Author’s Note: I wanted to post this last week, but I got called in to work on all my days off, and it killed my free time. Bleh! I definitely don’t share Susan’s workaholic trait.
Chapter 70
As fall progressed in Sunset Valley, the leaves dropped and temperatures fell, but Blair was enthused as Spooky Day approached. She’d always enjoyed that holiday, and she and Cycl0n3 had already decorated for it, aside from the jack-o-lanterns. She preferred to pick her own pumpkins for that. They headed over to the festival where Chris and Travis would meet them after school. “I’m glad we finally got a nice day. I didn’t want to have to pick pumpkins in the mud.”
“You know, there is always the grocery store.”
“Bah. That’s no fun. It’s not like walking through the pumpkin patch and finding one yourself.”
“Yeah. It’s faster.”
“You have no spirit, lazy bones,” she teased.
“If it’s spirits you want, the haunted house is over there.”
“Very funny.” A wistful smile spread across her face. “This is the last year Chris will be trick-or-treating. Next year he’ll be too grown up for it, like the Captain. Too cool and mature for the kid stuff.”
Cycl0n3 snickered. “Patrick’s a Wainwright. He’s got his work cut out for him if he wants to be cool.”
Blair stuck out her tongue. “Hey! Like you can talk, Cycl0n3 ‘I-Go-By-My-Screen-Name’ Sw0rd! You’re not exactly Mr. Cool and With-It yourself!”
“Ooh, I struck a nerve! Besides, I never said I wasn’t a raging nerd myself. You know I love you. I never wanted to hang around the ‘cool kids’ anyway.”
“Remember that year we came to the festival when I was pregnant with Chris? We were still practically newlywed.”
“Yeah. We met up with your parents, and we entered that pie eating contest. Your mom turned colors when we and your dad went at it like pigs at the trough and got covered in berry pie.”
Blair clutched her stomach. “She wasn’t the only one. I about turned green. That made me so sick. I don’t think I touched pie for weeks after that.”
“I remember. You puked your brains out. I don’t think you’ve done another pie eating contest since then. Want to try again today?”
“No, that’s all right. Once in a lifetime was enough. I’ll just pick my pumpkins like a boring old mom.”
“Have fun.” He heard a distant bell and looked across the street. “Looks like school let out and I see Travis. Maybe I’ll take him through the haunted house with me. Nothing like a few animated jump effects and fake spider webs to set the old Spooky Day mood.”
After Travis came over and said hello, he and Cycl0n3 went to the haunted house while Blair checked out the pumpkin selection. She’d just spotted one she wanted when Justine came by. “Justine! It’s so nice to see you! How are you?”
“Blair! I’m great, thanks! How’ve you been?”
“Pretty good. Enjoying retirement?” Although Justine had made it far in the forensics division and had been a great asset to the SVPD in her time there, she’d finally made the decision to retire a few months earlier. She’d certainly earned it after years of hard work, but Blair considered her a good friend and missed seeing her on the job.
“It lacks the excitement of the force, but it’s good. There’s always plenty to do around the house, and I love the peace and quiet. And with that grandchild on the way, I’m sure I’ll be doing some babysitting and grandma spoiling.”
“You must be so excited, huh?”
“Excited, but a little surprised, you know? Wilbur and Penny aren’t much more than kids themselves, so I hope they get all the craziness they’re in for, especially during the teenage years.”
“Oh, tell me about it! I’ve still got one left to go through those years myself.”
“I think two teenagers gave me most of this gray! Love ‘em, though. Anyhow, I think I’m going to test my cardiac resilience on a trip through the haunted house. It was nice seeing you, Blair.”
“You too! Happy Spooky Day!”
“Thanks! Same to you!”
Travis wasn’t impressed with the haunted house. “Oh, that was so fake! I wasn’t scared at all. I could see the strings on the bats and that one spider, and the vampire needed new batteries or something because it’s ‘aaah’ was more like ‘urrrr!’”
“Sunset Valley’s local festival doesn’t have the budget of a theme park, I’m afraid.” Cycl0n3 was proud that his son was so observant and intelligent, but at times he wondered how someone so young could be so jaded. Even though he could be rather cynical himself, it seemed that Travis could find the proverbial cloud in every silver lining. “Come on. Let’s see if your mom found us our pumpkins yet and check out the rest of it. The food’s always good at these things if nothing else.”
