Being Human
By: KidHeart4
Heart:
"Are you kidding?!" I couldn't even try to keep from laughing.
Nosedive had found us late that night and told of their encounter with some twerp pretending to be a super hero. It wasn't that a human was trying to be a hero that was comical, but him telling my fellow teammates that he was the real hero.
Months spent on Earth with the Mighty Ducks so far and it was well cemented to the public that we were here to protect them from evil as well as play hockey.
"He's lucky he didn't get himself hurt or worse!" Wildwing said exasperated.
I had been hanging out with Grin a bit when they had come in. Mallory was training in our gym.
"What's so funny?" Duke asked when he walked in from the hallway.
I shrugged while shaking my head still laughing a bit. This time Tanya filled him in while Nosedive tried to get Grin to play a game with him.
"I'm going to the comic shop to tell Thrash and Mookie about it," Nosedive then informed, "They gotta here about this one!"
"Can I go with you?" I requested eagerly.
"Sure thing sis," Nosedive assured with a thumbs up.
"Humans are so odd," Tanya shook her head.
"We almost had 'em too!" Nosedive exclaimed.
"Sorry Dive," I said without any thing else to offer.
"Not your fault, you're one of the few that makes sense!" Nosedive retorted as he started up his game.
With a chuckle lingering in my throat I found myself walking over to the couch my twin was leaning back on. Beside him I sat on the arm of the chair with my arms crossed over my chest. A moment later I caught the second controller Nosedive tossed to me. He then scooted over while I slid over the arm and fell back onto the couch with my legs over the arm still.
"Are you sure you're human?" Nosedive asked sounding a bit unsure.
"As far as I know Dive," I shrugged while I started fighting back on our game.
While I played I caught sight of the wedding band on my finger and smiled.
"Sometimes I question it myself," I admitted glancing over at Duke who watched us playing together.
"Not all humans are like the one from tonight Dive," Duke tried to remind us, "Your sister there is proof of that."
"Perhaps, but I'm with Dive on this one," I said as my twin rustled my hair after winning the current match, "Humans like that are the same ones that don't get why I married you."
Duke shook his head chuckling himself now, "I'd say they're jus' jealous sweetheart."
"Both of you quit it!" Nosedive tossed a pillow at Duke and then threw one over my face as well.
Duke caught his while I was prone and couldn't do much to keep myself from tasting fabric and fluff as he got me point blank.
"How was the movie?" Duke then asked.
From there Nosedive regailed us with the story he had gone to watch with Wildwing and Tanya.
The next day I found myself following Nosedive and Mallory to the mall. Duke and the others had stayed back, leaving the three of us to hang out together. My twin could hardly wait to tell his friends about their encounter last night, bursting through the door to catch the attention of his friends. Mallory began her browsing while I remained near my twin. Hearing this story a second time hadn't made it less funny to me.
However Nosedive found he wasn't getting much of a reaction from his friends. In fact Thrash soon asked, "Did he call himself Mondo Man?"
"Yeah, yeah, that's the guy!" Nosedive exclaimed, "You know him?"
"Totally!" Thrash laughed as a new customer walked in behind us for him to introduce us to, "Guys, meet Alvin Yazback!"
Nosedive turned around with widened blue eyes that quickly formed into a glare, "You! We almost had those creepasuar-eye til you messed it up!"
"I use my brains and scientific skills to defeat those freaks you feathered phoney!"
Once that word flew from his mouth my blood began boiling. Nosedive's reaction was one of exasperation and shock as he pulled at his own blonde hair, "Phony?!"
I kept my hands at my sides, trying to not ball them into fists. This toothpick of a dweeb wasn't worth punching and I knew that. Instead I stood firmly beside my twin, resting an arm on his shoulder. The guy's eyes nearly bulged out of his hand seeing this.
"You're human aren't you?! Why do you hang around these fake freaks?!" He questioned as I remained beside my twin.
"Because they're not fake, and they're my family. More than any human has ever been," I said while holding up my hand in a flowing motion to make sure he saw my wedding band.
For a moment I thought he might actually burst seeing this.
Regaining some composure he demanded, "Do you know how many times we've saved your crumby planet junior?!"
"Earth doesn't need your kind!" Melvin insisted pointing directly at Nosedive, "We should have our own super heroes! Decent! Clean living! Human!"
