Hide And Seek
~~ Oh gee look it's me...*sigh* another sequal..yes I know. Hopefully this one won't be too boring...actually, i'm looking forward to this one lol. Anywhoo, sorry again if the sequels sicken you...as always, I end in three's. PS: The first chapter is kinda long... Enjoy!! :)~~

The upstairs hallway was quiet as he stepped past his bedroom silently. His feet dug into the carpet heavily as he grabbed the banister and trailed his dark eyes around the hall, making sure he wasn’t being followed.
Fully aware of the soft voice coming from his bedroom, he stepped down onto the first step and grabbed the banister with both hands now, pulling himself down the meandering staircase. When he reached the bottom, he eyed the living room, hearing the TV blaring softly and jogged clumsily into the kitchen.

He glanced around quickly and frowned with frustration when he didn’t find what he was looking for. Quickly, he ran into the living room and stopped beside the couch, eyeing the television for several seconds before finally remembering what he came down here to do. As he searched the living room, he could sense the dark eyes from the couch on him, watching his every move cautiously.

The looming figure on the couch blinked down slowly at him and made no facial expression whatsoever. He shivered slightly, feeling a little uncomfortable that this shadowy figure was watching him from above.

“ What are you doing?” he asked in a low and soft tone…a tone he trusted.

He put a finger to his own lips and raised his eyes in fear. “ Shh, I’m hiding.” He whispered with a small voice.

The figure’s eyes softened and he gave a small smile, looking around the room and then nodded. “ Hiding from whom?” he whispered back, giving into the game.

“ The monster…” He breathed, hearing the number three shouted from upstairs.

“ Does this monster have a name?” he asked quietly with a small chuckle.

The child took a short breath and shook his head. “ I can’t say…she’ll get me…”

The figure laughed softly to himself and nodded with acknowledgment. The number 0 was shouted from upstairs and the child gave a short gasp, looking around furiously for a place to hide. Quickly, he dropped to his knees and crawled under the coffee table, staring up at the smiling man above him who was seated on the couch.

Surely, he wouldn’t give away his hiding spot to the monster…would he?

“ Ready or not, here I come!” Laura bounced downstairs and sighed heavily while running a hand through her long dark hair.

Mike continued to stare at the TV while briefly glancing down under the table to see if his three year old son was still there. Of course he was…and with a large smile, confident that his older sister wouldn’t find him.

Laura frowned and opened up closets and cabinets, searching for the little demon she sometimes referred to as Xander. “ Where are you Xander?” she asked softly and opened the laundry room door.

Mike smiled and shook his head as he continued to watch TV. Xander lifted his head from underneath the table and glanced around quickly, making sure ‘the monster’ wasn’t coming. Suddenly, she appeared from the laundry room and he ducked back under the table and froze.

Laura walked into the living room and looked at Mike who couldn’t wipe the smirk from his face. He looked up at her and then glanced at the coffee table, signalling where Xander was hiding. An evil smile spread across Laura’s face and she nodded, not noticing Mike’s finger pointing away from the table, signalling something completely different to the little boy.

“ I’m coming to get you Xander…say your pray-.” She stopped suddenly with confusion as she dropped down to the floor, staring at the empty space under the coffee table.

“ What the-.” She coughed down her words as he suddenly felt two arms wrapped firmly around her neck and a tiny body against her back.

“ GOTCHA!” Xander shouted with excitement and then erupted into a fit of giggles. Laura lowered her eyes and gave an irritated sigh, hearing her father’s chuckles echoing throughout the room.

“ Xander I don’t think you quite understand the concept of this game. You’re supposed to hide and I’m supposed to find you. You’re not supposed to jump out and scare the living sh…inoda out of me…” She muttered, seeing her father’s look of disapproval about the language.

“ But it’s fun!” Xander shouted happily.

“ Well I’m glad for you…hold on.” She sighed and grabbed his legs then hoisted him up while he gripped her tightly, excited about his piggy back ride.

“ Stop kicking your legs.” She growled with annoyance.

“ Daddy look! I’m tall!” He shouted.

