Author's note: For more about the Baxter family, check this post.

Dan’s parents met the couple at the door. Grace and little Emma both ran inside, stopping only briefly to hug each grandparent in turn. While Grandma Julia led the kids into the house Dan’s father Peter helped bring in all the luggage and trappings two-year-old Emma would need to be happy while the rest of her family was away – most importantly, perhaps, the large stuffed panda bear she slept with each night.

“We really appreciate this,” Dan said, smiling at the sight of his kids already firmly attached to his mother.

She shushed him with a big smile. “Nonsense. We love doing this, especially since we don’t get to see you as often as we should.”

“It is a four-hour drive,” Dan replied with a wink. He and his wife Angie did try to oblige both sets of parents as often as they could but with both of them working and both sets of grandparents living in different states, he conceded it wasn’t as often as they all would like.

Before long the girls were playing with toys and the adults were sitting comfortably, sharing coffee and the latest news. Julia was looking over the flyer that had sold the couple on the trip.

“Looks great,” she said. “Eighteen pools. I bet you’ll like that, Grace. Just be sure to be careful.”

The eight-year-old looked up at her and giggled. “I always am, Grandma. I’m a very good swimmer.”

“Yup, she’s like a fish,” Angie added.

“I’m a dolphin.” Grace had recently seen a documentary about them and had been fascinated every since.

“I feel a little guilty about taking off like this. She’s not been away from us for so long before.” It seemed Angie couldn’t take her eyes off her baby girl.

“I understand,” Julia said. “But you two have been working so hard and you deserve a vacation. And Emma loves it here. She’ll be fine.”

“That’s true,” Dan said with a smile.

They chatted until they could delay their departure no longer. “I think we brought everything she’s going to need,” Dan said.

“Well, there are plenty of stores around here in case you forgot something.”

“You have our cell phone numbers in case of an emergency, but coverage can be spotty out there. So we’ve included medical authority to do whatever is necessary, should something happen. But let’s keep our fingers crossed that it won’t.”

“It’ll be fine, dear. Now go and have a great time. Emma’s in good hands.”

Faye Brixton glanced around her shop one last time to make sure everything was closed down. As the proprietor of Ditto Town's general store, Brixton's Goods, she almost never had opportunity to close the place down, reserving it almost strictly for holidays and special occasions. But since business had slowed down with the recent renovations, she'd thought about taking a short vacation. When the posters went up around town announcing that they were hosting a cruise, her mind was made up. If everyone in town was going on the cruise as well, there'd be no one in need of her store anyways.

Besides, it'd been too long since Faye took a proper trip. Heading over to another town to pick up an order did not count. She shook her head and chuckled. Her younger self would probably balk at realizing that she hadn't been travelling in over six years now. There was a time when she wouldn't stay in the same place for six months! 'Oh, to be young again.' She joked internally. She was only 34, but compared to the wild spirit she'd been a decade ago when she'd first found Ditto Town, she felt like she had aged a few lifetimes.

Well, everything was in tip-top shape - at least, as far as the store was concerned. Despite herself, Faye found herself glancing in one of the mirrors on her shelves, and quickly adjusting her hair. Her light brown hair was wound around the back of her head in a loose bun, but as per usual, some of that hair was already beginning to fall out of place. She quickly whisked the loose locks behind her ears, even as a small voice pointed out, 'You're going on vacation. No one cares if your hair is perfect.'

Once she was as close to satisfied as she was going to get, she swept up her suitcase and and walked out the front door. As she turned back to lock up, she noticed a couple of passersby, and noticed their apparent surprise to see the "CLOSED" sign going up. She had given her customers ample warning, she felt. Ah, no matter. Ditto Town would have to fend for themselves for a few days. She tossed her suitcase in the back of her navy blue pickup, and a few moments later, she was off to meet the Titan IC, as well as her fellow vacationers.

"But, like, I don't get what the point of sunbathing is," Kaelin whined, watching her sister arrange herself on a lounge on board The Titan IC, "especially when you put on loads of sunblock and sit under an umbrella."

"The point, my dear, is to enjoy being around a pool without getting your hair wet, and to look fabulous while doing so," Maeve replied. "And it lets you take a nap in broad daylight, if you so desire."

"But what if I want to go swimming?"

"If you get your curls wet, you'll have to wash your hair. But I think you're due for a wash, anyway."

Kaelin wrinkled her nose and thought for a while.

"Do you think you could braid my hair? I'll get it all set for you, and then you can do it while we wait for everyone to board and the ship to sail."

Maeve looked over the rim of her glasses at her little sister.

"Really?"

"Please? Just the back part that I have trouble reaching."

Maeve heaved an exaggerated sigh.

"Fine, go clean your hair and get your stuff. I'll be here."

Kaelin scampered off to their room. Maeve watched her go, then leaned back, opened her book, and attempted to begin enjoying her vacation.

