Next Time, Consider Calling

[Zander Ellison]

For Zander Valentine things had really never been better. Ever since he had fallen so behind in his work, that the only friend he had, had helped him out. He had never been better. It was little under 6 month since that had happened, and well, since then they had been dating. Zander hadn't thought that would be in his future. They were taking things slow, since between his job and the kids, he didn't always have the most amount of time to spare. But, this was good. It felt good. It was something he could look forward to. Something that excited him, which really hadn't happened in a long while. Since all of the people he had in life, had eventually f##ked off. He had too many things to do. Too many duties, there was no getting away from it. For the eldest Valentine, it was the first time things had truly gone right for him. He couldn't believe how lucky he was. Since she was so beautiful, and talented and was willing to spend her time with him, and his little family. The one he took care of happily. He no longer had those days where he worried about where he would get his motivation from. Or those mornings where he just wished to stay in bed each morning. He woke up each morning feeling good about himself, about life about everything. She stayed over every so often, and that was good. It had been so long since he'd had only comfort him to sleep, or since he had been able to sleep easy knowing things would be alright. She gave him a sense of calm that he had never thought that possible for him. This day, was one of the few days that Zander had no plans, or anything with her. He'd sent her a text first thing in the morning, and gone about his day. Ever since that night, Zander made a point of taking one day off a week from his two jobs. It meant money was a little tighter, but it didn't hugely affect anything else, and it had greatly improved Zander. He spent more time with his siblings, with Abby. He ate more, and just looked better. Being happy and in a relationship had really helped Zander. Who had truly been struggling, just months before. Struggling to find where he was meant to be, and what he was meant to be doing.

The last few months had been eye opening for him. And well, he had found it increasingly hard to hide the magic. She spent so much time at the house, and while Jamie was learning magic in the house, which on his days off he generally helped with, it was becoming more difficult. It was difficult to explain what his job was to her, to explain to her, hide the paper when he got it, as the pictures moved, and well, he had sort of moved into the spare room, whenever she stayed over, his bedroom, was full of moving pictures and other magical items. It was becoming very hard for him to hide it, but it wasn't like he could actually tell her. It would sound silly, she wouldn't believe him in the first place. He loved Peyton, but she seemed like skeptical type when it came to magic. Which did not work well in his favour. Since she would probably call him a liar, and he didn't want this to end badly with her. He desired it to do well, but he knew there was only so much that he could keep hidden. On this day, he was spending his time with young Abby, he was creating little magical clouds of colour, and listening to her laugh, he was getting Jamie to join in, so the colours could mix together. Even though Abby was a little older just over a year old, and well, she looked more and more like her mother with each passing day. He saw her smile and just smiled himself. It was incredible. She was so beautiful. He enjoyed these days with her, creating the little puffs of magical smoke. He also knew that she loved when he produced his patronus. It was an incredibly friendly and small wolf. He had seen Jamie trying to cast the same spell, but it didn't ever work. She was slightly too young. However, he loved her efforts. He loved her. he loved his family, and he was truly grateful to have them in his life. Then as he let young Abby chase after the wolf, a loud knocking rapped at the door. He looked over, confused, who could it be. He ended the spell, much to the annoyance of young Abby, who looked about ready to cry. He was right in that, as the person knocked a second time, the little girl cried. Without giving it too much thought, Zander lifted the crying Abby into his arms and then went to the door, opening it wide and being truly surprised by who was there, "Peyton?" This could not be good.
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[Peyton Davidson]

The last six months had been some of the best and happiest that the young blonde photographer could recall. Who would have guessed that one night of making dinner and babysitting would have led to having an absolutely wonderful relationship with one of the sweetest guys on the planet. Not to mention that she'd absolutely fallen in love with the entire Valentine family. Peyton and Jamie clicked immediately, mostly over photography and then the normal girly things in life. Tyler had been the typical teenage boy who lacked much enthusiasm over most things, but he had warmed up to her eventually. And then there was baby Abby. Peyton just couldn't get enough of the little bundle of love. Being with them made her not miss her own brothers quite so much. The young blonde had even noticed a significant change in her boyfriend over the last few months. That first day he'd looked so tired and worn down and desperate for some help. Now a days he looked perkier...happier. Their relationship was very unexpected which made her realize that it really was the most unexpected things in life that could make you the happiest, but even through all the happiness and joy Peyton just couldn't shake the feeling that Zander was hiding something from her. Most days she convinced herself that she was just being silly, but the remainder of the time she struggled with the gut feeling she had.

