Trevors eyes grew into spaceships “w-w-what’s going on in Diagon Alley and wait your mum is the head of magical law enforcement?” His ice cream fell with perfect timing, his lips refusing to make peace with each other...

Given what he had just heard, he was even more excited.

"Alright then, its up to you to find a place for us to go. If you can." He challenged the blonde cheekily, as he placed his hands to cradle the back of his neck, like his older brother Noah did. Trying and failing to look as cool as he always did.

Emmerson's eyes widened in disbelief. "You don't know?" Oh Merlin, what a life to live. She heard things, because her mummy talked to Fox about things. She knew something wasn't right. Not that she was worried. Her mum could handle anything.

"It's dark wizard business. Something BIG'S gonna happen and all the aurors are getting ready but 'cept they dunno what they're getting ready for yet." She got goose pimples just talking about it. This was possibly the MOST exciting thing to ever happen EVER. "It's probably gonna be huge and epic and people are gonna die but my mummy will handle it." OBVIOUSLY.

She turned to the first of the pair to have burst in. The 10 year old flopped back into her seat and reached for her ice cream. "It's not up to me to do nothin'." She said, rather decisively.

"You lot stormed in here like you had a plan. If you don't really then I won't waste my time."

Tori was pushing the pram, wanting to cuddle up to Paulie, but also being VERY sure that he didn't wrinkle her or her hat. Their littlest demon, Tino, was conked out in the back of the pram. Zara, the four-year-old, was barely containing her excitement to get to the ice cream AND to Storm, whom she looked up to with unflinching loyalty.

The moment the pram stopped, Zara launched herself off the front of it (she could undo her belt buckle ALL BY HERSELF now) and slid into a seat right next to Storm. And then she obnoxiously scooted her chair, making sure it scraped the floor NICE and LOUD, so that she was as close as possible to Storm without actuaaaaaaaaally touching her.

"HI." HI STORM HI LOOK IT'S ME, ZARA! Did she see her? Did she notice her pink dress? DID SHE LIKE IT?! Zara could barely BREATHE, she was so excited to stare at Storm.

Tori sighed but didn't stop Zara from being... well, Zara. "Hi Louisa," she drolly greeted Paulie's friend. Paulie, meanwhile, got Tino deposited into his arms so that she, the exhausted, soooooooo busy and important Mommy Blogger, could flop into a chair of her own. She wrinkled her nose at Storm in a smile of greeting. "C'mon, Stormy, everybody likes ice cream. Even me." When she wasn't on a diet, that was.

Did everyone notice how nice Tori was being to Louisa? Agreeing with her and everything? Hem hem.

Tori with a pram was the best thing that happened that day so far. It was very non-princess-y it was hilarious. Louisa caught sight of that with a small smirk as she hugged the husband. "Same to you." she replied to Paulie's greeting. The name 'Helen' had lost its old impact on her and now she had an affection for the name. In fact, it almost was Storm's name if Legend had agreed and hadn't pointed out how ridiculous the concept of naming your child after your own school's nickname was. Also, what if Storm grew up to be a dark witch and learned about the background of the name? Louisa would be done for. Judging from the attitude their daughter had so far, this wasn't a far fetched idea, Legend deemed.

Awwwww, look at Zara being incredibly cute. "Hey, Zar, looking pink and beautiful as always." Louisa made sure to put on her quiet, soft tone for the young one considering her daughter would not indulge the lil cupcake. Tino also was adorable but he was at that age where communication was through spit and inexplicable giggles, so she steered clear from him. "Looking a bit overwhelmed there, Tori." she shifted her gaze to the redhead. "How's balancing life and career treating you?"

Not surprisingly, Storm pretended Zara, kind of, didn't exist right now. It wasn't that Storm didn't like Zara, just that Zara was... blah. She thought her younger friend was embarrassing in public. Look at all the wide-eyed staring she was doing right now. However, Storm knew that her mum would ground her for being openly rude and saying her thoughts out loud so she just quickly directed her blue eyes to uncle Paulie's. "Can I get an ice cream cake even though it's not my birthday?" How close exactly was Zara's face? She could see it in her peripheral vision but didn't dare look her directly in the eyes. Maybe if she ignored her long enough she'd go away?????????

Aaaaaaand Paulie got a Tino plopped into his arms. Luckily the boy was was still mellow from his recent nap, so he wasn't all squirmy just yet.. although that surely wouldn't last long. Louisa was right about the spit, by the way, because Paulie could feel a let wet spot of slobber marking his shirt, compliments of his fiery-headed son.

