Chapter 25.2 – Teenagers

A Piratical Legacy Chapter 25 - Part 2 Make sure you read part 1 first or this will make less than no sense whatsoever.

Only a few days had passed since he'd had his first kiss with Marylena and Toby was already ready to play the field a bit more. He headed back to the bowling alley since he'd had so much luck there previously. And, while he preferred blondes, he did meet a girl he found quite attractive. "Sally Deity," the girl--who obviously had some alien blood--said with a smile when Toby introduced himself. "Well, Sally, I've never seen you around here before," Toby said.

"Are you new to the area?" "Nope, but I just turned thirteen," Sally said shyly. "So I'm new to this whole teenager thing." "It's pretty cool, isn't it," Toby grinned. "My favorite part is dating." "Yeah?" "Actually, speaking of that..." Toby continued, scarcely believing his luck.

Within a few minutes, Toby was leading Sally inside to get a drink. They were intercepted on their way to the bar by Candice. "Toby, love, what have I told you about flaunting other girls in front of me?" she scolded, batting her eyelashes. "You're looking good, Candice," Toby began, but then he noticed that Sally was starting to look kind of angry. "Err... maybe we can catch up later?" "If you're catching up with her later then you're not catching up with me now," Sally said, glaring.

"Oh, it was just a misunderstanding," Toby said quickly. "Candice is my... study partner. Yep. Study partner. For school." "I don't think I entirely buy that," Sally said. "But I guess we can hang out anyway. I'm here with my friend Snoopy and he'll beat the stuffing out of you if you treat me badly." "Good to know," Toby said, gulping nervously.

By the end of the evening, though, Sally had evidently decided that Toby was a nice enough guy to be worthy of her first kiss--and that she really liked him.

Back on Pirate Island, some of the members of Generation 5 were gathered in the Buccaneer family home to discuss their own children and what kind of behaviour they'd been up to lately. "I think if they misbehave, you should use Mr. Mickles," Andrew the Bigfoot said quite seriously. "That's kind of overkill," Pierce argued. "Mind control and what-have-you." "I don't know," Rajah shrugged. "Sometimes Khan can be quite the little animal. Might do him some good."

"Thanks for inviting me over, Gertie," Rajah said when the gentlemen rose to leave. "We haven't really caught up since I got back from university!" "I know," Gertie said sadly. "I spend so much time with my cheese... I'm afraid I don't have much of a personality anymore." "You could always give it up," Rajah suggested. "Give up my cheese?" Gertie was horrified. "No, I'd rather not. There has to be a better way to balance my religion and my social life."

"Religion?" "Well, sort of. It's more like a philosophy, you know? I mean, there's nothing so formal as a religious organization or anything. But everything I do is out of consideration of the cheese." "That's terrific," Rajah said with a deer-caught-in-headlights look on his face. "I'll catch ya later, Gertie -- next time, don't be such a stranger!"

"Zing, I like you better when you don't make me play Used Car Salesman," Ching Shih said happily as she danced on her brother's toes. "Why do you play that game so much anyway?" "It's what I want to do with my life," Coxinga shrugged. "I want to sell cars to people. I think I'd be good at selling cars to people. Maybe one day I'll even restore one--just for fun." "When you're married to a nice lady and have lots of kids?" Shih asked. "I... doubt I'll ever be married to a lady," Zing said with a wry grin.

"Nope... I just can't see that happening." "To a nice man, then? Like Uncle Green?" Shih was nothing if not persistent. "Well, that might be a tad more likely but I can't really see myself settling down with anyone," Zing shrugged. "It'd have to be the right person, that's for sure, and I don't really know if there is anyone fitting that description in the world." "It's a big world," Shih said. "I hope I find someone nice to marry, but that's going to be way after college 'n' stuff."

All over the island, teenagers were doing their makeup, fixing their hair, and putting on their nicest clothes. "This is going to be the best party ever!" Robin crowed as she got ready to twirl on the Dance Sphere. "Only if you get your butt off that thing and help me finish getting ready!" Toast cried. "Come on, Robin!" "Oh, fine," Robin muttered. "But I wanted to meet the aliens..."

Shortly thereafter, every Pirate Island teen who could was gathered on Robin and Toast's front lawn waiting for the party to start. Scores of younger siblings were whining about not being invited to their parents. And somehow Toby had wrangled an invite as well due to being over to visit his cousins. "Do you see that guy?" Diana Deity giggled to her aunt Athena. "He's totally going to come over and try to hit on us. I just have this ... vibe about him." Toby, totally oblivious to their chatter, swaggered over to them. "Ladies," he said with a smile... which set off more giggles.

