My Lovely Family
Chapter 17 - The Tale of Tennyson Bunnies
"Aunt Natalie! What a pleasure to see you again!" said Lucy. "And this must be the house owner, right?" - she pointed to Gwen's aunt - "You are…"
"My name is Helene" she introduced herself. "I'm her sister and Gwen's aunt."
"Nice to meet you! Lucy. And I assume you want the two to separate too, don't you?"
"Of course! Why would I be glad to know that my niece is married to that good-for-nothing? We have to get this over with, and soon!"
"So you want to know about some rotten Ben to convince Gwen to quit him?"
"Exactly!" Natalie said. "We tried everything, but nothing seems to work out. I even offered money to Ben. Something from his past is sure to separate. So say it, Lucy. What do you know about him?"
(Opening theme)
"Oooooohhh, I know soooo much! That you can be sure of, you're talking to the right person."
Natalie glanced at Helene and she signaled to her that Lucy was telling the truth.
"So... tell me what you know?"
"So... you know when Ben was a teenager he dated Julie, right?"
"Yeah, the stupid girl who later got involved with bandit Kevin."
"That's right. Well, let's say that even though Ben was a 'superhero' he wasn't quite as sure as everyone thinks. To tell the truth, he was very unfaithful to Julie." Lucy showed pictures of Ben with Jennifer Nocturne, Eunice, and Elena.
"Where did you get these pictures?"
"I'm a Lenopan. I disguised myself as objects and trees to watch over Ben. Let's say I had a crush on him. And then I photographed those moments. You can see, it's not a montage, they are photos taken with an old camera, the ones you can't edit."
"Look here, Ly" - Helene pointed at the picture with Eunice - "They were right in the bush so no one could see it! Look how naughty…"
"Do you have more?" Natalie asked uneasily.
"Aaaaahhh I have" Lucy showed other pictures, all with moments when Ben kissed or was close to kissing, another girl who wasn't Julie.
"I knew it!" Helene exclaimed. "Gwen may even forgive drunkenness, but not cheating."
"Oh, but Gwen knows all this, Mrs. Helene!" said Lucy.
"What do you mean ?!" - Helene looked at Natalie - "We've always told her that a cheating man is going to cheat on them all the same and she wanted to be with Ben?"
"And you ladies are right!" Lucy handed Natalie a photo showing Ben as an adult, hugging Kai from behind.
"Does he have a mistress?" Natalie asked.
"But isn't that the soccer player's wife?" Helene asked.
"Herself," Lucy replied, "and you know that son she expects isn't from her husband, right? It's going to be nine months of pregnancy and nine months ago he was spending a whole month away from her."
"Yeah, I heard a rumor that his son wasn't his…" Helene commented before she and Natalie looked at each other.
"SHAMELESS!" shouted both. Lucy smiled quietly.
"Besides cheating on my daughter with this hussy does he still get her pregnant? Ohhh, but I'll kill that miserable! Oh, if I'm going!"
"I was already suspicious…" - Helene said - "a soccer player just gets a prostitute. Very few marry, and a decent woman."
Lucy had gotten that picture in prison. The Plumbers had received an envelope with pictures of the other dimensions. In all of them, Ben was either married to Gwen or another, but loving her cousin. They wanted to find out if people's intrinsic feelings resonated with other versions. The picture of him hugging Kai had fallen from the envelope and Lucy took it, storing it secretly in her Lenopan body. When she was released, she returned to her home and picked up a purse that contained photos of Ben's cheats. She put the picture of Kai with the others and went to the address of the ticket she had received at the exit of the prison.
Natalie and Helene were waiting in the second-floor parlor of the Plumbers base. Ben and Gwen arrived shortly after. Seeing his mother-in-law, he tried to hide his discontent. Gwen was startled to see them with no Plumber there.
"Mom! Aunt Lene! Is there a problem?"
"Well, honey… we need to talk to you," Natalie said.
"It's very important, but we need you to be calm, okay? Auntie is here to help you," said Helene.
"But don't you two get tired?" asked Ben, annoyed. "Isn't enough that male parade that you guys arranged five months ago?"
"AND YOU, SHUT UP!" Helene shouted - "AFTER YOU DID, YOU HAVE NO MORAL TO TALK ABOUT US!"
"What did I do?" - Ben was confused - "It can only be a joke…"
"I wish it were," Natalie said.
Everyone sat down and Helene began to speak.
