My Lovely Family

Chapter 25 - Mazal Tov

- FLASHBACK 1 -

Ben was 10 years old. His father was showing an album of old Tennyson photographs.

"This is your great-great-grandfather, Ben," Carl said. "His name was Benjamin, just like you."

"Wow! This picture must be very old. Not even Grandpa is on it."

"Your grandfather wasn't born yet. See, this picture was taken at your great-great-grandparents' wedding."

"Looks like only the bride's family came to the wedding."

"It's because it was a mixed marriage. He was Jewish and she was Presbyterian. His family didn't attend, and still disinherited him."

"Damn it…"

"Your great-great-grandfather was devastated by this, so he decided to start a tradition: all the boys in the Tennyson family would be circumcised."

"So that's why…" Ben began to realize.

"That you had that surgery as a baby. Pediatricians currently also recommend doing this. I can't say much right now, because of your age, but believe me, your wife will thank you in the future."

(Opening theme)

- FLASHBACK 2 -

Cassandra was still a baby. Gwen put her to sleep, singing a very calm song:

On the wild and misty hillside

Fear is nature's warning

Hunger here is never far away

And all of this world

Is for children who play

Days that never end

Always should remain

Another perfect day

Whoever listened to Gwen singing seemed to hear the piano melody. She did this to all children when they were babies.

- END OF FLASHBACKS -

All Bunnies were already grown. Of Ben and Gwen's six children, three went into the sport: Cassandra became a Formula One driver, Talitha began a brilliant career in karate, and Karina followed in her father's footsteps as a teenager and joined a women's soccer team as a goalkeeper. Gwendolyn and Kenny took over their mother's business and Gabriella founded her clothing label.

Despite their labors, they continued their mission to save the planet. The heroic names by which Bunnies were known individually were their Jewish names. Cassandra chose Sarah, Gwendolyn chose Rivka (Hebrew version of Rebecca, the second matriarch of the Jewish people), Gabriella chose Rachel (Hebrew version of Rachel, who takes the place of third matriarch with her sister Leah), Kenny chose David, Talitha chose Ruth (named after the convert, ancestor of King David) and Karina chose Chaya (female of Chayyim, meaning "life").

Over time, Natalie and Ben reconciled. Helene also paid her debts with her niece's husband. They knew that Gwen's decision was not going to change and that, not knowing how much time they had left on Earth, it was better to resolve the situation soon.

"Forgive me, Ben," said his mother-in-law, lying sick in bed, "forgive me for everything, my son-in-law. I wasn't the mother-in-law you deserved. You always made my daughter happy and I never recognized that…"

"Okay, Aunt Natalie," Ben kissed her hand. "I forgive you. I just wanted the best for Gwen."

"And I didn't realize she already had. Thank God you are a very close couple! They have six beautiful children. And I don't know if I'll be here to see my great-grandchildren. I don't want to live as long as your grandfather Max."

"Don't say that, Aunt. You will be fine soon, God willing!"

Natalie improved in three days. She didn't back down with her word. I never said any offense to Ben again.

Devlin and Nizhoni set the wedding before Cassandra, so the Tennysons could come. But Julie was confused by their union. She consulted her mother-in-law about a prediction she had made about the boy.

"You said Devlin was joining one of Ben's daughters. He even dated Gabriella, but now he's engaged to Nizhoni, and she's converted and is engaged to a Jew. I don't understand."

"I said your son would be joining one of Ben's daughters, but I didn't say it would be in marriage," said Mrs. Levin. "If you pay attention to what I foresaw, you will see that everything has come true: the feud between the Tennysons and the Levins had an end, thanks to the healing that Gwen gave my son; Devlin would suffer at the hands of Ben, who was a parent-in-law similar to Gwen's mother; and your son joined Gabriella. Didn't you see that they are partners in her fashion label?"

"Ohhhhh, so was that the union?"

"Yes, Dear. I never said marriage."

"Worse I wish it were, my mother-in-law. Because there's a mess between us and Nizhoni's parents. Kai and Taylor want a Navajo ceremony, while Kevin and I want a Gypsy one."

"It would be impossible to Gabriella to marry Devlin. She is a Jewish soul, he is not. They were not predestined. But rest assured, my daughter-in-law, you will fix this."

The solution was to do both. One day, he listens to a Navajo ceremony by Kai's grandfather Wes Green. The next day, he had the church ceremony and the Gypsy celebration, watered with Calon flamenco, which lasted three days.

"See everyone! My son's bride is a virgin!" Kevin gladly showed the bloodstained sheet to the guests.

Kai and Taylor didn't like that, but they had to accept it.

