Just read, peeps :D It's verrrry long.
(Long explanatory A/N at the end, too)
Enjoy!
Twinzies
"Tallyyyyy," Danny whined, running a hand through his black hair. "Come onnn! We're going to be laaaate-"
"Stop whining, Danny-o," Uncle Ham chuckled. "Your aunt and uncle probably won't be ready yet, anyway."
At that moment, Tally came down the stairs, dressed prettily as usual. "Are we ready to go?"
Danny jumped up. "YES! Let's go, Uncle Ham!"
The man smiled and trudged after the two kids to his van. When he got there, the twins were fighting over who got shotgun. Ham sighed, picked Danny up easily with one arm, and deposited him in the backseat, where both their bags of spare clothes lay. He looked sternly at Tally, who understood that she was supposed to follow her brother. She flipped her red hair and did so, pouting.
Ham rolled his eyes. I'm glad I'm not the one who has to take care of them the entire day...
The previous evening...
"Ian. We can't just leave them home the whole day. They're ten, for Gideon's sake!"
"I realize that, Amy, but we can't take them to a Lucian stronghold! My branch members will never get over their lifetime suspicion of every other branch, especially the Madrigals. They know about Danny and Tally- probably the first Madrigal-Lucians in history. But not many have seen the twins, and I'm not sure how they'd react..."
Amy sighed. "We'll have to find someone to take care of them, then."
"Mummy, can we go to Aunt Natalie's?" Tally asked sweetly.
"No, let's go to Uncle Dan's!" Danny yelled gleefully. "He's awesome."
Amy and Ian looked at each other and nodded. Amy turned to the twins and said, "Danny, you can go off to Uncle Dan's, and Tally can go to Aunt Natalie's. Alright?"
"I doubt either Dan or Natalie could handle both of them alone, anyway," Ian laughed. "But how'll they get there? We have to leave the house at five a.m., Amy, and I doubt they'll be awake by then. Neither Dan or Natalie have a car..."
Amy snapped her fingers. "Hamilton."
And so, Ham was stuck with monitoring the Twinzies while they ate breakfast and got ready, as well as dropping them off at the respective places. He headed to Natalie's large house first. Maybe he could chill with Dan and his nephew when he dropped Danny off later.
Natalie's maid opened the door for Tally. Ham stayed in the car just long enough to watch her go in safely, and then wheeled about for Dan's. The thirty-five-year-old whistled as he drove to his crazy cousin's house.
When he pulled up to Dan's door, Danny jumped out of the car and ran into the house, not bothering to ring the doorbell. Ham had to move quickly to catch the little guy before he crashed into the large mirror at the end of the hall.
Dan, hearing the noise, bounded down the stairs. He laughed when he saw the poses his guests were in, and Danny grinned sheepishly at his uncles. "Danny-boy!" Dan said, clapping his nephew on the back. "You actually do take after me. Good thing I told Amy and Ian to name their first boy after me."
"Tally takes after her the person she was named for, too," Ham said. "She and Nat are, like, inseparable. Same old girly-girls."
"What are we going to do today, Uncle Dan?" Danny asked excitedly. Dan smiled mysteriously and led them to the living room.
"Aunt Natalie!" Tally cried, hugging her favorite aunt.
"How are you, dear?" Natalie said a minute later, inspecting her beloved niece. "I hope my brother and Amy are treating you and Daniel well?"
"Yes, of course, Auntie," Tally said. "I'm so glad I get to spend the entire day with you! What are we doing?"
"Let's talk for a bit, while I give you another manicure," Natalie suggested, looking disapprovingly at Tally's nails, which were slightly chipped. "Honestly, dear, how can you mess up your hands so in less than a week's time?"
Tally's face fell. "It's not my fault, Auntie. Danny was making mud pies outside two days ago, and he forced me to help him with one, and it dirtied my nails..."
Natalie pursed her lips. "Next time, ask your father to help you to say no to Danny, okay? Now let's see about those nails. Hmm, a dark green would look very chic on that color of skin... But wait. We must get your nails looking proper before we paint them. Come on, dear, let's head over to the parlour..."
"I beat you, Uncle Dan! I beat you!"
