In the morning, Casey and Derek are still asleep when we drag Marti out of bed and head down to the lodge for an early breakfast. Dad knocked on the door to say we should come over, but I think we're all in agreement that Casey and Derek need to talk first, so we let them sleep.

Marti skips along between us, holding our hands. Lizzie and I share a smile over her head.

"So Smarti, you're in a good mood this morning," Lizzie starts, but Marti's already giggling before she can say anything else.

"Smerek and Casey finally did it! I'm so happy, guys." She beams up at us.

I share another smile with Lizzie. Guess the ten-year-old version of "doing it" is kissing.

"Did you know they had crushes on each other?" I ask.

"Duh!" is all Marti says, still skipping along. I crack up. Who knew four years of tension could be summed up in one word?

We arrive at the lodge as Dad and Nora are heading in. They stayed in Gran's own cabin last night, so I'm hoping they got her on board with the Casey-and-Derek idea. Sure enough, they seem happy.

"Good morning, Sweetheart," Nora says, kissing the top of my head. She does the same with Lizzie and Marti, and as she does, Dad puts a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm proud of you, son. You did a good thing last night."

"Yeah?" I puff out my chest and soak up the compliment.

"Yeah. You took a risk, and it paid off. Same with Lizzie putting on the rally." He puts a hand on her shoulder now. "All of my kids are pretty brave that way."

"Is Casey really leaving?" Marti asks.

Nora and Dad look at each other but I can't tell what it means. "I don't know," Nora replies.

We meet Gran at the breakfast table. She's sitting primly, and every few seconds another guest walks by offering congratulations and gratitude that the lodge will remain open. Someone must have spotted us, because as we approach the table a round of applause and whistles directed at us breaks out across the dining room. Marti and I, the natural hams, each take a bow, but Lizzie just smiles and nods her head in thanks.

As the applause dies down and we settle in at the table, Oscar comes up to us. "Morning, Lizzie," he says shyly.

"Good morning!" Lizzie grins at him. "Want to take a walk later?"

"Yeah!" he says way too enthusiastically.

I snicker and she elbows me in the stomach. Clutching my gut, I mutter an apology. 'Take a walk' might actually mean just that, but after what happened between them last night, it definitely means something else to Oscar.

Luckily he doesn't seem to mind that she's basically brushing him off until after breakfast is over. Kissin' or no kissin', we have to find out what's going on with Derek and Casey, and I'm glad Lizzie doesn't want to involve Oscar.

"Great, I'll meet you here after lunch." Lizzie is kind but firm, and Oscar nods and then walks away. As Lizzie turns back to the table, she's met with amused stares from everyone.

"It's nothing," she says, waving a hand. "He's nice, but we're leaving tonight, so …"

She trails off, and everyone seems to accept that answer. I know I do. Lizzie's practical like that. Luckily, our waiter appears.

"Where's Jesse?" I ask him.

"He left for New York early this morning with Bernard Blue. The guy was so excited he couldn't think straight. Ms. Webster let him quit without notice since the season's almost over anyway."

"Does Casey know that?" Nora asks, more to herself than to the waiter.

"Oh! That reminds me." He pulls an envelope from his apron and hands it to Nora. "He gave me this to give to her."

Nora takes the envelope and tucks it next to her plate. She thanks him and starts ordering breakfast. I stare at the envelope, willing its contents to leap out at me, but of course they don't.

Lizzie pats my knee. "We'll find out what it says soon enough."

"So Gran," I turn my attention to her. "Did Nora give you the lowdown?"

Gran purses her lips and everyone looks uncomfortable. I suck in a breath.

"Yes, Edwin. Your mother explained everything, and while I can't imagine why she would condone such a relationship, I have no choice but to offer my blessing. I do want Casey to be happy, whatever that entails."

Lizzie and I let out twin sighs of relief. I don't mind that Gran called Nora my mom. I take it as a good sign.

Marti bounces in her seat. "You made the right choice," she sing-songs.

"I'm glad you feel that way, Gran. They're perfect for each other. You'll see." Lizzie smiles. "Will you excuse us for a minute? Edwin and I need to go—"

"Absolutely not," Dad interrupts. "No eavesdropping. You give them some privacy."

"We weren't going to eavesdrop!" Lizzie says indignantly.

Dad laughs. "Yeah, sure."

"It's true, Dad," I pipe up. "We just need to go over by the window and talk. Will you call us when the food's here?"

Dad agrees and we head to the front of the lodge.

"We didn't even think about eavesdropping this morning. They don't give us enough credit," Lizzie says as we look out the window. We're watching for Casey and Derek, of course, but we have an unspoken agreement that today we need to give them some space. We got really lucky with what we heard last night, so we can't push it.

"Old habits," I shrug, and I don't need to finish the adage because Lizzie's nodding. "So, Casey say anything while we were brushing our teeth last night?"

"Not really. She sat on her bed and stared at the floor, smiling. I sat down next to her and we hugged. Then she was like, 'Gosh Liz, this is crazy.' And I said, 'Well, yeah. That's the best part.' And then we hugged again and then you guys came out. What did Derek say to you?"

