God's in 7th Heaven, All's Right with the World

By Cypher

Chapter Thirty-three: A Funeral and a Birthday

Simon let out a content sigh and rested his chin on his hand. Things seemed to be progressing rather smoothly in his life. He had successfully moved into his brother's old room, though he hadn't fully unpacked everything yet. Part of that was just due to laziness on his part. The other reason he hadn't unpacked was because of how much time he was spending with his brothers.

First he had to get them moved, which he and his father had done relatively quickly, though Sam and David kept getting underfoot. He made it a point to take them to the park every other day or so, even for a short hour. And today he brought them to a special two hour children's reading time at the library. Terry, needing to do some research, had offered to drive them.

On the ride over, he found out that Terry was going to do some research into colleges, try and get a view of which ones would accept his AP status, what possible majors there were and what ones would catch his attention. Simon saw the logic in it, so he had volunteered to help while the twins hung out in the children's section. The problem was, he wasn't studying the book in front of him.

Instead he was studying Terry as the model looked through some titles on a bookshelf. Thanks to a breeze that had picked up outside, his hair wasn't as neat as it usually was and more of a disheveled look. He had opted to wear a simple pair of relaxed blue jeans, which Simon thought emphasized his height. The big thing that caught Simon's attention today, though, was the evergreen shirt he was wearing. It clung to Terry's frame, showing off his form, especially his shoulders and chest.

So caught up in watching his boyfriend, he didn't hear the chair next to him get pulled out or someone sitting down. "Penny for your thoughts."

"Just admiring how sexy he can look even when he's dressed so casually."

"Hmm…yeah, he is pretty cute."

Simon finally snapped out of his watching. "He's taken-" He turned to look at the woman who spoke, and blinked. "Sarah?"
Sarah laughed and punched Simon lightly in the shoulder. "Hey, kid. Matt says hi. He'd have come himself, but he's making up for the time he came out here earlier in the year."

Simon grinned and hugged his sister-in-law, then sat back. "What're you doing here?"

"I thought I'd come out, see how my family was doing. I stopped by the house and Ruthie told me you and the twins were here."

"Cool." Simon looked her up and down. "You look good."

"And I wasn't even going for casual."

Simon felt his ears turn red. "You caught me while I was distracted."

"Hey, I understand. He is pretty sexy, though when Matt dresses up-"

"This is something I don't think I should hear." Simon waved as Terry sent him a quick smile. "So how're you two doing?"

"Pretty good. I'm pulling through my classes pretty well, and Matt's, well, he's struggling a bit, but he's doing okay." Sarah smiled at Terry, though it was cut short as he suddenly pulled out his cell phone and headed for the nearest exit. "What about you? I know Matt says you're doing fine, but really, how're you doing?"

Simon leaned forward on the table and rested his hands on it, glancing over to where Terry had just exited. "A lot better. Three weeks ago I, um, did something stupid…"

"Breaking up with Terry?"

Simon wrinkled his nose. "Boy, the Camdens just can't keep a secret from family members, can they."

"Nope. You two okay now?"

"Much. We still hit a rough patch every now and then, but we're talking a lot more so that we won't have that mistake again." He ran a hand through his hair, which was almost back to its normal length. "I can't believe I almost lost him…"

"I almost lost Matt a number of times. Same with Lucy and Kevin. I think it's something in your blood."

Simon snorted. "No kidding." He grinned as Terry came back in, but it faded as he took in the somber look on his face. As Terry arrived at the table, he stood up. "Terry? Everything okay?"

"No." He glanced at Sarah. "Hi."

"Hi. What's up?"

Terry shifted from one foot to another, then bit his lip. "Could you bring the twins home when their reading thing is over? Simon and I'll be there, but I think…we need some privacy. Eric will explain when you get home. Please?"

Sarah shot Simon a confused look, but nodded. "Alright." She stood up and hugged Simon briefly. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah." Simon watched as she left, then raised an eyebrow at Terry. "What's going on?"

"I think it's best I tell you in the car." Terry left the books they had pulled out on the table and exited the building once again.

Simon quickly followed. If Terry left without the courtesy of putting books back on the shelves, it was big. It wasn't long before the two of them were sitting in Terry's car, Terry fiddling with his hands while Simon faced him. "Terry, what's going on?"

"I, um, I've got some bad news…"

Simon's brow furrowed. "Is it about us?"

"What? No, no, nothing like that. It's…Simon, it's your grandfather."

Simon swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. "Grandpa…?"

"Simon, I'm so sorry. He…he's gone."

"Oh God…" He rubbed his eyes as he sat back in his seat. He felt Terry reach over and place a hand on his shoulder. His father had never confirmed that the reason why his mother was gone was because his grandfather was getting worse, but it was highly suspected. Even so, it struck pretty hard. "Can we…?"

"Go home? Just buckle up and we'll get going."

