Chapter Six: Always Count on Grandpa

Gwen waited just inside the front door of her house. Every time she saw or thought she saw a flash of headlights she stood on her tiptoes to peek out the little window at the top of the door.

"Grandpa will be here when he gets here," her father said as he sat on the couch with a newspaper in his lap.

Gwen nodded and hugged the big box she held closer to her chest. The slick Sumo Slammer wrapping paper kept threatening to slip from her gloved hands.

"Are you sure you want to go? We have so much work to do for tomorrow," her mother chimed in as she walked up behind Gwen.

"It's my birthday." There was no hesitancy in her voice, and her tone allowed no argument.

So, of course, her Mom argued. "But it's getting cold out."

Gwen wiped her forehead and looked down at her outfit. Her mother had insisted that she be bundled up. The sweatshirt wasn't enough. Neither was the sweater. No, she had to be wearing a wool jacket on top of them. And mittens and boots. Either Grandpa or an ambulance would be there in the next few minutes.

And all for the twenty-foot walk up the driveway. She would have pointed that out, but she knew it would have been bad if she did. "I'll be fine, Mom."

"But, can't you just wait until tomorrow to see your Grandfather? And I'm sure you'll see your cousin soon enough."

She said the word cousin with just enough of a tone that Gwen closed her eyes and counted to ten. At eight she was no less ready to bite her mother's head off. Which would have been fun for a second or two but would have stunk for much longer.

At nine, she was rescued by a knock at the door.

"Grandpa Max!" Gwen shouted in relief as she threw herself into his arms. He picked her up like she didn't weigh a thing and gave her a bear hug. She only pulled back when she heard the box crinkle in protest between them. "Save me," she whispered into his ear.

"Gotcha," Grandpa whispered back. "I hope you two don't mind this. I figured you could use a break before the madhouse tomorrow."

"We were hoping that Gwen would help us set up," he father protested.

"I'm sure she left plenty of plans and charts saying how she wants it all done," Grandpa Max said. "We better get going so I can have her back tonight."

"Or before Ben takes the Rust Bucket for a spin," Gwen added.

Grandpa Max shrugged as he put Gwen down. "Oh, I'm sure he'd bring it right back. He's driven it fine before."

Mom went pale. "You… you let Ben drive that thing?"

Max kept his face completely still. The only indication that he was lying was the slightest shine in his eye. Gwen, though, was chewing on the inside of her cheek to keep from grinning. "Sure. You didn't think I drove it by myself for three months, did you? Gwen drove in the morning, I drove in the afternoon and Ben drove at night. Between you and me, your daughter has a bit of a lead foot."

"Gwen?"

Her mother said it with just enough worry that the joke stopped being funny and went to exasperating. Gwen's eyes went to the ceiling. "He's kidding, Mom."

"Shame. It would have saved us a fortune on Drivers Ed," her father said. He got up, carefully set the paper down and walked over.

"Frank!"

The R.V.'s horn honked. A nice, long loud boom that got the attention of everyone in the neighborhood. And probably the next two or three neighborhoods around.

"I think that's our cue," Grandpa Max said as he opened the door.

"Bye Mom, Dad. I'll be back in a couple of hours," she said as she gave them both a quick kiss on the cheek and dashed outside. Her breath came in clouds almost as soon as she opened the door. The cold felt so good after nearly sweating to death inside.

"Make sure she stays warm," she heard her father say and Gwen felt a frustrated scream build up inside her chest. She'd kicked alien butt, but apparently she wasn't smart enough to get out of the cold

And then her Grandfather gave her the best birthday present she'd ever gotten. "She knows how to take care of herself, Frank."

Gwen looked back and grinned at her Grandfather. He'd earned another hug for that one, but neither man was looking at her.

"I know, Dad. But, she's my little girl."

"And you'll always be two in my eyes. How would you have liked it if I'd treated you like this?"

There was a pause. "I don't know, Dad. It never came up." There was no heat to her father's voice when he said that. No anger, no hurt. And there was no smile to take the edge off. Either would have been better than the resignation that filled those eight short words.

Grandpa Max took a half-step back, and his shoulders slumped just a hair. "I know, Frank. I wish I could have been home more…"

"I know, plumbing was one emergency after another."

"It always seemed that way."

Her father shook his head and shivered in the cold air that was pouring through the open door. "Have fun, sweetheart. Happy Birthday."

"Thanks, Dad," Gwen said, but her eyes were on her Grandfather.

"Goodnight, Dad." There was no hug. There wasn't even a handshake.