“ I see that. Laura, aren’t you a little old to be playing hide and seek with a three year old?” Mike asked as he stood up.

“ 17 is not old…besides, he’s not in school and he has no friends to play with. Who else is going to play with him? Chester? No, because he’s moving into his new house today and I thought you were supposed to be helping.” She explained.

Mike cringed a little as he remembered the lecture Anna had given him about that. “ Yeah well the rest of the guys are there and besides I have to take care of you two.” He replied lightly.

“ What makes you think I can’t take care of him without you?” she demanded.

“ Laura, I’m falling!” Xander warned.

She rolled her eyes and hoisted him up higher and gripped his legs as tightly as she could. “ My point exactly. You almost dropped him.” Mike laughed.

“ Isn’t Chester going to be upset that you didn’t go to his house and help him move?” she asked to change the subject.

“ He won’t care-.”

“ –He’s your best friend.” She interrupted with a frown.

Mike’s ears buzzed as the phone rang loudly. He blinked slowly at his daughter and shook his head, instantly knowing she was right. He should have been out there helping Chester…but instead he was hiding out at home. He just didn’t have the time and patience for all those people lately and knew that the moment someone mentioned how distant he had been lately, he’d snap.

He picked up the receiver and cleared his throat, watching Laura lowering her brother onto the floor. “ Yeah…” he muttered.

"Mike where the hell are you?”

“ Oh hey Rob…” he replied with a monotone.

“ Oh hey Rob? That’s all you have to say? You told everyone you were coming out to help…do you know how fucking hard it is to get a couch through a door?” he demanded.

“ Yeah I can take a guess…look I’m kind of busy right now, can I call you back?”

“ No you can’t because I want to know what the hell is going on. Anna has been apologizing for your disappearance all day. Is there a reason why you can’t just come over and help Chester unpack at leased?” he asked softly.

Mike gave a heavy sigh and rolled his eyes, leaning against the wall. “ I told you I’m busy.”

“ Busy with what? Laura’s old enough to take care of Xander by herself.” He argued.

Mike glared as he watched his son performing a balancing act on the top of the couch. “ Xander get down from there now!” he shouted while lowering the phone away from his mouth.

“ But Daddy-.”

“ –No, get down from there! I mean it!”

“ Okay…maybe you are busy…” Rob muttered apologetically.

Mike raised the phone to his mouth once again and watched Xander carefully as he lifted one foot off of the couch and teetered dangerously around the side. “ Yeah…DAMMIT LAURA, GRAB YOUR BROTHER!” He shouted, causing Rob to jolt the phone away from his ear.

When Mike shouted…he REALLY shouted.

Laura came out of her room and widened her eyes at the sight before her. She ran towards Xander and caught him just as he fell off the side of the couch.

“ Sorry Rob…look I have to go…see you around…” Mike muttered stressfully.

“ Yeah, bye.”

He hung up the phone and walked towards his two children with a very unhappy look upon his face. Both stared up at him with guilty expressions and fearful eyes.

“ Laura…why the hell did you just leave him here by himself?” he demanded quietly.

“ He was with you!” She argued back.

“ I was on the fucking phone Laura! Come on, I can’t run over there with a short cord!”

Xander buried his head inside his sister’s neck and clasped his eyes shut tightly. He hated it when his father yelled.

“ Well then next time use the portable phone.” She muttered cautiously.

Mike’s eyes widened angrily and his cheeks became red. “ You want to say that again?” he demanded.

“ Not really…” she replied shakily.

“ Take him to his room.” He ordered.

Xander raised his head and stared at his father helplessly. He was only sent to his room when he was VERY naughty. “ But I didn’t do nothing!” He argued quietly.

Mike stared into those large brown eyes and kept his deep glare. He wasn’t getting out of it this time. “ Xander…we are going to discuss it later. Laura, take him up to his room…NOW.”

“ Dad, he was just being a kid-.”

“ –Yeah and he could have gotten himself killed! Upstairs, NOW!”

