I know, I know, I haven't updated in forever. Kick me. I had writers block! But I really can't believe that this is the last chapter of Free Rina, that's actually kinda scary! But at least there's going to be a third one, and I've got enough story ideas to last me up until my sophomore year at college (because I write 'em one at a time), so I'm not going to stop writing unless some major catastrophe should occur that makes me unable to write or update. So have hope, as this is not the end, but the beginning! The beginning of Iggy and Rina's lives together, that is (sorry, Evil Angel of DOOM!).
Just a small note before the thank-you's, I would have updated much sooner but I kinda got writers block, and then once I recovered my dad announced we were going to Breckenridge for Oktoberfest (German festival, it's where the adults get drunk, the kids play around, and everyone dances and listens to folk music or something like that), and there's hardly any internet so I was in a really cool hotel without being able to access fanfiction. And then I had loads of homework, and I was also talking with people who write other fanfics, and that's very fun but it takes an eternity to send messages. And then I had more writer's block. Just imagine a whole bunch of excuses and that's what happened to me. Have mercy, I bring chapters!
Here's to the reviewers, Katie-3llen, xxApocalypsexx, ghj1, IssytheWriter, Bubble Blower, Maximum Ride all the way, hahahehe7, S. L. Michaels, DarkBlade98, and Evil Angel of DOOM! I never know how to thank people for a huge favor, so I always try and fail to do it anyways. Just…thanks! I guess the best thing is that I'm updating, so here you go and enjoy!
Disclaimer: never ever ever ever EVER assume that the person owns something just because they talk about it all the time and make stories based off it. So let's think: do I talk about Maximum Ride all the time? Yes. Do I make my own versions of it? Yes. Therefore, do I own it? No. Glad you understand. But I do have fantasies where James Patterson finds out about Rina and everyone's kids and likes them…but who doesn't? I'd be glad just to meet him! Oh, and same goes with songs I'm going to mention, I don't own them though I use them in my fics, but I still think Max Ride fantasies are better than meeting a singer! I mean, just today I had a fantasy where…yeah, I'm rambling, aren't I? On with the chapter then!
Chapter 13: Why Not?
POV Rina
We were headed up the hill to get everyone when Newt slowed down to get next to me.
"Mom?"
"Yeah?"
"I was wondering, could you promote Tali from usher to bridesmaid?"
"What? Why?"
"I kinda have access to her mind twenty-four seven, and I kinda overheard her wanting to be a bridesmaid. She just didn't ask herself because she thinks she'd be getting too involved. But she'd actually be pretty good, and she needs to not lie low for once."
"You're a good brother, you know that?"
"No I'm not, I just think she deserves to get out and be something besides Miss Camouflage. She's always blended in, so just make her a bridesmaid and do something good for her."
"Fine, she can be a bridesmaid. And you and Jake want to be ring bearers?"
"What the? How did you know that?"
"Well now that I know you're blocking your minds, I can hack into your minds and just barely read them. Mind reading is my superpower, remember?"
"Right, right. So can we?"
"Sure. Tell Iggy I said yes, okay?" I said the last sentence out loud since we were at the point where Newt had to leave.
"Okay, I will. Thanks Rina!" Newt waved goodbye and started down the hall.
"What did you say?" Tali asked me.
"I said yes to him and Kyle being ring bearers. We don't have one anyways." As nice as their fake names are, I will never get used to them now that I know their real ones! Funny, you'd think we've known them by their fake names until half an hour ago and we'd want to keep using them, but it's like deep down we knew the names all along and now we want to use them as much as possible.
"Oh, okay."
"And I also said you could be a bridesmaid."
"Huh? How'd you know?"
"Let's just say Newt is a very good brother. Now could you hold still a moment? It's hard to get you in a dress when you're moving." She froze and I poofed her into a matching blue and white dress. Once she was ready, she turned and gave me a hug.
"Thanks."
"No prob, kiddo. You might want to thank your brother, though." I stroked her hair, and she only squeezed harder. I probably hugged her just like that in the future.
Later
Oh. Their. Human. God. This was so freaking scary! Now I know completely how Max felt when she got married to Fang, I mean, I'm making a lifelong commitment here! And in front of my friends and family, too. I clenched a little tighter to the curtains separating us from the wedding. If getting married doesn't rip your nerves from you and trample all over them I don't know what will.
"And yet you face an evil genie/eraser fearlessly just to save your spouse. Jeez mom, you're insane!" Perfect, just perfect, Newt heard my thoughts.
"You know I'm still getting used to you calling me mom, right?"
"Yeah, I know. I bet you're still getting used to talking to me in your mind too?"
"You have no idea."
"Look, just relax, okay? It'll all be fine, you're not going to get divorced or anything."
"That's not what I'm worried about."
"Huh? I thought you were worried about how the marriage would turn out."
"Nope."
"What then?"
"I dunno, I guess I'm just freaked that I'll trip on the aisle again or goof when I'm dancing or something."
"Oh, sure, get worried about tripping in front of some people. You should be more worried about whether or not Ari 2 had backup."
