2.4.02 Three Years Later: Bibbler, Carpenter, Farmer
Amy was soon ready to leave toddlerhood behind. Once she became a child, Sebastian and Penny came to a realization:
The house that was the right size for a toddler was just too small for a family with a child. Yes, Sebastian and Penny could hear what Amy was doing no matter which room she was in, but maybe she and they would want a little more privacy. And besides, Amy would soon have a baby brother.
Sebastian and Penny considered their options. Sebastian wanted to add a basement, but Penny hated the idea. "Underground spaces give me claustrophobia," she said. "It's probably because Mom sent me to sit in the crawl space under the trailer when I misbehaved."
The two of them bought a new house over in Willow Creek. It wasn't quite large enough, though, and there wasn't much extra room on the lot.
So they added a second story. Furnishings were sparse, but Penny knew she could sell a few more paintings, and Sebastian was rising quickly in his career as a gamer.
Amy gave the news to her grandmother. "We're leaving," she said. "You'll have to come to Willow Creek if you want to pick on me."
"Amy!" Penny called. "Don't talk to your grandmother like that."
Pam winked at her. "You're honest, kid. I like that."
What Amy liked best about the new house was that she had room for a voidcritter battle station. "This is cool," said her friend Jeffrey. They were in the same class at school, along with Madilyn Barnhart and Vincent Marsh.
After they moved in, Sebastian went over to tell his mother that they'd moved. "We've got a baby on the way, too," he said. "Penny says it's going to be a boy this time, and I guess she'd know."
He noticed that Robin was unusually silent, toying with her spaghetti instead of actually eating. "Is everything okay here?"
Robin took a deep breath. "Well, Sooty isn't a puppy any more. She loves to go on adventures. We went several times to explore the lighthouse in Brindleton Bay. The keeper knew a lot of history about it.
"She came down with something that made her nose hot, but they fixed her up at the vet's."
"That's good," said Sebastian. "Any other news?"
"Well, your brother Stephen is quite the little genius -- does his homework without being told, that sort of thing.
"We want him to lose some weight, so we're encouraging him to exercise more." Robin sighed.
"I still think there's something you're not telling me. Did Demetrius get abducted by aliens or something?"
"No, I was," said Robin. "They were really quite pleasant. The truth is..." she sighed again.
"...we lost Walter."
"How do you lose a 3-year-old?" exclaimed Sebastian.
"It's all the Watcher's fault," sniffed Robin. "She went to work with Demetrius one day, and when he came home, she didn't do a full check on everyone. She just assumed that because Walter had some carrots in his pocket, he'd eat when he got hungry, but he went out in back to make a mess, and by the time she sent him back to the kitchen to get some food, it was too late. He was gone, just like that. I guess we should take comfort from the fact that Arthur is still with us. He's the one who looks like Demetrius. Walter had red hair like me."
Her voice faltered.
"And Amy," said Sebastian. "Amy has your red hair, too, and we don't know what Brian will look like."
Next door to the Carpenters, two little vampires were growing up. It turned out that Octavius carried Ramodius's genes, too.
And Valerie was beginning to feel cranky as her fangs slowly began to develop in her gums.
