Chapter 5: The Kids Big Day

By Shadows59 and Erico

Gwen Tennyson's House

September 23rd, 1995

3:07 pm

Frank Tennyson tried his best to be a good husband and a better father every day. There were times that he didn't always love his job and what it required of him, but it was worth the hours and the working at home on some weekends to know that his Lily flower and his little girl were taken care of. Gwen was so smart, and more than that, she was bright and cheerful. Not even that break-in had kept her spirits down for very long, not with her cousin around to help keep her mind off of it and her feet and her hands busy with games and whatever else they always seemed to get involved in. Frank had been taking more work home at night after that horrible experience, and even Ma - even his father had been spending more time with Frank and Carl and their families and had been doing his best to mend the old fences. It seemed like everything was going good for a change, as good as they could be with Frank and everyone else still missing their mom. He was sure that the worst of his parenting troubles were behind him, at least until Gwen hit puberty.

He'd been out at the office in the morning even though it was a sunny Saturday because he knew that his girls were busy and the work never stopped. So he was filling out some requests for discovery and making preparations for the next case that his firm had handed off to him when he got a perturbed phone call from Lili that left him wincing, and promising to be back later in the afternoon once he'd finished up everything that still needed doing. It would give him time to cool off, would give Lili time to cool off, and give Gwen a chance to think about what she'd done before he talked with her. Frank had never thought that he'd ever be having a talk with his daughter about not shoving people. He'd been certain that Carl would have had that talk with Ben instead.

He wasn't even sure if Gwen and Ben would be allowed back in Cotillion after the dust settled. That was Lili's big fear, that this 'incident' would ruin her entire future. Frank was more pragmatic about it. They were 7 years old going on 8. If Mrs. Halvarrsen banned them from coming back or taking any of her school's other courses, doubtless Lili would find something for Gwen to do to fill in the space. It wasn't the end of the world. It was just disappointing.

Lili stood up from the couch in the living room as he walked in from the garage, her blue eyes a storm of worry, and her face drawn as she put down the photo album of the kids as babies that always came out when she was upset. An album that Frank just glanced at as he set his briefcase down next to the kitchen door and went over to her. She slipped into his arms and buried her face in his chest, and he sighed and kissed her hair as she hugged him tightly.

"So. How bad are things?" He asked.

"They're not allowed back next week," Lili said quietly, pulling back from his chest far enough to be heard clearly. "But after that, she can come back. Provided Gwen apologizes to everyone, and Ben won't be allowed to sit next to her or be her partner for the rest of the session. Which isn't really that much time, it's just a six-week course, but…"

"She's going to hate it." Frank realized. Those two did everything together, and he hadn't been surprised to hear that it had been the catalyst for the fight Gwen got into, as Lili related it to him from the teachers. "So. What have you done so far, and what do you want me to do?"

"I sent her up to her room, and told her she couldn't come out until you got home and talked to her." Lili shook her head. "I was thinking about punishments all afternoon when I wasn't on the phone with Mrs. Halvarrsen begging her to not kick Gwen out. I think she needs some time where she isn't around Ben, aside from school."

Frank winced. "Cold turkey?" He asked dubiously, which earned a glare from Lili.

"If she thinks she can hog Ben all to herself when there's only three boys that all the girls in the class have to share, then I think she could use some time away from him. Don't you?"

He laughed and kissed her forehead to mollify her. "All right, all right. But it's going to be lonely over here on the weekends. I was just getting used to not being outnumbered by my best girls, you know."

"Oh, you." Lili huffed, trying to stay irritated and failing utterly as he worked a kiss out of her. She put a hand on his chest after and pushed him away. "Now get going. I need to figure out what to get started for dinner, and you need to have a talk with our daughter about what Ladies never do." Frank nodded, loosened his tie, and gave her one last kiss before moving to the landing at the bottom of the stairs.

Stairs he didn't take with his usual rush because, for all that he loved his Lily, she sometimes forgot that the son of a plumber and a beatnik knew as much about what ladies did as his father did about cooking. But fighting? His mother had all sorts of advice about fighting. Most of which he didn't dare share with his daughter. Not now while she was just seven and hopefully not ever.

