Folks, I must apologize for the unscheduled week's hiatus. I didn't take a week off; it just took me this long to get up the next chapter. Hopefully it won't take me as long to get up the parents' reactions; we'll see.
Please read & review, of course. As to the reviews from Chapter 6, let's see. lil kimi, I really didn't mean to put in the sick stuff re. Angelica; it just happened. That will change, though, as you'll see in this chapter. And I have plans for her, as soon as she gets the word, over in France. Starry Nights, Kimi is not necessarily what she seems, and that's not a bad thing. You'll see. The 'rents' reaction will be the next chapter, Angelica the chapter after, I think. Junior, I like how you're picking out the comedy highlights. Kimmy Larisa, I liked that scene too, although I though I could've done better, but then I'm my own worst critic. Ally, Nightw2, thank you to you two too.
Rugrats is created, copyrighted, & / or owned by Klasky-Csupo & / or Nickelodeon, which in turn is owned by Viacom.
The rest of the week went pretty much normally, or at least normally for them. The crew might have noticed the closeness between Tom & Kimi, Chuck & Lil, & / or Phil & the Doctor; but they were used to seeing such things, so they didn't really notice. The six had decided on that night that their parents would be the first to be let in on the engagements. The announcement would be made the night after they returned home. Until then, everyone, save one hand-picked person, would remain in the dark. There was a bash on the evening before departure, but it was passed off as celebrating a wrap-up of another successful season of DareDevilles.
That night, as the men in one trailer & the women in the other tried to sleep (or at least some of them did at times)...
(men's trailer):
"So it's on."
"Right."
"As soon as we get back."
"He'll meet us at the airport & go back to the studio with us. We'll do it there."
"You sure."
"Well, that's Phil's end. It's taken care of, right Phil?"
"He'll be there. We'll go to the studio, it'll be done within an hour of landing."
"I hope so; I gotta catch another flight tomorrow afternoon."
"Where to?"
"Oh no, Tommy. You're his brother, but that'd still be telling."
"For crying out loud, Finster, it'll be official in less than 18 hours!"
"Sorry, Deville."
"Could you at least tell us how many time zones away it is?"
"I guess that wouldn't give away too much. It's two time zones away."
"Wait a minute; from here or from home?"
"Both."
"Hmm. I didn't know there were any teams in Alaska."
"What are you talking about, Phil?"
"Well, it's a cinch he's not talking two time zones from where we are now; there's no land in that time zone, just a stripe of the Atlantic."
"*sigh* He knows so much about some things, yet so little about others."
"And he's one of the people who signs the checks for thee & me both."
"Frightening, isn't it?"
"So you want to handle this?"
"Might as well. Hell-"
"HEY!!"
"--ooo, anyone home?!?"
"Stop that! I am not Marty McFly, & you are not Biff Tannen!"
"Well, it fits. Look, Phil, if Chuckie says he's going to someplace two time zones from where we are, & two time zones from where we live, maybe it's somewhere in between?"
"Ooh, Central Time Zone."
"Right. Now he gets it."
"Give me a break; I'm tired."
...meanwhile...
(women's trailer):
"Psst. Lil. Susie."
"Mmm, Kimi, do you know what time it is?"
"All I need to know is it's night time; we need our sleep."
"Listen to the doctor."
"Yes, listen to me! We're going to be travelling four time zones tomorrow!"
"I just had a talk with the trainer, & we can stand to be up for a while yet."
"Kimi, you are the trainer!"
"Oh yeah."
"We might as well get it over with, Suze."
"Hey, I let your brother call me that; that doesn't apply to you. Unless I can call you Lillian."
"I don't even let Chuckie call me Lillian."
"Guys?"
"*sigh* Like I said, we'd better let her get it out; we won't be getting any sleep otherwise."
"Okkay, what is it, Kimi-chan?"
"Suze?"
"Truce. What is it?"
"Well, I might be needing you guys' help with Tommy."
"With Tommy? You already bagged him, right?"
"Well, yeah."
"So what's the problem?"
"Well, I kind of stretched the truth a bit."
"*sigh*, What did you do?"
"Well, I tried to explain to him why I'm so hard on him and--"
"I didn't know you were hard on Tommy. At least not any harder than you are on all of us."
"Well, in private I am. That day we all got engaged, I made him carry me all the way back from that hill."
"If you can call it a hill."
"Whoa! He came all the way back from there with you on his back?"
"Well, only halfway; the first half I was in his arms."
"Ooh, how romantic."
"Well, after the first mile or so it kind of lost its appeal, for him at least."
"So why are you so hard on him?"
"I enjoy it; it's fun."
"So just tell him that; he's the authority on fun."
"Oh, yeah. How many times have we all heard him say, 'it'll be fun!'?"
"I get the feeling it's not as much fun on the receiving end."
"So what did you tell him?"
"Well, I kind of got him believing he's God's gift to women, & that if I didn't keep him in line--"
"Aaahhh, you've gotta be kidding!"
"It gets worse. I told him we had our hands full fending off the girls through high school & college, including you two."
"What?!?"
"I didn't know you had a thing for Tommy, Susie."
"Neither did I. Kimi!"
