Some people are born with less nice points than others.

1. The Munster Legacy – Generation 3.8 – Vincent Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the forever ongoing 3 rd generation of the Munster Legacy. We are slowly moving forward into Generation 4. One day the chapter titles will reflect this. Last chapter, we finally reached the teenage years of the newest generation, when Lucy celebrated her birthday. AS A NOTE. You may notice some inconsistencies in the skins of my sims this chapter. I've been fiddling around with some skins made by Dicreasy, so bear with me.

2. Life was pretty good right now for Marylin. Ever since school had let out for the year, Vincent had substantially calmed down. Something about being able to stay up and see his father more helped him. Basil was nothing like him. He'd been much less fussy as a baby, even sleeping through the night half the time.

3. “ What I did on my summer vacation. Since when have you had to homework during summer?” Vincent stared at the completely blank page in front of him. He'd stayed up after 11 PM a couple of times? That was fun.

4. “ Vincent, don't worry about it. It's party day, and you have all summer.” Lucy shook her head. She was going to the high school anyway. When they'd sent her home with that, she'd written down that she took a trip to Jupiter in a 1995 Chevy Camaro.

5. “ I didn't even see you get here. Mom said I had to fill in a page before I could have any cake. That's the only reason I was doing it.” Vincent looked around the room as he suddenly realized half of his older family members were there. They really did travel in packs.

6. Marylin scrubbed at the last of the dishes, intent to get this room spotless before they all started filing in. Plus, she had to dispose of the hamburgers before someone at the restaurant found out she was serving commoner food.

7. “ There you go, little guy. All clean and ready now? Who's a good baby, you are!” Alright. That was it. This entire domestication had happened so fast he'd barely noticed it. It was time to go out in the night and tackle down a fully grown bear. After the cake.

8. “ So do you feel like placing any bets on this one.” Marylin took the baby from her husband, ready to get on with it. “ If I had to wager money? I'd say he's going to look like a small toddler.”

9. He'd been such a better dad than she'd expected from a 300 something year old vampire. She couldn't help but think though, he was 300, but he didn't look a day over 30. The other night she had been brushing her hair in the mirror and she'd seen something out of the corner of her eye that had almost caused her a full blown panic attack. It was a gray hair.

10. Okay, so it happened to everyone eventually. It's not like she was Liam, deciding that this wasn't supposed to happen and that it required some massive life change. Her parents had gray hair, and not that he would admit it, but Liam himself had several that he obsessively plucked on a weekly basis. The thing is though, as much as it happened to everyone, it didn't. Ronan's hair had been bright red since they'd met, and it had stayed that way. No more wrinkles, no nothing. She was getting older and he wasn't going to.

11. It couldn't be too much to worry about, could it? They had a family together, you can't run away from that kind of thing just because things aren't as conventional as you'd like them to be. This wasn't the right time for this to be going through her head. “ Come on, Basil, blow out your candles the best you can.”

12. As she threw her son in the air, she couldn't help but thinking, come what may, she would never be in this aging thing alone.

13. “ Atta boy! That's momma's nose.” (Basil Lewis, Gemini, 2/6/8/4/4)

14. “ Your nose? I was pretty sure that was Grandpa Barty's nose, or did we forget him?” Teenage sarcasm. Marylin had missed it. The stupid grin Lucy gave her told her that it was a joke, but the point still stood. “ If we're going to get that technical, it's your great grandmother's nose, but it's nice to know kids these days have respect for their elders. Now don't you have a boyfriend across the road to go hang out with?” “ I.. well, look, he's a friend.”

15. The good thing about having all these birthday's at the same time was you could get them all out of the way at once. Basil and Joan were nearly the same age and would no doubt be forced into several play dates once they were older. Neither of her parents were that big into giant birthday blowouts, so some close friends coming over for cake would have to suffice for the soon to be toddler.

16. “ Hey Aunt Jackie!” “ Hey, kiddo, who let you out of bed so late?” Jackie didn't even know Leo was showing up, let alone see him sneak up on her like that. “ My dad did, see, he said we could go if we could stay up this late, I don't think he thought I could, but I did, so I got to come, and then he got called into work and couldn't. I showed him, huh?”

