CHAPTER 25

Bennet had led Luke away to a small table and got him a glass of orange juice and a few cookies. After he had finished eating, Luke set his sights on Sam's family. They looked refined and very non-threatening. Thank God for that. Nothing Sam had said led Luke to believe that there was any trauma in her family. A nice, easy conversation. That was all Luke needed right now.

As Luke approached the family, he vaguely recognized the father from some fundraising gala he had gone to ages ago. Farrah had mentioned that he funded a program for the public school system, so it was more than likely that Luke had seen him around more times than he remembered. Luke was no great shakes at memorizing faces though, so he couldn't exactly be sure.

But, you know, he was pretty sure.

"Good afternoon everyone." Luke said to the large group. He quickly counted all of the people. There were twelve people standing around, not including Sam. How many people did she invite? There really should have been a limit. There's no way he would be able to remember all of these people's names. It was crazy.

The father, Andrew Young greeted him first. "Your Highness." He said politely bowing. "How are you today?" He asked.

"Very well thank you." Luke said. "Would you mind telling me a bit about each of you." He asked, making eye contact with each and everyone of the family members.

Andrew spoke first. "I founded ALLIANCE Your Highness, I suppose you heard of it?" He asked good-naturedly.

"Yes, of course." Luke agreed. Everyone had heard of ALLIANCE. It was mostly known as a major online shopping network, but other than that it also almost single-handedly funded most of the post services with the sheer number of orders placed everyday. Luke had heard the company mentioned more times than he could count over the years. Even he, who had never once attended a cabinet meeting or remotely paid attention to anything having to do with politics, knew of its importance. If Farrah wasn't so busy with Solomon, Luke supposed that she would be talking to Andrew about increased donations.

"This is my wife, Yehua." Andrew said, gesturing to the handsome woman standing next to him.

"A pleasure to meet you, Your Highness." She said shaking his hand. "I'm a law professor at Rollins college in Angeles."

Now, Luke wasn't one to stereotype people, but if she was walking down the street and someone asked him to guess what she did, he would definitely go with a professor. Something about her strict bun, wire-frame glasses, and modest dress in a muted blue just screamed Strict Professor. Luke had never gone to college, but he had watched enough movies to know that you wouldn't want to be late to Yehua's class. She seemed like the type who would slam the door in your face.

"Ah. I've heard of that school. It recently underwent renovations right?" Luke asked. He had actually read that on instapic after seeing some kids at a frat party, but she didn't need to know that.

Yehua smiled ruefully. "Yes, the administration thought it would be beneficial to add a pool to the facilities." Her tone sounded like she didn't support the idea. In fact, she seemed like the type of woman who didn't support fun in general.

"I'm Micheal. Sam's older- well, oldest- brother" Said the tallest of the three young men. "I'm the heir to the company as well." He said with a smile.

"Congratulations." Luke told him, keeping his voice even.

"Thank you." Micheal said. "This is my wife Wendy." He gestured to a woman with asian features standing to his left, "And our three children, Mei, Ben, and Hana." Luke actually recognized Wendy. She was a gymnast who had been on the national team for about five years. She had dropped out due to a knee injury though. It was a shame really, she probably could've won the olympics for them.

The children were, simply put, adorable. They were young, Mei, the oldest, was only about twelve years old. Ben was wearing a blue sweater with the Superman emblem in the middle of it, and Luke spied a Superman backpack tossed on the grass a few feet away that he assumed belonged to Ben. This kid was either a huge fan of Superman or had decided that he wanted to be Superman. Judging by the homemade paper mask he had tucked in his pocket, Luke was willing to bet it was the latter.

"I'm Alexander Young, I work as a surgeon in Pembroke hospital." The shortest of the young men told Luke.

"He's the best surgeon in the world." Sam piped up eagerly.

Alexander laughed at his sister's statement. "I wouldn't say that Sammy, but I'm certainly trying." He said humbly, though Luke could tell from the proud smile that he had enjoyed the compliment.

"Alex, you wrote a medical journal, while you were still in med school. Take some credit." Sam insisted. Alexander only laughed in response, his cheeks and ears faintly turning from embarrassment at his sister's praise.

"Yes, well, be that as it may, that's unimportant right now." He said. "This is my wife, Dr. Emma Shang and our daughter Leslie." He said, introducing Luke to another two members of the family. Leslie was holding a box that had a doll in it, wrapping paper strewn next to her. From where Luke was standing he could barely make out a gift tag that red Love Auntie Sam!

