The Sabres

Miz Odilia was followed by many members of the family as they made their way to the Sabre home. While walking up to the back of the home, Miz Odilia noticed Zeke standing off to the side and watching the four vampires he had staked out to meet the sun. "Zeke, may we have entry into your home to prepare a wedding breakfast for our Forever Childe and his betrothed?"

Zeke smiled at Miz Odilia, "Of course you may. Our home has always been your home as well." Zeke motioned over to Jaden, "Will you escort Miz Odilia and our family into our home and show her the downstairs kitchen? Also, grab your brothers and have them help move and set up the tables in the main dining, well, banquet room downstairs, please."

"You got it dad." Jaden smiled over at Miz Odilia, walked over and held out his arm in a gentlemanly manner, "Please take my arm Ma'am as I would be honored to escort you the rest of the way."

Miz Odilia looked at Jaden, as though she was reading his very soul, then smiled as she reached out to slip her small hand into the bend of Jaden's arm. "Lead the way young man."

"That was a wonderful thing to do, Zeke." Katie whispered as she walked up behind him.

Zeke smiled and turned around to watch his wife walk up to him, "Couldn't sleep my love?"

"Not exactly. I have too many emotions running through me at the moment, and too many questions. I really need to know what happened, Zeke, so I can help with the children." Katie sighed as she reached her husband who had been missing for two years.

Zeke looked over at the vampires, then up at the stars overhead. He knew he had about two hours before his day sleep would overtake him. He then looked down at Katie, "We should find a place to sit and talk. Is the bench still in the maze?"

Katie smiled up at Zeke, "Yes, our bench is still there." Then she reached out and took Zeke's hand.

Zeke heard one of his team members move forward to guard the vampires, and knew it would be alright for him to walk away from his guard duty. He and Katie started to walk and made their way to the maze and then through it. They walked this path so many times over the years that they knew their way by heart. They arrived at their spot in the gardens, then Zeke assisted Katie in sitting on the bench before he sat next to her.

Gently taking her hands in his, he took time to just look at her, "You haven't changed much over the last two years, while I have changed so much. Before I start to tell you what happened, you need to know that I never stopped thinking of you and our family, nor have I ever stopped loving you. I stayed away to protect you." He then sighed, "This was never supposed to happen, as long as I stayed away, my family was to be left untouched."

Katie smiled, "I know you never stopped loving me, but Zeke, you had to know that we love you and would have stood by your side, so I don't understand."

"I know, but being changed the way I was, I needed to protect the family at all costs." Zeke sat back and looked at the night sky, filled with so many stars, while he tried to figure out where to begin. "You do know that I'm going to have to repeat most of this to the family tonight; the boys aren't going to let me off the hook either."

"I know, but when they start with questions, we will have our united front, like we always have. That is important, to show that no matter what, we stand together." Katie squeezed Zeke's hand to let him know she was there.

"Remember when I got that notice that I was needed for a night meeting, alone?" Zeke asked, and Katie nodded, indicating she remembered.

"Well, the team staked out the area, we did everything we could to ensure my safety, even though it was at our command post, we didn't trust the message. The next thing I knew, someone grabbed me and ran like the wind. He moved extremely fast, and before I knew it, I was in a storm drain."

Zeke started to remember that fateful day, while narrating for Katie.

---

Flashback

Capt. Sabre nervously moved into the doorway and tapped his wristwatch, as if checking the time. While keeping his hand over the light, he lifted his finger several times which sent a signal to his team's spotter letting the man know he was outside the building and he heard the voices of three beyond the door. This took only a couple of seconds.

Capt. Sabre took a deep breath as he felt the air around him go cold and dank. The surroundings seemed to ripple with the smell of the dead. The whole sensation lasted only a moment, but as he looked around everything was different. He was no longer outside the door. Instead he was in a tunnel; a poorly lit tunnel with only a couple of glowing bulbs, the passageway had a trickle of water running between his feet and it smelled of decay.

He picked his hand up and ran it down the wall, noticing as he did so the brickwork was old and there was a slimy feeing to the moisture. At the same time he realized his uniform was gone. He was wearing nothing but a t-shirt and boxers. Looking down he could see the rags of what he was wearing were left at his feet, but the electronics embedded in it were ruined. He was alone and any chances of contacting his team were gone. The real question was what had happened and how.

His mental question was answered as a dark form came out of a side passage and seemed to materialize into a human shaped form, "Captain Sabre, you must excuse my abruptness and methods. I don't often have time to go to the outside for assistance, and when I do, it tends to be done in the way of manipulative force. However, in this case I need the help of someone with your skills, unfettered by my mind twisting abilities. Should you say no, I will absolutely understand, but first allow me to show you something."

He lifted his hand with his fingers extended. Slowly, the middle digit bent almost imperceptibly, gesturing for Captain Sabre to follow him.

With seemingly little choice, and no idea where he was at, Captain Sabre followed. After nearly fifteen minutes of traveling deeper into the sewers, the shadow figure stopped at a strange staircase leading up. "Go, take a look, and see for yourself. This isn't just about me, it is about many others."

The figure appeared to shimmer then vanished. At that instant, Captain Sabre's gun, watch, and two spare magazines appeared in the air in front of him. Before he had time to realize they were there, the items dropped to the ground at his feet.

Frowning deeply, Captain Sabre retrieved his belongings then moved up the steps. At the top, he turned and pulled back on the somewhat rusted iron lever which held the iron bound door shut. As he pulled the door open, a projector lit up and a voice of a terrified child come over a small cassette player.

"My name is Asher, I was taken from my home after a tornado. They say I'm dead. Here is a newspaper with my name and picture. But I'm not dead, I'm for sale. I'll do what you want and my price is $50,000. They say they'll train me in ways of your liking for extra. The folder has a list of things I can be trained for and the cost for each."

A moment later the image on the far wall showed a young girl, about seven years old, with long strawberry blond hair and striking blue eyes, shaking like a leaf with tears rolling down her cheeks. The child held up a newspaper clearly showing the date and headlines of seven dead from tornadoes that had ripped across Oklahoma.

Capt. Sabre felt his jaw drop as another voice spoke up and another image was displayed. After nearly an hour and sixty children reciting almost the same thing, Capt. Sabre wanted to puke. Suddenly, the projector switched to a new DVD and showed a blank wall and another child, this one held up a paper, also showing he was dead from a natural disaster.

The voice on the cassette also changed to the voice that had spoken to him in the passage below. "Captain Sabre, this is my great, great, great grandchild. He is also for sale. I have used all my resources in attempts to find him, but whoever holds him has bloodied all my efforts. I need a new source, a new ally; but someone you work with, or for, has something to do with this. You, I have checked out. You passed every test, and I think, with the resources I am willing to provide, you may be able to do what I cannot; find these children and save them. You free my great, great, great grandchild, and I will help you in other ways going forward. What say you?"

End flashback

---

Katie had tears running down her face as she gasped during several spots while Zeke was telling her what happened.

"I was told that to do this I could not contact my team in any way, as the person we worked for could be tipped off. I agreed and took the mission. How could I not save as many children as I could? I had to try at least." Zeke rubbed his eyes, remembering the horror of that day.

He turned to face Katie, "I found most of them, not all, but most of them. I got them out of the house they were being held at, every one of them broken down emotionally, and got them to a waiting van. I told the driver to go, get the children out of there. Almost as soon as the van left, I was attacked and left for dead. But I saved the children. I knew they weren't too far behind and my only thought was to save the children, even if it meant dying while doing it. I was left at the side of the road to die, until the strange man I met came to me and asked me if he could save me. I struggled to understand what he was saying and then saw you and the children, and I nodded yes, save me. And that night he became my sire."

"What is his name?" Katie gently asked.

"And that, my love, will need to wait for another day. Let us go and check on Miz Odilia, as long as we are good, I really do love you Katie and can't tell you how good it is to be home." Zeke then pulled Katie into a hug.

Katie sighed, "We're good, Zeke. You did what you had to do, what you needed to do, and the most important part is you made it home. That's all that matters." Katie said as she hugged Zeke back. They sat there holding each other a few more moments, sharing comfort until Zeke felt Katie shiver. Then they stood and headed towards the house.

When they entered the home, Zeke stiffened and ran up the stairs to the nesting room. There he found Tevin tossing, turning and mumbling 'no' over and over. He gently reached down and picked the boy up. Holding him to his chest to try to calm the small boy, Zeke turned to leave the room and found Davis standing there, obviously wanting to reach out and grab Tevin. "He was upset, I wanted to try to comfort him," Zeke whispered.

Davis smiled, "I know, and thank you; I felt his distress. He must have projected his feelings to me, and I woke up knowing he needed me. May I hold him?"

Zeke nodded, "Of course you can, there's a main room over there. The fire's lit in the fireplace. You might find it comfortable in there; it's a good place for holding and snuggling him to help him relax."

"Thank you." Davis said as he gently took Tevin into his arms before walking to the center family room.

Just as Zeke started to turn, he heard some sniffling. He walked over to find Seaver crying in his sleep. Zeke reached out and gently picked up Seaver, removing him from his nest between Jackie and Ranger. Then he walked over to join Davis and Tevin, taking a seat on the other couch. Once Zeke had shifted Seaver to a comfortable position, he leaned back and started to gently rub Seaver's back.

While Zeke was holding and comforting his new grandson, Seaver started to wake up, now feeling safe and secure in the strong arms. Seaver glanced up and saw the man that he knew was his papa's daddy.

