Disclaimer: And yet again Disney still owns everything to do with Treasure Planet, except my writing.
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"Now, you're not going to tell your Mom or your friends about the note, are you?" asked Jen, as she walked back to the Benbow Inn with Jim.
"No…. or at least not now," he responded with and took both of Jen's hands in his own and looked into her eyes. "We have much bigger news to tell them then some silly note," and he could not help but grin.
Jen gave a half way smile, almost doubting him a bit, and then spoke up, "Well, not that our news isn't big, but we should consider this a bit of a threat, James."
James? The note must have really been bothering her. She would never call him by his formal name, unless she was completely serious. "Don't worry, Jen. Everything is going to be all right. I have it all under control," he said with a reassuring smile and patted the pocket in which the note now resided.
"What do ye have under control?" asked a familiar voice and Jim looked behind him to see Silver lying on the ground, propped up by his mechanical arm.
"Silver… I didn't expect anyone out here," said Jim a bit embarrassed to be caught off guard like that.
"I didn't t'ink ye would, lad," Said Silver, smiling as he got up and brushed himself off then walked over to the young couple. "Well, good evening, Miss. Dames, and might I say ye look prettier than a night sky filled with sparkling stars," he grinned and took Jen's hand to kiss it.
The young heiress could not help but giggle at the compliment. "Why, thank you, Mr. Silver, and I hope your evening is going well as well."
"Aye, it is, lass, but I'm sure it was not as good as your's," responded Silver with a wink. He then looked down as he felt something on Jen's hand. "And what do ye suppose this is?" he questioned, and lifted up her hand so that the two knew that he was talking about the ring.
"Well… umm… How about we go inside, and we'll all talk about it?" said Jim, as he motioned towards the door.
Silver raised an eyebrow, thinking he knew what was going on, but decided not to press the matter unless Jim wanted to procrastinate with his explanation. He then held the door open for them and followed in behind them, closing the door a little harder than usual to get everyone's attention. "Guess who came home tonight," he decided to add in, in case no one heard the door.
Sarah looked up from her friendly card game with Amelia and Doppler. "Oh, Jim. I'm glad you're home," she said, as she went over and hugged her son. "Are you alright? Why are you home so early?" and she gave him the once over look to make sure he was not hurt.
"Don't worry, Mom. I'm fine," said replied Jim, with a laugh, as he brushed his mom off and then ran his fingers through his hair, somewhat nervously.
"Well then, what is it?" asked Sarah, noting her son's nervous gestures.
"Yes, go on, Jim. You have our undivided attention," said Doppler as he stood up and put his hand on Amelia's shoulder.
"Well… Jen and I have something that we want to tell you," began Jim, looking around the room, incredibly nervous at breaking the news. But, why should he be nervous? After all, these were the ones who loved him more than anything. They would be happy for him and support him and Jen in their decision. What was the worst that could happen?
Scolding. That was the worst that could happen. He could see it right now. Captain Amelia would start up the whole thing, telling him that they were too young to even consider the thought of marriage. Then Doctor Doppler would chime in about how they would not be ready for the responsibilities, and Silver would sit there agreeing with them. Then his mother… he did not want to even think about how his mom would react. She would probably lose her breathe for a moment and then have to sit down in a seat. The shock of losing the rest of her family would hurt her more than Jim could even comprehend. He did not want to do that to her. He cared for his mother more than he cared for anyone, except for maybe Jen. The whole idea pained him beyond words, and for a few moments, he completely forgot that he was in the room with any of them.
All of a sudden, he then felt a gentle touch on his shoulder, that brought him back to reality. He looked over towards the owner of the hand and saw Jen giving him a reassuring smile. After that look, he knew that things would be fine in the end, no matter what happened. The ones he cared for may not agree with their decision, but in the end, he knew that they would support them no matter what. Therefore, with a deep breath, he began, "Well, Jen and I wanted to let you guys know that we're…"
Just as he was about to make the big announcement, the door to the kitchen flew open and in walked B.E.N with Morph right behind him. "Jimmy! Glad to see you home!" the wacky robot cried out, and went over and put his arm around the spacer before turning his attention to Jen. "And Gwen, don't you look great this evening! In fact, you look so great I could just…. Am I interrupting something?" asked B.E.N. when he noticed the silence and all eyes on him.
"Yes, Mr. Hawkins was just about to tell us something when you stumbled in with your loud antics," Amelia responded, with her eyes narrowed a bit at him.
