For about two years now, Ben has found his thoughts always going back to the same thing. What could be happening with his little Necrofriggian ice moth babies? Sure they had to stay in deep space for their survival since none of them were old enough to live in warmer climates, but that didn't he wasn't worried about them still. He supposed that it was the motherly instinct of Big Chill that made him worry. And every night he found himself looking up at the moon wondering if his babies were okay. Especially the runt, Mini Slush. It seemed like an appropriate nickname for the little one given that he reminded Ben of a small sized slushy drink. And having to send it off was the hardest decision Ben had ever made. Seventy give percent of him wished he hadn't made Slushy fly away with his brothers and sisters, but he knew it was necessary.
What Ben didn't know was that his thoughts about his little ones were noticed by everyone else. Including his surprisingly observant boyfriend, Kevin Levin. He didn't need to ask Ben what was wrong to know that he was thinking of his ice moth kids. And he didn't dare bring it up at risk of seeing Benji cry. He did that enough already in his sleep, unknowingly crying out for his babies, and that was hard enough to watch already. Kevin couldn't stand idly by and let Ben torture himself like this and knew he had to do something to make things right. But first, he needed to enlist a distraction.
So he went to Gwen's prep school and told her his plan, making her stop her karate practice mid punch to punching bag in shock.
"You're going to what?" Gwen asked in surprise.
"Yeah, I know it sounds like a long shot but I've got to try." Kevin said.
"It sounds more like a slim to none shot, Kevin. I know that you're doing this for Ben, and I want him happy too, but there are limits to what we can do. Are you really sure you can pull that off?" Gwen asked.
"I'll tell you once I've succeeded. Now can you distract Ben or not?" Kevin asked, growing a bit impatient.
"Don't get your muscle shirt any tighter than it already is. I'll distract Ben for as long as I can." Gwen said.
"Great, then I'm to see your grandpa about a ship. Wish me luck." Kevin said and ran out of the gym.
"Even clovers can only give so much luck, Kevin." Gwen said to herself.
Twenty minutes later, Kevin drove to Grandpa Max's RV home and explained his plan and the old Plumber nearly spit out his mango punch in surprise.
"You want me to take you on a ship to where?" Grandpa Max asked.
"I didn't stutter, Max. I need to get to that place and I need to go now." Kevin stated adamantly.
"But how can you be so sure that they'll even be there? You know they migrate to different parts of the galaxy." Max said.
"I know, but my gut telling me it's a good a place as any to go. And I need your help. Please, I want to do this for Ben." Kevin pleaded. The mention of Ben's name seemed to do the trick but Max's expression suddenly changed and he sighed in defeat.
"Your gut must be very persuasive kid, because now you're convincing me." Max said.
"Hey, I may be something of a street rat but first and foremost I'm a businessman, and businessmen always know how to close a deal to get what they want." Kevin said. Max grinned at this and chuckled a bit.
"Alright then, Mr. Businessman, get your gear on and let's go." Max said and got up from his chair then headed out to Kevin's car.
It wasn't long before the pair got to Plumbers HQ and took a ship to go into the galaxy and head for the destination. It took over a great deal of searching and hours of asking the locals, but eventually the pair got to where they needed to be and soon Kevin had found the very thing that would end Ben's sadness. After a bit of work the mission was completed successfully and Kevin drove to his and Ben's apartment with his surprise stored in a pretty present.
"It won't be long now, my friend." Kevin whispered to the box that sat secured in the seat next to him.
Ben and Gwen where playing a game of Clue when suddenly the click of a key to a keyhole alerted the pair and they looked up to see Kevin walking in with his hands behind his back.
"Kevin, you're back." Ben said with a smile and ran up to his boyfriend and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Yup. And I brought along a little surprise." Kevin said, revealing the medium dark blue box wrapped in a green ribbon he hid.
"I think I'll be leaving now then. Tell me all about the surprise tomorrow, Ben. See you guys later." Gwen said and left the apartment after the pair bid her their goodbyes.
"So what's the surprise? And why does the box have holes in it?" Ben asked.
"Open it and find out." Kevin said, holding out the box to his lover.
Ben gently took the box and sat it on the coffee table. He carefully unwrapped the ribbon and slowly lifted the top and gasped at what he saw. In the box, sleeping soundly, was his littlest Necrofriggian Mini Slush. Suddenly the little stirred away and gave a cute yawn and looked around. Once his eyes laid on Ben he gave a soft coo and flew up to his face, nuzzling his cheek. Ben held tenderly onto the little one and looked at Kevin in shock.
"But...how?" Ben asked.
"I knew that you were feeling really upset about not being able to see him and the other ice moths. So I had Gwen distract you while Max and I did some searching. It took a lot of work but we found him. It seemed like he was waiting for someone to bring him to his mommy." Kevin said with a smile. Ben looked at his littlest baby for a moment then looked back at Kevin and smiled with a look on sincere gratitude and love.
"I can't even pretend to be mad at you for calling me mommy." Ben said with a joyous, somewhat tearful chuckle.
Kevin smiled at his lover and knelt down beside him and hugged him close, with Mini Slush in the cozy middle of the hug.
And that is the second revision that I promised to you all. I hope that you like the new direction I've gone with the story.