Seaver snuggled in closer and whispered, "I was dreamin'. All I see in my dreams is that monster hurtin' me and messin' with my head. Then I see him walkin' me down a long hall with lots and lots of doors. I'm wonder'n if there's more kids like me behind all them doors."

Zeke hugged Seaver to him, "You're safe now, grandson. Once you get your memory back, we'll go and rescue everyone behind those doors."

"Are you sure? You really mean that?" Seaver's voice broke and sounded worried.

Katie joined them, gently sitting down next to Zeke. She placed her hand on the back of Seaver's head, running her fingers gently through his hair, "Oh, he means it. He would die if it meant rescuing the children."

As Seaver looked into Zeke's yellow eyes, he realized the truth in the statement. He also realized that is exactly what happened to his new grandpa; he died saving children.

While this was happening, Jackie and Ranger sat down on the other side of Zeke. "He rescued me, too, son. Dad means it. He's never lied to us."

Ranger added, "He has been my friend for many years. Trust him son, for he is a man of honor, one that I love very much."

Seaver hugged Zeke even harder, "Ummm, what's that wonderful smell? Is that food? I'm hungry!"

When they all started to laugh, it caused Tevin to wake up, still in Davis' arms. Realizing where he was and who was holding him, Tevin whispered, "I wish you could be my dad," thinking no one could hear him.

Davis hugged Tevin a little closer. He didn't say anything because he knew he wasn't supposed to hear.

On the other couch, Jackie smiled when he heard Tevin. "I've got a lot of adoptions to finish tonight!" he thought with a mental giggle.

Katie smiled, "Y'all wait here while I see how breakfast is comin' along. I'll let everyone know when it's ready."

While Katie was heading downstairs, the other children were beginning to wake up. All the ones going to school found school uniforms waiting for them. Talon took charge, showing everyone where the bathrooms were so they could get cleaned up and changed.

Once Katie saw what was planned for breakfast, she walked over to a phone and called the attendance line at the school. She was directed to voicemail, so she notified them that several children would be late this morning. She started to list off names, then suddenly realized that she didn't know all of their names, or even if they actually went to school. With that in mind, she finished the message by informing them that she would bring all the children into the office when they arrived. Then she hung up before heading upstairs to stall everyone, delaying their arrival in the main dining room.

Upstairs, the adults heard the children moving about and woke up. Carina, Bill, Marty and Phil quickly dressed and went in search of coffee. They met Katie downstairs, having been delayed in her mission by remembering the boys in the living room. As they joined her, she was telling Davis he might want to go and dress for breakfast. Davis smiled his thanks, picked up Tevin, then headed upstairs to get himself and Davis dressed for the day.

Miz Odilia came up the stairs, entered the family room, and let Zeke know that his team would be most welcome for the breakfast meal, since she installed men outside to take over for the team guarding the vampires. Zeke nodded and notified Ryan, Mason, Brenton, Ethan and Cecil to start making their way inside and to clean up for a good home cooked breakfast.

Miz Odilia quietly watched Zeke, Jackie, Ranger and Seaver sitting on the couch, snuggled up together. She took a moment to smile at the picture before her. "Ezekiel, the sun rises in seventeen minutes."

Zeke smiled, "I can feel the sun getting closer to rising. Thank you." Then he looked at his son, his friend who was now his son's husband, and his grandson. Giving Seaver one more hug, Zeke stated, "I need to go now for my day sleep. Aiden, Jaden and Clark are already set up downstairs. Jackie, there are two more here that you haven't met yet. I would like to send Stazi and Kilroy for breakfast since they adopted us as their family."

Jackie had to think a moment, before grinning, "Why wouldn't it be okay? Of course they're welcome for breakfast."

Zeke, knowing that these were ferret kids, wished he could see his son's reaction to the kids when they arrived for breakfast. So, he smiled, "Thank you, son. And I'll fill everyone in on what happened this evening when we're all together." He gave Seaver one more hug and then hugged Jackie and Ranger before he stood to head to his secure underground housing facility.

Jackie whispered, "I love you dad. I'm just glad you're home."

Talon walked in right then and ran over to Zeke, excitedly cheering, "Thought I missed you dad! I'm so glad you're home. I love you."

Zeke hugged Talon close, "I love you too, son. And we'll all talk tonight when I wake, I promise, I'll still be here."

Talon nodded and held on for a little while longer. Jackie, Ranger and Seaver quietly left the room to give Talon that time alone with their dad.

Finally, Zeke made his way downstairs. The remaining group gathered at the head of the stairs, preparing to descend to the first floor. Katie held Jackie and Ranger back, suggesting that they go last, as they were now the Director and his husband. They both nodded, thinking that was a good idea.

Once everyone began making their way downstairs, they each started to smile. One by one they noticed streamers and 'Congratulations' balloons all over the main ball room. Long dining tables were set up to form a large table capable of seating fifty, and there were additional staff showing everyone to their assigned seat.

Finally, Jackie and Ranger made their way to the doorway with Katie by their side. Miz Odilia met them and everyone cheered. "May we present to you Jackie and Ranger. They have found their heart and have brought our two families together. Please sit, so we can present you a breakfast of Acadian style."

One of Ranger's family members walked up to show Jackie to one end of the table. Ranger looked at Miz Odilia as she started to walk him to the other end of the table. "Tante, I will honor this seating arrangement just this one time, for tradition and because I love you, but in the future, I shall not be seated this far away from my husband again."

Miz Odilia patted Rangers arm, "I know, and you are such a good boy."

Ranger just smiled and sighed at the same time, then took his seat. He looked down to the other end of the table. Seeing Jackie giggling, Ranger just shrugged and smiled. Katie walked over and sat next to Seaver, who was seated with his UNIT Security Team. In between each person that knew someone sat one of Ranger's close extended family; family that Miz Odilia felt should be there to celebrate the recent marriage.

Just before the breakfast could be brought out, Jackie heard a squeaky gasp and then, "Is we's late? Hurry, hurry, Stazi! We's can't be late for a big family breakfast, and Daddy of the night says we's was invited to the shiny breakfast with our brothers."

"I's hurryin', Kilroy! I's hung'y too!" Stazi shouted just as they both rounded the corner and heard the gasp. "Um, maybe daddy of the night was wrong." Stazi whispered when she saw everyone staring at them.

Jackie immediately stood up and started to walk over to Kilroy and Stazi. He smiled as he was walking, "So, you're our new family members that dad was telling me about. Welcome to the family." Jackie reached down and hugged the two ferret kids, "Here, why don't you come and sit by me; that way we can get to know each other."

As Jackie was speaking, Ranger walked up, reached down, and hugged them, "Correction, would one of you like to sit with me? That way all our family, at both ends of the table, can get to know you better."

Kilroy smiled, "See, Stazi, Daddy of the night was right, we is wanted here." And with that Kilroy walked over to Ranger and indicated that Stazi should go with Jackie.

Jeremy and Tyler smiled, then Jeremy whispered to Tyler, "This should get very interesting!"

Tyler softly giggled and nodded.

Miz Odilia took to her feet. "When one of our family gets married, we have a celebration breakfast and dinner. For our breakfast this morning, we will be serving Eggs Sardou with gulf shrimp and grits on the side. We also have Eggs Pontchartrain and Pain perdue, if you don't like the Eggs Sardou. On the side we have grits, couche couche, and Quiche Lorraine. Many of you will also enjoy our beignets." She then picked up her juice glass and smiled, "A toast, may your lives always be filled with love, may your home be filled with family and friends." Everyone took a sip of their orange juice after saying 'hear, hear' and sipping to the toast.

As arranged, people began bringing out plates of food and setting them in front of everyone. Someone set a glass with goat's milk and egg yolk blended together in front of Stazi and Kilroy. They both looked up with awe that someone went to the trouble to make them a special drink.

Jeremy stood up, "Can I have everyone's attention?" When everyone at the table quieted, he continued, "Our Genesis ferret hybrid members have a very special oath that all must swear to and take to ensure that their shinies are not taken. See, they love their shinies. I can see Stazi already eying the shiny silverware."

Stazi gasped, "I not stealing shiny eating tools. But they is shiny!"

Jeremy laughed, "I know you won't take these shinies, cause they belong to your new brother and his shiny family, but who else is safe."

Kilroy gave them all a toothy grin. "If they's dull lovers than no one is safe. We take shinies from dull lovers, cause we must save the shinies."

Everyone could hear a few gasps, so Jeremy went on, "Would you like to say the shiny pledge? I have already taken it, but will say it again with all of you. I will begin and then all you have to do is repeat after me."

Many around the table looked skeptical, but they nodded.

Jeremy began, "I pledge allegiance to the Shiny of the Shiny Nation,"

Everyone, except Brandon, started to clearly repeat the pledge. Most everyone thought this was cute and just went along with it, at least until Kilroy started to hiss.

Kilroy got off his chair, and before anyone, especially Brandon, knew what was happening, Kilroy had the knife Brandon kept in his boot and was holding it to his throat. "You's a doctor! You fight to save the shiny in all people. You fight by Daddy of the Night's side to protect the shinies, yet you won't pledge to the shiny! I should goes to you's doctoring place and take all your shiny instruments, so you can't touch another shiny again. Are you sure you's not a dull lover?"

Brandon swallowed hard, "Could I please have my knife back. I can't very well talk with a knife to my throat."

Kilroy looked real careful at Brandon, then handed him the knife.

Brandon spoke loud and clear as he wrapped his arms around Kilroy, reciting, "I pledge allegiance to the Shiny of the Shiny Nation,"

Jeremy smiled when he heard both Kilroy and Stazi sigh, then continued, "and to the Gleam for which it stands;" everyone was now clearly repeating the pledge and finished with, "one Nation under Shiny – sparkling, with incandescence and radiance for all!"

