Note: ZIM has a cocky and sarcastic accent and whenever he sings it really bleeds through. Just thought that'd help you with imagining his voice. (Look up Frankie Lymon. ZIM's singing voice sounds like that. Later on in the story it will mature a bit more.)

Red's singing voice is like that of the lead singer of the band Fun. I think his name is Nate Ruess. His voice can be soft and sweet or loud and boisterous. (If you don't know who Fun. is then look them up and listen to some of their songs. Like 'We Are Young' or 'One Foot' or 'At Least I'm Not Sad As I Used To Be' or 'Some Nights' or something. The lead singer is what I portray Red's voice to sound like.) Later on ZIM's voice would change to sound more like Nate's (Red's) voice too. Cuz they're brothers and younger bros tend to take after their older ones.

The type of music ZIM and Red sing is much like the kind Fun. sings all the time. Kind of quirky, upbeat and all around fun to listen to.

HEED MY WARNING! There is a sex scene in this chapter. (Some of you are probably excited about that.) For those who aren't comfortable with it you may skip that portion indeed! I labeled it when it starts and when it ends. I also added some hints of Irken anatomy. Please respect my opinion on their organs and I'll respect you. I always thought of Irkens as hermaphrodites and that's what the Macales are going to be in this story just so the plot can thicken a bit more.

Also if you don't support Mpreg, I'm sorry. I don't really support it either but I'm gonna be hinting male pregnancy in this chapter. But keep in mind that male seahorses give birth, so why not male Irkens? I think this part of the story will give it an interesting plot twist, is all. Just keep an open-mind!

So without further ado! Here's looking at you, kid. (A new chapter for your reading enjoyment.)


June 6, 1997

2:45 AM

The shrill ring of a house phone pierced the silent atmosphere jolting everyone awake. Red groaned and got up to answer it. "Who the hell would call this early!" He heard ZIM yell from his room. Red was surprised that ZIM had even heard the phone ring. He was a heavy sleeper. Once sleeping through a sandstorm back in Australia. But now that he was awake he'll be very grouchy. Red stumbled over to answer the phone. He picked up the receiver and pressed it against his head.

"Whaaat?" Red mumbled tiredly. On the other end there was a sobbing noise and heavy breath. "Uh, can I help you?" Red asked a little more awake.

"Red! Oh thank God you picked up!" A woman's voice shouted. Red cocked a brow.

"Leslie? What's wrong?" Red asked.

"My mother! I spent the night with her because she was feeling ill! She just woke up and had a stroke, Red, I don't know what to do!" Leslie exclaimed.

"Did you call an ambulance?" Red asked, panicking.

"I did. They said they were on their way!"

"There's nothing more you can do, Les. Just wait till they get there. I'll be there in a few minutes to bring you to the hospital. Just stay calm!" Red said. He hung up the phone. Grabbing his keys he ran out the door shouting to everyone in the house that he was leaving. Red slammed his truck door and started his engine. "Oh Yahweh, Eil na rafa na la." Red prayed silently as he backed out of the driveway and sped toward Leslie's mom's house.

Five Days Later

Leslie leaned on Red's shoulder as she cried over an open grave. The minister prayed for the newly deceased woman. Red adjusted his black tie and put a comforting arm around his long time girlfriend. "Yit'gadal v'yit'kadash sh'mei raba, b'al'ma di v'ra khir'utei, v'yam'likh mal'khutei b'chayeikhon uv'yomeikhon, uv'chayei d'khol beit yis'ra'eil, ba'agala uviz'man kariv v'im'ru: Amein. Y'hei sh'mei raba m'varakh l'alam ul'al'mei al'maya..." Red said Kaddish quietly out loud so Leslie could hear. He continued to pray Kaddish in Hebrew. Leslie made a whining noise and pressed her face into Red's chest. He gently kissed the top of her head when he finished the prayer. He looked down at Gaz who was almost just as distressed. Once the casket was lowered into the grave the trio walked off. Red took hold of Gaz and Leslie's hand in a comforting manner. The Irken sighed knowing the next few days will be a living hell.

June 12, 1997

Leslie groaned and threw down the bill she was working on. She was being buried alive by papers from the IRS and other places that were making her pay for her mothers debt. "Five credit cards." Leslie grumbled. "She had five credit cards!" Red frowned on the other side of the table.

"Les, why don't you take a break. I can help you pay those bills." Leslie scowled at Red.

"I don't need your help! I can do this myself!" She snapped. Red shook his head.

"Leslie, you're stressed and need a break. Just let me help you." Leslie shoved her face in her face and cried.

"I can't do this Red! She is- … she was a quarter of a million dollars in debt!"

"That's okay!" Red said holding up his hands and walking over to her and kissing her cheek. "Leslie please, just calm down and I can help you." Leslie sniffed and nodded. She stood up and embraced Red tightly.

"Red, I can barely pay my own taxes and house bills. What do I do?" She asked. Red perked up with an idea.

"You are always welcome to live with us." Leslie pushed away from slightly.

"Really?" Red smiled and nodded. Leslie smiled back at him and kissed him.

"I was gonna tell you this awhile ago before your mother … you know, but I didn't want to upset you, but now that you're going to be moving in, I guess it doesn't matter."

"What is it?"

"We're moving back to Australia." Leslie was shocked.

"When?"

"Almost exactly a month from now." Leslie bit her bottom lip.

"Are you sure you want to take Gaz and I all the way there?" Red nodded.

"It's fine. Don't worry about these bills now. I'll take care of them." Leslie shook her head.

"I need to pay these on my own."

"Les, it's fine. What's mine is yours. Now go get ready for work." Red said. Leslie nodded and left the kitchen table to change into her uniform. She worked as a dental hygienist at a local dentist office. The pay was alright but it sure as heck wasn't enough to pay off her bills. Red sighed as she left.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Purple asked, tapping on Red's shoulder.

"Well, Leslie and Gaz are gonna move in with us." Purple beamed.

"Really? That's great."

"Yeah, Pur," Red said. "We're moving back to Australia soon." Purple frowned.

"Oh yeah," Purple said. "What am I going to tell Sam?" He asked. Red shrugged.

"Well, if you want, we don't have to sell this house and we can visit whenever we want." Red suggested. Purple nodded.

"Okay, she won't like it that you're taking me away from her though." Red rubbed his head.

"I know, I'm sorry, mate." Purple shrugged. Red looked down at the ground in thought. "We can visit America whenever you want to see her again." Red suggested.

"Yeah, I guess we could. Before we leave for Australia again I'm gonna take a holiday and visit my parents and sister in Montreal."

"Sure thing," Red said.

"Now if you'll excuse me. I need to make a phone call to Miss. Coi." Purple said sadly leaving the room. Red sighed. Darn them for getting too attached to this country.

July 1, 1997

"Is that some sort of mountain range surrounding this place?" Gaz asked, referring to the giant mountain range-like rocks surrounding Alice Springs.

"Nah, it's not surrounding the Alice all the way." ZIM said. Gaz looked around the city with squinty eyes.

"It's beautiful." She said.

"I missed it." Zee said, shutting her jeep door and walked up the driveway to their old house, unchanged from their last stay three years ago.

"This is a nice house." Leslie said gazing at the rather large home.

"Uh, thanks, it was my grandparents before they died."

"How?"

"Grandfather O.D.'d on prescription drugs and my grandmother is actually still alive living in an aborigines tribe up north more. If you want we can visit our families tribe." Leslie smiled and nodded.

"I'd love to."

"We visiting Nana Arnurna?" ZIM asked excitedly eavesdropping on his brothers conversation.

"Yes, soon, but right now we need to get settled in, 'kay?" ZIM pouted. Red pushed past him and unlocked the door and walked inside. "We need to call a maid! All dusty."

"Why don't you clean the house yourself?" Gaz asked. Red turned to her.

"Uh hello? That would be work." Red said sassily. ZIM chuckled a bit.

"We don't do that kinda work. We'll mess up. That's why we hire professionals." ZIM added. "C'mon Gaz, I'll show you your room." ZIM said entering the house all the way and bounding up the steps by the foyer. Gaz looked around the house. It was quite identical to the Macale's home in Silver Lake with it's tall ceiling and wide living room and windows everywhere. Gaz followed her friend up the steps.

January 15, 1998

ZIM dribbled the soccer ball between his feet as he ran up the sideline to the goal on the opposite end of the field. He had just recently joined a soccer team and was now one of their main strikers. It was a tie game and there was only three minutes left on the clock and ZIM's team was relying on him to make the winning goal. He ran with agility as he dodged the opponents. He was so close to the goal now. He readied himself to make the final kick into the net. Then, Thwack!

ZIM gasped, eyes rolling to the back of his head. He felt … dizzy. The last thing he saw before blacking out completely was a taller, large boy on his knee asking if he was alright.

Meanwhile

"Blimey, for not having played in a few years he's pretty good." Tak said to Gaz on the bleachers at the field. Gaz nodded.

"He's so gonna get the winning goal. You just wait and see."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he did." Tak said.

"You girls say that, but if ZIM is under pressure and determined, he tends to mess up." Red butted in. The two girls scoffed. Red rolled his eyes knowing it was true. They continued to watch. The crowd were on the edges of their seats to see what would happen next. His brother was getting close to the goal now. Red squinted to see a big boy run toward ZIM full speed. His eyes widened. "ZIM! Watch it!" He yelped. It was too late. The large boy threw his elbow into ZIM's right temple hard. Red sucked in his breath and held as he saw his little brother fall to the ground with a sickening thud. He fell like a deer that just gotten shot in the head.

"God!" Purple squeaked. He jumped off the bleachers along with Red and ran out onto the field. Once they got to ZIM's side after pushing referees and coaches as well as teammates out of the way they dropped to their knees to inspect him.

"Zeiden?" Red asked, placing his hands on ZIM's face. "ZIM?" He lightly slapped ZIM's cheek to revive him with no avail.

"He's out, Red. He got hit pretty hard." Purple observed. The red-eyed Irken groaned not liking the news.

"I'm sensing a pattern here, he signs up for a sport and he gets hurt." Red grumbled. Purple shrugged.

"ZIM is small and reckless, that's why he gets hurt all the time." Purple and Red felt themselves being pushed and pulled away from his brother. Paramedics surrounded ZIM's small body next. One medic approached Red and Purple.

"He your brother?" Red and Purple nodded. "He'll be out for awhile. When he wakes up he'll more than likely have a bad concussion so don't overwhelm him."

"I totally saw that coming." Purple muttered. "I'll take the girls home." Red nodded. The medic spoke up again.

"C'mon, you can ride in the back of the ambo."

Later That Day

"Red?" The tiny voice startled him awake from his chair. He jumped up and ran to the side of the hospital bed ZIM was laying in.

"ZIM?" Red whispered. ZIM's eyes where wide and blank looking. "How ya feeling, mate?" ZIM took in a deep breath.

"I can't open my eyes, Red." Red cocked a brow.

"You're eyes are open, Zei-Zei."

"Then turn on the lights." ZIM muttered.

"What are you talking about? The lights are on, ZIM." Red said getting nervous.

"But … I can't see." ZIM said, squinting. Red bit his lip and waved a hand in front of his brothers face. Usually that would make him flinch but the Irken remain motionless still trying to see.

"Shit! Nurse! I need your help!" Red called running to the door. "Nurse!"

The Next Day

"Watch your step, Z." Red said holding ZIM's hand leading him up the steps to their home. ZIM stumbled and stubbed his toes as he tried to climb the stairs.

"Ow! Red, I can't do it!" Red frowned. ZIM tripped completely and fell on his face. ZIM whined and sat down on the stoop and teared up. "Why? Why did this have to happen to me?" ZIM cried. Red sat next to him and hugged him closely.

"I booked you an eye doctors appointment on Irk. Next week, they'll fix your eyes and your sight will come back if not stronger than when it left." Red stood up and picked ZIM up and rested him on his hip walking through the doors of the house. "We're home!" Red called. Everyone came out of their hiding places to meet them.

"How is he?" Leslie asked.

"He's …" Red swallowed a knot in his throat. "Temporarily blind." Everyone looked shocked.

"What?" Tenn asked.

"He can't see and he's concussed."

"Oh! The poor child!" Leslie grabbed ZIM from Red's arms and hugged and kissed him. "I'm so sorry, Zeiden. That's horrible."

"You're telling me." ZIM mumbled using his hand to touch her face just to make sure he knew where it was.

"Will he ever get it back?" Tak asked concerned as she looked into his vacant eyes. They looked normal, as if he could still see.

"Yes, we're visiting doctors on Irk to help get his vision back." Red said. Leslie put ZIM down. Tak hugged him next and kissed his cheek.

"Who's that?" ZIM asked.

"It's me, ZIM." Tak whispered in his antenna. ZIM pouted.

"I'm sorry, I can't see you."

"I know, ZIM, I know." Tak embraced him tightly.

"C'mon, Z, you should take a bath." Zee took his hand and led him to the nearest shower room to bathe him.

January 17, 1998

Red wouldn't let ZIM sleep alone, so for the next few days ZIM was sleeping with him. Which was a good thing because ZIM also had a concussion. He got very sick, vomiting and had several seizures both mild and a severe one that caused even more hospital visits.

Red sat on the couch with ZIM's head on his lap. Leslie was sitting by Red with ZIM's body stretched out on her lap. The little Irken was sleeping peacefully.