"I even lumped Samantha & Angelica in."
"Angelica?!?" "Now that is just nasty."
"That's exactly what he said."
"You know he's going to want an example."
"I already gave him one. Remember that time at that slumber party when she said, 'If he wasn't my cousin'--?"
"That didn't have anything to do with her being interested in him & you know it!"
"I know."
"I seem to remember having a similar conversation with Chuckie. What is it with you Finsters?"
"I dunno."
"True, he did have a full social life, second to none, and I was with him as much as anyone --- other than you --- but God's gift to women? He's cute, but he's not all that."
"He is so!"
"So wait, now you're trying to convince Lil, who used to date Tommy, who's now your fiancee, that said fiancee is all that? Girl, sometimes I don't know what you're thinking."
"Who said she was thinking anything? I guess these Finsters are afraid that the golden couple will come together, leaving them out in the cold."
"If that happened, we'd just team up & break up the other couple."
"Hey!!!"
"What, you don't think my brother is cute?"
"I, I didn't say that."
.................................................
*loud prolonged laughter*
(meanwhile, in the men's trailer):
*click*
"Mm, turn off that light, Phil!"
"I can't sleep."
"I thought you were tired."
"I am, I'm too tired to sleep."
"Too wired to sleep, if you ask me."
"I was going to propose to Susie tonight."
"You're too late. I hear someone else has beaten you to it."
"Yeah, some guy named Deville."
"Funny, guys."
"Nah, there's just one of him."
"The world couldn't handle any more."
"Keep that up & I might have a word with my sister. While I'm at it, I might have a word with your sister."
"HEY!!!"
"Don't you even joke about that, Deville!"
"I'm kidding, guys. You know me, the big kidder. She's stuck on you and you know it."
"She'd better be, because if you two break up & you break those two up, Lil & I would be next."
"Have I mentioned what a find Susie is?"
"Wait a minute. What are we doing?"
...................................................
*loud prolonged laughter*
(meanwhile):
"Okkay now, repeat after me: Tommy loves Kimi."
"Tommy loves Kimi."
"Now say it again."
"Now say it again."
............................
"Tommy loves Kimi."
"Again."
"Tommy loves Kimi."
"Again."
"Tommy loves Kimi."
"Again."
"Tommy loves Kimi."
"Ag--"
"Susie, how many times are you going to make her say that?"
"As many times as it takes for it to finally sink in. Girl, I don't need this. I just want to marry Phil, not hold everyone else's hand."
"My brother's the one with the most problems."
"My point exactly; he's going to be a full time project & I won't have time for anyone else."
"Oh. Well, can't argue with that. Continue, then."
"Lil!"
"Tommy loves Kimi."
"Tommy loves Kimi."
"Again."
"Tommy loves Kimi."
"Again."
"So you were going to wait until tonight."
"Yeah."
"Never mind how chaotic the last night of a location usually is."
"Well, yes."
"Not to mention--"
"Alright, Mr. Smooth. Just when were you going to pop the question to my sister?"
"What makes you think he wasn't going to do it in the time & place he did?"
"Oh, come on, Tommy! How could he have planned those circumstances?"
"Hmm, Lil, in the infirmary, recovering from a threat of an injury; wow, what are the odds?"
"Alright, you've made your point! But you still can't tell me he planned for that. My man Chuck here is all hearts & flowers, courting, wooing, the whole ball of wax."
"I gotta admit, it wasn't the ideal circumstances. I just... Wait, why didn't you ask Tommy when he was going to propose to MY sister?"
"Because it's not a Deville matter?"
..................
"Again."
"Tommy loves Kimi."
"Again."
"Tommy loves Kimi."
"Ag-"
"Hmh, 'personality cult', she says."
"What?"
"You're interrupting again, Lil."
"I can't help it. Kimi, personality cult?"
"Well, it's not that much of an exaggeration. You remember high school; there were seniors hitting on him when he was just a freshman. And when we'd sneak into above-age parties there were collegians, young adults checking him out. And he couldn't even drive yet! When we go out, women still check him out."
"Maybe men are checking you out."
"I wouldn't know; I don't check out other guys."
"Maybe he doesn't check out other gals."
"I wish I could believe that."
"If we could get back to letting me program Kimi here."
"Y'know, this is a waste of time, Susie."
"Oh?"
"Sure. I can do the same thing in one minute."
"Really. Well, I'm calling your bluff, Lil. Go to it."
"Okkay. Kimi, did Tommy propose to you?"
"Yes."
"Does he want to marry you?"
"Yes."
"So what does that say?"
"You want me to say that he loves me."
"Do you have any cause to think he doesn't?"
"Well, no."
"You know him; things just always seem to fall together for him."
"I'll admit they did this time, literally."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. It started when I got to the top of that hill. Would you believe I actually thought I beat her for once?"
"What were you thinking?"
"And then I got a little silly."
"Your minute's up, Lil."
"Susie, this is not the time!"
"You got that right. I'll just be nodding off over here."
"Now look, Kimi, the fact is he asked you to marry him; can you at least get that through your head that's thicker than your last name is long, Miss Watanabe-Finster?"
"M-maybe."
"A fine example of pop art."
