Chapter One Hundred and Thirty Two

...

Will was finally going back to Sky High. He would never admit it, but he'd missed the place.

Okay, he mostly wanted to get away from his parents, but that wasn't the point. They were driving him insane, and they'd drive anyone insane, so he just wanted to go back to school already. His father had spent the last week and a half trying to get Will to fight him to ensure his powers had really fully returned, his glance falling to the fading bruise on Will's neck more often than not. His mother, on the other hand, had taken it upon herself to teach Will rather than pay for a tutor; Will was ready to fly directly into a brick wall at this stage. He hadn't had a villain challenge him in Westville to get away, and not even the Mayor had called him about lowering the crime rate again. Nothing had been featured on the news, so Will was just stuck at home with his parents 24/7.

"I'm leaving now, bye!" Will called, shouldering his bag and heading out the door before anyone could stop him.

"Will, don't forget your lunch!" his mother called behind him, holding out a brown paper bag.

"I'll buy it!" he called over his shoulder, flying into the air and hoping she wouldn't follow him.

Checking the school's coordinates on his phone, Will looked up into the cloudy sky and hoped he was flying the right way. He still got lost if there weren't huge landmarks around, and flying up into the clouds would mean losing any landmarks at all. Flying up higher, Will burst into the light, shaking off the damp dew that had stuck to him from the clouds. Looking around, he saw the floating plot of land and sighed in relief. Only a few hundred metres off, that was definitely an improvement.

He'd obviously improved with his landing, too, because he barely even stumbled when his feet connected with the grass. Feeling proud and hoping someone had seen - not Ry, of course not; why would he care what Ry thought of him after he'd punched him in the throat? - Will looked around with a broad smile. No one was paying him any attention, any students still outside were more focused on getting into the building before the storm clouds broke overhead. Figuring that he'd see his friends in class, Will hurried inside to get to his locker.

Larry would want to talk to him, obviously, and once he'd fobbed him off, Will could talk to Chad and Brad and Tad to explain what had happened. He could even apologise to Pad in person, too. He would be able to see Magenta again without either of their parents looking into the room every three seconds, and maybe even convince her to make out with him - or do more - behind the gym bleachers. Everything would be great.

"What the hell?" Will muttered, seeing a rainbow banner with 'everyone is unique' written on it, strung from the ceiling so everyone could see it when they walked into the school. "Well, that's super lame," he muttered to himself since no one else was listening.

Rainbows accosted him as he made his way down the hall to his locker - Ry's locker looked brand new - and Will figured it was some stupid thing to make the sidekicks feel better about themselves. Mr. Boy had obviously had a hand in it.

Stuffing his books in his locker, Will checked his reflection on his phone, fixed his hair, and ran for homegroup before Mr. Medulla called his name for attendance.

Sliding into homegroup just as the bell rang, Will grinned at the other juniors and waved at a few people. Ry didn't even look in his direction, but that was fine, he didn't even care.

"Hey, Larry. Did you see the new Jetstream and the Commander comic? It features the Ninety Ninjas," Will said as he moved to sit beside him.

Larry placed his bag on the stool before he could sit and returned his attention to his phone. "Seat's taken."

"By who? Everyone else is already here."

"Mr. Stronghold, sit down so the others who arrived on time can finish attendance," Mr. Medulla said sternly.

"Right. Yes, Mr. Medulla. Larry, can I sit here?" Will asked, his voice raised so he couldn't deny him.

Larry glared at Will and moved his bag reluctantly, turning away physically and returning to his phone.

Okay, weird, but Will could fix it.

"Do you want to read my comic, Larry? It's signed," Will added, grinning at their usual joke.

Larry turned to him, glaring fiercely despite his size and glasses. "I had an asthma attack and almost died because of you and you can't even ask how I am? I spent a week in the hospital and the first thing you do is rub how famous your parents are in my face? Super fucking Jesus, get over yourself!"