Was Storm asking HIM if she could get an ice cream cake? HAH. "I'll bring it on over here, if your mum pays for it," Paulie answered easily, knowing Louisa wouldn't let the girl get a whole honkin' cake just for the heck of it. He didn't miss the fact that Storm was acting all 'too cool for school' toward his Zara, either, ahem.

"All right, Zara 'n Storm, go get a spot in line for us. Me 'n Tino'll be there in a sec." Valentino, as expected, was getting squirmy and demanding and clearly wanted to be on his own two feet, so Paulie set him down as he looked between Helen and his wifey. "So, what d'you two want? Strawberry for you, Princess?"

Okay but did Louisa know that Tori was a verrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyy famous and influential mommy blogger for wizards AND Muggles now? In fact, she should probably be documenting this trip to the ice cream parlour so that she could show off how well-behaved and incredible her children and husband were. Tori dug a Quick Quotes Quill and a bright pink notebook out of her massive handbag to do just that, getting the thing going on its own on the edge of the table.

"Well, it's going JUST fine," she replied to Louisa, rubbing the corner of her eye and glancing down at her quill to see what it was writing down right now. The redhead pushed the bags up under her eyes, hoping they were not terribly noticeable to the dark-haired beauty across from her. What? What rubbish was this, even her quill liked Louisa now?! Meanwhile, the husband, who was everyone's favourite person, balanced the children with grace and charm, even as he appeared to them to be on their level and not an authority figure like the mothers. Would he be pushed into purchasing an entire ice cream cake for the spoiled child? The odds were not in his favour.

Tori smirked at that bit, turning her attention away from it for a moment. "Strawberry, yes, dear, you know me so well." She blew kisses to Paulie, and leaned in toward Louisa. "Where's Legend?" How was balancing life and career treating HER? HER husband wasn't here, Tori noted. Was there trouble in paradise? Tori's readers LOVED gossip on 'The Chosen One' as he was known.

Zara just BEAMED at Louisa, already squirming in her seat even though she'd been in it for approximately two minutes. She mimicked Storm. "Yeah, can she get an ice cream cake even though it's not her birthday???" Zara would probably do ANYTHING to get Storm to like her.

She wasn't going anywhere yet, except TO THE COUNTER TO PICK OUT HER ICE CREAM SINCE DAD HAD SAID SHE COULD. Zara leapt out of her seat like a rocket, grabbing Storm's arm to tug her with her. She may or may not have knocked Tino off balance as she zipped away, pullllllllllllllllllling her reluctant older friend with her. Zara only had one speed so far, sorry brudder.

Trevors eyes were about to pop out of his head-for the 100th time! “Dark wizard business??”

”woah coool, we should get some weapons” he hadn’t quite grasped the seriousness of the situation “this is the adventure I’ve been waiting forrrr”he screamed charging in a circle

...

....

What...was happening.....?

"Is your brain made of Swiss cheese?" Emmerson demanded, watching the boy going in circles like she...um...did...sometimes....when there was candy involved...or new tutus or SOMETHING other than dark wizard business.

This was clearly different.

"We can't get wands until we're 11." Which she now knew he was not; Birthday boy and all. "That already means we're unarmed and only I have a mummy in Law Enforcement. You're both probably doomed." She nodded firmly, deciding this was the new reality. "I don't know if it was nice knowing you," And she'd been taught not to give such a frivolous compliment until she truly meant it, "But if you do die[/i] will you come find me and tell me about it?"

Louisa made a face when Tori got her stupid 3Q's going. She didn't enjoy those nor the pieces they wrote, so much drama focused. "Is this really necessary now?" her eyes throwing daggers at the floaty thing hoping it'd be knocked down any second.

The ice cream cake thing was just too ridiculous to address. Even her daughter knew it, look at the hopeless look she got when Paulie deflected that request to the APPROPRIATE caregiver. "No way. You didn't like ice cream five minutes ago." Who was she kidding? "A human-sized cake piece and a dash of niceties is all that's allowed today." Maybe that'd sound a bit harsh to other kids, but not to her daughter. Louisa did have a friendly look on her face when she instructed the six-year-old, though.

'Princess'? "I think I just threw up a little in my mouth," they were acting like they were still fifteen, pffffft. And no, she was not jealous. "Butterbeer flavour for the maiden, please." Was the sarcasm clear or did it have to drip down her chin visibly?

Zara was being a loyal minion friend. Storm appreciated the ickle sticking up for her about the cake thing. Even when her mum set down yet another rule, over all the other rules that she kept forgetting.

"Mkay--" she was about to add something about it not being fair that other kids had ice cream cakes without having birthdays at preschool when she was yanked by the underrated small Zara. "--whoa, okay!" she slid down the chair, "Hey, wait up!" she was the older one, so basically she felt obliged to run after Zara and make sure she didn't, like, dissolve among the crowd. Was it even crowded this time of the year?