"Thank you, Vince & Larry; now just what are you talking about?"
"What, you never took art class in college? That's a print. M-maybe, by Roy Liechtenstein 1964, from his comic strip period. He had all these paintings that looked like they came straight from the newspaper comics, even imitated the newsprint look."
"Susie."
"Yes, Lil?"
"Can we get back to what we were talking about originally?"
"Sorry; blame it on my need for sleep, hint hint."
"Not with Kimi in the state she's in."
"What state are we in? Does the state line run through this room?"
"Suze?"
"Alright, like you said let's get it over with."
"Now Kimi, maybe if you told how he proposed. It's a cinch it was more romantic than how Chuckie proposed to me."
"You gotta be kidding!"
"No I don't, Susie. I don't think he meant to do it the way he did, but..."
"Excuse me; could we get back to my problem?"
"Please!"
"So, Kimi, how did it happen?"
"Well, I reached the top first of course. By then I had such a lead on him I had time to climb a tree. Well, when he came up he didn't see me, so I guess he thought he'd beaten me for once."
"What was he thinking?"
"So then he got a little silly."
"You did that Titanic thing?"
"Yep."
"How did you even know of it? I didn't think you were interested in those old romances."
"Kimi's dragged me to it enough times."
"Wait, Chuckie, how'd you recognize it?"
"Phil, remember to whom you're talking here."
"Right. I go voluntarily."
"He's even more whipped than I am."
"And I love it even more."
"Guys?"
"Go on, Tommy. The sooner you finish, the sooner I can get some sleep."
"Well, as I was making a fool of myself--"
"So what's new?"
"Not now, Deville."
"Sorry, Finster."
"Anyway, I guess I should've noticed her in that tree, because the next thing I knew--"
"He never knew what hit him."
"You didn't!"
"She did."
"She did. 97 pounds dropped on top of me."
"Ooh."
"So there she was, having her way with me--"
"Watch it!"
"So to speak. She even gave me a knock on the head."
"Isn't that dangerous?"
"As opposed to what the four of us do day in day out?"
"Good point."
"Well, I was getting tired of standing on his shoulders..."
"...so she sat on my neck."
"What?"
"Can you say 'choke'?"
"I'll admit he didn't sound good."
"You think?!?"
"I was trying to make him comfortable, did a little shake & bake with the ol' hips."
"What?!?!?"
"Well, consider what parts of her were around my neck."
"I DON'T need to hear this! That's my sister you're talking about!"
"What are you yelling at me for? SHE's the one doing it! I told her she was misbehaving, acting like you-know-who again, and SHE said..."
"YOU DIDN'T!!!"
"I did."
"Girl, you could drive a person to drink, and if I was drinking I would already have done dozens of spit takes from this conversation."
"Alright, Kimi. That's twice you've put Tommy with Angelica, the wrong kind of kissin' cousins thing. What's your deal?"
"I dunno."
"And she does that to her hero; the rest of us, be afraid, be very afraid."
"Man, I REALLY don't need to hear this!!!! It's bad enough hearing about what my sister's doing with you, but add HER into the mix--"
"What's your problem with Angelica anyway? You've always managed to be civil with her in person."
"That's the best I can do. And it's fortunate that I don't see her more often. Don't you remember the things she used to do to me?"
"Chuckie, that was over twenty years ago."
"It still hurts!"
"Guys, back to my story."
"Go on, Tommy."
"With caution."
"More caution than Kimi uses."
"Hey!"
"Anyway, she finally went too far, because about then I lost my balance."
"You fell, with her on top of you?"
"Hey, it wouldn't have happened if she hadn't been on top of me."
"I resist the urge to make a joke on that."
"Thank you."
"So what did you do?"
"Well, I could see I was going over his head, in every way, so I went automatic. I hooked my ankles behind his head to stop myself. And my hands grabbed onto whatever they could find."
"Meaning his..."
"I'm afraid so."
"Meanwhile her face was in my--"
"Don't say it!"
"Well, from what I can figure, it evens out. His face would have had to have been in her--"
"Don't say that either!"
"Is he ever on edge."
"Only about her. I have to protect her, & watch out for her, I have to be a big brother."
"I hear you on that; I'm a big brother too."
"No offense, Tommy, but it's just not the same."
"Besides, that's his job now."
"Not yet it isn't."
"Actually, she can take care of herself."
"I can take care of myself, thank you."
"As you prove time & again."
"So what happened?"
"Well, I was screaming, he was screaming, I don't know about him but if it hadn't been for the falling I would've felt pretty good considering."
"Susie, is my face red by now?"
"I don't know; the light here's no good."
"So there we were, rollin', we're rollin', we're rollin', we're rollin', ohhhhhh."
"Classic Soul Coughing."
"I wouldn't have thought I'd ever hear those three words together."
"Hey, it makes as much sense as A Flock of Seagulls or Strawberry Alarm Clock."
"Umm..."
"Don't look at me; he's the music expert among us."
"That reminds me, about 'Il'n'..."
"Not this again."
"Lil says, and I quote, 'that is so not happening'."
"Did I say for you to mention it to her?"
"You think I could keep it from her? Anyway, she figured it out."
