One year ago Kailah was born. He still remembered her birth like it was yesterday. He was busy with Amanda's parents setting up Kailah's birthday party.

The theme of the party was pink leopard print. Kailah seem to really like leopard print stuff lately. Once the party was set up, he got Kailah ready for the party. He dressed her up in a pink dress and had her long red hair in pig tails.

He had invited Amanda to the party and informed Amanda's parents ahead of time. They weren't thrilled with the idea of her coming, but he knew that Kailah would be asking of her.

Jack had invited his friends and Amanda family of course was there. Jacks family couldn't come, but their was a mountain of gifts for her from everyone.

He didn't know when Amanda was going to come but the party was going to start without her. Everyone socialized at first while Jack was busy playing with Kailah outside on the porch.

outfit
~*~

Quite a few things had changed since she'd seen Jack the last time. For one thing, she wasn't a wreck anymore. She had also had her hair done, it was now a nice blonde color rather than the red, as if getting rid of the red would quell her temper. No, she just needed a change really. Since she was changing at a painstakingly slow pace, she figured she needed to do something a bit more drastic to her hair.

Amanda had been so nervous, she'd redressed quite a few times before settling on an outfit she was pleased with. Casey's bracelet was still concealed, which was a good thing considering her parents would be at the birthday party and she didn't want to try to explain anything to them. They could just go burn if they gave her a hard time that day, and that might not be an empty threat as far as their way of treating her the last year.

Stepping out of the taxi a little down the way, she held on tightly to her purse, slowly making her way to Jack's. She was about to turn around and leave again more than a few times until she saw Jack sitting outside playing with Kailah. Blonde curls curled and uncurled again as if affected by a small, localized breeze at the sight and the sound of her daughter's familiar giggle.

The witch knew that despite her meetings with Dahlia and her bleached hair, she was dressed too darkly for a birthday party, she just hadn't been able to find something she was comfortable wearing. She was expecting the worst when it came to her parents after all. Stopping in the driveway, she smiled slightly. "Hi Jack," she said quietly before she walked up to the porch and stopped in front of it, not too eager about the party now that she was actually there. "Thanks for the invite," she smiled fully and as she said that, the breeze died down, leaving her blonde curls to their own fate.

Jack let Kailah walk around the porch, keeping a close eye on her as she picked up her dolls and threw them at the house.

He was about to light a cigarette when a taxi pulled up and outstepped Amanda. He looked at her, watching her as she made her way down before finally making it to the porch.

"Hi yourself, hair color is a nice change." He complimented and lite the cigarette up.

Kailah saw Amanda and practically ran over to her and held out her arms, wanting to be held.

Amanda couldn't help it, she frowned when she noticed the cigarette. It was none of her business at the moment though as he wasn't the one being 'on trial' for being a bad parent amongst the two of them. She was working to change all that though, and she couldn't help but smile at his compliment. "It was time for a change," she said quietly, distracted by Kailah running over to her and wanted to be held.

The breeze picked up again when she picked her daughter up and held her tightly. "When did she start walking?" she asked, obviously proud of her for doing so. How many firsts had she missed already with their little girl? The gentle breeze played with Kailah's pig tails, making the girl giggle again and it put a proud smile on her mother's face for sure. Didn't matter that she was dressed in all black for her birthday party, Kailah didn't seem to notice that at all, she was just glad her mother was there.

"Did daddy put you in that pretty dress?" she asked Kailah, listening to her daughter ramble on and on in her baby language that she didn't understand a word of. It all sounded like noises to her, but she didn't mind. Sitting down next to Jack, still holding onto their daughter tightly, Amanda opened her purse and pulled out a small charms bracelet with a tiny wolf and a flower on and clasped it around her wrist, feeling happy again for once. She wasn't quite ready to face her parents yet, she wanted to just stay outside for a little longer. Sooner or later, she'd have no choice though.

He noticed the frown but ignored it. He didnt smoke while holding Kailah or inside the house, plus she had no room to talk about being a good parent at the moment. He did put out the cigarette out once she sat down beside of him while holding their daughter."He started walking a couple of weeks ago." He informed her and smiled.

Kailah was so happy to see her mother again and was just grateful that Kailah did recgonized Amanda as her mother. He leaned his head back, listening as the little party was going on inside. He personally didnt know how we'll it would go with Amanda and her parents being in the same room.... he didnt want trouble at Kailah's party, but wanted everyone together.

"So how are things going with you?" He asked.

