Growing Pains

After things had settled down with Reyna, things had turned more back into a routine. He still worked and went to school, and had gotten used to how things were currently. Thanks to something being set up via portal, his family along with his friends could visit far more often and visa versa. It made things a lot more convient, and he didn't feel quite as by himself with those things in place.

However, he felt he needed a bit of a break. That was why when school was out, he had chosen to get a few days off work. It took some talking to the boss, but he managed to get something done; and it helped he was probably one of their best workers. Kieth was lazy except for things when it counted. When he started living on his own, a lot of that laziness had to go away, though it was still there from time to time. When he could afford too.

'When the hell have I have been interested in drinking coffee this much?' He asked himself mentally as he found the Starbucks calling his name. It hadn't been this way until he had to start pulling all nighters studying and found the wonderful drug(stimulant being politically correct term) called caffeine. Sure, it was in soda and other things but coffee was practically exploded with the stuff. It was a good thing Yulina had never been in easy reach of the stuff, but he did recall the time she had gotten some back when he was living in Japan.

There was bouncing off the walls. And there was bouncing through the walls. In Yulina's case, it had been the literal later.

Kieth got something simple then found himself a seat, planning on enjoying himself and the peace and quite he had. It wasn't even more then ten minutes did a old man he had never seen before along with a little girl in tow, looking down at the ground. She had wings that reminded Kieth of his own. "Excuse me, young man, I just need a moment of your time."

Not sure what this was about, but not seeing a reason not too, he shrugged. "Go ahead."

The old man found himself a seat, the girl seemingly reluctant but did so as well. "My name is Marcus, and I'll get to the point. I'm sure you're aware of other realms. This child name is Sheila..and she's yours. I was escorting her around because it wouldn't be a good idea for her to be alone." From his pockets he pulled a picture, sliding it to Kieth. It had a younger Sheila and Kieth, she couldn't be older then one. "In this other, you along with your parents are..no longer around. She's with Mary."

Kieth's mind was trying to process everything, not everything was settling in at the moment. "..How do you know so much about all this?" ..God damn, I have an kid and she's stuck with Mary?

Marcus smiled slightly. "I know a lot of everything, Kieth. Including about your friend Reyna, but just know I'm not your enemy. I promise I'll explain more later around this time tomorrow. Or if you prefer, some other location."

'How can I take care of a kid?' Kieth was trying not to mentally panick. 'No way in hell I'm living them alone but its not like I'm taking care of a goldfish, this is a whole other life. I don't know the first thing about kids!'

The angel rubbed his temples. "..All right. I guess this is your cue to leave." He'd..figure something out. He always did.

Grand Father Time nodded, and stood. "I'm not going to simply leave things as is, I meant it when I promised I'll explain everything tomorrow. Right now, she needs you more." He stopped for a moment, handing Kieth what appeared to be some documents. "This is in case its asked who Sheila is for sure if asked, among other things. Don't lose it."

Kieth watched him leave, the quite girl was looking at the table. "Uh.." We'll, this wasn't awkward. It was a bit much at once, which was why he was a bit off kilter. "You ready to leave Sheila?"

"....."

She didn't respond, except nodding a bit. This was going to be anything but easy.

* *

Kieth arrived with Sheila in the apartment after they left, the girl hadn't said much of anything since they left the place. Now came the harder part of figuring everything out and trying to make some damned sense of things and not panick. First thing he needed to do was try to figure out a few things; such as how the living arrangement was going to work. He could see about revamping Reyna's old room since no one stayed in there anymore.

There was still the problem of scheduling due to the fact he worked and went to school, so he had to make sure someone was watching her too. Sheila didn't really seem to trust him and was rather distant, he could only guess it was things Mary had said. That made him angry but he kept it cool. That was fine. He'd just have to earn it the hard way, the same with everything else.

Now came the really hard parts.

Sheila kept at least a few feet away from Kieth, but still close. Things would be much easier said then done. "Are you hungry?" He asked gently, and the girl shook her head. "I guess I wouldn't be that hungry either. You don't have call me dad or anything unless you're comfortable with it, all right? Just Kieth is fine." This actually seemed to surprise the girl and he grinned. "Don't worry I'm not going to force anything, just as long as you're happy and comfortable. But you you tired from your trip?"

