Lucy didn't say a word as she sat herself down on the lounge and lifted Bickslow's arm up just so she could curl up against his side. Barely any words at all had been shared between them since they'd left the wedding, and even if Lucy knew why Bickslow wasn't really wanting to talk to her, she still hated it.

She wanted to talk to him, though. She wanted to know that Bickslow didn't hate her because of something her other self had done. Lucy could deal with hating herself for it, because it was such a horrible thing to do to someone and she just didn't understand how she could have done it, but Lucy couldn't deal with Bickslow hating her, because she really needed him. And part of her hated that she'd come to rely on Bickslow so heavily over the last few months, but there were things Lucy just wouldn't be able to deal with on her own. She needed Bickslow, and she really, really needed him not to hate her.

But as much as Lucy wanted to talk to him, she didn't really know what to say. She almost wanted to just leave it until morning, because it was late and Bickslow had made it as obvious as he possibly could that he needed a bit of space… But Lucy just hadn't been able to sleep. She hadn't been able to shut her mind off to be able to fall asleep.

So Lucy just sat silently once Bickslow had just reluctantly put his arm back down, and she only stared down at the thick book he had open on his knees and paid no attention to the T.V. on just in front of them. It was another one of his law books he was reading, Lucy noticed, and as she read over the words she didn't understand on the page, she had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing.

"What do lawyers wear to work?"

Bickslow's eyes flicked down to her as his brow furrowed. What kind of question was that? And really, just why the hell was Lucy smiling right then? He was a little worried.

But then she whispered, "Law suits."

"Oh, dear lord…" Bickslow couldn't help dragging a hand down his face before shaking his head with his face still buried in his palm. A joke was not what Bickslow had been expecting in the slightest, but maybe the worst part was that it was actually pretty funny – just in the worst way, because Lucy told the worst jokes on the entire planet.

"Get it?" Lucy giggled. She couldn't stop herself. It was hilarious to her, and she'd been wanting to tell him it for a while. "'Cause lawyers wear suits and they deal with lawsuits. And you're a—"

"Yeah. I got it." And as Bickslow pinched the bridge of his nose, he quietly began to chuckle to himself. Lucy had done the unthinkable. She had made him laugh at one of her horrible jokes again, and probably at the best time too. "That's a really fucking terrible one, Lucy."

"But you're laughing," she pointed out.

"It's just… It's so bad that it's actually good."

"Which makes it the best joke ever."

Bickslow sighed and shook his head. "I suppose you're right." She wasn't, of course, but was Bickslow really going to argue with Lucy – or even come close to upsetting her more than she really was – over a joke? Hell no. He would just let her have that one.

But before the uncomfortable silence could fall again and before Lucy got too scared of bringing up what she really wanted to talk about, she was looking back up from where she had her head by his chest and was whispering, "Do you hate me?"

And there it is. Bickslow only sighed again and closed the book to toss it down the other end of the lounge in front of his feet. "No. Of course I don't hate you," he said softly. "I could never hate you."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive." He didn't even have a reason to hate Lucy, because she hadn't actually done anything that he could hate her for. She hadn't done a single thing wrong. But… Bickslow knew why she was asking, and he knew that it was kind of his fault that she had even thought he did hate her, because he really had made a point of almost ignoring her since he'd overheard her talking with Loke… But he hadn't really known what else to do. He'd just needed a bit of space; he'd needed to be away from her for just a little while, because for the life of him, Bickslow couldn't stop picturing his Lucy with Loke. "I promise I don't hate you," he said softly, ducking his head to press a light kiss to her forehead.

"But you're still hurt…" Lucy mumbled. "And I'm sorry."

"Hey, why are you sorry? You don't have anything to be sorry for."

She shrugged. "I'm the reason you're upset right now."

"I'm not upset." Sure, it fucking stung, but he wasn't upset. Not really, at least.

"Annoyed then."

It was probably closer to what he was actually feeling, but even then, it wasn't Lucy's fault. She hadn't done a single thing wrong, and Bickslow really didn't like that Lucy was blaming herself for how he felt. But then again, he knew it was his own fault she did. "A little, sure," he admitted, but was continuing before Lucy could think the worst, "But it's not your fault. Really."

