aren't FAMILY DINNERS fun ?

[Anne Marie Miller]

it was the night of one of their monthly family dinners at the miller house. it was basically the only time that they got to see maggie and her husband, and the only time that the whole family was together. carter on the other hand was almost over there everyday, playing with his family and his bunny, chester, which he brought over most of the times.

maggie tisdale, commonly known as maggie jonas nowadays, took one of the cut up carrots off of the cutting board, which her father, jay miller, was currently cutting. he wasn't allowed near the oven anymore, since he burnt everything that was in it one time.

tony ran down the backstairs, one of his headphones in his ears while the other one dangled at the side. he walked into the somewhat crowded kitchen, and quickly took a carrot that his father was cutting up, before taking a bite out of it, standing beside his older sister. jay frowned. "i swear, i'm gonna end up cutting someone's finger off if they keep taking the carrots."

anne marie sat at the piano with her nephew, carter jonas, beside her. they would play the piano and sing with each other, even though jay was always scared that anne marie was gonna teach him a few things he didn't need to learn. carter pressed down on a few of the piano keys, remembering them from the other time anne marie had taught him. he took his hand away and started to sing. "i don't want to be anything other then waht i've been trying to be lately, all i have to do is think of me and i have peace of mind," he sang, while looking up at anne marie as she played the piano, a grin on his face.

"i'm tired of looking 'round rooms, wondering what i've got to do, and who i'm suppose to be. i don't want to be anything other then me," anne marie sang, with carter singing along with her. no one knew that anne marie could play the piano or sing, mostly because she was too shy to do it in front of her family. but, carter loved to sing, so they would always play when he came over.

carter looked up at anne marie, the grin still on his face. anne marie held out her hand and high-fived carter. "that time was perfect!"

[*SHELLY*]

Andrew walked into the house through the front door. He walked into the kitchen and smiled when he saw everyone. "Good, I'm not late," he said with a smirk as he leaned against the counter. "Anything you want me to do, Dad?" he asked his father.

Annabella walked down the stairs slowly. Usually she didn't mind the family dinners. She thought it was fun to see Frankie, Maggie, and Carter. Today though, she was so not in the mood. Her usual cheerfulness was long gone. She could thank her older siblings for that. Being the youngest sucked. Especially when her older sibling, aside from Andrew, worried their parents so much. The youngest usually got the most attention in a family. So not true of this family.

Annabella couldn't help but smile slightly when she saw her oldest brother. The only sibling who didn't act like he hated her half the time or more. "Save me," she muttered to her oldest brother when she had walked over to him and pulled herself up on the counter. Andrew chuckled and rolled his eyes playfully at his younger sister.

Shelly walked down the stairs, Kaylaya, arms crossed, following after. Shelly walked into the kitchen. Kaylaya followed her mother, but stopped in the doorway. She leaned against the doorway and surveyed the kitchen. Her gaze landed on Tony and her eyes narrowed. If he and Anne Marie thought they had problems, maybe they should try handling them alone like Kaylaya did. Nobody was going to catch her. Wasn't three better than two anyway? Couldn't they try to give her a chance? It's not like she'd done anything to them. Maybe she didn't try hard to open up to them. She was too afraid. If they didn't want to help her, then they obviously didn't care that much anyway.

Annabella eyed Kaylaya and crossed her arms. She muttered something under her breath. Andrew raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. He was done with trying to understand any of his siblings. Even Annabella, who he used to think was so easy to read, had become a stranger before his eyes. He knew as the eldest, he should be there for his siblings, but he just didn't want to deal with the impossible. He'd defend them with his life, yeah. But when it came to trying to get through to them, he had given up.

Shelly shot Kaylaya a look that told her she needed to behave. Kaylaya rolled her eyes and walked into the living room. She plopped down on the couch, muttering under her breath.

[KRISTINA !]

