My Lovely Family
Chapter 9 - Kenny
EU QUERO TCHUUUUU, EU QUERO TCHAAAAA, EU QUERO TCHU TCHA TCHA TCHU TCHU TCHA...
Kai and her boyfriend were married in a luxurious ceremony with many guests, watered by sertanejo and carioca funk (typical songs of his native country). The groom stirred the party with his dance moves. Everyone copied it.
"So, you mean that besides soccer star, he also enjoys a dance?" asked a friend to Wes Green, Kai's grandfather.
"Yes, he's a great dancer too!" answered Wes. "Kai is very lucky."
AAAAAAAAAH, LELEK LEK LEK LEK LEK LEK LEK LEK LEK…
In the middle of the dance, the player and the bride fell on the ground, their family members worried. But what appeared to be something serious later turned out to be nothing, for they got up and continued dancing.
(Opening theme)
Ben and Gwen turned on the television and got half the news.
"The soccer star married Kai Green in a private ceremony after nearly 15 years of dating" an older Will Harangue narrated. "Remembering that Green was the girlfriend of none other than Ben Tennys…" Gwen turned off the television.
- FLASHBACK: 11 YEARS AGO -
Ben had broken up with Kai two months ago. It was hard for him to find out that his girlfriend until then had been a gold digger. She treated him well when she felt it was possible to control him, but when there was no way to take advantage of him, she ruffled him. Kai was a very different girlfriend from Julie. The first wanted fame, attention, and power, the second wanted uninterrupted attention. None of these girls guaranteed a healthy relationship.
The young man knew he was doing right to break up with her, but he kept thinking about his future. He had been visited by a boy who introduced himself as Spanner (whose real identity was Kenny Tennyson) and claimed to be the future son of Ben and Kai. With her out of his life, Ben feared he was creating trouble for the future. Sitting on a park bench, lost in thought, he was visited by Paradox.
"Looking for a friend, Ben Tennyson?"
"Ah!" he got scared. "Professor Paradox, you scared me. But yes, I wish I had someone to talk to."
"I apologize for the surprise, but I had to come right now."
"For sure! Well... I'm worried. I broke up with Kai, but I don't know how it'll affect my future."
"You're scared because you saw that boy who introduced himself as your son, aren't you?" said Paradox.
"Yes, I'm very afraid."
"Well, so I have good news. That boy you met was from a future, but not from the future."
Ben was confused.
"I'll explain," Paradox continued. "Each choice we make or fail to make creates a parallel dimension containing versions of ourselves whose destinies are governed by our choices. We can see their future as they are created by the options we choose. But that of our dimension, the one in which we live and which governs all the others, we have no way to access, since it has not yet been built."
"So, you mean that Kenny Tennyson was the result of a choice I could make or not?"
"Exactly. In his dimension, you chose to date Kai since you were 10, which did not happen in the main dimension."
"So I still have a chance to create my future in peace?" asked Ben excitedly.
"No doubt, Ben! You have the right to choose who you want to be your wife and mother of your children."
The young man was very happy and embraced Professor Paradox, relieved that he didn't have to be stuck with Kai to secure his future.
- END OF FLASHBACK -
The red alert sounded, announcing an attack on the Z-alpha-13 sector. As XLR8, Ben rushed to the scene. Gwen went along, flying. The girls stayed with great-grandfather Max.
A red alien of an unknown species was shooting laser beams and scaring the citizens away. Gwen sent him a burst of mana. XLR8 turned into Diamondhead and punched the bad guy. Then it changed shape to the Spitter and fired a jet of goo. Gwen electrocuted him with her spell, defeating the villain. Ben returned to his normal form.
"Great idea! I'll use Buzzshock to do it next time."
"What would you do without me, isn't it, love?" Gwen said as she hugged her husband.
Rook arrived with his ship to take the alien.
"Is everyone well?"
"Sure!" Ben replied. "Everything is…" he interrupted himself when he saw Gwen vomiting. "...well. Gwen... love... all right?"
"I'm just a little sick" she replied. "It must have been the fight. I spent months without fighting directly..." she threw up again.
"Do you want me to take you to the hospital, Gwen?" asked Rook.
"That would be very kind, Rook. Thank you!" she still felt dizzy and nauseous. Ben entered the ship with his wife on his lap after Rook trapped the alien in a containment cocoon.
In New York, Julie carried Devlin on her lap while visiting Kevin.
"So you already know what to do, don't you?"
"Yeah! she said. "I just hope it works."