Today was a rather slow day. She'd woken up to a text from Zander, which, as always, put a smile on her face. She sent a reply and then got up to get ready. Peyton arrived at school a couple hours early to get in some extra dark room time to process the new film she'd taken just a few days before. Once that was done she headed for her class only to find it was cancelled for the day. "Guess I'll see if I can pick up a few extra hours at the cafe today then," she mused aloud as she situated her pack on her back and headed for her job.

She arrived at her location and found her boss. "Sorry Peyton, I meant to call you to tell you that we didn't even need you to come in to cover your shift today. Business has been slow today, probably because of the convention in town, so we won't need you today. I even had to send Haley and Brooke home early. If it keeps up then I might just close up shop early. I hate you made the trip here," the man said to her, looking genuninely apologetic before adding, "Why don't you grab some food for the road, eh? Since you came all this way the least I can do is feed you." "Not a problem Nate, but I think I will grab some food," she said with a grin. I'll take enough for lunch for Zander and the kids too...surprise them she thought as she bagged up the food and headed out towards Zander's home.

Peyton tapped loudly on the door when she arrived. No answer. I could have sworn he had the day off she thought, that feeling creeping up in her belly again. Biting her lip she hesitantly knocked again and this time she heard Abby crying and she cringed. Her boyfriend answered the door looking a little surprised to be seeing her standing there. "I didn't wake her up did I," she said lightly, feeling very bewildered and wishing she would have called first.

 

[Zander Ellison]

Time had taught him well, in the back of his mind, he had truly hoped that him and Peyton would last, but, with her arriving at his door completely out of the blue he wasn't so sure. Then, once those feelings had left he felt panicked. In his mind he could see all of the different magical things lying around the house. The least of which was the wands. He had protective spells over his house. He was allowed by the ministry to have magic preformed in his house, but if anyone ever looked in the windows, they would never see this magic which they had. However, this didn't make it easy. When he had every so often had babysitters, all of the magical things had to be hidden, and he had to be sure to remind the kids that they couldn't talk about the magic around this person. Which had been hard, while Kailey was around, who always seemed set on destroying things. her and the second eldest twins. While he had told Peyton a little about his wider family, he had not mentioned much more. He didn't like talking about them, and she hadn't pressed him, but he got the feeling that that too would eventually come back to bite him. Which he realised this was probably what was about to happen. He loved seeing her, he loved spending time with her, but a little warning would be nice. Then he knew he wouldn't have to run around trying to fix things up. "Jamie, Peyton's here, why don't you clean up all the toys," He said, which was really their secret code for hiding as much magical stuff as a person could within a small amount of time. Zander turned back to smile at Peyton, as he held the still crying Abby in his arms. He bounced her slightly, and shook his head. "No, we were playing, and she's still sometimes unsteady on her feet." He moved out the way so that Peyton could come in. As she did, he leaned in and kissed her lightly on the cheek. Mostly, so he could then turn his attention to the crying bundle in his arms. He kissed little Abby, and whispered small promises that they could play in a bit. Quickly closing the door behind Peyton, he was still very much surprised to see her. Of course, he was always happy to see her, but this time, he was a little worried.

Leading into the main room of the house, where he, Abby and Jamie had just been playing, he noticed several different magical things that his sister had forgotten. While attempting to be subtle he hide them. The moving pictures, the books, his wand was safely tucked in his jean pocket. He put Abby down in her pen, and took the little teddy bear, making it dance with his hand in front of her face, that was until she smiled and then grabbed the bear from him, giggling and beginning to play by herself. "Can I get you anything?" He asked, as his eyes looked around the room. Nothing else, the paper was hidden underneath the large muggle paper he had bought during their walk that morning. He could see his sister going up the stairs, motioning to him that she had almost everything crucially important. He was glad, but this was a huge hassle, and really, there was nothing too subtle about it. Zander just didn't know if it was the right time to tell her. What if they broke up, sure no one would believe her, but he didn't want to even think about that, not in that sense. He wanted things to always be perfect, but Zander was not stupid, they wouldn't always be perfect, she just had to accept him, and the magic for what they were. Hopefully not run out, if he did decide to tell her. Zander Valentine hated this, and he hated even more the lies he told her. "The house is a bit of a mess, I would've cleaned it up for you."
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Sorry it's pretty bad, kept being distracted.

 

[Peyton Davidson]

Peyton followed Zander into the house, unable to shake the feeling that she'd just interrupted something that she wasn't supposed to have seen or known about, though what exactly that was she wasn't sure. Breathing deeply she held up the bags in her hands and said, "No, no. The house looks fine. I brought you guys some lunch. Compliments of the diner." Her tone wasn't her usual perkiness, but she plastered a smile on her face nonetheless. She set about to setting out the meal, deciding she'd let them grab a bit of whatever it was that they wanted. Jamie came up and hugged her tightly and Peyton couldn't help, but grin as she hugged the young girl back.

