This is all your fault

"Get the dog out!" Francis bellowed across the large dining area to the woman looking at him. Behind her stood a large man and she hardly did enough to cover him up if her plan was to protect him from the man shouting. If it were not for the large high end dining table between the two sides, Natalie was sure that there would be a fight going on.

"Please calm down Francis." The middle aged woman at the right side of the table tried to calm things down.

"I will mother, as soon as the dog is thrown out!" Francis retorted not taking his eyes off the man.

"Oh get off your high horse Francis! No one is kicking him out." Natalie defended the silent man behind her. "Dylan is my friend and he is here for me. If you don't like that, then you should be the one leaving!"

"Are you insane? You are both standing in my house!" Francis shouted.

"Actually, it is my house so everyone, calm the hell down!" Gregory said in his usual calm tone as he got into the room and stood next to his wife, Alice.

"I apologize Mr. and Mrs. Gregory. Dylan here is my friend and he just wanted to…"

"He is not your friend." Francis interrupted.

"Oh, I am sorry Francis. I forgot that you are me!" Natalie said sarcastically and turned to Gregory and his wife Alice.

"It does not matter. He is not our friend." Francis said with finality and the whole room went quiet, for the first time in the night. He took a seat at the dining table and unbuttoned the middle button of his coat, elegantly. The old couple wondered why their eldest son had to be so stubborn.

"Francis is right. Dylan is not your friend." Natalie said after careful consideration. Francis eyes lit up. He knew Natalie was stubborn and he could not help feeling exited. But it was short-lived. "But he is mine and the twin's friend and he did help take care of them when their very present father was very much present." She remarked sarcastically and intentionally looked at Francis as she took a pause. "Let the twins decide." The people in the room were shocked at her comment, especially the man behind her. Francis looked at him and he could feel his rage boiling up every time Dylan blinked. Before he could oppose the idea, Natalie called out. "Kyla? Anthony? Dylan is here to see…" Before she could finish her sentence, the twins had already rushed down the fleet of stairs and were hugging Dylan. They were only eight. He lifted them up and held them. Francis stood up in contempt.

"Uncle Dylan, we have missed you! Where have you been?" Kyla spoke first.

"Yes uncle. Did you forget about us?" Anthony added. Dylan looked at them with so much love that any new person in the room would think he was their father. At the same time, Francis took a step forward in his new shiny leather shoes and expensive navy blue tux.

"No. Not at all." Dylan spoke for the first time. "Uncle has just been busy but tonight he intends on spending a lot of time with you." Everyone looked at Francis who was walking closer and closer. The smirk on Dylan's face fueled up the anger.

"Kids, your grandparents were wondering whether you would want to spend time with Uncle Dylan or your father?" Natalie shot the question unclothed and Francis stopped in his tracks. She rubbed Kyla's back and took them down from Dylan. She slightly bent over and said lovingly. "Remember, whoever you chose, you shall have to spend time with him for the whole weekend." The tension in the room thickened that a knife could not even cut through. Anthony pulled his sister closer and whispered in her ear. Kyla whispered back. It went back and forth for a minute then a decision was agreed upon.

"Mommy…" Anthony started and looked at Natalie.

"Yes sweetheart." Natalie answered and held her son's tiny hands in hers.

"We want to go with…with…" He stammered and looked at his sister then at Francis, who could feel the disappointment flowing into his heart.

"Uncle Dylan." Kyla shot out and immediately rushed to Dylan. Natalie, whose back was turned against Francis, smiled slightly and nodded to her son.

"Are you sure?" Natalie asked Anthony. He nodded in agreement. "Okay my darlings. If you have agreed, then it is okay. Have you already packed?" The children nodded again.

"Let me go help them get their items and we shall be on our way." Dylan said as he smiled satisfactorily. The children eagerly pulled his hands leading him to their rooms to help. Francis was utterly shocked, mostly furious. He looked round the room to his parents then to Natalie.

"What kind of a mother are you?" He snapped after realizing his parents were not going to defend him. They never did. They already figured they had done enough disaster by spoiling him and making him and entitled man. Natalie did not answer neither did she take her eyes of the side her children had disappeared through. She totally ignored him, as she always did. "You are letting your children go with that…that…" He could not pronounce it again and just pointed to where his children had disappeared. "I shall not let them go with him!" He shouted.

"Francis, calm down." Gregory said as he pulled a seat for his wife and sat down after her.

"Calm down? How can you tell me to calm down father! My kids are going for two days with that…that…" He kicked the chair next to him, breaking its two back legs.

"That man, you call a dog, has been good to my grandchildren." Alice defended.

"How can you let them go? He is different from us!" Francis said, trying his best to not shout at his parents.

