The Hollinter Legacy: 1.4 - Growing

“Comet wanted to stay home today,” Marielle said.

“He didn’t want to come over?” Deirdre repeated. “Is everything alright?”

Marielle shook her head. “He’s been so depressed lately, it’s almost impossible to get him to leave the house. I’ve tried everything I can think of to cheer him up; nothing works.”

“He doesn’t even want to spend time with his best friend?” Jimmy piped up. “What the hell happened to him?”

“I don’t know,” Marielle replied tearfully. “He went out Tuesday afternoon, and when he came back he just broke down. Wouldn’t say anything. Of course, I figured out a couple minutes later that he couldn’t say anything. His voice is gone, and I have no clue what to do to help him.”

“His voice is gone?” Jimmy groaned. “Shit, this is college all over again. And you don’t even know how to properly communicate with him like that, because you didn’t get to know him until he cured himself.”

“I’m trying my best!” she protested. “I didn’t think it’d be this hard. I mean, we’re married; if there’s anyone who should know what he’s thinking without even asking, it’d be me, shouldn’t it?”

Jimmy shrugged. “It takes some time to adapt.”

“You don’t have any idea what could have happened, do you?” Marielle asked hopefully. “You did help him cure his voice, right?”

“Man, I just called his cousins to see if they knew what to do with him. I didn’t even know what they’d done until they brought him back to our dorm room at three in the morning, with weird bloodstains on his clothes,” Jimmy replied. “I thought maybe he’d gotten beat up. I have no fucking idea what he did to get it back, but it sure didn’t look easy.”

Her face fell. “So you don’t have any idea?”

“It might’ve worn off,” he suggested hesitantly. “Your best bet would be mixing him another potion. Maybe sacrifice a llama or something. At least, that’s what I’m going to assume his cousins did.”

“Do I look like a witch to you?” Marielle asked. “I don’t even know where I’d find ingredients, how am I supposed to mix a potion?”

“Yeah, it’s not like your husband is a botanist, or anything.” Jimmy rolled his eyes. “You know, for a knowledge sim, you’re really not all that bright. For a blonde, on the other hand-”

Deirdre shot him a look, and Jimmy trailed off. “If Comet’s really your best friend, maybe you should be doing more to help him, instead of patronising her,” she scolded. Her expression softened as she turned back to Marielle. “Do you think Comet would be able to find the ingredients?”

Marielle shook her head. “I told you, he won’t leave the house. I had to forge a doctor’s note to get him time off work so he wouldn’t lose his job; they think he’s got a chronic case of laryngitis.”

“Besides,” Marielle continued, “I don’t know where we’d find what we need, anyways.”

“What about the lady who runs the garden shop on Queen Street?” Deirdre suggested. “Other than his co-workers, I can’t think of anybody else who know enough about plants to help you.”

“I suppose I could run by the garden store tomorrow,” Marielle agreed. “She might not know any more than we do, but it’s worth a shot, right?”

Deirdre nodded. “We’re here for you if you need us,” she reminded her. “We want to help him just was much as you do.”

Marielle left for the garden store early the next morning. She had the entire day off, but the sooner she figured out a solution for her husband’s problem, the better.

“Excuse me?” she asked the shop owner tentatively. “I know you’re not open yet, but I was wondering if you’d have time to answer a couple questions?”

The woman smiled. “Sure thing! Just let me finish taking inventory, and I’ll be happy to help.”

“Thanks,” Marielle replied. “I’d have waited until you were open, but it’s kind of… urgent?”

“Not a problem,” the woman assured her. “Name’s Aralia by the way.” She jotted a couple numbers down on her notepad, then turned towards Marielle. “What can I help you with?”

Their eyes met, and Aralia froze. “Wait, you’re that guy’s wife, aren’t you? Shoot.” Her pen fell to the concrete with a clatter.

“I’m sorry?”

“You are his wife, right? The alien dude? You were pregnant the last time I saw you?”

“Oh.” Marielle thought back to the last time she’d visited the shop with Comet. “I guess I would’ve been, yeah. Is there a problem?”

“Oh plumbbob, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to get rid of his voice; I didn’t know it was tied to magic! I wanted to do something, but he took off!”

“Wait, you got rid of his voice?”

Aralia shielded herself with the clipboard she was holding. “Please don’t punch me,” she said in a quiet voice.

“I wasn’t going to punch you, I just wanted to know if you could help!” Marielle protested. “Although now I’m not so sure I want your help!”

“I can cure him, I promise!” Aralia’s grip tightened on her clipboard. “I just need you to stop yelling at me, so I can explai-”

“You can cure him?” Marielle cut her off. “Then why didn’t you try sooner? Do you know how hard it’s been on him? On me? I have twin toddlers and a full-time job; I don’t have the time to figure this mess out! What have you been doing? You could have me know what happened to my husband. It was the least you could have done!”

“I told you, I wanted to help,” Aralia replied. “He left before I could do anything! Can’t say I blame him, really.”

“And you didn’t try to track him down?” Marielle asked. “It’s not exactly hard; he’s green! How many other men in town fit that description?”

“I could have tracked him down, if I wanted a restraining order. Do you really think your husband would’ve taken kindly to that, after what I did to him?”

Marielle sighed. “No, I suppose not… I’m sorry for yelling. I’m just stressed out, you know?”

“It’s alright.” Aralia patted Marielle’s shoulder with her free hand. “We’re going to fix this, okay? I just need you to trust me. Can you do that?” Hesitantly, Marielle agreed.

Half an hour later, Marielle was settled in Aralia’s kitchen with a cup of tea. Aralia, who had been leafing through a heavy text propped against the wall, turned to face her.

“So I don’t actually know if I can reverse the spell,” Aralia admitted. “I can turn him back into a warlock, but I don’t think that will bring his voice back.”

“Do you know why the spell took his voice in the first place?” Marielle asked. “He was born mute because his mother took some potion while pregnant with him.” She took a sip of her tea. “If his voice is tied to magic, the spell should have reversed the effects of that potion, too, right?”

Aralia pondered this. “I don’t think there’s any spell strong enough to reverse anything that happened in utero. I can get rid of magical abilities because those don’t start to develop until early childhood, sometimes later. Depends on where they came from.”

Marielle groaned. “But that doesn’t make any sense, either,” she replied. “If you can’t reverse what happens during development, why was he even able to restore his voice in the first place?”

