"Thanksgiving"
by Kirsten Tapp

Disclaimer:

Dark Angel doesn't belong to the author, but to James Cameron, etc. The characters of Julia, Kera, Jondy's children, Rebecka and Devon however do belong to the author. No copyright infringement intended.

Summary:

Logan's plans for a special Thanksgiving go slightly astray when Max misunderstands his intentions.

Timeframe:

Follow up story to Flashbacks. After Freak Nation

Rating:

PG

Category:

Drama, Romance


Logan looked down at the ring nestled in the small box. It's meaning was more than just a promise of eternal love. It had come to signify hope for a better future. At least it did to him. He just hoped Max would feel the same. Logan couldn't believe his luck when it came to getting the ring sized, that Jondy wore the same ring size as Max. He had simply borrowed his future sister-in-law's ring and had his mother's engagement ring sized to match. He had everything worked out to the last detail, all except Max's answer when he proposed.

Max sat on top of the space needle contemplating the drama her life had become. At least with the implant having been removed, she had one less problem. She couldn't figure out why Logan was acting so nervous. At first she thought Logan was nervous about cooking Thanksgiving dinner at Terminal City. After doing a test run using what used to be a bakery at Terminal City, she thought he would be fine. Instead, it seemed the closer it got to Thanksgiving, the more nervous Logan got. She heard a movement behind her. "I came up here to be alone"

Alec sat down beside Max. "Haven't you heard? Misery loves company. Besides Joshua was wondering why you've been sulking all week."

"I'm not sulking and I'm not miserable." Max snapped. "Can't you go and make a dirty phone call to Jondy?"

"No, not while the children are in the house." Alec refused to get into an argument with Max. "Besides I've already done that today. I just waited for the girls to go to school."

"I really didn't need to know that." Max rolled her eyes. "Have you thought about moving to San Francisco?"

Alec shook his head. "Not at the moment. I'm trying to give the girl's time to get used to me being the man in their mother's life. I don't want them to feel as though I'm trying to replace Devon. That's why I'm keeping my visits to the occasional weekend."

"That's probably smart." Max admitted. "Are you ever gong to let my sister make an honest man of you?" She couldn't quite picture Alec and Jondy married, but stranger things had happened.

"You mean marriage?" Alec shook his head. "Not at the moment. I think we have a way to go before we get to that point. I don't think your sister can see herself in the white wedding dress just yet either."

Max figured her sister was probably too busy to be thinking about marriage. She touched the back of her neck where Jondy had removed the implant. She couldn't remember when her hair had last been this short. "I guess we'd better head back."

Alec nodded. "Yeah. Are you staying at Logan's tonight?" He was starting to wonder if Max and Logan had, had a fight.

"Nah, I figure I should spend some time at Terminal City." Max wanted to try and make some sense of Logan's strange behavior. She needed a bit of time and space. "I don't want the Terminal City crew to resent me running around outside the city fences, when a lot of them can't without ending up in a cage."

"Fair enough." Alec knew better than to push when Max was in one of her moods. "Can you give me a lift, since we're both going the same way."

"Whatever." Max stood and headed down the space needle to where she had left her motorcycle.

Krit loaded the last of his and Syl's bags in the van as well as three fully stocked chilly bins. "So what did your boss say when you asked for Thanksgiving off?"

"The same thing he says when I won't work on my days off cause I have to travel from Las Vegas to New York. Nothing." Syl climbed into the front passenger seat. "So did you find out why Max was in such a bad mood?"

Krit shook his head as he climbed into the driver's seat. "No. Jondy probably knows though. At least Maxie has that damn implant out of her head."

"Maybe that has something to do with her mood." Syl suggested. "Who knows what damage that implant did while it was in her head."

"We can always asked Jondy when we get to Seattle." Krit pointed out. "I'm not to eager to have my head bitten off by Max if I ask her."

"Let's get started." Syl pulled her seat belt on. "I have been looking forward to this ever since Logan suggested it. With White in jail, we can have a nice safe family get together."