"What did those I was familiar with- friends, family, lovers- do for me anyway?" Natalie asked and slowly turned and looked at Francis. She gave him an emotionless smile and took a seat.

"We are your family! We are those twin's family." Alice said calmly, smiling. Natalie smiled back and slightly nodded.

"Yes, you are. You are my family now. But for the past years after my twins were born, I was alone and Dylan was my only family. He was there for me, and tried to be there for my twins. Back then, you were not there. You were not my family. Dylan was." Natalie said painfully and smiled at the couple on her right. They understood and nodded at her. Before Francis could throw another tantrum, the children ran down again with Dylan carrying their bags behind them. Natalie stood up immediately and hugged the first child to reach her. It was Anthony.

"Mom…stop." Anthony said trying to push away his mother. Natalie was surprised her children were growing so fast. She looked at her son and saw his handsome face struggling to contain his embarrassment. He had always been the reserved and silent type and had only began being accommodative recently. Her daughter was always the talkative one and mostly spoke for the pair. Though quite demanding, Kyla was very nice and honest. Anthony, he was hard to read. Natalie let go of her son and went to pick up her daughter instead but she rushed to her grandparents and hugged them. Anthony followed. The one things the twins loved in common, was their grandparents.

"You will call me in case of anything?" Natalie asked Dylan and he nodded. "If anything happens to them…"

"You will tear out my heart and feed it to the piranhas." Dylan helped complete the threat and they both giggled at the thought.

"Come on Kyla, Anthony. You should head out before it gets really dark. Say bye to your grandparents." Natalie said to her twins and they did as was asked of them. They then rushed back to Dylan and were headed up to the door. "Children, aren't you forgetting something. Or someone?" Natalie called them back and they looked at each other and giggled. They rushed back and hugged her.

"Bye mommy. We love you!" They chorused as they kissed her simultaneously on her cheeks. Natalie hugged them for a bit and let them go. They turned around to leave again.

"What about me?" Francis asked from where he stood, jealousy having engulfed him completely. The children paused at the door again and turned. They whispered in each other's ears again and rushed in. Francis stretched his hands to receive his children, who ran again in to Natalie's arms, kissed her again and said: "Say good bye to Daddy for us, Mommy." Then they turned and rushed out. The door was shut and the room went quiet again. Three members in admiration and one at the peak of his fury. "This is all your fault!" Francis snapped.

"Whose?" Gregory asked.

"Mine." Natalie asked without turning back. She was still enjoying the moment and did not want to let anyone ruin it.

"Why?" Alice asked and the couple looked at their son, who was in turn looking at Natalie. It took a moment before Natalie turned round and sat again.

"Why?" She repeated he question once she was ready.

"Why? You even have the audacity to ask why!" Francis was shouting and he kicked another chair and broke its four legs. The three sat calmly looking at Francis rage mad. It went on for a while, the kicking and breaking of chairs. "You let my children go out with a…a…" He broke another chair. The doorbell rang and Natalie calmly stood up and looked at Francis and rushed to open it. She came back with two other members of the family. Francis' siblings- Flora and Matthew. Matthew was the last born so he was the family's favorite while Flora, being the only girl, was well composed and a little bit spoiled than Francis. As soon as they walked into the room and saw the mess, they immediately knew whose it was. Though Natalie was slightly older than Flora, she looked younger in appearance and Flora always envied that. She also envied the fact that Matthew was always closer to Natalie that to her, his own sister.

"What happened now Francis?" Flora immediately asked as she went on to greet her parents together with Matthew. They sat next to them. Francis looked at her judgingly. "What? All of us know who has the shortest temper in the Gregory family." She added and looked at Natalie. "You look amazing." She softly said. Natalie smiled back at her. Bam! Another chair broke.

"Brother? What is it?" Matthew asked. He was genuinely concerned.

"She let my children go out with a…a…" Francis stammered again. Flora and Matthew looked at Natalie then back at Francis. If there was someone who knew how to get on their brother's nerve, it was Natalie.

"Just say it Francis. You are enemies with the tribe, not the name!" Natalie said.

"A werewolf!" Francis finally managed to say the name. Flora and Matthew looked at Natalie in astonishment. She was so daring.

"Badass!" Matthew said and rushed to fist-bump with Natalie.

"Language!" Alice snapped at Matthew.

"Since Francis has made a big deal out of this, please, let me indulge you with a story of how my children and I came to have a werewolf be part of our family. Of course it was due to lack of a very important resource- a present father- but since we have all weekend, let me spell it out for you how Francis helped bring such an amazing man in to our lives!" Natalie said and looked at Francis with a hint of disgust.