It was pretty clear to them both that they were heading toward tying the knot. They had met at the beginning of their respective daughters' school year in the fifth grade, and after the initial awkwardness that the kids couldn't help but laugh at them for, they had begun to start seriously dating. Both, Garfield and Rachel, hadn't gone on a single date since their previous marriages had ended, but now the pain those endings had caused them felt like a distant memory as they found new love with each other.

For now, in the midst of their romance, they were discussing a serious matter: How a marriage between them would affect their kids. They had been lucky that their daughters were getting along so well, but did they want to be sisters? Did Marie want a new mother? Did Angela want a new father? They seemed to appreciate their new relationship, but looks could be deceiving.

"So, Rachel, do you think Angela likes me enough to want to call me dad?" He asked nervously.

Rachel furrowed her brow in concentration. If Angela had inherited anything from her and her recently deceased husband, it was that she was a very quiet young girl. Happy to fade away from the spotlight and only speaking when necessary.

"It's hard to say. I think she does like you, but I don't know if she'd just see it as me trying to tell her to forget about Joey."

"Why would she think that?"

"She's eleven and isn't quite over the whole one true love thing yet."

"But you are?"

She gave him a look, "Of course, Gar, I may still love Joey and wish he didn't die, but now I love you as well." She smiled at him. He smiled back at her. "And don't ask me to rank you two."

"I wasn't," he put his hands up in mock offense, and then got serious, "I just hope Angela feels the same way about me."

"I'm sure she does Gar, besides, I clearly have a lot more to worry about with Marie." She looked down.

Garfield, for his part, reached his arm around her to comfort her. "Come, now, Rachel, Marie will come around just like Angela will, what makes you say otherwise?"

"She called me a witch when we first met." She deadpanned.

Garfield gave a nervous laugh at that, "I know she regrets calling you that. I made sure of that."

"It's just," she paused, "she calls your ex-wife a witch all the time, and from what you've told me, she lived up to that. Am I really that awful?"

Garfield only tightened his hold on her. "Rachel, Antoni may have not been the best spouse, and you do have a lot in common with her."

"But?"

"But you never actually meant any of those snarky remarks about me. I can tell you're just teasing. With Antoni, though, she meant every word of what she said." His voice was about to break as he tried to keep his eyes from watering at the memories.

Rachel looked on in worry. "I'm sorry, Gar, I shouldn't have dug up those painful memories for you over something stupid." She whispered into his ear.

He merely looked at her and smiled, "No, it's fine, I don't think they'll ever be pleasant to think about, but now I can just look at you and know that everything is better now."

"Really?"

"Of course, and I'm sure Marie feels the same way." He continued to reassure her.

She nodded with a small smile on her face.

"You know," Garfield began,"We are only in our early thirties."

"Yes, we are," Rachel nodded, pretty confident where he was going with this. "What about it?"

"Well, we could give our daughters another sister?" He smiled suggestively at her.

So she had guessed right. "Let's wait until we're actually married first before taking that step."

He made a mock sigh of exasperation, "Hey, I can't help it that I'm dating such a MILF."

She shot him her best annoyed look she could muster.

"Um, sorry?" He offered.

She actually giggled at that, surprising Garfield completely. "Just feel lucky that I'm dating such a DILF, and we'll call it even." She said, now returning his suggestive smile from earlier. Rachel cuddled up close to her probably soon-to-be fiance, and began an intimate and passionate kiss with him.

"Ewwwwwwwwwwwww!"

"What?"

"Our parents are making out again." Said Marie as she put the binoculars she was using to spy on them from the treehouse in the backyard away.

"Why do you keep spying on them if you're just going to get grossed out?" Angela asked.

"I wouldn't if you weren't meditating so much and would play ponies with me."

Angela blushed, "I forgot mine in the house."

"Hehe, never would have thought that Angela, the tough girl at school who hates anything 'girly' would have such a soft spot for ponies." Marie teased.

Angela's face could have given her grandfather nightmares. "If you tell anyone at school I will not hesitate to tell Uncle Vic about that little crush you have on his son."

Marie could do nothing but laugh in response. "You know I'd never do that to my best friend, maybe soon to be sister." She replied in a sing-song voice.

A silence fell over them as they realized, not for the first time, that this wasn't something that would remain just a joke for much longer.

Angela broke the silence, "So, are you ok with it?"

"Ok with what?"

"You know? Being sisters? Having my mom be your mom?"

"Oh." Marie pondered it for just a moment. "I've always wanted a sister," she took note of the slight blush on Angela's face, "And I always wondered what it would be like to have a mom that actually wanted to be around me."

Angela's eyes widened in realization, "Oh," she rubbed her forehead with her fingers, "I never thought about it like that before."

"So how about you? Want a sister and a new dad?"

Removing her fingers from her forehead, Angela looked up at Marie. "Well, I gave it some thought, and I think you would make a good sister." She ignored Marie's squeal of delight as she continued, "As for having a new dad? I don't know, Mr. Logan is nice to me, and I can tell that he loves Mom just as much as Dad did, but..."

"But?"

"It just feels weird to think of him as being 'Dad'." She saw that Marie was still looking at her, expecting there to be more. "But, I also see how much he makes Mom happy, and maybe I'll get used to it? I don't hate him or anything."

"Awww," Marie let out, and pulled Angela into a friendly hug. "You don't hate my Dad!"

"Yes, yes, I know, now let go of me." She said as she pushed Marie away. "But you know, what if they have another kid?"

That was something Marie had never considered before. What if they did have another kid? She took a stereotypical thinking position, resting a finger on her chin. A light bulb seemed to turn on as she reached her conclusion.

"Always wanted a brother too!"

Angela smiled at that, "So do I."