17. “ So hey, where's the cake? And the board games? All the other parties I've been to have had board games.” Leo was about to learn the hard way that parties with no other kids at them were hell on earth for grade schoolers.

18. “ So Vinny's not here? I thought since his dad stayed up all night maybe he got to stay up later. I guess he needs sleep though, huh?” Why did dad even say he could come? This was borrriiiing.

19. “ Leo honey, I'm pretty sure it's a good thing Vincent's not here, because if he had just heard you call him Vinny, he wouldn't be very happy.” Marylin swore, between the things Leo did and what he looked like, it was like stepping in a time warp to her childhood sometimes. “ Go wait for some cake, why don't you? I'm sure you'll enjoy what I cooked for Joanie.”

20. “ Come on now, let's spare that poor kid's brain and get that cake served.” A lot less thoughts were running through Jackie's head than her sister's. She didn't have to worry about a husband that didn't age, and thankfully she was relieved that the midnight feedings were about to be over.

21. “ Grandpa, can I eat the cake yet?” “For the last time, Leo, no, you can't eat the cake until the candles are blown out. That would burn your mouth and it would be very bad.”

22. Truth be told, there's not much interesting about seeing a baby turn into a toddler when you get right down to it, save for seeing who the child takes after. Of course, when it's your first baby, it seems like the most interesting day in the history of the world.

23. Of course, some people would never get tired of this kind of thing. “ Just throw the baby, sweetie.”

24. “ Phh, all of that being egged on by your grandma and you don't even look like us, do you?”

25. Indeed, save for the coloring and the distinct Munster brow, Joan seemed to be the spitting image of her father. (Joan Stratton, Scorpio, 10/3/9/3/1.. Yep, another mutant meanie.)

26. “ Your baby is really cute Aunt Jackie, now can I eat the cake yet?”

27. “ Look, I'm sorry, really really sorry. I swore he would pass out earlier than that but he didn't, and then..” Liam was suddenly cut off in mid sentence. “ You know it's not an issue, right? I love my nephew, we all had a great laugh about that once Jasmine came and brought him home.” Jackie smiled and pointed inside, “Now did you want to come see Joan or not?”

28. “ Momma!” Jackie picked the little girl up off of her bedroom floor, “How did you get there? Come on, Uncle Liam wants to see his only niece.”

29. Liam's eyes bugged out at the sight of the toddler. Something about kids set him off like nothing else, “ Jackie, she's one of the cutest things I've ever seen! Aren't you, Joanie?”

30. Jackie looked down at her little girl with pride. There was one face that was never going to have any issues getting exactly what she wanted out of life.

31. “ That's a good girl, now you just con your Uncle into babysitting so me and your dad can go out more often and we're set for life.”

32. “ I mean, the kid said dad gave him permission to go, right? I don't know why I'm supposed to be everyone's babysitter here, I have a life.” Lucy leaned back in the sun and sighed. Sure, she and her grandparents had been on kid duty since her parents both worked second shift, but dad needed to realize that kids were disturbingly witty and that she was NOT a mind reader. End of story.

33. Bagel nearly choked on his own laughter, “Come on, you actually fell for that mom said I could business? We invented that trick, hell, we're still using it.” Lucy wasn't the only teenager in the family anymore. It hadn't been much longer after her birthday that Conrad and Bagel had celebrated their's as well.

34. “ I don't know if your parents even realize your gone half the time, dude. There's only three people in mine and we're all fairly quiet, they notice when I leave. I go in yours and I get the feeling there should be caution tape around the place.” Conrad shifted his eyes off to the left to avoid the glare he was undoubtedly getting.

35. Bagel just looked confused, “Hey, what is that supposed to mean? Are you saying my mom and sisters are criminals? Or are you just calling them dumb? Wait, are you calling me dumb? Because I'm not really that dumb, I get pretty damned good grades if you ask me, right Lucy?”

