I'd like to give a big thanks to my proofreaders, both for their suggestions and for giving me the confidence to actually post it (Dougie, I made a few changes from the version you read if you want to reread it).

 
Can You Keep a Secret? by Raynar Brusk

“But I don’ wanna go to school…” Ray McHenry mumbled instinctively to himself as he woke up. It took him a moment to realize it was Saturday. Not just any Saturday, but the Saturday that he had the house all to himself. Well, him and his sister, anyway. He kicked off the covers and rolled out of bed, then headed to the window. His parents’ car was gone, they had to leave early to drive to a wedding in a different city.

Grinning, he waddled down the stairs to the living room and sat down in front the TV to watch cartoons. His wet night diaper squished under him, but he didn’t care. Changing would cut into valuable cartoon watching time.

Now, six might be a little old to be wearing diapers, but Ray was a bed wetter. One that wet so heavily pull-ups tended to leak, so he still wore diapers to protect his bed. Not that any of that mattered now, he was more concerned with how the Ninja Turtles would get out of their current predicament.

***

Back upstairs, in the bedroom next to Ray’s, his sister Trinna stirred. Woken by the sound of cartoons, she glanced at her clock. They have a 9 in the morning on Saturdays? Why was I not informed? She let out a rather long yawn and started stretching, working out the knots. Finally, she reached down and sighed. Crap, this was my last one. I’ll need to get more. Like her brother, Trinna was a bed wetter. Guess they’re right about it being genetic.

Getting out of bed, Trinna shambled in a zombie-like fashion to her closet to double check her supply of Goodnites. She was indeed out, having forgotten to restock earlier in the week. It wouldn’t be a problem, but her parents insisted she hide her bed wetting from Ray, lest it affect his own ability to stay dry. She’d have to get more without him knowing, but that could wait until later.

She grabbed some random clothes and a towel, as well as a garbage bag, and went down the hall to the bathroom. Slipping out of her nightgown and wet Goodnite, which she placed in the garbage bag, Trinna stepped into the shower and turned on the water.

***

Ray heard the water turn on, which meant he still had a while before Trinna came downstairs. She liked to take long showers in the morning for some reason. Poking at his diaper, he decided it could hold a little more. Ray closed his eyes and relaxed, wetting his already soaked diaper nearly to the point of leaking. He didn’t need diapers during the day, but his parents always told him not to waste things. He rationalized that the diaper would just be thrown out anyway. He giggled at the squishy feeling and went to get a bowl of cereal.

***

Trinna turned off the water and dried herself off, then got dressed in a tee shirt and a pair of cargo pants. She made sure the garbage bag with her used Goodnite was securely tied and headed downstairs, tossing her nightgown in a hamper along the way. She saw Ray plopped down in front of the TV when she entered the living room. “Hey little guy.”

Ray mumbled something that might have been “hi” between mouthfuls of cereal.

“Talkative today, huh?” She casually went out the backdoor and tossed the bag in a garbage can, then came back in and made herself some toast. “Are you getting dressed? You don’t want to wear pajamas all day.”

“Yes I do!” Ray said clearly this time, even turning away from the TV.

Trinna rolled her eyes as she finished her toast. “Let me rephrase. You don’t want to wear a wet diaper all day.”

Ray blushed and nodded. He was starting to feel a little clammy. “Okay…” He waddled to the kitchen and put his cereal bowl in the sink. As he did, his sister leaned down to feel his bottom. “Hey!”

“You’re pretty wet, kiddo. You better take a bath.”

He crossed his arms and tried to look defiant.

“Oh no you don’t. Who do you think’s getting blamed if you get a rash?”

Ray looked down and blushed some more. “Fine.” He went up the stairs with Trinna close behind, unaware that she was smirking at how he waddled. He stripped down to just his diaper as Trinna got the water running.

“Geez, Ray. I think you have a drinking problem.” She didn’t like teasing him too much since she also had a problem, but she was honestly surprised his sagging diaper hadn’t leaked. She carefully untaped it and put it in a garbage bag, then helped him in the tub. It didn’t take too long, since Ray was actually pretty good at cleaning himself. He just needed supervision so he didn’t spend 40 minutes playing in the water and getting all pruney. She pulled the plug and helped him dry off. “What do you say?”

Ray mumbled something.

“What was that?”

“Thanks, sis.” Ray said, still mumbling a bit.

Trinna nodded. “Now go get dressed.” She watched him leave, and then yelled after him. “Real clothes, not more pajamas!”

