Author's Note: My dad is watching Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. hehehe. Sorry about the delay in the chapter. Is it wednesday yet? I wanna know if Lindsay refuses Danny on CSI NY? That would be heartbreaking because a lot of people want them together. Also... Emador has a new story. Go read it.

Bah's car turned at the corner near the Bloomington Ice Arena. It was almost eight in the morning and practice was in forty-five minutes. In the car, Bah was listening to Rizzo's concern over the fact that his sister, who had just gotten engaged a week before, might be too young to be even engaged. Ralph was in the back seat, but was leaning on the front seat to listen to Rizzo. Olivia, Rizzo's sister, was only twenty-one, but to Rizzo he felt like she was throwing away her freedom to be young.

"Riz, is she happy?" Bah asked.

Rizzo nodded. "I'm concerned about the guy. He's two years older than her, does he feel the way about her the same way she feels about him? I don't know."

Ralph put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you worried that he might just be taking advantage of her?"

"When they first dated, she was eighteen," Rizzo told them. "Fresh in college, she…"

"They've been together for three years?" Bah asked when turning into the parking lot.

Rizzo sighed. "No. The guy was playing football that first year and they met at a party. I think he was just using her the first time, because he would get mad that she wouldn't do anything more than kiss."

"I would have kicked his ass."

"I'm just glad I was there for her. The guy reminds me of OC. Don't get me wrong, OC's one of my best friend's, but I know how he thinks. I just don't want Olivia to get hurt again."

Bah parked the car, turned off the engine, and got out. When they got their bags from the trunk, that's when he told Rizzo what he thought. "Have you told her this?"

Rizzo shook his head. "She's too happy to listen to what I have to say."

Ralph put a hand on his shoulder. "I bet she'd listen."

"She has said that he's changed from the guy he was when they first met."

"Rizzo, talk to her," Ralph said, when they walked into the lobby. "That way she knows that her big brother is worried about her and she knows what you're thinking."

Rizzo didn't say anything for a minute. "I know she'd be happy for me if I told her I proposed to Donna. I didn't, but I know she would be."

"Olivia is a big girl. She can take care of herself."

"But she's still my little sister."

"And always will be."

They reached the locker room, opened the door and was greeted with a sight that they see everyday, the guys talking and getting ready for practice. Ralph placed his bag down next to his locker, which was the last one. Rob was putting his shoulder pads on, but was talking to Buzz. Ralph went to start getting his uniform on.

"Hey Buzzy! Are you ready to tell your wife that you lost all your money to me?" Bah asked from his locker.

Buzz looked over at him. "Actually I'm ready to tell her I brought home extra cash for our savings."

Ralph and Rob both chuckled. Since it was Friday, the guys decided to have a poker night. More like a poker weekend. Ralph wanted to join in the fun, so when he told the plans to Avery, she didn't mind. They made plans for Monday.

"Are you in Coxie?" Pav asked.

"You know it?' he replied.

"Avery doesn't have a problem with not going out tonight or tomorrow?" Christian asked.

Ralph shook his head. "She said to have fun."

"No hissy fit?"

Ralph sighed, "No. She's not like that."

"Guys, Avery is cool," Bah told them.

The guys dropped the subject of Avery, but kept on talking about the poker game. However, a few minutes later, Verchota mentioned taking a girl to a make-out spot. Of course he gave a few details about what happened. The guys who were interested listened, and the guys who weren't interested, talked about other things. By the time they headed out to the ice, the conversations had ended.

The guys do five laps around the ice before they start working out. When Ralph finished with his, Jimmy skated up. "Hey."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

Jimmy looked down at the ice. "Do you know who the guy that Val is dating?"

Ralph shook his head. "I didn't even know she was dating someone."

"Apparently it's long distance."

"I didn't know you were interested."

Jimmy smiled. "Val's cool. She's funny."

"Nice."

Before Jimmy could respond, Herb blew his whistle. For some of the guys, they always want to say 'again'. When Norway happened, Herb was tough on them and now to them whenever they hear the whistle, they feel like saying it. "Coxie, do you mind finding out about them? I'm curious is all."

"I'll ask Avery next time I see her," Ralph said before Herb blew the whistle again.

vvv

"Courtney was thrilled you came to the party last week," Julia said on her side of the phone.

Avery smiled. 'Tell her it was no problem."

"Did you have fun?"

"The party was crazy, but I did have fun."

"I heard you ran into Drew."

"Drew was drunk…trashed."

"I also heard you ran into Steve."

"Ralph's surprised that he's a geek."

Julia laughed. "What did he think he'd look like?"

"He said Jimmy."

"Oh, speaking of Jimmy… is Val seeing someone?"

Avery sighed inwardly. "Well… in truth… she hasn't really said anything." She closed her eyes. The question of Val dating someone has come up, but it's only been directed to Val. Avery hated to dodge a question. If she could, she'd say who. She was proud of Val.

"But you guys live with one another."

"I'll ask next time I see her. Maybe she's not. She's probably not interested in Jimmy and she didn't want to hurt his feelings."

"That's true. You know what? I'll talk to Val next time I see her. You don't have to ask for me."

"Um… ok."

"Any plans this weekend with Ralph?" Julia asked changing the subject in a flash.

"No."

"Why not? Do they have a game this weekend?"

"No. They're having a poker tournament this whole weekend. So we're doing something on Monday."

"Do you wanna hang out this weekend?"

"Sure. What do you wanna do?"

"I don't know."

Avery smiled. "Ok." There was a knock on the door to the apartment. "Hey, can you hold on. There's someone at the door."

