So I was just thinking today that the big difference with this story compaired to the others is that it doesn't all happen within a week or so. It's a long-haul story, and I think that even though it might seem more rushed... did you really want to go through almost every day of a pregnancy?
Bebe fought the urge to drool as she stared at the most beautiful cake she'd ever seen. She, Wendy, Sharon, Sheila, and Vicki had taken a Saturday afternoon to drive to Denver to look at wedding cakes. So that was why Bebe was fighting the urge to attack the off-white with dark chocolate filigree icing mocha masterpiece in front of her. "Vicki, you have to get this one."
"It looks like it's been embroidered." Wendy said critically. "And mocha is not a wedding cake flavour—it's a you favour."
"What's wrong with that?"
"Because it's not your wedding."
Oh yeah. "Vicki, what do you think?"
Vicki, who'd been standing there watching them bicker, shrugged. "I don't like mocha, and I don't like filigree."
Bebe couldn't help feeling bummed out. It was such a beautiful cake... "I need to get married."
Vicki rested a hand on her barely rounded stomach. "This is the only reason why any teenager should get married. Even Kenny and I would have waited for a few more years."
"Well that's because you've been basically living together since you were ten." Wendy pointed out. "Getting married doesn't really change much—you're only doing it now because the entire town would flip a shit if you didn't."
"Well, I'm not going to argue with a free wedding. Apparently Cartman's mom donated five thousand dollars, because she still feels bad about what he did."
"Well, you don't need to care about the motive—you just take the money and buy a dress." Bebe giggled. "And it's gonna be a beautiful dress, I know it."
It was going to be a beautiful wedding. The bride and groom were so in love, and once they had the flowers and cake and decor... Bebe couldn't wait to get really started on wedding details. She loved weddings, she loved planning weddings... she wanted to be a bride more than anything. But so far, no groom had come around. The boys were too immature, or gay, or crazy, or taken, or Craig.
"What about this one, girls?" Sheila's voice rang out from the back of the shop. "Oh, I think it's absolutely adorable."
Joining the older women, Bebe had to agree that it was a great cake. Ivory fondant with gold swirls iced around the sides, topped with a small bunch of pale gold lilies and white tea roses. It was actually really beautiful, and it fit the gold theme that they all seemed to have in mind. "I think I'm in love." Wendy breathed, swooning just a bit.
"...Wendy, you are in love with Stan, not my wedding cake. Get married and get your own."
Sharon's eyebrows shot up alarmingly. "Not for a couple of years, please."
"Don't worry, Sharon." Bebe assured her. "Stan's nowhere near ready for that. It's kinda why he's not gonna be Kylie's godfather."
This time it was Sheila who looked surprised. "Kylie?"
"Vicki didn't tell you?"
"Apparently not."
They all turned to stare at Vicki. "Kenny and I decided last month that if it was a boy, we'd name him Matthew Eric, and if it was a girl, Kylie Stacey. I found out last week it's a girl."
"OH CONGRADULATIONS!" Sheila exclaimed so loudly, she shook the display cases. "She is gonna be just so spoiled by her Auntie Sheila..!"
Sharon just looked confused. "You're naming her after Kyle?"
"He's my best friend. And the Stacey part is as close as we could get to Stanley. Our two closest friends."
"...Do the boys know yet?"
Vicki shook her head. "It's a surprise. I didn't want Kyle trying to convince me not to name his goddaughter after him for the rest of my pregnancy."
Bebe had to agree with that. She understood why Kenny and Vicki didn't want to directly name the baby after anyone they knew. Girl versions of the guys' names or dead people were one thing, but if they'd named the baby Wendy... they'd always get compared, and that wasn't fair.
"Should we order the cake now?" Wendy asked, getting them back on track. "I know it's pretty far ahead, but that way if we have to change the date of the wedding for some reason, it's easier on them..."
"Let's wait." Sheila said decisively. "We never know what might happen—we might even find a better cake somewhere else."
Bebe doubted that, but she kept her mouth shut. Better safe than sorry.
ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ If someone said three years from now you'd be long gone ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ
Stan stared at the pile of lumber Kenny had salvaged from the dump. "Dude, you are too good at this."
"Years of practice, Stan-my-man." The blonde grinned, tossing more boards out of the bed of Jimbo's truck. They'd borrowed it to haul everything back to the site, and while Stan was the one with the license, he'd had to relinquish the driver's seat to Kenny in order to get to the site. He'd been playing in these woods all his life, and he still got lost. Even though this was their third trip today.
"So how much do you think you'll have to buy?"