36. “ Are you even listening to a word I'm saying?” Lucy jumped up from where she had been sitting, pretending like she HAD actually been paying attention, “Huh? Oh yeah, sure. Say, what do you think those kids are doing now anyway?”

37. As it stood, the children had all migrated upstairs to Vivian's room to sit around and do a whole lot of nothing. “ And then I had cake! Abby didn't have any cake because she fell asleep, but it's pretty much her own fault. Isn't that right, sis?”

38. “ Yeah, and it's the fifth time you've told us, bro. We stopped caring after two.” Abby finished off her sentence by placing a well aimed jab into Thomas's stomach. “ Ow, come on! You're not actually supposed to hit.. Hey, what are you staring at?” Muffin looked up from where she had been standing in place for the last 5 minutes, “Huh? I just have pretty shoes, that's all. They're pink, I really love pink.”

39. “ They left.” Muffin looked slightly dejected. Vivian nodded, “Yeah, they'll do that. Do you want to talk about your shoes to me?”

40. “ Well, my mom bought them for me on my last birthday because she and my grandma think that every girl should own something pink. They're probably right, since I really like wearing them, even though Bagel keeps telling me they're stupid. What do boys know anyway, though?”

41. Vivian shrugged, “I dont know. My Grandpa is pretty smart but the rest of them are just there. I mean they're not dumb or anything but can anyone tell us why we need them?”

42. “ Hey, I don't know if you people noticed but I'm back in the room, I am a male, and I still have a gun. Also, if you really want to know, I can tell you why males and females need each other. I read it in a book.”

43. Eleanor rocked back and forth on the floor where she had taken a seat to talk to Leo, the closest child to her in age, “He's full of it, you know. He got banned from the library because he kept stealing books saying he needed them for “research”. I wish dad would just BUY us all those books, though, wouldn't that be nice?”

44. He just shrugged, “Buying a whole library would cost a lot of money, don't you think? I don't think anyone has that much, not even my grandpa, or Uncle Ronan, and they're really old so they've had lots of time to get money.” It was at that point, Leo realized that they were short one kid they had started the day with.

45. “ Hey Butter, there you are! Have you been being a good doggy for Vincent?” The dog just rolled his eyes. How was it that every small human that happened to wander into the house fashioned themselves his best friend?

46. “ He gets mad when you do that for too long, you know.” Leo nudged the growling dog out of the way of his unsuspecting cousin before anything terrible could happen.

47. The other boy looked at him like something was stuck on his forehead, “I don't know if you knew this, but I didn't really ask you. He seems nice enough to me.” The redhead just shook his head, “He is, but he doesn't like when you treat him like a stupid dog. I know, it's weird. Plus, he kinda smells right now.”

48. “ Yeah, that's great. I'll keep that in mind.” Somehow, he got the feeling Vincent wasn't actually listening to him. “Hey, I'm gonna go outside, there's nothing to do in here anymore. You can come if you want.” Well, it wasn't like he had anything better to do.

49. It had taken a few runs around the house and being chased away by the gaggle of teenagers in the back, they'd finally settled on a spot near the driveway to kill the rest of the day until someone came looking for them. “ You know, it's better playing this with you then when my dad and me do it. He's fun and all but sometimes he throws the ball so far we don't know where it even goes.”

50. “ I bet,” Vincent wound his arm as he spoke, “That my dad throws way better then your dad.”

51. Leo flinched as the ball grazed him as it flew past his face, nearly rolling out of his reach. “Hey, that hurt! Plus, my dad throws fine. Your dad only throws like that because he's dead.”

52. “ That doesn't even make sense. If he was dead dead, he couldn't throw at all. He's just.. not quite alive. At least that's what he said to me when I asked. I think that means he's better than normal people, right? Especially your dad.” Vincent smiled. He didn't understand why taunting people was so fun, but he was pretty sure he had this argument won.

53. Except the face the other child was making was unlike anything he had ever seen. “ You don't know anything about my dad! He's awesome, and he can do anything, and he's better than any creepy half dead blue guy walking around. And you know what, everyone says I look just like him, so that means I'm better than you!”

