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Everything started when Carl’s father, Max, had impulsively planned to do a family road trip around America for the summer with his two sons and their wives.
It had been a calm afternoon and the warm summer breeze flowed into the rust bucket through an open window.Old rock songs could be heard coming from the radio as Max drove. The Tennyson brothers hummed along to the music as they sat at the RV’s table, playing an old card game they had learned way back in their youth.
Sitting across from them were Sandra, and a very pregnant Natalie who had been reluctant to go into the impromptu trip for fear of giving birth in the middle of the road inside the old RV.
Natalie’s worst fears were confirmed when a sharp pain cut through her. She groaned in pain, clutching her belly with one trembling hand while the other was holding her sister in law’s hand tightly.
With wobbly legs, Natalie made her way to the small bathroom inside the vehicle. As she passed though, she gave Frank the most venomous, angry look she could muster, as it was clear that she blamed him for being trapped in the Rustbucket instead of peacefully relaxing in the comfort of her home.
Frank and Carl barely had any time to exchange glances as a scream ripped through the RV, making Max pull on the brakes to stop the moving vehicle as he turned around to see what was going on.
After that, it was pretty much chaos as Natalie came out of the bathroom, fuming and red in the face as she screamed at the top of her lungs that she needed to go to a hospital IMMEDIATELY.Her water had just broken and she would murder someone if it even occurred to Frank that she would allow herself to give birth in the middle of nowhere.
Carl couldn’t really blame his brother, and he did the right thing. He called for a taxi to take his wife to the hospital, as that was the reasonable course of action after all.
After all he didn’t think that anyone could stand a chance against Natalie Tennyson’s fury
And that was how the remaining Tennysons found themselves setting up camp in a forest just outside of Bellwood.
As Max was setting up a small bonfire, Carl and Sandra decided to go for a small stroll.
The couple walked hand in hand, enjoying the sound of the crickets around them as the sun finally disappeared on the horizon and the stars became visible in the night sky. The forest around them came to life as all the nocturnal animals started to awake. Carl laughed as a couple of raccoons passed them by, running with a stolen bag of marshmallows that some campers would surely be missing.
Sandra was busy looking at the sky, one hand delicately tracing constellations as she looked at the stars above them. “What is your favorite constellation?” she suddenly asked, halting their walk.
“huh” Carl stopped to look up at the sky “I don’t really have a favorite one…what’s yours?”
“Chamaeleon” replied Sandra “it’s a small constellation on the southern Hemisphere, created by Petrus Plancius…we should travel sometime, I would love to see it”
As Sandra kept pointing at the sky naming Stars and Constellations and explaining the stories behind them to Carl, a meteor passed through, making the young couple gasp as they quickly realized that not only was the meteor just “passing through”, it was in fact, heading in their direction. Knowing that it would be impossible to outrun it, Carl pushed Sandra into the grass as they barely avoided being crushed by the gigantic rock.
The ground shook upon impact, making the surrounding trees shutter and pebbles to jump into the air. Once he was sure that the danger was over, Carl helped Sandra to her feet. The blonde, however, had other plans, as she darted towards the crater that the meteor had left behind. She was fascinated by it, curious to see what had almost just hit them.
Sandra skidded to the bottom of the crater with Carl following closely. Both of them fully thought they would just find a piece of space rock on the ground. But, much to their surprise, they instead found there to be a small pod inside in the center of the pit.
Her initial shock vanished into curiosity once more when Sandra heard a small, whimper coming from within the pod.
Quickly, both Carl and Sandra placed their hands on the smooth surface of the case. It was warm to the touch and vibrating slowly, almost as if it was humming. After a few seconds, a robotic voice announced, “Dna signature detected, engaging adaptation mode”. A bright green light passed just underneath their palms almost as if scanning them. Clouds of steam came out as the pod opened up to reveal a sleeping infant.
“A baby?!” Sandra gasped, immediately bending down to carefully cradle the small being close to her. It was a miracle the infant was still asleep, especially after falling from the sky itself.
Just as surprised as his wife was, Carl came closer to look at the small bundle that Sandra was carrying, slowly sweeping the soft brown locks off of the baby’s forehead. He looked down, realizing that the baby had a medallion dangling from his neck.
“Huh, I wonder what this is?” Almost as if it was answering his question, Carl’s words were cut off as a holograph appeared above the surface of the medallion. It looked like an old frog, standing on two legs and wearing the tiniest little robe a frog could ever wear.