Laura shook her head with disapproval and carried her little brother upstairs who was already shaking. She put him down on the floor and he stared at her through the darkness of his room.

“ Laura?”

“ Sorry…” she sighed and closed the door, watching the beam of light from the hall fade from his shaded round face. As she turned to go back down the stairs, she heard his little voice calling out to her and a few small booms against the door.

She decided to ignore it and slowly made her way downstairs where she found Mike with crossed arms and a very deep glare. She had never seen him so angry in her entire life.

“ Come here.” He ordered sternly.

Reluctantly she stepped in front of him and he sighed sharply. “ What the HELL is the matter with you?”

“ So this is all my fault?” she demanded.

“ You were supposed to be watching him!” He shouted in disbelief.

“ Um, who’s his father?” she asked with squinted eyes.

“ Laura, when I’m busy, he’s YOUR responsibility. He almost fell off the couch and cracked his head open!”

Laura sighed angrily and peered into his dark eyes shakily. She hated these kinds of lectures. Usually her mother would be the one to give them but…now Mike was and somehow she found it strange that he was scolding her. Usually he was laid back and fair…defending her when her mother over reacted.

“ Okay fine…I wasn’t watching him, so shoot me.”

“ Yeah well too bad murder’s illegal.” He snapped fiercely.

She raised her eyes in disbelief and gasped out at his behaviour. Somehow she knew this fight wasn’t going to end on a good note.

“ What the fuck is up with you? What’s with all the hostility? People make mistakes!”

“ That is one mistake I will not allow in this house. Your brother almost got himself killed because you weren’t watching him so you know what? Go to your room the rest of the night and don’t come out until I say so.”

“ What? You’ve NEVER sent me to my room!” she argued back.

“ Well I guess there’s a first for everything right?”

Laura just stood there and stared at him for several minutes in shock. This was so unlike him. “ And what if I say no?” she asked and crossed her arms defiantly.

Mike’s eyes lowered giving him a shaded look of pure anger throbbing through the black orbs. “ Get down into that fucking room before I physically force you.” He whispered sharply.

“ That’s called abuse.” She replied with a shaky voice.

She found it odd that her voice was so shaky. Was she really that afraid of him or was she just still in shock about all of this?

“ Yeah and if you don’t go down into that fucking room right now, it will go from abuse to murder…am I making myself perfectly clear?” he demanded.

“ You’re actually threatening to murder me?” she asked quietly.

He approached her slowly and backed her up against the wall near her bedroom door. He stared her down for several moments and then opened the door.

“ Get out of my sight.” He whispered harshly.

Laura swallowed hard, feeling the goose bumps rippling against her arms. He was actually scaring her. Without another word, she walked down the stairs and into her bedroom only to hear the door slam shut above. She silently hoped that her mother would be home early tonight…
~~ Yeah just to let y'all know...Mike is gonna be a little weird in this fic because i just love torturing him lmao...hope this chapter wasn't too long!! More coming soon and thanks for putting up with my fics again lol...review if u want...lol...Thank you! :)~~

Stressed Household
~~ Yay i updated again...hope y'all are happy...AND I SERIOUSLY COULDN'T STOP TYPING...4 PAGES PPL, 4!!...kay, enjoy! :)~~



The room was dark as Mike entered it slowly and cautiously. He knew he had scared Xander that afternoon and it was odd for him to hear his father yelling that much. He was usually a good boy and rarely got into trouble…but for some reason that afternoon he had raised his father’s stress level to a new high. Mike stopped at the edge of his son’s bed and lowered his eyes as he heard a sniff through the darkness.

Mike reached over and turned on the lamp on his small nightstand and lowered himself onto his knees at the side of the bed. Xander raised his head and peered into his father’s eyes with guilt and sadness. Mike sighed uneasily and managed to give a small smile in order to calm his nerves.

“ Xan-.”

He stopped suddenly as Xander glared and turned around, facing his back towards his father. Mike lowered his head and swallowed hard, feeling instantly guilty for frightening the small child.

“ Xander come on, turn around.” He stated softly.

“ No…” he muttered in a small stuffed voice. Obviously he had been crying for quite some time.