"So she's let me know."
"Guys?"
"You two were rollin', et cetera."
"Fortunately we only rolled a few hundred feet. We must have caught something, because next thing I knew we'd rolled sideways to a stop."
"That doesn't sound very accurate."
"It's not, but you get the idea."
"You should have reported in, let me check you two out."
"We did, as soon as we got back. And when we did, you were still checking Phil out."
"Well..."
"She got you there, doc."
"Can we just wrap this up?"
"Hee hee hee, *etc.*"
"And would you stop it with the 'too cute for words' noises?"
"Back to me. When we stopped, I was on top of him, as I should be. After a bit of conversation..."
"...I popped the question."
"Just like that?"
"No, not just like that. We talked, & I decided that while there might be a better time--"
"No time like the present."
"Point taken. But I figured that there wouldn't be a better place than where I felt when with her..."
"...at the top of the world."
"Ooh! That is so sweet!"
"Yep, definitely more romantic than Chuckie. I guess I caught him on a bad day."
"Definitely more romantic than how I proposed to Lil."
"You'd better have an explanation for that, Finster."
"I do."
"Keeping in practice, Chuckster?"
"My explanation is that I acted in haste. I was at my desk, looking at her picture, and the ring. Then I got the call about your accident."
"It wasn't really an accident. I just slipped; Lil wasn't hurt at all."
"Did you hear what I said, Chuckie?"
"Hmm? What did you say, Tommy?"
"I asked if you were keeping in practice."
"Oh. When did you say that?"
"A minute ago!"
"I think he chose not to acknowledge the term 'Chuckster'."
"Well, sorry!"
"'Salright. As I was saying, I got the call about the accident--"
"I'm telling you, it was just another DareDeville dust-up!"
"Fine, Phil. But I took off for the infirmary so fast I didn't even notice I brought the ring with me. When I got there I had a little talk with Susie--"
"I know; I overheard part of it."
"You did?"
"It wasn't that hard to. Not with my ear to the door."
"Mm-hmm."
"You were saying?"
"Well, when I saw her..."
"...I was yawning."
"One of your full-body yawns?"
"I was stretching if that's what you mean. Next thing I knew he had me in a crushing hug. We were so close I could feel what was in his pocket."
"You two were that close, huh?"
"Phil."
"He knows I'm kidding around with him. Although it would probably be just as well if he didn't."
"You can be so menacing when you want to be. Anyway, remember that she's your big sister."
"She's only older by a minute. So she felt the ring box."
"Yeah. Well, it was then that something said to me 'you're here, she's here, the ring's here, do it now, before you lose your nerve!'"
"You have some?"
"Please. Go on, Chuck."
"So I proposed."
"Just like that."
"Well, we went through the rules first."
"Any particular reason?"
"He asked me to shut up."
"The nerve!"
"And I thought we had him trained so well."
"We do. He just had a lapse. He really is good at following the rules; he cited a rather obscure one. Besides, I punished him; he won't do that again."
"You punished him?"
"Alright, so it wasn't for that, it was for calling me Lillian. He'll still remember it."
"For calling her Lillian, huh? I still don't understand that thing you Devilles have."
"Like she says, we shared a womb, and all that."
"Heard it."
"Hey, where are you going?"
"To bed. I'm on two plane trips tomorrow, across four time zones & back two. I need my sleep."
"Don't you want to hear about how Phil proposed to Susie?"
"No. We covered my proposal, I listened to how my sister got engaged, and that's enough."
"Lil might not like it, you not interested in her brother's proposal."
"She'd have already bagged it by now."
"Hold on, Carmichael. You don't get off that easily."
"We need our sleep, Lil!"
"I tend to agree."
"Kimi?!?"
"My professional advice is for us to turn in now."
"But you were the one who got us up!"
"Them's the breaks."
"But what about your problem?"
"I'll think about it tomorrow."
"Watch it with the Scarlett refs."
"Night, you two."
"Don't you just hate it when she pulls rank?"
"Don't ask me; I agree with her on turning in."
"Just tell me how Phil proposed. This is my brother we're talking about, & I will know how he got hooked."
"He's the one who did the hooking."
"One word: Grease."
"Oh, so she got the hickey from Kenickie."
"So he finally talked you into being Rizzo."
"Just for that moment. As long as no one else was around."
"'Around' apparently not referring to the next room."
"Could you hear us?"
"Well, no."
"There you are, then."
"So what else happened?"
"Nothing that I'm at liberty to tell."
"So something did happen."
"I'm not saying. Now I don't care what you're doing, Princess, but I'm going to bed right now; I value my sleep."
"Yeah, you're right. Big day tomorrow."
"Our guy is going to be there."
"Yeah, Phil arranged it & I trust my brother with this. Besides, I already checked up on him."
"You too, huh?"
*laughter*
"Anything else happen?"
"Um, no."
"I'm hearing hesitation."
"Hear what you want, Pickles."
"Well, whatever it was, I guess you're not going to talk about it. We might as well turn in too."
"Sounds like a plan."
"Good night, Susie."
"Good night, Lil."
"Good night, Phil."
"Good night, Tommy."