Max just nodded, and Gwen realized he didn't expect one. "Goodnight, Frank. Goodnight, Lili."

And with that, the door closed.

It was actually a little warmer than the usual conversations between the two. Gwen's father never said a bad thing about his. He would have conversations, share jokes, even reminisce with Max, but there was no closeness between the two.

She had run into a girl she used to go to school with years ago last week in the library. They had had a very quick and very awkward conversation. Her father and grandfather were just like that.

But not as warm.

When Max turned, there wasn't any pain on his face. Just the same smile he always wore. "Are you ready, Honey? Ben's going to explode if we make him wait much longer."

All because her Grandfather had to save the world for his sons instead of spending time with them. Not that they ever knew that.

But she did.

"Thanks, Grandpa," she said as she wrapped her arms around him.

"You're welcome, honey," he said and chuckled. "Trust me, celebrating my favorite grandkids birthdays isn't much of a chore."

"Not for that. Well, not just for that."

"What?"

Gwen shrugged as she struggled for the words. "For being you."

"Well, it is what I do best. Now" - he took the present from her and tucked it under his arm - "I believe that a certain birthday girl still owes her grandfather a dance."

Gwen burst out in a hiccup-filled laugh as he led her into a waltz. They did this every year. This was the first year, though, that she didn't have to stand on his feet while they did it. It was only twenty feet to the Rust Bucket, but somehow her Grandfather made it seem like they had forever.

"How does it feel to be eleven?"

Gwen sniffed as they danced. "My back was killing me this morning. The Sensei was showing us a new kick yesterday and I think I overdid it."

"Well, you are getting old. As a matter of fact..." he stopped dancing and leaned over to look at the top of her head. She heard him tut.

"What?"

"I think I see a gray hair."

"You do not!" Gwen let go of Max's hands and yanked her hat off so she could try to pull her hair in front of her eyes just to be sure.

"And pretty soon you'll be telling kids to stay off the lawn."

"She does that already," Ben's voice called out from behind them. Gwen looked over and saw his head sticking out of the passenger window. His face was already red from the cold. Of course, he was only wearing his 'lucky' white and black t-shirt, so what did he expect? "If you two don't hurry up, I'm going to eat the Dweeb's half of the cake."

"Don't you dare!" Gwen shouted and pulled away from Grandpa Max.

Ben just grinned as he rolled up the window and hopped around the seat.

"Ben!" Gwen shouted as she pulled at the door. The knob clicked, but didn't move. "You Doofus! Stay away from the cake!" She smacked at the door in frustration.

"Just like old times," Max muttered as he leaned over her and unlocked the door. Gwen yanked the door open and was blinded by a flash of light.

"Perfect! This is definitely going to be a keeper." Ben grinned out from behind Grandpa Max's instant camera. He grabbed the photograph as soon as the camera spat it out and started waving the sheet back and forth. He stared at the picture as it appeared, and then he went and held it up next to her face and tutted. "Grandpa, I think the camera's busted! Gwen's face was a lot redder than this!"

"You have to sleep some time, Tennyson."

"So do you."

Gwen glared down at him and his stupid little self-satisfied smirk and wanted to strangle him. It felt so much like old times that she had to laugh. "Happy Birthday, Doofus."

"Happy Birthday, Dweeb."

The R.V. shifted as Grandpa followed her up. He handed Gwen her package and gave them both a look. "I trust I can leave you two back there for ten minutes without killing each other?"

"Ten is fine, eleven is pushing it," Gwen said. Ben grinned at her and brought the camera back up to his eye. The flash caught her in mid-eye roll.

"I can tell," Grandpa said with a straight face.

"Where are we going?" Gwen asked.

Grandpa Max glanced at Ben and then gave her a shrug. "A ways."

Ben just kept smirking when she looked at him. She shook her head and looked out the window at her parents and waved. "Good," she grumbled as she started yanking off all the extra clothes she'd been forced to wear.

Grandpa Max gave her a look, but he didn't say a word as he went to the driver's seat. There was a slight grinding noise as he put the Rust Bucket in gear, and a soft jerk that said they were off. Gwen took a deep breath and smiled. It was like being home again.

Of course, Ben had to spoil the moment.

"That for me?" Ben asked as he eyed the present in Gwen's arms.

"No. Mom and Dad gave me an early present and I thought I'd open it here. Of course it's for you."

"Score." Ben spun around and slid into the booth. Gwen walked around and saw that the table was already set up with three sets of paper plates and forks and two boxes. The bigger of the two was the cake, and Gwen was relieved to see a bakery logo on the side of the cake box. She still triple checked her candy after the time Grandpa Max gave them chocolate covered locusts.

