"So much for our date," Jake whispered in Emily's ear as she was cooking dinner that night.

"Maybe tomorrow," she said, quickly kissing his cheek. "You've had a complicated day."

"That's an understatement," he said, taking a stack of plates out of the cabinet.

"Are you okay?" she asked, sounding worried, as she took the roast chicken out of the oven.

"I think so. I'm still trying to digest everything," he answered as he walked through the entry from the kitchen to the dining room.

He set the plates in front of each of the chairs. He came back into the kitchen and pulled open a drawer for the utensils.

"Well, if you need me, all you have to do is ask. You know that, right?" Emily told Jake, and he stared at her in shock. "What?"

He blinked. "I'll ask," he said, shaking his head, and went to the dining room.

"That's my secret, Jake. Did you figure it out?" Emily called to him.

Jake set the table quickly and came back to the kitchen.

"Figure what out?" he asked, going to the refrigerator for sodas.

"I'm what they call a Guardian. I watch out for other people. And when they need me. All they need to say is that they need me, and I'll help them," she explained, clasping her hands together.

Jake closed the refrigerator with his foot. His arms were loaded with sodas. "Is that how I got my chocolate cake?" Jake asked her with a grin.

"Yes," she laughed.

"George made a comment that night. He asked what I did to deserve the chocolate cake. I told him nothing, I just had told you I needed chocolate cake. Then he muttered something about not thinking of that. Is that what he meant?" Jake asked.

Emily smiled. "That moocher better not start doing that to me. I can deny him, if the request is outrageous. And asking for dessert too many times is grounds for denial!" she said.

She pointed a spoon at Jake. "And don't you do it either, now that you know!"

"I wouldn't do that," Jake said, walking back to the dining room.

"I know. You're a good guy. George's stomach rules him, though," she said. Jake laughed as he placed the sodas in front of the plates.

"And that's not the real reason that I made you the cake," she said mysteriously.

"Why did you?" He asked, leaning against the doorway.

"You needed something familiar. Something comforting. Something for you to feel like you truly belonged here."

He came closer to her into the kitchen. "And chocolate cake did all that for me? " he asked with a chuckle.

"You may not have realized it at the time, but it did make a difference. "

He kissed the tip of her nose, "Well, thank you again for my chocolate cake. But I did feel welcome. From the very first day, it's always felt like I was meant to be here with you."

He went back into the dining room to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything.

"So, how do you feel about Raven being your sister?" Emily asked as he came back into the kitchen.

She transferred the mashed potatoes from the big copper pot on the stove to a large serving bowl.

"I think it's great! I love Raven. She's great," Jake said, folding some napkins which he had forgotten.

"What about your other sister? Is she adopted too?" Emily asked.

"Yeah. My parents adopted her when I was about nine. They thought I could use a sibling to... keep me company. And mom had wanted a girl so..." Jake told her with a shrug, not looking at her.

Emily sighed. "It was nice when Brian had Joy. It was after I found out he was my biological father. I had found out on my sixteenth birthday. My parents sat me down with Brian, and they explained everything. I was so angry! He was my 'Uncle Brian', my parents' best friend, who took me to breakfast every Sunday morning. I thought he did it because he thought I was special," she explained, her voice rising in anger.

"It was really because I was his daughter, and he wanted some father-daughter time with me," she said sadly, pouring gravy in a gravy dish.

"He had Hope already and they hadn't told me that she was my sister. In a way, it made it worse. It was like...he preferred her as a daughter over me."

"Oh, Em," he said taking the gravy dish from her and set it on the counter.

He hugged her, then pulled back to look at her, "He does think you're special," Jake said to her. "Anyone can see that he loves you just by seeing how he looks at you."

"I know he does. I was just angry. I thought they should have told me when Megan was pregnant with her. I should have the right to know that I have a sister," she said, handing him the bowl of potatoes, and the gravy dish, to take to the table.

"I'm sure they had a good reason for not telling you earlier," he said, setting the bowl and dish on the dining room table.

"They said they were waiting until I was mature enough to understand what artificial insemination was and why they did it. I know now that they had a good reason. It doesn't mean that I have to like it," she said, handing him the gravy.

"So, you're okay with Brian, now, right?"

"Most of the time, yes," Emily replied, putting string beans in a large bowl.

"Sometimes, I get upset when he's trying to play dad with me. He's my dad biologically, but not really. My dad that raised me was my dad. I know he knows that, but sometimes he tries too hard. He's got good intentions, but they don't always come across that way to me. It's been especially hard since both of my parents died. He feels like he needs to take their place. I don't want him to replace them. I don't mind him being in my life. I do, actually, like having him in my life. I love him. He's always been a part of my life in one way or another."

"Well, I'm glad that he's been there for you after your parents died," Jake said, putting an arm around her.