Aralia tapped a finger against her cheek. “I don’t really know how to explain this,” she began, “let’s just say that he didn’t fix the damage the potion caused, he just kind of put a band-aid over top? A magical band-aid, that got ripped off when I cast that spell. And now we’ve got to put a new band-aid on.”

“I still don’t get it.”

“Sometimes it’s better not to question things you don’t understand,” Aralia replied. “Magic is one of them. And video game logic; definitely don’t question that.”

Marielle sighed. “But I live to question things. I’m a knowledge sim.”

“Yeah, well I’m a romance sim,” Aralia replied. “I live to romance things. Sometimes? Things just don’t want to be romanced.”

“I think we’re getting off topic.” Marielle took another sip of her tea.

“We’re totally on topic,” Aralia argued. “We’re talking about romance, and you need your husband’s voice back so that he continue to romance you. See? Very much on topic.”

Marielle raised an eyebrow. “My husband’s capable of doing much more with his mouth than just talking.”

“Okay, now you’re just being inappropriate.” Aralia grinned, and folded her arms over his chest. “Do you want my help, or not?”

“What do we need to do?” Marielle asked.

“Well, reversing the spell is out of the question,” Aralia replied. “How’d your husband get his voice back in the first place, anyways?”

“He mixed a potion, back in college, from what I know. I haven’t a clue how he did it; he doesn’t like to talk about it… do you think we’d be able to do the same?”

Aralia nodded. “If he can concoct something with no magical training, and limited ingredients, it shouldn’t be too much harder for us.”

Marielle looked hopeful. “You think so?”

“You should see my garden. I guarantee we’ll have something ready for him before the day’s over.”

“Well?” Aralia asked after leading Marielle outside. “What do you think?”

“It’s a beautiful garden,” Marielle replied.

“Thank you.” Aralia smiled. “But it serves a more important purpose than just sitting here, looking pretty.” She glanced down at Marielle’s dress. “You alright with getting dirty?”

“Are you kidding?” Marielle asked, amused. “I studied art. I work with paint that I’m pretty sure is going to kill me from prolonged exposure; if I can get that out of clothing, I think I can handle a little dirt.” She glanced at a nearby plant, and hesitated. “The plants, on the other hand…”

“Are perfectly safe,” Aralia informed her. “Shall we get started?”

“Are we looking for anything in particular?” Marielle asked as she tugged a flower, or at least, what she thought was a flower, off the plant they were harvesting.

“Well, I am,” Aralia replied. “You, on the other hand, haven’t a clue what any of these plants are, so just grab anything that looks like it could be remotely useful.”

“I’m married to a botanist,” Marielle scoffed. “I’m not an expert, but he’s taught me a thing or two about plants.” She turned the flower over to study it. “Does, um… does this have a skull on it?”

Aralia smirked. “Deathflower,” she explained. “Less deadly than the name implies. Your husband didn’t teach you about those?”

“You know he’s not fond of anything relating to magic,” Marielle replied. “And we might have gotten… sidetracked during most of his botany lessons. Attempted lessons, I should say. Somehow, they just always end with woohoo.”

After rounding up a selection of pants, and grinding them into a fine powder, Aralia began to mix them into a bubbling cauldron over the stove.

“Do you always put it on the stove like that?” Marielle asked as she watched. “Aren’t you supposed to... like, set it over a fire?”

Aralia snorted. “Oh yeah, normally I start a fire in my freaking backyard, because that’s so much safer. I just felt like living life on the edge today, you know?”

Marielle bit her lip. “Sorry. That was a stupid question, wasn’t it?”

“It’s fine,” Aralia replied. “Faerie tales aren’t exactly caught up with modern times, are they? I mean, travelling by broomstick looks cool, but it’s not exactly practical for all weather conditions.” She stirred the cauldron. “Like bicycles. And even those give you the added benefit of exercise.”

“Here we are,” Aralia said. She bottled the mixture, and held it out to Marielle. “Fair warning: it’ll be stronger than whatever he managed to mix himself in college, but it’ll do the job just the same.”

“Is that all?” Marielle studied the glowing vial. “No spell?”

Aralia shook her head. “You’re not a witch, your husband’s mute, and I’m not getting anywhere near him without giving him a panic attack; if this needed an incantation to go with it, we’d be screwed.”

“And you promise it’ll work?”

“It’ll work,” Aralia assured her. “I mean, the spell worked fine, your husband just failed to mention that magic was the only reason he could talk in the first place.”

“Thank you.” Marielle took the vial from Aralia, and smiled. “It means a lot to him. To both of us.”

Marielle found Comet still in bed when she arrived back at the house. After checking on the twins upstairs she returned to their bedroom, and leaned over him. Smoothing back his hair, she pressed her lips to his forehead.

“Honey?” she spoke quietly as she drew back. “It’s past noon; I think it’s time you got up.”

He shifted under the blankets, but showed no indication that he planned on getting out of bed any time soon, something that had become increasingly more common since his encounter with Aralia. It had worried Marielle at first, but now she saw it as an annoyance.

“Comet,” she said, her tone firmer. “I have a surprise for you. And if you don’t get out of bed, that surprise is going to become a glass of ice water, and that ice water is going to end up all over your face.”

The covers shifted again, and Comet emerged from under the blankets.

“Thank you,” Marielle said. “The twins are asleep, by the way. You’re lucky they didn’t get up to anything more serious than redecorating their bedroom wall while you took an extended nap.”

Comet gave her an apologetic look, and she felt a pang of guilt for putting the blame on him. Even if he had been awake, he wouldn’t have been able to do much to stop them without a voice, or an extra pair of hands.

“It’s fine, honey,” she said quickly. “Don’t worry about it now. Do you want to see your surprise?”

He nodded as he swung his legs over the side of the bed, then stood up. She took one of his hands, and led him toward the kitchen.

Marielle released his hand as they approached the doorway, then placed hers over his eyes. “Keep them closed,” she instructed. Removing her hands, she walked into the kitchen and stood next to the table. She was pleased to see that he’d decided to humour her, and kept his eyes shut.

“Alright, you can look now.”

Comet opened his eyes, and she gestured to the vial on the table with a smile. He stared at it with trepidation.

“It’s not going to hurt you,” Marielle said with false confidence. She was beginning to wonder if brewing him a potion hadn’t been the best idea; it was no good if he refused to take it.

Tentatively, Comet walked towards the table.

“I will spoon-feed you that if I have to,” Marielle informed him as he continued to stare at the vial. “I’ve had plenty of practice with the twins.”

