"Are they gone yet?" Darla's quiet voice whispered out for the fifth time that minute as six pairs of eyes stayed trained on the driveway outside the window.

"Shhh, not yet Darla." Freddy's voice hissed as eyes flickered to Mary and Billy who were the closest to the glass as Víctor and Rosa hovered around their car that was idling, smoke billowing from the back as both teens shook their head. "Not yet."

Darla pouted. She was really looking forward to what Freddy and Billy had planned, but just as she was about to ask again if they were gone, Mary's voice piped up. "Wait-wait-wait-, they're getting in."

Suddenly, all the kids - Mary, Pedro, Eugene, Freddy, Billy and Darla were crowded in front of the one window in Billy and Freddy's room, noses practically pressed against the glass as they watched their foster parents slowly back out onto the road and drive off into the distance to go see their movie on their monthly date night.

As soon as the headlights and brake lights disappeared behind the corner, everyone scrambled - save Freddy obviously who more hobbled - from their spots to various parts of the house. It wasn't that they wanted to leave their foster parents out of their activities, but sometimes, superheroes had to have fun as well.

They had all been on edge and bored lately despite school being out till mid-year, but of course, the two biggest troublemakers of the crew had a little too much time to stir around some ideas, for despite the ridiculousness of it, they were all running in and out of rooms like their powers were engaged, shouts emerging from every corner.

"I found the cards!"

"Rosa forgot to lock the closet! Score!"

"She also forgot to close the bathroom, luckily."

"I found the internet password!"

"I haven't blown up the kitchen yet!"

"Billy, for god's sake, don't just /leave/ Freddy in there alone!"

"I was in the pantry! He's not going to do anything!"

"Tell that to the burn still on the wall behind the microwave that Rosa's been trying to clean off for months and get back to me."

Anyway, the plans for tonight were simple. One of Freddy and Billy's last assignments when they were at school was a project about 1920s gangsters and given they had to read books and watch old films to get a better understanding, they might have developed a slight obsession with them for a while. To the point where suddenly, they wanted to host a poker night in the middle of their foster home.

With their foster siblings as guinea pigs for the whole thing.

Getting everyone to go along with it hadn't been easy, of course, but by the way Mary was applying Rosa's makeup to Darla's face as Eugene and Pedro tried on many of Victor's suit jackets and hats, it seemed they were finally starting to come around and it made Billy grin from his post in the kitchen as Freddy set up his phone on the table with a poker tutorial.

Hopefully, they might actually learn to play poker by the end of the night, but then again, what would a bunch of teenagers and a young girl need to know it for? They'd have fun regardless.

It's only when Mary comes back from attending to the other boys does Billy get himself and Freddy ready upstairs, coming back down to a completely different scene than when they left. Someone, more than likely Pedro, had turned the lights off and lit the various lamps that were scattered around, casting an eerie but cozy glow on the table that is decked out with platters of crackers and cheese as well as little peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that Billy made without cutting himself.

Mary's coming back with wine glasses and grape juice by the time they sit down in their respective places and pouring glasses, showing them all how to do it as if they were at a fancy restaurant ("don't break anything or it comes out of your allowance, just like in a real restaurant where they take it from your paycheck") and not at home, which was cool. Soon enough, though, it's quiet once again as they all pay attention intentionally to the tutorial Freddy's phone has loaded up.

Of course, they don't have betting chips, but they bet other things like chores and objects in their rooms and school hall passes (a coveted item) before Eugene shuffles the cards and deals them out to everyone, Darla's pink eyeshadowed face hidden practically by her hand as her legs swing under the table, bumping into Freddy's every so often. It's a slow start, as they try to get a hang for playing, before the real games start and it's messy, but the room is filled with winning laughter and moans of loss soon enough.

Surprisingly, Pedro wins the first round, Darla's pink unicorn keyring she'd won in a prize raffle for her school class, as well as one of Freddy's beanies and one of Mary's many pairs of earrings she has stashed away in her room. Eugene's on bedroom cleaning duty for the next week as well, along with Billy who now has a few extra days on patrol, but he wins back some of his dignity when he has to share them with Freddy who bet way too high and lost almost as fast as he'd spoken.

They're almost about to take to the cards again for the 7th time that night (all of their bets now getting very outlandish and causing more laughter than seriousness) when the call comes in and being the oldest, Mary answers it, most likely already knowing who it is. They wait with bated breath to see if their instincts are right and try to listen in as Mary makes small talk with Rosa (by the sounds of it) before she bustles back into the room and they're scrambling like leaves in the Fall wind blowing outside again like before. Freddy's on dish duty, so that means he's also cleaning Mary and Darla's faces while they help clean the table and kitchen of any evidence.

Eugene is dodging furniture as he's turning lamps off while the light suddenly switches on thanks to Pedro and Billy flying through collecting the clothes and other pieces, the cards disappearing along with Freddy's phone only to reappear on Billy's bedside table (phone fully charged of course) for the interim as the internet password is flipped down the right way again on the calendar and they all congregate around the sofa, a children's film playing on the TV and blankets wrapped around everyone as their foster parents walked through the door, unaware of anything that's just happened.

They greet them that same way as well, sharing secret grins and snickers between them here and there as they are eventually sent to bed in their separate rooms despite being allowed to stay up late, the night long over, but one they would never forget as long as they were not only superheroes, or friends, but family.

Yeah, they were a family.

Awesome.