Eye of the Beholder

Author’s Notes: Sorry about the delay. Kids are out of school for the summer and a muse that has suddenly become Transformers obsessed have slowed everything down. Thank you onewing, blue_lioness, Reed McCoy, brier, Dragonpink and WeepingAngelOfDeath for your reviews.

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“So, how did things go with Dad last night?” Amanda asks as they step out into the cold morning air.

“Fairly well,” Hank answers as he takes her hand in his. “He is a persistent man. He asked me questions from my upbringing to my religious affiliation. I was half expecting him to ask me if I wore boxers or briefs. Towards the end I was half hoping your mother would show up.”

“What in the world for?” she inquires as she leads him towards the barn.

“Well, if the well placed elbow to the ribs and the not so subtle kicks to the shins under the table were any indication, I believe your mother was trying to keep your father from asking any inappropriate questions,” he chuckles. “You should have heard them as they were getting ready for bed.”

“You were eavesdropping on my parents?” she questions in shock.

“It’s not like I had much of a choice in the matter,” he tells her. “They weren’t exactly keeping their voices down and my hearing is rather sensitive.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that you were intentionally listening in to their conversation,” she responds abashedly.

“Of course not, my dear,” he assures her with a gentle squeeze of her hand. “As it was, I was trying to ignore them until our names came up. To that, I’m afraid I must confess that I am guilty of not trying to tune them out after that.”

“Bad boy,” she teases with an ill hidden smile.

“I could suggest some sort of appropriate punishment,” he purrs in her ear and she barely suppresses a groan as a shiver runs down her spine. “But that might have to wait until we get back to New York.”

“This trip is going to kill me,” she moans and he chuckles.

“But as I was saying, your parents are of slightly differing opinions of what is and isn’t proper,” he continues while they wind their way through the winter dead vegetable garden. “Your father would rather us not be anywhere near each other while your mother sees no problem with hand holding and a comforting hug. Anything else is to be discouraged.”

“I’m surprised Dad didn’t have a fit over the hand holding thing,” she muses. “You should have seen what lengths he went through to keep Mike and Annie apart before they were married.”

“Oh, he was about to,” he tells her, a smile tugging at his lips at the memory. “But your mother promised him many long, cold, lonely nights on the lumpy couch if he messes this up for you. It seems she believes that I’m your last chance at finding marital bliss.”

“Why do people think I can only be happy if I’m married?” she huffs. “Do I have no value as a human being unless I’ve got a ring on my finger and a piece of paper stating that I’m legally bonded to another person? Am I worthless unless I belong to someone?”

“Of course not, my dear,” he assures her as he forces her to stop and look at him. “Your mother has found happiness with her marriage and she simply wishes the same for you.”

“She wants grandbabies,” she grumbles. “She won’t stop until I give her more grandchildren to play with. The woman is insane.”

“Maybe, but it’s because of her that we are out here alone,” he points out as he strokes the side of her face with his finger tips and no sooner is the last word out of his mouth then they can hear the back door slam shut.

“You spoke too soon,” she replies with a smirk as the sound of running footsteps reaches them.

“Aunt Amy, wait up!” Bethany calls and the two adults turn to see the twins rushing towards them, hastily pulling their coats on.

“We want to come too!” Beverly says as they get closer.

“Can we? Please?” Bethany begs.

“I’m just showing Hank around the property,” Amanda tells them.

“We know, but we want to come too,” Beverly replies. “So can we? Please?”

“I’ll leave that up to Hank,” Amanda says as she and the girls turn to him.

“I would be delighted to have the company of a couple of fairy godmothers,” Hank states and the girls beam at him.

“Thanks, but we’re not fairy godmothers right now,” Bethany says.

“Mom said she needed to clean our dresses or we won’t be able to wear them to midnight mass tomorrow night,” Beverly adds.

“You are coming tomorrow night, aren’t you?” Bethany asks.

“Aunt Amy’s friend didn’t come to Easter services when he visited and Grandpa didn’t like that,” Beverly adds. “He didn’t think very much of him because of it.”

“Aunt Amy’s friend is a Buddhist,” Amanda grumbles.

“But you are coming aren’t you?” Bethany repeats.

