A/N: There is more of this in the future, of course, but I thought since this story begins on Leslie's birthday, I'd post the first chapter on my own birthday (sheepish grin). There will be a few blasts from the past throughout the tale. Thanks as ever to Harry2, jtbwriter and PDXWiz, and thanks also to Woemcat for inspiring me to finish off the series of tales I was posting under my FantasyIslander65 account, so that I can devote that account to other fandoms. Enjoy!


§ § § -- May 6, 2005

Leslie awoke on a Friday morning only to see Christian propped up on one elbow, gazing down at her with a faint smile on his face. Her eyes were bleary and out of focus with sleep, and she blinked several times to sharpen his image, rubbing them before peering up at him again. "What's with the specimen-under-a-microscope look?" she mumbled.

Christian's smile stretched into a mischievous grin. "You must have slept really hard last night, my Rose," he remarked, sounding greatly amused. "Did you forget what today is?"

Leslie scrubbed both hands down her face and yawned at the same time, then favored him with a somewhat disgruntled look. "No, I didn't forget, but in case you need convincing, I'll tell you anyway. Yes, I'm very well aware that today is my fortieth birthday. So I repeat, why the intense stare?"

"Just wondering what forty does to you," he said breezily, but there was an odd quality to his voice that told Leslie he was trying to hold back a laugh.

"You watch out, Christian Enstad, or you'll be finding out what forty does to you," she threatened, poking him in the chest and making him lose control over his chortling. She grinned back finally and propped herself up to match his position, reaching up and rapidly ruffling his dark hair with one hand so that it stood up in Dennis the Menace tufts. "Okay, smarty, so what does forty do to me, in your exalted opinion?"

"Nothing at all," he said, still laughing and trying to dodge her hand. "But, since your fortieth year has been among the most eventful of your life, I wondered whether there might have been some significant change in your appearance. They do say that children have a way of prematurely aging their parents."

"Maybe you, buster, but not me," Leslie retorted, giggling.

"I wonder," Christian admitted good-naturedly. "I found myself staring at a gray hair in the mirror last night while I was brushing my teeth."

Leslie toppled back onto her pillow with laughter. "Oh, stop the presses, he found a gray hair! Christian, my love, if I can look as good now that I'm forty as you do at nearly forty-seven, I'll die happy. Where was it?"

"Oh no you don't," he said, grinning. "I pulled it out. Despite everything I've gone through between marriages from hell and the manipulation of my father and brother, that was the first gray hair I ever saw on my head, and I'll admit to having grown so used to the lack of them as to take it for granted. I never thought I'd fall victim to petty vanity, but the next thing I knew I was thinking, Perhaps I can keep them at bay till I'm fifty, when people will expect me to begin going gray anyway."

Leslie shook her head, clucking her tongue at him in mock reproach. "Christian, Christian, Christian. What on earth am I going to do with you? I'm supposed to be the one moaning about aging, and you're panicking over a stray gray hair."

"You have no room to talk about aging, Leslie Susan Enstad," he teased. "I'm the one with nearly seven years on you."

"Huh, and I'm the one whose life is half over," said Leslie, stilling and blinking at her own statement the second she'd made it, then looking up at him with mild shock. "Oh my God, my life really is half over! I mean, if the average female lifespan is about eighty years, then I'm right at the halfway point! Do you think we'll live to see our grandchildren? What sort of longevity does your family normally expect?"

Christian rolled his eyes, grinning again. "Herregud, it's Jekyll and Hyde. One moment the rational one, the next moment the panicking matron-to-be. For someone who generally takes these things in stride, as a newly minted forty-year-old you're acting quite paranoid. Who says your life is half over? You may well live far past your eightieth birthday; many people do, you know. My own family could be said to be a mixed bag, I suppose. Grandfather and my great-grandfather died in their sixties, but it was shown that amakarna was a significant factor in their passing, and if they had never taken the stuff they probably would have well surpassed that. I might have known Grandfather into my twenties or even my thirties. And my father, in spite of amakarna, lived to be eighty himself—probably because that old man was just too damned stubborn to die. I think he enjoyed giving me hell so much that he just couldn't let go."

