A/N: The long awaited second half of this tale is finally here. It's a long one, so grab some snacks and buckle up; it's gonna be a ride. Hope you enjoy!
Oh! And requests are still open if there is something you want to see from this world; any loose ends you want tied up. Just let me know.
Saturday dawns sunny and warm. The weather report says the high for the day would be in the 50's, above average for that time of year; not that they are complaining. Every member of the family makes their way downstairs at their own pace, and the stragglers are brought down by the smell of bacon cooking.
The family takes it easy all morning: the four quintuplets left at homework a little bit on homework, knowing full well they won't want to do it the next day; McKenna raids her grandfather's personal library and comes out of the office with a stack half as high as she; Wyatt turns the front room into his own personal Lego factory, turning the large bucket into a small city complete with a Batcave; and the adults are left to deal with little Chyler who had woken up in the foulest of moods that not even her grandfather's best tricks could pull her from.
Just before one in the afternoon, Miyana calls to invite her mom, sisters, and nieces to join her and her cousin in their spa day. She claims it was the plan all along, but Kate doesn't believe her for a second; she thinks Lanie might have worked her magic and guilt-tripped her daughter into inviting them. But all the girls excitedly accept the offer and there is a rush for the shower.
Danielle and McKenna, who had showered the night before, offer to collect all of their clothes and accessories so there would be no need to come back to the house to change. So, while the other girls got cleaned up, the niece and her aunt ran around the three bedrooms picking up dresses, shoes, and jewelry. Chyler, with the promise of getting to wear lipstick to the party, finally came out of her foul mood and 'helped' her sister and aunt with their project (which mostly involved putting unnecessary things into the bag and rummaging through her grandparent's room getting into mischief). Danielle, overcome with frustration, finally set her youngest niece up with an iPad and cartoons so they could actually get work done.
"Finn? Did you decide which ones you're wearing?" Danielle asks her sister through the bathroom door.
"Um…..the blue ones," Finn's replies, directing her sister to the shoes in question. Danielle grabs them, tossing them into the duffel bag they were using for everything. She and McKenna lug everything downstairs and into the cars and then wait for the other girls to be ready. It doesn't take long, and after another ten-minute long conversation involving last-minute instruction for the boys, the girls were off.
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With the girls away getting dolled up for the big night, the boys did what they always did the night of a big event: they sat around playing video games until the absolute last minute before getting into the quickest shower imaginable and somehow emerging fifteen minutes later completely ready and looking nice. It always confused and amazed the women in their lives how they could do it.
"Hey, lookin' good Mr. Seventeen," Castle remarks as Liam comes into the living room, shoes in hand. He'd taken the simple look of black pants and white button down and added his own flavor with red suspenders and a red bowtie. The black dress shoes he slips on complete the look, and Liam goes into the powder room across from his dad's office and adjusts his playfully tousled hair.
Austin and Max are already in the living room when Liam returns, and he smiles at how they seem to make amped up casual clothes look great. Just throwing a blazer over a plain white t-shirt and jeans turns them into models fresh off some magazine cologne ad. Rick is rocking the same look, though his shirt is a deep army green.
Wyatt, in a full burgundy suit with a grey vest, tie and grey plaid fedora on his head, is hands down the best dressed of their group and his entrance garners him a few wolf whistles and exclamations of pride from the older men.
The boys gather up last minute decorations, games, and presents and head over to The Old Haunt to meet the catering company and make sure the bartender and DJ are getting ready.
"Yo! This is nice!" Austin remarks. The normally dark room came alive with color thanks to confetti sprinkled everywhere, a spinning disco ball near the DJ booth and neon colored streamers hung all over.
The kids didn't have a specific theme when it came to the decorations; just something bright and colorful, which was easy to achieve.
"Come on, we have some things to do before the girls get here," Castle says, putting the boys to work.
[][]
Lanie's friend Vanessa, who perfected her craft by messing up Lanie's highlights at a discount price, happily let their loud, giggly group into her salon for complete makeovers; anything they wanted was on the house. Though the Instagram photos that were posted didn't hurt.