Saying these things he stormed off towards the back exit. At the last bit I rolled my eyes while Mallory sighed, "That guy doesn't have a clue!"
"Actually he's a Ph.D in physics!" Mookie informed us.
"Yeah well if he's so smart how come he runs around in his underwear at night?" Nosedive questioned.
Thrash shook his head while leaning over the cash register with his arms crossed over it, "He's a super hero freaky freak! And might I add one of our best customers!"
Nosedive looked at his friend in a bit of shock to hear this before Thrash reassured him, "I said one of our best Dive!"
Nosedive sighed with relief.
I myself shook my head in annoyance. Looking to Mallory I noticed she seemed to share the same reaction.
"If he's into super heroes so much why question when real ones are right in front of him? Comic heroes aren't all humans either," I mentioned looking at the covers of comics on the walls.
"Who knows?" Thrash shrugged.
"Wanna hit the art supplies shop?" Mallory then asked me when she noticed the frustration lingering in my shoulders and hands.
I nodded my head while following her. Nosedive decided to stick around the comic shop while stating he would find us in a bit.
"You okay?" Mallory asked me when I was a bit quiet in the store still.
"Yeah, I just don't get people like that. Biased or not, you have all saved his city a number of times," I commented while looking over drawing pencils with half interest, "And this planet."
"I know how you feel Heart," she sighed, "Not much we can do but keep doing what we've been doing since we got here."
"Even without Dragonus there have been plenty of creeps to deal with, like Dr. Droid and Viper," I mentioned, "Not to mention those mob bosses we wrapped up."
I had been crouched down looking over sketchbooks at this point.
Beside me Mallory then asked me, "Hey, I have always wondered why you've never sought out your family since being back on Earth though?"
I glanced up at her a bit thrown off by this. Wildwing had mentioned something similar not long ago. Shrugging my shoulders I got to my feet and dusted off my leggings to my battle gear.
"I think if I had had family worth looking for I wouldn't have left," I said looking at my friend now.
"But you don't know that for sure, you lost your memories when you got to Puck World didn't you?"
"Mostly yeah," I agreed, "But there's still some imprinting I can recall here and there. It's hard to explain. I know I was running from something, and I know the general public weren't fond of me for whatever reason. I just know I needed to get away and find a new home, but that's about it."
"So, why us then if you don't mind me asking?"
"I think the better question is why not you guys?" I asked in return.
"You could have a safer life if you weren't a crime fighter," she mentioned with a light laugh.
"That sounds boring," I replied with a laugh as well.
Looking to my friend still I then added, "When we got to Earth there was no doubt in my mind where I was supposed to be. Home planet or not, the pond is my home now. I've always kind of looked at our situation like a make-shift family. We've had our growing pains getting used to one another, but in the end we share a laugh after most of our adventures. Why would I ever give that up?"
"Are you sure you're human?" Mallory repeated Nosedive's question unknowingly.
"Most of the time?" I shrugged with a revived smile.
The signal on our comms then caught our attention.
"Everything okay guys?" I asked as we answered the call.
"We're doing a run through the city to find the Raptor, want us to pick you guys up?" Wildwing offered.
"We'll meet you at the gate," Mallory confirmed.
Closing my comm I turned to Mallory with an eager smile curving my lips.
"I already feel better," I told her while following her out.
Nosedive met up with us with a few new comics in hand. Seconds later Wildwing drove up to us in the Migrator and we hopped in. Duke turned with his chair to smile at me, "Everythin' alright?"
I nodded my head in assurance while taking a seat beside him.
"Yeah, just met the dweeb they dealt with last night," I mentioned.
"That doesn't sound very fun at all," he said apologetically.
"It wasn't," I agreed, "but he's not worth mentioning much more than that."
"Humans like that just don't get it, but they're not all like that," he reminded me, "Plenty of other people get it and understand we do."
"I'm with Heart on this though," Nosedive chimed in while taking his seat.
With that we were on our way through the city. Looking to each of my teammates for a second put the rest of my frustration to rest.
After a while of driving a ringing could be heard from outside.
"That sounds like a bank alarm!" Duke alerted us as we pulled over to investigate.
As we stepped out of the Migrator a group of armed, masked men emerged from the bank. Officer Kleghorn had just arrived on the scene as well when the leader of robbers warned with his gun drawn, "Don't take another step!"
