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Chapter Six: Routine's Beginning

Duo,
I have a meeting after school today, so I won't be home until around five. Jon will be doing some grocery shopping after he gets off work, but he should be home before me. Please either take Benny for a walk or put him out on his run in the back yard.
There are brownies on the counter and apples in the fridge of you want a snack. If you need anything, just call my cell phone (231-555-0086)
Diana

The note had been left on the kitchen counter, next to a plate of brownies. I took a brownie, grabbed the leash that Diana had left on the counter, and went outside to get Benny. While we were gone for the day, Benny stayed in a fenced in pen behind the garage. The pen was about ten feet by six feet, and had a doghouse inside. When he saw me, Benny began to bark and wag his tail excitedly.

"Hey Benny," I greeted him as I popped the last bit of brownie into my mouth. "Wanna go for a walk?" I held up the leash and he just wagged his tail all the more. "Okay, then you need to sit and stay while I get the collar on you." Opened the door to the kennel. "Sit!" Immediately the huge yellow dog sat down on his haunches, his tongue lolling out of his mouth and his body still shaking from his wagging tail. "Stay!" He obeyed me and behaved while I put the leash on him. "Good boy, Benny," I said rubbing his back when I was done. "Let's go for a walk, okay?"

Benny and I went for a stroll through the neighborhood. It was a bright sunny day in mid September, and people were outside everywhere, enjoying the nice weather. Many people recognized Benny, and when Benny stopped to be petted, I stopped too and chatted with the people.

In front of one very large and Victorian house a few blocks up from the Christopher's, a woman was out clipping her hedges. Benny barked happily at her and promptly dragged me across her lawn to see her. Jeez, I thought. Who's walking who here?

"Benny! What a nice surprise!" the woman said with a smile as she squatted down and rubbed Benny's head. She smiled up at me. "What's your name?"

"Duo, Duo Maxwell," I replied.

"Well, Duo Maxwell, I see you've been bestowed the honor of escorting Benny around the neighborhood." She laughed and stood up. "You must be Diana and Jon's new foster child, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

She smiled. "They're nice people. I'm Megan VanBuren." We shook hands. "I've been friends with the Christopher's for a few years. I hope you enjoy your time with them. And I hope you and Benny enjoy your romp through the neighborhood," she added, giving Benny a last pat on the head.

"Thanks. See you around," I said as Benny and I turned and headed back to the sidewalk.

"You know Benny, I think you are quite possibly the most popular dog I have ever met." We crossed the street and continued walking a ways until we finally ended up walking past a park. "Wanna sit down and have a rest Benny?" I asked. I didn't wait for an answer. I led Benny over to a bench and collapsed into it. "It's been a long day Benny. Gods, whoever invented school needs to be dragged out in to the street and shot."

Benny snapped his head up at me and whimpered. I laughed and patted his head. "Not really. Just a figure of speech," I sighed and looked up at the beautiful blue sky. "Besides, now that we have peace, there aren't any guns to shoot the person with."

I sat on the bench for a long time, watching some little kids played on the jungle gym and slide. Benny sat beside me quietly and watched the little kids too, his tongue once again hanging out of his mouth in a goofy grin.

I was so engrossed in watching the kids play that I didn't realize how late it was until my watch went off. "JEEZ!" I cried as I looked at it. I jumped up and pulled on the leash to get Benny to stand up. "It's four o'clock already. Com'n Benny, we gotta get back home!"

I took off at a jog, and Benny kept up with me all the way back down the three or four blocks to the Christopher's house. We got there just as Jon pulled into the driveway. I waved to him and came to a stop next to his car.

"Hey Duo!" Jon said as he got out of the car. He was wearing an old pair of jeans, a t-shirt that had grease on it, and work boots. "You and Benny have a good walk?"

"Yeah. He took me around and introduced me to the entire neighborhood."

"Benny likes people. He loves it when he gets to take his people for a walk. Here, you wanna help me carry in the groceries? I got some stuff I thought you might like."

I put Benny inside and then helped Jon carry the grocery bags into the kitchen. Jon fed Benny while I pulled the groceries out and put them away. He had gotten the everyday kind of groceries like milk and bread and eggs, but he had also gotten some stuff that looked like it had been bought mainly for me. There were frozen pizzas and soda and cereal and bagels, and a whole bunch of other food that looked really appealing.

