Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Changing Seasons (Part Six of the Family Sagas) ❯ Part Three ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: I don't own them, except for the kids!

Changing Seasons, Part 3

Donavon stared out the window of the car as the Barton's made their way home. He shook his head a little as he remembered how Randy looked as she walked away from him when they left the airport. She looked so happy to be home and as it seemed to him that she couldn't wait until Miles was home. Miles. He wasn't quite two years older then him and from the back one couldn't tell the difference between them. Miles was a little shorter and a little heavier, his eyes were the deep emerald green of their father's and his hair color was not as bright. While he was leaner and a little taller, his eye color was a cross between his father and his mother's, and his hair was a much brighter shade of russet. And his brother was the biggest flirt in the European sector if one excluded the three Maxwell brothers. Time and time again he had watched his brother go through scores of girls, never dating them very long, but he never was lonely for very long either. Girls came naturally to his brother unlike him, who was somewhat shy with girls, that he wasn't raised with. "He always had all the luck," he said under his breath.

"Did you say something, sweetheart?" Middi asked as she turned her head and looked over her shoulder at him.

"No, mom, it was nothing," he replied as he turned his head and looked out the window again. He went back to his musings about his brother. And his brother had the only girl that he had always wanted because he had been too scared to admit that he had feelings for Randy. "Vaughn was right, I am a baka!" He sighed as his dad pulled into the driveway. He smiled a little as he got out. "It's good to be home," he said as he followed his parents inside the house.

Trowa turned and looked at his second son. He smiled faintly. Like Duo, he liked it when his kids were home. He still had one at home and she came running down the steps to greet her brother.

"Donavon!" Isabella cried out happily as she jumped into her brother's arms. The now sixteen year old was still as willowy as she had been at thirteen. She inherited her mom's more petite height and slender frame as well as her angelic beauty. "I missed you so much," she said as he swung her around.

"Missed you too half pint," Donavon said as he grinned and put down his baby sister. He looked down at her. He was surprised in how much she changed in a year. "You look older," he teased as he playfully tugged on a platinum lock that had escaped from her ponytail.

"Come on, I haven't changed that much," she replied as she poked him in the chest. "And I wish you wouldn't call me half pint, I'm not a little girl anymore," she said as she propped her hands on her slim hips.

"Come on, Izzy, you're always going to be half pint to me," Donavon said as he ruffled her hair again. "You're still as tiny as the day mom brought you home from the hospital."

Isabella laughed lightly. "I guess I am a little small, but of course from your extreme height, everyone looks that way."

"That's true, even mom does," he said as he looked at his mom as she leaned against his dad. It was a contrast. His dad was tall with dark tan skin and russet hair; his mom was petite with milky skin and platinum blond hair. They looked so different from each other, but yet they complimented the other. "Well I guess I'll take my stuff up to my room," he said as he lifted his two suitcases filled with his clothes. He stopped halfway up the stairs and looked back at his mom. "What are we having for dinner? I'm starving," he said a little sheepishly.

Middi smiled. "We're having grilled chicken and baked potatoes, your favorites," she said.

"Thanks, mom," he replied as he went up to his room and down the hall to his room. He dropped his bags on the floor and flopped down on the dark plaid comforter on his bed. He stared at his ceiling and then sat up. He opened his one suitcase and pulled out his journal. He always expressed his deepest feelings inside it. His mom always said he was the thinker. He flipped through to the last entry, which was last night in New York. He reread what he had written.

Thursday, May 10, A.C 224

Today was just one of those days. It started out ok, but it didn't portend to what was going to happen later. I had finished all of my finals yesterday and Randy had her last one today. Randy. The heaven and hell I have been putting myself through for the last half of my life. Why did she have to participate in that lingerie contest and why did I look? I wanted to, I wanted to get a glimpse at what I was never going to have. And it made me hurt all over because I could have had her. I AM A BAKA!!! And then I had to go and kiss her. I wanted to, it's all I've ever wanted to do and seeing her dressed in nothing more then that didn't help. But like I said before she is my heaven and my hell. And it makes me so angry with myself for letting my brother have her. Don't get me wrong, my brother's a great guy, but what did he do to deserve her? I know he had to do all those tasks just for Duo to say yes, but what did he really do to deserve her? I'm madder at myself then at him. I damn myself for being close mouthed over my feelings for her and to make it worse, Vaughn doesn't waste any time reminding me because he likes to read my emotions, and Duo knows. I don't know how he ever figured it out. But he knew that I was in love with her and he probably knows that I still am. But back to tonight, I will admit for once, I let my imagination run wild and fantasize about what it would be like to remove that silky material from her body and touch her all over. But as usual it's only a fantasy and my more rational mind kicks in. But I did get one thing, I got a kiss and that's all I can ever hope to have.