Kilroy hugged Brandon, then whispered, "Thank you." Brandon hugged him back, then Kilroy climbed down and went back to his seat. "Now, all the shinies of all these people are safe."

Jackie smiled then looked at Stazi and Kilroy, "Not just these people, but the pledge goes to their families, unless you find a true dull lover. But you need to make sure the person is really a dull lover first, or come and see Ranger or myself so we can try to help them find the shiny again."

Jackie could see the relief on Ranger's family member's faces as many more of the family were not present. Then Kilroy said, "If that is what you want, we's make sure."

"Okay everyone, now that that's done, let's eat, visit and get to know each other." Jackie said as he motioned for the food to be passed around.

One of the assistants came out of the kitchen with fresh chicken meat for Kilroy and Stazi. Both ferret hybrids looked up, relieved that they wouldn't have to try to eat the cooked food in front of them. Instead, they would be able to eat what was to them normal food.

All of the various family members were eating and visiting with the person next to them. Jackie was looking down the length of the table at Ranger, then glancing around the whole table, wondering how everything could change so quickly. Then he glanced over at Seaver, their new son, and sighed. He didn't want to go to school, he wanted to stay home and get to know his new family. He then looked up at his mom, pondering how he was going to convince her that after everything that happened, school was not a good idea.

"Um, Jackie, could I see you for a minute in CIC?" Jeremy asked.

"Sure, if everyone will excuse us for a moment." Jackie replied as he placed his napkin on the table, stood and started to walk to the stairs leading to CIC.

Jackie walked into their new CIC with Jeremy right behind him. He still couldn't believe how that whole section of the house changed into this amazing room while they were at the hospital in Des Moines. He took a few moments to look around, then smiled at Jeremy, "So, what's up?"

Jeremy nodded at Jackie and smiled, "Well, there are a few things that I thought I should tell you about. First, your brother division, the Pacific Rim Division, or as they like to call themselves, The Rimmers..." Jackie started to choke when he heard that, but Jeremy continued, "raided several orphanages in California last night while we were fighting vampires and being treated at the hospital. A basic briefing about it is being broadcast on the news this morning."

When Jackie heard this he gasped, "And the children?"

Jeremy cringed, "Not good, right now all of them are in various Clan-affiliated hospitals being treated and evaluated, too many are at the AI hospital right now for major injuries. The majority were what has been designated level two and three. There are only four levels on the scale. Many large corporations where supposed to be funding these," then Jeremy used quotation mark gesture, "wonderful homes for children, and they are suffering and many are closing as we speak. This isn't done and I don't know how wide-spread the fallout is going to be."

Jackie looked at Jeremy with a question in his eyes, so Jeremy answered the expected silent question, "With you being the director of a brand new division, there are several things we need to do, right away, because no division has ever been able to join without some kind of shit hitting the fan and initiating you right away. In saying that, I don't know what shit is going to hit what fan, but it's better to be prepared then to be caught with our pants down."

Jackie burst out laughing, "The only person I want to be caught with my pants down with is my new husband. So, what do I need to do when we get home from school?"

"That's just it, your core group needs to stay home today and set up this division. You need to inventory what you have and what you need. Who do want in what positions? Where do you want housing placed for rescued children? Where do you want the store put, so every child gets a whole weeks worth of new clothes? Do you have enough space for food storage? Are you going to feed everyone here in the house, or do you want a new dining hall? What about Security? Where is your security building going to go? How many extra people do you need? Helicopters, pilots, medical personnel, housekeeping, laundry, cooks or chefs, game rooms... and the list goes on. Every division is different, yet in some ways very much the same. We need to find out what this division is going to need."

Jackie told Jeremy, "Hold that thought." Then he walked over to the stairs and yelled at the top of his lungs, "School's cancelled for the next few days. And mom, that's final!" He started to walk away then went back and yelled again "I need all you kids upstairs when y'alls finished eating, we got work to do." As he walked away from the stairs, he mumbled, "Why me? I don't know what the heck we need." After a pause, he yelled, "Who's brilliant idea was it to make me director?" He looked at Jeremy, "I ain't got no idea what to do, Jeremy. I don't know what we need, I don't know what I'm doing."

Jeremy smiled, "Julio in Des Moines said the same thing. I guess you don't want me to tell you about the strike teams and air wing that are being assigned to your division as we speak?"

Jackie's mouth dropped open, closed again, and he then asked, "Strike teams? AIR WING? Do we need strike teams? Shit, where am I going to put a strike team and air wing? This is the bayou, not an airport!" Jackie started to pace, "Um, Jeremy, how many are in a strike team?"

Before Jeremy could respond, Jackie's new commbadge vibrated. "Des Moines to Gulf Coast," a young voice announced.

Jackie jumped, not used to hearing the commbadge, Jeremy had to mimic tapping his commbadge to remind Jackie how to answer. Jackie giggled, "Oh yeah, that's me I guess." Jeremy burst out laughing while Jackie tapped his commbadge, "Um, this is Jackie at Gulf Coast, go ahead."

Right then Jackie felt arms go around his waist and a small hand grabbing his other free hand. He couldn't help but to smile as he felt his new husband holding him and his new son holding his hand. He also noticed others coming into the room and finding places to sit.

"Welcome to the insanity, Director!" the voice giggled. "I'm Robin, Divisional Elevation Specialist! I just wanted to check in to see if y'all needed anything. Right now, our command staff is busy debriefing in one way or another."

Robin could hear Jackie laugh, "Good question, Robin, I've got no clue what we need. I guess we're going to need everything, I just don't know what everything is." He thought he stopped the comm but Robin heard him whisper to Ranger, "My parents are going to shit bricks when we start adding buildings around the plantation, I just don't know how many."

"Don't worry; they'll be too busy tasting alcoholic beverages to notice!" Robin laughed. "Seriously, just chill a little; the Clan has AI systems which will arrange most of the necessities for you as soon as you tell them to go ahead. Let the Security guys suggest where things should go, since they've seen other bases and know how to place stuff for best security."

Jackie glanced over at Jeremy, "Speaking of security, um, I was just told that we have strike teams being set up. Do you know how many people are in a strike team? How many new faces are going to be showing up here? Where do I put everyone? Does Jeremy know where I order these building from? 'Cause I'll need them to match the main house and surrounding buildings." Then Jackie laughed, "Hey, mom should be happy that I'm trying to match the buildings! Gotta keep everything lookin' like it's from the same period as the main house."

Ranger squeezed Jackie, "Your mom will be pleased with whatever you do, as long as we are helping the children."

Jackie sighed, "Thanks for reminding me, I know she will. She's always wanted to fill this house with children; guess she's gonna get her wish."

Robin interrupted the conversation. "Each team is made of ten U.N.I.T. members; you'll get at least five teams to start out, along with an air wing. When we hang up, put a call in to the Quantum Quonstruction Quorps; they'll handle the building issues for you faster than Jesse giving Director Hernandez a stiffy!"

"I Heard that!" a voice yelled from the background over Robin's communicator. "You're next for the pool, Brat! Quit encouraging him!"

Jackies mouth dropped open, then he muttered, "Fifty? Fifty? Five strike teams? PLUS an air wing? Why do we need all that? Oh shit!" Overwhelmed, Jackie turned into Rangers arms, never letting go of Seaver's hand. "You know, things ain't good when we need five strike teams and an air wing." With that thought, Jackie started to cry as he imagined all the children that must needed rescuing if he needed over fifty people.

Once he got control of himself, which he did very quickly when he remembered people were watching him, he replied "I met Peter last night. Hmm, or was it early this morning? We can do that." Then the rest of what Robin said hit him, "Wow, whoever Jesse is must really give Director Hernandez a stiffy really quick, cause Peter and his team work fast. They must really love each other a lot. That's awesome!"

"They're the reason our Division works; we're one big family." Robin replied. "Expect calls from local adults wanting to help out, and give me a yell if there's anything you ain't sure of. You're gonna find out things fall into place really quick, and before you notice it, your Division's gonna have a population explosion. Just give any of the other Directors a call if you're really unsure about if you can do something. Don't worry though, Prez over with the Rimmers has done so much strange crap that I think Cory is letting each Division set their own rules."

Jackie gave a little sigh, "Thanks, Robin. And I'll make sure I'll call if I have questions. I don't know who Prez is, but if he can do that much strange crap then we should be alright. We do things that people think are weird down here in the good ol' south, but if there is one thing that we do really well, that's making sure family comes first, blood or extended family. Family's everything to us."

"Spoken like a true Clan Director!" Robin giggled. "Have some fun, get to know your new brothers, and save some cookies for me!"

Right then, plates full of cookies appeared on every table in the CIC room. Jackie just shook his head. "That sounds like plan to me. Thanks again, Robin, and thanks for the cookies. I will definitely have one for you, or... you could have your own if someone could deliver a giant plate of cookies to Robin from all of us."

"I hope someone told the AI where to drop them!" Robin giggled. "Have a good one, bro; I need to check out the hot dog display over at the pool!"

"You too, Robin. And," Jackie sniggered, "remember to look at, but don't try to eat, all the hot dogs on display."

The last thing heard from Robin's comm-badge was the gushing remark, "Wienerschnitzel!"

Everyone in CIC burst out laughing and some couldn't believe that Jackie actually said that. His closest friends, Lily and Steven wondered what took him so long to start to loosen up.

