At The House Of Father Hulk

"Wow," Blossom whispered as Ray led her into his home. The house was grand inside. Stained-glass windows ran along the wall on one side, and on the other, portraits and sculptures of St. Eva were hanging. The floors were done in golden-colored tile, and the living room was large, with a huge couch and big-screen TV.

"You have such a nice house, Ray," Blossom said.

"It's not much," Hulk said, "But it suits us."

"Come on, I'll show you my room!" Ray exclaimed, and he tugged at Blossom's hand as he walked towards the stairs.

"I'll call you when lunch is ready!" Hulk called after them.

Ray's room featured street signs hanging on the walls, although video game posters covered many of them. There were two lava lamps stationed on top of a small entertainment center on the right-most wall, along with a few different video game consoles.

"Awesome room!" Blossom said.

"Yeah… Want to play video games?"

"Sure!"

And so they started a fast-paced game of Super Mario Kart 64.

"Have you ever played this before?" Ray asked.

"Nah," Blossom said with a shrug. And so the game began.

Blossom quickly managed to get in front of Ray's car.

"Hey! How'd you do that?" he cried, jerking his control stick to the left to try to pass her.

"Beginner's luck, I guess." She said with a grin.

Finally, he got in front of her again, and they came to the part where the cars would make a big leap from a cliff to the ground below. Blossom's car lined up parallel with his during the jump, and she bumped him off to the side, causing him to fall in the ocean.

"You can't do that!" he said as Lakitu plopped him back on the course in 8th place.

"Well, I just did." She said with a malicious smile.

Ray narrowed his eyes. "Alright you, gimme that controller!" He dove for Blossom's joystick.

"Ahh!" she said, and she laughed hysterically as Ray tried to wrestle it away from her. "You'll never get it! Never!"

"We'll just see!" He began tickling her, and she laughed harder and dropped the joystick.

"Give that back!" She tackled him, and wrenched the device from his grip, and then pressed his head down into the ground. "Say you're sorry!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he said over his laughter. "Let me up, please! I can't breathe!"

Blossom eased up, and Ray rolled over, smiling up at her. "Guess what? You still lost!"

Indeed, the screen was flashing "TIME UP!", meaning that they had both lost the race.

"Why you…!" Blossom tackled him again, and they rolled across the floor, giggling their toushies off. Finally, Blossom sat up, out of breath but grinning. "Sorry I had to kick your ass so badly," she said.

Ray smiled. "That's all right. I rather enjoyed it. It's not every day I get to wrestle with a girl like you."

They found themselves staring into each other's eyes once again, and Blossom was looking at Ray as if a divine light was surrounding him.

"Ray…" she whispered, lifting a hand to his face, "I…"

"Oh chillllldren!" called Hulk from downstairs, "Lunchtime!"

"Oh my God, Mister Hulk, this grilled cheese is awesome!" Blossom said.

"Call me Max," said Hulk, who had changed from his Sunday robes into a pair of jeans with maroon suspenders. "And, I'm glad you like it. I learned it from my father."

"Who was your father?" Blossom asked. "Was he a priest too?"

"My daddy's family's had priests going back thousands of years." Ray told her.

"Yes, the very first Hulk was born in Evrai itslef, God's home." Hulk said, looking wistful. "I wish I could have seen the city… but alas, it sank to the bottom of the sea!"

There were a few minutes of silence, and then Blossom said, "Tell us a story, Father… I mean, Max."

"A story?"

"Yeah. A story about a long time ago."

Hulk rubbed his chin. "Humm… all right. Tell me, Blossom, do you know why there are bees in the warm weather?"

Blossom shook her head.

"Well, back in the days when our God still walked on this earth, he had many daughters, as beautiful as a summer's day. His youngest daughter, Marin, loved to run through the meadows and collect flowers, and because she wanted the flowers to never die, she blessed them every year so that they would return the next."

"Awesome!"

"But one day, during the late months of the year, a demon appeared, and…"

"One of the demons you talked about this morning?" Blossom interrupted.

"Yes, one of the same. This demon snatched Marin and squeezed her, attempting to drain her life energy from her body. Marin knew that this demon meant to kill her, and so, in a valiant act, Marin exploded her body into millions of pieces, and in doing so, destroyed the demon."

"But then didn't that mean that she died?" Blossom inquired.

"No, not really. The pureness of Marin's heart caused each tiny fragment to lift from the ground, and they became tiny creatures, each blessed with Marin's spirit. And so they continue doing her work, blessing the flowers so that they return each year. And they disappear in the winter, because that is the time that Marin was captured, and they don't like the memory. And that, my dear, is the story of bees."

"Wow…" Blossom whispered.

After a short silence, Ray said, "You want to go watch a movie?"

"Sure."

"Come on, we'll watch Back To The Future."

And so Blossom and Ray sat on the soft couch, watching the film on the big-screen TV. Hulk was busy in his study, so the two were alone.

"I still can't believe what you did," Blossom said, out of nowhere.

"Huh?" Ray asked, surprised.

"Before. With the video game. You cheated so bad."

"Yeah, and how did you deal with it? You picked a fight!"

"It was fun," she said with a soft giggle. "I kicked your butt!"

"I know. Come on, let's watch."

After a few more minutes, Blossom noticed in surprise that Ray had his arm around her.

He noticed her reaction. "I'm sorry… should I stop?"

"No, no… it's all right." She said, leaning back. "It feels nice."

Another brief silence passed, and then Ray spoke.

"I wish I could have put my arm around you at church, but I don't think dad would have been too pleased."

Blossom's heart jumped. A boy actually wanted to put his arm around her on the first day they met? She remained silent.

"Blossom," Ray said softly, "You're trembling."

She stared into his deep, blue eyes. "Ray… I think… I think I…"

Ray put a finger over her lips. "It's okay. I know what you mean to say."

"And do you feel…?"

He shushed her again and smiled. "Yes, Blossom. I do."

She threw her arms around him and cried. "You're the first boy to ever tell me that, Ray."

"Why are you crying?"

"I don't know. I've never been in love before. It must be so hard."

Ray lifted her head up. "No, I don't think it is. I think it's probably very easy. As easy as this…"

They kissed. A short kiss, but enough to send Blossom into heaven to be with St. Eva.

"Ray…?" Blossom said, afterwards.

"Yes?"

"Can you show me how easy it is again? I'm afraid I'll forget."

"Okay."

Hulk stood in the entryway to the living room, rubbing his chin as he watched. "Hmm…" he muttered, and left.