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iStoleYurVamps
iStoleYurVamps
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 Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 5:37 am
Quote: It’s all over the news that a dangerous convict has escaped from the state prison. Television and radios alike warm the residents to stay indoors until authorities can locate and apprehend the criminal roaming the local neighborhoods. It just so happens to fall on a terrible evening to be stuck anywhere - the weather has taken a turn for the worse and thanks to a wayward falling branch, the power has gone out. Scratching and creaking around your doors and windows keeps you on high alert…could the nefarious individual be trying to get inside your residence?
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Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 5:40 am
He'd been on his way home from a meeting when he got the call. Power was out, and some convict escaped and Jada wasn't... keen on the old memories it brought up. Not to mention with security down, her place looked like a prime target. So he'd grabbed a few things from the corner market and arrived not much later. "Jada?" He called out, entering the manor, thankful she trusted him with a key these days so he'd be able to come by and pick up Hope and the twins when needed. "Adian? Giulia? Hope?" He yelled. "I brought food."
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iStoleYurVamps
iStoleYurVamps
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Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 11:26 am
Hearing that there was an escaped convict in the area had been bad enough, but the weather was getting absolutely awful outside, and Jada had already made her rounds around the mansion, checking doors and windows were locked, and battening down what creaky hatches she could. Lord knew, if someone got into the house, the only one who would catch them was Castor, and lord knew what would happen if her 16-pound toyger got into a scrap with a murderer.
With three kids around the house, most of the staff gone to worry about their own homes and families, no power, and spooky-scary-skeletons playing on repeat and making her twitch, there was one person Jada knew wouldn't hesitate to help her contain the madness- and she was right. Not even 20 minutes, and he'd made his way in the front door.
Speaking magical words, for at least 2 of the little zerglings- I brought food!
Giulia practically careened around the corner on stocking feet, Hope not far behind her because she followed everywhere that Jula went, and lord knew their daughter was a glutton. Aidan followed along more sedately, and Jada brought up the rear, leaning against a door frame to watch the kids prance around Marlo. All of them were trying to say something to him, Hope grabbing at his belt to try and pull herself up his leg, Giulia bouncing up and down to try and see what he'd brought, and Aidan to complain that he'd wanted something warm.
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 1:29 am
Lifting his arms intop the air, he wanted to keep things a surprise, if for a while. "Hey now, you don't hello until I announce I have food? What happened? Did Jada try cooking again or something?" He teased winking at her. "I brought a few things to snack on- think of tonight as a movie night. And yes Adian, I brought a few things we can heat up for you, don't fret." He slowly made his way to the kitchen shuffling the children to the living room to wait as he got things ready. It didn't take long, but hunting down the creme brule torch took a bit- he only had the light of his phone after all. Once found he figured he should tell Jada his plan. "Cara." He went up to her a soft kiss on her cheek. "How does... indoor camping sound to you? To keep the kids occupied and get your mind off of things?"
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iStoleYurVamps
iStoleYurVamps
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 6:16 am
Watching him interact with the kids was adorable-- and then he winked at her, teasing, and she was up. "What?" she gasped dramatically, staring at Marlo with her hand clutched to her chest, "I only set the kitchen on fire once!"
"Twice!" Aidan shot back, ever factual. What a stinky brother he was! Maybe it was the age gap.
"This year!" Giulia added, rubbing salt into the wound. Her betrayal was to be expected.
Jada made a face at Marlo, mock-pain at being betrayed by her own family, as he went by to the kitchen. Well, perhaps she should herd the kids towards the family room while he took his mystery surprise and did something with it. The house felt a little safer already, though she kept one eye on the kids, and the other on the arching windows. Too much glass, this place. Too break-in-able. It was easy to encourage the kids to go pick out a game to play and she settled on the arm of the couch.
She heard his footsteps before he came back, and tilted her cheek to his kiss, offering him a kiss of her own if he was so inclined. "You know, I think that could be fun. I don't know if we have an actual tent, but I know where it will be if someone bought one." More likely to be Zora or Lucas, and it would be either in their closets, or the attic. "Worst case scenario we make a pillow fort.”
Pushing up off the couch, she called to the kids, “I'm going to go grab something. Hope, honey, why don't you show Daddy the game you, Giulia, and Aidan picked to play?” Giving Marlo a wink, she stepped out of the room, feeling more relaxed with a goal.
The tent wasn't in either of the bedrooms, though the trees were scraping the windows like spooky arms, and a loud thud from outside had nearly sent her out of her skin. Some part of her kept expecting a grown man to hop out of the shadows at any moment. It had been years since... but in moments like this she still remembered waking up to hands at her throat, and Zora holding the blood-stained lamp, terrified.
In the attic, she found her prize, along with a couple of battery-operated lanterns, and three sleeping bags. Not enough for everyone, but the kids could at least enjoy the full experience. She lugged her booty down the ladder and through the house, leaving them outside the door where the kids couldn't see until they were ready.
“Mission accomplished!” she chirped, stepping back in.