"Which one of you got my clumsiness? Because I know one of you did. And why should I be worried about Ari 2? He's dead."
"Tali got clumsiness. She handles it pretty well, though. And of course you should worry about him, he could have told anyone his secrets!"
"Yeah, sure, because knowing Ari 2 he thinks he's going to die soon and needs to prepare and tell one of his brainless henchmen all his secrets." I'm not sure if Newt's powers were developed enough to hear my sarcasm.
"Ha ha, very funny. Come on, mom, you know something could happen."
"Would you happen to know if it's going to happen during the reception? Because if there isn't going to be a distraction from my slow-dancing then I'll have to make one."
"Mom!"
"Okay, now you're sounding like a dad and I'm the kid."
"Scary. But you're new at this parent thing, so I'll forgive you."
"Gee thanks, I feel so much better. Gotta stop talking now, it's about time to get started."
"Fine. Dad sends his love or something like that."
"Tell him I left my heart with him."
"Tell him yourself! I'm not Cupid!"
"I dunno, messing with your parents and aunts and uncles to make sure they get together, I'd call that- oh, I need to go!" Newt broke the connection as Angel and Gina walked side by side down the aisle. It was adorable, really, I mean the blonde curls (Angel), straight black strokes (Gina), and identical dresses looked so cute! Then it was Nudge's turn. She sped things up this time, just walking like she was following Tara to breakfast, except this time her back was actually straight. Tali sped things up even faster, and I don't believe she was the one to get super speed. Must be Iggy's genes. Max followed shortly after, beautiful as always (and I wrote that down!) in the maid of honor dress. In a way she looked kinda like when she got married. The wings were still standing out on her back, just like last time!
Suddenly the audience shifted in their seats ready for me to come out. I scanned the audience for a brief second. Mom and dad looked the most expectant, probably ready to see their little girl all dolled up in a wedding dress. Matt was ready to eat again, so he didn't seem to care one way or another. Max and Nudge were smiling at me, ready to see me trip again, most likely. Gazzy and Fang were just waiting for this to be over (those tuxes must be murder). Angel and Gina were both jerking their heads, motioning for me to hurry up, and Iggy was beaming into the shadows, waiting for me.
"Look at grandma and grandpa." Newt sent to my mind. Grandma and Grandpa? Oh, right, the parent thing (insert blush here). I gazed out the curtain and got a shock. Even Iggy's parents seemed ready to see me! Well, if his parents cared too…
I took a small step out on the carpet right as the music switched tracks, so it was like I had my own theme song as I walked. Everyone gasped, oohed, and ahhed, but thankfully no one fainted, so I wasn't hideous or anything. Mom looked like she was going to cry (hey, this is her first child to get married here, what mother wouldn't cry a bit?), everyone looked awed, and even Fang managed a small smile. I saw Newt and Tali watching from the side as I walked by them. Newt gave a small wave and Tali nodded once with a grin on her face.
And then I looked at Iggy and all was forgotten. Man, he looked amazing! I know I saw him earlier in his tux and all that, but this was different. Maybe it was just the lighting or the location or something, because I just couldn't look away from his flawlessness. I mean, what tux shows muscles beneath the sleeves? None but this, I'm betting. His hair was ruffled up, like he just landed from a flight (which I'll never tell, but that's the way I like it best), and yet he also looked like he could be an ambassador at a party or something. How did he manage that? Never mind.
I walked the last few steps down the aisle and stood next to Iggy, who was still looking at me in awe.
"Hey." I sent him a thought.
"Hey yourself. Did you know that you look gorgeous?" I blushed
"Thanks. You're not so bad yourself."
"Thanks. Should we get this over with then?"
"We may as well give them a show." Together we turned to face the priest guy, and he started the ceremony.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join-" oh great, we got the same guy as last time, when Max and Fang got married. And he forgot the names again. How does this guy keep coming up?
"Iggy." His parents frowned at the use of his fake name (I can see why Iggy doesn't like them so much), but my parents just smiled. He freed me and he's going to be their son-in-law, who cares what he's called?
"Rina."
"Very well, Iggy and Rina in holy matrimony. Crazy kids with such strange names, odder than those Max and Fang kids." He muttered the last part to himself, then began the poems and speeches and all the stuff we don't care about. I was actually going to sit through it this time until the vows came, but right at the third poem he started the familiar symptoms of being fast-forwarded! Everyone either laughed or looked confused (mainly laughed since my parents took the liberty of inviting some genies), and Iggy turned to me.
"Nice touch!"
"Uh, I'm not doing this."
"What? Who then?" We scanned the audience for people with particularly smug grins. But no one was, they were just laughing at how the priest guy sounded like a motormouth bug and yet hardly moved at all. Hey, it actually was kinda funny! The guy could be Fang if he wasn't talking so much.
"Incoming message from Tali. Do you accept?"
"Hi Newt. Wouldn't I be able to talk to her myself?"
