A/N: Sorry for the lateness, but hey, at least I'm posting again! BTW, today is my birthday! And I want reviews! Reviews for the birthday girl!

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE:
SHEAR SENTIMENTS

"I'm warning you right now, you little monster! If you drop her, I will personally give you a very bad haircut with these!" shouted Pleakley, holding a large pair of pruning shears over the hedge he was trimming.

"Okitaka!" Stitch replied, scampering down the front steps on all fours while carrying Leera on his back, held securely by his extra arms.

"What kind of a threat is that?" Kirk asked, standing nearby. "I would have expected something more along the lines of neutering, but a bad haircut? Please!" He laughed until a quick look from Gidgel shut him up.

Stitch reached the bottom of the steps and proceeded to carry Leera across the yard to a lawn chair set up in the shade of a short palm tree. Under Pleakley's watchful eye, Stitch set her down on the chair with the utmost care. Leera reclined elegantly in the chair as Stitch fluffed two small pillows, one for her head and one for her feet. Once the pillows were in place, Stitch crouched beside the chair and gazed at Leera with bright puppy-dog eyes. Leera smiled at him.

"Thank you, Stitch," she said, patting his head and leaning over to give him a kiss on the nose. Stitch purred in response.

"Ahem!" A shadow fell over the experiment. Stitch glanced over his shoulder to find Pleakley towering over him. "Aren't we forgetting something?" Pleakley asked sweetly.

"Naga," Stitch replied.

"Really? Well, does pineapple juice ring a bell?"

Stitch blinked up at Pleakley. "Ih?"

Pleakley heaved a heavy sigh of frustration. "Didn't Leera say she'd like a nice, tall glass of ice-cold pineapple juice? Because I could have sworn she did…" Pleakley took pause to watch his words sink in. A smile crept to his lips as Stitch stared at him in alarm. He sprang to his feet, glanced back at Leera and muttered "Soka!" before racing back up the steps and into the house.

Leera struggled to sit up. "I never said anything about pineapple juice!" She glared at her husband. "Why did you say that?"

"Because I know you'd want some right about now, and because the little monster loves you. He'd do anything for you. See?" Pleakley pointed up at the house where Stitch was already coming back down the steps carrying two pineapples, an ice-filled glass, and a chainsaw in all four arms.

Leera bit her lip. She wasn't sure whether to laugh or snort in disgust. "You mean he'd do anything for you as long as he thinks it's for me." She watched Stitch slaughter the pineapples and accepted the resulting juice, scratching him behind the ear until he purred. As soon as Stitch cleaned up the mess and left, Leera shoved the drink into Pleakley's hand.

"Here you are, your majesty."

Pleakley shoved it back at her. "But this is for you!" Leera stared at the drink, smirked, then looked away. "C'mon, babe. Take it. It's your favorite. I went to a lot of trouble to get it for you! Yelling at Stitch, encouraging him with the pruning shears, supervising his work…"

Leera snickered and looked back at him. He looked hurt, so she took the glass and sipped it. "Not bad, considering you made Stitch make it yourself."

Pleakley smiled wryly and held out a hand. "How 'bout letting me have a taste then?"

Leera grinned wickedly and held the glass away from him. "Very well," she said. "Since you worked SO hard to make Stitch make it, then it's only fair that you get to watch while Stitch tastes it. Stitch!"

Pleakley's hand dropped and his face paled as Stitch came scrambling back to Leera's side, downed half the glass, licked his lips, belched, gave a thumbs-up, curled into a ball and rolled away humming. Pleakley stared wide-eyed at the half-empty glass, which Leera was now finishing.

"B-but I-I-I— "

Leera took one look at him and sighed. "Here," she said, handing him a pineapple slice from the glass rim. Pleakley stared at it. "Take it, you big baby, before I give it to Stitch!" This time Pleakley took it. He chewed it slowly as he walked back to the hedge.

"HEY! Lighten up, buddy!" Kirk shouted, slapping an arm around his son's shoulder and startling him. 'Startling' was an understatement. Pleakley gasped and inhaled the pineapple slice, choking on it. Kirk slapped him again, this time on the back, until the choking subsided. "Sorry, bud. Didn't mean to — " but Pleakley shoved a hand out and managed to push Kirk rather roughly away.