The other box was about the size of a brick and wrapped in the Sunday funnies. Gwen's hand twitched as she fought down the urge to snatch it up. Ben saw her and pulled the box back to his side of the table.

Gwen sat across from him and eyed the present. "Should we wait?"

"You guys go ahead. Just wait on the cake," Grandpa called back

"On three?" Gwen asked.

Ben nodded once. When it came to presents, he was all business. "On three."

"One," they said together, their hands on their gifts.

"Two." They pushed the boxes to the middle of the table, but neither took their hands off yet.

"Three." With that they switched boxes, their fingers almost brushing as they pulled their presents back to them.

Gwen immediately started shaking her box. She could never just open a present. She had to guess what it was first. It was too small to be a book, which was kind of disappointing. And it was too heavy to be a video game, which was a relief. Though he might have just slipped one into a box with a few stones or something just to throw her off. And it was way too light for a brick.

Which she wouldn't have put past him.

She wasn't sure if Ben had even heard of the word patience. The sound of massacred wrapping paper filled the back of the Rush Bucket, and shiny new confetti went everywhere. "Clothes?" Ben wailed the second he saw the plain white box that had been hidden inside. "You got me clothes? I can't believe I'm going to say this, but couldn't you have just gotten me a book?"

Gwen froze in mid-shake so she could glare at him. "Open it."

Ben did. Inside the white box was an equally white cotton shirt and pants. He poked at the white cloth inside. "Pajamas? You got me pajamas?"

"Ben!" The idea made her cheeks burn. "It's a gi. I talked to the Sensei and he said he'd be more than happy to enter you into the beginner's karate class. You've only missed a couple of classes, so you shouldn't have any problem catching up."

"But…"

Gwen didn't even hear him. Her smile just grew bigger and bigger as she pulled out the shirt and held it against Ben's chest. "His dojo is only about eight miles between our schools and we practice every Wednesday and Friday…'

"But…"

"Aunt Sandra already said she'd be more than happy to take you."

Ben's face went pale. "Mom knew?"

"Yeah… Well, I only had enough money for the first month, but she said that if you liked it that she would pay..." She finally heard him and her smile broke. Ben's face was a mix of worry, confusion and despair. She dropped the gi, and her hand hit the table with a thud. "You hate it."

"No!" Ben said. "Nononono. It's just that… Sport, me. Two things that should never go together. Learned that at softball last year." He even looked guilty as he said it. "How much…."

"Don't think of it as a sport." She was determined not to let him finish that sentence. It was none of his business how much it was. Besides she might be able to talk the Sensei into a refund, and if she couldn't…. Well, two months allowance and her Christmas money wasn't that much."Think of it as learning to kick butt like the pros."

Ben ran his hand through his hair and made a bigger mess of it. And then he glanced at the Omnitrix. "I'm already kicking butt on a pro level."

"Yeah, until that thing shuts down. Now you'll be able to do it whenever you want."

Ben poked the uniform and sighed. "Kicking butt?"

"And taking names."

His smile was forced, but there was a little light behind it as he thought about kicking butt. And that was the bit Gwen chose to concentrate on. He took the shirt of the gi from her and held it up. "Do they let you paint your kills on the shoulder or anything?"

She sighed and covered her eyes. "No."

"Rats. I wanted everyone to know when I kicked your butt."

"In your dreams," she said and let out a relieved smile because she knew he was hooked now. Which left her free to go back to her present. She gave it another few shakes before Ben made a grab for it.

"Do you need me to open it for you?"

She yanked the present back and slapped his hand. "Mine!"

"Come on, I'm getting old here."

"Fine." She slipped her finger under the small fold in the corner. If she wanted, she could have just peaked and seen exactly what the present was. Ben never could wrap presents well. She caught the paper and yanked. There was a small, plain brown box inside. Which was worrisome. She pointed the box at Ben just in case as she opened it, but nothing popped out. So she looked. "A cell phone?"

"Yeah, well," Ben said and he rubbed the back of his neck. He glanced up at Grandpa, who was busy driving, and lowered his voice. "I figured that this way I won't have to wait for you to get ready before we go hero again. Last time you took so long all the bank robbers were almost out of town before we found them."

"They were not."

"Close enough. Besides, I'm tired of having your mom listening in every time I call."

Gwen nodded with a long-suffering understanding, but, "Ben, I can't…"

"What?"