"Honey, do you remember what Aunt always said to you?" - she asked Gwen - "Man who cheats on one, will cheat on them all, and more than once" - she noticed that Ben was going to interrupt her and stopped him - "And you shut up!"
"I remember, Aunt-" Gwen answered, but was interrupted.
"And is it true that you knew Ben cheated on Julie?"
"I did, but he's sorry-" Gwen was interrupted again.
"Oh, sorry…" Natalie and Helene said together with disdain.
"He's not sorry!" Natalie began. "Not only he's not sorry as he cheated on YOU, Gwen!"
"LIE!" Shouted Ben. "I NEVER cheated on my wife!"
"That's not what this picture says," Helene handed the photo to Gwen.
"That's crazy!" Ben shouted. "She trusts me, doesn't she, Gwen?" noticed before, but when he turned, he saw that Gwen was in tears. She cried a lot, her head and arms resting on the table. Natalie hugged her and she kept crying, her head against her mother's lap.
"Oh, my daughter... don't cry…" Natalie looked at Ben. "He doesn't deserve your tears!"
Ben tried to approach Gwen, but Helene ran ahead and hugged her niece.
"Calm down, Gwen... Aunt is her... we'll get it right...
"WHAT AM I GOING TO TELL MY CHILDREN?" Gwen shouted as she cried.
"Calm down, honey…" Natalie caressed her. "We'll help you take care of the kids."
"WHAT? YOU'LL NOT TAKE MY CHILDREN FROM ME, YOUR OLD WITCH…" Ben shouted.
"HOW DARE YOU TALK TO MY MOTHER LIKE THAT, YOU SLEAZEBAG?" Gwen shouted at her husband, her face red, and all wet.
"Imagine... cheats on his wife, then disrespects his mother-in-law…" noted Helene. "What a match…"
"Gwen, I never cheated you…" Ben tried to explain and put his hand on her shoulder, but Gwen hit him with a mana beam, throwing him across the room.
"You are like Kevin! Just waited longer to cheat. I don't want to see you again!" she began to speak in a calmer tone. "So the child Kai is expecting…"
"Gwen, I never slept with Kai…"
But Gwen didn't believe it. She left the room in tears, accompanied by her mother and aunt. Ben spent a long time in the room, crying alone until he decided to visit the only person who could help him at this time.
The three arrived at headquarters. The children played with Ken and everyone was curious when they saw Gwen crying, being carried by Natalie.
"It's all right, kids. Mom just needs to be with Grandma a little," Helene explained.
"But what happened?" asked Gwendolyn.
"It's an adult talk. We can't talk now."
"But Mommy's crying," Cassandra noted. "We want to help."
"You can help. If Daddy arrives, cast your magic on him."
Gwen got out of the shower and put on her pajamas. Her mother laid her on the bed. She kept crying. The aunt entered the room.
"Easy, honey…" Natalie said. "... one day you'll find a much better man and you'll forget this bastard."
"That talk that he was a virgin…" recalled Gwen, interrupting with her crying.
"Oh hahaha, virgin... hahaha alright!" the sisters laughed.
"Virgin… look what they say to fool the girls…" said her aunt.
Gwen began to cry louder. Natalie and Helene continued to comfort her.
"She's very nervous. I'll prescribe a calming to calm down."
Max was in Rust Bucket when someone knocked on his door. When he answered, he was surprised by the visit.
"Ben! Oh my God! What happened to you?"
The grandson was visibly downcast. His eyes watered and he had trouble breathing.
"Grandpa! A disgrace has happened! Gwen... will separate from me." Ben cried again. Max hugged him and brought him into the trailer. Once more calm, Ben told his grandfather everything.
"So they had a picture of you with Kai and Gwen believed it?"
"Yes, grandpa! I do not know how this is possible. I never slept with Kai. And I had broken up with her as a teenager. You know, Grandpa, I started dating Gwen when we were 21."
"I know that and I trust you, Ben," Max held his grandson's hand. "Someone set one up for you.
"It must only be the work of those snakes! Aunt Natalie and Aunt Lene wouldn't give up until I was separated from Gwen. They got what they wanted…" Ben was crying again.
"Nooo… calm down, Ben… we'll get it right. Do you have this picture?"
"I have" - he took the picture from his pocket and handed it to his grandfather.
"I'm going to look at this picture to see if I think anything. But for today it's good to stay here. If you go back to headquarters, with all those people poisoning Gwen's mind, you're going to make a fight more than anything else. And worse, your children will find out."
"Oooohhh, my children! She wants to steal my kids from me too, Grandpa!"
