The Cost Of Winning

FIANNA'S POV :

I stand by the automatic doors, holding onto Bren's hand as we scan the crowd of people around us. Everyone is zooming past, grabbing for bags, greeting other people, and rushing to the ticket counters, basically ignoring us, and then she yells, "There him is, Mommy!"

I look up, and see Ben walking toward us, carrying a duffel bag over one shoulder, and grinning from ear-to-ear. He drops the bag and hugs me, then lets go and swoops Bren up, holding her in his hands so she's stomach-down, and spinning around as she sticks her arms out to the side. "Wookit, Mommy! Me's an airpwane!" she shrieks between giggles.

"Yes, you're a very cute airplane, too. But I think you'd better come in for a landing, before you toss your cookies on your uncle."

He flips her upright and says, "Okay, flight's over! Now can I have a hug?" She flings her arms around his neck and squeezes, while I grab his bag and start heading for the door. He follows me out to the car, and puts Smidge into her seat while I put his bag into the trunk.

As he sits down and starts fastening his seat belt, he inquires, "Where's Ash? I thought the tour was postponed."

"Yeah, it was, but there was some sort of crisis at his office, so we're gonna meet him there, and if you feel like it, we'll grab some lunch, and maybe drive around some, so you can see a little bit of the city," I explain.

"Yeah, that sounds cool. It wasn't a very long flight, so I didn't actually get tired or anything," he says, and then turns his head to look at Bren. "So how is Mr. Yoda doing, kiddo?"

"Him are at he's school, Unca Ben. They teaches he hows to be good puppy, and no eats Mommy shoes, or goes potty ons the fwoor. And me has to puts Pickle and Wockles in mines bed, so he no cans eat they. Him bwoke Pickle's head, and Daddy has to gives she an oppytation, so she's ear no more falls off."

"Oh, wow! An oppytation, huh? That sounds pretty serious."

She nods emphatically, her face completely serious, "Uh-huh, her stuffs were come out on the fwoor, and Daddy have to smoosh it back in she's head, and uses a needler to put she's ear back. But her's all gooder now, and me no more wets Yoda pway wif she."

He snickers a bit at the description, and says, "So he's turned into a little bit of a live wire, huh? I guess that shy little puppy bit was a pretty good act, then."

"Not really," I reply. "He's actually a very sweet little dog, his favorite thing in the world is having somebody cuddle him. I think it's more like he didn't really get the chance to do much without the bigger pups shoving him away, or taking things away from him, so he's just enjoying himself making up for lost time."

We talk a bit more, about his class schedule for the new school year, and a few other things, and soon I'm pulling into the lot at APFI. I park the car, we all get out, and I lead them to the front door, where I press the buzzer. Jeff looks up, gives me a grin, and unlocks the door so we can step into the lobby. I let Ben in, then follow with Bren, and she says, "Hewwo, Mr. Jeff! Where Ivy is, we no has school today, 'cause Mr. Bobby am no feel good."

Jeff ruffles her hair and answers, "Yes, I know, hon. Ivy's visiting with her grandma and her Aunt Janie today. Who is this with you?"

"That mines Unca Ben, him's Mommy's bubby, and him comes to sees we for hims birfday pesent."

I introduce Jeff, then Bren yells, "Daddy! There you is!", and we turn to see Ash walking up to the reception desk. She hurtles across the room to meet him, and he catches her, gives her a kiss, then swings her up onto his shoulders. She has her hands across his forehead, and he's holding her by one leg as he comes over to meet us. He leans down to kiss me, then he and Ben do some weird handshake thing they came up with when we were in Colorado, and he tells him, "Good to see you, kiddo. Give me just a couple of minutes, and we can go grab something to eat." He turns toward the reception desk, and then turns back and says, "Oh, yeah. Karla, this is Fi's brother, Ben. Ben, this is my receptionist, Karla, who's also Jeff's girlfriend."

Before Ben can respond, Jeff startles all of us, including Ash, by saying, "No, actually she's not."

Ash and I turn and basically gape at him, then turn to Karla, who breaks into a smile and holds up her hand, revealing a diamond engagement ring. I go around the desk to hug her, and then move back to Jeff, and Ash sort of sputters, "I've been here all morning, how did I not notice that? When did this happen?"

Karla sort of giggles, and says, "He asked me yesterday, and you've spent the morning wrangling a bunch of spoiled-brat models, when did you have time to notice it?"

We congratulate them, and spend a couple of minutes discussing how the kids feel about the situation ( Cody is cool with it, Ivy's still a bit confused ), before Smidge announces that her tummy is "being grumpy", and we head out for some food.

Ben gets into the back with Bren, and Ash takes the wheel, driving to an Italian place a couple of blocks down the street. We get in, grab a table, and order, and when the server leaves, Ash turns to Ben and asks, "So, is there anything particular you want to do while you're here, Ben?"

He shrugs and says, "I dunno, I'm not sure what sort of things you have to do here. I'd like to see your horses, for sure, and maybe some sort of sports thing, if there's anything going on right now."

"Us needs to take Unca Ben to the pishie's house, so him cans wook at they, Daddy!" Bren chimes in. She turns to Ben, and continues, saying, "They's wots and wots of pishies at they's house, Unca Ben, and them gots wots of colors, they is so pwetty! But some of they have big toofies, too, and them are big and scawy."