"I feel bad this happened to him." Leslie said.

"I betcha I feel worse. I keep thinking that his injury is my fault. I shouldn't of have let him play. He's way too competitive and he always finds a way to get hurt. If I keep this up he'll end up paralyzed … or worse." Red frowned. Leslie grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her.

"Don't talk that way. There is no way it could've been your fault. You didn't know that Zeiden would end up blind from playing soccer. Stop taking it so hard and accept it. Accidents happen. This accident just so happened to be a serious one but it's not like his life just ended. Now when ZIM wakes up I'll go take him and give him a bath. I'll let you talk to him later about it. Ask him if he thinks it's your fault. Believe me he won't. There is no one to blame." Leslie said in a ranting tone. She bent over to get in ZIM's face and whispered. "ZIM? Honey wake up," Leslie set a hand on his cheek. "Get up, baby." ZIM moaned and opened his eyes, of course not seeing anything.

"Who's that?" He asked.

"Leslie, Hun. C'mon, let's give you a bath." Leslie pulled him all the way into her lap and cradled him a bit before standing up and walking over to the stairs and slowly climbed them up. When they got to the bathroom Leslie put him down and prepared the bath, filling it with warm water. She turned back to ZIM who was trying to undress himself but kept fumbling with the buttons on his shirt. "Here, lemme help ya'." Leslie said, unbuttoning the shirt for him. She then pulled off his pants and underwear and picked him up setting him in the tub. He gasped when he felt the water touch his skin then realized it wasn't gonna hurt him. It was normal to be paranoid if you lost your vision.

"Leslie," ZIM started. "Is Red mad at me?"

"No, Hun. He's very scared though. He thinks your incident was his fault."

"How?"

"I dunno." Leslie said, she wiped a washcloth over ZIM's smooth skin. "You're gonna have to talk to him later." ZIM whined a bit when Leslie touched the bruise on his head where he got hit. "Does that hurt?" ZIM nodded. Leslie smiled and kissed him gently there.

"You know this means he's gonna be like an overprotective parent for the next few months, right?"

"Can't blame the guy, Z, you always seem to get hurt."

Later That Day

The two brothers laid on the floor next to each other in their living room. The older lovingly rubbing the younger's antenna. Both quiet until the younger piped up.

"It wasn't your fault, Red." Red stopped rubbing ZIM's head and looked at him sitting up.

"What?"

"The reason why I'm blind. It wasn't your fault." ZIM repeated.

"How did you-"

"Leslie told me you were angry at yourself 'cuz you thought the incident was your fault." ZIM said, eyes open, staring at the ceiling. Of course not being able to see the ceiling.

"I told mom- no, I promised mom that I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you. Yet I did. I let you play sports with people much bigger than you and-"

"You can't keep me in the nest all my life. Someday I gotta learn to fly."

"That was … very profound. Where did ya hear that?" Red asked. ZIM shrugged.

"Don't remember. I always wanted to use that analogy though and that was the perfect time too." Red cocked at brow but shook his head getting back on the other topic.

"Zeiden, you don't know how much that promise meant to me and mum. She was on her deathbed when I told her I'd take care of you."

"She said to take care of me. Not be overprotective." ZIM mumbled. Red frowned. He wasn't overprotective. But if ZIM got hurt one more time, he'll consider it.

"I just want you safe and in one piece, Z. You've already had, like, five major injuries in the past two years." ZIM sighed, finally sitting up.

"Sorry, Red. I don't know what it's like to be you and raise a kid who constantly gets hurt and makes dumb choices. But I guess I can see where you're coming from and why you're so overprotective." Red rolled his eyes.

"I'm not overprotective." Red whispered under his breath.

One Week Later

"The procedure was a success," An Irken eye doctor said. "He'll need to wear glasses for a couple months maybe even an entire year till his sight comes back entirely. And when it does comeback he'll be able to see in the dark better and see things from longer distances. Now let's fit him with some glasses then we'll release you." ZIM looked around for the first time in a week. His vision was super blurry but he took the doctors word. His vision will improve tremendously to the point where he'll have better than 20/20 eyesight or 'hawk vision' as the optometrist had described. ZIM shifted in his spot in front of the counter where all the glasses were hanging up for display. ZIM looked up at Red and smiled. Reaching out to touch his big brother but missed completely when he started to see double.

"What are you doing?" Red chuckled. ZIM squinted and reached out again. Red grabbed ZIM's hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "Just think, ZIM, once you get your glasses you may fool people into thinking you're smart." ZIM frowned.

"That was a low blow, bro." The Irken doctor came back with three different glasses for ZIM. All had black rims with rectangular lenses, the only thing that made them different was the rims thickness.

"Here you go master Macale." The doctor said addressing ZIM. Red picked up once pair of glasses and placed it on ZIM's face. When the glasses were on ZIM blinked as his vision went from blurry to perfectly clear. The little Irken beamed.

"I can see! I can … wow, I sound as if I've never seen anything before." ZIM mumbled. Red smiled and patted him on the back.

"Why don't you take a look in the mirror." He instructed. ZIM turned his head to a mirror on the counter. "You look so handsome." Red was right, he did look handsome, sophisticated and intelligent in those glasses. What made it even better was that they weren't the ugly nerd glasses but rather the, 'sexy' glasses the actors wear sometimes.

"You like those?" The doctor asked. ZIM nodded.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good, 'cuz you'll be wearing them for awhile." ZIM shrugged. At least he looked smart.

March 6, 1998

"Did you get it?" Leslie asked excitedly. ZIM smiled proudly and nodded.

"Right here!" ZIM said pulling out his wallet and took out a piece of paper.

"He passed his drivers test with flying colors. The instructor said she's never seen a better driver." Red said patting ZIM's head. Although the driving instructor did actually want to fail ZIM for almost not being able to reach the peddles and barely could see over the steering wheel. Red convinced her to pass ZIM anyway. He was still a great driver and when he first started out he had no problems either. They just needed to push the seat way up and put the steering wheel way low and fix the peddles so they stuck out more. A booster seat was also necessary. But ZIM was a natural at driving despite his smallness. Leslie took the paper from ZIM to inspect it.

"So when do you get your real license? The platinum one?"

"Couple of weeks. I get a small heart on it by my name! I signed up to be an organ donor when I'm dead." ZIM said. Leslie grinned, bending over to hug him.

"Good job, Z."

"Well thank you!" ZIM said. His Imp beeped in his pocket. "Uh, I do believe I'm late for a press conference on Irk." ZIM said pulling out his transporter.

"You ain't going alone." Red said. "Purple! Go with ZIM to Irk!" Purple poked his head from a doorway.

"I'm busy." He grumbled.

"If you're dissecting another bandicoot it can wait." Red said firmly. Purple scowled.

"It's not a bandicoot … this time. It's a snake."

"Red, I can go alone. I'll be right back." ZIM insisted. Red bit his lip in thought then sighed remembering ZIM thinks he's overprotective. He'd prove him wrong right now.

"Okay, fine. But if I find out you've been anywhere else-"

"Don't worry about it." ZIM said locking in the coordinates. "There and back, I swear." With that final note he hit the send button and was beamed millions of miles to their native planet. Red looked down then at Leslie.

"Did you put him on any restrictions for driving yet?" Leslie asked. Red shook his head.

"No, why?"

"I think we should. It can be dangerous. How about he can't drive before nine AM and after ten PM? Then he's limited to only the Alice Springs area no further. He cannot have anyone in the car with him unless it's family." Leslie suggested. Red pondered in this for a second.

"Okay," Red said simply.

"Okay?" Leslie repeated. Red nodded.

"Yeah."

"Alright then. When he comes back you make those rules official with him." Leslie said. "Now, can you please tell Purple to get that snake out of the kitchen. It stinks."

November 30, 1998

Tenn tapped on the counter in the kitchen waiting impatiently for her brother to come down stairs. She's been waiting for five minutes now. Finally ZIM trotted down the stairs and into the kitchen wearing one of his best dark blue three piece suits. "Bout time." She muttered standing up brushing her dark red dress down.

"Leslie isn't here to tie my tie." ZIM grumbled.

"We were supposed to be at the soirée ten minutes ago." ZIM shrugged.

"We'll be fashionably late." Tenn rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, ZIM. We're taking your car. Leslie has mine." ZIM grabbed his wallet and opened the door, walking outside to the driveway, Tenn following him.

"Hello, Baby!" ZIM chirped when he saw his silver 1998 Toyota Supra. Tenn smacked her forehead. Red spoiled that kid with a car that nice. ZIM opened his door and slid in. Tenn got in on the passenger side. She was planning on driving but then she'd have to adjust the seat back and put the steering wheel up, change the mirrors, etcetera, and that would take awhile. ZIM put the keys in the ignition and started it up. Tenn clicked her seat belt in when she heard peeping noises coming from the backseat. She looked at ZIM who didn't seem to care.

"Did you hear that?" Tenn asked. ZIM looked back at her.

"Hear what?"

"Something-" Tenn looked in the back seat and saw three ducklings and a poult in ZIM's backseat. "Why the heck are there ducks and a turkey in your car?" ZIM looked over his shoulder.

"Oh. I got them shipped over here from Wyoming in the states. Those are an experiment I'm working on for home school. How ducklings and poultry reacts to outback heat. If they adapt and all that…" He said trailing off. Tenn reached back there and grabbed a brown and gold duckling and held it.

"You are so weird." She murmured. ZIM ignored this, backing out of the driveway. "Tak is gonna be there. Her parents dropped her off earlier today and she's gonna be living with us for a few months, maybe an entire year. Her parents are on Vort for a business trip." ZIM raised a brow, excitedly.

"Really? That's awesome. Now I'll have a dance partner tonight."

"I also know you're gonna be the entertainment. The band never showed up so Red volunteered you." ZIM's eyes widened.

"That … jerk!" ZIM squeaked. Tenn chuckled.

"Relax. It won't be that bad. You sang in front of lots of people before."

"That was in front of a church congregation. Those people aren't allowed to judge you! This is a science convention dance thing!"

"Same diff." ZIM frowned. Why'd Red have to speak up?

At the Soiree

"... Now that you are loosing hope, I cannot help but feel you are fighting for a lost cause," ZIM continued to sing while strumming his guitar. He was quite bored after singing three of his most listened to songs on Irk. It was hard to quickly translate them from Irken to English, but it worked out alright. "Ya don't need to run away anymore, Together we'll stand and face this debt. No use in hiding, now that the chaos is evident, there is no turning back now, so take my hand, stand with me, we can face the tyranny together, and now that you're not alone- ack! Choo!" ZIM suddenly sneezed into the microphone dropping his guitar in the process. All eyes were on him. ZIM blushed, giving them all a big dopey grin and picking up his guitar. "Uh … who likes Michael Jackson?" ZIM asked. The audience chuckled a bit and went back to what they were doing. ZIM started to strum We are the World. "There comes a time, when we heed a certain call," Red shook his head amused by his brother.

"That was bad." Red said. Leslie pinched his leg.

"He couldn't help it, Red. Stopping a sneeze is harder than trying to yawn with your mouth closed." Red sighed and looked over at Tak who had amazingly grew very tall and developed a lot since he last saw her.

"So when do your parents plan on coming back?"

"Three to four months." She said. "Did, ZIM get his license?"

"Yeah, he got a car too." Red said.

"It's infested with birds." Tenn mumbled. Red and Tak looked at her funny. "Never mind." ZIM finished his song and stepped off the stage, apparently having enough of no one listening to him. That or he was bored. ZIM smiled at Tak and grabbed her hand yanking her up to her feet. His smiled immediately deflated when he saw she was about five inches taller than him now.

"Day-um!" ZIM exclaimed. Tak smirked. She slipped out of her high heels and now stood only three and a half inches taller. "Still." ZIM whispered. ZIM shook his head. "I missed you." He said. Tak hugged him.

"C'mon, Zimmy, I wanna show you something." She said, pulling him outside of the convention hall and onto a balcony. "Here," She reached in her purse and took out a piece of folded paper. ZIM took it and opened it.

"I was born on a leap year." ZIM said getting distracted from the note. "I also share my birthday with Justin Timberlake, Jackie Robinson, and Minnie Driver … whoever she is." Tak's mouth dropped open.

"How was what you said relevant?" ZIM shrugged.

"I found that out yesterday. I wanted to tell you before I forgot ... Jackie Robinson is one of my baseball hero's. He was the first black man in the MLB, that inspired me to be the first alien." ZIM said. He then looked back at the note.

"You're such an idiot." Tak whispered. ZIM chortled as he read the paper. His expression went from smiling to confused.

It read,

Zeiden,

This is weird since I'm usually out-going around you. I also know this is a little kindergartener-ish, but I couldn't think of any other way to ask you without verbally asking you.

Would you be my boyfriend?

Check YES or NO

ZIM took in a deep breath. Looking back up and noticed Tak wasn't even on the balcony anymore. ZIM glanced back at the note, full of regret. She was asking him out. ZIM noticed a pen laying on the edge of the balcony. ZIM looked at the slip of paper before making his decision. He quickly circled one of the options and folded the paper back up shoving it in his pocket. He walked back into the ball room and saw Tak by the table where his siblings were. The young Irken quickly placed the paper next to Tak. She looked embarrassed if the blush on her face was any indication. Tak never met his eye as she quickly unfolded the paper. Her heart pounding hard she could almost hear it. When it was finally open her heart sank when she saw a dark circle surround the word, 'No'. Tak stood up with tears in her eyes and started to walk away with haste. Red looked at the note, then at ZIM, then to Tak who was storming away.