"I can't make the payments, and Mom and Dad won't..." No matter how much she begged, pleaded or whined, her parents wouldn't bend on paying for an eleven-year-old to have a phone. Not even for emergencies. Not after she'd exploded the bill on the last one.

"Oh, that," he said, with a relieved grin. "I wouldn't worry about that."

She frowned at him. "You do know someone has to pay for this stuff."

"Well, not for these. Go on, open it up."

She wanted to tell him no. Playing with it wouldn't make it any easier to return. She didn't understand why he wouldn't accept that.

But it was a cool present. And the computer geek in her wanted to play with it just a little. She scowled at him anyway as she pulled out the small phone and flipped it open. The screen inside popped to life, but instead of a company logo, all that appeared was a green hourglass in a black field.

The Omnitrix symbol.

"It's been Upgraded. Well, and Grey Mattered." Ben sat a little taller in his seat as he pulled out a matching phone of his own. "It took a few days, but I rewired these so that we can call anyone we want and no one will ever charge us and we'll never be out of service. Plus, we just have to tap the touch screen on top three times and Grandpa will get buzzed. You know, just in case. But do you want to know the best part?"

She gaped at the menu. It took pictures, played music and connected to the Internet? She couldn't imaging what could be better than that. "What?"

"Close it."

She did so, with a feeling of dread. The second she did, she heard Ben's voice call out. "Ben's the smartest person I know!"

She glared at him as he cracked up before she finally joined in. "Way cool."

"Good."

"Thanks, Ben." And then she did something she didn't expect at all. She leaned across the table and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Ben gave a panicked shout and scrubbed the area with the top of his gi. "What was that for?!"

She had no clue, but she giggled at him anyway as he turned bright red. This could be fun, she thought to herself. "Happy Birthday, Doofus."

Ben pulled the shirt away and stared at the spot he'd used to rub his face as if he could see the cootie germs on it. "Happy Birthday, Dweeb."

The R.V. came to a halt. "We're here," Grandpa announced.

Gwen looked outside, but all she saw were trees. "Where's here?"

"About three miles outside of town," Grandpa said. "Hold on one sec," he said and hit a switch. The Rust Bucket went dark. "There, do you see it?"

Gwen looked out the window, but all she saw were trees. Well, trees and some bushes. "See what?"

"Mars," Grandpa said as he made his way to the window and pointed.

Gwen squinted and could just make out a red star by the horizon. "Yeah…"

"Well, I remembered how you said you missed seeing the stars," Ben said.

"I'm just sorry we couldn't get further out of town," Grandpa said.

She could make out maybe three more stars here than she could at home. And she was pretty sure one was an airplane light. "It's perfect."

"Good," Ben said. "Now, can we have cake?"

"Just let me hit the lights."

Gwen looked at the full moon that shined through the window and filled the Rust Bucket with soft shadows. "Can we just leave it like this?"

"Sure," Grandpa said with a shrug and sat down next to her. He reached past her for the cake box. "I hope you two like this, it's a very special recipe I created," Gwen and Ben both shuddered and gave the traitor box horrified looks. "I was just glad that I still had this old box lying around. You kids haven't lived until you've tried chocolate cinnamon cake."

"I'm not feeling..."

"My doctor said I should stay away..."

Grandpa Max grinned at them. "Gotcha." He opened the box to show off a very normal looking cake with a mix of blue and green decorations. On it were two candles, both shaped as the number one. One in green and one in blue. "Let me get a match," Grandpa said and he started digging in his pocket.

"Don't need one," Gwen said. She held her hand out over the candles. "Incendus," she said and snapped her finger.

There was a faint powder blue spark that faded almost as soon as it appeared, but the candle wick started to smolder. Gwen leaned in and breathed on the flame, and a soft yellow light flared up.

"Little Miss Perfect is a pyro?" Ben said, with just a little pride in his voice. "Whodathunkit?"

"Nice work, Gwen," Max said.

Gwen shrugged. It wasn't, really. She still didn't know that she was doing wrong. Will and concentration. That's all her spell book said she needed. And she had that.

Or, she thought she did.

Grandpa looked at his watch. "I hope you two have your wishes ready, because it's almost time." Ben and Gwen watched the candles while Grandpa watched his watch. Finally he started counting. "Five, four, three, two, one… Happy Eleventh Birthday!"

Ben and Gwen blew their candle out at the same time.

"It's no fair," Gwen said. "I was born first."

"Please. I was," Ben said right back.

Grandpa pulled the candles out and started cutting up the cake. "That's not what the hospital said. Or me, and I was there. Now, who wants the first piece?"

"ME!" Ben and Gwen said together.