There were a lot of things that surprised me in my life, especially more so of the late. But no matter how many times this paritcular occasion arised, I was still going to be very surprised.

That particular occasion happened to be whenever I woke up in the morning and saw my parents at the dining room table. I rarely ever saw my parents - I usually was already asleep whenever they got home in the evening, and they were already long gone when I got up in the morning - so it was certainly shocking to see them so unexpectedly.

"Uh, hi, Mom, Dad," I said awkwardly, somewhat shifting my way into the kitchen Wednesday morning.

Mom and Dad were both seated at the dining room table, coffee in fashionable cups in their hands. Dad's breakfast consisted of an egg sandwich stuffed with bacon and cheese, while Mom had a much lighter breakfast of what looked like Special K cereal and a banana.

They may spend most of their time in their offices, or court, but of course they still watched their figures.

"Morning, dear," Mom said crisply, turning the page in the New York Times.

"Hi, Hadley." Dad greeted me in a much more cheerful mood, giving me a slight smile over the rim of his coffee cup.

"Uh, what are you guys still doing here?" I asked slowly, yanking open the fridge. "It's almost nine. You're usually gone by now."

Dad nodded, setting his coffee cup down on the table. "You're right. Your mother and I are going on a business trip to Chicago this afternoon."

The fridge door swung shut as I stood there in the middle of the kitchen, pathetically grasping a container of yogurt and a bunch of grapes.

Well, I certainly hadn't been expecting to hear that.

"Why would Mom and you have a business trip together?" I said, sounding duped. "You're a lawyer, and she's an executive manager at a totally different business."

"Your father's firm and my boss are working on a fraud case together in our company," Mom answered breezily, as if it was nothing. "Clyde has asked me to come along with him."

Clyde Heywood was my mother's boss. I'd met him a few times, and I hadn't been impressed. He was a tall, balding man with enough personality to make people want to slit their wrists. Thankfully I hadn't seen him recently. I did feel slightly bad for Mom that she had to go out of the city with the guy.

"Oh," I said. "Right."

I took a seat at the table across from Mom, next to Dad, and spooned out some of my yogurt.

There was clearly an awkward air about the room that I probably only seemed to be noticing. Dad was much more attentive than Mom when they were home, so he probably felt the rising weirdness, but Mom certainly didn't.

And one could see why I didn't often enjoy family meals very much.

"I hope you don't mind that we'll be out of town for Thanksgiving," Mom said, her attention still fixed on her newspaper.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "I'm fine."

"The apartment complex offers Thanksgiving dinner down in the dining room in the lobby," Dad interjected. "You could always go there for a meal."

"No, that's okay," I said slowly. "I've, uh, actually been invited to dinner at a friend's tomorrow."

"Taelor's?" Dad asked, sipping at his coffee.

"No." How many times was I going to be saying that today? Damn. "My boss'."

That last sentence caused Mom to whip her head up so fast she must've cricked her neck. Dad actually spat out a bit of his coffee he'd just swallowed.

"Your boss?" Dad repeated in an odd voice. "You have a boss?"

I gnawed on my lip, keeping my attention fixed on my yogurt while I nodded. "Yeah. I meant to tell you both earlier. I got a job."

"You got a job," Mom said flatly. "Why on Earth would you get a job?"

I shrugged nonchalantly. "Why not? I won't spend all of my time in the apartment now. It's actually a pretty nice place."

"Well, where do you work?" Mom demanded, dropping her spoon into her empty cereal bowl.

"Mama Rosa's Coffee House," I answered meekly. "It's a few blocks over from Fifth Avenue."

Mom had no idea where the place was. The look on her face clearly said that much. But unless I was much mistaken, a look of recognition flashed in Dad's eyes as he stared over at me.

"Mama Rosa's Coffee House," he said again, frowning. "Who owns that place?"

"Victoria Incitti, and her daughter Regina Morales," I babbled without thinking.

Mom continued to look very duped, while Dad's eyes widened as he nearly choked on his coffee again.

"Regina Morales? Is that the woman whose ex-husband - "

"Yes," I said sharply, cutting him off. "She's a great woman, and she doesn't deserve nearly half of what she gets dealt."