"Jeffery Evans, if you procrastinate unpacking any longer the cruise will be over before you even unroll those socks of yours."

"Remind me again how I let you talk me into a cruise?"

"You haven't had a day off in like five years, Jeff."

"I like my job."

"The union head called me to complain. Besides, its not like work will fall apart without you there for a week or two. It'll be fine."

Jeff smirked, "you underestimate Ditto Town."

Ainsley sat down on the bed next to him. "Look at it this way, when I inevitably morph into a tomato, you'll be there to make fun of me."

"You'll be the cutest tomato I ever met," Jeff pecked his girlfriend on the cheek.

"Seriously though Ainsley, sun cancer isn't a joke, you Casper looking goofball. You'd better be wearing that baby-paste sunscreen."

"Aww, look at you. Being all concerned for me. Its honestly adorable."

"Its what I'm here for."

"Race you to the pool?"

"Sure, I'll count down. 1... 2..."

Before Jeff made it to three, Ainsley was gone. Sprinted off down the narrow hallways of cruise ship. She easily beat him to the pool, where she turned around to taunt him. Only Jeff didn't stop at the edge. One swan-dive tackle later and they both ended up in the deep end. The splash from their antics reached out and drenched an unexpected Maeve.

"My bad!" Yelled Jeff, before Ainsley dunked him back under the water.

Maeve pulled her hair out of her eyes and tried to wipe the water off of her book.

"Seriously?" she grumbled, then sighed. She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to get it back to some semblance of order, gathering the water in her hands as she went. She held the water orb in her hands for a moment, then packed it into a snowball, took her aim, and threw it at Ainsley just as hard as she could.

Ainsley-Marie was dead set upon nearly drowning Jeff, that is until the back of her head was unexpectedly introduced to the cold of Maeve's snowball assault. The temperature difference shocked her for a moment, giving Jeff the time he needed to escape and swim to the edge of the pool closest to his savior.

"I appreciate the help. Wait a second, you look awfully familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?

Maeve considered for a moment, her hands hovering over her still-wet book.

"Well, I'm pretty sure I know your girlfriend from the Winter Social at the Mansion, so I'm going to guess that we met there. But please, don't thank me," she said, de-watering her book and throwing the snow at Jeff. "I'm just doing what any person would do."

“It sure is big,” Grace kept saying as they made their way up the gangway onto the ship.

No doubt about it; the ship certainly lived up to the mythical Titans of its namesake.

“She sure is,” Dan replied.

“Daddy,” Grace said with a giggle, “It’s a ship, not a girl.”

“You’re right, but for some reason ships are called ‘she.’ I’m not sure why, tradition maybe.”

“Okay then, she is very pretty.”

Angie was quiet, enjoying this banter between her husband and daughter, and marveling at the ship as well. Everything seemed so luxurious and well-appointed.

Thanks to a “you are here” type kiosk and helpful crewmembers, they had no trouble finding their quarters. It too was luxurious and comfortable.

“A window cabin?” Angie asked. “This must have cost a fortune.”

It had been expensive, but he’d thought it the perfect birthday gift for his wife, who would celebrate her next birthday on the cruise. Besides, once their parents had heard his idea they’d insisted on helping cover the costs of the ticket.

But for now he wanted to keep the surprise birthday party he and Grace had planned just that, a surprise, so all he said was, “We’re both working, and you deserve to cruise in style.”

Grace, who had immediately claimed the small bedroom for her own, emerged just in time to see her parents exchange a quick kiss.

“Kissing again?”

“Someday you may not mind the kissing so much.”

This too was one of their little family rituals.

“Mom, there’s a mint on my pillow. Can I have it, and then can we go swimming?” The excited little girl had already changed into her swimsuit.

“I need to put this sunscreen on you first, and then we can go.” The little girl reluctantly agreed, and before long they were walking along the deck marveling at all the ship had to offer.

Grace’s attention was soon drawn to one of the pools. “Mommy, look! There’s Maeve!”

Dan was glad to see a familiar face; they’d met Maeve and her sister Kaelin at the previous Christmas gathering at the Ditto Town Mansion.

“Be careful!” he called to his daughter as she ran off to where Maeve was sunbathing poolside.

Faye had to admit, she was shocked at the size of the cruise ship. What favors had been cashed in to charter a ship like this?? She wasn't entirely convinced the whole town couldn't fit on board - not the population, the actual town itself. Still, she couldn't help but feel a thrill of excitement. She'd sailed before, but usually only across rivers and lakes. She'd never been on a boat like this before.

Faye's first order of business, of course, was to deposit her luggage in her room. Her second order of business was to explore the ship a bit. She made a mental note of the location of the galley, some of the recreational rooms, and the like, but she also made note of wherever she could find windows, and a nearby place to sit. She had a feeling this ship would have a lot of great places for just sitting and watching the sea go by.