Larry was breathing heavily by the end of his rant and his hands were trembling as he found his inhaler in his bag. He breathed in the puff of pure oxygen, his eyes closed tight. His parents would kill him if they knew what he'd done and said to the third generation Stronghold.

"Thank you for that contribution, Mr. Levinsky. Mr. Stronghold, are you here for attendance or not?" Mr. Medulla asked pointedly, already having completed attendance for the rest of the class while waiting for Will to grace them with his presence.

Will clenched his jaw; he was in homegroup, wasn't he? Why couldn't Medulla mark him off if he saw him?

"Here, Mr. Medulla," Will's voice came from the other side of the classroom, Craig having shifted to Will's form. "Mr. Medulla, I don't think Larry got enough credit for that little speech. I mean, he didn't even power up, and he's having a panic attack."

"Mr. Forge, return to your form immediately; you don't know what diseases you could contract in that body. As for Mr. Levinsky, I was planning on giving five points for some meaningless task later in the day, but you're right: it takes a lot of power to stand up to friends. So, Mr. Levinsky, you are awarded five points, congratulations."

Larry sat up straighter and smiled. "Thanks, Mr. Medulla."

Will looked around the room in confusion. What on earth were these points he was talking about?

"Ah, here you are. Welcome, please, come in," Mr. Medulla said, smiling as the classroom door opened.

Four people walked into the room, their long hair so colourful and pretty that Will couldn't look away. His eyes widened when the four teenagers faced the class. Two girls and two boys, and they were just as pretty as each other.

Not that he was gay, of course.

"Class, we have four new students joining us today. Now that everyone is finally here, please introduce yourselves," Medulla said with an encouraging smile.

"I'm Kiara, this is my brother Lorcan, my sister Maleah, and my brother Najair. We've arrived from South America and look forward to learning with you," Kiara said pleasantly, an accent to her voice that had Will sitting up straighter with interest.

He'd never heard such an exotic accent before. Their hair was so bright, too! He didn't think kids were allowed to get their hair coloured, but Kiara had blue hair, Maleah had yellow hair, and Lorcan had green hair. Najair had pink hair, which was just weird since he was a boy. But they all looked so pretty! Will couldn't stop the thought, much like he couldn't stop the similar thoughts about Ry. He frowned and tried to think of something else about them, to prove he wasn't gay or something. They were all wearing gloves, long-sleeved shirts, and long pants. In fact, the only skin that Will could see was their faces, and that was kind of creepy? Maybe they were sensitive to the cold, especially up in the air like Sky High was?

"Thank you for that introduction, Ms. Sylvan-Colores. Please take your seats. There should be... Mr. Forge, where did you get those seats from?" Medulla asked with a sigh.

"Made them, sir," Craig said, shifting to The Creator, and grinning beneath big bushy eyebrows. "I can undo them?"

"No, that's fine," Najair said, his voice deeper than Will expected and making his mouth go dry.

"Thanks, Craig," Maleah said with a bright smile as though she was sharing some sort of joke that Will would never get.

The quadruplets sat on their chairs and started talking to Craig, Adam, Ry, and Layla. When Will looked away from the quadruplets, he saw that Pad was sitting on that side of the room, and waved at him. Pad must not have seen him because he didn't wave back. It was all right, though; Will still had the rest of the day and week to apologise.

"Mr. Medulla? Have the new students got their buddies? I can spare some time to show them around the school," Will offered generously.

He had missed out on being Ry's buddy, but he could be a buddy to one of the newcomers, surely? There were four of them, after all!

"They are sitting with their buddies already, Mr. Stronghold. It was organised before you arrived," Medulla added sternly.

Damn it.

...

"So no one in your family is a sidekick?" Magenta asked Lorcan, almost desperately.

"Our father most likely is, but his school never had this divide between hero and hero support," Lorcan replied.

