The Usual Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, Meryl, Milly, Wolfwood, Rem, Knives, or Vash, as much as I wish I owned one particular character. . . .Oh, well. I can dream, can't I?

Glory

Chapter Sixteen: Milly's Family

They were at December now. The entire steamer was loading and unloading, and they were just finishing their packing. As they were leaving, Meryl asked an interesting question.

It was something that had been growing on her mind since the first time she watched Glory and Vash wrestle.

"Just how flexible are you guys, anyway?"

Glory laughed and winked. "I'm sure you'll figure it out soon enough."

Both Meryl and Vash blanched at that and then began blushing.

Meryl shook herself out of it first, as everyone else rolled eyes or shook heads. "I'm being serious here!"

Glory grinned over her shoulder. "Like I said, you'll find out."

Vash coughed, a pointed sound. "Maybe we should change the subject."

"Why?" Glory asked, teasingly. She was having too much fun with this. "Afraid you're losing your touch?"

Judging by the color of his cheeks at that, just about everyone found out where he got the right tint to his coat. "Cut it out!" he whined.

Glory laughed and continued following Milly and Nicholas. They were going to Milly's home first, to meet her family and so on. They were going to provide housing for them until they secured their own residence. And is it just her, or do Glory's thoughts recently sound all too sophisticated?

About time you showed your true nature, Knives thought beside her.

Glory stuck her tongue out. My true nature includes singing, driving insanely, and playing around. Words mean next to nothing, I'll have you know.

This sparked an argument between all three siblings, all of whom had their own visions on what a Plant's true nature was. Knives' pointed - rather obviously - the superiority of their species above all others. Vash's theory was that they were there as protectors and helpers of the human race, but by no means enslaved. Glory thought they were all equal and no one needed protection or enslavement.

We were meant to watch over them, Vash argued.

Please, we deserve to rule them, Knives returned smoothly.

You're both wrong; we're all the same, Glory shot back.

At this point they were all snapping so fast at one another that it was impossible to keep up. They eventually got angry at one another and stopped, glaring at each and continuing their mental tirade at each other. At present everyone else noticed this and watched them carefully, including a few townsfolk. They were all interested in why the three of them were glaring at one another, silent, but showing emotions that passed by quickly.

Glory put on a shocked look at Knives and narrowed her eyes. They both then turned theirs glares on Vash. Vash in turn sneered at Glory, who sneered back. AT last Glory's eye twitched and their mental conversation broke into verbal.

"Admit it; you're both wrong!" Glory snapped.

"You're wrong!" the twins argued.

"I am not and you both know it!" Glory shouted. "Superiority on either of your views is entirely wrong!"

"Says the woman who hid her entire life!" Knives argued.

"Like you're any better!" Vash said, turning on his brother.

"No kidding! Declaring war on your twin - what's the matter with you?!" Glory added.

"My problem is the two of you!" Knives snapped.

"Prove it!" Glory and Vash shot back.

"I believe I'm the eldest here!" Knives continued. "Meaning that I am right!"

"Wrong!" Glory and Vash said together.

"I'm teaching you and you promised to learn!" Glory went on.

"Stop!" Marcus snapped at them. "What's this all about?"

"Stay out of this!" the siblings shot at him.

People began shrinking away as they went on, yelling at each other. It went on and on until they pounced to stop the sibling Plants.

Nicholas grabbed Vash, Marcus got Glory, and Meryl and Milly knocked over Knives. While Glory and Vash near instantly calmed down, Knives only looked angrier. With a mutual glance and truce, Vash and Glory then got up and grabbed Knives. With their combined effort he had to submit for the time being, and soon their group was going on to the Thompson's. One could only imagine the hell they could raise there.

. . .Or the hell that would be thrown at them.

Once there, Milly threw open the door and shouted, "Milly's home!!"

There was an answering scream from her mother and then both her parents were at the door and hugging wildly. The three siblings in the back of their group stepped back apprehensively as Milly began introducing them.

"Remember Meryl? And this is Nicholas D. Wolfwood; I wrote about him. Over there Marcus - we just met him on the way over. And back there -" she pointed - "Is Mr. Vash, his brother Mr. Knives and his sister Miss Glory!"