"What was that all about?"

"I'll explain later." ZIM said, hurriedly then chased after Tak. "Takayla!" He called. She didn't turn around. "Tak wait!" She sped up. Tak was about to enter the girls bathroom. ZIM groaned and ran after her instead of walk. He grabbed her arm and turned her around. Not caring who was watching ZIM placed his lips over hers. Tak looked shocked. ZIM parted looking deeply into her violet eyes. "It's taboo for the woman to ask the man out unless it's a leap year." Tak gave a nervous laugh.

"I shoulda asked you the year you were born, huh?" ZIM smiled warmly at her.

"Or you could of waited till the year 2000." He replied. Tak nodded slowly. "Tak, I'd like to date you. Would you date me?" Tak laughed and nodded again. ZIM inwardly groaned in irritation as some members of the party awed and cooed. Tak brushed ZIM's antennas back and hugged him around his neck, kissing his cheek. The whole time ZIM kept looking over his shoulder to see Red with a look of uncertainty plastered on his features. "Sorry, if I scared you." ZIM said, sweetly. "It won't happen again. Now, how 'bout a dance?" Tak shook her head. "Why not?"

"You're the music." ZIM raised a brow with realization.

"Oh yeah."

Later

ZIM lay in bed still fully clothed and wide awake thinking about what happened that night. He sorta saw it coming. He always knew that some time or another Tak was gonna ask him. He heard his bedroom door open. "Zeiden, I need to talk to you." He heard his older brother say.

"What's up?" ZIM asked, not moving from his position on the bed. Red sat on the side and looked down at his little sibling. Red sighed and unbuttoned ZIM's overcoat, undressing him for bed.

"You're now a couple with Tak?" Red asked, making sure his assumptions were right.

"Yeah, why?"

"Nothing, it's just, I'm not sure if I want you dating yet." Red said, carefully. "You're only ten." Red reached down and plucked ZIM's glasses off his face, setting them on the nightstand. "You have hundreds of years to date yet."

"But, Red, Tak has been waiting for years to ask me. You know how much she likes me and how much I like her. We've been friends for ages and you're telling me-"

"All I'm saying is that young couples often leads to heartbreak." ZIM scoffed as Red pulled his shirt off of him revealing his frail green chest.

"That won't happen. Just trust me, if it doesn't work out then Tak and I will still be friends." Red bit his lip. He fumbled with ZIM's belt and pulled it out of the loops.

"Whatever you say, Z. Just be careful." Red said while pulling off ZIM's pants leaving him in his boxers. "Word of advice, on Irk whoever in the relationship is older, smarter, stronger or taller than the other, they are considered the dominate ones. Are you okay with being the passive one because she has you beat at all those traits?" ZIM scowled and punched Red's arm. The older Irken chuckled and kissed ZIM's cheek. "It's okay ZIM, Leslie has me pretty much whipped too. Dad always told me a happy wife is a happy life. Just accept it and move on." ZIM rolled his eyes and turned on his side.

"Goodnight, Redward."

December 5, 1998

"Oh! Look at those earrings!" Tak said, looking in the window of downtown Maijour, Irk. ZIM made the mistake of taking her shopping. Now he was buying her everything she wanted. ZIM grunted under the weight of six full shopping bags and looked at what she was pointing at. Big, rare blood diamond earrings imported from Plookesia.

"Damn! Those are nearly a grand!" ZIM said. Tak looked at him with big eyes.

"You should get them! I could wear one and you could wear one." ZIM smiled nervously and pulled her away from the window.

"How about we think on that one. Besides, I like my earring stud." He said, twitching his already bedazzled left antenna. "How about we go home now?" Tak curled her lips downward.

"Fine." Tak said.

"Thank you. Now could you get the transporter from my back pocket and bring us home." Tak leered at his back pocket and dove her hand in his pocket, pinching his hind end in the process purposely. ZIM gasped. "Gentle, please. I'm delicate." Tak gave him a smug look and beamed them home. When they were back they found themselves in ZIM's room. The exhausted boy dropped all the bags and stumbled to his bed, flopping onto it. Belly down, he buried his face into the plush blankets and pillows. Tak jumped on his bed and pull him all the way up. ZIM turned around so he was facing the ceiling. Tak loomed over him with a big grin. "What?"

"Nothing. You just look so …" She said trailing off. She cradled his head in her lap and fiddled with his antennas making him moan with delight. After awhile ZIM lost himself. He closed his eyes at the pleasant feeling. Tak moved her lips across his skin to his neck and nibbled there. He tilted his head so she had better access to it.

"Oh, Tak." He said weakly. Tak smiled at his submission. She kissed his forehead when someone burst through the door. Tak froze as well as ZIM. Both Irkens slowly turned their heads to see who the intruder was.

"Alright you two, break it up." Leslie said, pulling Tak away from ZIM. ZIM who was clearly embarrassed for getting caught, quickly thought of a way to get out of trouble.

"I'm so glad you came just on time! I was nearly raped!" Tak rolled her eyes. Leslie smack ZIM upside the head. "Ow," ZIM yelped. He looked at Tak who was glaring at him. "Hey! It really seemed like you were!"

"Go downstairs. Both of you. Oh and ZIM," Leslie said. ZIM turned to her. Leslie pointed at her neck. "You gotta hickie starting to form." ZIM gasped and bolted from the room and into the bathroom to cover it up before anyone else saw it.

February 14, 1999

"Do you think it's not possible to love someone at my age?" Tak asked Zee, Tenn and Gaz. They were they only people home. Red and Purple were out working, ZIM was with them. Leslie was getting groceries. Zee's face lit up already knowing she was talking about her little brother.

"You've known ZIM since the moment he was born. I know you love him and he loves you. Red and Leslie on the other hand. They weren't friends before they met each other years ago. But after while I think they started to slowly fall in love with each other. Are you asking about the theory of love at first sight?" Tak thought for a moment.

"I guess I am."

"Well, I'm sure you didn't love ZIM the first time you saw him. You were only two years old. Sure, it's safe to love him now. Why do you ask?" Tenn said.

"Well, I think I do love him in a more than friendly kind of way."

"Love is gross." Gaz muttered. The Irken girls stared at Gaz for a while.

"Humans." Tak scoffed, pointing at Gaz.

"So Red and Leslie are going on a date today." Tenn said, winking at the girls. Zee beamed but the other younger girls didn't know what was so special.

"So? They go on dates all the time?" Gaz said.

"Yes, but-" Zee started looking at Tenn.

"This date is special." Tenn finished.

That Night

"Where did you say we were going again?" Leslie asked riding in the passenger side of Red's jeep. Out of no where Red asked her to go out tonight to celebrate Valentines day or as Tenn called it, 'Single Awareness Day'.

"Top of the ridge. I wanted to show you the sunset from the top of the mountains." Red said.

"Oh that's sweet." She said. Leslie looked out of the window at the outskirts of Alice Springs. It was a gorgeous day and soon the sun would disappear behind the horizon.

"'Ere we are." Red said pulling off to the side of the road. He got out of the vehicle. Leslie followed. He grabbed onto her hand and led her up the steep hill. It took about twelve minutes to get to the top but it was worth it. Once there Leslie gasped at how far she could see. The desert was endless it seemed.

"Wow," She murmured. "You're so lucky you've been living here all your life." Red shrugged.

"It gets old after seeing it all these years." Leslie smirked. She sat on a rock gazing out at the horizon then back down at the town. Red sat down next to her and kissed her cheek. She smiled warmly. The two looked at the sun just starting to set. The clouds turned pinkish in color. The sky turned numerous colors including orange, red, yellow, pink, blue and dark blue.

"It's gorgeous." Leslie said. Red nodded in agreement. They watched in silence for a moment longer. Now only half the sun was visible. It was either now or never. Red turned to Leslie.

"Can I ask you something?" Leslie turned to face Red as well.

"Anything." Red weakly slid off the rock and got down on one knee in front of Leslie.

"Leslie Strud, I love you and it took a lot of courage build up for me to ask you this." Red started. He slid his hand in his pocket and pulled out a black leather box and opened it. A big diamond ring twinkled under the moonlight. "Will you marry me?" Leslie clutched her chest. Leslie started to tear up. Before Red knew it he was tackled to the ground. Leslie started to scream, 'yes' over and over as she kissed him numerous times. Red stood up and held on to her tightly.

"I love you! I love you so much, Red!" Leslie gasped for air she was sobbing so hard.

"I love you too, baby." Red whispered in her ear. She pulled him in for the biggest kiss she's ever given someone. They went home right away, being too excited to sit around any longer.

"Gazelle!" Leslie shouted, bursting through the front door. Gaz jumped. Leslie picked her daughter up and swung her around. "I'm getting married!" Tenn, Tak and Zee squealed hugging Leslie. Purple squealed and ran jumping into Red's arms and kissing his cheek playfully.

"You is such a man!" Purple chirped. ZIM looked confused, sitting on the ground petting Tyson.

"You're getting married?" Gaz asked. ZIM perked up.

"That means I'll be your uncle!" He exclaimed. Gaz cringed at the thought.

"And I'll be your aunt!" Tak added. ZIM looked at Tak with a looked of pure horror.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Tak ignored his question. She ran up to Red and yanked Purple off of him.

"Congrats!" She said jumping into his arms.

"Thanks, Hun." Red said as Tak kissed his cheek.

"Wait a minute!" Everyone looked at ZIM who was seething. "What if I wanted to marry Leslie?" Red snorted.

"Then we'll have to fight for her." ZIM smiled cheesily and ran full speed at Red attempting to knock him down. Red chuckled and picked ZIM up and swung him over his shoulder. ZIM screeched and kicked his legs. Tyson started to yip.

"Wait! Wait!"

"I ain't waiting to beat you." Red softly threw ZIM to the ground and tackled him pinning the much smaller Irken down and tickling his sides. ZIM screeched loudly and placed his feet on Red's chest to get him off.

"Mercy! Mercy!" ZIM laughed. Leslie grabbed ZIM's wrists and pulled him out from underneath Red and kissed the little boy.

"I'm too old for you anyway." She said putting him down. They heard quacking and a gobbling sound come from the living room. Soon ZIM's ducks and turkey were running around in the kitchen. Sliding and tripping over each other. They seemed to be attracted to loud noises. They must've heard ZIM's shrieks.

"Oh I … thought I locked those guys in my room." ZIM said. The ducks started to crowd around the base of ZIM's feet and quack loudly as if demanding something of him. "I'll just put them away." The turkey flew up on the counter of the kitchen and gobbled annoyingly. "Shhh! You're the most annoying bird I've ever raised. I can't wait for thanksgiving."

"That's an American holiday." Purple pointed out.

"Silence!" ZIM shouted. He suddenly threw his hands up and declared, "Come my children! Follow me!" He left the room with the ducks following in a line behind him. The girls cooed at this.

"That is too cute." Tenn said, pushing the turkey off the counter and onto the floor. The fowl chirped and followed ZIM upstairs as well.

May 13, 1999

Red walked to Leslie's room, bored and hoping to get to talk to his lover. She was laying on bed watching T.V. absentmindedly. She looked at him.

"Hey, sexy." She said. Red hopped on the bed next to her. She wrapped her arms around him, cuddling him, kissing his head.

"What kind of wedding do you want?" Red mumbled. Leslie ran her hands up and down his arm.

"I always kind of wanted a Greek wedding since I am Greek in blood. What about you?"

"Well, aborigines celebrate their weddings a lot differently than most people. My parents had an aboriginal wedding and so did many of my cousins." Red said. "And I'm a Mesonic Jew, and Irken so I think our wedding will be very culturally diverse."

"An Irken wedding!"

"What?"

"Lets have an Irken wedding!" Leslie exclaimed. "It would be out of this world. Literally."

"Are you sure? You're not Irken and it's different from the earth celebration."

"So? It will be a new experience." Leslie said. Red thought for a long moment.

"Alright. But if you want the theme to change just ask."

"It's fine, Red. Really."

"Huh, okay then." Red said. "I warned ya."

Three Days Later

"Fighting? At a wedding?"

"Part of the ceremony is to see who of the couple is strongest, fastest, smartest, and has the most leadership. So they have the couple fight each other to see who is dominate of the two." Leslie cocked a brow.

"That's weird."

"Hah, you think that's weird, wait till you hear about the traditions at the reception."

"Oh God."

"Oh Yahweh."

"Shut up, Red." Leslie slapped his arm. Red snickered. "Alright, lets go talk to the planner about our Irken wedding."

"We'll have to go to Irk if we want to plan it."

"Why?"

"You can't have an Irken wedding on earth! That's stupid."

"Fine, we'll go tomorrow." Leslie said shifting on their couch. "Gaz and Tak have been gone for awhile."

"I called Tak. They were at Hollister waiting in line at the checkout." Red said. Reclining on the couch, he closed his eyes, tired for not getting much sleep from the night prior.

ZIM slept in his room because he had a nightmare that his bed was infested with snakes. The poor little guy was still convinced there were snakes even after he woke up. When ZIM woke up at one in the morning he came walking cautiously into Red's room, he crawled into bed with his stuffed koala, Mioka. He then tapped on Red's shoulder, waking him and demanded to sleep with him for the night. Red wouldn't turn ZIM away, especially if he knew his little brother was frightened, so he let the little guy stay with him. Big mistake. ZIM had bad allergies and that night they decided to act up. Who knew such loud snoring could come from such a small Irken.

