They both knew that Cristina could not come over after school that very day, as was the original plan. This battle would have to continue for at least one more day in school, and perhaps through social networking, email, or telephone at home. In that respect, Wendell could possibly get ahead, for how could Darlene influence Cristina when it was only he speaking to her, with no one else around or listening in as a distraction?

Of course, this too had not gone according to Wendell's plan. At first, Darlene would not give him Cristina's phone number, which she had managed to obtain at some point when he had either been not present or not paying attention. There had been entirely too many Watsons in the phonebook to be able to guess which one might have been Cristina, and it was likely that she didn't have a home line anyway or wasn't home if she did. In the end, it had been after Darlene called Cristina, a phone conversation fraught with Darlene's put-on chuckles and murmuring gossip, every bit of it which Wendell had listened in on with growing anger, that he had realized how he could operate- simply press redial the second that Darlene was off the line.

What he hadn't thought about was the fact that Darlene remained in the same room as he did so and had no intention of leaving. What he hadn't planned on was her slipping into his lap and squirming, sliding her hands up his side and face with excruciating slowness as her lips traced a path over his neck, jaw, and onto his lips…all while he tried to have a conversation with a girl who wondered why he was calling her at all.

"I have…to go…see you…tomorrow," he ended up grunting to Cristina, just before hanging up and throwing Darlene off of him. Darlene got up from the floor unrattled, even laughing, as he grabbed her up again by the scruff of her collar, shaking her. "What the fuck was that, you're cheating!"

"Since when do we play by the rules?" Darlene laughed, and she leaned in to kiss him hard. He could hear her heart, beating every bit as fast as his. "She'll be over tomorrow, and then we'll see who really wins out…but first, we have to figure out how to deal with everyone else."

Because in the Hamilton family, that was a rather large hurdle in and of itself- getting everyone out of the house. The Hamiltons rarely went out as a group, or anywhere at all, other than school for the twins and their little brother, 11-year-old Francis, and work for their father and David. And yet, they would have to have privacy to continue to carry out their challenge from their home without anyone interrupting them or deflecting their plans- whatever those might be, and however vaguely they might have been formed in their minds.

One thing they wouldn't have to worry about, at least, was their baby brother, Lenny. Lenny was going to be in the box for a long time yet, so that was one less person they had to deal with.

The twins discussed among themselves in their bedroom, the day before they intended to maneuver a way for Cristina to come over, how it was that they would get everyone out of the house. It was Wendell's direct way to simply tell everyone to get out because he and Darlene had something they wanted to do, but Darlene's approach was more subtle, and therefore, as she pointed out, much more likely to actually work.

The two slunk into the living room with a plan of action that evening. As Wendell loomed just behind her, a casual arm around her shoulders, Darlene sidled up to her parents, coming to stand just behind their mother. Their father was reading a newspaper on their couch, their mother was helping Francis with his multiplication at the coffee table, as David almost mirrored his father across the room, his face also buried in a section of the paper. Darlene made no special noise or gesture to draw their attention, but merely spoke aloud in a tone that was conversational rather than sweet, for one thing that would be sure to make heads snap up was if Darlene sounded SWEET.

"You guys never let Francis do anything but go to school and back home, do you?" she rolled her eyes, leaning against the back of the couch as she stared down at the homework page Francis and his mother were working on. "You guys really baby that kid. When Wendell and I were eleven, we would go wherever the rest of the family went, everywhere, all the time. What, did you guys trust us more, or something?"

As had been the plan, Francis looked up, wide-eyed and already indignant as his head whipped between first his mother, then his father. "You did? That's not fair!"

"You and Wendell weren't even out of the box when you were eleven," David threw in from where he was seated, and Darlene smiled at him viciously as she shot back, "Well, YOU weren't out of the closet."

"Darlene," her mother reproofed, giving her a stern look, but now Wendell was taking over, though Darlene had earlier told him to let her handle most of it.

