Chapter 20: Family Time

Disclaimer: I Don't Own Ben 10 Or Any Of The Characters. I Don't Own The Rights To Nathan Black Or Any Associated Characters, The Rights Go To annihalator2015

Disclaimer: This Series/Story Has Nothing To Do With The Ben 10: Ultimate Alien Cartoon Series. Any Similarities That May Pop Up Aren't Intentional

Author's Note:

* Hello, everyone. First, I just want to apologize for being inactive for a while. Since my last update on both of my primary stories on here, I've had a lot of stuff happen in my personal life. Some good, some bad. I was in a very bad spot for a while and I didn't have any motivation to really work on stuff on here for some time. But, I'm better now and I think that the worst of what I had been going through is now behind me. So, I will try to get back to posting somewhat consistently on here.

* Now, secondly, I just want to state that I'm working on something big. It is related to my two primary Ben 10 stories on here, or in the very least, it's related to Bride To Be. Describing it as a "Ben 10 story" would kind of be an understatement. I can't reveal anything else as of yet, but I can't wait to go into further detail about what I have cooking in the coming weeks. With that said, let's move on.

* Anyway, hello and welcome to Chapter Twenty!

* This chapter is going to be a bit shorter compared to the last few chapters, I just thought I'd throw that out there.

* Anyway, with that being said, let's get right into the chapter!

Earth-6101

Thursday, October 19th, 2017

Grandpa Max and Grandma Verdona's House

Ben

As I walked and got closer to Grandma and Grandpa's House, I noticed that there was someone outside the neighboring house that was going up for sale. I recognized the person. It was our neighbor, Mrs. Watson.

"Hi, Mrs. Watson!" I called with a wave as I began walking up the path toward my front door.

She turned to look at me as I approached the door.

"Hello, Benjamin." She replied in a friendly tone, returning my wave.

I walked through the front door and shut it behind me.

"Grandma, I'm home!" I called out.

After a few seconds, she emerged from the kitchen and spoke.

"Go upstairs and get cleaned up. It's time for dinner."

I thought that she was unhappy with me, since I never notified her when I was going to be home, but apparently she wasn't. So, I went up the stairs and on the way to my room, I noticed that Lucy was home now. So, I stopped at her room, where her door was open a crack and I knocked.

"Come in." I heard her say from inside the room.

I opened the door all the way and stepped into her room, as she looked up at me.

"Hi, Ben. How was your day?"

I shrugged as I sat down on her bed.

"It was alright, I guess. Nathan, Gwen and I took a walk around the neighborhood. What about you?"

"Boring. I wish that I didn't have to go to school and that I could just stay home for the rest of the week like you guys are."

"Your school wasn't almost blown up."

"Still."

"Alright then. Anyway, here."

I gave her the Three Musketeers bar that I had gotten at the convenience store.

"Don't spoil your dinner."

"Ah, thanks Ben!" she exclaimed as she took it from me.

"Speaking of which, it's dinnertime. Better go and wash up, Lucy."

She did just that, getting up from her bed and bolting past me, so that she would get to the bathroom first. I let out a sigh as I now stood alone in her room.

You gotta love how Lucy can be really nice and friendly one second, and then the next she does something that isn't really nice, I thought.

I waited for her to get done in the bathroom and then I washed my hands as well, before I went downstairs as well. Once I had gotten downstairs, we all sat down at the table. For dinner we were having grilled chicken that Grandpa Max made and Grandma Verdona made salads and green beans. As we began eating, Grandpa Max spoke.

"So, how was school today, Lucy?" he asked.

Lucy shrugged.

"It was okay, I guess. I just wish that I could have the rest of the week off like Ben does. It's not fair!"

Why was she complaining?

"Now, now, don't be like that. It's only for two days. And besides, your school wasn't under some kind of attack. Ben's school is closed while they make repairs over the next few days, so it wouldn't make sense for the rest of the school district to have time off, as well."

Lucy just looked at him.

"I guess." She replied at last.

"Oh, that reminds me." Grandma spoke as she looked at me. "We saw your picture in the newspaper, young man."

My picture in the newspaper?

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Don't act like your confused, Benjamin. I'm talking about your picture of that masked character."

Oh, I should have known.

"Um, what about it?"

"I don't like the idea of you taking pictures of stuff like that!" she said in a stern voice. "It could be dangerous!"

"Grandma, I was fine! I took the picture by the time everything was over! Nothing bad happened!"

"Ben," Grandpa Max chimed in. "Don't argue with your grandmother."

Before I could respond, Grandma spoke once more.

"And what if next time you aren't as lucky? Next time you could be seen and taken hostage or worse! It's just too dangerous!"

Too dangerous? Oh, now I understand. She's still not over how they found me pinned underneath a chalkboard after the attack yesterday.

