This has been the best day! Newt thought to herself as she waved goodbye to Ripley and Hicks from the backseat of her friend's mother's car. She would be staying with her friend Suzie Parker for the weekend, and this would enable Ripley and Hicks to spend some time alone together after their wedding. Newt was more than happy to give them this opportunity, but at the same time, she was a little nervous about spending the weekend away from her new family. She hadn't been separated from Ripley for longer than a few hours since they'd first arrived on Earth, and while she was looking forward to staying up late and going to the beach with her friend, a small part of her was anxious about not being under the same roof as the woman who had become her new mother. Newt shook her head in disgust with herself. She was being ridiculous. She would be perfectly safe with the Parkers. Earth was about as safe as it gets, and the Parkers were good, slightly overprotective parents. They had assured Ripley and Hicks before leaving the reception that they wouldn't let Newt out of their sights if they took her anywhere, even for a minute. The Parkers were going to make sure that she had a fantastic weekend and then afterwards she would be reunited with Ripley and Hicks. They were going to be living in their new house on base and they would finally all be under one roof together, just like a typical family.

Newt sighed dreamily as she rest her head against the seat. It really had been a beautiful wedding...not that she'd had anything to compare it to. She had been born and raised at Hadley's Hope, but there had never been a wedding at the colony that she was aware of. This wasn't altogether surprising. Acheron was such a dark and dreary planet...nothing at all like Earth. Newt sighed deeply and stared out of the car window. Thinking about Hadley's Hope brought back memories of her other family. Most of the memories were happy, but some were very, very sad. She missed her mom, dad and Timmy every day, but over the last few months the pain of losing her biological family had begun to lessen considerably. She loved living with Ripley and she had begun to think of her and Hicks as her new parents, but she knew deep in her heart that she would never forget her other family.

But thinking about Ripley and Hicks and their new life in California brought a smile back to her face. She loved living on Earth. It was so sunny and warm! She'd gone to beach a number of times with Ripley and Hicks and they always had the best time. On their first trip to the beach, Hicks had taught her how to swim. Then the next time that they went he surprised her by picking her up and tossing her into the water. She'd been mad at him at first, but she'd gotten even by chasing after him and dunking his head under water...although she suspected that he'd allowed her to get him. Ripley just sat on the beach and watched them roughhousing with a big smile on her face.

Newt chuckled at the memory, shaking her head in amusement. Her attention was then drawn to the bouquet of lilies that was sitting on her lap. Seeing the flowers reminded her of something interesting that had happened during the wedding. Immediately following the ceremony, Ripley turned around and faced the crowd and tossed her bouquet directly at Vasquez who was sitting in the front row next to Lieutenant Gorman. Vasquez was surprised but she managed to catch the bouquet with little trouble. Her cheeks also turned pink. But what surprised her the most was the fact that Gorman's face also turned bright red. After making that discovery, Newt decided to watch Vasquez and Gorman for the rest of the day. She noticed that Gorman was being incredibly sweet to Vasquez: pulling her chair out for her at dinner, offering her his arm anytime they walked anywhere, draping her shawl around her shoulders when there was a slight chill in the air? They even danced a slow dance together.

Gorman wasn't a bad guy...he was certainly better than Burke, but he had never been one of her favorite people. Now after having observed him with Vasquez she thought that she may need to revise her opinion of him. He did save Vasquez's life rescuing her in the ventilation system. He also defended Ripley and Hicks in front of that review board which ensured that they would both be promoted. But she supposed that his biggest selling point was that Vasquez liked him...and she trusted Vasquez.

While she had been very happy to see Vasquez, Newt had to admit that what she had been looking forward to most was seeing Hudson again. She hadn't seen him since the Sulaco had docked at Gateway. Hudson didn't arrive at the wedding until a few minutes before it began so she didn't get the chance to talk to him. But Hudson made up for his tardiness by asking her to dance during the reception. He spun her around like a top so that her skirt twirled around her and she squealed with delight. She had danced earlier with Hicks and with Bishop (who were both surprisingly good dancers) but she had had the most fun with Hudson. She would never admit this to anyone, but she had developed a huge crush on Hudson after he saved her from that facehugger in MedLab, and she planned to marry him someday.