In an almost militaristic operation, the ten girls in their group moved from hair chair to manicure table, to pedicure soak. The gossip flowed easily, and though it was Finn, Miyana, and Danielle's birthday, it was Chyler who stole the show and the hearts of every staff member in the salon. The toddler got more than just lipstick put on, and she bathed in all the attention she was getting.
All of their desires for their final looks came true, and one by one, they used the bathroom to change into their party outfits. Lanie in a metallic gold dress and matching heels, Monica pairing a pink tutu with a silver sequin crop top, and Letty went with a light periwinkle halter top (that was once a lyrical dance dress), black leggings and rose gold gladiator sandals.
Alexis had taken inspiration from her bohemian sister and came out in a dusty rose dress with long bell sleeves. Not one for attention, McKenna simply re-wore the blue sheath dress she'd worn to her school's winter chorus concert, adding the silver star earrings she'd gotten for Christmas. Chyler, with her pink lipstick and glitter polished nails, showed off her white tutu dress, purple shoes, and headband and posed for many pictures.
Seventeen years, and a bit of hard work, after having quintuplets, Kate Beckett could still show off her svelte figure in a body-hugging army green dress. She knew everyone was looking at her, and she tried to hide the blush in her cheeks as she deflected everyone's comments.
Danielle strutted her edgy stuff as she came out in a red crop top, black leggings, and a pair of quite high black heels; the deep makeup over her eyes made the pale blue irises nearly disappear, making the 17-year-old look way too grown up and sensual for her mom and older sister's liking. Kate did make sure to warn Rick before they showed up so he didn't die of a heart attack upon seeing their oldest.
Finn, ever the glowy flower child, appeared in a white chiffon high-low dress with lace at the bodice. Not even the blue flats on her feet could hide the braces on her ankles, but for once, Finn didn't care. She stood taller, smiled wider and gently brushed back the curled pieces of hair left out of the knotted updo the stylist had created from her auburn hair.
Miyana dances playfully while showing off the sage green lace dress she'd chosen for the party. It was cute, but still comfortable and allowed her room to move and dance which is exactly what she wanted.
After thanking the staff at the salon a million times over and tipping them graciously, the girls loaded back into the cars they'd come in and drove the forty minutes to the party venue; all of them excited to get the night going.
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Music is already playing, and drinks are flowing when the girls make their grand entrance. They all enjoy the compliments and whistles the boys give them, and Danielle shows off for Saccone who, along with her older brother, was the first to arrive.
As more and more guests arrive, the party breaks off into smaller groups. Kids flow freely from one conversation to another, eating from the large buffet of all the quint's favorite things and drinking the specialty drinks Frank the bartender had crafted for the night.
There were card games laid out on tables, and Finn, Miyana, Letty, and all their theater friends circled around and got into a very loud and spirited game of Cards Against Humanity. Spectators leaned over the surrounding booths, and laughed along with the players at the humorous cards, and had equally red faces at the inappropriate ones.
Austin and his buddies, too cool to play card games, congregated near the DJ booth and bopped along to the music. Though when Jackson challenges him to a foosball game where the loser had to pose for a picture with a girlie drink in their hands, he has to accept. And soon enough, the crowds watching the card game moves across the room to cheer on the friends, audibly reacting to their smack talk.
"Game point!" Taylor, Austin's lacrosse teammate announces before dropping the ball onto the field.
The final round seems to go one for ages; both boys play excellent offense and defense. But it is Jackson who quickly slips the ball into the net after faking his opponent out. The crowd around them cheer and everyone pulls out their phones, ready to capture the punishment Austin must do. Even the group playing the card game put in on pause to come and watch.
"Bartender? Get my man a drink, will you please?" Jackson calls to Frank, who had been in on the deal.
"You suck," Austin remarks as the drink is shoved into his hands. It's pale yellow and garnished with flowers and a pineapple spear. "Oh, God!" Austin gags, having taken a sip of the drink. "How can you drink this?" he directs to his girlfriend.