Leslie giggled. "I think you inherited the stubborn gene from him, my love. If it does you as much good as it did him, you'll probably mark your centennial in the middle of this century. You could set a royal-family record."

"Not quite. I'd have to reach 103 to set a new record, thanks to Queen Freyja II. But that's so far away I see no reason to think about it now. So tell me, other than a mild case of sticker shock, do you feel any different now that you're forty?"

"No, I don't, really. But let me just give you fair warning. If you give me any guff about being 40, I'll take careful notes, and in three years when you hit 50, I'll give it all right back to you and then some. So just watch yourself."

Christian raised both hands in surrender. "Mea culpa, my darling! I'll do my best to be good, but I can't make any promises for any of our friends. If you get this, uh, guff from them, don't accuse me of having put them up to it, that's all I ask." Despite their words, they were both laughing, and now he settled atop her and kissed her at leisure while a brisk sea breeze swept over them through the open window.

At last Christian lifted his head and smiled at her. "Happy birthday, my darling. Now I officially know what it's like to kiss a forty-year-old."

She seized a pillow and walloped him with it, bowling him back over to his side of the bed while they both burst out laughing again. "You rogue! Just wait, my incorrigible prince, your turn's coming, believe me!"

Breathless with laughter, Christian weakly tried to fight off her pillow with both hands. "Okay, okay, I give up! Well, how's this then?—I've just kissed the most beautiful forty-year-old woman on this earth."

"Well, that's better," Leslie said, pretending to huff, but then spoiling the effect by dissolving into more giggles. "Good grief, did someone put knockout juice in the triplets' formula last night? I'd have thought we'd be hearing from them by now."

"We will," Christian said, still a little winded, his voice tinted with the experience of the uncle he had been for so long before becoming a father. "Trust me, my Rose, we will. While we still have something resembling a respite, I think you should get up and have a shower. Don't look at me like that—you know perfectly well we'll have to make the rounds today, and just wait till this evening when I start uploading photos to the site." He still maintained the royal family's official website, frequently updating it.

"I hate to admit it, but you have a point," Leslie said through a sigh. She grinned and swung out of bed. "Want to join me?"

Christian made a pained grimace. "You don't know how tempting that is, my Rose, but even with Ingrid here, I don't expect we'd have the luxury of taking full advantage of a shared shower. However, don't worry—I have plans. So that should give you something to think about while you're getting ready."

By the time they were ready to leave for the main house two hours later, the triplets were lively and alert, bright-eyed with what Leslie would have sworn was mischief if they had been much older. "They must know something's going on," she said.

"Of course they do," said Christian, securing Tobias in his car seat. "I'm in on all the plans, and I'm excited about it, and they sense it. Well now, you three, tell your mother happy birthday, then. And be generous about it, your turn comes up in only four more weeks, you know." He grinned at each child in turn; Tobias grinned back, and Susanna and Karina both giggled. Susanna waved her hands through the air and her parents laughed.

Ingrid emerged from the house with two large canvas bags, one bulging with diapers, bottles and other baby paraphernalia, the other containing mysterious items that Leslie couldn't identify. "Hmm, that wouldn't have anything to do with my birthday, would it?" she asked Christian coyly.

"It might," he said, grinning. "Get in the car so we can leave, and you'll find out all the sooner. Är du färdig då, Ingrid? Vi åker borta nu."

Ingrid deposited the bags in the very back and climbed in after them, saying as she did, "Ja, Ers Höghet, alla är berädda på festarna."

Leslie followed the exchange carefully and squinted a little as she settled in the front seat, translating it into English. "Okay," she mumbled half to herself, "so you asked if she was done and we're going now, and she said everything's ready for the…" She stopped and stared at Christian, who had been watching her while fastening his seat belt. "Parties, plural? Just how many are we expected to attend, and how come you're not moaning and groaning at the fact that there are parties to go to?"