Simon sniffed and did so, though he did it automatically. Why wouldn't she let us come visit him? Why couldn't we see him? He felt himself crying, but didn't bother to wipe the tears away. Grandpa had been one of the family members he was closest to, and now he was gone. Before he knew it, they were at home and Terry was out of the car and opening the passenger door. He unbuckled his seatbelt and got up, accepting the one-armed hug Terry offered him as they went into the house.

His grandpa was dead, and he never got a chance to say goodbye, never got to thank him for everything he did. Grandpa…I'm sorry I wasn't there. I'm sorry.

~*()*~

The funeral took place a few days later, and everyone but Eric and the twins seemed to go through it and the wake in shock. Matt and Mary had flown out, though Robby couldn't make it, nor could the Colonel and Ruth. They did send their condolences and thoughts, which seemed to give Annie some strength. Eric seemed a bit more at peace, more accepting of it than the others, and offered as much support to his family as he could; especially Annie.

Sarah and Terry had their hands full through the whole ordeal, as did Kevin. Sarah volunteered to take care of the twins through this time, not having clear memories of their grandfather and not really understanding what was going on. Kevin dealt with most of the arrangements, setting up where the wake was, making sure there was enough seats for everyone, and that his wife was taken care of.

Terry dealt with catering, even asking Eric if he could create some of Charles' favorite dishes as a tribute to him. He also made rounds between the Camden siblings, making sure they were holding up okay. Ruthie had turned to Simon, shutting out Peter. Simon had returned to a protective and guiding role for her, though Terry knew his boyfriend was hurting just as much, if not more so, than his sister. Lucy shifted between hysterical crying and silent mourning, so much so that Terry finally let Kevin deal with it.

Matt surprised him, though. Matt cried silently, which was expected, but did nothing to comfort his siblings, which was unusual. Terry assumed, from previous actions, that Matt would be the first to gather his brothers and sisters and help them through this time. Instead, he sulked in a corner, drinking punch and staring at nothing.

Weaving his ways through the crowd, Terry finally entered Matt's little corner and followed his eyes, trying to see what he did and coming up with nothing. "Matt? You okay?" He got no response, so he patted the eldest Camden's arm. "Hey, Matt Camden. Paging Matt Camden." That got a bit of a reaction, the foggy look in Matt's eyes clearing as he looked around for a phone. "Hey, Matt, you with me?"

"What?" Matt finally realized that Terry was there. "Didn't someone just page me?"

"Yeah, I did. This is your grandfather's wake and you're just sulking in the corner. I know this sounds odd considering the circumstances, but are you okay?"

"No." He went back to staring. "No, not really."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Matt took another drink from his plastic cup. "No."

Terry frowned, then looked around the room. "You know, Simon and Lucy and all of them could use you."

"I'll talk with them later."

"Mary was sobbing-"

"I said later!" A few people looked over at the two of them, but Matt ignored them. "Can't you get it through your thick skull I want to be alone?!"

Terry held up his hands, recognizing he'd stepped over a line. "Alright, I'm sorry."

"You should be."

Terry sighed and left the corner, catching Eric's eye as he made his way into the kitchen.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. I tried to help too much." He glanced at Matt. "I guess he just needs some time."

"Matt knew Charles longer than any of the other kids. He got like this after Annie's mother died as well. He just needs some time alone, then he'll pull together and start checking on his siblings."

"Oh. You could've warned me."

"Sorry. It happens so rarely."

Terry let out a slow breath and looked around, trying to spot his boyfriend's blond head. "Where's Simon?"

Eric frowned and glanced around the room, spotting Ruthie with Mary, and shrugged. "I don't know."

Terry mirrored Eric's frown. "I'll be back later."

"Maybe you should give Simon some time as well."

Terry hesitated, thinking about Eric's suggestion. "He'll tell me if he wants to be alone."

"If you think that's best."

Terry nodded and wound his way to the stairs, hurrying up and going to Simon's room. He knocked, but with the noise downstairs, he wasn't sure he'd hear if Simon's answer. After a minute he opened his door, and found an empty room. Odd. He checked Simon's old room, but only found Sarah with the twins. Happy was lying on Mary's bed in the attic, but otherwise there wasn't any sign of Simon. Maybe he does want some time alone. Of course, if Simon wanted to avoid the crowd downstairs, he'd have to get out of the house to do so.

I wonder… Going back downstairs and nodding to a couple of guests, he walked past the line of cars and into the Camden garage. Closing the door, the noise from the wake was greatly muffled. He crept up the stairs and stuck his head through the apartment door. Bingo. Simon was laying on the sole bed of the room. Terry came all the way in and shut the door. He waited a minute, then walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, reaching out to rub Simon's back.

"Hey."

Simon let out a choked sob, then turned his head to look at Terry. "Hey…"

"You want a hug?"