Glory wiggled her fingers in an attempted wave, which turned out to be the wrong thing to do. Apparently neither Vash nor Knives had moved yet, and as such, it brought attention directly to her. Milly's father, a hugely strong man, came right up and hugged her with a "Welcome to the Thompsons!".

Trying not to seem unwelcomed, Glory patted his shoulder and urged him away. "Thank you very much, Mr. um. . ."

He grinned. "Phillip Grant Julius Norman Kyle Stan Jasper Thompson the second," he said and winked. "You can call me Phillip."

"With pleasure," Glory said back, unsure of what to say.

Phillip laughed and gestured for Milly's mother. "And this is my wife, Sara. Milly's mother, along with our other ten children. Come on inside; we've been expecting Milly any day now!" With another laugh he led them all inside, although the Plants were reluctant to follow, despite how Glory and Vash reveled in being part of a group.

The house was as huge inside as it looked from the outside. The living room they were led to took up half the first story, which was apparently necessary judging by the multitude of people revolving inside it. Currently they were all giving and receiving hugs from one very pregnant Milly, and welcoming Nicholas into the family with the same strong hugs. He was looking worse for wear when he finally got to sit down and Milly waved an arm at everyone still standing by the door.

Meryl took a firm stance and glared at anyone who tried to hug her, and as such she was spared the beating. Marcus jumped right in and compared biceps with a few people as well. It was when they spotted the 'triplets' - as Glory had dubbed the three of them - that Glory herself grew worried.

Knives' glare was twice as strong as Meryl's, sp everyone generally avoided him, but Glory and Vash weren't spared. About a dozen men with a half a dozen women gave hugs and coaxed Glory to sit on an abandoned couch as a dozen more spoke quickly to Vash and Knives, and Glory found herself as the object of affection for many unmarried men.

There was a man on either side of her, one on the right arm of the couch, and three behind her. In front of her was a short table, and two men were perched on it. The rest of the crowd were still circulating the room with dozens of children running between them.

"What's your name?" the man on her right asked.

"Glory," she replied, her head spinning from how many times she looked in another direction.

"Are those two your brothers?" the man on her left asked.

"Y-yes."

"Are you married?" the guy on her right went on.

"No."

"Seeing anyone?" the man behind her asked.

"No -"

"I'm Larry," the man on the right of the table said. He was shoved by the man on his right.

"I'm Terry."

"Nick."

"Damon."

"Ken."

"Gene."

"Jareth."

"Ferdinand."

Glory's head wasn't getting any clearer. "Nice to meet you," she tried.

Damon - the man on her right - leaned over and kissed her cheek as Ken - the man directly behind her - ran his fingers through her hair.

"That's enough!" Glory said and got up to dash between her brothers. She put an arm around either waist and two arms went around her shoulders. Vash on her right, Knives on her left, Knives' arm atop Vash's.

"Everyone calm down!" Phillip bellowed, voice traveling above everyone else's.

Glory yelped and jerked forward, then turned right and looked over her shoulder. A man grinned sheepishly and waved, and she kicked, aiming for his jaw. Right side kick, to be exact. The man's head snapped back and then he collapsed.

Phillip laughed and went over to pick him up. "Sorry about that; Nash here has wandering hands."

Glory whimpered and turned her back to Knives, and crossed her arms over her large bosom. These men seemed to like their own kind, which involved height and muscle - exactly what Glory was. And not only that, she was the only blonde woman in the room, not counting a five-year-old girl.

Knives' glare was all for show as he put his arms around Glory. And what did that human do? he asked.

The pervert grabbed my ass! Glory said with a mental whine.

Is that it? Vash asked.

Vash!! Glory and Knives scolded him.

Vash winced. Sorry.

Sara was hovering around them. "I'm really sorry about that! But come, we cleared a sofa for you. It's time to get to know everybody!" She practically sang as she led them to one of the six sofas in the room. Once sat down, Meryl took a place - rather boldly - on Vash's lap. Or rather, between his legs with her legs and arms crossed. Marcus perched on the left arm and faced to loveseat across from them, where Phillip and Sara sat. To their left a double-sized sofa sat with seven occupants, two of whom were Milly and Nicholas, and three of which held young children.