Although Devlin and Nizhoni love each other very much, they have faced Kai's opposition for a long time. She didn't stand that her daughter had adopted her husband's culture and decided to be a housewife. Realizing that Devlin gave his wife a very comfortable life as a result of his participation in the Gabriella's label, Kai accepted Nizhoni's decision.

It was Cassandra's wedding day. She was in a small room, finishing dressing up. Max was by his side.

"I don't believe it, great grandfather! I will finally get married !"

"And you will be very happy, Cassandra, God willing!" he kissed her hands. "You're the first to put the Tennysons back to their origins!" Max said proudly.

"Haha yes! We'll give you a lot of great-grandchildren!"

"I hope so, haha... Mazal Tov, Sarah!"

"Todah!"

When she was ready, Ben and Gwen went with her to the ceremony venue. Like her parents, Cassandra decided to get married in New York.

"We are very happy for you, my love" - said her mother - "Be very happy! Mazal Tov!"

"Todah, Mommy!" - Cassie answered.

"Cassandra, my daughter," Ben took her hands. "I want you to know, I'm so proud of you. And may you and Jacob can have a very happy life." he kissed Cassie's forehead. "Mazal Tov!"

"Todah, Daddy!"

Ben and Gwen accompanied their daughter on the way to the bridegroom. Jacob met her halfway and covered her with his veil. They went together for the chupah. The ceremony began, with the bride's seven laps around the bridegroom, the blessing of the wine, the giving of the wedding ring, and the breaking of the glass by the bridegroom followed by shouts of Mazal Tov.

The ceremony was followed by a very lively party. Men were on one side and women on the other. In a moment, Jake and Cassie sat in chairs and were lifted by the guests. In another, the groom was thrown up and down. Everyone was very happy, including Bracha, who felt that her daughter-in-law was the perfect woman for her son.

The marriages of the other children were similar to those of the older sister. Gwendolyn married Elijah, Gabriella with Eliezer, Kenny with Shanti, Talitha with Joshua, and Karina with Samuel. Kenny's wedding was the most lively. Shanti wore a beautiful dress whose top looked like a sari. Listen to Jewish and Indian music at the party. Max could only physically attend Cassie's wedding. His mission on earth ended a month later.

Over time, the earth has developed a lot in terms of technology and defense. The Plumbers were now able to stop any invasion. Many aliens wondered how such a small planet could stand so steady. The Bunnies said they had things you can only learn on Earth.

A young 10-year-old boy wearing kippah and tallit was leaving school. Classes were over and summer started. Suddenly an elderly man with white hair and beards, also in kippah and tallit, stopped his trailer, which had jets in place of wheels, in front of the schoolyard.

"Come on, Ike!" he said. "I don't want to be late at camp."

"I'm going, Grandpa," the boy ran excitedly.

Ike was a handsome little boy. He had brown hair and brown eyes. His skin was a bit dark, like her mother Shanti's.

"I waited all year for this trip," Ike said as soon as he got into the trailer. But he turned to find a beautiful red-haired, blue-eyed, light-skinned little girl who had an angry face. "Becky! But what do you do here? What does she do here?" he asked nervously.

"See if you calm down, brat. Do you think I wanted to be here?" she replied. "I was forced to come on this trip because someone convinced my mother."

"Oh, Grandpa…" Ike said despondently. "Don't tell me you wanted her to come…"

"We planned this summer with all our grandchildren, and that includes your cousin," their grandfather replied.

As the trailer made its way, Ike and Becky argued.

"Damn it! Is not fair! I spent the whole year studying, waiting for the summer trip, and the dweeb queen comes along," he complained.

"I had thought of a lot to do on vacation" she protested. "But now I have to spend three months with my doofus cousin."

"Dweeb!"

"Jerk!"

"Ah... now I know what Grandpa was going through," said his grandfather.

Arriving at the camp, Ike and Becky went to meet their grandmother. It was a lady with red hair, with some white strands. She wore a scarf that covered all her hair.

"Oh! Good to see you again!" she said.

After greeting their grandmother, they ran to meet the other children. As soon as they left, her grandfather approached her.

"We'll have work, Gwen," he lamented. "Ike and Becky don't stop fighting."

"Strange…" she replied, "that sounds familiar to me. But we can handle this, Ben."

The Bunnies had children. Ben and Gwen had not two, not four, not six, but TWELVE grandchildren, two from each son. There were six boys and six girls: four blondes, four redheads and four with brown hair. They were happy Jewish children, all with Hebrew names, who got along well with their siblings, but Isaac (son of Kenny) and Rebecca (daughter of Gwendolyn) were the only cousins who fought all the time.

"Can you believe it, Maya?" Ike talked to her younger sister. "All summer with Becky? Ah! That's not fair."

