Happy at least one of her parents was cheered up, Cici crept over to the water bottle, hands behind her back as she approached Brain. "What's wrong, daddy?" she asked softly, figuring exuberance was not what he needed at the moment, given how he'd snapped at Pinky. Her ears twitched as Pinky's laughter passed them, his running taking him towards the sink. He wasn't going as fast as usual though, actually giving Brie a chance to try and catch him.

Brain's gaze followed the sound, his ears twitching and his scowl deepening. "Hm. Nothing's wrong."

"There must be. You don't just get mad for no reason." She crossed her arms as she watched him, taking note of the creased brow. "You did say you didn't want to play with him."

"I don't." He turned his scowl on her, though it softened a bit when he noticed her stance. Incorrigible brat. "That activity is childish and pointless, as are the majority of Pinky's games." He heard his sister's squeal of laughter, looked over in time to see her and Pinky tumble into the sink and his glare turned into more of a glower.

"But what do you expect from a childish mouse?" She blinked, following his gaze to the sink. "He needs somebody to play with if you won't." Though come to think of it, it only seemed to bother him when it was her aunt who played with him. As she watched Pinky climb out of the sink, reaching out to help Brie up while giggling madly, Cici took a step closer to her father figure.

"Oh, fun-fun silly-willy!" Pinky chirped, grabbing Brie's arms and spinning them around.

"I'm aware," Brain grumbled, tearing his gaze away from them while the ridiculous jealousy burned in his gut. "Pinky's free to play with whoever he likes as he always has been."

"Then why are you sad about it?" Cici pressed, trying to meet his eyes. Her parents' relationship had always been a strange one, but it was very them at the same time. She knew the bops to the head were good things. She knew that Brain never really meant the words he said, and neither did Pinky when he'd inadvertently mention Brain's height or the size of his head. Or being chubby. But they weren't nearly as affectionate as the parents she saw on TV. Well, Pinky was but that was just Pinky. What she didn't understand was if Brain really wanted to play with Pinky secretly, why didn't he just do it? They were married, weren't they? Like parents tended to be? It wouldn't be strange for them to do things like that for no reason.

Brain looked down at her, the scowl fading into a frown. "Sad?" That was ridiculous. He certainly wasn't sad about Pinky playing with someone else, particularly not when it was his sister. It upset him, perhaps. Somewhat. In a very small, very vague sense. He fought the urge to look back at the two of them, not wanting a flare of jealousy to tell him otherwise.

Before Brie had come along, before Cici, it had just been the two of them. An odd extra person now and again, but it would always go back to normal quickly enough. Even when they'd had - created - Roman, he'd been gone in a handful of days. But with their daughter that had changed and now with Brie it was changing further. He even saw more of their clone than he had before the child had come into their lives. And perhaps a small part of him missed that and the occasional moments where he simply had no choice but to play some insipid game with Pinky, if only because there was no one else to play with.

He reached out and gave Cici a pat on the head. "Of course it doesn't make me sad. It keeps him out of my fur."

"Okay..." She didn't quite believe him, but supposed sad wasn't the correct feeling. Though she already knew he wasn't mad, he'd be yelling if that were the case. Maybe he just missed him. "You guys should have special mommy and daddy time, when you're not taking over the world. Then maybe he'll stay out of your fur easier," she suggested, nodding at her own pearl of wisdom.

He gave her ear a small flick, the closest he had ever or would ever come to bopping her, as his color rose. "Special mommy and daddy time" shouldn't even be something she was aware of, though he was fairly positive she didn't know the full implications of what she had just said. They hadn't quite gotten to that section of biology, since the discussion of the difference between males and females had led to Pinky in tears when Cici had innocently told him that he wasn't a mommy. "Taking over the world is all the special time Pinky and I need together, little miss."

She giggled and brushed her ear. "Okay, if you're sure." Maybe they did play some games when out doing the plans. Not like she knew since she never got to go.