At the very least, Lucy realised that Bickslow wasn't going to be admitting out loud that she really was the reason he was upset – or hurting or annoyed or whatever the fuck he was or was not feeling. He cared too much about Lucy's own feelings to actually admit that she was the reason behind his pain right then. But still, even if Lucy didn't like that, because it almost felt like Bickslow was lying, she could deal with it. "At least tell me why you're annoyed then," she said. She knew he was, but she didn't really know why. "Please."

Bickslow shook his head. "It's nothing. Don't worry."

"Please."

She wasn't going to drop it, was she? Bickslow figured he probably should've assumed as much, because it was Lucy he was talking to after all. "I just…" He rubbed at his forehead right as he found himself wondering if he was actually telling Lucy about the stupidity that he couldn't get out of his head. But of course he was though. What else was he going to do? "I keep thinking about you and… And Loke. And I know it's stupid, I do. But that's the only thing that hurts. Because I just keep picturing you doing that instead of the other you…"

"…Oh."

"Told you it was nothing," he mumbled. He was just being stupid. He knew that. Because the Lucy he knew and loved hadn't cheated on him, because the Lucy he knew wouldn't do that. Because she loved him back and she wasn't a horrible person…

Right?

That was what Bickslow was telling himself, at least.

But he really didn't want to tell Lucy that he'd found himself doubting Lucy and everything else. It wasn't even something he'd intended to do – hell, it was the last thing he'd wanted to do – but he hadn't been able to help himself.

Still, Lucy didn't think it was nothing. It was something, because it was almost as if Bickslow thought she was the one who had done it, and that wasn't really fair. She was only pushing Bickslow's arm away from her shoulders and shuffling uncomfortably to sit up properly. "No," she said, shaking her head. "It's… It's not nothing."

Bickslow only let out a heavy sigh and tipped his head back into the top of the lounge. Here we go. He still figured it was his fault.

"You know I wouldn't actually do that, right?"

He shrugged. "Sure."

"I mean it, Bickslow," she continued, because it almost seemed like Bickslow didn't even believe or trust her. "I wouldn't do that to you. Ever. Not with Loke and not with anyone."

Bickslow realised he'd brought that upon himself, too. He really had made it sound like he didn't trust her, and he strangely hadn't meant to do that. And now Lucy was probably even more upset than she had been before because him doubting her probably just made her feel even worse about it all.

But he still couldn't help that he was in fact doubting her. He didn't even want to be, but he was, and it was horrible. Bickslow was sure it would eat him alive if he left it alone though. He'd keep thinking about it and he'd keep doubting Lucy and maybe he'd get to a point where he just couldn't trust her – and then everything would be completely fucked. Bickslow didn't want everything to be completely fucked, because he really loved his life and how everything was, and he most definitely did not want to screw things up.

So it was probably wise they kind of deal with the whole affair issue then… Right? Because Bickslow really wanted to trust Lucy. He didn't want to doubt her. Not even a little bit. Ever. About anything at all. So surely it was best that Bickslow only hesitantly glanced back to the blonde sitting beside him from the corner of the eyes just to quietly ask, "You, uh… You promise?"

Lucy smiled softly and gave a small nod. "Promise." She had no reason to cheat on Bickslow. Even if she found herself getting really annoyed with him somewhere down the line, she wouldn't be with someone else if they were still together. And really, Lucy hoped they would be. She didn't care they hadn't been together for very long at all; she was happy. She didn't need to go to anyone else to make herself happy.

And sure, it hurt a little to know that Bickslow really did doubt her enough to make her promise, but she could accept that.

And then Bickslow was only shrugging and getting up from the lounge. "Alright." There wasn't really anything else that needed to be said. He believed her, and he trusted that she wasn't a horrible person like she did with him.

Besides, he didn't exactly want to bring up the fact that he knew their other selves were getting divorced – or at least had been close to doing so. He'll tell her one day, maybe, but for now Bickslow couldn't see how it was important. It wasn't relevant, because it wasn't about them. They were different people; they weren't their other selves. Because not everything in that world was the same.

Of course, when Bickslow got up, Lucy found herself completely dumbfounded. "Seriously?"

He glanced back to her as he turned the T.V. off and hovered by the light switch. "What?"

"Is that it?" Surely that couldn't be it. Was Bickslow really just going to go on and forget that it hadn't happened at all?

"I guess so." Bickslow shrugged. "There's no point in getting hung up on it. Besides, I'm a guy. Our feelings aren't complex like yours are. I'm fine."

