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Please enjoy 'The Big Mistake' - Chapter 36 = 'Meet The Parents'*

*(Not affiliated with 'Meet The Parents; the film!)

Contains 1 swear word...I think...

Enjoy!

//

"'... O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon,
That monthly changes in her circled orb,
Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.'"

"'What shall I swear by?'"

"'Do not swear at all;
Or, if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self,
Which is the god of my idolatry,
And I'll believe thee.'"

Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the window.

Voices, lingering in the adjacent rooms, reminded her of their presence.

'"I hear some noise within; dear love, adieu!
Anon, good nurse! Sweet Montague, be true.
Stay but a little, I will come again.'"

The clock ticked – yet no clock face was present.

It teased her – here were demands.

"'Three words, dear Romeo, and good night indeed.
If that thy bent of love be honourable,
Thy purpose marriage, send me word to-morrow,
By one that I'll procure to come to thee,
Where and what time thou wilt perform the rite;
And all my fortunes at thy foot I'll lay
And follow thee my lord throughout the world...'"

Green eyes opened and glistened in the light that shone into the room.

Eyebrows furrowed...a head turned.

A sigh.

Lexi stared up at the blank ceiling above her and cursed to herself that she would set an alarm for so early in the morning.

She rolled to her right and scooted closer to Ace, whose back faced her, and cuddled him. She leaned up over his shoulder and kissed his jaw – not being able to reach his lips.

His gentle grip seized her hand, and he turned his head and smiled at her, before kissing her mouth which still hung over his. "Mornin' beautiful"

Lexi giggled at his charm – it always worked on her. She lay back down while he rested on his side next to her. "So what time did you get to bed last night?" She enquired whilst stroking the fur on his stomach.

Ace looked up to think and puffed his cheeks out with breath as he tried to remember. He made eye contact with her again as she rolled over onto her side to face him, "Must've been about...2am?"

Lexi furrowed her eyebrows and looked at his chest, still running her fingers through his fur, "Oh, Ace – you should go back to bed, you can't just have three and a half hours of sleep!"

Ace chuckled at her, "Lexi, its fine. I'll take a nap later if I need to – but I want to be able to meet da rest of your family first – ya know, make a good impression. And why do ya love doin' dat so much?"

"What?" She gave him a confused look.

"Ya love feelin' my fur – have ya not realised ya have your own yet?" He smiled.

Lexi looked guilty, "What? Yours is really soft, plus it's weird that your chest is completely flat."

"What do ya mean?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Hello, dude – mine hasn't been flat for about ten years – the topography's changed a bit, and I sometimes miss that. But it's more to do with the fact that your fur is really soft." She grinned at him.

"Yours is too." He smiled and rested his hand on her currently flat stomach beneath her shirt. He moved his hand around a few times, earning a slight giggle from Lexi. He sighed and rested his hand, now, on the space just below her stomach, "I wonder what dat baby's doin' in dere?"

Lexi smiled softly at him and looked down at herself, "Not much."

Ace smiled, "I can't wait until we can really see it."

Lexi gave him a sly look, "You mean when I'm fat and yucky and puking everywhere and...complaining of cramps and swollen feet?"

Ace smiled broadly and kissed her, "Lexi, not'in' like dat bothers me, really! I know ya might feel differently...but ya know I'm gonna help ya through all of dat."

Lexi smiled up at him as she lay back down, "I know, I'm just pushing your buttons."

/

"You know, Ace – for the first time since this whole thing started...I'm actually happy about being" she whispered the last word, "pregnant." She said jovially as she dressed, having just taken a shower.

"Really?" Ace was surprised, but happy. He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, whilst leaning on the counter-top by the sink. He faced her quizzically and earned a sly look from the female bunny whose face lit up once again.

"Yeah!" Lexi smiled, "I really, really want to have a baby with you. I love you."

"I love ya too, Lex." Ace smiled and kissed her while they dressed.

Lexi smiled to herself and sat down on the toilet seat (which was down to use as a seat), "Its funny...I had a...odd...interesting dream last night. I was annoyed when I woke up." She let out a small giggle as she remembered the dream.

"Oh yeah, and what happened?" He picked up their towels and stuck them in the laundry hamper. He turned back to her and felt the humid heat of the bathroom – the room was dull as the light wasn't on – the sunlight passing through the gaps in the white translucent Roman blind made the room light enough to see, but still a little bit gloomy. He felt sweat on his forehead and it annoyed him – the drops were miniscule – it was odd, he preferred large drops of sweat if he had to choose – at least they actually did something to cool him down – all that the small droplets accumulating on his forehead did was annoy him. He wiped his brow with his wrist and stood up again, taking Lexi's hand. "Let's talk in da bedroom – it's less humid in dere."

"Okay." Lexi smiled. She stood up and followed him out of the bathroom, flicking the switch of the ceiling fan as she passed over the threshold – at least then it would be cooler later, and the condensation on the glass shower walls would disappear.

The two began to quickly sort out their morning routines as they talked. Ace opened the curtains and blinds whilst Lexi made the bed, Ace took away their empty glasses of water and put them in the bathroom while Lexi brushed her half-dry hair and turned off the desk-fan on the shelf by the mirror. "Ughh, I need to get my fringe cut." Lexi sighed as she blew out her bangs with her sigh. She combed her fringe this time, but it didn't seem to do much as she still looked annoyed with the fact that some strands of hair were growing faster than others, and so now her fringe (which was normally perfectly feathered), was starting to look somewhat tatty.

She opened the dark mahogany draw under the desk and took out her green ribbon and put it on the bench top, she then put the brush and comb back into the draw, and picked up the ribbon, only to have it plucked from her hands by Ace, whose reflection had appeared behind her. He gave her his 'signature' smile which Lexi loved, as he began to tie her ears for her, she returned the smile with her own.

Once he was done (and after Ace had stressed on whether he had accidentally tied it too tight or not), Lexi turned around to face him as she leaned against the desk behind her. Ace took her hands in his and gave her a kiss. "So, you were sayin' – your dream last night?"

Lexi looked surprised – and it was clear that she must have forgotten what they had been talking about while they were in the bathroom. She gave him another guilty grin, "Umm...yeah...it's weird...so don't laugh."

"I'm listenin'." Ace smiled at her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Umm..." She drummed her fingers on his shoulders for a moment, focussing on the yellow upside-down triangle on his chest. "It's really...reeeeeeeeeeeally cheesy..."

Ace let out a small laugh, "Seriously, out wid it, Lex."

Lexi took a deep breath, "For some reason I was thinking about 'Romeo and Juliet' last night...and...You know Act II, Scene II of the play?"

Ace looked blankly back at her, "...Well go on."

Lexi smiled, "I kinda had a dream about that...but it was with you and me...not...them." She trailed her eyes away and her cheeks turned a rosy pink as she let out a small grin towards the floor.

Ace smiled and let out a small chuckle.

Lexi's head whipped back up and faced his, "What? Hey, you said you wouldn't laugh!"

Ace's smile turned into a sly grin, "I'm not laughin' at ya, technically I'm not even laughin' – it's called chucklin', deary. And anyway, I was chucklin' at da fact dat it was cute and sweet, not weird or funny." His expression turned normal again as he stopped laughing.

Lexi now looked as though she was trying not to laugh as she looked up at him, her face contorted with an effort not to laugh at him.

Ace raised an eyebrow and picked her up, setting her down on top of the desk which had been behind her, and pinned her shoulders against the wall. "So, what's so funny wid you all of a sudden?"

Lexi let out a small giggle, "You called me 'deary', what decade do you think we're in, the nineteen-fifties?" She giggled again.

Ace gave her a coy smile, "And what's wrong wid a little old fashioned charm, den?" As he said it, he pulled her towards him, picked her up, and kissed her, holding the kiss for a few seconds.

Lexi looked surprised at his actions, but happy, "Nothing." She smiled. "Anyway," She said, trying to get down...but to no avail. She looked back up at him and raised an eyebrow, "You wanna let go of me or can I use this as an excuse to not leave the room all day?"