He gave her a look of annoyance, and picked up the vial. The liquid inside glowed as the glass came in contact with his skin. He opened it slowly, then glanced back at Marielle.

“It can’t be any less dangerous than the one you took in college,” she said in what she hoped was an encouraging voice. “You trust me, right?”

Comet nodded, and raised the vial to his lips. He hesitated, then took a sip.

“Well,” Comet said, breaking the silence. “Tastes better than the one I mixed in college, that’s for sure.” He set the empty vial down on the table. “Worked, too,” he added with a grin.

Marielle let out the breath she’d been holding. “That went a lot smoother than I was expecting.”

“What were you expecting?” he asked with concern, turning towards her. “Actually, don’t answer that. Where’d you even get this from? That’s what I want to know.”

She twisted one of the metal bracelets around her wrist. “You promise you won’t get upset if I tell you the truth?”

“I’d be more upset if you lied to me.”

“Aralia mixed it for me.” Comet looked confused, so she clarified, “You know, the lady who runs the garden shop?”

Comet sighed as he considered this new piece of information. “I suppose it could be worse,” he decided at last. “I definitely don’t trust her, but it’s better than some of the alternatives.”

“Which are what, exactly?” Marielle asked.

“You becoming a witch. I don’t know.” Comet twisted his fingers around one another. “I don’t really want to talk about it. I’d rather pretend it never happened, honestly.”

“Are you sure? I know how upsetting it was for you in college, and if you want to talk about it-”

“I don’t,” he cut her off. “What I do want to talk about, though, is how lucky I feel to have you as my wife. You’re amazing, you know that? I love you,” Comet said.

“You don’t know how happy I am to hear you say that again.” Marielle pulled him into her arms.

“And you don’t know how happy I am to say it,” he replied. “I was afraid I’d never be able to say it again, and I wished I’d said it more often.”

“You’ve said it plenty,” She leaned in closer. “Now why don’t you show me how much instead?”

“What about the twins?” Comet asked. Still, his hands trailed down her back, and began to work at the knot of her waistband.

“Still asleep, hopefully,” Marielle replied. “They can have your attention later. Right now, I want it more.”

The twins did indeed get his attention later that night. While he had done his best to continue to give them his affection even without his voice, it just hadn’t been the same. There were lots of activities he had been forced to give up; like telling them bedtime stories, or singing them a nursery rhyme.

And while previously he might have found it annoying, having to read through their entire collection of books every night because the twins refused to sleep otherwise, he knew that he wouldn’t look at it the same way again in the future, whether it be with them, or a new addition to the family.

Marielle stared at her outstretched arms in the morning light. Streaks of bright green wrapped around her pink skin, irritated from frantic scrubbing. What she’d been hoping was just leftover paint was turning into something much more serious.

“Comet?” she called out in a shaky voice. Marielle listened for the sound of his footsteps, but they didn’t come. Hesitantly, she opened the bathroom door and called for him again, hoping that he’d hear her before the twins woke up.

At last, she heard movement from their bedroom, and she retreated back inside the bathroom. She hid her arms behind her back, unsure how he’d react to the change.

The bathroom door slowly opened, and Comet cautiously peered around it. “Everything alright?”

Marielle rolled her eyes. “Honey, we’re married. With twins. Do you think I care if you walk in on me naked?”

“Sorry; habit from living with Jimmy. You don’t want to know.” Comet rubbed at his eyes. “So, did you need something? Or were you just looking for company?”

She extended both arms towards him. “Look!” Her voice wavered as she spoke.

His eyes widened as he took in the vines encircling her forearms. He shut the bathroom door behind him, then took a step closer.

Gently, he took one of her hands and held it up. He studied the vines, turning her arm side to side. “Well that’s… unusual,” he said at last.

Marielle bit her lip. “What do you think it could be?”

“Haven’t a clue,” he admitted. “You didn’t… touch anything weird at Aralia’s did you?”

“I helped her harvest a couple of the plants… but I asked her first, and she said they were totally harmless!”

“Yeah, well she isn’t the most trustworthy person we know, is she?” He squeezed her hand. “Found that out the hard way.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.” He took hold of both her hands. “Don’t blame yourself for something that I got us into. This wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t insisted on screwing around with magic again.”

“So what do you think I should do?” She asked. “Magic’s the only way out of this.”

He sighed. “I hate to say it, but Aralia’s the only sim who’d know what to do about this. I know, she causes more problems than she fixes, but we don’t really have any other choice, do we?”

Marielle nodded. “I could see her after I get off work today. I should be fine if I wear long sleeves.”

Comet squeezed her hands. “It’s going to be okay,” he reassured her. “I’ll check if there’s been any documented cases like yours when I get to work, okay?”

“Okay.”

That evening, Marielle stopped by the garden shop on her way home from work. She tugged at the sleeves of her coat as she approached Aralia at the checkout. It was far too warm outside for it, but she’d gladly suffer a small discomfort if it meant that other sims wouldn’t stare at the newly formed vines that now encompassed her body.

Not that it mattered, she supposed. None of the other customers took any notice of her; they were far more interested in browsing the potted plants. Who even shops for plants this late at night? Marielle wondered.

She stopped in front of the counter, and took a deep breath to steady herself. “Aralia?”

She leaned over the counter, and Aralia looked up with interest. “I need your help… again,” Marielle said quietly.

“Oh, I know exactly what you need,” Aralia replied.

“You… do?”

Aralia grinned. “Of course. I understand.”

Marielle breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, I’m so glad you know what to do. My husband didn’t know either, and our neighbours… well I didn’t really want to bother them with this, you know?”

“Oh, I know. I mean, I’m not a mother myself, but I’d imagine you must have your hands full —especially with twins — and considering recent events, I can see why you’d like some alone time…” She winked at Marielle. “I close at eight.”

“Wait, what?” Marielle exclaimed. “I’m not here for that!” She held out her hands for Aralia to see. “I’m here because you said those plants were harmless, and look! Look at what they did to me!”

“Wow, I didn’t even know that could happen,” Aralia replied. “That’s awesome.”

“No, it’s not! When I woke up it was just on my hands, and now it’s everywhere!” She leaned forward again. “Everywhere, Aralia,” Marielle repeated, her cheeks flushed.

“Yeah, I got it.” Aralia looked amused. “I’m a plantsim, I’m aware of-”

“No, you don’t understand!” she cut Aralia off. “I touched my husband like this! Now it’s going to spread to him too, isn’t it?”