"So you learned along with sidekicks? What was that like?" Magenta asked, smiling with white teeth and wishing her curls would look nicer than the mess she'd hidden beneath her bandanna.

"We were all homeschooled. Can I eat my lunch now or do you have another forty questions for me to answer?" Lorcan snapped, looking to his container of termites with longing.

"Lore, be nice to the girl," Kiara said, raising an eyebrow at her brother and turning her attention to Magenta, who had turned red. "Freshman always have questions for their elders."

Magenta paled, almost choking on her lasagne - plain and boring cafeteria lasagne and nothing like the delicious food Zach had cooked for the others at the table - and gasped, "You think I'm a freshman?!"

"Oh, no. You're not? I am sorry, that is my mistake," Kiara said, her accent thick.

"Uh, hi. Magenta, are you sitting with me?" Will asked as he approached the table, stopping short when he saw it wasn't just his girlfriend and the quadruplets at the table. "Pad? What are you doing sitting here?"

"My name is Pat, and I'm eating my lunch."

"Yeah, but why?"

"It's time for lunch."

Will floundered, not knowing what else to say or how to get his point across. Turning to his girlfriend, he didn't know if he wanted to yell or beg. "Are you coming or not?"

Startled by the tone of Will's voice, Magenta jumped. "Yes. Right. I'll be right there. Why don't you get your lunch?" she asked weakly, her heart pounding guinea pig fast in her chest. "Here, I'll even pay for you," Magenta offered generously, handing him her bank card.

Will seemed appeased by that, kissing her briefly in thanks. He ignored the others as he went to the cafeteria line, refusing to look back. Pad didn't deserve an apology, anyway.

"Do you think I should've told him about the Italian subs?" Magenta asked, even as she gathered her things to go to her usual table.

She looked at the food longingly; even the smell was amazing. She had spent most of the last week sniffing to pretend it was her food instead of whatever she was eating.

"Here, take some sushi. That lasagne just looks depressing," Wendy said.

"It's all right, we're full," Layla added, nodding for Magenta to take it.

"Thank you so much! Can I take some of each?" she asked, already grabbing three rolls and adding them to her tray.

"Sure. Go ahead."

Forcing herself to wait until she'd reached the table, Magenta sat down and took a large bite. She chewed through seaweed and rice and chicken, moaning at the explosion of flavour and deliciousness.

"What are you eating?" Will asked, nose wrinkled as he sat beside her, setting his tray down.

"Sushi," she replied, taking another mouthful before he could ask for any.

"You mean you're eating seaweed? It stinks," he complained, wrinkling his nose again, and taking a large bite of his Italian sub.

Magenta rolled her eyes; Cerulean had made a similar complaint when they'd tried sushi at home.

"How come they get a special lunch, anyway? When did the cafeteria staff make all of that? Is it because Layla's vegetarian?" he muttered, planning on telling his mother about how unfair the cafeteria staff were being by cooking special food just for Layla and her friends.

By the time Magenta had finished chewing her sushi roll, Will had already eaten his sub and she couldn't get a word in to warn him.

...

Thanks to a staff meeting finishing early, Anita managed to get home before school let out for her children. She thanked the Lord for answering her prayers to end that meeting sooner rather than later, sure that only divine intervention could make a miracle on that scale occur.

Zach had cooked all of their dinners for the week, and there were enough leftovers from Honey's party that Anita found she didn't have much to do. Honey would be bringing the kids home with Heidi, too.

Seeing the article with her quote by the front door, she remembered her idea to scrapbook Ethan's articles from the school paper. It would give her time to actually read them, too. She loved her son, but she had to wonder if he was getting paid by the word. She'd seen theses with less!

Her decision made, Anita changed into her crafting clothes and took out the small bundle of papers and a large scrapbook. She could cut the articles out and read them along the way. Well, maybe the headlines, she amended, seeing the first two-page article in size eight font.

Pop quiz fizzle! Principal Powers says no more pop quizzes!