Charlie helped his son put his jacket on. "You excited Case?" He knew his son was looking forward to seeing his cousins. It wasn't his wife's family he was worried about. Apart from Joshua, whom he had only seen from a distance, he hadn't come across any of the less human looking Transgenics.

"Yeah." Case reached out his hand to his mother. "I get to see all my cousins, don't I?"

Tinga smiled at her son. "You sure do. You haven't met Aunty Jace's little girl yet. It'll be the first time for all of us. I haven't met her either."

"Are you sure it's safe enough for you all to be in Seattle at the same time." Charlie asked. "Especially with all of the children."

Tinga nodded. "Jondy wouldn't risk taking her children anywhere she couldn't be sure of. I checked with her yesterday. She said Logan was planning to spend the weekend with Max at Terminal City, so we can stay in the house he's using at the moment."

Charlie frowned. "What happened to the penthouse apartment he owned?" The last time they had stayed in Seattle, they had stayed in a mansion.

"I'm not sure." Tinga checked to make sure she hadn't forgotten to put anything in the car. "But Logan was turning the mansion into a recreation center, so there are builders working on it. The renovations won't be finished until the end of January."

"Well I guess we'd better get going then." Charlie made sure the door was locked behind them. At the very least this was going to be an interesting thanksgiving.

Zane dialed Jondy's cell phone number as soon as he got through the check point. Using the hands free on his own cell phone so that he could keep driving, he grinned when his sister answered on the first ring. "Hey J. So what's going on in Seattle?"

"What do you mean?" Jondy was also using the hands free on her cell phone, as she was trying to keep fourteen children entertained on their trip to Seattle.

"I phoned Max this morning and she is in a foul mood." Zane stroked his dog's head. "Then I called Logan and he sounded kind of nervous. So what's going on?"

Jondy chuckled to herself. "Max is moody because Logan is nervous and he won't tell her why. Although my bet is she hasn't actually asked him why."

"But you know why." Zane guessed. "So why don't you fill me in." He knew that Logan confided in Jondy and she and Max seemed to share some sort of brain wave between them.

"Hold on a minute Zane." Jondy signaled Kera to pull the van over to the side of the road so that she could get out. She didn't want any of the children tipping off Max to Logan's proposal. "Listen Zane, I'll tell you what's going on but you can't tell anyone else and that includes Beverly."

"Fine. It will be our little secret." Zane wondered what the hell was going on. Jondy and Max usually didn't keep secrets from each other or rather couldn't keep secrets from each other.

"Logan is nervous because he is going to ask Max to marry him. His Grandmother left his mother's rings for him when she died." Jondy was trying to keep warm by pacing back and forth while keeping out of earshot of her children. "He got them resized, he's just waiting for the perfect moment but he also wanted Max to have her family close by to celebrate."

"That's thoughtful of him." Zane was happy for his sister. Logan was a good person and he treated Max well. He couldn't wish for better for any of his sisters. "Logan had better calm down before Max's mood gets any worse or this will be an unforgettable thanksgiving and not in a good way."

"I'll speak to Logan when we get to Seattle." Jondy headed back towards the van. "Drive carefully Big Brother." Jondy hung up her phone and climbed into the van.

Max's mood brightened slightly when Jace arrived with her husband and daughter. "Hi. I'm glad you could make it."

Jace looked at the scenery around her. "Love what you've done with the place." She had passed Terminal City a couple of times when she was last in Seattle. It had looked a damn sight worse than what she saw before her now. "How's Logan?" Jace saw her sister's mood change before her eyes.

Max rolled her eyes. "He's nervous. I thought it was because he's cooking dinner for so many people, but we did a test run the other day and it went fine. He's still acting strange though."

"Maybe he's going to propose." Victor, Jace's husband offered. "I know I was a nervous wreak when I was planning to ask Jace to marry me. You remember how you thought I was acting real strange at the time, honey?"

Jace nodded. "You've gotta remember Max, Victor didn't have Jondy and Zane as support. Did you think about asking either of them why Logan's so nervous."

Max shook her head. "I'm sure Logan's not going to propose. I mean we've talked about kids, but marriage just isn't an option at the moment." Besides, she was starting to resent how much Logan confided in Jondy.

