Chapter Eighty Nine – Payback

"They're coming! They're coming!" Kinsey half whispered as she raced around to the front of the house.

Olivia held her finger to her lips and pointed to Ben's car. Knowing the plan, Kinsey ducked down in back of it. Ben was chasing one of the boys, Olivia wasn't sure which one, and would need to refill his bucket in the front yard once he completed his attack. It was the chance Kinsey and Olivia had been waiting for. Ben would be out of water and totally vulnerable to a twofold attack. Kinsey would hide behind the car, keeping out of sight until Ben got close to the pool. Olivia had purposefully pulled Suvi out of it so Ben could reach the water. At least he could in theory. They weren't going to let Ben get to it though.

Kinsey was safely hidden when Olivia saw Ben running around the corner and across the driveway. Hidden in her own spot on the other side of the yard she held up two fingers in the start of a countdown. The second Ben passed the car she dropped one, and once he hit the grass she dropped the other and pounded her fist in the air. Kinsey shot to her feet and raced toward Ben, water gun at the ready. The goal was for her to distract Ben enough that he wouldn't head right for the pool. That would hopefully give Olivia enough time to begin (and if all went well, complete) the second phase of their joint attack. If they did it right, Ben was doomed.

"You're mine, Uncle Ben!" Kinsey shouted as she attempted to shower him with water.

Ben darted away and only got caught by the edge of the spray. That was alright though; it was just what they needed. Kinsey kept chasing Ben, trying to drive him further away from the pool. Olivia hid in wait. She had to know which way he was going to run before she could act. He turned and ran back the way he'd come. Excitement rushing through her, Olivia began the final stage.

Keeping low so she wouldn't be spotted above the bushes Olivia ran toward the car and the full bucket she'd left nearby. She grabbed it up before Ben rounded the car, waited for him to pass, and thrust the bucket forward. Water flew out in a wave that crashed into Ben's back and head before sloshing over his shoulders. Ben hadn't been expecting it at all and yelped.

"That's cold!" he shrieked.

He hadn't been expecting the ice Olivia and Kinsey had mixed into the cold water either.

"Gotcha!" Kinsey crowed and sprayed him again with her super soaker.

Olivia grabbed hers up again and joined Kinsey. Just because the plan had already succeeded didn't mean she couldn't continue the fun. Ben threw his hands up to shield his face.

"Hey! Stop! Stop!"

Neither of the women let up. Instead Kinsey giggled, and Olivia only grinned at him while she kept her finger firmly on the trigger. Ben tried to run, but Olivia and Kinsey followed, leaving him nowhere to escape.

"Two against one isn't fair!"

"Nobody ever said making alliances was against the rules," Olivia replied.

Ben shook his head at her but couldn't help smiling. Since he was already soaked from head to toe he gave up trying to avoid the water and approached Olivia. He pushed her super soaker aside and wrapped his arms around her. Her eyes met his.

"That was so evil," he said and kissed her firmly.

When he pulled away a smile danced across Olivia's face, lighting it up like the sun.

"That was so perfect," she returned.

Like he had, she followed the statement up with a kiss. Hers was much deeper though. Ben was more than happy to return it and wrap his arms tighter around her. He only stopped because Kinsey was right there. Of course she'd already seen enough to plan on grilling her uncle later.

She waited until the game had ended and almost everyone was inside changing. Sticking around and helping Ben clean up gave her some time alone with him. They had just finished dumping the pool in back when she spoke.

"Aren't you going to marry Olivia?"

Ben stopped what he was doing and turned to look at her, one eyebrow quirked up curiously. She hadn't used "are you" like she wasn't sure if he wanted to marry Olivia but "aren't you" like she expected him to and thought he was taking too long. It was a somewhat odd question simply because he hadn't expected her to pick up on that much about his relationship. He and Olivia didn't spend a lot of time with his sister or her family, and when they did any displays of affection were kept to a minimum. Kinsey really wouldn't have had much at all to observe. That made Ben wonder how much she might have heard her mom talking about his relationship with Olivia.

When he kept staring at her Kinsey rolled her eyes. It wasn't like she thought she needed to explain anything, but fine. Whatever.

"Come on, Uncle Ben. I saw you guys kissing today, and a lot of times before today really. I know you really like each other."

Ben smiled softly. That was true. It just wasn't all that simple.

"I want to, Kinsey."

"Then why don't you?"

In her mind it was easy. All he had to do was propose to Olivia and get the whole thing in motion. He liked her; she obvious liked him. Everyone else in the family (mostly) liked her too, so what was the problem?

Ben sighed and stated dragging the pool around to the garage so he could put it away. Kinsey wasn't about to let up and followed, hounding him the whole time. She wanted an answer, and he was going to give her one. It better be a good one too or she wasn't going to be happy.

"You don't understand, Kinsey. It has to be at the right time, in the right way. That would be true for anyone you propose to, but especially for Olivia. I have to be sure it won't scare her. I need to know, one hundred percent that she'll say yes."

Or at least that she wouldn't run for the hills. He was pretty darn confident that she wouldn't but still…

"She'll say yes," Kinsey said with the confidence Ben needed.

Ben almost laughed at her confidence. She had almost no basis for it.

"How are you so sure about that?"

"Woman's intuition," she replied with a beaming smile.

That time Ben did laugh.

"You got that from your mother, didn't you?"

"Yup, but it's true. Plus, I've seen you and Olivia together. I know she likes you. Like, likes you likes you."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," she replied as if she thought he was being exceedingly stupid. She rolled her eyes at him to emphasize that point before continuing. "I don't know how you could miss that."

"I just want to make sure that I do it right."

"Well you better get around to doing it soon, right or wrong."

She trudged off toward the other pool with Ben following after her and grinning uncontrollably.

"I better, huh?" he teased.

"Yeah! Maybe you should ask my dad for tips or something."

Ben snorted. He was sure that would work out fantastically since Kinsey's dad had the least experience with Olivia out of anyone in the family. Ben was the only one that knew how to deal with Olivia's insecurities, even as reduced as they now were.

"I think I can handle it on my own, Kins."

"Doesn't look like you can so far," she returned before motioning down at the pool. "Do you think we should leave this out for Suvi?"

Ben considered that for a moment and then shook his head.

"Nah. As much as he would love it, I really don't want a dripping wet dog in the back of my car. He can't dry off as fast as the rest of us."

Kinsey shrugged and started to tip the pool to dump the water out. Ben grabbed the other end and tilted it up toward her. As hard as Kinsey tried to hold her end up so the water didn't pour her way, she wasn't tall enough or strong enough. Her attempt ended up backfiring on her. When Ben overpowered her and dumped the water her way they'd gotten the pool above her knees. The water hit her full in the chest and stomach, completely drenching her again.

"Uncle Ben!"

She screeched in frustration and chased after him as he booked it back toward the house.