“Aww, you’re no fun.”

She sealed the bag with the diaper and went to dispose of it in the same can she deposited her Goodnite in earlier.

***

“Hmph, what’s the point of mom and dad being gone if I can’t wear pajamas all day?” Ray asked no one in particular as he got dressed, picking a red shirt with a lightning bolt on it and some shorts.

A moment later, he heard a voice from outside the door. “You all set, Ray? Got everything in the right holes and all that?”

“Yep.”

“Okay, I’ve got stuff to do, give a shout if you need anything.”

“Uh-huh.” Ray turned his toys. With that distraction out of the way, he could get on to more important matters: helping the Decepticons conquer the Earth.

***

Trinna returned to her own room and quickly cleaned up; making her bed and picking up some randomly placed clothes and books. It was time to put her plan in motion. Since she couldn’t let Ray know she needed Goodnites, she couldn’t take him to the store with her to get some. She also couldn’t simply leave him at home. What she needed was a patsy, and she knew just the one.

She grabbed her phone and hit the speed dial, waiting a moment for someone to answer. “Hello?”

“Hi Dougie, what’s up?”

“Oh, hey Trin. Nothing much, I guess. You?”

“I’m watching the little guy while the folks are out of town. You heading to the mall today?”

“Yeah.” Dougie paused a moment. “Do you need something?”

This would be the hard part. “Yeah. I need you to pick me up something. I’m out of…” Even though Ray wasn’t around, she lowered her voice anyway. “I’m out of Goodnites.”

“Oh… oh. You are?” Dougie was the only one outside of her parents who knew about Trinna’s problem, after noticing a Goodnites package by accident. He hadn’t blabbed her secret yet, so she figured she could trust him.

“Yeah. Could you get me some while you’re out?”

Dougie stalled. “Can’t you just use one of Ray’s?”

“I tried once, I needed duct tape to… hey, don’t change the subject!”

“Um… I dunno… it’s kind of embarrassing…”

Trinna smiled, almost feeling him blushing on the other end of the line. “C’mon, they’ll be GIRL’S Goodnites, no one’ll think they’re for you.”

“Um, I suppose that’s true.” He sighed. “Fine, I’ll be over in a couple hours. Bye.”

“Heh, you’re the best, see you then.” She hung up and looked at the clock. It was getting to be lunch time, she should probably whip something up.

***

Ray stood up on his tiptoes to see over the edge of the counter. “You’re using mozzarella instead of cheddar, right?”

“Right.”

“And you cut off the crusts?”

“You like crusts, you just want me to do extra work.”

Ray shrugged. “Yeah. What’d you make it with? Worms?”

“The finest imported from Belgium.” Trinna replied with a smirk. “Or turkey. I always get them confused.” Not clarifying if she meant the country or the meat, she put the sandwich on a plate and handed it to Ray. “Now go eat.” She watched him sit down at the table and made a sandwich for herself. After lunch was finished, she turned to Ray and asked, “So, what do you want to do?”

“Watch a movie?”

“Sure.” She ended up putting on a DVD of old Batman cartoons and they watched them on the couch for about an hour before there was a knock on the door.

Ray didn’t even look away from the TV. “Who’s that?”

“I’ll get it.” Trinna got up off the couch and went to the door. “Hey Dougie.” She went into her best impression of a drug dealer from a bad movie. “You got the stuff?”

“Hey Trinnie.” He held up a plain shopping bag. “Right here.”

Trinna took the bag. “You’re a lifesaver.”

Ray entered from the living room. “Hi Dougie, whatcha doin’?” He looked up at Trinna, who was now holding the bag close to her chest as if to hide it. “What’s that?”

Dougie reached down and ruffled the boy’s hair. “Hey there, Rayray. Just dropping something off for your sister.”

“Hmm?” Ray looked up at the bag again. He couldn’t tell what was inside, but the shape seemed familiar. He’d never seen his sister blush like that either. What could it be? He kept trying to think where he’d seen a package shaped like that before. My diapers! But why would Trinna blush and try to hide them? Unless… His eyes went wide. “They’re for you! You wear diapers!” He watched Trinna turn even redder.

“Um…” Dougie was blushing too. “Y’know what I haven’t seen in a while? Your kitchen.” He awkwardly left, leaving the siblings alone.

“Well, they’re not technically diapers, they’re pull-ups.” She rambled, trying to keep her blushing under control.

“Oh.” He started to feel bad since she clearly seemed upset. “Um… how come you tried to hide ‘em?”