This time, Sheila did nod a bit. Kieth decided he'd make do with the abaddoned room, leading her inside. It wasn't too long before Sheila crawled her way to the bed, clutching the pillow tightly. Kieth smiled faintly at the scene, but he was still worried about what was making her so quite and a bit distant. He'd find out.

Closing the door behind him, he went to the phone and began dialing. His parents didn't pick up, so he guessed they were busy. Kieth just felt he needed to talk to somebody, and that's when his closes friend came to mind.

Not sure if he would answer around this time, he dialed Tomoya's number.

It didn't take long for Tomoya to pick up. Then again, it was about eleven at night, and he tended to stay up late. 'Kieth, I swear, if you are calling to tell me you about your latest sexual conquest, I will strangle you through the phone.' Considering Kieth had never done such a thing, Tomoya was obviously joking. It was what he did. Though it did almost seem like he joked more and was serious less than he used to be. Nobody was really sure why.

Kieth actually chuckled a bit on the other end. "Nah, that's for later." Then he got a bit more serious. "..In all seriousness though, something..big happened. You know how's there's other realms out there, many with different versions of us right? Putting it short, there was this old man who called himself Marcus who I ran into earlier today. He had a little girl with him named Sheila..she's my kid. With Mary."

There was a pause at that. "Moving along that breeding with Mary gives me nightmares here; I have no idea what I'm doing. The closes thing was babysitting Aiko and Kimiko a few times, I don't know how to take care of a kid. Still, she's my daughter so I'll have to figure things out as I go. She's..really jumpy and skittish for some reason. Have a few ideas but not sure why yet."

Tomoya was silent for a long moment. 'I'm also going to pretend that no version of you ever willingly allowed Mary to spawn. Anyway, if it was her kid, and she'd been brought to this realm to be raised by you, then that means either both you and Mary are dead there, or you're dead, and Mary is just a horrible parent. Both work. Either way would make a little kid skittish. Anyway, did you call just to talk, or did you want to ask me something? I'm good either way, you know me.'

"It's more just to talk. I'm kind of off at the moment but it'll pass. I was going to call my parents first, but they didn't pick up." Kieth said. "Still can't believe I had a kid with her. I'll be fine though, I just need to figure some arrangement out since I have work and school. Anyway, that aside what have you been up to?"

Tomoya sighed at that. "Just working. I hang out with others when I can, but otherwise, I just work and fuck around. Got nothing better to do, after all. I could use some excitement in my life. Or a girlfriend. Preferably both, but eh."

Kieth was silent for a moment. "I hear that. If you got nothing else to do, and you're not busy tomorrow why not stop by here? It's been a while. My mom has things set up so its easier to visit, but up to you and if you got nothing else going on at the moment. I'm off tomorrow, both school and work." He scratched the back of his head. "Just a matter of figuring a few things out."

Kieth heard a bit about that, but he hadn't been there. "Yeah, I can understand how that might be. At least Adell and Ariana aren't the sickening sweet couple that call each other pet names. I have a couple up stairs that's like that, I have to convince myself strangling someone will lead to bad things. Anyway, I'm going to let you go and get some sleep. Talk to you tomorrow."

He let Tomoya go, hanging up the phone. Still there were things to do.

* *

Around the next day, Kieth was cooking breakfast, though not too much. He wasn't sure how much Sheila ate, but he didn't think that much, unless she got his appetite. From what he had learned, if you had a high amount of energy, the more you needed to eat at times. There was also no telling when exactly Tomoya would come, he might show up early--or a bit later.

Then again, there was the time zone difference to think about, too.

Tomoya had actually had stayed up later just so it would be night time in New York when he arrived, so he could sleep, and wake up the next morning. So this led to Tomoya arriving shortly after Keith began cooking. By climbing in the window, of course. "Yo, Kieth."

Sheila noticed the stranger come in and panicked a bit, hoping from her spot and going--or rather running under the table. She curled up under the table into a tight ball and refused to move. Kieth saw the reaction from his daughter..there had to have been something else going on; though Tomoya would have seen it too.