Jackie's mom, Marty Lewis, Phil Taylor, Bill and Carina Alden entered to the room. "Jackie, Phil, Bill, Carina and I have decided to go back to Des Moines and see Ulee, Bruno and Travis. Marty is going to the school to attempt to fill them in on everything that is going on. Could someone show us what we need to do to be transported over to Des Moines?"

Jeremy piped up, "Sure thing, Mrs. Sabre," then he tapped his commbadge, "We have four to teleport to Des Moines hospital and one teleport to the school."

Before Marty could tell Jeremy that he was going to drive, he was standing in front of the school. Marty shook his head, "Well, I guess Phil will just have to come pick me up later." He walked into the school and entered the principal's office. "Hello Mrs. Blanchard, is Mr. Champagne in his office?"

Mrs. Blanchard looked up and frowned, "Yes, he is Coach Lewis, running a little late this morning, are we?"

Marty laughed, "Yes, I am. I'm not one of the students, so you can drop the tough act with me, Mrs. Blanchard, I know what a softy you really are." Marty headed for Mr. Champagne's office while Mrs. Blanchard just rolled her eyes and went back to work.

"Marty, how are you doing this fine morning?" Geoffrey Champagne smiled as he stood to shake Marty's hand.

Marty shook Geoff's hand and smiled, "Well, it could be better. There was a small incident last night and Bruno is back in the hospital."

Geoff and Marty sat down, "Does this have anything to do with some attack on the Sabre family and Mr. Sabre coming home last night?" Seeing the shocked look on Marty's face, Geoff continued, "I went down to the gym for your first class, but your class captain had everything under control, well most everything. He couldn't seem to get Allister and Dyson to stop talking about the destruction at the house and seeing Mr. Sabre."

Marty shook his head, "Yes, they are quite the pair, aren't they?" Marty paused to think of what to say, "And yes, it seems we had some rogue vampires living in the swamp, and they chose to attempt to take out the Sabre family. That's how Bruno broke his arm, again." Marty saw Geoff's eyebrows almost raise to his hairline, "And yes, Mr. Sabre is now home. He and his new adopted sons arrived, along with his military team. Between all of them, the battle was quick and short. And, it seems that Jackie is now the director of the newly appointed Gulf Coast Division of Clan Short." He didn't think it was possible but Geoff's eyebrows raised even more, "And, we need to determine how we, as a school, are going to support the new director and his new division."

Geoff sat back in his chair in thought, "Well, well. Vampires, I thought they were just legends. But, most legends are born from some truth so it shouldn't surprise me. Let me call an assembly and let the school as a whole decide how much they want to be involved. I, for one, am going to support them in any way they need."

Marty smiled, "I thought you might say that. That sounds like a good plan to me. Oh, and let me see, Jackie, Talon, and Ulee Sabre, Lily Boucher, Steven Shelton, Jeremy Rose, Tyler Morse, Therin Lane, Chad, Travis and Mark Alden and Curtis Voyer won't be in school today, they have quite a bit to accomplish. Except for Ulee and Travis, who are injured and at the hospital in Des Moines. It seems that is where all the Clan kids automatically are sent when injured. I just hope I haven't forgotten anyone."

Geoff was writing all the names down, then looked up, "Are Ulee and Travis going to be alright?"

Marty shook his head, "Those kids were lucky. Travis almost died last night. But, yes, all three are going to be fine."

Geoff nodded, "Good, that is very good. If they are going to be at the hospital for any length of time we should send something to them to let them know that we are supporting them."

"They would appreciate that." Marty stood, "Since Phil is with our new son, I'm going to the gym until you call for the assembly." Then Marty turned and left the room. He couldn't stop the grin that spread across his face as he noticed Mrs. Blanchard just sitting back down as he left Geoff's office.

Back at the house Jackie looked around the room, then whispered to Ranger, "Let's sit down."

Ranger nodded, then Jackie, Seaver and Ranger moved over to one of the couches. Jackie looked around at Talon, Lily, Steven, Jeremy, Tyler, Renaud, Therin, Scout, Chad, Mark, Tevin, Dustin, Kilroy and Stazi. Before Jackie could say anything Ryan, Mason, Brenton, Ethan, Cecil and Davis entered the room and found places to sit.

Jackie looked over at the adults and remembered Robin saying to expect calls from local adults. Jackie chuckled, they didn't need to call, these six plus the five that already left and then his dad sleeping made twelve adults already standing by his side. He smiled and said, "Thank you, I'm sure there is going to be advice you can help me with."

Ryan gave a quick nod. "That's what we're here for, Jackie. The show is yours, but if we see somewhere that you may need help, we'll be here."

Just then all heads turned as a fourteen year old girl walked through the door. Jackie remembered seeing her sitting next to Chad, but didn't know who she was. He felt as though her eyes were looking right through him; they reminded him of a wolf. That golden copper of her amber eyes shined and reflected insight and a depth of cunning awareness that almost unnerved him. Then she turned her eyes toward Ranger and asked, "Bonjour neveu, permettez-moi de rejoindre le groupe de la vôtre et votre mari?" (Translation: Hello nephew, may I join the group of yours and your husband?)

Ranger jumped up and ran to the young lady, "Of course tante, you are most welcome here. Vous êtes de la famille, oui." (Translation: You're family, yes.)

The young lady hugged Ranger and smiled. Then Ranger wrapped his arm around the young lady, turning her to face the group, "Everyone, may I present my youngest tante, she is the daughter of Miz Rose. This is Victoire Marie Broussard, we in the family call her Torie."

Jackie stood up, walked over to Torie and hugged her, "Please, make yourself comfortable."

Torie smiled at Jackie, "Je crois que je vais, mercie." (Translation: I think I will, thank you.) Her light brown, shoulder length hair delicately flowed around her face as she turned, looking for someone.

Chad gently smiled, "Woof!"

Torie grinned and moved over by the boy that woofed. Not so mysteriously, the wolf transformed into a giggling puppy.

Her pale pink lips smiled when her intense eyes landed on Chad, "Puis-je vous joindre à mon bon monsieur?" (Translation: Can I join you, my good sir?)

Chad laid his hand over his lap, "Um, of course. Please, have a seat."

As she sat next to Chad, Ranger whispered to Jackie, "I do not know of the game she plays, she can speak perfect English. But, she has a very strong second sight and there is a reason she seeks this young man out."

Jackie let out a sigh of relief. "Better him than me, I felt like she was reading my soul."

Ranger looked over at Jackie, "She probably was." Then Ranger guided the shocked Jackie back to the couch where Seaver waited for them.

"Alright Ranger, you said she is the daughter of Miz Rose, but who is Miz Rose?" Talon asked from across the room.

Ranger thought for a moment, explaining, "Give me just a second, I need to make sure I have all the names correct." Everyone waited while Ranger thought. Then he started, "In 1768, Miz Zelime Madeleine Broussard found me in the swamps, brought me home and made me family. In 1769 she gave birth to her first daughter, my tante Miz Magdeleine Bella Broussard. I will not repeat the surname as all the first female children hold this last name to keep true to our first immigrant and father that gave the family life here."

Everyone nodded that they understood, there were also many wide eyes when Ranger gave the year he was found. Many in the room did not know how old he was.

"Then, let us see, where was I, ah yes...then in 1787 came Miz Genevieve Luce, then her first daughter was Miz Cecile Adrienne born in 1812. Miz Cecile gave birth to Miz Aurella Catherine in 1833." Ranger stopped to think for a little while, "That is right, yes, then in 1856 came Miz Luce Odilia, followed by Miz Azelie Cecile in 1882, then Miz Odilia Zelime in 1901." Ranger paused here, "Most everyone here knows Miz Odilia, she is very popular and the most visible of today. She gave birth to Miz Marquierite Anne in 1918. Then we have Miz Anne Rose, who joined us in 1939. Miz Anne gave birth to Miz Rose Felicite in 1962, and is the mother of our Miz Victoire Marie, who graced us with her presence in 1990. Miz Marquierite, Miz Anne, and Miz Rose chose to allow Miz Odilia to be wider known." Ranger gave Torie a bright smile, "But with the new division and Torie's second sight, my tantes, it appears, have chosen my tante Torie to come to the forefront of our people."

"Does that mean I gots tons of gran'mas to cuddle?" Seaver asked shyly.

Torie looked over to Seaver, switching to perfect English, she giggled, "Well, I didn't think of myself as a grandmother at the age of fourteen, but since we are more mére than tante I guess you do have five grand-méres little one. And, as one of your grand-méres why don't you come over here and cuddle with me?"

All the boys "woofed" and a few yelled, "You lucky dog!" as Seaver grinned, jumped up and ran over to his new grandma, wiggled onto her lap and settled in for a long cuddle.

As Sever settled in, he giggled "I like your pillows! They don't poke me in my back!"

Torie giggled, hugged Seaver even closer and kissed him on the side of his temple, "He sounds like his papa."

Ranger laughed, "I never said that. No offense Tante, you aren't my type."

Jackie could only concentrate on the fact that his new son nestled his head right on the middle of her chest and had one breast resting on each shoulder.

Torie sighed, "Oh, but you have Ranger. Many nights over the past year as we sat, just like this, under the stars and you complaining that you hadn't found your heart yet."

Ranger glared at Torie, and Jeremy piped in to change the subject before they started to argue. "You know, every division has a clan historian, Ranger, you would be perfect for that position."

"A forgetful historian?" Jackie softly considered, and then nodded at the possibility.

