Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to Disney/Haim Saban
Late Friday afternoon found Marissa out in her backyard, helping her dad set up the grill. Calum was in the house with their mum, helping her prepare the salads. "…and she's got this killing bike dad. It could do with a tune-up and maybe an oil change – as well as some new shocks, I think, but, all in all, it's totally killing!"
Waldo 'Dustin' Brooks smiled indulgently as his oldest child chattered. Ris had inherited her mum's energy and love for life – but she had definitely inherited her dad's love for all things bike related. She was as mad about motocross as he was.
"Everything's ready," Marah Watanabe-Brooks called as she appeared on the patio, holding a large salad bowl, her stomach heavily bloated and her face alight with the glow of pregnancy. She moved forward, setting it on the table they'd set up. She pressed a hand to the small of her back and grinned as Calum hurried forward with a pile of paper plates. "Thanks honey. You're a good boy, aren't you?"
Calum grinned. "Yeah mum. I know."
Dustin had to grin at that. Having gone through being evil and all, Marah was determined to make sure her children grew to be good, so she praised them constantly, and was always telling them they were good. Dustin didn't mind; just having Marah as his wife was great for him.
"Hey." She waddled up to him and he reached out an arm. She stepped into his embrace easily. "Is everything ready here?"
"Uh-huh. We'll fire up the grill as soon as everyone gets here."
"What about your school friend?" Marah asked Ris. "Is she coming with her parents?"
"Nope, she's coming alone. Her name's Eva, mum, and she's really cool. You'll like her."
"I like all your friends," Marah pointed out. "We both do," she added, looking up at her husband.
"You're not gonna kiss, are you?" Calum demanded. "'Cause Uncle Hunter and Auntie Carla are here."
"Hunter!" Dustin raised a hand and Marah slipped away to relieve Carla of the platter she was holding. Hunter joined his long time friend at the grill. "Hi Ris," he smiled warmly at his god-daughter. He had a lot of god-children.
"Hi Uncle Hunter. Where's Jeanie?"
"Reading a book," Hunter sounded slightly agonized at it. How that girl could have any part of him in her, he didn't know. "What else?"
"I'm gonna go talk to her, 'kay?" She disappeared before her dad could answer.
"Aren't you going to light it up?" Hunter asked, poking at the coal.
"I was just waiting for everyone to come," Dustin replied as he poured lighter fluid.
"Looks like the gang's all here," Hunter said as a flood of people poured onto the patio. Dustin turned to watch.
There was Blake, Hunter's adopted brother, his arm firmly attached around Tori's waist. Their daughter, Mary Ann, was talking with Sara and Michelle Watanabe, Cam's kids. Cameron Watanabe, Marah's cousin, and his wife Leanne, were talking with Hunter's wife, Carla. Shane Clarke and his wife, Jasmine, were talking to Tori and Blake. Their only child, Jay, was talking with David, Ris, Trev and Hunter's youngest, Jeanie. Kapri was just arriving, her latest beau in tow. She was the quintessential maiden aunt, and happy about it.
"Hunter. Dustin." Grinning, Blake and Shane joined them. Moments later, Cam and Tori arrived at the grill. For a moment, the six stood there, happily looking over at their partners and children.
As always, it was Shane who said; "can you believe…?"
"Hardly," Tori replied and Blake slid his arm around her waist, holding her to his side possessively.
"All right," Dustin said, breaking the mood by rubbing his hands together. "Let's fire this baby up!"
Cam arched a brow as he sniffed at the grill. "How much lighter fluid did you put on this, Dustin?
"Enough," he replied, striking a match. Seeing Cam's expression, he grinned. "Don't sweat it man. What could happen?" He tossed the lit match in and yelped as it practically blew up.
"That," Cam said in a dry voice as Tori sent a splash of water to help it die down. Dustin coughed and waved a hand in front of his face.
"Dustin?" Marah called from a patio. "Is everything okay?"
"It's all right," he called. "Everything's okay. Man," he added, looking at the charred grill. "That's the third this month."
Tori smiled. "Just put the sausages on and pray they don't burn. I'm going to help Marah with everything," she strolled off.
As she stepped foot on the patio, the doorbell rang. "That'll be Eva," Ris called out, springing to her feet. "I'll get it!"
She dashed off, Tori looking after her with amusement. "Does she ever rest?"
"Not even in her sleep," Marah replied cheerfully, putting a cup full of plastic utensils on the buffet table. "Tori, you've met Kapri's boyfriend, Rick?"
"Yeah. Hi," she said, giving him her trademark friendly smile. "Where's Kapri?"
"I'm here." Marah's sister appeared with a plate brimming with fruit. "I've got the healthy dessert."
"There's an unhealthy alternative?" Tori asked.
"Sure." Carla, Hunter's wife, said, joining them. "Leanne brought it."
"It's just ice-cream," Leanne said. "It's not like it'll clog your arteries right up."
"No, but it will get the children hyper all night," Carla countered, then smiled. "Doesn't mean I'm not going to indulge."
"At least I have a reason to indulge," Marah patted her tummy and grinned. "I'm so thrilled! I can't wait."