“Okay, you need to calm down,” Aralia replied. “And can you talk a bit quieter, please? I don’t need my customers thinking I gave you and your husband some sort of weird STD. Bad for business.”

“Sorry.” Marielle withdrew her hands.

“It’s not contagious, by the way,” Aralia continued. “You turned because you came into contact with a plant. If touching other sims made them into plantsims, I swear, half the men in this neighbourhood would be plantsims by now.”

“Oh…”

“And you know, being a plantsim isn’t all that bad. You barely need to eat anything, and you get so much more energy just sitting outside in the sun than you do sleeping. It’s incredible.”

“I guess that sounds nice,” Marielle replied.

“I think you should give it a try.” Aralia gave her an encouraging smile. “I mean, I’d could remove it if you don’t want it, but I guess I don’t really have the best track record, do I? Would take another season to grow the right ingredients for it, too. Finished off most of my supply on that potion. Honestly, you’re better off keeping it, if you ask me.”

“I don’t think my husband is really comfortable with that.”

“What? He’s a botanist; if anything he should like you more with the vines. You’re like, a living art deco girl.”

“Art nouveau,” Marielle corrected. “And that’s not what I meant. You know how he feels about… other life forms. Why do you think he wanted to get rid of his abilities in the first place?”

“Yeah, he already told me that. Still, it’s a bit close-minded of him, don’t you think?”

“You don’t know his family history,” Marielle objected. “He’s here because it’s not safe for him to be around other supernatural creatures.”

“All of them? Or just one in particular?”

“It doesn’t matter! I love him, and I respect him, and I’m not going to force something on him if he’s not comfortable with it!”

“Alright!” Aralia held up a hand. “I’m not going to force this on you, okay? I’ll help you cure it, I’m just going to need some time.”

“You said another season, right?”

Aralia nodded. “At least.”

“I guess I could think about it,” Marielle agreed hesitantly. “Staying this way, I mean.

“There you go!” Aralia grinned. “Who knows, maybe your husband will be totally into it.”

“Yeah, because being turned on by flowers is totally going to erase years of other creatures trying to harm his family,” Marielle said. She sighed. “I guess it’s worth a shot, at least.”

Aralia gave her a thumbs up. “That’s the spirit! And you’re totally welcome to crash on my couch tonight if he flips out and decides he’s no longer in love with you.”

Marielle tugged at the hem of her sleeve again. “Thanks,” she said sarcastically. “Very reassuring.”

After returning home from the garden shop, Marielle dismissed the family’s nanny for the evening.

“Thanks for watching the twins a little longer on such short notice.” She handed over that night’s payment, as well as a larger tip than usual.

“It’s fine, dear,” replied, accepting the money. “I can see you had more… important things to attend to.” As she spoke, her eyes scanned the newly formed vines that covered Marielle’s arms and legs.

Marielle’s cheeks flushed. “It won’t happen again, I promise.”

“I’m sure it won’t, sweetheart.” She cast one last disdainful glance at the vines before heading for the front door.

Marielle settled down on the living room couch to wait for Comet to return home from work.

Twenty minutes ago she had seriously considered taking Aralia’s advice, and staying a plantsim. After the look she had gotten from their nanny, her confidence was slowly slipping away. Comet’s thoughts aside, how was everyone else in the neighbourhood going to react to the way she looked? Marielle didn’t care that much about what a stranger on the street would think of her, but what would her clients think?

She wrapped her arms tighter around her body as she heard Comet’s car pull into the driveway, and took a deep breath to steady herself as his footsteps approached the front door.

“Bad news?” he asked when he entered the living room.

“Aralia says it’ll take another season to grow the correct ingredients,” Marielle replied. “Another season, at least.”

“That’s not so bad.” Comet shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Could be worse, right?”

“Easy for you to say. You don’t have to walk around with this covering your body.”

He took a step closer. “Did someone say something to you? Because if I ever hear someone comment on the way you look, I’m going to-”

“Glare at them?” Marielle gave him a small smile, and stood up from the couch. “I haven’t forgotten about that one time you tried to stand up to a guy in my honour. Didn’t go over too well.”

“Okay, but to be fair, I was a bit tipsy. Besides, Jimmy took care of it.”

“Jimmy got one punch in before the other guy knocked him out. Deirdre was the one who broke up the fight.” Her smile faded as she continued to talk. “Besides, it’s not like they have to say anything to me. I know exactly what they’re thinking from the way they look at me.”

“Hey,” he took hold of her shoulders. “You don’t think I know what that feels like? I spent my entire childhood being that weird, alien guy who didn’t say anything to anyone. Nobody would make fun of me to my face, not with my cousins around, but I saw the way most people looked at me.”

“It’s just difficult,” she replied, “getting used to that sort of attention. I guess it’s going to take a while, isn’t it?”

“You’ll have me, though.” Comet gave her arms a light squeeze.

“Do you like the way I look?” Marielle asked in a quiet voice. “Now that I look like this?”

He let go of her shoulders, clasping one of her hands instead. “I think you’re beautiful,” he replied.

Marielle smiled. “You’re not just saying that, right?”

Comet shook his head. “Honestly? I think I’m actually more attracted to you with the vines. They suit you.” His cheeks flushed.

“And this isn’t because you have some sort of weird plant fetish that you’ve been hiding from me, right?” Her smile widened.

He laughed. “Damn, how’d you find out about that?”

“If I catch you making eyes at the shrubby lupin out front, I’m getting a divorce,” she teased.

“In all seriousness, though, I wouldn’t mind seeing all of the vines,” he said shyly, looking down at the floor. “You know, for science.”

“For science,” she agreed, “of course. Do you have the right safety equipment to conduct your experiment?” Marielle raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t think we’re going to need any.” He met her eyes again. “What do you think?”

Marielle shrugged. “Don’t ask me; you’re the scientist.” She reached up, and began to unbutton his lab coat, slowly working her way downwards. “It’s up to you.”

“So, what do you think?” She trailed her hand down his chest as she spoke. “Successful experiment?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I think we might need to run it a couple more times.” He grinned. “Gotta make sure the results are consistent, right?”

Marielle hesitated. “Can I ask you something… serious?”

“Like?”

“How would you feel about me staying like this? Permanently?”

“Naked, next to me in bed? I’m all for that, but I think social services would classify that as child neglect. ”

She turned to face him. “I said serious, Comet.”

“So, you want to be a plantsim?” he asked. “Is that what you’re asking? If I’m okay with that?”