“Oh, that. Mom made a big deal about not telling you. She said it would slow down your toilet training if you knew I wet the bed, and now she just says knowing would make you wet the bed longer or something.” Her blushing was under control now. “Um, could you not tell her you know?”

Ray shrugged. “I guess.”

“Thanks, little guy.”

Dougie poked his head out of the kitchen and saw that things were under control. “So, what’re you guys up to?”

“Oh!” Ray smiled, seeming not to care about what just happened. “We were watching Batman!” He grabbed Dougie’s arm and dragged him to the living room.

Dougie smiled. “Batman, huh? If you’re going to force me, I suppose I’ll join you.”

As the two boys went into the living room, Trinna took the opportunity to run the Goodnites up to her room. She put them in the usual hiding place to keep up appearances, and then went back downstairs. The opening credits to the next Batman episode had ended. She fell back onto the couch in between Ray and Dougie. She gradually leaned in closer to Dougie, but Ray noticed and made a kissing sound, causing them to blush and sit perfectly straight for the remainder of the episode.

Once the episode ended, Dougie looked at his watch. “It’s been fun, but I should really head home.” He gave Ray’s hair another ruffle and gave Trinna a quick hug, and then they said their goodbyes.

With Dougie gone, Ray went back to his room and played for a while, giving Trinna a chance to catch up on her reading. Soon enough dinner time rolled around, and they ordered a pizza with the ‘food money’ their parents had left for them. They probably ate too much, but it didn’t seem worthwhile to save just two slices of pizza.

Soon after they finished up, the phone rang and Trinna answered. “McHenry residence, how may I direct your call?”

“Very funny.” Said the voice on the other end. “How’re you two holding up?”

“We’re just fine, mom. How’s the wedding?”

Mrs. McHenry sighed. “It’s… a wedding.”

“That bad, huh?”

Trinna heard a faint voice in the background, “Oh crap, he passed out in the cake!”

“I really need to go. Remember Ray’s bedtime.”

Trinna nodded, despite the fact her mother couldn’t see it. “I will mom. Try to have fun.”

As she hung up, Ray walked up to her. “Who was that?”

“Wrong number.”

“But you were talking a while. And you called it mom.”

Trinna smirked. “If you knew it was mom, why’d you ask?”

Ray growled at being found out and stormed up to his room. He returned to his Transformers and continued his battle from before, with the Decepticons delivering a crushing defeat to the Autobots.

As the night wore on, Trinna came up to his room. “Time for bed.”

Ray stifled a yawn. “Aww, do I have to?”

“You sure do. Since you had a bath earlier and we didn’t go out, you can get away with just washing your hands and face.” She thought a moment. “And make sure you go to the bathroom, too. I’ll get your stuff ready.” As Ray nodded and left, Trinna got out his pajamas and a diaper, feeling a little guilty over not telling him the truth all those years. When Ray returned, she looked down at him. “Hold out your hands.” She examined them a minute, than nodded. “Good job.”

Ray got undressed and tossed his clothes in the hamper, than laid down on the changing pad Trinna had set up on his bed. “So, um, you need these too?”

Blushing, Trinna nodded. “Yep, all my life.” She slid the diaper under him and applied a little two much powder, coughing a bit. Ray giggled. She taped his diaper snugly into place and helped him into his pajamas, then gave him a quick pat on the bottom.

“Hey!” Ray blushed as she helped him into bed and tucked him in. “Thanks sis. G’night.” He yawned again as he settled into bed.

“G’night Ray, sweet dreams.” She carefully snuck out of his room and switched off the light. Not having much else to do, she went back downstairs to watch a movie. She put the disc in the player and curled up on the couch.

Yawning as the credits rolled, Trinna turned off the lights in the living room and returned to her room, throwing her clothes in the general direction of the hamper as she took them off. She grabbed a Goodnite from the new package and slid in on, then put her nightgown on over it. She yawned one last time as she turned out the lights, then got into bed and nodded off.

Ray groggily woke up and looked around. Seeing it was still dark, he tried to get back to sleep, but there was something wrong. There was an intense pain in his abdomen, which felt almost like he had to go the bathroom. Ugh, maybe I did have too much pizza. He didn’t like getting up in the middle of the night, but he liked messing himself even less, so he rolled out of bed and carefully tried to walk to the bathroom. He had opened his door halfway when the pain intensified, causing him to double over.