"No, actually, we need to keep our minds blocked for Aunt Angel and Grandma Stella and Grandpa Frank and all those genies who don't know us but could probably figure it out, so you can only talk if I connect you."
"Fine then, yes, connect us please."
"Hi mom!" Apparently Tali was one of the laughing people.
"You're the one who's speeding him up, aren't you?"
"Is it that obvious?"
"No, I'm just guessing here."
"Come on mom, you need it! Everyone was getting so bored, Zak was actually lying down on the floor to go to sleep! No one wants to sit through this."
"Do I sound like I'm mad? Good call!" What? It was boring!
"Who are you talking to?" Iggy asked from next to me as the priest guy was slowing down. About time too, if he wasn't being sped up he would have been talking for hours now.
"Demi."
"And?"
"She says hi." "She's doing it."
"Well, okay then. Better pretend we were paying attention now." He noted just as the priest slowed to an almost normal pace.
"Do you, Iggy…"
"Griffiths." Iggy told him with a small scowl, while his parents smiled, happy that he used their name.
"Take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?" Ah, short and sweet.
"I do."
"Do you, Rina…"
"Bailey."
"Take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
"I do."
"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss." Well, I don't need any more notice than that! I won't give you any gory details, but we kissed, and it took a few minutes, but we were married, so we didn't care that everyone else saw. But when we finally broke apart (he needed air and I needed a break from his hypnotism), everyone was smiling at us in awe, or in Gazzy, Fang, and Jake's case, apathy. And Newt was pretending to choke and make Zak laugh, but we ignored him.
"Okay, reception time!" Iggy announced and everyone headed up the hill and inside the mansion just as the sun was setting. Iggy glowed in the red beams of sunlight, and I could have melted when he took me by the hand and led me into the mansion. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" he asked me.
"Not in the slightest. We killed an evil clone. We found out we were going to have kids. And we got married. So it was a pretty cool day for us!" I went over the highlights of the day.
"Yeah, Newt and Tali are a surprise." He rubbed the back of his neck for whatever reason. "I wonder what they'll look like as babies."
"And I wonder who picked the names." I added.
"Actually, the name Newt always kinda interested me." he admitted. "I mean, the full name sounds like a smart person but the nickname sounds more like a lizard."
"Well I give you credit." I kissed him on the cheek. "Congrats, you have two children."
"Hey, they're yours too! And it's kinda weird, Max and Fang and Nudge and Gazzy don't really know their kids are so close to them already and yet we know the whole truth." He tried to change the subject.
"Yeah, it's not too fair, is it? I hope they'll tell them." By now we were at the top of the hill and at the door leading to the ballroom. He opened it for me, and I came face to face with the strangest party I have ever seen. When genies and humans combine it's not too pretty, especially when your parents think you're still friends with some snooty show-offs from high school who just love to mess with the human businessmen and their wives, and I don't mean by telling jokes. Plus this may not be a well-known fact, but genies also love to eat, so the genies that weren't on a diet they didn't need were gorging on food (needless to say, Matt was their king) over on the tables set out at the end of the ballroom facing the stage. The humans were trying to ignore the strange people morphing shapes and levitating things and just enjoy the reception themselves.
"Too…many…people!" Iggy pretended to choke.
"Hehehe! Seriously, you need any claustrophobia help?" I asked.
"That would be great, actually."
"Okay, here you go." I held my hand out to his face, and he became relaxed.
"Thanks." He sounded relieved and sent me a smile. If it weren't for his hand on my arm I would have fainted.
"Anytime."
"Ah, good, the bride and groom are here." We turned to the stage to see Tali looking towards us. We took that long? I mean, the band was already set up and Matt was full. Both take a pretty long time. "Would you be willing to start the music now?" We nodded, and the band started playing. Wait a sec, is this…?
"Ladies and gentlemen, genies, humans, and hybrids, the bride and groom will now have their first dance. This is 'Keep Holding On' by Avril Lavigne." Tali announced. Oh crap, the dance. I put my head in my hands and peeked at Iggy.
"Do I have to?"
"I don't mind if you say no, but I know a few people who will." Iggy nodded over to the head table, where Angel, Nudge, and Gina were waving at me and mouthing at me to hurry up at the same time. And between the three of them they wouldn't even have to lift a finger to make me dance. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not be manipulated.
"Fine." I groaned, and Iggy smiled and led me to the dance floor. Great, everyone's looking right at the moment where I'll most likely trip. So comforting. Iggy put one hand on my waist and I put one on his shoulder, and together we figured out a position that looked somewhat like we were dancing to Tali's song. Well, okay, technically it was our song.
"I wonder how they knew it was our song." Iggy asked me (well, you know me, I kinda overheard him wonder and answered).
"I don't know, maybe we mentioned it in the future?"
"Who knows. Hey, here's a crazy idea. This is our wedding day. How about we forget about the kids for a minute and just pretend we don't know?"
"I can live with that." I placed my head on his chest, happy to just be there with Iggy. Sure, people were watching me, but whatever. If I goofed Iggy would help me up. I couldn't believe we were finally married!
