Disclaimer: I do not own "Gossip Girl."
Author's Note: Thank you all so much for the wonderful feedback! I was (am!) a little anxious about this story, so a special thanks to Jackie (Red Blood Kiss of Death) for all he encouragement. Thank you, hon! :D
This chapter is setting up some of the dynamics and a little more of the plot. I'll be gone for a bit, starting Tuesday, so the next update will be a little while away-- I hope you enjoy this and thank you for reading! :]
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They stare at the little boy in silence. He's adorable, no question and he waits for them to respond quietly, with an eager expression on his little face. It's Chuck who answers him, "No," he tells the child straightforwardly.
He nods at them, seemingly enraptured, "What are you then? Auntie B can't see you. Or Gail either."
The question on all their minds was what was he, but no one said such a thing to this adorable little boy.
Nate manages to shrug a shoulder and say quietly, "We're… lost… I guess."
"Oh!" Sunny says, moving back to his bed and climbing atop it, "I was lost once. At the store. Cash found me."
They stare at him. He stares back, still smiling. When they remain silent he moves to sit on his knees on the bed, "Do you want to color?" He asks them.
They gape. It's not that the request is odd; it's that this is impossible. Blair shakes her head, "This can't…" she trails off.
Serena picks it up with, "How did we…" before letting the sentence taper off as well.
"Oh," the boy says, smile faltering, "Are you sad? Do you want to go home?"
"Yes," Nate answers instantly, "We do…"
"You look like my Dad," Sunny says when Nate trails off and then giggles to himself, "It's so funny! You look like Mommy and you look like Auntie B and you look like Dad and you look like Uncle Chuck…" he points at each one of them as he says the names and in turn, they each cringe a bit.
"Whoa! Whoa! I look like who…?" Nate snaps, eyes widening, his hands coming up in front of him as if to ward off an attack.
The boy smiles, "My Dad."
Nate shakes his head, frowning, taking a step back, "Wha—what?"
"You look like my Daddy." He repeats.
Nate licks his lips, steps back until he's pressed against a wall, gaping at the child; the room spinning around him because… because… "What?!"
"You look like his father, Nathaniel." Chuck says succinctly.
Nate's head is still shaking to the negative. His eyes wide, his brow furrowed, "But…"
"This cannot be happening," Blair whispers again; her eyes wide as well.
"And yet…" Chuck whispers back to her as he brings her hand to his lips for a reassuring kiss, "It is."
"It's crazy," Serena says and there's an edge of hysteria to her voice, "We must be crazy… I mean…" she looks at the three of them, turns her body away from the boy even as she motions towards him, "He's saying that I'm— and that Nate is— that he's…" she shakes her head, "It isn't possible."
"Like us being invisible," Chuck states.
"A hallucination can't explain this!" She yells at her brother.
"We don't have enough information," he tells her quietly, "We need to… figure out where we are and why… and who they are," he finishes, also motioning to the child.
Serena turns back to the boy; he's watching them all interestedly. His bright, blue eyes tracking them as if they were a television show or a particularly fascinating puppet act.
"So you don't want to color then?" Sunny asks them when they remain quiet.
"No— not right now," Serena says very softly, her eyes roving over his little face, her mouth dry.
He's so blonde… hair golden almost, the way hers and Eric's had been when they were very young; it's styled in that mushroom cut she's always loved on little boys and there's something so… familiar about his small face, about the way he puckers his lips and… he… he looks like…
Her eyes slide over to Nate, who is pointedly not looking at the child or at her. They had been holding hands, until the boy had said Nate looked like his Dad.
At which point, Serena had snatched her hand away, just as Nate had yanked it forward, because… oh my god.
"Okay," he responds agreeable enough to her refusal; and she's beginning to understand why he's called sunny.
"Are you here because Mommy's coming home?" He wonders.
Serena swallows, takes a step towards the bed, and then stops, "Are you— sure… that I… that I look like…" she licks her lips, "Like your Mommy?"
"Of course, he's sure," Blair snaps, "Obviously. This is… all this is our…" But the heat in her voice fades and so do her words.
What this was, what all this was, was something they weren't quite ready to come to terms with.
They're all silent for another moment and then it's Chuck who finishes; says, "Our future," in a solemn voice.
"It can't be." Nate protests and begins to pace now, "Things like this don't happen. It's impossible!"