Ray let out what he thought was a muffled fart, but there was a strange feeling on his bottom. For the first time in quite a long while, he was messing his diaper. Caught by surprise, he didn’t even try to make it to the bathroom and finished going right there in his room. His hand made its way down to his bottom and he felt the warm mass he had deposited there. Sniffling, he wondered what he would do now.

***

“Sis?”

Trinna turned over and looked at the clock. Four in the morning. This better not be the boogeyman. “What is it, Ray?”

“I…” he sniffled, “I had an accident.”

“Huh?” Trinna yawned. “You have an accident every night, can’t it wait ‘til morning?”

Ray looked down, and she could tell he was blushing just from the light in the hall. “Not that kind of accident.”

That’s when the smell hit her. “Ray?” She got out of bed and knelt down beside him, then reached around to feel his bottom. “Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.” He had moved on from sniffling to sobbing.

Trinna gave him a hug, and he buried his head in her shoulder. “Shh, it’s okay. Let’s go get you cleaned up, alright?” Ray meekly nodded and she picked him up, careful not to put pressure on the seat of his diaper. She carried him back to his room and got the changing supplies out. Their mother had gotten used to using baby wipes for some normal household cleaning, so there was an ample supply on hand.

Ray shuddered as he settled down on the changing pad and felt the mess squish under him. Blushing, he looked away as his sister pulled his pajama bottoms out of the way.

It had been nearly three years since the last time Trinna had to change Ray’s dirty diaper, so she tried her best to keep a neutral expression as she went to work. “Are you feeling okay?” Ray nodded a little as she untaped his diaper and started cleaning him. It took several wipes, which she put in a garbage bag along with the diaper. She applied some powder and slid the fresh diaper under him, securely taping it shut. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

Ray sighed as Trinna pulled his pajama bottoms back into place. “It hurt real bad, here.” He put his hand over his belly button. “Like I had to go, but worse. I tried to go to the bathroom, but I couldn’t hold it in.”

Trinna nodded, tying the bag with the dirty diaper in a tight not, than double bagging it just to be safe. “I’ll be right back.” She went to dispose of the bag and wash her hands, then returned. She put her hand against Ray’s forehead. “You don’t have a fever. How do you feel?”

“Okay, I guess. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

She pulled him up off the changing pad and into a hug. “Maybe you just had too much pizza. Do you want to go back to bed?”

Yawning as he returned the hug, Ray nodded. “I’m pretty tired, I guess.” Trinna quickly got him tucked back in. “Um, thanks for helping me.”

“It’s okay, little guy. Try to get some sleep.” She switched off the light and went back to her room, stopping to use the bathroom along the way.

***

Trinna woke up the following morning to discover she was dry. Great, after all that trouble I went through to get more Goodnites. She changed into a pair of panties and went to use the bathroom. On her way out, she noticed that she couldn’t hear the TV on downstairs. Ray’s always awake before me.

She peeked into Ray’s room and saw he was still asleep. “Ray? How’s it going?” He turned over and mumbled something. Trinna entered the room and set on the edge of the bed. “Are you feeling any better?” She felt his forehead. “Still no fever.”

Ray sat up, but didn’t meet her gaze. “I feel fine.” He started to blush, and mumbled, “I’m really sorry ‘bout what happened.”

“I told you, don’t worry about it.” Trinna said as she gently rubbed his shoulder. “Hey, I wanted to tell you a story, it might make you feel better.” Ray shrugged, which she thought could be a yes. “It was about six years ago, right after you were born. Mom and dad were giving you a lot of attention, and I was feeling jealous. They were always busy taking care of you, it seemed.”

Ray looked up, starting to get interested. “What happened?”

“Well,” Trinna began, feeling just a little nervous. “I haven’t told this to anyone before, not mom or dad, or anyone else.”

“What is it?” Ray leaned in closer, definitely intrigued.

She took a deep breath. “After what happened yesterday, you probably know that I was wearing pull-ups to bed back then, too. One day, I was even more jealous of you than usual. I don’t even remember what it was about anymore.” She lowered her voice, even thought the house was empty. “That night, I pooped in my pull-up, and told mom and dad I was sick. They believed me, and they helped me get cleaned up, sort of like how I helped you last night.”

“But I didn’t do that on purpose.”

“I know. But when they helped me, I saw that they really did care, and I got over my jealousy. Understand?”

Ray nodded. “Yeah. Hey, weren’t you older than I am now when I was born?”

Trinna saw where this was going. “I suppose I was.”

