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"Mom does like sugar," Vinny agreed with a nod, "and yeah, I've noticed that. My mom and dad like to fight about stuff like that, usually mom wins. I think it's because she convinces dad that she's always right. Or maybe dad just gives up... I don't know."

He paused when she started talking about food, and smiled. "You know, there's a nice pizza place just in town. It's cheap, too!" Of course, Vincent knew all the cheap places, he liked to keep hold of his gold. "Maybe we could walk to the icecream parlor afterward? It's always fun to walk and eat icecream."

"I'll have a small one too," Vinny said with a nod. He didn't mind sweets, but they weren't something you could keep. "Thank you for the ride, Bailey!" he said, gratefully. He gave the teenager a smile.

Vincent smiled, "Yeah, this is one of my favorite places to eat. The pizza's really good, too," he said, picking up the menu. "What kind of pizza do you want? I like pepporoni best, but if you like another topping, I'm sure we could compromise." Compromise. Dad always said that was what relationships were all about.

The waitress came to the table. "May I take your order?" She asked, glancing over both of them. She had seen Vincent before, there was recognition in her eyes.

"I think a small pepporoni pizza would be nice," Vinny said, looking to the waitress. "Hey Ebby? Do you want anything to drink? Besides water, I mean... We could always get something to drink at the movie theater."

"My family?" Vinny had to think about it for a moment. "Well, they're doing alright. Sammi and Reiya are a lot bigger than when you babysitted us. Remember? Mom was so tired because they were babies. Now they can help around the house and stuff. Josh is... well. He's Josh. I don't know if it's considered behaving, but he certainly acts like an older brother."

He paused, and smiled at her. "So what about you? How's your babysitting job going? Got any new clients? Anyone I might know?"

"Mom's much better," Vinny said with a smile. "Dad says she was only sick because of the post-par-whatever you call it depression." He paused, and smiled at her. "Disliking children? You? You're too nice." He voiced his disbelief easily. "But yeah, I wouldn't want to babysit either. Well, outside my family. It's easy to watch Sammi and Reiya now. It wasn't when they were toddlers though,"

He leaned in to whisper, "Then there were sparks flying, literally. When Sammi had tantrums, she tended to burn things."

"Yeah, that's it!" Vincent said with relief, at least he hadn't messed up too badly. "But she's better now. We won't let her get depressed again. We've been keeping her busy," he paused and nodded. "Yeah, I can't really see you getting upset. Josh and I were good though, right?"

There was a flicker of concern in his eyes. Had they been part of the reason his friend had become uncomfortable? He didn't know what he would do if he was. A smile crossed his face at her next comment. "It was! But it was funny too. She set dad's hair on fire--it didn't burn, you know. She can control when she wants fire to burn or not--she told me later that she was just 'punissing' him."

Vincent was relieved. He hadn't wanted to be on the list of bad children. He paused, trying to find a way to answer her question. "I don't really know," he admited. "I think she was punishing him because she didn't like him telling her what to do. You know, she's really stubborn. Dad decided not to give her any more time outs though. He's left that to Mom."

He paused, and glanced at his empty plate. "Are you finished? I think the movie's going to start soon."