.~*Chapter Twenty-Three*~.

Two Days Earlier… September 30th, 2005

Dex was grinning ear to ear as he held the small pink bundle in his arms. The wrinkly infant whimpered and cooed, opening her gummy mouth. "Hello there, little pink potato," he chuckled.

"Dexter, do not call your sister a potato," Norbert laughed before his bedridden wife could get after their son.

"Aw, why not? Should I call her a tomato? Mogwai? Don't feed her after midnight!"

Allison was laughing as she laid in the bed, holding Norbert's hand. "Behave, you."

Roxanne nodded, holding Tempest in her arms. They had brought her in for a checkup that day, and it was during the checkup that Allison had gone into labor. "Don't call the baby a fruit or vegetable, or any other complimentary insult, dear, or I will be forced to take that poor creature away from her doting brother."

"No, don't do that. I need to teach her how to spit and swear, first!"

"DEX!" all three complained.

"What? I'm gonna teach Tempest, too!"

Roxi went over after handing her daughter over to her grandparents, and smacked his head. "You will not!"

"I will not."

"Good boy. Now sit."

He sat.

She passed him a cookie. "Eat."

He ate it.

Norbert and Allison shared a glance and burst into laughter. "You two are well suited, I see," Allison smiled, looking at her daughter-in-law. "However, I do want you to have a proper wedding, even if it is only a mock one. Please… For me. I want to see at least one of my boys get married," she whispered, tearing up.

Dex glanced at Roxi with a frown and then at his phone, staring at the text from Beary's temporary phone that he got from Kaspian and Kenya that stated not to tell their parents about him just yet. "Mom… I…" He looked back at Roxi, and then at his mother. "Nothing big, all right? And I want the Bears there. Can they also come to the welcome home party for Kristina?"

Allison frowned, feeling Norbert squeeze her hand. "I…"

"Please, Mom? They're my friends, and I want to see them. Plus, Roadie's Roxi's father! We can't drive out there. It's time we put the past in the past… It wasn't their fault, Mom. It was mine. I should have made them go back upstairs. Then again, things would have probably been worse if I had. We might not have even known what had happened to them if I hadn't asked you to leave me behind for a couple of days. If you want to blame anyone, blame me, not Henry or the others. They've lost, too."

The redhead sighed softly. "I… I may not like it, but, I suppose you're right."

Norbert smiled, realizing how much his son had matured during his disappearance.

FLASHBACK

Norbert wasn't sure what to expect when he received an emergency page from his wife. Had she finally gone into labor? He hoped so. He knew she was miserable.

As he parked the red van in the driveway and grabbed his briefcase, he fixed his tie and went inside. "Honey! I'm home! Are you all right, Allie?" he called, closing the door. Keeping his jacket on, he walked into the living room, calling her name.

"Dad?"

The balding man froze and turned to look at the young man standing up from the couch.

Dex was sporting a fresh haircut, his hair back to his original brown with blond highlights, though it had grown out a couple of inches. He was wearing one of his red flamed button up shirts over a black t-shirt and blue jeans.

Norbert stumbled, staring at him. It couldn't be possible. He must be dreaming. "Allie? Is…"

Allison nodded, a big grin on her face. "It's our boy, Norbert. He's home."

The older man rushed over to his son and lifted him up. He held him close, afraid to let go. "You're home… Thank God! You're home!"

Dex grunted, but hugged his father just as tightly, holding back the tears. "Of course I'm home! As soon as we got away, this was the… second place we wanted to go."

Roxi, in the background, flinched.

Norbert let him go and blinked. "Second?"

"Well, we wanted to see Jewel, first, and check in on Erik."

"Erik? Who is Erik?"

Dex blinked and directed his father over to the couch. "You… You don't know?"

"What are we supposed to know? And who is that?" Norbert looked over at Roxi and the little one she carried in her arms.

"That is Tempest. My daughter."

Norbert sat in silence for a few moments, feeling his rage boiling. "Miss, if you could excuse us for a moment?"

"No, Dad, Roxi stays. She's a Barrington, too," Dex stated while Roxi looked embarrassed.

"What are you talking about? I thought her last name was-"

"It was. Her new last name is Barrington as of our wedding day."

"W-We-Wedding day?!"

Dexter Wolfe Barrington sighed and sat in an arm chair with Roxi sitting on the arm rest. He then began to tell him his tale, how they had first met – at a game tournament – and then previous meetings afterwards, such as when he discovered she was an avid skateboarder, so he took up the sport to impress her. He'd always been interested in skateboarding, loved the games, magazines, etc., but had never had the courage to take up the sport until he had met her.

