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Rhys couldn't help but to contemplate this. What ... what if it had been alien bait? Would his mother betray him like that? Rhys had never considered his mother to be a villain, but now, as the boy squinted up at his mother Rhys was unsure. Slowly, the boy stepped back, falling in to silence as he reached for the wall, keeping his eyes to his mother and slowly sliding along the wall as he tried to stealth his way for the kitchen door so he could make a break for it just as the sound of the deadbolt on the door turned and unlocked ...

Rhys' little chest was heaving as he tried his hardest to keep his ragged breath from being heard. He had to get out of the villain's evil clutches so he could save the universe from ultimate demise! As his mother's eyes landed on him, Rhys knew he had to act swiftly. The very existence of the galaxy depended on it escaping the evil alien overlord's slimy clutches!

He needed back up, and he needed it now!

The boy bolted, banging in to the table and shifting it a couple inches across the floor as he ran for the front door, shouting at the top of his lungs. "I NEED BACK UP! I NEED BACK UP!!"

Rhys squirmed and wriggled and squealed as he tried to escape his mother's tight grip. He would have bitten her in his play or clawed her with his sharp bone claws if it weren't for the fact the last time he did both of those things he was sent to bed without supper. And while he did get caught up in his play, there was never any messing around when it came to actually eating dinner. Dinner time was meant for eating and nothing else. Even Rhys was serious at dinner time. Cooking was an entirely different story, as was evident with how much trouble he was causing his poor mother.

"HELP! Rhys screech. "Heeeelp MEEE!!

"What the ff --- " Smolder was the first to round the corner, setting his bag of textbooks down with a loud thud. "I eeeer ... I mean. What the heckie is going on here? Why are we screaming? What's happening?"

"ALIENS!" Rhys cried in explanation. "Aliens have replaced mom! She's their overlord! Save me, she's gonna eat me!"

"Aliens!?" Smolder's eyes grew wide with false shock and panic. "In my house!? Release my son, vile monster!" Smolder swooped in, pretending to struggle as he removed his son from Cassie's arms, stepping in to give his poor girl a break from taking care of the handful that was Rhys. "I'll save you!" Smolder cried as he raised his son up above his head and ran out of the kitchen with him, side-stepping Aten on the way past the door as Rhys squealed delightedly from being scooped and in the air.

Aten, however, came to Cassie's rescue, kissing his girlfriend on the crown of her head before stepping in to try and salvage the dinner. There was a long, quiet silence as he said nothing for a long time. Then, slowly, he glanced over his shoulder, glancing at her subtly and spoke in a soft tone. "You did well today, Cassie ... " and that was how he said he loved her, and returned to fatherly duties without another word.

"Believe it or not." Aten smiled to himself without looking at Cassie directly, scooping out the pieces of the bacon that could be saved with the fork that had been discarded, setting them on to a piece of paper towel so it could soak up the oils. "I was a child once upon a time." he admitted quietly. "Perhaps an even bigger one than our dear Smolder." The imp wasn't entirely sure what Cassie had been attempting to cook as his eyes scanned over the green noodles and the peas. Quite frankly, he wasn't going to ask.

"And even then, it did not prepare me in the slightest for a child." he leaned back a little to whisper his secret. "I just pretend to know what I'm doing." then, Aten gave Cassie one of his rare, unbridled grins as his lips slowly parted, revealing a giant set of slightly pointy, pearly whites hidden beneath, eyes practically shining before returning his full attention to the food prep. "Now." Aten spoke with a soft tone, his expression having returned to his usual, hard to read-self. "How about we finish making ... this. And we set the table and call it a victory if he eats his peas, hmmn?"

Aten slid Cassie's arms away from him, only to pull her in close to his fluffy side and smooch her cheek kindly. "We've all had a long day and could use the quiet time together, I think."

"Alright, I think that about does it." Aten nodded to himself as he put the burnt bacon in to a separate bag for the household familiars who would gladly eat it before setting it in the fridge. "If you want to set the table get the children to the table, I'll serve." The imp gave a soft, encouraging smile. She truly had done a good job of taking care of Rhys today, whether she believed it or not. The child was truly a handful even in his most 'off' state. The only time he wasn't was when he was comatose and depleted of all his energy.

Delivering another swift kiss, the Imp lightly bumped Cassie with his hip, stealing one of her moves. "Hurry along, now. I've got this. It'll take a bit of wrangling to get the children to settle. I'll have this whipped up in no time for us."