Yes, I know this is super short but I meant to post this at the end of the other chapter so my bad (^_^);

Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Mario or its franchise; it belongs to Nintendo and their affiliates. I just am really grateful to its creators for giving me such a wonderful game and media series to write about!

I also don't own anything related to Harry Potter, all that belongs to J.K. Rowling, but thanks go to her as well because, using her wonderful work, I can expand this story to make it more interesting :)

Chapter Twenty-Six

In the end, Daisy and I settled on some semi-dressy clothes. While I wore a pair of black pants and my brother's loaner green silk shirt, Daisy put on a pair of designer red shorts and a cream-colored blouse. The red shorts were brand new and had deliberate cuffs on them, as well as two sets of buttons. Her blouse was simply cut with lace on the collar and on her feet were a pair of white sandals that had a tiny bit of wedge on the bottom. Her toes were painted black, her nails were coated in clear polish, and her hair had a swooping bang on the left side, held back with a long red barrette. On her wrists were a pearl bracelet and some more bracelets, slim and gold. She looked very classy.

"Ready?" She asked me.

"Sure." I nodded.

We stepped out of the room and someone collided into my leg.

"Lu!" Junior cried in delight.

I glanced down at the boy and smiled. He was grinning around his thumb but in the next instant he was reaching both arms up for me. I complied, picking him up and carrying him on my side. Daisy smiled and waved at him. He beamed back.

"You going outside?" He asked me.

I said, "Yup. We're headed to the parade."

"Ooh, I wanna' go with you!" Junior exclaimed. "I was 'sposed to go out of doors with Wendy but I don't even much remember what room she was in."

"Who else is here?" I had to ask.

Junior said, "Me and Lemmy and his brothers and Wendy."

And all this time I didn't even know it. I hadn't seen the children I babysat once since I got to the inn, minus the feast of course. I guess that was a good thing. If Larry knew I was here, he wouldn't leave me alone, and the whole reason I came to the inn over the palace was to have a bit of privacy with Daisy.

So much for that, I thought, knowing Junior would most likely be over at least once.

I inspected the child in my arms and noticed he was dressed for sleep with his soft pants and t-shirt. Not to mention he didn't have any shoes, as usual. I rubbed his thick tangled red hair and he grinned at me again. Daisy was gazing at the boy in my arms with a fond, wistful expression. I think she had kids on her mind again. Great. I did care for Junior a great deal, but I just wasn't ready for my own child. While the three of us walked towards the capital city, we ran into a large crowd of citizens doing just the same thing. That's when something odd started happening: people gave Daisy and I looks, knowing looks.

Do they honestly believe Junior's our kid, even with the red hair?

Apparently so. People would smile and coo at Junior and wink at Daisy and me. I glanced at Daisy and she just shrugged. I think she thought this was funny.

"How have you been, Junior?" Daisy spoke to the prince.

Junior laid his head on my chest and clung to me. At first I didn't think he'd answer her, so I just kept walking. The designated area for the parade was along a dirt road where a strip of business shops lay on one side, and natural greenery lay on the other. There were gates to keep the people out of the road. I tried to pick a spot as close to the front as I could. It was easy, seeing as how everybody seemed to recognize me. That was a welcome change. As soon as Daisy and I were at the forefront, Junior opened his mouth to speak.

He faced Daisy beside me and said, "Um, my Daddy says he miss you."

"What?" Daisy asked, frowning. "What did you say?"

Junior said solemnly, "My Daddy says he miss you. He says he miss you real bad. He had wanted me to tell you that."

Daisy grew silent. It was weird the way her face fell into this blank state, the way her light eyes grew distant and then she stared at Junior. The child stared back. His jade eyes remained passive, as did his demeanor. He just held onto me and kept staring at Daisy. She tilted her head and bent down to Junior's height, leaning towards me to speak to him.

"Junior, baby." She spoke gently, "You know your daddy is gone, don't you?"

Junior held her gaze for a few seconds, then popped his thumb into his mouth. I knew he was done speaking with that action. Daisy did, too. She stood to her up to her full height and gave me a concerned look. I could only shrug. What could we do? Junior was undoubtedly in denial about his father's death and no amount of kindly spoken truths could convince him otherwise. Time would only solve that.

"Let's just drop it," I advised to Daisy.

She moved towards me and whispered, "I know, but it's so sad."

"I know, it is." I sighed.

"Weegie!"

I turned my head and saw a familiar twelve-year-old weaving through the crowd. His mohawk stuck out, wildly, as if it'd just been messed up by someone. If I remembered correctly, it usually looked that way after he said something cheeky to Roy and the older teen roughed him up in turn.

"Weegie, you're here!" Larry cried when he got to us. "Oh, hi!" He also greeted to Daisy.

She smiled down at him. Larry's clothes had gotten wrinkled and his face was glowing with excitement and mischief. I missed this kid. He bounced on the balls of his feet and grinned up at me.

"Can I stand by you?" He asked.

I said, "Yeah, sure."

"I hope Roy doesn't find me." Larry spoke lowly.

"Why?" I asked, then amended it with, "What did you do this time?"