“Can I get a fudgesickle?”
“Even though you’re going to gorge yourself on candy trick-or-treating later?”
Travis just looked at his father with an expression that said “well, duh,” which Cycl0n3 could not help but be amused by.
“All right, but let’s not draw too much attention to it, or Momzilla will give us both a healthy eating lecture.”
“Okay.”
They met up with Blair, who was now with Chris, and took the pumpkins they picked to the car before returning to the festival. Travis got his face painted with a jack-o-lantern while Chris ran into Tom Sekemoto and chatted with him. Chris and Tom decided to compete in the apple bobbing contest, and Blair convinced Cycl0n3 to join in, too. Travis didn’t want to. “I’ll ruin my face paint! Besides, I don’t want water up my nose.”
“Better water than pie.” Blair cast a wary look in the direction of the pie eating contest. Her stomach churned in protest even so many years later.
“Now there’s something that’d mess up your face paint,” Chris said.
“You should’ve seen me, your mom, and your grandpa back in the day in that,” Cycl0n3 remarked while they waited for the bobbing to begin.
“Which one of you won?”
“None of us. We humiliated ourselves for nothing, as your grandmother made sure to point out at the time.”
“I dunno. Technically, I got free pie from Mom since she was pregnant with me,” Chris said with a grin. “I’d call that a win.”
“You’re gonna lose this if you don’t shut your yap,” Travis pointed out. The contest bell rang just as Chris finished talking.
With that point taken, the contestants plunged into the tank. The water was cold and it was more awkward than it looked. Cycl0n3 forgot to take his glasses off, and into the tank they went on his first bob. He continued without them, but it didn’t do his performance any favors. Blair did all right, but Chris had the best knack for it. He and Tom were neck and neck for the lead, but at the end, Chris beat him by one apple.
“Yeah! Victory!” Chris collected his winning tickets, while Cycl0n3 fished his glasses out of the bottom of the tank.
After the apple bobbing, they had some food. Travis got his promised fudgesickle, with no lecture from his mother, while Chris just grabbed a hot cider and Blair and Cycl0n3 had burgers. They spotted Connor Frio at a table and sat with him, although Travis was not keen on sitting with a stranger. He sat alone at another table nearby.
“Hey, Connor.” Cycl0n3 greeted his former co-worker from Doo Peas from days long ago. “How’ve you been?”
“Not bad. Good to see you. Hi, Blair.”
“Hi!”
“Still working at the SVPD?”
Blair nodded. “Yup.”
“She’s doing some elite undercover agent work now. State and even some federal stuff.”
Connor was impressed. “Wow! That’s great! Though it’s still hard to imagine the quiet girl I remember you being in high school in that line of work.”
“Don’t let her quiet unassuming middle-aged mom guise fool you. It’s all an act. She’s a bad llama!”
Chris almost sputtered his drink at the look that crossed his mother’s face when he said that, while Blair volleyed back a retort.
“On the other hand, Cycl0n3 here still finds the best disguise for his P.I. job is hiding in plain sight as a huge dork distracted by his phone or laptop.”
“Hey, you wouldn’t believe how much information I’ve gotten just hanging around pretending to be preoccupied with my phone.” He made a face. “Wouldn’t believe how much TMI I’ve heard in what people thought were private conversations, either, but that’s a whole other story.”
“Sounds like you both could provide me with some great writing material,” said Connor.
“I saw you got published! Congratulations!” The last time Blair had been near the bookstore, there was a display featuring a local best-selling author with his name on it. “You must be so excited.”
“Thanks. I’m really glad people like my stuff. It’s been a dream of mine since as long as I can remember.”
They chatted with Connor until they finished eating, and by then it was time to head home for trick-or-treating. Blair and Cycl0n3 carved the pumpkins while Chris and Travis got ready. Once they were in costume, the plan was to meet up with Orion and Iris to trick-or-treat before the Spooky Day party at their grandparents’ house later that night.
“Come on. We don’t have time to waste if we want to maximize our candy potential.” Chris looked over at Travis, who was casually reaching into the candy bowl.