"God yes."

Terry scooped Simon into his arms and held him as the younger teen cried into his shirt. He tried to make some sort of soothing noise, but he couldn't think of any that would really help. After a few minutes, he pulled Simon down so they were both lying on the bed. He kissed Simon's forehead and rested his chin on Simon's shoulder. "Do you want me to go?"

Simon shook his head. "Could you just…stay with me for a while?"

"Of course." He rubbed Simon's back and closed his eyes, trying to ease the pain away. "I'll stay as long as you need me."

"Thank you." Simon snuggled against the model, and the two of them laid there until both fell into a light nap.

~*()*~

"Thanks for all your help, Sarah."

"Hey, it's no problem. My parents said they'd stay a bit late, help clean up the place to give you and Mrs. Camden a break." Sarah sat back on the chair and rested her hands around the tea cup before her. "How is she?"

"Annie?" Eric glanced over his shoulder towards the living room. "She's coping as well as she can. I think the fact that she's lost both her parents has finally hit, and hit hard."

"She knew this was coming, right?"

Eric nodded and poured a second mug of tea. "Yes, but it was still a hard blow, especially the last week. According to Ginger, he didn't recognize anyone, not even Annie. At least, not the adult Annie. He kept asking for his child…" Eric put the kettle down and waited for the hot water to soak the flavor out of the teabag.

"Was it…quick?"

"Yeah. He went down for his nap and never woke up." He crossed his arms and looked out the window. "Ginger was the one who found out. She went in to give him some water, and…"

Sarah looked into her tea. She couldn't help but wonder if the Alzheimer's was carried on, or if it skipped a generation, or what. Was Matt going to end up like that one day? Or Simon? She wasn't sure if she, or Terry, could handle that. "Should one of us be out there with her?"

Kevin walked into the kitchen and rested his hands on the counter. "Lucy's cleaning up a little, so Annie's not alone." He grabbed one of the few water bottles left and cracked it open. "She's pretty much on autopilot. We're going to have a rough night."

"Yeah, me too."

"Don't be sure, Sarah." Eric pulled out the teabag and left it to dry. "Matt recovers pretty quickly."

"But at the party…"

"Matt deals with the loss in his own way and own time, but it's never very long. He's always worried about Mary, Simon, all of them." Eric pushed on his back, trying to stretch out a kink. "He might be an insomniac for a night or two, but after that he'll be back to normal." A small smile came to his face. "You should've seen him when Annie's mother died. He was alone for a few hours, then he got all the kids together, explained death, helped them understand what was happening. One of the rare times he was more of an adult than Annie or I. We were too busy and shocked to think to do that at the time."

"When?" Matt came down the stairs and raised an eyebrow at his father. "What're you talking about?"

"Nothing much, dear." Sarah got up and hugged her husband. "Where've you been?"

"Checking on everyone. Mary's retreated a bit, but Ruthie's starting to get back to normal." Matt released Sarah and looked around the kitchen. "Lucy didn't want to talk, so I've been looking for Simon. And Terry. I…sorta owe him an apology."

"It's alright, son. I explained what was going on. He's not angry at you."

"Still, I shouldn't have lashed out like that."

Eric went over and patted Matt's shoulder. "You had every right to. Don't worry about it." He went back and picked up the tea cup. "If you'll excuse me, your mother's waiting for this." He made a quick exit from the kitchen.

Matt watched him leave, then drummed his fingers on his arm. "But where's Simon?"

"Oh, uh," Kevin waved towards the door, "I went to get some stuff out of our apartment and saw him and Terry on our bed. Looks like they fell asleep. Why they couldn't use Simon's room, I don't know…"

"Kay. Thanks, man." Matt headed out the back door.

Sarah simply raised her eyebrows at Kevin. "They're sleeping together?"

"They tend to do that when Simon's hurt." He took a drink of his water. "I don't really like it either, but they keep it clean, and nothing's dissuaded them from continuing the practice."

Sarah shrugged and began picking up some of the dirty plates lying around the room. "Well, want to help me start on the clean up in here?"

"Sure. Until Lucy needs me, anyway."

~*()*~

Terry looked up as the door to the apartment opened once more. When Kevin had come in, he had been roused from his nap. As a result, he found out that his arm was asleep, so, trying not to wake Simon, he had shifted his position once Kevin left. Of course, after sitting up, his arm woke up, but Simon's weight was now putting his left leg to sleep. Ah well.

"Hey." Matt came all the way in and looked over the two of them. "You been here long?"

Terry glanced at the alarm clock. "About four hours." He shifted his gaze to Simon and stroked the blond hair softly. "He was tired emotionally, and I guess helping plan everything wore me out, so we kind of ended up asleep."

Matt nodded and crossed his arms, shifting from one foot to the other. "Listen, about earlier…"

"I was out of line, I'm sorry. I should've let you grieve your own way."

