just losing you that frightens her these days - it's the idea of having to go on without you, having to look after all of us on her own. She needs you, Dad, and she's very pregnant, and she's scared about giving birth. It's normal for her to freak out over stuff right now." She leaned against the counter, looking at him curiously. "Really' We're all going to cram into Aunt Lucy and Uncle Steve's house for a while?"

Put that way, New York wasn't much safer than Rhy'Din. In fact, he probably had more enemies back on Earth than he had here, but he wasn't about to point that out. She had a point he couldn't quite argue himself out of, though. "I can't stop being who I am or doing what I do just because it might be dangerous, Fliss. Nobody wins if I do that. All I can promise is to be careful. I'm not as reckless as I used to be. You just have to trust me, that's all. And I'm not going anywhere, promise. Not until the baby is born, and things are back to normal around here." Whatever normal was, as far as the Storm household was concerned. "Yes and no. I mean, yes, we're going to New York, but we're going to look for a place of our own while we're there. Maybe I'll call Aunt Sue and ask her to see what?s available. I think it's about time we have a place of our own when we visit, don't you?" he asked with a smile, hoping she was pleased with that news. "Of course, we'll have to take you guys out of school for a few days, but it shouldn't be a big deal. And Lucas is coming, too. He's part of the family now."

"I trust you," his eldest daughter assured him. "And Mom trusts you, too. But you're never gonna stop her from worrying about you. She could win awards for worrying." She giggled, brushing a hand through her hair. "Lucas and me can contact our tutors and get work to take with us; I'm pretty sure Harkers would give you something for Alex and Mar so they're not behind when we get back. A few days away might be just what we need. And, yanno, if Mom pops early, there's always Aunt Lucy on hand."

"I like how you think, kid," he replied with a grin, bumping her with his arm. He adored each and every one of his children, but there was a special place in his heart for Fliss, not only because she was their first and eldest, but because she shared his talent for fire.

Fliss glanced warily into the living room for a moment. "Watch this." Concentrating, she scowled, and slowly flames started to form on her face until she had Groucho glasses, nose, and mustache in flickering fire decorating her usually pretty features. As her face moved, so did they. "Whaddya think?"

Johnny cracked up at the face Fliss was creating out of flames, though maybe making him laugh was the whole point of it, really. They all needed a little levity in their lives after the last few days, and it felt good to laugh after all the tragedy he'd witnessed. "I told you a long time ago ....I think you're a natural." Unafraid of the flames, he threw an arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek. "Come on, let's go watch Alex cheat at Scrabble."

Laughing, she extinguished those flames as he kissed her cheek. "Okay. When the oven pings, I gotta do salad and stuff, but we've got half an hour before that happens." Leaning into her father, she hugged him fondly. "Love you, Daddy."

It warmed his heart to hear her say that, his eyes even getting a little bit misty. Being a firefighter and a hero didn't come anywhere close to the pride he took in being a father. "I love you, too, baby," he told her, his voice wavering a little. "Now, let's go play Scrabble before you make me cry."

"Okay, old man," Fliss teased him, her laughter only getting louder as they entered the living room to find Liv wrangling with Alexei over whether or not "poop" was an allowable word. Maria was snickering in her silent way, always too delighted to be spending time with her family to argue much over rules. Gods alone knew what Lucas made of all this, especially now that no one was on their best behavior around him these days.

Lucas was slowly coming around, though still pretty quiet and shy. It was hard to be quiet in a family like this though without risking getting lost in the shuffle. He had come up with a dictionary in defense of the boy, pointing out that poop had more than just the obvious meaning, such as the "poop deck". Not even Liv could argue with that one.

Olivia Storm

Date: 2015-11-14 00:16 EST
"He's got you there, Liv," Johnny said, giving Alex a high five as he settled himself on the floor amidst the family he so cherished.

Chuckling, Liv conceded the point there. "All right, you can have poop," she gave in cheerfully. "But no more rude words, little man, or I'll sit on you."