Julie had hidden an alien device in her hair that was imperceptible to the sensors of the prison guards. Also, she carried a shiny tube in Devlin's clothing containing a mechanism similar to the Omnitrix: it contained DNA of various alien species but did not guarantee transformations to the wearer. But his energy, if released, allowed mutations.
Kevin touched the tube and absorbed its energy. Then she pushed the button on the device and threw it against the wall, drilling a hole. Devlin cried sacred, but Julie managed to calm him down. When the guards arrived to contain the prisoner, Kevin turned into the same mutant creature he had when he was 11, took Julie and Devlin in his arms, and flew away.
Max ran to the plumbers base hospital with his great-grandchildren.
"Is she fine? The girls are very worried."
"Well, Magistrate Tennyson…" Rook replied. "I think the news will be good."
"Where's Mommy?" asked Cassandra.
"Mommy is taking exams, love."
"And daddy?"
"Daddy is following her."
"May I go too?"
"Sure, why not?" Rook scooped Cassandra up and carried her into the exam room, followed by Max and the other couple's daughters.
When they arrived, Ben and Gwen were leaving the room, very happy.
"Mommy! Daddy!" Cassandra stretched her arms. Ben picked her up and Gwen kissed her on the cheek.
"How do you feel, Gwen?" asked Max.
"Best impossible!" she replied. "These are common symptoms," she said as she looked at her husband.
"You mean…"
"That Gwen is pregnant" answered Ben. "We'll have another baby."
Everyone celebrated. The news spread throughout the universe.
"BUT IS IT POSSIBLE? DON'T THEY KNOW WHAT ARE CONDOMS?" Kevin tossed the newspaper to the floor and howled with hatred.
"Kevin, calm down!" said Julie. "You don't have to care about that. You have your family. Your wife and your son."
"I know love. And I love you both so much. But I can't stand Gwen... WITH TENNYSON! AHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Kevin, what's up with you?"
"Aren't three daughters enough for them? Do they want to have the fourth? What will happen in a few years? 'Tennyson couple expects its 20th child'? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Devlin began to cry. Julie picked him up, trying to calm her son down.
"See it, Kevin? You woke up the baby."
For a minute he stopped screaming and went to pet the boy.
"Oh, baby, forgive daddy" took Devlin on his lap. "Dad didn't want to wake you…" the baby laid on Kevin's chest.
"He likes you a lot," said Julie.
"You don't know how much I missed him" replied the husband.
But Kevin still didn't get Gwen out of her mind. He loved Devlin and felt a certain affection for Julie. But he couldn't get over her marriage to Ben.
"All because of that wretch," Kevin thought, referring to Lucy, as he made his son sleep. "She and that idiot Tennyson. Why didn't they both get together soon to leave Gwen for me? Oh, I'll get her back! Whatever the price!"
"Another child?" asked Natalie's sister on the phone.
"Exactly! Another baby"
"Oh, great news! I'll call Gwen later to congratulate her! Sykes, you're getting full of grandchildren, Ly, hahahaha."
"Hahahaha, yes, but that's good. I love those kids. And the good thing is that Gwen always takes a little time to come visit me in Bellwood and also so I can stay the kids there in South Dakota."
"Great! But I expected that from Gwen. She was always a good daughter. And Ben doesn't oppose?"
"Noooo," Natalie answered, "and he shouldn't! Imagine, he treats me very well. I can't stand that wretch."
"I indeed don't understand what she saw in him. Imagine a wild, pedigreeless man... And how his mother treats Gwen?
"Perfectly, as always," the doorbell rang. "Oh, it must be Gwen. I'll call you later."
Natalie greeted the Tennysons at her home, repeating the usual. She played with her granddaughters, congratulated her daughter, and heckled Ben, who stood quietly and treated his mother-in-law with respect. When Frank arrived, he would greet everyone, celebrate the news, and lighten the ambiance for his son-in-law.
Kevin was searching for a way to lure Ben and Gwen into a trap. His plan was as dark as possible.
"Three I may even accept. But four, never!"
"Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Tennyson!" said the doctor. "It's a boy."
"A boy!" couple was filled with happiness. The girls celebrated with their parents.
"Finally!" Ben thought. "Oh, Gwen, my congratulations!" he said as he kissed his wife.
The grandparents, along with Max and Ken, came to see the images. Their feelings were the same as when Gwen was pregnant with each of the girls. Ben himself was no happier to have the boy than when he had his daughters, he just felt that he could be the father of that little hero who visited him years ago, but that he would be Gwen's son, not Kai's.