"Hon, I've given birth three times," Carla said. "It's not anything to be that excited about."
"Only three?" Leanne teased. "Try four times – and that's counting the twins as one. Oh, I still hurt to think about it."
"Come on!" They turned to see Ris practically dragging a pretty girl with long light brown hair through the sliding doors. She pulled her over. "Mum, Auntie Tori, Auntie Carla, Auntie Leanne, Auntie Kapri, Auntie Karpi's boyfriend, this is Eva!" She announced dramatically, her face wreathed in grins.
Eva nodded slightly, looking embarrassed. "Hi."
"And there's my dad," Ris added, pulling her over to the end of the patio to point at the group of men circled around a grill. "Dad!" A curly haired brunette half turned, and held up a spatula. "The one with glasses is Trev's dad. The blond is Jeanie's dad. You can obviously tell who Jay's dad is – he looks almost exactly like him. The last dude is David's dad."
"I though David and Jeanie's dads were brothers."
"They are. Adopted," she thought to add as the others finally joined them.
"Hey." David grinned at her. He had half a donut in his hand. "Glad you could make it."
"Yeah." She said, trying not to sound too dazed. "Kinda big family."
"Not that big," Jeanie said. "Just lots of us. And mine and Trev's brothers aren't even here."
"Do you all have brothers and sisters?" Eva asked.
"Nah. Jay's an only kid," David replied, finishing off his donut. "But Ris's got a kid brother and another one the way. I've got a kid sister, Jeani's got two brothers, and so's Trev, and he's got two kid sisters as well. Trev's got, by far, the biggest family."
"You say that like it's my fault," he muttered. Jeanie laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"You can't help it your parents don't know when to stop."
He stared at her for a long minute, before his cheeks colored. "That," he said in measured tones, "is just too disgusting to comprehend."
They all cracked up at his expression. "Seriously!" He said over their raucous laughter. "What if it were your parents!"
They paused, then began, reflexively, making faces. "Shut up Trev!" Jay yelled as he opened his mouth to continue. He grabbed him by the waist, and they fell to the ground, wrestling.
Then a sharp voice cracked over them; "James Declan Francis Clarke, stop that now!"
Wincing, Jay got up. "Yes mum," he muttered, turning bright red when he saw Eva stare at him.
"James? Declan? F…something? How many names have you got?"
"'Bout four," he muttered and dropped onto the patio. "And if you ever call me James, I'll…hurt you. Somehow. Without laying a hand on you, I'll hurt you."
"Ooh, James is in a bad mood." Jeanie gave him a sarcastic smile. "Watch out."
"I'll break your arms, Jeanie," he replied in a mild voice. "I will."
"Not on my watch." A heavy hand dropped on his shoulder, and eyes as blue as Jeanie's grinned at them.
"Declan!" She squinted at him. "You didn't say you were coming back."
He rolled those bright blue eyes at her, his hair as dirty blonde as his dad's. In truth, he looked like a carbon copy of Hunter. "Ever the critic. I was gonna surprise you on Saturday but I got in a day early."
"Declan!" Carla appeared suddenly. "What're you doing home early? Oh what am I saying? Why didn't you tell us you were coming home?" She hugged him and, suddenly, their little spot on the patio was swarming with bodies, each trying to give the newcomer their own greeting and hug. Eva peeled herself away, to watch the happy crowd. Moments later, David pulled himself away. "Whoo. It's going to be a bit crazy now Declan's back. None of us knew he was coming home."
"That I got. Is he in college?"
"Nah." David shook his head. "College doesn't agree with Declan. He's doing what my dad did; motocross. Touring the country with my dad's old company actually. Factory Blue."
"Whoa." She nodded. "So I'm guessing your family's a bit motocross mad?"
"And Ris's." He laughed. "Nah, actually. Not really. My mum's more into surfing, and so's my sis. Me? I do a bit of surfing, bit of boarding, bit of motocross."
She eyed him. "So…you're pretty much an all-rounder?"
He grinned unashamedly. "Pretty much. Yeah. Wanna go see if Uncle Dustin's burnt the sausages?"
At the mention of food, the group on the patio broke apart. "Oh man! I totally forgot!" The curly haired man Ris had pointed as her dad dashed to the grill, followed closely by the rest of the men in the group. The heavily pregnant brunette who looked like an older copy of Ris looked torn between amusement and distress. And the woman with hair the same shade as David's let out a low groan. "Only Dustin…." With a sigh, she headed over to the grill, giving David an absentminded tussle of the hair as she passed him.
David's grin spread wider. "Uncle Dustin's kind of absentminded."
"Kind of?" Jay repeated with a snort as he joined them.
"Kind of is an understatement," Jeanie said in that dry tone of hers, handing David a coke. She pressed another can into Eva's hands. "But he's a good teacher," she added thoughtfully.
"Teacher?" Eva popped open the can, and took a pull. "What does he teach?"
"Out of school classes," Ris replied, suddenly appearing, a plate in her hand. And again, like at school, like with Trevor, her answer was too smooth, too practiced. "Want some chips?" She held out the plate.