“ Please?” Mike asked quietly.

Xander lowered his head and bit his quivering bottom lip, feeling the warm tears escaping his eyes and trailing down his reddening cheeks.

“ N-no…”

Mike heard another sniff and then a small whimper. His heart felt sick as he listened to his son’s quiet cries. “ Xander…I’m sorry I yelled. I didn’t mean to scare you. Please turn around so I can talk to you.” He explained gently.

Reluctantly, the small child turned around slowly and dangled his tiny legs over the edge of the small bed. Mike stared into his red swollen eyes and sighed softly.

“ I want you to pay close attention Xander because I’m only going to explain this once.”

The toddler eyed his father curiously and blinked slowly with acknowledgment, allowing more tears to run down his cheeks. Mike lifted his hand slowly and softly began wiping away his tears while watching his dark eyes search his. And so he began with a soft voice, careful not to frighten the child any further.

“ When you were balancing on top of the couch…it scared me okay? Do you understand Xander?”

The child cocked his head with confusion and frowned. “ Scared?”

“ Yes. I thought you were going to fall and hurt yourself. I couldn’t get to you fast enough…so I yelled for your sister. And Xander, look what happened…you did fall…but thank God someone was there to catch you. Next time you might not be so lucky. I don’t know what I would have done if something happened to you. You see, I wasn’t yelling to scare you…I was yelling because I was scared.”

The small boy sniffed back his tears and swallowed them hard, still staring into his father’s eyes. Mike could tell that Xander still wasn’t too sure about all of this. Just trying to understand the concept of a grown up being scared was enough to give him a headache. Grown ups were supposed to be brave…and they were always supposed to know what to do.

“ Do you understand?” Mike asked softly.

Xander scratched his head lightly and gave a deep frown, causing creases to form in his perfect skin. “ Well you will…just know that I’m not angry with you…but if you ever do that again, I will be…got it?” he asked slowly.

Xander nodded slowly and lowered his eyes once again, feeling the tears penetrating his thick lashes. “ I’m sorry daddy…” he mumbled through tears. Mike gave a weak smile and nodded, sighing softly.

“ I know you are. Come on, give me a hug.” He chuckled.

Xander outstretched his arms and gripped his father’s shirt tightly while digging his head into his shoulder, allowing the tears to soak his shirt.

“ I love you daddy…” he muttered weakly as his voice broke with tears.

Mike lowered his eyes and rubbed his son’s back gently. “ I love you too…just don’t scare me like that ever again.”

“ Kay…” Xander sighed and managed to stop his tears. Mike watched as he pulled away and rubbed his eyes wearily, wiping away the drying tears. He brushed through his son’s hair slowly and smiled, glancing at the clock.

“ Nine o’clock, bed time.” He sighed.

“ But I’m not tired…” Xander complained with a deep frown…all the while still rubbing his eyes.

“ Yes you are.” Mike laughed and pulled the covers back, allowing Xander enough room to climb beneath them. When he did, Mike pulled the covers back over him and sat down on the edge of the bed, stroking his cheeks softly in an attempt to calm him into a hypnotic slumber.

“ What about Laura?” he asked with a light tone.

Mike bit his lip nervously and cleared his throat. “ Uh…what about her?”

“ She was yelling…she was very mad…”

“ I know she was. Don’t worry about it Xander, good night.” He smiled.

“ Night daddy.” He sighed softly and closed his eyes. Mike gave him a kiss on the forehead and stroked his soft cheek once more, making sure he was asleep. When he was absolutely sure he was fast asleep, he stood up and turned off the lamp, watching the little angel sleeping peacefully. He smiled to himself and shook his head, wondering how he could have ever created such a beautiful child. With those thoughts in mind, he proceeded down the stairs only to find that Anna had returned home from Chester house looking quite exhausted.

“ Hey Anna-.”

“ –Shut your fucking mouth.” She growled while taking off her coat.

Mike raised his eyes with surprise and stared at her with confusion. “ Uh…okay…what the hell did I do?”