Suddenly Glory wanted to leave. And Knives felt the urge and tightened his arm around her shoulders protectively.

"Once again," Phillip began, "welcome to the family!" The entire room cheered at that and Phillip shushed them. "I'll begin introductions with my brothers and sisters." He began pointing. "Carrie, Fauna, Anthony, Wolf, Zoe, Samuel, Crystal, Jake, and Winifred."

Sara spoke up. "And my brothers and sisters: My twin Laura, Donald, Faith, Gregory, Casper, Serenity, Jarold and Bret."

Milly spoke up, almost singing as her mother was. "And that's David, Rebecca, Eric and Erica, Tamara, Sammy, Maria, Frank, Dolly and Larry!"

Everyone laughed.

Carrie, the first one to be listed off, introduced her family. "My husband Steve, and our children, Terry, Cordelia and Hope." They were triplets.

Laura, Sara's twin, was next to speak up. "My husband Vinny, our children Jason, Kyle, Darrel and Eliza."

Next to talk was Zoe. "Orion, my husband. John, Michael and Mitchell, our kids."

Then Fauna. "Virgo here is my husband, and these four hellions are our kids, Adrian, Ray, Quinn and Ulysses."

Serenity. "My husband Lucius, our kids Garth, Finia, Lacy, Norm and Dave."

Faith. "Nathan's my husband. Nick, Gene and Jean are my kids."

Crystal. "This idiot is Jerry, unfortunately my betrothed." The group laughed. "And Ariel, Cathy, Kat and Tracy, our four girls." Cathy and Kat were twins.

Winifred. "This is my husband, Ned. Our children should be raiding the kitchen - there they are!" Everyone laughed again. "Tyler, Charisma, Fanny and Bradley. Wave, kids."

That was it for Milly's aunts, so next her uncles began listing. It seemed to be their developed way of introducing themselves - women first, eldest to youngest, followed by the men. In-laws don't get to speak until after.

Donald went first. "My wife Athena, our children Abraham, Sirius and Catherine."

Gregory. "Torrance, my wife. Iris, Ruby, Max and Jared, my kids." Torrance shoved Gregory and everyone enjoyed another chuckle.

Anthony. "This here is my unbelievably beautiful wife, Rain. And our equally beautiful children, Juniper, Greg, and Lyle, the triplets." Rain blushed and kissed Anthony.

Samuel. "This is Luvia, my gorgeous wife -" this with a glare at Anthony - "and our gorgeous kids, Will, Jewel, Emerald, Steven and Charlie." Anthony lifted his hands in surrender and then moved on.

Wolf. "Remember me? Wolf. My wife Zenia is right here. And our five girls, Susan, Kate, Nichole, Helen and Elvira." The group laughed at his emphasis on 'five girls', and Zenia punched his shoulder. Kate, Nichole and Helen were triplets.

Casper. "This is Jeanette, and over there, Carol, Sarah and Jareth."

"Haven't you guys ran out of names yet?" Glory muttered, taking a deep breath to resettle her concentration. There was more laughter from around her.

"Not quite," Bret laughed, being his turn. "Jennifer, my wife, and our son, Ken." Ken winked and cocked his finger at Glory.

Glory in turn shook her head and looked away from him, and again the room choused with laughter, this time pointed at Ken being turned down. He was obviously the 'stud' - one of the three blonde men in Milly's huge family.

Jake was next. He lifted his fist like he was talking into a microphone. "Hello, world, this is Jake Thompson talking to you from my parent's living room! Next to me is my oh-so-lovely wife, Tammy. Our two daughters are currently making lovey eyes at the newest stud in the room." The girls blushed and looked away, having been inspecting Knives. The laughter was harder this time. "This one's Samantha, and that one, Katrina. Once again this Jake Thompson, signing off. Goodbye and goodnight!"

As soon as he finished the room broke out in near uncontrollable laughter, and Glory allowed herself a few laughs as well.

Jarold cleared his throat. "Well, I can't top that, so I'm not going to bother," he said, and Jake stood up to bow. "This is my wife, Sara - yes, just like my big sister - and our three boys, Ferdinand, Nash and Tom. Nash, of course, who was knocked out earlier by this lovely lady," he added, gesturing at Glory.

