3: Meet the Bradley Bunch. "So what's your name, sweetie?" The woman asked, guiding her upstairs. "Castiel Von Clark." She answered, careful to not be such a klutzy girl with her bag. "Ooh, it's very pretty. I like it. As well as your suitcase, it's very nice. Where did you get it?" "Oh.. It was a, um.. Gift from my Uncle Zacharie." "Oh, very wonderful." She answered, pulling her along to the empty room across from Tatum's. "And what's your name, Missus..?" The mother stood for a second in confusion and nodded with a slight smile on her face. "Melinda Bradley! I'll help you unpack and I'll introduce everyone and show you around the house." "Oh okay. Thank you." Castiel replied, feeling iffy about her behavior. She set the suitcase on her bed, and it was filled with the same outfits with an exception to two of them. White shirts with shorts that go down to her knees, or jeans with white long sleeved shirts. Socks and white sneakers. Her white angel gown from upstairs and a black dress. "You must really like the color white, Castiel." Melinda said, taking the socks and putting them in the nightstand drawer. "Yep, purest color known to man. I find it intriguing." Castiel watched her hang up her shirts and her jeans, and looked at the two dresses. She curiously looked at them, a black square formed from the black dress being over the foreign object. She moved the dress aside, taking the notebook looking thing. Answers Book for Miss Castiel , it read. She opened it, and it was completely blank. She quickly slid it underneath the bed's pillow as Mrs.Bradley piped up. "What's that you have there?" "Oh! It's just a diary, yeah just a simple diary I have.." "Oh, that's nice." She sighed, separating Castiel's pants from her shorts. She walked towards the door, and leaned against the door frame, watching her hang up the two dresses. "How old are you, Cas?" "Um.. 23, actually." She said, zipping it up, taking the small package of toiletries and setting them on the nightstand, storing the suitcase under the bed. "C'mon, let's show you around. This is obviously your room, sorry there isn't a bathroom." She laughed, and Castiel nodded, unsure whether to speak. "You will share a bathroom with Tatum, speaking of–TATUM!" The teenage girl walked in, sleeves pulled over her arms. Castiel looked at them immediately, and then at her face. Her pulse rose again, and she smiled sheepishly. "Hi." "Hey." Melinda nudged her forward to have her daughter shake hands with her. Castiel held out her hand, having Tatum shake it. "She's close to your age, Tate. You guys will make fantastic friends." "How old even are you?" Castiel was absent-mindedly analyzing her hair, with turquoise colored streaks going down in the brown. Her eyes were too dark to even tell the color, and her cheeks look like they've forever been stained bright pink from constant embarrassment. At least it was natural. "Um?" "Hm? Sorry, I was just looking at your hair." "I asked how old you were–" "Augh, I absolutely hate what she did with her hair, it's just ugh." Melinda said, walking outside of the room. Her daughter groaned at her comment. "I'm 23," she began, answering Tatum's question. She leaned over to look at Melinda waiting outside the door. "and I find your hair pretty radical." Both of their jaws dropped a bit as Castiel stepped out to join Tatum's mother to explore the rest of the house. Tatum turned to watch her walk, her face staining to a dark red. She sheepishly walked off to her room across the hall, looking her over as she went to go hide. Melinda pulled her along to another room, a navy blue one with a taller boy, a teenager turning 18 or 19 at the most. "This is my son, Gunner." She said with a more pleased tone. "Does she hate her daughter?" Asked Castiel in her own head, praying Zacharie would answer her. "Answers book, new answer added." He responded immediately. She shivered at his voice ringing through her head again. Gunner and Melinda rambled to Castiel, whom wasn't paying attention at all. She was busy analyzing things all over the place, like Sherlock Holmes. Just look at it and bam, she knew what it was. He was a normal, arrogant teenage kid with a girlfriend that pissed everyone off. Castiel nodded him off, not bothering to shake his hand. "Yeah yeah, good day to you too." Castiel chirped, following Melinda down the stairs to meet her husband. "And this is Don, my husband." Castiel smiled and held out her hand, looking at the man with a darker skin tone, only slightly darker than Melinda's. Castiel's was dark as maybe the color cream, not so much to go to ivory. Both Melinda and Don had brown hair, except Melinda's was darker. Castiel looked at Don more carefully, seeing where Tatum's eyes came from. "Nice to meet you, Mr.Bradley." Cas chirped, shaking his hand. He nodded, smiling a bit. "Welcome, Miss..?" "Von Clark." She responded. "Ah, Castiel, Don and I are going out for a bit tomorrow and Gunner is sleeping over at his girlfriend's house. Would you mind watching Tatum and tidying up a bit? I know I'm asking so suddenly—" "Oh no, it's fine!" She immediately responded, perking up at the word 'tidy'. "I wouldn't mind at all!" "Oh, thank you so much. It's going to be such a wonderful time with you here and helping out." Castiel nodded, smiling slightly as she responded, "Yeah, of course, anytime." She turned on her heel, her sneakers squeaking on the tile as she quickly went to scope out the Answers Book that Zacharie responded with a 'new answer added'. As she dashed up the stairs, Tatum was messing around with her cosplay things in her own room. She peeked out, with her blonde wig on, watching Castiel shut the door. She climbed onto her bed, opening the book. On the top of the first page was her question, followed by an answer written under it. Does she hate her daughter? She doesn't really 'hate her' but has a strong dislike towards her male fashions. She looked at the page in disbelief, asking another question out loud. "So she's a cross dresser?" Transgender. She nodded slowly, leaning to the wooden floor creak as someone walked towards the room. The door opened and Castiel jumped, shoving the book under her pillow. Tatum leaned in, wearing her cosplay shrugging as she spoke. "Who are you talking to, angel girl?" "Angel girl?" "Yeah, you kinda wear a lot of white, so that's what I'm going to call you. Angel. And answer my question." "M-myself, it's just this book I was reading.." "Oh, okay. Cool." "Who are you cosplaying as anyways?" She asked to get off the topic of the diary, criss crossing her legs on the bed. "Ross Lalonde, genderbent of—" "Rose Lalonde." Castiel answered. Tatum tilted her head curiously, and Castiel snorted in return. "I had a life aside from sarcastically making coffee at Starbucks sweetheart." She said, standing up and walking towards the door. She poked Tatum, watching her step back. A sweet smile plastered on her face, she shut the door and leaned against it, sighing. "The Bradley Bunch is some piece of fucking work, Zacharie."