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Sahara competed with her sister relentlessly, but her parents drew the line at age appropriate things. Sahara was not at all happy that Egypt got to go places without their parents' supervision, and that the older girl got to stay up later than her.

In protest she moved into the tree house, but Claus quickly reigned that in vowing that he would not have another monkey daughter.

Egypt hardly spent any time at home. She needed a break from her younger siblings and the day to day craziness that came with living in the Winter house. She spent most of her time at the park, others who frequented the park knew the quiet, pretty blond by name, they were mostly old people but Egypt didn't mind.

Snowie had given her eldest niece her old car, Claus paid to have it upgraded, especially where safety was concerned. Egypt's parents had no problem with her coming and going as she pleased, as long as she told them where she was going and gave them an estimate of how long she would be there.

When Egypt wasn't in the park, she was at Jamie's house playing with her little cousin. The baby boy was nothing like her mischievous little brother. Sometimes she stayed at Jamie's so late that one of her parents would come looking for her.

"You have to give Mathew and Snowie their space, they've got a child to take care of, and although they'll never tell you this, your hovering bothers them sometimes."

"That's not true!" 

"You get angry when Sahara and Cupid crowd you right? It's the same concept." 

Cupid was having a hard time being in the nursery alone and he was letting anyone who would listen know. "I don't want to be in the nursery!" He whined to his father, "It's lonely...and scary."

"Q, I know you're not scared of the dark." Claus grinned. "Try again."

"It's just lonely then. Sahara and Egypt get their own rooms, why can't I have mine."

"You've got your own, it's called the nursery." 

Claus tickled Cupid, the little boy squealed with laughter. "You're not too big for the claw, so you're not too big for the nursery. But your crib is getting a bit cramped." Claus sighed, realizing that his kids were getting big and the house wasn't. There was one bed in Snowie's room, Egypt had taken that over and she and Sahara could not share a bed, no matter how wide the blanket was somebody would complain that they did not have enough. Simple solution, get rid of the current bed and get two single beds.

Claus still put aside at least one day a week that was completely devoted to his children. He knew them as well as he knew the back of his hand, which as their father he should. Sahara, although she looked as delicate as a lotus could make a hit from a pillow feel as painful as if one was hit with a ton of bricks, but it was clear that the girl was oblivious to her strength. 

She was also goofy and enjoyed making people laugh. She adored her father who would take time out from his very serious job of saving lives to pull funny faces with her. Although Sahara was older, she was still Claus' little Mama, she did all of the household chores and would even get upset when she came from school and met the living room swept and the dishes washed. The kitchen was Agnes' domain and although Sahara was told to stay away from the stove, she always watched her grandma cook.

Egypt was clearly not a child anymore and she never let her parents forget it, she constantly reminded them that she was a young lady. Claus was proud of Egypt, she was very mature and responsible for her age. She was usually the only one who could calm Cupid down when he was in one of his moods. Claus had no problem giving Egypt the freedom she wanted because he knew that she wouldn't get into any problems, her homework was always done and she had even joined a Study Group at school.

No matter how grown Egypt thought she was though, she was still her Daddy's little girl, she always showed him affection, kissing his cheeks or hugging him.

As far as her new found taste was concerned, Jamie confirmed that Egypt was in blood lust. With vampires still being society's best kept secret, plasma juice and plasma fruit were expensive and the Winters couldn't seem to keep enough in the house. It seemed that Egypt needed to feed every five minutes and like a drug addict she would become aggressive and anxious if she didn't.

Jaylee stood in the living room watching in amazement as Egypt consumed two boxes of plasma juice in a matter of seconds. She couldn't ask Claus to bring blood from he hospital, she didn't want to. Egypt was being brought up to be a 'vegetarian', and it was best if she never developed a taste for human or animal blood. 

Cupid's fifth birthday was in a few days, which meant that Jaylee would have more time on her hands and she could get back on track.

Snowie's room, which had become Egypt's room, and much to Egypt's displeasure, the girls' room, was made over. Not much different than it had originally been, this was so that neither of the girls could whine that the bedroom suited one sister better than the other.