So goes their last night on location. Of course the next step is telling their parents. Hopefully I've raised points & questions to consider for future chapters. Again, please review, y'all.
Please read & review, of course. As to the reviews from Chapter 6, let's see. lil kimi, I really didn't mean to put in the sick stuff re. Angelica; it just happened. That will change, though, as you'll see in this chapter. And I have plans for her, as soon as she gets the word, over in France. Starry Nights, Kimi is not necessarily what she seems, and that's not a bad thing. You'll see. The 'rents' reaction will be the next chapter, Angelica the chapter after, I think. Junior, I like how you're picking out the comedy highlights. Kimmy Larisa, I liked that scene too, although I though I could've done better, but then I'm my own worst critic. Ally, Nightw2, thank you to you two too.
Rugrats is created, copyrighted, & / or owned by Klasky-Csupo & / or Nickelodeon, which in turn is owned by Viacom.
The rest of the week went pretty much normally, or at least normally for them. The crew might have noticed the closeness between Tom & Kimi, Chuck & Lil, & / or Phil & the Doctor; but they were used to seeing such things, so they didn't really notice. The six had decided on that night that their parents would be the first to be let in on the engagements. The announcement would be made the night after they returned home. Until then, everyone, save one hand-picked person, would remain in the dark. There was a bash on the evening before departure, but it was passed off as celebrating a wrap-up of another successful season of DareDevilles.
That night, as the men in one trailer & the women in the other tried to sleep (or at least some of them did at times)...
(men's trailer):
"So it's on."
"Right."
"As soon as we get back."
"He'll meet us at the airport & go back to the studio with us. We'll do it there."
"You sure."
"Well, that's Phil's end. It's taken care of, right Phil?"
"He'll be there. We'll go to the studio, it'll be done within an hour of landing."
"I hope so; I gotta catch another flight tomorrow afternoon."
"Where to?"
"Oh no, Tommy. You're his brother, but that'd still be telling."
"For crying out loud, Finster, it'll be official in less than 18 hours!"
"Sorry, Deville."
"Could you at least tell us how many time zones away it is?"
"I guess that wouldn't give away too much. It's two time zones away."
"Wait a minute; from here or from home?"
"Both."
"Hmm. I didn't know there were any teams in Alaska."
"What are you talking about, Phil?"
"Well, it's a cinch he's not talking two time zones from where we are now; there's no land in that time zone, just a stripe of the Atlantic."
"*sigh* He knows so much about some things, yet so little about others."
"And he's one of the people who signs the checks for thee & me both."
"Frightening, isn't it?"
"So you want to handle this?"
"Might as well. Hell-"
"HEY!!"
"--ooo, anyone home?!?"
"Stop that! I am not Marty McFly, & you are not Biff Tannen!"
"Well, it fits. Look, Phil, if Chuckie says he's going to someplace two time zones from where we are, & two time zones from where we live, maybe it's somewhere in between?"
"Ooh, Central Time Zone."
"Right. Now he gets it."
"Give me a break; I'm tired."
...meanwhile...
(women's trailer):
"Psst. Lil. Susie."
"Mmm, Kimi, do you know what time it is?"
"All I need to know is it's night time; we need our sleep."
"Listen to the doctor."
"Yes, listen to me! We're going to be travelling four time zones tomorrow!"
"I just had a talk with the trainer, & we can stand to be up for a while yet."
"Kimi, you are the trainer!"
"Oh yeah."
"We might as well get it over with, Suze."
"Hey, I let your brother call me that; that doesn't apply to you. Unless I can call you Lillian."
"I don't even let Chuckie call me Lillian."
"Guys?"
"*sigh* Like I said, we'd better let her get it out; we won't be getting any sleep otherwise."
"Okkay, what is it, Kimi-chan?"
"Suze?"
"Truce. What is it?"
"Well, I might be needing you guys' help with Tommy."
"With Tommy? You already bagged him, right?"
"Well, yeah."
"So what's the problem?"
"Well, I kind of stretched the truth a bit."
"*sigh*, What did you do?"
"Well, I tried to explain to him why I'm so hard on him and--"
"I didn't know you were hard on Tommy. At least not any harder than you are on all of us."
"Well, in private I am. That day we all got engaged, I made him carry me all the way back from that hill."
"If you can call it a hill."
"Whoa! He came all the way back from there with you on his back?"
"Well, only halfway; the first half I was in his arms."
"Ooh, how romantic."
"Well, after the first mile or so it kind of lost its appeal, for him at least."
"So why are you so hard on him?"
"I enjoy it; it's fun."
"So just tell him that; he's the authority on fun."
"Oh, yeah. How many times have we all heard him say, 'it'll be fun!'?"
"I get the feeling it's not as much fun on the receiving end."
"So what did you tell him?"
"Well, I kind of got him believing he's God's gift to women, & that if I didn't keep him in line--"
"Aaahhh, you've gotta be kidding!"
"It gets worse. I told him we had our hands full fending off the girls through high school & college, including you two."
"What?!?"
"I didn't know you had a thing for Tommy, Susie."
"Neither did I. Kimi!"
"I even lumped Samantha & Angelica in."
"Angelica?!?" "Now that is just nasty."
