My Lovely Family

Chapter 23 - The Final Challenge - Part 1

- FLASHBACK -

The United States Grand Prix was in the last few laps.

"And James Thompson overtakes George Stewart and takes 2nd position," said the narrator. "Now let's see if he can catch the leader, Cassie Tennyson."

"Cassie, Thompson is second now," the engineer warned over the radio. "And he's reducing the difference very fast."

"Leave it to me, Jake!" she answered.

Cassandra was 26 years old. She had become a motorsport legend, winning all the championships she had participated in since the karting era (even though not winning all editions). The sport was far more technological, but the talent of the drivers still mattered. If she won that race, she would be a three-time champion.

"It's the final lap, and Thompson approaches Tennyson. One thing is reaching, other is overtaking. Can he pass her? Is it gonna be? HERE SHE COMES! HERE SHE COMES... TO WIN THE US GRAND PRIX... IT'S HER! CASSANDRA TENNYSON WINS AT TEXAS! A SPECTACLE! SHE'S THREE-TIME CHAMPION! HER, DAUGHTER OF BEN AND GWEN TENNYSON! OUR HEROINE, CASSIE, IS A THREE-CHAMPION OF FORMULA ONE!"

Cassie received greetings over the radio. Still in a helmet (which had the image of Peter Rabbit on the top), she got out of the car and hugged her team and family. After getting ready in the drivers' room, she waited for the podium ceremony. The third place was called, then the second and last, Cassandra. But something strange happened after they performed the American anthem. Jacob Meyer, her engineer, interrupted the scene and received a microphone from the official Formula One reporter.

"Jake? What happened?" she asked.

"I have something important to say, Cassie," he urged everyone's attention. "Cassandra Tennyson, you're the most amazing woman I've ever met. You are beautiful, intelligent, strong and loving. And... may your father forgive me, haha ... but I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So I was wondering…" he pulled a black box out of his pocket, opened it and revealed a beautiful ring with a large Israeli diamond. "Will you marry me?"

(Opening theme)

Thrilled, Cassandra tried to hold back the tears.

"Yes, Jake! Yes! Yes! Yes!" - as soon as he put the ring on her finger, she jumped into his arms.

Jake lifted her and spun three times as everyone shouted words of congratulations. Many shouted "MAZAL TOV!".

After ordering, trophies were given and started the champagne party.

- END OF FLASHBACK -

"Who would say, Ben? Your daughter marrying my son!"

"It's a blessing to me, Menachem! I like Jake very much and he's one of the few men I think is worthy of dating Cassie."

Since Kenny and Shanti became friends, he has been interested in knowing Judaism better. Her sisters did the same and the six decided to convert, not being in love (yet) with anyone. As the oldest of the Bunnies, Cassandra chose the Hebrew name Sarah, the same as the first matriarch of the Jewish people. Her life was split between college and sports. Her teleportation spells helped a lot.

Jake was the son of Menachem, a friend Ben met in his military training in Israel. He and his family were Jews. He graduated in automotive engineering and got a job in the team that Cassandra drove for. When they met, she was already converted.

That day Menachem visited the Tennysons at headquarters. It was agreed that Cassie and Jake would meet him at her parents' house, but they were both absent when he arrived. While waiting, Menachem was talking to Ben and Gwen. Both men drank beer.

"I always liked Cassandra very much. She reminds me a lot of you, Ben."

"That's what everyone says" he smiled. "I had six children, and Cassandra is the one that looks the most to me. In everything."

"Less in intelligence," said Gwen. "That she got from me."

"And you have a paaaatience, Gwen," Menachem joked. "Because Ben is a good person, but he is haaaaard to deal... Jake has that same patience."

"Then they'll be fine because Cassie is stubborn just like her father," Gwen joked.

"Hey! I am not stubborn! I just don't want things to get out of hand," Ben said.

"Is that why you drove off your daughters' boyfriends?" she asked.

Although he had no problem with Kenny's girlfriends, Ben was the nightmare of his daughters' boyfriends. Devlin was just the first victim. Cooper's son could date Cassandra, but it seemed that Ben decided to discount all of Natalie's poison on the boy. He almost created a problem with Cooper and Emily by saying that the boy "was not worthy of dating Cassandra". Jake was her first (and only) boyfriend that her father approved of. The same thing happened to the other girls, who were dating children of Ben's former mates in Israel.