Ace smiled and set her down gently. She walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window across the room and looked out over the city. They never had to worry about anyone really seeing them in their rooms in the tower – the tower was the tallest building in the vicinity, possibly even in the entire city, and so even if they never shut the curtains no-one would see them. But Ace liked to have them shut as a form of privacy, plus it worked as extra insulation in the winter as the curtains kept the warmth from escaping or entering through the windows.

"Might as well open the windows – let some fresh air in here, that and for once it might not be so hot when we go to bed!" She unlatched some of the catches on the window, Ace had to help her when some of the catches were too stiff or her to open. She turned back to Ace and smiled.

"So..." Ace started as he walked towards her, "you know Shakespeare?"

"Yeah – I know loads of his plays."

Ace looked surprised, and leant against the windows with his arms crossed, "Which ones?"

"Umm..." Lexi looked up to think, "I can do 'Othello' in German, 'The Merchant of Venice' and 'Hamlet' in Spanish, 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' in French...and a bunch of others in English."

Ace looked impressed, "How...I mean, why?"

Lexi shrugged, "I never really knew what I wanted to do when I left High School, so I figured if I took a course on Shakespeare then it would look good when applying for college and jobs, you know?"

"It makes sense." Ace nodded, "But why Shakespeare? I remember doin' 'Macbeth' in school, and I could never understand all of da: thee's, and thou's, and thy's!"

"Lexi smiled, ya get used to it."

Ace smiled, but then it turned only into a half-smile, "So...as much as I'd hate to bring dis up, Lex..." Ace started, wrapping his arms around the smaller bunny's narrow frame, "Shall we go out to da kitchen and wait for everyone to get up?"

Lexi sighed and looked down, but when she looked up at Ace again, she was smiling, "Yeah, sure."

"Why da sudden change of heart?" Ace raised an eyebrow – he was surprised at her sudden happiness regarding the meeting which she had stressed about for over a week.

Lexi shrugged, "I guess I'm excited now – still scared shitless, but excited." She smiled. "Let's go!"

Ace smiled, "Dat's da spirit – I keep tellin' you to be happy!" He kissed her, took her hand, and the couple began to walk to the door.

/

As they left their room, and turned right up the corridor towards the main room and kitchen, Lexi heard voices and movement on her left, coming from the room which used to be hers. She thought that they should continue to the kitchen and wait for her sisters and Leah to get up, but just as quickly as Lexi had considered that thought, the door opened.

Lexi and Ace stopped and unlinked their hands.

At the same time, both Pete and Michael emerged from their room up the corridor and walked down the hall, "Morning, Lex...Ace." Pete smiled. He spoke quietly, not wanting to wake anyone else up, but he spoke loud enough that they could hear.

Lexi smiled over at her Brothers, but immediately turned back to the door, "Leah!" She exclaimed happily when she saw who emerged from the doorway.

"Sshhhh!"

Lexi turned back to the rest of the guys, who reminded her to be quiet.

"Leah!" She whispered loudly.

Leah was human, just like her brother, and shared many of the same attributes as him. She was paler than he was, but she had the same blonde hair as him – slightly fairer than Lexi's golden locks – but still noticeably blonde. She was skinny, and had the same physique as Lexi, and was slightly taller than the female bunny's head, but only by a few centimetres. Her hair was just shorter than shoulder length, and had many layers in it which made it look spiky. Black mascara lined her eyes which made her face look less washed out than it would have been had it not been there, and some natural peach lip stick coloured her lips and brought more colour into her face.

She wore light denim jeans and a black and white striped t-shirt, with black cowboy boots showing underneath her jeans. "Lex!" She smiled, but backed away when Lexi tired to hug her. "Sorry – Sam called dibs on who gets to hug you first."

Lexi gave her an unimpressed look, "So?"

Leah looked apologetic, "Dude, she said she'd kill me if I hugged you first – and I believe her!"

Lexi shook her head and smiled, "I've missed you."

/

Pete, Michael, Ace, Lexi and Leah – eventually followed by Rev and Spencer – sat around the table in the kitchen, making small talk and collecting their breakfast.

"It is so disgusting it's awesome!" Leah exclaimed happily. She and Lexi were talking across the table, leaning through excitement to catch up on the three years they had spent away from each other. Lexi and Leah each swapped stories about their time in Acmetropolis and Utah, respectively. Currently, Leah was talking about her new position as a surgeon.

Lexi gave her an awkward look, "You seriously like it..." She glanced down at the table with a slightly disgusted look on her face, before looking back at Leah, "How?"

Leah let out a small laugh, "Because I get to do things that should not be legal!"

All of the heads of the guys in the room perked up at that comment, even Duck's as he entered the room, Slam about a metre behind him – though the devil didn't look up, he went straight to the fridge. The rest of the males let out a simultaneous, "What?"

"Not in that way, perverts." Leah said in a dead-panned voice that lacked any emotion. She leaned in closer to Lexi, "I don't even get how they found that dirty?" She whispered.

Lexi shrugged, "They're guys – it's what they do."

Lexi heard an "A-hem." come from her left, and turned to Ace, who sat beside her – he was the only one other than the two girls, who was seated at the table, the rest either had not sat down yet, were standing up to allow other people room to sit down if they wanted to, or were getting their breakfast out of cupboards/microwaves/toasters or blenders on the bench tops around the kitchen.

Lexi smiled sweetly at Ace, "And I love you-oh, I didn't mean to say that." She shut her eyes in annoyance. It was normally the innocent, jovial comment she gave him – this time, out of habit she said it – but didn't yet want her family to know she was with Ace, now she had blown it.

Ace didn't deny the comment, it would only make it sound worse, however, he did look at her with wide eyes and a look that said, 'You've done it, now – go with it.'

Lexi took a deep breath, deciding that if her family wanted to press the matter further, they'd mention it – she wouldn't have to explain herself. Plus, that meant she and Ace didn't necessarily have to hide it...except maybe from her dad. She had accidentally said it loud enough that the whole room would have heard it, there was no question about that.

Lexi turned back to Leah and tried to look normal, hoping they could resume their previous conversation.

Leah looked between her and Ace, "So...are you two together then?"

Lexi and Ace exchanged glances, and tentatively, and at the same, replied, "Yeah..."

"...Kinda..."

Duck scoffed, "More than together, if you know what I mean..." He intended to say it under his breath, but it was still loud enough.

Rev elbowed him in the ribs and gave him a look.

"What?" Duck shrugged, looking at the rest of the Loonatics who were glaring at him, and the sceptical and somewhat suspicious looks from Lexi's brothers.

Leah, however, was happy. "Cool!" She smiled. The bunnies' heads whipped back around to Leah. She noticed the surprised looks the couple were giving her, "No, it's good – it's about time, Lex. I mean you've always been afraid of dating, and I think..."

"...Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait...wait." Lexi stopped her, holding a finger in font of Leah's face, she widened her eyes, giving Leah a look, "Have you forgotten how I told you NOT to mention that?" She said it under her breath, the Leah still heard.

"Right...sorry."

Ace gave Lexi a confused look, but decided not to question it now. He'd wait until later.

/

'Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.'

Lexi took a deep breath and knocked on the door to her parents' room. She only had to wait for a few moments until she heard a 'come in' from the other side of the door.

'Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
To feeling as to sight? or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?'

She pressed the centre button on the door and the two pneumatic doors in front of her retracted back into the door frame. She stepped inside and was greeted by the sight of her parents. Her father just turning off the television, it looked like if had been a weather report, and her mother standing in front of the mirror next to the TV putting on a necklace.

'I see thee yet, in form as palpable
As this which now I draw.'

Lexi was happy, but, once again, due to her over-observant nature, she was struck with a conundrum. She didn't know who to go to first to hug.

...She was also put off by the ominous voices in her head that mentioned lines from 'Macbeth'...

...She shook off those thoughts.

Due to the predicament she was in now, and from natural instinct, she would want to hug her mother first, but technically her mother was farther away – and it would be rude and hurtful to her father to walk past him to hug her mother, despite her not seeing either of them for the same amount of time.

However, luckily, as she stood just half a metre away from the doorway, her mother half walked, half ran over to Lexi to hug her, Lexi's father smiling at the two as he walked over.

"Oh, Lexi!" She smiled as she hugged her daughter, "I've missed you so much, sweetheart." She briefly released Lexi from her tight hug; Lexi breathed a small sigh of relief, only to be engulfed in the strong arms of her father.