“ What the hell DIDN’T you do? You know, Chester was counting on you to be there and help him but no. You had to stay home and do what? Watch TV? Ugh, you have no idea how pissed I am at you right now.” She explained angrily.

Mike lowered his eyes and looked around the room silently. He figured it was best not to argue with her this late at night. “ Okay I’m sorry…”

“ Not only that…” She began, eliciting a small groan from Mike who instantly knew that this was going to be a long conversation.

“ I had to spend the entire day with five men who didn’t even know how to work a fucking screwdriver! God you rock stars are geniuses! And to make things worse, the only one who knew how to read a fucking direction pamphlet was Chester which is really sad because it was all in French. Then Joe had the most brilliant idea…why not glue everything together with super glue and just completely forget the nuts and bolts all together! Oh God and let me tell you…it was just so much fun trying to get that damn couch through the front door…oh and yes, being crushed has got to be the most exhilarating event…ever.”

Mike tried to suppress his laughter but unfortunately a small smile became etched across his lips, deepening Anna’s glare even further.

“ You seem amused by this Michael…do you find this funny?” she demanded.

He cleared his throat and shook his head quickly, trying so hard to get rid of his smile. “ N-no…not at…all…”

“ Well then why the hell are you smiling? This is not fucking funny!”

“ I’m sorry…” he giggled, lowering his head. Anna stared at him angrily for several seconds before finally giving up. It was clear he was going to be as immature as all his band mates.

“ I’m going to bed…” she sighed.

“ No, Anna, I’m sorry…come here.” He chuckled while gripping her hand gently. She stared into his dark eyes with confusion and frustration. Was he going to laugh some more?

“ I’m sorry you had to be subjected to the male psyche all afternoon. You know I would have come…but then Xander would have fallen off of the couch and cracked his head open…thus resulting in the death of Laura.” He muttered, slowly finding his serious scowl once again.

Anna frowned instantly and let go of his hand. “ Excuse me? What the hell happened?”

“ Well when I was on the phone with Rob, Xander decided to do some balancing on the top of the couch. Laura, of course, wasn’t watching him and he fell-.”

“ –Oh my God, is he okay!” She shouted with panic.

Mike shushed her and lowered his eyes. “ Anna, he’s fine…he’s sleeping. Laura caught him just as he fell. She is now in her room sulking-.”

“ –More like hiding…”

Both parents turned their attention towards their daughter’s bedroom, hearing her voice behind the door. “ Laura, this was your fault.” Mike stated.

“ You fucking threatened to murder me you asshole of a father.” She retorted.

Anna raised a brow and stared at Mike for a moment before responding to that remark. “ You threatened to kill her?”

“ Uh…maybe…you know I was really angry and I don’t really remember what I said…” he stated shakily.

Anna opened the bedroom door and Laura fell onto the floor hard, grumbling at the sudden pain in her face. “ Sorry…” Anna muttered.

Laura sat up and rubbed her cheek while giving her father a cold stare. “ I hope you fall down the stairs again when you wake up tomorrow morning.” She snapped.

Mike lowered his eyes and crossed his arms in a huff. “ Laura, you are so close to being pushed down those stairs right now so shut your damn mouth.”

“ Michael…” Anna warned in disbelief with wide eyes.

“ She has been pissing me off all day Anna. I’m telling you, she’s doing this on purpose.” He explained with a glare.

“ The hell I am! Mom, Mike’s trying to hurt me!”

“ Excuse me, its DAD to you.” He replied.

“ Not if you keep acting like this.” She warned.

“ Okay, everyone stop!” Anna stated with an authoritative tone.

Both of them stared at her silently as she shook her head. She couldn’t believe this…after all these years they were fighting with each other just like when they first met.

“ What the hell is the matter with you two? Can’t you at leased be civilized human beings for once? Jesus Christ my head is about to explode with all these arguments. Whatever you two are angry about, just stop okay? Laura, you are grounded for a month because you didn’t watch your brother. Mike, start acting mature…like I know you can. Is everyone clear on this?” she demanded.

“ Crystal.” They both stated at the same time.

