Disclaimer: All Robotech characters and vehicles property of Harmony Gold USA.

Ben and his parents start getting used to their new home. (The AU prequel to Second Chances.)


Chapter 2

Ben groggily got up out of his bed and staggered to the bathroom. How long was I asleep for? He was still affected by the jet lag but hopefully his body clock would only need another day or two to reset. His Mom had unpacked some of the towels, so Ben hopped in the shower to try and wake up a little more. Shaking his sleep away in a mass of soapy lather, he began to relax and think about what he needed to do today. Drying off quick, Ben wrapped the towel around his waist and went back to his room to find clean clothes.

That was probably going to be task number one today: unpack his clothes. His Mom was very thorough about labeling all the moving boxes, so Ben had no problem finding which ones held his clothes. One held shirts, another held pants, and yet another held sock and underwear. It took no time at all to find a comfy pair of jeans and his one of his favorite t-shirts. Once dressed, he moved the remaining contents of each box into a drawer in his dresser except the pants, which got hung in the closet. Ben stacked each box in one corner of the room as he emptied it and in no time all the boxes marked as having clothes were unpacked and put away. It was quick work, but Ben still worked up an appetite. Wonder if there's anything in the house for breakfast yet?

Ben tromped down to the kitchen, but found only a pair of notes and whatever of their travel snacks were left. The first note was encouraging, since it said his Mom had gone to the find the grocery store. The second note was a bit neutral; it only said Dad was going to check on the progress of the new dry-cleaning shop. After grabbing a handful of the remaining trail mix, Ben went back up to his room to see what else could be unpacked. He thought one box said it had his model airplanes and he would bet another one was labeled as containing his posters. It may not be his old home, but he could at least make his room look tolerable.


"Benjamin!" came echoing from downstairs. Mom is home. Ben thought with a smile. He ran downstairs, knowing that there should be groceries now. "Hey Mom," he said as he entered the kitchen, "You need help with something?"

"As a matter of fact, I do need help putting this food away. Have you been behaving?"

"Yeah. Not like there's anything to get in trouble doing. Got all my clothes unpacked."

"All morning to do that?" Mrs. Dixon said skeptically.

"I did shower. And I was starting to go through the boxes with my personal stuff, you know, the models and posters. I might need Dad to put some shelves up for all my models. Gonna need some tape for the posters too."

"Well, you can probably ask him yourself in a little bit. After we get these groceries put away and have a little breakfast, we're going to go meet your father down at the new store. Your Grandpa Leo sent a crew ahead to get it all set up and your father says it's amazing how much they've gotten done."

"Deal!" Ben said with a huge grin.

There weren't that many groceries to put away, since Mrs. Dixon really just bought basics and staples, but it still took a decent amount of time. The whole pantry had to be organized from scratch. Ben was in charge of putting the perishables away in the fridge and freezer. Milk, orange juice, eggs, butter, some fruit and a couple of fresh vegetables found their places in the fridge. There was a pack of chicken drumsticks and another of ground beef that his Mom told him to put in the freezer plus a bag of ice cubes. They were going to have to buy new ice cube trays before they would be able to make their own cubes.

"All done with the fridge stuff Ma, you need any help?"

"No Ben, I'm done too now," Mrs. Dixon says as she slides the last of the canned goods into its place. "Now…what were you going to want for breakfast?"

Ben eyes a certain brown box on a pantry shelf and gets a huge grin on his face. "I think I would like some cereal please. That will be quick and easy." Besides, he thought to himself, there is no way I'm passing up a bowl of Cocoa Puffs. That is my absolute favorite cereal!

"Very well," his mom says with a knowing smile, "Just don't take the rest of the morning to eat it."

"Yay!" Ben exclaims and runs to the kitchen with the box.

"And don't eat the whole box this morning either!"

"Yes Ma." came an exasperated reply.


As much as it pained him to only have one bowl, Ben was excited to get out and see the new store and the rest of the city. He had been focused on the hulking battle fortress the whole taxi ride yesterday that he hadn't really noticed anything else. His mom had told him school didn't start until next week, so that meant he should be able to see how many other kids were in the neighborhood. Grandpa Leo had been able to get a storefront within walking distance of the new house, so Ben and his mom started the walk as soon as the breakfast dishes were cleared.