"Why? What's the problem?" Jace had seen Max and Logan together. She had never seen two people who were so meant for each other.

Max picked up Jace's little girl. "Well for starters Logan's going to be high profile when the recreation center is open and everyone outside of this fence wants to put my ass in a cage."

Joshua walked up to the tiny group, and hugged Jace. "You brought little Max with you this time." He patted the little girl in Max's arms on the head. "Are you Victor?" He held his hand out to Victor.

Victor had heard that there had been creatures like this beneath Manticore, but until now he had never seen one. Jace had told him about Joshua when she had returned from a family camping trip. "Yeah. You must be Joshua. It's good to meet you."

"Let's get you settled in." Max quickly changed the subject, besides she was sure Logan wasn't going to propose. "You'll be staying with Original Cindy. She's around here somewhere."

Logan heard Jondy's van pull up outside. He had expected them to go straight to Terminal City. "Hey, what are you doing here?" He hugged the petite redhead when she got to the top step of the porch.

"I needed to have a word with you before I got to Terminal City." Jondy had told everyone to stay in the van. "You have got to calm down and stop being so nervous about asking Max to marry you."

Logan wondered how Jondy could have known he was nervous. "I'm fine. I have nothing to nervous about. Everything is organized." Everything but Max's answer.

Jondy smiled at Logan. "You are the worse liar. I'll see you over at Terminal City." She turned and headed back to the van.

Logan pulled the ring box out of his pocket. He knew Jondy was right. If he kept making himself nervous over Max's answer, she would just get mad with him and automatically say no. "Serves me right for falling in love with a strong willed woman." Logan muttered to himself.

Rebecka couldn't believe how comfortable she felt around the Terminal City people. It had even got to the point that she didn't really notice there was a difference between the humans and the transgenics. She noticed Alec was watching the entrance. "What time is Jondy due?"

Alec grinned at his girlfriend's mother. "She called a couple of minutes ago from up the road. She should be here any second." He had been to San Francisco the previous weekend, but he couldn't believe how much he missed the redhead.

At that moment the entrance gate opened and Jondy's van drove in. Once the vehicle had come to a stop, the children seem to explode out of it. Even though the twelve girls were adopted, they seemed to have taken on Jondy's intolerance for being cooped up in a confined space for too long.

"Before you all run off, everybody has to help unpack the van." Jondy gently commanded, as she unstrapped the twins from their car seats. She beamed at Alec as he took one of the twins off of her and kissed her hello. "Hi. Who else had arrived?"

"Jace arrived about half an hour ago with her husband and daughter. Everybody else is still on the road as far as I know." Alec started to usher the girls in the direction they would be staying in.

Rebecka held her arms out for the twin that Alec was holding. "I'll take Ben. You look as though you're going to have your hands full with the girls."

"Thanks." Alec passed the toddler over to Rebecka, then grabbed the chilly bin. "This way ladies. I'll show you where you're staying."

Jondy watched as her daughters followed Alec, their arms full with the contents of the van. Julia and Kera followed as well just incase the children gave the X5 any trouble. "Afternoon Joshua." Jondy smiled as she sensed her friend sneaking up behind her.

"Not fair." Joshua jokingly protested. "You used your cat sense." He hugged his friend and took the baby girl off of her into his arms. The little girl shrieked in delight and started to play with Joshua's long hair. "Where are the rest of the children?"

"Alec's showing them around." Jondy looked on in amusement at the antics of her infant daughter. "I think he's worried they'll think he's trying to take Devon's place."

Rebecka chuckled as Ben wriggled in her arms, trying to get back to his mother. "I don't think Alec needs to worry. The children seem happy as long as you are Jondy." She handed Ben back to Jondy.

Jace and her family walked towards Jondy with Max walking behind. "God Jondy. What are you feeding your kids? They've grown so much since I last saw them." She hugged her sister.

"I think the twins take after their father in that way." Jondy laughed as she shook hands with Jace's husband. "You must be Victor."

Victor nodded. "Nice to meet you. I thought Jace said you had fourteen children."

Jondy nodded. "I do. The other twelve are with Alec." She turned her attention to the little girl in Jace's arms. "This must be Maxie. Jace, she's beautiful."