54. What neither of them had realized yet, is that sound carries. “ What the..? Did you guys hear that? It sounds like someone is about to kill something out of front.”

55. “ Okay, yeah, you're great. Sure. Hey, if you're great, let's play another game. It's called who can throw the ball the furthest.”

56. Before you could even say “Anger issues”, Vincent had turned around and with all his might, hurled the ball away from the house and into the street.

57. Leo didn't even think twice about going to get the thing. That was his favorite ball, what was Vincent doing it trying to throw it where he couldn't get it? It didn't even occur to him that he'd garnered a small audience. “ Leo, do you really think you should be going into the street?...”

58. “ No, he doesn't, because he's not thinking at all. Leo, get out of the damned street, now!” Most of all, he hadn't noticed his older sister coming around the corner, and let it never be said that she didn't have a temper lurking under her normally calm exterior.

59. Leo just sighed. Now he looked like the stupid one and was going to get in trouble. “ But Vincent threw it in the street on purpose..”

60. “ I didn't make you go get it though, that was your choice.” Vincent smiled from the corner he'd been lurking in since he'd thrown the ball out of his cousin's reach.

61. “ Didn't make who do what? Who's parents do I have to call?” As much of a child as he still was deep down, Liam had finally developed that knack dads have for popping out of nowhere at the worst possible time.

62. Hushed voices were always, always bad. Vincent had been around long enough to decide this much, and he was getting out of here right now. “ Eyes in the back of my head, kid. Inside. Now.” Crap.

63. Liam sighed. These things had to be approached delicately with children so young, or else it could backfire completely. “ Alright. One at a time. What exactly happened?”

64. It was hard to gather what had exactly happened when both of the kids decided one at a time means “Me first”, but he knew he had heard the phrases “he started it”, “made fun of my dad”, “made fun of you”, and “threw the ball in the street” somewhere in the midst of the chaos.

65. He counted the visions running through his head at the moment as the boys continued to prattle on in a never ending game of he said/he said. A car blasting out of nowhere and slamming into his only son. Some crazy red haired lady running out of a bush and snatching him away. A million things could go wrong in an instant, but he somehow got the idea he was being paranoid about that last one.

66. “ Vincent, I.. you know what, I trust your mother to punish you, so you just sit tight until she gets here. Leo, maybe I'm over reacting, but you don't need to get so angry on my behalf. I'm a grown up, I can defend myself, and I'm no better or worse than anyone else. Even more important, no running into the street, ever. If something happened to you, I'd blame myself forever. You're very special to this family, don't forget that.” That was it, he was done for now. Jasmine was the one who did the groundings, not him.

67. Was he that special? Leo had never noticed anything different about himself before, but everyone always made this big fuss about him being the boy. “ Abby, you always tell the truth. Am I special?”

68. “ Ahahaha! You're funny, Leo. You weren't even the only kid in mom's stomach, and you're a dork. Special my butt. Come on, let's go smash the rocket ship toys into eachother until bits of plastic fall off.” Well that sounded like a plan to him.

69. It was official. Vincent had been on one too many couches today, and this one was way too pink. And it was in HIS house.

70. Marylin was just dumbstruck. She had no idea where her son had learned to be so mean. Had he just been born that way? She's always been told some people naturally had a mean streak, but there had to be a way to train someone out of it. “ Vincent, we've talked about picking fights a million times already, so why do you keep thinking that it's okay to say things like that to people?”

71. He didn't know what to say anymore. He always just said what he was thinking, and it kept making people mad. How was he even supposed to know what kind of things would hurt people's feelings? All he knew is that he had to keep trying for his mom. He didn't like when she looked sad. “ It sounded like a good thing to say when I said it, mom. I'm sorry.”

72. That was it. The filter in Vincent's brain where you separate what's wrong from what's right was completely broken. She knew he was young, but still, the basic knowledge should have still been there by this point. “ You have to learn these things, honey. When you say something like 'My dad is better than your dad', it's going to make people angry. Leo loves his dad just as much as you love yours. This is your warning. Next time I'm going to be a lot worse.”