"In the order you asked, yes, plural; I refuse to tell you just yet; and I'm not 'moaning and groaning,' as you say, because these are parties for your birthday. This is much different from making public appearances in the name of the royal family. Our first stop is the main house, though, so you have plenty of time to think about how intensely you're going to grill Mr. Roarke when we arrive." He grinned wickedly and backed out of the driveway while she shot him an I'm gonna get you for this look that dissolved into a laugh.

Roarke came out to meet them as they were freeing the triplets from their car seats. "Good morning, all of you! I hope you didn't have breakfast before you came."

"No, except for the triplets' morning feeding," Christian told him, adjusting his hold on Karina while Ingrid settled Susanna in his other arm. Dr. Corbett had told them Leslie could continue breast-feeding the triplets each morning first thing as long as her milk held out, though Leslie had some hope of fully weaning them once their first birthday had passed. "They've grown used to having solid food along with it, though, so I'm sure they'll be happy enough to join the rest of us." He started for the steps, trying to keep a firm grip on his wriggling daughters, who both clearly wanted to go to their grandfather for attention.

Leslie, carrying Tobias, laughed. "Look who's happy to see you, Father."

"Indeed," Roarke agreed, deftly accepting both girls from Christian at the same time. "Yes, you two, I'm very glad to see you both as well! I hope you are ready to help us celebrate your mother's special day today." Susanna and Karina both chattered nonsense as though in reply, and he chuckled and nodded, responding in Spanish now and again.

"If I didn't know better, I'd swear he understood whatever they're trying to tell him," Christian remarked as Leslie caught up with him.

"For all I know, he does," she said lightly, and he aimed a skeptical look at her that made her laugh. "Don't discount the idea too quickly, my love. Well, since you told me you're in on all the plans for today, then what's for breakfast?"

By the end of the day Leslie was tired and a little lightheaded from all the excitement. She and Christian and the triplets had been making the rounds of all their friends' homes, starting with Camille and Jimmy, who still lived in a small Asian residential settlement that had long ago been dubbed Tokoyama, though it wasn't an official name; then they'd been to Brian and Lauren's home, Kazuo and Katsumi's townhouse, and then Nick and Myeko's farmhouse. After that there'd been a long detour to the combination office and house overlooking a beach near the fishing village, where Fernando and Tabitha ran a small medical clinic and were raising their two children, eight-year-old Cristina and four-year-old Ramón; and finally they had ended up at Grady and Maureen's house, where Brianna was more than happy to watch the triplets and her own ten-month-old sister April while the adults had their little gathering.

At each stop, the couples had presented Leslie with a birthday card, most of which mentioned the fact that she was turning 40, and talked a little, catching up, talking about each other's children and finally confirming plans for the main party to be held that evening in the clearing where the Saturday-night luaus were usually held. Leslie knew there would be far more people there—not necessarily the entire island, as had happened at hers and Christian's wedding reception, but certainly the extended families of all her friends, including parents, siblings, and nieces and nephews.

So as Christian drove her and the triplets there, she was beginning to feel the fatigue of the busy day. "Do you think you'll get through the party all right?" he asked. "Normally I'd offer to take you home early, but I'm not sure that would fly. After all, this is your birthday party, and it's strictly friends and Mr. Roarke."

"Oh, I'll make it all right," Leslie assured him, patting his thigh. "It's just that we've been on the go all day long, and I'm feeling it. But I'm not in imminent danger of collapse, if that's what you have in mind."

Christian laughed. "Maybe I exaggerate a little because I worry about you, but in the years we've been together, you're usually right about your condition…so I've learned to worry a bit less. But if you do feel overtired later, just let me know and I'll take care of it."

Leslie twisted in her seat enough to check on the triplets, who were engrossed in watching scenery going by or, in Tobias' case, tugging at the straps that held him in place in his car seat. "What amazes me is that the babies are going strong."

"Little wonder," Christian remarked, grinning and slowing the car. "They napped all the way through our stops at the Miyamotos' and the Okadas'. They had a chance to recharge, where you didn't."

