chapter one: Hatched "You all know what this Saturday is, right?" Brendan asked them darkly as they sat in the middle of the condo, all Indian-style, and in a circle to boot. Ryan nodded solemnly, "It's the second week of February." "Other than that," Brendan said patiently, running a hand over his face. "It's uh.... wait, wait, wait... don't tell me..." "It's VALENTINE'S Day!" Robbie shouted, causing all of them to jump. "Sheesh! You don't have to yell," Ryan whined. But before he could fake cry and before Robbie could shout another would-be insult, Carlson cut in. "Look, this weekend is Valentine's Day. Any ideas so far as to what we're going to do for our," he put up two fingers as quotation marks, "special someones?" Brendan tapped his chin thoughtfully.  "I was thinking of maybe going paddle-boating..." "Brendan," Ryan said, logically for once, "the water's frozen up here. It's winter. Unless you guys want to just push out a boat and sit there until the ice melts and you both fall and catch hypothermia, I really don't think that's a good idea." "That IS true," Brendan said, more thoughtfully still. "We each need to think of an idea we can all live with--Saturday night we'll all be separated, with no means of helping each other out." All of them nodded miserably and a brooding silence fell. "How about... I cook something?" Kevin suggested with a shrug of his shoulders. Brendan blinked, then snapped his fingers. "Good idea! Girls love it when guys cook simply because they automatically assume guys can't. But we both know better than that, don't we, Kevin?" Carlson nodded, and it was settled--Carlson would cook for Mina. Now there was just three of them left. "Hmmm... I guess I could, uh, rent out Joey's favorite movie?" Ryan said uncertainly, picking at the rug beneath them. "Hey, hey, hey," Brendan said, slapping Ryan's hand away from the carpeted rug, "stop that. That's my mom's. She'd kill me if she comes here to visit and there's a bald spot in it." "A bald spot? You can always just patch it back up with Rogaine...." Brendan laughed and shook his head, getting back onto the subject again. "And I guess I can... have a dessert fest. Tate loves pigging out." Ryan laughed. "If you're having a dessert fest, I'm coming over. Joey can watch her movie, eat the popcorn, and she'll never notice I'm gone--?" "Ryan, no. It's Valentine's Day. You can't just ditch your girlfriend to go pig out with Tate and me!" "Well, then save me something, all right? I'm gonna need sugar once the chick-flick marathon is over." "Fine then." And, at long last, Robbie spoke up, for the first time ever since he had positively bellowed at Ryan. "It's cold up here. Maybe I can get a fire started up in the house and toast marshmallows... or something..." "D'you think you can manage to have all the guys out of the house on Saturday night?" Kevin asked doubtfully. Robbie sighed. "Yep--all the boys are going out to watch some band play just off campus; they'll be gone till midnight, I suspect." "All right then... looks like we've got everything planned out... sort of." Brendan got up and stretched, his joints cracking slightly. "It was nice having all of you here." Ryan nodded and grabbed his coat. "Good luck on Valentine's, boys." "We're going to need it," Kevin said with a nod. And with that, Ryan had left the condo. "Can I go now, guys?" Robbie asked. Brendan looked down at  the speakerphone and said, "Sure thing, 'Tang. Talk to you soon!" "Happy V-Day," called Kevin, who had now retreated to the kitchen. "And... I'm out--bye." And with that, Robbie hung up the phone. Brendan stretched his arms again and said loudly enough for Kevin to hear, "What a strange get-together... you, me, Ryan, and Robbie over the inter-com. Hm. It's just like one of our corporate executive skits... only not." "Ready for this big Valentine's Day blowout?" Kevin asked, a Chips Ahoy cookie in his mouth as he shut the fridge door, a gallon of milk in one hand. "Yep... I just need to get the place ready and.... WAIT." "What?" "Kevin," Brendan began slowly, swallowing, "who gets the condo?" "Well," Kevin replied, just as slowly as Brendan, "I suppose one of us could take the top floor and the other could take the bottom?" ".... Rock, paper, scissors?" Kevin took a proper bite out of his cookie before answering, "In a minute."