"My turn to chase you now, sister dear! I'll count to five! Poit. Oh, wait, that's too high... I'll count to two!"

"How many numbers do you think he'll put between one and two this time?" Cici asked, grinning as she looked past Brain to see Pinky crouched in his ready position.

"The real question is how much of what he says will even be an integer." Brain looked back at him, shaking his head when Pinky's rump wiggled playfully. The flare in his gut had nothing to do with jealousy but was just as unwelcome.

"One, seven, twelve, four, triangle, fish, ummm..." Pinky blinked, pursing his lips as he scrunched up his face in thought. "Umm... Brain?" he called out, "What comes next?"

There was some satisfaction in knowing that Pinky still called his name first when he needed something, no matter how many others were around. He waited a moment since Brie hadn't bothered to start running until Pinky had given up, allowing her a headstart. "Two, Pinky. Two comes next."

"Right, Brain! Two! Ready or not, here I come! Narf!" Pinky bounded after Brie, narrowly missing running smack dab into his parents, who had stopped their own game to watch the other two mice.

Brie looked over her shoulder, running in zag-zag patterns in an attempt to confuse the mouse, her giggles breathless. Pinky was too fast for her otherwise and she wanted to keep this game going as long as possible. It was easier to forget that her parents were around - so unapologetic, so unfeeling about what they'd done to her - when she was running, when she had something to do. She would so happily dart out the window and flee, but Pinky's parents had provided a welcome distraction, and she didn't want to leave Brain alone to face them.

The zig-zagging did confuse him at first, but Pinky quickly caught up. Before she could confuse him even more, he tackled her and they rolled across the counter right back over to the cage. "Checkmate!" Pinky cheered as he giggled once they came to a stop.

Laughing, she gave him a thrilled hug. "You win. You always win." With a happy kiss to his cheek, she gave him a shove. "Off."

Ducking his head bashfully, he got up and pressed a hand to his cheek, waving his other hand at her. "Ohhh, sister dear," Pinky laughed, not often being on the receiving end of kisses either, then helped Brie to her feet. "You're getting much faster! You'll win soon."

"It's not about winning." His mother put in her two cents, wrapping an arm around her husband. Though she didn't make to finish the saying.

"It's about food pellets and softness and cheese," his father added, nodding with each listed item.

"Food pellets? Where?" Pinky's mother started looking around, picking up Sis to check if they were under her.

"The important things in life." Brie giggled, releasing Pinky once she was up. "And I'm not getting faster. You slowed down."

Pinky simply brushed himself off. "I don't know what you're talking about. Poit." His attempt at nonchalance was interrupted a beat later by his own panic. "You can't prove anything!"

With another giggle, she gave him a pat and stepped into the cage. "I have witnesses."

"You did, Pinky. I saw, you went slower." Cici nodded, going over to her aunt, laughing as he turned up his head and crossed his arms as if insulted. It didn't last long, however. His giddy smile soon broke through and he swept up the little mouse onto his shoulders.

Brain frowned, moving away from the water bottle now that they'd returned, but he hesitated when both of his parents seemed to come out of nowhere, appearing on either side of his sister. Brie's ears wilted and she looked between them. "Um... What?"

"We can't congratulate our daughter?" her mother said, a gleam in her eye that was similar to the gleam Brain got when he got inspiration for a plan.

"Congratulate...?"

Her father nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Well, of course. We'd almost given up hope on you after all, but you turned out alright. We like this one."

"Like what one for what?"

"I told you - just like your father's side. Short and a little slow in the head." The mother tapped her brow, just beneath the helmet that allowed her speech. She gestured to Pinky. "He's a good choice. He's a looker, he's funny..."

The implication dawned and Brie shook her head rapidly. "Wait, hang on-"

"And great with kids. Hopefully that height will come through in yours." Her father added. "We knew you had it in you all along. Good job."

