“Yeah- in between insulting someone's mother and taking the Lord's name in vain, he said, 'Bet you're glad she loves Cullen instead of me today, huh, Charlie?”

“I bet you cook good, huh?" Darlene asked."Mother doesn't cook," Ignatius said dogmatically."She burns.”

“-God. Jesus.-Any other Lords' names you want to take in vain?-Yeah...Ganesh, damn it.-Who's Ganesh?-He's a Hindu god. He's the Remover of Obstacles.-Oh yeah? They got a god for that? We could use a Remover of Obstacles. Well, I don't care if you take a Hindu god's name in vain--just lay off Jesus.-Okay, Dad. I'll lay off Jesus.-What's this Remover of Obstacles look like?-I think he's an elephant.-Yeah? An elephant. Jesus Christ, can you believe that?”

“Rodney set a plate in front of me and one in front of my mother. I almost fainted when she began to eat instead of hurling it at him. Had one of the vampires gotten tired of her bitching and bitten her into a better mood? She caught my flabbergasted look. "I watched what he put in it" she said defensively. Rodney, instead of being insulted, just laughed. "You're welcome, Justina.”

“Wow, top five percent of your class at Northwestern. Nice!" Joel said and then looked over at me. "Bet you're glad to have someone so amazing working under you, huh?"Chloe coughed slightly, bringing her napkin up from her lap to cover her mouth. I smiled as I quickly glanced over to her and then back to Joel. "Yes, its absolutely amazing having Miss Mills under me. She always gets the job done.”

“I'll take care of my mother," he said grimly. "I love her, but she doesn't run my life.""Yeah, that's what we all say. You. Me. Lucy." She stabbed the stick into the dirt. "These are powerful women. They're sane, they're smart, they rule their worlds, and they love us ferociously. A potent combination that makes it touch to pretend they're normal mothers.”