Marielle nodded. “I know, I’m kind of insecure right now about how everybody else is going to treat me. But I think I can get through it if I know you still like the way I look.”

Comet exhaled, thinking it over. “I want to support you,” he began, “I’m just… scared.”

Her smile faded. “Of me?”

“Of something happening to you,” he clarified. “If you really want to stay like this, I need you to promise something, okay?” She gave him an inquisitive look, and he continued. “Promise me you won’t get mixed up with other supernatural creatures? I don’t think it’s safe, for you or our family.”

“I promise. No witch councils, or werewolves, or any contact with other supernaturals… besides Aralia. Is that okay with you?”

“That’s all I want,” he replied. “And you’re not… I’m not going to turn into a plantsim, too, am I?”

Marielle smiled, and rolled onto her side. “No, Aralia has assured me that it’s perfectly safe for you to touch me without you turning. And even if she’s wrong, I think something would have appeared by now, don’t you think?”

He quirked an eyebrow. “Where do you think it would show up first?”

“Hopefully above the waist.”

“Any vines?” Marielle asked cheerfully the next morning.

“After a thorough examination, I’m completely vine-free, he replied. “Thank plumbbob.”

“Good to hear. Would you mind checking something out for me right now?”

“I’ve kind of get my hands full at the moment. And I have to leave for work in fifteen minutes,” Comet said. “Can it wait until later?”

Marielle rolled her eyes. “Would you just look over here for a minute?”

“Oh,” Comet said, turning to face her. A smile spread across his face. “I guess we really didn’t need the proper safety equipment last night, did we?”

“Yeah, but we probably should have used it a season ago.” Marielle grinned. “And maybe drink less at Jimmy’s Christmas parties.”

“We’re going to have to talk to Aralia about this, aren’t we?” he asked, his smile fading.

“Well, we could pretend everything is fine and hope I don’t give birth to some weird, mutated plant baby,” she replied. “But I think we’re going to require her expertise one last time.”

“A mutated plant baby would be fascinating to study…”

“Only because you wouldn’t be the one pushing it out of your body.”

“I don’t know why you’re nervous,” Marielle said to Comet as they waited outside Aralia’s front door. “You’re not the one who’s possibly carrying some sort of plant baby abomination.”

“The last time I saw Aralia, I lost my voice,” he pointed out. “So needless to say, I have a very good reason to be worried.”

“I doubt asking her a couple questions is going to put your voice in danger again.”

“You don’t know that.”

Aralia answered the door before Marielle could argue any further. “Marielle! It’s nice to see you again. How’s plant life treating you?”

Marielle smiled. “It’s grown on me.” Behind her, Comet groaned.

“Please don’t tell me you wanted to stay a plantsim just so you could make that pun,” he muttered.

Aralia’s eyes lit up. “You’ve decided to stay like this? That’s fantastic! I thought you two were here because you changed your mind.”

“No, I’ve decided I like being a plantsim, at least for the time being.” Marielle rubbed her swollen abdomen as she spoke. “There’s a new… complication, though,” she added.

Aralia glanced down at Marielle’s stomach. “Yeah, I can see that. How about you come inside?”

“So, a new baby, huh? That’s got to be exciting,” Aralia said. “Is it his, or…?”

“What do you, mean is it mine?” Comet folded his arms over his chest. “Of course it is; I’m her husband. Who else could the father be?”

Aralia held up her hands. “Look, I wasn’t trying to imply anything. I just want to know if it was conceived the usual way, or if she spawned by herself.”

“You mean she can reproduce asexually now?” he asked. “Like an actual plant?”

“Don’t even think about it, Comet,” Marielle warned. “I am not growing a plant baby for your amusement. Three kids is enough. If you’d like a fourth, you can go man a telescope and see if your ancestors are kind enough to take you for a ride.”

“I didn’t say anything. I didn’t even think about it,” he lied.

Aralia shrugged. “Hey, don’t knock it ‘till you’ve tried it… not that I’ve tried it.”

“So the baby isn’t going to be a plantsim, right?” Marielle asked. “Not that it matters, I mean.”

Aralia shook her head. “If you conceived the baby before you turned, it’ll definitely be a normal sim. It won’t be as demanding as a normal pregnancy, but you’re gonna to want to spend plenty of time in the sun. And while you wouldn’t normally need to eat food to survive, you should definitely eat while you’re pregnant.”

“Wait, I don’t need food?” Marielle repeated. “But I like food.”

“Yeah, so do I. Only downside of being a plantsim, really,” Aralia replied. “It doesn’t really hurt to eat, you’re just gonna to gain weight way faster than normal. Trust me on that.”

Comet shrugged. “I don’t really care, to be honest. I wouldn’t give up eating, either.”

Aralia turned her attention to Comet. “And while you’re still here, I should probably apologize, shouldn’t I? Before you run away again.”

“I would appreciate that,” Comet replied. “And I didn’t run away, I walked. At a very quick pace. It’s more efficient, you know.”

Aralia smirked. “Right. Well, I’m sorry that I caused this chain of events of by taking away your voice, even though it was maybe, kind of your fault.”

“It was.”

“And I hope you’re not scared of me for much longer,” Aralia finished. “Because I really would like to get to know your wife better; she’s fun to be around. If that doesn’t bother you, of course.”

“I think that would be alright,” Comet agreed. “Apology accepted.”

For the rest of the spring, Marielle was careful to spend more time in the sun.

With Comet’s help, she managed to circumvent the lack of light in the evening hours by installing a couple of sunlamps intended for greenhouses around their home. During the day, however, she was content to get her fill of sunlight by spending time with her family outdoors.

She also began to spend more time with Aralia. While she didn’t have her husband’s interest in plants, the two sims found common ground while talking about running their own businesses. Aralia, who’d had her fair share of hard-to-please customers, was happy to swap stories with Marielle.

“-and they told me that the snail looked like it was going too fast,” Marielle said, “so they asked me if I redraw it going a little slower.”

“How does a snail look like it’s going too fast?” Aralia wondered. “Nothing about snails is fast.”

“I don’t even know!” Marielle laughed. “So from that point on, I charged my clients extra for making me fix things that weren’t my fault.”

“Plumbbob, I wish I could do that.” Aralia sighed. “Idiot tax needs to be a thing.”

And since Comet’s recovery, the family continued meeting at the Phoenix house for their weekly playdates.

“So, when did you plan on telling me you got a dog?” Comet asked.

“Oh, I dunno, maybe when my best friend decided to end the silent treatment.”