Blair spotted him out of the corner of her eye. “Get your paws out of that bowl and unhand that chocolate, mister. You’re going to get plenty of candy tonight. That’s for the kids who come here.”
“But I’m a kid, and I’m here.”
“You know what she means, wise llama,” chided Cycl0n3. “Don’t worry. If there’s any left after the other kids have been by, you’ll get your share.”
“Aw, okay.” He released his almost ill-gotten gain from his fingers and followed Chris to get changed.
“Okay. Obligatory parent lecture before you go.” Cycl0n3 walked out with Chris and Travis. “You know the drill. Stay clear of crazy drivers on the road. Don’t go inside anyone’s house. Toss anything that isn’t wrapped properly or looks sketchy. Don’t harass grumps who don’t want to give you candy, tempting as it is.”
“I thought that was the whole ‘trick’ part of trick-or-treat,” said Travis.
“It is, but do you really want anyone to complain to your mom and have her go Mom Cop on you?”
“I’ve had that happen and you don’t,” Chris informed his little brother. “Though we are disguised and theoretically, no one should know who we are.”
“This town is smaller than you think, and MorKu here doesn’t even have his face masked.”
“But what if they’re really rude? Not even TP on the trees?”
Cycl0n3 raised an eyebrow. “If you want to risk your mom’s wrath, that’s on you. I’m awfully glad I didn’t hear that, though.”
Chris snickered. “He only says that because he probably TP’d the crap out of stingy candy-giver’s houses back when he was a kid.”
“Number One, you can’t prove that, and number two, that was a terrible pun.”
“‘Number One,’ I’m too old for you to call me that anymore, especially as a pun, and number two, did you really have to call me out on a poop pun saying ‘number two?’”
“Just goes to show that my puns will never be as crap-tastic as yours.”
“Can we stop making jokes about poop and get to the candy now?” Travis shook his plastic pumpkin.
“Sure.” Chris held up his bucket to his father. “How about one for the road?”
Cycl0n3 pulled out a few candies he’d smuggled into his pocket on the way out. He dropped them into each of the boys’ buckets. “Have fun. There’s two each, and in theory, I’m telling you to give one to Orion and one to Iris, but once it leaves my possession, I disavow all knowledge.”
“Ha! Thanks, Dad.”
“Woohoo! Candy time!” Travis darted down the driveway with Chris right behind him.
After meeting Orion and Iris, who were dressed as a horror movie killer in a ski mask and Dill-Bird, respectively, they went to the Landgraab mansion first since it was next door. Bianca answered. “Wow. Hi, Chris. Love the face paint,” she said as she put candy in their buckets.
“I’m the skeleton formerly known as Chris.”
“And who’s the green serial killer then?”
“I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you,” Orion replied.
“Right. Well, take my candy instead. Hopefully you’ll spare my life.”
Orion noticed it was full size candy bars instead of the small ones. Bianca and her older brother Malcolm apparently felt generous with the fortune they’d inherited from their mother. “For these? Plum, yeah! Thanks!”
“Thank you! Happy Spooky Day!” Iris called out cheerfully as they left for the next house.
They trick-or-treated all over town. Since Chris borrowed his parents’ car to drive over, they were able to cover a pretty large area, although that was partly because no one was home at a lot of houses. They collected lots of candy, but then it started to rain again.
Travis pouted. “Why does it have to rain on Spooky Day?”
“It won’t stop us. We’re on a mission!” Chris assured him, while Iris shrugged.
“I don’t mind it, except it’s getting my costume wet.”
“You two didn’t even have to wear a costume if you don’t want,” Travis said.
“But lots of people know I’m a plantsim, so it’d be cheating. Besides, it wouldn’t be any fun not to dress up. I’m a plantsim every day, but today I’m Dill-Bird!”
Orion agreed with Iris, although he felt less okay that the only day he could walk around without weird looks was a day when everyone dressed up as something different or odd enough to be remarkable. A part of him had been tempted to wear an alien costume as a statement, but in the end, he decided he’d rather just have fun like everyone else and not remind himself about how different he was.
