Anubis' Family

The library was filled with the silence of many people working hard, occaisionally whispering to each other. Two of the girls whispering we Zoe and Amelia. It was only two weeks until their prom, and neither girl was looking forward to it.

"All those people... I don't think I can do it. I'm not good with crowds," Zoe whispered. Amelia nodded.

"I know. And I really can't see the point - we've seen all these people every day for the past however many years. Why spend another night with them all, dancing and eating?" She looked uncomfortable. "Plus it'll be a case of the girls all trying to con the guys into asking them, and the guys'll be taking it as an invitation to-"

"Amelia!"

"I was gonna say spike the punch." Amelia looked innocently back, though it was clearly not what she had in mind.

Zoe looked confused. "Hang on a sec. You've never had a problem with guys... er... 'spiking the punch' before. What's changed now?"

Amelia looked down at her book, smiling. "I'm dating someone new."

"Really? Who is it?" Zoe was thrilled at this. Amelia had never shown that she was capable of commitment before.

"Jenny."

Zoe blinked. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again. Amelia and Jenny. Together. "Oh." She eventually choked out.

"Something wrong?" Amelia asked, on the defensive.

"No, not at all." Zoe shook her head. "It's just unexpected. I mean, you were dating guys when we were in our second year of middle school. I've never known you to show interest in females before."

Amelia nodded. "Yeah, and we all know how great my relationships with guys turned out. Jenny's different though. We talk about everything, and she really cares about me. I figure dating someone who actually likes me might make a nice change."

"Can't fault you there. And you're right, Jenny's nice." Zoe flipped a few pages in the textbook she was supposed to be reading. "So what should we do instead of going to the prom?"

"Well, Jenny and I were going to go clubbing. You should come too - bring your bloke. I still haven't met him properly."

This time it was Zoe's turn to look shifty. "You've met him before, plenty of times."

"Yeah, but each time for about five minutes. I only know the little that you've told me about him. I want to have a proper conversation with him."

At that, Zoe looked vaguely frightened. "A proper conversation? With Anu? Uh..." She had a fair idea of what would happen. Anubis was so used to being around people who knew who he was that he'd forget about hiding his powers from mortals. The last thing Zoe needed was for him to shift into an anteater in front of Amelia.

"Oh come on, Zoe, I'm not gonna steal him from you." Amelia sounded exasperated. "I promise. Just bring him out with you. We probably won't even have time to talk to him - we'll be dancing all night!"

Zoe sighed. "All right. I'll just have to warn him about conversations."

Amelia laughed, and was shushed by the librarian. "It'll be fine. It's a celebration of being free from school! Nothing's going to happen."

*** Two weeks later ***

"I can't believe you did that!" Zoe snapped as she half-carried, half guided Jenny out of the club. Anubis followed, grinning and carrying Amelia.

"They're the only ones who saw, love. And in the morning they'll probably blame the drinks." He honestly couldn't see the problem. Amelia and Jenny had been bugging him all night about his past and his family, so eventually he'd told them he was the guardian of the dying and shifted into Antubis.

Amelia had fainted from the combination of booze and shock, while Jenny had just gotten woozier. Zoe and Anubis were taking the girls back to her house, as it was the closest and her parents probably had a good remedy for shock.

"Yes, but we're not old enough to drink. You should know that by now! You shouldn't be buying us drinks!" Zoe was so angry that she wasn't thinking straight - if it was such a problem, she should have said something earlier, before things got so out of hand. Anubis didn't bother pointing this out - it would only lead to a bigger argument. Zoe always became argumentative when she was tipsy.

They turned up the driveway to the Hooks' house, Zoe muttering to herself while Anubis tried not to smile. Granted, he shouldn't have been buying them drinks, but he couldn't see the harm in it. Twenty-one was a ridiculously late age to start drinking in his opinion.

James opened the door when he saw the pair approaching with the semi-conscious girls in tow. He didn't ask questions - that was Chris' domain - instead he took Jenny from his daughter and helped her up the stairs to the spare bedroom.

"Let me guess. From their state and smell, I'm going with alcohol." Zoe just nodded, then stumbled sideways into the banister. "And I take it you had some as well." It was a statement, not a question. At Zoe's second nod, James smiled, then gently pushed her in the direction of her own room. "Sleep. You'll feel better in the morning."

After Zoe was gone, and Amelia was curled up with Jenny, Anubis shook his head at James. "She won't feel better in the morning. She'll have a hangover and want to kill me."

James shrugged. "For her, that is feeling better. She's been cranky lately, maybe having something to yell at you about will help her get over it."

Anubis nodded. "Maybe. I'll be back in the morning to see how she is."

*** The next morning ***

"I really hate you..." Zoe groaned when she sensed Anubis sitting on her bed.

"I know you do," Anubis smiled down at her. "And I'll bet the other girls hate me too. Woe is me." He held out a glass of water when Zoe opened her eyes. She tried to glare at him, found that doing so hurt her eyes, and accepted the water.

Then the part about the other girls sank in. "Oh no. We brought them back here, didn't we?"

Anubis smirked. "I didn't realise you were drunk enough to forget things. Yeah, we brought them here to sleep off the alcohol. They're in the spare room." Zoe groaned and covered her eyes. Anubis gave her a few minutes, then took the glass back and made it disappear. "You going to tell me what's wrong."

Zoe nodded. "Yeah. I'm nervous. About life, and everything. I'm almost graduated from school, and it's scary. Real adult life starts soon. And it'll start with wedding plans. It'll be a nightmare! I mean, how do deities get married? Are you even allowed in churches? Do we invite your family to it? What do I say to-" Anubis held a finger to Zoe's lips, silencing her.

"Marriages between lesser deities and humans used to be rather common. The ceremonies were fairly normal... well, for the time, anyway. I can enter churches, but I've been forbidden from using powers inside them. I might invite some of my family... if they've gotten over it yet. Invite whoever you want - if they don't know about me, they'll soon find out."

Zoe nodded, smiling. Anubis hugged her. "Feel better now?"

"Yeah. Still nervous, but I can deal with it."

"Good. Now, about the wedding plans."

"It'll take forever. Remember Lona and Elmer? They were planning and fighting about it for over a year."

Anubis looked thoughtful. "What's the legal age for marriage?"

"Eighteen. I told you months ago."

"You'll be eighteen in a couple of months."

"Yeah... so we can pick a date any time after that."

"Actually, I was thinking. All the dramas with Lona's wedding. Most of that was their parents not agreeing with them about all sorts of things. Plus it was a big wedding."

Zoe nodded. "Very big."

"Well, we've been engaged about the right length of time. Why don't we get married on your birthday?"

Zoe blinked in confusion. "We don't have time!"

"Of course we do. We can get married in the park - it'll be Summer. And as for the organising and parental arguments, we can make it a surprise."

"A surprise! How are we meant to have a surprise wedding?"

"Send out birthday invitations, and turn it into a wedding." Anubis looked pleased with himself. After a minute, Zoe started smiling too.

"Let's get moving then. We've still got a lot to organise."