Setting his mediocre designer sunglasses on top of his head and tilting his neck back, Heath Upstead did his best to take in the house in front of him. He hitched his five year old son, Dale, further over his shoulder. The boy was sleeping, and had been for most of the journey home.

"I think it's best we get this little guy in and to bed," Heath said to his wife, Victoria. "Maybe Ryan would like to do the same," he added, jokingly, for the eighteen year old was sleeping in the back of the car. "Then we can check out the place and see how the last lot left it?"

Victoria sat down her muggle magazine she has been reading the whole ride home.She turned around to the backseat to look at her son, Ryan. "Yes,I do think it's time to get these little kiddies into bed.It's been a long ride home," she told Heath. She unbuckled her seat belt and stepped out of the car. "You know what,honey.I don't think you could have chosen a better house," she said as she stared at the mansion. "It's amazing."

"Alright then," Heath nodded, shifting little Dale over so the boy was comfortably cradled in his arms. "What time did you need to get Reese?" he asked, suddenly remembering the arrival of Victoria's other child. It was with a pang that he thought about it. His little Jakers would have just finished his first year at Hogwarts. Hiding his ashamed thoughts, Heath held his hand out for the front door key.

"Well, David, my mate I told you about," Heath said. "He's good with the house business.. of course, it helps if we have the money," Heath grinned in a timid kind of way. "C'mon, woman, gi'ss the keys," he ordered jokingly.

Victoria opened the back door and tapped Ryan on the shoulder to wake him up.Then,she looked back up at Heath.What time did you need to get Reese?Oh,crap.She almost forgot she had to pick up Reese in a few hours. "I think I'll start headin up to the station once I get Ryan in the bed and get some food," she told him.

"It does help when we have money," Victoria said with a chuckle. "Geez,hold your horses,Heath." She pulled out the house keys from her pocket and handed them to him. "There you go."

Ryan mumbled a little bit when he felt someone tapping him on the shoulder. He gently opened his eyes and it took a few seconds for his eyes to take in the sunlight that was shining down on him.He looked up at his mom and Heath then at the house.Oh,boy.Oh,boy.Look at this big thing.It didn't take him long until he was out of the car and ready to explore his new house.

"Cheers, Victoria," Heath nodded, holding the keyring between his teeth so he could pick out the front door key. After a few awkward movements trying to get Dale through without waking him, Heath sighed. This was just NOT going to work. "Dale, mate... Dale... Come on, wake up for daddy," he murmured softly to his son.

The boy, used to this wake-up call, snaped his eyes open immediately. "Daddy... do I see her today?" he asked instantly. After hearing about this new girl that would be coming to live with them, Dale was extremely excited about the prospect of a new FRIEND.

Heath chuckled. "Maybe, but you need to go take a nap first, Ryan is too... Come on, it's been a long day," he explained, shifting Dale again, noting how much easier it was when his son was awake.

"Victoria," he called over. "If you wanna get something to eat whilst I get these two settled, that's fine with me... I know how busy it can get there."

And with that, Heath finally stepped into the marble furnished hallway of his new house. His new home.

Victoria closed the car doors once everyone was out.She made sure no on left anything in the car before she headed inside the house behind Heath. "Okay,that's fine with me. Do you want me to cook anything for you?"she asked him.She looked down at Dale and smiled. "Are you excited to see Reese,Dale?"

Ryan bounced into the house and looked around.This house was so amazing.He couldn't believe he was actually going to live here.After soaking in everything,Ryan walked over to Heath and said, "You can go eat with mom.I'll put Dale in bed for you."

"Yeah!" Dale yelled in delight. What an understatement! Of course he was excited! Maybe she would plane aeroplanes with him. Girls liked playing aeroplanes, right? But... hold on... something hid Dad had said and what the big peoople were discussing was starting to sink in. "No! I don't wanna go to bed!" Dale suddenly raged, bursting into tears. "I'm not even tired!"

