This is an early Valentine's Day present to all of you who are still reading this. I'm trying to do a mainstream story but it isn't coming out right. I'm still working on it and hope it comes out in time. But don't hold your breaths. Also working on the new AU fanfic, which is harder than I thought. So much for taking a break from writing, sigh.
I do not own any of the characters.
"They're still arguing." Jade whispered to Jasmine.
"What are they saying?" Jasmine whispered back.
"I can't make it out." She answered.
"Shut up, I'm trying to listen." Kenji hissed.
The three kids stood huddled at the door of Kenji's room which was closest to the living room where their mom and dad were currently having a tiff.
Suddenly, the arguing stopped. The kids heard the familiar tapping of high-heeled boots coming up the stairs, pass their room, and down the hall. Then there was a slam of the bedroom door. A few minutes later there was a slam of the front door. The kids winced.
"They've been having an awful lot of fights lately." Jasmine commented in a low voice afraid that their mom down the hall might hear them.
"Do you think they'll split up?" Jade asked fearfully.
"I don't know." Jasmine admitted.
"They've both been under a lot of stress lately." Kenji pointed out.
"And I'm sure we don't help." Jade agreed wryly.
"Yeah, like you almost burning down the school." Kenji said to Jasmine.
"Hey, it was an accident. She didn't know the school's electrical system couldn't handle her particle accelerator." Jade protested defending her twin whose shoulders had slumped. "It's not like you're so innocent. What about the car?"
"That tree came out of no where." Kenji glared at Jade. "How about all those fights you've been in at school? One more and you're going to be suspended."
"Guys, this isn't helping." Jasmine said softly.
The kids sat in Kenji's room in sullen silence.
"Wait! I have a great idea!" Jade perked up.
The other two groaned.
"What?" Jade frowned.
"Your ideas… How can I put this politely?... Suck." Kenji looked at his sister.
"Unfortunately, I have to concur." Jasmine added.
"Well, oh ye of little faith, listen to this." Jade smirked. "It's Valentine's in a few days. Why don't we surprise mom and dad with a romantic dinner? Remind them how much they love each other."
"Okay… but we don't have any money to treat them to any romantic restaurants and plus most restaurants are already full. We needed to make reservations weeks ago." Kenji said.
"Who says they need to go out? We can make the romantic dinner right here." Jade said excitedly.
"Wait, what?" Jasmine looked incredulously at her sister. "You want us to make dinner for mom and dad?"
"Not just make any dinner but make it the most romantic dinner ever!" Jade insisted.
"We don't know anything about romance." Jasmine protested.
"Don't worry. I have everything we need to do this thing." Jade pulled out a popular young adult novel she had been reading.
"We are going to make a romantic evening for mom and dad based on that?" Kenji eyed his sister skeptically. "Their marriage is doomed."
"Besides what if they already have plans?" Jasmine asked.
"They don't." Jade said. "I checked mom's planner. She didn't write down anything about meeting dad for dinner."
"Maybe dad's going to surprise her?" Jasmine asked.
"No, dad's going to be out on a mission with Uncle Rex. He might not even come home that night." Jade informed her.
"Then how are we going to get them together if dad won't even be home?" Kenji asked.
"We'll just ask Uncle Rex to make sure dad gets home." Jade said. "Come on guys, you with me?"
Kenji and Jasmine looked at each other. What did they have to lose except their parent's marriage?
"Ok, we're in." Jasmine answered.
0o0
Rebecca tiredly walked up the pathway to the front door. It had been a long day. Her head was pounding. She had a full day of meetings and they were draining. She also had been feeling bad about all those fights she had been having with Six. They were silly really. She couldn't even remember what most were about. But they were both tired and testy lately. He always had those dangerous missions and she had those constant frustrating, boring meetings. Then there were the kids. Oh, were they a handful! Sometimes it felt like her life was spinning out of control.
She couldn't wait to get into a nice hot bath. Rebecca opened the door.
She was greeted by hundreds of tea lights… very smelly tea lights. Now Rebecca usually liked the mood set by candles but these were a little too much. It left a more creepy feeling than romantic. On top of that they were scented but not all of them were of the same scent.
"What's going on?" She hesitantly looked in.
"Surprise mom!" Jade said happily pulling her mom in. "Table for two?"
Rebecca was too surprised to answer as her daughter dragged her into the dining room.
To her surprise Six was already seated at the table.
"I thought you were working late tonight." She looked at Six.
"Rex said he could handle the rest and that I should go home." Six answered in his usual tone.
Kenji came up dressed in a waiter uniform. He pulled the chair out for his mom who sat down. Rebecca thanked him as he handed her a hand-drawn menu. He also gave one to his dad. Rebecca skimmed through the list. She had a hard time not laughing. There was a salad course, mac and cheese for the main course, and chocolate lava cake for dessert. Jasmine came out.