"Maybe it's Ralph realizing poker is boring and wanted to be with you instead."

"Right, I'll be right back." Avery placed the phone down on the counter. She looked through the peephole and gasped. Opening the door, she smiled at the visitors. "Mom! Dad! What… this is a nice surprise." She let them in, but was even more surprised when Kimberly, Kevin, and Rice came through the door. "They made you guys come along?"

Kimberly made a face. "They didn't give me any choice. Not that I didn't want to see you."

Avery smiled. "I'm glad everybody is here." She gave them the one minute sign and went back to the phone. She told Julia that had to go, told her why, and went back to where her family was.

"Was that Ralph?" Kim asked.

"No… Julia." Avery looked over at her parents. Mr. Lucas was smiling. "What?"

Mr. Lucas shrugged and went to hug her. "I'm just happy you're seeing someone. Will we be meeting him?"

"Not this weekend."

"A game?" Mrs. Lucas asked.

"No. Poker weekend with all the guys."

Kevin looked up from the hand held game he was playing. "Who?"

Kim rolled her eyes. "You're such an idiot."

Rice agreed. "All he ever does lately is…"

Kevin took one of the couch pillows and clonked Rice in the face. "Shut up."

"Hey!" Mrs. Lucas yelled. When Kevin looked over at her, she gave him the mom death glare. Looking back at Avery she shook her head. "They've been like this all the way up here."

Avery smiled. "Are you staying here?"

"Actually, we are staying at a hotel this trip. We're leaving Sunday after breakfast," Mrs. Lucas told her daughter.

"Are you sure?" Mrs. Lucas nodded. "Ok."

"Did you eat dinner yet?" Mr. Lucas asked.

"Not yet."

The family went to dinner that evening. They caught up on things, especially Kevin about Ralph. He questioned 'since when did she start dating jocks' and getting a response back from Kim… 'since you started dating a plastic doll', which Mrs. Lucas scolded both kids. When they dropped her off that night, Kim wanted to send the night. The second they entered the apartment, Jim sighed in relief.

"They didn't give me a chance to say no. They didn't even call. They showed up at the dorm and practically threw my clothes in a bag. There was a party this weekend at a dorm. I wanted to go. There's this guy in one of my classes and in passing we've flirted a little." Kim's response was to Avery's question about 'was it crazy on the way up?'

They talked until Val came home which was pretty late. Val was surprised to see Kim and then was excited to find out that the Lucas' were in town. Avery mentioned the deal with Jimmy, and it gave Val the heads up.

vvv

"So you're not joining us tonight?" Bah asked Ralph as he put his shoes on.

Ralph nodded. "I should quit while I'm ahead."

Bah shook his head. "Nobody thought they'd loose their money to you."

Ralph smirked. "Thank you, thank you."

"What are you guys going to do today?" Bah asked him.

Ralph shrugged. "I told her we'd do something Monday. She doesn't know I'm heading over."

Bah took a bit of his breakfast. "Being spontaneous, I see."

"You bet. I just hope she doesn't have any plans." Ralph stood up and said bye before exiting the room. On the way to the apartment in the borrowed car he asked Bah for, he listened to the radio, humming along. It was a good day. When knocking on the door, he was actually anxious to see how surprised she'd be. What he wasn't expecting was a younger version of her.

"Who is it?" The young girl shrugged before being replaced by Avery. "Hey." She stepped out into the hall, closed the door a tad, and gave him a hug. "Are you on a break?"

Ralph smiled. "I won last night and I decided to surprise you. What do you have planned for today? I was thinking the zoo, but it seems like you already have plans."

Avery was about to respond when the door opened all the way. Mr. Lucas stood there, smiling and looking at them. He extended his hand and while shaking Ralph's he told him who he was.

Ralph nodded. "Oh, it's nice to meet you."

"Please join us for breakfast."

Before Ralph followed Mr. Lucas in, he looked at Avery. She gave him a small smile. Ralph was introduced to the whole family. They ended up talking about them coming down, where he's from, how the team is doing. Eventually they ended up deciding to go to the zoo. "Spend the day with us." Avery was sure Ralph would decline, but was for it.

When they entered the parking lot for the zoo, they were handed a map. Mrs. Lucas read off the locations. The zoo was only open until four, so they weren't going to be able to see everything. They decided to go on the Tropics trial after a vote of what sounded fun. Avery's nervousness of how Ralph would feel around her family faded. The family kept talking to him, and he kept talking to them.

The first animal that the group came upon was a Tamarin. This weird looking creature was from Colombia. It has acute eye sight, good hearing, and good sense of smell. When they came upon a python, Rice wouldn't even go near the glass. They got to see a Komodo dragon, thornbill, a really weird bear cat called a Binturong, a green aracari, a Japanese Macaque, and many other different exotic animals. They were done with the exhibit at around lunch time, so they headed to a place in the park. Then after, they headed to Discovery Bay.

Before dinner they stopped at a putt-putt place they saw on the way there. During that time, the younger kids were in a competition. Ralph took the time to get to know them to actually stop them from fighting. Avery was impressed that he would get to know them. Even at dinner he took the time to get to know Mr. and Mrs. Lucas and Kim. By the time they got back to the apartment, he had everyone wanting him to stay a little more, which he did. They played scrabble.

When Avery walked Ralph out to the car, she thanked him for staying. He told her that he had fun and that it was a pleasure. They hugged, they kissed, they still made plans for Monday. When Avery got back, the parents told her that he was a nice guy. Approval equals a happy Avery.