Fliss snorted with laughter, settling herself down next to Lucas. She was always near him, when she could be; she didn't even seem to think about it. It was just that simple - where Lucas was, you could virtually guarantee that Fliss would not be far away.

Though quiet, Lucas was at least smiling. He had definitely made points with the younger boy.

"Okay, I declare tonight game night!" Johnny declared raising a hand to make that big announcement. "You girls owe us a rematch at Pictionary because last time you cheated!" he accused with a teasing grin. He wasn't exactly a poor loser, but he liked winning.

"Hey, it's not our fault that no one knew you were drawing a cookie!" Fliss laughed, but there was no objection to the idea of game night. The Storms spent a lot of time voluntarily together, and game night had become something of an institution at Willow Manor. As worried as Johnny and Liv might be that someday soon Fliss and Lucas would abandon them for spending time with their friends, they hadn't yet counted on the fact that the two teens genuinely enjoyed their company.

"You should have known it was a cookie! The dots were chocolate chips, not chicken pox! Seriously, who guesses chicken pox?" he argued, laughing.

"It did kind of look like chicken pox, Dad," Alex pointed out with a sheepish grin, not very helpfully.

"Oh, you shush, traitor!" Johnny replied, tackling Alex to the floor and tickling him for daring to take the girls' side.

With Alex howling with laughter, only Fliss, Liv, and Lucas got to see Maria's addition to the conversation, offered up with a sweet little smile. "Cookies don't have legs and beaks, either."

Liv snorted with laughter, pulling the little girl up beside her for a hug as Fliss let out a loud cackle. "Mar, you are one of a kind, you know that?"

Though Johnny didn't get to see what Maria had signed, Alex didn't need to see his sister's signing to have heard her in his head. "Legs and beaks!" he echoed, laughing uproariously as he wriggled his way out of his father's grasp and took refuge behind Liv.

"What?" Johnny asked, turning to gape at the little family who seemed to be ganging up on him. "Those weren't legs and beaks!" he pointed out, defensively. "I was being artistic, so there!" he said, sticking his tongue out at the lot of them.

"Maybe you should have drawn a glass of milk next to it," Fliss suggested impishly. The Scrabble seemed to have been forgotten in the silly banter back and forth, but the whole point of playing a game was to socialize with each other. "Besides, you guys should have won easily," the teen girl pointed out. "You had Lucas on your team!"

"What do you think I was going for" Legs, sheesh," he said with a smirk, reaching over to tickle Maria's cheek gently. Lucas flushed in embarrassment as Fliss remarked on his artistic talent, but Johnny just laughed. "Just because someone can draw well doesn't mean we can guess well."

Satisfied that Alex was safe behind Liv, Maria launched herself off the couch, throwing her arms around Johnny's neck as she huffed her silent giggles against his cheek.

"I think it's safe to come out now," Liv intimated to her son teasingly. "The SS Maria has launched a torpedo."

"Ahhh!" Johnny shouted, as if he had just been attacked by a steamroller and threw himself back on the floor, his arms wrapped around the little girl to pull her down on top of him.

"And down he goes!" Fliss didn't need any more encouragement than that to throw herself on top of her father and sister, careful not to crush Maria between them as she gestured for Alexei to join in.

Liv laughed, rolling her eyes as the ever predictable shape of Bella came bounding into the room to join in. She looked over at Lucas. "I think, perhaps, we all forfeited the game."

Johnny squealed with feigned and playful horror, as his children piled on top of him, exhaling an "Ooof? as Fliss joined the crush of bodies. He circled his arms around all three of them and hugged them tightly against him, rewarding each with a raspberried kiss to the cheek, while Liv and Lucas looked on. Bella barked once as if to warn him she was there before a wet tongue licked his face with affection.

Lucas smiled wistfully as he looked on, reminded of his own family back home and wondering if he'd ever see them again. He felt welcome here, but he couldn't help but miss his own family and wondered if they were happier without him. "Alex always wins, anyway," he pointed out.

"That's because Alex cheats," Liv told him with a smile, reaching over to gently slide his hair back off his face. She did it without thinking, a maternal gesture that came very naturally to her, even with a young man who wasn't a child anymore, much less her child. "And we let him."