"Nate," Serena begins, but he doesn't look at her; can't look at her while there's a boy in this room claiming to be their son.
"Where did it come from?" Nate asks Chuck, "The pendant."
And Chuck blows out an aggravated breath, "Lay off that, Nathaniel."
"I know what I saw. And it's the only thing that—"
"It won't hurt to try and piece it together, Chuck," Serena inserts.
"We have to figure this out," Blair adds gently, reminding him.
"Figure out what?"
The question startles them all, they weren't forgetting about the boy per se; it was more like putting his presence out of their minds—for sanity's sake, however much of that they still had.
"Oh," Serena says quietly, gaze flying to him. He was still sitting on his knees, still watching them with avid interest, a small smile on his face.
"Well…" Blair begins, licking her lips as she moves closer to the bed too, "It's actually a…"
"Funny story…" Serena picks up.
"I like stories!" He says and looks between them expectantly.
She nods at him, "We…"
"How to get home," Nate tells the kid and when those blue eyes shift to look at him it feels like a punch in the gut. His blue eyes, he knows it instinctively; darker than Serena's blue—his dark blue eyes and her golden blonde hair.,,
"We need to uh, figure out how to get back home," he finishes somehow, lips numb almost.
"Are you sure you aren't pretend?" Sunny asks, smiling, "You can tell me, I won't tell. I can keep secrets." He sounds very proud of this fact and Nate gives him a wan smile.
"We're not pretend," Chuck assures the boy, "We're just… invisible."
A supremely skeptical look covers the boy's face, "Nuh-uh, I can see you."
Chuck nods, "Yeah, but your… uh, Auntie B, she couldn't."
His bottom lip puckers out and he shifts on the bed to sit on his bottom, "Why are you invisible?"
"We don't know." Serena says quietly.
"How come I can see you?"
"We don't know," Blair repeats just as quietly.
"Why do you look like Auntie B?"
Blair swallows, "I don't know."
"Do you know why she looks like Mommy? Or why he looks like Dad? Or why he looks like Uncle Chuck?"
Blair draws in a slow breath, is grateful for the squeeze Chuck gives their joined hands, "No."
Sunny looks at all of them, "Do you know anything?" He asks them, sounding like he was about to giggle.
And it makes them smile a little, that question. Serena straightens suddenly and looks to Blair, "Let's show him the pendant."
Chuck sighs roughly, "For the love of—"
"Why?" Blair asks, even as she pats the pocket of her dress. She'd slipped it inside after she'd removed it from the box, wonders now where the box went after she shoved it at Chuck.
"Maybe… Sunny… can help us?" Serena says sweetly and smiles at the boy.
"Oh!" He cries excitedly, "I'm a good helper! Dorota says!"
Blair huffs, but hands the pendant to Serena, "He's four." She says doubtfully.
"Almost five!" The boy reminds them happily and there's a stirring of a smile on all their faces.
Serena sits on the bed next to him and he looks up at her. It feels, for a moment, like there's no air in the room.
"You look like Mommy," he repeats for the third time and she hears the thread of longing in his voice then.
"Where is she?" She wonders before she can stop herself.
He shrugs a little, his gaze fastened on her, "Away," he tells her simply and then visibly brightens, "But home today! We're having a party… so I had to dress nice, Auntie B said…"
"Oh…" Serena says quietly, "Sh—she didn't tell you where she was going…?"
"Sure," he says and then repeats, "Away," with emphasis.
She smiles a little, not exactly the answer she was looking for, but… there are other things to worry about. She extends her hand to him, shows him the pendant, "We know that it has to do with this—"
"We don't know that," Chuck cuts in.
"Have you ever seen this necklace before?" Serena continues without pausing.
Sunny looks at it very intently for a moment and then back at her with a smile, "I dunno… maybe! Who's is it?"
"It's mine," Blair says stepping forward.
"Oh…" he says, and the tilts his head to one side, "What's your name!?"
There's a pause; because what do they say? We have the same names as your parents? As your aunt and uncle?
"She's B." Serena says quietly, "You can call her B."
He gives them that skeptical look again, "Like my Auntie B?" He says doubtfully.
"Um. Yes," Blair says, shrugging a little, "Exactly like that, I guess…"
He sighs, "You are make-believe aren't you?"
