“Lazy mornings are the best,” Amelia yawns as she curls up against me.

  I hold both Amelia and Bianca close, trying to mentally bounce back from last night. I say last night as if it hadn’t ended six hours ago.

  After finishing the fighting, Amelia and I had made it back home, slept for five hours each before getting up, leading to about now.

  “Yeah,” I agree before selecting a new show to watch. I’m not sure what I need to do, but I know I’m stuck in my head at the moment. I’m just going through the motions.

  Bianca leans against me, grabbing my hand when I pick a show she likes.

  For all that it was a win, it definitely doesn’t feel like it. I broke the lab, so they can’t use it anymore. Whatever is left of their resources are scattered. Even if they’re not all behind bars yet, I fucking won, and yet I just feel like all I’ve done is prolong the pain.

  Amelia pokes my cheek hard, grinding her finger against my face.

  “If you don’t stop that, I’m going to take a bite.” I warn.

  “Kinky, but you know lazy mornings are about enjoying the warm moment of your family all around you, not about you glaring off into space as if the entire world is against you,” Amelia points out.

  “Can we please not do this today?” I ask in a soft voice.

  Bianca turns in my lap to look at me before patting me on the arm gently as if trying to say, there there.

  Amelia disentangles herself from me and stands up, putting her hands on her hips. “Go and shower; we're going to be leaving to do something in two hours. You have that long to be introverted.”

  I stare at her blankly as she pulls Bianca away from me and sits down in a nearby recliner.

  “Go shoo do whatever guys do when they’re on their period.” Amelia says, draping a blanket over herself and Bianca. “Just be ready for our date in two hours.”

  Not having the capacity to fight it, I manage to pull myself out of the couch's embrace and stumble towards my bathroom.

  I don’t feel entirely human after my two hours is up, but an incredibly long shower and over an hour to just lay in bed reading has me feeling far more centered.

  Though as I rifle through my wardrobe I realize that I have absolutely no idea what I’m supposed to be getting ready for, so I settle for a casual ensemble with a nice jacket over it to combat the chill and because it looks nice.

  Looking into the mirror, I try to read the emotion in the dark voids that make up my eyes, but it doesn’t seem like anything to me. There’s nothing there. Though since today’s adventure is probably going to be in public, I do hunt down my sunglasses before slipping them on.

  Despite the fact I don’t think visually I’ve changed at all over the course of this. I barely recognize the person in the mirror. From the way I breathe to how I stand to how my hair is parted, it all seems off.

  It’s not the real Jason, just someone doing a decent facsimile of the man and hoping that nobody catches on.

  Pushing that thought out of my head, I slip my phone and wallet into their respective pockets and move to the front room where I see Amelia trying to wrestle stuff into a tote bag as Bianca jumps around holding a plastic cup with ice cream in it.

  “You gave Bianca ice cream?” I ask just trying to parse through the why.

  “Single parenting is hard, and her puppy-dog eyes when asking for ice cream is powerful. But I’m almost ready to go, though we’ll need to go shopping before driving to our destination.” Amelia says cryptically.

  “And you want to drive?”

  “Yup, you get to be the passenger princess, and I want you to keep your fancy mind powers blank so that it’s all a surprise,” Amelia giggles, looping an arm with mine as she tries to skip towards the door.

  “Won’t I figure it out from shopping?” I ask following Amelia but making sure to steer Bianca to follow us.

  “Not if I go in while you sit in the car entertaining Bianca. She’s been sworn to secrecy about where we’re going, right?” Amelia asks, looking at Bianca expectantly.

  Bianca nods before having another bite of her ice cream, jumping around happily.

  “Okay, sounds fun.” I say finally letting myself get dragged along with the whirlwind that is Bianca and Amelia.

  “Now we can drive to the store normally, but I am going to ask you to blindfold yourself once we start heading to our actual destination. I want maximum levels of surprise.” Amelia tells me as I finish buckling Bianca in.

  Slipping into the passenger seat, I turn on Amelia’s playlist on my phone before buckling myself.

  “I don’t mind blindfolds if I really have to, I suppose.” I shrug.

  Amelia hums along to the music playing on my phone as she fiddles with my mirrors so that they’re easier for her to use. “Why is it that despite the fact we’re the same height I have to mess with your mirrors when I drive your car?”

  “Posture?”

  “Just because you don’t understand my elite gamer posture doesn’t mean you can judge it,” Amelia harrumphs.

  As I look into the rearview mirror, Bianca gives me a little wave, and in response, I reach an arm back around my chair, letting her hold on to my hand and play with my fingers as we begin driving.