Kieth crouched down, but he didn't want to startle Sheila anymore. "Sheila, relax. It's just my friend Tomoya okay, he won't hurt you or anything, all right?" He tried to keep his voice gentle despite the fact he was pissed by the few implications.

The little girl refused to remove from her spot for a bit, before slowly, and carefully coming from her 'hiding' place back out into the open. She just looked back at the ground and not at the two young men.

Kieth sighed slightly and turned to Tomoya. "We'll, this is my daughter Sheila. I didn't expect her to freak out like that from you coming out the window."

Tomoya shrugged a bit. "Honestly, should have thought that through. You said she was skittish, so coming through the window wasn't the best idea. It's just habit." He glanced at Sheila. "Don't worry, Sheila, I won't hurt you or anything. I'm just a wierdo who tends to come in through windows."

For a very brief moment, Sheila's face twitched into a very brief, small smile but she still didn't make much eye contact.

Kieth decided that would have to do for now, he couldn't force things. "Go have yourself a seat, I forgot you did the whole Spiderman thing since its been a while."

Sheila watched the two from the corner of her eye, thinking to herself before grabbing a few books(the thick phone books) having no issue carrying them as she set them on the chair. She was still too short for the most part, but its did its job as she climbed on, making a small grunt as she did so.

Tomoya raised an eyebrow at Shiela as he took his seat. "You're a clever one. Good thinking there. Anyway, Kieth, how could you forget something like that? I've been doing it since we were kids."

Kieth motioned to the other seat; it was empty with the phone books. "I did. But I guess she wanted to do it herself or something. Whatever floats your boat Sheila." He put a plate on the table, first for Sheila then himself but he allowed Tomoya of course to make his own plate. "After we're done, I'm probably just going to do a few checking in on things. How have the others been doing anyway?"

Tomoya shrugged. "Well, Monica's doing pretty good, as is Chris. Their aunt, Maya, came down for a visit not too long ago, and Monica is like... I don't know, just alot more chipper when Maya is around. Partly because Maya feeds her alot of sugary foods, I think. So the Kenzy's are doing great. Ignis and Karin have been spending alot of time with their father, now that they know Vargus isn't dead. Everyone else is just kind of... the same, I guess. Though Adell and Ariana... pretty sure those two are fu-.... uh, acting, like rabbits."

Kieth grinned a bit at the last part. "Rabbits, right." Sheila just looked slightly confused what the two adults were talking about but didn't say anything. "What about Tomoyo, Kyou and Kotomi? I know Tomoyo went to do something, but she's usually busy."

Tomoya shrugged. "School. Tomoyo is at university, doing something amazing I'm sure. Kotomi is here in America somewhere, also for school. She visits every so often, and Tomoyo tries to do the same. Kyou is attending school to be a teacher. I feel sorry for whatever students she has. I have no doubt she'll be a great teacher, but she has a temper, as you recall..."

Kieth did recall that much, Kyou was actually a nice girl but she did have a temper from time to time. "Funny how at least a few of us ended up living America after graduation. It feels like I've been out longer, man I must be getting old."

After a bit longer, they finished and it was time to go. Sheila still didn't say anything but she didn't trail behind so much instead opted to stay close to Tomoya and Kieth, going more towards the middle then anything else. It looked as if she wanted to say something from time to time, but always lost her nerve and just remained quite.

It was faint, Kieth having no training wouldn't have been able to sense it. Tomoya however had been taught by Samantha not only Ki sense but to finer tune it to be more aware of things around you. It felt as if somebody was following them, but it would vanish before Tomoya could confirm or not. Either it was just his imagination as there were many people out, or there was in fact someone trailing.

Tomoya remained quiet about it for a bit, but as he kept feeling it, he eventually decided it warranted mentioning. "Hey, Kieth? Don't know if you noticed, but I'm fairly sure we are being followed. Just saying. So, keep an eye out...."

Kieth frowned a bit at that, but tried not to show it as much on the outside. He didn't want to worry Sheila too much, but she seemed to be a smart kid. She would likely pick up on the fact something was a bit off, in addition to what Tomoya said not too long ago.