"That's exactly what he said."
"You know he's going to want an example."
"I already gave him one. Remember that time at that slumber party when she said, 'If he wasn't my cousin'--?"
"That didn't have anything to do with her being interested in him & you know it!"
"I know."
"I seem to remember having a similar conversation with Chuckie. What is it with you Finsters?"
"I dunno."
"True, he did have a full social life, second to none, and I was with him as much as anyone --- other than you --- but God's gift to women? He's cute, but he's not all that."
"He is so!"
"So wait, now you're trying to convince Lil, who used to date Tommy, who's now your fiancee, that said fiancee is all that? Girl, sometimes I don't know what you're thinking."
"Who said she was thinking anything? I guess these Finsters are afraid that the golden couple will come together, leaving them out in the cold."
"If that happened, we'd just team up & break up the other couple."
"Hey!!!"
"What, you don't think my brother is cute?"
"I, I didn't say that."
.................................................
*loud prolonged laughter*
(meanwhile, in the men's trailer):
*click*
"Mm, turn off that light, Phil!"
"I can't sleep."
"I thought you were tired."
"I am, I'm too tired to sleep."
"Too wired to sleep, if you ask me."
"I was going to propose to Susie tonight."
"You're too late. I hear someone else has beaten you to it."
"Yeah, some guy named Deville."
"Funny, guys."
"Nah, there's just one of him."
"The world couldn't handle any more."
"Keep that up & I might have a word with my sister. While I'm at it, I might have a word with your sister."
"HEY!!!"
"Don't you even joke about that, Deville!"
"I'm kidding, guys. You know me, the big kidder. She's stuck on you and you know it."
"She'd better be, because if you two break up & you break those two up, Lil & I would be next."
"Have I mentioned what a find Susie is?"
"Wait a minute. What are we doing?"
...................................................
*loud prolonged laughter*
(meanwhile):
"Okkay now, repeat after me: Tommy loves Kimi."
"Tommy loves Kimi."
"Now say it again."
"Now say it again."
............................
"Tommy loves Kimi."
"Again."
"Tommy loves Kimi."
"Again."
"Tommy loves Kimi."
"Again."
"Tommy loves Kimi."
"Ag--"
"Susie, how many times are you going to make her say that?"
"As many times as it takes for it to finally sink in. Girl, I don't need this. I just want to marry Phil, not hold everyone else's hand."
"My brother's the one with the most problems."
"My point exactly; he's going to be a full time project & I won't have time for anyone else."
"Oh. Well, can't argue with that. Continue, then."
"Lil!"
"Tommy loves Kimi."
"Tommy loves Kimi."
"Again."
"Tommy loves Kimi."
"Again."
"So you were going to wait until tonight."
"Yeah."
"Never mind how chaotic the last night of a location usually is."
"Well, yes."
"Not to mention--"
"Alright, Mr. Smooth. Just when were you going to pop the question to my sister?"
"What makes you think he wasn't going to do it in the time & place he did?"
"Oh, come on, Tommy! How could he have planned those circumstances?"
"Hmm, Lil, in the infirmary, recovering from a threat of an injury; wow, what are the odds?"
"Alright, you've made your point! But you still can't tell me he planned for that. My man Chuck here is all hearts & flowers, courting, wooing, the whole ball of wax."
"I gotta admit, it wasn't the ideal circumstances. I just... Wait, why didn't you ask Tommy when he was going to propose to MY sister?"
"Because it's not a Deville matter?"
..................
"Again."
"Tommy loves Kimi."
"Again."
"Tommy loves Kimi."
"Ag-"
"Hmh, 'personality cult', she says."
"What?"
"You're interrupting again, Lil."
"I can't help it. Kimi, personality cult?"
"Well, it's not that much of an exaggeration. You remember high school; there were seniors hitting on him when he was just a freshman. And when we'd sneak into above-age parties there were collegians, young adults checking him out. And he couldn't even drive yet! When we go out, women still check him out."
"Maybe men are checking you out."
"I wouldn't know; I don't check out other guys."
"Maybe he doesn't check out other gals."
"I wish I could believe that."
"If we could get back to letting me program Kimi here."
"Y'know, this is a waste of time, Susie."
"Oh?"
"Sure. I can do the same thing in one minute."
"Really. Well, I'm calling your bluff, Lil. Go to it."
"Okkay. Kimi, did Tommy propose to you?"
"Yes."
"Does he want to marry you?"
"Yes."
"So what does that say?"
"You want me to say that he loves me."
"Do you have any cause to think he doesn't?"
"Well, no."
"You know him; things just always seem to fall together for him."
"I'll admit they did this time, literally."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. It started when I got to the top of that hill. Would you believe I actually thought I beat her for once?"
"What were you thinking?"
"And then I got a little silly."
"Your minute's up, Lil."
"Susie, this is not the time!"
"You got that right. I'll just be nodding off over here."
"Now look, Kimi, the fact is he asked you to marry him; can you at least get that through your head that's thicker than your last name is long, Miss Watanabe-Finster?"
"M-maybe."
"A fine example of pop art."
"Thank you, Vince & Larry; now just what are you talking about?"