"I was thinking that tonight you and I could make dinner, since Diana's gonna be home late," Jon said. "How does that sound?"

I shrugged. "Okay I guess. I've never really done much cooking."

"I thought you and a friend lived in a house by yourselves for a while. Didn't you cook then?" he asked as he pulled some frozen chicken out of the freezer.

"Nah. I cooked maybe once, and it was a complete disaster," I replied. "Hilde usually cooked. I did dishes."

"Sounds like a good arrangement. I wish Diana and I figured out a system like that when we were first married. You should have seen some of the pillow fights that were the result of neither of us wanting to do the dishes," Jon said, winking at me.

I grinned. "Hilde and I had our share of those. There was this one time when she lost and had to do the dishes, and I came in, totally unsuspecting, and she sprayed me with that squirt thingy that's on some sinks, you know? Man, I was soaked through, and it wasn't even bath night!"

That sent Jon into a fit of laughter. Grinning, I decided that I liked Jon. He liked to laugh, and I liked making people laugh. And Jon was one of those people who would probably laugh at a joke even if no one else did. When he was happy, he showed it.

While we were cooking, Jon taught me how to wash and peal potatoes and carrots. We were making baked chicken, mashed potatoes, and carrots. I had never made mashed potatoes from scratch, but it turned out to be a lot easier than it sounded.

Diana came in shortly after five. She looked tired and the bun in her hair was starting to fall out, but she didn't act like she was tired. "Hey boys, what's for dinner?"

"Chicken, carrots and mashed potatoes à la Maxwell," Jon said as he walked over and gave his wife a hug and kiss 'hello'. I looked away while they were embracing. Watching them reminded me of Hilde.

"How long until dinner?" Diana asked.

"Oh, about ten minutes I guess," Jon replied.

"Okay…Hey, Duo, is this your backpack?" Diana pointed at my bag that I had dropped on the floor in the hall when I had gotten home. I nodded. "Would you mind taking it up stairs to your room then?" she requested.

"Okay." I hopped down from the stool I was sitting on, grabbed my bag off the floor, and headed up to my room.

I tossed my bag on my bed. After a moment's thought, I walked over to my computer and logged onto my e-mail account. I had one message, and it was from Quatre. I quickly opened it, happy to see that my friend had written back so soon. But when I read the e-mail, I was slightly disappointed.

Duo,
I'm glad to hear you made it to Earth and that you like your foster parents. Things are quieter here without you around, but just as busy. Heero, Trowa, and WuFei all send their regards. Write back soon.
Quatre

I sighed. I didn't know what I had expected, since my e-mail to them had simply been a quick e-mail that basically said, "I'm here, and the people are nice."

"Duo! Dinner's almost ready!" Diana called up the stairs. "Wash your hands and come to the table!"

"Okay!" I called back. "Be down in a minute!" I clicked the "reply" button at the bottom of the message. I stared at the screen for a few seconds, trying to decide what to write. I wanted to tell Quatre that I still missed them, and that school wasn't all it was cracked up to be, and that I wanted to be back on the colonies with him and the others. But I knew that if I wrote something like that, then Quatre would worry, Heero would think I was too immature to handle a new setting, and WuFei would call me weak. Trowa would be the only one who wouldn't show any change. Sometimes I wished I could hide my emotions like him.

Sighing, I closed the window without writing anything. I'll write to them after dinner if I have time, I told myself.

I quickly washed my hands then went downstairs to the dining room. Diana and Jon were just sitting down, so I wasn't late.

"This looks great, guys," Diana said as she scanned the food.

"Well, it was simple enough, huh Duo?" Jon said, grinning at me.

I nodded. "Yeah."

Jon served Diana and me. I wanted to tell him that I could serve myself, but I kept my mouth shut for once.

"So, Duo, tell us all about your first day of school," Diana said as she took a bite of her food.

"Well, it was okay, I guess," I replied between bites. "I mean, most of my classes are really boring. Well, History might be fun. And biology. Math's gonna be a breeze, and my English teacher is so boring it's not funny. I have PE tomorrow, and I missed my Economics class this morning cause of my meeting with Principal Quigley."

"Oh? How'd that go?" Diana asked.

"He hates me."

Diana looked at me, shocked. "Why do you say that?"