"Will they be home soon?" Leslie asked. Red opened his eyes.

"Yeah, half hour." Red mumbled.

"Guess what I found out!" Purple exclaimed. He seemed to come out of no where. He does that sometimes.

"What?"

"That plant that we found yesterday has a never before seen bacteria on it! It eats flesh!" Red cringed.

"Were'd you put it?"

"In a container in the fridge. I labeled it, 'Do Not Eat'. Now ZIM is probably gonna eat it."

"I'm gonna eat what?" ZIM asked walking through the back door. "I found a dead kookaburra on our sidewalk by the way, I named her Kora. She's my friend."

"ZIM if you have only dead animals as your friends, people will think you're strange." Purple said.

"Says the man who gets excited about flesh eating bacteria on a plant." Red mumbled. Purple frowned at him.

"You get excited about stupid things too."

"No I don't." Red defended.

"Do too! Remember when you saw a blue-colored turtle and flipped out?"

"Nuh Uh! I just said, 'Oh look a blue turtle!'. I was calm." Red insisted.

"No you weren't!" Purple countered.

"You're lying!"

"Shut up, both of you." Leslie snapped at them. Red closed his mouth and gave her puppy-dog eyes.

"He was being mean."

"Grow up. You just turned thirty-one years old. You need to act your age."

"Yeah, act your age!" Purple sneered. Leslie shot him a glare.

"You too."

"What did I do?" ZIM rolled his eyes as the adults continued to argue. The phone started to ring but none got up to get it. ZIM sighed an answered it.

"Yellow, mistah!" ZIM said, happily.

"Hello there, is Mr. Macale in?" Came a man's voice.

"This is him." ZIM said.

"Pardon me, you must be Red's little brother."

"Oh you're asking for the other Mr. Macale! Yeah he's arguing with his fiancé about not acting his age." Red heard this and snatched the phone from his baby brother.

"Sorry about that. ZIM isn't all there in his head." Red apologized.

"Hey! Lets be kind here!" ZIM shouted.

"It is fine. Dr. Macale, this is Dr. Isaac Kanga from the biology department for the International Science Center. The corporation you work for."

"... 'Kaaay?" Red said.

"You're former boss, Dr. Walker, has retired and I'm the one who will take his spot in the bio department."

"Uh … welcome?"

"Yes, thank you, thank you. But the reason I'm calling you is because we no longer need your research. You're being laid off along with your colleague, Assistant Doctor Peder Kinley." Red jaw dropped. "Do not fret for we have a list of jobs you can take up. We will mail them to you along with your paychecks. We'll keep you in our contacts if we ever need you again. Goodbye, Doctor." There was a click then the dial tone. Red was shocked. All those years of studying to become a biologist and they laid him off! Red slammed the phone down.

"The nerve." He growled.

"What's wrong?" Leslie asked. Red turned to her.

"They laid Peder and I off."

"What!" Purple asked. "Why would those bastards do that?"

"They don't require our services at the moment." Red said. "They're gonna send us a list of biology jobs through the mail with our paychecks." Purple steamed.

"God, I finally get a job that I'm proud of and this happens." Purple muttered. ZIM perked.

"Jalo would hire you if you're interested in singing." Red and Purple both looked at ZIM.

"I can't sing." Purple said.

"I don't sing." Red folded his arms.

"You sang with me when we first met Jalokia! We sounded good together! Try it! Please?" Red shook his head. "C'mon? Just try it. If you don't like it then don't get a full contract. Please?" ZIM made his eyes big and glossy-looking, jutting out his lower lip that quivered ever so slightly for a perfect pout. "Pleeeeaaaase?" ZIM asked again. "Don't make me get the dog to double the cuteness."

"I'll think about it, okay?" Red said. ZIM scowled.

"You think that just because you say that you'll think about it, that I'm going to stop bothering you? You pulled that one on me numerous times. I maybe dumb, but I ain't stupid, Red. Gimme an answer now." Red snorted. Mostly at what ZIM had just said.

"Fine! If it doesn't work out I'm not-" Before Red could finish his sentence, ZIM fist pumped and bolted from the room. Probably to call Jalo and his agent, Mevlo. "That kid ... is so strange." Red looked back to Purple who looked rather sad. "What's the matter? Besides the fact that we just got laid off."

"I'm going back to Canada." Red looked down and nodded.

"It's probably a good idea to live with your family for awhile. You barely see them anymore."

"I'm going to ask Sam to come with me to meet my parents." Purple said. "I've been waiting to ask her to meet them but we were so caught up with work that …" Purple trailed off. "I'll be back in a few months to live with you guys again. But for now, I need to be with my family. It's been a long time."

"It has." Red agreed.

"You'll visit for our wedding right?" Leslie asked.

"Of course! I wouldn't miss that." Purple said. "I better book a plane ticket and call my parents."

"You're leaving?" ZIM asked coming back into the room. Purple nodded slowly. "No! I'll miss you and stuff!" Purple chuckled and hoisted ZIM in the air.

"And I'll miss you and stuff! But I need to see my family!"

"We are your family, you fool!" ZIM shouted half angrily, half jokingly. Purple smiled.

"I meant my blood related fam." Purple clarified. ZIM sulked and hugged his OBFAM around his neck.

"You're a jerk for leaving, ZIM." The little Irken muttered. Purple kissed ZIM's temple.

"You'll get over it." ZIM tittered.

"I'm already over it. Now leave us. We're sick of you." Purple feigned heartbreak.

"Now who's the jerk?" Purple asked. He bent down and pushed ZIM to the floor nearly knocking the glasses off of his face. "Now fear the wrath of Poipul!"

"Oh Yahweh." ZIM squeaked. Purple snickered sat on ZIM's torso so he was immobile. "Ack! I can't breath!" ZIM wheezed. "I … can't … ugh!" ZIM kicked out his legs.

"Had enough of my awesome power?"

"You're sitting on me!" ZIM coughed. "Get off!"

"Say you love me." Purple said.

"I love you in a brotherly, no homo, kind of way! Now get off … please?" Purple stood up and grabbed ZIM by one of his ankles and held him upside down. This time ZIM's glasses did fall off his face. "Uh! No! You're just like Red! He don't know how to carry children either!" Purple laughed and swung ZIM back and forth making him turn blue from the blood rushing to his head. "I'm gonna black out." ZIM whimpered. Purple set ZIM down before he did black out. Zim grabbed his glasses, putting them back on his face so he could see again.

"I'm gonna … leave before I get abused some more." ZIM said cautiously and bolting out of the room. "It sucks being small!"

June 9, 1999

"Have you taken singing lessons before?" Jalokia asked. Red sat in front of his desk answering tons of questions thrown at him.

"I've taken various types of music lessons. Including singing."

"What other music lessons did you take?"

"Guitar, piano, percussion, and when I went to public high school I was the section leader for the trumpets in the school's marching band for one year and a drum major another year."

"So you're musically inclined too." Jalokia said. "Perfect. You'll be easy to work with. Now I do know you sang with ZIM five years ago but I don't remember your voice. Would you sing a verse or two of any song. It can be one of your earthy songs. I just need to hear your voice." This caught Red off guard.

"Uh … can I get a guitar. I don't sing a Capella." Jalokia looked around his office.

"We have an Irken instrument that is almost exactly like a guitar on the wall over there. Help yourself." Red looked at the wall of Jalo's office and saw a bright blue bodied guitar-like thing hanging. Red grabbed it and strummed a few notes adjusting the chords if necessary.

"Alright," Red sighed. "You don't mind if I sing a Dolly Parton song do you?" Jalokia tilted his head confused.

"Huh?"

"Didn't think so." Red started to strum the guitar to the song he was going to sing. "If I should stay, Well, I would only be in your way, And so I'll go, and yet I know," Red sang sweetly and calmly. He saw Jalokia's mouth drop open. He must've been doing good. "That I'll think of you each step of my way, And I will always love you, I will always love you." Red finished the song right there knowing Jalokia heard enough.

"You're voice is near perfect! It sounds like you've been singing for years now."

"Why thank you." Red said.

"I'll sign you up for a one hit wonder for now but if you want to continue just say so. I think you and ZIM should form a band. Make you're own indie music. You could be called like the Macale Brothers or something." Red shook his head.

"Maybe, but first I got to see if I actually want to pursue in the career."

"That's fine. I'll write up a song for you. Come back tomorrow and we can rehearse it." Red nodded. He took ZIM's transporter out of his pocket.

"Thanks Jalo."

"Sure thing, Red." Jalokia said. Red hit the button to bring him home. When he arrived he found himself in the kitchen. Gaz was there doing homework at the table. On the other side ZIM was getting mad at Tak for distracting him while he was taking a test.

"Go away. I need to work."

"I told you I need your laptop. Mine broke and I need to message my parents!"

"Later! I'm taking a timed test!"

"Pause it, stupid!"

"I can't!" Red rolled his eyes.

"Like an old married couple." Red muttered leaving the room before he got caught up in that mess.

"Can you get those two to shut up." Zee asked sitting on the couch watching a soccer game. Tenn was in a chair next to the sofa. "They've been at each others necks for ten minutes now."

"I'll let them settle their differences themselves." Red said sitting next to her.

"How'd it go?"

"I think Jalo likes me." Red said.

"Someone actually likes you?" Tenn asked. Red glared at her as his sisters chuckled.

"Surprised? I'll have you know several people find me likable. And many more find me lovable."

"ZIM's lovable, Zee's likable, you're just a background character no one pays attention to." Tenn said. Red gave out an extremely fake laugh as he stood up to leave.

"Mean girls." Red said. He decided to go back to the kitchen where he wouldn't be tormented. Or if he was tormented he could easily over power and out smart the youngsters. "Hey kids," Red looked down at the floor where ZIM was on his stomach. Tak sitting on his back.

"Red, get Tak off me." ZIM said. "Her fat ass if crushing my spine." Tak scowled. She reached out and pulled ZIM's antennas hard, making sure to be careful of his overly sensitive left antenna with the earring stud. "Ow! Owies!" Tak took the glasses off his face and held on to them. "Tak, I can't see! Give them back!" Tak got off him.

"Catch me first!" Tak giggled running off to the upstairs rooms. ZIM groaned. He stood up as well and looked around confused. He bolted in the direction he thought Tak went but ended up colliding with a wall. He fell back. Red and Gaz burst into laughter. ZIM moaned in pain, holding the area his nose would be. He looked at his hand. He didn't need to have perfect eye sight in order to see the blueish-red substance on his hand. He was bleeding pretty bad.

"Taaaak! I give up! You can borrow my laptop! I want my glasses back." Tak came trotting back down the steps. She looked at ZIM on the floor holding his minuscule nose pores that were bleeding.

"Gosh, you look horrible." Tak chuckled. ZIM got up, snatching the glasses back from Tak.

"I hate you." He muttered.

"Sure you do." Tak said. She went to the table and started to type to her parents.

"Hey ZIM, I got big news for you." Red said.

"Jalo liked you?" ZIM asked.

"Well yeah, but that's not it." ZIM looked confused.

"What else?"

"Sam is living with Purple and his family now so guess who will come with Purple when he comes to visit again?"

"Mama Kaddie?" Red sighed and shook his head.

"No, Z, well she's coming too but Sam is coming."

"Sam is coming?"

"Yes." ZIM thought on that for a moment. Suddenly he threw up his arms.

"Samuel!" ZIM said. Red rolled his eyes.

"You're such a dork."

July 27, 1999

"No, ZIM! You'll just have to wait."

"Please? I wanna hear it! C'mon! Just a sneak peak!"

"You have to wait just like the rest of Irk." ZIM pouted. Red was done recording his song and it was going to be released in two days. They were driving to the airport to pick up Purple and his family. They were coming to visit for a month then Purple's parents and sister would leave but Sam and him would stay for three months more, unless he gets one of those biology jobs from the list that was mailed to them then he was going to live with the Macales again.

"Ahh!" ZIM screamed exasperatedly.

"Ahh!" Red mocked poking ZIM's stomach. The little Irken giggled.

"Fine. I'll wait." ZIM said. "Are we almost there? I want to see Poipul! ZIM hasn't seen him since May!"

"Is ZIM excited to see OBFAM?"

"Yes! ZIM is most enthused!"

"Good, 'cuz we're almost there." The rest of the ride was pointless conversations and one argument about whether or not Antarctica had land underneath all the snow and ice or not. They pulled into the driveway of the airport and got out waiting for the Kinleys to show themselves.

"Redward!" The familiar voice rung through the crowd of people waiting for their planes and such. Red looked in the direction of the voice and saw Purple running towards him.

"Purple Nurple!" Red squealed. Purple flung himself on Red and swung the slightly older Irken around just like those dramatic scenes in the Hollywood movies.

"Excuse me!" ZIM shouted over the men. Purple looked down at him and picked him up embracing him tightly.

"My little brother! I missed you!" ZIM kissed Purple's cheek.

"Where's Sam?" ZIM asked. Purple looked behind him.

"She was following me."

"We're right here." Kaddie said popping up next to her son.

"He wasn't asking where you were mom!" Purple snapped. Kaddie pouted.