Only focusing on the praise for the time being, Pinky threw up his arms and smiled at her. "Hooray! Good job, sister dear!" He felt Cici's hold tighten around his neck, the squeeze bringing him back to the context of what they were actually saying. "Wait... poit. Who is this again?"

"They mean you, kitsel."

"See? You even gave him a nickname." Her mother patted her head, pleased, while Brain quietly fumed a few feet away.

"That doesn't mean Pinky and I... No!" She shook her head vehemently, taking a step away. "I would never try and take Pinky away from Brain!"

With a gasp, Pinky darted over to grab onto Brain, nearly jostling their daughter off his back. Still not quite grasping the situation, a few things registered. He hugged his cagemate tightly and Cici took the opportunity of almost stillness to hop down to the floor though still grabbing onto his tail for safe-keeping, while Pinky rocked Brain back and forth. "Egad! Where I go, Brain goes! Zort! Wait, where am I going?"

"You aren't going anywhere, you imbecile!" Brain managed, trying to wriggle out of the too-tight embrace. "Pinky, let me breathe!"

"See?!" Brie pointed at them, eyes wide and a little panicked. She'd never even considered Pinky in that way. "I can't marry Pinky! He's already married!"

"Yes I am! We both are! We even have an anniversary coming up," Pinky informed them, relaxing his grip enough so it was no longer physically painful for Brain. He still refused to release him though, choosing to nuzzle him affectionately in place of the squeezing.

"He is? We are?" Brain looked up at Pinky, color flooding his cheeks when this caused Pinky's nose to rub against his. "We do?!" While it was fairly obvious to the rest of them, he'd been struggling so hard to not put Pinky in that context that it came as a surprise. His blush deepened when the nuzzling didn't stop.

"Oh, yes, Brain. I was going to tell you, but I kept forgetting. You know me with remembering." He laughed, finally pulling away so he could look him in the eyes. "But sister dear said she'd help me. I'm planning something really special! I'm going to tell you how much I love you!" Beaming at his brilliant plan, it dawned on him that he just gave away the plan. "Oh, oops, wasn't supposed to say that yet."

"How much you... Pinky, I..." Trying to find something to distract from the situation, he glared over at his sister. "You were going to help him?"

She placed her hands on her hips, returning the annoyed stare. "Of course I was, you shmuk. He loves you and you love him too!"

Another gasp sounded from Pinky. "You do, Brain? Oh, I thought so!" And the nuzzling began again.

Cici simply stared up at them. "I thought mommies and daddies said they loved each other before they got married. And have kids."

Romy finally wandered over, carrying Sis, and set her down nearby. Now things were getting interesting. "I don't think they ever formally got married, Ceece."

"How are they supposed to do it correctly with Brain living a closet?" Brie muttered and he laughed.

Brain was just stunned. Had they really all been thinking...? Even Pinky?! "That's... It isn't the time for this," he tried, but had to tilt his head when Pinky's nuzzles found his neck. That didn't feel bad at all, and he had to struggle against annoyance when he paused.

"I think you have him confused with the mop, sister dear," Pinky giggled. "Brain lives in the cage with me!" There was a sharp tug on his tail. "And Cici. Poit."

"Mops! If you don't watch out, they'll steal your socks," Pinky's mother warned, his parents finally joining the group.

"You can't make puppets without good socks," his father put in, stuffing an entire food pellet into his mouth.

Romy made a face. "Yeah, I know. Glarb."

"You know, I was wondering about that. I'll just have to ask the mop for them back then. Troz." Pinky finally set Brain down, sensing his discomfort. He stayed close to him though, arms clasped behind his back as he smiled at him.

Brain could only stare at him, entirely uncertain of his ground at the moment. Pinky loved him and thought they were married. He'd never been interested in his sister and from how vehemently she'd dismissed the idea of being romantically attached to him, she was clearly uninterested in him. Brain felt an immense relief over this new information that he simply didn't want to feel. It only served to confirm exactly what she'd said - he loved Pinky. With a hard swallow, he took a step away. This wasn't the time to be thinking along these lines.