"No, we're not," Chuck says firmly and then strides over to the bed and looks down at the boy, "We're from another… time. She's," he motions towards Blair, "Who your aunt used to be."
Sunny looks up at him and blinks, confused, "Huh?"
"Chuck, he's four," Blair says, but she's smiling a little because Chuck Bass expecting a four-year-old to grasp what they're having trouble understanding is a little bit adorable.
"Almost five!" Sunny says to her emphatically.
"Right," she agrees, "So I'm B, that's C, she's S, and he's N. Okay?"
He looks at her uncertainly for a moment and then shrugs lightly, "Okay, if you say so."
"So you've never seen that," Nate asks the kid, trying to get back on track, because— his son, is a concept he doesn't want to entertain anymore; can't. The room is steadier when he's pacing, even if it's slowly. Movement is good.
The boy looks back at Serena's hand and opens his mouth to respond when the door to his room is flung open, violently; it slams all the way against the wall.
"You brat," the girl shouts into the room, blue eyes blazing.
And Sunny launches himself off the bed so fast he flies through Serena. She screams and it mingles Sunny's cry of, "Get out!"
The girl stalks into the room, "I'm going to hang you out a window by your feet, you little snitch!"
"Gracie, chill." It's her companion, he's standing in the doorway; dressed in dark gray slacks and a lighter gray shirt accented with a pale yellow bowtie, he's frowning at her, "You're overreacting."
"Yeah!" Sunny agrees, popping up from where he'd hidden behind the bed.
"Stay out of this, Harm!" She shouts at him. She's still wearing her shorts and t-shirt. "Gail says I have to meet Aunt B on the patio! He told on me!!"
"Only because you're bad!" Sunny tells her and then runs around his bed when she lunges to grab him.
Serena and Blair rush out of the way, Blair grabbing Chuck on her way, as they join Nate on the far side of the room. They all hold still, watch the display before them.
"Bad!? You haven't seen bad! You were spying on me!"
"I was not!"
"Then what were you doing in my room!? I told you stay out of my room!" She continues, running around after him. The chignon has come loose and her auburn hair hung all around her shoulders and back in glossy waves.
"I had nothin' to do! And then I wanted to talk to Dad!" Sunny shouts, circling the bed to keep away from her.
"And then you told on me!"
She's on his heels though and manages to just grab the back of his shirt when Harm steps directly into her path. "Gracie, stop!" He yells and grabs her by the arms.
He's a little taller than her, maybe an inch, and he has pale blue eyes that are wide and concerned, "He's just a kid." He tells her softly.
"Yeah!" Sunny agrees again, he's on the other side of his bed now, nodding vigorously. And then he grins, says almost smugly, "And I'll tell Liam."
Gracie doesn't pull out of Harm's hold, but the look she shoots him is dark enough to burn; and then she transfers that same expression to the little boy, "Of course you will. That's all you do."
And Sunny's smile falters, "I just wanted to say hi to Dad. You yelled," he defends himself, and then adds, "You're mean."
The accusation is met with momentary silence and it looks like it stings, her expression twitching a little; but then she hisses at him, "Stay out of my room," with venom.
Sunny frowns at her, "This is my room!" He yells.
She yanks herself out of Harm's grasp, shoots Sunny one more angry glare and then stalks out of the room.
They're all quiet for a beat and then it's Serena who says very softly, "That girl's got a temper."
Sunny nods at her and releases an overly dramatic sigh, "Tell me about it."
"Tell you what?" Harm asks, looking to him.
"'bout Gracie's temper…"
Harm sighs softly, eyes going back to the door for a moment before looking to Sunny again, "You okay? She didn't scratch you, did she?"
He shakes his head, "I'm fast!"
Harm smiles a little, "Yeah… listen, Sunny… don't tell my Mom, okay? That Gracie was in here or that she… was on the phone before…"
"She wouldn't let me talk to Daddy," Sunny says sadly, moving closer to Harm.
"Yeah, yeah. I know… you can talk to him later tonight, okay? Just don't tell this. It's our secret."
Sunny brightens, "I can keep a secret!" His eyes fly to Chuck, "See!" He says to him.
Chuck nods very slowly and Sunny's attention goes back to Harm, who is watching him curiously, "What're you doing anyway? In here by yourself?"