"Well, he gave me the whole 'We run a tight ship around here' speech. Then he told me that if he had his way he was would've sent me back to middle school. And when I made a joke, he glared at me and asked me point blank if I was gonna cause any trouble. I don't know what his problem is, but I never start trouble unless I have a good reason," I finished. Diana and Jon were both looking slightly worried. I smiled reassuringly at them. "Don't worry, I'm not planning on starting any trouble here. Last thing I want or need is Miss Renée coming in and screwing with my life again, you know? It's just that people here are so uptight. They all looked at me like I was some sort of alien."

Jon laughed. "Well, Duo, you are from outer space."

Diana smiled at her husband, and then turned her attention to me. "Well Duo, you do dress a little more extremely than people around here are used to. But I'm sure once they get to know you, that won't bother them. You just keep on being yourself, and you'll be fine." She popped a few carrots into her mouth, chewed and swallowed. "Did you make any friends?"

"Yeah!" I said, sitting up. "Two guys, Jeff and Brian. Jeff's in my math class and I have bio with both of them. They're really cool guys, and Jeff's invited me over to his house on Thursday afternoon to study for our Math test. Can I go?"

Diana and Jon exchanged smiles. "Sure you can go," Jon said. "Sounds like a good time."

Grinning, I cleaned my plate and asked for seconds. When I had finished those, I pushed my plate away and let out a contented sigh. "That was really good."

"Indeed," Diana agreed. "You boys did a great job." She stood and began to clear the table. "Duo, do you have homework?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Okay, well, you should probably get on that before it gets too late."

"Alright." I stood up and headed up to my room. I paused half way up the stairs though, when I heard them talking about me.

"I'm so glad to hear that Duo's making friends," Diana was saying. "It seems like he's adjusting well."

"Yeah," Jon said. "Oh, and today at the store, I picked up some of those foods Miss Renée suggested we get. She's right, he is thinner than he was in the picture they sent us, like he's lost weight."

"Well, people tend to loose weight after going through something like Duo did, Jon. Megan did, you remember that. We just need to keep an eye on him and make sure he eats enough."

"He certainly ate enough tonight. Seconds on everything! He can sure pack it away for a kid his size. Of course, when I was his age, I could eat a lot more than that in one sitting."

"You were also probably twice Duo's size, you big galoot," Diana replied, laughing. Jon laughed as well.

I continued to my room and flopped down on my bed. So, Miss Renée had told them to keep an eye on my appetite. She had also probably told them to watch for depressed or suicidal behavior. I laughed to myself. I wasn't planning on killing myself. I still missed Hilde, but the hurt wasn't as bad as it had been a month before.

Sitting up, I picked up the picture of Hilde and me off my dresser and looked at it, remembering the day. She had been so proud of herself for talking WuFei into taking a picture of us. I ran my finger over her face. "Hey kiddo," I said, smiling a bittersweet smile at her. "I'm doin' okay. I hope you're doin' okay, too, where ever you are."

I put the picture back and walked over to my bookshelf where the guys' presents sat. I picked up the self-destruct switch Heero had given to me. He had sworn that it wasn't meant to be a joke on the fact that I could never manage to self-destruct my Gundam. But I swear to God, Heero had some sense of humor-- even if it was slightly skewed--and I had my suspicions that the gift was Heero's way of poking fun at me. I put the switch down and lifted Trowa's puzzle box. I twisted a couple of the carvings on it and then tried to open the lid. No luck. I had been trying different combinations carvings and number of twists over the past few days, but nothing had worked. Sighing, I put the box back and turned my attention to my homework.

My homework took me a lot longer than I had thought it would. My math homework took me no time at all, but between the short story I had to read for English, the review sheets for History, and the bookwork for Biology, it took me the better part of three hours to get it all done. When I did finish, I was yawning so much that I decided to go straight to bed and not write that e-mail to Quatre.

I brushed my teeth and said goodnight to Diana and Jon who were working in their study.

When I got back to my room, I pulled off my clothes until I was just in my boxers and then I crawled into bed. I turned off the lights and stared at the ceiling for a long time. For some reason, the lessons I had been taught at the Maxwell Church came back to me. All the stories about God and Jesus and Moses and everybody. Frowning, I finally spoke. "Well God, if you're there, I hope you at least know what you're doing, 'cause I have no clue what I'm doing."

With that, I rolled over and went to sleep.