Eva shook her head and took another gulp of the soda in her hand. As she opened her mouth to press further, Trevor appeared, a pained look on his face. "Declan's making fun of me again."
"Suck it up Trev," Jeanie rolled her eyes but a wicked smile bloomed on her face. "Just suck it up."
"Easy for you to say," he muttered and took a chips from Ris's plate. "He's your brother, you can deck him anytime you want. Me, I lift a fist, and mum's on my back."
"Not to mention Declan'd have you flat on your ass," laughing now, Jeanie also took some chips.
"He said something about you and me getting together," looking gloomy now, he munched on the chips, then stared in surprise as Jeanie choked on hers. Helpfully, Jay thumped her on the back.
"Ow! Jeez, Jay. Have a care," she glared at him.
"Sorry," he held up his hands in surrender.
With a jerky motion, Jeanie dumped the chips back in Ris's plate. "I'm gonna go beat up my brother."
They watched – Eva torn between amazement and amusement – as she stomped off. Declan took one look at her face and began backing off, stuttering something that sounded like apologies and excuses. And her mother – who had Jeanie's hair – just sighed and ducked her head.
They roared with laughter as Jeanie chased her brother round and round the backyard. "No matter how old he gets, I think Declan will always be afraid of Jeanie," David mused. "She's got her mum's intellect and her dad's temper."
"Meaning?" Eva gave him a sideways glance.
"She could sit, let it brew, and plan his demise, or lash out like now," he indicated the siblings – now on the ground, with Declan yelling and Jeanie saying something in a low voice – with the hand holding his canned drink. "She's scary, our Jeanie is."
"Oh yeah," Jay put in with his own fervent agreement, then he grinned, a flash of white against darkly tanned skin. "But it's funny when she's beating up on someone else."
"It's always funny when someone else gets hurt," Trev pointed out.
"Don't you think we should stop her?" Ris asked, sounding worried. "It looks like Declan's got a bloody nose."
Even as she spoke, their dad strode to his fighting children and began separating them. After a few moments of going at it alone, he yelled for his brother to help him. In a short time, they'd separated the two. And Ris was right; Declan's nose was bleeding.
While he went into the house to clean up, and Jeanie's dad spoke to her, Eva turned to David. "Are your parties always this…?"
He grinned when she didn't finish the sentence. "Oh yeah," Jay said, grinning as well. "But at least it's fun." He polished off the last of Ris's chips, then moved to one side to let by a stream of younger kids. "Dogs're finished." He commented.
"It's creepy how they always know when they're done," David commented, looking as the younger kids queued up to get their share of meat.
"I call it carnivore's instinct," Ris said with a grin. "It's got a nice ring to it."
"I call it the smell of dogs in the air," Trev said.
"Trev!" She gave him a quick, light punch. "You always ruin it. Come on," she suddenly was bouncing on her heels. "Let's get some dogs." Dragging a startled Trevor with her, she led the way to the grill.
Her dad's smile came easily and naturally when he spotted his daughter coming to him with a plate in one hand and Trev's wrist in the other. Behind her trailed Jay, David and her new friend, all laughing, probably at the expression on Trev's face. "Hey dad!" She held out a plate and he put on a dog, slathered with mustard and ketchup. "And one for Trev too," she added. He put on one more before the line moved on.
Eva held out a plate and looked in interest at the hot dog smothered with mustard and ketchup. She wondered if it was to hide the fact the sausage was burnt. When she glanced up, she founded brown eyes burning with questions. Then, before she could blink, the look was gone, leaving a laid-back man with an easy smile. But Eva had no doubt she'd been scrutinized thoroughly.
"Eva, right?" He asked in a pleasant voice.
"Right." She nodded, managed a small smile before he let her move away. She quickly joined David, Jay, Trev and Ris on the patio edge. A few minutes later, Jeanie joined them.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid brother." She grumbled, flopping down beside Jay. He offered her half of his hot dog but she shook her head and took his fries instead. "He's always getting me into trouble."
"If you didn't try to beat him up so often…" David began, but wisely broke off when she turned her head to glare at him.
"How 'bout we go to a movie after this?" Ris asked suddenly.
They turned to stare at her. "What?" She asked. "It'll be fun."
"And, that way, you'll get out of cleaning up," Trev added in a dry voice.
She flashed him a bright grin. "Aw, Trev, you don't think I'm that bad, do you?" She laughed, a cheerful, bubbly laugh that had everyone smiling. "'Sides, you know all our mums will stay back to help clean up. Especially now that my mum's pregnant."
"All right." Lazily, Jay stretched out his legs, grinned unrepentantly as Calum promptly tripped over them. Ris's brother just treated him to a good glare, before getting up, brushing off his raggedy jeans and running off again. "I don't foresee any problems with that."
David turned to look at Eva. "What about your parents? Will they mind?"
She shrugged, and took a bit of her hotdog. "Why should they?" She asked when she saw he was still looking at her, still waiting for an answer.
He looked puzzled by something but he didn't comment on it, just turned back to his hotdog.