Carmen sat in her and Lily's master bedroom with the door closed. She loved Lily and their two children dearly, but she needed peace and quiet sometimes. She got it with Lily and she got it with Rose, but she absolutely didn't get it with Angel. Still, she loved her all the same. She was doing what she often did - playing along with Rose but so quietly that nobody outside of the room would know. Naturally, she was passing the time until something happened or her latest order of clothes arrived - whichever came first. Angel, Lily, and...well, all three of them really...had expressed their desire to be included in these orders and she was only too happy to oblige. Lily did because she had always been interested in the world as viewed by Carmen (and particularly fashion), and the girls did because, well, they had Carmen's genes in them.

Predictably, her serenity was soon shattered by Angel, who had hit her leg by the sound of things...[i]again.[/i] Carmen sighed. It didn't mean she was going to check on her daughter, though.

[b]"You [i]really[/i] ought to remember it sometime,"[/b] Carmen sneaked into the conversation between Angel and Lily as she walked through the open door, trumpet in hand. She gently put her arm around Lily, standing next to her and looking at Angel. [b]"We don't want you to get hurt again. Even if it's by yourself."[/b]

Her ears perked up at the sound of silence...or, rather, the distinct lack of erhu. She assumed that Rose would be-

[b]"Did something happen?"[/b] came the voice of Rose from behind Carmen, who stepped out of the way momentarily to let her in, erhu in hand.