They had eventually started dating after he had asked her to the winter dance. Over the course of the year, they fell in love, and he finally decided to have her meet his parents at the O'Neal wedding, which happened to coincide with the wedding of her older sister in the same city.

He then went over what he remembered of that night, how everything went to Hell. The few months after that in hiding, the night they made love, found out she was pregnant, and then the fateful trip to Olive Garden.

He told them how he had decided to be a smartass and got his ass handed to him by the massive grizzly – which Allison had immediately tried to get up and hold him, but Norbert held her back.

He then spoke of being taken up the mountain by a friendly panda named Derek – which earned mixed anger from his parents, who had seen what Derek had done, but also how he had protected Beary and Jewel – to a lovely cabin deep in the forest in a meadow.

There, he had spent a few months, learning how to survive in the wild with Beary, how Jewel was found to be pregnant – It was at this point that his parents stopped him and demanded answers about Jewel, and Dex told them what he could. That Jewel was pregnant with Beary's child.

He then held up his hand and finished his story, telling them of the weddings, escape, Beary's sacrifice, and Tempest's birth. Going into hiding, meeting up with Jewel, the O'Neals, and their new child in New York City, and finally their journey back home.

"Why were they in New York?"

"To be honest, I'm not really sure. I think it was some way to try and get Jewel to relinquish her motherly instincts. They felt that she was too young to be rearing a cub of her own."

"Why weren't we told about Erik?!" Allison demanded.

"I think Tennessee told me that they tried to contact you, but you wouldn't answer your calls?" Dex glanced at them and, upon seeing their guilty expressions, assumed he was right.

Allison looked like she was about to cry. No, check that; she was crying. Norbert was on the verge of tears himself. Both his sons already had children, and neither of them were out of high school.

"Dex… I know Beary and Jewel were… were in that situation. I understand that's why they… Why Jewel has a child… and Beary is…" He cleared his throat. "But you, Dexter, have some explaining to do."

Dex squeezed Roxi's arm, his father's eye twitching in response, and stood. "Mom, Dad, I made you a promise… I promised that I would wait for The One. That I wouldn't sleep around, or have a baby out of the wedlock. And I haven't. I found my One and Only, and it was earlier than expected. I love Roxanne with all my heart and soul, and I love our daughter.

"I'm going to be as good of a father as you were to me, Dad, and I'm going to take care of my family. I know we have a long road ahead, but I'm willing to work at it. I will not apologize for making love and marrying her. And no, I did not marry her because we found out she was pregnant. I was going to ask her – and I did ask her – before I found out. I made a choice and commitment, and I am going to honor it. I love her, and she loves me. Isn't that all that matters?"

Norbert simply got up and went upstairs, earning confused and hurt glances from the young Barringtons to Allison. A few minutes later, Norbert returned with what looked like a scrapbook.

"D-Dad?"

"No daughter-in-law of mine is going to marry you and NOT get to look at your baby pictures or see you playing in the bathtub."

"Dad!"

END FLASHBACK

A chuckle left his throat as he opened his eyes. "I think having them here is a great idea. Our son's grown fairly wise in his old age."

"I am NOT old!" Dex complained.

"Oh, yes. I'm the old one. That's right," his father laughed. "I'm both a grandpa and a new father all in one year. Scary."

Dex grinned and looked over at Roxi, who was taking Tempest on a walk. "Hey, uh, Dad? Mom? Do… Do you think I'm going to be a good father? Like, am I doing a good job?" He licked his dry lips nervously and looked down at his baby sister that had fallen asleep. He gently carried her over to his mother and put her in the latched on crib beside the bed.

Allison smiled. "I think from what we've seen, you've done a good job. You actually get up in the middle of the night. When you were just a baby, your own father would always push that duty onto me."

"I was new! And I had to get up early!" Norbert argued.

"Dex is a new father, too. But he's always had a caring nature… Well, almost always."

Dex frowned, knowing she was talking about Beary. "Mom… What happened with me and Beary is… it was pure jealousy. Deep down I still loved him, but I was jealous and afraid."

"You two used to get along in your youth, unless you were with your friends or we were in public," Allison went on. "And I know your relatives had a lot to do with that. They've never approved of me and your father taking him in, especially after the incident where he got you in the shoulder."