It was the Irish in her, his father had laughed on the rare occasions when he was home and his mother was in a mood, but never when she was around. And when she was...

Frank took a page from his father's book when he heard the soft sound of sniffling. Not from the closed door on the left like he expected, but from his office on the other side of the hall. He followed the sound and found his little angel curled up under the desk in his office instead, still in her fancy dress and with a book in her lap. One that he could tell she wasn't reading just by how she wasn't touching the page of flowers.

Not the kind he heard about from the other parents in his office, either. Or if they were getting science books full of the crosssections of plants and animals that were marked for kids a good three years older who wanted to know how things worked, they kept it to themselves. He knew his daughter was special and Frank couldn't help the pride in his voice at the thought even as he made it rumble a little. "I thought that your mother said that you had to stay in your room, Pumpkin."

It was a rumble that he regretted the second he saw her jump and almost bang her little head on the hardwood over it. And if that wasn't enough, seeing the bloodshot red that surrounded the green in her eyes almost broke him as her head twisted around and up. "Daddy?" she squeaked and squirmed like she was about to bolt.

An open and shut case, Frank could hear every prosecutor he'd gone up against saying right now, but there was a reason that he'd never gone in for that side of the law. It was the same reason that he sat down on the carpet next to her right now and held open his arms.

Gwen was stronger than he was. She held out for a whole three seconds before she charged into them and she hid her tears until her face was well buried in his shoulder. Tears he let run until they stopped, and that was when he finally said, "What happened, Pumpkin?"

He felt Gwen go stiff with surprise and worry in his arms, and he had to strain to hear her as she mumbled into his shoulder, "Didn't mommy - ?"

"She did," Frank said with a calmness that was well-practiced. "But I wanted to hear it from you."

"Marci was being mean again," Gwen hissed like the cats that she loved so much and that they couldn't own. Not when she'd gotten his mother's allergy along with the Irish temper. "I thought that maybe we were going to be friends again because she was being nice all week and then… then… she kissed my Scruffy!"

"Scruffy?" Frank asked with a sudden bit of worry as his mind raced over all the dolls and stuffed animals that filled his daughter's room and their names because this wasn't a test he was expecting.

And one he knew he failed just from the pinched look that filled that little face. "Ben!" She shouted like it was obvious. "He's my scruffy!"

Which… was something that Frank realized he couldn't argue with. Not when he was trying so hard to act stern when all he wanted to do was grin. "And she…?" He started to ask, and his baby's glare only got hotter as she nodded. "The little devil got the Tennyson charm early."

The words were just a whisper and certainly nothing that he wanted little ears hearing. It was a thought that worked out just as well now as it did when he was little or when he was out with his wife, because he didn't know which woman his baby girl got her hearing from, but he knew it was one of them when he felt little hands give him a shove. One that reminded him why he was here even as she cried out, "Daddy!"

"Gwen," he said as he rocked back half an inch and took her by the shoulder so she couldn't do it again. "We don't shove people, honey. You know that."

"I know," Gwen said, because of course she did, or else he wouldn't have seen her face fall in the split second before she ducked her head as her arms went around her middle.

"She shouldn't have kissed him," he said, and this time he managed to keep the pride from his voice, "but you don't get to push people either. So you're going back to your room and you're going to write an apology note to Marci, okay?" That should have been that. His daughter was a good girl, the misery in her voice proved that and he should enjoy the quiet while it lasted because maybe the kids should spend some more time apart, but there would be hell to pay when they found out about it. Maybe it would have been if he'd just left it at that instead of saying, "Honestly, Gwen. I don't even know where you learned that from."

"Mommy," the girl said instantly, her face pinched again as she thought. "I saw her push that lady the last time we went to Mormor's and - "

And Frank felt his face burn at the memory of that party. The ones his father-in-law threw were always a bit much, but nothing like that had ever happened before. "H - how did you even… Your cousin Sunny was supposed to be watching you!"

