Raven sat up in the four post bed, attired in a fresh sleeveless nightgown. She raised her forearm to her face and sniffed it. A frown appeared on her face.

"I can still smell the motor oil … I'm gonna kill that boy."

Her husband was fluffing his pillow and he smiled. "You smell fine, if anyone should be able to tell, it's me."

"You're just saying that, I still smell like a dirty garage."

He draped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him. She resisted and pouted.

"Rave, we spent half an hour in the shower scrubbing you clean. Come on, you almost got all of it off with your powers anyway. You scrubbed yourself so hard that you give yourself a rash."

Raven fell on her back, groaning in the process. "This trip has been an unmitigated disaster. The kids walked in on us while we were making out … oh Azar … I was about to tell you to go for it. Had the kids walked in on us just two minutes later … no … I don't even want to think about it. And Dr. Molyneux, we can forget about him joining the practice after that stupid prank … Gar, what the Trigon is wrong with our kids? They turned into a bunch of hooligans! Well, except for Arella and Marie, thank Azar some of our kids take after me."

The changeling stifled a laugh, and failed. His wife gave him one of her signature death glares.

"Rave, he turned us down because we're retired superheroes. He heard about the incident with Slade and the Biaggi's years ago, he was scared, I guess. Plus he was offered a spot in a large animal practice in Nebraska, the pay was better than what we were gonna offer him."

"Riiiight, because the Nebraska pan handle is so much nicer than living in Jump."

He leaned over and gave her a steamy kiss. "We'll find someone else."

"It won't be easy, all veterinarians feel intimidated by you, and now the Whitney is leaving to start her own practice, you're gonna be swamped."

"Well, I don't blame them. How many vets do you know who can talk to their patients?"

"I know, you're a regular Dr. Doolittle." She continued to from.

He responded with a smile and wrapped his arms around her. "Come on, babe, how about we turn that frown upside down?"

"I'm not in the mood."

"Are you sure? Some rumpy pumpy will heal what ails you."

"Rumpy pumpy? Where did you learn that?"

"I read it in a book. It's Brit Slang for a roll in the hay."

"I know what it means, Gar. I also read, in case you forgot."

His grin widened. "Come on, you know you want some."

She shook her head. "You're 43 years old and still as horny as when you were a teen."

"Oh! So you were paying attention to me back then."

She glared. "I'M AN EMPATH. I knew every time any of you guys masturbated at night."

His face fell. "You did? I mean, you could sense it? Oh crap!"

She silently nodded.

"That's awful. You should have told us."

Her glare intensified. "And how did you expect me to accomplish that? Should I have just walked into the common room and said 'I know when you guys jerk off, so stop it'? Robin and Cyborg would have been embarrassed, to say the least. And Starfire would have said something like: 'What is this jerking off you speak of Raven? Does it involve the yanking or pulling of something?'"

The changeling fell on his back, landing on his pillow, and burst out laughing. His wife frowned.

"It's not funny, Gar."

"Uh … yes it is." He continued to laugh.

"You're an idiot."

"Yeah, but I'm your idiot."

He pulled at her. She initially resisted but gave in and plopped down next to him. He gave her another steamy kiss which she eagerly reciprocated. Suddenly an alarmed expression appeared on his face.

"The kids … can they sense when we …"

She shook her head. "I always cast a blocking spell. That's why they barged in on us last night. They didn't have a clue."

"Really? I've never noticed you cast one of those blocking spells."

"It's very easy."

"How easy?"

She reached for her waist and pulled her nightgown off, tossing aside.

"I just cast one just a moment ago."

He was now grinning from ear to ear. "Babe, have I ever told I love you?"

"Talk is cheap, green bean. I want some proof."

"Oh, I'll show you some proof."

He then turned off the light.

"Gar, wait."

She flicked her wrist and the sound of the door locking echoed in the room.

"Ok, now I'm ready." She purred.

-( - )-

The next morning …

The peace and quiet in the master suite was interrupted by the sound of a fist pounding on the door.

"Mom! Dad! You gotta get up!" Arella shouted, or was it Marie?

The changeling buried his face in the pillow. Raven stirred as the pounding resumed. The sorceress frowned as she sat up, before remembering that she was still in her birthday suit. She instinctively covered herself with her sheet.

"Don't come in." Raven shouted.

"Oh, I won't! I heard about the Jacuzzi incident." Arella shouted through the door.

"What do you want?" Raven growled at her daughter. "It's only 8 AM, we are on vacation, in case you forgot."

"I know, but grandma and grandpa are here."

Raven silently cursed. She had completely forgotten that her in-laws were arriving that morning.

"Tell them Dad will be right down."

Raven elbowed her mate in the ribs. "Rise and shine, green bean. Your parents are here. Go down and take care of them."

"Why me?" He groaned.

"They're your parents. I'll come down after I take a shower and get ready for the day."

"OK." He grumbled as he slipped his pajamas back on.

Once he was "dressed" he headed down the stairs and headed into the kitchen where he found Steve and Rita with Mark and Arella, drinking hot chocolate.

"Garfield, how are you?" Rita beamed.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry; we completely forgot you were arriving today. Raven will come down once she's decent."

"A woman's prerogative." Rita continued smiling. "Mark was telling us that he got into some trouble."