How sweet, though Luke did wonder where exactly Sam had gotten the doll from. He didn't know the selected could get packages delivered to the palace, but then again, Luke didn't pay much attention to what the selected could and couldn't do within the palace.

He really should look over that contract Farrah had made him sign all those months ago. Maybe the details were all in there.

"Are you a surgeon as well?" He asked Emma.

She shook her head. "No, Your Highness. I'm a cardiologist. Though sometimes I do have to prescribe heart transplants." She said kindly.

"I'm Beatrice." Said a woman who looked about his sister's age. Luke recognized her as well, but it was from the front page of gossip magazines, that is, when he wasn't on the front page of said magazines. "I went to Harvard Business School, I mostly do investments and stockbroking."

Luke nodded. "Oh, Sam said she goes there too. Did you study business management as well?" Luke asked.

There was a palpable silence in the air as the family members all glanced at each other. Finally it was Andrew who spoke, "Samantha is studying international business affairs, not business management." He told Luke.

What?

Sam had definitely told him that she was studying business management at their first meeting. Luke was sure of it. He could just picture the words coming out of her mouth. However, she also seemed so unsure of herself...Oh God

This girl didn't know what she was studying.

Was she even attending the lessons? The whole idea was ridiculous, ridiculously funny that is. Still, Luke didn't say anything, as hilarious as he found it, somehow he got the feeling that Sam's parents, her mother in particular wouldn't share his point of view. A quick glance at her frown told him he was correct in his assumption.

Nope, better to keep his lips sealed.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Luke apologized profusely. "I must have not remembered correctly."

Beatrice smiled in response. "It's fine, I know you met a lot of people. Anyway, this is my fiancee Chad Wong." She gestured to the third young man who was standing next to her. As she moved her hand, a diamond the size of a large berry caught Luke's eye, momentarily blinding him. That rock was probably worth enough to feed a family for years.

Well, Luke shouldn't be one to judge. After all, his own wife's engagement ring was going to cost enough to buy a moderately sized house.

After a quick nod to Chad, Luke was done with Sam's family. He had spent longer than he should have with them, due to the fact that there was an insane amount of people he had to talk to. Ah well, it was over now. That meant he had only three more families to meet.

He was over halfway done.

Thank God for that, he wasn't sure how much more fake smiling and A pleasure to meet you he could take. He really needed to find some more interesting introductions.

That was a problem for later though, he couldn't get distracted right now. Not when he was so close to being done. Judging by the steadily darker color the clouds were turning, he really needed to pick up the pace. He didn't want to get caught in a thunderstorm.

Personally, he didn't find the weatherman all that reliable.

The next family to meet was Laena's. Or perhaps a more accurate description was Laena's siblings. As Luke already knew, her parents were dead. He started to walk over, mentally reminding himself that the words parents, mom, dad, and grandparents were not to leave his lips.

On second thought, he should probably add the words sick, leukemia and treatment to that list. A guilty glance at the younger of the two boys, his silver-blond hair matching Laena's was enough to drill that into his mind. The boy was so small, smaller than even Timmy Foster-Winston, though Laena's brother was definitely older. His skin had a pasty, gray sort of tinge to it, one that clearly came from not getting enough sunlight.

Luke pushed his lips into a firm line, silently thanking his parents for letting him be born into the life of royalty. He knew he often didn't appreciate his title and the responsibilities it came with, but at least he never had to worry about not having enough food or not being able to get medicine when he was sick. Hell, he had a whole hospital on the first floor of his house.

Luke went over though, making sure his smile was brighter than before. Cheery, exuberant and perfect. That's what he had to be right now.

Laena was smiling wider than Luke had ever seen. She was practically glowing as she talked to her brothers. She must've been worried about them while she was gone, and Luke couldn't say he blamed her. He watched as she pulled her younger brother in for a hug, beaming. She looked so happy that Luke almost hated to intrude on the moment.

Almost.

He didn't feel like getting wet more than he felt like skipping Laena's family and circling back to them at the end. That did sound selfish, Luke would admit to that, but he was wearing a nice shirt!

"Good afternoon everyone." He said, coming over to the threesome. A boy that Luke assumed was Laena's older brother greeted him first.

