Children of Queens: The Story of Peter and Evelyn Parker

Deutschland

"Queens, New York. It's a rough borough but hey, it's home." Peter filmed out the window on his old phone, catching the lights of cars as they speed past. They were on their way to the airport and boy, were they excited.

Happy, still focusing on the road, called out to Peter. "Kid, what are you doing?" He asked over Evelyn trying in vain to suppress her giggles.

"Uh, just making a little video of the trip," Peter replied, slapping his sister on the leg.

"You know you can't show it to anyone, right?"

"I know."

"Then why are you doing it?"

Peter shrugged. "Uhh, 'cause it's fun."

Happy rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe Tony had stuck whim with a pair of childish kids who had no idea what they were doing. One was full of questions, completely unsure of what to do while the other was a humanoid form of sarcastic comments and witty comebacks. He was seriously tempted to shove them in the boot for some peace.

"Hey, so uh, why'd they call you Happy?" Peter asked, staring at the back of the driver's head. His response was a screen being raised, blocking Happy from the twins in the back seat.

"Wow."

"That was passive-aggressive," Evie said, pulling out her book and an apple. "Well, now he can't know that I'm eating back here. You eat too, I know how crazy your metabolism is."

Peter obeyed, pulling out another apple. He bit into the pale flesh, allowing it to dissolve on his tongue as he watched the world speed on by. Though he was excited, there was a little cloud of anxiety at the back of his mind, worried about what they were about to do. He didn't even know what they were doing yet.

The car finally slowed to a stop and Happy got out, getting Peter to wake up his sister who had fallen asleep, her head resting in an uncomfortable position. Peter poked her in the arm, then the nose before giving her a wet-willie. She jerked awake, slapping his finger out of her ear and nearly tackling him before she noticed Happy, an annoyed frown on his face.

"Come on," he said, walking away. "We don't want to be late."

They got out, the kids lugging their bags behind them as Harold led them to the jet. Peter's eyes grew wide with excitement while Evie grew anxious. Every since she was four, she had always had a particular disliking for planes.

"Should we go to the bathroom?" Peter asked.

Happy rolled his eyes. "There's one on there."

If it was even humanly possible, Peter grew even more excited. He nearly exploded at the fact that the plane was driverless, oblivious to his sister's discomfort. She grabbed his hand, tapping her thumb nervously on the back of his hand. It clicked in his mind how anxious she was and he gave her a warm smile, leading her to the seats opposite Happy.

"Is this your first time on a private plane?"

"Uh, it's our first time on any plane," Peter said. Happy pulled an irritated face and moved to the other side of the aircraft, absolutely refusing to sit near the two weirdos.

For the whole trip, Happy slept while Peter did everything in his power to make the trip fun for Evie. He poked Happy during his slumber, running for cover when the man snored unexpectedly, they had a silent dance party, streaming tunes through AirPods as they partied in the narrow aisle, he even attempted to do her hair, and anybody with curly hair knows how hard it is to try and tame their mane,  let alone have someone with very minimal experience in hair do it.

Eventually, they grew tired, collapsing into their chairs. Peter watched out the window, enjoying the view of the cloud blanket below. It wasn't long until he felt a weight on his shoulder. Evie, confident, untouchable, powerful Evie, had fallen asleep on her brother's shoulder, her glasses askew under her brown locks.