"Do not!" shouted Alex from somewhere amidst the pile of limbs that were currently covering his father. "Tickle him, Fliss! He hates being tickled!"

Lucas blushed a little at the gesture from Liv, reminded once again of his own mother and trying very hard not to let on how much he was missing her. "Would you mind if I went to my room for a little while before dinner? I have a little homework to do," he asked timidly.

Almost immediately, Liv realized her mistake, just about preventing herself from cringing. She knew Lucas missed his family, but she was so comfortable having him there, she automatically treated him like one of hers. "Of course we don't mind, sweetheart," she assured him gently. "It won't be long until dinner."

It wasn't a mistake, exactly. Lucas adored Liv and the rest of the Storms, but as much as they tried to include him and make him feel like one of the family, they often only succeeded in reminding him of his own family back home and how much he missed them. He wouldn't trade being with Fliss for anything, but he didn't think it was fair to have to choose. But then, he hadn't really been given a choice anyway. "Thanks," he told her, hurrying away to his part of the house where he could be alone with his troubles.

Fliss frowned as he hurried away, looking up in concern. Liv smiled gently, shaking her head at her daughter. "Let him be, for now," she said gently. "I'll talk to him later. He just needs a few minutes." The teenager's frown deepened for a moment, but she relaxed, trusting that her mother knew what she was talking about.

Olivia Storm

Date: 2015-11-14 00:17 EST
"Was it something I said?" Johnny said as he sat up from the floor, Maria in his lap and Alex clinging to his back. He glanced worriedly toward where Lucas had disappeared, but didn't want to talk about it too much with the kids there. "I know a little of what he's feeling. He'll be okay." Eventually anyway.

"No, loves, it's not you guys," Liv assured them softly. "I accidentally reminded him of his mother, that's all. He's feeling a little homesick for his family."

Maria's little face was filled with concern as she raised her hands. "He's hurting and confused and -"

For the first time, however, Liv stopped her little girl gently. "Don't tell us, sweetheart," she told her, closing her hands over Maria's. "Those are Lucas' emotions, they belong to him. Unless he tells us about them, it would be very rude for us to know. Unless you think he might actually hurt himself with the way he is feeling, I don't want you to tell anyone what you feel from him, lovely."

Dealing with a daughter who was worried she'd lose control of her ability and who was falling for a boy who was dealing with his own problems and two young children who had been heavily traumatized was a challenge for the most experienced of parents, but Johnny and Liv were doing their best. Johnny touched a kiss to Maria's head to reassure the little girl that she'd done no wrong, but he was in complete agreement with Liv. "If he wants to, he'll tell us, sweetheart. Until then, all we can do is make him feel like part of the family and give him all the love and support he needs." He looked to Fliss, "Why don't you go check on dinner" He'll be okay. Promise," he assured the teen with a warm smile. "And you two, go get washed up for dinner and help your sister set the table." Was it too obvious that he wanted a moment alone with their mother"

It was the first time Liv or Johnny had actively broached the idea of what was personal and inviolate with their empathic daughter, and hopefully their telepathic son was paying attention, too. Maria blinked, certain she wasn't being told off, and nodded in agreement with her parents, offering up a warm smile as she wriggled out of Johnny's lap. She turned her big eyes onto Alex, and abruptly poked her tongue out at her brother, running away at top speed to the sound of Liv's laughter.

Fliss hesitated, wanting to go and check on Lucas herself, but understanding that sometimes people needed space. "He'll talk to me if he needs to, right?" she asked worriedly. "I mean, he's not just going to stew about it all on his own?"

Johnny smiled as the two little people hurried off to the kitchen, none the worse for their parents' gentle admonition, turning his attention to Fliss, who probably was more concerned about Lucas than the rest of them. "We can't make him talk, Fliss, and neither can you. All we can do is be there for him and make sure he knows we're not going anywhere. He'll talk about it eventually, when he's ready. You just keep being your sweet self, and he'll be fine, okay?"