"Your Highness." He said. "Thank you for inviting us." The boy, Luke vaguely recalled that his name was Will, looked different from both Laena and the younger boy. His hair was a dark brown, a stark contrast to the paleness of Laena's. He was stocky, where both Laena and the young boy were slim.

"Believe me, I was more than happy to invite over the family of the elite. It's not everyday that you can meet everyone." Luke said. He inwardly shuddered at his words. He sounded like a cardboard cutout of himself. What was it about meeting new people that made him lose all his personality? He really hoped that not all the families found him to be boring. That would make for one very interesting family barbeque.

"I'm Will, Laena's older brother." Said the young man. Luke nodded. Yes! He had actually gotten the name right. That was a first.

"Pleasure to meet you." Luke said, firmly shaking his hand. "So, what do you do?" Luke asked, hoping that it wasn't considered an offensive question. He remembered that Laena's family were 6's, hopefully they didn't get embarrassed but their profession.

"I work as a gardener. Might I say, the gardens you have here are beautiful." Will said, gesturing towards the flower beds and topiaries that dotted the garden. Luke glanced at them. They were very nice, even Luke, who's knowledge of gardening was nearly nonexistent could see that.

"I'll make sure to pass that onto our gardener. I'm sure you made his day." Luke said. He wasn't actually planning on telling the gardener, he didn't even know the gardener's name, but there was no reason to tell Will that.

Luke turned to the younger boy. He couldn't quite recall his name, despite him being fairly sure Laena had mentioned it in passing. "What's your name?" He asked the boy. Laena shot him a look and Luke shrugged. She was probably wondering how he didn't remember the name, but she clearly didn't know him all too well if she actually thought he would remember.

Maybe he should work on that though. Get some of those memory games, see if he could improve over time.

He was getting distracted though, and he made sure to tune back into what the boy was saying. "Jaelynn. But you can call me Jae." The boy said softly.

"Nice to meet you Jae." Luke said simply. "Do you like the food?" He asked, looking at Jae's plate which was piled high with cookies.

Jae nodded eagerly. "Yeah, they're really good. I never get anything like this at home." Luke smiled softly at the boy's excitable nature.

"I would try the chocolate macadamia nut ones." Luke said, pointing to a dark brown cookie with white nuts on top. It was his personal favorite. It had been ever since he decided he grew out of chocolate chip cookies years ago. He still ate the chocolate chip ones of course, but the macadamia nut ones sounded much more sophisticated, much more befitting of a prince.

"Is that what the white things are?" Jae asked. "I thought they were chunks of white chocolate." He said, breaking apart the cookie to look at the inside.

"Yeah, the red velvet cookies have white chocolate in them." Luke said, indicating a dark red cookie.

"You know a lot about cookies." Laena told him, holding back a laugh.

Luke grinned slightly. "Well, I've eaten a lot of cookies. Besides, the chefs use the same recipe every time, it's not that hard to remember what is in each dish after a few years." Luke said. He had learned all the recipes during the brief time where he decided he wanted to be gluten-free and insisted on seeing which of his meals contained gluten. Needless to say, that gluten-free diet lasted for barely a week.

"Enjoy the rest of your day." Luke bid them farewell, starting to walk away.

"Hey, Luke, can I talk to you for a second?" Laena asked, coming after him.

If there was one thing he learned from this selection, Can I talk to you for a second never meant anything good.

Damn it.

"Sure what's up?" Luke asked. He could anticipate what Laena was going to say, it came with the package of family day, with seeing their loved ones for the first time in months.

"I've missed my family so much over these past few months." Laena started, her lips pursed.

"I could tell." Luke said nodding along. He was fairly sure where this was going, and though he wasn't exactly happy about it, he understood. Laena missed her family, she wanted to be with them. She wanted to be with them more than she wanted to be with Luke.

Of course she wouldn't exactly phrase it that way (At least, Luke hoped not. That would really sting.) But that was what she meant. There was nothing wrong with that per say, but a jealous little part of him deep down wished that she would choose him over her brothers.

"Look, I really like you Luke, but I want to go home, to be with my family. I don't think I really realized how much I missed them until I saw them today. Now that I did...I can't stay here. I need to go home. Please, I need to." Laena implored him, her eyes wide.

Luke sighed. He knew this was going to happen, but right now that really didn't help. "Are you sure?" He asked lamely.

Laena nodded. "I am. I want to go home."

"Alright then. You can go back to Columbia with your family." Luke said, pulling her into a hug.