"What, you never took art class in college? That's a print. M-maybe, by Roy Liechtenstein 1964, from his comic strip period. He had all these paintings that looked like they came straight from the newspaper comics, even imitated the newsprint look."
"Susie."
"Yes, Lil?"
"Can we get back to what we were talking about originally?"
"Sorry; blame it on my need for sleep, hint hint."
"Not with Kimi in the state she's in."
"What state are we in? Does the state line run through this room?"
"Suze?"
"Alright, like you said let's get it over with."
"Now Kimi, maybe if you told how he proposed. It's a cinch it was more romantic than how Chuckie proposed to me."
"You gotta be kidding!"
"No I don't, Susie. I don't think he meant to do it the way he did, but..."
"Excuse me; could we get back to my problem?"
"Please!"
"So, Kimi, how did it happen?"
"Well, I reached the top first of course. By then I had such a lead on him I had time to climb a tree. Well, when he came up he didn't see me, so I guess he thought he'd beaten me for once."
"What was he thinking?"
"So then he got a little silly."
"You did that Titanic thing?"
"Yep."
"How did you even know of it? I didn't think you were interested in those old romances."
"Kimi's dragged me to it enough times."
"Wait, Chuckie, how'd you recognize it?"
"Phil, remember to whom you're talking here."
"Right. I go voluntarily."
"He's even more whipped than I am."
"And I love it even more."
"Guys?"
"Go on, Tommy. The sooner you finish, the sooner I can get some sleep."
"Well, as I was making a fool of myself--"
"So what's new?"
"Not now, Deville."
"Sorry, Finster."
"Anyway, I guess I should've noticed her in that tree, because the next thing I knew--"
"He never knew what hit him."
"You didn't!"
"She did."
"She did. 97 pounds dropped on top of me."
"Ooh."
"So there she was, having her way with me--"
"Watch it!"
"So to speak. She even gave me a knock on the head."
"Isn't that dangerous?"
"As opposed to what the four of us do day in day out?"
"Good point."
"Well, I was getting tired of standing on his shoulders..."
"...so she sat on my neck."
"What?"
"Can you say 'choke'?"
"I'll admit he didn't sound good."
"You think?!?"
"I was trying to make him comfortable, did a little shake & bake with the ol' hips."
"What?!?!?"
"Well, consider what parts of her were around my neck."
"I DON'T need to hear this! That's my sister you're talking about!"
"What are you yelling at me for? SHE's the one doing it! I told her she was misbehaving, acting like you-know-who again, and SHE said..."
"YOU DIDN'T!!!"
"I did."
"Girl, you could drive a person to drink, and if I was drinking I would already have done dozens of spit takes from this conversation."
"Alright, Kimi. That's twice you've put Tommy with Angelica, the wrong kind of kissin' cousins thing. What's your deal?"
"I dunno."
"And she does that to her hero; the rest of us, be afraid, be very afraid."
"Man, I REALLY don't need to hear this!!!! It's bad enough hearing about what my sister's doing with you, but add HER into the mix--"
"What's your problem with Angelica anyway? You've always managed to be civil with her in person."
"That's the best I can do. And it's fortunate that I don't see her more often. Don't you remember the things she used to do to me?"
"Chuckie, that was over twenty years ago."
"It still hurts!"
"Guys, back to my story."
"Go on, Tommy."
"With caution."
"More caution than Kimi uses."
"Hey!"
"Anyway, she finally went too far, because about then I lost my balance."
"You fell, with her on top of you?"
"Hey, it wouldn't have happened if she hadn't been on top of me."
"I resist the urge to make a joke on that."
"Thank you."
"So what did you do?"
"Well, I could see I was going over his head, in every way, so I went automatic. I hooked my ankles behind his head to stop myself. And my hands grabbed onto whatever they could find."
"Meaning his..."
"I'm afraid so."
"Meanwhile her face was in my--"
"Don't say it!"
"Well, from what I can figure, it evens out. His face would have had to have been in her--"
"Don't say that either!"
"Is he ever on edge."
"Only about her. I have to protect her, & watch out for her, I have to be a big brother."
"I hear you on that; I'm a big brother too."
"No offense, Tommy, but it's just not the same."
"Besides, that's his job now."
"Not yet it isn't."
"Actually, she can take care of herself."
"I can take care of myself, thank you."
"As you prove time & again."
"So what happened?"
"Well, I was screaming, he was screaming, I don't know about him but if it hadn't been for the falling I would've felt pretty good considering."
"Susie, is my face red by now?"
"I don't know; the light here's no good."
"So there we were, rollin', we're rollin', we're rollin', we're rollin', ohhhhhh."
"Classic Soul Coughing."
"I wouldn't have thought I'd ever hear those three words together."
"Hey, it makes as much sense as A Flock of Seagulls or Strawberry Alarm Clock."
"Umm..."
"Don't look at me; he's the music expert among us."
"That reminds me, about 'Il'n'..."
"Not this again."
"Lil says, and I quote, 'that is so not happening'."
"Did I say for you to mention it to her?"
"You think I could keep it from her? Anyway, she figured it out."
"So she's let me know."
"Guys?"
"You two were rollin', et cetera."