"Man, I know how to make myself depressed," he said morosely as he shut the book and put it in his bedside table. He got up and left his room and went back downstairs. He could smell the aroma of chicken wafting through the open sliding doors of the kitchen. He went outside and sat hoped up on the railing of the deck and watched as his dad turned the chicken on the grill.

Trowa looked up at his son. "So how do you think you did on your finals?"

"I think I did all right," Donavon replied as he looked out across the lawn. "Some of them were a little difficult, especially the one I had to take in honors economics. The stuff on that was really hard, but fortunately I had Randy to help me study for it."

Trowa arched a brow. "Randy helped you? Didn't know she was taking that yet?"

"She is. I don't know how she got into that class, only being a second semester freshman. But I know she aced it. She seemed to have no trouble whatsoever in that class," Donavon said as he looked back at his dad. "But then again, that girl is smarter then the lot of us. She should have gone to MIT instead of Vaughn."

Trowa chuckled. "Yes, I would have to agree that she is smarter then the lot of you, but she inherited her mother's brains and she has already proven that she's already far beyond Hilde. It always made the rest of us wonder why Duo and Hilde didn't have Randy skip through school. She certainly proved that she was smart enough," he mused.

"It's because none of us want our children to stand out," Middi replied as she came out on the deck with a bowl of baked potatoes. "All of you stand out enough by just being children of former Gundam pilots. I think we all wanted our kids to be as normal as possible. And Randy never objected from staying in school with the rest of them even though she was already further ahead."

"Well in any case, she helped me pass that exam," Donavon said with a sigh. "And then she bought me a bottle sake, saying that it would make me feel better."

Trowa arched a brow at his son. "She bought you a bottle of sake?"

"Well she said she would share it with me and so I haven't opened the bottle just yet," Donavon replied as he hopped off of the railing. "She said she could drink me under the table."

This made Trowa's brow arch even higher. "She said that?"

"Yeah, you know Randy. Once a tomboy always a tomboy," Donavon said as he took the bowl of potatoes from his mother and set them on the table. He pulled out her chair for her. "So I said I would save the bottle for a special occasion and we would drink it together."

Middi smiled. "Just don't get yourselves both drunk. Duo wouldn't appreciate it if you brought his daughter home all liquored up."

"Randy can take care of herself. I already saw her down a Long Island iced tea and walk away without the side effects. I think it would take a lot to get her drunk," Donavon chuckled.

"I wouldn't mind trying one of those," said Isabella as she sat down at the table next to her mother.

"Over my dead body," Trowa said firmly as he put the platter of chicken on the table. "You're not old enough to drink and your system won't be able to handle all the liquor in one of those. You're too small."

Isabella pouted a little. "You're too overprotective, dad."

Donavon chuckled at his sister's response. She had inherited their mom's spunky attitude.

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"So were there any nice girls over there?" Middi asked her son.

Donavon's fork halted halfway to his mouth. He shook his head. "No, not really. I had my hands full with school and looking after Randy. The girl is a handful to look after."

"I can see why. That lingerie contest Vaughn mentioned would be something that Randy would do for the heck of it," she mused.

"She's got Duo's attitude that's why," Trowa replied as he leaned back in his chair, sipping his iced tea. "And for all places for it to come out, it would be his daughter. She's just the female version of him."

"Well it wasn't always hard for me to look after her, she always took me with her wherever she decided to go. At the frat parties, she brought me as her date just to make sure that no guy would hit on her. Not like she couldn't break a guy's finger if she wanted to," Donavon explained as he finished his potato. "But anywhere she went that she knew that there would be a lot of drunk guys, she took me and, or Vaughn."