"That doesn't look like Brain loves him," his mother interjected suddenly and Brain looked over to see her folding her arms, head shaking. "And he wasn't chasing after him like a married mouse should. You were." She glanced down at Brie, who straightened to her full, unimpressive height.

"It's different with Pinky! It's just a game!"

"Poit." Pinky tilted his head at the mother's observation. "I play with sister dear the same way I play with Sis or Cici. It's only serious playing with Brain. It's different." He glanced over his shoulder at his cagemate, eyes bright. "And he always looks like that! It's just how he is. Grumpy-grumbly!"

Pinky stealing his notes or his pencil to force Brain to play was him being serious...? Brain scowled, crossing his arms, and looked away from Pinky because he had to in order to get this out. "How I show... affection is entirely between Pinky and I. And I don't appreciate the rest of you," his glare lingered on Brie, "gossiping about it."

Brain's father looked to his wife. "Well, there goes that. We're still short a son-in-law." He eyed his son suspiciously. "Though we would've appreciated an invitation to the wedding. Or at least a call. Where was your head, boy?"

Brain threw his hands up, frustrated. "There hasn't been a wedding! Pinky and I aren't married yet!" Yet. His own phrasing ringing in his ears, the megalomaniac buried his face in his hands.

"You've been having children out of wedlock? We raised you better than that," his mother scolded and Brain looked up again.

"You hardly raised me, mother. I was taken even before I'd been properly weened."

Brie blinked, cocking her head to the side. That explained a lot.

"Don't take that tone with your mother." Their father reprimanded. "You're walking a fine line, mister. Don't make me separate you."

Having heard that phrase before, directed at Pinky usually, Cici glanced up at her brother with a furrowed brow. "What does that even mean?" It made sense in the context of siblings fighting or wrecking havoc, but when applied to only one person... it just sounded silly.

"No idea, kid." He picked her up, setting her on top of the wooden spool. "Here. Aunt Sis wants to hold you. Narf."

Cici merely blinked down at her, still unsure of whether or not Sis could actually communicate with everyone. She was used to Pinky talking to inanimate things, but with his parents and Romy all joining in made her second guess her assumption that she couldn't.

Pinky was still scratching his head, stuck on the bit about them having kids. "Why would we want to put them in a lock? That doesn't seem very nice. They're not all that spacious. And they're for keys, aren't they?"

Annoyed, Brain grabbed his muzzle and dragged him down. "It means we had Romy and adopted Cici before being technically married." He released Pinky with a scowl. "Which hardly matters."

"Of course it matters. Kids need a stable environment, can't get that if their parents haven't even had proper vows." Brain's father shook his head. "What if one of you just took off? How would you explain that?"

"Took off what?" Pinky blinked, rubbing his nose absently.

"Left, Pinky. He's suggesting that one of us might leave and not return." Fur bristling, Brain shifted closer to his cagemate. "Which neither of us would do."

"You can't say that for sure," his mother argued. "It's easy to leave when there aren't any strings."

"I have plenty of reasons to stay with Pinky!" he snapped and Brie had to bite her lip to keep the snickers at bay. Oh, he was just coming out of that closet in leaps and bounds now.

Pinky mimicked Brain's frown, raising a fist to the air. "Yeah! Poit! And I would never leave either!"

"You can't anyway, Pinky. You don't know how to open the cage." Cici pointed out.

"That may be so, but even if I could, I... umm... what was I saying?" He looked to his daughter for a hint, scowl gone and confusion replacing it.

"You won't leave?"

"Right! And I trust Brain!" Pinky concluded, hands on his hips with a satisfied nod. "We have all sorts of strings! Red ones and green ones and purple ones too!"

"Fine, fine, but what about these two?" Brain's mother demanded, gesturing at Cici and Romy.