Sky High security: flying bus fiasco

Dogs say: hope your exams aren't too ruff!

Homecoming: no Royal Pain, just royal bore

Sky High's Advanced curriculum: easy as pi!

Food poisoning in the cafeteria: students sick 73% more than usual.

Anita frowned at the last title and read the article properly. It was well researched just as she expected from her son and included studies and statistics, all pointing to the fact that a significant number of students were sick every day thanks to the cafeteria food. Thanks to the food their parents paid through their noses for, with Sky High's school fees.

Hearing her phone ringing, Anita glanced at the screen to ensure it wasn't the school or kids calling, then answered Ida's call. "Did you know the kids are getting food poisoning, Ida?"

"Hello to you, too, Anita," Ida said, figuring she had the reason Honey told her to ring Anita. "I heard them talking about the cafeteria pizza on the weekend. They weren't stupid enough to eat it, were they?"

"Hmm? No. Ida, I mean all the kids at Sky High. Ethan wrote an article about it last year! They're knowingly feeding our kids food that makes them sick!"

Ida frowned, not liking the idea of that at all. "Are you on the PTA?"

"You couldn't pay me to be on that. You?"

"Same. So, what are we going to do about it?"

Looking to the kitchen where Zach had stacked several containers of healthy muffins and not-so-healthy cupcakes, Anita grinned. "I think I have an idea."

...

Josie took a cookie off the plate in front of her, eating it in a second flat so she could address the PTA committee. "Good evening, ladies. I know this is going away from the agenda that was sent out, but I feel like it's too important to wait until the Other Business at point 23 on the agenda. It has been brought to my attention that certain students are having special food cooked for them by the cafeteria staff."

A gasp of outrage came from the gathered women. Principal Powers could already feel the start of a migraine building in her head. She didn't expect to be leaving this damn meeting until close to midnight if the last year of PTA meetings were any indication. As Josie's words sank in, she flicked through her phone to find the cafeteria camera feed. The unfamiliar food was easy to spot in the expanse of trays with the usual foods, and she wasn't entirely surprised to see who had the special food.

Josie, with her audience's rapt attention, had continued her tirade about how students shouldn't be singled out or treated differently. Linda waited for that to be minuted so she could use it against Josie My Son Is Better Than Everyone Else Stronghold later when this PTA meeting went to hell, as it always did. She could handle three hundred students on a daily basis, but their parents were another matter all together.

Coughing politely just as Josie got really amped up, Principal Powers smiled genially and flicked the camera feed over to the TV. "I believe you mean these students, Mrs. Stronghold?"

Josie faltered. "Well, yes."

"They brought in their own food, home-cooked, as per the rules in the student handbook. Section 12: Food and allergies, subsection 2: Food from home, sub-subsection A: home-cooked foods."

"But they had sushi!"

"Your point?"

"No child knows how to make sushi!"

"Just because your child doesn't, it doesn't mean that other children don't. Besides, they all have parents or guardians, perhaps they made it," Linda said, with no small amount of satisfaction.

"Most of us have expanded our palates beyond meat and three veg, Josie," one of the parents sneered.

"And considering the food you brought to the last home baked cook-off was store-bought, are you sure you're the best person to comment?" another parent asked pointedly.

"But... but what about allergies?" Josie asked, trying to sound confident rather than defeated.

"Are you allergic to sushi now?" Principal Powers asked, raising an eyebrow.

"They had satay and peanut foods; those are allergy-causing foods!" Josie said, relieved that a few parents nodded along with her statement.

"Was that a cricket?"

"It was a grasshopper, actually," a voice came from the doorway. Everyone looked over to see a woman standing there with what looked to be a million different colours in her hair.

"The PTA meeting has already started," Josie said firmly, not wanting more people to argue with her.

"The flyer said it started at 6pm; it's 5:55pm," the woman replied, holding up a flyer and smiling brightly. "I thought I would be early, but if you've started before the advertised time, I can take this to Maxville's Student Council. I'm sure they'll be interested to hear how you have a video of my children on the screen," she said, her smile turning stern and looking... dangerous.