"It's good! I have to say: Finn knows her way around a bar," Christine nods, proud of her friend. All the birthday kids had either picked out or crafted their own signature (alcohol-free) drink to be served at the party. Finn's was a light, fruity thing mimicked after one she'd had on a vacation with her family a few summers prior.
"Ready, man?" Jackson asks, his phone poised to take the photo.
"Yeah," Austin says, eager to just get it over with.
"Hold on!" Christine shouts, pulling the large white flower clip out of her hair and sliding it into Austin's. "Okay, now," she nods, content with her boyfriend's presentation. "Smile!"
Austin, playing it up for his friends and girlfriend, jokingly stick out his tongue and holds up a peace sign. All the cameras in the room go off, and before Austin can dump the drink onto the bar behind him, they have been posted to social media for the world (and the rest of the school) to see.
"I cannot believe you," Austin says to his girlfriend, pulling her close, giving the flower back.
"Well the flower may have been a bit much," Christine nods, rethinking her choices.
"Oh, it was the flower that was too much?" Austin says.
"Yeah," Christine laughs, breaking from her boyfriend when her other friends call her over. Austin watches her walk away, shaking his head at how embarrassing he looked. "Can I get another drink, please?
[][]
Hours passed and everyone seemed to be having a great time. The adults had found their own corner where they could supervise but still be out of the way. That is until the karaoke machine was turned on. Of course, Miyana and her gang of thespians took first goes at it; including a rendition of 'Take Me or Leave Me' from RENT sung by Mia and Schuyler. Finn and Saccone got up and belted out a little 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' and even Liam got up and sang a song from Aladdin. Cade and Jackson got up and rapped their way through an old Eminem song, taking notice of the girls who were loving their performance and offering them drinks the second they got off stage.
"Come on, Kate. We're singing!" Lanie says, getting up from the table and beckoning her friend. "They've had their fun. Let's show 'em how it's really done," Lanie says, tilting her head and smiling.
"Yeah. Give them a lesson in proper karaoke," Kate agrees, getting up and taking Lanie's hand, letting her lead her to the stage.
"Yeah, mom!" Danielle's shout as they walk up gets the kids going and everyone is cheering and whistling, and Kate smiles, hiding her face.
"We're gonna throw it back for you guys," Lanie says. "The year was 1999. The looming threat of Y2K was on everyone's mind. Look it up. And teenage girls everywhere were swooning over one song," she pointed to the DJ and a second later, the opening notes began. "You are my fire. The one desire." Lanie really gets into the spirit of the era and makes her movement and facial expressions very big and grand. As she and Kate trade off lyrics, the song takes over and all the kids watching them cheer them on. Byt the final chorus, everyone is singing, and a few have opened lighters on their phones and are waving them in the air. When the song ends, the adults give the stage back to the kids, but not before Kate's daughter's envelop her in a group hug.
"Mom, that was amazing!" Miyana cheers.
"Thank you," Kate says with a laugh. She joins the adult's table and Castle leans close.
"I always took you for more of an N'Sync girl. Who knew." His joking comment gets him a smack in the side by his wife.
"Everyone knows Backstreet Boys are the true 90's boy band. And anyone who disagrees is wrong."
[][]
Nine o'clock arrived, and a few guests were starting to leave; those who had early curfews or church the next morning. It was also when Alexis and her family took their leave. Not wanting to intrude on the rest of the night for the quints, they would be staying at the loft that Alexis grew up in that was now an extension of their grandmother's acting studio.
"Bye, JackJack," Danielle said to her youngest niece. The toddler moves away from the offered kiss, and Danielle looks at her sadly. "Can I have a kiss? Please?" When Chyler refuses again, Danielle back off. But when Saccone asks for one, Chyler gladly gives her a kiss. Danielle's offended gasp makes the little girl giggle. She knew what she'd done, and was proud of herself. "Come here, you," Danielle growls, grabbing Chyler from her dad's arms and bending her backward. She immediately starts to laugh and laughs harder when Danielle kisses her neck and tickles her sides. "I love you," Danielle says, handing Chyler back to her dad.