"What about them?! Roman lives with his girlfriend and knows that he's free to return to the cage whenever he needs," Brain snapped and didn't notice the way Romy's eyes widened. He knew that was true as far as Pinky went, but to hear it from his dad was news. "As for Cici, I would never abandon her! She's my daughter and I happen to care about my children, which is a trait I don't believe I inherited from either of you."

Furious, on a roll, Brain pointed at his father, glaring daggers when he opened his mouth. "Do not interrupt me. I am the future ruler of this world and I will not be overruled or overrun by two mice who would abandon their own children without a second thought! I was two weeks old and running to you and neither of you did a thing to help me! Brie was four months old and you didn't even tell her you were planning on going! That's callous and cruel and I am not going to leave the family I love for any-" He cut himself off then, realizing abruptly that he was being stared at in plain shock by everyone except Pinky and his parents, the latter of whom seemed to have located the food pellets and were quite unperturbed by the argument.

Oh. He lowered the hand he'd been pointing with, tapped his fingertips together. "For any... reason," he finished lamely, ears falling.

Cici and Romy exchanged glances, their mouths still relatively agape, while Brain's parents remained stunned into silence, a very strange occurrence for them. Pinky, however, just grinned brightly and practically beamed with pride at his "husband." He leaned down, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and pulling him into a half-hug. "Well done, Brain! Couldn't have said it better myself! Poit," he praised, rubbing their cheeks together.

This broke the youngest mouse from her stupor. She climbed down off Sis and dashed over to Brain's other side, sandwiching him between her and Pinky. "I love you too, daddy!" She grinned, holding tight to his arm.

His cheeks, already reddening just from the realization of what he'd been saying, deepened considerably with the affection from Pinky and the words from Cici. It only worsened when Romy joined them, rubbing the top of Brain's head. "That was so narf, dad."

It was serving as an adjective now. Wonderful. But he couldn't quite work up enough irritation to overrule the mortification. "Yes, well... Ahem."

Brie only smiled, leaning against Sis. "Careful, you guys. Brainiac looks like he's about to pop." The nickname was delivered with affection lacing her tone. He was angry on her behalf. Who knew?

"Egad, Brain! Don't pop!" Pinky let go immediately, grabbing Cici and holding her out of the way above his head, sending the little mouse into a fit of giggles. "Who will ask me if I'm pondering what you're pondering if you pop?"

"I'm not literally going to pop." Though the sudden absence had him tilting to the side abruptly enough that Romy had to reach out and steady him to keep him from toppling over. The irritation of that helped immensely, lowering the intensity of the blush. "Brie's exaggerating."

"No, she's a mouse." Pinky blinked, but calmed down enough to place Cici back down on the ground.

"A mouse? Where?" His mother looked around frantically. "Call the ghostbusters before it takes our food pellets!"

"Take our food pellets? That's rather rude, isn't it?" his father mused. "We'll have to tell the grasshoppers to keep watch."

With a soft groan, Brain buried his face in his hands. Could this evening be over already? It had been even more stressful than even he'd been expecting and certainly more mortifying.

"Well..." His father cleared his throat, glancing at his wife awkwardly. "Your mother and I have a flight to catch." Straightening and falling back into his typical, abrasive self, he gestured to the door. "And remember to fix that door of yours. It's still squeaking."

Brain gritted his teeth. Oh, of course. "While I'm at it, why don't I just patch the holes?" he snapped, but his sarcasm wasn't missed by his parents. Neither of whom were willing to snap back just then, so turned their attention on Brie.

"Don't slouch like that, missy. You'll never find a husband like that."

"She'll find a husband when she wants one!" That was enough. He'd had enough of all of them, absolutely all of them. While his parents exchanged glances and quickly vacated, each ready to talk about how rude their boy was once safely on their flight, Brain picked up Cici, gave her a squeeze and a nuzzle and shoved her at Romy.

"You and your aunt are having a slumber party at Roman's."