"I was just protecting my daughters from the bad guys," he defended himself. "Can you believe it, Menachem, that the son of the guy who spent years wanting to steal my wife decided to date my Gabriella? Ha! As if I was going to let it happen."

"Ohhh, you did well in keeping him out of this," his friend replied. "Imagine what a mess it would be later with a father-in-law like Kevin…"

"Yeah," said Gwen. "Devlin and Matt were Ben's biggest victims."

"Cooper's son? This was the second-worst!" he replied. "Just who? Every time Matt ould come here, Aunt Natalie would come up and try to push his father over to Gwen. Of course, I was going to let him have Cassandra... I'm not stupid, no." Ben took a sip.

"But rest assured," said Menachem. "Jacob is a great boy!"

"I don't doubt that!" exclaimed Gwen. "Jake is a blessing!"

"I like Jake!" Ben said. "And rest assured, Menachem, that I'll be a great father-in-law to him and Cassie will be a great-".

They were interrupted by Jake's arrival. He was leaving the elevator carrying Cassandra, who was supporting an arm around his neck. It was the same scene that years ago happened between Rook and Ben.

"...wife" - Ben completed before going towards his daughter - "CASSANDRA! Explain it to me."

"Uatz up, Daddy?" Cassandra spoke in a soft voice and laughed. "Jake tuke mee home tuday."

"Yeah, I can see it! Thank you so much, Jacob! But you can let it that I get her." Ben reached out, scooped his daughter up and laid her on the couch.

"Cassandra, what did you do?" Gwen asked nervously.

"Oh, I juzt uent to take a drink to diztract, Mommy."

"She called me saying I should pick her up at the bar," Jake explained. "And when I arrived she was like that."

"Thanks for everything, Jake!" Gwen thanked. "And you, young lady, should be ashamed. Didn't you see who's here seeing you?"

Cassandra turned her face.

"Uatz up, daddy-in-law?" she smiled. "So goud to see yu again! I lov yu! Yu did a goud job uen yu made Jake." Cassandra laughed again.

"CASSANDRA!" shouted Gwen.

"I was hoping to see you in another state, Cassie," said Menachem.

"Yu uant to go to anoder iztate, itz only say which one," - she created a portal to New York.

"Cassie, no!" - her mother undid it.

"Uaz daddy-in-law who azked for..."

"She's just like you at the Purim* parties, Ben," Jake's father reminded him.

"Yeah, now I know why I got so scolded in quarters.

(*Purim = Jewish holiday that celebrates the salvation of Jews from a massacre during Persian rule; it is celebrated similarly to Carnival; there is a custom of drinking large quantities of wine.)

Ben remembered the first time he returned home drunk and sometimes when he got drunk on Purim and the next day he was in no mood to train.

"Ben, I think we better take her upstairs and help her take a bath."

"Good idea, Gwen! Menachem, I am very sorry for that."

"All right. It's not your fault, Ben. It was a pleasure to see you."

"The pleasure was all ours! Later we make another meeting. One in which Cassandra is sober."

"I'm on it, friend! Come on, Jacob."

Jake said goodbye to the Tennysons and went to the elevator with his father.

"You're lucky your mother wasn't here to see this," Menachem said softly.

Bracha, Jake's mother, liked the Tennysons but found Cassandra undisciplined. For her, her son should marry one of Cassie's sisters, preferably Gwendolyn, whom she thought had the personality closest to his. Bracha was right, Cassie was a brat, just like her father, while Jake and Gwendolyn were mature, just like Gwen.

That same year Kevin escaped the Null Void and hid somewhere that only Devlin knew where it was. Although he was aware that his father was dangerous, he had no courage to denounce him and continued to communicate with him through portals.

"This is Nizhoni, Dad!"

Devlin was engaged to Kai's daughter. When Nizhoni was born, her mother's husband realized that she could not be his daughter. Kai eventually told her that she was the daughter of Taylor, a Canadian model Natalie introduced to Gwen years ago. Kai divorced the player and married Taylor, who assumed Nizhoni's fatherhood.

"Nice to meet you!"

"My pleasure, sir!" - she was a little afraid because she'd heard so many things about Kevin.

"She's very pretty, Devlin! Did you choose her or did your mother arrange your marriage?"