When they pulled away, Laena's face had taken a somber tone. "Hey, just be careful who you marry." She said looking him dead in the eye.

"What do you mean?" Luke asked.

"You're not just choosing a wife, you're choosing the face of this country, even if she isn't the queen. Make sure you choose someone who wants this. Someone who wants you." Laena shook her head. "I guess what I'm trying to get at is...don't choose Sable." Laena said lamely, finally came out with it.

"Why?" Luke asked, doubt creeping up his core.

Laena sighed. "She's a con artist Luke, she doesn't want the crown and this is going to sound awful, but she certainly doesn't want you. She just entered for something to do. Just promise me you won't choose her." Laena said.

"I can't do that." Luke said. He might not know who exactly he was going to marry, but he wasn't ruling anyone out just yet. Certainly not on the recommendation of a competitor. Luke ws no idiot, he knew that the tensions were high among the girls and that Sable was on the lower end of the popularity spectrum. There might be a seed of truth to Laena's argument, but it could also simply be her trying to ruin the chances of a girl who she didn't like. Luke couldn't know for sure which one it was, and he was hesitant to take her words seriously.

Laena smiled sadly. "Just, don't get your heart broken, alright?" She told him.

"I'll try. I thought I was the one who was supposed to be breaking hearts though." Luke said.

"Believe me, you already broke plenty of hearts these past few months." Laena joked. She wasn't wrong though.

Oh well.

It was a selection, these girls knew what they were getting into. What they were risking.

With that Laena ran off, back to her family, leaving Luke bewildered. Still, he pushed Laena's warnings out of his mind, going off to meet the family of the exact girl that she had just warned him about.

Glancing at Sable's family, Luke began to wonder if maybe he should listen to Laena. They were an intimidating bunch, granted in a different way than Solomon, but still. Luke got the feeling that these were people he shouldn't cross.

"Hello everyone." Luke said, coming up to them. "How are you all doing today?" He asked, another one of his generic greetings that had been drilled into him when he was younger.

To Luke's surprise, it wasn't Sable's father who spoke first like it had been in so many other families, instead a man with white hair and an imposing figure greeted him. He was a few inches taller than Luke, probably around 6'2 or 6'3.

"It's cold out, but other than that we're all doing fine." The elderly man said. "I'm Sable's grandfather, Finnegan Sr." He informed Luke. Though he didn't say anything, Luke could see the resemblance between Sable and her grandfather. Their height aside, both had a distinct aura to them. A mixture of unremarkable-ness (Is that a word? If it's not it should be...maybe he could talk to the dictionary manufactures.) and a sense of danger. Like a miniature shark.

Luke laughed nervously. "Well, the party was supposed to be indoors and a few hours earlier, but flights got delayed and well, here we are." Luke said, gesturing to the wide open space of lawn.

"Yes, our's was one of the flights." Finnegan Sr. said.

"Oh, sorry about that." Luke apologized quickly.

"I'm Finnegan Jr. Sable's father." Said the middle-aged man with a smile. "Don't worry about the flight too much, the airport was very nice and the wait wasn't too long." Finnegan Jr. assured him. He seemed to be softer around the edges than his father, his smile was brighter and far more genuine. Unlike old man Reddlyn, it actually seemed to reach his eyes.

"That's good, I've only been to the Waverly Central airport a few times, but there were some good snacks the last time I was there." Luke said. He got the feeling that he was rambling, but he couldn't stop himself. The whole crowd was unsettling.

"Yes. You could say that." The grandfather said, giving Luke a once-over. Luke couldn't exactly tell whether he approved or not from his facial expression, but come on. He was the prince for God's sake! What parent- or grandparent in this case- wouldn't want their child to marry him? He was a future of comfort and fame tied up with a neat little bow

Okay, that might sound a little vain now that he was thinking about it, but it was true.

For the most part at least

Luke turned his attention to a middle-aged woman who had her hand on the shoulder of a boy about Luke's age. Maybe a year older at the most. "I'm Alice Reddlyn, Your Highness." She said, shaking his hand. "This is Lonan, Sable's younger brother and Arbor, Sable's sister...oh, well, She's around here somewhere" Alice said, glancing around helplessly.

"I think Arbor went to go get a drink." Sable told her mother. Sable herself was holding a crystal-stemmed glass of whiskey.

"Right, dear." Alice said.