Despite her reputation as a grumpy old lady, Agnes Crumplebottom liked their costumes. “Oh, my! What a scary group we have here. Please, take my candy and don’t hurt me,” she said as she put treats in their buckets.
One of the last houses they visited was the lofts, where Tamara and her kids still lived all these years later. She recognized Chris and Travis and realized the two with them were Orion and Iris. She’d hadn’t seen them since Travis’ toddler birthday, but even in costume, their distinctive skin tones were a giveaway.
“Trick or treat!”
“Here you go.” Tamara gave Iris candy. “What are you? I’ve never seen a bird-hero before?” It was her best guess from the logo on her costume.
“I’m Dill-Bird! I have powers that let me fly and talk to birds.”
“Wow. That’s very cool. I bet you must go on some great adventures, huh?”
When she got to Chris, she gave him a wry look. “You’re skinny, Chris Sw0rd, but I didn’t think you’d wasted away to full skeleton. Here. Have a caramel nut bar to fatten you back up.”
“Thank you. I’ll eat all the candy it takes to put the meat back on my bones.”
“I bet you will.” She gave Orion his candy, and then Travis. “And here’s some fuel for your super-powers, too. Tell your mom and dad I said hi.”
“We will. Thanks!” Travis said before they moved on.
They got a good haul from trick-or-treating, but the rain poured even harder after nightfall, so they decided they were done. Chris and Travis dropped Orion and Iris off and went back home to dry off and pick up their parents. On their way inside, Orion noticed the Alto mansion was lit up. Vita Alto, now an old widow after her husband’s recent passing, had not been home when they were in the neighborhood earlier.
“Come on! Let’s do one last stop!” Orion suggested. They ran through the rain and rang the bell.
“Oh, my.” Vita’s smile was almost sinister in the rainy half-light. “A masked figure and a … mutant super-hero? Or super-villain?”
“I’m a hero!” Iris declared proudly. “I can talk to birds and fly, and I use my powers to help others.”
“Very commendable. I’m sure many are grateful for your good deeds.” Vita put a big handful of candy in her bucket.
“Wow! Thank you!”
“You’re welcome, dear.” She turned to Orion. “I can tell you’re a dangerous sort, so you get a different treat.” She reached deep into her candy bowl and placed something in there that made his bucket feel heavy. “Happy Spooky Day!”
“Thanks. Happy Spooky Day!” Orion and Iris headed home while Vita went inside.
“What did she give you? She gave me a ton of candy! I don’t know why people say Mrs. Alto is mean. She was nice to us!”
“I don’t know what kind of candy it is.” Orion reached in, and his eyes went wide behind his mask when he pulled out a rather sinister looking gnome figurine with evil eyebrows wearing a red outfit. It gave off an odd vibration that reminded him of Buddy and Patches in a way. Otherworldly, and something he suspected he could only sense because of his alien abilities. “Oh, wow! I think this is a magic gnome!”
“She gave you a gnome?!” Iris was both awed and jealous. “And I thought getting lots of candy was cool.”
“This is awesome! I can’t wait to show everyone!”
After trick-or-treating was done, Orion and Iris joined the rest of the family getting ready for the Spooky Day party. Their costumes were soaked, so they changed into different ones. Orion put on a gag hot dog suit he’d ordered online on a whim late one night. Iris wore an old childhood costume of Orion’s that was in the costume chest, a bulked-up superhero outfit of a different type. She still liked her Dill-Bird costume better, but not enough to wear it sopping wet through a whole party.
Boyd went with his original plan of dressing up as a cow plant. When Blair and her family arrived, he saw that Cycl0n3 had the same idea. “I’d say great minds think alike, but I’m not sure how disturbed I should be that we’re on that much of the same wavelength.”
“You? How about me? If I’m thinking like you, I’m thinking like an old man!”
“So, situation normal?” Chris quipped as he passed. He was out of costume. He’d gotten soaked and didn’t feel like re-painting his face or putting on a different one.
“Hardy har har.”
Boyd patted Cycl0n3 on the shoulder. “Congratulations. Your son is a chip off the old block. Or a graft off the old vine, if you prefer.”
“I’ve grown a monster.”
Patrick came over to the bar in his doctor’s costume, where a witchy Susan prepared party drinks. “Making a few witches’ brews?”