"He's at home, he's had--" tough mission was the rest of her sentence but she caught herself, eyes watching the QQQ. Not wanting to talk about her husband's work for the public. "He's had a bad morning." Clearing her throat and being all casual and gracefully changing the subject. "So, do you have any crazy fans?" Tori liked the attention, right?

The corner of Paulie's mouth flickered in a little smile when Louisa, as expected, shot down her daughter's request for a full ice cream cake. Paulie may have conveniently NOT heard that. Though he DID hear his friend's vomitty comment after he called Tori 'Princess,' to which he grinned some more. Old habits die hard, sorry not sorry Helen. "Ew, butterbeer, ya weirdo." That was like that worst ice cream flavor. He turned to go join the kiddos in line, but was cut short by his son sprawled on the floor at his feet.

Tino had only been standing on his own two feet for a second or two before ZARA went and plowed him right over on her way to the queue. He toppled back onto his bottom before he knew what was happening. It wasn't so much that it hurt, no. But HE was the baby boy, you know, and being pushed over was no way to treat the most important member of this family.

Crocodile tears brimmed his eyes, the chin started to wiggle, and then – WAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIILLLLLL. The whole shop was to know about this injustice as he sat on his bum, feeling sorry for his poor, neglected little knocked-over self.

"Oh gosh, Tino, ya could put a freakin' mandrake to shame," Paulie added as he swiftly knelt down to set the two-year-old on his feet again. There was some necessary comforting and 'aww poor you' stuff before Paulie redirected him back to the appeal of ice cream, and they joined the two girls in line.

What did Louisa mean by that, necessary NOW? "Now is the perrrrrrrrfect time," she purred for a reply. "We have THREE children here today. This is the EXACT everyday life STUFF my readers want to see. You're just lucky I didn't bring my camera and vintage selfie stick I found on e-Buy." Or whatever it was called. Tori was PROUD to write for Muggles AND wizards, thank ya very much, but it took a lot of work to balance the two. Not to mention, er, actually doing all the things required by motherhood and domestic bliss.

The children, unnoticed by the so-called perfect mother, were already causing a ruckus in the shop. The smallest one was toppled like a Jenga game by the older fire-haired sibling; the eldest of them all, meanwhile, quickly became sucked into their pursuit of the frozen delicacy. The raven beauty, however, was also absorbed, preening and censoring herself much to the dismany of the media.

See? Paulie was on her side. Look at him, picking up Tino like, so perfect like that. Tori maybe even got a little misty-eyed at the sight of the two. HER BOYS. Her baby. She had to resist the urge to run after Valentino and mollycoddle him some, especially because of his WAILING. But all the best books said to ignore it! So she sighed and stayed seated.

Plus, y'know, she still had to look cool in front of Louisa. Old rivalries die hard, OKAY?! "You're no maiden," Tori stated LOUDLY, along with a chortle at Louisa's expense. Her green eyes did land on Louisa's face, though, at the mention of Legend having a... bad morning. Aww. Tori decided to hold back her next biting remark. She'd go along with the subject change, for now. And not just because she LOVED talking about herself.

"I dooooo." Beam! "One of them shares a photo of his cat every time I post a picture of Tino. I don't see the resemblance and I DON'T get the joke." That guy was mild though, compared to some of the mail she occasionally received. "Did you know I had to stop using my surname Bunbury? Apparently there we have some real haters out there???!" Weird, right?! But whatever, Foster was her Paulie's name, and it sounded great with her first name too.

Zara was off in Zaraland, igorning her brother, her dad, and everyone except for Stormy and the ice cream, duh. She was bouncing on her tippy toes in an effort to seeeeeee some of these ice cream flavors, but all she could spy was....

"I'll have what SHE'S having," Zara announced to her dad, or whichever grownup was listening. SHE was STORM by the way. Her idol. *__*

Would Louisa even be surprised if Paulie got Storm the cake and have Louisa pay for it and endure her daughter's smugness? No. But then again, Paulie grew actually to be a great good father. He knew how to balance having fun with the kids, and relating with them enough that they automatically sought him out for guidance and whatnot.

Butterbeer was not an ew, she ignored that bit and watched Tino throw a fit. He was a handful, wasn't he? They were precious at this age, though, wait until he was six forming opinions and asking questions. Louisa's blue eyes left Tori's boys to focus on the mother sitting across from her. She seemed well educated on how to handle a scene-making toddler. "Shouldn't we consent to this or something?" Louisa's eyes leave Tori temporarily to give the stink eye to the quill.

