"Fiiiiine,starve," Reese told Jake.She took one looked at him before she poured herself a glass of orange juice. "No,there's no use in making him eat.He won't do it no matter what we say," she replied to Heath. She took a sip of her juice as she listened to Heath. She sat the cup back on the table before she spoke, "That reminds me.Can I have a party here this weekend?"

"Fiiiiiine I will," Jake spat, jumping down from his chair and walking round and round the table over and over again. He miiiiiiight have knocked into Reese a few times as he passed her.

Examining his hands quietly, not sure how he wanted to react to Jake, Heath sighed quietly. Loads of memories were returning from the weeks when Jake was a baby and Heath was still with Brooke. Nobody knew how to handle this kid for the best. "Hmm? A party?"

Heath bit his lip and watched Jake's circling. He jerked his head to his son, asking if Jake would be attending but without actually saying anything. "I'm not so sure..."

"Brat,"Reese muttered under her breath as Jake jumped out of his chair and started circling the table.She took another sip of her orange juice as she watched every move Jake made.When Jake bumped into her,she scowled. "Don't touch ME," she told him before turning back to Heath.

"Plllllllease,"she begged him.

Stopping next to Reese and getting right up in her face, Jake yelled through his gritted teeth. "I. AM. NOT. A. BRAT."

Breathing quickly, Jake's fists clenched and unclenched at his sides and he debated turning the table over. Instead, he reached out for the plate his dad had tried to get him to eat from and slammed it upside down on the table, smashing it. Once that was done he stormed from the room.

Heath sighed as he watched Jake. How the heck had he managed at school all year? Hmmm... "You know, you should be careful with Jake," Heath pointed out. "I don't think he quite understands that he doesn't quite understand things like others, so he can't tell anyone, but I can tell you now, Jake doesn't think the same way as you or I presumably do... Now... this party..."

Heath leant back in his chair and casually vanished the mess on the table, repairing the plate in the process. "I suppose your mother and I could make ourselves scarce this weekend... and maybe Ryan... but Dale might be hanging around... Also, I'll let you have it if Jake can go... and you keep an eye on him..."

Fingering the patterns on the table, Heath looked up and met Reese's eyes, waiting for any objections that were sure to come.

Reese narrowed her eyes when Jake got all in her face.Back away while you still can. "You are a brat.Face the bloody facts,Jake,"she told him.She watched as Jake smashed his plate and then stormed out of the room.She rolled her eyes and looked at the eggs that were scattered all around the table.She gently shook her head.

Reee looked back at Heath. "Still,Jake can learn to control himself.Before you know it he'll have the house burned down to the ground,"she said. She leaned back in her chair at the same time Heath.She crossed her arms before she replied to him, "I don't like this deal.See,I have people coming that Jake isn't very fond.Why don't you take Dale and Jake with you?I don't want anything to happen to anyone of my friends." Especially Cale.But she didn't dare say his name out loud just in case Jake was still hanging around in a room nearby.

"Reese," Heath pressed his hands up to his face and leant his elbows on the table. "Jake is... the part of his brain that tells him something is the wrong thing to do doesn't always work... and when he loses his temper, that's when something happens. I am totally surprised he got through his first year at Hogwarts in one piece... the staff must have been very kind, and he must have had absolutely no trouble..."

Leaning back again, Heath eyed Reese. "It's important not to stress him out... but don't you think he'll be extremely hurt if you don't let him come to the party in house... And are any of his friends going to be there? Won't that be incredibly unfair?"

Heath smiled a little. "I'll see what I can do about Dale. Is there any particular reason I should really not let Jake go, I want details."

He'd let her state her case, then persuade he with the thing that juuuuust might clinch the deal.

"Doesn't always work?Well,that's interesting,isn't it?I bet it does work,he just ignores that little voice that tells you want not to do.I mean,I ignore that voice sometimes and-well-that's when I get in trouble,"she told Heath.She could tell him about the little incident last year that led Reese to detention,but then that would mean having to tell Heath about Jack strangling Jake and she didn't want Heath to know about that."The staff at Hogwarts is nice.Well,most of the staff is."

