Instantly I warmed up to Leo, he seemed like a pretty good guy and he seemed to like me too. I learned the other boys names; two five year olds, Adrian and Alexander Rivers who were also Leo's nephews. They both had dark skin but not as dark as Leo's and one had hazel eyes while the other had dark brown. Then there was Tristan and Ian Myles who were seven and had more than enough freckles. We played tag with the other kids but my side soon started to burn and I had to sit out. Which Emma didn't seem to want because she quit playing all together and sat on the chair next to me.

I tried my best to get her to go play with the other kids but she wouldn't budge. Then soon Teagan started to wake up before crying which made me freeze.

My head pounded and it felt like I couldn't breath. The sound, I didn't want to hear it, I couldn't.. it was too painful..

"Nicki? Hello? Are you okay?" Leo fingers snapping in front of my face brought me to.

He was feeding Teagan a bottle and staring at me like I was insane, "Sorry, I just.. I don't- Sorry.." I didn't want to be thinking about him. It was the last thing I wanted to do.

"Hey, it's fine. You're not good with newborns, I get it."

I nodded, giving him a fake smile but really I was just trying to control my emotions. By then the other kids had stopped playing and Emma was telling them something which seemed to grab there attention. Soon they were running up to me, falling onto the grass at my feet, "Emma said you go on wild adventures, is it true?" Ian asked.

I smirked, "Of course it is!"

"Oh yeah? Then tell us one!" Tristan snapped crossing his arms, their accents just as thick as their parents.

"I don't think you can handle it."

Tristan scoffed, "Or you're lying and don't have one!"

"Oh I have way more than one but fine I'll only tell you one." I took only a fraction of a second before it hit me, "I'll tell you about the time I almost got my leg ripped clean off!"

Leo grimaced and gave me that, 'is this really appropriate for children?', look. I just ignored him, turning to my gleeful audience.

"About a year ago, I went camping in the woods, with some friends of course-"

"The same ones that you fought pirates with?" Emma asked, a slight smirk slipped onto her face.

I shook my head, "Nah those were my boating friends, camping friends are completely different. Anyways we were only planning to stay for about a week and everything was going fine except for the occasional bloodsucking mosquito. And by the third day we found a lake, it was gorgeous, practically sparkling in the sunlight. Anyways we all seemed to have the same idea because we started racing into the water-"

"With all your clothes on?!" Alex squeaked.

I laughed, "No, we had swim suits under our clothes, see we always planned ahead. Back to the story, we spent hours upon hours splashing and playing chicken in the water. It was dark by the time we finally started to get tired from the fun. On our way out of the water, I felt something brush up against my leg. I thought it was one of my friends, Reggie because he always joked around like that but when I looked back he wasn't there. I figured that it was probably some fish, I was never one to over react.

Except, one second everything's fine and I'm breathing crisp, clean air then the next I'm breathing in water! My lungs were painfully tightening and my body had smacked against the rocky bottom. The fear I felt in that moment was practically indescribable. The only thing I could think of was, 'This is it, this is how it ends...' but then I thought about my brother and how he'd never know if I was dead or alive because we had lost touch over the years and I didn't want that. I wanted to see him, I wanted to see tomorrow, I wanted to open my mouth and breath in air.

So instead of giving up, I fought on, giving everything my all, kicking and pushing to the surface, breathing in that air I so desperately wanted before yelling for my friends. After, I turned my attention to what was trying to pull me under. I couldn't believe my eyes -fins and all it was a shark! Time seemed to stand sti-"

"That's impossible, sharks only live in the ocean!" Tristan snapped, his hands moving to his hips in a matter of fact motion.

I smirked, "Most sharks yes but bull sharks can swim in fresh water as well as salt water. Now stop intrupting, it's rude.

Where was I? Oh yes, time was standing still as I started into it's tiny black voidless eyes. It's razor sharp teeth clenched on tight to my leg. I don't know if it was out of sheer panic or adrenaline but fist swung down hitting whatever it could reach but that only seemed to anger the thing. That was until one of my fist hit the snout and the other -which had a very pointy ring- hit the eyes. Instantly it backed off, swimming off, it's dorsal fin disappearing into the water.

By that time my friends reached me, helping quickly bring me to shore. I was bleeding pretty bad by then by my friends and I were always prepared and the fixed me up fairly quickly.  I got about two shark teeth and a scar out of the whole thing."

"C-can we see it?" Tristan asked, his disbelieving face melting into curiosity.

I nodded lifting up the way to big jeans, stopping at my knee. Their was a nasty scar that ran up from my ankle to my knee along with a few other cuts and burns.

They awed before asking about my other stories but I shook my head, "Only telling that one, sorry kiddos."

They groaned before the back door opened and then slammed shut. Looking back, I spotted an old women, filled with wrinkles. She hobbled down the steps from the porch, using some big stick as her cane.

She made her way over to us, sitting in the spot where Leo once was. "Who are you?" She questioned, her voice raspy.

I smiled nervously, "Nicki,.. Julia's sister-in-law.."

"Nicki what, it's rude not to give your full name." She snapped, her stick hitting my knees.

I huffed, now I know were Emma got that full name thing, "Nicki Jones, ma'am, who are you?" I had to hold back the edge in my tone while I rubbed my now throbbing knees.

She nodded, "Nora Anderson," She stated before her serious look melted into a smile, "Now I heard you tell stories."

"Uh yeah, but who told yo-"

"Don't waste your breath baggering on about nonsense! Go on, tell us a story!"

I sighed but let a soft smile slip on my face, "Alright, I'll tell you about the time I had to help a zoo round up all its escaped animals."