POV Iggy (A/N he may as well get to talk a little!)
"I can live with that." Rina put her head on my chest (I swear she made a little indent because she leaned there so many times) and sighed. Hey, I can't blame her. Newt, Tali, kinda surprises. I just circled the floor and waited for our song to end. But Newt gave me a small smile when I glanced his way (what? I was wondering if he really looked like me!).
"Congrats, Iggy Griffiths, you officially have the girl of your dreams married to you. What are you going to do next?" Newt, always Newt.
"Enjoy being married and kidless while I can?"
"Oh sure, forget all about your kids! Whatever, I've got my own plans."
"And what would they be?"
"Jake and Tali have gone long enough without each other, and that's all I'm going to say. And don't tell mom, she might get proud of me again."
"Uh…okay, not telling Rina." Ignoring that. The song ended soon enough, and I looked up to see every eye on us. Oh crap, they saw everything! Thank god not a lot of people here are good at reading minds. Rina looked up, blushed, and we both went back to our seats to let some other people dance. But apparently it was toast time, because Fang climbed up onto the stage. What the? Fang was going to make the toast? I thought he liked being Mr. Tall, Dark, and Silent. But he opened his mouth and…
"Can I have some more of that shrimp stuff?" Everyone laughed at that. Of, course, typical Fang. Gazzy took the stage and handed Fang a plate of shrimp. This makes more sense, I mean I had two best men for a reason.
"Okay, thanks Fang. I'm not too good at making speeches, but I just want to say one thing before I get to the point." He paused and looked EXTREMELY nervous, kinda like he did when we were in the School way back when and every experiment had to leave their cage and the ones that came back were shivering and he was called to be next. Thank god it was only shots. But anyways, he looked about as nervous. Then he finally spoke. "Nudge?"
Nudge shot up from her slouch at the head table with a blush on her face that could probably warm Antarctica. "Yeah?" she breathed.
"Will you be my girlfriend?" Holy. Freaking. Cow. Gazzy, the little trooper, one of the bomb experts of the flock wanted Nudge the Motormouth? I never thought he'd ask, he'd just keep it to himself because she might reject him now that she wasn't in danger and at the School. He seemed too shy to ask. But according to Zak's small cheer in the corner, it could be possible that she'd say…
"Okay, I'll be your girlfriend!" Nudge half shouted up to the stage. Gazzy grinned a huge grin, then remembered why he was up there on a stage standing in a tux that felt like fire ants were crawling all over it.
"Here's to Iggy and Rina." He held up a glass of cider to us, and everyone followed suit and drank up. "Okay, now that it's over you guys can continue playing." Gazzy wiped his mouth and hopped off stage to go join Nudge as the band went up and resumed playing.
The next song was called Why Not by Hilary Duff. Angel suggested this song because she liked it, and I don't think I've seen Tali sing her, so this ought to be interesting. Wait a sec, that's my daughter up there singing! And at our wedding! Scary. But when you know genies and you're a hybrid created by mad scientists anything can happen. And that's what makes it interesting.
My attention shifted to Max and Fang. Okay, is Fang getting some more of that shrimp? No, he left the plate, and he's offering Max a hand and saying something... Max is blushing, but she nodded and he pulled her to the…DANCE FLOOR? Holy crap, Fang and Max are going to dance when they don't have to! I nudged Rina.
"Get the video camera, Fang and Max are dancing." She giggled and made a video camera, setting it on the table to catch everything.
"Blackmail." She beamed as the song started. We watched Tali sing.
"You act like you don't know me when you see me on the street.
Making like I turn you off, when I know you think I'm sweet.
It don't have to be like that, I guess you're insecure.
If you say what's on your mind, I might answer sure.
So walk a little slower and I'll try and catch your eye.
Sometimes it's so hard to see the good things passing by.
There may never be a sign, no flashing neon light
Telling you to make your move when the time is right.
So why not
Take a crazy chance?
Why not
Do a crazy dance?
If you loose a moment
You might loose a lot
So why not?
Why not?" Okay, she's good. Where did she get a voice like that? Not me, I know it. Maybe Rina. But I scanned the rest of them. Newt, Shell, Zak, and what little I could see of Syd looked preoccupied, but they were doing their jobs well. But Jake was the funniest to look at, because he was staring straight at Tali! Wait a sec, Newt said something about Jake and Tali going long enough without having each other…no way.
"You're right, he does." Rina read my mind.
"He likes her?" My eyes widened and I couldn't help but smirk a bit. Sounds a load like Max and Fang.
"And she likes him, and her brother's going to do something about it." Rina nodded solemnly, then burst into a grin. "I swear, if he had a girl helping him it would be just like what we did!"
"Hey, you hang around your parents long enough and you start to think like them." I shrugged. "Look at Mini Fnick!" sure enough, when we looked up, Newt nudged Jake and he did a small solo, which gave Tali an opportunity to look him over. And the last note she sang in one verse was enough to make Jake forget completely about the guitar and just keep gazing at her with the exact same expression Fang had when he looked at Max.