"Then if I conk out in the middle of my own party, nobody better blame me," Leslie said, and Christian laughed again, pulling over to the side and parking. They unstrapped the triplets, and Christian settled the girls into Leslie's arms while he took Tobias; then they headed for the clearing, from which already emanated a good bit of noise and music.

When they got there, everyone crowded around Christian and Leslie, greeting her and wishing her a happy birthday; the triplets stared huge-eyed at the crowds, their faces masks of astonishment. Finally Roarke managed to cut through the crowd, to the relief of Christian and Leslie, and lifted Susanna from Leslie's arms. "You seem to have survived your little trip around the island," he noted humorously.

Leslie grinned. "So far so good," she agreed. "Well, is there someplace we can sit?"

"Follow me," Roarke said, and Christian and Leslie, with smiles and nods at the others who had gathered, picked their way after him till they reached a long table that was laden with a three-tiered birthday cake and a stack of gifts. Between two poles stretched a banner that read, "FORTY AND FABULOUS! Happy Birthday Leslie."

Leslie burst out laughing when she saw it. "Oh my gosh, I think this is getting to be a theme. Ten years ago the banner read 'Thirty and Thriving.' I wonder what they'll do ten years from now when I turn fifty."

Christian grinned and suggested, "They can just recycle mine. After all, I have a feeling I'll have to face a similar bash in three years." Leslie nodded, still laughing, and he chuckled, securing Tobias into a high chair before pulling out the so-called "seat of honor" for his wife and then putting Karina into another high chair.

"What do you think the banner will say then?" Roarke teased, settling Susanna into a third high chair while Christian claimed the seat nearest Leslie. "You did mention a theme."

"Probably 'Fifty and Fantastic'," Leslie said, "though like Christian said, they should make up that one for his fiftieth when it gets here and then save it till mine rolls around."

"Oh, no way," broke in Myeko, who stood nearby with her sister Sayuri, brother Taro and Taro's three children waiting behind her. "Just to warn you now, Christian, we're probably going to whip up something royal-ish, so brace yourself."

"I'm likely to need the full three years to do that bracing, if that's really what you end up doing," retorted Christian, setting off laughter. "All right, then, so if fifty is fabulous, then I suppose sixty will be spectacular."

"And seventy will be stupendous," offered Sayuri Sensei, who held Taro's youngest child, Tia, ten months old.

"Right," Myeko said, smirking, "and eighty is exceptional, ninety is nifty, and—"

"And a hundred is just old," said Leslie, rolling her eyes. She looked at Christian and remarked, "Did you notice how I go downhill after eighty? From exceptional to just nifty. I think I got cheated." They all laughed again, while at the same time Tobias in his high chair and Tia in Sayuri's arms stretched toward the cake, which they'd both been gaping at in fascination. "Hey, Tobias Lukas Roarke Enstad, you better sit back. You're a tad young for Mommy's cake, I'm afraid."

"Don't you worry about that, Miss Leslie," said Mariki, pausing beside the table where she was just passing by with a large paper bag in each arm. "I made a treat for the triplets and any other little ones who can't have party cake yet. I put together a nice big banana cake, no frosting so they don't get high on sugar. Made from scratch, of course."

Leslie grinned at her. "You never do it any other way, and that's one of the best things about you. I hope you've got something in mind for the triplets' first birthday next month."

Mariki beamed. "I'll think it over and get back to you, how's that? Let me get this ice cream over there before it all melts." She hurried off, and people began to find places to sit, even if only on the ground in the cases of many of the children. There were a lot of people; not all the members of her friends' families were there, but all those who lived on the island certainly were, and even a few who didn't. Of those, this included Tommy Ichino and his wife and family; Jennette, the youngest quad and her husband and little boy; and even Kayoko Tokita Matsuda and her husband Kiichiro with their children and a grandchild. They were representing Michiko, who couldn't be there; had she been, Leslie suspected the entire Tokita family might have been here as well.