Eventually, she made her way back to the upper deck, where all the pools were. When she was there, she finally started to see other passengers who weren't busy making preparations. She recognized several of them from her time at the store, though she had to admit, she wasn't particularly well acquainted with any of them. Well... perhaps now was a good time to change that.

As she approached, however, she was just in time to see a snowball, of all things, being thrown at a young man - a figure who seemed familiar, she must have seen him around town.

Faye chuckled and shook her head. Only in Ditto Town. "That fight seems a bit one-sided." She murmured.

Maeve turned toward the pitter patter of feet, half intending to chide Kaelin for running poolside, but stopped and smiled once she saw the owner of the feet.

"Grace!" she exclaimed. "How are you? Boy, is Kaelin going to be excited when she finds out you're here, too."

While the girls were three, nearly four, years apart in age, Grace was tall for her age, and Kaelin, well, Kaelin was short, and there wasn't much helping that at this time. Plus, Grace's smarts and intuitiveness and Kaelin's lack of common sense seemed to level the playing field sufficiently, and, in Maeve's eyes, Kaelin could do with spending some time around a properly functioning family. Thus she was quite happy to see the Baxter family on board, and hoped the girls would pick up their friendship where they had left off.

"Hello, Angie, Hello, Dan," she continued, standing up and throwing a cover-up over her shoulders before shaking hands with Grace's parents. "It's wonderful to see you here! How has the trip been so far?"

The sun was shining brightly as Mel padded up the gangway toward the cruise ship. She gripped her satchel tightly in her jaws--a St. Bernard dog didn't need much but a vacation was better with a favorite tennis ball and somewhere to store the souvenirs--and wagged her tail happily.

She'd heard the buffet bar was amazing and she couldn't wait to get to the dining room and smell it for herself.

Twig's entered Ditto Town pulling a wagon stacked high with luggage. She had probably packed too much but she had no idea what all she would need on a world cruise. There are a lot of climates in the world so she had packed something for each of them. She also had a separate small bag full of sunscreen and a few bottles of bug spray. Of course she had brought several books as well as her book journal to keep notes in about the books. She hoped people didn’t think she was one of those arrogant women who always bring a ton of outfits so they can always look stunning. Not that she didn’t want to look nice in case there were any nice men aboard. However, she was well aware that this was not the Love Boat and she was not the type that men noticed. Still she did like to look nice in public because it was well, public and people are always judging others. Most of the time that meant that she wore a polo shirt and jeans or jean shorts. Today, however, she was dressed in stylish workout clothes since she needed to make the trek from her cabin in the woods to the boat.

As she approached the Titan IC (which she assumed meant a boat that was 99th of that name), she glanced around nervously to make sure she hadn't been followed. She hoped that sending Pittersticks to Reading and asking him to make sure everything was in order there, including making the booked themed rooms at the hotels, Inns, and B & Bs were perfect would distract him until the cruise ship was beyond his reach. After the mischief he had caused at the Christmas Party, she didn’t want him anywhere near the cruise and she figured the other guests would agree. Unfortunately, Pittersticks had decided that she needed help running Reading and had made himself a nuisance ever since. She wondered if one could get a restraining order against a squirrel but he had never actually hurt her so probably not.

It took Twig’s a long time to make it up the gangplank with her wagon of luggage. She realized that it had seen better days so it would hardly be the luggage of an arrogant woman. Also, she was pulling it herself which no woman with expensive tastes would ever consider doing. Finally, Twig’s made it on to the ship.

“Kaelin’s here too? Great!” Grace squealed happily as she gave Maeve a quick hug before jumping into the pool.

Dan and Angie were also happy to see a familiar face. The cruise might have gotten a little long for Grace if there weren’t other kids to play with, especially without Emma to amuse her. The couple was happy to greet their friend.

“Hi, Maeve,” Angie replied. “How nice to see you! How have you been? This is an amazing ship, isn’t it?”

“Yup, Grace was pretty excited to find mints on the pillows,” Dan said with a grin. He gestured to a couple empty chairs next to the pool. “Mind if we join you?”

Faye's attention snapped to the gangplank when she heard the sounds of someone struggling with an uncooperative load. She saw a woman struggling to pull a wagon of luggage on board, though she was very nearly done. At the sight of all that luggage, Faye began to wonder if perhaps she'd underpacked for the trip. Then again, she was sure there must be a laundry station on board, so she could make do with what she had.

She darted over to the gangplank shortly after the woman finally got the wagon up, a little embarrassed that she didn't notice earlier, and said, "Here, let me help you with that." Perhaps she should have asked if the woman wanted help. Well, too late to take it back. Faye went to the back of the wagon and made sure to hold the stacked luggage in place. The last thing this woman needed was for all her luggage to end up in the water immediately after getting it aboard.

She glanced back at the woman's face for the first time, and confirmed that she didn't really recognize her. "Hello, I'm not sure we've met." She extended her hand. "I'm Faye, Faye Brixton."