Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Devil With A Blue Dress On (Part Five of the Family Sagas) ❯ Part Seven ( Chapter 7 )

Disclaimer: I don't own them, except for the kids!

Devil With A Blue Dress On, Part 7

Miles rolled to his back and stared at the ceiling. He felt an aching heaviness inside his chest. "Randy." He closed his eyes again. He had not slept well at all. The sheets were twisted about his hips in a tangle. All he could see when he closed his eyes were Randy's fear filled ones for him and the cold icy ones of her very angry dad. In a way, he would blame him. He had a right to at least flip out; he was a dad after all. He smiled ruefully. He heard a knock on his door. "Come in," he called as he turned his head to look at the door. He saw his baby sister poke her head in.

"Morning," Isabella said as she walked over to him and sat on the edge of the bed. She noted the bloodshot look of his eyes. "You didn't sleep well last night did you?" she asked in that lilting voice of hers.

He smiled at her. She was a carbon copy of their mother. That blond prettiness that guys wouldn't be able to resist once she reached maturity. "No, I didn't sleep well," he admitted as he grasped onto her delicate hand. His emerald eyes met her blue-gray ones and fell away.

"I could hear you tossing and turning throughout the night," she said softly as she watched him. Her room was the one next to his.

"Did I keep you awake?" Miles asked in a light voice.

"No," Isabella replied as she studied him. "You couldn't sleep because something happened last night with Randy, right?" she asked.

He looked at his thirteen-year-old sister with surprise. She always knew more then she let on. He sat up and tilted his head to one side. She was looking at him levelly. "Yes, it had something to do with Randy," he replied as he looked down at his hand holding hers.

"I thought so," she answered as she reached out and brushed back his tousled hair. "I could've told you that you were playing with fire when you set your sights on her. But you got mom's nerve of doing weird things for the one you love," she said wryly as she blew back a stray curl that dangled in her face.

"I like playing with fire," Miles said with a slight grin.

"You would. No wonder you and Randy are a perfect match for each other. She does things for the hell of it too. She's the only person I know whose openly defies the Headmistress."

"Sounds like her all right," he chuckled thinking of the whole skirt incident she had told him about. His lips turned to a frown. "But I won't get to go near her now."

"Don't worry, Miles. You'll find a way," she said reassuringly as she squeezed his hand. "Now do you want breakfast?" she asked.

"I guess," Miles, said a little uncertainly. "Go on down, I'll be there in a minute," he said as he gave her hand a slight squeeze.

"All right," Isabella said as she stood. She looked over her shoulder as she left the room. She had never seen him look so dejected before. Especially over a girl. But she supposed Randy wasn't just any girl. She was a Maxwell for one. But the problem was, she was only three years older then herself and she was the same age as Carin. Her brother was playing with fire and he just got burned.

Miles swung his legs over the side of the bed. His insides twisted into knots at the mention of food, but he knew he had to eat. He closed his eyes and let his head fall forward into his hands. He didn't know how he was going to make it through the day. And today was Sunday. He could avoid Church if he wanted, but he wouldn't be able to avoid the Sunday dinner, in which he was sure he would see Randy and her dad. He knew he had been playing with fire; he had been daring it to blow up in his face. "Boy did it ever," he muttered. He knew right then, he couldn't avoid Church. Randy wouldn't. So neither would he. And he knew that his dad was going to talk to Duo. And to him, that just didn't seem like a good idea.

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Downstairs, Trowa was reading the paper as he ate his breakfast. He watched Middi out of the corner of his eye as she made a plate for Isabella as she came into the kitchen. His youngest sat down at the table as she put the plate of scrambled eggs and hot buttered toast in front of her. He observed his youngest. She was the image of her mother. His eyes went to Carin, with her strawberry blond hair and blue green eyes; she was a definite mixture of him and Middi. His other son, Donavon had the russet hair, but his eyes were more of a gray green. He went back to Isabella. "Miles up yet?" he asked.

Isabella looked up from her plate at her dad's question. "He's awake and he looks awful," she replied bluntly.

"No one taught you tact did they?" Donavon pointed out as he looked up at her.

"Nope, learned that from you," Isabella said as she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Is he coming down to breakfast?" asked Middi as she sat down at the table.

"He said he would," Isabella said as she shrugged her shoulders. "Don't know if he'll eat anything though. He looks like hell froze over."

"Thank you so much," Miles replied sarcastically as he came into the kitchen. He sat down at the table.

"Izzy, was right, you do look like hell," said Carin as she sat across from him.

"Will you be quiet, Carin, your voice is grating," Miles, said as he glared at her through his fingers.