Jace giggled. "We sure do make good looking babies don't we."

Max felt a twinge of jealousy. At that moment Jondy seemed to have it all, the children, the adoring boyfriend and a home of her own. Not to mention a calming influence on Logan. She realized her sister had picked up only her emotions when she looked up and saw Jondy watching her. "I'm going to check on the bakery. Mole was doing some alterations in there yesterday."

"Hey Max." Zane walked up to the group with his dog beside him. "Where's the fire?" He hugged his sister and immediately noticed how up tight she was. "What's wrong?" He whispered.

"Nothing. I'm just busy." Max forced a smile onto her face. "I'll catch up with you later. Gotta go." She hurried off before Zane could ask anymore questions.

Zane hugged Jace and shook hands with her husband. He slapped Joshua on the back. "Good to see ya again Joshua." He hugged Jondy, careful of the child in her arms. "Wow, Krit was right about Max's mood. I called him when I got into Seattle. He and Syl aren't too far away. Logan had better hurry up and propose. Maybe that will put a real smile on Max's face."

"I don't think it's going to be that easy." Jondy was staring in the direction that Max had gone. "When will Beverly be here?"

"When she's finished her shift at the hospital." Zane kissed his sister's forehead. "Spill it Sis. You're picking up something on your twin radar. What is it?"

"Twin Radar?" Victor hadn't been sure what he was going to encounter at Terminal City, but normal sibling problems wasn't it.

"Max and Jondy are twins." Joshua explained. "So what are you picking up Jondy?"

"Jealousy." Jondy simply stated. She decided it would be best to change the subject. "Are we going to have enough food to feed everyone?"

"We will once Krit, Syl and Tinga get here." Logan had arrived a few minutes ago. "Anyone seen Max?"

"She said she was going to check the bakery." Rebecka offered. "Are you really going to ask Max to marry you?"

Logan's jaw dropped as he glanced at Jondy. It was supposed to be a surprise. When Jondy shook her head and pointed to Zane, he began to wonder if Max knew about his plans. "Max doesn't know does she?"

Victor looked a bit sheepish. "We sort of suggested to Max when we arrived that, that could be the reason you had been so nervous."

Jace quickly added. "But Max seemed pretty sure there was no way you were going to propose. I'm pretty certain it will still be a surprise."

Logan had to laugh. "You know this all went a lot smoother in my head." He had the ring in his pocket just in case. "I'll go see if I can find Max." He waved to Krit and Syl as he passed them to look for Max.

"Please tell me we didn't negotiate our way passed sector check points just to have Max snap at us every five minutes." Syl asked as she hugged her siblings, Victor and Rebecka.

"No. You came here to enjoy Logan's great cooking with your family." Jondy joked. "Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'd better go and rescue Alec from my girls."

"I'll go with you." Joshua followed Jondy still carrying little Tinga.

Krit had his arm around Syl. "So what's the drill? Do we stay clear of Max and hope that Logan can pull her out of this mood she's in or do we send Jondy in to try and calm her down."

"I don't think that Jondy can fix the problem this time." Zane chipped in. "I guess we just wait for Tinga and her family to arrive and take it from there."

Logan could feel Max's tension as soon as he walked into the bakery. "So is everything still working in here?" Concern replaced the nervousness when Max nodded wordlessly. "We're just waiting for Tinga, Charlie and Case to arrive with the last of the food." When Max still didn't speak, Logan moved so that he was leaning against the bench right next to Max. "So are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

"If you tell me what's wrong with you." Max shot back. "And while you're at it, you could explain why you can talk to Jondy about it and not me." Even as the words spilled out of her mouth, Max knew they weren't fair.

"You're jealous of Jondy?" Logan almost burst out laughing, the idea was so absurd. "Max, when I look at Jondy I see the little sister I never had. The reason I have been so nervous is because I want to ask you to marry me and I wanted it to be perfect when I asked you. As for talking through my nervousness with Jondy," Logan pulled the box with the engagement ring out of his pocket. "How else was I supposed to get this to fit so that I could surprise you."