Dad looked as if I'd just slapped him across the face, while Mom stared back and forth between the two of us, watching our dislpay as if she was very fascinated.

"How do you know Regina Morales?" Dad asked after a moment, setting his cup of coffee down on the table.

"I go to school with her son, Archer," I said evenly. "We're friends."

"And you just decided to apply for a job there?" Dad said, his eyebrows shooting up his forehead. "You do know what happened to that family, right?"

"Yes, I know," I snapped. "Of course I know. But that doesn't mean anything, Dad. They're good people. And besides, Regina offered me the job. I didn't ask for it."

"You hardly need a job, Hadley," Mom cut in, folding her hands together. "Your father and I give you more than enough each week to get anything you want. I don't see why you - "

"It's better than being alone all of the time, Mom!" I was pretty much shouting at the both of my parents now, but I didn't exactly care. I'd never talked back to my parents before, and it was sort of a thrilling experience, in all honesty. "Really, I don't think you both realize just how much you're never here. Have a good business trip. I'll stay out of trouble and keep to my curfew, so you don't need to worry. Happy Thanksgiving."

I abruptly stood up from the table and left the dining room, leaving my parents behind without so much as a backward glance. I was probably going to regret talking back to them later, but right then, I didn't care. It felt good to have finally spoken my mind for once, and even if they didn't like what I'd had to say, at least they knew what was going on, right?

I slammed my bedroom door shut behind me with an exasperated sigh. Not only did I have enough troubles with Archer alone, now I was having problems with my parents, too. This was just fantastic.

I wasn't scheduled to work until noon, so I spent the rest of my time before I had to get ready curled up underneath the blankets on my bed, a scowl permanently etched on my face. I probably would've fetched Rollo from underneath my bed, but I didn't want my hands to get mauled by him.

Well, that was certainly a cheerful thought, wasn't it?

My foul mood had only worsened by the time I wrenched open the door to Mama Rosa's and stomped inside. Snow was leisurely falling from the gray, ominous clouds overhead, blanketing the city in white, and my shoes were wet. I wasn't very happy because of it.

"Hi, Hadley!"

A reluctant grin broke out across my face as May came sprinting over to me with a ridiculously huge smile on her face before she threw her arms around my me in a tight hug. Granted, she barely came up to my waist, but it was the thought that counted, right?

"Hey, May," I said with a laugh. "What's up?"

"Hadley!"

May didn't get a chance to answer, as her two other sisters came running over to throw their arms around me in an even bigger hug. I nearly stumbled over backwards from the force of their hugs, but I couldn't help but break out into loud laughter. You could say I didn't spend that much time around younger kids very much.

"All right, girls," Regina's familiar voice cut in over our loud giggling. "Let Hadley go."

"But...but we never see Hadley anymore," April sniffed, burying her face in my jacket.

"You just saw me on Monday," I said, grinning.

"Still!" all three of the triplets cried in near perfect unison.

"Girls!" Regina repeated, much louder this time. "Hadley needs to work."

The girls didn't listen, of course. So I had to struggle my way behind the counter to the kitchen with three five year olds attached to my legs.

"I'm sorry," Regina apologized as I awkwardly trudged into the back kitchen. "They're five. They're kind of hard to control."

"That's okay," I reassured her with a smile. "I don't mind."

I didn't have any siblings, so I didn't mind being doted upon by three five year olds. And not to mention, April, May, and June were a riot.

Somehow I managed to yank off my jacket and hang up my bag on the coatrack, and limped over to the sink to wash my hands. April, May, and June were pretty adamant about not letting go of me, and needless to say, it was a little hard to manuever around the kitchen.

"April, May, June! What the hell are you doing?"

I whipped around - well, as much as I could - and saw Archer sauntering through the kitchen, his hair damp and curling, looking as if he'd just gotten out of the shower.

Put bluntly? He looked delicious.

"Just...cuddling with Hadley!" June chirped, her voice muffled by my pant leg.

Archer raised an eyebrow, his face expressionless. "Uh, okay, not anymore you're not. Get off her."