"Ben, she can't do that. You are the father! Let's get to justice if I have to!"
"The worse is I'll get screwed! I'm sure Uncle Frank is now writing a lawsuit to get me money and will still prevent me from seeing the kids. I… I need a beer." Ben opened the fridge, but Max closed it.
"Ben, it'' not good to drink in this state."
"Oh, Grandpa! What more can I do now? I deserve it…"
Max ended up leaving. Ben opened the lid and drank straight from the neck. Although he said he would drink only one bottle, Ben drank eight, until finally, he fell asleep on the table.
Gwen fell asleep with the tranquilizer. Natalie put her grandchildren to sleep, saying her mother was fine, just needed rest to get better. The children were still a little worried, but they trusted their grandmother.
Max carried Ben to the bunk bed where the cousins slept on vacation when they were 10 years old. He laid him on the bottom bed, which was Gwen's. He took off his grandson's boots and covered him. Ben was in a heavy sleep.
"Good night, Ben. God willing, everything will be better tomorrow."
The next day, Natalie advised her daughter not to leave her room. She gave the kids breakfast and read them a story, as Gwen did every morning. Although they seemed carefree around their grandmother, the couple's children found the whole situation strange.
Max escorted Ben to headquarters.
"Daddy!" Cassandra saw him and extended her arms. Ben picked her up.
"Cassie! Oh my daughter, thank God you're fine!"
"Are you hungover?"
"How do you know?"
"Because you're avoiding light."
"We'll explain to you later, honey," Max said. "I wanted to take you and your siblings for a walk."
"Alright! But be careful, Grandma won't let you…"
"Oh, let me that I get right with your grandmother."
Suspicious, Natalie went upstairs and consulted her daughter, who confirmed and authorized Max to take the children. Great-grandfather took them to the park, but not to train them. I wanted to distract the great-grandchildren from that situation.
The red alert sounded. Gwen flew into the spot while Ben ran in the form of XLR8. They faced a huge alien and gooey. She was throwing mana jets and XLR8 turned into Goop to tie the villain and then Chromastone and threw her an ultraviolet ray. In the middle of the fight, using several aliens, Ben tried to explain himself to Gwen, but she didn't listen, and sometimes fired at him. When the alien was defeated, they returned to headquarters, but she was flying faster and faster to avoid meeting him.
But something terrible happened in the park. Kevin had escaped the Null Void and went after not Ben or Gwen, but his children. Using a spray, he made Max pass out and took the six children by surprise. They tried to defeat him with mana, but the villain wore a Petropia tech shield that absorbed the children's magic. One by one, Kevin put Cassandra, Gwendolyn, Gabriella, Kenny, Talitha, and Karina in a huge bag, also immune to mana.
"Let's see now how much your mother will resist!" said Kevin as the children screamed.
When Max woke up, he called Gwen and Ben desperately but didn't say the children had been taken. He knew they would be in the same state and could think of nothing. As soon as the cousins arrived, Max told them everything.
"My babies! In the hands of Kevin! Oh my God! What am I going to do ?" Gwen screamed and cried. Unconsciously, she ran into Ben's arms. He also cried but tried to calm his wife.
"Calm down, my love! Let's think of something! I know... can you track the kids?"
"Yes…" - Gwen began to focus - "... they left a trail of mana... I'll try to follow it."
She located the direction. It flew by as Ben and Max followed her into the Rust Bucket.
"Oh my God!" said Cassandra. "We're just like Flopsy Bunnies."
"Kevin's gonna put us in a pie," said Kenny. "Just like Mr. McGregor."
He reached a hiding place about 6 miles from Keystone. He hung the bag in a place near a fire. What he didn't tell was that there was someone close to the place who didn't like the story of harming children at all.
"Hahahahaha let' see... one, two, three, four, five, six Tennyson brats. Don't your dad know what a condom is? Hahahahaha…"
"Release us now, you filthy worm!" cried, Cassandra.
"Ooooohhh and you are the brat leader: Cassandra Tennyson. You're as repulsive as your father… "
"And you're as ugly as Vilgax," she replied, making her siblings laugh.
"It's Ben's daughter," Kevin thought before he spoke again. "No matter how you shout or curse! Either your mother stays with me, or you'll be burned. ALIVE!"
As the children cried, someone ran into the hideout and punched Kevin in the face and threw him across.
"COWARD! RAPTING CHILDREN? WHY DON'T YOU FIGHT SOMEONE OF YOUR SIZE?"