Those fans' stories, though. Wow. "A cat?" She repeated, leaning in over the table absentmindedly. "I think... you should inform law enforcement." That would be Louisa's reaction. Maybe she spent way too much time with politicians and diplomats she lost her faith in human altogether? Apparently not too suspicious because look at her using a different last name because of all the filth in humans. Louisa nodded, almost as if she understood what Tori meant. "Victoria Foster." It had to be tried out loud to see the sense behind the name. "I think it works perfectly. Bunbury is way too classy for a.... for that." she gestured at Tori and her quill, trying so hard not to sound insulting.

Was this insulting? She couldn't tell anymore. Again, she spent too much time participating and leading subtextual discussions with politicians it was seeping into her social life.

Storm caught up to Zara in no time. She had to dodge a few elbows, but she had a nice reflex thanks to her dad's dodge ball games. It was one of her favourite time of the week when they got to play together outside. Her mum was almost there ALL the time, so Storm didn't feel that tug of feeling where she'd miss her, ya know? But dad worked long hours, sometimes days and weeks, so she often found herself craving more time with the old man.

Back to reality, though. Storm took a sweeping look at the flavours, not surprised by Zara's announcement at this point. "If only there is a flavour between chocolate and vanilla," she spoke to her younger friend, who was leaving foggy handprints on the clean glass btw. "Chocolate is too sweet, and vanilla is too white." She tried to sound as smart and sophisticated as her mum. Did it work? "I'll take three scoops of salted caramel." she decided. Anyone was welcome to decipher that train of thought of ice cream flavours.

Finally, Paulie and the children were at the front of the line. Tino had long forgotten his mistreatment by his sister and was now holding onto a fistful of his dad's trousers as he eagerly awaited his frozen treat. A teenage girl offered a standard greeting and asked for their order from behind the counter. "Okay, gotta kinda big order here. We'll have two scoops o' strawberry, two scoops o' butterbeer, two scoops o' mint chocolate chip..." Mint chocolate chip was always refreshing. It was the kind of flavor you either loved or hated, and Paulie had come to be the former. As for the kids... "One scoop o' strawberry for this lil guy, and –" He lifted an eyebrow some as he looked to the girls. "One ice cream cake for the two of ya to split?" Since Zara was so set on eating whatever Storm wanted.

If Storm DID want those three measly scoops of salted caramel ice cream more than a WHOLE cake, she oughta speak now or forever hold her peace..........

"Hmmmmmmm?" Tori was twirling a lock of her hair around a finger and looking longingly after her boys (and Zara), pretending not to hear Louisa of course. The fan topic, though, that was interesting, especially how Louisa would just SNITCH to the FUZZ about a harmless fan.

She wagged a finger at her. "Now just because you're literally married to the law doesn't mean the rest of us want them snooping around in our business in the name of 'protection' from 'stalkers.'" She shook her head no, a BIG no as well. Tori would not be elaborating on what else she didn't want the law to investigate but starting with her fans was just a hard NOPE.

Of course Victoria Foster sounded good. "Take it easy on insulting the quill, Louisa, you should know better by now...." And Tori let out a fake laugh just to emphasize how the quill should be characterizing her. Jot that laugh down as a beautiful cascading waterfall of sound, would it? Also... had Louisa just inadvertently called her classy?! *___* wow, how the times change.

Um, what? Wait, chocolate was out now? AND vanilla? Why did the color of the ice cream matter as long as the flavor was good? Zara tried not to be disappointed by the reasoning skills of her idol, though of course she didn't know what the heck reasoning skills were herself. AND Zara had NEVER EVER had salted caramel anything before, so....

She let out a BIG breath that did indeed fog up the ice cream case, especially because her dad said ICE CREAM CAKE!!!

"YES YES YES," Zara spun around to SHOUT her enthusiasm, but also kept her eyes trained on Stormy the ENTIRE TIME. "One whole SALTY CARRY-A-MEL ICE CREAM CAKE, PLEASE." She didn't know who to look at next!! The ice cream scooper? Her dad? Tino? Ew, why did Tino even GET any ice cream? He was a BABY.

Louisa loved being called "married to the law", so she offered Tori a small smile at that. Technically Legend doesn't work for the ministry anymore, but he sure as heck was still the bravest, most vigilant, and best fighters she knew (all this because the RPer couldn't type a PG-18 adjective). "If you say so. I wouldn't be comfortable with that, but then again, we Ravenclaws are the mind of Hogwarts for a reason." That they were always right.

As for the quill. "Well, if it as much as mentions my child, I'm going to have to succumb to breaking the little thing into a million piece before having them vanish into nothingness." Was that too aggressive? Louisa didn't think so. The quill could go ahead and write whatever about her. Also, that wasn't a compliment, Louisa said Tori used to be classy... ya know before she changed her name. Ahem. Not that Foster is a bad last name, it's just not classy SORRY PAULIE.