"I can see why Newt's going to do something about it." Rina commented.
"Yeah, no kidding."
A little later
POV Rina (A/N you never thought Iggy's POV was going to last, did you?)
Oh crap, they found us. Iggy's parents waved us over from the refreshments table. I froze time, and Iggy and I exchanged glances.
"Do we have to?" Iggy whined.
"We may as well humor them a little. Otherwise they're never going to leave us alone." I prompted, put on a slightly fake smile, and unfroze time. Then we went over to them to wait this out.
"James, Rina, so nice to talk to you!" Iggy's mom said with a fake smile towards me. I could tell that she still wasn't comfortable with me, the stranger her son happened to be marrying.
"Mrs. Griffiths, I didn't see you!" I gave her a small hug. I've seen her with her friends (I was bored), and she likes to be hugged to trust someone. Surprised, she actually hugged back.
"Call me Ashley." She told me. Sweet, she was already warming up to me! (A/N Okay, I don't know her real name, only Iggy's dad's name. So I made one up. Any problems with that? Thought not. But let's face it, I suck at naming people, I mean Tali isn't even a real nickname!) "So we still have a few questions that we never got around to asking because you had to see your parents."
"Whom we met, by the way." Mr. Griffiths added. I rolled my eyes.
"I'm sorry they're so strange, they just really like their powers." I apologized.
"Oh, don't worry about it, dear. Your father actually told us some very interesting information about your future." Mrs. Griffiths (I know she told me to call her Ashley, but I don't care!) beamed right as Iggy groaned next to me.
"Great, just great, he told you." He moaned. Poor us, we have to stand through this stupid interrogation!
"Is it true you're going to have two children?" Mrs. Griffiths started firing at us. We both blushed. The flock had better not be listening in or so help me…
"Yes, Newt and Tali." Iggy told them with a face like stone.
"Who picked the names?"
"We don't know." I filled in.
"Well, are we going to get a lot of visits from Newt and Tali? I should hope we get to see our grandchildren." Mr. Griffiths asked. And we have to go through how much of this? Not much, apparently, because I felt a tug at my wedding dress and looked down to see Zak staring angelically at us (probably learned that from Angel). He must be on break with the rest of the band. Oh, right, forgot to mention that Angel suggested people doing karaoke, so they got a break to go get snacks and water, rest, and apparently talk to us.
"Yes, Taylor?" I asked, and Iggy snapped his head over to us.
"Can you two help us really quick?" We nodded right as soon as we understood that we were bailing out of this jail, excused ourselves, and followed him through the crowds to a corner where no one else could hear us.
"What's up?" Iggy asked.
"How much do you love your daughter?" Zak demanded. Iggy and I exchanged glances.
"I thought we were being saved from the awkward questions." I said.
"Okay, okay, bad way to start this. But we're bored because everything is going the way it should be, so now we're going to try and get Tali and Jake to dance but they won't cooperate so you guys are plan B could you possibly help us get them to dance because they really like each other and they ought to be together since Jake keeps staring at Tali and Tali keeps staring at Jake when he's not staring at her and they keep missing each other and they try to act all casual around each other so Tali thinks Jake doesn't like her in that way and Jake doesn't think Tali likes him in that way but they both really like each other and they don't see that the other likes them back so they should be happy together but they won't be because they don't want to be embarrassed and…why aren't you stopping me?" he looked at us weird.
"It works like this: you talk, we listen, we understand. Is this a surprise to you?" Iggy said impatiently.
"Yeah, kinda. I've always been blocked from saying more at some point. But forget about that, will you help us get them to dance?" Zak gave us Bambi eyes, which was useless because we already agreed.
"Is there a plan?" I asked.
"Yeah, Newt's got it, he can explain."
"Why did I not see that coming?" Iggy asked sarcastically. "Newt's got the plan, oh there's a surprise."
"You'd be surprised what your kids are capable of, I mean they always take charge and yet they're so cool and funny and all that. Okay, let's go find Newt." He dragged us away from our soundproof corner and stood about ten feet away from an impatient Newt and an extremely pissed-off Jake. He was still and silent for a few minutes (never thought it possible), then turned to us. "Okay, he's kinda busy with him, so I gotta tell you. I think the best thing you can do is convince her, like come in and say something like "what's going on?" and she'll tell you some protesting thing or a lie and could you help us convince her? When worst comes to worse you could just help us push her in his direction."
"How come you keep saying him and her instead of using their names?" Iggy asked Zak, noting that we haven't said their names much either.
"I can't remember which names to call them in public. Will you help?" We said yes at the same time.
"Okay, you stand over there, and when I start talking could you come over and just kinda ad-lib it or something because I just don't feel like making a plan and I don't have any ideas anyways?" Yes, yes, just get going already! He left and we waited for him to get in the conversation again.
"I can't believe we're playing matchmaker again!" I told Iggy.
"Yeah, we're so experienced they should start paying us to do this." He smirked back, then we approached the quartet.