"Mama!" ZIM reached out for her from being held by Purple.

"Darling! How are you!" Kaddie asked taking ZIM from Purple. "My … you haven't … grown a bit." ZIM frowned.

"I grew half and inch in the past year and gained a pound."

"Okay you've grown a little. How old are you? I can't remember."

"I'm eleven."

"Short for his age." Purple's dad, said. Kaddie hit her husband's arm.

"Paige!"

"What? I'm not saying he won't grow!" Paige defended. He ruffled ZIM's antenna. "How are ya kiddo? Man, something is different about you."

"Ace! I got glasses in the past year. I was knocked in the temple during a footy … erm, soccer game. I lost my vision."

"Oh my! That's terrible!" Kaddie exclaimed. "Do you have to wear glasses all the time now?"

"Uh huh, In a few years my vision will come back stronger than it did before it left. The eye doctor said I'll be able to see in the dark like a cat!"

"Well I guess with every bad thing there's a good." Marzi grunted walking up to the family holding tons of luggage. Sam was with her also carrying bags. "Peder get your ass over here and help!" Purple assisted his sister by taking three big bags from her.

"Common let's load up and head out." Red said also helping Marzi. Kaddie set ZIM down. ZIM turned to Sam and hugged her.

"I missed you! I've been noticeably worse at baseball when I stopped taking lessons from you!"

"I missed you too kiddo. Don't worry, I'll help you with that." Sam said, patting his head. "You were born here?" She asked.

"No, I was born in Darwin. About eighteen and a half hours from here. North."

"That's quite a drive." Sam said. ZIM nodded.

"So anything interesting happen while I was gone?" Purple asked.

"I recorded a song and it's coming out in two days." Red said.

"Oh yeah. Are you even any good at singing?"

"You heard me sing before."

"ZIM's voice covered yours. He's louder and more fun to listen to."

"Yes, Jalokia said I was a great singer." Red asked. Purple shrugged.

"I'm glad for you. I can't sing worth shit." Purple said getting in on the passenger side door. The rest of his family and ZIM got in the back. ZIM sitting on Marzi's lap and more than likely hitting on her and Sam. Probably just to annoy them, that or he found both attractive and he did that to every girl he saw when Tak wasn't around.

"I play soccer and baseball."

"Oh that's so cool!" Marzi feigned interest.

"I play hockey!" Purple called from the front seat.

"I play soccer too, and cricket, and rugby … and lacrosse." Red chimed.

"Okay, shut up, both of you." ZIM muttered. "Changing subjects!" There was a moment of silence.

"Red's getting married." Purple said simply.

"What?" Kaddie asked.

"You never told us this." Marzi said. Glaring at Purple.

"Uh … surprise?" Purple said sheepishly. Red snickered.

"When?" Paige asked.

"The planning went kind of fast. Next month. I'm having my bachelors party the week before and the rehearsal is the night before." Red said.

"I'm the best man!" ZIM interrupted. ZIM looked at Purple with a challenging look. "Me. I'm the bestest man."

"Get over it, ZIM, cuz he's my secondary best man." Red said. Purple smirked and stuck his tongue out at ZIM. ZIM's jaw dropped.

"Aww, man. For real?"

"Well we'll just stay at a hotel until then. We won't leave until I see you walk up the aisle with your gal in your arms." Kaddie said. "I don't believe I ever met your financé. What's her name again?"

"Leslie. She has an adopted daughter named Gaz."

"I can't wait to meet them." Kaddie said.

"If anyone cares, Tak and I are getting married in less than a year." ZIM muttered. Red looked back at him.

"No you're not. I wouldn't let you."

"I'll go to Vegas to one of those drive through weddings!"

"Uh uh." Red said. "I forbid it."

"Aww." ZIM said sadly. "Fine. Then I'll get secretly married in my room. You'll be none the wiser."

"You just told me and why do you want to get married so bad?" Red asked.

"Yeah? It's not a good thing at all." Paige said. Kaddie smacked her husband upside the head. "Ow! You see?"

"I don't. Tak is mean to me." ZIM said.

"Then why are you dating her?" Purple asked.

"… uhhh, huh … Cuz she's not really mean to me. She's just overprotective." ZIM said.

"Aww. Is it young love?" Marzi said. ZIM thought on that.

"Love? That's a strong word. It might be."

July 29, 1999

"Did you feel the same way I feel right now when your first song came out?" Red asked.

"I was more nervous, I'm sure." ZIM said.

"Your song is after this one, Red." Jalokia said. They were in the lobby of Jalokia Studios waiting for Red's new song to play.

"People will love you!" ZIM chirped. "Not only just because you're related to me!" Red fiddled with the hem of his shirt. His heart was beating hard.

"Is okay, Reddy! You has a pretty voice!" Purple said.

"I know, it's what people will think of the actual song." Red muttered.

"You're all familiar with the young, hottest commodity of the Irken Empire, Zeiden Macale Junior AKA ZIM." The radio announcer said, excitedly. "It seems that he's not the only member if the family with some talent, here he is, Red Macale! The older brother of ZIM, with his new song, Sheila!" The announcer's tone suddenly got serious. "Now this song has a story behind it. When Red was nineteen years old he lost his mother, Mioka Macale, by cancer attacking her heart. Just weeks before her death, Red's father, Zeiden Macale Senior, was deported for war on another planet for the Irken army, he was captured and is now a prisoner of war. The song is about Red's father's sacrifice. Enjoy the song. It's a touching one." The announcer's voice was replaced with quiet, soft music coming from a variety of Irken instruments. Ten seconds into the song Red's calm singing-voice sounded.

"It was for something bigger than us, but I never understood, why you were taken from me, to do a duty like no other. You were scared but did not show it. All because you wanted me to stay strong." ZIM bit his lip at the meaningful words. A few versus passed along with a strong, full music, chorus. "Sacrifice, a good deed for an awful price. But I'm hoping one day, you'll come back, but for now you're still an Irken sacrifice." Red's voice ended strongly. ZIM looked at Red. He was smiling. ZIM smiled too as the song faded.

"Not bad." Red said. ZIM squealed and jumped in Red's arms.

"That was great! Way better than my first song!" Jalokia handed Red a copy of the song on a small disc.

"For your future wife. A gift from me." Jalokia said, winking at him.

"That song brought a few tears to my eyes." The radio host spoke up again. "Red Macale, will no doubt follow his younger brother down a path of fame. He deserves it." Red grinned and hugged ZIM tightly. His sisters and Purple did a big group hug, giving Red a bunch of congratulations.

"Let's go home and show this to Les and Gaz." ZIM nodded, he punched in the coordinates and bid Jalokia goodbye before beaming them to earth. In the kitchen Gaz, Tak, Leslie and Sam were waiting. Leslie stood up and ran to Red, giving him a big kiss on the cheek.

"How'd it go?" Red pulled the disc from his pocket.

"ZIM, get your Imp and play the song." ZIM took the tiny disc from Red and shoved it into his Imp. The song started to play. Leslie and the others sat in silence as the music played. Leslie the whole time was holding Red's hand. When the song was done Leslie looked at Red with sincere eyes.

"That was amazing. I could tell the lyrics really mean something to you." She said kissing his lips. Sam looked at Purple. "Why don't you sing?" Purple scoffed.

"You hear my voice? It's ridiculously high with an annoying Canadian accent, according to ZIM." ZIM looked at Purple confused. He only heard his name being called.

"I like your voice." Sam said, hugging Purple.

"It's annoying." ZIM whispered, jokingly. Purple glared at him and smacked him lightly upside the head. "Ouchies! I was kidding!" Purple rolled his eyes.

"I'm glad you like it." Red said to Leslie interrupting his brothers spat. He turned his head and kissed her. ZIM covered his eyes.

"Eww, what would Jesus do!" Red chuckled at his baby brother.

"Why don't you go watch the Tigers game or something. I got worldwide satellite TV just for your obsession with baseball."

"Yes and I thank you for tha- the Tigers aren't even playing today. It's the Yankees versus the White Sox." Red pushed ZIM out of the kitchen to the living room along with the rest of his siblings and friends so he and Leslie could be alone. How he loved his lone time with his fiancé.

The Next Day

ZIM sighed a long breath looking at his net backstop with a speedometer attached to it. He wound up to pitch the ball. Once the ball was released, it went hurtling toward to red square on the net. ZIM looked at the speedometer. It read forty-two miles per hour. ZIM threw up his arms in frustration. He grabbed another ball and got ready to pitch again. This time hoping to clock in at, at least fifty-five. He threw the ball. This time the speedometer picked it up at thirty-eight miles and hour.

"Gah! What is wrong with me?" ZIM screeched at himself. Now angry, he picked up another ball and pitched it. Forty-five miles per hour. "Oh my- God damn it all!" Red looked up from the book he was reading on the patio behind their house to see why ZIM had a sudden outburst.

"Zeiden Macale!" Red scolded. ZIM shot Red a glare.

"Red, I'm trying! I used to be able to pitch sixty to eighty now I can't even reach fifty!" Red shook his head.

"Sounds like a personal problem."

"Red, help!"

"Ask Sam! She's your trainer." Red grumbled. As if Sam knew she was being summoned, she came outside to the backyard.

"What's up, ZIM?" She asked.

"I can't pitch!" ZIM yelled, he put a hand over his face, trying to calm himself down. "I don't know what happened."

"I was watching you. You're accurate and quick."

"But not quick enough! And did you see my change ups? They were crappy!"

"They were okay. Your sliders were better."

"Okay, okay, check out my fastballs which really seem like slowballs." ZIM took a deep breath and pitched another ball. The speedometer read it as forty-six miles per hour. "See? I'm throwing as hard as I can!"

"ZIM, you don't need to pitch ninety mile per hour fastballs every time." Sam said, putting a hand on his back.

"I won't ever make it in the MLB with my skill level though." Sam sighed.

"ZIM, I told you before, aliens and toons aren't allowed in MLB. That's for men. You could always tryout for-"

"I'm gonna bring baseball to Irk. That way my people will appreciate the sport." ZIM said staring off into space. "Sam, I shouldn't be this bad at baseball! I'm normally great!"

"You aren't bad. Just a bit rusty. You'll be just as good as you were when your latest season just ended by the time you throw three more strikes." ZIM looked at the ground.

"Do you think it could be because of my glasses? They're throwing me off or something?" Sam shrugged.

"Possible." ZIM snatched the black framed glasses off his face and handed them to Sam. "Oh, ZIM, I'm not sure-"

"Let me try." ZIM squinted trying to adjust his poor eyesight. He forgave the guy who made him blind long ago but sometimes he really wished he could go back and biff the kid. ZIM threw the baseball. It hit the backstop and bounced back at him hitting him in the stomach. "Oof!" ZIM grunted stumbling to the ground. "Ooo. Not a good idea." Sam sighed and helped him up. Putting the glasses back on his face. It the distance he could hear Red chuckle. ZIM sighed and removed his glove from his right hand and sat in the grass. Now being able to see the speedometer with his glasses he realized he had just thrown a fifty-nine mph ball. ZIM lay back in the grass. "So close." He muttered.

"You keep practicing, Z. I'm going inside." Sam said leaving him alone. Alone, that is until Tak came out and Red went in.

"Heya." Tak said sitting next to him and rubbing his stomach. ZIM clenched his torso muscles.

"What you want?"

"I wanted to see you. Is that a problem?" Tak asked. ZIM sat up only to be met with Tak giving him a lung bursting hug. ZIM pulled away from her.

"Gah. I never get a chance to breath when you're around." ZIM muttered. Tak crossed her arms, frowning at him.

"Sorry for trying to be affectionate."

"Go be affectionate somewhere else."

"Wow, who ate all your Vegemite this morning?" Tak asked.

"I don't even eat Vegemite! Holy stereotypes!" Tak chuckled. ZIM was cranky today. "Now what do you really want?"

"I really want you to just show affection back. Don't you like me?" Tak asked. Her thick cockney accent rung in his antennas. ZIM let out a groan and kissed her cheek.

"Better?"

"… Yeah, sure." Tak sat in silence with ZIM. "Are you excited he's getting married?" ZIM bit the corner of his lip.

"A little. I'm afraid that he'll start to ignore me though."

"He won't do that." Tak said.

"How do you know?"

"Because of the promise Red made long ago on your birth date and your mom's death date. He said he'd always be there for you. Key word: always. Don't worry about it, Z. Be happy for him he's found a girl he loves."

"I am happy." ZIM insisted. "C'mon, lets go inside. It's getting muggy out here."

August 25, 1999

"Oh my God, I'm so nervous." Red muttered, standing in front of a congregation on Irk at a local synagogue. The Irkens in the crowd was eitherr fans of Red or family. Leslie only had a few friends as her brides maids.

"Chill, all you gotta do is say some crap then it'll be done." ZIM whispered. Red fixed his tie so it wasn't so tight.

"I'm chill. I'm more afraid of looking like a fool in front of Irk." Red said. "Did you know our wedding is being broadcasted as we speak?"

