At Gavin's comment of not dreaming of getting into mischief, Augustus made a 'Pfft' noise with his lips. "You and Alex not getting into trouble is like merpeople not making those ridiculous wailing noises -" he stopped for impact. "impossible." He grinned at his brother, then looked around the room, furrowing his eyebrows. "Speaking of Alex, where is the little blighter?" No sooner had Augustus spoken the words, but Alex appeared on the threshold of the door looking cheery enough, but his expression didn't fool anyone in that room. The whole Snark family had grown up pretending to be happy when they were the exact opposite, so Alex couldn't fool any of them with that winning smile of his.

There was a bit of an awkward silence before Alex asked Ana if she was ok. This wasn't like watching his sister and nephew - normally they were so close. This was the first time Augustus had ever seen Alex greet his mother without an embrace...even when they'd argued, or one of them had been upset. There was always a cuddle!

Augustus sensed something wasn't quite right, and in any effort to lighten the mood he wracked his brains to come up with an idea. "Ice cream!" He shouted, a little louder than he had anticipated, but the idea had been like an explosion going off in his head. He clapped his hands together and looked around the room, his eyes wide with excitement, like a little child with the prospect of licking the dripping cream from the end of his noise after the most fulfillingly delicious of cones. "Everyone likes ice cream. Why don't I go get us all some ice cream?" His eyes twinkled and that characteristic lopsided grin took its place comfortably on his thin lips. "And I may need some help, so...?" He looked at Arielle and Gavin, clearly hinting for them to come with him and 'help fetch the ice cream'. Clearly, mother and son needed some time alone to talk about things. Augustus was being the hero. Or maybe he was being a wimp - he didn't much like confrontation...especially not when Analiza was involved.

Her pleading eyes did not go unnoticed to her Aunt who said she would smooth things over. If she had wanted to keep things smooth and civil she would have kept her trap shut. There was no need to announce anything in front of their family. Especially considering the prying nature of their family members. Arielle never new a time where they weren't trying to get into her business in some fashion. Between Alex and Gavin she had a constant set of watchful eyes making sure not to let her get out of hand, or even in the hands of another. Now there would be even more speculation on her activities when they left there, and she was none too pleased on the matter. "Fat lot of good it will do you," she muttered knowing she was in for it later.

Shaking her head when her cousin finally arrived. It was his mum, despite his issues with her one would hope she would get his arse over there and see her. Even though Arielle, drowsy as she was, would prefer to be back in school to sneak about with a certain boy. This however was a matter of family, and family was everything. Even if they drove you up the wall. "Nice to see you made it," she hissed towards her cousin before her father decided to offer up ice cream.

"Ice cream, now that does sound brilliant. Come on Gavin you old stick in the mud," she walked over to her uncle and nudged him roughly. "I prefer vanilla," she replied brightly giving her aunt a wide awkward smile before disappearing out the door. Heading down the stairs towards the kitchen. Her aunt never really used the kitchen to it's full potential but she didn't care as long as the freezer was stocked with cold treats she was happy. Besides she figured it was best to get out of sight, and out of the main attention of the present parties. Avoiding further conversation about her mystery boy.

"You and Alex not getting into trouble is like merpeople not making those ridiculous wailing noises -Speaking of Alex, where is the little blighter?"

There was no doubt in Gavin's mind that Alex was postponing his arrival or at least he tried to forget about it and occupy his time with other things so he wouldn't be able to think about what had happened to his own mother. Gavin didn't necessarily blame Alex but he thought he was being rather childish to forget the whole thing. And right after his brother spoke, Alex walked into the room and the atmosphere changed automatically.

“Hello everyone! Sorry I’m late but someone didn’t tell me he was leaving so I got a little caught up and, well, yeah.  But I’m not going to blame anyone, okay, Uncle Gav?”

Rolling his eyes, Gavin shoved Alex back. He wasn't Alex's babysitter and he wasn't in charge of letting Alex know his schedule and where he should be at. Maybe it was time for Alex to receive a planner for Christmas so he would be able to set his affairs in order. He was a bit surprised though, all jokes aside, that Alex was late. It was probably because Alex didn't want to think of his mother being weak and Gavin could agree. Analiza seemed to be like the backbone of the family, she was all Gavin had as a child and there was never a day that Gavin didn't thank her for what she had done. Even if he didn't say it to her, he would never forget the sacrifices she did for him. He opened his mouth to say something but then closed it; he didn't want to interrupt Ana and Alex. What a momma's boy. Snickering, he looked at the ceiling. He hated awkward moments.

"Ice cream!"

Gavin focused his attention back to the present and looked around to see that he was being volunteered to get ice cream with his brother and niece. He turned to his nephew and sister and saw that they defiantly needed time to be alone. Nodding his head, Gavin followed Arielle out the door and down the stairs. "I can't see why you like vanilla ice cream. I mean, its okay but I prefer chocolate." he called after her. If Arielle thought Gavin forgot about the whole thing with Ana mentioning a boy than Arielle was wrong. It was not far from his mind. He thought it would be best to mention it later on when Augustus wasn't present.