"That's what I was coming to tell you!" Gwen said, her face fierce as she looked up. "She was talking on her phone and not reading me my story like she said she would and - "

And it was a look whose sources were unquestionable, a combination of nature and nurture. Not when he saw the pursed lips when he walked into the house today and he still had nightmares about the looks he'd gotten as he grew up and just did something stupid thing or another. His daughter was a mix of the best and worst parts of the most important women in his life, and that was usually okay. "Your mommy shouldn't have done that either," he said, even though he didn't blame her a bit. Not after a woman she swore used to be her best friend did her best to shove her tongue down his throat right there in front of everyone before she broke away with a sneer and a snort and said, ''You're the nerd who made Natalie boring?'

There weren't words for what happened after, even if in-laws tried to find them after he got his wife off of her ex-best friend. Not words that his daughter was ever going to hear if he had his way anyway. There weren't any words now either, but he tried anyway. "She shouldn't have, and that's different."

It wasn't enough. Not when his daughter put her hands on her hips and demanded, "Why?"

"Because," Frank tried before he hit on the obvious. "Because your mother and I are married and that means nobody can kiss me but her."

It would have been good enough for a judge and must have been good enough for Gwen, too, because she went so quiet after as she made her thinking face. One that didn't go anywhere as he led his daughter back to her room and the apology note that was waiting for her to write. And he almost felt proud of himself as she made a little nod after he told her to be good and she picked up her pencil…

It didn't occur to him then, but he should have remembered something his dad said to him once when he'd been little. About how sometimes rockslides started with pebbles rattling loose. It would be a good six years before he found out just what he set in motion with those words.

- o - o - o - o - o -

Angelwood Academy

September 27, 1995

10:30 am

"But it's gonna be dress-up day!"

Olivia heard the words and at any other time, she would have been groaning right along with Maria because she already had hers all picked out and nobody was a better Applejack than her! She would have if she didn't have hearts in her eyes as she clapped her hands together and let out a squeal because her best friend in the world always had the best games and this one sounded like the bestest! "This is gonna be so much fun!"

And it was a good thing that they were in the corner of the playground with all the bushes because those words were out of her mouth before she remembered that Gwen said that this had to be a secret. "Sorry," she squeaked out between her fingers.

Anyone else might have yelled, but Gwen was grinning too wide to get mad or sit still as the three of them sat in a circle. "I know!" She said, her face glowing for the first time since Saturday. A glow that didn't go away even as she grabbed for her backpack and got the look on her face that she always did when it was time to study as she pulled out a handful of papers. "But we've got a lot of work to do first so we can get everything! Mommy showed me her album last night so I know just what we need, but the boys - "

"The boys?" Maria moaned as she threw herself back into the grass with a groan. "We gotta play with the boys?"

"Stop acting like Marci!" Olivia said as she poked her friend's knee with her foot and laughed at the gasp the words got. "You heard Gwen! We gotta do it right and they're not that bad! And we get to dress up!" Their prettiest dresses Gwen said, and she was ready to swoon at the thought.

At all the thoughts. "It's gonna be like Beauty and the Beast!"

"Beauty and the Scruffy!" Gwen said with a giggle and a nod as she handed over the papers that listed stuff like flowers and rice. "We gotta lot to do before next Friday! Ben said he'd talk to the boys, but - "

There was just a touch of worry at that, not that Olivia knew why. All the boys listened to Ben and everyone knew it. Even Flint at least pretended to and that was why it was her turn to throw herself back into the grass. The only one who didn't was -

"Marci!" She howled the second she saw the shoes hiding on the other side of the bushes. Shoes everyone knew because the blond was always showing them off after her mommy had them made special. Or she did until everything that happened on Saturday and even Blair and Amanda were ignoring her now. Not that any of that mattered as much as the fact that Gwen couldn't play on Sunday because of her and looked so sad all week because she couldn't play her with her Ben at all anymore just because that girl always had to ruin everything by being mean.

That's what Olivia thought the whole time she chased the blond off with Maria's help and it kept her grinning until she turned around and saw Gwen standing there with her arms around her middle and her face sad. "What? Did you wanna play with her, too?" There wasn't any hiding the shock in her voice. Not since Gwen had been fighting with her since forever, but her bestest friend was always a little strange and that was part of the fun.

"She just looked so - " Gwen whispered before she shook her head and the smile came back. Mostly. "Ben already talked to Matthew and he'd said he'd do it if he can catch you the next time we play tag, Olivia."