She arched an eyebrow at him before he turned for the hall. "Bickslow, you are quite possibly the most complex person I know," Lucy smirked. He was just one big ball of mystery and complexities. But he was very cuddly and that was the most important thing. Sort of.

"I am not."

"You are so."

Bickslow only rolled his eyes. "Oh, just be quiet," he mumbled, then was gently pulling Lucy to her feet from the lounge "But I really am fine," he added softly with a kiss to her forehead. "I don't hate you. I'm not mad at you. I'm not hurt – well, maybe just a little 'cause I mean, it's a really horrible mental image and I'm regretting all those times I teased you about having a crush on him and I'm pretty sure this is karma or something. But, that aside, I'm okay. Totally over it."

Her mouth twisted into a tight line as she looked up at him. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Completely." Then he was holding up his pinky figure and giving Lucy her favourite of his smiles and adding, "But, no fucking anyone else, alright? I won't if you won't."

She let out a small laugh and lifted her hand. "No fucking anyone else." Because pinky swears were as important as promises.

Things got better from there, unsurprisingly, and Bickslow was back to having lots of things to be excited about. He was mostly excited about the house though. They'd had to make a second offer after the weekend, but that had been fine because it only meant they'd ended up getting the house anyway. Of course, they still had a little over a month left before it'd close and they'd be able to actually move in, and it was really just a matter of waiting for the middle of July to come around, but waiting they were fine with, because there were plenty of other things to make them excited.

Like, the twins, for example. Lucy had started being able to feel them towards the end of what they'd deemed week seventeen. Not kicks, which Bickslow found just a little disappointing, because it meant he wouldn't be able to feel them either (which he was super excited for), but… flutters. Tiny little ones that she could most definitely feel, though there had been a few moments where she really hadn't been sure if it was actually the babies moving around a little, or if it was… something else. She'd long since realised pregnancy really wasn't as glamorous as it seemed.

Then there was Ingrid who was getting ridiculously close to crawling, and Bickslow really did love whenever she did something new or got to move on to a new food. There were just so many firsts and it was all so fun to watch! But crawling, was just not happening, it seemed. Not yet. They'd always just watch her when she was playing in front of the lounge, and she'd rock a little once she'd managed to get onto her hands and her knees, and she'd get close to figuring out that moving her arms forward (or backwards, really) and her legs would be able to make her move… But then she'd just sit back down and go back to clapping and playing.

But what came to excite Bickslow the most once things got better and after they put the whole counterpart issue behind them yet again, was that at Lucy's next appointment, they'd get to find out the genders of the babies. That particular appointment, Bickslow had literally been counting down the days until. He just hadn't been able to help himself. He still had a long standing bet with Lucy to win, after all.

So when his favourite day of that week finally came around, Bickslow couldn't contain his excitement, and it was rather difficult to hold an almost nine-month-old who didn't want to be held when Bickslow was squirming just as much as his daughter was in his lap. But Bickslow persevered and behaved as Dr. Delia continued with the ultrasound, and only waited patiently (and hopefully) for the doctor to ask if they would like to know what they were having.

Except Lucy said no when Elise did finally ask, and Bickslow just stared at his girlfriend in complete and utter shock. "What? No! Oh, come on!" he whined. "That's not fair. I wanna know!"

"I know you do," Lucy shrugged. "But… I don't. Not yet, anyway." She'd been thinking about it a lot over the last couple of weeks, too. Bickslow's constant levels of enthusiasm never failed to keep her entertained, and she really did love how excited he was… But Lucy had realised that she didn't really want to know what they were having just yet. It didn't really matter whether they were girls or boys – or even one of each – because they were still her babies and she already adored them to pieces, just like she did with Ingrid, even when Lucy had only really known her daughter for half of her life at that point. But finding out the genders of the twins was not something Lucy wanted to know right then. "You can find out though. Just, you know, don't tell me."

"But that wouldn't be fair," Bickslow pointed out. Plus, he probably wouldn't be able to keep it a secret anyway.

"This happens a lot," Dr. Delia chimed in. "Don't worry. I can write it down and stick it in an envelope for you though and just let Bickslow peek at it first, if you'd like. That way you can just open it and find out whenever you want. You could even wait until the big day, if that was what you wanted."

Lucy shook her head. "I don't think I'd be able to wait that long," she laughed nervously. "But I think writing it down will be good." She turned to look back to the pouting man. "Is that going to be good enough for you?"