She sighed softly, pushing herself up onto her feet. "I guess," she conceded. "Thanks." With a small smile, she wandered into the kitchen to finish up dinner, leaving Johnny alone with Liv.

Johnny echoed Fliss' sigh, frowning once he was left alone with Liv. It had been a trying day and now this, but it was all in a day's work for the Storms. "I'm not sure I said the right thing there. He is gonna be okay, right?" he asked, turning to Liv for reassurance. "You don't think he'll do anything stupid?"

"Eventually," she said quietly. "He needs to see his family - it's been over a year since he's seen any of them. Letters and presents are all very well, but it's nothing in comparison to actually being with someone." She bit her lip thoughtfully. "Actually ....I was considering going through Humphrey to try and contact Lucas' mother. Maybe arrange for his family to visit with us over the holidays. Would that be all right by you?"

"Yeah, of course it would. I hate to see the kid hurting like this. I know what it feels like to ....I just know what it feels like." Johnny rarely if ever mentioned his own father, that wound still a raw one even after so long. "You want me to talk to him?" he asked, glancing in the direction of Lucas' retreat again.

Pausing in the act of putting the Scrabble set away, Liv looked up at her husband. "Johnny, I don't mind talking to him," she assured her husband. "I know the subject hits a little close to home for you, and I don't want you both getting upset and annoyed with people who aren't even here. Do you want to be the one who talks to him?"

"The person I'd really like to talk to is his father, but I might punch the guy in the nose," he admitted, soberly. Johnny Storm wasn't known for being a hothead for nothing. Though he curbed his temper at home, there was a storm brewing inside him sometimes when it came to certain things. "And I can't believe these fires. Seriously, this is Rhy'Din. Someone has to know what?s going on and who's to blame. What's it take to make it stop" How many people have to get hurt before someone does something?" It was just one thing on top of the other really. He blew out a breath, his temperature visibly rising. "Sorry. It's just frustrating. I think it would be better if you talked to him. I'm liable to blow a cork right now. None of this is his fault. He doesn't deserve to see me angry."

"All right, then, how's this?" Liv suggested, rising onto her feet to wrap her arms about her hot husband. "After dinner, we set Alex and Maria to their homework, you and Fliss go and deal with the heating and temperature issues you're both dancing around right now, and I'll talk to Lucas. Then we come back and play Pictionary until someone falls asleep."

"Heating and temperature issues?" Johnny laughed, confused for about half a second. "That's a nice way of putting it." He touched a kiss to her lips, his arms going around her and their unborn child. "I knew there was a reason I married you. You're wise like Yoda, only better looking."

"Mmm, witty you are," she teased him, in a not totally awful impression of the Jedi Master himself, leaning up to kiss him affectionately. "We can handle this, Johnny, all of it. But I need to call Lucy quickly and warn her we're coming for a few days, and someone needs to set the table while Fliss sorts dinner out. She can get Lucas when it's time. Deal?"

"Sounds like a plan, O Jedi Master ....Er, Mistress," he said offering her a salute that was never part of Star Wars with a silly grin on his face. There were bumps in every road, even in the Storm household, but there was by far more laughter than tears. He touched another kiss to her lips before heading for the kitchen to help Fliss put the finishing touches on dinner and oversee the setting of the table.

The plan worked perfectly, a rare occurrence in the Storm household. Though Lucas was a little more subdued than usual during dinner, the combined good attitude of the rest of them more than made up for it, and by the time they had all gone their separate ways for a little while, things seemed to be back on an even keel. Liv had dismissed the chore chart for the evening, seemingly picking Lucas at random to dry while she washed the dishes, sending Fliss off with Johnny for an hour with a wink and a smile. Alexei and Maria settled down to their homework in the living room without complaint, apparently aware of the minor subterfuge going on without needing to be told.

Olivia Storm

Date: 2015-11-14 00:17 EST
So it was that, with her arms up to the elbow in soapy dish water, Liv attempted to broach the subject with the young man at her side. "I'm sorry if I crossed a line earlier, Luc," she apologized gently, handing him the lasagne dish to dry. "I just didn't think, I'm so comfortable with you here."