"What!?" Olivia couldn't help her gasp as she forgot all about the mean girl and spun on her best friend. Being the fastest was the only good thing about being the tallest, too, and she loved how mad the boys got when they chased after her. "But nobody but you and Ben can - !"

"We need him!" Maria broke in, her dark eyes wide as she grabbed Oliva's arm. "You know that he's learned all the words from his daddy!"

That did it. That and the look in her bestest friend's green eyes. "Okay, but only once!" She could live with being caught once. Especially for the best game ever. A game that still needed so much planning as she looked up at the leaves that were just starting to change color and realized that they'd need flowers. "And we've got to get - "

- o - o - o - o - o -

Angelwood Academy

October 6th, 1995

7:25 am

"Okay, Carol, I want to know how you did it."

Carol blinked as she rushed into the Teacher's Lounge to get a cup of coffee even though she was already late and she blinked again when she saw the Cheshire cat grin on Anna's face. "Did what?"

"Get them all to dress like that!" The Kindergarten teacher said with a sparkle. "When they were in my class they either came in their pajamas or some horrid costume and I want to know your secret. "

"You can't eat the paste either, Ahn," Carol teased her friend as she shook her head, lost, and happy for the warmth that filled her mug. Today would have been a long one even if she didn't get caught in all the traffic this morning. And all the longer because the kids wouldn't be in uniform and would be all the wilder because of it. And if they stood out enough that the other teachers noticed…

She couldn't help her sigh as she rushed out the door before the kindergarten teacher could say anything more. "Wish me luck!" A rush that wouldn't have happened if she wasn't so sure that Mrs. Coldwell would catch her in the almost empty hall. Almost, even if it seemed like every teacher there saw her and grinned as she rushed by their classrooms. Somehow she managed to make it to her class before the second bell rang, and she only paused for a moment at the door to steel herself as she heard all the excited voices on the other side. Voices that didn't die as she pushed it open with an "All right, everyone. I know that dressing up is fun, but - "

And that was as far as she got before words just failed her.

Not because the class was divided between the boys and girls or who they were grouped up around. That was the norm in most of the classes she'd taught and only a little strange in this one. It wasn't even a surprise who they were gathered up around. No, the only surprise there was that Ben and Gwen were sitting on opposite sides of the class instead of next to each other like they always did and that there was a whole crowd between them.

That should have been the biggest shock, but it wasn't. "I see that you all took dress-up day seriously." Those words were the only ones that made it past the shock. The day was usually a riot of colors and cartoon characters, but not today. Today she just gawked because all the girls were in the prettiest dresses and the boys….

The boys all wore suits. The smallest, cutest suits that Carol had ever seen and there weren't words.

The girls were far happier about it than the boys - all but Miss Hunter, who was just as pretty in her dress but looked as lost as Carol felt - most of whom were squirming and pulling at their ties as they stood around Ben, who looked the most nervous of them all. "What's - ?" She started to ask as she wished she had a camera.

And then normal came rushing back as Olivia called out, "Is it time for recess?" A whole cacophony of voices followed that. All of them excited, and no one as excited as the redhead who sat next to her, who just bounced in her seat in the middle of the circle of girls and was the only one who wasn't splashed in color. No, Gwen's dress was the only plain white one in the room. One that wasn't any less pretty because of it, but she'd seen little girls burst into tears over things like that before. Not that Gwen seemed even close to that as she stood by her desk with a grin so wide that she looked ready to explode as all the other girls fussed over her.

"We have to do math and spelling first," Carol said in the face of the groans that followed. Groans that didn't touch her smile because not even the Grinch could stay mad today. Not when her kids were so adorable. "But maybe if you all sit down we'll take a few extra minutes outside today."

She didn't expect the cheer that came from that. One that almost made her wish that it was time for recess, too, even though she didn't have a clue what was going on.

- o - o - One Math and Spelling Class Later - o - o -

Ben stood there in front of everyone and felt like he had all the frogs he'd ever caught hopping around in his stomach, even though it was recess and it should have been fun.