"Irkens love it when celebrities get married." Purple said from behind ZIM. Red fiddled with his crimson tie before tucking it into his matching vest. His suit itself was white with a red tie, vest, and cummerbund. His kippah was white too with the exception of the red Masonic Jewish symbol on the top of the cap. Every male there was wearing on even Purple, who wasn't Jewish, wore one. White and red colors were Irkens national symbols of marriage for the groom. For the bride it was a lighter red, almost pink, and white. Red's grooms men and best men wore traditional black and white suits with red vests. Red looked down the line of his guy friends. ZIM was closest to him, followed by Purple, Red's old Vortian friend Lard, then three of his cousins after Lard. Looking out to the crowd again, the red-eyed Irken saw family and friends and people he's never seen before who he assumed were Leslie's friends and family. Out of the corner of his eye, Red could see Purple wave to Sam who was sitting in the audience. Red felt someone nudge his side.

"She's coming, Red." ZIM pointed out. Sure enough the whole congregation stood up for the arrival of the bride. Red looked down the center aisle as a few security guards opened the door. In came Leslie as beautiful as ever with her long flowing gown dragging slightly on the floor. She held a bouquet of blood red roses that matched her sash. Her red-brunette cascaded down her shoulders and was curled flawlessly. She had a small smile on her lips and her icy blue eyes shined brightly as they locked onto Red's hypnotic ruby ones.

"My God." Red whispered. In Leslie's head when she saw Red she couldn't help but smile more. He was gorgeous with his snow white suit, antennas raised high and eyes gentle and soft. Normally people would be too shy to approach him but he looked so inviting at the moment Leslie could just run up there and jump in his strong arms. She managed to contain herself all the way up to the alter. She stood beside Gaz on her right and Red on her left. The rabbi finally spoke up in English.

"You may be seated." The ceremony was gonna be in English for Leslie and Gaz but will be subtitled for the mostly Irkens audience. Every now and then there was gonna be some hebrew since Judaism and masonic/orthodox Judaism is Irk's national religion. The crowd followed the order and sat quietly. Red and Leslie faced each other. The rabbi then had the two say the Shema together. Red spent a good hour teaching Leslie the Shema and now she had it down good. After that the rabbi continued to say the seven blessings and a bunch of stuff Red didn't really pay attention to. The only thing on his mind at the moment was Leslie … and the annoying kid behind him that kept poking his leg. Then the rabbi talked about the Irken half of the ceremony. "The scripture says in Jeremiah 31:22 'For the LORD has created a new thing in the earth, a woman shall surround a man.'" Leslie proceeded to walk around Red like she was instructed to do at the rehearsal. Then finally the vows came. "Do you, Red Elias Macale, take Leslie Marie Strud as your lawfully wedded wife, to live with her in obedience to the Most High and trust in the Messiah?" The rabbi started.

"I do, Yahweh helping me." Red responded. The rabbi nodded then turned to Leslie.

"Do you Leslie take Red to be your lawfully wedded husband, to live with him in obedience to the Most High and trust in the Messiah?"

"I do, God helping me." She said. The rabbi looked at ZIM who had the rings.

"Please present the ring, child." ZIM patted his pockets for the rings and reached inside. Second later he gave Red the ring he was going to put on Leslie. He took the ring from ZIM and grabbed Leslie's hand sliding the ring on her finger as he spoke.

"I, Red Macale, choose you, Leslie Strud, to be my wife, to respect you in your successes and in your failures, to care for you in sickness and in health, to nurture you, and to grow with you throughout the seasons of life." Leslie beamed at Red. She got her ring from Gaz. She then looked at Red's hand suddenly getting nervous and confused, not knowing which finger to put it on. He only had three. Leslie took a chance and slipped it on his middle finger as she said her vows.

"In the presence of God and these our friends I take thee to be my husband, promising with divine assistance to be unto thee a loving and faithful wife so long as we both shall live." Once she was done with her vows, Purple handed Red a chalice which he held onto.

"Recognizing the authority of the Holy One alone in ordaining marriage, Who gave proper instruction through the Laws of Moses, I declare this union sealed in the name of Adonai, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. So also in cooperation with the statues of the Commonwealth of Virginia, I pronounce you Red and Leslie, husband and wife." Red set the chalice down on the ground and smashed it with his right foot. He then wrapped his arms around his wife and kissed her passionately.

"Mazel tov!" The audience cried loudly. Suddenly shofars started to sound. There were several men on the sides of the synagogue blowing into the instrument. Red released Leslie smiling widely.

"I love you." He said.

"I love you more." Leslie kissed him again. She let him go and saw ZIM covering his face, crying. "Oh honey."

"I'm so happy for you, Red." ZIM sobbed, flinging his body on his older brother. He buried his face into Red's leg and cried harder. "You better treat him right, Leslie!" ZIM screamed through Red's leg. Red smiled down at ZIM. He picked the distressed Irken up and kissed his cheek. Red knew ZIM was just scared that he was going to be ignored by Red because he was married now. "Why did you have to get married?"

"Shh, Zeiden, it's fine. I'll always be here for you, Zei-Zei. I love you." Red kissed him again. Leslie took ZIM from Red.

"Don't worry, ZIM." Leslie said. "I won't hog him. We'll share." ZIM attempted to dry his tears with his hands.

"Alright." ZIM whimpered. Leslie hugged him then passed the little Irken over to Purple to take care of and calm down. Leslie clasped her left hand with Red's tight and walked down the aisle to the limousine that would transport them where they'd have the reception. It was gonna be on one of Irk's oceans on a beach that looked a lot like the Great Lakes beaches, only difference was the waves would be huge enough to surf. The reception was more like a barbie with an Irken twist. It was going to be great.

Later at the Reception

It was a beautiful hot day at the beach. The sand was tan and the waves were big. Everyone changed out of their tuxes and dresses into nice beach clothes. The girls wore sun dresses and the guys wore swim bottoms and a t-shirt. But before they could do any fun activities the bride and groom had to finish the ceremony. Red switched out of his tuxedo and into Irken warrior clothes and armor as well as Leslie who was in female warrior attire. Now they had to fight. It was a long lived Irken tradition that wouldn't die any time soon. The newly weds had to battle to see who was gonna be the dominate one and Irken judges would come with a conclusion. The reason why Irkens did this was because sometimes the automatic leader of the house doesn't always make the best choices for the family or the relationship which most the time ended in divorce or tragedy. Thus several trials testing the couples willpower, strength, smarts, and wisdom is customary.

Red had an advantage when it came to the trials because he was Irken and he knew the what the judges were looking for. On the other hand, he didn't really care who, 'wore the pants' in their relationship. He was just happy that he's married to his long time lover. Red adjusted his chest plate. They'd be fighting with hand-to-hand combat weapons. If they used guns then that would be deadly. He looked at Leslie in her armor.

"Red, must we fight?" Red nodded.

"It's part of the tradition. It'll be fine, Les. Just have fun while doing it."

"But doesn't it determine who's the boss?" She asked. Red nodded. Leslie smirked. "You're going down." She growled jokingly.

"We'll see." Red gave her a sly smile.

"New couple!" One of the judges called. "Get in the ring and prepare to fight." Red kissed Leslie's cheek and grabbed his sword. She took her own in her right hand and followed him to the white ring drawn in the sand. "Here's the objective, you'll be fighting for one minute. Once that one minutes are up the judges will decide who gets how many points they get." Leslie and Red nodded. "Stay in the white circle. If you go outside then you'll loose points." They nodded again. "Alright fighters, touch swords then begin." The judge quickly left the ring to join the crowd that was observing. Red tapped the end of his sword against Leslie's. He was definitely gonna go easy on her. She probably knew nothing of swordsmanship.

"Ahh!" Red dodged a well aimed thrust to the chest. "Whoa, girl!" Leslie smiled at him and slashed at him. Red blocked the slash with his sword. Again he knew what the judges were looking for, and attacking the opponent with everything you got isn't it. Red should've warned her about that. Leslie went in for another stab. These swords would break on contact to skin so they wouldn't hurt if you were to stab someone. "Geez, Leslie it's like you actually want to hurt me!"

"You know I wouldn't do that." Leslie grunted and swung her sword again, this time at Red's legs. He jumped to avoid getting hit. "C'mon, fight back. It's like you're not even trying."

"That's because I'm not trying." Red thought to himself. Leslie lifted her sword to thrust again at Red's chest plate covered chest. He parried the move and for a brief moment thought about doing a counter attack but decided against it. There was only a few seconds left. Red suddenly felt himself get knocked down by a kick Leslie aimed at his lower spooch. "Ugh!" Red grunted falling to the ground.

"Time!" One of the judges said. The audience that surrounded the white circle cheered. "The judges have decided who gets how many points. The scale is from one to ten. Leslie's score is," The judge was handed a folded white paper. Leslie perked up from panting hard. "A five." Leslie's jaw dropped. She thought she was fighting pretty good. But then again, Red didn't fight back at all. "Red's score is a nine!"

"What?" Leslie asked confused. Red approached her and put his arm around her.

"Let the judges explain." He said.

"Red got those points by not fighting his wife back. This shows that he'll be gentle, kind and patient with her. These are good traits to have in a relationship." The judge clarified. Leslie huffed. "But if we were judging on how they fought, Leslie would have came in first, her fiery moves show that she'd protect her family at all costs." Leslie smiled slightly at that.

"Where'd you learn those moves?" Red asked her.

"Huh? Oh, I took two years of fencing and five of martial arts when I was in grade school. They just stuck with me."

"Impressive." Red said.

"Red! You fight like a pansy!" Red turned to see ZIM on Purple's shoulders and yelling at him. "You got your arse kicked!" Red frowned slightly.

"Shut it or I'll sic Les on you."

"You can't command me like a dog!" Leslie said hitting Red's arm.

"Newly weds, it's time for your next trial. Wisdom." The judge announced. Red rolled his eyes when his brother shouted at him again.

"Crap, Red! You're screwed!"

One Hour Later

Red slouched in his chair, exhausted from all the trials he's been through. The wisdom stages, Leslie managed to beat him eight to four, for willpower they tied three and three, with street smarts one was also tied, eight and eight. Now all they had to do was wait for the results. The judge walked up to a podium in a pavilion where most of the reception was held.

"The results for the couples dominance trials are a tie. Both scored twenty-four on their trials. So to break the tie it'll go to the taller and older of the couple." Red sighed and stood up along with Leslie. They seemed to be the same height and if that was the case then they'd share their dominance and everything will be totally based off of equality. A tall Irken came up to them with a device that would take a scan of their body and find exact height. The Irken scanned both of their bodies and waited for the data.

"Red is five feet eight inches." He reported. Red smirked. "Leslie is five' seven." Red looked at his wife.

"It's official. I'm awesome." Leslie rolled her eyes.

"Yes but I'm older than you, ya' boob." She said. "Two years older." The judges whispered quietly.

"It's official. You both are equals. Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Macale Strud." Leslie raised a brow.

"So we keep both our last names." Red nodded. "I see. So I'm Leslie Marie Macale Strud and your-"

"Red Elias Strud Macale." Red finished. Leslie smiled. "If let's say it was you who were dominate then I'd be known as Red Macale Strud. The dominate ones name is the last one."

"I like your Irken traditions. Though confusing, they're quite … interesting."

"Uk paj!" Purple shouted. Red sighed. He pulled Leslie up to him close and kissed her lips passionately. Seconds after the surprise kiss Red pulled away.

"What was that?"

"Uk paj, is Irken for kiss. Whenever the crowd shouts it we have to do it. Kinda like how earthlings click their glasses." Red informed. "So … you wanna learn how to surf?" Red asked. Leslie shrugged.

"I'll get in my swim suit." She said. She ran to a changing area with her hand bag to get out of her yellow sundress. A few of her friends went with her including Sam. Red turned his attention back to a mopey looking ZIM and an excited Purple.

"You alright, mate?"

"I'm fine." ZIM said, somewhat sadly.

"Zeiden," Red challenged. "Something is bothering you, what is it?" ZIM didn't meet his eyes. He kept looking down at his feet buried in the sand.

"I'll go so you can talk alone." Purple said. "Is it okay if I go drown Tenn?" Red looked at him as if her were crazy. "Err … never mind." Purple darted off in a random direction.

"Sit, Zeiden." Red said, leading ZIM to a small dune. The older Irken sat the younger one down and stared at him. ZIM still wouldn't look at Red. "Zei-Zei, please tell me what's wrong."

"You're mine, Red! I shouldn't have to share you with anyone!" ZIM said, tearing up. Red cocked a hairless brow. So it was a jealousy issue. "I'm happy your happy but now you won't have enough time for me because Les is your wife, Gaz is technically your daughter and now you have lots of fans who'd love to hang out with you all the time too!" Red's eyes softened.

"Zeiden, it's true Les is my wife but I don't have legal rights over Gaz, I just have the title as her father because I married her adoptive mother. And I would never hang out with my fans before I hang out with you. There is always room for you in my life, I promise." Red said, petting ZIM's antenna. "I remember a time where every morning I would wake up to you entering my room then you would crawl into my bed. You'd snuggle up to me for five to thirty minutes before I'd get up to go make breakfast and you'd follow asking to help."

"I still do that." ZIM muttered. "But I won't be able to anymore."

"Why not?" ZIM looked at Red. "Just because Leslie would be in the same bed doesn't mean I won't make room for you to do our morning routine. Besides, Leslie gets up earlier than either of us to work." ZIM still was frowning and Red was getting concerned. "Zeiden, please smile. I'll prove to you that I won't change just because I'm married now." ZIM nodded slowly.

"Okay," ZIM stood and brushed the sand off of him. He started to walk away before Red scooped him up in his arms and swung him around and kissing his cheek several times. "Eeeh! Red! Stooooop!" ZIM giggled loudly.