"Oh… awkward… I'll just be right over here, and don't let me stop you kids. Just go on and make your announcement," said B.E.N. tiptoeing towards Silver, and the cyborg pulled him back all the way.
Jim ran his hand over his face, his thoughts all over the place now. This was harder than making the proposal to Jen in the first place. Just then, he felt Morph brush up against his cheek and heard him chirp. He looked over to see the little pink blob and smiled at him. It was certain, whenever he was feeling blue; Morph was there to cheer him up. "Thanks, Morph," he said to the little guy, and Morph flew over to perch on Silver's shoulder.
A moment later, after taking a deep breath and taking a hold of Jen's hand for support he spoke up, "We wanted to tell you that we're…."
"You're going to have a baby? Congratulations! I'll go get drinks for the happy couple… but, what a minute, if you're going to have a baby then that means…" interrupted B.E.N and before he could finish his statement, Silver slapped his mechanical hand over B.E.N.'s mouth.
"Would ye shut yer yap and listen to the boy?" commanded Silver, as everyone's mouths were still opened after what B.E.N. had said, and Jen's face had gone scarlet from embarrassment. Silver then looked up to question them, "Yer not, are ya?"
"Wha-Wha-What? No! We wouldn't… How could you think that?" replied Jim, just as shocked as everyone that B.E.N. would even think that, and with that everyone let out a sigh of relief.
"T'en what's the big announcement?" Silver finally asked.
Jim then blurted out, "We're engaged!"
The whole room fell silent. Not a sound could be heard amongst the surprised group, although Silver did manage to hide a smirk, since had figured it out during their little meeting outside with the ring and all. Soon, all eyes fell on Sarah and her reaction. She was in a chair, after the false announcement, and had looked like she was just struck by a speeding ship. Not moving… not breathing. After a moment, she stood up and walked over to Jim. "How could you?" was all she could manager to get out.
"Mom… I love her," said Jim, calmly, taking both of Jen's hands in his.
"Do you really?" Sarah repeated.
"Yes, I do," he responded with a smile on his face.
Sarah then turned her attention to Jen, who was a bit nervous at the reaction. "And do you really love him?"
"Yes, ma'am, I do… more than anything in the whole galaxy," replied Jen, hoping that Sarah would be fine with this.
The surprised mother then let a smile come to her face as she wrapped both of her arms around Jen and pulled her into a hug. "Welcome to the family, Gwen."
The equally shocked girl returned the hug after a moment and responded with, "Thank you, Mrs. Hawkins."
"Please, call me 'Mom,'" replied Sarah with a smile, and Jen met her smile with another and a nod.
Jim could then feel his breath return after his mom's kind gesture and gave a sigh of relief, letting his eyes close before hearing the several voices with, "Congratulations! We're so happy for you two!", "When's the wedding?", or "Are you two planning on having children?" The last statement and a knock on the front door brought Jim back to his senses.
"Who could that be at this time of night?" questioned Sarah, as Jim escaped the crowd and walked over to the door and opened it.
A young man, about Jim's age, with hair black as night, eyes a stormy bluish grey, and a smile that could send chills through a woman's spine stood leaning against the doorway in a calmed manner. He wore a spacer's uniform, similar to that of Jim's, but in a darker color which complimented his eyes and hair, and the look he used to the old spacer showed that they had once been acquaintances. "Hey, Jim," he said in a mildly low, cool voice.
"Taran? Taran Ardent! Is that really you?" asked Jim, with a little excitement in his voice.
The young man smiled more and then clasped his hand in Jim's hand in friendship. "Long time no see, Hawkins," he responded.
A laugh escaped Jim's mouth as he pulled his old friend into a buddy hug. "It's good to see you again, Taran," he said, and then released him and looked out to everyone. "This is Taran Ardent, my best friend from the Academy. Taran, this is my mom, Captain Amelia and her husband Dr. Delbert Doppler, B.E.N., Morph, Silver…"
"And who might this charming Vixonian be?" questioned Taran as he walked over to Jen, taking her hand and kissing it, then flashing a smile up at her to make even her swoon a little.
Jim took a step over to them, a little un-easy about Jen's reaction, and placed his hand on Taran's shoulder. "This is Gweneth Dames, my fiancé."
"Fiancé?" questioned Taran, a bit surprised. He then gently placed his hand under Jen's chin, to look into her eyes and he continued. "I can't believe someone as beautiful as you ever agreed to marry that runt over there."
Jen could not help but giggle and blush as Taran spoke that way to her, and that did not flatter Jim one bit. He then leaned over to remove Taran's hand and respond on Jen's behalf, "Well she did about an hour ago."