"Hey guys, what's up?" I asked Tali, Zak, Syd, and Shell like it was the most natural thing in the world to wonder about the servants. Zak owes us big time for this, we're missing out on enjoying our reception! But he did save us from Iggy's parents. We're even then!
"They want ME to dance with HIM!" Tali jerked a thumb over at Jake, who looked just about as fuming as Tali at the moment. They looked a lot like Max and Fang before they had their first kiss (the one Iggy and I helped with), which made a lot of sense!
"What? How come?" Wow, let's have a standing ovation for our best actor! Go Iggy! I took the liberty of complimenting him in his mind and he sounded proud but didn't blush or anything, which just gave him more credit.
"Some theory about me liking him, which I so do not!" Tali pouted.
"Hmm." I thought it through. She was pretty and smart and sweet (none of which were my traits, by the way), he was handsome and smart and silent (all Fang and Max), why not? "Maybe you should try it. How bad could it possibly be?"
"Catastrophic. I can't dance, and I won't try in front of all those people. And I'll never even think about it in front of him!" Who said she wasn't my daughter? Methinks someone hangs out with me often in the future.
"You know what? I've got something to show you. Might change your mind." Iggy told her. What the hell? Tali cocked her head. "Just walk in front of us so you have a better view and we'll show you." She consented, and everybody gave Iggy weird looks. "Tell them I said for them to trust me, okay?" Iggy asked me. I sent the word.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Zak said that when worst comes to worst, all they need is a little push. Connect me to Newt, please?" I'd be lying if I said that didn't confuse me, so I just connected him to Newt's mind as best I could despite the block. And I couldn't help but eavesdrop just a little bit. "Newt? Newt? Come in Newt, this is Iggy speaking!"
"Oh, hi dad, what's up?"
"I'm getting Tali towards the middle of the dance floor, would you get Jake near us so then we can push 'em together?"
"Aw man, why didn't I think of that? One sec." I saw Newt steering Jake over in our direction.
"Okay, as of now you are officially a genius."
"Thanks, Rina, but Genius needs to make this shot perfect, so could you help me with the timing?"
"Sure. Shoving in five…four…three…two…NOW!" At that moment four things happened at once: Zak sneezed, Iggy pushed Tali straight in front of him, Newt pushed Jake head into Tali, and they both fell back onto the floor and rubbed their heads! If I blinked I would have missed seeing it, but the noises would have told me what happened all the same. Jake and Tali looked up to see what they ran into, and then they just kinda got relaxed expressions on their faces. Tali smiled that easy smile you would use if you were on painkillers, and even Jake managed to loose the mad look and give a tiny grin. Then all of a sudden, he spoke.
"Hey, wanna dance?"
"Okay." Jake stood, held out a hand to Tali, and got her on her feet. Since it was a slow song anyways, they did something similar to what me and Iggy were doing when it was our turn to dance. Wow, one look in each other's eyes and they couldn't say no!
"You're done now, go enjoy your wedding." Newt shooed us away.
"But I don't want to talk to my parents!" Iggy moaned. "You want us to enjoy it? Make them leave."
"Can't, that's Tali, and she's a little busy at the moment. Rina could help you, though."
"Yeah, come with me and we'll talk strategy." I led him away to our table, eager to get them out of the way.
POV Newt (A/N yes, you're going to read Newt's POV for once! My suggestion: get used to it.)
FINALLY, Jake and Tali danced! I'm brilliant, am I not? Okay, okay, dad's plan was good. But he wouldn't come up with it if the situation didn't call for it, and I made the situation! So I completely rule. And I'm so modest about it! It's just that Jake and Tali are very hard to convince, especially when it has to do with them, so the fact that we got them to dance should be in the papers, and when we actually get them together we upgrade to global T.V! I've already got an acceptance speech going for when I win the Nobel Peace Prize. (ahem) I'd like to thank my friends, Syd, Shell, Zak, and Maddy (uh…please, ignore the Maddy part, you have no clue who she is yet) for helping me accomplish this great deed, to those suckers at school, I TOLD you I'm awesome, and as always, thanks to mom and dad for being there and teaching me the important things like making bombs and flying and using my powers wisely. Okay, everyone's going to kill me for blowing our family secrets. But I got them to dance!
"Are you working on your acceptance speech again?" Zak piped up as we all watched Jake and Tali dance. Which reminds me…
"Yeah, just putting on the final touches. And pay up, Tali isn't tripping." Zak grumbled and passed me some prehistoric money. Well, we call it prehistoric because it's nothing like our money in the future, where the heads and the value indicators are projected into a hologram whenever you hold it flat. They're working on a talking dollar, but George Washington still won't stop talking about Sprite-Dew (the Pepsi-Cola wars part II), so they're working out some of the kinks.
"Why would you write an acceptance speech because you got them together?" Syd and Shell said and nodded over to Jake and Tali, who were still staring vacantly at each other.
"Because the Nobel Peace Prize selection team is going to end up in front of this mansion, if I have anything to say about it." I said tolerantly. It always freaked them out when I said in such a pleasant tone that I was going to use my powers for evil!