Kayoko and Kiichiro introduced themselves to Christian with bows, and after a while they got to talking; the Matsudas were planning to return to Fantasy Island for good, now that Kiichiro had just retired and their children were grown and gone. Kayoko was a still-youthful 52; her husband was four years older. Roarke, recognizing Kayoko as one of the guest assistants he'd had during most of the 1960s, greeted her with a broad smile and joined in the conversation.

"Guest assistant?" Christian echoed blankly.

"A little experiment I conducted for nearly ten years, through the decade in which Leslie and her friends were born," Roarke explained. "I eventually phased it out, but for a time a number of island children earned a little extra money that way."

"And I was one of them, Your Highness," Kayoko put in. "As a matter of fact, back in 1965, one of the guests I played assistant to was none other than Leslie's mother."

"Well, there's quite a coincidence," Christian observed, impressed. "Do you remember very much about her?"

Kayoko grinned. "She was very, very pregnant," she said, making them laugh. "That's the main reason I remember her. After all, doctors don't like for women that heavily pregnant to travel, and it must have taken Leslie's mother some coaxing for her doctor to give in and let her come so far, so late in her pregnancy."

Leslie smiled a little wistfully at Christian. "It's my understanding she was here less than two weeks before I was born. Any later than that and I could've been born right here on the island." With a teasing glance at Roarke she added, "Dual citizenship."

They laughed again. "Well," said Christian, "you must have gone through some type of citizenship ceremony not long after you came here."

"I didn't get citizenship till shortly after my fifteenth birthday, actually," said Leslie. "It was something of a late birthday present. The weekend after my birthday, Father called me into the study, just as I was about to head out the door with Tattoo on some rounds, and said he needed my help with something. Then he had me sign a form, presented me with a passport, and pronounced me a citizen of Fantasy Island. It was very simple, but it meant the world to me, because the wish I made when I blew out my birthday candles was that I could stay on Fantasy Island forever."

"We were there for that too," said Kayoko. "It was quite a bash, that party."

Leslie grinned. "I still have the knickknack shelf Kiichiro and Saburo made for me," she said, referring with the latter name to Kayoko and Michiko's oldest brother, who still lived in Hawaii. She turned to Christian and added, "It's the one we hung on the wall beside the French doors in our bedroom."

"Ah, I see," said Christian. "I always thought that was exquisite woodwork." He smiled when Kiichiro thanked him, then offered, "So you're looking to return here?"

"That's what we're hoping. Kayoko still holds her citizenship, and we thought that coming here for Leslie's birthday would be a good time to start looking for a suitable place to live. We'll get started in earnest tomorrow, I think."

"Hey…the house that Mateo and Anna-Kristina lived in hasn't sold yet," Leslie noted. "You two might like that. It's a good size for you, with a guest bedroom for whenever your kids and grandkids come to visit. Christian's niece and her late husband had lived there and took very good care of the place. All it needs is a buyer."

Kiichiro and Kayoko looked at each other, brightening. "It sounds perfect," said Kayoko hopefully. "We'll definitely take a look at it tomorrow, then."

Myeko, approaching with a plateful of fruit, overheard. "Hey, you guys're moving back? That sounds great. Does Michiko know?"

"We thought we'd wait to tell her till we actually found a place, but it looks like we can let her know sooner than we thought." Kayoko grinned. "Hi, Myeko, you look good."

"Thanks," Myeko said. "Must be old home week or something. My little brother Taro brought his kids back from Samoa to live here. They're looking for a place too—right now they're staying with my parents." She glanced around. "I'd introduce you, but the kids seem to have gotten off someplace. Taro's at the buffet."

"What do the kids think of Fantasy Island?" Kayoko asked.

"They're reserving judgment," Myeko remarked, grinning. "I figure it's on account of their having to readjust to new schools, but I think they'll have a chance to make some new friends at this party, with all the kids running around here."

It was just about then that Stephanie Sensei decided to make her way to the buffet, with her seven-year-old brother Noah dogging every step and driving her crazy. She had hopes that if she gave him a plate of food, he'd be distracted and leave her alone. Playing with the homemade bracelet on her left wrist, she edged along the perimeter of the clearing, shadowed by Noah. The buffet was crowded, but she got in line and picked up a plate, then handed Noah another one. "Don't drop it," she warned him.