"Aw, man," Romy protested, but Brain was already moving on.

"Pinky, say goodbye to your parents and give them all the food pellets it takes to make them leave."

"Right, Brain!" Pinky saluted, spinning around to wave his parents over. "Goodbye to your parents and give them all the food pellets it takes to... to... ummm. Narf! What was that last part, Brain?"

"It doesn't matter, Pinky!" He jumped up and gave Pinky a bop since it made him feel better. "Just send them home!"

"Zort!" Pinky wobbled, then collected himself and nodded. "Oh, right. Mum! Dad!" Turning his attention to the pair of them, and Sis of course, he went over to hug them tightly. "Thank you so much for coming! You must visit again soon!"

His mother returned the embrace. "Of course, son. Just remember to brush your vitamins and take your ears."

"And don't forget to warn the elephants about the woozy-what's-its. Otherwise they'll get applesauce all over the kangaroos." The bespectacled mouse hefted up the wooden spool and gave it a pat. "Say goodbye, Sis." There was a beat of silence and all three of them teared up. "Always good with words, this one."

"Bye, Sis." Pinky sniffled, giving the spool her own separate hug and nuzzle. "Be good for mummy and dad."

Taking her husband's arm, the female mouse guided him out of the cage. "Come along, dear. I think I left the food pellets in the oven again."

"I do that all the time," Pinky sighed in understanding, wiping his eyes as his parents left the cage.

Thrilled to have both sets of parents gone, Brain grabbed his sister by the ear and tugged her over to his children. "Owowowowow-" When he released her, she gave it a rub, punching his shoulder with her free hand. "You shmuk."

He pointed at the door. "Out. We'll come and get you tomorrow night." Brie started to smile, gaze flicking between him and Pinky, and he narrowed his eyes at her. "I suggest you keep that thought to yourself."

"Are you going to have special mommy and daddy time now after all, Brain?" Cici asked, reaching out to Pinky for a hug and kiss goodbye.

Brain fidgeted, some of his mad being replaced with discomfort. "You're entirely too young to know about the concept of 'special mommy and daddy time,' as you so eloquently put it."

Brie shrugged, rocking back on her heels. "I knew at four weeks. At least she doesn't know the whole of it."

"That's entirely different and it's poor parenting," he muttered, scowling, and was entirely unprepared for her hug.

"I love you, bro."

"That..." He patted her back awkwardly, the blush rising to his cheeks once more. "We can discuss it tomorrow."

"Goodnight," Pinky rubbed Cici's head, then gave Romy a hug, squishing the girl between them. "Sleep tight! Narf."

"Goodnight, mommy-daddy." Came the muffled voice from being pressed against his chest. When he released both children, she shook out her fur and gave him a look, rather reminiscent of Brain, before turning to her other father. "Goodnight, daddy."

"Goodnight, Cici." He reached out, frowning, and fixed her bow. "Thank you for behaving yourself tonight. I'm very... proud of you."

She ducked her head, a bashful yet pleased smile gracing her features. Which quickly became amused as Pinky waved his arms about. "I'm proud too!"

"Pinky, you would've been proud of her if she'd belched the alphabet," he grumbled. It wasn't a compliment or an insult, merely a statement of fact. He looked down at their daughter. "Do not learn how to do that."

Cici nodded, covering her mouth to smother her giggles. "Yes sir."

"Oh, but she'd be so good at it, Brain!" Pinky attempted to make him see reason, since clearly it made perfect sense for her to learn such a skill. "She has a lovely voice."

"I'll sing it for you instead, Pinky." She compromised, placating the taller mouse.

"Hooray!" He chirped, giving her one more kiss. "Okay, goodnight for real."

"Yes, goodnight. Go." Brain waved them away, giving his sister a last glare to prevent whatever she was going to say.

Instead, she bounded up to Pinky to pull him down. With a giggle, she kissed both his cheeks. "Now he knows you're boyfriends, but we can still plan something special for your anniversary," she whispered.