Watching his son, amused, Heath gave Ryan a small smile. "Go ahead, he'll listen to you," he said, winking, before lifting Dale over to Ryan. "You'll find the rooms soon enough, there should be signs on the doors... I suggest you try and get yer head down, too..."

Turning back to Victoria, Heath smiled and closed the front door, but not before locking the car with the plipper key thing. After the tell-tale lock-clicking noise, Heath was relaxed. "Erm, I think the kitchen is through here..." he mused, making his way through the large dining room. "Blimey, however will I manage to clean all this?!" he joked.

Sitting up at the kitchen counter, Heath shrugged. "I don't mind... as long as it won't make you all late with picking Reese up, you can choose what to make."

Ryan shook his head when Dale bursted into tears. "Listen to me?I don't know who told you that.Dale never listens to me," he said with a grin. He took crying Dale in his arms before heading upstairs.Okay.So,he needed to find a room with his-Oh.He finally came across a door that said Ryan and next to it was another door that said Dale. "Do you really want to go to bed?Because,we can just hang out in my room and play until Reese comes.Buuuuut,the catch is,you can't tell Heath I let you stay up,"he told Dale.

Victoria followed Heath into the kitchen.Ewwww.This place was all-not clean. "It's going to take ages to clean this place up,"she told him. "But,luckly,we still have magic." She smiled at him."I was just going to fix a sandwitch,but-wait.What time is it?" She hasn't checked the time for hours. There might be a chance she was running late to pick up Reese. That would be horrible.

Sniffling and wiping his eyes on Ryan's shoulder, Dale held on tightly to the boy. The look of joy on his face when Ryan said he could stay up was unsurpassable. "Please, Rrryan, can we?! I'm not tired, I slept in the car... I'm a big boy... do you have a computer?! A tv?! What about a big bouncy bed?!" He tugged in Ryan's sleeve. "Yeah, I keep shhhhhh but let's go in!"

Heath nodded slowly at Victoria as she mentioned the who cleaning thing as well. "Well... yeah we do have magic... and we also have a five year old that comes in handy as a human dust cloth..." he trailed of, clearing his throat before he started chuckling. "Erm... the time..."

Extending his arm, Heath pulled his sleeve back and checked his watch, before biting his lip and showing Victoria, fighting back a giggle. "I think you should get going now," he pointed out.

"Ummm-I don't know what exactly is in my room.Let's go find out," Ryan told Dale. He opened his bedroom door and stepped inside. He flicked the light on and looked around.Woooooow.This room was twice the size of his last room.The only thing that he didn't like was the boxes that were piled up.Gaaaaah.It will take forever to fix his room up.He walked over to the bed that was up and sat Dale down on it. "I don't think we have a TV nor a computer.Is there anything else you might like to do?Maybe play-aeroplanes?"

Victoria couldn't help but laugh when Heath made the joke about Dale. "Dale would make a good human dust cloth,wouldn't he?He's small enough," she said. She went over to the refridgerator and opened it.Little note:go shopping tonight for supper.

"What?!" Victoria turned around and looked at Heath's watch.Ohmygosh.She was running like mega late!The train was probably already at the station. "Ummm-Can I have the car keys,please?I need to get going." She was spazzing out now.She couldn't believe she wasn't paying attention to the time.

Frowning, Dale couldn't help but wonder why on EARTH there was no TV or computer. Siiiiiiigh... At least the bed was big... and high enough...

"Watch me, Rrryan!" Dale yelled, springing up on the bed and throwing himself at the boy. "WHEEEEEE!!!!!"

It was like real aeroplanes.

Heath nearly snorted at Victoria when she saw what time it really was. Snatching up the car keys from the counter, Heath threw them gently through the air for Victoria to catch, before watching her make her way out. "One last thing," he added in all seriousness. "Do not scratch the paintwork on that car, yeah?"