"I suppose…" he muttered.

Elise only rolled her eyes after handing Lucy some of the paper towels so she could wipe the gel off, then was rolling her stool back to one of the cabinets to get a small slip of paper and an envelope. She kept the side of the paper she'd written on hidden as she went over to where Bickslow was sitting, and she smiled to Lucy over her shoulder before asking, "So you sure you want to know right now?"

Bickslow nodded quickly. "Yes, damn it. Come on, show me. Please."

"Alright then…" So then she turned the small piece of paper and showed Bickslow what she'd written on it.

Girl / Boy

Bickslow looked up to her with a stupid grin on his face once he'd read the words. "Really?!"

Elise nodded. There was the slim chance she was wrong, just because babies weren't known for being the most cooperative sometimes and Lucy's had been no exception for the most part, but she was confident that she'd read it correctly as usual.

Bickslow was just beyond happy, though. He'd really just wanted the twins to be boys because he didn't want to be stuck with all girls, but he still would've been over the freaking moon if they'd been both girls anyway, but one of each? It was perfect as could be. He got his son, Lucy got another daughter. It was a win for both of them no matter how they looked at it, though they both did simultaneously win and lose their bet together, but that wasn't important.

"That's perfect," he said softly. And when he did say it, Lucy could only wonder just what was written on that tiny slip of paper now sealed in the envelope to make Bickslow say it was perfect, but she could wait to find out.

Bickslow was stuck staring at the television screen just like Gajeel was beside him as the movie played. He wasn't quite sure what it was he felt as he watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban with the former Dragon Slayer and their respective children, but if Bickslow had to guess, he would choose annoyed.

With Lucy apparently having decided to go out to lunch with Levy just after her appointment, Bickslow had decided to just irritate Gajeel. He had some things for work he needed to do since he'd taken the day off for Lucy's scan and then he'd only gone in for a few minutes to collect said work, but Bickslow just hadn't been able to find the motivation to actually do his work. He much preferred just playing with Ingrid or watching as many episodes of whatever show he was working his way through that week as he could. But then, he'd just gotten bored, and he'd remembered that Levy was out with Lucy and annoying Gajeel seemed like the best idea.

So that was really how Bickslow had found himself seemingly having a Harry Potter marathon with Gajeel, and of course, their respective children. Except Gajeel's twins who were at that point nearly three months old had really just spent most of the afternoon napping. Ingrid had only slept through part of the second movie after he'd gone back to his own apartment to feed her, but Ingrid was easy enough to keep occupied on his lap.

Still, Bickslow was very much annoyed at the movie series as a whole already. He'd had high hopes when Gajeel had mentioned it, because really, what was there not to love about a kid who discovers a world full of magic? And then there was the whole issue where Bickslow still missed his magic at times…

But the movie really just wasn't what he'd pictured. They had fucking wands. Wands! Wands weren't even necessary, but there everyone was, acting like wands were the most important things in the world.

He was almost offended, really, but he couldn't bring himself to stop watching it. It was so bad that it was good, and the horribleness of it still only had Bickslow longing to be able to have his babies and his magic back. Everything would be perfect if he had everything he loved from both Magnolia 1.0 and 2.0, but what he had in Magnolia 2.0 was close enough to perfect that he could live with just that.

When Levy got home at the end of the third movie though, Bickslow was promptly being kicked out and being sent back to his own apartment. It wasn't like he'd actually wanted to watch the fourth movie or anything…

Getting home, though, Bickslow was quickly forgetting about needing to find time to binge watch the rest of the movie series with Gajeel, just because he was realising that getting to cuddle his favourite people on that planet all at the same time was so much better than getting annoyed over a fictional movie. So he was only closing the front door behind him and stepping around the lounge to where Lucy sat with her legs crossed under her, just to silently pass Ingrid over to her so he could kneel down in front of the lounge and rest his head on her belly, almost on her lap. He really had missed doing that all the time, even if it had only been a few days since he'd been allowed, but there wasn't really that much he could do when Lucy complained about being permanently uncomfortable at that point.

Lucy didn't mind it right then, though. She found it amusing, really, so after lifting Ingrid up to let her rest on her shoulder and look around the room as she usually did, Lucy couldn't help but giggle as she looked down to the former Seith mage. "Hello there."

"Hey."