Ham laughed boomingly. "He gotcha gooood, Dan."
Dan glared at his cousin, who was eating chips and watching the Daniels play a videogame. Then he turned to his nephew. "Wanna bet on next time?"
"Go ahead, Danny," Ham said. "I'll fund ya."
"Sure, how much?" Danny said confidently, beaming.
"Let's start small. Three bucks." Dan held out his hand for a shake.
A game later...
"I DEMAND A REMATCH!"
Ham laughed. "He'll beat you every time, Dan-o. You're getting old."
Danny beamed. "Pay up, Uncle Dan." Grudgingly, Dan pulled the money out of his pocket and handed it to his nephew, who tucked it away safely inside the pocket of his shorts.
"Now, Danny, let's play something else. I've got a bunch that would leave you drooling when you saw them."
"Okay. Six bucks?"
Dan smirked. "Six bucks."
Ten minutes later...
"Let's play something else. New release. Nine bucks?" Dan said rashly, frustrated by the additional six dollars that had left his pocket for Danny's.
Danny smiled serenely. "Of course."
Ham looked a bit worried. "But you've never played this one before, Danny. Are you sure you want to go for nine?"
"I'm sure, Uncle Ham. Nine bucks. I've got nine, anyway."
A very tense game later...
"HA! I BEAT YOU!"
Danny shrugged. "I'll win next time. C'mon, let's sta-"
"Not so fast, little fella. Pay up." Dan grinned.
Danny jerked a thumb at Ham. "He's funding me. Ask him."
Ham's mouth fell open, then he quickly shut it. "Wha-? Danny, you- Dan, listen, I-"
"I don't care if you're broke, dude, I WANT MY NINE DOLLARS. You did say you were funding him! Pay up." Dan advanced slowly.
Ham glared at Danny and took out his wallet, counting out nine one-dollar bills carefully. He snapped it shut, shoved the money at Dan, and said menacingly, "Your father will receive the bill, Daniel Vikram Cahill."
Danny beamed, the picture of innocence. "Okay. Now, let's star-"
"Wait! I, um, I have to go... Mom and Dad said they wanted to see me..." Hamilton leaped up and left, banging the door shut behind him.
Dan stared, then chuckled. "I think that nine was all he had on him."
Danny pouted. "I have no one to fund me now, Uncle Dan. Let's do something else."
"Sure, kid." Dan thought for a bit. "Why don't we go to the local basketball courts? You've never been there, have you?"
"I don't like basketball... I haven't played much, except during PE..." Danny hesitated.
Dan gasped exaggeratedly. "An American boy's childhood without basketball?! No! Danny, you come with me, and we'll play some ball now."
"Okay..." Danny followed his uncle outside reluctantly, carrying his bag of spare clothes.
"So, how's school for you, dear?" Natalie asked, looking critically at her work with the trimmer.
"Good, Auntie," Tally answered eagerly. "Everything is really easy. Danny seems to be failing, though, and Daddy helps him with his homework every night."
Natalie smiled slightly. "He is a smart boy, he just needs to pay more attention to his studies. Now, what colors would you like?"
"Dark green," her niece said, remembering her aunt's previous musings. "You're so good at this, Auntie!"
"I know," Natalie responded, smirking. "Do you want to go for a morning walk after this, Tally?"
"Of course," Tally said. "Can we go to the park? I want to visit the duckpond."
This child seems to know what I'm thinking, Natalie reflected. She's very much like me. I appreciate this.
She smiled. "Alright."
Danny stood up from the bleachers and stretched. "Uncle Daaaan."
"What, Danny? You having fun?"
"Um, yeah, of course. I'll just have some more 'fun' sitting here watching you take half-court shots," Danny said sarcastically.
Dan grinned. "I see an exact copy of myself in you, with all the Cobra features outside. It's creepy beyond words."
Danny glared at him.
"Okay, okay, Kabra. I'll teach you how to play basketball." Dan paused and looked off into space. "I never thought I'd say that..."
Danny marched up to him and took the ball from his hands. "Show. Me. How. To. Play. And I'm not a Kabra, my last name is Cahill."