“This one mixer is vile enough to be.” She wrinkled her nose. “The way it smells, it’s practically magic that the end result is drinkable. The magic of mixology, I suppose.” She shook and poured. “Your father thought we should do the mixing in a decorative cauldron to be festive. I told him that he could drag it to the sink to clean it out after every batch if he wanted that, and suddenly he was all for modern witchcraft brews in tumblers.”
Patrick picked up one of the newly made drinks and sipped it. “Hey, it works. They’re pretty good.”
“Thanks. Would you mind watering the cow plants over there and taking him one? He wanted to try it. Bring one for Cycl0n3, too.”
“Does he need it? I thought he was already full of fertilizer!”
Susan chuckled. “Yes, but bring him one anyway.”
Iris was disappointed when Travis and Chris showed up in regular clothes instead of costumes. “Aw, you’re not dressed up anymore!”
“Nobody said I had to come in costume!” Travis snapped at her angrily.
She was taken aback. “Hey! Calm down. I was just saying.”
“Well, don’t! My costume was too wet and I didn’t want to wear it anymore. I didn’t have a spare like you, okay?”
“You don’t have to yell at me about it!”
“You started it.”
“I did not! I just said—”
“Whatever! I don’t care.”
“I was going to say there’s play costumes in the chest, but if you’re just going to yell at me, forget it!”
Travis sighed and apologized. “Okay, sorry. I’m not mad at you.”
“Okay.”
“It’s just, I liked my costume, and I’m mad I can’t wear it. I don’t want another one. I want that one.”
“All right. But all you had to do was say so.”
More guests arrived, and the party was in full swing. Costumes were optional, but encouraged, and about half the guests showed up in costume while the rest just enjoyed the festive mood. Tara, her brother Wilbur, and Penny all came together. “Hey, you big wiener,” Tara teased when she saw Orion. “Nice costume.”
“Thanks. Glad you could make it.”
“Glad to be here.” She leaned in flirtatiously. “So, what kind of hot dog are you, anyway? Like, a ball park special or all-beef, or what?”
He met her eyes with a playful look. “Foot long.”
“Oh, the kind everyone wants to eat, you mean.”
They both started snickering.
“But not green I hope.”
Orion gave her an odd look, and Tara realized how rudely that could’ve been taken. “Oh! I didn’t mean like that. I meant, like… ‘cause green hot dogs are moldy and no one would want to eat them, not… oh, plum! I’m sorry. I should just shut my big stupid mouth. I always say the wrong thing. I—I’m sorry. I’ll go.” She turned to leave, but Orion stopped her.
“It’s okay. I’m not upset.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. What I meant was—”
“I get it. It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not. It really doesn’t matter to me what you look like. I didn’t even think it like that. I swear.”
“I know.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Forget about it. Let’s just dance. Dance with the big green hot dog.” He smiled and took her hand, and they started dancing.
“You’re not moldy, though. Green or not, I’d totally eat you.” That time Tara’s foot-in-mouth got her a completely different reaction, and she flushed fiercely when she realized what she’d said. “Oh, my Watcher.”
Orion grinned. “Really?”
Although he was teasing, she was mortified. “I could just die. That’s… that’s not what I meant.”
“Oh.” Orion was still amused while Tara blushed even harder. “Hey, it’s all right,” he reassured her. “It was funny. I’m glad to be… appetizing.”
“You must think I’m the biggest idiot around.”
“No.”
“No?”
“Not at all.” Orion met her eyes. “I think you’re a lot of things. Pretty. Interesting. Fun to hang out with. Kind of funny at times, but not in the way you worry about. And…”
Tara was flattered, but nervous. “And?”
“And I really like you. A lot.” Then, while his own heart pounded with excitement and anticipation, he leaned in and kissed her. She was surprised, but she kissed him back.
“I really like you, too.” Tara took his hands afterward.
“I’m glad.”
“So, does this mean I’m officially your date for the party now?”
“Yeah. You can officially be my date anytime we go out or do stuff together.”