"You never mean to do anything, do you?" Pleakley growled, walking away from him. Kirk followed.

"Look, son -"

"Wendy."

"Wendy. Okay. Look. Let's not go through all that again. All right? Clean slate, remember? Maybe even friends?"

Pleakley picked up the pruning shears and walked around the hedge until it formed a wall between himself and Kirk. "Go help Mom with the refreshments and we'll talk." He snipped a withered branch. "On second thought, go help Uncle Gidgel. Mom's had enough of your help."

"I suppose she has," Kirk said in a tone that made Pleakley look around the hedge at him. Kirk was looking up at the house. Vay and Lilo stood on the front porch, balancing a large cake on a tray between them. Lilo started down the steps first, walking sideways very slowly while holding fast to her end of the tray. Vay followed close behind, walking with more ease thanks to her third leg, and hunching over her end of the tray. Pleakley watched a moment before his eye snagged on the low neckline of her blouse. His eye jumped to Kirk and he growled, snipping feverishly at a low branch. He attacked the hedge with quick little jabs, until he heard a loud yelp from the other side. Looking around the bush he saw Kirk rubbing his patooki and stifled a laugh.

"Oops! Sorry 'bout that, Mr. Skirmish!"

"That's quite all right," Kirk replied in a clearly pained voice, craning his neck around to look at his wound: a tiny dot of red from the tip of the shears. "It was an accident, after all. Not like you did it on purpose."

Pleakley bit both his tongues to suppress a guffaw. Vay and Lilo descended the stairs and moved slowly toward the picnic table in the middle of the lawn. Kirk's eye was on Vay again.

"Yes, well… I think maybe she could use a little help over there," he said, and his feet were already walking him toward the table before he could finish his sentence. Pleakley hoisted up his shears and started to follow him.

"Wendy."

Pleakley stopped and turned to find Uncle Gidgel standing nearby. The older man had a slight smirk on his face. He shook his head and Pleakley stared at him, eye full of question and a drop of anger.

Gidgel stepped forward. "Let him go," he said, taking the shears from his nephew. "He's a fool, but your mother isn't. She can take care of herself. Hell, she can take care of all of us."

Pleakley looked at him in disbelief. "Then why does she let him…?" he started, throwing his hands up in a helpless gesture to finish the sentence. Gidgel shook his head again.

"She's not a fool," he repeated with more conviction, though somehow he sounded less certain than he had a moment ago. "I guess it's hard to understand when you've already made up your mind to hate his guts. But I think… hell, I don't know what I think, to tell you the truth. I don't trust Kirk any more than Vay tells me to, but that's not up to me. She trusts him, and maybe that's enough…" he trailed off, watching as Kirk stood very close to his sister while she set the table.

It looked like he was whispering something, and was answered with an elbow in the side and a sharp laugh from Vay. She moved away from him, to the other side of the table. She was talking and rearranging some things on the table. Kirk appeared to be watching her work, though Pleakley had the sneaking suspicion that he was looking down her shirt again. This was confirmed when she reached across the table and yanked on his antenna, forcing him to look her in the eye.

She let go and he backed away, rubbing his antenna and looking sore. He walked around the table to stand next to her again, but she moved away to help Stitch with the armload of brightly wrapped gifts he'd just brought down from the house. Kirk fumblingly helped her set them up neatly on one end of the table, dropping more than a few, more than once.

Pleakley sighed irritably. "Oh for Pete's sake! He's going to end up breaking something! I'm going over there!"

Gidgel grabbed him by the wrist to stop him. "Hold up there, buddy! You don't really want to come between them, do you?"

Pleakley watched Kirk drop another gift and stoop to pick it up. Vay stooped down at the same time and her hand reached the gift first. Kirk's hand, a second late, hesitated then closed over hers. They locked eyes with each other.

"Yes I do!" Pleakley grumbled, starting forward again.

The two stood up together, holding the gift between them. Kirk blushed and mumbled something, pulling gently until Vay relinquished the gift. He turned to place it on the table, and when he turned back, Vay's face was right in front of his, another gift in her hands. Both seemed surprised, then only Kirk seemed surprised as Vay kissed him on the lips.