"How about we have a competition, Z." Red said. "Wake-boarding competition?" ZIM turned his head up to look at Red who was still holding him.

"Really?" Red nodded. ZIM grinned. "Yeah! Sure!"

"Hey, Purp!" Red beckoned for Purple to look at him. "Have you ever driven a speed boat before?"

Two More Hours Later

Sundown

The day was full of excitement. Red won the wake boarding competition. ZIM knew he was gonna loose. He wasn't as good as Red. Now they were all having a big feast at a nearby building on the beach. It was pretty dark in the reception hall except for a few dim lights. ZIM sat next to Red and Purple was on the other side of him.

"The best man will now say a few words to the new couple." Suddenly a microphone was thrusted his way by the wedding coordinator who had just made the announcement. The whole hall went quiet as a spot light shined down on the little Irken. Everyone went quiet as they stared at ZIM.

"Um … I guess I'm gonna say a … few words." ZIM glared at the coordinator. Red smiled at his little brother, resting his head in his hand as he listened to what ZIM had to say. ZIM stood up on his chair. Not being tall enough to stand on the floor. "Red has been my brother since the day I was born … uhh, I just realized what I said and how dumb it was." The party guest laughed with ZIM. He went on. "What I meant to say is, Red isn't just my brother, legal guardian, and attitude adjustor. He's my … God this is gonna sound corny, he's kind of like a friend but more of like a father-" ZIM groaned. "Know what? I'm gonna start over again. Red Elias Macale is the bestest brother Yahweh could have given me. He put up with me and after all these years it's a wonder that he's not sick of me yet. He deserves an award for raising me and two younger sisters while mourning the loss of our mother and father and juggling a part-time job as well as taking college classes all at once." The crowd ZIM was talking to started to make cooing noises or some sound of sympathy. "But he managed. He pulled through because he's arguably the most emotionally strongest man in the world. Unlike his little brother here who cries at everything." ZIM said. He felt like he was going to cry again if he kept talking. He continued anyway. "Red, I'm happy for you, I really am. I can't even describe how hard I'm trying not to cry right now. It's like just a few years ago you were all mine and now …" ZIM gulped. Nearly loosing it. "You have a wife I need to share with." ZIM's voice finally failed him. It cracked on the last word and he went into violent sobbing fits, dropping the mic on the ground. He covered his eyes with his hands to hide his shame. Red stood quickly and hugged the distress Irken.

"Shh. Shhh. Zeiden, calm down mate. Shhh, it's alright."

"I'm sorry, Red! I'm trying to be strong for you! It's your day and I'm being selfish! I'm trying but-" Red cut ZIM off by picking him up and embracing him tighter.

"Yeah, I know this is hard for you, Z." Red kissed his baby brother on his head. "Believe me, when you get married I'd probably be crying as hard as you too." ZIM sniffed and pulled back so he could look at Red. The tears in his eyes shimmered under the dim lights. ZIM forced a smile.

"I bet you would." ZIM said. He went in for another hug. Leslie stood up and wrapped her arms around both brothers kissing them both.

That Night (Rated M)

The midnight waltz was beautiful. The moon was full and the stars shined bright. Once the dance was over Red sent his siblings to their downtown Meijour home as he and Leslie went to a high class hotel. "What do you want to do tonight?" Red snapped out of his trance. He switched his gaze from out the limousine window to his wife. Red gave her a cocky grin.

"What did you have in mind?" Red growled, getting closer to her.

"I was thinking about staying up for a little while actually." She said.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. You like that plan?"

"I sure do." Red whispered kissing her lips. The limo stopped in front of a grand hotel. The limo driver looked back.

"I'll bring your luggage to your room then I'll check you two in so you can be alone." He winked at them.

"Thank you." Red said pulling Leslie out of the long vehicle. A doorman opened the door for them. They reached the elevator to make their way up to their floor. When the elevator doors opened Red picked Leslie up bridal style and carried her to their room. A hotel worker was there expecting them and opened that door for them, giving them his best wishes then left. In the room was a hot tub in the corner and a bed with red silk sheets. Red walked over to the edge of the bed and plopped Leslie down. Red lay down on the bed next to her. He closed his eyes tired from the long day. He furrowed a brow when he felt the belt of his pants start to unbuckle. He opened his eyes slowly and saw Leslie's hands over the strip of leather. He reached down to assist her but she swatted his hands away.

"I can do it." She said. Red smirked.

"Stubborn." He watched as she finally unstrung the belt from it's loops. She then worked on unbuttoning his shirt and peeling that off of him revealing his lean, muscular body with beautiful tone skin. Leslie ran her hands down his torso over his pecs and abs.

"Nice." She bent down and caught his lips with her own. As she distracted him with the kiss her hands trailed down to the hem of his pants. She slowly pulled them down to his ankles. She pulled from the kiss to look into his deep red eyes. Her eyes then drifted to his boxer shorts. Red smiled and kicked his pants off from around his ankles. "Do you want me to?" She asked.

"Go ahead." Red replied. Leslie bit her lip and stuck a finger behind the elastic band of his boxers and pulled them down. She closed her eyes so she didn't see anything till the boxers were totally off of him and he was laying naked in front of her. When she opened her eyes she frowned a bit. Staring at his crotch there was nothing but a slit between his legs.

"Um, I do remember a time where I gave ZIM a bath because he had a concussion and he said his 'man parts' were tucked up inside behind that slit thing." Red nodded. A blush apparent on his face for being nude in front of his lover for the first time ever. "How do I get it out?" Leslie asked.

"It usually comes out when aroused after the first time. But since I'm a virgin you'll have to do it manually." Red said. Leslie looked at him for a long time. "What?"

"Will it hurt you?"

"Only a bit. I'll be fine." Leslie looked back and forth from Red's face to his groin. "Here, let me help you." Red scooted all the way to where the bed met the wall. He leaned against the wall and bent his legs upward and spread them apart far enough that the slit parted slightly by itself.

"I just reach in there?" Leslie asked a bit confused. Red nodded.

"Can you hurry? I didn't stretch before this." Leslie chuckled nervously and placed her hand by his crotch close to the parted slits. She narrowed her eyes at the lips to see if she could see his member from there. Leslie really wanted to just dig her hand in there but the slit was so small that she was afraid she'd rip his skin and hurt him bad. "Just do it." Red muttered. "It won't hurt that bad." Leslie hesitated. Red groaned and slumped back. "Leslie, I promise it won't hurt me too bad." Leslie rose her hand up to Red's mouth. He smirked and took her fingers in his mouth, lubricating it for her. "Taste salty." Red sputtered with the fingers in his mouth. Leslie removed her hand and used her right index finger and slid it into the slit making Red gasp from the intrusion. Leslie stopped for a moment so Red could get used to the feeling. Moments later she slid her thumb in. Red groaned at the stinging sensation. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. "All the way in Les." Leslie pushed her fingers further into him until her fingers were a good half inch in. She hit a back wall with what felt like a tight hole in the center of it. That's when her finger bumped into a nub underneath the wall in it's own little pocket. Red arched his back and yelped. "You found it."

"That's it?" Red nodded. Leslie took the nub between her index finger and thumb and tugged on it.

"Ahnn."

"Do you want to lay down?" Leslie asked. Red nodded laying back down with her fingers still inside him. She continued to pull on his manhood until it finally emerged from the sheath. Leslie stared at it. It was the same color as his skin, it lacked testicles, it was long, thick and hard. It was also smooth and not wrinkly like a human man's was. It had a head with a small hole at the tip. The thing was moist from it's cage inside of her husband. "Wow." She said. Red looked down at himself closing his legs a bit.

"Hey buddy, I forgot what you looked like since my last hospital visit." Red said.

"Can I … put my finger back inside you? I thought I felt a hole above your penis on one of your walls."

"Below my- Oh." Red paused for a moment thinking if he should tell her. "This might sound a bit odd but some Irkens are hermaphrodites. I have a vagina, so does Zeiden. It's a trait that we develope from our mother's if they are carriers." Red said. Leslie cocked a brow.

"A what?"

"That hole you felt beneath my penis was my female reproductive organ. Some Irkens are born with both organs. Like some plants are."

". . . So you could bare a child? ... Get pregnant by another man?"

"Uh yeah. Some Irken females have penises too like Tenn, Zee and Tak. But if you were talking about me and you, yeah I could still get pregnant, if the penis is unable to cum then it latches onto an egg and pulls it back inside my body and fertilizes it later then soon enough a smeet is born! Isn't Irken sex interesting?"

"Why didn't you tell me you are able to conceive?" Leslie asked. "I thought since I am barren we wouldn't have any chance of having children."

"That's kind of an odd topic to talk about with your girlfriend when you're going steady, don't ya' think?" Leslie shrugged.

"I didn't think we'd have to use this tonight but since you can carry a child . . ." She trailed off and handed Red a condom which he took gratefully. Red sat up after putting on the protection and helped Leslie out of her dress. Slipping the sundress over her head so she was wearing only her leopard print bikini. Red pulled a string that undid her top. Her breast popped out of their restrictions. Red ogled at how large and perky they were. "You like them?"

"They're huge." Red whispered. Leslie stood up on the bed and dropped her swimsuit bottoms. Red was taken off guard by that, her crotch had a small tuft of hair the rest was shaven or waxed. But what really caught him by surprise was when she tackled him and pinned him down kissing him vigorously. She straddled his hips and placed her vagina directly over his penis but didn't put it in her just yet.

"Are you ready for this, babe?" She asked rubbing his penis to make it become hard.

"Yeah, yeah I am." Leslie slowly lowered her hips to his. The woman closed her eyes and bowed her head at the penetration to her body.

"Ah …" Leslie bit her lip at the pain. Red stared up at her with loving features. Leslie felt his gaze on her and looked down at him. "I'm gonna start." Red didn't say anything. He lay his head back and planned on enjoying being ridden. Heck, why take action, this way he didn't have to do any of the work. Leslie rocked her hips slowly at first then gradually sped up. Red moaned at the pleasure emitting from between his legs. He grabbed Leslie's hips and helped her roll her groin on his.

"Faster," Red whined, claws digging in her hips. Leslie didn't have to be told twice. She immediately picked up the speed. Red sat up slightly. He grunted before changing his position so Leslie was beneath him and he was laying on top. He spread her legs more so his wide hips could rest easily in-between hers. He followed her actions by bucking his lower body. Leslie's legs curled around his prominent hips. She ran her finger nails down his back all the way to his ass.

"Ah! Red!" Leslie whipped her head back in ecstasy. The Irken grunted in reply. The pleasure was too intense for words. In the heat of passion Red could feel himself getting close to climax. First time Irkens tend to come a lot quicker than one that has done it plenty of times before. Leslie took his face in her hands and pulled him down to her to kiss him. This didn't stop Red in his hip actions, they just got faster.

"Uuh." Red moaned. He brought his hands up to Leslie's chest and groped her breast, not releasing from the kiss. Leslie wrapped her hands around to Red's ass and squeezed his muscles there making him whimper. He craved her hands roaming every square inch of his body. It was like he almost needed it. The heat between the two was getting hotter. Finally, what seemed to be ages Red arched his back and came. "Leslie, my god." He bit his lip riding out the orgasm. Leslie scowled when he stopped moving and flopped down tiredly upon her.

"I didn't orgasm yet." Leslie growled and switched positions again so she was on top. She humped him harder making Red cringe in pain.

"Ow! Leslie! That hurts." Red squeaked. His legs started to shake as his head whipped from side to side at the convulsions surging through his body. He clutched to the bedsheets, trembling. The woman took a hold of one of Red's antenna and stroked it in a comforting manner. Leslie gave two more hard thrusts when she came. She let out a loud sigh hugging Red's waist with her thighs. She twisted off of Red laying next to him. Out of the corner of her eye she could see her husband bend his legs upward and looked down at himself. "You hurt me." He whispered. Leslie smiled and kissed his cheek.

"Sorry, Hun. Forgive me?" Red looked at her and returned the smile.

"If I didn't you wouldn't want to touch me for the rest of the night." Leslie blinked twice, placing a hand dangerously close to Red's manhood that was still out of it's sheath.

"I kind of want to explore your body a bit more. You okay with that?" She asked scissoring her fingers. Red got the message of what she wanted to do with him and smirked.

"You know it."

August 26, 1999 (Normal Rating)

On Earth

"I told you to come right back!" Tenn shouted.

"I tried to come right back! I just got caught up!" ZIM shouted back.

"Don't raise your voice at me, Zeiden! I gave you specific orders to come home right after the game but you didn't!"

"I told you I lost track of time! I'm sorry!" ZIM crossed his arms as Tenn and Zee continued to scold him for being late coming home the other night. He went to Skoodge's after the reception to hang out. Zee said he could only stay for a few hours before he had to come home. A few hours turned into several and it wasn't until it was two AM before he realized he had overstayed his visit. It was now three AM and Tenn and Zee were still up trying to get a hold of him. When he did get home they flipped. It wasn't the first time he came home late.

"Just … ugh! Go to bed, Zeiden. We'll deal with you later today." Zee mumbled. ZIM huffed and climbed the stairs to go to his room. When ZIM reached his room he jumped on his bed and sighed. Today was actually the day where he was gonna try out for Alice Spring's u16 baseball team. That means anyone under sixteen could play but you had to be really good to stay on the team. He was probably gonna be the youngest one trying out for u16 because everyone else in his age group is either in a rookie or little league. He planned on joining the Blacksox team.