"Are you guys admitting Zara into a preschool?" Maybe the one Storm went to at the moment? It was a wizarding preschool, and the girls were obviously besties.

While Louisa paid no attention to the kids and Paulie at the counter since she trusted the goof, Storm's face lit up for the first time since they entered the shop when uncle Paulie suggested the ice cream split between her and Zara. "Ye--" she was about to speak when Zara took the shop by a storm...

... okay, we understand now why Storm is a bad name.

Anyway.

Storm waited until Zara was all out of breath from all the throat clenching and hyperventilating to speak, "Yes, please!" Did anyone else think uncle Paulie was the best human EVER?? After her dad, of course. "Can we get candy on top AND inside, too?" Bracing for Zara's reaction......

Paulie was an adult now, yes – a father, a husband, a handsome and talented employee of WWN – but that didn't take away from the fact that he still enjoyed deviling Louisa at every possible opportunity. NOW he had the opportunity to do so through Storm and her gigantic cake. All the orders were in, including the salted caramel cake for the girls to "split," and after paying, the little hoard of Fosters and Chosen moved to the side to wait for their orders. Thinking ahead for once, Paulie leaned on the glass barrier and asked, "Can we get the regular ice creams in one o' those holder things?" Since it was, like, four ice creams. Tino could wait until they were at the table to start eating his as well because there was a good chance it otherwise would end up on the floor.

Getting bored of waiting, Tino waddled over to his big sister and Storm. His sister got SO excited over something or other, which caught his attention. The world revolved around Tino, so why was Zara still staring at Storm?? Hello, he was here, too. And he would just have to remind her of that. His little chubby hands reached up and grabbed the fabric of her shirt and tuuuuugged – pretty hard for a little tike, by the way. Yes, hi, remember me? Include ME.

When their whole order was finished, Paulie grinned and first slid the cake off the counter and into his hands before turning to Storm. "You're the oldest, Storm, so ya can hold the cake – carefully, see?" Storm WAS rather snobby to his little Zara sometimes, but Paulie trusted a giant cake in the hands of Louisa's daughter more than his own while she was this age.

He took the holder of everyone else's ice cream and gave Zara a light kick on the bum. "Lead the way, pipsqueak."

Tori had to blink her long, false eyelashes at THAT Louisa-ism: 'We Ravenclaws are the mind of Hogwarts for a reason, WHAT?! "Haaaaaahaa," she snickered at her frenemy. "You're so funny, Louisa. I see why Paulie has always enjoyed teasing you." She reached out and pat-patted Louisa on the hand in a condescending 'I'm just humoring you' way.

The women chattering like two hens in a cornfield was far more entertaining to this eavesdropping quill than the children getting their way at the ice cream counter. After all, one was still a violent, feisty beauty and the other was a dumpy strawberry shortcake softened by motherhood. Would the violent self-centred one actually take her inner rage out on this innocent journaling device? Perhaps this semi-sentient quill should make like a leaf in autumn and fall.

As for the quill? She spared it a glance now but just as she looked at it, the thing tumbled over to a stop, looking all for the world like an innocent writing device instead of her charmed companion. "You've frightened it now!" Tori admonished Louisa, plucking the thing up and tucking it (and her parchment) into her tote bag. It wasn't like the Quick Quotes Quill could LITERALLY be broken into a million pieces by Louisa (so much for the mind of Hogwarts, right? see how little SHE knew?!) but the kids would be coming back with the ice cream now and Tori didn't want any spilled on her next blog draft.

"What's the name of Storm's preschool again?" Tori asked, distracted by the general NOISE VOLUME of the shop and also by tucking everything away and out of reach of the soon-to-be-sticky hands of her children. Why WAS it so loud in here? It was like someone had turned up the volume on the radio for some reason.

"CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANDYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!"

OBVIOUSLY Zara WHOLEHEARTEDLY approved of this additional request by Storm, which was not only demonstrated by her MAGNIFICIENT SHOUTING but also by her wacky waving flailing arms that were currently dancing in the air like the fronds of a palm tree before a hurricane hit.

Huh, Stormy had a name just like the exciting weather phenomenon!!!! Zara was just realizing this and realizing that WOW that was an AMAZING name, right up there with the names CANDY and MELODY and SCARLET and SAINT and MUFFIN! Could you believe people actually named their girls that!!!

She may or may not have whacked her dad's legs and/or Storm and/or Tino with those flaily arms, by the way.