Max's jaw dropped at the sight of the emerald surrounded by tiny diamonds. "Oh." She felt like such a food for being jealous of her sister. When she looked up at Logan, she caught sight of Alec standing in the doorway. "How long have you been there?"

Alec wondered how Max and Logan's relationship survived with so many misunderstandings. "Well, Jondy and I came to tell you that Tinga had arrived and the others are unloading her car. We arrived just as you demanded to know what was going on between Logan and Jondy. It wasn't long after that, that Jondy stormed off. I guess it's not everyday your twin accuses you of making a play for her boyfriend."

"I never actually said any of that." Max protested, but she had thought it. Of all her sisters, Max knew Jondy was the one she could trust without question. "I guess I did sort of imply that though."

"Well proposing to you in a bakery wasn't what I had planned." Logan interrupted before Alec could lose his temper that he was obviously struggling to keep under control. "So don't give me an answer now. I'll start dinner while you go and talk to your sister."

"Thanks." Max gave Logan a quick kiss before going in search of Jondy. Despite her unfair rant, Logan was still giving her the time and space she needed. How could she have been so wrong where Logan and Jondy were concerned.

It wasn't hard to figure out where Jondy had gone. It was the same place Max went when she was upset or just needed to think things through. Max hesitated before approaching her sister on the space needle. She wasn't sure if she could make things right this time.

"So did he propose?" Jondy sat staring into the darkness, her red hair floating in the breeze like long fingers reaching out behind her.

Max took a deep breath and moved to sit by her sister. "Yeah, but he didn't want an answer straight away. Something to do with not having proposed the way he wanted to." It was obvious that Jondy was furious with her as she hadn't moved since Max had arrived. Jondy's anger was always deadly silent.

"Smart man." Jondy replied.

"Yeah. Logan is smart." Max looked down at her hands clasped around her knees. "Jace and Victor guessed that was why Logan was so nervous, but I told them there was no way he would propose. I guess I could have saved everybody a lot of trouble if I had just asked Logan what was wrong."

"Gee, there's an idea." Jondy's voice was icy with sarcasm. "What made you think snapping everybody's head off was a better option?"

Max felt terrible. "Jondy, I'm sorry." She wished she could turn back time and change her actions of the past few days. "I know Logan looks on you as a sister. I realized as soon as the words left my mouth that they weren't fair."

Jondy pushed a stray curl off of her face. "You know, I got used to people hating me for the attention I kept attracting. It never really mattered cause they didn't know that I'd sooner sink unnoticed into the background." She finally looked at Max. "But you did know. So how could you think for a minute that I'd throw myself at your boyfriend? Why would you think that I'd do that to Alec, especially after Asha did that to him."

"I never thought about Alec." Max admitted. "I didn't think at all. I got jealous because I saw that you had everything you ever wanted out of life, plus you got on really well with my boyfriend. Logan knows he can talk to you about anything."

"That's because he doesn't love me." Jondy didn't know how much longer she could hold onto her temper. "Just for the record, I don't have everything I ever wanted out of life. I don't have my freedom. I still have to constantly look over my shoulder to avoid being put in a cage. The South Africans are still looking for me. Granted I don't have the same problems as you Max, but I still have problems." Seeing the tears falling down her sister's face, Jondy let go of some of her anger. "The only thing stopping you from having everything you want Max, is you." She put her arm around her sister's shoulders. "You have to stop running, especially from Logan and you have to trust him. He's sort of unique, unlike your previous boyfriends."

Max wiped the tears from her face. "You make it sound so easy. I do trust Logan, I just don't know how we're supposed to make a marriage work when we're stuck on opposite sides of a fence."

"We'll work something out." Jondy rested her chin on Max's shoulder. "So are you going to tell Logan you'll marry him? Cause you know, I can never have enough brothers."

Max glanced at her sister and laughed. "Yeah, but don't expect a quick wedding cause we have a lot to work out first." Only Jondy could have her crying one minute and laughing the next. "So are you still mad at me?"

"Yeah, but I'll get over it." Jondy looked at her watch. "We'd better get back. Beverly and the Jam Pony crew will have arrived at Terminal City by now."

