Saint Joseph School

There were some who might question the choice of Atlas Park as a spot for a picnic. The scenery was pretty nice, sure, but there was always a spate of Hellion and Skull thugs running around, plus if you parked your car in the wrong place, Clockwork robots would come and strip it down. Still, it wasn't unknown or even uncommon to see a couple or even a family picnicking there. The two young adults sitting on a blanket near City Hall certainly didn't seem to mind all the lunacy around them. Either they were used to it, or they had more important things to worry about.

"Should I be nervous?" Jessica asked, fingering a can of soda in a way that suggested that she had already made up her mind.

"Well, I don't *think* so." Malcolm responded. "I mean, you've met my mom a few times before, right?"

"Yeah, I know. It's pretty hard to miss her if you stay in this area long enough. It's your dad I'm worried about."

Malcolm made a noise in between a sigh and a grunt. "You only need to be worried if he shows up, which he hasn't said he will yet. I swear the only way I'm going to get to ever talk to him for more than ten minutes at a time is to either enroll in one of his classes or invent a giant robot to stomp around the city in."

Jessica laughed slightly. "Is there anything you should warn me about before they get here?"

"Yeah. Mom drinks soy sauce and mustard straight from the bottle."

"Mixed together?"

"Sometimes."

Jessica covered her mouth, her eyes wide and looking generally disgusted. "I'll...remember that. And your dad?"

"Um...Jess...he's, well, not like me. Or mom. He can be really...difficult."

Jessica had uncovered her mouth, but it was obvious the shock of what Malcolm's mother would be drinking was still on her mind. "Honestly, he can't be that difficult."

Malcolm squirmed, looking away. "He just...is, OK? He thinks he knows everything, and he usually goes out of his way to prove that he does. If he disagrees with something you're doing, he'll describe just all the ways that you're stupid for even thinking like that in the first place..."

Jessica laughed slightly, rolling her eyes. "That sounds like a lot of people that I know, honestly." She gave a small, comforting smile to Malcolm.

"It's still not too late to back out, Jess."

"This'll have to happen eventually, Mal. It's either this picnic, or we go watch Star Trek for the fifth time."

"That's not a bad offer"

"I wasn't serious." Jessica smiled mischievously. "Maybe later. You're not getting out of this that easily." She reached out, putting a hand on his knee. "I swear I think you're more nervous than me."

"Well..."

Malcolm was interrupted by a tall woman suddenly planting herself on the blanked between and to the left of the two.

"Aam I late?"

Malcolm shook his head. "No, mom."

"Aaah. Excellent." she said, dropping a satchel from her shoulder. "I waas worried thaat you two might staart without me."

Jessica also shook her head, smiling wide. "Nope! You were supposed to bring the sandwiches after all, Mrs. Eades, so we really couldn't!"

"Saandwiches...right..." Mrs. Eades opened her pack, and took out two bottles of soy sauce, a bottle of soda, and several sandwiches wrapped in plastic wrap. "Aand it's 'Ronnie', if thaat's aall right, Jessiy."

Jessica nodded as she took one of the sandwiches and unwrapped it. "I think that'll be fine, ma'am...err...Ronnie. What kind of sandwiches did you make?"

"Oh, my favorite. Aanchovies, vinegaar, aand toothpaste" she responded, grinning. Both Malcolm and Jessica froze. Jessica looked down at the sandwich in her hand, then up at Mrs. Eades, not sure if she would offend the woman by not eating today.

"For me, of course. I brought roast beef aand turkey saandwiches for you two." Saying that, she gingerly plucked the sandwich Jessica was holding out of her hand and replaced with another from the satchel. Jessica shuddered quickly, blushing her deep purple.

The three began to eat, exchanging stories of both amateur-(in Malcolm and Jessica's case) and (in Ronnie's case) super-hero work. Ronnie was in the middle of an amusing story involving two Freakshow Tanks getting stuck trying to escape down the same manhole when a fourth party joined them, silently sitting down next to her and taking a sandwich.

"You're late, Zaack."

Malcolm's father nodded. "I know. You *are* aware that I have a job, and we were right in the middle of a project involving..."

Ronnie cut him off. "I aam aawaare of of thaat. Thaat's no reason why you caan't spend a nice lunch with your son aand his girlfriend for aan hour or so." Her tone of voice, easygoing and cheerful before, was now serious and somewhat biting.

However, it seemed to work wonders on her husband. Zachary nodded, and perhaps even smiled a little. "I suppose it can wait at least *one* hour. If those nitwit grad students I have on the project don't ruin everything while I'm gone." As he began to eat, he sniffed the air slightly.

