Unity...

Mia, a little nervous, sat comfortably on the lounge, the phone to her ear as it dialed what her overjoyed mother suspected her Father's number might be nowadays.
Her Father was a difficult person to get hold of these days.

But, to her surprise, her call was answered by a familiar gruff voice.
"Dad, it's me." She said warmly, smiling. It was good to hear his voice.
"We haven't spoken in years... I need you to come over here, to Sunshine Islands."
"Why?"
"Because..." She paused, taking a deep breath, "I'm engaged."

There was much joyous discussion for a minute before her Father agreed, eager to give her away to her soon-to-be husband.
It was all a little shaky on the details, they needed a bit of help with the whole Wedding, but they'd get it all good to go.

It was a warm, joyous occasion. Mia couldn't help but smile.

Chase knocked quickly on the door before entering, more to announce his presence than ask for permission to enter. He could hear Mia talking, and assumed she was on the phone, so he didn't call out to her as he approached the bed. He smiled at her and kissed her head in greeting, and sat down on the bed across from her.

He had papers in his hands, like the information for the church where the ceremony would be, and then the reception hall, and all the odds and ends that they had to consider. There was a lot to be done. He started making small piles of paper - options for things like food and flowers in one pile, church and reception information in another, and finally, one for Mia's wedding dress. He didn't know what she had planned to do for that, but had gathered some info on that nonetheless.

"I'll let you mull over that..."
"Yes, you too father... Okay, see you then. Bye."

Mia took the phone from her head and ended the call, wrapping her arms around Chase.
"Hello, my love." She greeted, hugging tightly.

She couldn't help but be excited. Nervous, but more excited than anything else.
So many things to plan, to get ready. But it was all a happy fray.
"We've confirmed my Parents' attendance." She reported with a smile, reaching up to kiss him.

"I'm excited." She admitted coyly, looking at the ream of paper Chase held in his hands.

Wess enters the Inn dragging Chris, he refused to go a step farther. Sunshine Island's Inn had really good food, and a short boat ride wouldn't stop Wess from getting here. Chris on the other hand was "still blue" from the trip to the Northlands, and did not want anything cold. Wess plopped him down in a seat as he brought a cake back to the table. Hearing someone knocking up stairs, Chris's curiosity gets the better of him, and Chris runs over to the door and flings it open before tumbling into the room. He sits on the floor gazing at the two, then slowly raises to a stand and puts his thumb in his mouth.

Chase smiled back. "So I see." He motioned around at the discombobulated room. "Busy, huh?" He leaned back on the bed, careful to avoid the other papers. "Well, I have been, too." He picked up the paper and said, "There's a lot involved in this stuff. Guest list, what band is going to play, bridal parties for you, florists, caterers, the cake, and, of course, when and where this wedding is actually going to take place." He was tempted to throw all the papers up into the air and let them rain back down on the bed, but he had invested a good deal of time in organizing them all.

"Well, step one is complete, anyways." He wrote Mia's parents' names on the guest list. They were the first two on there. He sighed, and said, "It's going to be a long afternoon."

So distracted was he, he didn't notice the door open...

Mia, nodded, quickly thinking over the details.
But hearing the pattering of tiny feet against the carpet, she looked around the room for a minute. There was nobody there, upon first inspection.
But, upon looking at the ground, she quickly realized there was a little boy looking up at the two of them, sucking at his thumb, as most little boys did.

"Well, hello there." She smiled, looking down from the bed at the small boy.
"Are you lost?" She asked, sliding from the bed to sitting in front of the wide-eyed child, who looked quite curious.

Chase frowned. "What...?" He sat up on the bed, and looked down. A tiny little boy was, in fact, sitting on the ground, staring back up at him. He looked at Mia, who appeared to be smitten with the little boy at first sight. Chase chuckled, and stood up. "Are you lost?" he asked the boy, smiling as friendly as he could. He walked over to the slightly opened door and peeked out, looking for anyone who would've accompanied him.

"Eh...Mia, I'm gonna go to the lobby, and see if anyone's looking for him," he said. "I'll be right back." He slipped out, and headed through the hallways, and down the stairs. Someone else was sitting on a chair in the main room, eating. "Excuse me," he called. "Are you missing a little kid?" It was an odd question to have to ask, and he felt a little strange after the words had escaped him.

As Chris followed Chase down the stairs, Wess sighed as Chase called out, "Excuse me, are you missing a little kid?" Wess nods, walking over and he picks up his sibling. "Yeah, sorry if he was intruding," he says, giving Chris a severe warning glance. "Sorry to cause all this trouble, Mr... Mr.... uh..."

Chase grinned. "Hawthorne," he said, filling in the blank. "But I go by Chase." He motioned for the brown-haired male to follow him, and headed back upstairs. "He must've wandered away, huh?" he asked, leading back up to his room. The door was still slightly open, and he pushed it. "Here he is," he said, motioning at the tiny child still sitting on the carpet.

Mia looked up from the excited infant, smiling at who she assumed was his guardian.
"I guess this little one's yours?" She asked, standing up by Chase's side.

"He's cute." Mia giggled, like a little girl playing with a puppy dog, watching as the curious infant turned back to the man with wide eyes.
Just a little adventurer, which was always good in a child.

Wess turns to follow the man back up stairs. "Nice to meet you Chase," he says, then nods to Mia. "Thank you," he says, shooting Chris a severe warning glance. Chris sends him back a warning glance, then innocently toddles around Mia and Chase. Wess shakes his head, murmuring, "Omigod Chris........."

Chase grinned. "It's a good thing little kids are cute," he mused. "They probably wouldn't last long otherwise." He looked over at Mia, who still looked enamored with the child who was circling around his feet, and instantly thought, Hoo boy.

I'm in trouble.


He smiled to himself, and bent down, scooping the little boy up in his arms and handing him over to his brother.

As Chris was picked up he let out a caterwaul, "ABU-" Immediately, Wess slapped a hand over Chris's mouth. "Sssssshhhh," Wess says, rolling his eyes. In a hushed whisper, he nods to Chase and Mia, "The demonic child screams abuse whenever he doesn't get what he wants, be forewarned,"

Chase laughed out loud. "Really?" he asked, just in time for the child to open his mouth. He smiled. "Well, humor is a good character trait, that's for sure." At a very young age, it was easy to see a definable personality in Chris. He wondered if it was that easy to identify traits in every young person, or just a select few.

He frowned suddenly, lost in thought. He dragged himself back down to reality, looking from the two semi-strangers to Mia, and back at Wess and Chris again.

Wess nods. "Yeah, you get trained to do so after a while," he says, reluctantly putting his brother on the floor. "So who are you?" he turns to the girl, wondering if they were dating, siblings, or spouses.

Mia, giggled as Chris was set back on the floor, the young boy's eyes wide and curious.
She didn't know what it was about little children, even in animals they brought out a soft side.
And once she'd been caught in the wide eyes of something sweet and adorable, she'd never escape again.

"My name's Mia," she answered, nodding.
"It's nice to meet you, and Chris." she added with a smile.

Wess smiles. "It's nice to meet you too, Mia," he says smiling. Chris unexpectedly walked up and aiming to give Mia a hug, and said in his childish voice. "Nice t'meet chuu Mia," he says with a big grin on his face.