For those of you who were keeping up Here and Now, this is where these two stories start to line up. You are going to notice some major changes.
Disclaimer: Everything from the original Treasure Planet movie belongs to Disney.
"I know why families were created with all their imperfections. They humanize you. They are made to make you forget yourself occasionally, so that the beautiful balance of life is not destroyed." -Anais Nin
Chapter 2: Family is Where the Heart Is.
The Space Port was extremely busy this time of year because it was the perfect time to travel and the weather was nice so everyone was out and about. The only real down side to it was it made it difficult to get anything done. Walking past all of the shops and vendors could have been relaxing from all of the aromas you could smell and the different things you could by if it weren't for all of the people.
Ships were docked everywhere and sailors were bustling to get things loaded and unloaded. Cargo of all sizes littered every possible hanger in site. After many years of coming back and forth one got tired of wondering what was in them.
Delbert was brought out of his thoughts when heard someone yelp.
"Ow!"
When he turned around Darren was clutching his nose with his hands and the other five were laughing at him.
"Darren, what happened?"
"Nothing." His grumbled comment only made the others laugh harder.
"Alright, what did you do to him?"
"We didn't do anything." It was the typical answer that Derek always gave him and usually he was lying. Delbert tried to give him a raised eyebrow but he never felt it was as effective as when Amelia did it.
"No, we swear, it's his own fault." Now Angelina was backing him up.
"Yeah, it's not like we made him run into that pole. It was only the size of a small tree; anyone could have easily run into it." Alexis, always sarcastic, defiantly gets it from her mother.
"Maybe if you would spend more time watching where you were going and stop ogling that waitress every time we pass, this wouldn't be the second time you've run into something," Abby imputed. It was like an automatic reflex when one of them opened their mouth they all had to. The four of them had been like that since they could only speak baby gibberish.
"I wasn't ogling! I was uh- I was- reading the menu."
"What did the sign say, 'Today's special is human female with a side of long blonde hair?'"
"Dylan! Don't help them!"
"Alright, alright, stop laughing at your brother. And you, I know your fifteen but please try and keep your hormones in check."
Darren's only reply was to turn bright red causing the others to start giggling again.
The rest of the walk was completed in silence, which was fine with Delbert. It was the kind of day where you did not want to say anything, just take everything in and relax. Blue skies, cool temperatures, different sites to see. As much as any of them wanted to go into the different shops, they were going somewhere specific and they didn't want to be late.
It had been nearly four months since the last time he saw his wife, back in January. It was the longest Amelia had been on a voyage since she semi-retired sixteen years ago. His kids were just as excited to see her as well. Her ship had not come in yet but they liked to get there early and watch as the Legacy docked. Delbert actually found it quite terrifying as close as his kids liked to get to the edge of the dock. He could never understand why they liked practically standing under the ship as it came down and gave the illusion that it was going to land right on top of you. They had been watching the ship come in all of their life so they did not have the same fear.
This little outing was sort of a surprise. He knew Amelia would be expecting him and the twins because they were always here to greet her, but she didn't know about their older four. They were nineteen and just finished their first year of college there days ago. It had been a surprise to him when he came home the other day to find them sitting on the couch and boxes upon boxes of stuff sitting by the steps. He thought they weren't supposed to be home for another week. They later decided to surprise Amelia as well.
They made it to the dock and could do nothing but stand, wait, and watch the sky. Derek was the first to spot the ship.
"Hey, guys, I think that's it." His arm was extended at a forty-five degree angle strait out from the dock. Sure enough, it was the Legacy and she was about five minutes out. Eventually she docked and Delbert decided they should go get lunch and bring it back in about an hour to give Amelia time to tie up all loose ends. When they came back they seen the last of the crew members come down the gang plank followed by Anthony Jackson, Amelia's first mate.
"Doctor Doppler, did you make it here alright?"
"Yes, we did. Thank you for asking. Was the trip alright?"
"Great, it went quiet smoothly. I see you brought everyone. I wasn't expecting to see you older four."
"We're a surprise," stated Alexis. "I wanted to be in a giant gift box but nobody would carry me. So we came up with another idea. Why were you not expecting us?"
"Your mother sees to it that she is The Captain at all time. Someone to be respected and I will admit at times she can be quiet feared as well."
The simple statement made everybody smile.
"But that never stops her from bragging about her kids. She's told me several times when you finish your first year of college, which I thought was still days away."
"Awe, she brags about us." It made Abby feel good for about five seconds until she frowned. "Wait! She does only tell you the good things, right?" Her comment made Tony laugh.
"I would love to stay and catch up more but I have a transport to catch. It was nice talking to you."
They all said their goodbyes and Tony left while the seven made their way up the ship.
Amelia was filing the last of her paperwork when she heard knocking coming from the door. She pray it wasn't the customer coming be to complain about the shipment. She had been away from her family far longer than she would have liked to be and an angry buyer would only delay her further. When she opened the door she was greeted by sight that was much more pleasant.
"Hi mom/mum," the twins coursed at the same time, Delbert standing right behind them
"Boys, you're here!"
"Aren't we always?" Darren said as they each gave her a hug.
"Hey, aren't you happy to see me?"
"Couldn't be happier." With that she put her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss that he more than willingly gave back.