"It's nice to see you again, honey."

Lexi stepped back and looked up at her parents. Her father was quite tall, far taller than Ace and possibly the same height as Lexi's brothers. He was quite muscular, despite being forty-nine years old, and still looked youthful and young for his age, he was slender – not skinny – but a healthy size for his age. His voice was quite deep and he had an air of authority about him, which would come in useful – his occupation was a cop. He wore smart grey trousers with black brogues, a white short-sleeved shirt with narrow beige vertical lines on it and the two top buttons undone at the top, and had a jacket, which matched the trousers, slung over his arm.

Lexi's mother, who had a sweet, warm scent; was wearing a turquoise blue cardigan over a purple high-necked vest (tank top?), and an ankle length purple and turquoise, flower patterned skirt; small heeled purple heels were on her feet.

Unlike Lexi's father, her mother did not stand much taller than Lexi herself, she would have been shorter than Ace, but still slightly taller than Lexi. Lexi's mother looked her over and smiled, "Well you look lovely, dear." She referred to her uniform, "it makes you look so tall and slender – of course, not that you aren't already." She smiled a warm, comforting smile at her daughter.

Lexi gave a small smile back to her parents.

"Personally I think it's a little tight on you."

Lexi gave her father a shocked and somewhat embarrassed look, "Dad?"

"I'm just saying that you live with a group of men and that it's a little..."

Lexi's mother cut him off, "Oh shush, Robert." She gave her daughter another smile before turning back to her husband, "You know she's not one of those types of girls. Luckily none of them are."

Lexi looked back up at her parents, "Guys, seriously, its fine, okay." She gave them a smile, "Do...do you wanna meet my friends? And grab some breakfast?"

"Oh, Lexi! – we didn't realise anyone else was up!"

"Mum...it's...8:30AM? Everyone except Sam and Teresa are up." She smiled, "We've all had breakfast...I didn't realise you guys had been awake...I thought you were sleeping in – that's why I didn't come to see you until now, I'm sorry."

"It's fine, sweety." Lexi's dad smiled, he put his arm around Lexi's shoulder, "And you know we're always up early – its how we are."

"Oh, Let me just grab my purse." Lexi's mother said as the trio began to leave, she turned around and picked up her black leather bag off of the arm chair in the room, and then turned back.

"Lexi, honey, the two of us – and Teresa, if she would like – were thinking of spending the day looking around, and seeing the sights, and we were wondering whether you'd like to come with us?"

"Umm..." Lexi bit her lip.

"No, honey," Her father smiled, "We understand if you want to spend time with Sam and Leah, it's absolutely fine."

"Thanks," Lexi half smiled, she felt guilty – she missed her parents and knew that they missed her, she couldn't just ditch them on their first day there, "But...I was thinking, we could all go out for dinner tonight – you know, us, the guys and Alex – he wants to catch up with everyone, and I know what day he's working on, so he should be free tonight." She gave a small shrug.

"That would be lovely!" Lexi's mother smiled, "As long as your team mates are happy with it – they won't be doing anything tonight will they?"

"Umm...no, they shouldn't be – I'm sure they'd be happy to go out for dinner." She smiled, "It'll be cool, there's a really nice seafood restaurant by the bay, it does great shrimp – and you won't have to worry about nut products for Teresa, I've checked before out of habit, it should be fine."

"Okay, then." Lexi's dad said, "We'll go there, then. But if you don't mind, I think I really should be getting some breakfast soon."

/

Lexi's brothers had left to see Alex (having received directions to his apartment from Ace), but Leah, despite being his sister, said she'd visit him later with Sam and Lexi, as she wanted to see a bit more of Lexi to talk to her. Leah remained in the kitchen with the rest of the Loonatics (Minus Ace, who had gone back to his room), figuring she'd get to know them, and wait for Sam and Teresa to get up.

"So, Leah," Tech said as he sat down at the table with a glass of orange juice and some toast, "Lex said you're a doctor?"

Leah finished taking a sip of her coffee, "Yeah, surgeon now too."

"Interesting," Tech smiled, "But...if you don't mind me saying, aren't you a bit young...to have gone through medical school and all?" He didn't eat, and instead leant on his elbows and laced his fingers together as he listened to Lexi's friend, intrigued by her occupation.

Leah smiled, "Yeah, I would be considered young if we were in like...the twenty-first century! People know more about medicine now – it doesn't take as long to go through now."

"Well I was aware that, but...I thought that at nineteen you'd still be in medical school?"

Leah let out a laugh, "Dude, I'm not nineteen, I'm twenty-two."

"Oh!" Tech look surprised, while Duck suddenly look interested, "I'm sorry!"

Leah smiled, "Dude, its fine."

"Hmm, an older woman – go for it Tech, you nerds actually have something in common!" Duck said under his breath behind the coyote, who let out a small growl at the remark. Leah didn't look pleased either.

"Ahh, Duck – Lexi's told me a lot about you." Leah gave him a sly look.

"Did she give you her super hearing too?" Duck spat, it was rhetoric, but he was still surprised by her ability to hear him despite how quiet he thought he was being.

/

A blonde head poked out of the doorway of Lexi's former room. She looked around, hoping to find someone she knew, but with no luck – she was hoping to see Lexi or her parents, looking carefully into the main room and kitchen (obscured from view of everyone within) she did notice Leah, who she would've gone to see...if she hadn't been surrounded by the Loonatics...men she didn't know...and didn't necessarily trust, despite them working with her sister for almost three years.

She sighed, and was about to turn back into her room and wait for Sam to finish getting ready, when the door on the opposite side of the hallway opened and revealed a yellow and black clad male bunny. She jumped when she saw him, and was about to turn back into her room when he spoke to her.

"Oh, hey." He smiled, "You must be Teresa – I didn't get to see ya much last night, you were asleep."

Teresa had fallen asleep in the taxi on the way to the Loonatics' HQ, and so her dad had carried her up and into her room, not wanting to wake her up when it was so late for her.

The smaller bunny blushed and nodded, "Umm...hello."

Her voice was quiet and trembling, and Ace had to strain his ears to even hear her. She was a small girl, and surprisingly small for her age – she was thirteen and her head probably only reached up to Ace's stomach, and probably Lexi's chest. She looked around, as if trying to find a way not to talk to him. She wore a simply purple, cotton dress, with straps about an inch thick on her shoulders, and a dress length which reached down to just about her knee. Underneath her dress, she wore a pair of white leggings which reached to her mid calf, and wore a pair of purple sandals.

Ace was surprised at how small and innocent she looked – normally girls her age were...coming out of their shells and maturing, at least the ones he had known in school were at her age. This child, however, looked very much the opposite of those girls, she looked nervous, and instead of looking thirteen years old, she looked like she was about ten.

But what struck Ace most, was how much she looked like Lexi. Her blonde hair was above her eyes, unlike Lexi's which covered her right eye; the hair was slightly feathered to the left, but not much. Her eyes were the same dazzling green, and her peach-tan fur the same shade as Lexi and her family's. But, unlike her sister, her ears were flat against her back, partially because she was scared.

Ace was certain, that had he seen a picture of Lexi when she was that age, she would have been the splitting image of Teresa. It was odd, especially since Lexi's twin was Sam, not Teresa. Then Ace wondered what Sam must look like.

And then it became awkward. If Sam looked just like Lexi...how would he tell who was who?

Ace shook off the thought and smiled at the young girl, he bent down a little on his haunches so he didn't look so intimidating to her...it didn't exactly work, as she backed up a few steps away from his as he moved. "Teresa, its fine – I won't hurt ya – I'm friends wid Lexi, you're fine here." He gave her a friendly smile, "I'm Ace." He held out his hand for her to shake.

She looked at his hand – at her age she had never really shaken someone's hand before. She looked at him, and then at his outreached hand, then at him, and then at his hand. Not breaking visual with him, she tentatively stretched out her hand, and placed her hand in his. He gently shook her hand, which was somewhat difficult – he hadn't expected it to be a firm handshake, but he had expected she'd have at least some grip on his hand. He let go, and gave her a small smile.

"Do you know where my parents are?" She looked at him, not returning his smile, but instead her expression was worry.

