Spade slightly raised her eyebrows, noticing bright orange hair approaching the girls. Her eyes quickly shifted to Aurora who was oblivious to the obnoxious man walking up to them. She sighed, this was the last thing she wanted to deal with today.
"Something wrong Cher?" Abigail whispered, noting the sudden straightening of her posture.
"I'm fine love, but he might not be." she suppressed her urge to growl as he neared, eyes fixed on the crimson streaked raven head turned away from him. Spade kept her voice low, trying to keep out of earshot of her cousins; nearly praying he wouldn't be stupid enough to stop.
Well prayers aren't always enough.
"I thought that was you." Dagger's voice held a strange softness to it as he walked up from behind where Aurara had been sitting.
She quickly turned her head to look up at him, eyes widening. A black button up shirt, the top two undone exposing the definition of his collar bone, dark well kept jeans, even clean boots. She couldn't help but smirk as she scooted over, motioning for him to take a seat next to her on the couch.
"Wow you must really be trying to up your stalking game, huh?" the feline questioned sarcastically, giving him one last look over.
"Don't flatter yourself princess," he smirked, eagerly sitting next to her; "I had a meeting at the bistro down the street."
"I guess that's your excuse for being dressed somewhat decent for once?" her voice seeming to lack the same harshness as the times they had met before. Dagger chuckled, rolling his eyes as he opened his mouth to retort.
"Excuse me, but what the fuck do you think you're doing here?" Spade spat, glaring straight into his crimson eyes.
"What the fuck do you think psychic?" Dagger hissed, returning her glare. Spade's eyes widened as she felt her anger rise to levels only her brother could push her to.
"You think you're so fucking funny you pathetic waste of breath?" Spade hissed standing up, nearly knocking over the table between them.
"I do in fact;" Dagger retorted standing up,
"The fuck you gonna do about it?"
"You!" Aurora intervened standing up pushing Dagger back;
"Shut the fuck up! Spade," she turned to face her enraged cousin;
"What the hell? You never snap like this, just try to calm down." she regretted her words as she received a quick glare that could kill from the silver haired feline.
"Shut up! Up until today you wanted nothing to do with him." She barely made eye contact with her as she kept her glare focused on Dagger.
"Well now she wants me around, so get the fuck over it bitch."
"Mother fucker, I will throw you in that god damned fire if you open your mouth one more time!" Spade howled, her eyes glowing silver.
"Go ahead! Not like it'll hurt!" Dagger snapped back, sparking a flame in his right hand.
"That's it, this is how you die!" Spade snarled lunging for him. She stopped dead in her tracks when suddenly face to face with chartreuse eyes.
"Alright Cher, I think that's enough." Abigail spoke calmly lightly placing her palms on the demon's shoulders. Spade stood still, lowly growling keeping her eyes fixed on the feline.
"Hey now, eyes on me." she reached up, lightly cupping her face.
"Calm down, just deal with him the way you deal with Hamish."
"I want to kill him too." Spade grumbled finally looking into her eyes.
"Come now Cher, we both know that ain't true." Abigail smirked finally getting a half smile from her mate.
"See, there ya go; now let's just sit on down and enjoy our drinks?"
Spade grumbled slightly as she nodded, shooting a glare back at Dagger before sitting down.
"Yeah that's ri-" Dagger began only to be cut off by the witch.
"Meenoo, you'd be smart to bite your tongue before finishing that sentence. You get her riled up again and I won't be stoppin' her." she eyed him as she sat down next to Spade who flashed a triumphant grin.
"Whatever, not like I'm here for her-" he paused for a moment furrowing his eyebrows slightly shaking his head,
"The fuck did you call me?"
Abigail chuckled shaking her head.
"Don't worry bout it." she looked over at Spade who seemed to finally have regained her composure.
"Now that you two are done, hi I'm Abigail and you must be the man that managed to get to second base with grumpy over here."
Abigail teased pointing to Spade. Dagger's eyes seemed to nearly pop out of his head as his face quickly matched the color of his eyes.
"ABIGAIL!!!" Spade screeched, jumping out of her seat again.
"What the fuck?!?!" her face burning a deep crimson.
"Oh come now Cher, it's okay, no need to be embarrassed." Abigail giggled, she glanced over at Aurora who is on the ground now, in tears from laughter.
"The fuck is this bitch going on about!?" Dagger yowled,
"What the fuck freak?! What the fuck have you been telling your friends?!?!"
He stumbled over his words, quickly looking down at Aurora gasping to catch her breath.
"Wait, Spade?" Willow questioned, finally contributing to the conversation,
"I thought he was going after Aurora?"
"Oh- my- god!" Aurora finally managed to choke out through her laughter.
"Abs, this is why we are friends!"
