Author's note: Thank you to Rasha007, NotMarge, NicoleR85, partygirl98, kmj1989, ZabuzasGirl, KEZZ 1, and Torchwhovian for the reviews! And a big thank for you for the input, everyone. This story isn't close to over, folks! Here is some Hank and Livie cuteness in the mean time. I do not own "I Am the Walrus" by The Beatles.

And by the way- so many reviews and follows/ faves? I almost passed out. The encouragement means so much. Love you all!

Troll Hands!

School always ended at one o'clock on Fridays during the winter, so immediately after class Olivia and I set out for our latest mission: finding Zoey an engagement ring.

I drove us to the same mall in Yonkers we'd visited to find Zoey's birthday present, listening all the while to Olivia singing along to The Beatles on the radio in a horrifically off-key voice. I was trying desperately not to laugh at her, and it was hard.

I wonder if the tone-deafness is a family trait?

"I am the walrus! Goo goo gojoob!" Olivia shouted, while I died a little on the inside. She poked me in the arm. "Sing along, Mr. Hank!"

"No thanks," I replied, gasping for air to suppress my guffaws. "I'd rather have Mr. Lennon do the singing."

She pouted. "Party pooper. You're no fun."

Hey. If you prick me, do I not bleed?

"You're hurting my feelings," I teased. "I was planning on getting us hot cocoa when we were done, but that sounds like it would be too much fun for a party pooper like me."

Olivia perked up immediately. "And brownies?"

Hello, sugar high.

"Maybe," I told her.

She giggled, probably already contemplating what kind of brownies she wanted. After all, "maybe" usually turned into "yes" with me for the simple fact that I was a complete and utter pushover.

And Zoey says she's a bad authority figure... I wonder how she's doing right now?

My thoughts of Zoey were twinged with guilt. Olivia and I were out having a good time while my fiance was stuck in business meetings all day.

Zoey's company was doing better than ever. Share prices had climbed almost 25% since she assumed control, much to the chagrin of her critics. At the moment she was in the middle of negotiating a merger with a smaller corporation. It was going well, but deep down I worried about Zoey over-working herself.

She had told me that letting go of the company her great-grandfather founded was out of the question, but she felt her life's calling was in genetics. She hoped to branch out and build up a conglomerate that would allow her to develop a research laboratory. It would take some time and a lot of hard work to get there, but I had every confidence that Zoey could do it. She amazed me in so many ways.

Rather than feeling like her success was a threat to my masculinity or something silly like that, I felt incredibly proud of her, and rather honored. Zoey was so smart, so shrewd, and could have anyone she wanted. And she wanted me.

Olivia interrupted my moment of introspection by poking my arm again. She grinned brightly when I glanced over and started doing a little dance in her seat, obviously goading me.

"Goo goo gojoob! Go goo-"

Oh, fine. If you can't beat them, join them.

And, much to my future niece's delight, I started singing along.

It was the same salesman that had helped us with Zoey's birthday present so many months ago behind the counter when we walked into the jewelry store.

"Hello," he said warmly. He looked rather amused. "What are we getting for auntie today?"

Clearly, he recalled our earlier visit- and to be fair, a mismatched pair like Livie and I were rather memorable. His friendly reception surprised me slightly, considering the man's incredulous greeting last time we were here. But then I realized he probably smelled a sale in the making and wanted to butter us up from the start.

"Hi," I replied. I glanced at his name tag. "Mr. Williams. We're here to find an engagement ring."

The salesman's eyes gleamed. "Well you've come to the right place. Let me show you our selection. We have all the latest trends-"

"Auntie doesn't like trends," Olivia cut in, frowning at the man. "She likes what's pretty."

Mr. Williams eyebrows raised. When he glanced at me I could only give him a rather unhelpful shrug.

"Let me show you," Olivia griped, letting out a huff of impatience. She stepped closer to the display case, raising her hand like she was going to touch him-

I reached out and grabbed her hand, trying to make the gesture look natural as I playfully swung our arms between us. It was a quick save, if I do say so myself.

"What she's trying to say is, her aunt isn't necessarily a fan of the latest in fashion," I hastily explained, taking my cue from the images Olivia was projecting into my mind. "She'd prefer something more classic, I think."

You can't use your powers on strangers, Livie, I mentally communicated. Remember?

She nodded, looking contrite. I'm sorry. I forgot.

I gave an internal sigh. On one hand, Olivia was now happy among her own kind at Xavier's. She was growing comfortable with using her powers, having a place to belong. But it was easy for a child to forget when they're surrounded by other mutants all the time that they shouldn't flash their abilities in public, around humans. That was one of the downsides of being secluded away at mutant school- almost a sense of disconnect from the rest of the world.