"Don't even think about it or we'll get your sister!" Syd and Shell blurted.
"Oh come on, blow up one wheel on their van when they drive near our place and that's all I'll do, I swear!" I love scaring them!
"Dylan?"
"Okay, maybe I might be outside when it happens." I pressed on.
"Dylan…"
"And sure, I could help them out of the car, maybe ask if they're okay, sound like I care, and if they don't ask for my story I could-"
"DYLAN!"
"WHAT?" I didn't hear whoever it was say my name until then (plus I'll never get used to these fake names), and I spun around to see Aunt Nudge raising an eyebrow at me with Uncle Gazzy right next to her.
"Are you scaring them?" Aunt Nudge asked.
"Nah, I was only messing with them. Why, are you messing with me?"
"Well, they look pretty freaked."
"Actually, freaking out kids is good for them. Builds character and all that."
"Well, if you're really sure. And Angel told me to tell you that you'll be up in a few minutes, so get Demi and Kyle and get going. Where are they, anyways? I haven't seen them in a while and- there they are!" Aunt Nudge scanned the crowd and then squealed. "They're dancing together, oh that's so cute! How did they get to dance together, I mean Demi's always seemed preoccupied with- OH, she was trying to avoid looking at Kyle! And Kyle doesn't talk much, I mean who wouldn't like a guy who doesn't talk much? Oh that's so cute, I need that camera I saw Rina make earlier, c'mon Gazzy, we gotta go find it!" Nudge forgot all about me messing with the kids and pulled Uncle Gazzy away to go find the camera mom made. Syd, Shell, and Zak all looked at me and I shrugged back.
"Better go get Romeo and Juliet and get playing." I started to take them up to Jake and Tali to see if we could pry them apart when something both amazing and frightening happened. "Oh crap, why now?" I thought as the white dove flew through the wall and towards mom and dad, who were just finished with cutting the cake. "Why does the Genie Government have to let them know now? One more moment, that's all I ask!"
"Come on, we need to go." I felt a tugging on my arm and turned to see a very red Tali pulling at me and a dazed Jake looking after her. "Before they read it. NOW." Syd, Shell, and Zak widened their eyes when they realized what that letter contained, and we fought through the crowd gathering around mom and dad. But Tali turned to me before I could get into the hall.
"No, Newt, you need to stay, make sure everything's safe for us. Give us a notice when it's clear, okay?" Tali asked frantically. I nodded with equal velocity, and the little kids scurried through the open doors with Jake and Tali at their heels. I imagine they were going to run up the stairs (keep in mind they were doing this in dress clothes, which wouldn't exactly win a track meet), trying to get as far away from mom and dad as possible, so then they wouldn't ask. So then they wouldn't get mad at us for not telling. I, meanwhile, was trying to get into a spot where I could see them and they couldn't see me. Tali could have stayed, she can be invisible, but nooooo, I had to stay because of the mind reading thing. I stood behind a plant (how's that for conspicuous?) and watched mom slip the golden "G" seal off of the envelope.
"What does it say?" I saw dad ask. "Can you guess?"
"Gimme a sec and we'll find out." Mom sounded a lot cooler than she looked as she started reading. Her face got redder with every paragraph, and by the end she could have been a lighthouse the way her cheeks were glowing. She passed the letter to dad without a word and scanned the crowd, looking for us. Hopefully she'd never find us so she couldn't ask for answers that she'd eventually get out of us. But just double checking, was this THE letter? I read it by refocusing my eyes.
"Dear Mrs. Sabrina Griffiths,
We at the Genie Government would like to be among the first to congratulate you on your recent marriage to a Mr. Iggy Griffiths. However, now that you are eligible, there is a request we would like to make of you.
As you are hopefully aware of, there have been rumors that genie population has been steadily decreasing. We regret to inform you that these rumors are indeed true. Genies have been less consent with settling down and starting a family, more content to use their powers in their job or the human world and not marry, let alone take care of children. We as a Government are trying to encourage the latter amongst our kind. Intelligence has told us that you are capable of producing children of a healthy sort, and so, Mrs. Griffiths, we would like you to participate in our repopulation program. Produce for us a child so he or she may be put to use as a genie. This action would be an extremely helpful act towards ensuring that the genie population will live for millenniums to come, and you would have a chance to begin a new life with your husband. Decline this requirement and we shall be required to have law take charge. We trust you are familiar with the punishments.
Mrs. Griffiths, we at Genie Government want a steady population of genie families as to ensure that we shall always have enough people to man our jobs. Without your help we may not be able to do so.
Sincerely,
Genie Government"
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why mom was so ticked. I mean, these people just asked her to make a kid so then we'd be genies! In her mind she was calling those people some pretty bad names and cursing them until the day they took their last breath. Even when she was telling everyone it was just some congratulations and there was nothing to worry about she still looked ready to kill. And this is the attitude in which she saw me. Not exactly the most merciful person at that point.