Which was a stupid reaction to another woman with a bad dye job, whether she was a super or not.

"We're discussing several children bringing in their own foods when others have allergies," Josie said firmly.

"My children eat all of their food and do it as privately as possible in such a public setting. Of course, if you believe that an allergy to crickets or grasshoppers will impact the other students so much, I could give them termites and ants. Or perhaps spiders? There's such a diverse selection of spiders across the Americas, they would love to try more."

"I... I... " Josie didn't know what to say, her face paling as she thought of someone eating spiders.

"Not that I don't love this, but who are you?" one of the parents asked, looking between her and Josie with a grin.

"Decima Sylvan-Colores. Four of my children started at Sky High this week," she said, sitting next to Principal Powers and smiling at the group.

"Welcome to Sky High's PTA meeting, Decima. It's lovely to see someone is interested in their children's future. Let me guess: your husband's working late, too?" one woman asked, rolling her eyes.

Decima laughed and shook her head, her multicoloured hair looking like a rainbow. "Barney? Mierda, no! I had to stop him from coming here. He would have eaten you putas for breakfast. He's been teaching our children since they were born, and if you think a poison dart frog is bad, just wait until you see a green tree frog protective over his children!"

"Poison... dart... frog?"

Decima smiled broadly at the fearful looks on most of the women around the room. "Some of you had to know, surely? They're not all first-generation supers at this school, are they?" she asked Principal Powers.

Linda shook her head. "No, certainly not."

"Good, my children need more diversity than simple first-gen's. Now, where were you up to in the meeting? I'd hate to take up more of your time; it's 6:05, after all."

Josie's eyes widened at the woman taking control of her PTA meeting. "We're still discussing the food and allergies."

"Does anyone have allergies to crickets or grasshoppers or spiders?"

"Are they, like, tarantulas?"

"Do I look like the kind of woman who would feed her children such junk? No, no, they're far too furry," Decima said, wrinkling her nose.

Josie's stomach rolled at the thought and she wondered if the poison dart frog had done something to her surreptitiously.

"I would like to point out several things," Principal Powers said, watching with a small curl of amusement as nearly every woman at the PTA meeting had now eaten the cookies she'd brought along. "The students are allowed to bring in foods that they deem suitable for their own dietary needs. I will ensure no students bring peanuts or peanut-type foods in the future, but they are not going to be restricted in other ways simply due to other students' jealousy or a parent's inability to cook - "

Josie made a small gasp at the insinuation.

"We all saw the news with you trying to poison Mrs. Morton, Josie, get over yourself."

"Well, what about their hair? We have rules against colouring hair like, like, that!" Josie said, indicating to Decima's hair. "You can't allow those children to be in school with hair as unruly as that! It should be shorter, too! Only girls have long hair, and - "

"Would you like to know what kind of poison I emit, Josie?" Decima asked, her tone light.

Josie's stomach churned even harder and she didn't know if she was terrified or wanted to laugh. "You're threatening me?" she asked, reaching to take her glasses off and teach this frog a lesson; she'd messed with the wrong super!

Principal Powers coughed again, though not as polite as she had earlier. "One last thing before we start this meeting: the cookies at tonight's PTA meeting were provided by the cafeteria at Sky High. That feeling in your stomach is the only warning you'll get before the diarrhea and vomiting starts; if you're lucky, you'll only be affected by one. Oh, and there are only four toilets on this side of the building. I suggest you move, run, or fly as fast as you can to the toilets on the other side of the building."

Two-thirds of the women disappeared from the room in a matter of seconds, some bottle-necking at the doorway and screaming and scratching at each other to get out faster than the other.

"I believe that brings me to item one on the agenda: the option to review the cafeteria staff," Linda said, smiling brightly as Decima snickered beside her. "All votes for a review of the staff, raise your hand."