Dex reached up and fingered the scar under his shirt. "I know it was an accident now… I just wish I hadn't been so stupid back then. How things might have been different…" He shook his head. "Beary… Beary's…" Should he tell them that his brother was alive? He backed down. "Beary deserved a better brother than me. Fate threw us together and instead of embracing it, I threw away almost all chance of us being a great pair of siblings. But I promise I won't be that way with Kristina. I'm going to be the best big brother I can be. And I'm going to teach her to swear."

Allison raised an eyebrow. "If anyone is going to teach my little girl how to swear, it's going to be me, Dexter."

Roxi glanced in from the hallway of the hospital, a small smile on her face. Things were going to be all right after all.

.~*The Country Bears*~.

Beary grinned ear to ear as he looked around the messy bus for the first time in a year. Jewel stood beside him, sharing the same expression. It was like taking a trip down memory lane.

"You two ready to go?" Ted asked, standing in the back.

Jewel frowned and glanced down at Erik. Beary, sensing what she was thinking, shook his head. "We can't ride with you. Erik needs a car seat," he stated, ears lowering.

"And that's where I come in," Jade stated, grinning as she stood at the entrance to the bus. "You two need a break. I'm taking all the kids with me, even Zak, since they don't have a working car." She glanced over at the O'Neals, who were also standing outside. The reason she and the O'Neals had come up with this plan was so that Beary and Jewel could have one more chance to hang out with the band in the bus. "And Mysty's riding with me. I'm picking her up in Pendleton and meeting you all in Nashville."

Beary blinked and glanced back at her. "Who is Mysty?"

"Ask him." Jade pointed to a sheepish looking Zeb Zoober, who Beary immediately noticed had a deeper and richer fur color, as well as odd stripes over his body.

"She… We're dating," he grinned. "And her name is Méngméng, actually."

Jewel gave her son to Jade, along with a list of verbal instructions and the diaper bag, gave her a hug and her son a kiss, and then went onto the bus, hopping up and sitting next to Zeb and her mother while Beary stood awkwardly at the front of the bus, rubbing his arm and looking around.

Ted was next on the bus after giving Jade a kiss, and he didn't even notice how awkward Beary felt as he ventured back to find a seat. "Seems like this bus is getting smaller and smaller."

"Or maybe you're just getting fat," Zeb teased, getting a smack on the head from the older bear.

Henry was the last on the bus and he took his usual spot in the chair towards the front. He noticed Beary sit down slowly with his head down behind Mr. Chicken's roost and frowned. Smores hopped up on the bench beside his friend. Helen would have joined them, but she had decided that she wanted to stretch her wings and that she would meet them there despite Henry's protests.

"Beary? Are you okay?" he asked softly.

Beary glanced up sharply. "I, uh, yeah, I'm fine. Sorry." He clutched his backpack against his chest tightly. "It's just… weird."

"Being back?"

"Yeah… Jewel fits right in, but I…" He looked at all the males, imagining a terrible scenario with each of them taking the place of Thrasher. He knew deep down that none of them would ever, ever do that, but the terror was still there. His anxiety began to grow and Smores whined, drawing the attention of the others. Not able to handle their stares, he quickly got up. "I… I'm going to ride with Jade." He didn't give anyone the chance to call him back as he rushed off the bus, tripping on the last step, and falling face first.

Henry shot up to help him, but Beary just yelled at Roadie to go as he got up and took off. The father's ears flattened as he nodded to Roadie to do just that. "He's going to ride with Jade… We forced too much on him at once."

The bears on the bus was immediately quiet as they pulled away from the Hall.

Meanwhile, Jade, noticing Beary running away from the parking lot, rolled down the windows a little for the cubs in the back in her car – it wasn't hot or cold, but just the right temperature out – and took off after him. "Beary, wait! What happened?"

He sat on one of the benches on the Hall porch taking deep breaths. "I… They…"

"What did they do?" She knelt in front of him, taking note of how anxious Smores was acting. "You can tell me."

"It… it wasn't them. It… It was me. I… I got scared and…" He looked around at anything and everything except her. "I just… I kept picturing them as… as Thrasher, and I… I just freaked out, okay?!"

Understanding dawned on her and she pulled him for a hug. "Oh, kiddo… Is that why you told Roadie to get them out of there? You didn't want them to come down and talk to you, did you?"

He shook his head, trembling. "I feel so stupid… Why can't things go back to being the way they were? Why must I be so scared all the time? I hate this!"

"Shh… I know you do, Beary, but unfortunately, things may never go back to the way they were. If they did, I wouldn't be here right now."

He rubbed and eye and looked at her. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, the time you want to go back to, I wasn't in the picture, remember? I hadn't met Ted."

"What about this… Méngméng lady?"