We looked to see the bank tellers being held as hostages with guns trained on them by his two lackies. Phil behind us gasped in fear seeing this.
Before we could make a move we suddenly heard someone call out from above, "There's no need to fear! Mondo Man is here!"
We all looked up in shock to see a bulked up, red costumed, caped superhero looping through the air before descending towards us.
"Is that Alvin?!" Mallory exclaimed in disbelief.
Without a word he marched towards us before then charging into the scene. Before the robbers could react he had dove in, knocked them out, and emerged onto the street again. Kleghorn and his men began apprehanding the robbers while the masked hero infront of us started towards us. We defensively backed away in unison, showing we weren't looking for a fight.
"I'll blow you away with my Mondo breath!" He told us before taking a deep breath.
From this he then let out what felt like a blast of wind at us knocking us all back against the building behind us. My back buckled upon impact with the wall I met with. Yet the deeper blow to me was seeing my teammates all on the ground beside me.
"Why are you picking fights?!" I demanded as I pushed myself to my feet beside them.
"Again I'll ask why hang out with these freaks when you could be my side kick instead?" He offered proudly.
Nausea swept through me at the very thought, "Side kick?! Why on Earth would I join you psycho?!"
"Because we're both human of course! Use your skills to represent man kind while protecting it!" He told me as though it were a basic fact, "Stand beside me and we'll protect our planet without these weirdos!"
I don't know if I was too angry and appauled to speak, but instead I stood firmly with my boots planted beside my teammates on the pavement. Duke in particular made note it seemed to stand with his shoulder and arm slightly shielding me. On my other side was my brother and our leader.
Mondo Man simply laughed, "I'm going to personally kick you off this planet!"
"I'd hate to do this," Wildwing sighed while signaling to the rest of us.
"I don't," I said under my breath as we began firing at him.
However our pucks bounced right off of his chest, causing him to laugh even more.
"Mondo babe, come on let's talk! I can get you t.v. coverage," he rambled.
"Phil!" Tanya scolded.
"Okay no t.v., how about radio?" Phil questioned before Duke grabbed his shoulder as we headed back to the Migrator to drive away.
"Hey come on this is business!" Phil protested before we dragged him away, "I've gotta cover all my bases!"
As we drove off we could hear Kleghorn suddenly shout, "Stop those ducks!"
We were already well away from their shots.
"I can't tell the good guys from the bad guys anymore!" Tanya exclaimed.
"If we start fighting the police then we're the bad guys," Wildwing pointed out, "We're going to have to settle this another way."
We all sat in quiet frustration after that while Wildwing drove. I in particular was stairing out the side window with my hands bunched up into fists. My lower back still felt quite tense from the hit it had taken, but I tried to ignore it. Duke however did take notice and said, "We gotta stop that muscle-bound maniac!"
"Not so forgiving this time are you Dukester?" Nosedive questioned.
"I stand by what I said before, but this guy made the mistake of saying that Heart should be his side kick!" Duke said firmly.
"Where did he get all those powers?" Nosedive pondered aloud.
"Are you kidding?!" Mallory questioned, "He's practically got Dragonus's signature on him!"
"Here's where we fought him last night," Wildwing said while he parked to the side, "We'll get out and comb this place for clues."
"Hey Thrash and Mookie know him, maybe they can help?" Nosedive suggested thoughtfully.
"Get on it!" Wildwing ordered before turning to our manager with a stern expression, "And drop Phil at the Pond before he signs Dragonus to a contract!"
Phil immediately threw his hands up innocently while sweating gum drops and shaking his head.
Before splitting up Wildwing pulled me aside a moment outside the Migrator.
"What's the matter Wildwing? Besides the obvious anyway?" I asked.
"You tell me little sis, this creep's got you pretty riled up," Wildwing commented with concern.
"I wouldn't leave," I said firmly.
"I wouldn't doubt your loyalty for a second sis. That's not what I'm worried about," Wildwing told me while resting a hand on my shoulder.
"I'm just tired of this kind of thing! Humans like him will never get it and I know it shouldn't bother me, but it does! You guys make sense to me, since we met back on Puck World I knew I fit! How is it I'm from here and I see so many ways in which I didn't? You and Dive fit as my brothers, I know this team is who I will always stand with," I glanced at my wedding band, "And at his side is where I will stay!"