Carin glared back, but said nothing.

"Do you want to eat, love?" Middi asked as she placed a hand on his arm.

"Yeah, I'll eat," Miles, replied as he glanced at his mom. She was wearing a soft smile.

"That's good," Middi said as she stood and fixed him a plate before setting it down in front of him.

"You shouldn't of put so much mom, I don't know if I'll be able to eat it all," Miles protested weakly as he looked at the eggs piled on his plate.

"What, the bottomless pit isn't hungry for once?" Donavon smirked.

"Shut up, Donavon," Miles growled. "I'm in no mood, not unless you want me to beat the hell out of you."

"That's enough," Trowa said as his two sons glared at each other from across the table. He looked at Miles. He would admit that his two daughters were right. Miles did look like hell. "Do you want to go to Church today, you don't have to," he said.

"No, I'll go. I'm up to it," Miles said as his jaw set with determination.

"After Church, I'll have a little "talk" with Duo," Trowa said as he put down the paper.

"I don't think that's a good idea. I mean, have you seen Death truly pissed," Miles said as he looked at his dad.

"Yes, I've seen Death truly pissed. And I know how to handle it. Don't worry about it," Trowa said dismissively.

Middi watched her husband get up from the table then. Her eyes fell on her oldest. The lines of fatigue were unmistakable on his tanned face. She looked at the other three finishing up their breakfasts. "Don't linger over it. When you're finished go up and get ready for Church," she ordered as she cast a stern look at them, knowing they would do anything to get out of going. As soon as they cleared the kitchen, she was left alone with Miles, who ate slowly, taking a minute to swallow each mouthful. "If you're not that hungry, you don't have to eat it all," she said gently.

Miles looked up at his mom. "I know, but I want to eat as much as I can," he replied as he took a bite of toast.

She sighed as she got up from the table. She pressed a kiss on his hair as she went by as she started clearing up the kitchen. She glanced over her shoulder a few times, observing him. She smiled sadly. Her son was in love, but there was a rather large and intimidating roadblock in his path that went by the name of Duo Maxwell.

He knew that his mother was looking over at him from time to time. He knew that she was worried about him. He forced himself to eat another forkful of eggs and another slice of toast before getting up and handing the plate to his waiting mother. "That's all I can eat," he said as he looked down at her.

"That's all right love, just go on up and get ready for Church," Middi said with a reassuring smile.

"Ok," Miles said as he gave her a weak smile and headed towards the steps. He hunched his shoulders a little at the thought of going. He knew he didn't have to and his parents wouldn't make him if he didn't want to, but like his father, he possessed a great deal of pride. He supposed all the kids of the former Gundam pilots possessed some degree of pride.

She dried her hands on the dishtowel as she watched him leave the kitchen. She saw that cringing motion of his shoulders. He was so much like Trowa in some ways. "It'll work out, Miles. Don't worry," she whispered as she too headed upstairs to get ready.

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Trowa knotted his tie and watched his wife as she frowned into the mirror. He went over to her and placed his hands on her slim shoulders. "Stop worrying, it's not good for you," he whispered as he looked into her eyes via the mirror.

Middi smiled ruefully in response. "I know," she said as she placed her hands over both of his. "But this is Miles. Things like this don't happen to him. He's never had this problem before."

"He's never dated a girl that's three years younger then him either. And I might those other girls were not daughters of close friends. And Duo is one of them that you don't want to piss off, especially when it comes to Randy," he said as he gently massaged her shoulders.

"I don't understand, I mean, you don't act like this when Carin dates guys," she said as she frowned even more.

"Because Carin is so unlike Randy. Carin for the most part has been an angel. Randy on the other hand, was and always will be a little devil. She has too much of her father in her to be an angel," Trowa said with a wry smile. He could still see Middi frowning. He sighed and turned her around to face him as he knelt down in front of her. "Miles will be all right. If he's anything like me, he'll be fine. And Duo, well, he's just being his hotheaded and impulsive self. He's always been like that. And like I said, where his daughter is concerned, you don't mess around with her or else you'll be looking for your name on a headstone."

"That makes me feel a whole lot better, Trowa," Middi said sarcastically as she looked at him.

"I'll take care of Duo. He won't put Miles into an early grave. He'd have to go through me first," he said as he pressed his forehead against hers.

"You're not going to start a fight with him are you?" she asked as she stared into his emerald eyes.

"No, I won't start a fight with him. I'll just have a "talk" with him," Trowa said as he pressed a light kiss on her lips. "Now hurry up and finish getting ready," he said as he stood. "I'll be waiting downstairs for you."