  Gently humming along to the songs playing as Amelia loudly belts out the parts she knows and makes up lyrics for the parts she doesn’t, the city flies by heading out of the city.

  “Are we heading out of the city?” I ask when I realize it.

  “Yup full day date can’t have your head there if I drag it somewhere else, now can you?” Amelia jokes as she gets onto the highway.

  “So we’re going somewhere?” I ask, wondering if Amelia will actually slip up and tell me even though she doesn’t intend to do so.

  “Yup, we’re going to spoiler and spoiler,” Amelia says, giving me a cheeky grin.

  “Well, I’m excited. It’ll be fun to blow off a day with you.” I grin before turning to Bianca. “And I’m super excited to spend the day ?with you Bianca I’ve been busy being a superhero, haven’t I?”

  Bianca nods in agreement.

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  “So, are you excited?” I ask some part of me feeding off the obvious joy and exuberance Bianca is feeling as she bobs her head so hard her hair begins flying everywhere.

  About an hour later we’re in the neighboring city and Amelia stops at a clothing store I don’t recognize, not a surprise because, well, I don’t know any clothing stores.

  “Do you need Bianca to go in with you?” I ask as Amelia unbuckles her seatbelt.

  “Nope, I know everyone’s sizes, so it shouldn’t be a problem, but you should fuss with Bianca. Have a fun time, toodles!” Amelia says, dashing away, the car door swinging shut behind her.

  Phasing the upper part of my body, I pass through the back support of my seat before turning most of me solid once more as my head lands gently in Bianca’s lap.

  “Hi Bianca, how are you doing today?” I laugh as I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear as she giggles.

  Bianca begins fussing with my hair as I talk to her about whatever comes to mind, both asking her questions about what she’s been doing and just taking the opportunity to talk.

  Nothing heavy, but it’s a good chance to just be with my family.

  “Bianca, would you want to go to school eventually? Not just a daycare with Ms. Sasha and Cass?” I ask quietly.

  Bianca freezes at my words.

  “We wouldn’t send you to a school like the one me and Amelia went to or one like the movies show. A proper school for supers, but if you don’t want to, it’s okay. I’m sure I can be a good enough teacher.” I say trying to reassure her.

  Bianca finally gives me a little shrug as if she can’t decide what is or isn’t the right response to such a statement.

  Bianca and I talk for a little bit longer before Amelia returns carrying three different bags and puts them in the backseat next to Bianca with the tote bag and another shopping bag I hadn’t realized was out here.

  With a lurch, I phase and sit up and begin the process of fixing my seatbelt, having just finished when Amelia hands me a handkerchief. “Time for you to blindfold up, sir, gotta follow on your side of the deal.”

  Without arguing, I let myself be blindfolded, and we begin driving to who knows where. Part of me is tempted to take a peek, but that’s against what I agreed to, and Amelia and Bianca seem to have really tried to come up with something fun to do today just for me, so I don’t want to ruin that.

  That doesn’t stop me from needling Amelia about where we’re going to see if she’ll break under pressure and tell me where we’re going.

  Unfortunately, she’s a bit of a stone-cold killer, unwilling to budge on what we’re doing, so I’m left to my imagination to figure out where we’re going.

  Wherever it is, I hope it’s somewhere with warm food. As much as I love ice cream, I want something warm today.

  If it hadn’t been a full-day affair, I probably would have made soup at home for us.

  “Alright we’re here but don’t take the blindfold off yet because I’m going to get you out of the car and standing and facing the entrance before I do so.” Amelia says as I feel the car park and she begins the process of escaping.

  “Bianca, do you need help getting out?” I ask before realizing with me blindfolded I have no idea what she responded with and I wouldn’t be able to help.

  “She’s got it; she’s allowed to use her wires for it too.” Amelia waves off her voice getting distant as she leaves the car, presumably to go around.

  A moment later, Amelia’s holding my hands, cackling like a loon as she leads me somewhere.

  “Can I open my eyes?” I ask, laughing.

  “Yes, you can,” Amelia confirms, letting go of one hand, and I can feel her moving to one side of me.

  Opening my eyes, with the bright light of the sun glinting off snow almost blinds me, but after blinking a few times, I manage to make out what is in front of us.

  “An indoor water park?” I ask reading the sign.

  “Yup, we needed a beach episode so you could teach Bianca how to swim!” Amelia cheers, squeezing my hand.

  “We don’t have swimsuits.” I point out.

  “What do you think I went shopping for, silly?” Amelia laughs as she goes to open the door.

  Bianca trundles up to me, staring at me with a bright grin on her face.