"You needed someone to take care of you. Support you."

"He always has been there for me, and he always will be. I've never questioned that. It's just his approach sometimes," she said with a shrug.

"He doesn't know when to leave me alone and let me do things on my own. He forgets that I'm not a kid anymore. He wants to be in charge of me. He wants to be my dad. He's not my dad, I had a dad," she said, wiping her eyes.

"String beans," she said, handing him the bowl with a look that let him know the conversation was over.

At least for now. Anyone who had eyes could see how much Brian cared about Emily. That's what had worried him in the first place.

He'd gotten the wrong idea, that was for sure, but Brian's love for Emily was written all over his face. Emily didn't realize it, but she got the same expression on her face when she talked about Brian.

Jake felt the two of them really needed to get together to talk about why he and her parents had decided to keep Emily in the dark for so long. She was obviously still upset that they lied to her. If he explained their actions more, maybe, one day, she could forgive Brian, and her parents.

*******************************

Jake knocked on Raven's door that night. "Hey, sis," he said from the doorway.

"Hey, bro," she answered, looking up from the papers that Ray had given them. She sat on her bed with them all spread across the red bedspread.

Jake sat down on the corner of her bed. "You, okay?"

"Holding up. You?" she replied.

"Same. Holding up," he said, picking up his birth certificate. "This is wild, huh?"

"Yeah. I'm scared though, Jake. What if this demon comes after us again? Specifically you. It doesn't seem to want me. It's only gone after you," Raven said, hugging her knees.

"I don't know, Rave. But this thing killed our parents, it killed Emily's parents. And it wants us all dead. We need to figure out how we're going to stop it."

"Any ideas?" she asked him hopefully.

"Zilch," he answered with a sigh. "I hope we know what to do when it happens," Jake said, squeezing her shoulder, "Something is going to happen, Rave. I'm not sure when, how, or why, it's like I'm blocked somehow. Maybe because I'm trying to get a prediction..."

"It'll come when it needs to come. All predictions do," Raven replied.

"I'm glad you're my brother, Jake. Really, I am. I'm just overwhelmed by everything. I'm not quite sure how to take everything in. Weird supernatural powers I seem to adjust to fine. But the fact we're twins, and we were split up after our parents were killed," she said, stroking her hand through her hair nervously.

She spread her fingers and held out her hair. "This is why my parents called me Raven. I have hair as black as a Raven's," she explained.

"Mom would brush my hair every morning, calling me her little bird... I had another mother. Another father. I've always known that. How could I not know that I had a brother?"

They were both quiet, thinking about their pasts and how it led them back to each other. "I wouldn't have minded being called Katherine, that was my real name," she murmured.

Jake stroked her hair. "They probably changed it to make them feel more like you were theirs and not someone else's," Jake said soothingly.

Raven nodded. "That was their explanation. They never would tell me my real name though," she said with a sigh.

"Jake, Junior," Jake said with a laugh.

"I'm glad your parents kept our dad's real name for you," Raven said to him.

"Yeah, me too," Jake said.

"I wonder if we look like them," Raven said thoughtfully.

"Maybe Ray can find some pictures for us," Jake offered in suggestion.

"Hey! Yeah," Raven said, sitting straighter, excited about the idea. "Maybe the obituary had one or something. Or a wedding announcement or.... a driver's license...there has to be something!"

"We'll talk to him tomorrow about it. He's already gone to bed."

Raven smiled. "Okay. I guess we should too," she said, picking up the papers and putting them all in a pile. She got off the bed and put them on her dresser.

Jake hugged her. "Goodnight, Raven."

"Goodnight, Jake. Please have sweet dreams," she said, hugging him tightly.

"I'll try my best," Jake said to her.

She kissed his cheek. "Just remember they are just dreams, and you can come back to us whenever you want," she told him seriously.

"I will," he promised.

*******************************

Jake was climbing into bed when there was a knock at his door.

"Hey, Ray," Jake said, sitting down on the bed.

Ray spoke hesitantly. "Hey. Uh, listen, man, I'm really sorry I went looking for your birth parents without your okay on it. I was only trying to help. Raven so desperately wanted to find info on her parents. When I saw she had a twin brother named Jake, I got really excited, hoping that he could be you, so I investigated further to see if it could be true. I was wrong, and I'm really sorry."

"No. It's okay. I shouldn't have yelled at you like I did. I'm glad you found my birth parents, and I'm glad that Raven's my sister. Besides, knowing Raven, she would have asked you to look for me once she found out she had a twin brother. Raven wouldn't have left that alone."

"Really?!" Ray asked, surprised. "You're not mad?"

"Granted a demon may be after us, wanting to kill us for some reason, but, at least, I found my twin sister."