"Right," Middi said as she watched him leave their room. She sighed and turned to look into he vanity mirror once again. She twisted her platinum blond hair up into a sleek chignon, securing it with pins and hairspray. She was a little leery of Trowa "talking" to Duo. She didn't think that Duo would be in the right frame of mind after last night and she was nervous that this was going to do more harm then good. She finished sliding her pearl earrings on and stood. She grabbed her purse that went with the dove gray suit she was wearing and went downstairs.

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Miles stared at his reflection in his bathroom mirror. There was a definite pallor under his bronzed skin and his green eyes weren't as bright as they normally were. He flipped down the collar of his green shirt, not bothering with a tie. He was not looking forward to seeing Duo at all. The mere thought made his stomach churn. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his frayed nerves. He would have to get through Church and Sunday dinner that was taking place at his cousins' house tonight. "Well time to go and face hell," he muttered as he left his room and plodded down the steps. He noticed that the rest of his family was already there, waiting silently.

Donavon raised a brow at his older brother. He knew that Randy was the cause of it. He didn't blame Miles for being attracted to her. Randy Maxwell was a beautiful girl. Hell even he would admit that he was attracted to her. But he had settled to being one of her close friends. He had taken ballroom dancing with her and she was a wonderful dancer. His brother was one lucky bastard. "So, are you ready to go?" he asked with a slight grin.

Miles eyed his seventeen-year-old brother. He would be deliberately provoking to make him snap out of his moods. He would usually retaliate by trying to choke him. "I warned you before, tick me off and I will beat the hell out of you," he replied stiffly as he walked past him.

"Suuuure," Donavon drawled as he followed him out the door. He grinned at his two sisters as he walked past.

Carin rolled her eyes at her other brother. "Baka," she muttered under her breath as she followed him. She caught up with him and pulled him back. "What are you trying to do, kill yourself?" she hissed into his ear.

Donavon stopped to look at his sister. "No, but it makes him feel better if he concentrates on wanting to beat the crap out of me, then thinking of his current problem with Randy," he answered as he chucked her under her chin and got into the family van.

"Men," Carin mumbled as she climbed in after him. She looked at Miles sitting in one of the bucket seats, staring out the window. Her heart went out to him. She should've told him about what happened to guys when they attempted to date Randy. It would be a nightmare. Whereas she herself had been on plenty of dates, Randy had been on very, very few. And all because once she brought them home, her dad and her three older brothers would be intimidating to the guys, and they would never go out with her again. And she knew Randy well enough to know that, she didn't care too much about that. She had to smile at what the other girl had told her one-day, "I want a guy that's strong enough not to be intimidated by my dad and my brothers. I want him to be able to keep on coming back no matter how much it might scare the hell out of him. Then and only then will I be happy." Carin sighed. Her brother might be that guy, but with Duo standing in the way. It would be damn near impossible to get to her.

Miles closed his eyes briefly as he stared out the window. He could hear the hushed voices of Carin and Donavon, sniping at each other back and forth. He glanced over at Isabella, who was sitting in the other bucket seat across from him. She gave him an angel like smile and reached her hand over to his. He felt her cool touch on his hand, threading her fingers through his. He smiled back at her thankfully. For some reason, she was the sibling that seemed to understand him the most. She was more thoughtful then Carin, but just as blunt as Donavon. And she wasn't provoking like Donavon. He looked back out the window again. He closed his eyes and thought of Randy, her midnight hair and those laughing cobalt eyes, and a body to kill for. And that breathtaking smile of hers that would make his heart pound. "I hope you fared better then me Randy. I hope your dad wasn't too hard on you."

Trowa watched his son in the review mirror. He could only guess what was going through his head. He would have to admit that it was odd seeing his son goes for someone like Randy Maxwell. One, she was sixteen. Two, she was nothing like the girls that Miles dated regularly. And three, her dad was Duo Maxwell. He frowned a little. He would have to speak to Duo about threatening his son with death. It didn't sit too well with him. He navigated the narrow streets of the city, still thinking about what he was going to say to the tall American.

Middi watched Trowa and the slight expressions that crossed his face. He was still not one to show too much emotion, even when his hair didn't hide his face anymore. The shortened bang still hung just over his eye. She supposed that was something he couldn't get rid of. She secretly prayed that there wouldn't be any bloodshed. She had seen Duo's temper once and it was something she didn't want to see. She bowed her head as they pulled into the cobbled parking lot. "Please let this go well."

Author's Note: Hoped you liked that part! Next will be during and after Church and I'll even throw in the Sunday dinner at the Winner residence. And it's sure to be a doozy, so stay tuned!