“And you pooped yourself on purpose?” Ray said with a smirk.

Trinna gave an indignant look. “Hey, I let you in on a deep personal secret. And I also changed your dirty diaper last night.”

“Right, that thing. You wont tell mom and dad about that?”

She gave him a sly grin. “I wont tell them your secret if you don’t tell them mine.”

“Deal.” He gave her a quick hug. “Speaking of diapers…”

While returning the hug, Trinna reached down and checked his diaper. “You’re only wet, but after what happened last night, you better have a bath.” Ray nodded and followed her to the bathroom, where she went about bathing him in the same fashion she had the previous day. Afterwards, she carried him back to his room wrapped in a towel. “I know you said you feel fine now, but just to be safe, I think you should wear a diaper.”

Ray blushed. It was embarrassing, sure, but it was nothing compared to what Trinna told him a little while ago. “I dunno. Wont mom and dad see?”

“If you don’t have any accidents, you can change into underwear before they get back. They wont get home for a while. But if you DO have an accident, it’ll be better to have a diaper on.”

He couldn’t argue with that logic, and he didn’t really mind sitting around in his diaper whenever he first gets up in the morning. “Okay, if you think I should.” Trinna set him down on the pad and diapered him, using the right amount of powder this time.

“There you go, all set. Finish getting dressed, I need to go change.” She indicated her nightgown.

Ray, who was digging through a drawer, thought she meant something else. “You mean your, um, Goodnite?”

“Huh?” Trinna realized how easily her last statement could be misinterpreted. “Oh, I changed out of that when I first woke up, I meant my nightgown.”

“Oh.” Ray tried on a third pair of shorts, finally finding one that fit over his bulky diaper. “Did you…?”

Trinna blushed at the question, even though she woke up dry. She was about to answer, but decided after what Ray did last night, he could use some solidarity. “It was wet, yeah.” Ray nodded as he started looking for a shirt, and Trinna slipped out to her own room, lightly kicking the door shut as she pulled her nightgown off and got dressed, choosing a hoodie and a long denim skirt.

She met Ray at the top of the stairs and they went down for breakfast, then settled down into a typical Sunday morning routine. Trinna curled up on the couch and read, while Ray organized some elaborate chases through the living room with his toy cars. When he had to, Ray made it to the bathroom without any difficulty, but he needed Trinna’s help getting his diaper back on afterwards.

For lunch, Trinna thought chicken soup would be a good idea given Ray’s troubles. Once they were finished, she went to work setting up the DVD player so they could watch the next disc of the Batman set, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

Ray, who was already on the couch, looked towards the door. “Who’s that?”

Trinna shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m not expecting anyone.” She carefully went to peek out the window, and smiled as she opened the door. “Hi Dougie.”

“Hey there,” said Dougie. “I thought a certain babysitter could use some caffeine.” He held up a drink tray with a large cup of coffee and two soft drinks.

“You read my mind.”

Dougie waved his free hand around in a dramatic fashion and made a whistling noise. “Mind taking!”

Trinna chuckled. “Come on in, we were about to watch some more of Batman. Look who’s here, Ray.” She led Dougie into the house and closed the door.

When Ray saw that Dougie was coming in, he grabbed a blanket to conceal his diaper bulge. He managed to cover himself from the waist down just as the two teens entered. “Hiya, Dougie.”

“Ray’s not feeling well.” Trinna sat down next to him and rubbed his shoulder. “That’s why we’re just staying in today.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” Dougie gave Ray a supportive smile. “I got you some orange juice, that’s supposed to be good for you when you’re sick.” He sat next to Trinna and distributed the drinks, including another orange juice for himself.

“Thanks.” Ray took a small sip. “Can we watch Batman now?”

Trinna nodded and pushed the play button on the remote, starting the first episode.

***

By the halfway point of the second episode, the chicken soup and orange juice had taken an effect on Ray, and he started to fidget. He looked over at Dougie. If he got up off the couch, he would have to take his blanket off. And if he took his blanket off, Dougie would see his diaper. He then looked over to Trinna, who was resting her head on Dougie’s shoulder. Yesterday he had made fun of them for doing that, but now he was glad they were distracted from him. They wouldn’t notice how he had been fidgeting, or that he had stopped fidgeting. They certainly wouldn’t notice the blank look on his face as he wet his diaper. He had wet his diaper on purpose before, but it was usually his already wet night diaper. It was an odd feeling to wet a dry one.