"I bet the kid's never even seen a movie. What kind of kid never saw a movie? Talk about closet cases, this kid doesn't hatch out of his little egg some time, he's going to end up not knowing shit about how to act. "

"Francis is doing very well so far, and I'm sure he'll continue to do so," their mother said evenly, patting Francis's shoulder, but Francis was hardly satisfied with this praise.

"I want to see a movie!" he declared, homework abandoned now as he drew himself up, both excited by the dangling prospect and indignant that he had thus far missed this opportunity. "I've been out of the box for a few months now and I've been okay! I'll be good, I swear!"

"It would sort of be like a test control," Darlene shrugged, idly running fingers through Wendell's hair, as both made every effort not to smile. "Of course, if you did take him, don't count on me or Wendell being there. I'd rather shoot myself through both eyes then sit through some rousing rendition of shrill-voiced cartoon characters and their plight to save the planet from having interesting lives."

At this David put down his paper and turned fully towards them, squinting as he announced suspiciously, "They're planning something."

"Yeah, like cutting holes in the seat of all your pants and maybe parts inside them if you keep talking," Wendell threatened, even as their father too turned towards them, raising his eyebrows as he asked, "Is there perhaps an ulterior motive to this sudden concern for your little brother?"

"Wendell!" their mother admonished sharply in response to Wendell's comment to David, but Francis had taken up a refrain, thankfully, in the twins' eyes, at least, distracting them both.

"I never get to go anywhere, I never get to do anything!"

"Francis, we have to make sure you're in control, we have to make sure we'll all be safe-" his mother began, but Francis stood up, now working himself into an indignation that they did not often see in him.

"I want to see a movie! I'll be in control, we'll all be safe, I promise, I PROMISE!"

The focus of the conversation, despite David's repeated efforts to draw it back to his own concern, which was on what, exactly, had prompted the twins to bring it up, then shifted entirely to attempting to reason, then negotiate, with Francis's stubbornness, and from that point, it then shifted to their parents agreeing that yes, for just one night, they could try to take Francis out to the movies, just after school. The following day happened to be at a time that David would be working, and no, the twins would not be expected to come too.

The twins found it difficult to control their victorious grins as they started to walk off, feigning having lost interest in the discussion, and David's disgust from his seat in the corner made it all the more satisfying. Their brother was such a drip, a real killjoy, and STILL they were getting away with this.

"I am WAY ahead of you on points in this," Darlene gloated to Wendell in a whisper, pressing her chest against his side and breathing her words into his ear as they walked down the hallway towards their room. "That counts as my points because it was my idea, and I did most of the talking."

"I'll get all the points where it really counts…we haven't even reached the main event, and that's what really determines the win," Wendell retorted. Both jumped when they heard their names being called, and swiveled their heads, turning with such speed that if the average person had watched, they would have blinked and thought themselves to be imagining things, for the two would look as though they had blurred.

Their father was standing at the end of the hallway, arms crossed, eyebrows still raised, and as he walked towards them slowly, he said quietly, "Don't think I don't have an idea of what the two of you were up to back there."

The twin's eyes shifted toward each other, both searching for a response to this, and as Darlene opened her mouth, her father held up his hand, cutting her off.

"I don't want to hear any excuses or lies you'll come up with, and I certainly don't want to hear any details. Just…" he exhaled, his voice dropping lower as he finished, "Don't lord it over David to make him jealous, don't flaunt it where Francis will see or hear, tone it down around your mother, and above all, use a condom."

Both Wendell and Darlene's eyes widened, and they both gave a short, startled laugh, not having expected this drawn conclusion at all, though it was admittedly a rather valid one. Problem was, that particular conclusion had already been occurring for almost a year now, and they had by now rather suspected their parents both knew and were simply ignoring it.

"It's natural enough, I suppose…relationships between our kind have to be…well, there's a limited number of us, and so that will tend to lead us to those who are…somewhat closer than is usually considered acceptable…just…you're both young, and…just use them, okay?" their father finished off, giving a gruff and somewhat embarrassed nod before disappearing back into their living room.

It wasn't until he was out of sight that the twins burst out laughing, leaning against each other for support as their legs weakened slightly with their mirth. One thing about their family- their parents, if no one else, were pretty damn cool.