Suddenly it feels like a betrayal to reveal my conversation with Derek, even to Lizzie. I decide to stick to the main point. "He actually thanked me. I was floored. But it felt nice. I know he'll deny it in public, but at least I have the memory of it."

Lizzie shakes her head good-naturedly. "Oh, Derek. Of course he will. But I'm glad he said that to you."

I'm about to respond when I catch a glimpse of movement out the window. We both turn, and sure enough, Casey and Derek are headed up the steps to the lodge, walking hand-in-hand.

"Ohmigosh!" Lizzie squeals, and we run back to our seats, narrowly avoiding a collision with our waiter, who has our breakfast tray.

"They're coming!" I hiss, and everyone has just enough time to put on impassive expressions and busy themselves with eating their food until the lodge door opens.

I watch them enter, no longer holding hands. They search the room. Casey looks at Derek and shrugs. They must be looking for Mrs. Blue and Bernard.

"Bernard left!" I call to Casey, and I wave as they spot us.

They come over to stand in front of the table, looking nervous.

"Hey," Derek greets all of us, gaze lingering on our parents. I realize he never really got their approval last night, and I think he cares about Dad's opinion most of all. They're both beaming at him, and he visibly relaxes.

"Good morning," Nora replies. "Sit down and join us."

They do, and when they're settled in and have given our waiter their order, and I'm about to burst with anticipation, Casey finally speaks.

"Derek and I have some things we need to say, and I'm sure you all have questions."

"Get to the good stuff! Are you dating?" Marti is even more impatient than I am.

Derek chuckles. "Easy, Smarti."

"First," Casey continues, smiling at Marti, "I need to apologize for both of us," she gestures to Derek, "for making a scene last night. It wasn't fair to drag all of you into—"

"Case, I'm with Marti. Stop stalling and get to the good stuff." Lizzie folds her arms, but she's smiling.

Casey opens her mouth but she's so flustered nothing comes out.

Nora shakes her head. "Honey, ignore them. Finish your speech."

"See, they hate the speech!" Derek cries. "Seriously, Case, I think everyone is over last night. It's okay."

I feel a rush of relief that they're still the same. No matter what they are to each other now, Casey will always be Casey, and Derek will always be Derek, big mouth and all. I hadn't known I was worried about that until this moment.

"Gran?" Casey waits.

Gran looks to the ceiling and then shakes her head. "Honey, you know I'm happy if you're happy."

"You have no idea how much that means to me," Casey says quietly. Derek puts a hand on her shoulder for a moment, but removes it when he notices that we've all zeroed in on the gesture. He's touched her like that a million times before but now it means something completely different.

"Jeez!" Derek holds up both hands in surrender.

Casey takes his hand and holds it with both of hers on the table. "Well, I guess it's time that all of you know, Derek and I are going to try being a couple."

The collective cheer that rises up from our table probably deafens the other guests, but I don't care, and no one else seems to, either.

"How—" Lizzie begins just as Nora and I ask, "When—"

Derek and Casey are still holding hands on the table. She looks at him. "You go first."

Derek smiles. "As for the when, neither of us can pick an exact moment. As for how, it wasn't love at first sight, that's for sure."

Everyone except Gran laughs.

"But like I told Casey this morning, I just knew. No one had ever treated me like she does. She doesn't back down from my challenges and she never lets me get away with anything. I think I really started to realize how much I cared about her when she started dating Sam. It took me awhile to realize I was jealous, but that's what I was. And instead of telling her how I felt, I kept it in," he ignores my grunt of derision, because he knows I bore the brunt of that repression, "until it seemed like it was too late to say anything. I didn't think I was good enough for Casey."

"Which is dumb," Casey pipes up, "because that whole time I was in awe of how good Derek was for me. I know I didn't always show it," this gets a similar grunt from Lizzie, and at least Casey has the compassion to look contrite, "but I really did love being around him, even when he drove me nuts. And I didn't realize until very recently that my feelings had always been something more than sisterly."

"How recently?" Nora asks. "We kinda knew about Derek, but you were harder to pin down. You just seemed to hate him so much."

"I can't believe you knew," Derek mutters.

"I think we all knew, bro," I say carefully. "It wasn't hard to figure out, when you were making eyes at her across the dinner table every night." I desperately wanted to say "eye-fucking her" but Marti is right next to me.

Derek looks around the table and everyone (except Gran, of course) nods.

Casey is beet red. "Oh, God." She ducks her head. "As for Mom's question, it was graduation night. I realized we'd be going to the same school and could be whoever we wanted to be there, but we'd still be stepsiblings. That idea made me sad, but I couldn't really figure out why until last night when Derek, thanks to Ed, showed me." She smiles at me and I wink at her.

"So even though it might be unconventional for some people, we decided that shouldn't stop us from being together," Derek says. "We don't want to waste any more time fighting and pretending we're okay with just being stepsiblings, because we're not." There's a challenge to his words, but he's not going to meet any opposition at this table. We're all nodding, even Gran.

"By the way, Jesse left you a note," Lizzie says, motioning for Nora to pass it along. "Did you break up with Roxy?" She turns to Derek.