"Helping them, they're lost…"
"Helping who?"
"Them…" the little boy points in their direction and Harm looks over at them; his gaze going straight through them and to the wall.
"You're playing a game," he says with understanding, eyes going back to Sunny, "Fine, but listen, keep the secret, okay?"
Sunny shrugs, "Okay."
Harm's smile widens, he ruffles the younger boy's hair, "Cool."
He's at the threshold when Sunny's entire demeanor brightens and he rushes after him. "My Daddy's coming today!?" He asks.
Harm pauses and sighs, turns back to say a little glumly, "That's what I'm afraid of." And then he's fully out of the room and Sunny's left practically bouncing on his feet.
"Did you hear!?" He asks them excitedly, turning to face them, "Mommy and Dad! Coming! Today!"
"Who is that?" Blair asks, ignoring his question, her eyes on the doorway.
"Who?"
"That boy?"
"That's Harm!"
"He's… your brother?"
Sunny giggles, "Nooo… Harm's my cousin. Liam's my brother."
"And…" Blair says carefully, "The girl… Gracie?"
Sunny rolls his eyes, smile dimming, "She's my sister," he says a bit dejectedly.
"Your sister?" Blair says, eyes still on the doorway; and then they shift sharply to Sunny, "You have one brother and one sister?"
He nods, "Yep."
Blair's gaze goes to Serena then and the blonde girl is shaking her head, even as she's sliding down the wall, "This can't be happening…"
"S," Blair goes to her, lowers herself, so they're face to face, "Sweetie…?" But she can't say anymore. Because she's feeling it too, this well of denial, because if this is true, if this is really them then these kids are really theirs… and everything around them is…
"Is this real?" Serena asks, her eyes wide; her words tearing Blair from thoughts she's afraid to follow.
Blair licks her lips, draws in a deep breath.
"It can't be," Nate says, before she can respond.
He's pacing again, the entire length of the room now. "It's some kind of… dream… or something."
Chuck sighs roughly then, "I, for one, am sick of searching for an explanation; can we please focus our efforts on a solution. Whether or not this is a dream or something is secondary to the fact that we don't belong here."
"He's right," Blair says, still kneeling next to Serena, "We—"
"Easy for you to say," the blonde cuts in, "You don't have three children apparently at each other's throats." She's standing then, whirling on her best friend, "Where the hell am I, Blair?"
"Away," Chuck answers, "As the boy said, don't get tangled in the details, Serena."
Nate huffs, stops moving to face Chuck, "If this is our future—"
"That's a big if, Nathaniel."
"What is it then, Chuck!?" He snaps.
Chuck stares at him, nonplussed, and then shrugs a little, "I don't know."
Nate sighs, the sudden rush of anger leaving him.
"Are you mad at each other?" Sunny asks, he's sitting on his bed again, right in the middle of it, cross-legged, elbows on his knees, chin in his hands; watching them with that infinitely interested look on his face.
"No." Nate answer quickly, "We're just…"
"We want to go home," Blair finishes for him when Nate trails off. Serena nods in agreement. They're standing in an almost semi-circle formation around the end of his bed now.
"I really did see something in the closet…" Nate offers a beat later, "From the pendant."
"Can I still help?!" Sunny asks eagerly.
"Maybe," Blair answers the child, but her eyes are on Chuck. "The pendant… it was your mother's, you said."
Chuck sighs and nods, "Yes."
"Do you know where she got it?"
He shrugs, "An aunt I think… there was a card with it… all her jewelry is itemized at the bank… I think it said she inherited it from an aunt, but I didn't really—" he cut himself off and sighed.
Blair was nodding, extended her hand for Serena to give her back the necklace, "Sunny," she said and the little boy moves towards her. "Take this and ask your… Uncle Chuck if there's anything—"
"Uncle Chuck's not here," he interrupts, taking the necklace in both his little hands, "He's workin'. Like Dad."
Blair blinks at him, "You said, that this morning he told you needed a haircut."
Sunny nods, slipping off the bed so he's standing in front of her now. "He was here this a'morning. But he's workin' now."
"But there's a party," Blair insists, "He has to be here for the—"
"B," Serena says, coming to stand beside her; reminding the girl of the issue at hand.
Blair sighs, "Fine… go ask your…" she pauses feels a rush of awkwardness as she continues more softly, "Auntie B, if there's anything… special about it."