"Whoa, lookin' good Justinian!" Coxinga said, whistling appreciatively. "You're not so bad yourself," Justinian said with a grin. "We're all pretty stylin'," Hugo observed, though he secretly wished Lainey could have visited for the party. "Err... J-man, you've got a seriously stylin' babe over there trying to get your attention, dude." "Really?" Justinian swung his attention from an appreciation of Coxinga's...assets to see where Hugo was looking. Zing glared at his cousin and Hugo shrugged in apology. "Dude, the sexiness factor in the two of you together would draw too much attention away from me. Sorry."

"Justinian... so nice of you to come," Toast said warmly once Coxinga's glares had been deflected elsewhere. "Yeah, whatever," Justinian said with a shrug. "Ooh, too cool for my party are you?" Toast said mockingly. "Hm? What?" Justinian asked. "Are you even paying attention while I talk to you?" Toast asked. She reached for his hand. "Come on, Justinian... let's go get this party started properly before Michelle deafens us all with her DJing."

"I heard that!" Michelle called from the DJ booth under the canopy alongside the house. "Now, are you kids going to come and have some fun? Or do I have to drag you onto the dance floor kicking and screaming?"

"You, me, dance, now," Toast said to Justinian. He glanced at the other guys as if for help, and they shoved him in Toast's direction. "Go get 'em, Tiger! Moar dance!" Shere Khan added, causing several teens to give him a strange look.

"Mind if I sit with you guys?" Toast asked Angora and Hugo, who had decided to hit the buffet table before they tried dancing. "Go ahead," Angora said, gesturing grandly to the empty seat. Toast took it and then promptly turned so she could keep her eye on Justinian. "This is so embarrassing," she muttered to herself in an undertone. "Everyone's going to think I have a huge crush on a Legacy character. Ugh." Hugo and Angora exchanged a glance and then decided to ignore their table companion. "Toshi's not stalking you for once, I see,"

Angora said conversationally. "Yeah, it was getting kind of old, but she's finally crushing on someone else now," Hugo said, relief evident in his tone. "And it's a good thing, too, 'cause I met this girl..." "Who?" Angora squealed. "Not someone from the Island...?" "Nope, matchmaker brought her and she's from Singapore," Hugo said. "We've been keeping in touch by email and Angie, she's so freakin' awesome. I hope we get a chance to visit or something soon."

Toshiko, meanwhile, was feeling a bit embarrassed about her recent stalkerish behavior towards Hugo so she decided to hang around with her other best friend, Shere Khan, instead. "I've been such an idiot," she told him. "Geez, Hugo and I have been friends since we were little kids! And now I've made it all awkward and it sucks." "You'll get over it," Khan said with a reassuring smile. "Besides, Hugo's got a girlfriend." "Does he?" Toshiko asked. "Who?"

"I think he met her on teh intarwebz," Shere Khan said. "But I really shouldn't gossip. Gossip = Epic Fail." "Did you just say '='?" "What? Did I pronounce it wrong?" "Anyway, whatever gossip may be, it's also fun," Toshiko declared. "And since when are we nice people, Khan?" Shere Khan shrugged, thought for a moment, and then filled Toshiko in on as many of the details as he could remember.

Toshiko wasn't necessarily as over Hugo as she'd claimed, though, since her reaction to getting the full scoop on Hugo's dating activities was to head over to the juice keg and take a swig right out of the nozzle - much to Toby's amusement and Pen's* consternation. "Good thing we watered that stuff down," she said to herself as she observed the teenager's antics. === * simself of penguingirl0384, writer of the Penguino Legacy

Darkness fell, and the party picked up even more. By this point, Toast and Robin were pretty sure they were at Roofraiser status, but Toast decided to seal the deal. "Hey Legs, who you lookin' for?" Toby called from the table he was sharing with Zing and Khan. Toast shot him down with a withering look and continued in her search. Five minutes later, she'd managed to slip Justinian her phone number despite the catcalls. "What'd I say?" Toby asked. Zing threw a potato at him. "Hey!"

"Your cousin is teh strange," Khan commented as Toby got up in search of easier prey. "Tell me about it," Zing chuckled. "Come on, Khan. It's midnight... time to blow this joint before our parents blow their tops." "Departure FTW," Khan nodded. "But hey... we can has hang-outs sometime plzkthxbai?" "Yeah, that'd be fun," Zing agreed. "Shoot some pool or something." "My mad p00l skillz, let me show you them," Shere Khan grinned. "A challenge, then," Zing grinned. "I've got a family thing coming up in a few days but after that... I'll call you, okay?" "Ownage!"