"Okay, so it's quite simple. I mean, you're essentially flinging a ball at a basket and hoping it gets through, so you can win," Dan said, adjusting the ball in his nephew's hands. "The way you shoot is quite important, though, so we'll work on that first- Hey, is that your twin?!"
Danny groaned. "What? I thought I'd learn how to play basketball here! I don't like it much, but... UNCLE DAN, TEACH ME HOW-"
"And, by ninjas, it's your aunt, too!" Dan went on, ignoring the boy. "They're... feeding the ducks. I never knew Nat liked ducks."
Danny looked over at the duckpond. Sure enough, Aunt Natalie and Tally were there, Aunt Natalie reading a magazine on a bench while Tally tossed pieces of bread to the ducks. Occasionally Aunt would look up and say something to Tally, who would reply with a smile... It looked like she was having a lot more fun that he had in the last ten minutes.
That decided it. "You know what? I like ducks too, Uncle Dan. I'm going to feed them too." He flung the ball at his uncle and started towards his twin.
Then he looked back at Dan, who was staring at him, puzzled. "Ducks?"
Danny stifled a grin. "Yes, ducks. Are you coming, Uncle?"
"Now that you put it like that..." Dan scratched his head. "I suppose ducks are rather nice. And water's very useful when you want to, say, ruin a certain someone's Prada dress." He grinned. "Go on. I'm right behind you."
"Aunt Natalie, it's Danny and Uncle Dan!" Tally said, running back to her aunt. "They're coming here!"
Natalie looked up, annoyed. Of all places to run into that Cahill git. Although the fact that her nephew was with him, looking shockingly like Ian except with basketball shorts on, did somewhat make the situation a little better.
"Hi, Aunt Natalie," Danny said, stopping in front of her. "Whatcha reading?"
Natalie looked down at her magazine, with a somewhat inappropriate picture on the front. She rolled it up quickly and smiled. "Nothing. How are you, Daniel?"
"It's Danny," the boy said.
"It's Danny," Daniel Cahill said at the same time, drawing up to them, his weird crooked smile on his face. He grinned at his nephew. "Awesome!" they said at the same time, then cracked up.
Natalie rolled her eyes.
"Imma go feed the ducks," Danny announced, skipping away to where his twin was standing at the edge of the water.
"Yo, Nat," Daniel said casually. Natalie wanted to wipe the smirk off his face- it wasn't even a proper smirk, for heaven's sake.
Natalie rolled her eyes again. "What have I said about that nickname?"
"It's 'horrendous'. That's why I use it. Nice to see you, too. You going to feed those ducks or what?"
"Tally wanted to feed them, and I'm quite comfortable here, thank you. And no, it is not nice to see you, which is why I refrained."
"Aw, come on. Why're you always so mad at me?" Dan said, his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
He smells like sweat, Natalie thought briefly. Ew.
She just looked at him in response. He burst out laughing. "Nat, I stopped my pranks years ago."
"Did you?"
He laughed again. "Um, yeah."
"You're a terrible liar."
"Whatever."
He sat down on the bench, just far enough away. A silence ensued.
"AHHHH!" A scream cut through the air. Natalie and Dan were on their feet instantly, hurrying towards the pond. Natalie stopped at the edge, eyeing the water distrustfully.
"What's going on?" Dan yelled to Danny, who had surfaced a few feet away, dripping.
"We went in farther to feed this other duck! And something knocked us over!" Danny yelled back. "I'm fine!"
Natalie's jaw dropped. "WHERE'S MY NIECE?! Daniel Arthur Cahill, GO IN AND FIND MY NIECE!"
Momentarily shell-shocked at the volume of her screech, Dan waded into the pond before he could stop himself. He turned back to her. "Why don't you come in and search for her too?!"
"Because my DRESS!" Natalie shrieked, gesturing down impatiently. "Now go save her before she DROWNS, or so help me, I'll-"
Dan had already turned. His nephew attempted to follow him, but Dan pushed him back gently, telling him to go stand with Aunt Natalie.
It didn't take long to find Tally. She surfaced in the middle of the pond, gasping for air. Dan swam out to her and grabbed her shoulders, pulling her toward shore. She's fine, he noted to himself thankfully.