Sunny nods, "Okay!" And then he's off like a shot across the room and out into the hallway.
They stare at one another for moment and then rush off after him. He's flying down the steps and calling, "Auntie B!" at the top of his lungs.
"We should have told him to be subtle," Chuck regrets.
And Nate breathes a laugh because the boy is running through the living room so fast they're having to run too. They're running past the room lined with bookshelves when ahead of them, Sunny is halted in his tracks.
"Whoa, kid." It's the blonde boy they'd seen with the older Blair earlier, he's got a hand latched onto Sunny's shirt and a little smirk on his face, "Where're you going in such a rush?"
"Lookin' for Auntie B," Sunny answers promptly and then his eyes go round as they all come closer to him, he turns to them, pulling out of the older boy's hold even as he's motioning towards him with his closed hands, "Oh! Oh! This is my brother, this is Liam." He tells them.
Serena's eyes are huge in her face as she studies the older boy, "Dear god… he's like… a… a teenager."
Her gaze instinctively goes to Nate who's looking at her with equally wide eyes.
"Who're you talking to, kid?" Liam asks, eyes skimming over the space they occupy before going back to Sunny.
Sunny turns back to his brother. "The invisible people. They're lost. I'm helping them."
Liam laughs, "Invisible people?"
"Yep! I have to show Auntie B this! And ask if there's anything special about it!" He opens his hand to show Liam.
The older boy obligingly peers into Sunny's hand, "Kid, you've got nothing there… I bet you could find a good rock outside to pretend with though…"
Sunny frowns, looks at the necklace in his little palm, "It is there."
Liam rolls his eyes, "Okay, it's there. It's pretty."
"You don't mean it."
"I can't see it," Liam corrects and then he laughs again, "Maybe it's invisible like they are…"
"You're makin' fun." Sunny pouts, closing his palm over the pendant.
Liam grins and flicks Sunny in the forehead lightly, "I'm not. Come on, she's out on the patio with Gracie—" he's saying as he moves to take Sunny's hand.
"And oh," he says, looking down to give the younger boy an affectionate smirk, "Thanks by the way for telling her I called Gracie a little bitch; real smooth…"
Blair slips her hand into Chuck's; he squeezes it gently as they follow the two brothers at a slower pace.
Sunny makes a face up at Liam and says, "It slipped," a little shyly. Liam laughs softly, unrepentant.
Serena licks her lips when Nate takes a step towards her, "This is crazy," he whispers, but his arms are going around her and she lifts hers to wrap around his neck even as she nods her agreement into his shoulder. She takes a deep breath, lets his hair tickle her nose for a moment, closes her eyes and let's being with Nate soothe her.
He does the same. He's seeing Vanessa, he knows; and she's made it clear she doesn't want a relationship right now, he understands. But for the moment, confronted with this, he can't think of anything more calming or reassuring than having her in his arms.
"We should…" she whispers then trails off, without moving.
"Yeah," he agrees, they should catch up with the others. They pull apart simultaneously and he takes her hand, because he wants to.
There's no one in sights as they navigate the dining room; they veer off to the left rather than towards the kitchen and find themselves in a game room of sorts. It looks more lived in then the rest of the house, puzzles and books lying on the coffee table and rug; a big screen TV and video game systems dominating one entire wall; and immense veneer, double-doors that open out onto a patio.
They can see Chuck and Blair through doors; they're watching something intently. When they step outside, they can see Liam and Sunny off to one side, and the older Blair and Gracie standing center stage, face to face, and angry.
Gracie is still wearing that t-shirt and shorts; her hair back in its messy chignon. Blair's changed into a simple and elegant day dress, sleeve-less, pale lavender with white trim. Her hair is still very straight and loose and she's got a hard glare fastened on the young girl.
"You will wear that dress, those shoes, and a smile, Lillian Grace Van der Woodsen or you will spend the rest of this season at a Correctional Summer Camp for Girls. Do you understand me?"
Gracie scowls darkly at her aunt, "I would rather spend the entire summer eating macaroni and wearing Birkenstocks then dress up and go to this party for my mother!"
"They will cut your hair."
The girl quite nearly gasps and Sunny's mouth drops open. Apparently this is of great significance.
"You… you wouldn't!" Gracie cries, faltering.
