(Fifteen years later)

"Karen, honey! I'm home!" 37-year-old Victor Stone called to his wife as he walked in the door. He hung his coat in the closet and walked out of the kitchen towards the living room.

"Dad, you're back!" Victor's 10-year-old daughter Jynks ran over and jumped into his arms, a wide grin on her face, "You're finally back!" Victor laughed and smiled back, letting her go and heading into the living room.

"Did you miss me?" he asked, although the answer was already quite clear.

Jynks nodded vigorously. "Yup," she said, "I was waiting for you forever!" Victor's smile became a grin, and he plopped down on the sofa. Without missing a beat, Jynks curled up in his lap, looking up at him with her big eyes, and an equally big grin on her face. They sat there for only a few seconds before Karen Stone entered the room, a smile playing on her own lips.

"It took you long enough!" she joked, coming over to sit next to him on the sofa, "Jynks has been waiting to tell you about her first day in grade five." She said 'grade five' as if it was a great accomplishment, and Jynks beamed with pleasure.

"You want to hear about it, Dad?" she asked.

Victor nodded. "Of course I do, baby."

Jynks took a deep breath before starting, "Well, I made a new friend!"

Victor laughed, "Of course you did!"

Jynks crossed her arms, "Let me finish, Dad." She said playfully.

"Oh," Victor said sheepishly, "Sorry."

"S'okay." Jynks shifted her position and continued her story.

"Well, actually, I made two new friends. They're twins you know. It's really cool! They look the same and I can barely tell them apart except that the one doesn't talk much – she's really shy, and…"

"What are your friend's names, honey?" Karen interrupted softly, listening closely to her daughter's tale.

"Oh, right. Sorry. Their names are Awnii and Aisha. They're both the same age as me, Mom! Like I said, it's pretty neat. Anyway, they used to go to that private school across the city, but they had to move because their house was too small and their Mom's having a baby, and the baby needs a room and all. They have a big brother too, but I didn't meet him. They said–"

Victor cut her off with another laugh. "Whoa, tiger – slow down! I can't take in that much information at once!"

"Do they live nearby?" Karen asked. Jynks nodded,

"They moved onto Lakeside Street!" she said happily, her brown eyes aglow, "Number one-eleven. That's what Awnii said." Victor nodded to himself – Lakeside. That was only a street over from the Stone house, which was great. It was about time Jynks found some girls her own age to play with.

"Well that's great, honey!" he said sincerely, looking back to her.

"Yup!" Jynks climbed off of the sofa and went over to stand beside her mom, "Mom? Can I invite them over to play? Aaron can walk me over?" Karen thought it over for a moment before answering.

"Why not?"

Jynks grabbed her in a hug. "Thank you thank you thank you!" she cried, running to the door to throw her sneakers on. Karen smiled and stood up to find her son. He was probably in his room playing videogames. She never should have bought him that Gamestation…

Sure enough, she found him laying on the floor, a controller in his hand and monkeys flashing across the screen. The Mega Monkeys 5 game case lay open on the floor beside him, and he was so engrossed in the game that he didn't even notice her come in.

"Ahem," the boy jumped and, pausing his game, looked up at his mother standing in the doorway.

"Oh, sorry Mom," he said, "I didn't see you there,"

Karen rolled her eyes. "Clearly." She said, "Now turn off that game and get outside; you're walking your sister to her friend's house."

Aaron groaned, "But Mom…"

"Not buts Aaron. You need to stop spending so much time on video games – you're almost as bad as your father."

"I know Mom, but it's so much fun!"

Karen sighed, "Your sister's waiting for you."

"She can walk by herself Mom!"

"You can walk with her just as easily."

"But why?"

"Because I said so. Now get going!" Aaron, knowing he had lost, grabbed his jacket from the floor and walked past her on his way to the kitchen. Karen watched him go before turning to his room. There was only one shelf in his room, which was full of video game cases. The big TV on the floor had a few more games beside it, and a Gamestation3 lay beside those. There were clothes and school stuff everywhere – he had only been in school one day and already had managed to make a mess all over the floor of textbooks, notebooks, pencils, and everything else. Karen sighed, shaking her head; he was just like his father – a full-out gamer.