He blushed and giggled, pulling her in for a quick hug. "Oh, thank you, sister dear! Though I still don't remember when that is. Poit. I'll have to get back to you."

"We'll check when I get back tomorrow." She leaned back and gave him a pat, throwing an amused look at her brother when he cleared his throat.

"Are you quite through?"

She grinned. "Gonna take my place, bro?"

He narrowed his eyes and pointed to the cage door, but she'd succeeded in working another blush out of him. Oh, yeah, teasing him was going to get a lot more fun after this. "Out."

"Bye bye!" Pinky waved as the little group vacated the cage, kept on waving until they were out of sight. "Oh, that was fun, Brain! Almost as much fun as one of your plan thingies blowing up in our faces!"

Brain reached up and grabbed his ear, using it to pull him down. "Sometimes I wonder if the two of us have actually shared in the same experiences or if you're some sort of illusion." He released his ear. "Perhaps I'm in a mad house somewhere."

"Umm... isn't that the place you always say I belong in, Brain?" Rubbing his ear, Pinky straightened back up to cross his arms. "And I think I'd know if I was an infusion. Give me some credit."

Brain opened his mouth to retaliate, but shook his head. "Sometimes, you make it too easy for me, Pinky." He clasped his hands together and strode out of the cage, heading for the window to latch it and prevent any unwanted returns. Now that he was alone with Pinky, he could think again. And the predominant thing on his mind was his own exclamations of love and family.

His shoulders straightened with no small amount of pride. In his opinion, he was an excellent parent. Of course, the coddling was beyond him and he let Pinky get away with entirely too much, but he was an excellent parent nonetheless. His children were intelligent and, more, had been eager to learn. Even Romy had been, soaking up the knowledge Brain had placed before him like a sponge. And now Cici, who happily sat through his lessons... until Pinky got lonely and started to wander over. Once that happened, he knew to start wrapping her lessons up to let her go play. And he kept her safe.

As he locked the window, he nodded to himself. That was more important now than it had ever been before. His own parents were so... callous and cruel, just as he'd said. To think that they would try marrying his sister off so quickly and then lament the fact that they hadn't left her sooner. Weren't mice stigmatized enough already without the reminder that they were, in fact, wild animals? He came from field mice, and it was now a shade worse than embarrassing. Though it did give him a mission that he would keep to himself, even while he reveled in the pride that he was already succeeding. He was a much better parent than either of his own.

Now to the rest of it. The marriage part of it. He'd been fighting off these thoughts for quite a while now. He could tie the realization of it to a specific moment, but he imagined the stirrings had been occurring in some part of his mind long before he'd had to watch Pinky walking away with the devil, his soul traded and Brain's efforts to save him lost. But he'd buried those emotions, keeping them hidden rather firmly... until his memory-viewing machine had revealed that Pinky considered him to be home. That moment had brought those stirrings to the forefront of his mind, and they hadn't been pleased about being pushed back a second time.

He sighed, reaching out and resting a hand on the glass. He didn't have to look behind him to know that Pinky had followed. Pinky always followed. They were alone now and he could think, so perhaps it was time to think about these stirrings and their ramifications. "What makes you think we're married, Pinky?"

Blinking at their reflections in the window, the taller mouse fidgeted and twisted his lips as he thought. Why did he think they were married? It just seemed so obvious. "Well, we love each other, right Brain? We're best friends together, we live together, and we do fun things like try to take over the world together. And we have a family. Isn't that all what married people do?" Pinky clasped his hands behind his back, rocking on his heels as he smiled at Brain's reflection, even if he wasn't looking at him. "And married is forever. Poit. I think it sounds rather nice to spend forever with you."

