The Luckiest Girl In The World

"We do have a microwave," Dante agreed, and reached for Imogene's hand.

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Imogene regarded him warily for another moment, then slipped her hand into his.

"He means with his powers," she explained, as Tristan got off the couch and joined them. "He doesn't have to be as careful."

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"I do, too," Tristan argued, also reaching for Dante's hand, an absentminded gesture that suggested it was a fairly common thing. "I could set the house on fire if I'm not careful."

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"Not the same as luring demons to the house," Imogene retorted.

This seemed to be a fairly common argument.

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"Wait, which one of you is luring demons to the house?" Dante asked, content to let both kids latch on to his hands as he walked towards the kitchen.

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"It was only one time," Imogene protested, shooting her brother a look. "And by accident!"

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"Well, did you kick their ass?" Dante said, giving Kathy a nod as he passed by her on his way to the cupboard with the cocoa.

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Kathy was adding strawberries to the pancake batter, but she glanced up and smiled as they passed.

"No way, she was too little," Tristan said, laughing.

"Maybe I could have!" Imogene retorted, before looking up at Dante with a face full of smiles. "You did. It was awesome."

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"'Course it was," Dante said merrily, letting go of them so he could go grab the cocoa mix. "But eh, give it a few more years. Bet you'll be just as badass, and your dickhead brother will just have to deal."

Dante!

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"Dante!"

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"What? He's being a brat," Dante said, sticking his tongue out at the kid.

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"I wonder where he could have gotten it from," Kathy said, glaring.

So help her, Dante, you make a single kid cry this weekend...

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Like the kids wouldn't be used to it.

"Anders?" Dante offered innocently.

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"I'm fine, Mom, jeez," Tristan said, embarrassed that she was making a fuss. "Dante didn't mean it."

"And," Imogen said helpfully, "he's right, too."

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Dante put the cocoa mix down on the counter and nudged the fridge open with his foot. "And now," he said, "Milk."

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In unison the twins went, "Oooooooooh" and appluded like he'd done a trick.

Both kids were dickheads.

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Dante rolled his eyes at both of them.

And then kicked the plastic on the inside of the fridge just hard enough that the milk package went flying into the air.

He caught it in mid-air, turned it over, and poured it into a mug.

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Okay, this time, their ooohs were actually sincere.

In fairness, so was Kathy's.

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"And that's what you get for trying to sass your dad," Dante said, adding the cocoa mix and stirring. (The next pouring-into-mug was slightly less dramatic.)

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"Sassing your mom just gets you grounded," Kathy announced, flicking water onto the griddle to make sure it was hot enough for pancakes.

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Tristan leaned over to hug Kathy. "Aww, mom," he said sweetly, looking up at her with big, brown eyes. "We wouldn't. We love you."

And while he was distracting her, Imogen was stealing whole handfuls of strawberry slices from the bowl on the counter.

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Dante noticed, but he just winked at the girl and left it at that.

He put two half-full mugs of milk-and-cocoa in the microwave, punching a few numbers.

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Duh he noticed. Some of them were his cut for keeping quiet!

Two big, messy handfuls of strawberries later and Imogene was sneaking out of the room for a quiet place where she could divvy up the spoils. Tristan kept hugging Kathy until his twin was safely out of the room and then let go. "Kay, mom, love you, bye!" and he dashed out after her.

"Aww," Kathy said, a fond expression on her face. "They're so sweet."

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"More like buttering you up for something later," Dante said, making an amused noise. "You doing okay in here?"

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