Jackie tore his eyes away from Torie and his son and looked over at Ranger. "That would be perfect." Ranger nodded as Jackie then looked over at Lily, "Are you sure you don't want to be at the hospital with Bruno, you can go if you want to."

Lily smiled, "I can go over later, right now I'm going to take notes and help organize things for you. Kind of like be your personal secretary, but thank you for offering."

Jackie laughed, "Great, that will help if I can listen to ideas and have someone else keep track of all of it."

Talon jumped up and ran into the computer room. He came back out with PADD's for everyone. Therin got up and helped Talon pass out the PADD's.

Just then, Bill and Carina teleported in with Travis and Curtis. Everyone noticed that Curtis had his arm tightly around Travis and the glare in his eyes dared anyone to say the wrong thing or there would be trouble.

Chad, Mark and Scout jumped up and ran to their brother. They hugged him and Chad pulled Curtis into the hug. "Way to go. I'm so happy for the both of you. Took you long enough Curtis!"

Carina smiled, "The doctor said he was well enough to be released but still needs to rest. He was insistent to get back to the team. We figured if you were going to be hanging out here that all of you would make sure he was well taken care of."

The rest of the team, Jeremy, Tyler, Renaud, and Therin joined in the group hug and congratulations. Chad smiled, "Of course we're going to take care of him mom, don't worry. What could go wrong?"

Carina glared at her eldest son, "I will not answer that one, Chad! Your dad and I are going to go home and get some more sleep." Carina and Bill hugged all of the kids, then left to head home.

Jackie looked over at Talon, "Hey bro, is there anyway you can get Ulee and Bruno teleconferenced in on the screen over there so we can get their input also?"

"You got it, just give me a minute and everything will be set up." Talon took off again for the computer room.

Seaver snuggled back into place on Tories lap for more cuddles as Travis asked, "So, what did we miss?" as his eyes settled on Seaver sitting on Tories lap.

"I gots me a new grandma and she has nice soft pillows!" Seaver giggled, rocking his head back and forth as it was nestled in between her breasts again.

Ranger just shook his head, "I was just informing everyone of my family lineage."

Right then Ulee and Bruno showed up on the large screen in the CIC room. They were both sitting in wheelchairs and had smiles on their faces. Katie and Phil were sitting off in the corner drinking coffee and visiting in the background. "Hey bro! Did you hear about all those kids being rescued?" Ulee shouted as he bounced in his wheelchair.

"Sure did, sounds like quite a few of them aren't doing too good." Jackie frowned.

"Well, Joey and them are really busy, so Bruno and I get to stay here for a few more days before they can fix us. But we are doing good. They're spoilin' us here." Ulee smiled and Bruno nodded his head.

Jackie couldn't help smiling; his brother always wanted to make sure everyone else was alright before himself and never complained.

"Hey Ranger! I heard you say that you was just going over your family lineage, how about a repeat so we can hear it too! Since you are family and all now." Ulee giggled.

Ranger nodded, looked over at Travis and Curtis then back at the screen and repeated all that he said earlier for their benefit. Bruno laughed, "Ah, so that explains why your new son abandoned you to cuddle up to his," Bruno fake coughed, "new grand-mére."

Lily glared at the screen, "Don't you be getting any funny ideas, Bruno!"

Bruno smiled at Lily, "Just wishing I could cuddle up to you the way Seaver is cuddled up to his grand-mére right now. But we have time for that later, when I get home and we have time to get to know each other, and you get to know the real me, not the one I pretended to be to protect myself."

Lily sighed and smiled, "That sounds nice."

Ulee was covering his mouth with his hand and snickering, "mushy, mushy."

Everyone in the room started to laugh as Lily turned red when Bruno blew her a kiss.

Jackie felt now was a good time to rescue her, and said, "So, we need to work on building this division. We have five strike teams showing up sometime today and we need to build rooms for them. Oh, and a strike team consists of ten people and we have five strike teams assigned to our division. We'll worry about the air wing later."

Katie looked up at the screen, then frowned. "So, what is the problem? You have forty five hundred acres to work with there, just don't destroy my gardens, any of the old homes around the property or disturb the crafters and small family dwellings scattered around and you should be just fine. Oh, and try to build any new structures to fit in with what is there, I don't want ten story condominiums."

Jackie looked at Ranger, "I do believe I stated she would be fine with new buildings."

Jackie nodded and said, "Then we need to call Quantum Quonstruction Quorps, and see if we can get Peter and his crew back out here."

"Um, Jackie, shouldn't we wait until we know what we need? If we call now, they'll have to keep coming back out 'cause we didn't think of something." Tevin whispered, not sure if he should share his thoughts.

Jackie smiled at Tevin, "You're right. Thank you Tevin."

Tevin beamed at the acceptance as Jackie added, "So, we need to brainstorm. Jeremy, do you know what type of buildings the other divisions have?"

"Well, the UNIT is in a mountain. There is two and a half square miles, all underground, and seven levels," Jeremy started with his home base. "Let's see, level seven is unusable. That is where Daileass lives and all the servers. That is the heart of the UNIT base. Then level six is where our main armory, firing range, and Jory's explosives lab is at."

"Explosives lab!" Everyone could hear the shocked sound in Jackie's voice.

Jeremy laughed, "Yeah, Jory loves his explosives and Juan loves his weapons. Those are two things we have a lot of at the UNIT base."

Jackie just shook his head.

"Okay, where was I? Oh yeah, level five is our Rec Deck. We have our soccer pitch, football and baseball field, pool, hot tub, exercise room, dojo, well, almost anything that you can play outside or inside you can do on the Rec Deck." Jeremy stopped a moment to let that set in. "Then, levels three and four is where our housing pods are. We can house around five thousand people. We actually started to run out of space, so there is now another base in Hawaii with the Pacific Rim Division. That is where your strike teams are coming in from."

"Ran out of room? How do you run out of room?" Jackie had to ask at this unnerving news.

Jeremy sighed, "We took in over ten thousand abandoned, abused and gay kids that either needed rescuing or ran away and were able to make their way to us. There are a lot more out there that still don't know we exist."

Ranger could feel Jackie starting to shake, so he put his hand on Jackie's leg to let him know he was there with him. Jackie absentmindedly settled his hand over Rangers and entwined their fingers.

"Each housing level has their own mess area and chefs. Then on level two we have some housing, offices, hospital, welcoming center, and hanger repair area for our helicopters. Then level one is where our main hanger and landing bay is, along with our command center, and where we hold our ops meetings. That is just the UNIT base." Jeremy paused briefly, "Then we go to Orlando, where our Patriarch is at and the main headquarters for Clan Short."

Jeremy could see everyone was listening, so he continued, "There they have a huge CIC. In there is their main common area. They have their conference room, debriefing room, server room, kitchen, pantry, dining room, large freezer, recreation room, auditorium, etc. Then on the grounds you have the Federation and Youth services building, parking, a shuttle and helicopter landing pad, private garage, housing, soccer field, indoor pool, and special forces offices and barracks. There is more but I am not there that often to remember all of it. Plus, they are always adding more houses."

Stopping to take a drink of water, Tyler picked up where Jeremy left off. "Then there is Des Moines, where all this started. Where Cory and Sean used to live, the neighborhood came together and walled off their area to make a safe haven for kids. All the families came together and opened their homes to rescued children. Cory and Sean really inspired a lot of people to step up to the plate."

Jeremy leaned back and pulled Tyler into his arms when he continued, "Now we head over to the Pacific Rim Division. They live on the island of Oahu in Ewa Beach, as is Oneula Beach, and the Rapid Response Base. They also have three other bases, each on different islands, Kuaui, Hawaii and Maui. And for this one we can show you a video lay out of one of the dorms, and a map of the grounds." Everyone turned to see a map of the grounds showing on a different screen on the wall. "As you can see from the map, at the gates is the Federation Youth Services offices when you first enter, and their parking. Off to the side there is the helicopter and shuttle landing pad. Then you have the main CIC and auditorium. Behind that is the four dorm and four main houses. Off to the side there are their town-homes. On the other side is outdoor recreation area and behind the houses and dorms is the basketball courts, soccer field, pool and indoor rec center."

Tyler added, "They also have a military branch on the other side of the island and another area set up with more houses and rec areas. They were given a lot of land to work with to house a lot of children."

"Now back to Orlando, across the street from the Clan's main Headquarters is Camp Little Eagle. That is where the majority of the high-profile rescued kids live, and where the Clan kids go to school. That is run by the Seminole Natives of the area. It's a really awesome place, and the kids finally have a chance to learn and thrive there." Jeremy smiled when he thought of Camp Little Eagle.

Tyler glanced back at Jeremy then added, "Then we go to the Las Vegas Division. They took over what they thought was a pharmaceutical lab, to find out it was really a cloning lab where Eric was cloned at. There were other clones in tubes and some that were recently released. So, they took over the care of the clones. They increased the security, have a major lab there and added four dorms also. Their division is pretty much a duplicate of the Pacific Rim Division."

Jackie sat up, "Clones! You have got to be kidding me, clones. That's... that's... I don't have words."

Stazi looked over at Jackie, "That's just as bad as what theys did to us; all we's Genesis kidses. We's were kidses, changed and turnsed with animal DNA. There be's so many different experiments and kidses. Almost anythings you can think of, somes or alls of us have.