”My name is Azmuth, First thinker and creator of the Omnitrix'' the hologram, or rather, Azmuth, began to say ”If you have found my creation, please take him and raise him as one of your own… Do everything you can to keep him safe and away from space. Or at least do so until the time is right for me to retrieve him. As of now, my planet is under attack and I cannot keep the universe’s most powerful being at risk. I sent him away, to you… The Omnitrix contains a DNA sample of every single living being in this universe in his genetic code, so I trust he won’t have any trouble adapting to living among you. If anything, he will be like any regular baby from your species, so I trust whoever finds this to raise him accordingly.”
The Hologram cut off after that, leaving the young couple speechless.
”W-what now?” Carl asked, looking up towards his wife.
”We do as Azmuth said and we adopt him” Sandra replied with a smile on her face as she hugged the baby tightly, unwilling to leave him behind ”Come on Carl! We’ve been talking about starting our own family for a while, this has to mean something, Right? maybe this Azmuth guy thought we could be the right parents for the baby”
And really, Carl couldn’t say no. Not when Sandra had that sparkle in her eyes, not when the small baby let out an adorable yawn before burying his little face close to the woman who found him. Not when Carl could already imagine himself raising the baby as his own.
- - - - -
As they walked back to the RV, they discussed possible names for the baby. During their walk, Sandra noticed that the laces of her shoes had come undone. She briefly passed the sleeping infant to Carl as she crouched down when the baby stirred awake, almost as if sensing the loss of Sandra’s touch.
The baby’s unnaturally bright green eyes were soon filled with tears as the infant started to wail. Calmly, Carl tried to position the babe so he would be laying on his shoulders to slowly swing him around as he tried to shush him. His efforts were all in vain as the baby’s cries became stronger. Frantically, Carl tried to remember any lullaby he could think of, but no matter how much he sang and hummed, the baby wouldn’t calm down.
As if a baby arriving to his life in a meteor wasn’t crazy enough, the small boy proceeded to scream so hard, his skin was becoming a vivid shade of red. Carl started to panic, and he could almost swear that the air around them was becoming suffocating. In the blink of an eye, the baby in his arms ignited on fire. With a panicked scream, Carl did what no parent would ever dare to do; he dropped the baby.
”THE BABY IS ON FIRE!!!” Carl exclaimed, horrified as he saw a small fiery creature wailing on the ground and igniting the grass that surrounded him, as little lava tears fell to the ground.
”What do you mean the baby is on fire?!” Sandra asked, turning around as she finished tying her shoes. What she saw was something that she never in her life imagined she would ever experience. There, standing straight as a log, was her husband, frantically pointing towards what looked like a mini volcano crying its lungs out.
”HOLY SHIT, THE BABY IS ON FIRE!!!” Sandra screamed, terrified as she whipped her head around looking for a way to stop the baby from burning to a crisp.
Right there, a couple of meters away, was a little creek, small enough so a baby could be safely seated in the water without the risk of drowning.
Acting as quickly as she could, Sandra ran towards the stream, removing her jacket to dunk it under the water. She bolted back towards the baby to wrap him in it and hold the infant as she sprinted back towards the water. The smell of burning fabric reached her nose and her hands felt impossible hot, but she kept on running, her skin hurt, as the flames started to burn through the fabric. Just as tears started to prick in the corner of her eyes, she dropped to her knees, allowing both the baby and her hands to dip under the cold water. A cloud of steam billowed around them.
Steam hit her in the face as relief washed over her. The water calmed the burning sensation in her skin. Sandra let out a sigh she didn’t even know she was holding, her shoulders sagging as she relaxed now that the baby looked more like a little being made of coals rather than a living bonfire.
”Sandra! Oh my god!” a worried Carl called out as he ran towards his wife -”You could have injured yourself!”
”Oh, I bet I already have.” Sandra replied, a tired smile plastered on her face as the baby splashed the water around him. This action caused more steam to rise into the atmosphere. “ At least the baby is no longer on fire” - she said, giving her husband an awkward half hearted chuckle in an attempt to break the tension around them.
Carl let himself fall to the ground, sitting down beside his wife and looking at her as if she was both the most incredible and reckless woman in the world.
”What were you thinking?!” Carl snapped, slightly out of it, stupefied by the whole incident.
”That I had to help our baby.” Sandra replied quietly. A frown began to set on her face, her gaze was set straight, staring at the infant that was still being supported by her slightly burnt hands, the water around them was now warm.
