Young Romance

Camren was blissfully happy. He had met a beautiful girl on his last day of school that had completely mesmerized him.

The girl's name was Cora McLaughlin and she was the most beautiful girl not related to him that Camren had ever seen. She was cheerful and hopelessly romantic and he had a lot of fun when they went out together. In fact, aside from Cole, Cora was the one person he spent most of his time with lately. She had beautiful red hair and the most unusual eyes he had ever seen on a person before, she had purple eyes. Cora's one downfall however, was that she was a bit of a...free spirit. She was noncommittal, just like his twin brother. She wasn't one to settle down, but Camren was sure in time he would convince her!

Meanwhile, Clare and Charles were closer than ever. Best friends since childhood their relationship had recently taken on a new turn: A budding romance was well underway. They weren't a couple yet, but they did flirt with each other every chance they got, and they still continued to spend a lot of time together.

At the moment however, they were so wrapped up in each other's company they failed to notice someone knocking at the door.

"Seriously! You're all of five steps away Clare, you could have gotten the door!" Camren said annoyed. "Honestly...they way you two carry on. Ach!" He frowned looking away and opened the door. "Oh...hi."

Cora smiled, "Hello, you know, this is one very very big house!"

"Yeah, we're a big family though not yet a full house." Camren said with a chuckle. "Uh, lets go over here." He said glaring at Clare and Charles who were oblivious to anything but themselves. It was the first time a girl came to visit him and Clare didn't even blink his way. It was probably better that way anyhow.

His parents weren't home so he didn't get a chance to introduce Cora to them, his twin was out somewhere and Caiden had shut himself in his bedroom to work on some project and had specifically requested not to be interrupted unless there was a life threatening emergency or a death in the family.

Camren and Cora still had a very enjoyable time together, they played card games, had a late lunch and Cora got a tour of the house. Afterwards, Camren invited her out to the local nightclub for a couple of hours of fun then walked her to her house. It was a perfectly happy day.

"Happy Birthday, Caiden!" Blythe said cheerfully a couple of days later.

"Happy Birthday, son." Said Ben proudly.

"Thank you." Said Caiden shyly.

Caiden was a responsible young adult, he was cheerful, a genius and ambitious to boot, and he still aspired to be a computer whiz. Unlike his older brothers, Caiden didn't yet have much interest in romantic relationships. His main goal was to further his aspiration and to get a job as soon as possible. He'd been contemplating the idea of moving out, but wasn't yet sure.

"So what's the deal with you and Charlie?" Cole asked Clare later that morning.

"You know, I don't ask you about all the girls you flirt with." Clare said with a smirk.

Cole laughed, "Touche."

"Three down and one to go, what shall we do with ourselves once all four of them are all grown up?" Ben asked Blythe during one of her workouts.

Blythe laughed, "Oh sweetheart, honestly. You'd think it was the end of the world or something." She said smiling. "You and I had children, that wasn't the end of life for mom and dad. We kept them busy with grandchildren."

"I don't know, none of the boys seem particularly inclined to grant us grandchildren any time soon." Ben said thoughtfully.

"Ben, dear, they just barely turned young adults, and they're boys. You and I are younger than Mom and dad were when we got married, remember?" Blythe said between breaths.

Ben laughed, "All I remember is your father fighting the constant urge to throttle me!"

Blythe smiled, "It's too bad dad didn't get to live long enough to see how you deal with your only daughter marrying."

"Well fortunately for me, she's not yet a young adult and she won't be getting married any time soon." Ben said stubbornly.

Blythe smiled but said nothing. It seemed her husband was either oblivious to Charlie's presence or otherwise simply refused to accept the reality of it just yet. Either way, Blythe thought it would all be very amusing to watch.