The news showed police looking for Kevin's whereabouts. Julie was also wanted, as an accomplice to the escape.
"That's all I needed: Kevin could even put Julie into this trouble" Max lamented.
"The worse thing is they have a child and haven't even thought about the consequences," Ben said.
"Kevin is mad," Gwen deduced. "He needs to be confined in a Plumbers' prison. Those on Earth are too weak for a villain like him."
"Exactly!" Max said. "Earth officials are not ready to deal with an alien tech expert like Kevin. But what I fear is about Julie. Just imagine, their poor child: he'll grow up with his father in the Null Void and his mother imprisoned a middle-security prison.
"Mr. Yamamoto is very worried," Gwen said. "He said he may require custody of his grandson, but he's very sorry that Julie chose this path."
"He told us another day that he advised Julie to choose another man," Ben said. "But she's in love with Kevin…"
The red alert sounded, warning about the danger in Sector 15-B. The heroes rushed over there (Ben as XLR8 and Gwen flew, with the Omnitrix prototype on her wrist). Arriving at the scene, they saw nothing at first, but as they entered the sector, they found Kevin, in his human form, standing as if waiting for them both.
"Kevin?" XLR8 was astonished. "If it wasn't an emergency, why the alarm triggered?"
"Oh, you still haven't noticed, have you, Tennyson?" said Kevin.
"Kevin, what do you plan? asked Gwen. "You have your family, you don't have to go back to this life of crime."
"It's very to talk when you're happy, Gwen" Kevin replied. "You stay there, having sex with your husband, having children every year... while I'm forced to face the news of your happiness next to a wife I don't love."
"Nobody made you do anything," Gwen said nervously. "I'm not obligated to be with you either, Kevin. I love Ben and nothing will do us part."
"Nothing but DEATH!" Kevin fired a laser beam with his pistol, but XLR8 and Gwen snapped out of sight. She launched mana jets while the alien knocked her down with his tail.
Suddenly Kevin moved into his alien hybrid form and began attacking the couple. He managed to grab XLR8 and hurled him away. As Gwen approached to throw her a stronger beam of mana, he held her with one arm.
"I'm sorry about that, Gwen," he said as he prepared to punch her abdomen. "But your fourth baby won't be born."
Without her touching the Omnitrix, the heroine turned into Gray Matter and vanished from the villain's sight. Diamondhead's projectiles hit him while distracted. The Petrosapien approached and punched him in the face. Kevin and Diamondhead started hand-to-hand combat when the hero turned into Spitter and spat a large jet of goo. Then it changed its shape to Buzzshock and electrocuted him. Gray Matter soon took the form of the Arctiguana and froze it. The two heroes returned to their normal form.
"Are you well, love?" asked Ben worriedly.
"Yes, dear" she replied. "It's ok!"
They hugged as Rook arrived to encapsulate Kevin.
"So your Omnitrix transforms you when you need it without touching it" Max noted.
"Exactly, Grandpa!" Gwen replied. "And my mana barrier allows the baby to adapt to the ideal form. When I turn into Gray Matter or Upgrade, it looks pretty tiny. So there's no risk of the child being born earlier."
"I'm so glad the mana barrier can save my little grandchild!"
Max explained that he contacted the authorities to put Julie under supervised liberty by the Plumbers. Kevin had been taken to the Null Void and Julie and Devlin's visits would be closely monitored.
Ben and Gwen were in the maternity ward with their daughters. It was November 10th of that year. The nurse brought them the baby. He had brown hair and green eyes.
"He looks like Gabriella," said Cassandra.
"Really!" exclaimed Gwen. "Brown hair, and certainly green eyes."
The girls looked at him fondly. Cassandra and Gwendolyn approached. Ben was holding Gabriella on his lap.
"Do you want to name him, Ben?" asked Gwen.
"Thank you, love. Let me see... what was that name so…?"
Ben looked out the window and saw his family members looking at the baby. Seeing his brother-in-law, he remembered the name he had chosen. When they entered, Ken was the first to ask.
"What is the baby's name?"
"Kenneth," said Ben.
"Kenneth? Just like me?" Ken was thrilled.
"Yes," said Gwen. "Ben wanted to honor you."
Again, there was a collective excitement in both the family and the world press. The boy was given the nickname Kenny, so he wouldn't be confused with his uncle, called Ken by the closest relatives and friends. Kenny would be a hero, like his parents and sisters. He would grow up as a fair and funny boy.
Author's Notes
Kai's husband is a famous soccer player. Do you know who is he? May the song tips help you.