Speaking of, annoying little Tino was in her way again, this time RIPPING on her SHIRT! OH NO! SHE ONLY TRAVELED WITH THREE ALTERNATE OUTFITS IN THE PRAM THESE DAYS! "EEEEEK! TINO, you STUPID BABY!" Zara stopped dancing like a tubeman to SHOVE her brother out of the way, a move that was MOST DEFINITELY on purpose this time. And with the prod from her father, that was all the justification she needed for RUNNNNNNNNNNING through the ice cream shop to get back to their table first, o b v i o u s l y leaving Storm in the dust once again. (Never mind that Stormy had to carry the cake, hehehe.)

Zara also SKIDDED to a stop (well, mostly to a stop) by crashing into Louisa's legs/knees. "HI HI HI HI WE DID IT AND WE GOT THE ICE CREAM CAKE AND IT'S IT'S IT'S GONNA BE AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" SQUEE!!

See, Mom? Dad? Zara could be a reporter TOO!

The hand patting was okay. It didn't feel condescending because Tori was looking a lot like a snake doing it. Louisa just gave her a lopsided smile. "I think we're past figuring out why he enjoys me in general. It's been twenty-plus years, Tori, let it go." she replied easily, leaning back in her chair. The truth was Tori became a friend to Louisa under all this fun banter sometimes igniting somewhat of competition over the stupidest things.

The quill falling down was suspiciously satisfying. Louisa squinted her eyes at that. "I see it takes some traits of her owner over time." Louisa laughed at her smart joke, tyvm. Not saying Tori was a fearful woman... or was she? Yeah, Louisa was definitely calling her fearful. "St. Woboldo's Primary School. It's in Hexagon Alley, London." The school should be well known in the wizarding world.

Louisa grew up purely muggle with her family, it was her purpose to raise her daughter in a loving wizarding society where she felt that she belonged and had a good support system growing up.

Speaking of her daughter, Zara slammed into Louisa's knee, and because the former Ravenclaw had a toddler before she quickly had her arms gently balance the four-year-old as she skidded to a halt. It was refreshing seeing a small child so excited and energetic, Storm had been so collected ever since she started walking, so this was a new experience to witness Zara, the actual Storm.

Speaking of Storms...

Yep, Zara did the thing with the shouting for candy. You know what? It was fun keeping Zara around, actually, she did all the reactions for you without wasting a dash of energy. Interesting. Storm came back to reality when Tino waddled closer and asked for his sister's attention only to be swatted away like a chubby fly. Storm, being closer to his height level than his father, instinctively held the boy's arm trying to keep him from falling down.

Merlin's white snowy beard, those two. While they made her a little jealous of not having a sibling, sometimes it was the opposite.

Hold the cake? UHHHH excuse her, that was a reward! And uncle Paulie said she was the oldest and so basically meaning she was the chief. Storm beamed proudly and nodded in all seriousness. "Okay." She slowly got on her tiptoes to grab the platter of the cake, her blue eyes plastered on top of the gorgeous cake they were going to split. Then, while Zara zoomed away from them--thank goodness-- Storm started taking small steps. One foot ahead of the other. She really didn't want to drop this piece of work. "Hey Tino, do you wanna help?" She cooed at the smallest one, prompting him to hang on to her leg or something since his sister was already at their parents' table. She lowered herself a little bit to humour him.

"Oh I'm going to kill your excuse of a husband," Louisa muttered to Tori, eyes now connecting what Zara had just announced to her daughter bringing over a huge cake.

On second thought, maybe Zara didn't need anymore sugar..............

His daughter's flailing arms smacked against his legs, and he peered down just in time to see Zara yelling at her little brother. "Oi, ZARA." Not nice. Even Paulie's voice got firm there. Fosters had to look out for other Fosters, not YELL at them. Unless it was him, you know, because he was the dad and all. But the little blonde tornado was off scampering in the direction of Tori and Louisa without so much as a glance over her shoulder.

All the yelling and shoving that came from his MEAN older sister did not sit well with Tino. There was only one appropriate response to this. His bottom lip began to quivver, tears welling up in his eyes once again. He opened his mouth to release another loud fit of CRYING when the wail stopped short in his throat. Storm was talking to him.

He looked up at the older girl, eyes still glossy, and locked his gaze on the cake. "Me!" In an instant, his demeanor changed from boo-hoo-y to happy, little pumpkin. Very pumpkin-ish, with the red hair and all, too. He hurried his little legs over to Storm and reeeaaaached for the cake in an attempt to grasp it. It was a good thing that she was taking small steps because that made it all the easier to keep up with.