”Oh, Sandra…” Carl whispered, lovingly tucking a strand of hair behind his wife’s ears and letting her lean against him.
If Sandra cried, he chose to say nothing, allowing her to have a moment of quiet to gather her thoughts.
”Ben.” Sandra said suddenly, smiling gently.
”Huh?” asked Carl, caught by surprise.
”I think I like the name Ben” Sandra looked down at the small baby, eyes sparkling with reverence.
Carl turned to look at the baby, his skin slowly fading back from a deep maroon to its pale pinkish hue.
”I think I like the name Ben too.” he replied, as a smile akin to Sandra’s forming on his lips .
- - - - -
Upon returning back to the Rustbucket, Carl reached for the first aid kit to patch up Sandra’s hands with antibiotic ointment and some gauze. He gently wrapped them. As he did, the couple had explained what happened to Carl’s father, Max, who had seemed skeptical until he saw the baby shapeshift right in front of his very eyes. The baby turned into what looked to be an orange dog/bear thing with no eyes, which Max was quick to identify as a vulpimancer puppy.
The puppy in question, was now eagerly chowing down the mealworm stew Max had cooked, much to Sandra’s and Carl’s relief. While the pup was eating, the small family debated what the next steps would be.
“So, what now?” Carl asked, he was looking at Ben eating messily, a small frown settling in his face “we can’t exactly drive back home now, can we? Ben would probably end up feeling car sick and we don’t know how to treat a vulpi..vulpi-what-was-it?”
“A Vulpimancer” Max corrected.
“Yeah that, we don’t know how to help a motion sick Vulpimancer!”
“Speaking of which,” Sandra suddenly intervened, turning to face Max with a worried frown, “What about doctor’s appointments? Is there anyone at the Plumber’s who has any experience with shapeshifting babies? Any alien pediatrician we could take Ben to when he feels sick?”
“Well, we don’t have any alien pediatricians, but there are general doctors who have had experience treating aliens who have been injured or sick. So I’m sure one of them could help Ben if he ever feels sick.” Max replied with a reassuring smile “Who knows, maybe he’s immune to most of earth's viruses! So for now, let’s not worry about that and focus on the present situation.
“How about we stay the night and head back home in the morning?” Carl suggested “We could even make a stop at the mall to buy some baby stuff.”
“That’s a great idea son, I also think it would be best if Ben avoids breakfast at least until he’s back home. I’ve seen a sick Vulpimancer before, and it’s not a pretty thing to see.” He chuckled out, somewhat humorlessly.
“I trust you on that, dad. How early should we get up tomorrow?” Carl asked.
“Maybe at 6am?” suggested Sandra “so we can be back at Bellwood by 8am, and maybe, we could let Ben sleep in a bit longer… Just so the car ride goes smoothly!”
“Sounds like a plan to me!” Max said, clapping his hands together.
The plan was simple. Spend the night at the campsite and take Ben to his new home by morning, while Max would drop by the nearest supermarket to buy some parenting essentials for Carl and Sandra.
It would be good for the new parents to spend some time alone at home with Ben. After all, they knew virtually nothing about him besides that he came from space and he could turn into a whopping total of 2 aliens…so far.
So after dinner time was over, the family headed inside the rustbucket to sleep. Carl took the top bunk, leaving Sandra to sleep on the bottom bunk along with Ben, who was still an orange alien dog pup. He seemed to be quite occupied turning around in circles and making himself comfortable before plopping down beside Sandra on the bed.
As Sandra laid on the bunk bed in the middle of the night, she wondered just how crazy her life turned out to be. She knew her husband’s father had an… “eccentric” line of work, and she could vividly remember the day where Max told her about the plumbers. She had been thrilled to say the least, and who wouldn’t be? The confirmation that aliens were real by none other than your father in law was definitely something to be excited over.
The same couldn’t be said about Carl, despite knowing his father was a plumber for as long as he could remember. Carl was very much a skeptic, choosing to strategically ignore anything alien related. Any questions that Sandra had about his mother were always left unanswered and invitations to go see the Plumber’s base of operations extended by his father where politely declined. Sandra was always left with a feeling of wanting to know more about what lay beyond the stars, but seeing how upset Carl would get at the mere mention of extraterrestrial life kept her from insisting on the subject.