And with that, the party dissipated, and the gorgeous young men (and women) of Pirate Island trickled home.

"I think that went pretty well," Robin said once most of the party debris had been cleaned up. "You guys didn't have to break up any canoodling couples, and Toast is pretending she doesn't have a crush on Justinian." "It was pretty obvious," Jenn* agreed. "So when are you going to make contact with Crassus?" "We've been friends for ages already," Robin shrugged. "So I feel no need to stalk him." === * simself of Ndainye, writer of the Familiar Faces legacy

"I am not getting involved with a legacy character," Toast said furiously as she joined them. "That might lead to babies." She shuddered. "Sure..." Robin said knowingly. "Anyway, it's not as if he's a... you know... legacy legacy character. They don't get more sparey than him."

"One more sleep and then vacation with Grandpa!" Ching Shih crowed to herself as she finished her homework. "And then I can see if crabs really do bite you when you poke them, and what happens if you pour soap into an ancient monkey shrine, and all kinds of stuff! Mo-om, why isn't Zing doing his homework now too?" she added in a yell when she realized her older brother was nowhere to be found. "He's at work and then he's going out with Hugo," Grace called back from the kitchen.

"How come he gets to go out with Hugo after school but I hardly ever get to play with Liv?" Shih asked rebelliously. "Because he's old enough to go and do things like that on his own as long as he tells his parents about it," Grace pointed out. "You and Liv will be teenagers pretty soon and when that happens you'll have a lot more freedom as well. Besides, you're both going on vacation with Grandpa Roche so you'll get to spend lots of time together." "Yeah, and Toby's coming too!" Shih said excitedly. "We hardly ever

get to see him. But he's big now too and that's kinda stinky. Zing told me all Toby talks about now is girls." "That's poetic," Grace said with a smile. "Considering who his parents are, I mean." "What does that mean?" Shih asked. "I'll tell you when you're a teenager."

Zing was busy buying electronic devices at the youth centre while he waited for Hugo to show up. He figured--long flight, need some electronic entertainment to keep from being bored.

"So, are you going to shoot pool or not?" Hugo asked once the boys had gone upstairs. "C'mon, Zing... curfew's ten for me like it is for you." "Yeah, I guess," Zing shrugged, walking over to the wall and grabbing a pool cue from the rack. "You excited about the trip thing tomorrow?" "I guess," Hugo said. "I told Lainey we were going to Twikkii Island and she was going to see if she could go there with her parents at the same time. That'd be pretty cool." "Yeah, I guess it'd be okay to finally meet the chick you keep going on about," Zing smirked. "Don't let Toby anywhere near her, though! From his last email, he's pretty successful with the ladies." "What about you?" Hugo prodded.

"I don't have time for romance," Zing shrugged, lining up his shot. "I have school, my job... and I'm thinking about starting a business pretty soon." "Still, you know half the girls at school have crushes on you," Hugo said. "Angie and Toshi are always talking about it." "Meh, no time for gossip either," Zing shrugged, taking the shot. "I dunno if I'll ever end up in a relationship, Hugo. It just doesn't have any appeal for me right now." "You'll come around later when you meet the right person," Hugo said, with all the knowledge of a teenager who's started dating earlier than his peers can muster.

"Are we talking, or are we playing?" Zing asked. "It's your shot, Hugo." "You're not getting any more turns, cous," Hugo smirked. "Watch and learn, my young apprentice, how a true master shoots pool." "I'll believe it when I see it," Zing laughed. "Loser has to do the dishes tomorrow night!" "Deal!"

But there was more adventure yet to come before the Buccaneer cousins would get to go on vacation with their grandfather. Lee was stargazing to build up his logic skill so he could finally top out the business career track when a bright light suddenly started shining on him and a strange hum filled the air. Everyone came running.

"Help!" Lee shrieked as he started moving inexorably upwards to the waiting maw of the UFO that had come for him. "Get me down from here!" "Don't go towards the light!" Gertie cried. "Hang on to the telescope, Lee!" "AIEEEEEEEE!"

But to no avail. Within moments, the UFO had taken off through the night sky and all that was left of Lee was his sobbing in-laws gathered around the telescope.

He was returned in the wee hours of the morning: bloody, bruised, and carrying a little... present, though it would not make itself known for some time.

"This is not how I envisioned my vacation starting," Lee sighed as he walked into the house. "This is going to be a lot less fun than I'd hoped."