“ Good…I’m going to bed…” Anna sighed wearily and quietly walked upstairs. Laura stared up at her father with a deep glare still etched across her brow.

“ Did I tell you, you could leave your room?” he asked.

“ Bastard…” she whispered under her breath and disappeared into her room. Mike shook his head angrily and proceeded upstairs into his own room and closed the door. Anna slipped on her nightgown and eyed him cautiously, watching him crawl beneath the covers.

“ Mike…we need to talk.” She stated loudly.

He whined into his pillow and pulled the covers over his head, hearing her walking over to the bed and then felt the mattress dip under her body.

“ Mike, come on honey…”

“ Why do we have to talk? Its going to be about me…and its going to make us both upset…can’t we just not talk about it?” he asked desperately with a muffled voice.

“ Well if you’re so certain we’re going to be upset about it then maybe you could tell me what I even want to discuss with you.” She explained.

Mike pulled the covers down slowly and looked up into her dark blue eyes. “ Its about me being distant from everyone and yes I know its not a very good thing since I have a band and a family but I’m telling you Anna…everyone has a time in their life when they need to escape.” He explained quietly.

“ Michael, ignoring your friends isn’t allowing you escape. It’s isolating you.”

“ Please spare me the lecture Anna because I don’t need it. I’ve just been stressed lately alright? All these album promotions, interviews, tours…it’s really exhausting and I don’t know how long I can take it.” He replied with a deep sigh.

“ So you’re going to lock yourself inside the house all day?” She demanded with an arched brow. Mike glared and rolled over, forcing her to stare at his back.

“ Fine, ignore me too.” She growled and turned off her lamp, darkening the room.

Mike stared at the wall in front of him and kept his glare, feeling his cheeks growing hot. He had no idea why he was becoming angry so easily…but somehow the anger was making him feel better about all of this.

At leased he felt alive instead of numb to his own feelings and emotions. Not only was he angry but he was extremely restless…and couldn’t calm himself down. He just felt like punching a wall or…someone…anything to stop this restless feeling of anger.

With these thoughts still present within his mind, he closed his eyes and slowly fell asleep…silently hoping his anger would diminish by morning…


~~ Okay, first of all..THANKS FOR THE INTERESTING IN THIS SEQUEL ONCE AGAIN LMAO...hope you are liking this so far...more to come soon and stuff to explain why Mike is being all...odd...anywhoosies, review please and thankees so much for reading!!! :)~~
Loud Morning

~~ Sorry for the late update! Here's the third chapter and I y'all enjoy!! :)~~




Laura walked up her bedroom stairs carefully and grabbed the cold doorknob. Slowly and cautiously she pushed open the door and glanced around the house searching for the one person she didn’t really want to have a confrontation with this morning.

With a small sigh of success, she tip toed into the kitchen and peered around nervously, silently hoping he wasn’t waiting around the corner or something. She didn’t know if he was still angry and she certainly wasn’t very keen on finding out. Laura opened the fridge and fumbled around inside until finally finding the carton of half empty milk.

She opened it up and swished the white liquid around, watching it coating the sides of the carton with white. She took a small sniff and then frowned recognizing the stench of rotting milk.

“ Are you going to drink it or stare at it?”

Laura jumped with a start and gave a small gasp feeling her heart pounding against her chest. She stared up at Mike with a small frown of guilt and swallowed hard, feeling her nervous breaths becoming obvious. Mike eyed her curiously with dark eyes and noticed her cheeks becoming red.

“ Uh…I-I was just…um…”

He continued to stare at her silently as she fumbled through her own startled words. “ I didn’t know you were awake…I was just thirsty…” she stuttered quietly.

He nodded slowly as his jaw clenched tightly, indicating that he was either agitated or…super pissed. “ I thought I told you last night that you don’t come out of your room unless I say so.”

“ I-I know…I’m sorry…” she replied shakily, not knowing what he was going to do to her. Maybe he would take away all her furniture and force her to sleep on the floor, locked in her room the rest of the day. He stared at her silently for a few more seconds, watching her eyes dart nervously from side to side.