Max rolled her eyes. "Logan gets crabby if dinner gets cold because I've made him wait. So what are you doing for Christmas?"

Jondy shook her head in disbelief. "Let's try and make it through Thanksgiving without killing each other first, then we can discuss Christmas."

Original Cindy helped Logan transfer the various items of food onto serving platters. "So my Boo basically accused Sister Girl of banging the gong with you and you ain't mad. Can I ask why?"

"It's gonna sound stupid." Logan could see by the expression on Original Cindy's face that she wasn't going to let the subject drop. "Fine. I'll tell you but you can't laugh."

"Cross my heart." Original Cindy crossed the air in front of her heart with her hand. "Now spill. Why ain't you mad."

Logan let out an exasperated sigh. "I know that Max loves me. It's just when I realized that she was jealous of my friendship with Jondy, it was as though I had solid proof that she loved me. I mean of all of her sisters, Max knows that Jondy is the least likely to try and break us up."

Original Cindy rolled her eyes. "That's just whack. Now I really know you and Max should be together. I don't know why you both feel the need to have everything spelt out for you to satisfy your insecurities."

"Because they've both had bad relationships in the past." Tinga stood in the doorway. "And they don't want to mess it up this time." She grinned. "I just guessing of course. Max and Jondy have just arrived back by the way."

"What sort of moods are they in?" Logan didn't want a fight breaking out over dinner. "Are we going to have to sit Max and Jondy at opposite ends of the table?"

Tinga held her hands out for a platter so that she could help carry the food out to the tables. "Max seems fine. I think Jondy's still a little pissed, but I don't think she'll let it spoil dinner."

"Let's get this show on the road then." Original Cindy grabbed another platter. "I'm starving, besides I think you've outdone yourself this time Logan. This all looks great." She followed Tinga out the door.

One by one the X5 siblings and the Jam Pony crew walked in to the bakery to collect platters of food and took them out to the dinning hall.

The meal went smoothly much to Logan's relief. The closest anyone came to an argument was when Alec asked Mole to put his cigar out. Mole was about to refuse when he saw the expression on Jondy's face. After a moments consideration Mole decided it best not to anger the red head and put his cigar out.

Logan nudged Max. "That's something I never thought I'd see. At least not from Alec." He gestured further down the table where Alec and Jondy were sat amongst her children with a twin on each of their laps. Because there weren't enough highchairs for all of the infants, Jondy and Alec were feeding the twins while seated on their laps. They looked like the picture book normal family.

Max giggled as she saw Alec's hand disappeared underneath Jondy's shirt. "No, but that is exactly what I expect from Alec."

As they watched, Jondy leaned forward and whispered something in Alec's ear. Chuckling to himself Alec withdrew his hand and continued to feed the child on his lap. It was amusing to watch Alec doing such a good job at playing Daddy. Until he had become involved with Jondy, Alec had been a womanising user who most of the time cared for nobody but himself.

Tinga wiped Case's face which was now covered with food. "I don't know why Alec was so nervous. Jondy's children seem to adore him."

Charlie nodded. "Still, it's not easy to become part of a ready made family, especially one with fourteen children."

Case tugged on his mother's hand. "He makes Aunty Jondy laugh and smile. That's why they like him. Aunty Jondy's not sad anymore."

Max and Logan heard the youngster comment and realised he was right. Jondy had kept her pain hidden well after Devon had died. If you looked close enough you could see the sorrow she kept carefully locked away.

"You've got a smart boy there." Logan said to Tinga as he put his arm around Max.

Tinga beamed proudly at her son. "Yeah, he sure is. He takes after his father." She kissed her husband over Case's head.

Logan took hold of Max's hand. "You wanna go for a walk? I need to walk some of dinner off."

"Sure. I could do with a little exercise?" Max pulled on her jacket. "Who's going to do all of these dishes."

"The Thanksgiving elves will do the dishes." Logan had everything worked out and also he had Jondy as an accomplice. "Come on, it's a nice night. Don't worry about the dishes."