"Yes, well, thank you, but I shouldn't have lashed out."

"Yes, you should've. And you did. I didn't know how you mourned, and was intruding into a private moment for you. You had every right to do what you did." Terry straightened his back a bit. "Guess hanging around your family has made me a bit more of a meddler."

Matt let out an amused snort and took a seat at the foot of the bed. "Yeah, we have a habit of doing that, don't we."

"Yes. Big time." The two exchanged a grin before Terry started pulling away from Simon. "I'm guessing you want some privacy?"

"Do you mind?"

"Na. I need to get my limbs moving. Besides, if I don't get up now, I'll screw up my sleep-wake schedule." He pulled Simon's arms from his torso and carefully guided the teen's head to a pillow. It wasn't careful enough, though, as Simon's head almost immediately rebounded and he gave Terry a bleary look.

"Where ya goin'?"

"Just to the kitchen." He patted Simon's shoulder and stood up, straightening his clothes a bit.

"Oh…"

Terry leaned down and gave Simon a chaste kiss. "Matt wants to talk to you."

"Matt?" Simon, now a little more awake, pushed himself up and spotted his brother at the end of the bed. "Oh, hi."

"Yeah, hi." Matt hit Simon's leg a couple times. "Ready to get up."

Terry smiled as Simon let out a full stretch and sat up, rubbing his eyes a bit. He'll be fine. He climbed down the stairs and returned to the house. It'll be a rough couple of days, but he'll be fine. Opening the back door, he found Kevin and Sarah working on the pans. "Hey, need a hand?"

~*()*~

"You let him what?!"

Eric winced at Annie's tone. Two days after the wake, she was finally starting to get caught up in the household status. She was a bit upset about moving the boys' rooms around, but conceded it was probably for the best. This conversation wasn't going quite as well as he'd hoped. "I thought it might help him work through this time. Besides, Terry's all alone in that house, and they've promised not to do anything."

"And you believed them?!"

"Yes, I did." Eric ran a hand through his hair. "Simon's going to be leaving next year, and he's taking Terry with him. Are you going to be worried they'll be doing something for the next four years, too?"

"Yes! Well…" Annie's resolve crumbled for a moment. "That's still a year away! There's no need to tempt fate!"

"I trust our son, and Terry. It's only for a week. This'll be good practice to get them ready for next year when they'll have to live together." He ignored the snort she gave him. "Look, as much as neither of us like it, Simon and Terry are going to be living together, and in another year he'll be eighteen. We can't keep trying to control him. We have to let him grow up. That means…letting them live together, trusting them to do the right thing, the whole deal."

"Well, excuse me for not wanting our baby to grow up so quickly!"

"He's already grown up, Annie. He's been more grown up than Matt or Mary or Lucy. He's chosen his lifestyle, and who he wants to be with. He knows what he wants to do, and he's willing to do what's needed to see he gets it. He's been attacked, been hurt in one of the worst ways, and came out fairly unscathed. He's created his own business and makes more than any of our other kids did at that age, and he's investing it wisely. Annie, he's only an inch from being an adult, and we have to let him go that final distance. We can help him, we can guide him, but we can't control him, not any more."

Annie let out a frustrated sigh and sat down on the bed with a huff. It wasn't a surrender, but it showed she was finally starting to wear down. "We don't have to let him go for more than a night or two."

"It's summer break. There was no reason to say he couldn't stay all week, not without saying we don't trust him." He took a seat a foot away from her and rested his hands in his lap. "And I do trust him, and Terry. It's not like he's moving in for his senior year, it's just for a week." He decided not to mention that Simon had asked if he could move in with Terry for his final year in high school. This fight was bad enough as it was.

"What if he doesn't want to move back home?"

"He won't run away, and he knows he has to come back, at least for one more year."

"That still doesn't mean I like this."

"Well, you have to adjust. We both do. Things will change a lot over the next twelve months. Heck, they've already started changing, and we can't stop it, no matter how much we want to."

Annie finally looked over at him. "What else is changing?"

"Well, where the twins sleep, Ruthie growing up…" He cleared his throat. "And I think…Lucy and Kevin are planning to move."

"What? But…they're happy here. They love the apartment."

"They haven't said anything, but there's been these hints. Classifieds lying around open to the apartment section, some extra boxes making their way up to their apartment." He shrugged. "I could be wrong, but I have a feeling they want to leave."

Annie finally laid back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. "So all my babies are leaving."

"Ruthie and the twins will still be here."

"For how long?"

"The twins are just entering elementary school. We have a while before they leave. Heck, Simon'll graduate from college before they enter high school." He reached out and squeezed her hand. "We have three more babies, and eventually we'll have grandchildren. They may be leaving us now, but they'll be back."

Annie sighed and threw an arm over her eyes. "That helps, but it still doesn't make me feel better about everything going on now."