73. “ Alright, fine. I won't say anything bad about Uncle Liam and I won't throw any balls into the street. But I still think my dad is better.”

74. “ I think they're both pretty rad, if I say so myself.” “ Okay, mom. Now can I have some ice cream?” “No. Also, I can see you turning the video games on with your foot. Not for a week, honey.”

75. “ Gotta admit, Basil, I'm kinda hoping you stay this size forever.”

76. “ I'm sorry you had to see me like that yesterday, Georgie.” Lucy tried to explain herself. She didn't exactly like yelling at little kids, she had just let her big sister instinct kick in way too hard.

77. “ I told you, I thought nothing of it. I have seen far worse in my own home.” She had try her hardest not to giggle. How someone so nice came from parents who did so much yelling would always be a mystery to her.

78. “ We have pretty ridiculous families, don't we?” “ Miss, you have seen nothing.”

79. Leo was already over the entire incident. He had more important things to do, like decide which doll he wanted to be in the house. “ I think I'm gonna be the mom this time, Grandma. It's more fun. Hey, what do you think Lucy and Georgie are doing upstairs, anyway?”

80. This was a tough one. There was a number of things two teenagers could be doing upstairs and Tosha hoped it was one of the less incriminating things on the list she'd written in her head.

81. “ I'm sure they're doing something fun like playing board games, Leo. Probably Scrabble. Definitely Scrabble.” “ Can I go play Scrabble with them?” “...No.”

82. Over at the house across the road, things had been going much quieter, but not any less interesting. “And how are you doing today, Miss Joanie?” Jackie scooped her growing daughter off the ground, feeling her knees object to every motion she made. She should not be doing this in her condition.

83. “ Good, mama!” She's been talking so well for a girl her age. According to her mother, Jackie hadn't said much at all as a toddler, but she supposed every child was different. “ You're getting so big, though. We're going to have to buy you a big girl bed before you even know it.”

84. “ Hmm, no.” Well, that went over swimmingly. Time for the big guns. “ If you don't move out of the crib when you get to big for it, where's the new baby going to sleep? How does a brother or sister sound, sweetie?”

85. “ Sister!” That was good enough of a verdict for her. “ I can't make any promises on that, but I'll try my best.” She'd been intending on waiting a few more years to have another child, but...

86. Sometimes things just happened. Like having to put down your daughter and run to the nearest bathroom to evacuate the contents of your stomach. Her mom had told her once that she'd been a happy surprise, as they thought they'd been done at two. She guessed that getting one before you planned could be thought of the same.

87. Barty shook his head and looked up at the house he'd stopped in front of, one not so far away from his own, but still one he didn't feel he got to enough these days, along with others. What did she want THIS time?

88. “ Barty, you made it!” Carolina never just invited him over to talk. That had never been her style. If she was asking you over, she had a reason, however random it might be. One time he'd walked over in the pouring rain just so she could show him the funny plant she'd found growing her in her backyard. “ Yeah, I just have a question...”

89. Barty looked around the corner at the furry ball that had scampered ahead of him. “ Why did you make me bring the dog?”

90. “ Oh, well, that. You know I have three of my own, still, right? I've sadly lost a couple of my babies to old age, but they're in a better place now, I'm sure. Either way, my husband had a fascinating idea, I really think you should listen to it.”

91. Barty made his way to the back of the house, careful not to trample on any old newspapers and unpaid bills on his way there. “ Okay, there you are! So I was thinking. You have a male dog. I have a female dog. This is where you throw in the classless joke.”

92. “ What do you think those humans are doing in there, Pancakes?” Dogs are not stupid, and they can tell when a human is up to something. “ I believe my man human intends to set us up on some sort of date.”

93. “ So you're suggesting we try to breed our dogs? I mean, I'd love another puppy, but Butter isn't young. I guess he's had a clean bill of health all his life, though...” He had to think this over. Human babies weren't something you just jumped into, and neither were dog babies for that matter.