"Okay dad, looks like the kids' suitcases are packed. Here's the numbers of the new vacation homes in Takemizu Village and the Three Lakes area, okay?" "I do know how to take care of children, Grace," Roche said scoldingly. "Remember, I had five of my own." "Gertie and I will hold down the fort here with the help of Mr. Mickles," Andrew said reassuringly. Just then there was a honk outside - the airport shuttles were there!

It was several hours later when Roche and his grandchildren were delivered to the front door of the family vacation home on Twikkii Island. "If you're going to get changed, I suggest you do so!" Roche said. "As for me... I'm heading down to the beach and soaking up some rays!"

"Okay, Liv, let's build the biggest and bestest sandcastle ever and then we can collect a bunch of crabs and fishes and make them live in it," Shih said commandingly. "And then can we smash it?" Liv asked with a note of glee in her voice. "Not if there's fishes and crabs living in it!" Shih said scoldingly. "But we can build another one for smashing if you really want to."

All thoughts of smashing sandcastles were soon gone as the temperature rose and the water looked more and more inviting. Before long, everyone was in the water. "Marco!" "POLO!" "Marco!" "POLO!" "Haha, I caught you Hugo! You're it!"

It was a good couple of hours before everyone climbed out of the water, exhausted but happy, and lay out on their beach towels to soak up the sun and dry off. "Make sure you put on plenty of sunscreen!" Roche reminded his young charges. "But I want to get burned!" Shih insisted. "I've never been sunburned before and I want to know what it feels like!"

"It hurts like pain," Roche said. "And it's very uncomfortable. Trust me, girlie, it's better not to experience it." "Aww... if you insist," Shih grumbled, but she obediently slathered herself with lotion and got Liv to do her back.

"This is the life," Zing said with a contented sigh once he was also suitably be-lotioned. "When I'm grown up and rich I'm going to own a beachfront home just like this and spend all of my time there." "I thought you were going to be a used car salesman?" Toby called from the other end of the beach. "At that point, I'll be successful enough that I'll have other people selling the cars for me," Zing responded. "And I'll be able to live a life of frugal, prudent leisure."

It's pretty safe to say that most of the others were entertaining similar thoughts about their future lifestyles as they soaked up the rays.

"So what are we going to do tomorrow?" Hugo asked once they'd all gone inside to have some supper. "Working on our suntans is fine but I'd really like to see the sights a little."

"You just hope you run into your girlfriend," Liv said with a disgusted face. "I totally hacked your email, Hugo. I know she's coming here on vacation too."

"What?!?" Hugo cried. "Liv! That is so not cool! My email is personal and private!" "Now, now, be nice to each other or we won't go to the pirate ship tomorrow," Roche admonished. "And I've always wanted to go back to that." "Do we have a computer here so I can email Lainey?" Hugo asked eagerly. "I can let her know where we're going to be!" "Sorry, no computer here," Roche said. "Tomorrow is for family anyway. If you want you can phone her and let her know we'll be at the hot springs in a couple of days." "Thanks, Grandpa!" Hugo grinned.

"Grandpa, this is the best vacation ever so far!" Shih said enthusiastically. "Next can we all go see the Witch Doctor and get our own Mr. Mickles like Aunt Gertie has?" "Err... no," Roche said. "Maybe when you're older." "But I wanna make Zing pee his pants!" "I said no, Shih," Roche said sternly. He hastily excused himself and a few minutes later the kids could hear laughter emitting from the master bedroom.

The next morning they stopped off for a quick look at the monkey ruins before continuing on to the Pirate Ship beach. Everyone was suitably awed by the huge shrine.

But, if the truth must be told (and it must), they were considerably more awed by the giant pirate ship that was moored at one of the many public beaches on Twikkii Island. Everyone ran up to check it out right away, except Shih. She was still hunting through the sand for a crab; the crustaceans had eluded her thus far.

"Whoa, this is awesome!" Zing crowed as he climbed his way up to the crow’s-nest. "You can see the whole island from up there!"

"Arr! Shiver me timbers! Yo ho yo ho a Pirate's life for me!" "You look like Grandpa Jack when you do that, Grandpa," Liv observed. "Aye, 'tis intentional, matey," Roche crowed. "Ye come from a fine tradition o' pirating the high seas, love!"

It was when they were exploring the ship lagoon that the kids finally got the chance to try some local cuisine. Liv didn't like it very much, but the boys were all impressed. Of course, being teenaged males, it's unlikely they would find fault with anything that could make its way to their stomachs.