“I’d like that. I mean, I kind of felt that way already, but I wasn’t sure you thought of it like that,” she admitted. “Well, I figured you probably did, but I didn’t want to just assume and be stupid and look dumb if I was wrong. So I didn’t want to say anything until I was sure you were sure and…”
“Well, now you can be sure.” With an ear to ear grin made all the goofier by his hot dog suit, Orion drew her into a dance and gave her an elated spin to the beat.
While Orion and Tara got closer, Patrick chatted with Jamaal. “Glad you could make it. No costume?”
“Basic training’s beat that kind of fun out of me.” Jamaal had joined the military after high school, not only because it had a track into the space program, but also because it had a steady paycheck that covered the rent at his house. When he signed the lease, it was originally going to be him, Gretchen, and their unborn child living there, but that was before things went sour between them.
“That sucks. I give you props for toughing it out. I know I couldn’t do it. I hated gym class, never mind what they put you guys through.”
“It’s pretty rigorous,” he admitted. “I hear you’re heading off to University soon. You and Maria both going to Sims U?”
Patrick nodded. “Yup. Same dorm and everything!”
“Well, a bit of advice. Living with your girlfriend? Not like just being with your girlfriend.” His tone grew bitter. “Not that she lived there long.”
“The co-ed dorm’s not that co-ed. If you share a room there, it’s with the same gender. Not that I’m sharing a room. I’m paying extra for a single.” He smirked. “Nothing says she can’t stay over, though.”
“I hope it works out for you.”
“Thanks. Sorry it’s been so rough for you.”
Jamaal shrugged. “It is what it is. I should’ve known better. Gretchen and I always had our ups and downs, but always ended up back together. Kind of wish I didn’t get such a big house, but there’s still a room for the baby when he or she is there. And it has a nice driveway where I can work on my car on my time off. Military pay covers it at least. I knew she’d be too flaky to keep a job, so I made sure I got something we could afford on one paycheck.”
“She inherited her mom’s house, didn’t she?”
“Yeah, but who knows how long she’ll manage to keep it. She’s just doing some sing-a-gram thing on call. Don’t think it’s steady. But whatever. Now she’s got somewhere to shack up with Julius where I’m nowhere around.”
Patrick shook his head. “Sorry. I could never stand the guy, but I know you and him were friends.”
He nodded. “Like I said, it is what it is.”
Maria came to the party with her mother, who’d been extended an invite along with her and Tad. Unfortunately, he’d come down with a case of food poisoning after eating a bad fritter at the festival and had to stay home.
“Sick on Spooky Day. That sucks,” Penny sympathized.
“Yeah. Though, not to be mean, but I’m kind of glad to be away from him for a little while. He’s in the foulest mood ever. I know he feels like crap, but he’s been biting our heads off over every little stupid thing. He had mom practically waiting on him hand and foot and was still acting like a bigger baby than Caleb!”
“Is he watching him that sick?”
“No. Caleb’s with Stiles. He took him to Zelda’s Spooky Day party she’s having for her kid. Mom would’ve gone, too, but she stayed with Tad until he fell asleep and I convinced her to come here with me for a break.” Maria sounded wistful. “You know, my dad never even so much as took us trick-or-treating, even back when he and Mom were still married. It was always Mom. He was working or busy or didn’t even care. I remember one year he even griped about how he was too busy to take a picture of Mom dressed up with us.” Maria caught the look on Penny’s face and felt bad when she remembered that Penny had just lost her father. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I forgot. You don’t want to hear me complain about my dad when at least I’ve still got him.”
“It’s okay. You’ve got every reason to gripe. At least my dad was always there for me.” Her eyes misted over. “I just miss him, you know? He’s not going to see me and Wilbur get married, or our baby.”
Maria nodded sympathetically. “I’m sure he’s watching from wherever he is. Your mom, too. And I know you and Wilbur will be happy together. You make a great couple. So in love and sweet! You’re going to be great parents.”
“Thanks. I hope so!” She gave Maria a curious look. “You and Patrick have been together a while. Are you talking engagement yet?”
She glanced over at Patrick. “Dr. Love over there hasn’t said much yet, but we’ve kind of talked about getting engaged after university. I mean, I’ve dropped hints, but… you know.”
“Yeah. But you two have been together for ages, so how could he not be thinking it like you are?”