"No-Don't-" Ryan couldn't finish his sentence,because just then Dale started jumping on the bed. "Please-Don't.If you hurt yourself,I don't know how I would explain that to you dad." There was no use.Dale could do what he wanted to.

Ryan turned around walked over to the first box and looked at the label.Clothes.Hmmm.Where was the box labeled toys?He knew he had one.Just then, he heard Dale stop jumping and he quickly turned around.Dale was flying.Flying towards him. "DALLLLLE-" The boy flew right into his arms and Ryan tumbled backwards falling right into a stack of boxes which tumbled over and hit the ground with a thump! Great.

Victoria caught the keys when Heath threw them at her. "This is NOT funny," she told him before heading out the door. She was about to close the house door until she heard what Heath said about his paintwork. "Whatever,"she told him then closed the door.She rushed to his car and got inside.Then,she turned the engine on and headed down the road.

Giggling, Dale sat on top of Ryan. "That was FUN! Can I do it again?" he asked, batting his eyelashes. "Pleeeeeeease!"

Bouncing up and down, making his way around the room, Dale made it his job to inspect everything with his curious little mind and hands.

Heath waited until Victoria was safely out of the house before smirking. "Actually, I think you'll find it was bloody hilarious," he muttered, about to get a drink of water, but stopping in his tracks when he heard a loud noise from above.

"Ryan?" Heath called out, going into the hallway. "Is everything okay?"

"No,we are not doing that,again.We might just get busted for not taking our naps.I bet-" Ryan heard Heath's voice calling from downstairs.Oh,great.He stood up and walked out into the hall,so Heath could see him. "Yeah, everything is perfect." He looked back into his bedroom to make sure Dale was okay.Now,his room was a mess.Some of the boxes opened up when they hit the ground,so stuff was spread all over the ground.Dale is so helping me clean this up,he thought to himself.

Yawning deeply, Dale realised that maybe he was tired after all. And Ryan was all busy with having to tidy up, which certainly wasn't Dale's problem. Pulling himself up, Dale managed to get onto Ryan's bed where he curled up and fell straight to sleep. Ahhhhh...

"Okay then... just keep the noise down, I don't want Dale waking up and being all moody," Heath explained, stretching his amrs out. "Now I think about it... that sofa looks like it could use some testing... you know... surface area to volume ratio... very important..."

And with that, Heath ran into the room and dived onto the sofa, getting comfy so he could have a nice long sleep.

"Yes,sir.I'll keep the noise down," Ryan told Heath.With that,he walked back into his room and closed the door behind him.He saw Dale all curled up on the bed and watching him sleep was making him quite tired,too.Maybe a tiny nap wont hurt much.He walked over to his bed and sat down next to Dale and fell asleep.

~Few Hours Later~

Victoria pulled back up in the driveway with Reese in the passenger seat.They were hacing the longest discussion about her and Heath getting married and not telling Reese about it. "I'm sorry-"she tried telling Reese."I'm sorry I didn't tell you." She turned the car off and looked at her daughter.

Reese sat in the passenger seat with her arms crossed.She was mad.Actually,she was way beyond mad.She was furious.Her mother didn't think about telling her that she had married Heath.What kind of mother does that?She unbuckled her seat and got out of the car.She didn't want to talk to her mother anymore.She slammed the door shut and went up to the front door and opened it up.She slammed the front door shut and went upstairs.She went to the door that her name on it and opened it up.She went inside her bedroom and turned the lights on.She slammed her bedroom door shut and went over to her bed.

His eyes flying open and then narrowing, Heath stared at the ceiling. Twitch. Someone had slammed his car door... his precious car... Oh My...

"Victoria," Heath muttering through gritted teeth as he went out to inspect the car a few moments later. "Get a grip of that girl before all of that slamming wakes up the boys..." Assuming they are asleep...

Bleh.