Gwen promised that this game would be, but she wasn't here. No, she was off with the girls in the back, girls who had all been giggling every time that they saw Ben for the last week and a half and it was just everyone else staring at him as he stood there all alone with Matt behind him, and he was the only one who looked more nervous than he did.

Still nervous or not…

"Flint!" Ben hissed as the boy tried to slip away. Not that he cared, not when he was always trying to shove everyone else around, but Gwen said everybody had to play if they were going to do it right. The boy glared back or tried to before the other boys surrounded him and pushed him back into his place because they wanted to play the game, too, even if they didn't understand it any better than Ben did, but Gwen always came up with fun games that no one else ever heard of.

And seeing Flint go pale was fun all on its own, even if it didn't last long before the girls all came rushing back into the little clearing that they usually played tag in and the music started from a small boombox that Vince had brought with him and even had his dad buy batteries for. The sappy kind of music that Ben usually rolled his eyes at and he would've now, too, except he finally saw his Gwen again as she made her way up the aisle in the middle that Maria had chased everyone else out of.

It wasn't her white dress that made him stop pulling at the sleeves of the jacket that he was told that he had to wear today. Not when he'd seen it before. It wasn't even the huge net-like thing that she had over her face. One that would've dragged on the ground behind her if Olivia wasn't holding up the back. No, it was her smile under it.

Ben always loved it when he made his Gwen grin and she'd never grinned like she was now, even if he didn't know why she was just walking when she could be running, or why she had a bunch of flowers in her hands and more in her hair.

It was a look that made Ben feel even warmer and funnier than he had before as he just stood there and stared until she was just a few steps away. Then her smile faded as she got the little wrinkle in her brow he was always teasing her about because it meant that she was thinking too much. "Ben?"

And she was thinking way too much right now, he could tell just from the little shake in her voice. Somehow that let him use his again as he just kept staring at her and not any of the kids they went to class with. "This game is weird, Gwen."

It wasn't just him complaining. Not completely. And he didn't tear off his jacket and tie so he could run and play even though that was all he was thinking about doing all morning. That thought went away the second he saw her squeeze her flowers. "I know…" Gwen said as she swallowed hard and everyone behind her started shifting because this wasn't in the plans she'd handed out and he had shoved in his pocket because there was so much. "We don't haveta if you don't - "

The words should have made him feel better, but they didn't. Not when he could see all the girls behind her and the looks that they were giving him. The same ones that he'd been getting since Marci… "You're right about the rules, right?" He asked, his voice squeaking. "Nobody can kiss me after this?"

Because he could still feel Marci's lips on his cheek, and it was only the warnings from his parents when they let him bring his suit today that kept him from wiping it off with his sleeve again. He was sure that he had cooties now because of it, just from the way his heart was racing right now as he looked at the girl in front of him. One who had a look as fierce now when she heard that as she had when it happened. "Nope! Nobody but me!" And then that fierce look broke as she looked down and dug her toe at the grass. "Unless you don't want me - "

"It's okay if you kiss me," Ben cut her off without even thinking about it because it was true. Marci was an icky girl, but Gwen…

She was his Gwen and her kisses were as good as her games and almost as good as her smiles. And he'd never seen her have one as big as the one as she got at those words. And it only got bigger as she took his hand and the two turned to Matthew. The game still didn't make any sense and the feel of her holding his hand made the tingles so much worse, but Ben didn't care. Not if it made her smile like this. She smiled until he couldn't help but smile back as the boy in front of them let out a squeaky, "Dearly Beloved…"

- o - o - Two Minutes Later - o - o -

Gwen wanted to bounce on her toes because it was all going so well!

It was just like all the pictures in her mommy's album, even if her dress wasn't big enough for her to have a pillow down the front of it like her mother had in hers. But that was okay, her mommy said that she hoped that she didn't when she asked if she had to have one when she was married. She said it with a laugh and a kiss, so Gwen knew it was true. She tried anyway just so she would match all the pictures as well as everyone else did as they stood in lines behind her all dressed up and Ben…

Her Ben looked every bit as handsome standing there as her daddy did in the albums. She just wished that someone had a camera.

And that her hand would stop tingling as Ben held it.