“That’s what I hope, but… well, I’ll just have to start hinting sledgehammer style if he takes too long to figure it out!”
“I’m so glad you could make it,” Susan greeted Morgana graciously. “Sorry to hear about poor Tad. Chris told us.”
“Oh, he’s in rough shape. Any sicker and I’d have sent him to the ER, but he’ll be fine with some rest and keeping fluids down.”
Boyd shook his head. “You’d think the deep fryer would’ve killed off anything that nasty, but I guess you never know when other people are handling your food.”
“This from the champion plate-slurper,” Susan teased her husband. “At any rate, I hope he feels better.”
“Yeah, same. Food poisoning is miserable stuff.”
“Thanks. I’m just glad that I’m a doctor and could help him myself without dragging him to the hospital.” She noticed Chris talking with Wilbur. “Speaking of which, Tad says he’s thinking of going into medicine?”
“Veterinary, but yes. Chris loves animals, especially cats,” said Boyd.
“We told him we could give him a great position at the lab with a background like that, but he’s not so much into the weird creatures as the cuddly ones,” Susan said.
“I’m not sure I’d like giving a close exam to a cow plant, unless it was quite well-fed,” Morgana remarked. “Even the most cantankerous patient doesn’t hold a candle to that. But I wish him luck. Do you know if he’s planning on going to Sims U like Maria and Patrick?”
“He hasn’t said, but it’s got a good program for it,” Boyd replied.
“Speaking of which,” Susan lowered her voice so that just Morgana and Boyd could hear, “I’m curious. What are your thoughts on Patrick and Maria living in the same dorm?”
“Are you worried they’re getting a bit too serious, too young?” Morgana guessed.
Susan and Boyd exchanged looks. “We’d be fairly hypocritical to say that, considering we were married straight out of high school. Though that was a bit rushed because, well,” Susan lowered her voice farther, “Blair. Though we weren’t worried about us long term. It was the whole raising a child so young that was intimidating.”
“Not that we weren’t told the odds, but yes,” Boyd added. “In that sense, we were lucky not to have any major personality conflicts we didn’t fully get when we got married.”
“Love, especially young love, can be blind to those,” Morgana agreed with a bittersweet smile. “It’s nice to hear a success story. I wish I’d looked a little harder at some of… well, not seen what I wanted to see rather than what was there. I worry about Maria that way, sometimes,” she confided. “Not that I think there’s anything wrong with Patrick, of course. He’s great, and it’s obvious he treats her well and makes her happy. It’s more… she’s very much a romantic at heart.”
“Our daughter Blair is like that. We worried a lot back when she was younger that she was the type to, ah, how to put it…”
“Give someone the benefit of the doubt too many times? Set herself up to be hurt by being young, naïve, and trusting?” Susan finished for Boyd. “Pretty much that. Luckily, that didn’t happen. She fell in love with and married her first love, too.”
“How sweet! For my kids’ sake, and your son’s and grandson’s, let’s hope that’s a family blessing for all of you, then.”
Boyd eyed Morgana curiously. “Oh, are Chris and Tad that serious, too? I guess they’ve been an item a while now, haven’t they?”
“If you mean talking marriage or kids, not that I’ve heard. They’re very close, yes, but that’s nothing new. They’ve been inseparable since they were in grade school. Nothing like Maria tends to, anyway. Remarks about what dress she’d like to wear when she walks down the aisle someday, or wouldn’t that flower be pretty at a wedding on the beach, things like that. And I know it’s always Patrick in these fantasies of hers, even if she doesn’t say it. You can tell. And now with Penny getting married and pregnant, and Gretchen pregnant…”
Susan’s eyebrows rose. “Maria’s not pregnant, is she?”
“Oh, no!” Morgana assured her. “I had
that discussion with her as soon as I found out she and your son were, well, you know. As for University… let’s face it, they’ll do what kids do when they’re independent for the first time. All we can do is hope they’ve got enough common sense to avoid learning their life lessons the hard way.”
As the party wound down, the guests thanked the Wainwrights for a spooky good time and headed out. Tara lingered as late as she could, but she had to leave when Wilbur and Penny did. “I had a lot of fun tonight. Thanks for having me as your date.”
“Anytime! Not everyone would want to admit they were with the giant weenie.”