Heath zoned in on his car and inspected it for any sign of damage or scratches. Just when he thought it was all clear, the sunlight reflected oddly off of a tiny dent...

"MY CARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!" Heath yelled, sinking down to the floor and his knees. "My precious..."

Dale's eyes also shot open at the sound of a door slamming. It was quite close... Tiptoeing out of the room, though he didn't know if Ryan was actually awake or not, Dale crept out onto the landing and knocked on the only other door with another nameplate on it. Dale couldn't read it, but logic dictated that this was where the mysterious Reese was.

"Reese-" Victoria called out.She got out of the car and gently closed the door.Before she had the chance to chase Reese down,Heath was already outside and inspecting his car.Oh,gosh.Reese was in for it.Heath has a "thing" for his cars. "Honey,"she said as she ran over to him. "It's not a big scratch." She looked down upon the little dent in his car. "It's not even that noticable."

Reese heard a little knock on her door and wiped around to look at her door.Who was that?It was probably that worthless guy her mom married.She rolled her eyes before she went to open the door.But,to her suprise she had to look down.When did her mom adopt a midget? "Ummm-hello,"she said.

Ryan jerked awake when he heard three load noises. "What was that noise?" he muttered to himself. He got out out of the bed and headed downstairs. "Heeeeeath?" Where was everyone? He opened the front door and then saw Heath lying on his knees next to his car. "What happened?" He walked over to Heath and gazed down upon the dent on his car.Uhoh.

"Not that... not that... not that noticeable?!" Heath gasped. "Are you insane?! There is a dent in my car... MY CAR!!!!! THAT GIRL IS IN SOOOOO MUCH TROUBLE!"

Haha, liiieeesss... Heath had no idea what he would do in this situation.

As Ryan joined them, Heath was close to exploding. He ebraced the car in a hug and pattedit gently. "There, there... everything is gonna be A-okay... just you wait..."

Swinging his arms back and forth, Jake beamed when the door ahead of his opened. He bared straight in and headed for the bed. "Hi Reese!" he exclaimed. "I'm Dale Upstead... wanna play areoplanes?"

"Calm down,Heath.It's going to be okay,"Victoria reassured him."It's not the end of the world,honey."She looked at Ryan when he arrived then looked back down at Heath. "I doubt Reese meant to do that.She's just a little bit mad at the moment." Victoria was not helping very much.She knew that,but she needed to get Heath away from his car. "Hey,why don't you let go of your car and go-ummm-bond with Reese?You two need to get to know each other."

Upstead?Why did that last name sound familiar?Reese didn't have time to figure out where she had heard that last name before.All she cared about right now was that little monkey that was jumping on her bed.She wanted him out. "Ummm-No.I'm not in the mood to play anything.Can you just please leave me alone?" she asked Dale. She wasn't trying to be rude or anything, but she really wasn't in the mood to have fun.

Akward moment.Ryan didn't really like the moments Heath had with his car.Most of the time,they got a little creepy. Like this moment. Heath was talking to his car! Telling it it was going to be okay. "I'm just going-" Ryan was cut mid setence when his mom suggested that Heath go meet Reese."Yeah,that's a terrific idea!" Reese meeting Heath.Bwahahaha.This should be interesting.Especially after Reese has just dented Heath's car.

"Yeah... yeah..." Heath nodded, taking a step backwards from his car and looking away. Little bit carried away... "Maybe we should... go see Reese..."

Turning to Ryan, Heath gave the kid a small smile. "Did you get Dale off to sleep with no trouble?" he asked, remembering that bang from earlier and wondering again what it had been. Still, he didn't mention it. "C'mon then," he sighed with an air of defeat.

Bounce, bounce.

"Awwwww, c'moooon," Dale piped up as he jumped up and down on Reese's bed. Then he stopped. "You're sad," he observed, boldly jumping down and running over to Reese. He raised his arms, expecting a hug... and maybe she might just pick him up.

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!