Now, she laid in bed with an alien puppy calmly snoring beside her. Sandra trailed small patterns into the fur of the pup and she found herself feeling grateful. She had a new son to love and cherish, delivered to her by the universe itself.It was almost as if this ‘Azmuth’ being had heard her pleas for a child and delivered one right to her doorstep like a stork would do on those “congratulations” baby cards.
She wondered about what things Ben would like, what he would look like once he grew up, what his personality would be like? Hugging her baby close to her, Sandra slept peacefully, her mind conjuring dreams about little aliens and what it would be like to drop Ben off for his first day of preschool.
- - - - - -
It was around noon by the time the new little family was back home and starting to get settled. Max, who was no longer just “Max” or “dad” but instead “grandpa Max”, had graciously bought them a little crib, a couple of baby clothes and some diapers. Carl himself had gone on the impromptu baby shopping spree to buy the rest of the essentials. Some baby soap and shampoo, baby formula, some bottles, tiny socks and green baby jackets that Carl had said matched Ben’s eyes.He also picked up some plushies and chew toys in case Ben decided to shapeshift into the alien puppy again; he had even wondered if flea and tick medications would be needed. It was wild that such a little being could need so much. Sandra on the other hand, had been delighted by all the little tiny itty bitty clothes to dress Ben with gasping every time she saw yet another adorable tiny t-shirt.
Grandpa Max stayed around for the rest of the afternoon, helping Carl set up the baby crib in the guest room, which would now be known as Ben’s room. While they did that, Sandra took on the challenge of bathing the little boy.
Said little boy was currently sitting on a little bathtub blowing spit bubbles and giggling around as Sandra massaged shampoo into his brown locks. She looked closely into his cute baby face and noticed that Ben shared some facial features with both her and Carl. She briefly wondered if that was what the pod the baby arrived in meant by “adaptation mode”.
Sandra decided not to give it much thought, simply assuming that if an alien frog had managed to create a baby that could transform into multiple alien forms, then it was also possible for said infant to shapeshift into what looked like a perfect mix of both her and her husband.
As she kept on bathing Ben, she gathered all of his feathery soft hair and styled it as a little antenna protruding out of Ben’s head. Sandra laughed to herself, as she took her camera out to take Ben’s first baby picture.
However, Ben had other plans for this little bath time photoshoot. Sandra stared in awe as the baby grew gills on his neck. Little pale green and iridescent scales protruded out of his small arms and his legs, now looking like a strong tail with two comically large fins protruding from the tip.
Ben looked like an angler fish… if an angler fish was a mermaid and somehow retained its angler fish head.
The baby smiled, showing rows upon rows of the tiny sharp daggers of teeth.Oddly enough, Sandra found out that she simply couldn’t resist her son’s fishy, vaguely threatening and giddy smile.
”Smile for the camera, Ben! Say cheese!!” the new mother giggled as she took picture after picture of her baby fish.
Ben giggled in return, splashing around the little tub with his tail and soaking Sandra and the entire bathroom as a result.
By the time bath-time was over, Ben had shifted back to his regular human self and was napping quite comfortably. He snuggled up into a fresh set of little pjs, was bundled up into a soft blanket and was carried around in his mother’s arms.
Sandra went upstairs from the bathroom to meet Carl and Max in Ben’s new room.They had done an amazing job at redecorating the place, the walls had remained the same soft beige color but Max and Carl had managed to place some stars and planet decals on the wall. The little crib was set on the corner of the room and a small space themed baby mobile had been hung above the crib. To top it all off, there was a rocket shaped pillow and an astronaut teddy bear thrown in there for good measure.
”You guys really went all out on the space themed decor huh?” Sandra said, smiling as she inspected the room.
”I think it’s rather nostalgic.” Max said with a warm smile, admiring his handiwork.
”I thought it would be a little bit on the nose…” Carl commented as he wrapped an arm around his wife and baby ”but I gotta admit, it turned out looking cute!”
- - - - - - - -
It had turned out that Gwen had been born on the same exact day and roughly around the same time Ben had arrived on earth in his space pod. Carl and Sandra weren't 100% sure on the last one, but their calculations had roughly matched up.
A couple of weeks had passed since and the new little family was on their way to visit Frank, Natalie and baby Gwen.
They had told Natalie and Frank that upon seeing them leave for the hospital, they decided that instead of going on a summer vacation, they would adopt a baby. Or, at least that’s what they had said at first, to spare them the details. However the truth had come out the second that Ben shifted into a small teal reptile-looking being with wheels in place of feet.