“Look, I wasn’t giving you the silent treatment, okay? You know how hard it was for me in college; I definitely didn’t need a repeat of that. Not when I have a family.”

Jimmy took a sip of his beer, then grinned. “Relax, man, I’m just giving you a hard time. Marielle told us what happened. Good to see you’re doing okay.”

Comet gave him a small smile. “Hey, at least it wasn't your fault this time, right?”

Jimmy rolled his eyes. “Gee, sorry for getting you laid in college. Didn’t realize it was going to break your brain. Not like that lead to you meeting your wife or anything. I totally ruined your life, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, I get it,” he replied. “If it weren’t for you, I probably wouldn’t have ended up with Marielle. We’ve been over this.”

“Things still good between you two?” Jimmy asked. “With the whole plantsim thing? I mean, I figured you’d like it, because you’re a total plant nerd, but-”

“Things are fine. And it’s not because I have a plant fetish, or anything weird like that, got it?”

“Well that’s oddly specific, but good, I guess.” Jimmy took another sip of beer. “So, did the vines grow, like, everywhere?” He gestured with his free hand to emphasize. “Or-”

Comet glared at him. “Cut it out, dude. Don't ask me questions like that about my wife, okay? I don’t ask you inappropriate things about Deirdre-”

“You could, if you wanted-”

“I do not want to.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

“Aw, come on man, I’m just curious,” Jimmy replied. “It’s not because I have the hots for your wife, trust me. I asked Marielle if, y’know, all your parts were green. Back when we were in college.”

“You asked her that?” Comet repeated, aghast.

Jimmy nodded. “Wouldn’t give me an answer, though.”

“I wonder why,” he said sarcastically. “The answer is yes, by the way. To both questions.”

“That’s pretty much what I expected,” Jimmy replied. “Can I ask you one last question?”

Comet sighed. “What?”

“Do you think our wives plan to get pregnant around the same time, or is this just some sort of weird coincidence?”

“I think this is part of a scheme you came up with to ensure that one of my kids ends up with one of yours. Which isn’t going to work, by the way.”

Jimmy laughed. “Busted.”

Spring came to an end, and with the arrival of summer came Halley and Diana’s birthday, as well as Piper’s.

With the girls slightly older, they decided to host a joint birthday party in the Hollinter’s backyard. There were less preparations needed than if they were to have two separate parties, and the girls seemed to enjoy any excuse to spend more time together.

Marielle had reached the last trimester of her pregnancy, and decided to begin working from home again for the remainder of the summer.

With the twins at home until the start of school in the fall, she needed someone to watch them full time, and her relationship with their nanny had become strained after their last confrontation. Working at home gave her the relaxed schedule she needed, while still being able to keep an eye on Halley and Diana.

Comet had also began to bring some of his work of his work home, to Marielle’s displeasure.

Lately, he’d been studying a new, bovine-like plant; Laganaphyllis Simnovrii. He had yet to figure out why it had been given that particular name; so far he’d been unable to convince it to eat anything, much less open its mouth.

Still, Marielle called it an abomination. Comet liked to call it Phyllis.

Summer turned into fall, and the twin’s first day of school arrived. On that morning, Comet discovered the girls awake uncharacteristically early. Based on the amount of thumping around he’d been able to hear from the first floor, he had hoped he’d find them getting ready for school. Upon opening their bedroom door, he found the opposite.

“The last time I checked, getting ready for school doesn’t involve pillows,” he said.

Halley lowered the pillow she’d been holding over her head. “But we are getting ready,” she replied.

“We’re deciding who gets the window seat on the bus!” Diana added.

Comet folded his arms over his chest. “Can we decide that later? Breakfast is going to be ready soon, and neither of you are dressed.”

“We’ll be down in a minute!” Halley promised. “Right after I win!”

“You’re not going to win.” Diana raised her pillow over her head. “I’m going to win!”

Comet sighed. If he didn’t put an end to this, neither of the twins would be ready in time for school, and if that happened, he’d have to put up with Jimmy gloating about how much better he was at parenting.

“You can’t hit me right now,” Halley protested. “I’m talking to Dad; that means time out!”

“Whoever gets to the kitchen first can have the window seat,” Comet told them. He then shut the bedroom door behind him, pleased to hear that the sound of pillows being thrown had been replaced by drawers opening.

“They’re making more noise now than when I sent you upstairs to check on them,” Marielle commented a few minutes later. “How did you manage to accomplish that?”

“I may have promised that whoever got to the kitchen first could have the window seat on the bus.”

Upstairs a door slammed, followed by two sets of footsteps thundering down the stairs. Marielle grinned. “And how soon did you regret telling them that?”

“Regretting it right now.”

“Dad!” the twins yelled in unison, bounding into the kitchen.

“We’re ready!” Halley announced.

“Who won?” Diana asked.

“Me,” Comet replied, setting a plate of pancakes down on the kitchen table. “I won. I was down here before either of you.”

“Daaaad, that’s not fair!” Halley pouted as she took a seat. “You didn’t even say you were playing.”

“Yeah, and you don’t even go to school anymore,” Diana chimed in. “You’re too old.” Behind him, Marielle laughed.

“Do you think our teacher is going to be able to tell us apart?” Halley asked as the rest of the family sat down to eat. “What if she mixes up our names?”

“Sweetie, you’re not identical,” Marielle replied. “You might not even be in the same class.”

“We’re not going to be in the same class?” Halley repeated. “But… they have to put us in the same class. We’re twins!”

“You’ll probably be in the same class,” Comet reassured them. “They have a tendency to stick family together… or at least they did when I was in private school. Might have been because I was mute, though,” he mused.

“And what about Piper?” Diana asked. “What happens if we’re not in the same class as her? We’re never going to see her!”

“You can still be friends if you don’t have class with her,” Marielle replied. “I only had one class with your father, and we’re married now.”

“I didn’t have any classes with Jimmy, either,” Comet added. “And I still can’t escape him. You’ll still get to spend time with Piper, even if you don’t have her in your classes.” He took a bite of his pancakes. “Jimmy will make sure of that.”

“You’ll see her at lunch, too,” Marielle continued. “Besides, you’ve got years of school ahead of you. If she’s not in your class this year, there’s always the year after.”

“I guess,” Halley agreed. “It would be nice if she was in all of our classes, though.”

The Phoenix family arrived half an hour later with Piper. After a bit of convincing, and one bribe later, Marielle was able to goad the girls into posing for a picture.