Natalie was out of her heels and standing in the water, her dress hiked up, when he returned to the bank. She took Tally, who had her eyes closed, and carried her to the bench they'd been sitting on earlier. Dan followed at a more leisurely pace, dripping wet.
Danny looked just the same. "Is she okay?" he asked, running forward to where his aunt was bent over Tally.
"She'll be fine. This is Nat who's treating her, kiddo," Dan cracked, wringing out his shirt. "You should try to dry yourself."
"Let's race!" Danny suggested, so they did short laps up and down the park while Natalie helped Tally get the water out of her lungs and sit up.
As soon as she could stand, Tally walked shakily over to Uncle Dan and threw her arms around him. Dan hugged her back somewhat awkwardly. "Hey, Tally. You feeling alright?" Tally nodded.
Natalie, meanwhile, looked at her dress critically. "You'll need to change right away if you don't want to ruin that dress, dear," she said. "Let's go back to my house. It's close to here. Thank goodness I don't have a drop on myself. This material-"
Dan's foot was near the water. Before he himself knew exactly what he was doing, he flicked his foot, and large drops of water landed on Natalie's dress.
He grinned. She eyed him, a dangerous look in her flashing ambers.
"DANIEL ARTHUR CAHILL!"
She chased him all the way to her house, the Twinzies struggling to keep up. Finally, Dan collapsed on the front porch, laughing his head off. When Danny and Tally got there, they found their aunt whacking their uncle with a pillow she'd grabbed off the rocker on the porch. He was cowering behind the rocker, still laughing.
"They're like... us," Tally said in disbelief. "I didn't know they knew each other that well..."
"Oh, man." Danny's tone matched hers. "I wonder if Mom and Dad were like this..."
"Pillows, Nat? Not... really your... style," Dan managed to get out between snickers.
Natalie exhaled. Then she happened to glance up randomly, and saw the huge mirror in the living room through the French windows. They were reflected in it, him crawling on the ground like a worm, her standing over holding the now battered pillow like a weapon.
A giggle rose up in her, too unexpectedly to be stopped. And that was it- in no time she was laughing too, laughing right with him because they made such a funny spectacle like that, like she was conquering him as she'd done so many times in those stupid video games he still played, defeating him until he was begging for mercy-
"Aunt Natalie?" two astonished voices chorused.
In no time, Natalie had stopped laughing, straightened her dress, and marched inside haughtily. Dan looked after her, a half smile on his face. Then he turned to the Twinzies.
"Well. We should probably get changed. You all brought your spares along, right? I have mine..."
"Uncle Dan," Tally said suddenly. It had only just occurred to her. "Did you ever... like Aunt Natalie? I mean, like that?"
Dan froze. "'Scuse me?"
Tally put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "You heard me the first time."
Danny looked back and forth between them, completely lost.
Dan sighed. "Maybe. And I'm not telling you more than that. Now scoot, li'l Nat."
Nobody moved. A few seconds later...
"Um, EW!" yelled Danny, running into the house with his bag of spare clothes clutched in his hands. Tally rolled her eyes and followed.
"Aunt Natalie?"
"Yes, Tally?" Natalie carefully touched up her mascara, then rubbed some powder on her face.
Tally washed her hands at the sinks. The nail polish had dried perfectly, thank goodness. She waited until the only other person in the bathroom, an young lady wearing a lovely blue headscarf, left the mall's ladies bathroom.
"I, um, I..." Goodness, this was a lot harder than it had been with Uncle Dan. Tally almost never knew how Aunt Natalie would react to anything. "You know that incident on the porch?"
Natalie supposed she shouldn't be surprised that any ten-year-old who had Ian Kabra for a father was using words like 'incident'. "The porch?"
"Yes, er... the one where you started laughing too, whacking Uncle Dan. I wondered..." Tally took a deep breath. "Did you ever like Uncle Dan? Like that?"
Natalie dropped her powder brush into the sink. She cursed softly and picked it up, wiping it off with a tissue and depositing it into her purse. Then, having recovered herself somewhat, she turned to her niece.