"You could call it that."

He immediately noticed that Mento was chatting with Mark. He approached his father.

"Mark was telling me about his prank. I suppose you're upset with him."

The changeling sighed. "I pulled a virtually identical prank when I was a teen. It sure seems like a pretty big coincidence if you ask me." He cast a piercing glance at Mark, who instantly looked away.

"I'd like to take Mark snowshoeing." Mento quipped. "I think it's time I have long overdue one on one with him."

"Snowshoeing?" The changeling asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Sure, it'll be great. Two men outdoors in the crisp winter air, in the solitude of natured discussing manly things."

Garfield crossed his arms. "And since when do you do that? You never did anything like that with me."

"I'm your father. I'm Mark's grandfather. The job descriptions are different." He turned to Mark. "What do you say champ? Are you game?"

Mark, who saw this as a way to get past the grounding his mother gave him, quickly agreed.

"And it's OK with you, Garfield?"

He nodded. "Sure, Mark needs to spend some time with his grandpa. Go, I'll work things out with Raven."

Steve grinned. "It's settled. We can leave now; I already have all the gear in the rental and lunch is packed too. We can be at the trail head in less than an hour. We'll be back this afternoon. Let's get going, Mark."

As Mento headed out to the garage, Mark walked past his father.

"Thanks Dad." He whispered.

"You owe me. Mom isn't gonna be happy that I let you go." The veterinarian and former super hero whispered back. "Have a good time with your grandfather."

-( - )-

"Rave?"

The sound of an blow-dryer filled the air. It was a gift from Starfire, which she gave to Raven on her birthday. Like all things Starfire, this unit was an over the top, professional accessory and it was as loud as a jet engine. The sorceress, who still wore her hair shoulder length, was still convinced that her violet locks still reeked of Quaker State motor oil and shampooed it again in the morning. The industrial strength blower was obnoxious and it got the job done quickly and efficiently.

"Raven!?"

She shut it off. "I'm almost ready."

"There's no need to hurry, my dad's gone for the day."

"What was so important that he couldn't wait until I was ready to come down?"

"Uh … he went snowshoeing in the Poudre Canyon."

Raven did a double take. "Snowshoeing? OK, whatever floats his boat, I guess. So he went by himself right? Your mom is still here, I can sense her."

"Uh … he didn't go alone … Mark went with him."

A frown quickly formed on her face. "You let him go, even though he was grounded."

"Rave … he almost never sees his grandfather."

"You could have at least consulted with me. Gar … every time you let him off the hook it undermines our authority."

"I didn't let him off the hook. He's still grounded when he gets back. And my dad knows about the balloon incident. He's probably gonna go all drill sergeant on Mark, you know what my dad is like."

Raven nodded. "You're right. Steve's gonna go boot camp on Mark … good … he needs to see that we aren't unreasonable. After you dad's done with him, Mark will never pull another prank again."

"See, I'm smart!"

"I didn't say that you weren't."

"Thank you. Now after we say hi to my mom, we can go to the mall and buy you a new outfit for the University reception tonight … you know … since your other outfit was … uh … ruined."

"Arella and Marie can come too. We should also ask your mother and Starfire to come."

"Uh … do I have to go too?"

"Yes, you do. I value your opinion and I want to be sure that you like whatever I wear tonight. I also promised the girls that they could buy some new clothes too."

"Aww … we're gonna be there all day."

"No we won't, and don't put on that face. Right now Mark is far worse off than you are."

"Yeah, I forgot that. Poor little guy."

"He's already taller than you."

"He's still my little slugger. Dad must be running him ragged right now."

"Good, he needs a good dose of discipline, and I can't think of a stricter taskmaster than your dad."

-( - )-

"Hurry up, Mark! You aren't going to tell me that I can climb this hill faster than you."

Mark grinned. "No way gramps! You're gonna eat my snow-dust!"

"We'll see about that!"

Grandfather and grandson went up that tall and steep hill as fast as they could, their snowshoes leaving their tracks in the fresh virgin snow. Mark was in the lead, but his 68 year old grandfather was keeping up with him. The hill was about two hundred feet tall and the two were panting as they arrived at the top.

"Snowshoeing … is … hard work." Mark panted.

"It sure is. I'm glad to see you're in shape Mark, I see far too many fat, flabby boys your age."

"Well, I do workout. Mom and Dad won't trains us though. It's not fair, I want to be a Teen Titan but they won't let me. I'm 16, I'm old enough, I know I am."

"I once promised your parents that I would train you to be a superhero."

"You did?"

"I sure did, and this outing is part of your training."

The green lad smiled. "So that's why you've been running me ragged."

"Right again. But there's more to being a hero than mere stamina. You need to take advantage of any situation in your favor. For instance, walking downhill in snowshoes is hard."

"I was afraid you were gonna say that."

Mento tossed a small sled onto the snow. "Race you to the bottom."

Mark grinned before morphing into a green emperor penguin. "You are so on!"

Mento laughed. "I keep forgetting that you can talk while in your animal forms … so, are you ready to race me?"

"I was born ready."

Without any warning Dayton hopped onto his sled and took off.

"Hey! That's cheating!" The green penguin shouted before jumping on its belly and shooting down the hill in hot pursuit.

-( - )-

We'll go to the mall next chapter.