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"So what kind do you want, my dear~?" Eight asked again, smiling fondly down at Shauna. This was probably the hundredth time Eight had asked her daughter this question...but...she was just so cute when she answered! Shauna seemed so much more mature ever since Asra had visited their house, and then she'd met more children...and grown a bit more mature after them as well; they grew up so fast! Today, as a reward for being such a big girl lately, Eight was taking Shauna on her first trip to an ice cream parlor, and already she'd learned what kind of ice cream she wanted...even if she had no idea what it was.

"Chakit!" Was Shauna's bubbly reply, walking next to her mother instead of being carried. Eight was sure to hold her hand, for she'd been a bit reluctant to let her down at all despite how much Shauna had been insisiting on being put down. If Shauna was going to grow big like Asra and Elle, she had to start doing things herself! She couldn't depend on Mommy all the time, could she? Eight grinned and gave Shauna's hand a gentle squeeze, opening the door to the store once they reached it. The little fox smiled and let go of her mother's hand, running up ahead of her to go to the counter and see the ice cream.

"Be careful not to run into anyone, sweetie."

Shauna gazed over the top of the counter at all the ice cream, having pushed a chair closer to it so she could stand on that. She'd never seen so many kinds of ice cream in one place before! The little girl looked up when a girl apologized to someone, tilting her head a bit to see it was a purple little mousey girl. Wow! She'd never seen a girl like her before!

"Why hello there, is your mother around?"

Shauna jumped and nearly fell off the chair she was standing on, staring wide eyed up at the man behind the counter. What had he asked? Why was this man over here? Where was Mommy? The little fox frowned and looked around, whimpering softly and sitting down on the chair. Where was Mommy?

"Lost?"

Shauna whimpered again, her gaze turned up at the man. Would he help her find her mother? She opened her mouth to try and say something, but a soft voice came up behind her instead, a pair of arms scooping her up out of the chair and spinning her around in a circle. "What's wrong, sweetie~? Don't cry! I'm right here!" Eight grinned, kissing Shauna's marked cheek and putting her back down on the chair. Shauna squealed in delight and clapped her hands together happily, looking up at the man behind the counter with a grin. Only the man wasn't looking at her, he was looking at Mommy.

"Can I help you?"

"Chakit!" Eight laughed softly at Shauna's answer, ruffling her daughter's hair with a proud smile. She'd get the word right eventually.

"Two chocolate milkshakes." She confirmed for the man, hoisting Shauna up in her arms and bouncing her once to comfortably rest the girl on her hip. "...You're starting to get a bit too big for this." The girl sighed, putting the money on the counter and taking the two freshly made chocolate milkshakes for herself and Shauna. "Careful with the cup, Shauna. You'll get it everywhere if you drop it." She advised, turning to walk out of the shop.

Or she would have if Shauna hadn't suddenly started pointing at a little boy with a mask. His face was like hers! Or at least it was happy like hers, and Shauna felt so drawn to him for some reason. Eight blinked and looked from Shauna to Ror, grinning and rolling her eyes. "Well aren't we the social butterfly this week!" She bent down and put the toddler down to let her walk over to Ror, sipping quietly at her chocolate shake as she walked. She wouldn't spill it!

Eight was suddenly the proudest mother in the world, smiling fondly and taking a few sips of her chocolate shake. She wouldn't sit just yet, feeling much more comfortable standing at the moment; Eight hated sitting. "Thank you! It's nice to meet you, Chuu, Ror. I'm Eight...and...why don't you introduce yourself, sweetie?" Eight put her hands on her knees and got down so she was eye level with Shauna, nudging her head towards Ror and Chuu.

Shauna blinked and scooted forward a little bit, suddenly looking uncharacteristically shy. "Sh...s...Shauna!" She chirped, beaming proudly when Eight's arms wrapped gently around her from behind. Mommy always got so happy when she did something! It was as if she was Mommy's perfect little baby! Even Daddy loved her! And Elle and Asra! And the other people at their house! Shauna blinked, watching Ror curiously as he walked up to her in the same pose. She gasped softly when she heard her voice come from his lips, poking at her own lips as if to make sure they were still there. He hadn't stolen her voice, had she? "...Chakit!" She smiled, glad to hear she still had her voice back.

Eight giggled softly and nodded at Chuu's observation, taking another sip from her milkshake. "Mhm, actually she looks like me and my boyfriend. If you saw the three of us together you'd swear she was our biological daughter!" She grinned, shaking her head a bit at the offer. "Nah, I prefer standing; in all honesty, I hate sitting, I can never sit still for too long." Eight replied in all honesty, watching Ror quietly with a raised brow.