"It was Mom who got it. But I love her so much!"

"That's nice! I hope you have a very happy marriage! Way better than mine."

"Thanks, Dad!"

"Well, I'm going, I don't want to cause trouble for you."

The portal closed.

"Because…" - Kevin said to himself - "I have a lot to work out with your former in-laws."

That night Gwen and Ben were getting ready for bed. They were still bored with the Cassandra scene.

"Menachem was just wrong in one thing," she said. "It's, yes, your fault, Ben!"

"And now? How can it be my fault, Gwen?" he asked nervously.

"It's your fault because you taught her this bad habit!"

- FLASHBACK: 5 YEARS AGO -

It was Cassandra's 21st birthday. She and her family celebrated in the morning. But that afternoon she requested her father.

"So... now I'm 21."

"Yes... you now have permission…"

"And then... Daddy…" she said anxiously. "Will you take me for a drink?"

"Everything for my princess…" he pinched his daughter's cheeks as if she were still a child.

They went to the bar where Ben went when he was full of Natalie's tongue. They were served very fast. At first, Cassie found the taste strange, but then she took the whole mug.

"Now I understand why you like it so much," she told Ben.

"It's a help when mother-in-law pisses you off," he answered as he drank.

They ordered another beer.

"Are you enjoying turning 21?" Ben asked his daughter.

"So much! Mainly because I have you with me! Mommy would never let me do that…"

"There are things your mother doesn't understand…" the drinks arrived and they hit the mugs. "L'chaim!"

"L'chaim"

(*Translation: "To life!")

Cassie still drank slowly, as Ben swallowed like water.

"That's great!" she said before burping.

"My girl!"

- END OF FLASHBACK -

"Since then, every party, every barbecue, every place we go, you and Cassandra get drunk and then me, Kenny and the other girls have to carry you both."

"Oh, Gwen... what an exaggeration! Let Cassie have fun…"

"It's clearly possible to have fun without alcohol, Ben!"

"Gwen…" - he came all affectionate and hugged her - "Let's forget it... tomorrow she will be better. She will be hungover, but that passes."

"Fine... but you will take care of her," Gwen smiled at him and kissed him.

The next morning Cassandra went down to the living room. Gwendolyn was there, watching her sister's condition.

"So... decided to drink again, right? Look what happens!"

"Ah, Gwen! Don't piss me off!" Cassie was very moody when she had a headache. She was very sensitive to light and sound that morning, which made her situation worse.

"Did you lose your mind on the track, Cassandra? You have an appointment and decide to drink? What will Jake think of that?

"I told you don't piss me off, Gwendolyn!"

"You should listen to Gwenny more," Karina said as she entered the room.

"Karina! Another one that took the day to piss me off!"

"Cassie, you need to stop this habit! You know your mother-in-law will nag you, don't you?"

"Ah, that woman will never like me…"

"So don't give her reasons to liking you even less," Talitha warned.

"What is this? Did my sisters riot against me?"

"It's not riot, Cassie," Talitha continued. "We just don't want you to make the biggest mistake of your life."

"And what would it be? Turn alcoholic? I am not one! I don't drink every day."

"But every time we have a party or something, you and Daddy drink a bunch," Gabriella said.

"Ah! How annoying you are! You like to spoil the fun of others!"

"Cassie... do you need help?" Kenny asked.

"Ohhhh, Kenny!" she hugged him. "Thank God I have a helpful brother!"

"You should have breakfast then go back to bed. It's not good to be here with all this light," he advised.

The Bunnies took care of Cassandra that morning. After lunch, Jake came to visit his bride. She was lying in the bedroom.

"Your mother knew, right?"

"Yes, Cassie," he held her hand. "But relax, it hasn't changed anything for me."

"You're so sweet, Jake! My sisters are laughing in my face now…"

"Noooo, they're not... Cassandra, they care about you."

"Ahhhh I knoooow... it's just that it pisses you off listening all the time you were wrong…"

"It's Ben's daughter," Jake thought.

The alarm rang. There was danger in the center of Keystone. The monitor showed that there were hundreds of aliens attacking civilians with level 9 tech weapons.

"I have to go" Cassie jumped out of bed, but Jake caught her.

"It's dangerous! You must stay here."

"Dangerous to me, Jacob? Seriously, I've risked my life on the tracks for years and been fighting these bad guys since I was a kid. That's nothing."