94. “ If it helps your decision, Pancakes and both of her brothers have excellent genetics, and we've had them for some time and they've always had incredible temperaments” Barty scratched his head a little before answering, “If you're absolutely sure, I guess it would be worth a shot.”

95. “ I thought I'd told them, no blind dates.” Butter shook his head, humans could be so determined in their stupidity at times. Even now he could hear their unintelligible yammering in the next room, probably jumping to conclusions about how cute the children would be. “ I have to say I'm in the same boat as you. They can just be so.. so...”

96. “ So dumb?” “Yes, I do believe that's where I was going. You know.. let's go for a walk, Butter.” Maybe this wouldn't be such a bad idea after all.

97. This was much better, when they did this at her house. She loved having company over, and she loved cooking for her nephew and nieces, and after last time, she figured it was only fair if they came and played at her house.

98. She could see everything the kids were doing out back at the moment, and all together, it seemed pretty harmless.

99. Well, mostly harmless. “ Yeah, he bites people, Viv! I've seen him do it and if he does it to you, you turn blue and technically you're dead but you can't die!”

100. “ Cut it out, Abby, even if Uncle Ronan could do that he wouldn't.” Vivian tried to shake off her younger sister from tormenting her any further, but it didn't seem to work. “ Could one of you please make her stop?”

101. “ I'm a little busy right now, girls.” Vincent tried to remember where he was, “Oh, yeah, I was saying, my mom says I should say I'm sorry for what I said about your dad and for throwing your ball... so, I'm sorry, I guess.”

102. “ Don't worry about it, because you know what, I'm your cousin, and I love you! Hug?” Vincent jumped back, startled. He suddenly got the idea he was not a huggy person.

103. “ You know what, I'll have to pass on that hug for now. I have.. a disease, and if you touch me, you'll get it.” That would be a good enough excuse for now.

104. “ Oh, okay, it's just everyone in my house hugs a lot so...” He didn't think it would have been that big of a deal. Apparently, he was wrong.

105. “ Hey, Leo, bang bang, you're dead” The red head looked up from where he had been standing, and realized he was apparently now playing a game. “ That's not fair!”

106. He fell to the ground with a thud anyway, figuring it was the fun of it that counted. “ You can't just start playing without saying anything, that's against the rules.”

107. Marylin heard a wail upstairs from where she'd been setting the table for when everyone came inside, and couldn't do anything but shake her head. “ You're awake already? I miss when you used to just sleep through everything.”

108. Back outside, Vincent shook his head, “You mean the rules Thomas makes up as he goes along? I can do the same thing, can't I?” Leo didn't know how to even answer that, “I.. guess?”

109. Vivian looked over her shoulder, seemingly the only person concerned about the current situation, “Do you think they're going to start fighting again?” Abby shook her head, “If they do, leave them be. They have to learn.”

110. “ Where are you going?!?” Leo could only watch as his cousin dove headfirst into a somersault over the fence that his aunt and uncle had set up around the backyard. He never understood how his cousin could do all these things that he couldn't. “ You chase, I run, that's the point, remember?”

111. “ We're supposed to have boundries!” Leo did the only thing he could. He ran around the opposite side of the house, knowing that the other boy would eventually come around the other way, wouldn't he? He didn't even hear his sisters yelling after him.

112. “ Don't do anything stupid again, Leo. You and Vincent always do stupid things!” “ I'll be fine, Abby! I'm just going after him!”

113. “ You just wanted your momma, didn't you?” Marylin didn't hear any of it, upstairs, with her younger son. She knew her kids had been told to stay in the fences, and that's all she knew.

114. She couldn't read her other son's thoughts right now. His thoughts were telling him that Leo would be thinking that he was coming around the other side of the house, like he usually did. So he couldn't go that way, which meant...

115. He'd have to go another way. He bolted out from behind the car his parents driveway, picking up speed, knowing that even if he was faster than Leo, he had to keep it up.

116. One thing everyone did hear was the car. When a car going that fast is coming right at you, you'd be surprised at how long it takes you to hear it.