"How does your head feel when these things happen?" He then asked worriedly.
"I recall a resentment towards me, but I don't really remember why. Nor do I really care about that," I said, "It's when I am told I don't fit with you guys that it gets to me. Nothing could be further from the truth."
An encouraging smile showed through my brother's mask as he patted my head a moment, "You're right about that Heart. And don't worry, we'll put a stop to that creep!"
I gave a quick smile and nod before rejoining Duke, Nosedive, and Mallory in the Migrator. For the moment I ignored Phil while we drove him home. Of all the deals he had tried to make this may have been the worst one to me.
After a while we were back at the comic shop telling Thrash and Mookie what had happened.
"Ugh! That slime ball's got super powers?!" Thrash exclaimed.
"Slime ball?!" Mallory exclaimed, "You said he was your best customer!"
I glanced at Nosedive to see his puzzled reaction to this statement. Before he could speak a beep from our comms alerted us to a signal crossing over the map it showed.
"Hey you're not gonna believe this one," Duke started in disbelief himself, "But a sarks space ship is decending towards Anaheim Park!"
"The sarks are going to visit Earth?" Mallory enquired with widened eyes before we headed back to the Migrator.
"Just what we need, another complication!" Nosedive yelled as left the comic shop.
We hurried to the park to find several police cars and officers gathered around a large open ship. We stepped out only to be yelled at by Officer Kleghorn once again, "This is a police zone, now I've got another reason to bust you birds!"
"Captain you've got to let us speak to those aliens!" Mallory insisted urgently.
With that we headed towards the ship. Behind us Kleghorn's order made my nerves jump, "Stop those ducks!"
I could then hear several guns being aimed at readied at us. My hands shook for a second as my head spiralled. Why was this happening?! Glancing towards Duke for a moment I then heard ahead of us, "Decist!"
In an instant the aliens in front of us pushed a button on a device that sent out an energy, melting the guns the police officers aimed at us. A gasp of relief escaped my throat as we slowed to a respectful approach before them, wiping my eyes for a moment to erase the evidence of panic that had shown up. Duke took notice as he swiftly took my other hand.
Then the four of us climbed the first few steps to meet with the sarks. These aliens, all similar in appearance were dressed in deep purple and blue robes. Over their blue heads were glass domes protecting them with a device to allow them to speak to us, "Who are you?"
"We're aliens like you guys!" Nosedive introduced excitedly.
"Please don't judge the human race by what you see here," Duke then said gesturing towards the park, catching me off guard as I looked to him in surprise.
Hearing this, without a bit of hesitation in his voice, somehow spoke volumes to me. Especially considering what had nearly happened just seconds before this. I found I was smiling as I looked at him, my panic washing away as I did.
"After that flying maniac stole our belerium crystals?" One of them questioned, "You can't be serious!"
"If those crystals are not returned in one hour, the consequences of this planet will exceed your limited knowledge!" Their leader proclaimed to our shock.
"In the meantime, we'll release the scorpatron to search for them!" The other sark informed as we heard another door open behind the ship.
Suddenly this was followed by several blasts of energy as a large robotic scorpian emerged from the ship and began it's hunt.
Without another word to them we hurried again to the Migrator and drove off as Nosedive exclaimed, "Man for a bunch of old timers man, they're sure packing some serious heat!"
Duke shook his head, "We'll never find those crystals! We need Wildwing, and the mask!"
I looked to Duke worriedly, wondering what to do or just where to start with our search.
"We'll save the day, don't ya worry sweetheart," he assured me, "We just need our leader and a plan!"
Nosedive hit the button on his comm, "Yo Wingster, we've got trouble!"
For a moment it was quiet on the other end. When Wildwing spoke I felt a rush of worry run through me again. His voice was feint and drained, "So have we."
"You need us to rescue you?" Nosedive asked.
"No!" Wildwing insisted, "Don't come here! Get Phil!"
"Phil?!" Mallory exclaimed.
"Wildwing, what's wrong?" I asked, "If it's a human you need, I can-"
"No sis! Stay with Duke, Dive, and Mallory got it?!" Wildwing ordered with what strength his voice had.
I was a bit startled by this reaction. Looking to the others we heard Wildwing insisted, "He's the only one that can help!"
Nosedive shook his head with a confused smile, "Things just keep getting weirder by the second!"