As the three continued, the presence made themselves known but was far more visible this time ahead of them. A man in his twenties greeted them, it was hard to tell what they were exactly. Sheila seemed to shrink back just a bit more behind Tomoya when they made their presence known.

Kieth didn't know who they were, but he was going to avoid a fight if he could. "Who are you?"

"My name Kuro." They said. "And I only have business here because of the girl with you I have been tasked to find. She comes from another realm, she does not belong to the 'you' here. I am here to peacefully ask you to return that girl to her biological mother and step father where she belongs."

Tomoya yawned a bit, scratching the back of his head a bit. "Yeah, about that... don't know what happened, but this kid is scared of people because of the people she supposedly 'belongs' with. On top of that, she was brought here for a reason; to make sure she had someone who would raise her properly, giving her a loving home. So... how about no? I don't care who you are, but I know I'm not letting her go back to any version of Mary, and I seriously doubt Kieth will."

"If its not obvious, then my answer is no." Kieth said flatly. "That's it. I don't have to explain anything that's already obvious."

Kuro's face went to a deeper frown, but he didn't do anything, merely nodding. "Very well. I will leave to your devices then. Be warned, however, that while Mary is useless, the step father does know some people at least. The reason for this interest is simply a matter of the child's future potential."

Kieth grunted a bit. "Color me surprised. Who is the 'dad' Mary is married to?"

Kuro had already began walking away, but stopped for a moment. "If you see him, the man will be hard to miss, he's a vampire. His name is Braxus. I suggest you find another location before your current one becomes compromised."

Before Kieth could say anything further, the man was gone. Sheila slowly relaxed a bit when they left, not having to worry about being taken back. She still didn't trust Tomoya and Kieth yet, but she'd rather be with them. So far they hadn't really done anything to make her more jumpy.

Kieth was a bit confused of what to make of it, but he was already thinking.

"..That was weird." Understatement, he didn't know what to make of it just yet. It didn't matter though, far as he was concerned it was just another thing he was going to just have to deal with.

Tomoya just sighed. "Vampire's... some of them can be possessive as hell." He paused, and turned to Sheila. "Hey, I know you don't really know me or Kieth well yet, but listen up. You can go to Keith for anything, alright? If you ever feel scared or uncomfortable, go to him. He'll protect you, no matter what. And while I'm here, I'll do the same. Got it?"

Though she was silent for a bit longer, Sheila, for the first time did say something but her voice was barely audible. "..Okay."

While it was small, it made Kieth a bit happy. It was an start anyway. Kieth added on from what Tomoya said. "Like I said before, if it makes you more comfortable, just think of me as who ever and just call me Kieth for now. All right?""

Sheila just nodded slightly again, going back to her 'spot' she had before. Seeing as that was closed for now, Kieth went to leading again with the original objective from before. He had in mind what he wanted to do today, but it would also largely depend on what they did as well. He didn't want to bother people but he knew when there was a time to ask for help; especially when it involved someone else other then yourself.

Soon, the three found themselves inside a bakery shop. There weren't much of any people there at the moment. A kindly-looking old woman was putting a few things away as the three came. They heard the bell ring from the door, figuring they had guest.

The old woman turned around, and smiled seeing Kieth. "Ah. I was wondering when you would show. Who are your friends? I didn't know you were baby-sitting."

Saw that one coming. Kieth looked down back at Sheila who was keeping a bit of distance, but was now looking at all the sweets and such curiously. "This is my friend Tomoya. Tomoya, Felecia. And this is Sheila, my daughter."

You could hear the pin drop. "What..who? She has to at least be five."

"It's kind of complicated. Let's just say she's from another realm and ended up here, I'm taking care of her now." Kieth scratched the back of his head a bit.

They wanted to say more, but decided it would be best to talk it over at the table and motioned for them to sit. "We'll, don't be a bunch of logs, make yourself comfortable. I'll get us some tea, I know you wanted to talk about something." The woman turned to Tomoya and smiled. "And nice to meet you in person young man. Have you been keeping Kieth out of trouble while you're here?" Kieth knew where that was going. She always had, and always would be a bit playful and coy despite her age.