For some odd reason, April, May, and June listened to Archer more than their own mother. I wasn't sure why, but it was rather interesting.

"Aw, fine..." April pouted, all but throwing herself down onto the floor.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic, April," Archer said, reaching down to ruffle April's hair as he passed her. "We're all going grocery shopping later, so don't get all whiney now."

"We're going grocery shopping?" I repeated, giving an Archer a look.

Archer smirked. "You heard me, Jamison. My mother and grandmother can hardly cook for all of the people coming over tomorrow with just what's here, so we're going to Whole Foods."

"Forgive me," I said sarcastically, holding up my hands in defeat.

"No," he replied coolly. "Now get to work."

I made sure April, May, and June had already left the kitchen before I flipped Archer the middle finger before following after the triplets. As unfortunate as it was to admit, Archer did have a point. It was time to get to work.

I could hardly wait.

Victoria Incitti stood in front of us with her thickly beaded glasses perched on the end of her nose, several yellow scraps of paper clutched in her grasp.

I stood awkwardly beside Archer, my hands clasped behind my back, biting my lip. Even Archer looked rather uneasy.

Victoria Incitti was a formidable woman at best, and she could probably kill someone if she so much as raised an eyebrow. And since we were now being ordered to go make a grocery run by Victoria's orders, I was a little frightened.

"I need you two to get all of these things on this list, no substitutions or replacements for anything, do you understand?" Victoria ordered, thrusting the list at Archer.

"Yes, grandma," Archer deadpanned at the same time I said formally, "Of course, Mrs. Incitti."

"I want you back here before eight, too," Victoria added sternly. "You're taking your little sisters with you, boy, so I'm expecting nothing to happen to them."

"What am I, seven, grandma?" Archer said, rolling his eyes. "Of course I'm going to take care of them."

"Keep him in line, Hadley," she continued, pointing a finger at me. "He thinks he knows everything, but he doesn't."

"He's a teenager, Ma!" Regina's voice carried through to us from the kitchen, sounding highly amused. "It's a man thing!"

"No, it's an Italian thing," Victoria snapped. "They're too stupid and thickheaded to see what's right in front of him. You'd better find a woman who knows how to keep you in line, Archer, or you're going to be in for a horrible marriage and your children will hate you."

My face burned bright red as Victoria spoke and I quickly ducked my head to keep from looking at anyone. For some odd reason that I was probably never going to understand, the thought of Archer being married and having kids was enough to make me have a silent panic attack.

I wasn't quite sure why.

"Okay, first of all, grandmother," Archer said, his voice very exaggerated. "Who said I was going to get married? And I sure as hell don't want any kids."

"Watch your mouth!" Victoria barked, pointing a threatening finger at Archer. "Your little sisters are right next to you!"

True, April, May, and June were currently sitting on the front counter, giggling and shoving each other, but I highly doubted they were even listening.

"We...we should probably go now," I said, clearing my throat. "It's a little after five now."

"Good, good," Victoria said, waving an airy hand. "Go. And be safe!"

"Right!" Archer called over his shoulder as he made his way towards the front of the shop.

I rolled my eyes, slouching along behind Archer and his three little sisters, feeling a little sour. I wondered why that was.

"So, where are we going?" June asked cheerily, clutching at my hand as we stepped outside.

"Whole Foods," April chirped in response.

I'd heard of Whole Foods before. Apparently, it was some organic health food store that sold ridiculously overpriced items, but good food. I didn't know why we were going to Whole Foods, of all places, but it was almost a given Thanksgiving dinner was going to turn out well. I didn't peg Regina or Victoria as people who were awful cooks, if the food served at Mama Rosa's was anything to go by.

Archer informed us that Whole Foods was only a few blocks over, so we were going to be walking instead of taking the subway. I was pleased with this, because I happened to hate the subway.

Halfway through the journey of avoiding being rammed into people on the sidewalks to Whole Foods, May demanded to be picked up by Archer, which made Archer very annoyed. He scooped up May into his arms anyways, muttering obscenities under his breath as he did. And of course, it was ridiculously cute.