“ Well what the hell are you waiting for? Drink the fucking thing, don’t just stand there.” He stated loudly, causing her to jump again with a start.

Laura sighed uneasily and bit her bottom lip. “ It’s gone bad.” She replied.

Mike’s perfect brow slowly formed into a deep glare and before she even had time to react, he whacked the carton out of her hand and it flipped onto the floor, spilling rotten milk everywhere. Laura stared down at the cold floor, watching milk oozing slowly towards her bare feet.

“ Now that you’re finished with the milk, you can clean up this fucking mess.” He hissed quietly.

She looked up quickly and stared into his black eyes, so full of anger and irritation. Why was he so angry? Surely making a small mistake of leaving the room for a second while her brother teetered above the couch yesterday didn’t deserve this kind of treatment.

“ Why don’t you clean it?” she demanded just as quietly.

Mike’s eyes lowered furiously and he clenched his shaking fists tightly. With extreme rapidity, he grabbed the collar of her shirt and jerked her towards himself and peered into her deep chocolate eyes which were now becoming uneasy.

“ Don’t test my patience.” He whispered with harsh warning.

Laura swallowed hard, almost seeing the fire burning within his eyes and the vein pounding in his neck. “ Understand?” he breathed.

She could do nothing but nod in response and sighed with relief as he let go of her gently.

“ Good morning all.” Anna smiled softly as she padded into the kitchen.

“ Morning.” Mike’s angry face suddenly switched to a happy one as he stared at his wife.

Laura frowned with confusion and suppressed the urge to slap him. What the hell was wrong with him? How could he just act normal and happy after practically soaking her with milk. Xander ran into the kitchen and stopped short when he saw the milk all over the kitchen floor.

“ Mommy, look!” He gasped and pointed to the white creamy substance.

Anna walked over towards him and frowned as Mike shot Laura an angry glance. “ Who did this?” she asked.

“ Laura.” Mike replied quickly.

“ Wha-.”

“ –Better get cleaning.” He stated loudly and walked towards the front hallway and opened the closet, pulling out a black coat. Laura’s face grew red as she dropped onto all fours and stared at the mess before her.

“ Laura…”

She looked up suddenly, seeing her little brother holding a dish cloth out for her. She gave a weak smile and took it from him gently, watching his dark eyes gleaming cheerfully.

“ Thanks Xander…” she muttered and slowly began wiping up the wet mess. Anna raised a brow and picked up the carton, eyeing its expiration date.

“ Michael, I thought you were going to pick up some fresh milk yesterday…this stuff is two weeks old.”

Mike adjusted the cuffs on his coat and slipped on his shoes quickly. “ Must have slipped my mind.”

“ Well how about you make up for it by buying some new milk-.”

“ –Can’t…studio…work…gotta go.” He blurted out and disappeared outside, slamming the front door.

Anna stared at the door with confusion and shock, not believing that he had just interrupted her and left without even an explanation. Laura threw the soaked cloth into the sink and glared while staring at her mother.

“ Do you suppose I’m allowed out of my room now?”

“ Of course you are Laura.” She replied with a deep frown.

Xander ran towards the toy chest beside the fireplace and pulled out a large yellow dump truck but then dropped it suddenly, sending the front wheel rolling away.

“ I’ll get breakfast started I suppose.” Anna sighed and began pulling things out of the fridge in preparation.

Xander’s eyes lowered sadly with frustration as he picked up the wheel. “ Oh no…” he whispered.

Laura jumped with a start…for the third time that morning as Mike suddenly walked back into the house and slammed the door, walking towards the kitchen.

“ I thought you were leaving.” Anna muttered and placed a frying pan on the stove.

“ Where’s my fucking wallet?” he demanded.

“ Where was the last place you put it?”

“ On the centre island…dammit it’s not here!” he shouted.

Anna sighed heavily and shook her head at his organization skills…or lack thereof. “ Michael, you have got to stop losing your wallet-.”

“ –Yeah well I don’t have time for a fucking lecture.” He snapped furiously.