I decided not to say anything in response about what she said and she continued as I did that.

"I don't have a problem with you doing freelance work for Mr. Ellison, but I don't like the idea of you taking those kind of pictures. Why can't you take pictures of people playing chess in the park or of people birdwatching?"

Do you hear yourself, Grandma? Who in their right mind would want to hear about people playing chess in the park? Well, probably old people, actually. And birdwatching? Seriously?

"But Grandma, who wants to look at pictures of people playing chess in the park? That's not very—"

"I've made up my mind, Benjamin." She replied.

After she said that, I knew to shut up.

"You took a picture for the newspaper?" Lucy asked.

I nodded.

"I never saw it."

I took out my phone to pull up the paper's website, but I was almost immediately cut off my Grandma Verdona.

"Ben," she spoke. "what did we say about phones at the dinner table?"

I looked up at Grandma and Grandpa.

"Did we say we liked it?" I asked.

She just looked at me, waiting for me to put away my phone. I had no choice but to cave in and put it back in my pocket.

"I'll show it to you later." I said as I looked at her.

Nathan

The Black Residence

I was helping my mom and dad prep dinner before we got to work on it, around forty five minutes later, we were sitting at the table having a meal. Besides the sound of silverware on ceramic dishes, there wasn't much else, so I decided to break the silence by telling my parents what I wanted to do.

"I think I'm going to become a photographer."

Both of my parents were a bit surprised by that, and while my mom was clearly happy, my dad was a little hesitant.

He sighed, "Nathan, I don't know if that's a good idea. You're a bit young to be a freelance photographer, and with how high the crime rates are here, I don't think it would be good for your health."

I put down my fork and put my hands on the table.

"That's why I want to become a photographer, dad. I want to help out, bring more attention to this kind of stuff. You always say that your department doesn't get enough support to get your jobs done well, especially with the appearance of some super-powered crazies now on the streets. If I start getting pictures of this kind of stuff and send them to the local papers, I can help raise awareness towards this, make it so you can do your job with more resources once your superiors start to realize that your department isn't equipped for this kind of stuff!"

He sighed, and relented.

"Alright, fine. I can get you a good quality camera for your birthday, but you have to promise me that you only do this when you know it's safe, and you won't be at any risk when taking photos. I don't wanna have to go visit you in the hospital because you took an unnecessary risk. Are we clear?" He said as he gave me a hard stare.

"Dad, I'm not going to risk life an limb for a couple of pictures, I'm not crazy. You have my word that I won't do anything stupid when getting these photos." I said before getting back to my food while my mom chided my dad.

"Matthew, our son wants to help you out with your job, as well as get a rather respectable job that will keep him active. You should support him all the way instead of arguing with him."

My dad was a little annoyed at this.

"I wasn't—" he stopped talking immediately when my mom glared at him, and he sighed.

"Yes, dear." He said in resignation as he knew he couldn't win that fight.

Around ten minutes later, we were finished and I put away the leftovers and cleaned all of the dishes before heading off to my room.

Ben

Grandpa Max and Grandma Verdona's House

We had wrapped up dinner and Grandpa Max was currently washing the dishes, while I rearranged the table and while Grandma sat in the living room watching T.V.

"You're free to go, Ben." he said as I finished with the table. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." I said as I left the kitchen.

I walked into the living room to where Grandma was at. I came to a stop next to where she was sitting.

"Grandma, I have a question." I said.

"Mmm-hmm?" she responded.

"What's going on with Mrs. Watson's house next door?" I asked.

"Margaret's husband recently passed away and without him, she can no longer pay the rent and utility bills. So, the house is being sold and she's going to move in with our friend, Caroline."

"Ah."

She turned to look at me.

"Why do you ask?"

I shrugged.

"I don't know. I was just curious, I guess."

"Oh, okay."

After that, I walked back out into the foyer and up the stairs. I passed Lucy's room on the way to my room once again and I stopped to lightly knock on the door, which was slightly ajar.

"Lucy?" I called out.

"Yeah?" she responded.

"Can I uh, come in?"

"Yeah." She repeated.

I opened her door the rest of the way and then walked into her room, to see her sitting on her bed, reading a comic book.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Reading comic books." She said without looking up at me.

I didn't know anything about comic books. All I knew is that Lucy liked titles like Aliens vs. Predator, Spawn, Invincible and The Walking Dead.

"Just like you always do?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, like I always do. As if I have anything else to do."

After a few more seconds, she put her comic book down on her bed, still open and turned to look at her T.V. I hadn't even noticed that it was on and it looked like she was playing a video game, with it being paused, I guess.

"What are you doing now?" I asked.

"Playing video games." She said as she unpaused her game.

"I thought you were reading comic books?"

"I am." She said. "And I'm playing video games, too. It's called multi-tasking, Ben. You should try it."