Her laughter finally dying as she pulled herself back onto the couch. She looked over to Dagger who looked terrified, confused, and furious all at once; causing her to immediately fall back into a fit of laughter.
"Exactly!" Abigail laughed winking at Aurora.
"Seriously, what the fuck!?!" Dagger finally screamed.
"Oh hush meenoo, I'm just teasing." Abigail giggled, "It's not very often that Spade intentionally touches someone to read them." she turned to look at her mate who was holding her head in her hands; clearly fed up with the situation.
"Who the fuck is this bitch anyway?!" Dagger continued to yelling pointing at the witch.
"Hey, that 'bitch' is my girlfriend asshole!" Spade growled looking up at the feline.
"Wait? You...her...what the fuck?!" Dagger continued to yell, flabergasted.
"Dude, chill; just sit the fuck down." Aurora chimmed in, her laughter finally ceasing.
"I'm surprised, you'd think someone like you would like the idea of two women being together." Spade scoffed, rolling her eyes at his shudder of disgust.
"STOP IMAGINING US ASSHOLE!" She stood from her seat, hair seeming to start to rise around her.
A yelp escaped her lips as her body was pulled back down into her seat, slender arms wraping around her.
"Easy Cher, easy." Abigail's whispered soothingly into her ear.
"No need to go being big ol' demon on the meenoo." she turned her head winking at the other's,
"You know Cher here really is a big softy-"
"Abigail don't you dare." Spade began to growl.
"Hush, it's not like it's a big secret. Dagger, did you know she took ballet through out her entire schooling?" the witch finally released her grasp around the demon, reaching for her tea.
"What?!" Dagger choked, howling with laughter; "You?!"
"Which gave me the physical skills to strangle you with my feet, so I suggest you shut the fuck up." Spade began snarling, hesitating to close her fist that now had her mate's hand. She sighed, exasperated as her cousin joined the feline in laughter.
"Well, now that we've all had a go at me-"
"Awe, but teasing you is so much fun Spade; we almost never get the chance to do this!" Aurora giggled, sipping her hot cocoa.
"Well what about you?" Dagger questioned, "Any embarrassing childhood extra-curricular activities?"
"Ha! None that you'll ever know about." she retorted curtly, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
"Don't let this rare occasion get to your head street rat."
Her lips curled to a smirk, slightly tilting her head to look at him from the corner of her eye. Dagger chuckled, returning the smirk.
"Fine, you win princess." he looked down at her, shaking his head slightly before returning his attention to the continued conversation between the other girls.
He went along, chiming in where he could; genuinely curious to hear what they were willing to share of their lives back home. All the while, trying to hide his true interests; unwitting to him that silver eyes could see all.
...
"Lenore!!!! Oh my god! You missed it!!!!!" Spikes shreiked grabbing her daughter by her arms as soon as she opened the front door of her brother's home.
"Hi Mom, missed you too." Spade muttered, eyes slightly widened. Spikes paused for a moment, quickly releasing her grip.
"I'm sorry little one, it's just, you missed it!!!" she squealed again, quickly locking arms with the taller demon.
"Only one other time in all the years I've known your father have I ever seen his eyes go white!"
She bounced happily.
"Wait, what?" Aurora chimed in, walking past the two.
"Oh you'll love to hear this!" Spikes howled,
"C'mon, let's go into the living room! The rest of the family is in there."
She quickly pulled her daughter through the house.
"There's my little moon." Vincent exclaimed rushing over to Spade, quickly pulling her into a tight embrace.
"I've missed you so much!"
"I've missed you too Dad." Spade smiled softly, squeezing him tightly.
She let go and quickly glanced around the room, eyes quickly falling on her youngest brother who seemed more focused on the pink haired pixie next to him.
"What, no love for your big sister?" she jokingly pouted. Elijah shook his head softly before getting up to hug her.
"Beth, its good to see you again; you're still keeping my baby brother happy?"
Spade smiled reaching out her hand to the pixie after releasing her brother. The shorter girl smiled, pink eyes shining as she returned the hand shake.
"Likewise, and of course I am! I take it college is going well." she responded happily.
"It's going as well as it can, busy with classes and training as always." She let her voice slightly trail bringing her attention back to her quiet brother.
"I hope Hamish hasn't been kicking your ass too much while I've been gone."
She chuckled as she watched him take a seat back on the arm rest of the couch; Beth quickly at his side. She looked around, frowning slightly not seeing the violet streaked hair among everyone.
"He was still too pissed to be around the family." Elijah explained softly. Spade raised an eyebrow, only to be bombarded by her mother's exclamation.
"Your brother malatofed the mustang!" the canine shrieked, receiving a genuinely shocked expression from the psychic.