Reese raised her eyebrow at Heath eyes her. "I did invite one of his friends.Cam.At least,I think they're friends,"she said. "I also invited Lima.Her and Jake are friends." She grinned at Heath.

"You want details?Are you sure about that?"she asked Heath with an evil grin. "But,as long as you keep Dale away,annnnnd-yes,I have another deal to make-you must take away ALL of Jake's extra sticky spellotape.I mean ALL of it.I might just let Jake attend."

"Or maybe Jake doesn't get that voice... maybe it's just quieter than it should be..." Heath shrugged. Who knew what was going on in that boy's head.

Nodding with a playful smug grin on his face, Heath made his point again. "And so you see my point? You invite his friend and not let him go... Jake wouldn't be very pleased there..." But still, it looked like she was coming round to the idea.

"Ahem... maybe not details then, if you'd rather not," Heath smiled a little awkwardly. Confiscate the spellotape... sure... "Okay... it's a deal... And if you definitely let him go, I'll let you watch him... and I say let, because you would be in charge. Take care of him, deal with him when he causes trouble, and stick up for him... I need to know he'll be taken care of at school, too..."

"Maybe,"Reese said."I guess we will never know."She shrugged and then picked her glass back up. "Of course I see your point," she told him as she took a sip of her juice. "Jake isn't please with anything.This party won't make that big of a difference on him." She sat her empty glass back down on the table.

"Yeah,you don't want the details.Because it involves me having some hair loss,"Reese told Heath. "So-you're taking all of his spellotape-can I also ask for anything deal?Can I get a muzzle for Jake?You know-so I can be sure Cale won't get bitten or anything." When Heath gave her total control over Jake,Reese gave a little evil grin. "Sure thing.I'll take care of little Jakers for you." Bwahahahahaha.Jake was going to be wrapped around her finger in no time.

Ryan finally woke up and got out of bed.He scratched his head as he headed out of his bedroom.He looked from Dale's door to Reese's door to Jake's door.Should he dare go in there?He was actualy scared.That little boy went crazy when he was offered sugar a few days ago.The HORRORS of that night.But,he dared himself.

Ryan walked up to Jake's bedroom and kncoked three times on it. "Jake?"

Letting out a sigh, Heath nodded. "But, it's important not to be cruel to him any more than he deserves..."

Hair loss? Uhmm... okay? Ewwwww... What had his son been up to?

Heath chuckled again, and got up from the table, grabbing himself a drink of water and leaning up against the counter. "I'm not totally sure about that... I think it's verging on cruelty..." Heath smiled again for a moment. "I can't promise he won't bite... especially after the other day when he had all that sugar... but you can take care of him how you see fit. Send him to his room, ground him, make him go to bed early... only if it's called for though," he made sure to add.

Growling from under his bed covers, Jake poked his scruffy haired head up. Who had daaaaaaared disturb his sleep?! "What do you want?" he called irritably, before rolling over and attempting to go back to sleep. "Come in, I guess."

"Fiiiiiiine.I promise I won't be cruel to Jake," Reese said.She leaned up and propped her elbows up on the table. "And that's a promise I'm willing to keep-for you,of course." She gently smiled.She was liking this Heath guy.He was easy to get along with.

"Oh,come on.It's not that cruel,"Reese told him. "If he bites,he-" She stopped talking,then shook her head. "Nevermind,"she added. If she finished that sentence, then she would have just broken the promise she just made. "So,you're giving me full control over Jake?May I ask why?I haven't done anything,but fight with him since he's been here."

Ryan opened Jake's door and stepped inside. "Hey,buddy-" he said. "You know it's time to get up?It's already ten." He looked around Jake's room then back to him. "You seem angry.What's wrong?" He walked over to the bed and sat down beside Jake.