"I'm sorry. I really should have called," she said in a hushed tone as she looked up at Zander, "I didn't mean to intrude on your family time." She bit her lip, feeling very unsure all of a sudden. The young blonde didn't know whether she should stay or just leave and let them have their time together.


Sorry it took me so long to reply...finally settled into my new place and into my new job

 

[Zander Ellison]

The eldest of the Valentine's was worried about why she, his girlfriend was here. While he always appreciated her coming round, being with him. There were some things that weren't ready to be shown, and dropping by unannounced could really only end badly. He was trying always to figure out a way to tell her, or how to phrase it to her that some things he just wouldn't be able to tell her just yet. He didn't like being dishonest, but this almost called for it. He had to do so. Watching her very carefully, Zander grew nervous, he noted the bags in her hand and was glad for that. While he had been doing a lot better as of late, he always had to remind himself to eat, or to buy food. If he didn't, he would quite simply forget. He walked over to her, "Does any of it need heating up?" He asked, looking at her with a smile. He was hopeful that she didn't actually ask anything that he once again couldn't answer. He however wasn't sure what else he could do. He didn't know why she came round, he was glad, as any person would be, but was that the only reason she was there. "It's fine, you're always welcome here." He shook his head, shaking away the apology. "The kids love you, He looked down at Abby, he knew that she loved her. The girl was also a baby and loved a lot of things without much thought. "I thought you had work all day?"

I'm sorry this is so late, and so awful
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[Peyton Davidson]

Peyton's heart sunk to the pit of her stomach and she swallowed hard against the lump forming in her throat. What was he hiding from her? Was he expecting someone else to be coming over? Another girl? She tried not to think like that, but his behavior as of late had been very secretive and sneaky to an extent. When Zander and asked her if anything needed to be heated up she attempted a very half-hearted smile at him and shook her head no. Clearing her throat she replied, "Um, no. It's just some sandwiches and pasta salad and cookies. Nothing fancy."

Taking a deep breath in the young blonde thought to herself It sure doesn't feel as if I'm always welcome here...feels more like I'm being a bother at the moment. Then he mentioned the kids and she felt her heart tug and couldn't help, but smile at Abby and Jamie. "And I love them as well." She sat the bags on the counter and looked at her boyfriend. Why did he seem like he wanted to be rid of her today? "Well, my class was cancelled this morning and Nate sent me and Brooke packing today because there's a convention in town so business was super slow today," Peyton said, not looking Zander right in the eye, desperately wanting to just ask him why he didn't seem to want her around today or why he was being so secretive lately.

 

[Zander Ellison]

Zander could tell that he was being weird, that he was acting odd. He didn't want to. He really loved Peyton, he didn't want to say it, but the past few months had been perfect. He knew he could only keep this hidden for so long. It was hard when she was always round, and he was constantly avoiding questions about his second job, the one that was really his first job, but magical and therefore second when it came to Peyton, and it would become even more difficult to explain as she spent more time there with him, and as Abby grew, and like all witches started to show signs of it. That was really a little far off, but he was certain that it would happen, and if he hadn't told her, it would only make it worse. Instead, he knew that he would have to, he just wasn't really ready. Zander gave her a warm smile. He looked at his watch and was glad to see that at least he would have something to do rather than acting awkwardly in the living room. Attempting to be sure that nothing was out of place. "Thank you for bringing them regardless. I'm sure Tyler and Jamie will love the cookies." He smiled at her, motioning for them to be placed on the living area table. he smiled at her, before turning to pick up Abby from the pen, "That's annoying for you." He said as she explained why she was here, he knew that she knew that this was his day off, that was probably why she had come round unannounced. He held Abby close to his chest as he gave her a small bounce. "Well, you arrived at the right time, Abby here needs some lunch. Don't you sweetie?" He kissed the top of Abby's head as he spoke, before heading into the kitchen area. As Abby was almost a year old, she was eating more and more. Baby food as he knew was expensive, but most of the time he had little time to prepare anything for her, so instead he was always sure to have a number of food pots about the place, it was a small drain on the funds but it was worth it. He wandered into the kitchen, hoping that Peyton followed. He placed Abby in the high chair before beginning to get her ready to eat. He didn't realise that, on the kitchen table, sat a copy of the previous week's daily prophet. Moving pictures and all. He was too occupied with Abby to notice. "Our day has not been as interesting. Abby here was up at the first light of dawn, and we've spent most of the day playing. Tyler is at a friends house, so it's just me and the girls." Zander explained his day, which was much less interesting than Peyton's. Though he was happy of this, it was his day off after all.
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