After calling Phil to send him out to them we began our search for the robot trashing our city. It didn't take long to find it as we drove up to challenge it. To our shock it blasted the migrator, knocking it back until we were all hanging upside down from our seats.
"O...kay...that could've gone better," Duke commented crossing his arms over his chest.
He then carefully unbuckled his seat and spun his way to the roof that was now the floor.
"Drop down sweetheart, I'll catch ya," he then said to me as I tried to follow him.
Nosedive used the console in front of him to grab onto and jump down, as did Mallory. I then unbuckled, gripping the seat as I afterwards slipped out of it, and was caught in Duke's arms, "Well, at least I got ta do this today."
I shook my head, only encouraging him as he set me down carefully.
Then we headed out with our blasters to try and hold back the metallic creature. To our dismay the blasts were reflected by it's thick armor.
"We're not even puttin' a scratch in it!" Duke commented in frustration.
Behind us Officer Kleghorn drove up. Nosedive glanced at him, "Yeah ya maybe wanna help us a little here cappy?"
"With what?!" Kleghorn demanded, "Those friends of yours melted all our weapons!"
Then he smiled excitedly while proclaiming, "Our only hope now is Mondo Man!"
As though on que we heard him flying above the city as he decended towards us.
"Out of the way law breakers! It's Mondo time!" The twisted caped wonder shouted as he readied his fist.
With his force and given power he knocked his back all together onto the ground. This time fury caught a hold of me as I shouted, "What's wrong with you?!"
"Again, you're a human with a promise in fighting! Why not join me?!" He had asked me after stopping a bank robbery we had come to stop ourselves, "You don't belong with these space freaks!"
He offered me a hand figuring I would accept his proposal.
"Are you kidding me?" I laughed as I glared at him, "You think I want to join a creep like you just because we're both human? Who are you to tell me who I belong with?!"
His confused expression was soon changed to pride as the officers around us showered him with unneeded praise. Then he flew off towards the scorpian he had let pass us by.
As we got to our feet, each of us with balled up fists now I noticed, Nosedive grumbled, "That's guy's becoming a Mondo pain!"
We then ran after him as we heard Kleghorn exclaim, "Mondo Man it's headed towards city hall!"
"I'll defend this symbol of our civic pride!" The false hero proclaimed as he flew between the robot and the building now behind him.
Yet as he did something amazing happened. As he landed a shimmering light washed over him as his borrowed power and muscle were suddenly repossessed. I couldn't help but give a smirk to this, even though I could guess what had happened. In the moment I didn't really care. Forunately Nosedive still charged forward to knock him out of harm's way while Duke and I with Mallory fenced off the metallic creature from behind.
The sound of screeching tires emerged behind us now as Grin hopped out of Phil's car. With a steady glare he stated, "So I'm guessing you're a scorpio!"
At this he jumped up and grappled it's tail, causing it to blast in several directions. Duke turned quickly, glancing at me as I leapt out of the way of one of the blast, summer saulting along the grass. I gave a reassuring smile to let him know I wasn't injured. Then the tail's stinger let out a final blast into the creature's own neck, dismanteling it's head. With a blast the creature fell to the ground as Grin leapt out of harm's way, "Well, that mellowed him out."
Duke didn't skip a beat walking over to me and helping me up. I tried to assure him I was okay, but he insisted all the same. Looking up I noticed Alvin watching our group and knew why Duke was so insistant now. With a nod I gave him my hand, accepting aid from my husband and teammate without further question.
"Well Kleghorn," Mallory scoffed as Alvin tried to slink away, "You're super hero's a super zero!"
Nosedive quickly caught up to him and gripped his shoulder, "Not so fast bucky-boy!"
With a bit over zelousness he turned to Kleghorn with Alvin and requested, "Officer, arrest this dweeb!"
To our surprise Kleghorn obliged before we had to bring up that he had assaulted us and tried to murder Wildwing, Grin, and Tanya apparently. This I would hear of on the way home, which may have been Alvin's one saving grace from me.
"And I believe someone owes an apology," Duke commented.
"Alright I was wrong about him," Kleghorn admitted while nearly tossing Alvin into the car and his weepy voice cried, "Owie!"
"But I'm still not sure about you!" Kleghorn reaffirmed pointing at us.
Getting into the car he warned us, "You birds better keep your beaks clean!"