"Oh, Mysty?" Jade laughed. "Well, it turns out that she and Zeb have known each other for years. They had a lost love, you could say, and only found each other again when they ran into each other when Jewel had Erik. So you see, Beary, despite you not being here, you've influenced the course of history. You've helped out both Zoober and myself."

"So… what you're saying is that by wishing things would go back to the way they were, for my own happiness, is wishing that four beings to lose theirs?"

"In a sense, yes."

"Oh…" He sighed softly. "Things were a lot simpler last year…"

She laughed. "Mhm. I'd agree with you, but then I got to tap Ted's ass, so I'm happy."

Beary looked mortified, causing her to laugh even harder.

"Come on, kiddo. Let's go pick up Zoober's chick and get out of here."

He smiled and nodded, having become much calmer. "And I won't tell Jewel that you left Erik and Zak in the car."

"Deal."

.~*~.

Taylor Enterprises was a large, circular building in west downtown of Nashville, TN. The windows shimmered with different colors going up in a spiral, which had earned the building the name of "Rainbow Road".

Beary was surprised he had never made the connection of this building before with his father. He rolled down the backseat window and stared at the building in shock. He had never been here before, at least, not that he could remember. Maybe he had been, but the colors weren't there before. Or were they? Had they been covered up with dark tinting? Maybe that was it.

"Now that is either an eyesore or the most beautiful skyscraper I've ever seen," Jade commented. "Ted did say he was getting rid of the tinting on the windows, since they covered up the beauty."

In the front seat, Méngméng nodded, staring at it. "And here I thought the people in Tennessee were homophobic."

Jade started laughing. "Some, yes, but not all. I suspect Henry had no choice in the coloring. Something tells me that she-bear had something to do with it."

Beary glanced up at her. "Why do you hate my mother?"

"What? I don't hate her. I just… I just don't understand where she came from. She's supposed to be dead, Beary!"

"She's a Tueri, Jade. What's there to get?"

"Tueri don't exist, Beary," she grumbled.

"Are you saying my mother abandoned me in a forest and ran off? Is that what you're saying?"

"What? God, no!" Jade shut her mouth, choosing her words carefully. "Beary, I just want to know the truth."

"Maybe it is right in front of you, but you choose not to believe it," he growled.

"Psh. Don't be like that," she muttered.

Méngméng sighed. "We've had a fairly pleasant journey, let's not ruin it now. Let's… talk about Alec's butt?"

"Who is Alec? Are you cheating on Zeb?" Beary asked, eyes widening.

"What? No! Alec is Zeb's real name," she explained. "Alec Seillean."

He stared at her, shocked. "He… Zeb Zoober's not his real name?"

"Ooo, that's right. You're the number one fan and you didn't know," Jade laughed.

Méngméng blinked. "It wasn't made common knowledge, Jade. He probably doesn't even know that Alec's only thirty-nine and not forty-something."

"WHAT?! But that… that would mean he was only…" He did some calculations. "He was only ten when the band formed?!"

"Did you also know he came from Scotland?" Jade asked. "He came here to live with his older brother, Zeke, because his family wasn't well off and they could barely put food on the table, but when he got here, Zeke had passed away in a construction accident, and I guess there wasn't enough money to send him back, so the owner's family of the company took him in. Guess who they were?"

Beary looked very, very confused. "Uhm… Ted and Fred?"

"Well, their father owned the company, but yes. They took him in, and about a year later, when he was ten, the band formed."

"But… Why would they let him work with them? I don't understand? And where's this age thing come in?"

"I'm not really supposed to tell you, but Zoober's immigration papers had a bit of a lie in them. In order for him to travel on his own, his Aunt and Uncle said he was older than he really was. Said he was… fifteen, I think it was?" She glanced at Méngméng for confirmation, which she received. "So that's what happened."

"I… see…" He frowned. "So when did he meet you? Jade said you two had a lost love."

Méngméng blinked. "Well, uh…" How was she going to explain this? She looked at Jade for help, but the she-bear ignored her. "Have… Have you heard of the story of Romeo and Juliet? Wait, no that doesn't work. No one died. Uhm… Well, I was only thirteen, and he was nineteen at the time. Wait, no, I was thirteen and he was eighteen, but then he had his birthday, so he turned nineteen, and we kinda…" Her eyes widened when she looked at him in the mirror and spotted the ugliest, angriest expression she had ever seen on a child. "Ō, tā mā de."

Jade spotted it too and immediately drove past the entrance to the private parking lot where the bus was currently parking. She wasn't about to let the pissed off cub free. "Beary, calm down! They were young and stupid!"