She'd been walking for a couple of weeks already? No wonder she'd been running at her then, her little girl was probably just as proud of herself as Amanda was at the moment. It was a relief that she still recognized her, seeing as they hadn't really seen much of each other since she'd promised to change. She couldn't disagree with Jack for not bringing her over though, the past few weeks had been challenging.

At Jack's question, Amanda put a stray hair behind her ear, the breeze dying down again now that the initial happiness was swept aside by a serious question. Removing the charm she'd placed on the simple bracelet Casey had snapped on her, revealing a clear crystal at the moment, she sighed slightly. "Dahlia set her monster of a pet on me to mellow me out as she put it while we work on gradually removing Kailah's magic, so things are better than they have been in a while. If I lose my temper now, the only one affected is Casey as he just eats it all up. Can't say I like it, but it was that or leaving." Placing the charm back on the bracelet, it vanished again as if it had never been there.

Amanda was in control now, not the magic, so that was always a good sign. She hadn't really lost her temper since the fight with her mom, but he took other things as well. Anything that could potentially lead to her causing trouble was taken away before it got to make her want to do something about the situation. "I haven't hurt anyone in a while, so I guess it's all good," she shrugged slightly and returned to fawning over her daughter. "You be a good little girl now and keep grandma and grandpa distracted so mommy doesn't get yelled at too much," she told Kailah and kissed her forehead. "There's no point dragging it out really. They've avoided me just fine until now, I'm sure they can manage for one more evening, even if we're gonna be under the same roof for once." It would be rude of her to keep the birthday girl all to herself and not let the other guests see her after all.

He didnt think that their would be drama from Amanda's parents. They were here for Kailah and they weren't going to ruin their grabdchilld special day over arguing with their daughter. "We'll thats good I guess." He said and smiled some as he watched Kailah enjoy the fawning she was getting from her mother.

"We'll your parents said that they weren't going to confront you of anything because this was Kailah's special day...." He said and sigh.

He got up now."Well might as well go inside and face the music." He said.

She couldn't really disagree with Jack when he said it was time to face the music. Still holding their daughter, she got back on her feet, her black heals clicking against the floorboards when she walked. It was good to see her girl again, regardless of the circumstances or the scene she was ready to cause with her parents later if they as much as thought a bad thing. She was done with their judgmental attitude.

Green eyes searched the room the moment the entered, landing on her parents. Like she'd suspected, they weren't pleased to see her and she returned to giving all her attention to her daughter instead. It didn't last long though as Kailah obviously wanted to go to them, reaching out from across the room. Sighing slightly, she knelt down and placed her daughter gently on the floor. "Mommy's so proud of you sweetheart," barely standing still long enough for Amanda to place a last kiss on her head, Kailah was running over to her grandparents with a big smile on her face, leaving Amanda standing there, awkwardly hugging hugging herself.

She needed a drink or something, didn't matter if this was Kailah's special day, she was stressing out already. Shying away from the other guests, the usually chatty witch found a corner in the back of the room to stand and just observe, desperately avoiding contact with anyone as didn't know how much anyone knew as to why she hadn't been there from the beginning to set things up or why she was dressed like she was going to a funeral.

Marie was watching her, not at all pleased that she'd showed up after their last conversation and Amanda was ready to just get out of there already. Until she noticed how happy Kailah was that this was all for her and she knew she couldn't go just yet, at least not until it was time for cake. Their daughter deserved a good picture of herself and her parents on her birthday when the cake was served.

Once they walked in the room, it was like immediately tension was in the air. He looked to Amanda for a moment once he spotted her parents but only smiled when one of his friends came up and they started talking. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Kailah ran over to her grandparents. He watched Amanda practically disappear into the crowd and didnt even wanted to socialize.

He sigh softly and walked over to where she was and sat down beside of her."Im surprise your not socializing....." He admitted and looked at her with a small smile.

It wasn't that she didn't want to socialize, it was rather that she didn't know any of these people except her parents and she didn't know if any of them even knew who she was. It wasn't like she'd been around much for anything Jack had done with his friends really and the only one that mattered to her out of them all was Mason because he'd turned into one of her best friends. All these strangers just made her wish she'd stayed home.

When Jack sat down next to her, she almost jumped right out of her seat, she honestly hadn't expected him to come over so soon and she'd been lost in thought studying the other guests. "I don't want to get in the way of anyone," she muttered, slightly embarrassed as to how startled she'd been. For any other social gathering, she might just have walked right up to her parents and pretended like nothing had happened, put on a smile for the other guests and just go about life. She really didn't know how to do that now without it ending up in a fight. There was only so far she could stretch her mother before she snapped.