"Well, eventually you'll get used to it. And once you do and it becomes the status quo…they'll change everything again."

"No kidding." Annie remained silent a moment, then pulled her arm away. "So how do the boys like their new room?"

"Well, David wants his new room a different color than it is, but otherwise, they love it."

"Different color, huh? Why don't we go see what color he wants." She sat up. "Painting would keep my mind busy while all these…changes are going on."

Eric nodded and headed for the door. Glad something will.

~*()*~

Terry groaned as his alarm clock went off. I thought I turned you off for the summer. He reached around his headboard blindly before finally closing his fingers around the offending piece of technology. Hitting the off button didn't seem to do anything though, and he wrinkled his nose. What the hell?

"Terry. S'phone."

Terry squinted his eyes open and reached over Simon's body, grabbing the phone and nearly whapping Simon's nose as he pulled it over to turn on. "What."

"Happy Birthday!"

Terry flinched away from the phone, and he felt Simon lift his head from the pillow to give him an odd look.

"Hi, Amber."

"Hey, ototou, I'm here too. Happy Birthday."

"Hi."

"Don't tell me we woke you! It's nearly nine where you are!"

Terry glanced up at the clock and nodded. "Hai, hai."

"Terry, you and Simon didn't-"

"It was a movie marathon. We ended up going to bed at three." He usually didn't do such things, but the International channel was having an anime marathon. They had finally given up at three in the morning, when Simon had dozed off and Terry's sleep deprived brain could no longer follow the dialogue. "Doesn't your mind ever leave the gutter?"

"And who's the one sleeping in the same bed as his boyfriend?"

"How do you know he's here?" Terry gave Simon's questioning look a small wave.

"Well, you love him, he just lost his grandfather, and we're standing just outside your door."

"Yes, yeah, and--huh?" Terry blinked at the phone and threw his covers back. He ambled over to the door and stuck his head out. He was immediately caught in a hug, and all he could let out was a muffled squeak of a protest.

"Terry?" Simon got out of the bed and grabbed the bathrobe Terry had loaned him. He shrugged it on as he stepped out into the hall, only to find Terry being hugged by both his brother and Amber. He let out a small yawn. "Don't I get to hug the birthday boy, too?"

Amber stuck her tongue out at him. "You get to hug him all the time. Wait your turn."

Terry let out a good natured laugh and finally pushed the two college students away. "What're you doing here? You could've called, let me know you were coming."

"And ruin the surprise?" Jordon grinned and finally hung up the cell phone in his hand.

"What surprise?"

Amber tackled him, throwing the model off balance until she had him pinned against the hall wall. "We're kidnapping you!"

"…huh?"

Jordon shook his head. "That's the best retort you can come up with? You're turning into me. IQ is below the hundreds before a caffeine fix."

Terry shook himself from Amber's grip and let out a challenging growl.

Simon, seemingly forgotten, raised his hand. "Kidnapping?"

Oh yeah, Simon. "Yeah, what's that about? You in on this, Simon?" The blond shook his head, so Terry turned back to his brother.

"We're taking you away for the next twenty-four hours. We're going to drag you to restaurants, maybe an amusement park, the usual spiel."

"Don't I get a say in this? It's my birthday."

"Nope!"

Terry rubbed his face. Amber was just as energetic as he remembered her, and he was getting tired just watching her. "Is Simon coming?" That put a halt to what was going on, Jordon's smiling wavering just a tad. Uh oh.

"We, uh, just planned on taking you with us."

"Yeah, is that okay, Simon? I mean, you get him the rest of the time. You mind?'

Terry looked over to his boyfriend and shrugged helplessly. He could force the issue with them, but he didn't want to make things awkward or tense. They had just flown all the way from Japan to be with him. "You can still stay here, if you want." He caught a hurt look flash across Simon's face, but the blond smiled.

"You go on. We can celebrate later this week."

"You're sure?" Simon nodded, but his eyes said what he didn't. We'll have to talk when I get back. Simon was hurt, but he was letting Terry have a day with his brother. Well, I won't leave him with nothing. He pulled Simon into a hug and kissed him. Simon almost immediately took the initiative and dipped Terry back a bit as he pressed on almost aggressively with his lips. He was vaguely aware of Amber encouraging them, but his concentration on the outside world was fading. He's getting good at this. Really good. When both were out of breath, Simon stood back up and released Terry.

"Happy Birthday." Simon squeezed Terry's hand, then headed down the hall towards the kitchen.

Terry stared after him, trying not to look dazed in front of his brother and friend, and failing miserably. That was…some kiss. It was a level up from how Simon had kissed him when they had been at the table with Deena. He's been practicing.

Jordon looked at where Simon was and back to his brother. "So…things are going good between you two?"

"Uh huh."