It would be an understatement to say that Natalie had been surprised, practically screaming at the top of her lungs. She had demanded an explanation, hysterically worrying that Ben would harm her precious little Gwen.
Carl and Sandra had to then come clean about the entire situation as they retold what happened at the beginning of summer. Still, all of Natalie’s panicking wouldn’t have prepared her for Ben to run as fast as light around Gwen’s crib making her baby giggle.
Everytime Ben would stop running, he would stand facing Gwen. The little girl would clap and babble making Ben wag his small tail happily only to begin running again, continuing their small game.
That had been enough to calm Natalie down and convince her that Ben wasn’t dangerous, he was just a baby with some unusual abilities that she would need some time adjusting to.
- - - - -
After tiring himself down, Ben, now back to his human form, had been placed next to Gwen in the baby crib for a nap. Grandpa Max volunteered to watch over them as the rest of the adults went to the living room to catch up. And for Natalie to retell what her experience had been like, giving birth and what-not.
Truth be told, Max just wanted some time alone to lovingly recall what it had been like to become a father all those years ago. Seeing his two new grandkids sleeping peacefully made him nostalgic. He missed Verdona dearly, and he wished she could be there with him to witness the quiet moment. She would have loved Ben from the get go. Max could imagine that nothing could be quite as exciting and fun to an Anodite as a shapeshifting baby.
In front of him, both babies slowly blinked and stirred on the crib, waking up from their nap.
Max stood up, ready to hold them in his arms when suddenly, Ben turned to Gwen, staring at her intensely. The babies remained like that, just staring at each other until Ben placed one little hand on Gwen’s arm and his skin turned purple while his hair became a bright magenta shade.
Max gasped as he saw what he could only describe as a baby Anodite in front of him.
Gwen smiled at Ben, her eyes shining a bright magenta in response.
Just as quickly as it had happened, it was gone, both babies back to normal.
As Max looked at his grandchildren, he couldn’t help but feel as if somehow Verdona was there, right beside him. Her presence tingled in the air in the form of mana residue that still clung to the atmosphere around them.
- - - - -
Ben had been crying non stop during the short car drive back home after seeing Gwen. He had been crying after drinking his last bottle of baby formula for the night, continued crying even after his parents had checked his diaper to make sure it was clean, and he kept on crying now, during his bath before bedtime.
Carl and Sandra were utterly confused. They had done everything they could to satiate any need their baby could have, and still Ben kept crying.
“I just don’t know what to do!” Sandra had exclaimed, rubbing her temples tiredly as Carl rubbed shampoo on Ben’s hair with soft soothing motions, “Do you think he’s sick? What doctor even specializes in shapeshifting babies?”
“I'm not sick!” a small, squeaky voice came from the bathtub where Ben used to be in.
Lost in their worries, both parents didn’t realize their son had shapeshifted once again and in his place now swam a small little tadpole the size of a pinky finger with big green eyes that were frowning back at them.
“Ben, you can speak!” Carl exclaimed, excited by the discovery
“Of course I can! I’m a galvan! It would be worrisome if I didn’t!” the small tadpole replied, sounding annoyed.
“Sweetheart, why were you crying?” Sandra asked lovingly as she dipped one hand to cup under the water for the tadpole to cuddle close to. “We tried everything we could to help you, what’s wrong?”
“I wanna see cousin Gwen!” Ben screamed, his small lip wobbling under the water. If he was crying, it wouldn’t be noticeable from his place in the tub.
“Awww, Ben! It is good that you love your cousin and miss her but Gwen needs to sleep, and so do you. You’re still a baby, and all babies of all species need their rest.” Carl explained calmly.
“Why would an Anodite need sleep anyway?” the little tadpole mumbled to himself, angrily.
“What was that?” Carl asked, looking shocked “Did you just say-”
“Nothing, forget it” Ben replied, cutting his father off.
Sandra giggled at the exchange, in her eyes, their little baby suddenly sounded like an angry teenager trapped in the body of a tadpole. There was no denying it, it was a funny thing to see.
“Why are you laughing?!” Ben demanded exasperated, and if Galvans could blush, Sandra was sure Ben would have.
“Oh, it’s nothing!” Sandra waved him off “I just think you’re cute Ben”
“MOOOOOOOOM! STOOOP!” the small Galvan complained, swimming around in circles “I’m not cute! I’m a being of infinite power capable of shapeshifting into any lifeform I desire! I could turn into a celestialsapien and erase the entire universe within the blink of an eye if I chose to! That’s not cute! I’M NOT CUTE!”