Jackie never even thought of what happened to Stazi and Kilroy, he just accepted they were different. Now he really looked at Stazi and could see the ferret in her. A tear ran down his face and you could see his expression go blank. In his head he went to the filing cabinet that he and Kyle set up and he found all the information he could read about the Genesis project, all the kids and the clones. In his mind he ranted, raved, threw things, and cried at the injustice of it all. When he finished, he opened his eyes and opened his arms to Stazi and Kilroy. The two ferret kids ran over to Jackie, climbed up into his lap and into his arms. Jackie closed his arms around them to be held and cuddled. Jackie then looked at Jeremy, "I'm good now, please continue."

"We also have the Oceanic Division over in Australia. They have a six meter wall running all the way around their compound. The only way in, on foot, is through their Federation Youth Services building. Their security is also set up in their main building. Their CIC is a large round building and has their servers or 'heart' of their compound twenty meters underground. They also have three research labs for their tech geeks there. They created our commbadges. There are also briefing and debriefing rooms." Jeremy stopped to think what he was missing.

Tyler added, "They also have a force field around their compound that will activate anytime their compound goes over condition green."

"Oh yeah, don't let me forget; we'll go over condition codes later." Jeremy added.

Tyler laughed, "How could you forget condition codes? Anyway, then they have a multi-purpose recreation building. It has a gymnasium, three multi-purpose courts and an indoor pool. Then the building also opens up to an undercover, outdoor pool, complete with diving boards, slides and of course, a nice outdoor spa for the older kids and adults."

"Then for their housing they chose cottages. Each cottage has it's own kitchen and dining area, two bedrooms plus study, and are easily upgradeable to add on new bedrooms for the newly adopted children." Jeremy stopped to take a cookie.

"Then we have the Northeast Division. I don't even try to keep up with that one since Peter is in construction and mainly works out of that division. He changes things over there so fast that what once was now isn't, but then is again. Out of the Northeast division we have acquired several bases around the United States and they are working at making them rescue centers also. And we have our Dragon Division over in England. They are our VSO. Very classified. But they really have a lot of the same as Orlando." Tyler continued then he went to grab a cookie.

He paused, however, when a hand appeared out of thin air, picked up three cookies, and passed them to him. After a few seconds of giggles from nowhere, an eleven-year old head joined the hand, his silver-blond hair making his purple eyes stand out even more than the others of his sub-species. "Hi, Uncle Jackie, I'm Bryce!" he giggled. "You ain't gotta be like any other division; just build anything that you think will come in handy and the details will sort themselves out."

Jeremy started to laugh. "That was what I was going to tell him, brat!" Then Jeremy looked at Jackie, "Pretty much, everything I just told you means absolutely nothing to the Gulf Coast Division. Take what you want, leave the rest and build this division the way you want it. Then, as it grows and changes, change it again."

Bryce gave Jeremy a huge grin and took a bite of cookie. Jackie looked at the head and hand hovering in the air, eating cookies and picked up his PADD. Ranger looked over at Jackie with a confused look on his face when he saw what he was doing. Jackie found the game DynaDino. Then Jackie started shooting at different colored tennis balls that were falling down a chute.

"Um, Jackie, what are you doing?" Ranger asked, sounding very concerned.

"What? Oh, this? Well, I've got a new nephew that only has a head and a hand. I needed to clear my mind for a bit, so I'm blowing things up." Jackie replied as he continued to shoot dynamite at the tennis balls and watching them explode.

After blowing up a few dozen tennis balls, Jackie put his PADD down for a moment. "So, the most common things all of the divisions have in place, and what is the most important is the Federation Youth Services building which should be going in for my mom to run. I know where that is going to go. There is the old service delivery road that deliveries used to use a long time ago. We are going to put the Federation Youth Services building there. The next important thing is the CIC, and from what I gather we need to build underground for servers and other important updates. So, we can build back behind the Federation Youth Services building."

"As a point of interest," Ranger added, "I have a way to help with moisture control. During my years of studying chemistry, I have created a material that I have used in my underground home to waterproof it. We can use that material for our new CIC underground rooms."

Jackie glanced at the head and hand of Bryce still grinning and eating cookies, "We need it to blend in with the other buildings and still be secure."

"That won't be a problem, Peter is really good at special requirements." Jeremy laughed.

"If that is the case then we could add dorms, let's start with two, but the buildings need to match the houses around the plantation. So, while it's like the dorms, the outside is going to have private entrances and patios." Jeremy nodded, "I think it's time to get ahold of Quantum Quonstruction Quorps." Jackie nodded as if he had made up his mind about what needed done. "Talon, could you place the call?"

Talon looked around the room, "Um, does anyone know the number?"

"Sixty-nine; Peter and Galen are feeling frisky!" Bryce giggled.

Talon looked at Bryce, shrugged his shoulders and dialed sixty-nine.

Somehow, the message he heard played over speakers so that the entire room could hear. "Thank you for calling the Quality Quonstruction Quorps. Press one if we have already built what you are about to ask for. Press two if you are out of cookies. Press three if you have a request that you think we don't know about, but we actually already do. Press four if we've confused you to the point that you have no idea what to select."

Talon thought about this for a second, looked at Bryce and smiled. Then he glanced around the room and noticed that none of the plates of cookies were empty yet, they seemed to replenish themselves. Then he looked at his brother, and while Jackie seemed totally confused, he wasn't. He thought of one and went and looked out the window and didn't see anything changed outside, so he hit number three to see what would happen.

"You pressed three, obviously you have never used our services. Press one if your request requires chocolate, press two if it requires strawberries, press three for caramel, or press four for other options."

Talon got a confused look on his face. They did use their services before, they have the large purple hardhat outside by the treehouse to prove that. "Hmmm, interesting." Talon said as he thought about the options. He pressed four.

"You selected whipped cream and cherries. Kinky! Press one for peanuts, press two for walnuts, press three for candy sprinkles, or press four for the works."

Talon rolled his eyes, well he was told to call sixty-nine, "I should have figured this would happen. Oh, what the heck. Kinky and the works sounds good to me. Just wish it was me having some fun."

Therin groaned, as he was wishing the same thing due to Talon being his secret crush for over a year now. He just knew that Talon wasn't gay and there was no hope for him.

Talon heard the groan, looked around the room, shrugged his shoulders and pressed four again.

"Nice, we like you! Press one for glass, two for plastic, three for transparent aluminum, or four for wood."

Now Talon was really confused, "What does this have to do with anything?" He leaned back and thought about his choices. Everyone else in the room was starting to giggle watching Talon decipher each message. "No way am I doing anything with wood! Oh, what the heck, let's try transparent aluminum. Haven't seen that before."

"Good choice; you like making it last! Press one for chocolate, two for vanilla, three for Neapolitan, or four for random chance."

Talons eyebrows scrunched together, "Why do I have the feeling we are no longer talking about building houses or the CIC? Chocolate is nice, who doesn't like chocolate? Vanilla is too boring unless it's Vanilla Bean, but they didn't say that so no to vanilla. Neapolitan, so you just add a little strawberry to the plain chocolate and vanilla. I would rather go with the random chance. Hope it's good." He took a deep breath and hit four.

"Thank you. Press one."

Jackie burst out laughing, Talon glared. "Press one, thank you and press one! Are they crazy?" Talon looked at Jackie, "Bro, are you sure you want to use this company. I mean, bro, they are flippin' out of this world. Don't you want to just have, like, our own construction company build what needs building. I will even raise a hammer and help."

Jackie was laughing so hard he couldn't reply. Talon glared and pressed one. "Oh, what the heck."

What happened next went so fast even Bryce had trouble keeping up. A semi-transparent globe of transparent aluminum appeared with a ghostly representation of the entire compound across its front. Talon and Therin found themselves sitting in a bowl of the same material, chest deep in whipped cream and cherries, their clothes still where they had previously been standing. In front of them was a table with a huge ice cream sundae, both of their favorite flavors combined in the bowl.

A disembodied leg wearing a purple hard hat appeared and hopped over to Jackie, a note held in his toes. He footed the note to Jackie, then bounced impatiently as he waited for Jackie to read it.

Talon and Therin were blushing so much that they were bright red. Even their chests were bright red. Talon grumbled, "The least they could have done was send us somewhere private."

Therin's eyes opened wide, "private?"

Talon smiled, "Yep, so I can do this!" He picked up a cherry covered in whipped cream and set it on Therin's nose, then picked up a spoon full of ice cream and placed the spoon to Therin's lips to feed him. Therin was so shocked he opened his mouth automatically and took the bite of ice cream. Then Talon leaned over, and kissed Therin, knocking the cherry off Therin's nose and getting whipped cream smeared on his nose also.

Renaud smiled softly watching his friend's wish come true. Knowing how long Therin longed to love Talon, he was so happy for him.

Therin grinned, "Really?"

Talon smiled, "Yeah, when I heard you sing I got all confused inside. This tells me what that feeling really was."

Therin's smile was from ear to ear as he picked up his spoon and fed Talon a spoon full of his ice cream.

Jackie remembered Leg from the night before, but he thought he was hallucinating since it was so late. "Well, I guess I wasn't hallucinating." He took the note from Leg and started to read, and kept glancing at his brother in a bowl of whipped cream. He was blushing for his brother also. Then he glanced at Ranger and really blushed. He looked back at the note and kept reading.

Jackie handed the note to Ranger, "Um, how can they provide various options of something that we already chose?"

Ulee said, "Wow! Hey, Ranger, that centuries part was for you, Dad, Adain, Jaden and Clark. How awesome is that!"

While Ranger looked at the note, he got a thoughtful look on his face. Torie had a huge grin on her face, but when Ranger looked at her, he could tell she wasn't going to say a word about what any of it meant.

"Um, is there anyway Therin and I can get out of this bowl and into a shower to wash all this whipped cream off of us?" Talon looked right at Bryce.