Lucas had been quiet all through dinner, though that wasn't too terribly unusual for him. He was a quiet boy, as a rule, studious and well-behaved, though he sometimes kept a little too much to himself for comfort. He quirked his brows at Liv, looking a little puzzled by her apology. Since when did adults apologize to kids" "Crossed a line?" he echoed, unsure what she meant by that.

"The way I touched your hair," she clarified. "I realized a little too late that it was a very familiar thing to do, and I am sorry if it caused you distress. I think of you as part of the family, and not just because you're with Fliss. For yourself."

"Oh," he replied, with a thoughtful expression on his face, realizing she'd figured out that he'd been upset. "It wasn't that," he said. At least, not entirely. It had been a familiar thing to do, and it had reminded him of his mother, but it was in part the easy camaraderie of the Storm family that he envied and that he missed, knowing he wasn't really a part of it, even if he was living there. "I mean ..." He chewed at the corner of his mouth as he searched for the right words, as he took more care than necessary to dry a glass.

Liv gave him the silence he needed to put his thoughts together, letting him take his time with that one glass as she lined up clean dishes and glasses on the draining board. But she didn't let the silence go on for too long. "How long is it since you've seen your family, Luc?" she asked him gently. "Really seen them, been with them, not just across video chat?"

Lucas had to think about that a minute. He'd been away from home for a while now, but not as long as it seemed. "A little over a year or so," he replied, unable to hide the frown from his face. "They keep promising a visit, but ..." He shrugged, having given up hope of having one a long while back, feeling lost and abandoned, despite his father's claims that all of this was for his own good. "I just miss them, I guess." It wasn't easy watching Fliss with her siblings and parents, knowing he wasn't part of that and couldn't really share in it the way she did. He had often wondered what would happen if he asked Johnny and Liv to adopt him, too, but he didn't really want to replace his own family, not really.

For a brief moment, Liv's acute disapproval of his parents showed in her face before she remembered to keep that part of this conversation to herself. "Luc ....do you mind if I ask you something?" she asked, still gentle, still quiet. "Why were you sent to Rhy'Din all alone" Didn't your parents want to come with you?"

He shrugged again, the wings folded at his back fluttering slightly at the movement as he set the glass down and took up another to dry. "My father said it was for my own protection, but really, I think he's just ashamed of me. Ashamed of these," he said, with another shrug of his shoulders to indicate his wings. "Because I'm different. I'm a freak, and he's a big important politician and ..." He broke off, realizing what he was saying. It wasn't his father's fault this had happened to him. He was only doing what he thought was best for his son and his family ....and his career, no doubt. "He said people might try to hurt me. That they wouldn't understand. Mom suggested Rhy'Din. I never heard of Rhy'Din before, but she said she had family here and I'd be safe here." It was quite possibly more than he'd ever said at one time to Liv before in all the time he'd known her.

"You're not a freak." Of everything he had said, Liv felt the need to address this point first and forcefully. She turned to look at the young man in her kitchen, wishing he didn't feel the need to describe himself that way. "There is nothing freakish about you, Lucas. Nothing at all. You're different, yes, but all the wonders of humanity come out of our differences. I can't possibly understand how you feel, I know that, but I can empathize a little. In this house" I'm the freak." She smiled at him encouragingly. "As to the rest ....does your father have the last say in everything in your family?"

He didn't want to cry, not in front of her, but talking about these things, it was hard not to acknowledge the loneliness and rejection that made his heart ache. If it hadn't been for the Grangers and for Fliss and her family, he knew he would have been completely alone in the world. "Not here, I'm not. But back home ..." He didn't bother to qualify that. His Earth wasn't Johnny's Earth. There was no such thing as mutants there, or superheroes, or Avengers - at least, as far as he knew - though he could be wrong. "Yes," he replied simply in answer to her question. "He's a state senator. If people found out about me ..." He wasn't sure what would happen then, but he had a feeling it wouldn't be pleasant or good for his father's career.