With one last quick glance around his room, Karen headed back down the hall to the living room, where Victor was still sitting on the sofa.

"The kids left already?" she asked, sitting down beside him again.

"Yup."

"I'm glad Jynks found some friends to play with." Victor nodded, "It's been long enough."

"Nobody's gone near her since she got back to school last year." Karen's voice was sad, and Victor wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"Well then, maybe these girls will be good for her."

"Oh, I hope so, Vic, I really hope so."

The five kids walked down the empty street in silence. Awnii and Aisha's mother had gladly agreed to let them visit, and their older brother – who was Aaron's age – was only too glad to come along. The girls skipped ahead, and Aaron and Kiran had some time to themselves.

"So," Aaron said slowly, trying to break the awkward silence that enveloped them. "How's it going?" Kiran laughed,

"What do you mean how's it going? I just saw you like an hour ago at school!"

"Well … maybe something's happened between now and then?" Another laugh,
"Whatever man."

The rest of the walk was spent in silence, but it wasn't an awkward silence – there was something about Kiran that got rid of that. He was so easygoing, so carefree, so laidback, so relaxed, so… Aaron laughed at himself – enough with the synonyms. Kiran looked at him funny, but didn't say anything, and they continued their walk in pure, uninterrupted silence.

Karen closed her eyes, feeling herself melt away into her husband's arms. It was moments like this that had kept her going through the worst of times – through the long, painful months now far behind. It was for times like this that she lived.

There was a sound as the front door swung open, and the sound of feet stomping on the tiled floor cut into the stillness of the room like a knife. Karen sat up just as the kids walked into the room.

"Oh," she said cheerfully, "hello there." She glanced at the girls behind her daughter, "You must be Awnii and Aisha." The one in front nodded, and she smiled, "It's nice to meet you."

"You too, Mrs. Stone," the girl smiled. That must be Awnii, Karen thought, recalling what Jynks had said about the girls' personalities. Still smiling, she turned to thank her son for walking them home, when she noticed another boy standing beside him. She involuntarily raised an eyebrow, but before Aaron had the chance to say anything, the boy stepped forward.

"Afternoon, ma'am," he said, standing tall with a serious look on his face. His right hand went up to his forehead in a mock salute, and he said in a loud clear voice, "Lieutenant Kiran Logan at your service." His hand fell and he bent over in an overly dramatic bow, stepping back into his place behind Aaron when he was done.

Karen couldn't help but smile, staring at the unusually pale, bright-eyed boy in front of her. Without really thinking about it, she returned the salute, and watched as his smile quickly changed onto a crooked grin that seemed strangely familiar. Aaron seemed to be embarrassed by all that was going on, and Kiran made no complaint when Aaron dragged him off to his room. Awnii and Aisha exchanged a glance, rolling their eyes at their brother's antics, before heading after them to Jynks' room.

Amused, Karen turned back to Victor, only to find him deep in thought, and not looking too happy.

"Something wrong, Vic?" she asked lightly. The big man nodded,

"If there isn't, there soon will be."

Karen's amusement turned to confusion. "What do you–" her husband cut her off,

"We need to talk. Now." Still confused, Karen followed him through the spare bedroom to their room, where Victor checked the hallway before closing the door and sitting on the bed.

"Victor, what's the matter?" Karen asked, a little too harshly.

Victor grit his teeth, "I think we have a problem, Kare," he said slowly.

"So you've said."

"Look, Karen – didn't you hear what that kid said?" Victor's face grew serious, "What'd he say his name was?"

"Aaron's friend? I think it was Kiran. Why is that a problem? You're not making any sense."

"His name is Kiran Logan. Logan! Do you know what this means?"

"Uh, no. No I don't know what this means." Victor threw his arms up in the air,

"They're Beast Boy's kids, Karen! All three of them!"

Karen's eyes widened. "You're right," she said softly, remembering the last time they had seen their friends face-to-face – over seven years ago now, "They are their kids."

"Exactly. And they're going to our kid's school! That wasn't the agreement! We said we'd never give them a chance to meet!" Victor growled, "Oh, man is B.B. going to get it!"