"Fortunately we only rolled a few hundred feet. We must have caught something, because next thing I knew we'd rolled sideways to a stop."
"That doesn't sound very accurate."
"It's not, but you get the idea."
"You should have reported in, let me check you two out."
"We did, as soon as we got back. And when we did, you were still checking Phil out."
"Well..."
"She got you there, doc."
"Can we just wrap this up?"
"Hee hee hee, *etc.*"
"And would you stop it with the 'too cute for words' noises?"
"Back to me. When we stopped, I was on top of him, as I should be. After a bit of conversation..."
"...I popped the question."
"Just like that?"
"No, not just like that. We talked, & I decided that while there might be a better time--"
"No time like the present."
"Point taken. But I figured that there wouldn't be a better place than where I felt when with her..."
"...at the top of the world."
"Ooh! That is so sweet!"
"Yep, definitely more romantic than Chuckie. I guess I caught him on a bad day."
"Definitely more romantic than how I proposed to Lil."
"You'd better have an explanation for that, Finster."
"I do."
"Keeping in practice, Chuckster?"
"My explanation is that I acted in haste. I was at my desk, looking at her picture, and the ring. Then I got the call about your accident."
"It wasn't really an accident. I just slipped; Lil wasn't hurt at all."
"Did you hear what I said, Chuckie?"
"Hmm? What did you say, Tommy?"
"I asked if you were keeping in practice."
"Oh. When did you say that?"
"A minute ago!"
"I think he chose not to acknowledge the term 'Chuckster'."
"Well, sorry!"
"'Salright. As I was saying, I got the call about the accident--"
"I'm telling you, it was just another DareDeville dust-up!"
"Fine, Phil. But I took off for the infirmary so fast I didn't even notice I brought the ring with me. When I got there I had a little talk with Susie--"
"I know; I overheard part of it."
"You did?"
"It wasn't that hard to. Not with my ear to the door."
"Mm-hmm."
"You were saying?"
"Well, when I saw her..."
"...I was yawning."
"One of your full-body yawns?"
"I was stretching if that's what you mean. Next thing I knew he had me in a crushing hug. We were so close I could feel what was in his pocket."
"You two were that close, huh?"
"Phil."
"He knows I'm kidding around with him. Although it would probably be just as well if he didn't."
"You can be so menacing when you want to be. Anyway, remember that she's your big sister."
"She's only older by a minute. So she felt the ring box."
"Yeah. Well, it was then that something said to me 'you're here, she's here, the ring's here, do it now, before you lose your nerve!'"
"You have some?"
"Please. Go on, Chuck."
"So I proposed."
"Just like that."
"Well, we went through the rules first."
"Any particular reason?"
"He asked me to shut up."
"The nerve!"
"And I thought we had him trained so well."
"We do. He just had a lapse. He really is good at following the rules; he cited a rather obscure one. Besides, I punished him; he won't do that again."
"You punished him?"
"Alright, so it wasn't for that, it was for calling me Lillian. He'll still remember it."
"For calling her Lillian, huh? I still don't understand that thing you Devilles have."
"Like she says, we shared a womb, and all that."
"Heard it."
"Hey, where are you going?"
"To bed. I'm on two plane trips tomorrow, across four time zones & back two. I need my sleep."
"Don't you want to hear about how Phil proposed to Susie?"
"No. We covered my proposal, I listened to how my sister got engaged, and that's enough."
"Lil might not like it, you not interested in her brother's proposal."
"She'd have already bagged it by now."
"Hold on, Carmichael. You don't get off that easily."
"We need our sleep, Lil!"
"I tend to agree."
"Kimi?!?"
"My professional advice is for us to turn in now."
"But you were the one who got us up!"
"Them's the breaks."
"But what about your problem?"
"I'll think about it tomorrow."
"Watch it with the Scarlett refs."
"Night, you two."
"Don't you just hate it when she pulls rank?"
"Don't ask me; I agree with her on turning in."
"Just tell me how Phil proposed. This is my brother we're talking about, & I will know how he got hooked."
"He's the one who did the hooking."
"One word: Grease."
"Oh, so she got the hickey from Kenickie."
"So he finally talked you into being Rizzo."
"Just for that moment. As long as no one else was around."
"'Around' apparently not referring to the next room."
"Could you hear us?"
"Well, no."
"There you are, then."
"So what else happened?"
"Nothing that I'm at liberty to tell."
"So something did happen."
"I'm not saying. Now I don't care what you're doing, Princess, but I'm going to bed right now; I value my sleep."
"Yeah, you're right. Big day tomorrow."
"Our guy is going to be there."
"Yeah, Phil arranged it & I trust my brother with this. Besides, I already checked up on him."
"You too, huh?"
*laughter*
"Anything else happen?"
"Um, no."
"I'm hearing hesitation."
"Hear what you want, Pickles."
"Well, whatever it was, I guess you're not going to talk about it. We might as well turn in too."
"Sounds like a plan."
"Good night, Susie."
"Good night, Lil."
"Good night, Phil."
"Good night, Tommy."
So goes their last night on location. Of course the next step is telling their parents. Hopefully I've raised points & questions to consider for future chapters. Again, please review, y'all.