Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10 or its sequels, spin-off and related characters. All is the property of Man of Action and Cartoon Network. I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit entertainment.

Gwevin Week 2020, Day 6 – "Camping"

Outdoors: A Family Snap Shot

"Ew, dirt!" Was the first thing Devlin exclaimed when he stepped out of the car onto the grass-grown parking area of the camp ground.

"What'd you expect?" Kevin called from where he was unloading the heavier supplies from the trunk. Tent, travel stove, large cooler, etc.

"I donno." Devlin admitted.

He looked back down at the dirt ground, a few sprigs of grass creeping in, the parking space lines drawn in impermanent chalk powder. Devlin lifted one foot, looking at the imprint of his boot tread. Put his foot back down and made a new boot tread foot print. Then another. Devlin liked to project an air that was aloof and tough. But he was also an 11-year-old child that had spent most of his life on Saturn Colony –a space colony, all metal paneling and sterile flooring. Devlin giggled at the sheer novelty of dirt and footprints.

"I forget sometimes that you're not actually from Earth, Devlin." Gwendolyn commented. "You've assimilated so well."

In answer to this, the boy only shrugged. He wasn't used to hearing complements. He didn't know how to take a complement.

He also wasn't sure how he was supposed to act around Dad's girlfriend. For as long as Devlin could remember, Kevin Levin never had a girlfriend. At least, not one that Devlin ever met. But now Dad was with Gwendolyn Tennyson, whom he'd apparently dated before. They seemed to be picking up right where they left off with their own relationship. Gwendolyn was trying really hard to endear herself to her boyfriend's son, and Devlin was trying to get used to having another adult in his life.

"Hey, if you're done playing with your feet, load up." Kevin snapped, pointing to Devlin then to the neatly arranged pile of camping equipment.

"Kevin, this is the first time since Devlin came to Earth that he's been outside the city." Gwendolyn reminded Dad, her hand resting on his arm in a way that Devlin already noticed pacified Dad's temper. "Let him enjoy the novelty of it for a bit longer."

"There'll be plenty of time to play in the dirt once we set up camp." Kevin reminded her. "Devlin, you can either carry the tent, or the cooler."

Devlin looked at the camping stove, it was easily the smallest thing. "Why can't I carry that?"

"I don't want you carrying the stove." Gwendolyn informed him. She picked it up herself. "Stoves are dangerous and you're eleven."

Devlin was insulted. That was one of the things that made getting used to Gwendolyn around so awkward. She insisted on coddling him. Treating him like the child that he was. Instead of the skilled con-artist and street-shark that he also was. Dad would never worry about his safty around a stove! But Gwendolyn did.

The hike up to the camp site was short, but all uphill.

Eventually, the trail crested on a mostly level patch of grass that overlooked the lake.

"Whoa! Naturally occurring water!" Devlin dropped the tent he was carrying and started bounding down the hill to the lakeside."

Kevin opened his mouth to shout something at Devlin. Maybe tell him to wait. There would be time to go swimming later, right now Devlin had to help set up camp. But Gwendolyn placed her hand on his arm again, and Kevin closed his mouth without saying anything.

He sighed, setting down the large cooler and beginning to take out the tent that Devlin just dropped. "So, what do you think of my son."

"Shouldn't you start calling him 'our son'?" Gwendolyn shot back.

Kevin just offered her one of his roguish lopsided smirks. "I didn't wanna put any pressure on you. Like, I just wanna be clear, I'm placing no expectations on you. I never even told Devlin that you-"

"That I'm his father." Gwendolyn teased.

Kevin's only response to this was to blush. He turned his attention to the tent, and setting up the tent. Can't go camping without a good tent.

"Tell me again." She said, watching him sort out tent poles, tent steaks, ground tarp, main tent, rain fly, all the little pieces. Kevin was being much more meticulous with sorting the tent pieces that he needed to be. He was focusing all his attention on the tent and none of it on Gwendolyn. "How I got you pregnant."

Kevin's blush deepened.

He groaned.

Then sighed. "So, when an Osmosian reached adulthood, there comes a time when their absorption power shifts from absorbing energy to… absorbing genetic code."

Gwendolyn sat on the grass, she just loved how flustered he got when he was trying to explain his alien hybrid biology.

"Around the time I 'went evil' again and left Earth, I was also going through that." Kevin continued to explain. "When you caught up with me on planet Druidia and he fought, I accidentally absorbed enough of your genetic code to… spawn. That's how I got Devlin."

"Wow." Gwendolyn said, not for the first time. Since Devlin first showed up and manipulated Kenny and Ben into letting Kevin out of the Null Void, she had heard the story of how he got Kevin Levin pregnant many many times. Gwendolyn still never got tired of it. "So it's true. A person can get pregnant from borrowing a tooth brush!"

"Babe!" Kevin whined.

"And holding hands!" Gwendolyn continued to jeer.

Kevin made an odd choking sound that he would later insist was not a sob.

"I got you pregnant with a punch!"

"It's not funny." Kevin insisted.

"Right, right." She finally nodded her agreement. "It is very serious. I should never have punched the mother of my son."

Kevin only groaned. "I should have stayed in the Null Void."

"Hey, hey." Gwendolyn scooted closer to him on the grass. "None of that. I'm only teasing. This whole weekend is so Devlin and I can get to know each other. Then we'll tell him where he really came from and who I am to him, and we'll be a real family. Just like Ben, Rook, and Kenny."

Kevin leaned his head on her shoulder. The worse part about being Kevin 11,000 was being apart from her. Gwendolyn just made Kevin feel secure and safe, even when she was teasing him about his hybrid alien biology.

"Thanks, Babe." He muttered into her hair.

"And later I'll get you pregnant again." She promised.

"Gwen!" Kevin shouted.

…

END