"You good there?"

Bickslow nodded and let out a small sigh. "Very," he answered. He got that it was probably just a little weird since he usually saved the belly cuddles until they were going to bed, but he still hoped it was okay. "You good?"

"I am indeed," Lucy replied. "But is there any particular reason you're using me as a pillow right now?"

"Not really, no. I just really like it." And since he couldn't see their souls with his lack of magic in that world, cuddles were good enough. He just liked being close to them. Was that so bad?

Plus… Lucy was soft and squishy. He just knew better than to actually say that out loud.

"Well, I like it too," she sighed. It was too sweet not to like, especially when she got to cuddle with Ingrid, too. "But hey, before I forget…"

"Hm?"

"It's our anniversary next week. On Monday," Lucy said. At the raised eyebrows Bickslow suddenly gave her from where he sat with his head on her lap, she could only roll her eyes and add, "Not us. Our other selves."

"Yeah?"

"Mm-hmm. Two years, I think."

"That's uh… cool, I suppose," he mumbled. Bickslow really wasn't sure if he was supposed to care that much or not since it wasn't their two-year anniversary – though part of him almost wished that it really was – and they were supposed to be just getting on with their own life and relationship rather than the other Bickslow and Lucy's, just because moving on was what was best for them. But even then, now that he knew about it, he strangely couldn't help but wonder if their other selves would've even cared about their anniversary themselves considering they'd cheated on each other. He doubted it, to be perfectly honest, but he was trying ridiculously hard not to think about their other selves too much.

Lucy did, of course, notice just how disinterested Bickslow was in the matter, and it surprisingly didn't bother her in the slightest. It wasn't like she liked talking about it either, especially since it had only been a little over a week since the entire wedding fiasco, but there was in fact a reason for her bringing it up at all. She wouldn't be talking about their other selves right then unless she thought it was worth it, and she did.

So she was only trying not to laugh as Ingrid began hugging her neck – she was adorably affectionate and she really did love it – and was looking back down to Bickslow to add, "But um… I ran into Claire in the hall when I got back just before…"

"Yeah…"

"She asked if we still wanted her and Mark to watch Ingrid on Friday and Saturday night."

"Eh? Why would they need to do that?" And sure, it was Lucy's birthday on the Friday (and he had thankfully managed to find the perfect gift, too), but it wasn't like Ingrid would need a babysitter. Lucy had already said she didn't want to go out or do anything in particular, so as far as Bickslow knew they were spending another night in.

"Well, probably because our other selves already made plans to take an anniversary trip," Lucy said slowly, shrugging.

She'd known about an anniversary coming up – she'd figured that out a few weeks earlier – but she hadn't known anything about a weekend trip away until Claire had asked her if she'd still need to watch Ingrid for the days they'd scheduled to be away. Apparently their other selves had asked their neighbours to watch their infant daughter at the beginning of the year, not too long before they'd even found themselves in that strange world, just so they'd have plenty of time to sort out care for Ingrid. But of course, it wasn't really a secret that Lucy getting pregnant again hadn't exactly been planned (well, for all versions of themselves, they figured), so to Claire, asking if she was still required as a babysitter had seemed like a good idea. And it had been close to five months since they'd last talked about it anyway, Lucy guessed, so she knew it hadn't just been Claire wondering if the unexpected babies she was carrying meant their supposed weekend away they'd planned was actually cancelled.

Once Claire had mentioned the trip though, it hadn't taken very long for Lucy to find a copy of their booking for a hotel room in Hargeon saved on her computer. And, well… Lucy thought it would be nice to go.

Bickslow was unsurprisingly a little unsure, but he knew that he didn't know as much as Lucy obviously did. Sitting up just enough to lift his head from his girlfriend's lap, he only watched Lucy move Ingrid to rest on her other shoulder before cautiously repeating, "An anniversary trip?"

Lucy nodded. "Apparently it was booked months ago, like at the beginning of February, I think."

That seems to make sense… Because Bickslow liked to believe that their other selves had somewhat fixed their relationship – or at least started to – by the time they had found themselves in their places, and the fact that Lucy had ended up being pregnant was a lot to go on. If they'd both been sleeping with other people, and probably within the same timeframe too, Bickslow doubted that they'd been sleeping with each other. But he was suddenly a firm believer in the magic of Valentine's Day (well, sort of), and that his unborn son and daughter were indeed his. He hoped, really.