"So, Sable told me you own a few bars in Waverly." Luk said, he wasn't exactly sure who he was directing the comment to, he just had to say something.

"Two bars, a club, and a casino." Finnegan Jr. replied smoothly. "Have you heard of them?" He asked.

"I've seen the advertisements from time to time. I like the new jingle" Luke said.

Sable trend to her grandfather, lightly slapping his arm. "See Grandpa! I told you he liked it." Sable said. "I called him and told him after our first meeting, you mentioned it then. He didn't believe me" Sable informed Luke, seeing the bewildered look on his face. That made sense, though he would have preferred if what he said to the girls was private. Did all of them tell their family every word he said to them?

They probably all did.

That seemed like something girls did. Not that Luke was one to know, but he'd seen plenty of television shows. That was as close as a glimpse into the female brain that he was going to get.

Still, Luke smiled lightly. "Well, I can assure you that I did say that." Though he was seriously regretting it now. Of course he didn't say the last part of his sentence out loud. That was something he had to keep to himself.

Just then Arbor came back clutching a glass of red wine. She looked almost like a carbon copy of Sable, only her clothes were far brighter. Her shirt was a bright turquoise and her skirt was silver and purple, the colors alternating with the ruffles.

"Oh!" She squealed, realizing that Luke was standing there with her family. "Your Highness." She said, attempting a curtsy while holding onto her drink.

"Oh, there's no need for that." Luke said. "I wouldn't want you to spill your drink." He told her kindly.

"It would take a lot more than that for me to drop my drink." Arbor said dryly. "I'm Arbor, by the way."

Luke knew as much, but he simply said "Pleasure to meet you."

Arbor gave him an appraising look. "A prince, huh. Hey, just out of question, what happens if you don't find anyone to marry this time around?" She asked.

Luke felt himself go red in the face. "I wouldn't worry about that." Was all he said in response. "I should probably go meet the last family." Luke said, hurrying off and hoping that the red tinge left his cheeks before he met Esme's family. That would be a tad bit hard to explain.

As he left Luke heard Sable say. "Please don't hit on him, Arbor. You scared him away."

Arbor laughed in response. "What was I supposed to do? I want to be a princess too, you know. Besides, I don't think I was the one who scared him away."

Luke didn't hear Sable's retort, nor did he particularly want to. He didn't need to hear girls outside of the selection talking about how they wanted to marry him, it was bad enough having the eight remaining, well six now, girls saying it.

Luke was thankful when he found the table that Esme's family had chosen for themselves, both because her's was the last family he had to get to, and because they seemed blissfully normal compared to some of the others (Hem hem Sable and Faye.)

"Somehow you're always the last person I meet with." Luke said to Esme when he approached.

"I was starting to think it was on purpose." Esme said laughing.

"The first time, nope. This time...maybe." Luke joked. Esme laughed at that, as she always did with his jokes. At least someone found him funny.

"Hugo Monroe, Your Highness." Said Esme's father when Luke went over to greet him. He shook Luke's hand firmly, smiling slightly.

"Hugo Monroe…" Luke said, testing out the name on his tongue. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. "Do I know you?" He asked, unsure of himself for far from the first time today. Jeez, he really needed to work on being more confident when he spoke. He'd add that to the list of about a bajillion other things he had to work on about himself.

Starting with finding some new greetings. He wasn't sure how many more of his generic ones he could stomach.

Hugo smiled goodnaturedly. "Personally? No. I wrote a series of crime fiction books though, you might have heard of me from there." He informed him.

Now, Luke was no avid reader, but you would have to be living under a rock to not have read or at least heard of Hugo Monroe's crime series. What started as a murder mystery became a ten book series. Luke had heard that a network had purchased the film rights to it recently, meaning that a television adaptation of Kindred Waters would be available in a few years.

"That's where I know you from." Luke exclaimed. "I love your books, I read the entire series" He said, leaving out the part that he had listened to an audio version of the last eight in the series. Somehow he got the feeling that listening to a book instead of reading it was an insult to the author.

"Thank you, Your Highness" Hugo said. "It's not every day that you find out actual royalty read your books"

"I think nearly everyone reads your books" Luke complimented him earnestly.

Hugo only smiled in response. He didn't seem the best at receiving praise for his books. "This is my wife, Elizabeth and our son Altair." Hugo said.

"It's lovely to meet you." Elizabeth told him.