It was a beautiful day, the sun already warm even though it wasn't even mid-morning. Children from the neighboring families were out playing, but things didn't look to hopeful to Ben. Most of the kids he saw during the walk were little kids, the oldest maybe in 3rd grade, too little for him to play with. The couple of older kids Ben saw looked like high school upper classmen, so they weren't going to want to hang out with him. That brought Ben back into a bit of a funk, still missing his friends from back home. Mrs. Dixon looked at her son with a twinge of motherly intuition and pats his shoulder, "I know dear, but you will make new friends here. It might not happen overnight, but it will happen."

They walked the rest of the way to the new store in silence, taking in the sight and getting to know the local landmarks of the neighborhood. As they round the last corner, Ben was surprised to see how big the new store was. Noticeably bigger than the store his parents had been running in the Chicago area, it took up what seemed to be the whole first floor of the building on the opposite corner of this intersection. It wasn't exactly at the corner, more like the next building in, but it was still good sized and seemed to be right on a main artery road. Knowing his Grandpa Leo, this busy street was probably a main road going back and forth between the base and the military housing. And Ben was pretty sure Grandpa Leo had hooked them up with a house so close to the store too, knowing they wouldn't have a car right away, if they even needed a car. It looked like everything they would need was within walking distance in this neighborhood. But Ben realized wheels would be necessary to explore outside the immediate area. I hope my bike got packed.

The store itself was a bustle of activity, workmen installing countertops and wallpaper in the customer area, while others were no doubt installing the actually cleaning machines and the racks to keep all the orders straightened out in the back area. Ben didn't recognize any of the men, but his mom did. She walked up to one, who looked like the foreman, and began speaking, "Joseph my dear, Things look wonderful so far!"

"Ah Lois, I'm glad you like it. The boys and I have been working extra hard to make sure you two can open up in a couple of more days." the man replied warmly. Ben guessed they were they crew Grandpa Leo sent, that's why his mom knew them.

"Excellent! Have you seen my husband?"

"Yes Ma'am. Alex is in the back room."

"Good. Come on Ben, let's go surprise him. And thank you again Joseph for everything you and your men have done."

"You're welcome Ma'am." he said warmly.

Ben and his mom stepped through the swinging doors to the back and walked into an even bigger scene of chaos. From what Ben could see, the actually cleansing machine was completely ready to go; it was the motorized clothes rack that was causing the issues. There was one corner of the ceiling track that just didn't seem to want to connect properly, the conveyor chain binding at that one point. Ben heard his father talking to one of the workers, "…well there had to have been a wrong measurement somewhere if this corner isn't matching up correctly. Let's see if we can adjust the alignment on one or both of the straight tracks that meet up here." "Will do Mr. Dixon." came the crisp reply.

"Oh no Alex, this won't affect our opening date, will it?"

Mr. Dixon turns to his wife with a happily surprised look on his face. "No dear, it's just a small glitch. We should be able to get things fixed up before Saturday's Grand Opening."

"It's almost lunch time my dear. Can you take a break and come to lunch with us?"

"I think I can step away for a bit. I'll let Joseph know the crew can take an early lunch if he thinks it's OK."

"Excellent. Any ideas where we can grab a bite near hear?" Ben heard his mother ask hopefully.

"As a matter of fact Lois, I know of a nice deli a block or two up the road," he said, pointing his thumb in the direction along the main road to the battle fortress, "I believe it was called Sterling Delicatessen, and I think one of Joseph's work crew said it was a kosher deli."

"Well isn't that a pleasant surprise." Mrs. Dixon beamed.

"Cool! Does that mean they have knishes?" Ben jumped in.

His parents chuckled together at their son's appetite before his Dad finally answered, "I expect they do Ben. We better get a move though if you want to get any. I've been hearing they do a very brisk business."

"Alright!" exclaimed Ben, practically dragging his parents out the store after him.


Author's Notes: Yes…that Sterling family.