I began to rub the back of my neck, not feeling comfortable with what she had just said to me.

"Um, can I talk to you for a second, Lucy?"

"Go ahead. I can listen and play at the same time."

"Um, I'd prefer it if you'd stop what you're doing and look at me."

She let out an annoyed sigh, but paused her game and turned to look at me, with an unhappy look on her face.

"What?" she asked in a somewhat angry tone.

She's very annoyed, I thought.

"What's with all the comic books and video games?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, her tone not changing in the least.

"I mean, you're a girl, aren't you?"

"As far as I'm aware." She said as her cheeks began to turn pink. "Where is this going?"

I began to rub the back of my neck again, beginning to feel like that I was making a mistake.

"I'm just curious. Why can't you be into Disney princesses and Barbie dolls? I think it's a little weird that you're reading comic books and not fairy tales."

After that, her face went from pink to bright red.

"I can do whatever I want, Ben!" she angrily exclaimed. "You're not my dad!"

I was taken back by that.

"I know that, but I'm just curious. Why can't you be into braiding your hair or doing your makeup or—"

That's when she lost it.

"I said, 'I can do whatever I want, Ben'!" she angrily yelled at me. "Now, get out of my room!"

I decided that it was best if I just listened to what she said. I walked out of the room and she slammed the door shut as I left.

It's weird. She seemed so excited about the prospect of me living with them, but she's quickly become easily tempered toward me. What did I do?

I walked to my room, opened the door and shut it behind me. I flopped down on my bed and just laid there for a while, until I felt my phone begin to vibrate in my pocket. I took it out and looked at it, to see that Gwen was calling me. Naturally, I answered and put the phone to my ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Ben!" Gwen greeted me with enthusiasm in her voice.

"Um, hey, Gwen."

She giggled in response to my greeting, seemingly knowing that I was for some reason a bit more uncomfortable with talking over the phone with her than I was with talking with her in person.

"How did that thing of yours go?" she asked once she had stopped giggling.

"Pretty well I would say."

"Good, I'm glad to hear it. So, are we going to go the school's Halloween Party next week?"

I let out a sigh as I pulled the phone away from my ear, before I put it back up to my ear again.

"I thought I told you that Halloween isn't really my thing?" I asked.

"Oh, come on, Ben! It's just a party! We'd be there for maybe a couple hours! Besides, dressing up in a costume is optional!"

That made me feel slightly better.

"Well, are you dressing up?"

"Yes."

I'll admit that I was a bit curious to hear what she was going as.

"Well... what are you going as?"

"Ah, ah, ah!" she tutted from her end. "I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise!"

I found myself chuckling.

"If you say so." I replied. "Look, I think I'm going to get off the phone. I'm thinking of going to bed early."

"Okay. Good night, Ben. See you later."

"Good night. I'll see you, Gwen."

After that, we hung up and I continued lying on my bed. I allowed my hand with my phone still in it to rest on my forehead.

What a day, I thought as I let out a sigh.

Author's Note:

* And that's it for this chapter, I hope you guys enjoyed!

* So, what did you think of the conversations at the dinner table, both for the Tennyson family and Nathan's family? Do you think Ben made a mistake in confronting Lucy about her interests? I'm really curious about what you may think.

* Anyway, that's going to do it for me. I'm going to go though, so have a great day and bye.

Review Responses

Guest Review (Chapter 19): Is verdona still an anodite like before?

Thanks for the review. No, Verdona is not an Anodite, she is completely human. One hundred percent. Maybe that's boring to have her just be a normal human, but that's the way I decided to do it for this alternative take. I'm not even sure how I'll implement Anodites and Anodyne in this story, if I even implement them at all. They haven't been really implemented into my other story, Bride To Be and I don't even know how to do it there, if they do end up playing any role at all. So, maybe it's a little early for me to say that I'm not sure how they'll be implemented here. Thanks for the review, as always.

DarkMinetex (Chapter 19): Heya! Nice to see how you're handing ben's character development. It's so great to read this story of yours! Hope to see more of this story!

Hey, DarkMinetex! Glad to hear from you! Thanks for the review. I'm glad that you're liking how I'm handling Ben's character development. I hope that I'm doing well with everyone else's development, as well. It's so great to hear that you think it's great to read this story, so thanks for that! Thanks for the review, as always.

Guest Review (Chapter 19): Is verdona still an anodite or is she pure human?

Thanks for the review. I'm going to assume that this is the same person who was asking about Verdona some time ago. Sorry that it took me a while to get back to you. As I stated at the very beginning, I was going through a lot of stuff, so I wasn't in a great spot to handle stuff like this. Anyway, Verdona is a pure human in this story, as I said before. Thanks for the review, as always.

Next Chapter: Ben, Gwen and Nathan attend a Halloween Party. After Ben makes him angry, Kevin humiliates himself.