"Umm..." Ace stood up, and gave a quick glance around the corner, "...dey're not in dere. Dey must be in deir room; dey haven't left da tower if dat's what you're worried about." He started to walk down the corridor, "Follow me, I'll show you where dey are." He walked slower than his normal pace, not wanting her to be daunted by him, he also wanted to make sure she didn't turn and walk away if, for some reason, she didn't trust him.

Ace reached the door to Lexi's parents' room, just as her father opened the door, with his arm around Lexi, who smiled somewhat weakly, and his wife on the other side of Lexi. Ace gave his girlfriend a momentary look of 'what's wrong?' before looking up at her father, and stopping dead in his tracks. He cleared his throat quickly, slight fear within him, "Uh...Good mornin', sir." He smiled.

Lexi's dad gave him a slight look, before remembering, "Ahh, sorry, yes, you showed us to our rooms last night, thank you." He unhooked his arm from around Lexi's shoulders and shook Ace's hand. "It's nice to properly meet you with a hand shake; unfortunately my hands weren't free last night." He smiled down at Teresa, who walked towards her mother, while Lexi stepped out into the hall and stood perhaps a foot to the left of Ace. "I'm Robert," he turned swiftly to his wife before looking back at Ace, "and this is my wife, Angela."

"Hello." She smiled, and reached out her hand to shake.

Ace looked momentarily confused as he looked as Lexi's mother, he had pulled back his hand when he was finished shaking Robert's hand, but quickly pulled it back again to shake Angela's, "I'm sorry," He said, Lexi's mother had looked somewhat confused that he didn't originally want to shake her hand, "I've never known whether it was correct or not to shake da hand of a lady," Lexi smirked, "but, unfortunately I thought we were past da era where it wasn't odd to bow, excuse me, ma'am." He smiled at her.

Angela smiled back, "Well aren't you lovely." And let out a tiny giggle as she looked to her husband with a smile, and then back to Ace, "And what's your name, sorry?"

"Oh!" Ace blushed, "Sorry, I'm Ace, Ace Bunny."

Lexi's mother nodded and raised her eyebrows, and gave a small wink and a smile to Lexi, who widened her eyes slightly. It was noticed by her father.

"Umm, yeah, I noticed Teresa come out of her room, she couldn't find anyone." He smiled, "So I showed her to here."

"Well, thank you, Ace." Angela smiled and rubbed Teresa's back, Teresa, who, simply stood there, looking up at Ace. "I'm sorry about her; she seems to have lost her tongue lately."

Ace put his hands in his pockets and stood casually, seemingly he had lost his nerve, and Lexi was impressed – it seemed she was more nervous that he was, "Well it's a...big time for someone her age, you know, puberty and all." Lexi's mother nodded knowingly.

Lexi's eyes widened as her father's eyebrow's raised at Ace's comment, 'No, Ace!' She bit her lip; she knew how he dad took some comments.

"Yes, they were all like that, Lexi especially." Angela gestured toward her elder daughter.

Ace looked across to her and smiled, "Thanks...mum." Lexi sighed, embarrassed – her cheeks grew slightly red.

Ace let out a small chuckle, "Were da two of ya headed to breakfast?" Ace pointed towards the kitchen with his thumb as they started to walk.

"Yes." Angela said, "I was wondering if you happened to have anything nut free? This one can't have anything with nuts in." She walked with a hand on Teresa's shoulder.

"Oh, dat's no problem," Ace smiled, he now walked alongside Lexi's mother and younger sister, while Lexi and her father walked behind them, about two metres to the rear, "We shopped for food without nut products in, and I can assure you, Tech and Slam were very thorough – she'll have plenty she can eat here. And I made sure dat Rev...Uh, he likes seeds and nuts, I made sure dat he knows to make sure dat all lids are shut and not'in' drops onto bench tops or da table, and he said he'll wash his hands after he eats dem, just to be safe in case he spreads any oils anywhere."

"Oh, that was more than enough that you could do, thank you very much, Ace." Angela smiled. She looked down at Teresa, "There you go you'll be fine." She smiled, and then turned back to Ace, "She was awfully worried that she'd only be eating bread and salads while she was here."

Ace gave the girl a gentle smile, "Nah, you don't have to worry about dat."

"Thank you." She said shyly.

Lexi smiled to herself as she walked, thinking about Ace. 'Maybe this won't be too bad...Mum likes him, even if Dad doesn't she'll convince him. And I never knew he was so great with kids, Teresa's so shy, but she doesn't seem so bad around him, even now...Maybe all that worrying has been for nothing...'

/

"Uh, yeah – Mum, Dad; these are my friends: Tech, Rev, Slam and Duck." Lexi said as she, Ace her parents and Teresa made their way into the kitchen. "...and I'm pretty sure you know Leah."

There was an assortment of 'hello's' from the team. Lexi then showed her family were to get breakfast from – She and the Loonatics, as well as Leah, had already eaten earlier with her brothers.

"Oh, where are the boys?" Angela said as she looked around the kitchen.

"I think they're a little odd to be called 'boys', mum." Lexi smirked, "They went to see Alex."

"Oh." Angela then looked to Leah, "...and you're not going with them – he's your brother?"

Leah waved her hand in a relaxed fashion, "I'll see him later. He does know I came too, right?" She looked over at Lexi, who walked over to the table and then sat down next to Leah. Lexi's seat was the end seat on the table, closest to the door but the only seat facing away from it as she looked to her friends and family.

"Yeah, of course." Lexi smiled, she looked around, and then furrowed her eyebrows, "Where's Sam? Is she still – Ahh!" The female bunny jumped when to her hands sharply pulled her shoulders back slightly. She turned around to spot Sam, her sister, behind her smirking. She looked back to her family who chuckled slightly, "Oh, so you guys were in on it, you couldn't have warned me?" She raised her eyebrow and turned back to Sam, standing up, and giving her a light punch on the arm. "Seriously, I haven't seen you for three years and then you try and give me a heart attack? Real courteous." The two then hugged, smiling as they did so, "Man, I missed you so much!"

Sam moved her hands as if to say, 'Really?' sarcastically, "I missed you too." She looked at Lexi, "...you look different? Oh! I know – your confidence is back!" She smiled, but the smile disappeared as she picked up Lexi's arm and held it, Lexi, not knowing she was going to do that, had her muscles relaxed, which made it lighter and 'floppy' as Sam waved it about. "You're still weak," She looked over Lexi's shoulders to the Loonatics, "Seriously, do you guys feed her?"

"Frequently." Rev replied with a smile. The assembled people in the room seemed to enjoy seeing Lexi and Sam's reunion – for Leah and Lexi's family it was to see the two united again, while for the Loonatics it was seeing Lexi happy – a different type of happy that they hadn't ever seen in her before – they had also never seen her so relaxed and confident and happy with someone – It was how Lexi was with Ace when they were alone, but in a slightly different way.

Sam wasn't exactly what Ace had expected – facially they were the same. But Sam's hair was a red-orange colour, and while her fringe was spiky like Lexi's, it covered her whole forehead and was cut unevenly, so it looked choppy and interestin, it half covered her eyes at some point, and half didn't. She didn't wear the ribbon round her ears like Lexi's mother and younger sister did – Lexi's mother's ribbon was a turquoise green, while Teresa's was purple – to match their outfits. Instead, Sam simply wore a red and orange band around her ears.

The female bunny looked exactly like Lexi physically, they were the same height, and were both skinny. Sam wore a yellow vest top (tank top?) which would have been quite low on the chest, had it not been for some black fabric which was stitched under the initial low neck line of the yellow vest, and made the vest tip not so revealing. She wore a simple black choker around her neck as well. She wore plan black jeans with black cowboy boots underneath, and a few bracelets on her wrist. She looked slightly more confident than the Lexi Ace knew...maybe she used to be like Sam – outgoing and care free...but he wasn't sure – he had only known Lexi after she had lost her confidence in the event three years ago.

Ace smiled at the scene, along with everyone else in the room. Duck leant against a bench top with his arms crossed, "How long is this gonna go on for?"

Leah answered Duck, addressing the whole room, without taking her eyes off the bunny pair, "Give them twenty minutes and they'll have ran out of things to talk about."