ZIM closed his heavy eyes and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep. It was gonna be a big day for him.

10:25 AM

"Zeiden," ZIM jumped as he was startled out of his sleep. He looked around to see who spoke. A blurry figure loomed over him. He scrambled to get his glasses off of his night stand. Once the figure was in focus he could clearly see it was Purple. "Zee is off applying for a job at a hospital and Tenn is on a date with her friends. They left it up to me to bring you to your tryouts." ZIM groaned.

"I can just drive there."

"Tenn took your car. Plus you're grounded."

"What! What did I do?" Purple narrowed his gaze at ZIM.

"I think you know." ZIM muttered under his breath and got out of bed to get dressed. Sam came walking into his room just as he was pulling on his cleats.

"Hey, kiddo. You ready?"

"Yup."

"Good, one more thing." Sam stuck her hand in her pocket and pulled out a small white bottle.

"What's that?"

"It's eye drops that act as temporary glasses. I got it from Irk. I decided that you can't wear glasses as you play so I'm gonna put these in your eyes. It's very expensive so we got to use it wisely." ZIM shook his head. He was horrified at anything in his eyes. "C'mon, Z. Just lay back and let me-"

"No thanks." ZIM said holding his glasses. "These will do."

"Zeiden, if those two-hundred dollar prescription glasses break your brother will not be happy."

"I'll get a new pair before he finds out."

"How do you do that? You need a legal guardians signature and you need transportation. Last time I checked you were grounded from your car." ZIM frowned heavily.

"I hate eye drops! I take them every spring for my allergies and they suck." ZIM whined. Sam rolled her eyes and grabbed ZIM's arm pulling him to her. She thought of a good threat for a moment before speaking.

"Zeiden, do I need to take baseball away from you?"

"Wha-what?"

"If you don't take these drops then I'm not going to let you play." ZIM scowled. Now he was getting mad. For a second ZIM just thought about bolting and just running to the tryouts. After all, the field was only seven miles away … on second thought, he'd need that energy for the actual practice. That's not a good idea. Another idea popped into his head. ZIM tore away from her and quickly ran out of the room. Bounding down the steps he yelled to Purple who was in the living room and told him, 'Hurry and drive me to practice before Sam catches me!' then ran out the door.

"Zeiden Macale!" Sam yelled after him. "Peder get him!" She ordered. Purple sighed and ran after the small boy. He opened the front door and managed to grab ZIM before he opened the car door.

"Nooo! I don't wanna!" ZIM screeched.

"Zeiden, calm down!" Purple yelled over him. "God, kid, just take it like a man." ZIM knew he was acting like an immature brat but he had an unhealthy fear of something being so close to his eyes. Especially since now since they were so sensitive and he even was blind at one point. You can't really blame him for being paranoid.

"Thanks, Pur." Sam muttered and helped restrain the struggling Irken.

"Hey, what's going on?" Zee entered the house through the front doors with a confused look. She just got back from the hospital.

"ZIM, needs these eyedrops before he goes to the tryouts. They'll help him see." Sam informed. Zee raised a brow in realization.

"Ahh, eyedrops. Yeah, he hates those. He always over reacts when he has to take them." Zee said. "Here," Zee stretched out her hand to take the drops away from Sam. "I know a trick to make him succumb." She whispered in Sam's ear. Zee got on her knees to get to ZIM's level. Purple set him down so he was standing. Zee then with one swift move pinched a vein on his neck. ZIM gasped before promptly falling to the ground by the compressing of his nerve. A soft snoring immediately started to emit from his mouth. Sam's jaw dropped. "Aww, little Zimmy is so tired." Zee said sweetly, petting his antenna. She rolled her unconscious, sleeping brother from his side to his back. She then proceeded to take off his glasses and forcefully open each eyelid and drip the clear substance into his sockets. "There you are." Zee said getting up. Sam was still lost for words. Purple was in the same condition. Zee turned to leave but Purple stopped her.

"Hey what about…" He pointed at ZIM.

"Oh yeah." Zee walked back, crouching by his body she smacked him harshly across the cheek. ZIM jolted upward with a sound that sounded cross between a snort and a whine.

"Oooh. What just happened?" ZIM moaned rubbing his cheek. He blinked three times adjusting his eyes. His vision went from blurry to almost nearly perfectly clear. "I can see ..." ZIM hopped up.

"See, now if you didn't put up such a fuss, Zee wouldn't of had to knock you out." Purple said. ZIM looked at him.

"She did what?"

"Er, never mind. Come on, ZIM, you're late." Purple said, changing the subject. ZIM glared at Purple but followed him out the door to the car with Sam who put the eye drops back into her pocket just in case if she needed them again.

Alice Springs Baseball Diamond

"Check out the shrimp."

"He's so tiny."

"I bet he doesn't even know the basic rules of baseball."

"What the heck is an Irken doing trying out for a human sport?" ZIM ignored all the comments and gibes he either overheard or was spoken to him by young teenagers all thirteen years old to sixteen. He was the only eleven year old trying out for the Blacksox. ZIM continued his way to the dugout and set his bag of equipment down.

"Alright sheilas and gents! Line up and write your name down on this sheet of paper then we'll begin." ZIM turned to see the coach holding a clipboard and waving it in the air. ZIM walked out of the dugout to get the board from him and write his name. It took about ten minutes for all twenty kids that were trying out to sign their names.

"That small green kid is so gonna get cut." ZIM lifted his antenna at the sound of a female voice behind him. He gritted his teeth.

"I know, right? He's probably not gonna make it through the first day." Her friend added.

"Alright, everyone, my name is Coach Bill! I was gonna start by having you all say your names and an interesting fact about yourself but instead I'm gonna have you buddy up and play catch." The coach said. Immediately everyone had a partner except for ZIM. The small Irken sighed.

"Typical," He said out loud. "No one wants to play with the ugly, green kid." ZIM muttered. He got a few awkward glances at him for talking to himself. He heard a girl whisper from behind.

"Who said he was ugly?" ZIM pursed his lips, feeling dumb. He just called himself ugly.

"Hey, kid," ZIM saw coach Bill coming towards him. "I talked to your trainer before we started. She said you wanted to play pitch or catch or even shortstop." ZIM nodded. "Sorry to say this but you might not be either of those. In fact you could just be sitting on the bench. We got a lot of kids trying out this year. We're cutting nine kids." ZIM didn't say anything for awhile.

"Do you have any idea who you're talking to?" ZIM asked getting frustrated. The coach was taken back by his sudden attitude change. "I played American baseball for three years. I played on four different leagues, I was even offered to go to junior major leagues. I once pitched a perfect game! I practice year round, every day for at least an hour. Now if you don't believe me then I'll just have to prove it to you." ZIM growled. He roughly put his pitching mitt on and grabbed a bag full of baseballs and walked to a pitching backstop assistant.

The people who were playing catch stopped to see what the little Irken was about to do. ZIM snatched up a ball from the bag and got ready to pitch it. He got into his pose and followed through with a wind up then a release. The ball sailed perfectly into the red box strike zone on the pitching assistant. The assistant had a speedometer. His pitch clocked in at seventy miles per hour. ZIM scowled and picked up another ball and threw a curveball, then a change up, then a fast pitch, followed by a slider, and to finish, a drop ball. When ZIM turned back to the coach he saw that the man was stricken speechless as were the other players who had just made fun of him.

"Whoa." One of the boys said simply.

"Now if you still don't want me on the team, just say so. I'll just move back to the states where my ability is appreciated." ZIM said cockily. The coach didn't say anything for a long while. ZIM didn't know how to respond to it so he started making his way off the field.

"Wait!" ZIM was grabbed by the shoulder and whipped around to face Coach Bill. "How would you like it if I offered you spot on the team as our primary pitcher." He asked quietly. ZIM beamed.

"I'd like that very much, sir." The coach took ZIM's dainty hand into his big hand and shook.

"Welcome to the Blacksox, young man."

"Thank you. That was the kind of team welcome I was looking for. I look forward to being your best player this season." ZIM said arrogantly. "Now just wait till you see my batting. I'm a switch hitter."

August 28, 1999

"How was your honeymoon?" Sam asked.

"Great! I learned that southern Irk is hotter than the Gibson desert." Red said. "But we had fun."

"Reeed!" ZIM came running to the foyer with his arms stretched wide. He jumped on Red with a tight hug. "I missed you!"

"Hey, mate, I missed you too. How's baseball going?"

"My first game is in an hour! You came just in time."

"I kinda figured you had a game. You are wearing your uniform." Red said holding ZIM. ZIM looked down. He totally forgot he was wearing his uniform. Black baseball pants, white bodied jersey with black sleeves. The number, 'one' was on his back along with his last name. The name, 'Blacksox' was across the chest. It was the smallest jersey they had and it was still too big for him.

"Aha. Right. You coming?" ZIM asked.

"Of course. Let me and Les get unpacked first." Red kissed ZIM's head then put him down. Sam stood behind ZIM.

"You need your drops, ZIM." She said.

"Noooo." ZIM whined. "Last time you nearly poked out my eye."

"Because you kept struggling. Now do me a favor and take these without a fuss or there will be consequences." ZIM's antennas slicked to the back of his head as a sign of anger and irritation. He scowled and walked over to the living room couch. "You can glare at me all you want but you're gonna take these regardless." Sam said. She sat on the couch and allowed ZIM to rest his head in her lap as he stretched his body out on the couch cushions. Sam opened the white bottle. She plucked the black-rimmed glasses off his face. "Keep your eyes open." She rested one hand on ZIM's face and used the other to squeezed the white bottle so the liquid would drip into his eye. ZIM whimpered when he saw the nozzle of the bottle produce a clear substance. Just as soon as it dropped ZIM closed his eyes tightly. "Zeiden!" Sam groaned. "Do you wanna do this the hard way?" ZIM wiped the wetness off his face.

"I don't like!"

"I don't care if you 'don't like', I want you to-"

"No." ZIM muttered, rubbed his eyes. Sam blew out an angry stream of air. She tried to keep her patience but sometimes it was so hard.

"Zeiden Macale, if you do not take these eyedrops, so help me, I'll strap you to your brother's examining table and torment you with these eye drops for as long as I desire." ZIM scoffed.

"Good luck trying to figure out how to use the straps. I can't even work them." Sam's eye twitched.

"That's it." Sam got up and called for Purple who came from the upstairs rooms.

"What?"

"I need you to hold ZIM."

"No! No!" ZIM tried getting up and running off but Sam seized his arm and swung him to the ground.

"I hate to do this to you, Zeiden, but I will not let you wear glasses when you play ball. Unless you want glass lodged in your eyes."

"Everyday, ZIM." Purple moan pinning the tiny Irken's shoulders to the ground and sitting on his waist lazily. Sam put her knees on both sides of ZIM's head to prevent him from moving it. Sam opened his left eye and quickly squeezed the bottle and got a few drops in his eye. ZIM yelped. Sam did the other eye, this time ZIM whined sorrowfully. Once she was done, Sam smiled at her accomplishment. She put the cap back on the bottle and clasped her hands on ZIM's face and looked deeply in his eyes.

"Now was that so bad?"

"Get off me!" ZIM yelled. Purple and Sam chuckled releasing the boy form his restraints. ZIM quickly got up and rubbed his eyes. Red came down the steps with Leslie and Tyson was following him.

"Why was ZIM screaming?" Red asked nonchalantly.

"They were abusing me, Red!" ZIM pointed an accusing finger at the other couple.

"I don't know what he's ranting about." Purple said innocently.

"He's crazy. Do you guys have a straight jacket we could put him in?" Sam added. ZIM growled, he snapped his fingers. Tyson came to his side. His dog was now fully grown and very strong. ZIM jumped on Tyson's back and started to ride the white dog.

"Tyson and I will be outside." ZIM said, snootily. "And I'm not crazy."

"Says the kid who's riding a dog as if it were a horse." Red muttered.

That Night

"Red," A small voice whimpered. The red-eyed Irken opened his eyes and saw his baby brother standing in front of him, tired and frustrated-looking.

"Nightmare, ZIM?" The younger nodded. "Snakes?"

"You know me too well." ZIM said crawling into Red's bed.

"Who's that?" Leslie's voice sounded.

"It's, ZIM. He's sleeping with us tonight." Red answered. ZIM climbed in between Leslie and Red and snuggled up to their bodies. Red draped an arm over ZIM protectively. Leslie stroked ZIM's antenna, making him purr quietly. Red whispered in his brother's antenna quietly. "I told you."


Aww. Dat was sweet. Who thought that was sweet? I for sure thought it was sweet. So sweet it gave me cavities.

Anyways, here's the question for the chapter.

Who do you guys want to see more of? It can be a pairing like, Red/Purple Friendship, ZIM/Tak Romance, Tenn/Zee Sister-Bonding, Purple's Family. Or it can be an individual like, Skoodge, Gaz, or one of my Characters. (I seriously don't try to write about my OC's so much because I hate OC's and I know you guys hate them too. But since one of the cannon characters is now married to one of my original characters ... oh God what have I done!)

Ya'll know what to do. R&R if you feel so obliged. Love ya'll! Happy reading!

P.S. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to ask them via PM or Review and I'll make sure to get them answered, ASAP!