As Raymond worked on food he started to sing a Spanish folk song he learned from traveling, singing with emotion on his face, Charlie laughed and rolled his eyes. Raymond was a rather good singer. He was good at pretty much anything he did if you give him time to practice. "Can I take the car to school? I don't want everyone to think I'm a weirdo with my dad singing Spanish songs to us..." Charlie said, flipping pancakes on to the plate. Raymond shook his head. "Nonono, you're not touching Beautiful." Raymond said, walking to put the plates of food on to the kitchen table. The Chase family owned a dark purple Dodge Challenger, and Ray called it Beautiful. It was his dream car ever since he started working for his dad long ago. "And the city of Seattle would be blessed to have such a soothing and clear voice serenade to it." Ray said jokingly. He then heard his other son, Eric walking in to the room, setting down the paper. "Morning, Kid." He said to him, "Kid" was his nickname to him. Ray turned to look at him, not really liking that smug look in his eye.. "What are you up to?" Ray asked cautiously, looking at Ana to see if she had any idea. "What? Oh, nothing... Just met the new neighbor..." he said, trying to hide his grin by shoving a pancake in to his mouth. Ana tried to follow suit, but Ray stopped the young her. "Use your fork and knife, Bello." He said, "Bello" meant beautiful in Italian. He had all his kids sitting down and eating, Eric talking, Charlie eating and reading the newspaper, and Ana humming a song stuck in her head... But he was missing one. "Where's Jamie?" Ray asked, starting to put items in the sink. Out of all the children, Jamie was the strongest... but also the one that frustrated him beyond end. He couldn't blame her. His wife's death did a toll on this happy family... But Ray wasn't going to talk about her, or sulk because of it... She wouldn't have wanted that. For any of them. "I'll get her..." Charlie said, rising and messing up Ana's hair playfully. Although Jamie and Ana were adopted, he treated them like blood relatives. This family was all about different, and diverse. Raymond nodded. "Alright, once you guys are done, get your backpacks and get ready to pile in to the car." he said to the two that were still at the table. --------------------------- Charlie made his way upstairs.. He really didn't want to deal with Jamie's attitude. He knew she was going to have it. And he knew she was going to give Dad lip... but that was just her way of coping, he guessed. He knocked on her door. "Hey, Jamie... Breakfast is getting cold." he said, listening for a response. --------- Another year without having her mom's advice on what to wear. Another year she wasn't there to hand her her lunch and drive her to school. Another year of being in absolute misery... It wasn't fair. Why did she have all the bad luck? She just chose a simple look. A band t-shirt with a flannel over it, worn jeans, and converse. He dark brown hair was in a ponytail, and she went without makeup, like she did. She was a very pretty girl. He then heard a knock, and groaned out of annoyance. "I'll be out soon!" She called out, looking at her table... She had a picture of her family. A picture of her brothers and sisters, laughing at the beach, a picture of her true dad Raymond lifting her up, her face full of joy... and a picture of her and her mother, hugging each other... And then there was a letter. Before she passed away, Marie left everyone a letter to read to say goodbye, and to read when they needed the comfort...She read it every night... and she knew that Charlie, Eric, and Ana read theirs (Ana was still a bit confused on where mom was, but she did miss her all the same). Another knock from Charlie. "I'm coming!" She said, slamming the door open, it hitting Charlie in the head. "Ow! Jesus, Jamie!" He said, holding his face. "Get over it. It wasn't that hard." Jamie said simply, making her way for the stairs, but being stopped by Charlie. "Look. I know you're a teenage girl and all that and have these mood swings, but take it easy on dad today. He's stressed out as it is making sure we all get to school on time." "Right." She said, pulling her arm away and making her way downstairs to her family. After a few minutes of her dad trying to talk to her, and her replying with one worded replies, they were making their way out the door. The car was in the driveway, and the kids piled out. "One two three four! One two three four!" Ray chanted, Ana and Eric giggling and marching to the beat Raymond was making. Charlie smiled as he opened the door of the front seat, but Jamie took it and slammed the door behind him. Charlie sighed and glared at her. Once the other two were in the back, he climbed in too. Raymond swung the keys on his finger, and glanced over to the neighbor's house. He saw a woman walking out of her house to climb in to her car. She wore nice clothes, but unusual shoes for the outfit. He was going to call out to her and say his hello's to the new neighbor, but Jamie decided to honk the horn out of frustration. Raymond sighed, looking back at the car, and climbed in himself. The first to go were his highschoolers, since they started school earlier than Eric and Ana. "Alright, everyone ready? We're moving out!" He pulled the car out of the drive way, and down the street.