When Diana saw Ginger's ring she was furious. It was a couple of days later and Ginger was surprised it took Diana that long to see it. The ring was huge and seemed to have an attraction to light, but when it happened, Ginger wished it didn't.
"What the hell is that?" Diana asked. Ginger was watching television with Kris in the living room. Zac and Taylor had some work to do and left the girls at home to hang out for the day. The last thing Ginger wanted when Diana found out about their engagement was to be alone in explaining it.
"What the hell is what?" Ginger asked.
"Don't play coy with me, young lady. Where did you get that ring?"
"It seems your son gave it to me," Ginger said. "And I'll mind you not to stare."
"Are you engaged to my seventeen-year-old son?" Ginger sighed.
"Yes, Diana. Yes I am. I know we're young but I'm eighteen and your son has lived a life that's made him years older than he really is. We won't get married until well after he's out of school so I'm not stealing him away while he's still under your custody. These things happen."
"This is unexpected," Diana said, shaking her head. "Isaac and Roni�that was expected. This�this wasn't."
"No, it wasn't," Ginger said.
"Well," she said. "Welcome to the family." Diana walked away. Kris turned to Ginger, waiting for a response. Ginger waited until Diana was gone.
"Wow," Ginger said. "She didn't bitch me out. She must be growing on me."
"Or maybe now she knows she has to deal with you for the rest of her life," Kris said. Ginger put her hand up.
"Don't steal my thunder, Kris. For this moment, I can pretend that she was giving me a warm comment and that she actually likes me." Kris smiled and turned back to the television.
Zac and Taylor came home later that evening. Kris and Ginger had found a Sex and the City marathon and had been sitting in front of the television for the past six hours. "Honey, I'm home," Zac announced, walking into the room.
"Hey babe," Ginger said, waving but not taking her eyes of the television.
"I got you something." She looked over and Zac was holding a bouquet of flowers.
"Zac!" Ginger said. "Oh, they're beautiful! Why'd you get them? You're not in trouble. What'd you do?" Ginger brought the bouquet to her nose and smelled them.
"Where are my flowers?" Kris said, giving Taylor a hello kiss.
"Right here," he said, handing her a bouquet quite similar to Ginger's.
"Oh! Honey!"
"What's with the flowers, Zac?" Ginger asked. "Were they ninety-five percent off at a flower shop that was going out of business?"
"No," he said, giving her a look, "they weren't."
"Ike was in trouble and he bought them for Roni, but it turns out she's allergic so she gave them to us," Taylor explained.
"And we just split them in half and decided to give them to you," Zac finished
"Oh," Ginger said. "Thanks. Didn't even spend any money on them�geez�what a boyfriend you are."
"Fianc�," he corrected.
"Oh, even better," she said. "Oh, by the way, your mother found out we're engaged."
"What?" Zac asked. "How?"
"She saw my ring."
"And you told her."
"Well it was obvious! It looks like an engagement ring and it's on the left hand�"
"What'd she say?"
"Well, after saying that it was completely unexpected, she said 'welcome to the family.' " Zac looked confused. "Exactly. I don't understand her."
"I thought it was because Diana realized she has to deal with her for the rest of her life," Kris said. Everyone looked at her. "But that's just my thoughts."
"Here, I'll go put these in something," Ginger said, standing up and collecting Kris's flowers with hers. "Zac, come with me and find a vase." Zac followed Ginger out of the room. "You're such a brat, you know that?"
"What? At least I was honest!"
"Whatever," she said, shaking her head. "They are beautiful, though. How did Ike not know she was allergic to flowers? Has he never gotten in trouble before?"
"I guess not."
"Hmm�maybe he actually knows how to treat a girl."
"Oh shut up. I treat you just fine. There's a vase in there," he said, pointing to a cabinet. She handed him the flowers before opening the cabinet and taking out a vase. She walked to the sink and filled it partially with water, then Zac put the flowers in it. "Where are we going to put them?"
"Well, since they belong to me and Kris, we might as well put them in my room." Ginger left the room and went up the stairs, Zac following close behind.
"So what'd you do all day while me and Taylor were gone?" Zac asked when they reached the top of the stairs.
"Well, for a while me and Kris were kind of bored but then we started watching a Sex and the City marathon and we were good until you got home and ruined it. I think it's still on, actually."
"What are you doing watching a show called Sex and the City with my little sister running around?"
"Oh, she never came in the room and I had the clicker just in case. Have you ever seen that show?" Zac shook his head. "That is the best show in the world. Whenever it's on, Kris and me watch it, no matter how many times we've seen it. It's very, very dirty, but it's just so good."
"Are you trying to get me to watch it with you?"
"Not exactly," Ginger said, looking over her shoulder at him as she went into her room. "But it would be nice if you did."
"Whatever, Ginger." She set the flowers down on her desk. She took a few steps back and looked at them, then looked around the room. She walked back up to the flowers and rearranged them a bit. "It looks like Taylor and I are going to be working all week."
"That's fine," Ginger said, taking out one of the roses and putting it in a different spot. "Just let me know."
"We're going to be working all week in LA." Ginger nodded.
"Fine."
"I think it'd be best if you and Kris stayed here."
"Okay."
"You're not mad?" She smiled.
"Of course not. A week without you around is better than six months without you at all."
"Good." He kissed her. "I love you."
"I love you too."
Zac and Taylor's absence of a week and a half was barely anything once Ginger realized that after they came back, Kris only had two weeks left before she would be going home. When they returned they found Kris and Ginger returning from a spa visit, where they decided they would be together as much as possible before Kris left.