"Ronnie, did you make those awful fish and Colgate sandwiches again?"

****

There were more stories swapped, involving school work in the bizarre environment, newbie Longbow Eagles, and nitwit grad students. Ronnie managed to polish off four of her bizarre smelling sandwiches, along with an entire bottle of soy sauce to wash it down. Overall, Malcolm's nervousness about this lunch was starting to fade, up until...

"So, Miss St. Peter, I understand you're graduating from school quite soon. What are your plans for the future?"

...Dad had to trip over a touchy subject.

Jessica contemplated the pattern of the blanket for a couple of seconds. "Well, I haven't made any definite plans..."

"Nothing for college? Honestly?" He looked at Malcolm. "Malcolm, I know you're still a year away, but haven't you already applied for several colleges?" Malcolm cringed and didn't answer. "In this day and age, you almost certainly have to have a plan for your future. Not even a degree is a guarantee of stability in this environment." He looked at Jessica again. "If not higher education, do you have any employment in mind?"

"Well, I've been planning on enlisting in the Air Force, then transferring to Vanguard..."

"Vanguard? That's volunteer work, not an actual job. Do you really think you'll be in Vanguard until you retire, even assuming you live long enough in it?"

Jessica didn't answer, biting her bottom lip and trying her best not to glare at Mr. Eades, her back straight. She covered the fist her left hand had made with her right.

"D-dad...it's not really her fault." Malcolm stuttered, doing enough shrinking back for the both of them. "She got.."

"Mal, it's ok...I got it" Jessica interrupted. She turned to Mr. Eades, doing her best to sound calm and collected. "I applied to the Air Force Academy, but my application was rejected, for...obvious reasons." She motioned to herself.

Ronnie made a sound of disgust, understanding what the girl meant. "Horrid! Whaat eraa do they think they aare living in?"

"One in which we are subjected to near constant attack by that which is other than us, Star." Zack answered, using the pet name he had given to his wife way back in their independent hero days. "You probably wouldn't have gotten in either."

"And to answer your question, sir," Jessica continued, "I am looking into options for using my...talents for the good of the city. I know I want to go to college eventually, but I'm still trying to figure out where. To be honest, I'm sick of Paragon and school. But..." She reached out her hand, and Malcolm took it almost instinctively. "I've got some good reasons to stay."

Malcolm's mother grinned, and leaned in between the two. "Is thaat so? Aand how good *is* this reason?"

"Real good." Malcolm responded.

"How good is 'real' good?" Both Malcolm and Jessica made a nervous coughing and looked in opposite directions.

"Star, don't antagonize the children." Zack grumbled, as Ronnie leaned back with a grin that suggested that she was satisfied, until...

"We made a promise." Malcolm blurted out.

Ronnie's eyes turned bright green, the Ovig equivalent to a bright blush. "Promise?"

"It's not serious...for now." Jessica said, nodding. Her cheeks were burning bright purple, and her hand tightened around Malcolm's nervously. "But after we're both out of high school..."

"...and we've grown up a little..."

"...it's really a big reason why I want to stay..."

"...so..."

"...yeah..."

Both of them cringed at the frantic giggling and clapping Malcolm's mother made. His father just rubbed his beard, chewing and swallowing his last few bites of roast beef. He put his hand on Ronnie's shoulder after a few seconds.

"Well, I can't say I don't think it's too soon..."

"It's not too soon!" Ronnie said, annoyed.

"Star, just because we only dated a month before we..." Both Malcolm and Jessica's eyes widened.

"We were friends before then! So were they! Weren't you?" The last bit was directed at Malcolm and Jessica, who nodded quickly in agreement.

"It was unique in our case, Star. We can from two different cultures and I was respecting yours! If I had known that...."

Ronnie cut him off. "Say no more, mister! Not in front of the children!"

Jessica and Malcolm could only stare in slight disbelief at this bizarre quarrel.

Zack cleared his throat. "What I was *trying* to say, Malcolm, Jessica, is that it *is* good you're not entirely running into this headlong." He stood up, wiping his mouth off with a napkin. "We did. I don't regret it, and I hope you don't, Star. The potential was still there, though..."

"Whaat he's trying to say, Maalcolm, Jessicaa, is that we both support whaaever decision you make, and it seems like you aare making a good one." Zack nodded in response, staying quiet.

"Though you caan caall me "Mom" from now on if you waant."

This time, it was Jessica and Malcolm's turn to blush