He certainly wouldn't want to spend it with anyone else. He could hardly remember a time where the other mouse wasn't there. The thought of him one day leaving, like Mr. and Mrs. Brain's parents said, certainly crossed his mind, for he had done so on several occasions, though it was long before Romy or Cici. But he always came back. Pinky made sure he always came back. Sure, it would be lonely for a few days like when he left to make his own musical or to become a ski instructor, but it all worked out in the end. He trusted him after all.

"I want to spend forever with you, Brain."

Spending forever with Pinky was a given. Of course he was going to spend forever with him. That was almost married, but Pinky's list had neglected the more romantic elements of a marriage. But everything else... Yes, they had that. "Hm." He turned towards Pinky and tightly held himself in check. If Pinky was disinterested, things would continue on as normal and that would be perfectly alright. "Married people also indulge in romance."

"Oh, I know that, Brain. That's what the anniversary was supposed to be for!" Pinky told him as if it were obvious, gesturing towards him. "I was going to plan a lovely dinner with candles, that's supposed to be romantic, though I don't know why we have to eat with others present. I am rather shy outside of the bedroom, you know." He told him secretly, giggling a little and batting his eyelashes. "Now where was I? Ah, yes. Then we were going to go dancing! After that, a shared dessert where we only have one spoon! Or fork. I suppose it doesn't matter. Finally, to a rose petal bed where we do the second kind of sleeping! Did you know there are two different ways to sleep? One is sleeping and the other... well, I'm not quite sure what the other way is, but I think it has to do something with all the warm, tingly feelings I get around you. Especially when you wiggle against me all squirmy-wormy!" Pinky hugged himself and laughed out loud, swaying back and forth. "I really like that. Narf!"

Reminded of being caught together in the spring, Brain couldn't help the blush that flooded his cheeks. Pinky's actual plan didn't help anything either. It was ridiculous and cliched and... wonderfully Pinky. "I was... aware of the second kind of sleeping, yes. It involves... very little sleeping and quite a bit of... squirming."

"Oh, fun-fun silly-willy!" Pinky clapped his hands together, then leaned down to be eye level with Brain. "I was hoping you'd say that! Troz!" His blush intrigued him however, and his eccentric levels turned down a notch. Reaching out, he poked his cheek. "You're all cherry red like a cherry, Brain."

"It's stunning that you selected something of the correct hue," Brain grumbled, but the blush didn't recede. He was closer now, close enough, and they were alone. "I could... That is, we could..." Nervous, feeling some of those warm, tingly feelings Pinky had mentioned, he swayed forward and touched their noses together.

"Naaaaaaaaaarf." Pinky nuzzled him gently, asking in a quiet voice, "We could what, Brain?"

It was the gentleness and the quiet that tipped the scales, not unheard from Pinky, but unusual nonetheless. It had him sliding forward, hands lifting to Pinky's cheeks, to touch their lips together. It was light, brief, and left him quivering. It was a change, the start of an irreversible one. "We could try some of those romantic things now," he murmured.

"Fun-fun silly-willy," he said softly, donning his own matching blush. Pinky leaned in to return the favor, but couldn't help the small giggles against his lips. "I was hoping you'd say that. Poit." He wrapped his arms around Brain to pull him closer. "Happy Anniversary, Brain."

After this last change, there would be no more. Brain just wouldn't allow it. They would take this step, settle into a new routine with rules Brain approved of, and that would be that. With a determined little nod, he gave Pinky a small nuzzle. "Yes, well... Happy Anniversary."


Personally, my favorite chapter. Brain's explosion of feels and Pinky's adorableness and just... all the things! And their anniversary xD Oh, it makes me all fuzzy inside. I love it.

All that's left is our epilogue, guys! Which you can read if you so choose, but here's fair warning... it's very much full of "mommy and daddy time" xD C'mon, they've had so much pent up sexual frustration in this story (just one instance really... maybe two) that we had to give them some time alone together. Sooooo... think of it as their wedding night, the precursor to their honeymoon.

Which should be coming up next on StarShineDC's account. So keep an eye out for that!

Thanks for reading!