The next morning, just a few moments after Ben and Jay clocked in for their lunch shift, Stefan Rose magically appeared with two white overalls in his arms. "Adams. Arabia." Stefan barked as he tossed them the clothing. "You are caddying for a couple today. Forty dollars each for every hole."

"What couple?" Ben wondered incredulously.

"Does it matter?" Jay retorted with delight. "For forty bucks a hole I'd caddy for a king or queen!"

Stefan raised a curious eyebrow at the peculiar phrase. Instead of acknowledging it, he informed, "The couple is my daughter and son-in-law, Aurora and Philip Rose. Their . . . son requested you."

That caught the boys by surprise. " 'Son'?" Ben repeated in disbelief. "I didn't know they had one. Audrey never mentioned him."

"Recently adopted," Stefan bluntly explained. "Now, hurry off before you're late! I won't allow for tardiness!"


Dressed in their temporary uniform, Ben and Jay walked to the first tee of the golf course, where they noticed Aurora, Audrey, and Carlos awaiting them by their golf cart. Well . . . more like Aurora and Carlos were waiting with Dude laying on Carlos's lap. Audrey had her head resting on Carlos's shoulder as her eyes were closed, almost as though she was trying to get a few moments rests. Unlike yesterday, her hair was now an ash blonde color with small streaks of blue and pink in the strands.

"Good morning, boys!" Aurora greeted with a kind smile. "My husband will be joining us shortly. He's making dinner reservations for tonight at the country club's restaurant. Usually, the four of us could walk in, but we're expecting more to join us this evening since it's such a special occasion."

"Hopefully, Audrey can stay awake long enough for it," Carlos joked as he nudged the girl slightly, causing her to open her eyes groggily. "She barely stayed awake long enough for Dizzy to dye her hair this morning. I bet her sleepiness has something to do with studying with her crush, Gil."

Ben and Jay whipped their heads towards the sleepy girl in surprise. "You have a crush on Gil?" Ben clarified. "For how long?"

"A while," Audrey bluntly replied, then she roughly shoved Carlos with her shoulder in retaliation. "But you promised you wouldn't say anything! Now you're teasing me in front of his friends!"

"I'm your brother now, remember?" Carlos retorted with a happy tone in his voice. "I'm supposed to tease you. It's part of the job description."

" 'Brother'?" Ben repeated in disbelief. "Since when?"

"Today," Aurora answered for the teen. "Carlos has been living with us since his freshman year of high school for personal reasons, so nearly three years. My husband and I thought it would be fitting to adopt him as part of his birthday gift."

"What about Cruella?" Jay wondered curiously. "I thought you still lived with your mother, Carlos."

"She . . . was sent to jail a few weeks into freshman year," Carlos informed with a careless shrug. "Another count of animal abuse. Audrey invited me to stay with her family. Within a week, they got me Dude, my service dog. You know how Mo—Cruella treated me like her servant instead of her son, so I had no qualm staying with the Roses when she got out a year later. Besides, I wouldn't be able to keep Dude if I stayed with her."

"And that's why he's now a part of our family," Audrey admitted with a slight yawn. "And now he's my annoying little brother."

"And will be the godfather of your and your crush's kids," Carlos teased. "Harry's going to be mad about that."

"Stop it!" Audrey whined, her face growing more heated with every second. "We aren't dating! He's just a crush-!"

"That you are hopelessly in love with," Carlos reminded with a simple eyeroll. "Make the first move and ask him out—"

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

All heads turned toward the direction the sound came from. Walking toward the five people and service dog was Philip Rose, who looked especially handsome in his golfing attire. "I had to arrange a time that would fit for everyone's work schedule," he informed the group. "I hope you boys will be fine with seven o'clock."

"Why would we-?"

"I wanted to invite you two, Evie, and Mal to my birthday dinner tonight," Carlos interrupted, a hopeful tone in his voice. "I thought it could be a start to making amends . . . and we could talk about our performance for the club's talent show."

"Meanwhile, I'd like to talk about sports," Philip added as a way to change the subject. "I've seen you boys play on the Tourney field. You were undefeated last season. Do you play any other sports?"

"I think Dad would have a heart-attack if I played any sport besides Tourney," Ben half-heartedly joked. "With how much I've had to practice just this past month, I am debating whether I should play after high school."

"So, you are still playing senior year?"

"I can't let my ki—team down," Ben insisted, shrugging carelessly to distract them from his stumble. "Besides, we have to defend our title as 'champions'."

Philip nodded absentmindedly as he adverted his attention to Jay. "And what about you?"

"Tourney and R.O.A.R.," Jay answered proudly. "I was captain of R.O.A.R. until Lonnie, a friend of ours, joined the team."

"Jay gave the position to Lonnie so she could be on the team," Carlos clarified. "There was a rule about only 'men' being allowed on the team, but Jay found a loop-hole. Lonnie could be on the team if she were captain, because there were no rules stating who the captain can or cannot be."

"How admirable," Philip complimented, thinking for a moment. "You know, those are the kind of qualities University of Auradon looks for in their Tourney and R.O.A.R. players. I'm sure they would be more than happy to have you on their teams."

"If I could afford U of A," Jay corrected with a disgruntle sigh. "I considered taking a gap year so I can save up enough money to pay tuition. I don't want Dad to go broke for the sake of my education."

"Have you tried applying for scholarships?"

"Dad has a criminal record," Jay glumly informed. "That cuts my opportunities for scholarships in half."

"Have you boys applied for the program here?" Aurora wondered curiously. "You can choose to have a certain portion of your check to go into a funding account for you. Whatever amount you have in that account by the end of the summer, we will match it to create a scholarship for whichever college you apply for. If you intend on attending University of Auradon, we usually triple the amount saved in your account since we are fans of that college. After we finish the golf game, come by office and I'll set an account up for you. If you tell your friends, I can create accounts for them as well."

"That would be amazing," Jay commented. "I would really appreciate it. Thank you."

"We better get started on our golf game then," Philip insisted with a happy smile. "You boys need plenty of time to change for my son's birthday dinner."


As the day continued on, Ben found himself surprised that he was actually having fun golfing. The sky was sunny. The breeze blew softly, keeping them becoming too warm.

As he walked past the clubhouse on the way to the next hole, Ben sneakily jumped over the fence surrounding the pool, surprising Mal when he landed next to her. His abrupt appearance nearly knocked over her easel and charcoal set. "Hello, Beautiful," Ben greeted with a flirtatious smile. "You, me, Evie, and Jay are invited to dinner tonight to celebrate Carlos's birthday. I was thinking afterwards . . . you and I can sneak a swim in the pool."

"I can't swim, Ben," Mal reminded with a soft sigh. "Besides, we can't. It's against club rules to swim in the pool after hours. We'll get another strike. I can't afford that."

"What if I get permission from the owners?" Ben negotiated with a pleading smile. "Jay and I are caddying for Aurora and her husband today. If I ask, I'm sure they'll say 'yes'. It will only be for a couple hours. I can teach how to swim and then we can star gaze. What do you say?"

Mal considered it for a few moments. "If you get them to agree to it, then I guess I will go on the date," she reluctantly agreed. "I'll tell Evie about the dinner. Let's hope Stefan or Leah haven't seen her today."

Ben tilted his head curiously. "Why?"

Smirking mischievously, Mal teased, "Let's just say . . . Uma and I aren't the only ones with unusual hair color."