Okay, Storm got a point for saving them all from another Valentino meltdown. Good job, girl. With that, Paulie followed the cake-bearers over to their table, grin on his face as he set the ice creams down before his wife and friend. "Strawberry for mah love, and gross butterbeer for the 'maiden.'" Who wasn't ACTUALLY a maiden. How 'bout that cake, Helen, huh? Heh heh.

As IF a Bunbury were ever capable of letting anything go.... Tori let out a shrill chuckle of her own but she did not reply to that vein of conversation anymore. It was totally not worth her time.

"Oh right, St. Woboldo's." She remembered the name because she'd always found it ridiculous. It sounded like the name of a mental institution, not the name of a preschool. "We'll look into it," was all she said about that, for now, because her darling daughter had crashed into the table.

Tori beckoned her daughter to come sit over by her, mostly so she could keep an eye on her. "Noooooo, we all know that's a hollow threat," she laughed, again, LOUDER this time because it was soooo much fun to annoy Louisa, even after 20+ years. "Come here, Zara darling," she patted the seat next to her.

Naturally this little tornado was going to pretend like she hadn't heard her Dad's voice behind her; she was busy watching Louisa and Mum talk over her head like she wasn't there. She DID skip over to the seat by her mum, though she didn't sit down yet.

"Can Stormy sit by me?" Zara HAD to be sure of this answer before she would plonk herself down. OOPS, DAD WAS HERE. Hopefully he wouldn't mention her knocking big baby Tino over on purpose if she hurried up and sat down and looked ready for cake.

So, Zara did that, grabbing a spoon and a fork and holding one in each fist like a little dictator, and announcing, "I'M READY FOR ICE CREAM CAKE!!!!!!!" In case anyone had their doubts!

Aww, look at her PERFECT husband, hehe. Tori batted her lashes at Paulie and accepted her strawberry ice cream, which she would probably eat three bites of. "Mmhm, it looks WONDERFUL darling." She tossed a napkin at Zara. "Don't get any on your shirt now, hun. I want to take pictures of you and your brother and Storm by the fountain later." They would get sooooooooo many likes from her Muggle followers, come on.

Storm made sure Tino's small hands wouldn't reach the cake for real, she just tried to give him the illusion that he was helping. See? She would've made a great older sister. As soon as she made it to the table, she gingerly placed the cake on it, her smile wide and radiating. It was a little scary to look at her mum, but it wasn't her decision! Uncle Paulie did it, so he should be scolded as well if she did.

Not going to lie, it felt like a small betrayal on Zara's part to sit down with her fork and spoon without reserving a seat nearby for Storm. The six-year-old didn't show that she noticed this, she calmly grabbed a seat next to her mum. "We got the ice cream cake, but only to split between Zara and myself!" she quickly added the last bit, looking at her mother from under her eyelashes, the way she knew had a bigger effect on Louisa.

Satisfied that her daughter was sitting next to her, Louisa smiled calmly, "I can see that. So, we're taking permission from the Fosters now. Isn't our life taking a fun turn..." she said the last words while taking her ice cream from Paulie and throwing him a LOOK. "Nice played, sir. I would fear retaliation because... threatening the integrity of one's family unit is a very risky game." Which means Louisa was definitely going to plant an idea in his daughter's head soon! BEWARE.

Ugh. How much did this cost? What was this, caramel? Since when did Storm even like caramel? Louisa wanted to facepalm so hard her forehead would pop out through the back of her head. Let's play her little girl's game, though, and pretend her mother didn't know her. Placing a small plate in front of her daughter, Louisa dragged the knife towards Paulie. "Wanna cut us a piece, o bringer of wishes?" Was she allowed to punch him in his smiling face at this age and in front of their children? She so wanted to.

Storm sighed, relieved, and sat upright in her seat, waiting for her MAJESTIC piece to be cut and placed in front of her. She didn't really know how salted caramel tasted like, but it was a sophisticated flavour. It must taste nice... she was probably going to taste the cake bit because the ice cream was just too cold to eat. She totally liked the ice cream cake, though! And was going to taste it even if just to prove her mother wrong, ahem.

Tino was so happy to be included with Storm, but he WAS still trying to get a grab on that cake. HE could carry it! What, it was only half his size. He kept up with Storm as they made their way over to the table with Mummy and Storm's mom. "Me! Eat!" The little cherub was still only just beginning to speak – much of his speech was unintelligible – but he was getting the hang of some basic vocab. Namely "me."

Paulie scooped up Valentino and plopped him on his lap as he took a seat beside Tori. Tino appeared to be getting antsy for some of that cake, so Paulie quickly slid over the little scoop of strawberry that was for sunny boy. Also his own mint chocolate chip, you know. He tried to spoon up some strawberry for Tino, but the boy was physically insisting on doing it himself. "Fine, fine. You eat your ice cream, Tino." Paulie wasn't going to promise that that boy would keep his clothes clean, though. But hey, that's why they had magic, right? Tori could still get her cute pics for her blog.