Trowa said nothing, but carefully observed the way Donavon's face seemed to light up when he mentioned Randy. He knew that the both of them were close. They had been since they were little. His kids and the other's kids were like that. The whole lot of them was clannish. But some shared special bonds like Chris and Victoria, who were now married, Jonathon and Leigh, David and Kellie, and of course Randy and Donavon. But their bond was somewhat puzzling since they never dated and never professed feelings more then friendship. Miles was dating her, and yet even though he knew his son loved her, he had this feeling that she wasn't the right one for him. He liked Randy, she was a good girl for the most part, but she had too much spirit. Miles let her walk all over him and even he knew that wasn't what Randy needed. And yet he always had a feeling that Donavon felt more for her then he let on. He was the secretive one when he wasn't being brutally honest. He sighed to himself. "I wonder what it would have been like if Randy had ended up with Donavon instead of Miles? I'm not really doubting him; I'm just questioning whether or not he's the best choice for Randy. I know, but Miles is my son. And so is Donavon. I wonder is it possible for two brothers to love the same woman?" He sighed again.

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Donavon stared up at his ceiling once he was in bed again. He felt tired but he didn't want to close his eyes just yet. He sat up and pulled his journal out of the drawer. He opened it to a blank page and began to write.

Friday, May 11, A.C 224

It is good to be home once again. And Randy and I have patched things up. Last night was a mistake, although I'm not all that sorry that I kissed her. She slept on my shoulder on the flight home. She looked so incredibly beautiful and vulnerable like that. I wished the flight could have gone on forever. It reminds me of the few times that she fell asleep on me while we would watch movies late at night and how I would carry her and put her to bed. I liked having her soft body that close to me, knowing that those will be the only times I get to hold her while she sleeps. But Miles won't even get that privilege until Duo sees a wedding band on her finger. I'm lucky in that respect I guess. And as many times as I lament about it and as many times I will date other girls to get her out of my mind, Randy is always going to own my heart.

He chewed on the end of his pen thoughtfully. "I really should find someone else though, but would it be fair to her when my heart will always be owned by another." He put the journal away and switched off the light. He looked out into the night through his window and sighed. "Only in my dreams."

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Trowa glanced over at his wife, who was sitting up against the pillows, reading a book. The lamplight glinted off of her glasses. He smiled slightly and leaned over, plucking them from her nose. "You're squinting even with these on," he teased lightly.

Middi wrinkled her nose at him. "I am not," she pouted as she went to grab them back, but he held them out of reach. "Trowa, give them back."

He shook his head and grinned at her. "Nope, you're not getting these back tonight. You stay up too late. Besides I want to talk to you about something."

She put her hands down and arched a brow at him. "You had to steal my glasses just for that."

"Yes, because once you get absorbed in your reading there is no talking to you," Trowa said as he placed her glasses on the bedside table. "And it's really important too," he said as his voice became serious.

"What is it?" Middi asked as her brow furrowed a little.

"Well it's about Donavon," he said as he put his arm around her. "Notice anything different about him?"

"No, not really. Why?" she asked again as she turned her head to look up at him.

"If you haven't noticed the way that his eyes light up when he mentions Randy, then we've all been totally oblivious," he said.

"Oblivious to what? What do you mean his eyes light up when he talks about Randy? They've always done…that," she finished slowly. She looked into his deep green eyes. "Trowa, what exactly are you getting at? Are you thinking what just popped into my head?"

"That our other son has a thing for Randy, who just happens to date his older brother," Trowa said as he stared into her blue gray eyes. "That is exactly what I was thinking."

She frowned. "That isn't good, Trowa. We can't have both of our sons with the same girl."

"No, we can't. But we can't stop Donavon from feeling the way that he does," he said as he looked up at the ceiling. "But no one else has seemed to notice, least of all Randy. We can't let on that we know. And hopefully if we don't say anything, it will pass on. I mean, Donavon did date Veronica and some other girls."

"He did, but he didn't date them that long and he was the one that broke it off between him and Veronica. They were only together six months," Middi said, as her frown grew deeper. "We can't have our sons fight over Randy. And Veronica will find out the real reason that he broke up with her. She really liked him too."

"I don't like it either, but we will just have to see how things play out. And hopefully nothing will come of it and we can stop holding our breaths," Trowa said as he reached up and stroked her cheek with his finger. "Now stop frowning so much." He kissed her forehead and then her nose. "It'll mar that pretty face of yours."

"Flatterer," she laughed softly as she tipped her head back and let his lips claim hers in a long loving kiss. "I love you, Trowa," she said against his mouth as her arms twisted around his neck.

"I love you too, Middi," he said as he found the light switch with one hand and flipped off the light as he lowered her to the bed.

Author's Note: Another chapter done! There will be more coming soon!! XOXO!!