“When's your birthday?"I was taken aback by the question. "I don't like presents,"I said quickly, in case he got any ideas. "Who said anything about presents? I'm just asking for your date of birth.""Thirtieth of February," I said, throwing out the first date that came to mind.Xavier raised an eyebrow."Are you sure about that?"I panicked. What had I said wrong? I ran through the months in my head and realised my mistake. OOPS--there were only twenty-eight days in February! "I mean thirtieth of April," I corrected and grinned sheepishly.Xavier laughed. "You're the first person I've ever known to forget her own birthday.”

“I like literature," I said. "We started watching the film version of Romeo and Juliet today."I didn't tell them this, but the love story fascinated me. The way the lovers fell so deeply and irrevocably in love after their first meeting sparked a burning curiosity in me about what human love might feel like."How are you finding that?" Ivy asked."It's very powerful, but the teacher got really mad when one of the boys said something about Lady Capulet.""What did he say?""He called her a MILF, which must be offensive because Miss Castle called him a thug and sent him out of the room. Gabe, what is a MILF?"Ivy smothered her smile behind a napkin while Gabriel did something I'd never seen before. He blushed and shifted uncomfortably in his chair."Some acronym for a teenage obscnity, I imagine," he mumbled."Yes, but do you know what it means?"He paused, trying to find the right words."It's a term used by adolescent males to describe a woman who is both attractive and a mother." He cleared his throat and got up quickly to refill the water jug."I'm sure it must stand for something," I pressed."It does," Gabriel said. "Ivy, can you remeber what it is?""I believe it stands for 'mother I'd like to...befriend'," said my sister."Is that all?" I exclaimed. "What a fuss over nothing. I really think Miss Castle needs to chill.”

“They want to hold a seance and go dressed as bunnies.”“What kind of bunnies?” he asked suspiciously.“Playboy, I think. Whatever that means.”“That sounds about right.” Xavier laughed. “But don’t let them talk you into anything you don’t feel comfortable with.”“They’re my friends.”“So what?” He shrugged. “If your friends walked off a cliff, would you do it too?”“Why would they walk off a cliff?” I asked in alarm. “Is someone having problems at home?”Xavier laughed. “It’s just an expression.”“It’s silly,” I told him. “Do you think I should go as an angel? Like in the film version of Romeo and Juliet?”“There would be a certain irony in that,” Xavier said, smirking. “An angel posing as a human posing as an angel.I like it.”

“Love you,” Xavier said just before he drifted back to sleep.“Love you more,” I said playfully.“Not a chance,” Xavier said, fully awake now. “I’m bigger, I can contain more love.”“I’m smaller, therefore my love particles are more compressed, which means I can fit more in.”Xavier laughed. “That argument makes no sense. Overruled.”“I’m just basing it on how much I miss you when you’re not around,” I countered.“How can you possibly know how much I miss you?” he said. “Have you got some sort of built-in miss-o-meter that can give us a reading?”“I’m a girl; of course I have a built-in miss-o-meter.”

“Love you more," I said playfully."Not a chance," Xavier said, fully awake now. "I'm bigger, I can contain more love.""I'm smaller, therefore my love particles are more compressed, which means I can fit more in.”

“What about this?" I held up a battered copy of Beauty and the Beast. "It sounds romantic." Xavier wrinkled his nose."Disney... I don't think so.""Why not?""Because if anyone found out, I'd never live it down.""I won't tell if you don't," I pleaded, and Xavier shook his head in defeat."The things I do for you," He said with an exaggerated sigh.”

“I'm getting a girlfriend soon," said Michael in a serious tone, and everyone laughed."You've got plenty of time for that, kiddo," said his father. "No need to rush.""Well, I don't want a boyfriend, Daddy," said Madeline. "Boys are dirty, and they make a mess when they eat.""I'd imagine the six-year-old ones would." Xavier chuckled. "But don't worry, they get better at it.”