"Where... where did you get that idea, dearie?" She laughed convincingly. "Daniel? Couldn't you do better if you wanted to match me with someone?"
Tally remained still, staring at her aunt. "I saw you when you were laughing."
"Goodness, you're a smart child," Natalie said aloud. She turned back to the mirror and began brushing out her hair. She hadn't thought about Dan like that in a very long time... She wasn't sure if she did like him anymore, the annoying twat. But Tally had meant at anytime.
"Maybe," she said reluctantly. "Now run along, your uncle and brother will be waiting for us now."
"I WANT ICE CREAM!"
"STRAWBERRY!"
"CHOCOLATE!"
"STRAW-"
"TWINS!" Dan and Natalie yelled together, straggling behind.
The twins turned around and eyed them. Then, "We're called the Twinzies," they chorused in perfect, scary unison.
Dan and Natalie looked at each other. They'd spent the entire afternoon and evening trudging about the mall, supposedly doing their own shopping- but neither could resist the puppy dog eyes that the Twinzies turned on them frequently, whenever they spotted anything they wanted. And so the load of bags.
"Ice cream for dinner?" Dan asked wearily.
Natalie shrugged, equally exhausted. She'd never carried so many bags all by herself before. Dan had twice as many, so he was no help. "Whatever. Just let's not tell Ian and Amy."
Ahead, Tally was whispering into Danny's ear conspiratorially. Dan raised his eyebrows. "That's the friendliest they've been to each other all day."
Natalie missed Danny's look of grossed-out-ness as he nodded. "Be glad."
"I am. I'm not stupid, Nat."
"Missed that," she said automatically. She was so used to bantering with Dan that her brain didn't even have to think for it anymore.
Dan turned to look at her, a half smile turning up one side of his mouth. His hair had grown much longer, partially hiding his eyes. He doesn't look thirty-one, Natalie thought, smiling slightly.
"THE CORNER BOOTH, YOU IDIOT!" Tally yelled, making them both jump. They hurried forward.
Danny was scrambling into the corner booth, which had a door that could be locked from both sides. With sighs of relief, the adults set down their bags and collapsed on their seats.
A waiter came up to them. "Nice choice of booth. This used to be the holding place for men who got into drunken brawls, back when this place used to be a bar. Don't worry," he added hastily, "it's perfectly kid-safe now."
"I'll have a triple scoop of strawberry ice cream," Tally said, examining her nails disinterestedly.
"And I'll have a scoop of chocolate, one of vanilla, and one of chocolate chip!" Danny said excitedly. Tally rolled her eyes.
Dan waved his hand at the waiter, who was looking at him and Natalie like, Are you sure that's what they want?
"I'll have whatever's on specials," Dan said.
"Oh, today's Arab food, sir," the waiter said, the smile wavering on his face. "A shawarma? Would you like a Coke with it?"
"Yep."
"I'll take the same, but no Coke for me, please. A bottle of mineral water," said Natalie.
The waiter left, throwing several puzzled looks back at them. Natalie stifled a laugh.
Their food arrived. It was quiet for a bit, the only sounds licking, slurping and chewing- all coming from the two gentlemen in the booth.
"This shawarma's good," Dan said after a while, peeling back the wrap on his. "I'm getting another."
Natalie took a drink from her water. "Nothing's so great about it. Chicken." She wrinkled her nose.
Eventually they finished their food and sat around for a while, getting used to the feeling of their stomachs being full. Suddenly Tally stood up. "I need to go to the bathroom," she announced.
She left the booth, but nobody else moved. She kept shooting looks at Danny, who wasn't looking at her. She sighed in exasperation, reached over and poked him hard on the arm.
He shot up. "Ow! What?"
Tally jerked her head to the door.
"The door? You wanna leave?"
Tally face-palmed and dragged him outside forcefully, whispering into his ear furiously the entire time. A look of comprehension dawned on his face. Dan and Natalie, meanwhile, were too exhausted to do much but watch the Twinzies leave.
Until the door to the booth clanged shut, jolting them both upright.
"Wha-" Dan clutched the door and tried to push it open. It was locked. He turned and noticed Natalie. "Nat?"