The feeling went all the way up to her shoulder now, and it almost felt like it did when she'd fallen asleep on it, except she could still feel Ben's hand in hers as they stood together in front of all their friends. She would've asked for a time out, except her mommy laughed at that and it wasn't on her list now. So she did her best to ignore it as Matthew said to Julio, "Do you have the rings?"

Julio blinked at that and everyone else held their breath even though it was his only job. Then his hands went in his pockets. "Si!" He said, nerves making him talk funny for just a second as he pulled out the two Kangaroo Kommando Decoder rings that Ben gave him. The two that Gwen had seen once before in his bedroom back before they even started Cotillion. He'd spent all summer eating cereal to try and get one, and then he'd gone crazy when he opened one box and there were two inside of it. She still had the sticker packs from the boxes that hadn't had them back in her room, even. Ben glowed as he grabbed the first one out of Julio's hand, while Olivia took the second. Ben reached for her left hand, and he wobbled a little as he looked down at her fingers. He couldn't have forgotten already which hand it went on, could he? But then again, Gwen felt so nervous, and when she looked at him, she could tell he was too. So she wiggled her second finger for him, and he smiled and slipped it on. It was plastic and it felt a little weird at first, but Gwen felt so warm when he breathed out after and rubbed his thumb over the top of it. And then she didn't want to take it off. She never wanted to take it off ever again.

She felt so warm and so buzzy that she missed everything that Matthew said, but there wasn't anything that could distract her from how serious and excited her Ben sounded as he nodded and said, "I do."

And then it was her turn, only Olivia didn't forget about the ring. She was a good foot taller than Gwen, and she blushed a little as she bent over so Gwen could grab the ring without getting grass stains all over the toes of her shoes. She didn't dare. Not when she was in so much trouble already.

Trouble that she forgot about as she turned back to her Ben, scruffy already with his hair a mess even though she told him that he had to comb it. She should have yelled the second she saw it as she made it down the aisle, but her tongue wouldn't work when she saw him and it seemed right anyway, no matter what Mommy said. Gwen took the second ring and put it on the second finger on his left hand, and when they put their hands together, the feeling of them clinking together made her stare at him while his eyes got so big.

Almost as big as hers felt as she stared at him. She hadn't been able to all day even though everyone told her it was bad luck. Not when he looked so handsome in his suit. The handsomest boy ever, she thought through the tingles as she stared into his green eyes. Stared until she heard Matthew clear his throat and whisper. "You're supposed to say it now!"

Gwen jumped at the sound of his voice and the fact that she'd missed her cue. "I do!"

"Then I now pronounce you mommy and daddy!" Matthew said as everyone else let out a breath at that. Gwen could have kicked herself for screwing up the game. The game that she was almost sure was over until she heard the preacher's son stammer, "Uh, you can kiss the bride!"

And the world froze as Ben's eyes went wide. Wide enough that she almost didn't. But he was hers now. And she was his and she could. Him and the rules both said so and when he didn't move, she did.

Not on the cheek either. Not where Marci had made him shout and push. No, she pressed her lips against his and waited for the feeling of his hands shoving her away, too. But he didn't. He just blushed as he stood there for a kiss that was just going to be a peck because everything tingled now, but then there was a flash of light and she heard the gasps all around.

It was those gasps that finally made Ben pull back and let out one of his own as he looked up. "Gwen, look! The stars are back!" There was so much awe in his voice as she followed his gaze up and she let out a squeal when she saw that he was right. Only it wasn't the blue and the green ones this time. Just bright violet ones that danced around each other and everyone else like fireflies before they collided and burned violet. Lights that almost ruined everything as their friends started chasing them with giggles and shouts.

And then she felt Ben press his lips against hers and she knew that there wasn't a thing that could ruin today even as he pulled her into the chase, too.

- o - o - o - o - o -

Angelwood Academy

October 13th, 1995

12:25 am

Marci found the two of them sitting together under a tree and reading during lunch because of course they were. Or Gwen was reading anyway, as she slumped against Ben and he talked the whole time. " - if I was the pig I wouldn't have hidden in a house," he declared, so serious as he sat there even though it was such a dummy thing to say.

Serious even with the rings that they both still wore, which was so silly. They weren't even real!