"Well, I still don't have the support beams I need, and there's probably going to be more I haven't really even thought of yet. But I think it won't be too bad. Can always call Chris and get him to front me the money."
"You'd borrow money from The Mole?" Kenny was the only one who called him Chris. Even Vicki only called him Christophe to his face.
"He's a dude, Stan; he's human. No fuckin' reason to be afraid of him. Besides, he's totally soft for Vicki."
"Still scares the shit out of me. Even if he wasn't a mercenary, the guy's just fuckin' intense." Last time they'd partied at the tree house, The Mole had pulled out his gun and started shooting pine cones off the trees to show off to Rebecca. Barbradey had actually walked all the way in to check out the noise, before telling them to 'carry on'. The scary part was it had worked; he and Rebecca had fucked around for the couple of weeks he'd been in town.
"You should see Damien now." Kenny laughed. "That kid is fuckin' intense."
Stan scowled. "I don't plan on going to Hell any time soon, dude. Mostly because I don't get round trip tickets like you."
"Hey, it's not forever dude. Someday I'm gonna be normal."
"Normal as in not a hazard to yourself, or normal as in dead?"
Kenny shrugged. "I don't know dude— s'not up to me. That's God's deal."
They started sorting the boards into types on sheets of plastic to keep them dry. "It's gonna be good to be normal, I think." The blonde said absently, chucking a two-by-four to the furthest pile.
"I don't know... you won't be able to see people who're dead anymore."
"Well it's all Mormons in Heaven, and I have to put up with Cartman every time I go to Hell. The only ones I'm gonna miss are Chef, Satan, Michael and God."
Stan didn't really know what to say to that. He missed Chef himself, and he could understand that Kenny was tight with Michael, and Satan... but God was kind of a bastard. Yeah, he knew everything, and he did explain to them about periods on Y2K... but he also let Kenny go on being the cosmic yo-yo, bouncing between Heaven and Hell. And why the fuck should Mormonism be the right religion?
"I think people are better off not knowing about all that cosmic shit." He decided. "Because once you know, it's not as amazing."
"I don't know what not knowing's like." Kenny reminded him. "You guys at least had ten years before I finally convinced you I really do die and come back, and you don't remember. You used to not know."
"...Cosmic secrets are kind of like sex before you've had it. It's more awesome in your head than it is in bed."
He just couldn't seem to help himself. "...Is Wendy really that bad in bed?"
Apparently a one-by-eight couldn't kill your friend when you hit him over the head. It just hurt like a bitch. "She's wonderful. We just can't all date goddesses like Vicki, you know."
"Yeah...I'm a fuckin' lucky bastard. Guess God figured he needed to buy me off or something."
"Maybe he just wanted to make up for being a bastard."
Kenny shrugged. "If I ask, I'll get an answer, and I might not like it. So I'm not gonna worry about it. I've got work, Vicki, and a little girl on the way... who could ask for anything more?"
"Maybe an instant house." Stan suggested. "Do you even know what needs to be done first?
He held up a folder held together with rubber bands. "I've got the Master Plan."
ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ I'd stand up and punch them out, 'cause they're all wrong ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ
Vicki groaned as the phone started ringing in her ear. She'd been having such a good dream... "Goddamnit. Hello?"
"Vic, it's Kevin. Lemme talk ta Kenny."
Rolling over, she shook Kenny awake. "It's your fucktard brother."
He sighed, taking the phone. "What is it dude?"
Vicki watched Kenny's face as he listened to his brother's latest tale of woe. He'd done this before; calling from somewhere, needing Kenny to help him out, whether it was picking him up from the hospital, paying his dealer, or taking a beating he really deserved. This time, it was money—Kenny was eyeing his wallet.
"You are not going to help him again!" Vicki hissed. "It's one in the morning!"
Kenny ignored her. "Kay... I'll come Kev. But I'm dropping you off at the hospital afterwards, kay?"
He hung up, and hauled himself out of bed. "Kevin just needs me to pay some guys. It's not that much, but it's in Denver."
"You're going to drive to Denver at one in the morning? Ken, that's... you can't keep doing this for him."
He shrugged. pulling on faded jeans and his orange hoodie. "It's the last time."
"Promise?"
Kneeling down next to the bed, Kenny kissed her warmly. "I promise. I'll be back in a couple of hours."
"Okay."
She watched him disappear out of the tree house, and into the woods. She knew he'd go borrow his mom's truck, and drive to Denver just a little above the speed limit, because he was a little worried about his brother, but not enough to get caught driving without a licence. Then he'd go meet him where they always met, and after Kevin went to pay the dealer he'd pissed off, they'd drive to the hospital, and Kevin would get admitted to detox.