//

Description
Please enjoy 'The Big Mistake' - Chapter 36 = 'Meet The Parents'*

*(Not affiliated with 'Meet The Parents; the film!)

Contains 1 swear word...I think...

Enjoy!

//

"'... O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon,
That monthly changes in her circled orb,
Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.'"

"'What shall I swear by?'"

"'Do not swear at all;
Or, if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self,
Which is the god of my idolatry,
And I'll believe thee.'"

Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the window.

Voices, lingering in the adjacent rooms, reminded her of their presence.

'"I hear some noise within; dear love, adieu!
Anon, good nurse! Sweet Montague, be true.
Stay but a little, I will come again.'"

The clock ticked – yet no clock face was present.

It teased her – here were demands.

"'Three words, dear Romeo, and good night indeed.
If that thy bent of love be honourable,
Thy purpose marriage, send me word to-morrow,
By one that I'll procure to come to thee,
Where and what time thou wilt perform the rite;
And all my fortunes at thy foot I'll lay
And follow thee my lord throughout the world...'"

Green eyes opened and glistened in the light that shone into the room.

Eyebrows furrowed...a head turned.

A sigh.

Lexi stared up at the blank ceiling above her and cursed to herself that she would set an alarm for so early in the morning.

She rolled to her right and scooted closer to Ace, whose back faced her, and cuddled him. She leaned up over his shoulder and kissed his jaw – not being able to reach his lips.

His gentle grip seized her hand, and he turned his head and smiled at her, before kissing her mouth which still hung over his. "Mornin' beautiful"

Lexi giggled at his charm – it always worked on her. She lay back down while he rested on his side next to her. "So what time did you get to bed last night?" She enquired whilst stroking the fur on his stomach.

Ace looked up to think and puffed his cheeks out with breath as he tried to remember. He made eye contact with her again as she rolled over onto her side to face him, "Must've been about...2am?"

Lexi furrowed her eyebrows and looked at his chest, still running her fingers through his fur, "Oh, Ace – you should go back to bed, you can't just have three and a half hours of sleep!"

Ace chuckled at her, "Lexi, its fine. I'll take a nap later if I need to – but I want to be able to meet da rest of your family first – ya know, make a good impression. And why do ya love doin' dat so much?"

"What?" She gave him a confused look.

"Ya love feelin' my fur – have ya not realised ya have your own yet?" He smiled.

Lexi looked guilty, "What? Yours is really soft, plus it's weird that your chest is completely flat."

"What do ya mean?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Hello, dude – mine hasn't been flat for about ten years – the topography's changed a bit, and I sometimes miss that. But it's more to do with the fact that your fur is really soft." She grinned at him.

"Yours is too." He smiled and rested his hand on her currently flat stomach beneath her shirt. He moved his hand around a few times, earning a slight giggle from Lexi. He sighed and rested his hand, now, on the space just below her stomach, "I wonder what dat baby's doin' in dere?"

Lexi smiled softly at him and looked down at herself, "Not much."

Ace smiled, "I can't wait until we can really see it."

Lexi gave him a sly look, "You mean when I'm fat and yucky and puking everywhere and...complaining of cramps and swollen feet?"

Ace smiled broadly and kissed her, "Lexi, not'in' like dat bothers me, really! I know ya might feel differently...but ya know I'm gonna help ya through all of dat."

Lexi smiled up at him as she lay back down, "I know, I'm just pushing your buttons."

/

"You know, Ace – for the first time since this whole thing started...I'm actually happy about being" she whispered the last word, "pregnant." She said jovially as she dressed, having just taken a shower.

"Really?" Ace was surprised, but happy. He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, whilst leaning on the counter-top by the sink. He faced her quizzically and earned a sly look from the female bunny whose face lit up once again.

"Yeah!" Lexi smiled, "I really, really want to have a baby with you. I love you."

"I love ya too, Lex." Ace smiled and kissed her while they dressed.

Lexi smiled to herself and sat down on the toilet seat (which was down to use as a seat), "Its funny...I had a...odd...interesting dream last night. I was annoyed when I woke up." She let out a small giggle as she remembered the dream.

"Oh yeah, and what happened?" He picked up their towels and stuck them in the laundry hamper. He turned back to her and felt the humid heat of the bathroom – the room was dull as the light wasn't on – the sunlight passing through the gaps in the white translucent Roman blind made the room light enough to see, but still a little bit gloomy. He felt sweat on his forehead and it annoyed him – the drops were miniscule – it was odd, he preferred large drops of sweat if he had to choose – at least they actually did something to cool him down – all that the small droplets accumulating on his forehead did was annoy him. He wiped his brow with his wrist and stood up again, taking Lexi's hand. "Let's talk in da bedroom – it's less humid in dere."

"Okay." Lexi smiled. She stood up and followed him out of the bathroom, flicking the switch of the ceiling fan as she passed over the threshold – at least then it would be cooler later, and the condensation on the glass shower walls would disappear.

The two began to quickly sort out their morning routines as they talked. Ace opened the curtains and blinds whilst Lexi made the bed, Ace took away their empty glasses of water and put them in the bathroom while Lexi brushed her half-dry hair and turned off the desk-fan on the shelf by the mirror. "Ughh, I need to get my fringe cut." Lexi sighed as she blew out her bangs with her sigh. She combed her fringe this time, but it didn't seem to do much as she still looked annoyed with the fact that some strands of hair were growing faster than others, and so now her fringe (which was normally perfectly feathered), was starting to look somewhat tatty.

She opened the dark mahogany draw under the desk and took out her green ribbon and put it on the bench top, she then put the brush and comb back into the draw, and picked up the ribbon, only to have it plucked from her hands by Ace, whose reflection had appeared behind her. He gave her his 'signature' smile which Lexi loved, as he began to tie her ears for her, she returned the smile with her own.

Once he was done (and after Ace had stressed on whether he had accidentally tied it too tight or not), Lexi turned around to face him as she leaned against the desk behind her. Ace took her hands in his and gave her a kiss. "So, you were sayin' – your dream last night?"

Lexi looked surprised – and it was clear that she must have forgotten what they had been talking about while they were in the bathroom. She gave him another guilty grin, "Umm...yeah...it's weird...so don't laugh."

"I'm listenin'." Ace smiled at her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Umm..." She drummed her fingers on his shoulders for a moment, focussing on the yellow upside-down triangle on his chest. "It's really...reeeeeeeeeeeally cheesy..."

Ace let out a small laugh, "Seriously, out wid it, Lex."

Lexi took a deep breath, "For some reason I was thinking about 'Romeo and Juliet' last night...and...You know Act II, Scene II of the play?"

Ace looked blankly back at her, "...Well go on."

Lexi smiled, "I kinda had a dream about that...but it was with you and me...not...them." She trailed her eyes away and her cheeks turned a rosy pink as she let out a small grin towards the floor.

Ace smiled and let out a small chuckle.

Lexi's head whipped back up and faced his, "What? Hey, you said you wouldn't laugh!"

Ace's smile turned into a sly grin, "I'm not laughin' at ya, technically I'm not even laughin' – it's called chucklin', deary. And anyway, I was chucklin' at da fact dat it was cute and sweet, not weird or funny." His expression turned normal again as he stopped laughing.

Lexi now looked as though she was trying not to laugh as she looked up at him, her face contorted with an effort not to laugh at him.

Ace raised an eyebrow and picked her up, setting her down on top of the desk which had been behind her, and pinned her shoulders against the wall. "So, what's so funny wid you all of a sudden?"

Lexi let out a small giggle, "You called me 'deary', what decade do you think we're in, the nineteen-fifties?" She giggled again.

Ace gave her a coy smile, "And what's wrong wid a little old fashioned charm, den?" As he said it, he pulled her towards him, picked her up, and kissed her, holding the kiss for a few seconds.

Lexi looked surprised at his actions, but happy, "Nothing." She smiled. "Anyway," She said, trying to get down...but to no avail. She looked back up at him and raised an eyebrow, "You wanna let go of me or can I use this as an excuse to not leave the room all day?"