“You are to us Ben” Carl replied with a fond chuckle. He had no clue what tangent his son had just gone off on, Celestial-whatever just sounded like gibberish to him “Now, what did I just say about needing to rest Ben? The longer you stay awake, the crankier you’ll get”
“Fineee..” with a little huff that produced small bubbles to pop and float inside the bathtub, the tadpole closed his eyes and shapeshifted until Ben was back to his regular human self. He seemed much more at ease now that he had been able to communicate what had him so upset. He was by no means a happy baby but at least the crying had stopped.
“You know son? It’s good to know you have a transformation that allows you to communicate with us!” Carl commented as he lifted Ben up for Sandra to wrap him in a towel “Although, I supposed you’re only limited to use it when you’re in the water, since it’s a tadpole you transform into”
Ben wasn’t able to give a snarky reply this time, settling to stick his tongue out and blow raspberries as a way of rebellion.
His anger wasn’t long lasting though. As soon as the baby had a fresh set of pajamas and was lovingly placed in his crib next to his astronaut teddy bear, all had been forgiven and Ben drifted off to sleep.
Sandra and Carl let out a sigh of relief as the house was quiet and peaceful once again. They leaned against each other as they tenderly looked at Ben, sleeping peacefully and snoring softly. After whispering a small, “good night Ben” at the sleeping baby, the couple headed back to their room to get ready to sleep.
Raising a baby was exhausting, and the couple soon realized that every minute of sleep was one of the most valuable things they could afford
“You know, I never thought I would be so happy to have an alien son.” said Carl with a smile as he brushed his teeth in the en-suite bathroom while Sandra brushed her hair. “As chaotic as it gets sometimes, Ben is truly the best baby, he’s just fun to be around, don’t you think?”
Sandra just laughed as a reply, setting her hairbrush down to pick up her toothbrush and some toothpaste.
“…do you think I’m biased for thinking that?” Carl asked, a soft smile tugging at his lips as he turned to face his wife.
“Of course not darling,” She replied with a chuckle after spitting out the toothpaste once she finished brushing her teeth “He’s our son, of course he’s the best baby”
“You know, after my mom left, anything alien or plumber related became painful. I know I never talk about her, but since adopting Ben, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her… She was a bit like him, you know? Very…alien.” Carl said as he stepped out of the bathroom and headed towards the bed in the middle of the room, sitting down on it as he waited for Sandra.
“She couldn’t really turn into multiple aliens like Ben does. It was more like she was an alien with a human disguise.” Carl kept on explaining as he felt the bed dip beside him and a warm hand cradling his own, indicating Sandra’s presence near him. “I still miss her. I wish she was here to meet Ben.”
“I’m sorry she’s not around anymore sweetheart.” Sandra said softly, using her hands to coax Carl to lay down as she rested her head on his shoulder. “And I'm sorry you had to carry the burden of her loss all alone during all this time.”
“Don’t be,” Carl reassured, squeezing her hand “if anything it’s my own fault for not speaking about her.”
“I could've pushed harder for you to open up about your feelings though.” Sandra whispered
“You were giving me space.” Carl replied tenderly, “and I appreciate that so, for now, instead of dwelling on the past, let’s focus on what we have.”
“Our own little family.” said Sandra, a calm smile on her face.
“Our own little family.” echoed Carl, “Sometimes I think that Ben, in his own unique way, is helping me heal the hole my mother left in my heart. He makes life more enjoyable and he’s replacing the painful alien memories with sweet, fun ones. Like that one time I was playing with Ben with his toy car and he turned into the little blue, fast lizard and started running around…I think he was pretending to be a car? I’m not entirely sure, but it was quite funny to watch”
“Or that one time The Vulpimancer puppy chased Mr Bauman’s cat off of our yard…which, in hindsight, poor kitty… But, I gotta admit it was somewhat funny and Ben was just playing.” Sandra commented with a sheepish smile.
“Oh! Or that time when Ben turned into the ghost looking guy and possessed the vacuum cleaner and scared me so bad I screamed my lungs off!” Carl said laughing.
“Now THAT was funny” Sandra said, chuckling.
Stifling a yawn, Sandra curled up next to Carl as he wrapped his arms around her. The couple hadn’t foreseen their summer roadtrip to be cut short so abruptly by Ben’s arrival but they wouldn’t have had it any other way.