“ Daddy!” Xander shouted and ran towards him while holding out his toy dump truck. Mike glanced down at him and sighed angrily with deep frustration.

“ Just a second Xander-.”

“ –Help!” He whined in his tiny little voice.

“ Not now, I’m busy.” Mike replied through his teeth and ran a hand quickly through his spiked hair. The little boy whimpered impatiently while watching his father searching the kitchen frantically for the missing wallet.

“ Daddy, fix it!”

Mike’s glare deepened as Xander’s tiny little voice echoed through his head.

“ Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!”

“ NOT FUCKING NOW!” Mike shouted at the top of his lungs. Anna turned around slowly, followed by Laura, each staring at him in disbelief. Xander stared up at his father with watery eyes and twitching lips. Mike’s breathing slowly calmed and he now ran both of his hands through his hair shakily, not believing his own actions at the moment.

The twitching in Xander’s lips slowly augmented and then as if someone flipped a switch, he let out a short cry followed by a long stream of sobbing. Each tear trickled down his rosy cheeks and dripped onto his little shirt as he closed his eyes tightly through the sobs.

“ Fucking hell…” Mike growled impatiently as Anna scooped her son up in her arms and leaned his head against her shoulder all the while giving Mike an icy glare.

“ What the hell is the matter with you? He’s a child for Christ’s sake.” She whispered sharply as Xander choked and wept against her shirt.

“ You wanna know what the hell my fucking problem is? I CAN’T FIND MY GODDAMN WALLET! AND IF YOU HADN’T OF PLAYED THESE FUCKING LITTLE GAMES WITH ME, NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE FUCKING HAPPENED!” He screamed back with a red face. Laura remained silent and stared down at the floor as Anna resisted the urge to fling the frying pan at his head.

She rubbed Xander’s back gently as his sobbing increased against her shoulder. “ Did you check your coat pocket?” she asked quietly with a shaky voice.

Mike stared at her for a long moment before slowly reaching into his coat pocket and gripping the familiar leather material of the wallet. “ Goddammit.” He growled in disbelief.

It had been there the whole time…and he had yelled at his son for nothing.

“ Fucking son of a bitch…” he breathed and turned around sharply, then darted out the door with another loud slam that shook the walls. Xander looked up from his mother’s shoulder and sniffed heavily, choking back his cries while feeling his mother’s comforting touch.

Laura picked up the dump truck from the floor and sighed heavily, grabbed the wheel from her brother’s hand. Carefully, she stuck the wheel back on and twisted it into place, then held it up for her brother to see.

“ There…it’s all fixed…” she stated gently.

Xander stared at his toy and blinked curiously. “ All better?” he asked quietly.

“ Yeah, it’s all better…” Laura replied with a forced smile. Xander sniffed again and grabbed the toy from her hands, eyeing the wheel just to make sure it was staying there.

Anna gave a heavy sigh and smiled for her son’s sake in an attempt to create the illusion that everything was fine. “ Okay, say thank you.”

“ Thank you…” he mumbled, still feeling the affects of his father’s loud voice in his ears.

“ No problemo kid.” Laura smiled and ruffled his hair between her fingers playfully.

“ Xander, why don’t you go play over there by the couch?” Anna stated calmly.

“ Kay…” he answered and felt his mother lower him to the floor where he ran over to the couch and sat down on the hardwood floor, pushing his truck along the shiny surface. Laura and Anna both eyed each other nervously as Xander played. Something about what had happened a few moments ago with Mike felt wrong to them.

He had NEVER blown up at his son before and Anna could have sworn that she had smelled alcohol on his breath. Her eyes darkened at the thought as she returned to the frying pan on the stove, continuing with breakfast. Laura walked over to Xander and sat down across from him…watching him playing silently with his toy dump truck.

Neither of them said a word all morning and the house remained silent for the rest of the day…


~~ Yeah I know, its short...anywhoo, review and let me know what you think so far! Hopefully i will have the next chapter up soon...and then i'll start explaining whats up with Mike..anyways, Thankees for reading!! :)~~