"Would you like some champagne?" She asked.
Rebecca looked at her daughter, "How did you get champagne?"
"Umm, actually it's sparkling grape juice." She admitted.
Rebecca relaxed, "Oh, sure." She watched Jasmine pour some into her wine glass. She looked around the room. It was decorated with hearts and cupids… very creepy looking cupids holding menacing looking bows and arrows.
She looked at Six who sat expressionlessly. He ordered off the menu with his usual seriousness and handed the menu back to Kenji. Kenji looked at his mom.
"I'll have the same." She said trying to keep from laughing.
The kids left the room. Their parents were left looking at each other.
"How was your day?" Rebecca asked Six trying to ignore the creepy vibes the candles were giving off.
Six put the napkin on his lap. "Fine, destroyed a few rampaging androids. You'd think by now they'd realize trying to install AI's in machines is a bad idea."
"Tell me about it." Rebecca groaned. "Caesar reprogrammed Robo Bobo to help him while Beverly's out and he has been giving me such attitude."
"Caesar or the robot?" Six smirked.
Rebecca chuckled.
Suddenly the most obnoxious music blared from the speakers. Rebecca recognized it as the latest pop song. She guessed it was suppose to be romantic but she found the song grating. If Six disliked it he gave no indication. He just picked up his glass and took a sip.
Jasmine and Jade came in and placed the salad in front of their parents.
Rebecca looked at hers. The tomatoes were shaped into what she can only guess were hearts. She tried a bite. She almost choked. There was too much salt and vinegar. She downed her glass of juice to wash it down. She looked over at Six who didn't seem bothered by the taste.
"It's good." He told the girls who beamed and left the room.
As soon as they left, Rebecca was surprised to see Six take his plate and pour the contents into the house plant in the corner of the room. He held out his hand to Rebecca. She handed him her plate and he scraped her salad into the plant as well.
Her plate was returned to its spot all in a matter of seconds without so much as a clink of the plate on the table.
Kenji came out with two plates of mac and cheese. He looked at their empty salad plates.
"Wow, you guys must be hungry." He commented. Jasmine came out and removed their empty plates and Kenji placed the main course in front of them. They again looked expectantly at their parents. Rebecca took a small bite of the mac and cheese. The noodles had been cooked too long and was mushy. But unlike the salad it was edible.
She smiled at her children and thanked them. They left the room elated.
She looked at Six who was finishing up his plate. She did likewise. The original annoying pop song was now replaced by someone wailing about a lost love. Rebecca tried to tune it out.
Finally, the dessert came out. Chocolate lava cake did sound good. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite lava-y. In fact it was as hard as a brick. Fortunately, the kids did not stay to watch their parents eat their dessert. Six quickly took both his and her hockey pucks and chucked them into the house plant. Poor plant. The kids came out and cleared their plates.
"How was dinner?" Jade asked nervously.
"It was very nice of you to do this." Rebecca was careful not to lie.
"We wanted you to have a romantic evening together especially since you've been figh…" Jasmine trailed off as her siblings glared at her.
So that's what this was about. Rebecca went over and hugged her children.
"Guys, don't worry about us. Sometimes we have moments where we disagree but that doesn't mean we don't love each other… or you."
She looked over to Six but he was already gone. She mentally sighed. She looked back at her children who now looked relieved.
"We'll clean up here, mom." Kenji said. "I guess you're tired."
Rebecca was tired and was grateful to get away from the mixed scents that were assaulting her olfactory senses and the creepy cupids in the room. She bade her children good night as she trudged up the stairs to her room. When she opened the door she was surprised to see Six on the bed with a box of pizza, two wine glasses, and a bottle of champagne… real champagne.
"What? How?" She looked at him confused as she shut the door.
"When I came home and found this I called for pizza delivery. I had the delivery guy wait by the garage. I brought everything up through the window." Six said as he popped open the champagne. He poured them both a glass.
Holiday tried to wrap her head around everything he said, especially the part about going through the window. Well, he is a ninja.
"They tried." Holiday said as she sat next to Six on the bed. "It was nice of them. But it's as if they got their romantic notions from a bad novel."
"At least they didn't try to have us on a ship with an iceberg." Six smirked.
Rebecca laughed as she held out her glass. They clinked and Rebecca took a sip. She then dug into the pizza. She was starving.
When they were done, Six rooted in his pocket. He pulled something out and tossed it to Rebecca.
"Happy Valentine's Day." He said as Rebecca looked at him in surprise. She looked at the black velvet box. She hesitantly opened it up. It was a diamond pendant shaped like intertwined hearts. She looked at him. He was not looking at her. She closed the box and put it on her night stand. She crawled over to him and kissed him on the cheek. She felt his arm go around her. His head turned and met her lips. She smiled into the kiss. Things weren't so bad after all.