It's in Your Face But You Can't Grab It

"It's about time you got down here," Rachel sneered as I plopped down next to her on the couch. "Did the little demons cause you trouble up there?"

I smirked. "Yeah, they called upon their demon powers and tried to kill me. But, at the last second they found what was left of them and didn't harm me."

She covered her mouth in mock surprise. "Oh my! It's getting worse then!" We both laughed. "But really, what took so long?"

"I don't know. I guess I'm just iffy about leaving them alone. Especially after last night," I part fibbed; it was half true, just not completely.

"Aw, Ra, Lance is in jail now. You don't have to worry." She gave me a quick hug. "Can I ask you something? It's been bugging me."

I shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"What did Zacky mean by 'proposition' this morning?"

I felt a mix of relief and guilt after she asked that. Relief bacause now I wouldn't have to try and start this more than likely depressing conversation. Guilt came because now I had to tell her what was probably going to happen. "Well," I began. I searched for the right words then continued. "Zacky wants me to go live in Cali with him."

She stared at me blankly. The guilt started to outdue any relief I felt earlier. I looked away because I felt so bad. "Raven." I hesitantly looked back up at her. "This is great!" she yelped happily, juming up from the couch.

"Wait, what?" I was confused; I had prepared myself for her to beg me not to go; or even say nothing at all.

When she calmed down enough, she stated, "Brian asked me to go with him, too! The only reason I didn't tell him yes right off was because I wouldn't want to leave you here alone!"

I stared at her slack-jawed. "Wow," was all I said.

"What did you say to Zacky?"

"I told him I wanted to think about it. I wanted to talk to you and stuff. But, now I really have no choice but to go."

"Did you not want to or something?"

"What? Of course I want to go," I stated, taken aback. "It's just, I told Vivica and Damion the news and I don't want to crush their hopes."

She smiled at me. "Well, now you have nothing to lose."

I sighed. "Yeah, I guess not." I decided to change the subject. "Are you sure you and Brian aren't going too fast? I mean, I know he's a great guy but don't you think you two should slow down; at least a little?"

"Aw, come on, Ra. You sound like my mother."

I giggled and she soon joined in. We decided to watch T.V. until she had to go pick up Chase and Kendall. As she went out the door, she told me she'd bring Cerberus back by after she picked the kids up.

The next afternoon...
Come on, Ra, dial the number!" urged Rachel. God, she sounded like a teenager too afraid to call a hot guy she met last night, but so anxious for her best friend to do it.

"Hold on, god damn." We were in my living room and the kids were playing on the floor. I was holding the phone getting ready to call Zacky and Brian to tell them the good news of our decisions.

I scrolled to Zacky's cell number, punched the call button, then put it on speaker. I hoped he wasn't at a sound check or something. I grinned in relief when Zacky's voice said, "Hey sexy."

"Hey, what are you up to?"

"Just laying around getting ready to go to sound check."

"Oh good, we were just in time then. Is Brian around?"

"Yeah, he's right over here."

Rachel smiled brightly next to, causing me to chuckle. "Okay, well put it on speaker because we have news."

I could just see Zacky smirking as he pushed the speaker button. "Alright, so what's your news?" he asked, trying to hide his excitement, but failing.

"Rachel and I decided to go back to California with you guys." I looked down at the kids; all four of them were looking up at us excitedly.

The two guys said, "Awesome," and, "Cool," at the same time. We all set up the plan for when they got off tour, then had to let them go to their sound check. I sat back in the chair and smiled to myself. For the first time in a while, I was extremely excited about something.

Damion and Vivica ran over to me and crawled up onto my lap. I hugged them both and Vivica asked, "We're going to live with daddy?"

I smiled down at them both. "Yes, we're going to finally be a family."