Everyone immediately raised their hands.

"Are we allowed to bring up other items, Principal Powers, or is it just what's on this... thirty-five point agenda?" Decima asked, wincing briefly as she flicked through the numerous pages.

"You might as well bring it up now; I don't think anyone here would stop you, Mrs. Sylvan-Colores."

"Please, call me Decima. I would like to point out that my children's hair colouring is natural due to their, well, nature, but other children shouldn't be vilified simply because of a colour in their hair. I'd like to change whatever rule that is," she said.

"Everyone who agrees to allow students to make their own decisions about their own hair?" Principal Powers asked, nine out of twelve members raising their hands. "Majority wins."

"In that case, can we vote for students to make their own decisions about their own clothes? Josie only implemented that rule because she can't pull off a mini skirt."

"Everyone who agrees?" Linda asked.

"Wait, with the rule or Josie not pulling off a mini skirt?" one woman asked.

Another woman snorted. "Is there a difference?"

"I guess not," she replied with a laugh, raising her hand.

"Any other votes while the others are unable to attend?" Linda asked, grinning.

"Uh... gender restrictions? I know it's been a rule for pants for guys and skirts for girls, but my kid likes wearing skirts, and he looks so fucking depressed every time he has to wear pants for school, I... I don't want that for him."

Surprised at the mother's comment, Linda filed that away and planned on talking to the school counsellor to see her son. Perhaps she could convince Boomer to wear his kilt to work; Super Jesus knew it wouldn't take much convincing - it was harder to convince him not to wear it some days.

"Can we just get rid of the stupid shit Josie's implemented in the last year?" one woman asked, looking a mix between embarrassed and determined.

"Seconded."

"Do we have a list of those rules?" Linda asked.

"I've been writing her name next to the rules in the student handbook every time it's reprinted due to her amendments. There's a lot," she added in warning, handing a dog eared handbook to Linda.

While Josie had only been attending the PTA meetings since her son had started at Sky High, it was a surprise to see just how much she'd changed in the last two years. From something as simple as the school colours to the bus routes through Maxville, Josie had either instigated the change or had colluded with other parents to ensure she won the majority.

"Very well: those who agree to change the rules or remove them entirely where necessary?"

All twelve hands were raised.

"Um. Can we vote to not be able to change our votes? I don't want Josie to go through and change everything back at the next meeting," another woman added, her voice quiet but frustrated.

Linda knew exactly how she felt.

"Seconded."

"Thirded."

"All agreed?" Linda asked, another twelve hands raised.

"While we're on it: can we vote to leave early?" one woman asked with a laugh.

Twelve hands were raised, and Linda laughed for the first time at a PTA meeting since they'd been invented. "Meeting adjourned."

...

"Are you sure you want to do this, Connor? With me? I mean, we haven't even... had sex yet, and we're going to buy a house together. What if you resent me? What if we never have sex? What if - "

"Victor, darling. Please stop; I need you to look at me and I need you to understand and believe what I'm about to say, can you do that for me?" Connor asked, cupping Victor's face and waiting for an answer.

"Okay?"

"I love you. I love you so much it hurts and even if we never have sex, even if all we do is kiss and cuddle on the lounge when the kids are asleep, I will still love you. My love for you isn't conditional on whether we have sex or not. Plenty of people are happy and in love without sex. I will love you for you, not for - "

"Papa, I am in the room, can I please get out before you scar me for life?" Ry asked, shuddering.

"You weren't in here when we started this discussion," Connor said, not looking away from Victor.

"Craig, come save me!" Ry called.

Craig appeared in the kitchen, took one look at everyone, and grinned broadly. "Were you talking about sex?"

"Ugh, just get me out of here already. Can Donny bleach my brain over the phone?" Ry asked.

Craig snorted, grabbed his friend's hand, and they disappeared a second later.