"Cassie, even your father doesn't fight when he is hangover. Stay here, I take care of you."

"Ahhh, okay, I'll stay!"

Ben turned into the XLR8 and Gwen and the other children flew to the scene. Each of the seven heroes defeated a group of criminals. They were like DNAliens, they came in droves and kept coming. As they fought, a gigantic creature emerged, whose body was made up of parts of various alien species.

"Miss me, Tennysons?"

"KEVIN!" the seven shouted together.

"But look! I was lucky... I can beat them all at once!"

They tried to attack him, but Kevin used an alien device that trapped them in a net that fired lightning, weakening them. He returned to normal form and approached the Tennyson one by one.

"Ben! Looks like the big Ben 10,000 has no power over me now, doesn't it? Hahahahahaha…"

"You're still going to fall, Kevin…" Ben said as he tried to recover.

"We'll see..." - he walked a little - "Gwen! My beautiful woman!" - Kevin picked her up, still trapped in the hammock, and pulled her close to his body - "Let's get this over with this…" he ran his hands over her body. Gwen tried to react, but the net prevented her from even using mana.

"LEAVE ME!" she shouted.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY WIFE, KEVIN!"

"Hahahahahaha... and what are you going to do, Tennyson? You can't even take care of yourself... you're just a ridiculous alcoholic who married your cousin by chance."

The Bunnies were trying to get rid of the net but failed.

"Ohhhhh, and look at you. The obnoxious children of the couple! Gwendolyn, as beautiful as her mother, but as weak as her father…. Gabriella, it's good to see you again, 'daughter-in-law', soon you will call me Daddy hahahahahaha…. Talitha, you can be agile in the fight, but not enough to save yourself…. Karina, the youngest and most fragile of all... and you, Kenny.." - he approached the boy and lifted him - "the male heir of Tennysons... ahhhh... from all children you are what I hate most! It was meant to be ME the father of a son of Gwen. But she wanted to marry your father. Who can't save you now hahahahahaha... - he dropped Kenny to the ground - "But wait... weren't you six? It's missing…"

Kevin was surprised by a burst of mana.

"Cassandra?" - she appeared - "Yes, I'm here, Uncle Kevin," - her parents and siblings' eyes sparkled at her presence.

"Sure! Ben's copy! Cassandra!"

She cast a spell to destroy the nets and the eight heroes again battled Kevin. But all attacks, whether from aliens or spells, did not hit the villain. The best the Tennysons could do was dodge Kevin's punches. He turned back and created a portal to which he was being sucked.

"Vilgax will be like an amoeba close to what I will do to Earth if you don't come back to me, Gwen!" he said. "It's your choice: your marriage or life on Earth!"

The portal closed. There was no danger in Keystone for now. The eight returned to headquarters. Looking for a way to solve this once and for all.

"How did you manage to fight, Cassie? Neither am I that fast!" asked Talitha.

"You're the fastest in karate, Talitha, but I'm quick in spells. I found one that healed hangovers quickly and came running for a fight."

"Wow! You were great! But wait... where's Jake?"

"I teleported him home. I didn't want him to leave with that danger out there."

"You did well! Well, now we have to think of something. Kevin will not give up."

"I think the only way to stop Kevin is to kill him," Karina suggested. "I know we don't kill villains, but Will Harenga was killed, why not do the same to Kevin?"

"Looks like it's really our only choice," said Kenny. "We can't give in to his blackmail. He will always do that."

"And it will get worse and worse," Gabriella said.

"Guys, I think we should talk to our parents first," Gwendolyn said. "We can find a way to combine our greatest abilities to end it."

"As always, you're the brain of everything, Gwen!" exclaimed Cassandra. "The question is: how?"

"We'll still find out," she answered.

Ben and Gwen were in the bedroom.

"This is getting too dangerous," she said.

"I knew I should have killed Kevin when I was 16! Now he's back stronger and won't stop until he gets what he wants."

"It was very risky, Ben. We don't know if you could make it. But now... I think there's only one solution."

"Which?"

"One that doesn't involve fighting. No confrontation, no nothing. We'll have to face Kevin in a way that he gives up on that plan himself."

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TO BE CONTINUED

Author's Notes

This is the second to last episode of fanfic. Next time, the other daughters' fiancés' names will be revealed.