“You’re definitely not a weenie. I’ve seen you Sim Fu.”
“We’ll have to spar a round the next time you’re over. Not in this outfit, though.”
Tara giggled. “No, but it’d be funny to see you try. See you in school tomorrow?”
“Yeah.” They leaned close to one another and kissed again. “First thing.”
“First thing,” she said, before Wilbur called over to her. “Bye!”
“Bye!” Orion waved and watched her leave as one happy hot dog. He was in love.
Morgana approached Maria when the festivities ended. “Are you ready?”
“Actually, Mom… Patrick invited me to stay over if I wanted. And I do.”
“Of course you do.” She smiled. “In that case, good night. Don’t stay up too late. You may be a young lady now, but you still need your rest.”
“I’ll be fine, Mom. Thanks.”
“See you tomorrow, then.” She hugged her and left.
After the party was over and cleaned up, Patrick and Maria went to his room to get out of costume. “I’m kind of surprised your mom was so cool about you staying over. I know we’ve got the whole ‘we’re adults now’ argument, but sometimes parents can be a little old-fashioned.”
“My mom can be that way about some things, but she’s also a doctor, so… it’s not like she’s naïve to what people in love do, you know? She sees all sorts of things with people coming into the hospital. You know that show ‘Woohoo Sent Me to the ER,’ right? One day I was watching it and she sat with me and starts saying ‘Seen that!’ and ‘Oh, yes, it’s hard to believe, but some people are that stupid!’ and only one or two cases where she was like ‘Huh, now that’s one I haven’t seen before!’”
“I didn’t really think of that, but I guess it makes sense.”
“Really? Some ‘Dr. Love’ you are,” Maria teased, toying with his costume ID badge.
He gave her a suggestive look. “Hey, now. Dr. Love is still on call.”
“You are so lucky I love you, because that was cringeworthy.” She giggled even as she fell into his arms. “But luckily, you’re a cute doctor with bad pick-up lines.”
“I’m a doctor, not a pick-up artist.”
“Oh, Watcher. You just quoted Star Trek, didn’t you?”
“Guilty,” Patrick admitted. “In my defense, I can’t help it. You’ve met my parents. You know my name. Even though it’s the actor and a different series, but…” He chuckled. “Oh, man. The geek points, I’m just racking them up, huh?”
“It’s okay. I recognized it, so I guess I can’t say much.” She smooched him. “I’m just glad you’re not bald like your namesake. He rocks it, but you rock the red hair.”
“Yeah? Well, you rock… pretty much everything, badass babe in black.”
“Is that an official diagnosis, Doctor?” Maria batted her eyelashes. “Tell me more.”
“I’d rather just prescribe you this,” he murmured, and pulled her into a kiss.
“This costume party was fun,” Susan said when she and Boyd retired to their room for the night. “It’s been years since we dressed up like this.”
“It was. And you were a most bewitching witch, I have to say.” He smooched her, and Susan laughed.
“I can’t take you seriously in that cow plant outfit. I feel like you’re going to chomp my face.”
Boyd pinched the fabric tooth on the side of the cow plant mouth. “This cow plant needs some dental work if it’s going to chomp anything, but point taken.” He took the hat off. “Better?”
“Much. Fun as that outfit is, it doesn’t scream sexy.”
“Luckily, that’s not what I was going for. We’ll have to leave that to our son and his ‘Dr. Love’ getup.”
Susan snickered. “I still can’t believe he was calling himself that.”
“Yeah, he should have at least gone with ‘Dr. Sexy’ from Supernatural. Where did we go wrong?”
“At least Maria finds it cute.” She took her costume necklace off. “So, is that what you’d have gone with, if you wore the doctor costume?”
“I’d never get that out with a straight face, and I’m pretty sure you’d laugh if I tried.”
“Not in a mean way. I’d find it cute. Dorky, but in that cute way.”
“Sadly, I suspect that’s often how I win you over.”
“Often enough.” Susan put her arms around his waist. “But I wouldn’t want you any other way. specially since I’m a bit dorky myself,” she added in a whisper. “But don’t tell anyone.”
“It’s our little secret,” he said, meeting her eyes with a loving smile.