Ace smiled and set her down gently. She walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window across the room and looked out over the city. They never had to worry about anyone really seeing them in their rooms in the tower – the tower was the tallest building in the vicinity, possibly even in the entire city, and so even if they never shut the curtains no-one would see them. But Ace liked to have them shut as a form of privacy, plus it worked as extra insulation in the winter as the curtains kept the warmth from escaping or entering through the windows.

"Might as well open the windows – let some fresh air in here, that and for once it might not be so hot when we go to bed!" She unlatched some of the catches on the window, Ace had to help her when some of the catches were too stiff or her to open. She turned back to Ace and smiled.

"So..." Ace started as he walked towards her, "you know Shakespeare?"

"Yeah – I know loads of his plays."

Ace looked surprised, and leant against the windows with his arms crossed, "Which ones?"

"Umm..." Lexi looked up to think, "I can do 'Othello' in German, 'The Merchant of Venice' and 'Hamlet' in Spanish, 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' in French...and a bunch of others in English."

Ace looked impressed, "How...I mean, why?"

Lexi shrugged, "I never really knew what I wanted to do when I left High School, so I figured if I took a course on Shakespeare then it would look good when applying for college and jobs, you know?"

"It makes sense." Ace nodded, "But why Shakespeare? I remember doin' 'Macbeth' in school, and I could never understand all of da: thee's, and thou's, and thy's!"

"Lexi smiled, ya get used to it."

Ace smiled, but then it turned only into a half-smile, "So...as much as I'd hate to bring dis up, Lex..." Ace started, wrapping his arms around the smaller bunny's narrow frame, "Shall we go out to da kitchen and wait for everyone to get up?"

Lexi sighed and looked down, but when she looked up at Ace again, she was smiling, "Yeah, sure."

"Why da sudden change of heart?" Ace raised an eyebrow – he was surprised at her sudden happiness regarding the meeting which she had stressed about for over a week.

Lexi shrugged, "I guess I'm excited now – still scared shitless, but excited." She smiled. "Let's go!"

Ace smiled, "Dat's da spirit – I keep tellin' you to be happy!" He kissed her, took her hand, and the couple began to walk to the door.

/

As they left their room, and turned right up the corridor towards the main room and kitchen, Lexi heard voices and movement on her left, coming from the room which used to be hers. She thought that they should continue to the kitchen and wait for her sisters and Leah to get up, but just as quickly as Lexi had considered that thought, the door opened.

Lexi and Ace stopped and unlinked their hands.

At the same time, both Pete and Michael emerged from their room up the corridor and walked down the hall, "Morning, Lex...Ace." Pete smiled. He spoke quietly, not wanting to wake anyone else up, but he spoke loud enough that they could hear.

Lexi smiled over at her Brothers, but immediately turned back to the door, "Leah!" She exclaimed happily when she saw who emerged from the doorway.

"Sshhhh!"

Lexi turned back to the rest of the guys, who reminded her to be quiet.

"Leah!" She whispered loudly.

Leah was human, just like her brother, and shared many of the same attributes as him. She was paler than he was, but she had the same blonde hair as him – slightly fairer than Lexi's golden locks – but still noticeably blonde. She was skinny, and had the same physique as Lexi, and was slightly taller than the female bunny's head, but only by a few centimetres. Her hair was just shorter than shoulder length, and had many layers in it which made it look spiky. Black mascara lined her eyes which made her face look less washed out than it would have been had it not been there, and some natural peach lip stick coloured her lips and brought more colour into her face.

She wore light denim jeans and a black and white striped t-shirt, with black cowboy boots showing underneath her jeans. "Lex!" She smiled, but backed away when Lexi tired to hug her. "Sorry – Sam called dibs on who gets to hug you first."

Lexi gave her an unimpressed look, "So?"

Leah looked apologetic, "Dude, she said she'd kill me if I hugged you first – and I believe her!"

Lexi shook her head and smiled, "I've missed you."

/

Pete, Michael, Ace, Lexi and Leah – eventually followed by Rev and Spencer – sat around the table in the kitchen, making small talk and collecting their breakfast.

"It is so disgusting it's awesome!" Leah exclaimed happily. She and Lexi were talking across the table, leaning through excitement to catch up on the three years they had spent away from each other. Lexi and Leah each swapped stories about their time in Acmetropolis and Utah, respectively. Currently, Leah was talking about her new position as a surgeon.

Lexi gave her an awkward look, "You seriously like it..." She glanced down at the table with a slightly disgusted look on her face, before looking back at Leah, "How?"

Leah let out a small laugh, "Because I get to do things that should not be legal!"

All of the heads of the guys in the room perked up at that comment, even Duck's as he entered the room, Slam about a metre behind him – though the devil didn't look up, he went straight to the fridge. The rest of the males let out a simultaneous, "What?"

"Not in that way, perverts." Leah said in a dead-panned voice that lacked any emotion. She leaned in closer to Lexi, "I don't even get how they found that dirty?" She whispered.

Lexi shrugged, "They're guys – it's what they do."

Lexi heard an "A-hem." come from her left, and turned to Ace, who sat beside her – he was the only one other than the two girls, who was seated at the table, the rest either had not sat down yet, were standing up to allow other people room to sit down if they wanted to, or were getting their breakfast out of cupboards/microwaves/toasters or blenders on the bench tops around the kitchen.

Lexi smiled sweetly at Ace, "And I love you-oh, I didn't mean to say that." She shut her eyes in annoyance. It was normally the innocent, jovial comment she gave him – this time, out of habit she said it – but didn't yet want her family to know she was with Ace, now she had blown it.

Ace didn't deny the comment, it would only make it sound worse, however, he did look at her with wide eyes and a look that said, 'You've done it, now – go with it.'

Lexi took a deep breath, deciding that if her family wanted to press the matter further, they'd mention it – she wouldn't have to explain herself. Plus, that meant she and Ace didn't necessarily have to hide it...except maybe from her dad. She had accidentally said it loud enough that the whole room would have heard it, there was no question about that.

Lexi turned back to Leah and tried to look normal, hoping they could resume their previous conversation.

Leah looked between her and Ace, "So...are you two together then?"

Lexi and Ace exchanged glances, and tentatively, and at the same, replied, "Yeah..."

"...Kinda..."

Duck scoffed, "More than together, if you know what I mean..." He intended to say it under his breath, but it was still loud enough.

Rev elbowed him in the ribs and gave him a look.

"What?" Duck shrugged, looking at the rest of the Loonatics who were glaring at him, and the sceptical and somewhat suspicious looks from Lexi's brothers.

Leah, however, was happy. "Cool!" She smiled. The bunnies' heads whipped back around to Leah. She noticed the surprised looks the couple were giving her, "No, it's good – it's about time, Lex. I mean you've always been afraid of dating, and I think..."

"...Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait...wait." Lexi stopped her, holding a finger in font of Leah's face, she widened her eyes, giving Leah a look, "Have you forgotten how I told you NOT to mention that?" She said it under her breath, the Leah still heard.

"Right...sorry."

Ace gave Lexi a confused look, but decided not to question it now. He'd wait until later.

/

'Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.'

Lexi took a deep breath and knocked on the door to her parents' room. She only had to wait for a few moments until she heard a 'come in' from the other side of the door.

'Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
To feeling as to sight? or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?'

She pressed the centre button on the door and the two pneumatic doors in front of her retracted back into the door frame. She stepped inside and was greeted by the sight of her parents. Her father just turning off the television, it looked like if had been a weather report, and her mother standing in front of the mirror next to the TV putting on a necklace.

'I see thee yet, in form as palpable
As this which now I draw.'

Lexi was happy, but, once again, due to her over-observant nature, she was struck with a conundrum. She didn't know who to go to first to hug.

...She was also put off by the ominous voices in her head that mentioned lines from 'Macbeth'...

...She shook off those thoughts.

Due to the predicament she was in now, and from natural instinct, she would want to hug her mother first, but technically her mother was farther away – and it would be rude and hurtful to her father to walk past him to hug her mother, despite her not seeing either of them for the same amount of time.

However, luckily, as she stood just half a metre away from the doorway, her mother half walked, half ran over to Lexi to hug her, Lexi's father smiling at the two as he walked over.

"Oh, Lexi!" She smiled as she hugged her daughter, "I've missed you so much, sweetheart." She briefly released Lexi from her tight hug; Lexi breathed a small sigh of relief, only to be engulfed in the strong arms of her father.