Ranger looked at Jackie. "I guess we wait for them to show up in approximately one half of an hour."

"Yeah, so we wait. Sounds good to me. I haven't had a cookie yet." Jackie reached for a cookie, set back and settled in.

"I'll do you one better!" Bryce giggled. "You can manually clean each other now!" he stated as a wall appeared around the dish containing the pair. "The bathroom is the side door to your left, you can clean the spots you're not ready to lick yet in the shower in there."

Talon and Therin were so glad that no one could see that they turned redder than the cherries. "Um, Talon, could we like shower and, um..."

Talon nodded, "I really like you, but I'm not ready to do anything yet. This is all too new to me, too. Let's get to know each other first."

The two of them made their way to the bathroom and gently washed each other. For Talon it was new, since this was Therin, but for Therin, being an only child, this was totally new for him. "Why are you so comfortable?" Therin asked Talon.

Talon shrugged, "My brothers and me have taken lots of showers together and washed each other. So, I've done this before. But, this is new to me cause it is with my first boyfriend." Then Talon looked at Therin and asked, "Um, that is if you would like to be my boyfriend?"

Therin was smiling and crying at the same time, "I've wanted to be your boyfriend for over a year now." Then Therin grabbed Talon in a hug and yelled, "Yes!"

"Come on, I see some clothes over there. Let's get dried off, dressed and join the rest of the group." Talon hugged Therin then started to dry Therin off.

They appeared in the room, fully clothed and holding hands.

Just then, Peter, Galen, Eli, Benji, Sammy, and 'Bastian appeared, all wearing board shorts and carrying surfboards, by their wet hair and the water dripping from the boards, it was obvious that they had just got out of the water. "Sorry it took so long, there were some awesome waves off of Oahu that we had to catch." Peter said with a grin.

Jackie looked at the clock, "Um, I thought the note said thirty minutes, you could have caught a few more waves. You aren't late at all."

"It was thirty minutes in Theta-Seven; we never specified which universe!" Eli giggled.

Jackie groaned, "This is going to take me awhile to get used to." He rubbed his eyes, "So," taking a deep breath, "What options did we choose, whenever we chose them, from options that we never saw, but did see in that time that we don't know about?" Jackie then looked over at Talon, "I think you are rubbing off on me bro, cause that is something you would have said!"

Talon laughed, "Of course, that is the only logical, intelligent choice."

"Dang! You're good!" Galen giggled as a pin appeared on Jackie's shirt declaring to the world that he was now an Honorary Mikyvis.

Jackie looked at the pin, "Wow! Thank you. I have no clue what that means but I know it's important and special. I'm honored."

Peter smiled. "Actually, Jackie, I think you're going to like how things turned out. Thanks to my meddling cousin over there who's not showing us what he's doing with the rest of his body, there has been a small timeline division which put the choice-making phase of this into a different thread. The globe over there is yours to keep; it shows you the buildings of your compound, and can be made to do other stuff as you think of it. Shall we go look at what's done, then we can tweak things as you notice them?"

Ranger looked at the globe and smiled, "Wow! Jackie, this is the most wonderful gift. I can be here and still protect the innocents. Thank you so much!" Then Ranger went over to hug the construction crew.

Jackie smiled, "I love this. And I can't wait to go and take a look at all of the changes with you."

Everyone in the room got up and started to look at the globe and make comments.

"Are those two separate housing sections? How are the houses or such being set up?" Steven wondered aloud.

"Hey, Purpurowy wants to know where the petting zoo and animal refuge is!" Ulee shouted as he couldn't see one anywhere. "Jackie, we gotta put in an animal refuge too. Animals need rescuing from abuse or healed when they are injured."

Jackie looked around, "Are those over-ground tubes running to all the buildings?"

Ranger looked closer, "Why are there two Federation Youth Services buildings?"

Renaud whispered, "I wonder if I can get the house remodeled that Therin and I hid in. Being on the outskirts of the property, it would be good to have some security living in other places around the plantation."

Jeremy was looking a little closer and noticed faint purple lines, "Um, are those underground tunnels?"

"Are we going to put a fence or something around the plantation for extra security?" Tyler really wanted the whole place walled off.

"What is that huge building by the dojo? Is it connected to our dojo?" Talon asked.

Katie noticed the building Talon was looking at and asked, "Please tell me that my smaller labyrinth going to the treehouse is not being disturbed, that's a large building there."

Peter just smiled. "You just need to touch the area that you wanna look at. Try it, I think I remember you saying that you'd like it."

Talon touched the building by the dojo and a voice said, "Welcome to your new Entertainment Complex!" A three-dimensional image of the building showed in the globe and everyone could see the inside of the building. "In here you have your new indoor swimming pool and spa, combination game room and movie theater, and exercise room. The game room has pinball machines, table hockey, pool tables, table tennis, a reading area, and several tables set up for chess, checkers, board games and card games. The second floor hangs over the small labyrinth so no plants were injured in any way. The basement room holds the gymnasium for any gymnasts that arrive. There is also a football field, baseball field, tennis court, and soccer pitch outside between the Recreation Barn and the entertainment building and along the side of the entertainment complex. Oh, I almost forgot, there's lawn croquet set up too."

There was a collective gasp from everyone. "Wow! That is awesome!" they all yelled in unison.

Seaver curiously reached out and touched the Recreation Barn, "This building is the Recreation Barn, it holds all of your outdoor gear. There's everything you need to play all the outdoor games. You will also find tricycles, bicycles, four wheelers, roller skates, in-line skates, hoola hoops, and jump ropes. Pretty much anything that you can think of that anyone may need for outside play is in this barn. There are barn doors for possible mass exodus."

Seaver got a huge smile on his face, "I can't wait to see if I know how to ride a bike, and if I don't then I can't wait to learn."

Therin touched another building, "This amazing building contains your classrooms and your cafe. What a better place to have a huge eating place, right along with your classrooms. See, going to school is nothing like public schools and all of you will enjoy going to school here."

You could hear everyone groan about having a school right there outside their home.

Eli slapped his forehead. "I KNEW I forgot something! It's past time for my monthly appearance at school! Mr. T is gonna think I'm taking after Cory!"

Everyone looked over at Eli, "Monthly appearance? What do you mean by monthly appearance? Don't you have to go to school every day?" Jackie asked, looking at Eli with a skeptical look on his face.

"It's only been three weeks, bro!" Benji giggled. "You've got another week before you're in Cory territory!" He then turned to Jackie. "Actually, school is arranged around our Clan duties. It's open year-round, and we're taught at our own pace. There's no real 'class' like you know it, all of us are in groups that are learning on the same track, and a lot of the time we teach each other. Our group is on the Engineering track, so everything we learn while building stuff we'll tell our group about when we get a break to spend a day or six in the school buildings."

You could see everyone in the room grin. "Wow. Does that mean that I might be able to finish school then?" Renaud quietly asked. "Or am I too old now that I'm sixteen. Especially since I haven't been to school, well other than the school of hard knocks and street smarts that is, since I was twelve. I'd really like to feel like I've accomplished more than learning how to sexually please johns to make a few bucks and getting high." Renaud then looked at the entertainment building, "I can't wait to get into that pool to see if I can still swim like I used to." Everyone could hear the hope and longing in Renaud's voice when he talked.

"I'm approaching fifty," Peter stated with a grin, "at least if you figure it linearly. I'm still in class, so I'm sure you're eligible. I'm nowhere near the oldest; one of Cory's brothers is on somewhere past his tenth life and he's just getting registered for his first day!"

Renaud smiled as a tear fell from his eye.

Scout reached out and touched another building on the globe, "Ah, that is the medical building. We made it a little longer and stronger, added a second story and the newest and best medical equipment. You, Scout, and Master Sergeant Brenton Springald will get all the training needed to run the new medical building. And don't worry, we left your basement lab in place and enhanced it." Scout and Brenton smiled at each other and couldn't wait to run over to the new medical building when it was finished.

"Also, if you look closely, we added a new portion to the back of the building." Everyone looked at the globe and watched as the image showed it moving to the back of the building and saw a sign that said, 'Veterinary Clinic'. "Ranger, it has come to our attention that you studied animal behavior and medicine, so we added a veterinary building on the backside of the medical building so you can continue to study and help the animals of the swamp and plantation. There is also a chemistry lab underground like the medical side has."

Ranger's eyes opened wide as he hadn't shared that with many people. "How, how?" He couldn't even finish his sentence as he became speechless.

"Cute, silent, cuddly boyfriends who suck minds when not sucking other things," Eli giggled, earning him a slap from both Sammy AND Sebastian.

Ranger frowned, then he heard hissing coming from the screen and could see a tear falling from Ulee's eyes. "Oh, don't fret brother-in-law and Purpurowy. If there is a veterinary clinic then there has to be an animal refugee." Ranger touched open ground on the globe.

"All of the grounds of the plantation are for any animal that seeks refuge and a petting area. The animals have been asked to stay closer to the main grounds, here, until all the members that live on the plantation and around the crafters village are notified that all animals that enter the plantation are safe to pet. Even the alligators and poisonous snakes." The globe responded.

Ulee and Scout loudly cheered at that news, and Purpurowy let out a huge roaring meow letting everyone know how happy they were.

Mark took a chance and stepped forward and touched a huge hexagon shaped building. "Welcome to your auditorium. You can have plays, clan meetings, and even have Time Touched and Platinum Habits, both clan bands, come and play for your kids."

"My little bro is the tour manager for both bands, even though I forget if one of them knows it yet!" Bryce announced proudly.