"I know that you would, Ben!" Gwen harrumphed and poked his chest, her anger as fake as her ring.

"And you would, too," Ben said right back because that was as obvious as the grin that filled Gwen's face at the words.

A grin that didn't fade at all as she closed her eyes and tilted her nose up. "Only because someone needs to - " she started, and then she forgot about whatever it was that she was gonna say as her eyes shot wide open and she jumped to her feet. One of which she stomped as she hissed, "What do you want, Marci!"

And Marci swallowed hard as she stood there. She almost crushed the picture she was holding, the one that was her revenge for all the trouble that the two got her into and was the only reason no one played with her now. It was the only reason that she'd even brought a camera last week.

They deserved this.

"I was there," she said, her voice nothing like her mommy's as she said it even though she imagined that she'd be laughing right now all week as Gwen's face went pale and Ben's went red. "You didn't want me to play last week, but I was there anyway and I took this!"

The two were already in trouble. Everyone knew that Gwen's mommy hadn't let Ben come over at all since the fight at Cotillion and she was sure that the photo of the two kissing would have made it so much worse. They'd never be able to see each other again! It was everything that she ever wanted and why she'd brought her little disposable camera to begin with that had ten shots left in it from summer vacation, but she never thought she'd catch them doing something so bad! The thought of them in trouble was all that she could think about as she waited for her mommy to bring the pictures back so she'd have proof.

"Here," Marci said as she shoved the worst photo, the one of them kissing with all those weird lights in the air around them into Gwen's hands instead and she didn't know why. Marci didn't know what to say either, and one nasty thing after another died on her lips. She didn't say anything else except, "You were really pretty."

The words were a sniff as she turned away because she didn't want them in any more trouble. She figured that out at Cotillion. She didn't know what she wanted right now except to be alone.

Which made the glomp that almost knocked her down all the more surprising. "I'm not trying to get you in trouble!" She shouted, sure that a fight was starting and she was so tired of them.

Sure until Gwen squeaked, "Thank you!" Into her shoulder.

Sure until Ben shook his head and looked at the book that had tumbled down into the leaves when Gwen sprang to her feet. "You wanna read with us? Gwen isn't doing it right! Pigs can't build houses!"

The words were a joke and Marci knew it just from the way Gwen's mouth dropped at them before she went stomping over. "You can't say that! I'm your wife now, Scruffy!"

"Can, too!" Ben said as he stuck out his tongue and then he laughed as he grabbed the redhead and pulled her close as Gwen squealed. "I'm your husband!" The two giggled so hard at their game and the new words that they'd learned when the teacher heard everyone talking about mommies and daddies. But they hadn't told the teacher why they were talking about it, and nobody else in the class had either.

Giggles that only faded a little as two sets of green eyes finally turned back to Marci and Gwen asked, suddenly shy, "Do you wanna?"

"You two are weird," Marci said as she flipped her hair back just like her mommy taught her because she was a Hunter and they were just them, but Gwen didn't let her go. And then Ben was there, too, and she let herself smile for what felt like the first time since kindergarten because the hug felt that good. "But okay. Just for today!"

Once couldn't be that bad. She could be a Hunter tomorrow.

The rest of lunch went by so fast as she spent it reading with them. Reading when Gwen wasn't staring at the picture or hugging it against her chest anyway like it was the necklace that her daddy got mommy the other day instead of some dumb photo. As dumb as the boy that the redhead kept cuddling with even as the three of them took turns with the book. Turns that Ben didn't care about as he played with the bright red hair that was the first thing that Marci ever noticed all those years ago and hair that didn't compare to the rings on their fingers now. Rings that touched after Gwen grabbed for his hand after he tugged at her hair.

Rings that cut one of their arguments short as they just stared, and then Ben let out a squawk as Gwen kissed his cheek again. A squawk, but he didn't shove her away as Marci stared at that little peck that made them both turn so red as Gwen gave her a look after. One that made Marci hide behind the book that they were supposed to be reading because she should have been jealous, but she wasn't. And it wasn't because they were so weird either, even though they were.

So weird, but them being mommies and daddies together didn't seem wrong. Not at all.