Chapter 28 - Green Thumb

Max's birthday comes before Tiara is ready for it. It's sort of weird, really, being aware that this is the last time she'll hold a baby that she birthed. After all, she meant it when she said that this was the last time that something like this would happen.

Maxwell grows into a (creepy-looking) toddler, inheriting his father's hair.

The eyes are all Tiara, however, as well as the skin tone.

With the realization that there is so little time left for everyone in the grand scheme of things, Tiara decides to spend a little extra time cuddling the now old Dizzy and Toulouse that morning. She's not quite sure how she's going to cope when the animals have suddenly vanished. Even if she DID tell Gussie that she was going to stop obsessing over stray animals...she's still aware that they're out there not being loved or adored, and the mere thought of a house without a pet is bizarre and strange.

Melissa and Max bond over eating delicious blocks.

Meanwhile, Tiara shows off her still rocking body every night as she heads off to her gig as a lead guitarist.

Can't you just see this in slow motion with heavy metal behind it?

A couple of days after the Watering Hole fiasco, Megan receives a phone call.

"Hello? ...Dorian? Sup?"

"Nothing much. Just giving you a call."

She snorts, stepping outside with a small smile. "Took you long enough."

"Man, I wasn't gonna call you at all, but you scare the shit out of me, so..."

The irony in that one statement is so palpable that Megan feels coated in it. She's the one that still needs to sleep with a tiny nightlight, that runs everywhere at night so that the ghosts and murderers don't catch her. "Smart choice" is all she says in response. It sounds cooler. "What're you up to?"

"Eh, watching my dog Patch rip up the lettuce plants in the backyard-"

"You have plants?" As if on instinct, her thumbs start burning. "Like what kind of plants?"

"Hell, I don't know, tomatoes, lettuce, grapes..."

"Oh. My. Plumbob," Megan murmurs reverently, eyes getting huge. "Where the hell do you live?"

"What?"

"Tell me where you live, fool!"

"Are you gonna like bring a gun and shoot me?"

Eventually he gives in.

"Dude, what gives?" Dorian whines the second he comes outside.

"Get out of my way." Megan slides past him and goes through the house, calling over her shoulder. "I'm on a mission!"

She accidentally goes in the pantry and almost walks in on his dad in the bathroom, but eventually Megan finds her way into the backyard.

Gardening is something she's always wanted to do. ALWAYS. Every time she sees her mom's grocery bill, it just makes her want to throw up, seriously. So much wasted money when all they have to do is water some dinky little plants instead.

They waste money on everything, actually, from taxis to the water bill...it's making Megan think that maybe she should start doing things a different way when she becomes an adult.

"So do I really scare the crap out of you?"

Dorian hems and haws and tries to change the subject enough times that she knows it's true. That's a hell of a lot of power, actually, knowing that she intimidates someone to the point that they are sort of scared of her.

Dorian finally succeeds in changing the subject. "So how'd you get out of the house? Thought your mom'd ground you for life or whatever."

"She tried," Megan mutters, eyelids growing annoyedly heavy and languid. "But, I mean, c'mon, she's a big softie at heart. All I had to do was promise I wasn't gonna do it again."

"Damn. Lucky you."

With the produce burning a hole in her pocket, the two fall into easy conversation until she succeeds in what she hadn't even realized was a secret desire of hers.

She makes him laugh. She makes him full-out guffaw until it looks like he's about to fall over.

He's really cute when he laughs that hard, actually.

"Would you kids quiet down?!" his dad yells somewhere else in the house. "Can't concentrate on a damn thing! Watcher!"

They snicker. Totally mature.

"Aight, man, you gotta get out of here before my dad freaks any more."

"No problem," Megan says with a smile.

And then she turns on the smolder. "See? There's nothing to be scared of, pretty boy."

"Pretty boy? You really gonna call me that?"

"Gotta keep you in your place and all that, y'know. If I call you something else, like Mr. Hot Shot, you're gonna lose your head."

Dorian isn't as good at smoldering as Megan is...but then again, he doesn't have Rhiannon Toft's genes.

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Since I've been neglecting to include it as they grow, mostly because I couldn't remember what they were, I'm going to include the traits of the kids here:

MARIE: Genius, Family-Oriented, Ambitious, Computer Whiz.
MEGAN: Absent-Minded, Green Thumb, Easily Impressed, Coward.
MELISSA: Loves the Outdoors, Clumsy, Friendly.
MAXWELL: Brave, Athletic.

If you haven't guessed, one of my rolls next gen is Living Green, haha. I figured I'd go ahead and have Megan get some good-quality produce cultivated so she can start filling her refrigerator early.

Doesn't Maxwell look like a vampire baby? DOESN'T HE?!