"Luh you," Chyler replies.
"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay."
Danielle and Sass watch Max and Chyler leave, the rest of the family not far behind. Though McKenna does complain the entire time; she was finally old enough to really enjoy the party, and just as it was getting good she was forced to leave. Danielle promised herself that the next day she would spend some 'grown-up' time with her oldest niece to make up for it.
Not long after, a game of flip cup charades began and divided the remaining party guests (including the adults) into two teams. It was loud, everyone's voices overlapping into one jumbled screaming mess, but so much fun. And surprisingly, and slightly scarily, the newly minted seventeen-year-olds were quite good at the game.
"Oh! Oh! Umm," Miyana bounced in her seat; she knew the answer to the clues Andrew was giving her, but the words just weren't coming.
"Bitch of Living!" Saccone shouts, guessing the song title correctly and giving her team another point.
"How the hell did you know that!?" Miyana asks, turning to her sister's best friend.
"Listening to you sing it every day for four months last year, even Callum started to memorize it," Sass explains, calling out her older brother who had left hours earlier. "I knew what to look for," she finishes with a shrug.
"Ugh!" Miyana sighs. Her team was losing, and she didn't like it.
"Alright, Jackson and Cambree, you're up," Kate says, holding up the next clue for the two kids. They chug down the drink and race to flip their cups; each team cheering on their person and groaning when they try time and again to flip it perfectly. Mia's team screams when Cambree does it first and she starts to act out the clue. Mia watches Cambree with rapt attention, determined to guess first this time. She follows her friend as she goes from sitting the fetal position, to standing, and finally dancing an iconic move.
"13 Going on 30!" Miyana screams, jumping up. She cheers with the rest of her team upon receiving the point and gets ready to take her turn as actor.
"Not fair! It's her favorite movie!" Liam argues.
"Sorry, Charlie," Mia shrugs. They were still losing, but getting a point gave her the motivation to come from behind and beat her brother, if only for the bragging right she'd get.
In the end, Miyana's team still loses, but the final clue that could have sealed their win was a difficult one. How could she have known it was 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'? It totally looked like Sharknado to her!
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As the party starts to wrap up, Finn sways on the dance floor to one last slow song. Her arms are wrapped around Chase Bertagnoli's neck, and she has to stand on tiptoe to do it which is not an easy task for her. Liam and Chase have played on the same club soccer team since they were eight, and have maintained a casual friendship, so it wasn't a surprise when he and a few other kids from the team showed up to the party. What was a surprise when he asked Finn to dance. The two never really noticed each other, and each had other crushes at their respective schools, but how could she say no when a cute boy was asking her to dance? So, here they were: awkwardly moving to the love song while their friend and parents watched on.
"You know," Chase says to her, looking down to meet Finn's eyes, "you're not as freaking and spazzy as the other guys said you were."
Finn's eyes widen in shock and confusion. "Excuse me?"
"All the guys on the team told me you were all spazzy and couldn't control yourself. They said you were like retarded or something and that I should dance with you tonight so you could get a taste of being normal."
"They said what?" Finn asks, stepping away from Chase.
"I know: it's stupid. But they were wrong. You're not some spaz, you're actually pretty normal."
"I'm 'actually pretty normal'," Finna repeats, wanting to hear the words come out of her mouth. Of course; it was all just a rouse to get a reaction out of her; just like all the other times the bullies at school had done it. And this whole time, Finn had thought Chase had danced with her because he was her friend and thought it'd be fun. Great.
Getting back to her walker, Finn made a beeline to the soccer boys, and Liam, who refused to meet her eyes. "Did you put Chase up to this? Making him dance with me like I'm some charity case?" When none of the jocks answered her, Finn turned to her brother. "Liam?" Again, he didn't meet her eyes. "Liam!" Now she was starting to cry, her voice cracking and tears pooling in her eyes. "You guys are a bunch of ass holes!" And with that, she turned and stormed off, letting herself cry.