"It's nice to see you again, honey."

Lexi stepped back and looked up at her parents. Her father was quite tall, far taller than Ace and possibly the same height as Lexi's brothers. He was quite muscular, despite being forty-nine years old, and still looked youthful and young for his age, he was slender – not skinny – but a healthy size for his age. His voice was quite deep and he had an air of authority about him, which would come in useful – his occupation was a cop. He wore smart grey trousers with black brogues, a white short-sleeved shirt with narrow beige vertical lines on it and the two top buttons undone at the top, and had a jacket, which matched the trousers, slung over his arm.

Lexi's mother, who had a sweet, warm scent; was wearing a turquoise blue cardigan over a purple high-necked vest (tank top?), and an ankle length purple and turquoise, flower patterned skirt; small heeled purple heels were on her feet.

Unlike Lexi's father, her mother did not stand much taller than Lexi herself, she would have been shorter than Ace, but still slightly taller than Lexi. Lexi's mother looked her over and smiled, "Well you look lovely, dear." She referred to her uniform, "it makes you look so tall and slender – of course, not that you aren't already." She smiled a warm, comforting smile at her daughter.

Lexi gave a small smile back to her parents.

"Personally I think it's a little tight on you."

Lexi gave her father a shocked and somewhat embarrassed look, "Dad?"

"I'm just saying that you live with a group of men and that it's a little..."

Lexi's mother cut him off, "Oh shush, Robert." She gave her daughter another smile before turning back to her husband, "You know she's not one of those types of girls. Luckily none of them are."

Lexi looked back up at her parents, "Guys, seriously, its fine, okay." She gave them a smile, "Do...do you wanna meet my friends? And grab some breakfast?"

"Oh, Lexi! – we didn't realise anyone else was up!"

"Mum...it's...8:30AM? Everyone except Sam and Teresa are up." She smiled, "We've all had breakfast...I didn't realise you guys had been awake...I thought you were sleeping in – that's why I didn't come to see you until now, I'm sorry."

"It's fine, sweety." Lexi's dad smiled, he put his arm around Lexi's shoulder, "And you know we're always up early – its how we are."

"Oh, Let me just grab my purse." Lexi's mother said as the trio began to leave, she turned around and picked up her black leather bag off of the arm chair in the room, and then turned back.

"Lexi, honey, the two of us – and Teresa, if she would like – were thinking of spending the day looking around, and seeing the sights, and we were wondering whether you'd like to come with us?"

"Umm..." Lexi bit her lip.

"No, honey," Her father smiled, "We understand if you want to spend time with Sam and Leah, it's absolutely fine."

"Thanks," Lexi half smiled, she felt guilty – she missed her parents and knew that they missed her, she couldn't just ditch them on their first day there, "But...I was thinking, we could all go out for dinner tonight – you know, us, the guys and Alex – he wants to catch up with everyone, and I know what day he's working on, so he should be free tonight." She gave a small shrug.

"That would be lovely!" Lexi's mother smiled, "As long as your team mates are happy with it – they won't be doing anything tonight will they?"

"Umm...no, they shouldn't be – I'm sure they'd be happy to go out for dinner." She smiled, "It'll be cool, there's a really nice seafood restaurant by the bay, it does great shrimp – and you won't have to worry about nut products for Teresa, I've checked before out of habit, it should be fine."

"Okay, then." Lexi's dad said, "We'll go there, then. But if you don't mind, I think I really should be getting some breakfast soon."

/

Lexi's brothers had left to see Alex (having received directions to his apartment from Ace), but Leah, despite being his sister, said she'd visit him later with Sam and Lexi, as she wanted to see a bit more of Lexi to talk to her. Leah remained in the kitchen with the rest of the Loonatics (Minus Ace, who had gone back to his room), figuring she'd get to know them, and wait for Sam and Teresa to get up.

"So, Leah," Tech said as he sat down at the table with a glass of orange juice and some toast, "Lex said you're a doctor?"

Leah finished taking a sip of her coffee, "Yeah, surgeon now too."

"Interesting," Tech smiled, "But...if you don't mind me saying, aren't you a bit young...to have gone through medical school and all?" He didn't eat, and instead leant on his elbows and laced his fingers together as he listened to Lexi's friend, intrigued by her occupation.

Leah smiled, "Yeah, I would be considered young if we were in like...the twenty-first century! People know more about medicine now – it doesn't take as long to go through now."

"Well I was aware that, but...I thought that at nineteen you'd still be in medical school?"

Leah let out a laugh, "Dude, I'm not nineteen, I'm twenty-two."

"Oh!" Tech look surprised, while Duck suddenly look interested, "I'm sorry!"

Leah smiled, "Dude, its fine."

"Hmm, an older woman – go for it Tech, you nerds actually have something in common!" Duck said under his breath behind the coyote, who let out a small growl at the remark. Leah didn't look pleased either.

"Ahh, Duck – Lexi's told me a lot about you." Leah gave him a sly look.

"Did she give you her super hearing too?" Duck spat, it was rhetoric, but he was still surprised by her ability to hear him despite how quiet he thought he was being.

/

A blonde head poked out of the doorway of Lexi's former room. She looked around, hoping to find someone she knew, but with no luck – she was hoping to see Lexi or her parents, looking carefully into the main room and kitchen (obscured from view of everyone within) she did notice Leah, who she would've gone to see...if she hadn't been surrounded by the Loonatics...men she didn't know...and didn't necessarily trust, despite them working with her sister for almost three years.

She sighed, and was about to turn back into her room and wait for Sam to finish getting ready, when the door on the opposite side of the hallway opened and revealed a yellow and black clad male bunny. She jumped when she saw him, and was about to turn back into her room when he spoke to her.

"Oh, hey." He smiled, "You must be Teresa – I didn't get to see ya much last night, you were asleep."

Teresa had fallen asleep in the taxi on the way to the Loonatics' HQ, and so her dad had carried her up and into her room, not wanting to wake her up when it was so late for her.

The smaller bunny blushed and nodded, "Umm...hello."

Her voice was quiet and trembling, and Ace had to strain his ears to even hear her. She was a small girl, and surprisingly small for her age – she was thirteen and her head probably only reached up to Ace's stomach, and probably Lexi's chest. She looked around, as if trying to find a way not to talk to him. She wore a simply purple, cotton dress, with straps about an inch thick on her shoulders, and a dress length which reached down to just about her knee. Underneath her dress, she wore a pair of white leggings which reached to her mid calf, and wore a pair of purple sandals.

Ace was surprised at how small and innocent she looked – normally girls her age were...coming out of their shells and maturing, at least the ones he had known in school were at her age. This child, however, looked very much the opposite of those girls, she looked nervous, and instead of looking thirteen years old, she looked like she was about ten.

But what struck Ace most, was how much she looked like Lexi. Her blonde hair was above her eyes, unlike Lexi's which covered her right eye; the hair was slightly feathered to the left, but not much. Her eyes were the same dazzling green, and her peach-tan fur the same shade as Lexi and her family's. But, unlike her sister, her ears were flat against her back, partially because she was scared.

Ace was certain, that had he seen a picture of Lexi when she was that age, she would have been the splitting image of Teresa. It was odd, especially since Lexi's twin was Sam, not Teresa. Then Ace wondered what Sam must look like.

And then it became awkward. If Sam looked just like Lexi...how would he tell who was who?

Ace shook off the thought and smiled at the young girl, he bent down a little on his haunches so he didn't look so intimidating to her...it didn't exactly work, as she backed up a few steps away from his as he moved. "Teresa, its fine – I won't hurt ya – I'm friends wid Lexi, you're fine here." He gave her a friendly smile, "I'm Ace." He held out his hand for her to shake.

She looked at his hand – at her age she had never really shaken someone's hand before. She looked at him, and then at his outreached hand, then at him, and then at his hand. Not breaking visual with him, she tentatively stretched out her hand, and placed her hand in his. He gently shook her hand, which was somewhat difficult – he hadn't expected it to be a firm handshake, but he had expected she'd have at least some grip on his hand. He let go, and gave her a small smile.

"Do you know where my parents are?" She looked at him, not returning his smile, but instead her expression was worry.