"Anything you want me to do, Dad?" jay smiled softly as he looked up at his oldest son, before giving him a small shrug. he didn't even know what they were cooking, to be honest. "i don't know. i was just told to cut carrots." jay looked down at the kitchen knife he held in his right hand, before smirking as he handed it to andrew. "here, cut carrots." he would do anything to get out of cooking - or the kitchen for that matter.

maggie smiled softly as she looked up, seeing shelly and kaylaya enter the kitchen. "hey shelly, kaylaya." even now, being twenty six, maggie didn't call shelly 'mom' or anything like that. she never had, and her father got tired of trying to get her to when she was younger. she was just known as shelly to maggie, even though she gave in and tried her best to accept her to the family when she was younger. now, she didn't care, but there was no way that maggie would ever call her mom, even at this age.

tony looked over at kaylaya as she entered, instantly rolling his ocean blue eyes. "well, this kitchen just got way over crowded," tony muttered. maggie instantly elbowed him in the side and his father shot him a glare. tony rolled his eyes and leaned against the fridge.

"lets play again!" carter exclaimed, looking up at anne marie, a grin on his face.

anne marie went to answer, but stopped as she watched kaylaya enter. there was no way that she was going to play in front of her. she looked down at her nephew and smiled. "maybe after dinner. let's go see if they need help in the kitchen." anne marie stood up, giving kaylaya a glare, before walking into the kitchen.

carter shrugged as he stood up. he grinned when he saw his aunt kaylaya. "hi aunty kay!" he said, waving at her. when he was younger, he wasn't able to say her name, so he just called her kay, and it stuck.

[*SHELLY*]

Andrew chuckled in response to his father. he took the knife. "Alrighty then," he said with a smirk before starting to cut the carrots.

Shelly looked at Maggie and gave her a smile. "Hello, Maggie," she said warmly. She was glad the resentment from her husband's daughter was gone with. The early years of their marriage hadn't been very fun with all that tension.

Kaylaya sunk further into the couch when Anne Marie glared at her. Why did she and Tony have to hate her so much? She didn't do anything to them. Annabella, she could understand. That girl just didn't understand her siblings and only made things worse. Personally, Kaylaya didn't really blame the young girl, but she did understand why her siblings got really irritated with her. But Kaylaya herself? She hadn't done anything to deserve their coldness. All she could do was endure it.

The blonde looked over at Carter and gave him a small smile when he spoke to her. The site of the cute little boy eased some of her anger and loneliness. "Hey, Carter," she replied.

[CARTER JONAS]

jay smirked as he watched his son cut the carrots, before quickly taking one and eating it. "i never really liked cuttng carrots anyways."

anne marie walked into the kitchen, brushing her bangs out of her face. tony instantly let out a sigh of relief when his twin entered, giving her a small smile. anne marie returned the smile as she walked over to him and stood beside him. she watched her oldest brother, andrew, cut the carrots, before blinking. "so, whats for dinner?"

carter grinned as he ran over to his auntie kaylaya and sat down beside her. he frowned. "what's wrong? why aren't you in the kitchen with everyone else?"

[*SHELLY*]

Andrew chuckled in response to his father's comment and continued cutting the carrots. He looked over at his sister when she asked him what was for dinner. He shrugged. "I dunno."

Kaylaya shrugged in response to Carter. The real reason was because she wasn't wanted. She wasn't about to say that to her little cousin though. "It was getting too crowded..." she replied.

[CARTER JONAS]

anne marie frowned, before looking up at her father. "are we just having carrots for dinner?"

jay frowned, then shrugged. "no clue. i was just told to cut carrots."

anne marie blinked. "so we're most likely ordering in tonight?"

jay nodded. "yeah, most likely." he smirked.

carter frowned, then nodded. "i know what you mean. it's hard for a kid to find some space in there."

[*SHELLY*]

Andrew listened to his father and sister. He chuckled. "There, I'm done," he said when he finished cutting the carrots. "Dig in," he said with a smirk.

Kaylaya couldn't help but chuckle softly in response to her cousin's comment. She smiled slightly and nodded. "Yeah...there's way too many people..."