"I won't," the boy promised solemnly. "Do they have any hot dogs, Stephy?"

"I don't see any," she said, cringing inwardly at the nickname. Since their mother had walked out, Noah had been very clingy, hanging all over their father when he was home or her when their dad was working and she was babysitting him and little Tia; and more than that, he seemed to have regressed a little bit. He hadn't called her "Stephy" since he was four years old, and till their parents' divorce he'd been a voracious eater. Now all he seemed to want was hot dogs and cupcakes.

"I want a hot dog," Noah said stubbornly. "With mustard and onions."

Stephanie made a face. "Well, there aren't any," she muttered, losing her patience. "It looks like they have lots of teriyaki chicken, though." She tugged again at the elastic string that held the oversized glass beads of her bracelet in place. "That's sort of close to hot dogs, and it really tastes good."

"But I want a hot dog," Noah insisted. Stephanie growled deep in her throat and turned to him to scold him, only to see a couple of girls not far away who looked as if they might be about her age. One of them caught her eye and smiled at her, and she returned the gesture, hoping she might finally make a new friend. The move from Samoa would be a lot more bearable if she could just have a friend to hang out with.

"Hi," said the other girl. "Are you new here?"

"Yeah, but my dad grew up here," said Stephanie. "My name's Stephanie Sensei."

"This is Denise Polidari, and I'm Haruko Miyamoto," said the other girl, indicating a girl whose dark-brown hair was cut short and who wore small-lensed, horn-rimmed glasses. "How old are you? I'll be fifteen in August."

"August what?" Stephanie asked, amazed. "I'll be fifteen in August too—the tenth."

"Mine's the twenty-second," said Haruko.

Denise smiled shyly and spoke up for the first time. "Mine's April seventeenth, so I guess I've got you guys beat." She had an interesting accent of some sort, and Stephanie wondered about it. "How come we haven't seen you around school?"

"It's a pretty big school," Haruko noted. "Heck, even you and I didn't meet till this party!" She turned to Stephanie. "I eat lunch with three other girls, but it's always cool to have new friends. I already invited Denise to join us. Want to be part of our group?"

"That'd be great," said Stephanie, delighted. Haruko seemed really nice, and she was glad that it looked like she'd finally have friends here. "Sure, thanks."

"Where'd you move here from?" Denise asked.

"Samoa. I was born there, and we lived in the same house all my life till last month when we came here," Stephanie explained. "My parents got divorced, and my dad brought us back here to live. Are you from this island?"

"No," said Denise, "I'm from Massachusetts. My mother and father got divorced too, and since my mother was born and raised here, she brought us back to live here. My older sister Janine hated it, though, and last summer she went back to live with my father's parents. I guess she's just gonna stay and go on to college there." Denise grinned. "It's okay with me. She was a pain in the neck, complaining all the time, and it was such a relief when she went back to Boston. It's so nice and peaceful in our house now."

Stephanie laughed with her. "I can understand that. I've got a baby sister named Tia—my dad has her around here someplace—and this is my little brother Noah. He just turned seven."

"I have a sister the same age," Haruko said. "Her name's Chikako."

"That sounds Japanese," Stephanie noted.

Haruko nodded. "I was born in Japan, but I've lived here since I was six." She reached for a plate and suddenly spotted Stephanie's bracelet. "I really like that bracelet!"

"Thanks," Stephanie said, automatically restraining Noah from reaching across the table for a plate crammed with little cheese cubes. "Noah, quit. These're all the rage in my old school in Samoa—every girl in my grade wears them and we all make our own, out of elastic string and big glass beads in all different colors."

"That's wicked cool," Denise remarked, impressed, studying the bracelet. "Maybe you could show us how to make our own. We could start a fad." She grinned.

"Look at that pale-blue one," Haruko marveled, inching closer to get a better look at a large, clear ice-blue bead, the biggest one on Stephanie's bracelet. It sparkled in the torchlight, the flames reflecting off its many facets. "That's gorgeous."