"No I don't," Pleakley mumbled, looking suddenly pale as he stepped back to stand beside his uncle again. He turned away quickly and went for the hedge with the shears again. His breathing became labored as he attacked the bush. He snipped slowly and methodically, speaking in a throaty voice between snips.

"What" -snip- "does" -snip- "she" -snip- "see" -snip- "in" -snip- "him?"

Behind him, Gidgel chuckled softly. "I didn't know before, but I think I see it now."

Pleakley stopped snipping and looked up. "What?"

Gidgel's smile was too wide. "I just now realized," he said gaily, then the smile fell from his face and his tone leveled. "I think what she sees in him is… you."

Pleakley stared at his uncle in disbelief. "What?!" He stood up and peered around the hedge, hoping this one quick peek could deny his uncle's claim. Kirk was sitting at the table, sucking the helium out of a balloon and reciting a Plorginaarian nursery rhyme in a high-pitched voice while Leera stood by with both hands on her belly as if to keep the baby, and the laughter, from exploding out. He finished off the balloon and knelt at Leera's feet, taking her hand as he sang "You Are So Beautiful." Leera's other hand went up to her mouth to stifle her laughter. Vay stood nearby, laughing too.

Pleakley watched wide-eyed. "I haven't heard her laugh like that in ages," he mumbled, staring in amazement.

"Who?" Gidgel asked.

"Both of them. They're both so… happy." He turned to his uncle. "Do I ever make them that happy?"

"What a stupid question," Gidgel growled, but there was a smile under the growl. "Of course you do! But lately… you know, they love you very much, Wendy. More than anything. And they need your support more than anything. But lately, you haven't been giving it. I think your mother could really be happy with Kirk, fool that he is, but you're holding her back from that happiness. And Leera. Well, I don't need to tell you what she's been through, and what she's going to go through when the baby comes. They're both strong women - strongest people I know - but that doesn't mean they don't need the support of a little girlie boy like you. No offense."

"None taken," Pleakley grumbled, returning to the hedge. He picked up the shears. "I don't know what to do, though."

"Well, for starters you can ease up on that plant! You've pruned it down so far that it's practically a stump. Next, you oughtta do something nice for 'em. Your mother and Leera, I mean. Let them know you love them, instead of filing another complaint against Kirk or Gantu. I'm sure they'd appreciate it."

Suddenly Pleakley was smiling. "Hey, that's not a bad idea," he murmured, mostly to himself. He set the shears aside and strode across the yard to the table. Kirk was making another poor attempt to tidy up the table while Vay stood at the other end near Leera, talking to her daughter-in-law while rearranging the décor. Pleakley approached them. He gave a quick nod and a smile to Kirk, then a hug and a "love ya" to his mom. When he got to Leera, something throbbed inside him and he threw his arms around her, squeezing her tightly. She gasped.

"Wendy! B-baby!"

At this Pleakley immediately loosened his hold. He opened his mouth, tried to speak, and couldn't. Leera's own lips parted to speak and before she could utter a syllable, Pleakley kissed her passionately. He didn't even care that his parents and uncle were standing right there. He didn't even think about it. He just kissed Leera deeply until she protested for lack of air. When he finally stopped, she was staring at him, bewildered… and happy. She smiled and he smiled seeing it. Without a word he led her to her lawn chair and made her sit down. He fluffed her pillows and made sure she was as comfortable as possible. Then he took her hand.

"I'll be right back," he said quietly, and without giving her an explanation, he left her under the palm tree, went to the garage, started up the dune buggy, and drove away.

As the warm ocean breeze ruffled his antenna, Pleakley sighed happily. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so good. He couldn't even think of a reason not to feel so good. After all, he was happily married to his best friend and the love of his life, he had a loving family, and he was going to be a father! But, he reminded himself, it's not about you. It's about Leera. This is her day. Her shower. And it's got to be perfect. As long as she's happy, then I'm happy too. With her kiss still on his lips and her sparkling eye before his own, Pleakley turned off the main road and drove inland through the jungle toward Gantu's ship.