Once Ray had finished, he scooted a little closer to his sister. She put her arm around his shoulder and smiled down at him. He smiled back, acting as if nothing was wrong.

Before long, the third episode had ended. “I need to get going.” Dougie announced. “I hope you feel better, Ray.”

“Thanks for the coffee.” Trinna said as she lean over to give Dougie a kiss on the cheek. “See you later.”

Dougie blushed as he got off the couch. “Bye.” He ruffled Ray’s hair and waved.

Ray waved back. “G’bye Dougie, thanks for the juice.”

“You’re welcome.” Dougie said as he made his way to the door, which he closed behind himself as he left.

Trinna looked down at Ray again. “Mom and dad will be home soon, how’d you like to change into a pair of underwear now?”

Ray blushed and looked away. He didn’t want to say anything, but Trinna would be the one getting rid of his diaper. “I wet my pants.”

“You did?” She was starting to get concerned, and rubbed his shoulder again. “Do you think you should wear another diaper, since you’re still having accidents?”

Ray thought a moment before answering. “No.”

“Why not? What if you have another accident?”

He sighed. “I wont.”

Trinna had an idea where this was going. “You know you wont have an accident later because you didn’t have an accident now, right?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to get off the couch.” Ray rambled. “I didn’t want Dougie to see I had a diaper on.”

“Dougie wouldn’t care if you had a diaper on.” Trinna said as she pulled him a little closer. “He knew you were sick, right?”

“I guess.” Ray mumbled with a shrug. “It’s not the same.”

“Well, it was my idea that you should wear a diaper. And come to think of it, I never told you that you couldn’t use it.”

“You wont tell mom and dad?” Ray said, looking hopeful.

Trinna grinned. “Nope, but we better get you into some dry pants before they get home.”

“Thanks sis!” He gave her a hug and hopped off the couch, then headed up to his room with Trinna following close behind. Once again, he was blissfully unaware she was grinning at his waddle.

Trinna pulled Ray’s shorts off then put him down on the changing pad. “I see you put this diaper to good use.” She tickled him before untaping his diaper and cleaning him up.

Ray giggled at the tickling, and as Trinna went to dispose of his diaper, he grabbed a pair of underwear, which he put on along with his shorts. As he arrived downstairs, their parents’ car was just pulling up. He grabbed Trinna’s hand and led her to the front door. “Hi mom!”

Mrs. McHenry was the first in. “Hey kids, did you have fun without us?”

Trinna shook her head. “Oh no, how could we possibly have fun without you? Right, Ray?” She nudged Ray, who nodded in agreement while trying not to laugh.

“This from my own children.” Mrs. McHenry said while shaking her head with mock disappointment. “Did you have any problems?”

“Well, there was one thing,” Trinna began. “When I was getting Ray ready for bed last night, I noticed that some of his diapers were defective. The outer covers were all torn, they probably would’ve leaked.”

Her mother nodded. “What did you do with them?”

“Oh, I put them aside and then threw them out with his wet diaper this morning.”

“Hmm.” Mrs. McHenry thought a moment. “If you had saved them, we could’ve complained to get a free pack.”

Trinna shrugged. “I hadn’t considered that. I’ll remember that if it ever happens again.” She winked down at Ray. “How did the wedding go?”

Struggling to think of what to say, Mrs. McHenry stammered, “It was…”

“Terrible!” Mr. McHenry finally entered, after having been distracted by a neighbor. “The father of the bride got drunk started a fight with who he ASSUMED was the father of the groom.”

“Cool!” Ray said, his eyes going a little wide.

“Only it was a waiter.” Mr. McHenry rolled his eyes as he continued. “Who was younger than the groom. And wearing a hotel staff uniform. And who apparently was a martial arts student.”

“Wow, sounds exciting.” said Trinna.

Mrs. McHenry rubbed her forehead. “Long story short, we may get called as witnesses at an assault trial.”

“Did you get us anything?” Ray said expectantly.

“Um…” Mr. McHenry searched his pockets. “We sure did.” He pulled out a piece of paper and held it out.

Trinna took it and quickly read it over. “It’s a receipt from the hotel.”

“It’s not just a receipt,” her father said indignantly. “It’s a memento of the love shared between my second cousin and the lowlife jerk who married her for her money.”

“Oh, how romantic!” Trinna said, trying to sound excited. “Anyway, what’re we doing for dinner?”

“Just something quick.” Mrs. McHenry said. “How about pizza?”

Ray and Trinna looked at each other a moment, then said in unison. “No pizza.”