"I see." She didn't say anything more on that subject, but she already knew what she was going to do about all this. If necessary, she was going to give Lucas' father a piece of her mind. Gently touching his shoulder, she gave him a soft nudge. "So what can we do to help you?" she asked him then. "I was going to invite your family to visit for the holidays, if that's okay with you?"

"They won't come," he replied. Though touched as he was by her desire to help, he had already asked to visit or if they could visit more than once and was told no - not by his mother, but his father, who clearly ruled the house. It wasn't an unhappy home life exactly, and his father wasn't abusive, but he did have a need to be in control, and Lucas had often thought his father's career was more important than his family. "I'm glad I'm here," he said suddenly, out of the blue, needing her to know he was not ungrateful. "You and Johnny are great. I really like it here, Liv. I just miss my mom and my brother mostly. I know you're trying to help. I don't mean to be ungrateful."

"You're not ungrateful," she assured him. "You miss your family, and I understand that. My first year in Rhy'Din, I was completely alone. My sister was still on Earth, and I didn't have any other family. And I was appalling at making friends. It's only since I met Johnny that my social circle has grown, and even then, the friends I have, I've made through him, or through my work." She sighed, leaning back against the counter with a smile. "There's a great myth out there, that you're supposed to know by the time you're sixteen who you are, what you want to do, where you're going to be, and who you'll be with. It's a complete lie. A lot of the most interesting people you'll meet still won't know the answer to some of those questions when they reach forty, fifty, sixty years old. You're seventeen, Lucas. You don't have to have all the answers, and I promise you, we won't ever push you to make an answer up. Often the journey is just as important as the destination."

"You came here alone?" he asked curiously. All he knew of Liv's past he knew from Fliss, and there wasn't much she had told him. "Why did you come here" How did you learn about this place?" he asked, forgetting about his own pain for a while out of curiosity about her own story.

Liv chuckled, taking up a dry cloth to help him finish off the washing up. "Yes, I came here on my own," she smiled. "I had just graduated from university with the most useless degree possible - Media Studies - and I couldn't find a job anywhere on Earth that I could afford to get myself to. Then I found an advertisement for a new film studio that was starting up, and it turned out that it was here on Rhy'Din. I didn't really have anything to lose - it was one of the bravest things I ever did. But if I hadn't worked at 21twelve studios, I would never have Jon, he would never have given me a job, Lucy would never have come to live with me, I would never have met Johnny. And it all stemmed from making a truly awful decision with my education choices." She laughed warmly, more than happy to make fun of her past mistakes.

"So, everything happens for a reason," he mused aloud, realizing that in a way, the choice she'd made about her career had led her to this very place and moment in time. He paused a moment before admitting a little secret of his own. "If I had the chance, I don't think I'd go back home. I like it here. I have a life here now. I don't want to choose between my family and yours. I just wish ..." He frowned again, unsure what it was exactly that he wished. "I envy Fliss. I know she's had a hard life, but she has you now and Johnny and her brother and sister and the baby. Everyone's been so nice to me here. Mostly everyone, anyway. I just ....I miss them, you know?"

Olivia Storm

Date: 2015-11-14 00:19 EST
Liv's eyes were filled with compassion as she looked at the young man before her. "I know," she assured him softly. "We're not trying to replace them, Luc. But don't be afraid of talking to us, okay' You don't always need to unburden yourself of everything, but there's nothing wrong with letting Fliss know that you're struggling a little bit, or ranting a little to me, or sharing something with Johnny. No one's going to make you choose, not in this house."

He nodded, a slightly tearful smile on his face. "I'm sorry about earlier," he told her soberly. "I'm sorry I don't talk much. I really like it here, Liv," he said, almost as if he was trying too hard to please her, like he was afraid they'd send him away if he didn't. "I don't want to be alone anymore."

"Oh, Luc ..." She laughed gently, putting her cloth down. "I'm not asking you to be anything but who you are. Just don't forget that we're here, for any reason you care to name." She reached up, feeling more confident to tousle his hair affectionately. "I have a feeling that even if you decided to move out tomorrow, Fliss wouldn't be far behind. You're not alone, Luc. And I would really quite like to hug you right now."