"But, uh… It's only for two nights, of course," Lucy continued when Bickslow remained uncomfortably silent. "I have the hotel page still open on the laptop if you want to see it. It looks really nice…"

Just her tone alone had Bickslow realising that she wanted to go, so he really couldn't help but reach for the laptop sitting on the other end of the lounge and begin to slowly click through the hotel's webpage. It did look nice from what he could see, but still, that wasn't enough for him. "Hargeon, huh?"

"Yup. And, uh, apparently the beaches in Hargeon are really nice, too. And, you know, it's summer now so going to the beach might be nice…"

It couldn't just be about going to the beach, though. "Why do you even want to go?" he asked, switching tabs to the booking confirmation in Lucy's email.

"Well, I figure it'll be the only opportunity we have to be able to go away for a while since we'll really have our hands full once the twins are here," she explained. "And, you know, considering everything that's happened over the last few months, doesn't just being able to relax for a couple of days without worrying about responsibilities sound really nice?"

A weekend away with just the two of them did sound really nice, even Bickslow had to admit that. Things certainly would be chaotic once the twins were born since Ingrid and the babies will only be a year apart, so even getting away for one night would be close to impossible. For now, though, it was just Ingrid, and a weekend away was something they could actually pull off. Their other selves had obviously thought so too if they'd made the booking after their daughter had been born, so even then, they'd had to have been planning to leave Ingrid with Claire and Mark anyway.

And sure, Bickslow trusted their neighbours across the hall with their daughter a great deal because they'd already watched her for a few nights as it was. He just wasn't quite sure if he wanted to go on a mini-vacation himself yet. He wasn't sure if it was a brilliant idea.

"I suppose that sounds pretty good," he mumbled. "But what about Ingrid? You really okay with leaving her?"

"I mean, I'm not super enthusiastic about it, but it's not like I'll be able to be with her twenty-four hours a day for the rest of my life." Of course, part of Lucy wanted to keep Ingrid with her all the time because she adored her, but she knew she couldn't. Aside from the fact that she knew her daughter would eventually grow up (though not anytime soon, thankfully) and want her space, Lucy just didn't want to be the type of parent to smother her children. Besides, Lucy really was pretty sure she wasn't going to have a single day of peace for a long time once the twins arrived. She just wanted to make the most of an opportunity. "And it's only two nights," she continued. "We'd be back on Sunday night. All of it is already paid for, too."

"So… It'd be Friday and Saturday night in Hargeon?"

"Yup."

"But your birthday is on Friday," Bickslow pointed out.

The blonde rolled her eyes as she pried her daughter's hand from her hair. "And? If we went, I'd be able to spend my birthday in a fancy hotel room."

"And you'd rather do that than spend it with our daughter?"

"Bicks, she's not even nine months old. I don't think Ingrid will mind much," Lucy laughed. "Besides, I'd still have the entire day to cuddle her and tell her just how much I love her. It's not even a two-hour drive to Hargeon, I looked it up. And we can check in at the hotel in the evening. I already looked that up, too."

"Damn, Cosplayer… How long have you even been home?" he muttered. He wanted to be surprised that Lucy had seemingly already covered all the bases, but he wasn't. It was just very like his girlfriend to be prepared for everything.

She shrugged. "Only about half an hour." She'd had a few other things to pick up at the grocery after spending the afternoon with Levy so they'd gone their separate ways a little earlier in the afternoon. "But speaking of, where were you just before anyway?"

"Oh. Just watching movies with Gajeel. Have you heard of Harry Potter?"

"…Uh, no?"

"It's completely stupid. But anyway." He closed the laptop quickly, realising he'd started getting off track already, and swivelled back around on the ground so he was facing Lucy again and lowering his head to her lap. Sighing, he asked, "So you really do wanna go to Hargeon for this weird anniversary trip, huh?"

"Well, it wouldn't be an anniversary trip for us," Lucy mumbled. "But yeah, I do. We deserve a few days off, don't we? We don't have to go if you don't want to, though, but… It could also be a little romantic, you know, taking a trip together…"

Bickslow was suddenly sold on the idea. He couldn't say no to a romantic weekend without the kidlings. Well, sort of. And since they'd have no Ingrid to worry about, Bickslow was sure he'd be able to make Lucy's birthday a little more fun.

He just hoped he'd be able to get off work early on the Friday.