"Well then, my congratulations to the both of you, and I expect an invitation to the wedding." Taran laughed and hugged the both of them.
After taking a deep breath and the shake of a head, Jim decided to just put Taran's flirtatious behavior behind them. "So, since I know you're here for more than just congratulating me on my engagement, what other reasons do you have for dropping by?" asked Jim.
"What? Old friends just can't drop by any time they want?" asked Taran, a bit offended.
For a moment, Jim felt bad about questioning him. "Taran, I'm sorry…. I just…"
Taran immediately interrupted before Jim could put his thoughts together. "I knew you knew me too well," he said, grinning.
Jim let a laugh escape his mouth and the playfully hit his friend in the shoulder. "So, what's the news?"
"It seems a small ship has need of a special pick up on the far reaches of the Etherium. It's not much, they just need a skilled captain," started Taran, as he led Jim away from the others to talk.
"And they want me to do it?" asked Jim.
"Well, they came to me first, but I knew you were the better man for the job," said Taran with a grin, and Jim laughed a bit. "So, you up for it?"
"That depends. When am I leaving, returning, and how dangerous is this mission going to be?" questioned Jim, seriously considering the offer.
"If you took up the offer, you'd leave the day after tomorrow, choose your own crew no more than six members needed of course, be gone a few months… long enough to figure out the plans to your wedding, and it's a low threat voyage to the whole crew," explained Taran, and Jim thought about it. "Oh, and did I mention its great pay?"
Jim looked up, having an interested expression on his face. "Yeah?"
"Think about it…" started Taran, as he put his hands on Jim's shoulders, leaning in, kind of whispering in his ear. "You'll be set the rest of your life… no worries… no need for any other missions… unless you wanted to take them… and best of all… you won't have to depend on your wife to support you."
The last topic jumped around in Jim's mind for a moment. Did he really want to be the type of guy who had to depend on his wife's inheritance to support their family? Sure, it could support them both, but he was never the type of guy to just sit back and take anything. He always earned what he received. "I'll do it," finally came out of his mouth, and he shook Taran's hand.
"Do what?" questioned Jen, finally intervening.
"I've got my next mission," said Jim, who now had Taran's arm around his shoulders.
"Great. I'll let them know, and tomorrow you can come on down and pick out your crew," explained Taran.
"I don't need to do that. I've already got my crew right here," replied Jim with a smile.
"You do?" asked Taran, a bit confused.
"Yeah… of course, only if they want to come," said Jim, looking over at his friends.
"You know we're behind ya, Jimbo," responded Silver, with Morph on his shoulder repeating, "Right behind ya. Right behind ya."
"We wouldn't miss it for all the gold in the galaxy, Jimmy," chimed in B.E.N.
"Well, it seems I can't change your mind about them, but what about you making one little change to your roster, and letting an old friend join your crew?" asked Taran, smiling.
Jim could not hide the smile coming to his face. "Of course you can come, Taran. It'll be just like the days at the Academy."
"Yup, just like them…. Well, I hate to do this, but I best be off and getting ready for our little adventure," started Taran, and he took Jen's hand and kissed it. "Congratulations once again," and he then leaned in and kissed her cheek… ever so close to her lips, which made Jen swoon once more.
"You know, if you weren't my best friend, I might think that you were trying to steal my fiancé away from me," said Jim with a knowing grin.
"It's a good thing we're friends then," said Taran with a wink. "Well, have a good evening, everyone," and with that he took his leave.
"I should probably head home as well, Jim," said Jen, motioning towards the door ever so subtly.
Jim nodded his head and then looked at the others. "Well, I'm going to take her home now. I'll be back later," he said and kissed Sarah on the cheek.
B.E.N. went over to Jim and started to shake his hand with much enthusiasm. "Congratulations once again… and are you sure you're not having a baby?" he questioned once more.
"Yes!" said Jim, exasperated, as he pulled his hand away from the crazy robot. "We're sure. Good night, everybody," and he led Jen out the door.
"Jim?" began Jen after a few moments after they began their walk.
"Yes?"
"Do I look pregnant?" she asked, stopping and looking over her-self.
Jim just laughed and shook his head, then led her back to her house.
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Well, it is time to get ready for this new adventure. So, just sit back, relax, and let us get under way.
Also, do not forget to leave a lovely little review. ;)
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PearlSparrow13 and Sarah- Your wishes have been granted, and I hope you are still enjoying the store.