As he drove off we turned away to bring the crystals Wildwing, Tanya, and Grin had retrieved back to the Sarks. As we did Wildwing told us of the egg Alvin had created and what it had done to them.
"I could have come to help you guys!" I told them.
Wildwing shook his head, "Sorry sis, but I wasn't sure if you'd be safe."
"I'm just a human, remember?" I tried to protest.
"Just trust me on this one," Wildwing said sternly before easing up, "Look, it was better for you to stay with the others this time anyway. And we're just fine now."
I found myself giving in at the moment. However, unknown to Wildwing and the others, this was what caused a seed of doubt to be planted in the back of my head. From there it would grow for a few days. If I couldn't even help them with something like that, then how was I able to help be a part of this team? I was just a human, and a human that can't even do something so simple as throw an egg to save their lives, what could I do? Why was Wildwing so insistant on protecting me from this but hadn't been worried about my being able to fight before?
For the moment though I found myself walking up to the Sarks space ship alongside my teammates. Wildwing gave a bow and humbly offered the crystals, "Please, reconsider sharing your knowledge with the human race!"
"You can't be serious!" Their leader scoffed as he took the crystals from him.
"Please, this planet needs you!" Wildwing insisted.
"Yeah I mean they are full on eye sores," Nosedive shrugged, "But they're pretty cool!"
I looked to my twin a bit surprised by this statement before he gave me a nudge in the arm and said under his breath, "I'm not convinced you're human sis!"
Then their leader told us a secret we couldn't dare share with anyone else, mostly because we didn't believe them, "We're not that smart! We were justr trying to impress the babes!"
With that they closed the doors to their ship and took to the stars once more while bidding farewell.
I stood a bit dumb founded with my teammates while we watched them disappear. Then shaking my head I followed them back to the Migrator as we finally returned home for the day.
After a long, confusing day I was looking forward to just relaxing together at the pond. We had certaily earned it this time.
Though upon finding Phil in the main room Nosedive threw himself back in the seat in front of Drake One and exclaimed to him, "Jeez Phil, I can't believe you were going to sign that guy a contract!"
"Just think about it, a Mondo Man and Mighty Ducks combo!" Phil pleaded eagerly.
I felt nausea returning to me hearing this suggestion.
"Team up with that geek, sorry but we're an exclusive outfit!" Nosedive grumbled crossing his arms firmly over his chest while leaning back in his chair.
"Exclusive?" Mallory questioned glancing at my twin, "We let you in didn't we?"
"Wildwing back me up on this one!" Phil attempted before Wildwing shook his head.
"Judging by you Phil, the Sarks made the right choice," our leader agreed before our manager finally gave up.
I however was not so forgiving at the moment, though I kept my words about it to myself. At the time I was leaning against the back of Nosedive's chair, supporting his words in a way. Duke glanced at me from the other side of Drake One's console and tilted his head curiously. Did he know?
He walked over to me then and pulled me back against him, wrapping his arms around me and resting the chin of his beak along the back of my head. In his arms I felt myself relaxing a bit. Yet then he told Phil firmly, "Besides, anyone who doesn't get why we're all a team as we are wouldn't really fit now would it Phil?"
Phil looked at the two of us bewildered at first before he seemed to recall what Mondo Man had offered me. Rubbing his chin thoughtfully he then said to me, "I hadn't thought of that. I just caught up in the moment I guess."
He glanced at me apologetically, "I can't really imagine this team any differently now that you mention it. Sorry Heart."
I gave a light smile, "It's okay Phil."
"Let's just forget about that creep okay?" Duke suggested still leaning over me a bit, nuzzling my head with his chin affectionately, "We know we fit, an' that's what matters right?"
Ignoring the concerns in the back of my head for the moment, I looked to my teammates. As I did I held onto Duke as he held onto me from behind still.
"It's like you said this morning right?" Mallory encouraged, "Life would be boring without these adventures?"
"Did I miss somethin'?" Duke asked curiously.
"Not at all," I assured with a revived smile, "Because human or not, I choose to stand right here."
"Right here?" Duke teased as he stood up and placed his hands on my shoulders, as though holding me in place.
Wildwing shook his head at this with a light chuckle emerging from his throat.
Looking over my shoulder at him and then back to everyone I reaffirmed, "Right here with all of you is where I fit."
Duke hugged me once more as he agreed, "It sure is sweetheart."