"Zeb's a pedophile?! What the f*ck?!"

"Watch your mouth, young bear!" she argued. "What they did was stupid, yes, but they were young and in love, and above all, stupid."

"No! That's sick and wrong! How dare he?! He's no better than Thrasher!"

Jade slammed on the brakes, locked the doors, and turned to look at him. "Zeb is nowhere near as bad as that sick bastard. Zeb and Méngméng made a choice, and they've already been punished enough without you coming along and throwing away years of friendship with him. Things are different, Beary, and it's time for you to grow up. The rest of us have accepted them and what they've done.

"If I so much as see you go after them, I will knock you out. When we get to the parking lot and get out of the car, you will behave, or so help me. They've handled it maturely, and Zeb's never gone after another. There might have been a few instances where he was hooked on Trixie, but it never moved past puppy love and wanting to fit in. They found each other again and have rekindled their love. They are together now, and the past is in the past. Understand?"

Beary was fighting down all his anger. Today had just been a day of emotional hell for him so far, and it was only 11am. "I… I need to work this off. Can we go to a park or something and… spar?"

The two females glanced at each other in surprise. "Spar? How is that going to relax you?" Jade asked.

"Please. Just… please."

"All right, all right… I'll take you. If I unlock these doors, you won't take off, right?"

"I promise."

"Good. Méngméng, get the cubs and head back. We'll be back in an hour."

.~*~.

"Okay, I'll admit, it felt good to let off some steam," Jade laughed as she climbed back into the car, now sporting fresh clothes. It was about an hour later, and she and Beary, after their little sparring match, in which he had completely taken her by surprise and had actually knocked her down at least once – her winning the rest of the time – she had taken him shopping for some new clothes so they didn't have to spend the rest of the day in stinky ones.

She was wearing a pair of jean capris, a tank top, and a black hoodie. He was sporting a pair of gray shorts, no shirt, and a gray hooded jacket.

"Thanks, Jade. I… I just really needed that. It gave me time to think. Who am I to judge what he did in his past? She didn't sound like she had any regrets at all, and if you say they're happy, I will leave it be. If you had actually pulled into the parking lot, I probably would have thrown him over my shoulder."

Jade rubbed her shoulder and chuckled. "Yeah, you caught me off guard with that one. Where did you learn this? Were you forced to fight during your time in that… place?"

"No. I… I learned it while I was living in the sewers under New York City."

"Whatcha do? Meet the ninja turtles?"

He blinked and looked at her, surprised. "How did you know?"

"Hahaha, wait, what?" She looked at him, confused. "You're just messing with me. They don't exist."

"And yet my Mom's come back from the dead…" he muttered. "Stranger things have happened."

"Okay, now that… Okay, I'm not saying I believe you, but why don't you tell me about all this?"

"Promise you won't laugh?" he asked, eyeing her.

"I promise."

"Well… okay. It was right after I left Esmeralda's…"

They were pulling into the parking lot by the time he finished his tale. "And that's how I found Jewel. I even got letters from them and everything!"

Jade mulled it over. "Well… This is certainly interesting…"

"You won't tell anyone, right?"

"They wouldn't believe me if I tried, so no." She turned off the engine. "Now, how about we head inside?"

He nodded. "That sounds like fun… Jade, what are they going to say when they see us in new clothes? What if Jewel thinks we…"

"Had sex?" Jade started laughing. "Sorry, kid, but you're not my type, so it's never going to happen. If she thinks it did, send her to me and I'll explain everything."

He breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. "Thanks. I just don't want her angry at me again. I told her about Esmeralda, and she… well, it wasn't pretty, but afterwards, she understood and accepted what I had to say."

"Well, that's good. Just shows that she's willing to actually believe you. It shows she loves you." She climbed out of the car, frowning when he didn't unbuckled. "Beary? What's wrong now?"

"Nothing, it's just… I'm just… I just feel stupid going in there now. What if Méngméng's told them about my freakout? What if Zeb starts avoiding me? What if they all get angry?"

Jade sat back down, pulled him close, and kissed his forehead. "Stop with the 'what ifs', kid. They'll ruin your life. Or they'll make you a fanfiction author."

He laughed a little. "Who writes fanfiction?"

"I do, sometimes," she grinned. "In my head, at least. Now then, let's be on our way. No more frowning. Let's meet them in the café for lunch and plan on what we're doing this afternoon, and then this evening, you are going home to Allison and Norbert for your sister's party."

Beary smiled. "I can't wait."