"I like Fliss a lot," he admitted with a shy smile. He hadn't used the word love. Not yet. He was a little afraid to use that word, and probably a little too young to declare his love for a girl he hadn't known more than a few months, but she made him happy - that much he knew. "You can hug me if you want," he said, blushing a little at the admission. He liked Liv and Johnny a lot, and he knew they cared about him, but they weren't his parents. Still, he needed someone - he needed a family and they were more than willing to fill that need.

"Good." She grinned, reaching up to hug him, unafraid to let her hands brush his wings. They were a part of him, and he was a very special boy, indeed. She was glad he was beginning to relax in her company.

He tensed a moment, feeling just a little awkward, before spreading his arms to hug her back, her baby bump between them. "Oh!" he exclaimed, blinking in surprise as he pulled away a moment. "Was that the baby?" he asked, having felt something like a faint kick of punch as she hugged him.

Liv chuckled, glancing down at her big bump briefly. "Yes, it was," she told him. "What can I say' The baby likes hugs. He or she always seems to want to get involved in them." She hugged him a little tighter for a moment longer before letting him go. "You're obviously good at them to get a reaction like that."

He blushed a little at the tighter hug, though he was secretly enjoying it. Though she wasn't his mother by blood and could never replace her, there was something very maternal about her, and he drew comfort from that. "May I?" he asked, tentatively holding a hand out toward the bump at her waist as he pulled away again. He hadn't had much to say about the impending birth, as he hadn't really felt it was his place to comment on it, but he was genuinely curious.

"Of course you may," she allowed easily, letting him investigate her bump as much as he wanted to. The baby was stretching, going through the usual round of punches and kicks that happened around this time in the evening, offering plenty for Lucas to enjoy. Liv glanced down as Bella came into the kitchen, her favorite toy hanging out of her mouth, apparently bereft without Fliss or Johnny to curl up on and stay warm. "Oh, Bells, are you feeling unloved again?"

He laid his hand against her belly, blushing furiously as he did so. He only vaguely remembered when his mother's pregnancy before his brother had been born, too young at the time to really understand what had been happening. "I can feel him ....or her ..." he said with a smile. "Are those toes?" he asked, thinking he might feel the outline of toes beneath his hand.

"Hang on, let's see ..." Reaching down, Liv lifted her sweater and top to inspect her bump thoughtfully. "Looks like a foot to me." She put her top back down again, purely for Lucas' peace of mind in feeling her bump, and reached down to scratch Bella's head as the dog sat down disconsolately beside her.

"What's the matter, Bella?" Lucas asked, as he turned his attention to the Storm's dog, who accepted him like he was one of the family. "You want to play?" He reached down for the toy hanging out of her mouth, the answer to that question an obvious one. "Is it okay?" he asked, turning to Liv for permission.

Liv chuckled, knowing an escape plan when she saw one, even if he didn't realize he was escaping just yet. "Go for it," she encouraged him. "We can't start our rematch until Flame Boy and Sparky Girl get back, anyway." As Lucas took the toy from Bella, the dog perked up instantly, going from mournfully sitting to standing up, her tail wagging excitedly.

"Come on, Bella!" he called, heading for the back door to let her run around outside for a while. "Thanks, Liv!" he called back, not bothering with a jacket. His wings would keep him warm enough for a little while.

"Always a pleasure!" she called after him, glancing down as a small hand inserted itself into hers. "Let me guess ....you and Alex want to hug the baby, too, hmm?" she asked her youngest, grinning at the enthusiastic nod she got in return. "All right ....to the living room!"

It wasn't long before the small family of orphans and misfits was sat down in the Storm living room, the fears and anger and worries and embarrassments of the day forgotten, replaced by smiles and laughter. Whether they were bound by blood or not, this was what it was to be a family, and that family extended beyond the children Johnny and Liv had adopted to the boy who had captured their daughter's heart. Even at the end of a very long day, filled with unexpected mishaps, this was where they wanted to be - together.

((I love visiting the Storm household - every time we think it's just going to be a filler scene, we end up with something vitally important! Huge thanks to my partner in crime!))