Alden, the Pacific Rim AI, giggled over the room speakers, "Last night, before the California Orphanages, Platinum Habits were considering Christmas Carols. Carol Of The Bells momentarily changed to Carol Of The Balls, but they decided Carol Of The Bellies would be safer. Then they went to work, so they've probably forgotten all about it, but don't worry, I'll remind them!"

Jackie looked over at Bryce, who was still sitting there eating cookies with only his head and one hand showing, and asked through his giggles when he heard another invisible voice speak into the room, "Exactly who is your little bro? Have I met him yet?"

"NO-OOOO!" a choir of frightened AIs screeched over the speakers.

"You just can't handle my awesome!" Dylan said as he popped in. The little purple-haired mischief-maker grinned at Bryce. "Told ya not to prank Quint, bro! You still trying to get your feet unstuck from the Moon?"

Bryce nodded, knowing that if he said anything it would just fuel his brother.

Dylan turned to Jackie. "Dylan Richardson, Tour Manager of the Universes, at your service, Sir."

Jackie groaned, "Please, not sir, my name is Jackie, and it's nice to meet you also." Then Jackie turned to Bryce, "So, your feet are stuck on the moon. That help explains a few things. Now I really do need to ask two things, are you two related to Kyle, and who or what is Quint?"

Talon asked through his giggles, "Dude, that must have been some kind of prank. What exactly did you do?"

"Yeah, I would like to know too, and if I could use it to prank my brothers sometime." Ulee was laughing so hard that he was gasping while talking and holding his stomach.

Jackie turned on Ulee, "Don't you go getting any ideas, you do just fine all on your own!"

"Sir Jackie, we're Kyle's sons!" Dylan giggled. "I'm the second-cutest; our big brother Levi stole the cutest title. Uncle Quint is a Q; think Daddy on a sugar rush mixed with Superman. You don't really wanna know what the goofball over there did; Pop says temporal pranks give the rest of our family headaches just hearing about them."

Jackie shook his head, weakly muttering, "I think temporal pranks would give any living being a headache."

"Dang, can't use that then. Hey Uncle Quint, can you let Bryce go so he can join all of us?" Ulee shouted into the air.

"And what is with the 'Sir'? Please, it's just Jackie, Dylan." Then he turned to Ranger, "Kyle has some interesting children. I think I'm going to enjoy getting to know them."

Ranger looked at Jackie, "When you get used to only seeing parts of a person's body, I think I will, also."

While everyone was laughing and meeting Dylan, Jeremy touched Village one. "In village one, we have the housing section for the security teams, strike teams, and air wing. At this moment there are fifteen homes. Each strike team has been assigned one of the houses, the security team already has another, and the air wing has this one on the edge of the village. As couples choose to adopt or live together they can move into any of the other homes and there is still room when the need arises for expansion. There is a mixture of single story and second story homes. One thing all homes have in common is they have an underground living area which contains a recreation/game room. Once the Air Wing gets settled, their facilities will be added north of the village."

"Well, that takes care of where we're going to house the new guys." Jackie exclaimed. Now he didn't need to worry about the living arrangements for over fifty people any longer.

"So, does that mean we can move into one of the houses there?" Travis asked.

"Yeah, it does," Jackie smiled at Travis and Curtis, still holding hands. "And if you don't want to live with your team, you can choose your own home."

Curtis told Travis, "I think, for right now, we would like to live with our team."

Travis nodded, "Yeah, not sure how mom and dad are going to take it when I tell them I'm moving here, but I want to be with you, and the team."

"Well, mom and dad are going to have to figure it out, cause I'm moving over here with the team too!" Mark stated as if there were no question about it.

Chad frowned, "Yeah, I didn't like having to go home every night when we were a secret team. I'll explain it to mom and dad."

"Well, since you are my new brothers and we are a team, Takoda and I are going where you go." Scout crossed his arms over his chest to show he wasn't budging on his decision.

Chad went over and put his arm over Scouts shoulder, "You got that right little bro!"

Scout relaxed and smiled up at his new big brother.

Benji smiled. "Don't worry, we've got a whole 'nuther compound for the 'rents. It's over with the Staff village, just north of the map area the globe is showing."

You could hear the collective sighs of relief from all four of the Alden brothers and Curtis.

At that point, Bryce finally was able to bring the rest of his body over... complete with an attached pink fluffy tail ending in a green puffy ball the size of a saucer. Wincing as he examined his temporary appendage, he quipped "Okay, that's the LAST time I prank Uncle Quint! He says I gotta keep this until I happen to be in the same place as Uncle Cory!"

"Told ya!" Peter, Galen, and Dylan chorused in unison.

Everyone in the room started to giggle. Ulee, still watching on the video feed, burst out in a belly laugh and then yelled, "Stop, I gotta pee!" as he hurriedly wheeled himself out of camera view.

Cecil, shaking his head at the kid's antics, stepped up and touched another village area, "This is village two. This is a duplicate of village one. If you notice, just north of village two is village three, this is also a duplicate. Another fifteen homes in this village. We also duplicated this over in the Staff village. All of the single story homes can have a second floor added at any time."

"What? Just how many people are going to be living here? Isn't that a lot of homes?" Jackie asked, totally stunned. He looked around the room in total confusion.

"Somewhere between a hundred and a quadzillion!" Eli giggled.

Peter shook his head. "Naw, we won't pass a million until after Christmas."

"Jackie's got that same dazed and confused expression that Prez and Julio had," Daileass giggled. "It'll pass, Jackie."

"And get worse!" Alden laughed.

Ranger wrapped his arms around Jackie before he could pass out. "Shh, my love, everything will be fine and we, all of us in this room, are more than capable of dealing with this together. You are not alone."

Jackie gulped as he swallowed and nodded his head, letting everyone know that he heard, but the dazed and confused look still remained on his face.

Ryan mumbled, "If anyone can do this, it's these kids, that's for sure." Then he touched the building all the way at the front of the globe at the entrance of the plantation.

Everyone heard, "Welcome to the Jardin Haven du Marais public Federation Youth Services building. This is the main public office. Note that the security offices are also here in this building. At the drive is the main gate which will be manned at all times for security, all visitors must check in at this building before coming onto the plantation. Your public transporter pad is also in this building."

Ryan and the rest of Zeke's military team all nodded, this they approved of. "So, there's one more building, go ahead Jackie, get that dazed and confused look off your face and let's see what that building is." Ryan said as he looked at Jackie.

Jackie glared at Ryan, stepped out of Rangers arms and pressed on the last building, "And this is your main Federation Youth Services building and shuttle terminal. All rescues will come to this office. Your helicopter and shuttle landing pad is on the roof of this building."

"And if Sean's flying in a shuttle, it'll be evacuated!" Peter quipped.

Talon looked closer at the globe, "Why is this area shaded under the rec barn?" Then he touched the area.

"This is your underground CIC building. The CIC area in your home is the public CIC and many daily activities will be dealt with there. The underground CIC has your servers, debriefing and briefing rooms, and more secure areas that will be necessary in the future. We have also added lightless housing and a brig area. With the number of vampires that will be housed here, selected persons sentenced to death will be placed in your brig for termination. Please note the underground shadows between buildings. These are your underground tunnel system to travel between buildings securely if needed. We have also added above ground tubes made out of transparent aluminum to travel between buildings."

Jackie, Talon, Ulee and Katie gasped. They just realized that Zeke would need to kill to live and feed. And not only Zeke, but their new family members, Aiden, Jaden and Clark. "I don't like housing criminals here on the grounds. Just how secure is this area? Will the children be safe?" Katie asked, not really sure how she felt about this at all.

"It could take a direct hit from a starship phaser and it might get a little warmer - only a degree or two." Peter answered seriously. "The Moroi Pantry has no doors in or out, so there is no chance of an escape."

"Moroi? I haven't heard that word before. What is or are Moroi? And if there are no doors in or out, then how will Zeke, Aiden, Jaden and Clark get in to feed?" Katie questioned.

"Moroi is an ancient word for Vampires," Alden answered. He then giggled, "It's politically correct and unclear to anyone who doesn't need to know about them."

"You will find that you know more of them than you think," George added. "Word is already out that y'all are active and know about the species; so you will be getting your 'Night Stalker' brigade by tomorrow morning. Obviously, they're taking the night shift for guard duty."

Katie got a thoughtful look on her face, then she noticed the relieved look on Ryan's face. "Ryan, does this mean something to you?"

Ryan, Mason, Brenton, Ethan, Cecil, Jeremy and Tyler all nodded their heads, then Ryan looked at Katie, "That means Zeke will have more help. There will be another strike team to protect the children and the residents of the plantation during the evening hours. And believe me, you'll be thankful that this added security team is here. You remember what you saw the other night."

"Well, then, it looks like a brig will be a necessity." Katie nodded in response and acceptance of the news.

Downstairs in the kitchen, the cook had just finished piling sandwiches on plates to deliver upstairs. Before she could finish wiping her hands all the trays of food disappeared. "Lord almighty! Where did the food go?"

Miz Odilia just shook her head, "They have been delivered where they needed to be. This is the time of change, get ready for it. Our children are helping to bring in a new world."

The cook just shook her head, "You keep talking crazy old woman. Next you will be telling me dragons and unicorns are real." The cook stated as she laughed and walked away.

Miz Odilia just smiled a mysterious smile and glanced at the ceiling.

Up in the CIC, everyone noticed the sandwiches and yelled, "Food!" All the kids stopped what they were doing and started to eat their lunch.