"Yeah, that sounds like fun too, Little Bit," he answers. "I can send Dad and Zac some pictures of the scary ones, they should get a kick out of that. Mom might like some pics of the colorful ones, and maybe that old Greek building thing you've got here in town."

We toss around some ideas until they bring the food, and then I help Smidge cut up her "skibetty", before starting on my toasted ravioli. The guys compare notes on their dishes, and we all end up laughing so much we're getting funny looks from the other customers by the time they bring us the bill. Ash gives them his card, then signs the slip, and we leave the restaurant and drive around town a bit, letting him see the city, and checking to see what we might be able to do while he's here. After some sightseeing, and notes on things he's expressed interest in for later in the week, we stop at the grocery store, then go pick up Yoda at doggie day-care and head home.

We unload the groceries, while Yoda runs around our feet, demanding attention from everyone. Bren plays with him while we put everything away, and then I show Ben where the guest room is, and he drops his bag into the chair, and asks, "Is it okay if I go ahead and take a shower, Fi? I feel kinda sticky right now."

"Of course it's okay, you don't have to ask permission! The bathroom is right there, and the towels are in the big cabinet behind the door. If you want to rest when you're done, go right ahead, but we'll be out in the living room if you feel like hanging out."

I go out to the living room, and work with Ash on getting wedding invitations addressed, while Bren watches "Sofia the First", and teases Yoda with his rope toy. After a little while, Ben comes out, his hair still damp, and sits down on the chair directly across from me and Ash. He picks up one of the invitations and looks at it, then peeks at the guest list. As he scans it , his eyes get big, and he puts it down quickly.

"Something wrong, Ben?" Ash inquires.

"No, just I... umm... I just recognized one of the names on your list, and, ummm... yeah."

"Little brother, there are probably several names you'd recognize if you read through all the way. I figured you'd know that," I say, not sure what he's talking about.

"Yeah, the band and stuff, I know that, but Mom and Dad wouldn't know that I know this one. I was at Zac's house one day, and he snuck into his brother's laptop, and there was this... movie." he finishes, his voice trailing off.

When he says that, Ash and I realize that it's his friend Jazy that Ben is talking about, and I say, "It's perfectly okay, Ben, I know about that. She's been Ashley's friend for a long time, and she's actually a very nice person. And we won't tell your folks that you know who she is, even if they do."

He gives me an odd look, and says, "Why in the world wouldthey know who she is, Fi?", which causes Ash and I to sort of grin at each other when he's not looking.

He scans the list again, and sees David and Leanna on there, but seems to be confused when he doesn't see his name. He looks at me, his expression sort of hurt, and says, "Aren't I invited, Fi?"

"Of course you are, what kind of silly question is that?" I respond, putting my arm around him. "But that's the guest list , we have a separate one for the wedding party."

He seems a bit surprised, and says, "Really? You'd want a kid in your wedding? Besides Little Bit, I mean? Do you want me to be a whaddyacallit, an usher? Show people where to sit and stuff?"

"No, we had something a bit different in mind," Ash informs him. "But I'll let your sister explain it."

He turns back to me, seeming to be a bit puzzled, and I say, "I actually have kind of a special request for you, Ben. I know we've only actually known each other for a couple of months, but you're my brother, and you're the only blood relative I have, besides Bren. That I count, anyway. So, I was kind of hoping that maybe you'd be okay with walking me down the aisle and giving me away."

His mouth drops open, and he just stares at me for several seconds, then says, "Really? You're not afraid that I'll screw it up or something? You really want me to do it?"

"Yes, I really do. And no, I'm not afraid of you screwing anything up. You're a bright, responsible kid, and I know you wouldn't pull any pranks or anything like that to mess things up. So, would you be interested?"

"I sure would!" he bursts out. "This is so cool! When is it?"

Ash points to the invitation, and says, "It's December 2nd, and we'll call your folks tonight, and make the arrangements with them, since you'll probably have to miss a couple of days of school."

Then it's our turn to be confused when he fist-pumps and whisper-yells, "Yesss!"

"I thought you told me that you didn't mind school," I say.

"I don't, for the most part," he explains. "But my English teacher is also the drama teacher at my school, and she told me last year that she plans to get me into this year's play, because she thinks I 'look the part'. I told her I'm not interested in acting, and it sounds like a dog caught in a fanbelt if I sing, but she doesn't wanna listen."

"And?"

And, the play is December 1st through the 3rd," he clarifies. "So now I can actually get Dad or Mom to go in and tell her that she may as well forget it, because I won't be there anyway."

He hops up and hugs both of us, then says, "Can we call them now? Then maybe one of them can go in the first day of school, and tell her right then, and she won't be bugging me all semester."

We sort of look at each other, and agree, so he jumps up and runs to grab his phone, throwing back over his shoulder, "Thanks, you guys, that really helps a lot! You're so cool!"

Ash and I just sort of stare at each other for a second, and then start chuckling. "Sounds like a typical teenager, from what I remember. Everything pretty much revolves around them, even when it doesn't," he laughs.

"Yeah, but it could be worse," I reply. "At least he's not like that about everything."

He dashes back from the guest room, waving his phone, saying, "I can't wait to tell them that You guys have fixed it so Ms. McGonigal can't make me be in the stupid play now!"

Ash and I look at each other again, grin, and I reach for the phone and say, "Anytime, little bro. Always glad to be of service."

Notes