Our small, rather loud group of five made it to Whole Foods as it was nearing five thirty. The place wasn't too packed and looked like any other fancy health food store designed to look popular to the vegeterian and vegan culture. They succeeded pretty well, too.

April, May, and June got into a scuffle about who would got to sit in the cart, which I thought was hysterical, but pissed Archer off.

Of course.

The situation was quickly resolved by Archer all but throwing the girls into the cart all together. Needless to say, I kept my mouth shut and refrained from saying anything that would make Archer even more annoyed.

"All right," Archer sighed, leaning up against the cart with the grocery list in his hands. "I'm going to give you a list of the things that you're going to get, Jamison, while I take these brats with me."

"Hey!" April piped up indignantly. "We are not brats!"

"Sure, sure," Archer replied airily, waving a hand.

"I have a name, you know," I said sourly, crossing my arms over my chest. "You could, like, stop calling me Jamison anytime."

Archer ignored that comment and shoved one of the pieces of paper into my hands instead.

"Get your own cart and get what's on that list," he ordered, giving me a fierce look. "And meet me at the registers in half an hour."

I snapped a military salute, looking as serious as I could manage. "Yes sir, General Morales, sir."

Archer rolled his eyes, looking very mad. "Piss off, Hadley."

"Only if you do, sweetcheeks," I said with a smirk, waltzing off to go grab a cart.

If I'd stayed behind, I'm fairly certain that I would've gotten cussed out - whether or not April, May, and June were right next to us - so I was a little pleased that I left.

I examined the grocery list with narrowed eyes as I wheeled my cart through the produce section. The first item on the list was a dozen apples, probably for pie, which wouldn't be so bad to get. Much to my enjoyment, there was already a mesh bag full of apples by one of the fruit stands, which I grabbed after thoroughly inspecting them. I wouldn't put it past Victoria to throw them at me or something if I picked up brusied ones.

After I grabbed rhubarb, cranberry sauce, blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries from the general vicinity, I pushed my cart in the direction of the beverage aisles, as one Tazo Brambleberry tea was scrawled on the list beneath the word blackberries.

It took a minute or two of perusing the aisle to find the tea section, and I just about let out a triumphant shout when I managed to locate the right tea.

"Well, hello, Hadley Jamison."

I screamed and nearly dropped the bottle of tea in my grasp, whipping around on my heel to see an eerily familiar person standing beside me, wearing a leather jacket and scuffed up boots.

"Death?" I squeaked, clutching at the cart for support. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Death smiled pleasantly, looking pleased with himself for some odd reason. I really couldn't even begin to understand why.

"I just thought I'd check up on you," Death answered. "See how you were doing."

I cautiously set the bottle of tea down in the cart before I turned back to him with as much composure as I could manage.

"I thought you weren't allowed to help me," I pointed out. "Why would you come and see how I'm doing?"

Death shrugged, reaching over to pluck one of the boxes of tea off the shelf beside him. He examined it for a moment before he made a sour face and threw it back down.

"You're down to 18 days, Hadley Jamsion," he finally said after a moment, crossing his arms over his chest. "I trust you're well aware of this."

I tapped my wrist with a finger, glaring at him. "Kind of hard not to."

Death sighed, an abruptly serious look coming over his face that I hadn't ever seen before, maybe except for when he was telling me that I had to go back 27 days to stop Archer from committing suicide.

"Do you know what you're getting yourself into, Hadley Jamison?" he said in a quiet voice.

I frowned in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"I think you know what I'm talking about," Death replied easily.

I stared at him, a blank look on my face. "No. I don't, funnily enough."

Death rubbed a hand across his jaw, an inquisitive look coming over his features. "Perhaps you should think back to the realization that you came to the other night."

"Excuse me?" I yelped, my hands flying to my face. "W-W-What are y-you talking about?"

Death smirked. "There you go. Now you remember, don't you?"

"But...I thought you couldn't read minds!" I reminded him, pointing a finger at him.

"Oh, I can't," he reassured me quickly. "But there's a difference between reading someone's mind and reading someone's facial features."

Oh, damn. This couldn't be good.