Perception

Part 3

Sean POV:

I send McCoy off in the ambulance after finding out which hospital it is taking him to before heading inside.

I watch as Pookie drags herself back off the couch. She looks done in, but she straightens her shoulders and sends askance glances around the room, and I have to bite my lip to keep from laughing as she meets my eyes. I can't help it. She's adorable when she's angry! Her eyes narrow on me and I know I failed at keeping my amusement to myself. I wink, her eyes widen slightly and she blushingly looks away.

"Do you honestly think keeping something from me is the way to go? How can I be vigilant when I do not know I need to be. I'm not unreasonable, you guys. I would like to think I'm moderately intelligent, so why would telling me that McCoy is in the wind again be something you couldn't tell me?" she asks in a snarkier tone than I have ever heard from her. "What else are you keeping from me?" Everyone sends slightly panicked looks around the room. We all know about her ghost status, and all of the steps we have taken to keep her figuratively nonexistent.

"Must be a doozy." she mutters at seeing the looks. "Wait, how did he get away from you guys?" she asks North, Silas, and Gabriel. Good point, Pookie. I turn to look at the boys in question, and they all appear rather disgruntled.

"He had a car at the end of the road. No license plate, and dark-tinted windows. He peeled out of there, and we couldn't have caught him on foot" North admits.

"Fine, but shouldn't you have said something when you got back?"

"Miss Sorenson, I assure you that we would have been notified after the stunning dressing-down you gave had the drama with Mr. Coleman not occurred"

I watch in fascination as she glared, looked sheepish, then terrified in the space of a heartbeat. Whipping her head toward the recently gagging Gabriel, boy does he hate spiders, she approached him like an avenging goddess. He stands as she steps in front of him.

"YOU'RE GROUNDED!""YOU'RE GROUNDED!"

"YOU CAN'T GROUND ME!""YOU CAN'T GROUND ME!"

"DAMNIT TROUBLE!""MEANIE!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING GRABBING A SPIDER WITH YOUR HANDS?!""WHY ON EARTH DID YOU HAVE A SPIDER IN YOUR HAIR, MEANIE?!"

Their simultaneous arguments set everyone off laughing at the absurdity of it. Sang snaps her fingers, points her hand toward the bathroom and says "Bathroom, now! I'm washing your hair, Meanie, so move your backside!" Cute!

Looking at Owen, his normal stony visage slacks slightly as if he was just struck on the head. Yeah, that's our Pookie. I love it when she's sassy.

"Shit. That was hot." Silas grumbles. North is busy looking both angry and turned on. Kota hasn't moved since Sang first started her adorable rant. Not that she didn't have a good point or few. Victor is still looking shaky, and Nathan is clenching his fists with his eyes darting between North and Silas. I go into the kitchen to find Luke chuckling and draining pasta.

"Cupcake just keeps getting better, and better! Did you see her pull a Gabe on Gabe?" he crows!

"Beautiful," I reply and gather bottles of water for the boys. Owen walks quietly up behind me and quietly clears his throat.

"What was that?"

"That was Pookie changing from a kitty to a slightly more ferocious kitty who thinks she's a tiger!" I chuckle.

"No, I meant how she dealt with McCoy. She commanded him," he whispers. His eyes are flicking back and forth gauging the situation, analyzing facts, discarding theories, and finally settling into something akin to abject confusion. Ah, Owen my friend. I can't help but feel a smidge of satisfaction seeing his genius stumped. I have a feeling you'll have a few more shocks before the day it through. I silently convey "later" with my eyes. I hear Gabriel and Sang leave the bathroom giggling and turn to see them clinging to each other, both heads wet from washing, as they walked to Nathan's room. Their eyes never leave each other's faces as though they need to make sure the other does not disappear.

I hand out bottles of water to my brothers and mosey over to the closed door. My shoulders shake in silent laughter as I hear their quiet conversation.

"How long do you think we can hide in here before North blows his fucking top?"

"And you call me Trouble, Meanie!" she giggles back.

"Time to eat!" Luke calls, and sets the serving dishes on the table. I stay by the door to hear what other mischief those two are brewing. Everyone sets about filling plates and finding seats. I can already see that North is becoming antsy and mumbling about Sang needing real food.

"You hungry, Trouble?"

"Yes, but that'll spoil our plan....Wait!" Muffled sounds of a drawer opening drift through the door.

"Motherfuckingshit! What are you doing with Nathan's underwear?"

"Can you think of a better place to hide chocolate from North? Because I really can't see him pawing through Nathan's man-part covers!"

I have to run across the room before giving in to the full-blown laughter! Through my tears I see Owen lift an eyebrow at me.

"Mr. Taylor, do please fetch Miss Sorenson and Mr. Coleman before your brothers eat the food you prepared?" Luke lopes to the door, tries the handle and finds it locked. His hand dips into his pocket, and he smoothly tweaks the lock, and disappears through the door.

After ten minutes of listening to North grumble about baby and food, Kota hops up stating "I'll get them"

All four come back together. Gabriel pulls Sang onto his lap as he sits in the only vacant chair. North leans over sniffing at them then straightens. "Luke!"

"It wasn't me this time! I swear! I don't have any chocolate!" and he takes off through the patio door. Uhhuh. And how did you know what North was bellowing about then, buddy? Sang, with the most adorable shade of blush places her hand on North's shoulder and asks him to please pass the parmesan. His face relaxes into a soft smile. HA! That girl is magic.

****That's it for now. There wasn't a good place to stop this update, but I'll be picking up after they eat later.