"You know, with passion like that, I don't know why you don't jump his bone-OW!" Amber hopped on one foot as she lifted the other one to rub it, glaring at Jordon. "What'd you do THAT for?"

Jordon hummed and looked at anywhere but Terry or Amber.

Terry finally caught his breath and headed for his bedroom. "Why don't I shower and you can take me out to breakfast." He ducked into the room and couldn't stop the a smile from breaking across his face. This was going to be a good birthday. Spending time with Jordon and Amber, and Simon waiting for him, with hopefully more of those kisses. Oh yeah, definitely going to be a good birthday.

~*()*~

"So they just left you?"

Simon shrugged as he tossed a peanut to a squirrel. He and Lucy were walking through one of the parks on the outskirts of Glen Oak. Since he couldn't spend the day with Terry, he had decided to do something for himself. He hadn't given any indication to Terry of what he wanted for his birthday, which was just a week away. He figured today he could just clear his head and think about it, as well as figure out what he would do about Terry's birthday. All the plans he made just went out the window, and he wasn't sure he could rearrange them.

"Well, that was sort of rude." Lucy grabbed a few nuts from the bag and tossed them as well.

"They came from Japan to celebrate Terry's birthday. If Matt did that for me, Terry'd let me go off and enjoy time with him. I'm a little hurt, but I can't blame him for going." The gate he was looking for was just ahead. The park had been renovating a small corner of it, turning it into a Japanese garden. He had figured he and Terry could take a walk there, but since Terry was gone, and he knew he couldn't get his lunch reservations back, he was going to scope it out and see if there was a place to have a picnic.

"Still. They could've included you."

"There's not much I can do about it." He dumped the nut remains on the ground and tossed the empty bag into a trash receptacle. "Besides, Terry's face lit up. He was glad they were there, really glad. I…didn't want to spoil it for him."

"And you? Didn't they do anything to make you glad?"

Simon felt his cheeks turn a bit red. "Well, Terry and I kissed. Really, really kissed. It was, um…"

"Intense?"

"Yeah."

"You or him?"

"Me."

Lucy stopped walking. "You?"

Simon paused as well and looked back at her. "What? I'm not allowed to be a great kisser?"

"Well, you haven't had much experience, and Terry…"

"Lucy, kissing a guy isn't that different from kissing a girl. You just…put your hands in a different place. Feels a bit different--why am I telling you this? Why are you even interested?"

It was Lucy's turn to shrug as she caught up with him. "The conversation went that way, and…curiosity."

"You kiss guys all the time. You know what it's like."

"It's got to be different when you're a guy, though."

"Not as much as you'd think." He quickly scanned the sign by the entrance. It, along with a rose garden in a park closer to his house, were the city's memorial to September Eleventh and those lost in the War in Iraq. Underneath was a quick set of rules. Food was allowed, but they did talk about keeping the area clean, and quiet. "Do you think it'll be nice?"

"Kissing Terry? From your dopey grins I would suppose so."

Simon gave her an amused look, but shook his head. "I mean the gardens. Terry said some of the ones here don't do real ones justice. Think the city got it even remotely close?"

"If not, I'm sure it'll be great. It is a memorial to those that died."

Simon nodded, then stepped into the garden, trying to take it all in at once. There was what he assumed to be a tea house almost immediately to his left. A little farther back and, while closer to the center of the park, still offset to the left, was a two-tiered waterfall. It wasn't gushing, but it wasn't trickling either. It was actually rather soothing, similar to listening to the rain at night when it was pouring. The waterfall led into a rather large lake that took up most of the garden's area. There were two bridges, one directly in the path before him, and one down towards the right, where a small shrine was set up. And of course, there were a variety of plants. Trees, ferns, flowers, some of which he recognized, but most of which he couldn't identify.

"I think Terry'll like it."

Simon nodded, still just taking in the beauty of it. It was active, a few people walking around or leaning over the bridge, talking quietly. Along the cobbled path were benches, spread conservatively and placed in strategic points. Plenty of places he and Terry could sit to eat lunch. Yeah, he'll enjoy it. Simon was enjoying it, and he had only stepped a foot into the place. No wonder Terry was looking for one after the APs. It's pretty relaxing. Picking the path to his right, away from the waterfall, he began a slow trek through the garden. I wonder what Terry's doing right now.

~*()*~

"One, two three, four-yeah!"

"Anta no sei ja nai wa, shiran kao shiteba ii; itsudemo otoko dake ga, itai me ni awaseteru; saa, hayaku nigeru no yo!"

Jordon grinned as the music faded out and he handed his microphone to Amber. "Not bad. You still practicing?"

Terry plopped down in the nearest seat as Amber took up the next song. "In the shower. Simon thinks my voice is soothing, too."

"You've never sung Sleepless Beauty to him, have you."

Terry laughed and picked up his glass of sake. "No, I don't think I have." He took a sip of his drink. "You know, Lucy and Kevin are moving into here in two weeks. We really shouldn't be having part of this celebration in their new home."