"Your son is going to hate me forever for that," Victor muttered, shaking his head.

"No, he won't. It's not the worst thing he's heard me say, I promise," Connor said. "He was a very curious child and might have unknowingly hidden under my bed when I had invited a lady friend over. Eating someone out and having a small child grab you from under the bed? We all had nightmares for months."

Victor couldn't stop his laugh and pressed his lips together to stop the laughter from continuing. "Sorry, it's just... that would have been hilarious."

"It is now, but not when it happened," Connor said. "This can be my revenge," he added with a grin. "Now, where was I?"

"You'll love me for me," Victor prompted, smiling at the mix of pink love and teasing tan and purple pride he could see on Connor.

"Right. I'll love you for you, no matter what, and not for sex. I don't care if Honey said we're going to have sex; she can still get things wrong. If you don't want sex, you don't want it, and there's nothing wrong with that. I am perfectly fine with continuing to masturbate twice a day instead."

Victor's mind went blank. "What?"

"I mean, I could probably squeeze in three times a day, but I don't have that much time to myself these days."

Victor didn't know how to respond, his mind warring between the desire to imagine it in very great detail and the desire to ask all the questions. "What?" he asked again, then shook his head. "I do want to have sex with you, Connor. And I want to know more about... all that," Victor said breathlessly, glancing down.

Connor stroked his cheek gently and kissed his lips. "I promise to tell you all about it one day, darling. Maybe when our sons aren't in the next room."

Victor forced himself to step back, licking his lips and trying to gather his thoughts. "We were going to talk about the house. Connor, I... "

"I know, darling. Let's go sit somewhere instead of standing in the kitchen. The kids are right about kitchens doing things to people," Connor murmured, pressing a light kiss to Victor's lips.

Victor kissed him back eagerly, feeling pleased when Connor pulled away with a shuddering breath.

"Victor, darling."

"I just wanted to do that before we sit down and be adults that talk about buying a house together," Victor admitted.

Connor smiled broadly. "Feel free to do that anytime, darling."

He grinned and grabbed Connor's hand to lead him to the dining room. They were going to buy a house together and one day, Victor was going to have sex with Connor in every damn room just because he could.

...

Ellie paced the living room, her children and husband watching her back and forth motion like a tennis match.

"Mam, stop, you're making us sick," Pat groaned.

Sorcha stood up abruptly. "If you're not going to tell us what's going on, then I'm going out."

"No, no. Sit, I just... I needed to move, Sorcha. I'm nervous, okay? I've known these people for decades, so I have to be delicate."

"Even though you want to smash their faces in with their business ledgers?" Sorcha asked with a snort.

"That sums it up well. So, sit down, lass. I'll need your help just as much as these two," Ellie said, smiling at her husband and son.

"We don't need Sor, Mam. She'll take forever to say one thing," Pat muttered, knowing his sister far too well.

"No, I won't. Babel gave me good tips on how to reduce a mass of text to dot points. If I can do that for my thesis, I can do it for a corporate takeover."

"You didn't do that, Zona did."

"We're the same person; she's just my alter ego, dork," Sorcha muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, getting drunk every night, that's one helluva alter ego."

Sorcha's cheeks went red and she glared at her brother. "I don't do that anymore! Shut up."

"Kids, calm down. Ellie, love, tell us what you need," Patrick said, smiling at his wife and blowing her a kiss and outright grinning when Ellie blushed.

Sorcha and Pat both rolled their eyes at their parents.

"I'm going to buy Walton and Dalton and Colton. At a heavily reduced price, of course," Ellie added.

"A takeover not a merger?" Sorcha asked in surprise.

Ellie nodded. "I don't want any of them near the business, and a merger means they can still hold shares or influence the company. I want them gone."

"Gone or gone?" Patrick asked, laughing when his family looked at him. "Oh, c'mon, that was funny!"

Sorcha and Pat looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

...

End of the hundred and thirty-second chapter.

Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it.