Lucy started attacking Kevin, who was trying to hit her with projectiles and fireballs. She struggled to give her body different shapes and punch the villain with them. As they struggled, the children heard the noises and stopped crying.
"Who's there?" asked Talitha.
"It's Mrs. Tittlemouse," answered Cassandra.
Gwen, Ben, and Max arrived at the scene and found Lucy leaving Kevin unconscious. The four rushed to get the kids out of the bag. Lenopana arrived first and asked Cassandra to move her brothers away from her left side. With an alien knife she took from Kevin, she cut the rope that hung the bag and set it on the floor. He then drilled a hole and removed the children one by one. They were initially surprised to see Lucy but later realized that she was the one who saved them.
Gwen and Ben hugged each of their children, relieved that they were all well, and thanked Lucy for the rescue. When they spotted Kevin, trying to attack again, Gwen assumed his Anodite form and Ben became the Giant.
"NEVER! NEVERMORE MESS UP WITH MY CHILDREN!" they shouted together as they punched Kevin.
The Plumbers arrived and put the villain in a cocoon.
"This time lock them up in a place he won't let go," Ben said.
"Then he will have to be in the vacant part of the Null Void," Rook replied. He referred to the place where Kevin was first placed before being transferred to a prison. It was a place full of ferocious creatures, and the prisoners had to fight for their survival.
"Oh, Lucy! Thank you for saving our children!" Gwen thanked him.
"Oh, you're welcome! I can't stand seeing people mistreating children."
"But one thing I don't understand," Max said. "Did you go back to the good side, Lucy?"
"I… I regretted doing something…"
Lucy told all about the other dimension photo you took of the Plumbers. He said he saw a chance to separate the couple when they were free. She told Natalie and Helene that they were eager to find something that would hurt their relationship. But when she was hiding in the park and saw that the children were more vulnerable to danger because of the situation, she felt she was on the wrong track. Ben would never stop loving Gwen, and Lucy had to understand that one way or another. Since the Lenopans have always been good at combat, she used it to her advantage to save the children.
"So that picture was of a Ben from another dimension?" Max asked
"And I gave it to Aunt Natalie and her sister because they were going to use it against Ben and separate the couple. Ohhh, if you only knew how much I regret that…"
"Lucy, you almost created a huge problem in our family," Gwen said. "But, on the other hand, you saved our children. Thank you very much. And we hope it won't happen again."
"It won't. And I'll help them solve everything. Let's tell Aunt Natalie everything."
"Now that old witch will see…" Ben said.
When they all arrived at headquarters, Ben entered holding Gwen in her lap, as if on a honeymoon. Seeing the scene, Natalie and Helene were shocked.
"Gwen! Are you going to give this shameless one a chance?" Natalie asked.
"Let's see who the shameless one is, you witch!" replied Ben.
Lucy explained everything. The sisters tried to hide their shame.
"When are you two going to stop trying to ruin my marriage?" asked Gwen.
"Daughter, we just want the best for you! We want you to be happy."
"Why do you think I am not?"
"How can anyone be happy being married to a good-for-nothing?" Helene asked.
"Because he's an honest, decent man who respects and values me. He is the man I accepted as a husband and is the father of my children! And either you accept it, or your war won't be with Ben. It will be with me!"
Gwen's family returned to Bellwood. Natalie and Helene apologized to her but refused to admit they were wrong about Ben. What was important to the Tennysons was that Gwen had been very clear about family interference in the marriage. She also warned her mother that she would not force Ben to treat her courteously if his mother-in-law treated him badly.
Despite this, the children were very calm.
"You guys were pretty brave after all," Max noted.
"We were just like the Flopsy Bunnies," Gabriella said.
"It seems that now we can build our team: the Tennyson Bunnies," said Cassandra.
And so they became known to everyone: the Tennyson Bunnies.
That night, while everyone slept, Ben and Gwen finished showering together and went to bed.
"Sorry for everything I told you, Ben," she hugged him. "I love you!"
"Of course, my love! Of course, I forgive you ... but you will have to make something for me" he smirked.
The couple had a great night. Ben stood over Gwen as she ran her hand through his hair. Their bodies came together in one flesh. Their souls were in a delicious sensation.
"AHAVA LANETZACH"
Author's Notes
The chapter's title is a reference to a tale by Beatrix Potter, "The Tale of Flopsy Bunnies", which Gwen read to her children in chapter "Obsession".
The phrase Ben and Gwen said at the chapter's end means "Our love to all life" in Hebrew.