Victoria took her eyes off the dent in the car and looked at Heath. "No,you're going to go see Reese. You two need some father-daughter time.I already had my time with her in the car and I'm pretty sure she doesn't want to talk to me at the moment," she told him. "So,off you go." She looked at Ryan and smiled. "Ryan,can you help me get Reese's stuff out of the car?She has three animal cages and a trunk. I won't be able to do it by myself."

Ryan nodded his head at Heath's question. "Yes, I did.He fell alseep just like a baby," he told him. Okay,so,maybe he was bending the truth a little bit.Dale didn't go to bed until they knocked over the boxes.Annnnnd,he bet the only reason Dale went to be right after that was so he wouldn't get into trouble. "Ummm-Sure.I'll help," he told his mom. "Good luck with Reese,Heath.I'm sure you two will get along great." With that, he went over to help his mom unload Reese's things.

Reese closed her bedroom door and turned around to Dale.Ohmygosh.Where'd he go?Just a second ago,he was just jumping on her bed.Then,she looked down and saw two little arms reaching up at her.Awww.How could she resist that? "I'm not sad,I'm just a tiny bit mad that nobody told me my mom got married.That's all," she told Dale. She picked him up in a hug and smiled at him.There was no use being mad at this little boy.She was mad at her mom and the guy she married.

Grumbling, Heath headed back into the house. As he made his way up the last staircase, he couldn't quite resist running his finger up the banister and gathering up all the dust in the finger's line of dust-ruction ().

"Needs a clean up," Heath muttered to himself.

DOUBLE YAYYYYY!!!!!

Dale giggled when Reese picked him up, nuzzling gently into her. But then he frowned. "No... mummy and daddy tried to tell you... They sent a letter... I know they did... Because my daddy was looking for someone he really wanted there..."

Oh well...

"You're gonna be my friend then?" Dale asked, playing with Reese's hair. "D'you have any other friends I could meet?"

"Well,I didn't get any-" Reese started to say,but then stopped.She had received a letter from her mom a few weeks prior from the last day of school.But,she ignored the letter.Didn't even bother reading it.She thought her mom was going to say something about her having to move up to Ireland.Gosh darnit.She should have read the letter. "Wait,you're dad was looking for some at Hogwarts?Who?"

"Of course,I'll be your friend," Reese told Dale. "Of course I do. I'll let you meet all the friends I have once I have my party this summer." That was the only thing she was actually looking foward to was the party.She was going to get to see Cale and Miles and everyone else.How exciting.

When Reese heard footsteps coming up the stairs,she quickly put Dale on the ground and turned around to look at the door.Who was coming up to annoy her now?

Victoria opened the back door of the car and pulled out two of the cages for Ryan to carry in. The green cage held Reese's new little dog and the blue cage held Reese's cat. She handed both cages to Ryan and said, "Keith gave Reese that dog at the train station.It was an early birthday present.She said she was going to name it Cam.She wouldn't tell me why she chose that name,though.Funny to name a dog Cam,isn't it?I was more one the lines of Domino or Dot." She gently shrugged and then pulled out Reese's trunk and owl cage. Reese's white owl was fast asleep and Victoria made sure she didn't wake it. She closed the car door and headed inside. "Come on.Were going to put this stuff in the kitchen.We don't want to ruin Heath and Reese's alone time,do you?" She winked at Ryan before heading straight into the kitchen.

Ryan took the cages from his mom and looked inside to see the dog she was blabbering on about.What a cute dog,he thought.Hopefully Heath liked dogs. Ryan hasn't gotten around to asking him what animals he liked.He didn't have time to answer his mom's questions, because she was already walking inside the house. Ryan walked inside the house and into the kitchen. He sat the two cages down on the ground and opened them up. Just then, the cat rushed out of the cage and disappeared. The cat ran out of the cage and into the living room. The dog walked out of the cage all lazy like and headed for the couch in the living room.