He'd wanted to admonish Zara for her unsisterly behavior a few minutes ago, but to be honest, it had already slipped his mind. Lucky Zara. FOR NOW. Could pop back in his head later, so she wasn't totally in the clear. Paulie chuckled when Louisa said something about their family taking permission from the Fosters. "'S that right? Huh. Sounds like a fun turn to me," Paulie grinned before eating a heaping bite of ice cream himself. "Pfffft, I bought the cake! Ya can at least cut it." He was enjoying his ice cream way too much to be bothered with cutting the cake. Sorry, Helen, that was now your duty.

"So, what've you two hens been talkin' 'bout, hmm?" Paulie leaned over so he was all up in Tori's space, his eyes on her strawberry dish. "Gimme a bite." Treats always tasted so much better when they were someone ELSE'S. Especially Tori's.

The cake was for HER and STORMY, did everyone hear that? Zara banged her fork and spoon fists on the table loudly to emphasize her friend's point. She didn't .... really know what these big words were that Storm's mom was using. 'Retaliation?' and 'Integrity'? Who talked like that? Zara's big eyes trailed to her dad to see if he'd tell her.

Also, why did her dad have to sit in Stormy's seat? UGHHHHHH. Zara made a big pouty face. "I need a piece." Hello, adults just feeding yourselves! HELLO! She ignored the napkin from her mum, allowing it to float in the air and land on the table like a sheet in the wind. Hehe. Cool.

"I'll help him," Tori cooed to her babies (aka, the boys) as she spooned up a little bit of her own strawberry ice cream. She wanted to zoooooom it into his mouth, but he was fussing and trying to act like such a big boy, so she laughed and spooned it into Paulie's mouth instead. Since he was trying to probably get Tino's baby drool on her leg anyway, sitting as close as he was. "There ya go, baby." Her BIGGEST baby hehe. She patted his cheek after she fed him, too. PAT PAT. It was not even a smack!

Tori stuck the same spoon back into her ice cream and swirled it all around. She was feeling anxious about eating so much sugar today; it wasn't part of her diet plan to lose five pounds by this time next week. Maybe she could feed this ALL to Paulie? He never gained any weight. He was still perfection.

As for what they were talking about? Well this was an easy way to distract everyone. "Louisa's having marital problems," Tori declared with a flippant smirk. "She's been making threats of violence against you and me and that one fan who sends me cat pictures."

Can Louisa just say how Tino and Zara were her favorite fosters? Not even Paulie right now was on top of her list. She just sat there, watching with a small smile the smallest child basically boss his parents without their knowledge probably. "You're so lucky we have the kids around, Foster." She replied to Paulie's refusing to cut HIS cake idea. Since she was the responsible adult here, Louisa did cut a piece of cake for Zara first, then another one for Storm. Meanwhile, Tori and Paulie were acting only like a few years older than their children with the ice cream feeding business. Louisa, eating her ice cream like a normal person, just stared at them with a blank expression.

Storm also watched uncle Paulie and auntie Tori's interactions interestingly. They were so happy, and you could tell how much they loved being together just by watching them. You didn't even have to know they were married. She didn't notice she chuckled a little when uncle Paulie got a scoopful of ice cream.

How come her parents never acted this way? She knew her mum and dad loved each other but only because she asked and they answered. You wouldn't tell from just looking at them. Not like Zara's parents. For some reason, that made her regret not insisting her dad came with them today. He was pretty tired, her mum said, so she didn't want to bother him. When Tino fussed with his ice cream, her attention snapped back to her piece of ice cream cake. She grabbed a spoon, cut off a piece, and started playing a little with the small piece.

Louisa fixed Tori with a look. A LOOK. A serious Louisa look that didn't appreciate the marital thing, her child who understood words way better than hers was sitting right there and wouldn't understand the joke/jab. "Oh I will always threaten you and your joke of an audience." she replied, not being a good role model for her daughter saying this. "I fail to see what's new." She took a bite full of butterbeer ice cream.

"Mum?" Storm, slightly rocking her dangling feet from the chair, interrupted, "What does marital mean?" Married? That was the closest she could relate to.

Yep. She saw that coming. "Marriage. She's just joking. We're joking." Louisa answered quickly, then tapped Storm's plate with her finger. "You're not eating."

Not completely believing her mother because no one was laughing (who were outside of the couple of lovebirds), Storm nodded slowly. If she said so... "I am. It's just cold. I need to eat slowly so it doesn't hurt here." She pointed to her forehead.