all my niecephews are past the kiddie-lit stage but I'll be buying the bat book for myself.

I feel all stompy feet tantrumy about the way three turned out and now i want to give up and take all my toys home AND BE VERY POUTY.

Would it help to do exactly that today and get back to three tomorrow?

Just start writing the next chapter, Allyson. Nothing (or at the very least, very little) comes out perfect the first time. Give it a couple of days to rest, and then go back and look at it with a fresh eye.

Just start writing the next chapter, Allyson. Nothing (or at the very least, very little) comes out perfect the first time. Give it a couple of days to rest, and then go back and look at it with a fresh eye.

Amy is verra wise.

And gropable.

And I have new Verra Short Hair! Which is soon to be "light copper brown" if the box is to be believed.

if the box is to be believed.

Feh! I do not believe boxes! Pictures, I'll believe.

::waits for pretty Amy pictures::

As soon as the color is (successfully) applied.

::waits for pretty Amy pictures::

::sits on bench beside Sparky::

Hm... this rarely ever happens-- where I get a scene snippet, almost whole cloth, that's not sequential in nature. Sail, I'm blaming you for this, since you were inquiring over the hot monkey sex. (It's a scene between Christian and Nara's sister, Gaby.)

• **

"I probably don't have to tell you, if you hurt her, you're pretty much a dead man."

"Yeah, I may not look that bright, but believe me, I understood that coming in."

"Why are you doing this, Christian? Not getting involved with Nara," she clarified, "because it was obvious to me the first time I saw you two together that you had something for her, even if you didn't realize it yet."

"Then what?"

"Let's start with why you left the sport in the first place. You were a complete stud, and then, poof, gone. And don't give me that made-for-TV bs about wanting to go to school and be normal."

Damn, but she was some major pain in the ass—even as he realized that the pushy he was condemning her for was the same determination he loved in Nara. Without a word, he stood and pulled down the side of his sweatpants, far enough to expose the long, faded scar running down the side of his thigh. "Broke the femur in two places in a surfing accident," he explained almost casually, even though it took effort to not wince at the memory of the searing pain, like someone had shoved a hot fire iron down his leg. "When they had me on the table, they found that my hip was shredded from the years of jumping, so just like that, I had an artificial hip and a titanium rod at the ripe old age of twenty. I could have rehabbed and tried to go back to competing, but it was made pretty clear to me that if I did, I'd have constant pain and had a pretty high likelihood of reinjuring myself. Not to mention, a potential future as a cripple. Not real high up on my list of things to do."

"Jesus." She tilted her head, reaching out and pulling the waistband further down, exposing more of the scar, silver and with a smooth feel to the raised skin, almost like a carving worn down over the years. "Nara hasn't said anything about it."

Heat rushed to his face as he jerked back and pulled his pants up. Sure, he could tell Gaby it was none of her fucking business, but she'd probably just run to Nara and ask anyway. "We… haven't gotten to the point where she might notice enough to ask. And for fuck's sake, don't ask why," he added to the slack-jawed expression on her face. "Not me and definitely not her. She might be your baby sister, but she's a grown woman and she's—we're—entitled to some privacy, you know?"

She nodded, looking at him with something that if he wasn't crazy, was probably as close to respect as he was ever likely to get from her. "Good luck with that in a Cuban family, m'ijo."