"Uh …" Derek stalls.

"We didn't get that far in our conversation," Casey explains as she lets go of Derek's hand to skim the paper. "I was going to say something to Jesse in person, but now I don't have to." She waves the letter. "He doesn't want anything to distract him from his dancing. He broke up with me."

I've never seen Casey say those words with a smile on her face, but right now she's grinning from ear to ear.

"Speaking of dancing …" Nora lets the question go unasked.

Casey grabs Derek's hand again. "Something else we didn't have time to discuss."

Derek shifts in his chair. "Yeah. I …" I sense more than see him getting upset. He's not going to say anything negative after the fuss he made last night. He can't jeopardize their hours-old relationship.

"What?" Casey asks him. She's tense now, too.

He shakes his head. "I already told you that I won't stop you from doing something you want to do."

"No!" Lizzie hisses under her breath. I find her hand under the table and squeeze it like she did for me last night.

I know Casey heard her but she doesn't acknowledge it. She looks at Nora, whose eyes are filling with tears. "Mom?"

"I can't make this decision for you, Sweetheart. You know that."

Casey, miraculously, is not crying. "I've always considered myself a feminist. I never thought I would have to choose between love and a career, and honestly, I look down on any girl who puts herself in that position."

Derek starts to pull his hand away but she won't let him. Instead she scoots her chair closer to him. He looks like he's about to pass out.

"Derek, I can't tell you how angry I am at you for doing this to me. You made what was already a difficult choice into the hardest decision I've ever had to make, and I hate you for it."

We are all perfectly still, watching. I want to scream, but it's obvious Casey is leading us somewhere, and we all want to follow. Especially Derek, who is tracking her eyes with his own.

"But it's not a choice, not really. I love dancing, but I love you more. I'm going to Queen's with you."

Our table erupts into cheering again. Derek and Casey look at each other, her fingers stroking his cheeks and then gripping the back of his neck. She's the one to go in for the kiss this time, and they keep it short, but it gets the point across. Derek looks dizzy when they pull away.

"Queen's has a dance team, you know," Lizzie speaks up when they continue to stare at each other with goofy-happy grins.

Casey tears her eyes away from Derek. "I didn't bother to look into that, but now I will." She gives her sister a brief nod that conveys all of her gratitude and love and I'm thankful again for the way Derek treated me last night. I know how he really feels about me, and it feels good. I wonder what it's like for Liz to get that kind of affection all the time.

And then I realize that I do get that, from Lizzie herself. We share a smile as the rest of the family discusses how Casey will contact Bernard Blue (she has his business card) and how Derek should break up with Roxy (he'll call from the office phone). I tune it out and think about how all of our snooping around, spying, and eavesdropping these past few years have saved Derek and Casey from a lonely, miserable life. Okay, that might be a little dramatic, but still. We rock. I mouth that to Lizzie and she giggles and crosses her eyes at me.

()()()()()()()()()()

We stay for one last dinner at the lodge, and afterward we load up the cars. Derek and Casey are driving home in the Prince, of course, and I can't help but think that this car ride will be the best one they've ever taken together.

"You're such a sap," Lizzie scoffs as I tell her my observation. We're all gathered around the cars, waiting to say our goodbyes to Gran.

"Like you weren't thinking the same thing."

She rolls her eyes, and I know I'm right.

"Goodbye, Dear," Gran says as she kisses my cheek. "You keep working on that comedy routine. You're a very funny young man."

"Thanks, Gran. Will do." I salute her and step back so she can embrace Lizzie.

Casey catches me around the waist as I turn around, and she squeezes me tightly. "See you at home, Ed. Love you."

I put my arms around her and squeeze back. "Love you too, Case."

She's looking at me like she wants to say more, but she's already thanked me enough, so I make it easy for her. "You know I just gave him a little push, right? The rest of it was all Derek."

We look over to where he's swinging Marti around.

"I know. But you need to know how I much I appreciate what you did."

We smile and then the moment's over when everyone finishes their goodbyes and it's time to wedge ourselves into Dad's minivan.

Marti climbs in first, then Lizzie and I take the middle row. I put an arm around her and stretch out across the seat.

"You were so ready to leave before. Could you imagine if you hadn't stayed?" she asks, settling back against me once her seatbelt is on.

I chuckle. "You're right. Between saving the marsh and saving our siblings, we've had a busy week."

Marti taps me on the shoulder from the backseat. "Me, too. I mean, I almost got stranded like that Robinson Carousel guy."

"That's Crusoe," Lizzie corrects her.

Marti shrugs and turns to wave out the window to Gran as Dad starts to pull away.

Lizzie and I wave too, and I catch her eye once the Great Blue Heron Lodge is out of sight. "Good vacation, Liz?" I ask in a whisper as a strip of her purple hair falls across her face and tickles my neck.

I brush it out of the way. I don't think she was there when Derek asked Casey the same thing last night, so it surprises me when she replies just like Casey did. "The best. You?"

We're so much like our older siblings sometimes. That's why I don't hesitate to steal Derek's line. "Better," I say with a smile.