“You should just be glad we’re not taking pictures of you three naked in a bathtub,” Jimmy had told them.

“That’s what my parents did,” Deirdre added. “I’ve destroyed the evidence since.”

“And I thought my family was unusual,” Comet muttered to himself.

“So the twins’ll be home at three,” Comet told Marielle later that morning, buttoning up his lab coat as he spoke. “And I’ll be home at five-”

“Actually, I think there’s going to need to be a change in plans,” Marielle interrupted.

“Are you going into work today?” he asked. “I thought you were working from home still?”

“No, I’ll definitely be staying home today.” Marielle inhaled sharply, rubbing her back. “But I think you’re going to need to stay home, too.”

“I’ve got a meeting at one, it’s kind of important-”

“Trust me, there’s something far more important happening here in a few minutes.”

Comet turned around. “Right now?” He asked, his eyes widening.

“Yes, right now! I don’t have any control over this, you know. I didn’t wake up this morning and decided I’d go into labour just to inconvenience you.”

“I’m not inconvenienced,” he lied. “I can totally miss that meeting. I’m just going to call my boss and tell him I can’t come in today because I need to deliver a baby. For science.”

“Good choice,” Marielle replied, clutching her abdomen.

A little while later, they had a son named Leo. Like Halley, he had Comet’s eyes and green skin, but he had inherited his red hair from elsewhere in the family tree.

“He’s got your dad’s hair,” Marielle pointed out cheerfully. “I bet he’ll be excited to hear that.”

“I was wondering when that was going to show up,” Comet replied. “You know Jimmy’s going to give us a hard time about it, though. Hope you’re ready for endless jokes about you getting knocked up by the mailman.”

Marielle grinned. “Our mailman is a mailwoman, for one thing. And Leo has your skin. Do you really think Jimmy’s going to question his parentage?”

Comet raised an eyebrow. “Honey, Jimmy doesn’t understand anything about genetics. Do you know how many times he’s asked me why I have green skin when neither of my parents do? Too many.”

At three o’clock the twins returned from school. “Mom?” Halley yelled. “We’re home! Where are you? We need to tell you everything. Piper’s in our class, and we get to sit at the same table as her.”

“We’re in the kitchen, honey,” Marielle called out.

Halley’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean, we? Dad’s not coming home until dinner. You said so!”

“He had to stay home today, your brother decided it was time to make an appearance today.”

“We have a brother?” Turning back towards the open door, Halley motioned for Diana to join her inside. “Diana!” she yelled. “We have a new brother!”

“What’s his name?” Halley asked upon finding her parents in the kitchen. “Do we get to name him?” She looked up at her mom with excitement.

“Sorry, honey.” Marielle gave her an apologetic smile. “He already has a name: Leo.”

“Why does he have red hair?” Diana leaned in closer. “You guys don’t have red hair.”

“It’s from your grandfather,” Comet explained.

“Woah, we have a grandfather?” Halley’s eyes widened. “Why didn’t you tell us we have a grandfather? Does he know about us?”

Comet hesitated. “We’ll talk about this later, okay? You need to change out of your uniforms.”

After dinner, the twins sat upstairs in their room colouring. Despite the numerous questions they’d had for their parents at the dinner table, they hadn’t gotten any further answers about their grandparents.

“Do you think they’re keeping a secret from us?” Diana looked up from her picture.

Halley set her crayon down, and selected a new one. “Maybe our grandparents don’t like us,” she suggested. “Maybe that’s why Dad doesn’t want to tell us about them.”

“Well that’s not very nice of them.” Diana frowned. “They haven’t even met us.”

“I bet they’d like us if they did.” Halley mused. “Everybody at school likes us.

“That’s because we’re adorable.”

Downstairs, Marielle and Comet were having a similar conversation.

“Do you think we should tell them about my parents?” Comet leaned against the kitchen counter. “I feel awful keeping secrets from them, but I don’t want them to get their hopes up and think they’re going to get to see them.”

“It’s up to you, honey.” Marielle reached into the sink, and pulled the plug. “I think the girls would like to know more about them.” She turned towards Comet. “And at the very least, they could talk to your parents over the phone, couldn’t they? I don’t see the harm in that.”

“My parents mentioned they’ve been thinking of coming here for a visit, though,” he replied. “But they can’t, and if they talk to the girls, they’re going to want to visit even more.”

Marielle’s brow furrowed. “I don’t understand the problem here. What’s stopping your parents from coming?”

“You know why that’s a bad idea.”

“How? If your parents think it’s safe, then it shouldn’t put them in any danger, right? They know more about magic than you do, after all.”

“That’s not the problem,” Comet said hesitantly. “It’s definitely a lot safer for them to come here, than for all of us to visit them. It’s just… I don’t know how they’re going to feel about you.”

Marielle froze. “What about me? They liked me just fine before we got married.”

“When you were normal-”

“Normal?” She repeated. “So what am I now?” Tears began to well up in her eyes. “I thought you liked me the way I am. Were you lying?”

“I love you the way you are. But my parents-”

“Oh, what about your parents? They won’t like me unless I’m normal? Nothing about your family is normal, Comet!” She spread her hands apart, exasperated. “Don’t you think that’s a little hypocritical of them?”

“Do you have any idea what my family’s put up with? The werewolves hate us, half of the arcane council hates us… even some aliens hate us! I don’t know how many other creatures exist out there, but they probably hate us, too!” Comet took a deep breath. “So I think you can guess why my parents might not be too fond of you anymore.”

“But plantsims are harmless! I’m harmless! Your parents know that, or at least they should. They don’t need to be afraid of me!”

“No,” he agreed. “They shouldn’t. I’m sorry for yelling, it’s just… I know my family is a bunch of hypocrites when it comes to other supernaturals. I am, too. I’m working on that. I’m just afraid that my family won’t accept it as easily.”

“Hey.” Marielle reached out and cupped his face. “It’s alright. If you don’t think your parents will accept me like this, I understand. As long as you accept me.” She gave him a reassuring smile. “You know, we don’t really have to tell them the truth, right?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we just could tell them I got a tattoo… a very large tattoo. Plantsims aren’t common in your home neighbourhood, right? I doubt they’d know the difference.”

He returned her smile. “Yeah, I suppose they wouldn’t. They might judge you just a little for having a full-body tattoo, though.”

Marielle raised an eyebrow. “How exactly would they know that it’s full-body?”

“Well, they are magic.”