Nodding and laughing gently, Heath smiled. "Good... I'm sure I can trust you," he said, thinking about how he knew really that Reese and Jake loved each other. It just took time.

Ignoring the first part of Reese's next statement, Heath nodded. "Mhmm, full control... basically, Jake needs someone looking out for him, and like I said, I need to know someone has his back at school... Plus, I want to try and stamp out this behaviour... And if you manage it, and you're at school, maybe he'll stop acting like this."

Not fully able to open his eyes just yet, Jake stayed in his position. "Dad already got me up once," he explained, drifting to sleep every now and then. "And I'm tired... I hardly got any sleep at school this year..."

Stupid Jack Mosier.

"AND," Jake went on, suddenly remembering the recent cause of his annoyance. "Reese just called me a brat... again!"

"You can trust me,"Reese assured Heath.She stood up from the table and walked over to the sink and sat her empty glass in it. "You know,Heath-" She looked up at him. "I just wanted you to know that I bet your going to be more of a father to me than my real dad was.It's just that-he never really did anything with me and I doubt he loved me that much."She weakly smiled at him. "I just wanted to let you know that."

"Well,Jake will always have me.I'll try my best to get him over this bratty stage," Reese told Heath. "But,I can't promise anything." She shrugged a little bit. "Hey,change of subject,did you cook more eggs?I'm starving."

"Oh,okay,then.I'll let you have you're sleep Jake.I'll come back in later," Ryan told him. He stood up and headed towards the door,but stopped right when his hand came in contacted with the door handle. "Haha,Jake-" Ryan turned around. "Don't listen to Reese.I bet she's more of a brat then you'll ever be.Waiiiiiit,until she doesn't get her way.Just wait." With that, Ryan opened the door and walked out.

Smiling awkwardly again, Heath winked at Reese. "No problem, kiddo," he smiled at her. Was she the daughter he'd never had? How cool. "I'm sure your dad did love you... but I'm still happy to hear that." Heath, like Jake, had never been one for lying.

"Good on you, girl," Heath chuckled, turning back to the counter, faced with the task of clearing up. It was a lifesaver when Reese asked for some food. "Sure, I'll start 'em up the good ole muggle way, if you wanted to go get dressed?"

"'Kay, Ryan," Jake yawned, wrapping the duvet round him so he was tightly secured. "Make it a lot later though," he mumbled, reaching his had out for his Simba cuddly toy and snaking his thumb to his mouth. "'Kay," he sighed again, his voice noticeably different now.

"No,trust me,if you knew what my dad made me go through before I went to live with my godmother.See,since he didn't spend a lot of time with me,my dad decided to adopt someone that would.And-well-that didn't work out well," Reese said. She looked down at her arm that use to be covered in bruises. "Someone who loves you shouldn't put you threw stuff like that."

"Nwaaaaah.I don't feel like getting dressed right now.Is it okay if I stay in my pajamas just for a little bit longer?"Reese asked Heath.

"Okay then, kid," Heath nodded with a tight smiled on his face. He knew when to shut up, and that time had come here. "I shall say no more about it," he added, before making a gesture as if to zip his lips closed. Then ruining the effect, Heath yawned widely.

"Oh, I suppose so," he said in fake annoyance, before grinning and turning around to start the eggs. "You know, I just thought of something... we got three birthdays coming up soon... and we won't all be home for two of them... Jake is on the 31st of August, I'm told you are the 1st of September, and then Dale is the 2nd of September... weird, huh?"

Reese looked around the room and sighed.Where was Cam?That little dog was probably up to no good.She went back over to the table and sat back down in the seat she left a little bit ago. "Oh,really?That is weird.I never really thought about that,"she said.Geez,she was turning 16 before school started.It seemed just like yesterday when she was 11. "I don't think I want to turn 16.I feel like life is flying by,"she told Heath as she ran her finger along the table.

