It's About Falling
Chapter Five: It's About Falling
An interesting procession marched into the Jump City park.
Arella, who was now nine, led the way, followed closely by Mar'i. Richard and Kori each held a pudgy hand of the one-year-old Christopher, or Topher as they called him. Behind them Vic placed a metallic hand on Karen's shoulder. Two miniature versions of Karen clung to their mother's hips. Raven and Gar brought up the rear.
"OK Tasha, Tanya, go play with Topher," Karen told her daughters, setting them down.
Arella transformed into cheetah form, making Gar think it a challenge. He raced his daughter around the grassy park and then changed back to human form, panting.
"Will you ever grow up?" Raven asked exasperatedly.
"Um…I'm 35 and I haven't yet…so no," Gar responded playfully.
Kori and Richard had laid out the picnic blanket and Topher was playing with blocks on its edge. Tasha and Tanya joined him, smiling excitedly.
Karen joined Kori and Richard as Vic began barbecuing a huge rack of beef ribs and burger patties.
"Don't forget my tofu dogs!" Gar reminded his friend, clapping him on the shoulder and dumping the whole package of the fake meat hotdogs onto the grill.
Raven rubbed her temples and folded herself lithely onto the checkered blanket next to Kori.
Arella hung from the monkey bars as an amethyst colored chimp, swinging easily from bar to bar.
Mar'i, now fourteen, raced over to the swings, where a boy was waiting for her. He was a good looking boy, Mar'i thought to herself, and he was. Chocolate bangs fell into his emerald eyes as he unfolded his broad shouldered form from the swing.
"That's your family?" he asked incredulously. "But they're…Titans."
"You promise not to tell, Eric?"
"Yeah…" Eric's voice trailed off uncertainly. "Wow. Can I meet them?"
"Sure, come on."
Mar'i shyly took his hand. It was callused from his years of karate. She smiled to herself and pulled him over to the picnic blanket.
"So…you're the boyfriend huh?" Richard asked suspiciously.
"Daddy," Mar'i whined. "He's not my boyfriend."
"Humph," Richard snorted. "I was a fourteen year old boy once too, you know."
"Never mind, Richard," Kori said soothingly. "Go on, you two."
Mar'i introduced him to the others and swiped a bag of chips for them to snack on. Little Topher wobbled over to his big sister on slightly unsteady legs.
"Mar Mar."
"Hey Topher," she grinned, tickling her baby brother.
"Topher want chip."
"Fine." She held one out to him. He munched on it happily and sat in her lap.
"Isn't he cute?" Mar'i gushed.
"Yeah."
"LUNCH!" Vic announced loudly.
The group settled in around the huge blanket.
"So Aaron, tell me about yourself," Richard demanded.
"It's Eric, Daddy," Mar'i corrected exasperatedly. "I only told you ten times this morning."
Richard snorted.
"Well…I've known Mari for a few months, sir," Eric began, holding his cheeseburger up to his mouth. He took a bite, swallowed, and looked back at Richard. "I live with my dad and I take karate."
"I like him, Mar'i," Richard said approvingly. "What belt are you?"
"I'll have my black belt in two weeks, sir," Eric answered. He shot Mari a grin. She returned it.
"Eric and Mar'i, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Arella sang loudly. Mar'i glared.
"None of that," Richard said sternly. "Mar'i, I sincerely hope Arella isn't telling the truth."
"No Daddy," Mar'i sighed.
"I'm not telling the truth Uncle Richard," Arella amended. "I'm just saying what Mar'i wants to do."
"Arella," Raven said warningly. "Enough."
Mar'i looked mortified. "Mom," she whined. "Can't you make them stop?"
Kori grinned and readjusted Topher in her lap. "You can go as soon as Eric has finished his lunch. But don't go far; Topher will want his big sister to push him on the swings."
"Fine," Mar'i sighed. "I'll just be a nun when I grow up."
"It's too hot to wear black all the time in this city, honey," Kori informed her.
"It's OK, Mar, I finished lunch," Eric said, smiling at her.
They both stood and ambled back to the swings, too shy to talk. Mar'i folded her slim figure onto the first one and Eric sat beside her, not taking his eyes off of her for one second.
"You look really nice today," he said quietly. "And your family is…cool."
"MAR'I!" the twins and Topher sang together, running as fast as their little legs could carry them.
When they little ones arrived, out of breath and red in the face, Mar'i patiently lifted each one onto a swing. Eric helped, pushing them with a genuine smile on his face.
The teenagers pushed the kids for a few minutes when Topher decided he would get off without telling anyone. He climbed off OK, but Mar'i, who had looked away to sneak a glance at Eric, turned in Topher's direction and was smacked in the face with the now empty swing.
Her slender form folded itself onto the sand in a crumpled heap.
"Ooh," the twins said together. "Mar'i is hurted."
"Look, go get Mar'i's mom and dad, OK?" Eric told the girls, stopping the swings so they could get off. "Take Topher, too."
"OK," the girls chorused.
Eric knelt beside her and put her head in his lap. "Mar'i," he whispered, shaking her by the shoulder gently.
"Er…ic?" she slurred.
"Are you OK, Mar?" he asked, urgency in his tone. "You fell."
Mar'i met his emerald eyes with her own sapphire ones. "It's about falling, isn't it Eric?"
"Sure…"
"No, seriously. It's about falling. People fall down the stairs, they fall in love. Life is about falling."
"I guess it is," Eric mused.
"You wanna know a secret, Eric?" Mar'i asked conspiratorially. "I think I'm falling for a boy. The one next to me, actually."
Eric blushed, but couldn't say anything else. Mar'i sat up, wrapped her arms around his neck, and shyly planted her lips over his.
Richard and Kori, who had got up to see their baby as soon as the girls had come back, stopped a respectable distance from their daughter.
"Wow," Richard breathed. "I think she's OK."
"Yeah," Kori agreed. "Let's go back."
"No," Richard insisted. "I think we should make her sto-."
"Richard, let them be," Kori commanded, scooting closer to her husband and resting her head on his shoulder. "They're young, and it's Mar'i's first kiss…"
Richard grunted and wheeled around on his heel. He scooped up Topher and kissed the top of his son's head. "Don't get married, son. I mean that."
Kori laughed, a lovely melodious sound. "She has a point though, our Mar'i. Life is about falling."
Richard's arm slipped around her waist, bringing her closer. "It is about falling."
Hello, mates…
Sorry this took so long…I really am.
Fin