"Nothing!" Larry blurted. "He was in the square, showing off, and I kinda' called him a fathead and then he told me to get lost, and I said he just wanted to be alone with those girls and that they'd be crazy to like a chunky-tongued beef-breath-"

"And let me guess; he started chasing you?" I predicted.

"How did you know?"

"I was your babysitter."

"Oh, yeah." Larry nodded.

Meanwhile, I caught Daisy staring at me and Larry with that same wistful expression. I quirked a brow in question and she just shook her head.

"You're really good with kids." She told me.

I just shrugged.

A few minutes later, the parade started. It looked like something from the Thanksgiving and Christmas specials Mario and I used to watch on tv but never attend. I recalled Mario saying something about marching in a parade that grand, but that was when we were small. It looked like he finally got his wish.

I saw my brother marching in from the east side of town. Behind him was the royal guard, walking in time to the beat of a tune the band in front of them was playing. In front of the band of Toads were a handful of Yoshisaurs, holding banners and waving out to the crowd. Above Mario and the royal guard and the band was a giant balloon shaped like my brother.

"Awesome!" Larry shouted when he saw the balloon, pumping his fist into the air.

"C'mere, ya twerp!" Someone shouted from behind us.

Larry jumped and then grinned impishly, saying, "Uh oh, gotta' run Weegie."

And he took off before his brother could catch up to him. I didn't see Roy at all, just heard his unmistakable voice in the crowd. I shook my head and then faced the parade once more.

Coming from the west was Peach's court; finely dressed men and women with the princess in the middle of them. No one could see Peach because she sat inside an ornate gold and white palanquin. Like with Mario, there was a giant balloon of her flying above her court. In front of the elegant ladies and gentleman were a number of lithe dancers wearing brightly colored garments, twirling long shimmery ribbons. Suddenly Junior tugged on my shirt.

"Lu, I cannot even see nothing." He spoke plaintively.

I rectified that by putting him on my shoulders. He beamed and held onto either side of my face.

"Lu, I am so high up!" He laughed, seeming like his old self.

I held onto his knees and watched the parade. It was almost over. The two groups had met in the center of the road and came to a standstill. Everyone looked on as Mario approached Peach's palanquin and helped her down to the ground. He bowed to her, she curtsied to him, and they embraced each other. There was a loud roar of applause. Then, the royal guard members shot at both giant balloons, making a deluge of confetti and regular-sized balloons rain down on everyone.

Daisy looked absolutely enchanted. She smiled and held her hand up towards the sky. After letting confetti gather in her hand, she blew the mess towards me. I took her hand and kissed her open palm. She laughed. Junior looked thrilled as well and I let him get down on his own two feet. He made sure to keep his fingers clinging to my belt loop while he tried to grasp at the falling colored bits with his other hand. It got all in his hair.

"This is so wonderful!" Daisy beamed.

It really was. Everybody was either heading to congratulate the royal couple or visit the various shops along the main road. In light of the event, those shops were giving away free food and drinks and sweets. Daisy took one of my hands and Junior took the other as she led me to my brother. He was only too happy to see us coming.

"Luigi!" He bellowed heartily.

"Hey." I greeted.

I didn't ask for the massive bear hug that he yanked me into, but I didn't protest it, either. I did miss my brother. He, being ever the softy, grinned at me, misty-eyed. I saw Peach on his arm and felt an apology was in order. While Mario spoke to Daisy, I turned to Peach.

"Sorry about last night," I said. "I didn't mean to brush you off. I was kinda' in a hurry."

"It's no matter," Peach insisted. She then noticed Junior next to my leg and smiled sweetly.

"Hello, there," She said to him, crouching to his height.

Junior stared at her blankly. This was not his shy attitude, he looked more like he was...listening? He then stared at the princess and spoke calmly.

"He says he forgives you."

"Excuse me?" Peach spoke in confusion.

"My Daddy," Junior explained simply, "He says he forgives you, but he says you should not have ever left him."

Princess Peach paled and stood and took an alarmed step backwards. Mario glanced at her with concern. I guess his days of being oblivious were over. He put a hand on Peach's shoulder comfortingly.

"Something the matter?" He asked her.

I looked down to Junior, who'd put his thumb in his mouth and stared up at me innocuously. I shook my head. He clearly didn't know the effect his words had on Daisy and now Peach. They couldn't be taking the words of a psychologically unstable five-year-old to heart, could they? No. They were most likely just caught off guard.

The boy leaned his head on my leg while Peach tried to assure Mario she was fine. Daisy looked knowingly down at Junior and that odd look crossed her face for a flash of a moment before she shook her head and rubbed his head affectionately. Junior stayed with Daisy and I for the rest of the day.

A/N: I am so sorry, I meant to put this scene up there with the other chapter, please forgive me for this slip up. When I said I should have made the last chapter shorter, I meant LONGER but if I would have gone back and replaced the content, I was afraid some people might not see it.

So

Here you go.

Next chapter, we'll see how things go at the picnic. Just a little heads up, there will be some drama. And a guest appearance from an uninvited guest. So I'll 'see' you next time! Until then...

~DymondGold~