Her girlfriends, who had seen the entire exchange surround her and lead her into a table to hide.
"Finn? What happened?" Kate asks, having seen her daughter run to her friends.
"I want to go home!" Finn cries, clinging to Corrine, and staining her friend's dress with her tears.
"Okay. Go get in the car whoever wants to go, I'll take you in just a minute," Kate directs, heading back to her table for her purse and keys.
"What happened?" Rick asks, watching the group of girls.
"I don't know. But Finn wants to go home, so I'm taking her. Can you finish up here?"
"Yeah, yeah, go," Castle nods. Kate thanks him with a quick kiss and turns back for the girls, getting stopped on the way by a worried and sad looking Liam.
"Momma, I am so sorry," he apologizes.
"What?" Kate asks but knows she doesn't have time for her son's confession. "Listen, Liam: can this wait? I have to go take your sister home."
"Yeah," Liam says, shaking his head. "Just tell Nemo that I'm really sorry."
"I'll try, but I don't think she's in much of a mood to hear that right now." Kate walks away from her son and doesn't see the regret and worry on his face. He knew going along with his teammates' plan was wrong.
"What's happening?" Miyana asks, following her sister and friends out the bar and into the back parking lot, catching her mom with the question.
"Something happened with Finn inside. I don't know what, but I'm taking her home." Miyana didn't even need permission, just followed the girls into the car, squishing into a seat. She grabbed her sister's hand, rubbing her knuckles, and watched her mom pull out of the lot and onto the road. "Sit still, girls," Kate told them. A few of the group weren't even in seat belts, which Kate knew was completely illegal, but she chanced it and got onto the highway towards home.
During the drive, Finn tearfully explained what had happened; the dance, Chase's confession, the confrontation with the soccer team, and Liam's reaction to the whole thing. The other girls took her side, declaring the entire group ass holes and vowing to hurt them for what they did. Some of the girls pulled out cell phones to text and message the boys, relaying the girls' decision and knocking down any and all apologies.
By the time they reached home, Finn had stopped crying, though she was still very much upset, and the girls bunched around her as they headed upstairs to her bedroom. As they passed the closed door to Austin and Liam's room, Finn scowled at it. Austin and Christine had snuck away from the party not long before the incident had happened, and it was no secret what the couple was doing in there.
"Come on," Corrine encourages. They are stopped in the doorway by the other girls as they stare down Cade and Jackson who were in there waiting for Austin and Christine to finish so they could hang out some more.
"Get out," Schuyler says to them again, wanting to have the room to themselves.
"We heard what happened," Cade says, looking at Finn. "Henry texted me. It's awful. I'm so sorry, Nemo."
"Yeah, well Henry should have done something instead of just sitting there," Finn says.
"He wanted to," Cade says. "But all the guys were there and he was worried he'd come off as a pussy if he said something."
"Of course. It's all about appearing cool, isn't it," Corrine comments with a scoff. "You guys need to learn that there are real people on the other side of those 'jokes'. People with feelings."
"I know that," Cade says, holding up his hands. He and Jackson had always been good friends with the other Castle kids; they wouldn't try anything to hurt them. "And Henry does too. That's why he didn't have anything to do with it."
"But he went along with it. That's just as bad as being involved in it," Letty adds.
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Back at the bar, Castle makes the executive decision to shut the party down and makes sure all the kids not sleeping over at their house either have rides or drive off safely. Danielle went home with Saccone, knowing her sister needed space and that room in her bedroom would be tight with everyone there. He also puts Liam and his soccer buddies to work on cleaning up. Most of the boys, Liam and Henry excluded, are still laughing about what had happened, including Chase who receives proud thumps from his friends.
"Dad, we can explain," Liam starts.
"I don't want to hear it now, okay, Liam? Just help clean up. We'll talk in a few," Castle says, really wanting to know what had happened to make Finn cry, but also wanting to get those boys out of there and go home himself.