It's fine, I promised.

Mr. Williams thankfully didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. He probably thought Olivia had a problem respecting other people's personal space.

He might have a point there... I thought to myself, thinking of the way she always poked people to get their attention.

"I have more classic rings too," the salesman assured us. "Right over here."

We were in the jewelry store for a long time again, but this time it was partially my fault. I knew how important this purchase was- Zoey would hopefully be wearing this ring for the rest of her life, and I wanted to get the right one. As such, I voiced my opinion this time, rather than sitting back and letting Olivia choose.

Which was probably a good thing, because she made a beeline for the biggest, most expensive diamonds in the store.

"Livie, I don't think she's going to want a ring with a marble-sized diamond," I said patiently, while Mr. Williams looked on with no small amount of amusement over our bickering.

"Says you," Olivia muttered. She pointed at another ring, this one completely encrusted with diamonds. "What about that one?"

"Still too gaudy and ostentatious," I contended. "That one is going to make Zoey look like she has tiny troll hands."

Olivia started to giggle. "'Troll hands?' I'm going to tell Auntie you said she has troll hands!"

"I did not say that," I argued, with righteous indignation. "I said that ring would make it look that way."

"Troll hands! Troll hands!"

I sighed.

I knew the only way to distract Olivia now would be to find the perfect ring, so I focused on searching while she danced around. Finally, my eyes landed on a promising prospect.

It was an Edwardian style, 1.38 carat round cut diamond ring with filigree details and tiny diamonds along the platinum setting. What I liked most about it was the way the prongs holding the center stone in place were subtly shaped like hearts. It looked dainty while still managing to not seem cheesy.

All in all, it had "Zoey" written all over it. Sweet but elegant, classic and yet still stylish.

"Troll-!"

"What do you think of this one, Livie?" I interrupted, pointing it out.

"Ooooh! I like that one!" she squealed.

"We'll take it," I told Mr. Williams- quickly, before Olivia could change her mind. Otherwise we'd never get out of there.

Thank goodness we don't need to buy a card this time.

It was Star Trek night, so after dinner Zoey and I cuddled up with the cats on her sofa to watch television. It felt so... right to be there with her, especially considering the events of last Friday. I shuddered whenever my thoughts drifted to our break up.

Never again, I told myself. I'm never letting her go again.

Her ring was nestled in a box in my pocket, properly sized and ready to be slipped on her finger. I'd measured Zoey's ring size on Tuesday evening with a piece of string after she fell asleep on the couch.

I didn't blame her at all for her exhaustion. Neither of us had slept much during our separation, and then we'd stayed up late Monday night talking to each other. She had a right to be tired, and I'd used the opportunity to my advantage.

Now I sat listening to Zoey tell me about her day. The merger was going well, and she hoped that the negotiations would be complete by the end of next week. It looked like she would be able to keep the new company mostly intact, meaning minimal job loss.

"What about you?" she asked. "How was your day?"

I shrugged, grinning. "Livie's dorm monitor yelled at me for giving her too much sugar again."

Zoey laughed. "Did you make another cake together?"

"No," I replied, chuckling. "We grabbed some hot cocoa and brownies after an errand."

"An errand?"

"Yeah."

Here goes...

I took a deep breath and slipped off the couch, kneeling down in front of her. Zoey looked startled as I pulled out the ring box and opened it for her.

"We went to go get you this," I explained nervously, seeing the astonishment in her expression.

"Oh, my stars and garters," she whispered in an awed voice. "Hank- wow."

Hey. Trademark infringement!

Zoey's hands were trembling when she reached for the box, so I wordlessly took out the ring and slipped it onto her finger. It was a perfect fit.

Personally, I liked the way it looked on her hand- simply because it was like a visual announcement to the world that she was to be my wife. But it was Zoey's opinion that really mattered in this regard.

"Do you like it?" I asked anxiously.

"'Like it?' It's perfect, Hank," she replied, with a dazzling smile that made all of my doubts melt away. There were happy tears in her eyes. "Thank you for getting me such a beautiful ring."

I let out a small sigh of relief and gave myself a mental pat on the back.

Mission accomplished.

Zoey's smile turned alluring and flirtatious as she leaned down to kiss me. Her hands tugged on my collar as she leaned back onto the sofa cushions, taking me with her.

"Come here, you," she murmured against my lips.

What-? Oh! Yes, please.

And for a while we forgot about everything but our joy and simply lost ourselves in each other.