Newt was grinning from ear to ear when Hudson led her from the dance to the dining area. When they arrived at Hudson's table, Newt had been very surprised when Hudson introduced her to the young woman sitting there. The woman's name was Louise and when she stood up to greet Newt, she saw that Louise's stomach was very round, like a basketball.

Apparently Hudson had gotten married, and he and his wife were expecting a baby. Newt feigned happiness for the couple, but the truth of the matter was that her heart was breaking in two. Hudson was supposed to wait for her to grow up and marry her! This wasn't fair!

Newt shook the woman's hand and then excused herself abruptly. She ran to the ladies' room and cried her eyes out for a little while. She knew in her heart that she was being ridiculous, but she couldn't help it. All of her dreams had been crushed in the span of a few minutes

After her last tear had fallen and she'd dried her eyes, she walked out of the bathroom with the intention of returning to the reception. On her way back to the ballroom she stopped in her tracks. There at the end of the corridor stood Ripley and Hicks and they were kissing...and not just polite kissing like they did during the wedding ceremony. Real kissing.

In spite of herself Newt found herself staring at them. Seeing them kissing like that, completely unaware of anyone else around them brought back memories of the first time that she saw them kissing on the Sulaco.

They had just awakened from hypersleep and were set to dock at Gateway in a couple of hours. Bishop and Vasquez were in the infirmary but everyone else was showering and/or getting dressed. After a nice warm shower, Ripley gave her some clean clothes to wear...one of Ripley's t-shirts and a pair of Vasquez's pants. Ripley then asked Newt to wait for her in the mess hall with Hudson and Gorman so that she could tend to Hicks. Newt agreed and sat down to eat some sausage and cornbread with Hudson and Gorman.

After what seemed like a very long time, Newt grew antsy and decided to go exploring the ship. The Sulaco was fascinating...there were so many nooks and crannies that she could hide in if she ever needed to. She walked gingerly around the drop ship and looked with curiosity at the two power loaders. Eventually she found herself back in the locker room. She rounded the corner and gasped when she came upon Ripley helping Hicks change into a clean set of fatigues. She immediately hid behind a row of lockers so that she could watch them undetected.

Newt watched in fascination as Ripley helped Hicks step into a new pair of trousers, and then she held his shirt out for him helping him ease into the clean uniform shirt. Hicks winced in pain as he pushed his arms through the sleeves, and then Ripley moved quickly to button his shirt up for him. Hicks wasn't wearing an undershirt and Newt could see that he still had thick bandages over the left side of his chest.

When Ripley was finished she looked Hicks in the eye and Newt had to hold her hand over her mouth to keep herself from squealing with excitement when Hicks reached out to touch Ripley's face and then pulled her face towards his and then kissed her on the lips.

Newt had lost track of how long she had been standing there when she heard Hudson's voice call out from elsewhere in the ship. "Newt! Hey kid, where the fuck are you? Ripley will have my ass in a sling if you get lost."

Hudson's voice drew Ripley's attention and she immediately broke contact with Hicks' lips, but not before Hudson skidded to a stop at the entrance to the locker room and found where Newt was hiding AND witnessed Ripley and Hicks kissing.

"Well it's about fucking time." Hudson said grinning. "I was wondering how long it would take for you two to hook up! I bet Vasquez fifty bucks that it would be before we docked, but she didn't think Hicks was man enough to put the moves on Ripley yet. Boy was she wrong." Hudson clapped Hicks on the back. "Thanks man!" Ripley turned bright red and looked down at the floor, and Hicks shook his head, chuckling softly.

Hudson then schooled his features into a very serious expression and turned to Newt.

"Listen kid, you should know better than to disappear like that..especially after all of the shit that just went down. All of us here, even Gorman care about what happens to you. You got it?"

Newt nodded solemnly. "Yes. I'm sorry Hudson."

Hudson smirked and then pulled her in for a big hug, cradling her head protectively. "That's all right kid. Just don't let it happen again, all right?"

