Thanks for all the reviews. I'm really far behind on reading fics. I see that there are a lot of new ones and updated old ones that I need to check out...if only there were more time in the day or I didn't have to work.


When Wheeler and Vera arrive back at the church, it is nearly full with guests and the bridesmaids and groomsmen were standing in the hallway chatting.

"There you are," Linka says. "I thought maybe you had talked Wheeler into running away with you."

"No, we just went for a walk down the street to the sanctuary to see if we could spot any of the animals from outside the gate. We couldn't. I asked him to come with us tomorrow though, but he can't because he's going home," Vera rattles on. "So he invited me to come visit him in Australia…well, actually, he invited us, but I told him you work a lot, but can I go?"

For a minute, Linka isn't quite sure she's hearing correctly…Wheeler invited them, BOTH of them to come visit him? Maybe Vera misunderstood what he said. She does not want him to feel obligated to uphold his promise, or to oblige Vera's misunderstanding.

"Mamma…can I?" Vera asks, bringing Linka back to the present.

"Oh, uh…" She looks up at Wheeler who offers her a guilty smile. "We will talk about it later. It is almost time to start, so go with Rukia and get your baskets."

"Ok," she says before excitedly hurrying off with Gi's daughter. "Hey Rukia, guess what…I'm going to Australia with Uncle Wheeler."

Linka is surprised to hear her daughter use this term of endearment with someone she has just met. She called the other Planeteers her "aunt" and "uncles" but she had been around them before and Linka has talked of them frequently. But she has never mentioned Wheeler other than saying there was a fifth Planeteer, but everyone had lost touch with him. And yet her daughter, who has always been a loner and distant had taken to Wheeler immediately, as if she knew there was more to him.

"Sorry," Wheeler says. "I should have asked you first if it was ok. She just seemed so disappointed that I couldn't come with you guys tomorrow. And she loves animals…I figured she could see a lot of animals in Australia that she can't see anywhere else…they have a pretty awesome zoo too."

"Da, I know…you did not have to offer though. She can be a handful…you should not have to deal with that."

"Yeah…about that…I told her to take it easier on you. I kinda got the impression that she liked to give you a hard time."

"You were right…but you could probably sense that because you were so good at it for so many years," she teases.

"Yeah well…I tried to get her to see where you were coming from…that it can't be easy raising a kid…alone."

"You know?"

"She kinda mentioned off hand that her dad split. She thought you blamed her for it."

"She what? I don't…I never said that!" Linka stammers, stunned by this new revelation.

"I know you didn't Ba- - uh, Linka. It's just…kids…they're perceptive…but sometimes they see things differently than how they are. They interpret things differently."

"Wheeler, they are ready for us up front!" Ma-Ti says as he heads towards the front of the church to stand with Kwame.

"Alright," he says before turning back to Linka, giving her a smile, and then following Ma-Ti.

"Wheeler?"

He stops and turns.

"Thank you. For keeping Vera entertained, making her a little happier to be here, and for…for everything."

"You're welcome…oh and Linka?"

She raises an eyebrow and waits for him to continue.

"You look…really nice."


To Be Continued...I know, I know...it's too short, but it made better sense to end it there and not continue onto the next part (because then it would be too long).