"You as well." Luke said. "What do you do for a living?" He asked.

"I write most of the side stories and junior versions of Hugo's books. They're a tad dark for the younger children who like to read them."

"Of course. There is quite a lot of murder." Luke said jokingly.

Both Hugo and Elizabeth nodded appreciatively at Luke's words, though they didn't respond. Jeez, these people needed to give him a little more to work with here. As much as Luke liked the sound of his own voice, he did still need more than one person to keep a conversation going.

Luke turned to Altair. "How old are you?" He asked.

"I'm 16, Your Highness. I'm in my junior year of highschool." Altair told him.

Luke nodded, not sure what else to say. All he said was "Well, it was nice to meet all of you. I hope you have a fun stay here at the palace." Luke excused himself quickly.

"Did you get the recording?" He asked Farrah, finding her seated at a small table, Max sitting opposite of her. Farrah had a glass of water in front of her, that she looked reluctant to drink Luke's guess was that Max had asked her to drink it to try and calm her down.

Farrah made a face. "Sort of. Not really." She sounded exhausted. More tired than Luke had ever seen her. The day's events must have really taken a toll on her.

Luke's heart sank at that. "What do you mean?"

Farrah sighed, resting her head on her arm. "I got an admission that 'he heard about a supposed connection from the deaths' but that's nothing to build a case on. To make matters worse, it turns out that everyone signed a contract relieving him of all harms connected to the practices. Except for negligence of course."

"Oh. I'm sorry. What are you going to do now?" Luke asked.

"Of course we're still going to file a lawsuit, it just makes matters harder." Max told him. "Now, do you want to get everyone inside, it really does look like rain." He said, looking towards the sky.

Farrah nodded. "I don't want to get wet." She said.

"I finished all my meetings with the families." Luke supplied, trying to help.

"That's good. Do you want to tell everyone to head indoors?" Max asked her.

"Yeah. There's something I need to do first." She said, gulping down the rest of her water in one go.

"You want to do it now?" Max asked her seriously. He obviously knew what she was implying. It couldn't be anything bad though, as he was starting to smile.

"No time like the present." Farrah said, her voice regaining some of its usual confidence. She stood up quickly, sliding her hand into Max's. "Come on." She said, leading him off to the cleared section of grass in front of the buffet.

Luke was utterly confused. What was she talking about? Why was she making a speech at his party? Talk about stealing the attention. Though Luke had to admit, after the day he had, he wasn't exactly sure that he wanted the attention to be on him.

"Everyone, can I have your attention please?" Farrah called out. Her voice was loud and demanded people's attention in a way that Luke could never quite get down. Every person paused and looked at her, from Jae Spice to little Ben Young to Solomon Reuben. Even Bennet and Allyson turned, exchanging unsure glances.

Somehow the sight that his parents were just as clueless as to what was going on as Luke did was reassuring. At least he wasn't totally out of the loop in his own family.

"I hope you all had an enjoyable time visiting with your relatives today. I know I enjoyed meeting my future family. As one of your daughters, sisters or charges will soon be my sister-in-law, I felt it was only befitting that my esteemed guests heard the news from me personally and not from the newspapers tomorrow. We are expecting our first child soon, and I could not be happier to share this journey with you." Farrah finished, beaming.

There were a few whispers as everyone took in the news. Bennet and Allyson looked at each other with surprise and delight, Farrah had clearly not told them yet. Even Luke, who had been privy to the news ahead of time was shocked that Farrah had decided to announce it so publicly. Though, from the sound of it, she had already informed the media.

Luke was the one to break the silence. "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!." He cheered, more and more people joining in. Even Allyson and Bennet joined in with rhythmic clapping, though they refrained from actually yelling. Farrah blushed and glanced at Max, who shrugged helplessly. He wrapped an arm around her back, the other behind her head and pressed his lips to her's.

When they pulled away, Farrah simply said "Thank you." To the crowd, and her and Max went over to Bennet and Allyson, Luke joining them. Allyson embraced her saying "I didn't even know you were trying."

"Congratulations." Luke whispered to his sister.

At least something good came from today.

A/N: And that's it for family day. I hope you all enjoyed reading about the odd families of Luke's selected. We also say goodbye to Laena. I loved her so much, but in the end she valued her brothers more than she did Luke. See you in the next chapter!

Joke: What do you call a droid that takes a long time around?

R2 Detour