Newt nodded and put her arms around Hudson's waist. "All right."

Newt breathed a huge sigh which drew the attention of Ripley and Hicks. They immediately stopped kissing and they hurried over to where she was standing.

"Newt? Are you all right?" Ripley said with concern. "You look like you've been crying,"

Newt didn't want to admit that she had been crying because Hudson was married, so she said the first thing that popped into her head.

"I'm just really going to miss you guys this weekend."

Newt regretted those words as soon as they left her mouth. No one deserved a break more than Ripley and Hicks did. Ripley was a great mom and they both worked so hard and they hadn't ever had one night alone together.

Ripley and Hicks looked at each other with worried expressions on their faces. Hicks nodded as they came to some sort of silent agreement and then he knelt down in front of her.

"Honey, your mother and I understand if you're scared...believe me. You don't have to stay with your friend this weekend if you don't want to. You can come home with us."

Newt shook her head adamantly. "No! I want to. I've never been to a sleepover before. It'll be fun! You and Ripley need some time alone this weekend...without me and Bishop hanging around. I'll be fine."

Hicks looked at her questioningly. "All right, but only if you're sure."

Newt nodded and then Hicks wrapped his arms around her and hugged her affectionately. He then reached up and mussed her hair a little and she swatted his hand away playfully. "Hey! Stop it, Hicks!" She exclaimed giggling.

Hicks grinned wickedly and stood up to his full height. Ripley came to stand next to him and he immediately put his arm around her waist, drawing her closer to him and kissing her temple. It was almost as though he had to be in physical contact with Ripley at all times. Seeing them being so affectionate with each other in public made Newt smile. It was really sweet. They made each other so happy.

"I'm so glad that you're going to be living with us now Hicks." Newt said suddenly. "It will be so great having all of us under one roof. We'll finally be a real family."

Hicks' eyebrows shot up in surprise at Newt's words. "I am too, squirt." Newt knew that he meant it too.

Newt was jolted to the present when the Parker's car pulled to a stop in their car port.

"Newt, honey, we're so happy that you will be staying with us this weekend!" Mrs. Parker said enthusiastically as she turned the car off and turned around to look at her. "It's been all Suzie could talk about this week! She has some fun things planned for you two this weekend. Have you been to the zoo yet? It's the best in the country. Would you like to go to the beach...did you pack a swimming suit? If not, I'm sure Suzie has one that you can borrow. Would you like to order a pizza later, or are you still too full from the reception?"

"Mom! Calm down! Give Newt a chance to answer one of your zillions of questions please, sheesh!" Suzie said, rolling her eyes at her mother's exuberant reaction to their houseguest.

Newt giggled. "Pizza would be great Mrs. Parker...and I did bring my bathing suit just in case...and I would love to go to the zoo again if you all want to go."

Mrs. Parker smiled. "That's wonderful, dear. We want to make sure that you have a wonderful time staying here with us, so that you'll be willing to come back again soon."

"Mom!" Suzie exclaimed in annoyance.

Newt giggled and followed the Parkers into their house. She was amused by the Parkers' mother daughter bickering, but then out of nowhere she felt sad as thoughts about her biological mother crept into her mind. She would never get to have little stupid arguments like the one that the Parkers were having with her mother, or get into trouble with her father for staying out past curfew...or get into trouble with both of her parents for fighting with Timmy.

But then she thought about how lucky she was that Ripley and Hicks found her when they did, and thinking about Hicks' and Ripley's smiling faces when they first discovered her in her hiding place made her laugh and she began to feel a lot better. She knew that things wouldn't always be perfect with her new family. She was certain that she and Ripley would eventually have similar mother daughter battles to the one that the Parkers were having now. And she was certain that Hicks would likely be a very overprotective father once they were all living together. But she knew that they loved her and that they would have a great life together...along with her new baby brother or sister! No one had told her that Ripley was pregnant yet, but she'd known several women on Hadley's Hope who'd had babies so she knew the tell-tale signs. She couldn't wait to have that conversation!