"Hamish, did what?!" Spade questioned, eyes wide. Hamish had always been the rebel of the Caine children, but this was by far the craziest stunt he had ever pulled.
"What the fuck would ever give him a reason to go that far?!" Aurora growled from her seat on the couch.
"He was upset that I chose to give Elijah the mustang for his birthday." Vincent growled lowly. It was a sound Spade had only heard maybe a handful of times in her life, and one of three things that truly terrified her.
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Aurora snapped again.
"I wish." Vincent growled again, bringing his forefinger and thumb to the bridge of his nose.
I don't know what is going on with that boy."
Spade stood quietly, studying her father's expression. She subconsciously mirrored his stance, shaking her head briefly before removing her hand from her face.
"Have either of you considered the fact that Hamish is 17 years old now?" her parents starred at her with confusion, gaining a frustrated sigh.
"He's about the right age to be going through his demon maturity." Spade opened her mouth hesitantly, pausing before letting the words come out.
"Why would that explain him taking it out on my car?" Vincent's slight outburst caught everyone off guard. He was always the first to be so understanding and logical in even the most chaotic of situations.
"No, I get it." Spikes finally spoke, sighing as she reached for her husband's hand in attempt to help him calm down.
"We've always known that Hamish is 'my' son, and we knew with all three kids to be prepared for at least one to have the same trouble I did."
Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper. Spade raised an eyebrow, and shared a glance with her youngest brother. Their parents had always been open and honest with them, but only when asked questions.
Though Spikes seemed to be the type to hold nothing back, she never went out of her way to tell her children about her life; but when asked detailed questions would never lie.
"This isn't the time or the place to ask what that's supposed to mean;" Spade began, her voice as calm and collected as her father's.
"But just, try to take it easy on Hamish. He may not even realize what's going on himself."
Spikes starred at her daughter, she was definitely her father's daughter. Even through childhood, she was always the one to make sense of even the most irrational of situations.
Spade glanced over to her cousin who softly nodded in agreement. Her face remained stoic as she averted her gaze to her parents.
She knew they had mixed feelings on her telling them how to handle Hamish, but more often than not she felt like she was the only one who truly could. She locked eyes with her father; his eyes betraying his usual neutral demeanor; but regardless, her point stood.
"We'll talk about this later-" Spade began, a quick glimpse of her mother's mentor flashing through her mind.
"Blade's here."
No one bothered questioning anymore when a knock followed at the door. After a near decade of simple visions, the entire family had grown used to it.
Spikes was the one to open the door, still inhaling sharply as she laid eyes on the bat. Blade smiled weakly as she entered the house, despite her demon aging she wore the years less gracefully than the others.
Scars, barely visible, but still there; one of the subtle reminders that lingered from that day.
Spade took a seat near her parents as they all sat in the living room catching up on the time that had gone by. She smiled as Aurora ran the show as she always did, her voice always finding its way above the rest.
It was never out of spite; at least not to Spade herself; that was just her. The conversation led to Blade, who as the children had always remembered, was quiet; but this time was different.
"It's been almost nineteen years..." her voice had a slight rasp to it, tired eyes looking up from her feet.
"I just don't think I have the strength, or sanity for that matter, to keep searching for Phoenix." Spikes and Kitty seemed in sync as they both quickly got up to be at Blade's side.
Blade's body seemed to stiffen as she cleared her throat to continue speaking.
"I've thought long and hard about this; there's no way I'll ever find him if I haven't after close to two decades." her voice cracked, and she brought her hand up to the bridge of her nose; trying to pinch away the tears.
"I just hope that if he is still alive, he's safe and happy-" she chocked out the last part as the tears started to stream down her cheeks.
"I'm horrible mother." She rested her forehead in her hand, shoulders shaking as she attempted to restrain the sobs.
"Blade, you aren't a horrible mother." Spikes spoke softly, resting her arm around her.
"You've been searching tirelessly for now the better part of two decades, it's okay for you to move on."
Kitty lightly placed her hand on Blade's forearm, gaining her eye contact.
"Nadine would agree, it's okay for you to stop looking. It will never mean you don't love him and miss him and her with everything you have." Kitty's words were gentle, her own eyes misting.
Nadine and Phoenix were missed by more than just Blade, everyone felt the pain of the attack corresponding with the day of Spade's birth. Nadine dead,
Blade's own near fatal wounds, and barely two year old Phoenix being taken by the attackers and still missing to this day.
Blade bit her lip sharply, clenching her eyes as she nodded to Kitty's words. Aurora shared a concerned glance with Spade.
Nadine and Phoenix were a topic that would only come up in happy remenicing between their parents and Blade; the darker aspects only came up when they were old enough to know, or at least when Spade started hearing everyone's thoughts.
...