"Trust me, Ike. It's going to be a fun trip," she answered.

"With so many people to bring, why it must be Ike?" Becky was talking to her older brother. "This is going to be horrible, Abner!"

"Easy, Becky... it's going to be alright," he answered.

Minutes later, Ike and Becky spotted their eldest cousin, Benjamin Lancelot (or Lance, as he was nicknamed) and rushed to talk to him. Son of Gabriella, Lance was only a year older than the two, but he acted as Max was to Ben and Gwen in the past: a conciliator.

"LANCE! LANCE!" shouted the two.

"Oh man... here come your children…" joked Adira, Lance's twin sister.

"Hahahahaha... one more time ... here I go…"

"Lance! Glad you're here," Ike and Becky said together. "This dweeb will ruin the trip," they quarreled and argued again.

"Calm down... calm down…" Lance separated the two. "I'll be with you all summer. You will still have fun together."

After a while, the grandparents called the children to be near them.

"Let's tell you a story," Ben said.

The twelve sat on the grass and listened.

"Well," Ben began, "this is an old story from the time your grandmother and I were kids."

"Wow!" said one of the grandsons, blond with green eyes. "So it was a looooong ago." (Need to say who is the mother of this boy?)

The children laughed.

"Benjamin! Behave yourself!" Ben ordered. "Well... where was I? Oh, I remembered! This story is a long time ago when there was not all this modernity we have today. Cars were still stuck to the streets and cell phones could at best take pictures."

The younger ones were impressed. Older people already knew that in the past this was so.

"And at that time there were two children," Ben continued. "A boy and a girl. The girl was a dweeb... those who think they know everything and everything they talk about looks like a book page."

"Just like Becky!" Ike noted as the others laughed at Ben's jest. The cousin frowned.

"And the boy," Gwen began to tell, "was the dumbest and grossest you can imagine. He spent days without a shower or washing his socks and belched after each meal."

"Just like Ike!" Becky noted as the children died laughing at Gwen's description. The cousin was annoyed.

"They were cousins," Ben continued, "and they were born the same day."

"Like us?" Ike and Becky said at the same time, pointing at each other.

"Just like you," Ben continued. "They went on vacation with their grandfather…" - he looked up at the sky. - "A very wise man." - he looked back at his grandchildren. "It seemed it would be a very boring trip because the two kept fighting."

"But then…" - continued Gwen - "the boy decided to walk through the forest and found something strange. A watch ... from another planet."

"And the watch jumped on his wrist and it didn't come out at all. Then the boy discovered that this watch could turn him into aliens."

"And with the watch on Earth, many villains began to come to chase the boy for the watch. It seemed like a challenge, but he could defeat every enemy, using the powers of every alien he turned into. His cousin and grandfather helped him, she with her intelligence and he with his technological weapons. And it was on this journey of fighting the villains that the girl discovered she had magical powers and her cousins learned that her grandfather was an agent of an intergalactic crime-fighting organization."

"And over time…" - Ben looked at Gwen - "the boy and the girl began to approach…" - he put his hand on her waist and pulled her close to him - "became best friends... and finally fell in love."

"Owwwnnn…" the grandchildren got emotioned.

"And when they grew up," said Gwen, "they got married and had six children. The two continued to protect people and defeat the villains, and their children followed their parents' example."

"And then these children grew up, got married, and gave their parents many grandchildren, a total of twelve children. Six boys and six girls."

Then everyone realized whose story it was about.

"Are you the boy, Grandpa?" asked Ike.

"Yes," said Ben, smiling.

"And are you the girl, Grandma?" asked Becky.

"Exactly," Gwen answered the same way.

"The conclusion is..." - said their grandfather - "that things can change" - he looked at his wife - "One day you can't stand the person, the next you don't want to leave her."

Ike and Becky looked at each other. The other children were looking at them.

Sixteen years later, there was a big party in New York. Becky wore a beautiful wedding dress and Ike a nice suit with kippah and tallit. The two were raised in their chairs and kissed while the guests shouted for joy. Ben and Gwen, already very old, watched everything together.

"History repeats itself, Ben…"

"And it must be repeated for many years, Gwen... this is the story of my family. Of my lovely family."

THE END

FINAL NOTES

My inspirations for this fanfic were:

1) "Fiddler on the Roof", 1971 movie by Norman Jewison

2) "Monster-in-Law" 2005 movie by Robert Luketic

3) "Bewitched", 1964-1972 American series

4) The work of Beatrix Potter, author of "Peter Rabbit" (1902)

5) And, mainly, in an idea discarded by the writers.

I want to thank everyone who followed the story to the end, favored, commented and supported me.