“Well…I don’t know,” he hesitantly replies.

“But you must come,” Beverly insists as she grabs the sleeve of Hank’s coat. “Aunt Amy is going to sing.”

“What!?” Amanda nearly yells. “I didn’t agree to sing this year.”

“But you sing every year, so Grandma just told them that you would,” Bethany tells her and Amanda groans.

“You never told me you could sing,” he says, delighted by this new surprise.

“I’m not very good,” Amanda mumbles, her face turning an incredible shade of pink.

“Yes, you are,” Beverly insists.

“You’re better than Mom,” Bethany says in a stage whisper.

“Crows being strangled sound better than Mom,” Beverly mutters and Hank barely bites back his laughter.

“Oh, no,” Amanda suddenly groans.

“What’s the matter?” he asks in concern.

“If I’m singing at church tomorrow night than that means Father Clancy will be coming to dinner tonight to talk to me about what song I’m going to do and when it’ll happen during the service,” Amanda moans.

“And Father Clancy doesn’t particularly like mutants,” he states, trying to sound casual about it, though the sadness in his voice is quite evident.

“No, that’s not it,” Amanda replies, still sounding upset. “Mom and Dad would never go to a church that didn’t teach tolerance. I’m more worried about the conversation my mother will have with him of what days the church will be available, say, next spring for a nice little ceremony.”

“What type of ceremony?” he questions, a bit perplexed.

“Guess,” Amanda challenges.

“Oh…OH!” he gasps as comprehension dawns on his face and then he chuckles. “Do you really think your mother would start planning our wedding even though we’ve dating less than two months?”

“You just wait,” she warns pokes a finger into his chest. “My dad’s a pussy cat compared to my mother on a mission and she’s determined to see me hitched and having babies as soon as possible.”

“Speaking of cats, does anyone know what happened to Hairy?” Beverly suddenly asks.

“Nothing as far as I know,” Amanda answers.

“Who’s Hairy?” he inquires.

“One of my parent’s cats,” Amanda explains. “He’s a big, fluffy gray thing.”

“Then he may have been in my bed this morning,” he tells them. “There was also an orange and black long haired cat and a brown tabby.”

“Sounds like you got Pandora and Scooter too,” Amanda chuckles.

“Not fair,” Beverly pouts. “I like it when the kitties get in bed with me.”

“I don’t,” Bethany grumbles. “I always wake up with a tale in my face.”

“I wasn’t aware that you’re parents even had cats,” he states, looking at Amanda.

“You know, I was so worried about you meeting my parents that I forgot to warn you about the cats,” she says. “Sorry about that. Though I’m surprised they got into bed with you. They usually avoid strangers.”

“I must say it was rather startling to find three furry bodies in bed with me,” he admits. “But no harm was done. I’m just surprised that I didn’t feel them jump up onto the bed with me.”

“You must have been really worn out from that long drive yesterday,” Amanda suggests with a barely contained smile.

“Yes, I’m sure that was it,” he responds, his eyes dancing with merriment.

“Can we go look at the chickens now?” Beverly nearly whines. “It’s cold out here.”

“Who wants to see a bunch of dumb old chickens,” Bethany grumbles. “Let’s show him the garden.”

“We’re standing in the middle of the gardens,” Beverly points out, waving her hand towards the raised beds. “Everything’s dead.”

“It’ll grow back,” Bethany insists.

“Yeah, in the spring,” Beverly retorts.

“If you two are just going to fight, you can both go back inside,” Amanda warns.

“Sorry,” both girls mumble.

“Good,” Amanda says with a nod before taking Hank’s hand and then turns to continue their journey towards the barn only to be stopped by little girl giggling. “What’s so funny?”

“You’re holding hands,” Bethany snickers.

“We most certainly are,” Hank says just before he kisses the back of the hand he’s holding.

Amanda just smiles at him and shakes her head before sighing and then leading them all towards the barn.

“So, you are coming tomorrow night aren’t you?” Beverly questions as they reach the barn.

“My dear, I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he answers with a big grin and all Amanda can do is whimper.

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“I thought I’d find you in here,” Cathy says as she steps into the den and steps up to the desk. “Here, I made you some tea.”