"I don't want to ruin this for you Jack, but everyone's just too cheerful and still strangers. Go enjoy yourself, I'll be fine in a moment," she smiled slightly at him, telling herself she'd be ready to start making the rounds soon enough. "I just get a bit paranoid around your friends is all. I don't know how much you've told them about anything or me for that matter. What if they hate me?"

Jack didn't know why that she was being paranoid. He could see why she would be concerning her parents and a few of her family members, but they weren't going to cause any drama.

He listened as she explained that she was worried about his friends and what they thought of her and what they knew of her. In truth, he hadn't said much about Amanda and the situation to his friends, he merely told him that Amanda had to just go and work on herself.

"They don't know much....I just told them that you were going to work on yourself." He said.

She knew it was silly to be worried that Jack would blab about everything to everyone. He wasn't that kind of a guy, and she knew he only had her best interest in heart. Still it was a bit disconcerting that people still knew more about her than she did about any of them.

Ever since meeting with Casey and having the bracelet snapped on her, Amanda had trouble using her fire magic. Maybe it was because she usually turned to fire when she was upset and that it was such a violent element on its own as well as highly unpredictable. Now it seemed to rain when she was sad and get slightly windy when she was happy. She'd never really connected much with her earthy element, until recently.

Smiling at Jack, she pictured one of the rosebushes outside. Making sure no one else would notice, she made a single rose appear in her hand and placed it in her hair. Just because she was giving back magic didn't mean she couldn't use the more harmless tricks she'd learned on the way.

"Well, I suppose that's only fair, seeing as there's truth in it," chuckling slightly she got back to her feet. "Thanks," she smiled at him, feeling slightly relieved now that she knew she didn't really have too much to worry about. Walking straight over to her parents, she picked up her daughter and kissed her cheek. "You see her more than I do, lighten up," she said with a smile, reveling at her mother's annoyed facial expression.

Holding her daughter made her happy, it also made it easier to mingle as it was an excuse for people to walk up to her and try to start conversations. She didn't know how much longer she could keep it up though and she didn't realize she was sad until she heard the rain fall outside. Focusing really hard, she managed to make it stop again and smiled slightly at Kailah.

"Looks like there's still a lot left to do, huh?" she muttered, mostly to herself as she didn't know anyone else who'd be interested in what she had to worry about anymore.

Jack watched as Amanda finally stood up and walked over to where her parents were and picked Kailah up right infront of them. They promised no drama, but he could tell that her mother was annoyed instantly at the sight of Amanda.

He sigh and announced that it was time for the cake. He gently took Kailah from Amanda and put her in a high chair at the head of the long table. He brought out a small, round cake that was pink and covered with a leopard print design. He put a large number one candle in the middle and light it up.

Everyone started singing happy birthday, but Kailah got impatient and took a piece of her cake anyway. Jack laugh and helped her blow out the candle as everyone clapped. He had a larger cake for everyone else to eat but this little cake was for Kailah. She got cake everywhere, all in her hair and cloths.

"Dada..." She said and held out a piece of cake for Jack, only to have her push it right in his face and giggled.

They weren't causing drama, which was good, but she had a feeling they'd have a real row once the guests were gone and they were one their own. It didn't matter though as she was happy to give Kailah over to Jack when he announced that it was time for cake. If it was one thing she'd looked forward to it was the cake and she joined in the song happily. It was adorable how she got impatient and took the piece of cake.

A flash snapped somewhere, catching the moment when Kailah pushed the cake in Jack's face, immortalizing the moment. Giggling slightly herself, she got a napkin for Jack and ruffled his hair. "Impatient as always," she chuckled. Cutting a small piece of the cake, she put it on a plate so Kailah could eat it herself, which she seemed to find highly amusing to do with her fingers.

It was the first time she'd heard her daughter actually say a whole, meaningful word and she couldn't help but hug Jack gently out of pride. "She's grown so much already," she barely whispered, knowing Jack would hear her just fine. Her mother seemed to have enough of her being close to both Jack and Kailah at the same time and Amanda had to fight to be able to stay in the room at all. "I need some air," she said just as quietly stepped outside, feeling the need to run disappear the moment she was no longer in the same room as her family. Fishing out a cigarette of her own, she sat down on the porch, the rain beginning to fall again as she lit up the cigarette.

He shook his head but smiled as Kailah giggled and continued to eat her cake. He looked up at Amanda and smiled some, taking the napkin and wiping the cake off his face.

He looked an saw Amandas mother looked annoyed at having her daughter near them, but he gave a recouraging smile.

He hugged back."I know....before long shell be beating off boys." He said and chuckled.

He watched as she left and sigh. Kailah was enjoying he cake of course and finally there wasnt anything left.