"Umm..." Ace stood up, and gave a quick glance around the corner, "...dey're not in dere. Dey must be in deir room; dey haven't left da tower if dat's what you're worried about." He started to walk down the corridor, "Follow me, I'll show you where dey are." He walked slower than his normal pace, not wanting her to be daunted by him, he also wanted to make sure she didn't turn and walk away if, for some reason, she didn't trust him.

Ace reached the door to Lexi's parents' room, just as her father opened the door, with his arm around Lexi, who smiled somewhat weakly, and his wife on the other side of Lexi. Ace gave his girlfriend a momentary look of 'what's wrong?' before looking up at her father, and stopping dead in his tracks. He cleared his throat quickly, slight fear within him, "Uh...Good mornin', sir." He smiled.

Lexi's dad gave him a slight look, before remembering, "Ahh, sorry, yes, you showed us to our rooms last night, thank you." He unhooked his arm from around Lexi's shoulders and shook Ace's hand. "It's nice to properly meet you with a hand shake; unfortunately my hands weren't free last night." He smiled down at Teresa, who walked towards her mother, while Lexi stepped out into the hall and stood perhaps a foot to the left of Ace. "I'm Robert," he turned swiftly to his wife before looking back at Ace, "and this is my wife, Angela."

"Hello." She smiled, and reached out her hand to shake.

Ace looked momentarily confused as he looked as Lexi's mother, he had pulled back his hand when he was finished shaking Robert's hand, but quickly pulled it back again to shake Angela's, "I'm sorry," He said, Lexi's mother had looked somewhat confused that he didn't originally want to shake her hand, "I've never known whether it was correct or not to shake da hand of a lady," Lexi smirked, "but, unfortunately I thought we were past da era where it wasn't odd to bow, excuse me, ma'am." He smiled at her.

Angela smiled back, "Well aren't you lovely." And let out a tiny giggle as she looked to her husband with a smile, and then back to Ace, "And what's your name, sorry?"

"Oh!" Ace blushed, "Sorry, I'm Ace, Ace Bunny."

Lexi's mother nodded and raised her eyebrows, and gave a small wink and a smile to Lexi, who widened her eyes slightly. It was noticed by her father.

"Umm, yeah, I noticed Teresa come out of her room, she couldn't find anyone." He smiled, "So I showed her to here."

"Well, thank you, Ace." Angela smiled and rubbed Teresa's back, Teresa, who, simply stood there, looking up at Ace. "I'm sorry about her; she seems to have lost her tongue lately."

Ace put his hands in his pockets and stood casually, seemingly he had lost his nerve, and Lexi was impressed – it seemed she was more nervous that he was, "Well it's a...big time for someone her age, you know, puberty and all." Lexi's mother nodded knowingly.

Lexi's eyes widened as her father's eyebrow's raised at Ace's comment, 'No, Ace!' She bit her lip; she knew how he dad took some comments.

"Yes, they were all like that, Lexi especially." Angela gestured toward her elder daughter.

Ace looked across to her and smiled, "Thanks...mum." Lexi sighed, embarrassed – her cheeks grew slightly red.

Ace let out a small chuckle, "Were da two of ya headed to breakfast?" Ace pointed towards the kitchen with his thumb as they started to walk.

"Yes." Angela said, "I was wondering if you happened to have anything nut free? This one can't have anything with nuts in." She walked with a hand on Teresa's shoulder.

"Oh, dat's no problem," Ace smiled, he now walked alongside Lexi's mother and younger sister, while Lexi and her father walked behind them, about two metres to the rear, "We shopped for food without nut products in, and I can assure you, Tech and Slam were very thorough – she'll have plenty she can eat here. And I made sure dat Rev...Uh, he likes seeds and nuts, I made sure dat he knows to make sure dat all lids are shut and not'in' drops onto bench tops or da table, and he said he'll wash his hands after he eats dem, just to be safe in case he spreads any oils anywhere."

"Oh, that was more than enough that you could do, thank you very much, Ace." Angela smiled. She looked down at Teresa, "There you go you'll be fine." She smiled, and then turned back to Ace, "She was awfully worried that she'd only be eating bread and salads while she was here."

Ace gave the girl a gentle smile, "Nah, you don't have to worry about dat."

"Thank you." She said shyly.

Lexi smiled to herself as she walked, thinking about Ace. 'Maybe this won't be too bad...Mum likes him, even if Dad doesn't she'll convince him. And I never knew he was so great with kids, Teresa's so shy, but she doesn't seem so bad around him, even now...Maybe all that worrying has been for nothing...'

/

"Uh, yeah – Mum, Dad; these are my friends: Tech, Rev, Slam and Duck." Lexi said as she, Ace her parents and Teresa made their way into the kitchen. "...and I'm pretty sure you know Leah."

There was an assortment of 'hello's' from the team. Lexi then showed her family were to get breakfast from – She and the Loonatics, as well as Leah, had already eaten earlier with her brothers.

"Oh, where are the boys?" Angela said as she looked around the kitchen.

"I think they're a little odd to be called 'boys', mum." Lexi smirked, "They went to see Alex."

"Oh." Angela then looked to Leah, "...and you're not going with them – he's your brother?"

Leah waved her hand in a relaxed fashion, "I'll see him later. He does know I came too, right?" She looked over at Lexi, who walked over to the table and then sat down next to Leah. Lexi's seat was the end seat on the table, closest to the door but the only seat facing away from it as she looked to her friends and family.

"Yeah, of course." Lexi smiled, she looked around, and then furrowed her eyebrows, "Where's Sam? Is she still – Ahh!" The female bunny jumped when to her hands sharply pulled her shoulders back slightly. She turned around to spot Sam, her sister, behind her smirking. She looked back to her family who chuckled slightly, "Oh, so you guys were in on it, you couldn't have warned me?" She raised her eyebrow and turned back to Sam, standing up, and giving her a light punch on the arm. "Seriously, I haven't seen you for three years and then you try and give me a heart attack? Real courteous." The two then hugged, smiling as they did so, "Man, I missed you so much!"

Sam moved her hands as if to say, 'Really?' sarcastically, "I missed you too." She looked at Lexi, "...you look different? Oh! I know – your confidence is back!" She smiled, but the smile disappeared as she picked up Lexi's arm and held it, Lexi, not knowing she was going to do that, had her muscles relaxed, which made it lighter and 'floppy' as Sam waved it about. "You're still weak," She looked over Lexi's shoulders to the Loonatics, "Seriously, do you guys feed her?"

"Frequently." Rev replied with a smile. The assembled people in the room seemed to enjoy seeing Lexi and Sam's reunion – for Leah and Lexi's family it was to see the two united again, while for the Loonatics it was seeing Lexi happy – a different type of happy that they hadn't ever seen in her before – they had also never seen her so relaxed and confident and happy with someone – It was how Lexi was with Ace when they were alone, but in a slightly different way.

Sam wasn't exactly what Ace had expected – facially they were the same. But Sam's hair was a red-orange colour, and while her fringe was spiky like Lexi's, it covered her whole forehead and was cut unevenly, so it looked choppy and interestin, it half covered her eyes at some point, and half didn't. She didn't wear the ribbon round her ears like Lexi's mother and younger sister did – Lexi's mother's ribbon was a turquoise green, while Teresa's was purple – to match their outfits. Instead, Sam simply wore a red and orange band around her ears.

The female bunny looked exactly like Lexi physically, they were the same height, and were both skinny. Sam wore a yellow vest top (tank top?) which would have been quite low on the chest, had it not been for some black fabric which was stitched under the initial low neck line of the yellow vest, and made the vest tip not so revealing. She wore a simple black choker around her neck as well. She wore plan black jeans with black cowboy boots underneath, and a few bracelets on her wrist. She looked slightly more confident than the Lexi Ace knew...maybe she used to be like Sam – outgoing and care free...but he wasn't sure – he had only known Lexi after she had lost her confidence in the event three years ago.

Ace smiled at the scene, along with everyone else in the room. Duck leant against a bench top with his arms crossed, "How long is this gonna go on for?"

Leah answered Duck, addressing the whole room, without taking her eyes off the bunny pair, "Give them twenty minutes and they'll have ran out of things to talk about."

//