“So do you think you could give it a try?” Marielle asked. “I’d really like for the girls to be able to meet your parents, but if you aren’t comfortable-”

He cut her off with a kiss. Pulling back, he replied, “I think I want to give it a try. If they can’t accept you the way you are, well, that’s their problem. Not mine.”

“Besides, if they have secrets, that means we can have secrets, also,” Diana continued.

“Like secret handshakes?”

Diana nodded. “Of course. But other secrets, too. Like how we told everybody in our class that we can read each other’s minds. We can’t really, but we don’t have to tell anybody else that, right?”

“Right,” Halley agreed. “Nobody would believe we’re twins if they knew we couldn’t do that.”

“I bet we could if we practised really hard,” Diana mused. “What am I thinking now?”

Halley closed her eyes as she thought. “You… want me to pass you the blue crayon?” she asked, opening her eyes.

Diana sighed. “We’re going to need to practice a lot harder.”

As the season passed, the twins’ bond grew stronger, to the point where they were nearly inseparable.

They worked on homework together after school, played games with rules nobody but the two of them seemed to understand, and stayed up way past their bedtime reading stories to one another. They also spent a large amount of time whispering in conspiratorial tones to one another, which neither Comet or Marielle understood.

Winter arrived, and with it, Leo’s first birthday.

While they had thrown a slightly larger joint birthday party for the twins and Piper, Marielle and Comet decided a much quieter affair would be more suitable for the small boy.

As a toddler, it became even more apparent that Leo took after his father, apart from his hair colour. He’d inherited Comet’s appreciation for order and tidiness, and took immense satisfaction in putting colourful blocks in their appropriate holes. Leo was also a quick learner, and began walking much sooner than either of the twins.

He got along well with his sisters for the most part; they allowed him to use their activity table without complaints, however they were far more interested in spending time with one another than their younger brother. Out of all his family members, Leo had the strongest bond with his father.

Deirdre and Jimmy’s second daughter, Oriole, also celebrated her first birthday that winter. She was a fairly outgoing, friendly little girl, and she enjoyed spending time with whichever family member was free, whether that be their dog, Apollo, or Piper.

Much like her older sister and the twins, she quickly formed a close friendship with Leo.

Piper and the twins were still spending time together frequently, often at the Hollinter house over the weekends.

“I wish I could live with you guys,” Piper told them one afternoon. “You guys get to play with each other all the time. I can only stay until dinner, and then I have to go home and play by myself.”

“You can play with Ori,” Halley replied.

“But she can’t play anything exciting; she’s just a baby.”

“I know,” Diana said empathetically. “We tried to play with Leo, but he doesn’t even like to colour. He just wants to play with blocks.

“Blocks are for babies,” Halley added.

“I should swap places with Leo,” Piper decided. “Then I could play with you guys all the time, and he could play with Ori.”

“You should hide when your parents come to get you,” Halley suggested. “If they can’t find you, then they can’t take you home.”

Piper nodded. “That’s a good plan. Where am I going to hide, though?”

“Can you fit in the dryer?” Diana asked.

“The dryer is the best hiding place,” Halley assured Piper.

“I dunno,” Piper replied, “I’ve never tried hiding in the dryer before. Mom said it’s dangerous.”

Diana sighed. “They’re definitely going to find her if she doesn’t hide in the dryer.”

“It’s okay, Piper.” Halley gave her a reassuring smile. “Even if you can’t stay with us, you can still be our unofficial sister. We can be triplets.”

“And now that we’re triplets,” Diana continued, “we can tell you about our special secret.”

Piper frowned. “You guys are keeping secrets from me?”

“Only one,” Halley replied. “But you’re the first person we’re going to tell.”

“We promise,” Diana added.

“Okay, so what’s the secret?” Piper asked.

“We can’t tell you here,” Diana explained in a whisper. “We have to go upstairs.”

Piper set her crayon down. “Why?”

“Because we need to show you something, and if our parents see, they might get mad,” Halley replied.

“Or jealous,” Diana added. “It’s a very good secret.”

Piper followed the twins upstairs, where they locked themselves in their bedroom. Piper eyed the room suspiciously. “I don’t see anything that needs to be a secret.”

“That’s because we don’t keep it in here,” Diana replied.

“We can’t keep it in anything,” Halley added. “We just can’t let our parents see, and if we all go in the bathroom together I think they would be suspicious.”

“Are your parents even home?” Piper asked. “I haven’t seen them.”

“I think they’re in their bedroom,” said Diana. “They’re in there a lot. They must have a lot of secrets, too.”

“Now,” Diana continued. “Are you ready to see ours?”

Piper opened her mouth to agree, but before she could say anything, an orb of blue light flared up from Halley’s open hand. It hovered there, shifting in size as smaller orbs of light danced around it.

Halley grinned. “Isn’t it cool?”

“Woah.” Piper took a step backwards. “How… how’d you do that?”

“It’s because we’re tele… telepathetic,” Diana replied. “We can read each other’s minds, you know. It’s a twin thing. Twins only.”

“Oh yeah? Prove it.” Piper crossed her arms.

“Uh, we don’t have to prove anything,” Diana said, gesturing to the orb of light. “You just saw Halley create that lout of thin air. Don’t you believe we’re special?”

“I guess,” Piper agreed. “But how did you do it?”

Diana leaned forward, cupping her hands around Piper’s ear. “We don’t really know, but you can’t tell anyone,” she hissed. “If you tell them, they’re going to take away our special powers. Then we can’t be superheroes.”

Halley nodded enthusiastically. “If you keep it a secret, we’ll see if we can teach you how to do it, too, and then we can all be superheroes.”

Piper’s eyes lit up. “Yeah! And Leo and Ori can be our sidekicks.”

Diana stepped back. “So?” she asked. “Do you promise?” Piper nodded.

So that chapter took much longer than anticipated to write. I think this would have been released earlier if I had started shooting pictures in September, instead of taking a break for no real reason. Hope the chapter was still enjoyable, even after the wait!

Also, it’s amazing how many people don’t understand basic genetics. They really should play the sims. You would not believe the number of people who demand to know why my sister has red hair when I don’t. It’s gotten to the point where I just tell them there was a mix-up at the hospital to fuck with them. It’s hilarious, because they believe it.

I wrote a short drabble about Comet’s failed botany lessons, and I’ll probably post that on my LiveJournal sometime. I do have other material I’ve written about the Hollinters for a creative writing course, but that won’t be shared until I’ve handed in the final project.

Thanks for reading!