Starting to cook up the eggs, Heath listened to Reese's concerns. He remained quiet as the sounds were too noisy to concentrate over and he wanted Reese to hear what he had to say.

Finally finished, Heath set the plate and cutlery in front of Reese. "Here... now then..." he said, sitting down again. "To be quite honest... I don't really know what that feels like... I had to grow up pretty fast when I was younger... lived on the streets when I was about 14 and took care of the little kids. When I turned 17, I managed to trade my way up to a property... I was able to look after everyone... but I can't remember ever being worried about growing older..."

Heath cut himself off from the mini life story and shook his head. "But I suppose I know what you mean... When you're young, there's that sense of security, that you can't necessarily explain, and the older you get, the more it goes. Maybe?"

Reese looked at the plate of eggs when Heath sat them in front of her.Ohmygossssssh.These looked so good.She picked up her fork and started eating them as she listened to Heath talk. "By took care of the little kids you mean the little kids that were living on the streets at the time as well?"she asked. She took some more bites of her eggs as she let Heath finish his story. "You have a nice life story there,except for the part of you living on the streets.If you don't mind me asking,why were you living on the streets?Did you runaway from home?" She shrugged a little bit. "I just personally don't want to grow up.I don't have a good reason to why I want to stay this age." She smiled then took another bite of eggs.

Nodding slowly, Heath regarded Reese. "Yeah..." he said. "There was a bunch of us... some were older, but a few were really young... we never asked why anyone wasn't at home..." he added. "But I'd try to help them. I had managed to make friends with some adults about, and they took some of the little kids in... it was... like an empire or something; you work your way up."

Shutting up, as though he was scared of revealing too much, as if he was making it sound appealing, Heath tilted his head at his curious step-daughter. "I don't know my parents," he explained. "I lived with another family in another country... got sent to Durmstrang. I didn't like it, so I ran away to England, where my parents had originally lived... But I never made it to Hogwarts, I knew all about it... but anyway, I helped the kids, then when I was on the lookout one night, I met Brooke... and the rest is history..."

Wondering vaguely if she was going to ask about why he left Jake with Brooke and never spoke to him, Heath sat back with a slight smile still on his face. Blah.

Reese sat back in her car and listened to Heath talk.She really didn't know what to say about this.It was sad.Why would anyone want to live on the streets?She started fumbling with the end of her hair as she let Heath finish up his story. "I think it was very nice of you to help those little kids,"she finally said. She stopped fumbling with her hair and looked at Heath and smiled.

Awww.Heath didn't know he's real parents.That was mega sad. "Yeah,the rest is history-"she trailed off.She looked around the kitchen the it dawned on her."Heath,why did you leave Jake with Brooke?Actually,here's a better question,why did you leave your family?"

Clearing his throat, Heath got up and stepped back, away from the table. "Jake was... a weird kid... I was young, very young... 20 years old... I couldn't handle it," Heath muttered, looking away and trying not to think about how cold he was the day he left. "Anyway..."

Turning back, Heath let the smile drift back onto his face. "I better start telling Dale we're taking him out... seen my hardhat?"

OOC: Skipping ahead in time to preparing for the party

Reese took one last look in th mirror as her party outfit.Hmmmm.This wasn't one of her best dresses,but it will have to do.She turned around and made sure everything in the back looked good.Perfect.She clipped one of her hair pins in then headed out of her bedroom.

Reese headed next door to Jake's bedroom and knocked a few times.She had to get everything settled out with him before any of her guests arrived.She didn't want him misbehaving.

"What?" Jake yelled through the closed door as he finished up getting changed. He was dressed in his usual red jeans and purple trainers along with a blue t-shirt. "Hurry up with it, people will be here soon..."

"I'm coming in-"Reese called out.She opened the door and walked inside Jake's room. "I wanted to tell you that Heath has giving' me full control over you.So,if you misbehave-I get to say your punishment.Understand?"