Seeing Logan and Max head into the night, Jondy hustled her children together to start clearing the tables. Handing her twins over to Julia and Rebecka, she and Kera started helping her girls. "Alec, are you going to help?" Before Alec could refuse Jondy added. "I'll give you something to be really thankful for, once the children are asleep."

Alec nuzzled his face in Jondy's soft hair. "Now how can I refuse an offer like that?" He gave Jondy a gentle pat on the rear and started to help clear the tables.

Soon the rest of the X5 siblings joined in with the clean up. Jace stood beside Jondy washing dishes. "So why do I get the feeling you know where Logan took Max?"

Jondy smiled as she saw the rest of her siblings had heard Jace's question and were now paying close attention to her. "When Logan first started making plans for the perfect way to propose, he said it was a pity that there weren't any rose gardens or botanical gardens that he could take Max to. I noticed last time I was in Terminal City that the soil on the south side seemed to have remained unharmed by the toxic waste dumped here. When I mentioned it to Logan, he decided to take a look."

It was as if a light bulb suddenly went on inside Joshua's head as Jondy spoke. "That's why you wanted Alec and I to help Logan with the planting and not tell Max."

Sketchy had been ordered by Original Cindy to go and help with the clean up. "Is that why Herbal and I have been delivering strange packages to Logan? I thought the dude had started smoking weed."

"The packages had seedlings in them." Original Cindy smacked Sketchy around the back of the head. She had also helped with the planting when she wasn't keeping Max away from the gardens being constructed.

"So how does the garden look?" Krit couldn't quite picture Logan as a gardener.

"Why don't we go and take a look? I bet it's spectacular." Syl could only imagine what Logan had done.

"Let's give them a few minutes before we take a look." Zane had a feeling Logan was about to propose properly and he didn't want to ruin the moment for his sister.

"Well, I bet this garden has been made to a grand scale." Normal pointed out. "From what little I know about Logan, he never does anything by halves."

"Not where Max is concerned." Herbal agreed.

Max and Logan walked through the moonlit darkness in a comfortable silence, their arms around each other's waists. Max suddenly realised they were walking towards a part of Terminal City she hadn't been to. "Maybe we should walk somewhere else. I'm not sure what's around here and I don't want you to get sick."

Logan kissed the top of her head. "It's alright. I've been here a lot lately. I won't get sick."

Max looked up at Logan suspiciously. "What have you been up to?" Her face lit up in surprised delight as they rounded the corner and she saw for herself what Logan had done. "You did all this yourself?"

Logan shook his head. "No I had a lot of help. Especially from Original Cindy. I told Jondy what I wanted and she found the spot last time she was in Seattle. The toughest part was stopping Joshua from digging holes where I didn't want them."

Logan had thought of everything. So that there was a purpose to the garden other than just looking pretty, he had planted a large vegetable patch. Spaced eveningly across the section were four benches so that anyone could sit and read or just look at the beauty around them. Alec had found an old spa bath that had been thrown out due to the large crack in it and asked Logan if he could use it in the garden. Logan had covered the bath with black plastic and with Joshua and Alec's help, sunk the bath into the ground and now water lilies floated in the water it had been filled with. A small foot bridge had been built curved and placed over the top so that you could look down into the water. There were beds of every flower imaginable and every color, most of which were closed due to it being night.

"I've got to come back here in the daylight. This is beautiful Logan. It must look absolutely gorgeous with all of the flowers in bloom." Max had never seen anything like it.

Logan took the ring box out of his pocket and got down on one knee. "I wanted the perfect setting to ask you to do me the honor of becoming my wife. Max, will you marry me?" He opened the box and the ring sparkled in the moonlight.

Max waited for the fear and the panic to set in, but it never came. Jondy had told her that they would work something out to solve any problems and her sister had never let her down so far. "Yes. I will marry you."

Logan got to his feet, quickly placed the ring on Max's finger and kissed her. It was a while before he registered the cheering and clapping in the background.

Both he and Max burst out laughing when they saw that they had an audience. "Well, I guess we don't have to tell the family." Max chuckled to herself.

Zane leaned over Jondy's shoulder and whispered in her ear. "At least this Thanksgiving had a happy ending."

Jondy nodded. "They're together. That's how it should be."

The End