“What are you talking about?” Jess demanded.
They exchanged amused glances that caused Stefan’s curiosity to be peaked. “Ian, Ethan, and Isabelle got into a fight when she was what?” Mike asked.
“Fifteen,” Ethan answered.
“Ian was thirteen, and Ethan was seventeen. I don’t remember what it all started over.”
“Ethan dared me to take all her clothes and throw them out the window,” Ian recalled, a small smile on his face as his eyes took on a distant gleam.
“So he did,” Ethan said with a bright grin. “She threw a fit. To get even with us she put rubbing alcohol in my aftershave bottle, and threw all of Ian’s clothes into the lake.”
Stefan leaned forward, a small smile curving his mouth as he listened to the story. They all wore amused grins, their eyes twinkledmischievously. They picked up the story where one left off with the easy rhythm that only people who know each othersowell couldcreate. “So, of course we put pink hair dye in her leave in conditioner. You know, the one that women leave in for over an hour or so,” Ian said happily.
“You should have seen her!” Jack cried laughingly. “Her hair was this muddled pink color, but her scalp was hot pink!”
“That was a good one!” Mike cried. “They took pictures of her the minute that she walked out of the bathroom. The look on her face was priceless. We all had a good laugh that night.”
“Yeah, after you grounded us,” Ethan muttered.
They exchanged knowing grins as Ian leaned forward, his blue eyes twinkling merrily. “So then, let’s just say, it was all out war. She put super glue in my shampoo. I had to cut it all offin orderto get my hands free, and then it took another week to get all the hair off the palms of my hands. She crept into our room the next night andusedNaironEthan’s eyebrows, taking them off completely.”
Stefan had to stifle a laugh as he found his amusement growing by the second. He had a clear mental image of a teenage Isabelle creeping silently into her brother’s room with the intent of burning his eyebrows off. “That’s awful!” Jesscriedher hand flying to her mouth.
The looks on all their faces told Stefan that they thought it was anything but awful. They thought it was downright hilarious, and he agreed. “It took over a month for them to grow back, and my skin was burnt for two of those weeks,” Ethan said happily, his smile fond, and his eyes distant.
“We have some good pictures of that too,” Doug said happily. “Of both of them actually.”
“Needless to say, for about a week, no one slept, and we had to buy new bottles of shampoo everyday just to make sure that they were sealed tight. Finally, Ian and I cornered her, held her down, and chopped her hair off. It had been down to her waist, we chopped it to just beneath her ears.”
“I kind of regretted that one,” Ian said sadly. “She cried for a week.”
“Yeah, that one wasn’t as funny,” Ethan said ruefully. “But she declared a truce.”
“Our mistake was that we actually believed her. We should have known that wasn’t going to be the end of it. Two weeks later, when we were certain that she really wasn’t going to do anything else, she got us. She went out and hunted up dozens of snakes,” Ian continued.
“It took her the entire two weeks to get them all. She went out every night, and caught a few more. She waited till we were sleeping, tied our hands to the headboards, and put them in our beds.”
“That’s awful!” Jess gasped.
They were all smiling now, and Stefan actually found himself chuckling. He couldn’t remember the last time he had laughed, but the picture in his mind was vastly amusing. He could only imagine the victorious gleam in her eyes when they had awoken the next morning. “It was horrendous,” Ethan said with a shudder. “We hate snakes! I woke up to themslitheringall over me. I’ve never screamed so loud in my life!”
“Isabelle got good pictures of that too,” Jack said happily.“It was hilarious!”
“Mom freaked out,” Ian continued. “No one would come close enough to untie us, and Isabelle refused too. It took a whole lot of threats from our father before she finally relented and took the snakes away. For months afterward we wouldn’t go to sleep without making sure that there weren’t any stillinour room.”
“Wecalled the truce after that. The only one in our family that can stand snakes is Isabelle, and there isn’t anything worse than the thought of waking up to them again,”Ethan said with a shudder.
“Needless to say, wedeclared Isabelle the queen of the wars anddidn’tever do anything to her again,”Ian said with a bright grin.
“Yeah, they focused their torment on me instead,” Aiden said laughingly. “Unfortunately, I hate snakestoo.”
Stefan started to really laugh then. He could picture how awful, and wonderful, it must have been to grow up in such a large household. He had a feeling that he was only hearing about some of the tortures that they had put each other through. “That is the most horrendous thing I have ever heard!” Jess cried indignantly.“That is disgusting and cruel!”
Suddenly they were all laughing. “What’s so funny?”
He looked up to find Isabelle standing in the doorway, her brow furrowed questioningly as she balanced a laundry basket against her hip. “We were telling Stefan and Jess about the snake war,” Mike answeredhappily.
Isabelle smiled brightly;her vivid eyes twinkledmerrily as she glanced at them. For the first time since he had met her, she was actually smiling at him, and he found the effect amazing, and more than a little unnerving. His eyes locked on hers, the smile slippedfrom his face as he was rocked by a fierce wave of desire that hardened him painfully. Her smile quickly vanished as she ducked her head.