When the room is clean, and both the DJ and Frank have gone home, their payments set to be in their bank accounts by Monday, Castle sends the soccer team home. All of them don't argue, in fact, they are quite happy to leave; all of them proud of what they'd done, ready to go brag about it to the rest of the school.
"Explain," Castle says, stealing his face; no room for jokes. Liam and Henry take seats at the bar and face Castle across it.
"Well," Henry starts, having a firsthand account of the plan. "They guys have been teasing Finn since forever. They think she's weird and kind of a spaz,"
"They do know she has a disability, right?" Castle interrupts.
"They do. But that doesn't mean they don't form their own dumb opinions of it," Henry nods. He'd been on the same team with Liam as the other boys and had known his siblings for years. And though at first, he was a little off-put by Finn, after getting to know her, they two became good friends. "Anyway, they thought it would be funny to make one of them dance with Finn. They thought because of how she is, no one would ever dance with her and stuff, so they wanted to take pity on her and give her one slow dance. So they chose Chase, and, well, you know the rest," Henry finishes, completely sorry for any involvement he'd had in it.
"And you? Why didn't you stop them?" Castle asks, turning on his son.
"I tried! I did. But Christian said he'd have his dad take me off the team, and we're going to State next month and I couldn't just let them down!"
"So your sister was less important than some soccer game?"
"No! But if I-," Liam had no excuse for what he'd done. It didn't sound good anyway he spun it. He'd put his soccer team ahead of his sister and it wasn't right. "Dad: I'm sorry."
"Don't tell me. Tell Nemo. She's the one that got hurt tonight. She's the one you put ahead of some team you think are your friends."
"I know! And I hate that I did it," Liam growls, roughly running a hand through his hair.
Castle can see how much his son is remorseful, as is Henry, who he knows is a good kid. They were just stupid; caught up in peer pressure. "I know," Castle says, softening. "But I'm going to have a long conversation with mom and your coach. I don't know if you're going to play at State this year."
Liam nods upset he might not get to play in the most important game of the season, but it's better than having his parents disappointed in him.
"Come on, I'll drop you at home," Castle says to Henry. He finishes locking up for the night and soon the trio of boys are on the road to Henry's house.
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"How's Finn doing?" Castle asks, finally home with his family.
"Okay, I guess," Kate says, already in pajamas and in bed. "She was doing better when I came to check on them about an hour ago. "This was not how I planned this night turning out."
"Yeah, I don't think the kids planned it this way either," Castle agrees.
"Where's Liam?" Kate asks, realizing she never got to talk with him.
"Downstairs. He's really upset about what happened." And Castle tells her everything.
"We are going to be talking with his coach," Kate declares.
"Already planned on it," Castle nods.
"Good. Because what those boys did is borderline harassment. I don't care if they're kids: they knew what they were doing and did it anyway. "
"I know," Castle nods, getting into bed himself. "We'll figure it out in the morning."
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Christine had joined the group of girls, Cade and Jackson in the girl's room after Austin left, after hearing what the boys had done to his sister, to find them and teach them a lesson. Christine reminded him not to do anything stupid, as did Kate when she found out, and as Austin promised he would.
They all pile onto the three beds and make nests on the floor out of blankets and bean bag chairs, and zone out to TV; it was Finn's choice and no one cares that it's cheesy, they go with it because it makes their friend feel better.
Cuddled close on Miyana's with her and Corrine surrounding her and Andrew and Schuyler at her feet, Finn starts to doze off. "Worst birthday ever," She whispers to her sister.
"I know," Mia agrees, rubbing Finn's arm.
One by one, the kids all fall asleep, and soon the room is quiet.
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Liam makes a bed for himself on the couch. After seeing the hurt and disappointment on Austin's face too, he couldn't be in the same room as him. Not tonight. And he was positive none of the girls wanted to see his face, especially Finn. So, here he was: Feet hanging off the end of the couch, a pink princess comforter he stole from the room Alexis and her family had stayed in as his blanket, Cartoons as his night light. Liam looks up at the ceiling going over that incident again and again in his head. How could he be so stupid! It really was so stupid!