Damien's footsteps were soft as he made his way up to his sister's room. The faint chatter between her and their cousin reaching him before he saw her. Aurora looked up at him, smiling as she stood up from her bed and made her way to him.
"I need to talk to you about something, Roe." He sighed, his eyes briefly meeting with Spade's before he looked back down at the ground.
"Spade can stay."
Aurora nodded, pulling him by the hand and sitting him on her bed next to her.
"Dai, what's going on?"
"I went out drinking with a few friends a couple of weeks ago." He ran a hand through his hair. Spade's eyes widened, and he shook his head softly.
"Basically I met a girl and she... she might be pregnant with my kid."
Aurora felt her mouth fall open as her eyes widened. She had no idea how to acknowledge the information that had been dropped into her hands.
"I asked her to marry me so I could take care of her and the baby." Damien shook his head softly. His hands fidgeting in his lap, his eyes refusing to meet Aurora's. His breath hitched, biting the inside of his cheek.
"I haven't told Mom or Dad yet, so I would appreciate the silence Spade."
"Wait... might be pregnant with your kid?" Aurora shook her head, standing from her bed and stepping to her desk, leaning against it.
"Why is it a might?"
"She thinks it might be her late boyfriend's. I met her a night after he died." Damien sighed softly.
"There's no way to know for sure who's-"
"You're marrying some bitch just because she might be pregnant with your kid?" Aurora hissed, violently shoving items off of her desk.
"It might not even be yours, and even if it was that's a stupid ass reason to get married!"
"Aurora, I can't let her live on the street whether the baby is mine or not." Damien growled, his eyes finally meeting his sister's.
"I'm not saying let the bitch rot." Aurora snarled, getting to her feet.
"You know Mom and Dad won't have a problem with you wanting to help her. I'm just saying don't fucking marry her over this."
"You wouldn't understand, Aurora."
"Do you love her?"
Damien's face fell, his shoulders slumped as a small sigh left his lips. Spade moved closer, resting her hand over her cousin's.
"No, but Mom and Dad don't have to know that." His eyes were pleading when they met Aurora's again.
"We all know their story. Mom brought Dad to life, they fell madly in love despite his prejudice, they got married and started a family."
"They complete each other. Two halves to a broken whole." Aurora sighed softly, her features relaxing as she approached her brother.
"All they want is for us to find happiness like they have."
"Except it's impossible." Damien scoffed.
"Their story isn't real life. It's somehow a fantasy come to life. It's like they don't realize that will never happen again. Their souls were practically calling out to each other before they ever met."
"We can't ever live up to that." Spade tilted her head at her cousin's whispers, both of their eyes far away.
It was true that her aunt and uncle's story had always sounded straight from a fairy tale, but she had just assumed that was how any story would sound when you're in love.
"I don't have it in me to tell them I might be a father with a woman I don't know, let alone love." Damien's eyes began to fill with tears, his hands against his head.
"How do I tell them I don't think can have the type of story that they do?"
"You don't." Aurora sat next to her brother, resting her head against his shoulder.
"They would understand... That's one they've always been good at, but it's harder to disappoint the people who believe the best in you no matter what happens. Even if they understand." Spade spoke up, watching the siblings nod.
"Help her, move in with her, I don't care Dai. Just please don't marry her." Aurora's voice was a whisper. She pulled a strand of her hair behind her ear as she looked into her brother's eyes.
"Don't marry someone you don't love. Lie to Mom and Dad about it if you have to, pretend to marry her, you know I have your back.
But save marriage for someone you actually love, whether it's a story as good as Mom and Dad's or not."
He scoffed, wrapping an arm around his sister. Damien rest his forehead against Aurora's shoulder and she wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
"You win, Roe." His shoulder's relaxed as he spoke.
"No marriage. No real one at least."
"For now." Aurora grinned, running her nails through her brother's hair.
"If you fall in love with her, by all means go for it."
"You two are so fucking weird." Spade commented, raising an eyebrow at the two siblings. They both laughed, shoving lightly on the other.
"Our entire family is fucking weird." Damien stood from the bed, followed by Aurora. He bent down, wrapping his little sister in a hug.
"Thanks Roe."
Aurora rolled her eyes at him, a grin still tugging at her ruby lips.
"You don't have to thank me, Dai. I have your back, just like you've had mine."
"You too, Spade. Thank you, please don't mention this to anyone, okay?" Spade nodded briefly at Damien's request, watching him embrace his sister once more before he made his way back down the stairs.
She frowned, not understanding the sibling's extreme fear of disappointing their parents. She could hardly remember the two ever scolding either of them. They had the image of a perfect family.
Spade shrugged, grabbing a magazine and laying on Aurora's bed.
Maybe perfect wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
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