"Bah, we'll clean up when we're done."

"You mean I will after you leave."

"Semantics."

Terry shook his head and punched Jordon in the arm. "Baka."

"Yeah, yeah. So, now that you're properly inebriated-"

"I've had one sip!"

"We're going to take you to-"

"Disneyland?"

"A bookstore!"

Terry's face lit up, though he nearly fell to the floor laughing at Amber's fallen look. Hey, it was his birthday, and he liked to go to bookstores. Especially now that they also included DVD and CD areas, and he always wanted to go when his brother was paying.

"A bookstore? Come on, Jordon. We can do better than that."

"We have to get the gifts out of the way now so that we can party later."

Amber seemed to think about that, then shrugged. "Well, that's a good point."

Jordon clapped his hands together. "Yosha! I'll get the car, you two get ready to go." He dug into his pockets and pulled out some keys as he left.

Terry rested a few minutes, then hauled himself off the chair and stretched. Breakfast, brotherly wrestling, karaoke, and now a bookstore. They are so spoiling me. Amber took the momentary lapse in his judgment to take advantage of his extended body and tickled his sides. "AH!" He brought his hands down and backed away, Amber following him waving her fingers. "No. No, no, no, no, no. No tickling."

"Come, come. Preacher's boy isn't the only one who gets to enjoy tickling you."

Terry felt his face turn red at Amber's insinuation, not that her lecherous grin was helping, and he ducked his head. "He doesn't…we're not…I mean…"

Amber let out a roar of laughter and swatted Terry on the back. "Geeze! And I thought nothing could embarrass you! Little Terry is shy about sex!"

"I am not! Just…sex with Simon." He could tell his blush reached the roots of his hair, and felt the heat spread over his body. Oh, she's going to be teasing me about this for a long time. "And maybe talking about it…"

Amber put an arm around his shoulder and steered him towards the door. "Boy, you're really stuck on him, aren't you."

"Uh huh--I mean I'm really in love with him, not-"

"'Stuck' on him, yeah, I know." She squeezed his shoulder. "I'm glad you're happy with him."

He felt the blush start to leave him. "Me too. I really don't know if I could be happy with anybody else."

"Hey, if your brother could get over Sakura, you'd probably get over Simon."

Terry wrinkled his nose. "Yeah, well, let's hope I never have a chance to find out."

"Yep, here's hoping." She stopped at the entrance of the building, watching Jordon fiddle with the radio in the car he was sitting in. "You realize you're letting your brother, who's high on life, drive, right?"

Terry groaned and rested his forehead against Amber's shoulder. "I don't suppose you brought any tranquilizers?"

"Nope."

"Damn. Well, how bad could he be?" As if in response, Jordon revved the engine and gave the horn a quick hit, telling them to hurry. "Maybe we can wrestle the keys away?"

"You distract him, I'll shove him out the door."

"Deal."

~*()*~

Kevin put an arm around Lucy's shoulder. "You ready to do this?"

Lucy took a deep breath. "As ready as I'll ever be." With Simon over tonight to spend dinner with them and play with the twins, they had decided to tell the family they were moving out. The papers were already in escrow, and the major packing would have to happen in about a week. Best to let them know now rather than have them find out when we're dragging the mattress down. With her resolve still strong, she pushed open the door to the dining room and smiled around the room.

Simon glanced at them briefly, but quickly went back to talking with Ruthie over…something. They were talking in low tones, so they couldn't be heard. Good to see them getting their bond back. It had vanished for a while, but with everything that had happened the last few months, they seemed to be mending the rift quickly.

The twins were, of course, playing a little with their food as they ate, and her father was trying to chastise them for it. Her mother, on the other hand, seemed to pretty much watch everything. It was obvious that, even after five days, the death of her father was bothering her. Not that I can blame her. Had her own dad not made it through the heart surgery, she probably would've been haunted by it, too.

Quietly, she and Kevin took their seats, neither quite sure how to start this discussion. Simon and Ruthie finally broke off whatever discussion they were having and dug into their plates, Simon casting them a curious look every now and then. Wonder what that's about. Next to her, Kevin cleared his throat, which caught the attention of everyone at the table, even Sam and David. Subtle.

"Well, mom, dad, guys. We have to make a little announcement."

Annie spoke up first. "Is Lucy pregnant?"

Kevin coughed and Lucy wasn't sure whether to pat him on the back or hit him with the terrified expression that had passed his face momentarily. We'll discuss that little thing later. "No, mom. It's something else." She tried to ignore the disappointed look Annie had and continued on. "We've had a really great time here, living with you over the garage. It was a very nice wedding gift, and we are really grateful for putting it together for us. But, it's time Kevin and I moved out, to our own place. Still nearby, in case you need us, but off on our own."

