“The hell?! Are you sure you’re not seeing anybody?”
“I’m not!” she exclaimed, startled by someone shouting then attacking her front door.
“Maaaaeeeeevvvvvvvve! Maeve! Open this fucking door right now! You motherfucker! Stop touching her! Get the fuck off my female right now you horny fucker!” Niko yelled. “I’m’a kick your ass in about two fucking seconds if you don’t get off my woman!”
“I think that’s Niko,” Alison said.
“You stay here. I’ll take care of it.”
She nodded, but got up and walked over to the edge of the entrance of the living room and waited for him to open the door.
Feral unlocked the door, then quickly pulled it open, stepping to the side to allow Niko to rush through the door without warning the next time he rushed it.
Niko charged through the door, using all his strength to propel himself forward and landing in a crashing heap from the fourth step down on the large, wide wooden staircase in the foyer.
Feral looked down at Niko, who was trying to regroup and jump to his feet.
“The fuck do you think you’re doing?! She isn’t yours to fucking touch!” Niko bellowed.
Alison calmly walked out of the living room to stand beside Feral, and slipped her arm around his waist as they stood together looking at him as he sputtered when he realized he’d made a mistake.
“Oh, that was… and you were under… and I… ohhhhhh. I thought you were somebody else,” he finally said as he brushed his clothes off and looked around himself, searching for any trace of Maeve.
“What are you doing here, Niko?” Alison asked. “Do you know what time it is?”
“I do, and I’m very sorry. Please, continue,” he said, gesturing toward the living room on his right as he stood with his back to the staircase. “I did not mean to interrupt your interlude.”
“Is everything okay?” Maeve asked from the top of the stairs, looking down on everyone as she grasped the edges of her robe to hold it together.
Alison looked up at her. “Everything is fine. Niko just tried to break my door down to get Feral off of me because he thought Feral was with you.”
“Really?” Niko asked Alison, without turning around to even look at Maeve.
“Really,” Alison said, one eyebrow raised as she glared at Niko.
“Niko?” Maeve asked.
He pasted on a wide smile and turned to look up the stairs at her. “’Morning, Maeve!” he said exuberantly.
“What is wrong with you?!” Maeve demanded, clearly having no patience with him and not at all impressed.
He pressed his lips tightly together and shook his head just a half shake or two, trying to figure out what to say. “How much time do you have?” he finally asked.
“Niko?” Griffin asked as he walked up beside his mother, rubbing his eyes from having just awakened.
“Griffin! There you are! I had to come make sure you’re alright! You know I got home this morning and you and your mom weren’t there. And I was like, ‘Whhhhaaaaaaaaatt?!’ So, I had to come find you.”
Griffin grinned and ran around his mother to the banister he’d mastered the day before. “Watch this!” he cried.
“Griffin!” Maeve warned.
“It’s okay. I’m good at this,” he said, as he climbed up onto the banister and quickly slid down to the bottom of the staircase.
“Woah! That’s pretty awesome!” Niko said.
“Yeah. I’m awesome like that,” Griffin answered. “Are we eating breakfast yet? I’m kinda hungry.”
“You know what, I’ll make something,” Alison said, ever the one to take care of everybody else.
