Woods Random Legacy: Chapter 11 - First Love

A few days after Love Day, something arrived in the mail for Greg and Eliza.  Their fancy footwork at the festival had won them the titles of Spring Dance Queen and Spring Dance King!  They hung the plaques on the living room wall over Greg's chess table, so he could look to them for inspiration whenever he was pondering a difficult move.

Their awards weren't the only things that resulted from Love Day.  Their after-festival romp had produced results of its own, requiring Eliza to break out the maternity wear for a third time.

While the pregnancy was unplanned, the twins were nearly old enough to take care of themselves, and so Greg and Eliza looked forward to the new arrival.  They just hoped it wouldn't be twins again!

The existing pair of twins were growing up to be good friends, even if their interests weren't often shared.  When she wasn't looking at her picture books, Crystal joined Faye in playing with her dollhouse.

Sometimes Crystal's sister would take the furniture that she'd carefully arranged and move it around, which made Crystal very frustrated.  But the girls usually worked any conflicts out between themselves, rather than fussing or fighting.

While his sisters played amongst themselves, Lane was busy researching at the library.  He'd gone on all the local news sites, but he couldn't find any pictures or references to the strange man he'd seen in the graveyard anywhere!

Frustrated, he returned home, stopping only to grab the newspaper that nobody had bothered to recycle yet.  He had an assignment due for class to clip an article, and unfortunately his teacher wouldn't accept a printout from a website, so he had to do this one the old fashioned way.  As he flipped through the sections, he froze, eyes drawn to the picture of the man he had seen.

He was in human form, and wearing shades, but the clothes, hat, and profile were unmistakable.  It was the guy.  He was pictured accompanying an old-fashioned wedding announcement, and his name was VJ Bunch-Alvi.  His address wasn't far, either.  Lane considered the possibility of paying him a visit, but knew that other matters needed attending to first.

Namely, prom.  It was coming up, and Lane still didn't have a date.  He knew who he wanted to go with, of course, but he still didn't know if Locke felt the same way.  Two boys going out together wasn't out of the ordinary in Sunset Valley, but it was still less common than boys dating girls, so statistics were unfortunately against Lane in this matter.  He decided that a semi-romantic gift would be a good way to test the waters, to see how Locke would react to the idea, so he sent off a Ruby - gems were a traditional romantic gift in Sunset Valley, along with flowers - to be cut as a paperweight.  When he received the final product in the mail, he called Locke up and invited him over.

When Locke got there, Lane presented him with the gift, waiting nervously to see how the other boy would respond.  Locke received it enthusiastically, fawning over it like all other presents - the guy was such a diva sometimes! - before slipping it in the pocket of the coat that he was inexplicably wearing in the late-spring heat, and considering Lane silently.
Lane: "What?"
Locke: "Hey, um, I was just thinking...you know, prom's coming up and all, and I'm not going with anyone, and I know you're not going with anyone because, sorry, but you're kind of nerdy, and..."
Lane cut him off right there, grabbing his friend and, suffering a brain short-out due to his state of nervous excitement, quickly leaned and planted a kiss right on Locke's lips.

After a moment, his brain started functioning again and he jumped back, in full apology mode.
Lane: "Ah, sorry, I don't-"
Locke laughed embarrassedly, rubbing his head with a hand as he responded, his tone slightly sarcastic.
Locke: "Wow, that wasn't inappropriate at all.  I'm not mad, really, I just really didn't...expect that, you know?"
Lane: "Sorry!  I was just really nervous, because I sort of asked you over here to, well, ask the same question, and then my brain just sort of skipped a step.  Well, multiple steps.  You were there, you saw what happened!"
Locke laughed again, this time with amusement, shaking his head.
Locke: "No, that's cool, really.  I was pretty nervous too, I didn't know you felt like that at all.  But yeah, I'd like that.  Prom, I mean, not the kissing.  But that wasn't bad either."
Lane: "Oh, good.  So it's a date for prom, then?"
Locke: "Definitely."

Walking back upstairs to continue his alchemical studies, Lane was relieved that his best friend liked him back and that he had a date for prom.  At the same time, though, he felt guilty about keeping what he was researching a secret from Locke.  He'd cross that bridge when he got closer to results, however.

Greg found himself promoted at work to the position of Metaphysician.  The only person now standing between him and the top of his career was his boss, who was closing in on retirement.  If Greg didn't mess this up, he could be a Celebrity Psychic by the time his unborn son learned how to use the potty.  Greg had his first major public reading soon after receiving the promotion.  The police department was searching for a stolen golden llama statue, and coming up empty.  Greg used all his powers of BS, and managed to talk the detective around in so many circles that the man ended up solving the case all by himself, with Greg taking the credit of course.  This was what he joined the career to do!

Soon after summer began, Eliza gave birth to a second son, who she named James.

This was definitely going to be the last baby in the Woods household!  She went to the hospital herself to pick up a prescription for birth control pills as soon as she'd recovered from the birth.

It was time for the twins to start school.  Eliza didn't throw an elaborate party, instead choosing to pick up two cakes from the grocery store to have a private family party.

The girls aged up beautifully, and Eliza managed to talk Crystal into keeping ribbons in her hair for easy identification purposes.  She didn't want to admit it, as their mother, but the girls were nearly impossible to tell apart without clothing to distinguish them from each other.

It was time for them to choose their after-school activities.  Crystal looked at the two options - scouts and ballet - and rejected them both.  She didn't really like being around people all that much, and after a full day of school she just wanted to be alone, not spending a few more hours with a bunch of other kids.  Faye, on the other hand, eagerly signed up for scouts.  She wanted to go camping, hiking, and all sorts of other outdoor activities!

Despite their differences, the twins remained close as they started at their new school.

~ * ~

Sorry for the long gap between updates!  I finally got a working copy of Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind on my new gaming PC, and was busy hunting cliff racers to extinction.

That's the four children for this generation.  Now you all can start making bets as to who out of the younger three is going to be the heir.  As near as I can tell, Faye and Crystal are pretty much identical twins.  Their faces are a bit awkward, and they always walk around looking grumpy even if they're in a great mood, which is unfortunate.  I hope they'll grow out of it, taking Greg's goofy awkward instead of what they have going on right now.

Sorry for that kissing shot behind the tree.  I only had one shot of the kiss, and I'm not sure why I took it from behind the tree, because it's really crappy.  Lane doesn't have the inappropriate trait, but I figure this one instance is justified by the like-father-like-son rule.