"Ew. Please stop," said Darren
"Of course the three of us would be here," said Dylan after they broke their kiss. Delbert frowned before looking around. The quadruplets were nowhere in sight. He immediately knew something was up and he didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing. However, he chose to keep his mouth closed.
"Are you hungry mum? We brought lunch," Dylan offered.
"Lunch would be wonderful."
As Delbert was handing out the food he realized there was only enough food for four people and everything the quads had ordered had disappeared from the bags.
"Why on Montressor did they give you twice as many sets of utensils?"
Apparently, they didn't grab everything.
As they ate they told stories back and forth in the last four months. They could easily communicate with Amelia on the ship but they liked it far better. The twins told stories about school and friends. Dylan embarrassed Darren by relaying the pole accident. Amelia told them about her Journey and Delbert one or two stories about work.
"Hey, mom, want to see a magic trick. I'm a lot bet than when you left."
"Sure love, show me."
He grabbed a blanket and stood off to the side and held out the blanket in front of him. He shimmied it back and forth while raising it slowly so you could see both of his lags at the bottom of the blanket. He brought it back down and up again and one of his legs were missing. It was obvious that he was standing on one leg while the other was still behind the sheet. He brought it back down again and back up again and the other leg was missing.
"Ta-Da!"
They all gave him weird looks that clearly said he was an idiot.
"Okay, I can see that you are not impressed so I will have to step it up a little."
He stared shimming the sheet one more time and this time when he brought it up the missing meals in their bags from earlier were on the floor.
"How did you do that?"
"I can't tell you."
"That explains the extra utensils."
Dylan spoke up, clearly acting because he knew good and well what the extra food was for. "Hey, Magic Moron, what are you going to do with all of that extra food?"
"I'll use my magic, of course." He threw the sheet over the bags for about three seconds before whipping it off really fast. "Bam!" The food was still there. Amelia spoke up.
"I don't think it worked, love."
"Oh, but it did. Sometimes the answer is right behind you."
"I think you mean in front of you."
"No. It's behind you," he said while he pointed his finger.
She turned around and standing behind her were her older four kids.
"Ta-Da!" they shouted at the same time.
Amelia was stunned beyond words and before she could regain her speech she was engulfed in hugs from all four of them at once.
"Ha! Who's a moron now?"
"Still you." Dylan said pointedly. The comment earned him a dirty look and just for fun, he threw in one more. "Pole Face."
"How did you do that?"
"Dad, I can't tell you, or then it wouldn't be magical."
"Delbert, did you know they were here?"
"Yes, but I did not know they were going to do that. They were there when we talked to Anthony and ten seconds later we were coming through the door and they were gone."
They sat around and talked some more while everyone finished eating and then left to catch the next transport back to Montressor. They were sitting quietly in the tram when Amelia noticed Dylan rubbing his head.
"What's the matter, love?"
"It's nothing, just a headache."
"Do you want some aspirin?"
"No, I'll be fine, thanks."
She wanted to press the issue but she felt Delbert tug on her sleeve. She looked at him and he shook his head no. She could tell in his eyes that he was making a silent that they would talk about it when they were alone. She turned away and didn't say anything else. Amelia had a feeling these were more than headaches.
Later that night, when they were alone in their bedroom, she brought the subject back up.
"What was that, on the tram earlier?" she asked as she sat down on the bed.
"I'm not entirely sure." Delbert said from the closet
"What do you mean 'you're not sure'?"
He walked out in his pajamas and spoke as he walked around to his side of the bed.
"He's been having these headaches for about three weeks. At first, I thought that maybe he was getting sick but they seem to be random. As far as him refusing the aspirin, it hasn't been helping him. He was taking them at first but they weren't the slightest helpful.
"Why didn't you tell me one of the numerous times we talked over the communicators."
"I didn't want to worry you without knowing what it was first so I took him to the doctors. They couldn't find anything wrong with him. After that the headaches stopped. That was a week ago and earlier was the first time he's had one since then."
Amelia was upset that he had not said anything to her before now but it was late and it was the first time she had been home in a while so she accepted his answer with a short nod. The bed shifted behind her and then his arms wrap around her.
"I know you don't like my reasoning and that you're mad. I can see it in your face."
She turned around to face him. She let out a sigh and was about to speak but Delbert spoke first.
"I'm sorry. I should have said something." He always surprised her. She knew he wasn't really all that sorry but he was trying to be the bigger person and not start a fight. What little anger she was feeling at him had melted away.
"I'm not mad at you. I'm just upset that there is something wrong with our son and there is nothing we can do."
"Look, he's fifteen and going through puberty. I'm sure that's why he's getting migraines. Darren bound to have his fair share as well." he paused for a moment to remember what happened before. "Especially if he doesn't stop staring at every girl he sees and running into poles."
Amelia gave him a puzzled look. He told her what happened and Amelia could not help but to laugh really hard.
"I wanted to laugh when it happened but the others were already making him feel bad."
Finally, her laughter resided.
"We're good right, you're really not mad at me?"
"No, I'm not mad. You're probably right; the headaches are just from puberty."
"Good, because are other ways I'd rather be spending your first night back home than being mad at each other."
"What ways would those be?" she asked as he kissed the back of her neck.
"Over, under, and everything in between," he whispered in her ear as he turned off the light. It was going to be a long sleepless night and she was going to love every breathless minute of it.