  “Was this your idea?” I ask, ruffling her hair. “I love it.” I say as she nods while squeezing Amelia’s hand.

  Amelia, despite me offering, elects to carry the tote bag and the four shopping bags all on her own as we walk in and buy our wristbands for the day passes.

  Once standing in front of the entrances to the respective changing rooms, Amelia finally lets go of my hand with a sigh.

  “Here’s your swimsuit B.” Amelia says, handing one of the bags to Bianca, who clutches it to her chest excitedly.

  “And me?”

  Amelia looks through the bags, and her face lights up when she sees what’s inside one of them before handing it to me. “And here’s yours. I picked it out specially for you.” She says, giving me a wink.

  Just to make sure that Amelia isn’t messing with me, I glance down at the bag to see a swath of hot pink fabric, which honestly isn’t that unsurprising ?when Amelia is left in charge of getting someone something.

  However, not usually when it’s entirely unknown, she’s doing it.

  I take the piece of fabric out of the bag and raise an eyebrow as I figure out what it is. “Amelia?”

  “Yes?”

  “Can I have a swimsuit that would actually fit me? And not traumatize people to see me in?” I ask, holding up the hot pink slingshot bikini.

  “What you won’t wear it for me?” Amelia says, snatching the swimsuit out of my hands and handing me a new bag. “That’s fair; it’s not your size anyway.”

  Peeking in, I breathe a sigh of relief at what look to be normal white swimming trunks. I can definitely deal with that, even though I still would rather wear a shirt while swimming.

  “No, I won’t.”

  “So, do you want to do the family changing room, or should we split up?” Amelia asks as she picks up the tote bag and holds Bianca’s hand as we make our way across the parking lot.

  “Let’s go to the separate changing rooms; it’s just easier.” I say before giving both Bianca and Amelia a quick hug.

  “Or you could just propose to me so we can do whatever we want together.” Amelia says pointedly, not looking at me.

  I can feel my own face heating up as I turn. “I’ll see you two in a few minutes.” I say instead quickly heading away.

  In the safety of the men’s changing room, I quickly pick out a locker and set the temporary passcode before changing into the white swim trunks and flip-flops.

  I take a moment to adjust my mind and try to figure out what is wrong with me today. There was nothing to that question. Amelia and I have joked about stuff like that for ages, and yet today I get flustered about it.

  I am the first person out of the changing rooms, so I take the time to find us a table that is within line of sight of where Amelia and Bianca will be entering the water park from so that they’ll see me immediately.

  I’m not waiting too long till I see the duo walk out.

  Upon seeing me, Bianca immediately ignores all the no running around the pool rules and charges forward.

  I laugh as I catch her ridiculous charge, holding her up as I nuzzle her nose against mine. “I missed you too, B.” I laugh. “Do you like your swimsuit?” I ask not setting her down figuring I’ll wait till Amelia gets here.

  Bianca nods as she twists in my arms to show me the blue and white swimsuit she’s wearing, though I do have to slightly attempt to dodge one of her braids from hitting me across the cheek.

  “You excited to learn how to swim?” I ask quietly as Amelia slips into view, leaning down to flash me a grin.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey!” she says, drawing out the y. “So how do I look?” Amelia asks, striking a pose. Amelia is wearing a simple dark blue bikini top and matching shorts.

  “You look lovely. Though I don’t think I need to teach you how to swim.”

  “Nope, I’m going to go down every water slide.” Amelia agrees. “I bet there’s some we can go down together, but we should play with B a bit first!” She declares, tapping Bianca on the nose.

  Once I make sure Amelia has set the tote bag on the table, marking it as ours, I lead our little troop to the play area, setting Bianca down into the water, it barely reaching her waist.

  The moment Bianca is in the water, “someone” knocks me over, and I’m splashed with water, though when I sit up sputtering for air, Amelia is whistling innocently as she points at Bianca with a hand.

  Bianca looks between me and Amelia before splashing in the water for a moment before splashing me with substantially less water than I was being accosted with earlier.

  “The criminal admits it; she’s a serial splasher!” Amelia gasps before splashing me again.

  As I’m being accosted, my arms wrap around Amelia’s waist, pulling her to the ground with me, the two of us laughing as we fall.

  “Thanks for doing this for me.” I whisper.

  Amelia kisses my forehead. “For all you spoil me, sometimes I want to spoil you.”

  Bianca joins our little group hug for a moment before pulling us in the direction of the slide in the little kids' play area.

  “Join us?” Amelia asks, getting up and heading to the slide happily.

  “Always.”

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