"The door's locked?" Natalie asked, shocked. "But how-"
"Uncle Dan, Aunt Natalie!" came Tally's voice from outside. It was... gleeful. And that was when they both guessed at the same time.
"Tally," Dan growled, remembering his conversation with the girl on the porch earlier that day.
Natalie nodded, thinking of the bathroom. "She is so dead."
Then they looked at each other. "Wait... what?" they said together, then looked away.
"Nothing," they said, again together. Natalie sighed exasperatedly. "God, enough."
Dan nodded.
"You guys like each other!" Tally's voice yelled from outside.
The temperature in here suddenly went up a billion degrees, Dan thought. He froze. Drat that Tally.
Like each other...? Natalie thought frantically. Oh lord, no... Please no.
"Let us out of here!" they both yelled. They looked at each other, then looked away even quicker. Dan's cheeks reddened until he looked like Amy usually had at fourteen.
Through the slats, Natalie saw the waiter come up to Tally. Oh, thank God. She heard Tally's voice then. "No, they like each other! It's all part of my plan!"
"But, miss-"
"I said, leave it to me." Natalie could hear the evil grin in her niece's voice. Who knew?
The waiter backed off.
"Danny! Get us out!" Dan yelled.
"Sorry, Uncle, she'll kill me if I do," said Danny apologetically.
Natalie shut her eyes. "What do you even want us to do?"
"Whatever you people do when you like someone!" Tally yelled back.
Natalie rolled her eyes to the heavens. "This is the last time I take charge of you Twinzies."
"Agreed," Dan said, sitting down across from her. "So how do we get out of here?"
"'Do whatever we do when we like someone'?" Natalie repeated, puzzled. "Like someone?"
"Um, I suppose. Wait... let me get this straight. She thinks this is both ways?" He gestured to her, then himself.
"What?" Natalie asked. She began to giggle. Maybe it was the heat in the booth, or the way Dan was avoiding all eye contact with her, obviously embarrassed... She felt a little bit like she was high.
"What's funny?" Dan asked, actually pouting. Pouting!
She laughed even harder. "Oh, my God. Git."
"Hey! Queenie Cobrita."
"I think... all we know how to do... is insult each other, even when... we like each other," Natalie finished, not quite knowing what she was saying. She was laughing too hard.
Dan began to laugh too. "Insulting you is a part of my life forever."
"Amen."
"KISS!" Tally yelled from outside, exasperated.
Natalie looked at Dan. His blond hair was messily pushed back, revealing his eyes. They sparkled with laughter.
"Let's get out of here," she said, and leaned in.
"I think they're doing it!" Tally squealed, clapping her hands.
"Gross!" Danny exclaimed, but it was lost as all the people in the old diner cheered.
"Your aunt and uncle are meant to be, huh, kid?" a lady said, ruffling Tally's hair affectionately.
Tally patted it back down. "Yep! And we did that. We got them together."
"Our children are miracle workers, Ian," Amy said, staring down at her phone.
"I'll say. The entire clan's been waiting for Dan and Natalie to get together already, and these two come along and make it happen," Ian said, putting an arm around his wife. She leaned into him.
"They're already posting pictures on Facebook and everything. Natalie looks amazing in that dress, doesn't she?" She showed him the screen of her phone.
In the photo, Dan had his arm around Natalie, and they were sitting on the bench in the park in front of the duckpond. Under the photo Dan had written, "Props to the Twinzies. Literally."
Okay. :) Now that's over.
I'm extremely sorry for my long absence from this fandom. I get all these reviews to my old stories and I feel constantly guilty for not updating, but I really do have a lot going on in my life at the moment... Also I feel like I've lost my words, and this fandom sense.
A Natan like this was kinda what I needed to write, in other words. xD A reopener to here. Hopefully it works.
I hope this didn't suck too much. I wrote it mostly right before bedtime, so excuse any errors. iPads aren't writing devices, either. -_- But anyway. I know there's maybe a lot of cliché, and the humor was very amateur and suckish...
OKAY I'M DONE CRITICIZING MYSELF. xD I'll leave y'all to do it. Review!
I love you all :)
~Sri xx