"My mother gave it to me," Stephanie said. "Right before she left, she helped me make the bracelet." She tried to shake off the memory; it was one of the few recent good ones she had of her mother. "So it's…kinda special, I guess."

"You really miss your mom, huh?" murmured Haruko sympathetically.

"Sometimes," Stephanie said evasively. What she really missed was the old Iriata Sensei, the lovely, laughing woman who had always been so easygoing and so involved in her children's lives. She'd already changed a lot when Tia was born the previous July, and Stephanie had always thought Tia was much too quiet a baby, as though she wanted to avoid Iriata's increasingly frequent losses of temper. She shook her head. "Anyway, I looked around for more like that one, but I never really found any. The beads we use always have really bright colors, or else they're clear like ice."

"Maybe we can find some in town," Haruko said. "If we all get together tomorrow, we could go looking. The pedestrian section of town is a shopping area, and it's always full of tourists and stuff, but it'd still be fun to go there."

"Yeah, I need someplace to spend all my lawn-mowing money," Denise joked. "If you want, we can hang out at my house. My mother works at the island newspaper, and she has weird weekends—Tuesday and Wednesday. She won't be home tomorrow, and maybe if I ask, she'll leave some money so we can order pizza. She'll be glad I've finally started making some real friends from the island. All my school friends are from Coral Island."

Noah had come to attention in the middle of this and now asked eagerly, "Pizza? Can we have pizza, Stephy? If they have pizza here, I'll have lots of that."

Stephanie blinked at him, amazed. Noah's weird food preferences had excluded all but hot dogs and cupcakes for so long that it was astonishing to hear him ask for something else. "Should've known it'd be pizza, though," she murmured to herself before adding, "Tell you what, kiddo, let's ask the lady behind the table."

"You do it, Stephy," Noah said immediately.

Stephanie tossed an apologetic smile in Haruko's and Denise's direction, and the girls grinned sympathetically. Once she'd secured a slice of pizza for Noah, Denise remarked, "He's a cutie, your little brother."

"He's okay, I guess," Stephanie said with a shrug. "Kinda picky about what he eats, though. I can't believe he went for pizza. All he eats anymore is hot dogs."

Haruko laughed. "My parents won't let us touch hot dogs. That's why I eat them at school whenever I can. I wonder if he's in my sister's class. Chikako's finishing up first grade, and she told us a couple weeks ago that there was a new boy in her class."

"Yeah, it was probably Noah," Stephanie agreed, shifting her bracelet again from longtime habit. "My dad has to work tomorrow, but I shouldn't have any problem getting away. We're still staying with my grandparents, so they can watch Noah and Tia. I think they'll be glad to see me get out and be with friends."

"Cool," said Denise. "Well, it's nice they've got pizza for the kids, but if Mom'll let us order in, then I'll wait till then and have some of the other stuff. A lot of this is luau food, I think. Mom brought me and Janine to a luau right after we moved here. I thought it was really cool, but Janine was just a big pill and sulked around all evening." She shrugged. "Anyway, the food was wicked fabulous, so I'm gonna have what I had that time."

"What's that mean, 'wicked'? I mean, you say it like it means something else, and not what it usually means," Stephanie said curiously.

Denise turned pink and grinned sheepishly. "Aw, it's just something we say back home. If something's wicked fun, it means it's really, really fun."

"Oh," said Stephanie, intrigued. "So where do they say that?"

"New England," said Denise. "Even my mother picked it up. She moved to Boston when she went to college at Harvard, and she never left till she and my father got divorced. Since we got back, people here tell her she has a Boston accent too." The girls laughed. "I know tomorrow's gonna be wicked fun. Can't wait."

Stephanie grinned at her. She couldn't wait, either. It looked as if this move was going to work out much better than she'd been afraid it would, at least for her. Now if Tia would be a little more like a normal baby, and Noah would expand his personal menu, and her dad would stop looking so grim all the time…