"Wow, he's pretty good!" She complimented the boy, looking from Ror to Chuu. "He your little brother?" They didn't look at all alike, but Chuu looked way too young to be a mother...she had to be, what, ten or eleven years old?! And Alex thought she was young to have children!

Shauna blinked, looking up at Chuu then back at Ror. He was copying them? Wow...he wasn't really stealing her voice? He was like one of those people on tv who pretended to be other people! Only he didn't change his costume all the time...come to think of it...his mask reminded her of that one movie she almost watched with Mommy, but Mommy kept covering her eyes. "Fan..." Shauna looked up at Eight and pointed at Ror's mask. "Fan!"

"...Fan...?"

Shauna pouted. "Fanum!" Eight merely stared at Shauna while she tried desperately to figure out what she was trying to say, eventually following her pointed finger to the mask Ror was wearing. ...Oh!

"Oh! Phantom! Aww, is Ror being the Phantom of the Opera for Halloween and just wearing his costume early?"

"Nope! Amazing, isn't it?" Eight smiled proudly, always finding some sort of enjoyment in watching people's reactions when they found out Shauna wasn't really her actual child. Not as much enjoyment as when Alex found out though, his reaction to her was priceless. "You should see my family, it's huge."

The half demon blinked a few times at Chuu's answer, looking fairly confused for about half a second before it melted into another soft smile, looking down at Shauna and Ror again as she drank some more of her shake. She paused for a moment to hold her head and wince, closing her eyes while she let the ice cream headache pass. "Wow, never gotten one of those before...so you're an only child too?" Eight smirked. "Consider yourself lucky that you don't have a cruel older cousin." She stated with a laugh.

Shauna grinned and skipped over to Ror and close the distance between them. "Opper Fanum!" She squealed happily, sipping contently at her milkshake with a smile, holding it out as if she was offering it to Ror.

"No, no, sweetie. He can't have your milkshake." Eight advised, watching Shauna stare up at her and just go back to drinking. Her headwings perked up a bit at Chuu's answer to the mentioning of the movie, gasping softly. "You must come over and watch it some day!"

Eight shrugged, not willing to admit that there were times she wished she could be alone...but with so many roommates it was rather hard to find a moment of peace unless everyone was asleep. She stirred her shake around with her straw and watched Chuu get rid of one of her strawberries, completely amazed that someone would get rid of a strawberry to begin with. Was she mad?! She walked over so she was standing next to Chuu now instead of on the other side of the two children, leaning against the table. "You're not going to eat that strawberry?" She asked curiously, glancing at it before the younger girl's comment registered in her head. "I bet she will! She catches onto things rather quickly, actually...she only learned how to walk a few days ago, and now she's skipping! ...Cupcakes? That sounds great! You don't have to though, my kitchen's overflowing with baked goods!" Eight added with a faint blush, laughing softly and finishing off her shake. ..Damn.

Shauna didn't think skipping was that hard, although it was with a drink in her hands. The fox giggled and plopped down on the floor next to Ror, watching him quietly. Could he only repeat what she said and did? Like an actor? She reached forward to gently poke at the boy's mask, her straw hanging in her mouth as she gurgled random little baby noises. Funny mask! How did it stay on?

Eight smiled, shaking her head and putting her cup down. "Nah, I'm fine, but thanks for the offer!" The half demon watched Ror quietly as Chuu explained his little copying ability, looking quite impressed. He'd have his own personality in time...but wow, he could copy a person exactly? That was amazing.

She laughed softly and finally sat down in a chair after Chuu's baking comment, holding her chin up in the palm of her hand and looking over to the mouse. "You're right. Sweets are the best food, after all."

Shauna tilted her head a bit, watching Ror quietly while he examined his face. She giggled and clapped her hands together to show she liked the mask, putting a hand over one side of her face with her fingers opened over her eye...aww, she was trying to copy him now! She coo'd softly and looked around, suddenly spotting the string around the boy's hands. What was that...?

Eight smiled and bent down a bit, murmuring a 'Yes, Chuu!' for Ror to answer Chuu with instead. She pushed herself to her feet again and stretched her arms up over her head, turning to Chuu for a moment. "I'll be right back, need another shake! You two want anything?" Shauna wasn't even half finished with her own treat, so the question was directed more to Ror and Chuu than her daughter.

Shauna didn't even notice her mother was leaving to get ice cream, too distracted by that one bead that was different than the rest. She blinked and looked up at Ror, then the bead, poking at it.