117. Sometimes, you don't hear it until it's far too late.

118. Too late for Marylin, who realized she couldn't hear the voices coming from the backyard anymore, and came running down the stairs, mother's intuition kicking in harder than it ever had before.

119. Far too late for a little boy like Leo who watched everything play out in front of him, completely helpless.

120. Last, but not least, too late for the young driver who'd hardly been paying attention while texting her friend going down the road through this middle of nowhere town. She didn't see the boy until she was inches away, what was she supposed to do now, and.. was that a bat?

121. Vincent didn't see what pushed him out of the way until after the thump it made when the car blasted past, hitting it, and trying to pretend like none of this had ever happened.

122. Marylin knew, though, even though she had never seen him turn into a bat herself, it couldn't have been anyone else.

123. Ronan barely got to his feet, the sunlight already searing at his skin, while he clutched what was left of his ribcage. “ Vincent, he's okay, honey, don't worry.”

124. He was in pain. This was different. He'd always been such an immortal force to her, she'd never even seen him have a bruise. Yet he'd jumped into broad daylight and surely broken several of his bones to save their son. “ You need a doctor, Ronan.” “They wouldn't know what I was, much less what to do with me. I'll heal. Check on Vincent.”

125. Ronan gently laid back in his coffin, careful not to take any breathes. Almost 3 centuries of not needing them, and he couldn't kick the habit. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been injured this badly. Vampires were more resistant and healed much faster than humans, and couldn't be killed by normal broken bones, but when it happened, they hurt just the same, and it was still going to be a few weeks before he was at one hundred percent again. Coupled with that, transforming took the energy right out of you, so it might even be longer. He could never tell Marylin, that, though. He'd seen her face when he'd stood there in the street, it would worry her far too much.

126. “ I couldn't do anything, Aunty Marylin, it was too fast.” “ Don't worry about it, Leo. You go home now, okay? Tell your grandma I need some medical advice and to call me later, and tell your daddy I said hi.” This was going to be much harder than last time.

127. “ Vincent. Inside. Now.” She gave up. He wasn't going to learn. This was just how Vincent was and she was going to have to work around it. He was going to do stupid things, and she was going to have to stop him.

128. “ I get it, I'm grounded, right? I'm sorry, I really am, I didn't see the car coming! But dad's immortal anyway, right?” It was like white noise to her. All she could see was her husband's face when he got back up from the pavement, and thinking about what it would have been like if that had been him.

129. “ But mom, I..” He didn't even finish. What could he say that would get that look off his mom's face? He didn't even know what it was. Was she angry? Disappointed? Sad? It looked like all of it at once.

130. He went up to his room that night, thinking of everything that had happened. Why did stuff like this also happen when he was around Leo? Why wasn't Leo on “permanent watch” too? He was there, he let it happen. So why was his cousin always the innocent one in all of the things they did? Was it because he was “special”?

131. It went without saying that for Basil's next birthday several days later, they asked that not much fanfare be held. Ronan was still in a great deal of pain, not that he would have ever said it, but she could tell. 10 years wasn't a lot for him, but after that many years for her, she could read someone's face.

132. Still, he insisted on being the one to bring their younger son to his cake to blow out his candles, not letting anything he was feeling show at the moment. “ Alright, now be a good boy and get them all out on one try.”

133. It was unsurprising when Basil turned out to look almost as much like his father as Vincent did, though none of the elder sims would ever get off the subject of “Michelle's nose.” Marylin supposed she did look a lot like her grandmother.

134. All Basil could notice from his view was how much happier his mom should be on his birthday. He didn't know if it was anything he did, but he knew he never wanted to make her upset ever again if it was.

135. “ It gets better, Marylin. I promise.” She hoped her dad was right.

136. Out past the border, where the houses stopped and the sounds of voices didn't reach, things were about to get better for someone else. “ Alright, son. I've followed every single lead and they've all taken me to this podunk town. Now it's time to find out which one of these houses you're hiding in.”

137. “ Come out, come out, wherever you are, Ronan. Mommy's home.”