Title: Fathers and Sons
Rating: T
Summary: A look at the father-son relationships in the Tennyson family. Takes place right after the episode "Ken 10," but AU. Ben 10,000 x Gwendolyn.
A/N: I don't think Gwen would name her daughter after herself, so Xenia is named after Russian writer Alexander Kouprine's daughter. Gwen is such a bookworm, and I think she'd be much more creative in choosing a name than her parents and Ben's parents.
It still rhymes, of course. :)
This story takes place at the same time as my story, "Second Chances." Originally it was all just one story, but I decided to separate it into two stories focusing on different themes.
"Mommy!" Xenia shrieked, throwing herself into her mother's arms.
Laughing, Gwen picked her up. She knelt down as Kenny came running toward her.
She hugged them both tightly, kissing the tops of their heads and ruffling Kenny's unruly hair. "I missed you both so much."
"Mommmm…" Embarrassed, Kenny squirmed out of her embrace. "I'm not a baby anymore. I'm a big boy." Proudly, he showed off his new Omnitrix.
Gwen let go of him reluctantly. "I suppose you are."
Xenia didn't let go of her. "I missed you, Mommy. I love you."
Gwen kissed her cheek. "I love you too, sweetie. Did you behave for Daddy while I was gone?"
Xenia smiled angelically. "Yes, Mommy."
Kenny snickered. "Yeah, right!"
Angrily, Xenia zapped him. He yelped in surprise. It hadn't hurt very much, but all the same…
"Xenia Tennyson," Gwen said sternly, "What did I tell you about not using your powers on your brother…"
"But Mommy, Great-Grandma Verdona does it all the time!"
Gwen sighed. She'd have to talk to Grandma Verdona about appropriate discipline. Again.
Kenny turned into Stinkfly and was about to hock a loogie at Xenia, but Ben turned into XLR8 and grabbed him before he could do it. Ben re-set his Omnitrix, and he turned back into Kenny.
Kenny settled for kicking off his shoe in Xenia's direction. Xenia screamed and ducked for cover.
"Kenny!"
Gwen pulled Xenia back, but not in time to stop Xenia from throwing Kenny's shoe back at him.
"Xenia!"
Fortunately, Grandpa Max caught the shoe with his mechanical arm before it could hit Kenny.
"Kenny, Xenia – stop fighting right now!" Ben bellowed.
Gwen threw up her hands in frustration. She'd been back less than five minutes, and already her children were fighting with each other like hooligans.
Grandpa Max gave them a look that clearly said, Now you know how I felt.
She and Ben had fought all the time when they were kids, and he'd had to deal with an entire summer of it.
The irony was that although she had fought a lot with Ben, she had never fought with her brother. Gwen and Ken had always gotten along great. Ken had been the protective – and super-cool – big brother, looking out for her, looking after her…
She couldn't figure out why her Kenny and Xenia kept fighting all the time…
"Kids, give your mom a break," Ben said. "Go get ready for dinner."
Grumbling, they raced up the stairs.
(To be continued in Chapter 2…)