Blair stares at her, "You are part of this family and this family is having a neighborhood cook-out in honor of your mother's return from abroad. She is being accompanied by a Bass Inc. associate and we will present—"
"OH please, Aunt B!" She cuts in with an eyeroll and then she whirls towards Liam, "Seriously!? And you're buying this?"
Liam shrugs, "I'm not buying anything. I'm just wearing a shirt and slacks." He pauses, eyes her balefully, "It won't kill you to wear a dress."
Gracie actually stamps her foot, "It might!"
"Then I will bury you in shorts, but tonight you will wear that dress, Grace."
Gracie glares and then whirls on the heels of her feet and storms off the patio.
Nate and Serena jump back barely in time to avoid being walked through, since they were still standing by the doorway.
The air around them is completely still for a moment and then the older Blair blows out a breath. "That girl…" she says on a sigh. "I have no idea where she gets it from."
Liam laughs, arch's an eyebrow at his aunt, "Come on… Mom must'a been trouble at all ages."
"She most certainly was not!" Blair cries, "Serena was a delight at that age!"
Liam shrugs. "It's not like you wouldn't take her side even if she hadn't been," the words are at odds with the little smile on his face and his aunt takes a step towards him.
"Liam…" she says softly, taking a step towards him.
But the boy shakes his head, cuts her off before she can reach him. He motions towards the little boy, "Sunny here is on an important mission that's been put on hold long enough, hasn't it, kid?!"
Sunny nods excitedly, shoots his brother a quick smile and then opens his palm to show his Aunt the necklace, "Is there something special about this?"
"About what, baby?" She asks, eyeing his little hand.
"This!" Sunny says, lifting his hand higher, "They want to know if there's something special about it."
Blair licks her lips, takes his hand into hers and carefully folds it closed, "There's nothing in your hand, baby… is this the girl… the one who looks like you're Mommy? Did she tell you to ask me this?"
"The girl who what?" Liam asks, sounding alarmed.
Blair shoots him a quick look, before fastening her gaze on Sunny again and waiting for a response.
He shakes his head, "Nope. B asked me to do it."
"B?"
"Yep. She looks like you."
Blair sighs and pulls him towards her, gives him a quick hug, "Sunny…"
"I'm not pretending! They're invisible." He cries, pulling back a little and looking up at her. His eyes are distressed and anxious and she visibly softens. They can see it, the way she decides to play along.
"Okay, baby. I can't… I can't see this… uh…" she's at a loss.
"Necklace," Sunny tells her, "It's a necklace."
"Right, a necklace. So why don't you… go draw me a picture, okay? And then I'll tell you if there's anything special about it." She frowns suddenly, "And you were supposed to stay in your room."
Sunny pulls back completely and makes a little eek sound before rushing off back into the house.
He doesn't call for them to follow and they don't move after him, because Liam's look is worried and he's speaking almost before the young boy is out of earshot.
"What's going on?" He asks his aunt.
"Greg says imaginary friends are not abnormal."
He startles, gaze flying to her. "You called him already?"
She nods, "Briefly. He'll be here tonight and we can discuss it further."
"So Uncle Eric's coming?"
"Yes, of course."
"You could have told Gracie. She might have cooperated better."
"Your sister needs to learn to following instructions regardless of whether or not she likes them."
Liam smirks a little, "You haven't talked to Cash yet, have you?"
Blair stares at him for a moment and then sighs dramatically. "Of all the days for Chuck to go into the office…" she breathes.
"You could just wait for him to get back..."
She shakes her head, "He's going to be late."
"But you said that she's bringing an associate."
"She is. Chuck will be here, just a little late. And please don't sound so skeptical about it." Blair admonishes.
He shrugs, "I am."
"Li—"
"Whatever. It doesn't matter."
She's touching his arm then, "It matters. And it is an associate. Nothing more."
He laughs a little, dry and humorless, "Right. Because she said so."
And then he's pulling away from her and leaving the patio; quiet and serious and leaving his aunt with an expression of sorrow on her face that takes their breaths away. She stands there for another moment, gazing at the door her best friend's children had just walked through, and then she murmurs very softly, "It better be true, S."
They watch her, all silent, as she draws in breath and then walks across the patio and around the house; towards what they cannot imagine. They couldn't have imagined any of this…
***