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Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 3:50 am
Marlo smiled at the teasing her own children were giving her. Sure, he and Elzo were bad influences, but, the other part was all Jada sass. "Perfect" He said. "A tent will help get them to all sleep in one spot- don't think for a second I won't stay up all night to let you all get some rest alright?" He knew details of what happened back then- and they still hit him hard in a lot of ways. As Jada left him with the kids, Marlo laughed as Hope attempted her best to explain the rules. Rules being half french and half gibberish. Adian and Guilia were much more helpful in this regard. When Jada got back, she'd be greeted with the sight of Hope nesstled in Marlo's lap while Adian and Guilia slapped down a card on the table- Hope just slapped the table enthusiastically. Rather than removing Hope entirely, He managed to pic her up while getting up and carried her on his hip over to Jada. "Perfect. Now," He looked at the trio of troublemakers, "have you ever gone camping before?" He asked them.
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iStoleYurVamps
iStoleYurVamps
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Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 11:09 am
Seeing her daughter in her father's arms still hit Jada hard, even though she had seen it many times since they had gotten her back. It had been a slow process, with Hope still being confused about the disappearance of the man she called Papa, but... it choked her heart with a heady mix of relief, and love for all four members of the family in front of her.
So she reached out for Hope as Marlo carried her over, leaning in and smacking her lips loudly against the girl's little cheek until Hope giggle-shrieked, wriggling deeper into Marlo's arms to escape.
Giulia and Aidan bounced across the floor after them, and they both answered at the same time. Camping OH! No Camping but Sounds I Fun Always Jada Wanted Can To We Go Go But Camping??? Jada won't let us. They both looked at her, two sets of bright blue eyes excited and eager, and Jada almost sighed.
"Just this once," she informed the twins, "We're going to try camping." she stepped backwards, and leaned over, hauling the tent into the room. "Giulia, Aidan, do you want to try and help me clear a space in the living room to pitch the tent?" But they were already gone, shrieking around Marlo and Hope, the latter who was so infected with her aunt's joy that she began yelling wildly as well.
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Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 5:23 pm
He laughed, unabashed and loud, as the twins started clearing the area with a touch too much enthusiasm. "Careful, careful-" Hope carefully on one hip, Marlo 'helped' the twins move some of the furniture. The couch and coffee table, the accent seats, side table- all shoved to make room for one tent and have extra sitting space. Mostly, by pushing it with his leg. Once everything was out of the way, he set Hope down. "Hope, tesoro, can you help papa with the pillows? We need a big pile right over there." He asked her, and as expected, calling himself her papa had he momentarily confused before Aidan tugged her arm gently. "Come on Hope! Let's get the pillows!" And so his daughter toddled happily after his half brother. Smiling as he went to Jada, a quick stolen kiss, he got to work unpacking and setting up the tent- which when done, would house the children perfectly.
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iStoleYurVamps
iStoleYurVamps
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Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 8:31 pm
Giulia was terrible excited to be able to do a camping thingy! It was going to be better because they were all inside the house, so like, bears couldn't get in and eat their food, and there wouldn't be buggies and stuff, or yucky sticky sweats in the night, like she had been told happened when one went camping. No, their tent was being set up in the air conditioning! The down side was they couldn't see the sky right now, but they also didn't have to worry about rain getting in the tent, so...
She and Aidan shoved at the furniture, throwing things haphazardly in their haste. Chairs scratched over the wooden floor, and she heard a soft noise of Jada's despair at the long drag of the coffee table over the floor. Oops. Careful, Careful, Marlo said, and Aidan kind of paid attention. Giulia, however, was in a hurry. She would have expected her... bruncle, or whatever he was supposed to be this week... to know better than to think she could be this excited and not put her all into it!
Still, he helped, and when it was over, she put her hand to her forehead, wiping away her sweat, before shifting over to watch Aidan and Hope begin to put up the pillows. Ah! Her .... little sister? Niece, she supposed, technically... was so cute! Bright Blue eyes glanced over to see Jada beaming up at Marlo, moments before he went to start pulling the tent out of the bag. Giulia sidled closer to him, grabbing at the sleeping bags and unrolling hem, giving him the side eye. "So," she said after a moment, "What are we doing for camping? Are we gonna play games? Or tell ghost stories? Or..."
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Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 10:53 pm
He was glad the kids were so excited. He was worried they might think it dumb or silly, but the more he could keep them occupied, and Jada occupied and her mind off the news, the better. Plus- he wanted to do these things with them. Be apart of their lives like this. Like a normal family. "Well I thought about stargazing but it's raining, then I thought about fishing but the lake is far away- but then I realized one of the best things about camping." He grinned. "S'Mores." He knew one thing- the sweet tooth would get them excited. "We can roast some marshmallows and make s'mores. And as we do... we can tell ghost stories. Games after."
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iStoleYurVamps
iStoleYurVamps
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Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 10:26 pm
Marlo was right about one thing- the sweet tooth lit up three pairs of blue eyes, all of them swiveling to him along with one alarmed set of purple. It was too late to ix-nay on the more-say, but equally of curiosity and mild alarm was just how he intended to light enough of a fire to roast the marshmallows without setting the tent, or the rug, or anything else on fire. Well- they might have moved the rug far enough away that if he was building a fire on the marble underneath. ...... or in the fireplace, but that wasn't exactly camping, now was it?
Jada slid closer to the family, reaching out to help her daughter put pillows higher on the pile. "This is going to be fun," she said, and her voice was bright with (mostly) genuine enthusiasm- a little extra in there, to hype up the kids, and all. "I might just find myself loving camping. Who do you think will tell the scaaaariest story, Marlo? Should we make a bet?"
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