I tried to run, but since Tali's the one with the disappearing powers, I couldn't get very far without the stupid super speed. Mom caught up with me through the waning crowd, and dad followed shortly after reading the letter. He looked just about as pissed as mom did. Great.
"Was there something you forgot to tell us?" Mom asked, trying to calm down.
"Well, maybe there was something…"
"Yeah, and it might be something we'd like to know." Dad added.
"Yes, but technically you don't NEED to know of this occasion in which a letter arrives requesting the extremely strange of you, so why should I feel obligated to let you know of something that you don't need to know? Unless you should turn out to need notice of it, in which case I would be happy to inform you of said occasion." I tried to act as much as Jack Sparrow (yes, we future kids watch him too, it's like the Star Wars situation) on this. Acting funny always loosened them up just a little bit. But they weren't buying it.
"Get the rest of them. One of them might spill." Dad told mom in his mind.
"NO!" I almost shouted before mom got them over here. "Don't get them, they left for a reason so then you wouldn't ask them because we knew you'd be mad that we didn't tell you, but you know now so there's no need to be mad!" I held my hands up in surrender, words spewing out of my mouth. That always happens when I'm nervous.
"So what this letter is saying is that you and Tali are…" mom started the questions.
"Genies. Not exactly." "Tali get me out of here!" I thought desperately. For once I realized what Tali was trying to block from happening. They can't know too much or the future would be all wrong!
"Can't get you out now, they'll know I did!" Gee Tali, are you always this helpful?
"What do you mean 'not exactly'?" mom asked.
"Can't tell you. Gotta go, bye!" I tried to head for the doors the rest of my group went through, but dad was faster (and this is from a kid who's 49 genie) and grabbed my wrist in a death grip.
"Do you mean go as in leave the room, or go as in go?" he wondered. Not exactly the question I thought he asked, in fact I thought he'd ask more about how we're not exactly genies and why we didn't tell him and mom about the whole note thing.
"I don't know, I just don't know, I only need to get out of here so you don't ask!" I muttered. This was a lot of pressure to take! I can't believe I volunteered for this.
"Let him go, he wouldn't tell you even if he wanted to." Tali! I turned around to see her and everyone else behind her, and together with Jake and Zak, she pried dad's fingers off of my throbbing wrist. And no, she's not the one with super strength, in case you were wondering. "Don't get mad at us, mom, we just didn't think you should know ahead of time. Everyone would expect you to be mad, so why make you fake it? And dad, glad you're wondering where we're going to go, but seriously, go ahead and not care about us, okay? In all technicalities we aren't even born yet."
"You do know that you're extremely good at calming them down, right?" I inquired.
"I am? They usually don't listen."
"Apparently they do in the past." I nodded towards them, who were thinking about what she said and calming down. Syd, Shell, and Zak were watching their expressions soften in confusion, and Jake was just sneaking peeks at Tali. Everyone was pretty impressed with how Tali can tame parents.
"Uh, Demi?" Oh. Crap. Please don't be Max, please don't be Max! But we had no luck, because when we spun around the entire flock was looking at us weird. Even Total was raising a furry eyebrow (for those of you who say a dog can't do that you haven't seen his expression). "Why did you just call Iggy and Rina mom and dad?" Max asked.
"You don't look like- oh, wait, you do actually look a bit like Rina, Demi! And Newt looks like a clone of Iggy, I wonder why that is? But that would be like impossible, it's gotta be a coincidence or something, I mean what are the odds that two kids could look like this one couple? And even then they'd need a time machine to get back and actually call them mom and dad when they weren't even born yet, unless Rina and Iggy actually did something like that, but they haven't even known each other that long it's been what, five years now, well they're thirteen so that's way off but then again if they're Rina and Iggy's they'd have to have powers too and one of those powers could be time…travel…so who are you anyways?" Aunt Nudge slowed to a stop when she realized that one or both of us could go back in time and say hi. Great, our cover is officially blown.
"And while you're at it, who are they?" Aunt Angel nodded to Jake, Syd, Shell, and Zak. We exchanged looks with mom and dad. Should we tell them? Probably should, the rest of us miss talking to the flock as our family and not our owners. But even if we do how are we going to explain this one?
HA! And I thought I'd never finish it! Wait, it's over? I'm so happy there's going to be a third one. And just so you know, the third one is going to be in the kids' POV, like all the events in this story except in their POV and how they made sure and got their parents together. Plus I'm actually going to write beyond this chapter, like I'm going to show what happens after this evil CLIFFIE! Yes, I'm evil for giving you a cliffie as the end of a story. Please, feel free to vent your anger in a review, you know I love them even if they're mean! Well, not really mean, that's just unfair. I am officially giving you three days to review and then I post another chapter thanking everyone who reviewed. But who sent the most reviews? Whoever did gets a special prize!
But anywhose, review review REVIEW! It took me three weeks or so to write this because I kept changing it to please you guys, and you know I'd love to know if I actually did please you!
Longest. Chapter. EVER! It's like 8,700 words, yay me! And yay you guys, extra long chapter for my extra long updatelessness!