Karen sucked in a breath, "Look, Vic, you need to calm down. First of all, his name isn't Beast Boy anymore. No more than you're Cyborg or I'm Bumblebee. It's Garfield. And secondly – we don't know how this happened, so we can't just jump to conclusions. We need to call him, figure this out. Calmly." Victor nodded,

"You're right of course," he said, "but, still… That li'l grass stain! He knew exactly where our kids were going and he had the nerve to move to our neighborhood. Who does he think he is? Does he think he can just–"

"Victor. That's not calm. And he isn't green anymore, remember? That stupid nickname doesn't even fit. He's as normal-looking as you and me now."

"Only 'cause I let him use my disguising technology!" Victor snapped, "Without the wedding rings we all wear, we still look the same!" To prove his point, Victor pulled the gold band from hiss finger, instantly changing his appearance to half-metal.

"Victor! Put that back on! What if one of the kids–" She was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. Victor slipped his ring back on, and Karen opened the door a crack.

"Mom?" Jynks stood at the other side, a weird look on her face, "Uh, you guys okay?"

"We're fine sweetheart." She slipped outside, leaving Victor to compose himself, "What do you need?" Awnii and Aisha stood behind her, looking up at Karen with their matching gray eyes.

"Can we go outside? It's not very cold out."

Karen nodded, "Sure honey. Just don't leave the yard and come in if you get too cold."

"Okay. Thanks Mom!" Jynks ran back down the hallway, racing her friends to the door, and Karen ducked back inside.

"And that is why we don't take our rings off."

Victor smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry – I just got worked up."

"I noticed."

"But seriously, we need to do something."

"I know, Vic. But what can we do?"

"We can at least talk to B.B. and then go from there."

"Garfield."

"Whatever."

Rachelle Logan sighed and sank down on the sofa. It had been a long day, and her husband still wasn't home from work. She glanced up at the clock. 5:30. The kids should be getting home from their friend's house soon. She figured she should be starting dinner, but as soon as she got to her feet to do so, the phone rang. Nearly tripping over the two kittens – the family's newest addition – playing in the middle of the floor, Rachelle stumbled to the phone,

"Hello?"

"Hi, Rachelle. This is Karen Stone." Rachelle stiffened. Usually, a call from her friend would be nice, but Karen's tone sounded anything but nice, "I need to talk to you about something." Rachelle stepped back over the frolicking kittens and fell back onto the sofa.

"What's the problem?"

Karen hesitated. "Well," she said, "It's not so much a problem as it is … man are we in trouble!"

"Karen, what's wrong?" she asked dryly, not in the mood for games.

"Well, I don't know how to say this exactly, but … your kids … they…"

"Spit it out."

"They're at my house." Rachelle paused; she hadn't seen that coming at all.

"What do you mean they're at your house?" she said cautiously, ignoring the sudden feeling of dread in her stomach, "Why would they be at your house?"

"Awnii, Aisha and Kiran, right? Have any of them mentioned their new friends to you yet?"

"Well, yes, but…"

"Guess what." Suddenly, it dawned on her. The friends Awnii and Kiran had told her about…

"You've got to be kidding me."

"I wish I was Rachelle, but I'm not. Somehow, our kids ended up at the same school. And somehow they met each other. And now all of them are at my house getting to know each other more. This is terrible!"

Rachelle sighed, "It certainly isn't ideal."

"Rick's going to kill us."

"Probably."

Karen took a deep breath, "What do you think we should do?"

"What can we do? We can't transfer them again without any reason. Not to mention this is the only school this side of the city."

Now it was Karen's turn to sigh, "Look. Why don't you just talk to Garfield about it tonight and see what he thinks. I'll do the same with Vic, and we can talk tomorrow when the kids are in school. Sound good?"

"All right."

"We'll figure this out, Rachelle, don't worry about it."

"I wasn't worried."

"I know you weren't. Talk to you tomorrow, kay?"

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

Rachelle hung up the phone and lay down across the sofa, unsure of what she had just heard. This could turn out to be very bad. If their kids were in the same school, they could figure out their secret, and if they figured out their secret…

She didn't know how long she lay there, deep in thought, but soon the dog was jumping on her and barking like crazy. But she didn't need him to tell her what she already knew: Garfield was home.