And then next week, Kevin would be out and shooting up heroin again, too affected by a death he couldn't remember to deal with life. Kevin was too much like his father, and too weak, to fight the demons inside him. And Vicki didn't have a shred of pity, because he'd never made an effort to change, but Kenny still went off to his rescue. Because he still had that saviour complex from when he'd been a kid playing Mysterion, or a teenager trying to protect her.
Rolling back over to her side of the bed, Vicki decided it would be better not to wait up for him. If something happened to Kenny, he wouldn't come back that night unless she was asleep. Stupid rule of the cosmos..
ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ I know better, 'cause you said forever ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ
Carol McCormick had never heard anyone bang on their front door so loudly in her life. At least, not that she remembered—there were a few holes in her memory from different things. But people usually didn't want to come in, or just came right in without hesitation. Mind, if Kenny took the truck, he usually locked the door after him when he grabbed the keys...
Opening the door, she was shocked to see Vicki there in her pyjamas and coat. "Vicki what is it?"
"Is Kenny here?" She panted. "He never came home last night."
"Where'd he go?"
"To help your idiot son!"
Denver. There were a lot of things that could've happened to him between South Park and Denver. "You know he's probably still with Kevin—"
"He's not answering his phone!" She shouted, and without warning, burst into tears. "Carol, something's wrong, I know it. I feel it."
She could feel it too—some kind of dread settling in her heart and making it hard to breath. "Vicki, I think you're right. But I don't know what to do."
They stood there, staring at each other, at a loss and unsure what to even think, until Vicki's phone rang in her pocket. She put it on speakerphone. "H-hello?"
"Vicki, it's Kevin."
"What happened last night?" Carol asked, just barely keeping her voice calm. "Where's Kenny?"
"I'm sorry..." Shit, he was crying. "Kenny wasn't... they wasn't s'posed ta..."
"What did you do to him you little fucktard?" Vicki looked livid.
"They weren't s'posed ta beat the livin' shit outta him, I swear! They were just s'posed ta take the money an' go! I'm sorry Vicki! Fuck, I'm sorry..."
"SORRY DOESN'T CUT IT! WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE GETTING MARRIED IN AUGUST, KEVIN, AND HAVE A BABY IN NOVEMBER! AND IF HE DOESN'T COME BACK..."
"He will come back." Carol wasn't even sure why she said it, but she felt that it was true. Kenny would come back—he always did. Even if it took a couple of days, he came back. Vicki was just worried because of the baby.
"Carol, I don't think so. Something's wrong." Vicki insisted.
"Give him a week, honey. Sometimes it just takes a little while for him to come back. I know he's been gone less and coming back faster since you got together, but maybe this time God needs him again."
Vicki didn't argue with the older woman. She just hung up her phone. "I better get to class."
ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ And ever...who knew? ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ
Butters knew right away something was wrong when Vicki walked to school alone that morning. Kenny always walked her to class on his way to work. But today she was alone and looking worried. so he met her at the school doors.
"What happened?"
"Kenny went to help out Kevin in Denver last night and got killed." She replied softly. "He wasn't there when I woke up this morning."
"Oh Vic..." He pulled her into a hug as she started crying. "It'll be okay. A couple of days, and he'll be home and making it up to you before you know it. I prom—"
Vicki cut him off before he could finish the word. "Don't promise me anything you can't deliver on." She said bleakly. "He promised he'd be home in a few hours last night. Obviously that didn't turn out to well."
"Well then I'm just gonna swear to you that this isn't the end."
She gave him a look that said 'I doubt it' and pushed past him into the school. If he was being honest with himself, Butters was worried. Kenny had been pretty open about the fact that God had been hinting he'd stop re-birthing soon. And with the baby on the way, they had to wonder if maybe Kenny had completed his purpose in this life...
'Stop thinkin' like that, Butters.' He told himself firmly. 'You've gotta believe in happy endings.' If anyone deserved a happy ending, it was Kenny and Vicki. Otherwise they would have gone through everything for nothing.
"Butters, what happened to Vicki?" Bebe asked, coning up the steps of the school. "She never blows you off like that."
"Kenny's dead."
"Well he's dead a lot—"
"She thinks he's not coming back, because he wasn't there this morning."
"Oh." Bebe had nothing to say, which meant she probably was thinking it too.
"I don't think now's the time." Butters added. "It just wouldn't be fair."
The other blonde shrugged, and ruffled his hair with a light smile on her lips. "You're such an optimist, Butters...it's cute. But don't you know that life's never fair?"
Yeah, I killed Kenny... I'm a bastard. But it had to happen, my darlings.