She waited for the horrified expressions of her mother and surprised noises from the rest of her family. Instead, everyone simply went back to their meals. "What? That's it?"

Simon shrugged. "We all kind of knew. Ruthie told me."

Lucy sighed. She should've known that she couldn't keep a secret like that from Ruthie. It was a little big, plus she hadn't exactly been hiding when she was looking through newspapers.

Eric threw in how he found out. "And I saw some classifieds lying around opened to the apartment section."

"Oh. So…you're all okay with this?"

Again, Simon shrugged, and Ruthie nodded. Annie let out a sigh and pushed her food around with her fork.

"Mom?" It wasn't like her to be quiet. She doesn't do quiet. She vocalizes. She caught a look between her parents, but couldn't quite interpret it.

"Are you sure you want to leave? You've got a fairly good deal with our apartment. You're near us, it's not expensive, and food is free."

"Yes, and that's sort of why. If we're ever going to learn how to make it on our own, we can't be dependent on you. We have to find our own way. I have to learn not to run to you over every problem, no matter what it is. Matt was already in an apartment when he was my age. We've had a while to get used to living together, and you've helped with that transition, but it's time we moved on." Lucy shifted in her seat as Annie continued to stare at her, somewhat uncomfortable at the look her mom was giving her and Kevin.

"Alright, if that's what you want. When do you plan on moving out?"

Kevin put his arms on the table, taking charge of the conversation. "We've actually found a place, and we should be able to move in a couple weeks."

"Is it nearby?"

"A short drive. We'll be nearby if you need us."

"Alright. But if you ever need anything, you come back here, okay?"

Kevin nodded and reached over to rest his hand on Lucy's. "We will."

Lucy went back to eating, letting the tension out of her body. That wasn't so bad. Mom's reaction sort of worries me, but they're okay with it. She wondered what would happen when they found out they were buying the apartment lease from Terry. Probably be okay. She chewed her food and picked up a glass of water. Speaking of him, I wonder where his brother dragged him to for the night.

~*()*~

Terry shielded his eyes from the strobe light as he left the restroom. Amber had decided that, since the sun had gone down, it was time to go to a club and really party. He wasn't objecting, unless she meant that they were staying until they closed. Twenty-four hours, and I have over twelve to go. He would be needing a lot of caffeine fixes to make it through the rest of the time.

Pushing his way back onto the dance floor, he searched out his friend, and felt his jaw drop as he spotted her. It wasn't that she was dancing rather provocatively with his brother, she did that with him, it was just for fun. It was the fact that his brother had her in a rather obvious lip lock, one that seemed to be mutually enjoyed. Amber…and aniki? All thinking stopped as he just tried to take in that concept.

Sure, he had put them in the same building, hoping Amber would get Jordon back into the dating world after Sakura. He had joked with Jordon that he could always pair up with her, but to actually see them together, it simply fried his brain. Okay…well, they certainly are going all out on birthday surprises. A grin started to tug at the corners of his mouth. You know, this opens the door to a whole new way to tease aniki. Jordon loved to tease him about Simon. Oh this payback is going to be sweet. Turning around, he let himself get lost in the music once more. He'd wait until they were back in Japan, then the fun would really start.

~*()*~

~*()*~

~*()*~

Ototou: younger brother

Hai: yes

Baka: idiot

Yosha: alright

Aniki: older brother

Author's Prattle: Wow, I'm getting them out about once a month. 31 in Jan, 32 in Feb, and now 33 in Mar. Fairly impressive, considering all the reading I have to do with my classes. Not only that, but I've got two other fic chapters updated as well today. Not, bad, not bad at all. So, I've finally addressed some of the issues put forth in the previous chapters. Annie's father dying, Lucy and Kevin moving out, and, of course, Jordon and Amber coming out to celebrate Terry's birthday and graduation. I didn't intend for it to be a "counterpoint" chapter, but that's how it turned out, and that's pretty cool.

Disclaimers. I don't own 7th Heaven. It belongs to Brenda Hampton and Aaron Spelling. I also don't own the song Terry and Jordon were singing, that was the opening theme to Tenchi Universe!, and that belongs to Pioneer. You can find the translation at animelyrics.com. Sleepless Beauty is a Gravitation song, I think it's a pretty cool one. I also don't own Gravitation, I think…Pioneer does. I'm not sure. I do, however, own Terry, Jordon, Amber, and this plot.

So, that's about it. Spring Break is coming up, and I have a lot to do, so the next chapter probably won't come out until April. I don't have just this fic to work on. "Cipher's Wake" needs to be finished, I'm working on my "Life and Soul" rewrite, and I need to get back to my SG-1 series "Prodigal Son" and "No Need for Daniel!" Hence the reason it takes a while to get chapters out.

As always, constructive criticism and feedback is greatly appreciated (in emails or reviews), and above all, I hope you enjoyed!