Bubba and I teleported into Lunar Lakes in the early morning. We immediately got down to business.
Meanwhile, a stranger landed in the front yard. And rang the doorbell.
I hurried to answer the door, and frowned when I saw a half-familiar face behind the glass window.
I did not recognize him at first, yet suddenly I remembered--a man with bright blue eyes and a tentative, sad smile. He was in my room when Grim came to him. He had been my father, we had shared a home for twelve years, yet I could count the number of words we had exchanged on my hands.
"Hello, Miles," I greeted him unenthusiastically. "Why . . . . are you . . . here? I don't mean to be rude, but--"
"I'm sorry to bother you, Iris, but--"
"I prefer to go by my full name, thank you," I said icily, biting back my words moments after they were spoken.
"I'm sorry," Miles repeated, shrinking. "I didn't mean to--look, I know that . . . previously . . . we didn't have a great relationship, but this time around I really want to be your dad, all right?"
"I'm not a little girl, Miles. I might look young, but I've been alive for hundreds of years. I don't need a father."
His eyes fell, but he mustered a smile. Eyes like mine . . . "Okay--I'll just leave town, then. Maybe I'll go find Mikayla and my grandson, Jerry. Head back to my frat at the University--"
I took a deep breath. "Miles, I ignored you when you were alive. This is our second chance. It's about time I got to know you." Stepping forward, I hugged my dad.
"Did you set that up?" I asked Bubba after a farewell that was awkward, but oddly nice.
"In my defense, it was because of self-interest," he answered with his easy smile. "As fantastic as it has been to spend my life surrounded by hot, off-limits older ladies, I need a guy around."
"Perhaps I should just leave you to the mercy of my
hot, off-limits ancestors," I teased. "I'll get a dog. He should lend the same amount of intellect to my domicile." Half-laughing, I pulled Bubba into a kiss. "Give me a minute to get dressed, then we'll go."
"Is that really necessary?"
A few minutes later, Bubba and I were filling out applications.
"Are you sure you want to leave home before we've even settled in?" I asked. "We've only been back together for an hour, it's entirely illogical that we've moved to an alien world just to head off to University--"
"You are my home," he interrupted. "My alien world is wherever you are."
"That's an unorthodox pickup line," I replied.
"You're an unorthodox girl. I have to be creative." He grinned. "And we should go, because I've already scheduled our first date."
"I love you."
"I love you more."
"Excuse me?"
"Take it as a compliment."
Our new genie capabilities served us well at University. 5-star meals at every turn, levitation from class to class, and our rented house was spotless. Besides, I'd always been curious about Bubba's previous occult state, especially after the cryptic hints he occasionally dropped about lamp Woohoo--unfortunately, he was leading me on in that respect, but at least photo booths are still an option.
College is pretty fantastic.
"What do you mean, you love me more? I waited in a basement for you!"
"I was dead."
"
I let you die. Because I love you, and I wanted this second life for us."
"Call it a draw, babe?"
". . . Fine."
The time at University was the young adulthood I'd never had: soda, junk food, being late for class, skipping (
skipping!) occasionally to scout out new love nests with Bubba . . . I occasionally found Mother's spray-painted masterpieces around campus, and Bree's (it seems wrong to call her Grandma now!) juice kegs are still in front of her and Brandon's house.
I even played juice pong with Bubba! It was, as I emphasized beforehand, a useless game that was simply an excuse to get juiced--fortunately, the direct correlation of juice to streaking does not run in the family.
But the light of my new life was Bubba, my only love, my genie in a sideways baseball cap. We had waited so long to be young and free and immortal. All the agony and anguish and waiting was worth it.