"That's it, right?" Glory asked, more than a little unnerved by the looks she was still getting.

"Just about," Phillip laughed. "These two are my parents, Phillip Sr. and Marissa."

"My parents are right there," Sara continued. "Charles and Willow."

Milly grinned and began talking quickly. "David, Rebecca, Maria, Frank, Sammy, Tamara, Dolly and Eric are all married."

David nodded. "My wife Angela, my children Marie, Katie, Terry and Terrence the twins." Terry, a girl, waved as her brother, Terrence, bowed.

Rebecca continued with, "My husband Blaine and our kids Nikki, George, Quentin and Quentitia." Quentin and Quentitia were another set of twins, girl and boy.

Maria went next. "My husband Patrick and our children Darla, Paul, Paula, Stefan and Barbie." Again, Paul and Paula were a set of boy/girl twins.

Frank. "My wife Suzie, our young'ins, Damon, Lizzie, Elizabeth and Harold." No twins this time. Thank God.

Sammy. "My wife Clara, our twin girls Victoria and Veronica, and the runt, Sonny."

Tamara. "Matt my husband, Georgia, Fran, Cookie and Jeffrey my babies."

Dolly. "Sam here is my betrothed, with Ryan, Brad, Brendon and Andrew." Ryan was a woman and Brad and Brendon were twin boys.

Eric. "My wife Coraline, my babies Patricia, Angel, Drake, Becky and Darian." Angel, Darian and Drake were the boys.

Glory turned hopeful eyes on Phillip. "That's it?"

Phillip laughed and nodded. "That's it."

"Thank god," Glory sighed, dropping her head into her hands. She couldn't take much more of this.

The entire room exchanged worried looks and Milly was quick to explain.

"She's a little crazy but she's getting better!" she said with a thumbs-up.

Glory turned a glare on Milly. "Thanks bunches, Milly. Wonderful 'tact' ability you have, there."

"Relax," Marcus whispered.

Glory sighed and leaned back against the sofa, half leaning on Knives.

Milly stood up. "This is Nicholas everybody - Nicholas D. Wolfwood!" She pulled him up next to her. "That's Marcus, Meryl, Vash, Glory and Knives. Vash and Knives are -"

"Triplets," Knives interrupted, "with Glory."

Glory smiled at him. Thanks.

Of course, Knives returned, not even trying to smile.

You want everyone to believe we're triplets? Vash asked Glory.

It saves a lot of explanation time. Tell me how we're going to explain that I was born eleven months after you and had the full nine months humans need when it takes three months to recover from birth? Glory asked.

She got silence from both brothers and took it as their acceptance. Besides, she added, shutting her eyes, it makes a lot of sense. We act like it; we're all blonde and tall, we've got the same build, we sleep in the same bed most of the time, we have no modesty around each other. . .

Point taken, Vash replied.

"So. . ." Larry said, standing. "Seeing anyone, Glory?"

With a groan Glory dropped her head into her hands again.

Knives glared. "If she were, he'd be here," he snarled. "And do not even think that you can -"

"Relax, Knives," Vash interrupted. "Are you going to let her decide for herself or make all the decisions for her?"

"Cut it out, both of you," Meryl said.

Ken grinned. "I call first date."

This started a race as all the single men began calling, becoming a line to date Glory. The funny part was, Marcus looked just as angry as Knives did. Glory had a feeling that the both of them would be protecting her fiercely until they left. Which was a good thing, really.

And the Phillip stood. He settled everything down again and then showed the 'guests' to their makeshift rooms. His original intention was to give Glory a room all to herself, fit Vash with Meryl, have Knives share a room with Marcus and place Nicholas with Milly. Instead, Marcus was given a room for himself, Glory, Knives and Vash were bunked together, and Meryl got her own room next to Milly.

They were scheduled to come down for dinner, and possibly have Glory sing afterwards. Glory wished she could have just turned invisible and walked out the front door, never to be seen again.

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Geez, can you blame her? Know how many people are in that family that I alone mentioned? Try 147. That's not including the in-law's families or the cousins' families, either. I'll get to that next chapter. . .

Maybe. Shudder

Date: May 28th Time: 6:45 pm.

DL