"Hello, is anyone there?" questioned Danny's mechanized voice. The volume from the phone and the quiet in the room brought me back to why I'd initially woken up in the first place, Danny.
"Be there in a second", I yelled. I looked at everyone in turn before speaking. "This is my home. We play by my rules", I said firmly. "Andy, you leave. Nikki, I'll be giving the work assignments to you as Thorne may no longer leave without my permission. Valerie, we have business paperwork we need to work out. Thorne, you will stay here and-"
"This is bull shit", Andy sighed. "You let her go and I found Thorne so that means-"
"I didn't cast her out of the house. She chose to leave", I corrected. "Thus, she's still technically mine. And I already decided to keep her here, sealing my decision in terms of the Right. All you merely did was bring her back to me. Anyway, Danny's downstairs waiting for us. Let's go greet him." I stood up, still in my flannel pajama pants and brought Thorne with me. Her very confused siblings followed, Andy bringing up the rear. The five of us marched down the hall and downstairs to the front door that I graciously opened. In stepped Danny Robert Worsnop, fully bearded, hair a trifle mess, and dressed like he'd just walked out of Steven Tyler's Autumnal wardrobe.
"How's my favourite senior citizen doing?!" Danny beamed, tossing his bags to the ground.
"Better than the average ones", I replied. "Did you come by plane this time?"
"Oh yes. Much better. Ships are by far the worst ways to go though they're much nicer-"
"Who's this?" Valerie asked, standing a little to the side. Danny looked to her, then Thorne and Nikki.