Three days before Kris's departure, Ginger decided to start separating Kris's things from her own. Kris wanted nothing to do with it. "You don't understand, Zac," Ginger explained after hearing a loud fight from Kris and Ginger. Kris had run out of the room to find Taylor and Zac went into the room to find a lot of open boxes and Ginger sorting through the closet. "After Friday Kris isn't going to be around anymore. We're not going to be sharing a room anymore. During our entire friendship Kris and I haven't gone more than two weeks without seeing each other at least once, and I don't know when I'm going to see her again!"
"You were planning to go down for Christmas," Zac filled. She sighed.
"Christmas is a very long time from now, Zac," Ginger said. "Christmas is forever from now. I don't know if I can go that long without seeing her."
"You can go for Thanksgiving," Zac said. "You don't have to spend that here with us."
"I don't know. And she's coming in here yelling at me because I'm getting her packed! She's been here an entire summer, that's a long time to get a lot of crap. This entire room is filled with stuff that we have to go through and figure out what is hers and what is mine and that's going to take time. But no, she's sitting downstairs in front of the fucking television like she's never going to leave!"
"She's not in front of the television, Ging. She's in my room crying her eyes out on Taylor."
"Then let her cry," Ginger said. "If she doesn't want to face the fact that she's leaving, she can cry all she wants."
"Ginger, since when do you ever fight with Kris? You two don't ever do that. Now this is silly. I think you should go in there and apologize."
"Apologize?" Ginger yelled. "Me? Apologize? She should apologize! She's the one who's at fault here. I am just facing reality here. I'm sorry if she's got her head up in the clouds." Zac sighed.
"Ginger�"
"What?"
"Just go apologize."
"No!" He walked behind her and began pushing her towards the door. "Zac! Stop it! I'm not apologizing!" He continued to push her and she was trying to fight it but it wasn't working. "Fine! Dammit, Zac, you are not getting any for a week."
"Yeah, right," he said, laughing. "That's funny. Go apologize." She looked at him pointedly before leaving the room and walking over to Zac and Taylor's room. Kris was laying face down on Taylor's bed, and Taylor was trying to talk to her. Ginger leaned against the doorway and absently scratched the back of her head.
"Kris, hun, your sister's here."
"I'm not talking to her! Tell her to go away!" Ginger huffed and turned around to leave, but Zac was right behind her and wouldn't let her go anywhere.
"Come on, Kris," Taylor said. "This is stupid. You and her never fight. I think you should talk to her."
"No!" Taylor got off the bed and walked over to Ginger he pushed her over to the bed and set her down, then both Zac and Taylor left. Ginger didn't say anything for a while until Kris took her head out of the pillow, thinking it was Taylor on the bed, but upon seeing her sister immediately put her head back in the pillow. "Go away."
"Kris, I'm sorry."
"I don't care."
"Yes you do. Zac and Taylor are right. This is stupid. It's just�you're leaving and I don't want you to leave. I don't know how to handle it so I'm acting all bitchy and weird. Maybe I'm getting my period. I don't know." Kris didn't say anything. "Kris�come on. Don't you think this is stupid?"
"Well�" she said, turning around and looking up at her sister. "Yeah. I'll help you sort through our stuff."
"Okay." Ginger got off the bed and Kris followed behind, wiping her eyes. The two went down the hall to their room. "This is what I already went through," Ginger said, pointing to a neat pile of clothes on the bed. "I know all of that is yours. I didn't get very far before Zac came in here and was all like 'apologize, apologize�' "
"Yeah, Taylor was the same way."
"Stupid boyfriends," Ginger muttered. "Anyway�" she opened the closet door again and started looking through it. Zac appeared at the door.
"You guys made up already?" he asked.
"Yeah," Ginger said.
"Damn, that was fast."
"Hey, Zac, what do you think of going to Riveted again on Thursday?" Ginger asked. "Kind of end the summer the way we started it?"
"I don't know�" Zac said. "Are we going to have share secrets again? I don't think I have any and your questions are brutal�"
"No, Zac, we don't have to share secrets if you don't want to," Ginger said. "Although that ruins all the fun."
"I'm sure it does," Zac said. "Well, I might as well. I'll go tell my loser brother." Zac left the room and Kris turned to Ginger.
"He still doesn't like Taylor, does he?" Kris asked.
"It's a lot better than it used to be," Ginger said. "He wouldn't even talk to him beforehand, but it's still not as it should be. I don't think things will ever be the same between them. It really sucks, though, because of the whole you and me situation, since we're so close, but I think they're attempting to get along for our sake."
"Well, at least they're attempting."
"At least."
Ginger turned back to the closet and began sorting through it again. She was trying to figure out which were hers and which were her sister's, but her vision was getting clouded over by tears. Kris stepped up beside her and wasn't the least bit surprised when Ginger broke down and began to cry. She put her arms around Ginger and tried to smile.
"It'll be okay, honey," she said. "I'll still see you."
"I know, but we won't be seeing each other every day! I'm not living with you any longer."
"Yeah, but you're living with Zac. That's ten times better."
"Zac's boring." Kris laughed.
"I know. Zac's such a boring person. All that traveling and singing in front of thousands of people, being on TV and seeing the world�that's so boring." Ginger laughed.
"I'm going to miss you."
"I'll miss you too, honey." Kris stroked her sister's hair. "I'll miss you."