“Thanks,” Annie sniffs, hastily wiping the tears from her face before taking the offered mug.

“Did it work?” Cathy asks as she goes to shut the den door.

“Yes, and I’m never letting him do that again,” Annie vehemently states as another tear rolls down her face. “He passed out, Mom! He looked at me, said he over did it and then he passed out!”

“He doesn’t know his own strength yet,” Cathy replies as she settles down on an overstuffed chair. “He’ll learn over time. It’s not like you learned to control your abilities over night. As for never letting do it again, I’m afraid that unless you plan on following him around every day for the rest of his life, he’s going to do it again. He now knows that he can do it and he’s going to want to see what else he can do.”

“I knew I shouldn’t have let Amy talk me into this,” Annie grumbles.

“You know your sister, if you hadn’t agreed to it, she would have asked him directly,” Cathy points out. “At least this way you and Mike were here to take care of things if anything went wrong.”

“But he passed out, Mom!” Annie nearly yells.

“Please keep your voice down,” Cathy gently admonishes her daughter. “You did the same thing when you first started using your powers and you were older than he is. He’s going to be very powerful someday so now it is up to you to guide him, not to control him. If you try to control him, he will become what you fear the most.”

“I still hate this,” Annie grumbles. “I shouldn’t have let Amy talk me into this.”

“As I recall she didn’t talk you into it, she had to bribe you into it,” Cathy shoots back. “I’m not particularly happy that you ‘sold’ my grandson’s services so you could get a weekend off. Is that how you got her to baby sit last time? By selling his services? That was when Amy needed the memory from that digital camcorder wasn’t it?”

“Well…um…,” Annie stammers.

“I thought so,” Cathy sighs. “Really, Annie, is it worth a few hours of pleasure of the absolute misery she puts you through in the end?”

“But those few hours help me relax enough where I can be a mother again and not a screaming shrew,” Annie answers.

“Annie, how do you think it would look to anyone else if they knew you were selling your son’s abilities so you could get some time off?” Cathy asks.

“Pretty horrible,” Annie finally admits after thinking about it for a minute. “So I should just offer him up as the sacrificial lamb whenever she wants something?”

“How often has she asked for his help?” Cathy questions.

“Twice,” Annie replies quietly.

“How long ago did we even find out that he was developing these powers?” Cathy inquires.

“Shortly after his eighth birthday,” Annie mumbles, staring down into her tea.

“So, in nearly a year and a half, she’s asked for his help only twice and they weren’t for frivolous things either,” Cathy says, giving her daughter a familiar cold, hard stare. “We’re family, Annie. We do things for each other because of it; we don’t use each other like you’ve done to your sister.”

“But, Mom…,” Annie starts to whine in an all too familiar tone.

“Don’t ‘but, Mom’ me, young lady,” Cathy says sternly. “I never want to hear that you’ve been selling my grandchildren’s abilities again. Do you understand me?”

“Yes,” Annie growls. “So I should just let her use Paul’s abilities whenever she wants?”

“You just let her know she owes you and then you call in the favor later,” Cathy calmly replies. “You don’t demand payment up front.”

“Fine,” Annie grumbles and then abruptly gets up from her seat. “I’m going to go check on Paul.”

Annie all but storms out of the room and Cathy just sighs and shakes her head before heading back to the kitchen.

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“Are Annie and Paul not joining us for lunch?” Hank asks, noting the two empty seats.

“They’re not feeling well, so they’re both lying down right now,” Mike answers as he helps himself to a sandwich.

“I certainly hope they’re alright,” Hank states in concern. “They seemed fine at breakfast. Would you like me to look in on them?”

“No, that’s ok, they just need a bit of rest, but thanks for offering,” Mike replies and then takes a bite of his food, effectively ending the conversation.

Hank falls silent as he quietly wonders what could be wrong with the boy and his mother, both who had appeared in perfect health earlier that morning. So consumed with his own thoughts, he doesn’t notice Amanda’s sudden lack of appetite or the slightly worried expressions on Mike and Cathy’s face. It barely even registers that the twins are the only ones talking as they prattle on about all the things that they showed Hank that morning, their words barely even registering in his brain. But if he was to pay attention, he would hear the obvious nervousness in their voices.