Shih, probably the most outgoing of the youngsters, was the first one to make the acquaintance of a local. "I'm Ching Shih Buccaneer!" she announced proudly. "And I'm here on vacation. What's your name?" "My name is Jim Reeves," the handsome local replied. "How are you enjoying my island?"

"It's not bad, but I don't think I have the hang this greeting thing yet," Shih said as she demonstrated awkwardly. "Not bad, little one," Jim smiled, flashing his dazzling white teeth at her. "Just work on your balance a little and you will have it down." "I wish there were more kids to practice with," Shih grumbled. "But I haven't seen any kids on the island at all! Well, except for other people on vacation." "They are all at school," Jim replied. "Would you like to meet some

of them?" "That'd be awesome!" Shih said enthusiastically. "Where can I find them?" "We have a penpal exchange program here," Jim said. "If you send an email to penpal-exchange at twikki dot com, you'll be matched up with one or two islanders you can share emails with." "That's so cool," Shih said. She got a napkin and a pen from the local chef and wrote down the address. "Thanks, Mr. Jim!"

"You are very welcome," Jim said. "I hope you enjoy your penpal! Now, if you will excuse me, I must get back to work." "It was nice meeting you, Mr. Jim!" Shih called as the local man strode away.

"You know, this ship is kinda creepy at night," Toby commented as he and Hugo prowled the decks of the wooden craft. "Do you think it's true that it's haunted?" "Geez, don't talk about stuff like that when it's dark out!" Hugo said, shuddering. "C'mon, T... let's head over to the food stand and meet up with the others."

The next day, the group headed to the White Sands Hot Springs, just down the road from the family vacation home. "This is the life," Toby said appreciatively as he sank beneath the steaming waters. "I could definitely get used to it. And all the girls walking around in bikinis. I could get used to that too." "Do you see Lainey?" Hugo asked, looking around. "I told her we'd be here today." "Calm down, Hugo," Roche laughed. "I remember what it's like to be young and in love. She'll show up, I'm sure of it." Hugo blushed furiously.

Sure enough, Lainey showed up a few short moments later. "Uhh... hi," Hugo said awkwardly, waving at her. "Hugo Pseudo, are you telling me that you dragged me out of bed so I couldn't even sleep in this morning and now you are making small talk at me?" Lainey complained with a yawn. "I thought we were past the small talk stage in our relationship, no?"

"Really?" Hugo grinned. "Erm, I mean... right. I'm really glad your family could come and vacation the same time as mine, Lainey." "Hugo Pseudo, you know the way to a woman's heart," Lainey's laugh was elfin. "Just like so many men, you have trouble saying what you really feel." "I feel that this vacation would be a lot duller if I didn't get the chance to see you." "Hugo Pseudo, you are making me blush," Lainey said, fluttering her eyelashes.

Well, that was it. Hugo didn't care that his cousins and his grandfather and his sister were all watching and cat-calling from the hotspring. He leaned in and planted a big old kiss on Lainey's lips. "Hugo Pseudo, I think this is the best vacation I have ever had," Lainey said breathlessly. "Yeah, me too," Hugo said with a shy smile. "C'mon, I'll introduce you to my family."

Hugo wasn't the only one finding a bit of vacation romance, either. It would have been more surprising if Toby hadn't found a girl to hit on before the vacation ended. Obviously, she didn't mind too much.

"Grandpa, this has been the best vacation ever," Liv declared at supper that night. "My mom's pretty cool but she never lets us have cake for supper!" "Er, about that," Roche said, clearing his throat awkwardly, "Perhaps it would be best if you didn't mention that to your parents?" "Will you get in trouble if we do, Grandpa?" Ching Shih asked earnestly. "But you're not going to, right kiddo?" Zing prodded his sister with his elbow. "I guess not," Shih said. "But I would have liked it better if we could have crabs or something for supper. Only I never caught any! How am I supposed to learn about nature 'n' stuff on vacation if the nature keeps getting away from me?"

"It stinks that we have to go home tomorrow," Liv said sadly as she and Shih got ready for bed. "And it stinks even more that the boys don't have to go to bed yet." "That's because they're teenagers," Shih said, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "I'm not sure if I want to be a teenager, Liv. It's all hormones and yuckiness." "Tell me about," Liv said with a dramatic sigh. "Did you see Hugo kissing that girl today? Gross!" "I know!"

"All in all, I think this has been a pretty sweet vacation," Toby declared as he sat in the wash from the waves. "I got me a bit of lovin', we soaked up the sun... definitely a supreme time." "We have to come back when we're in college," Zing agreed. "Maybe then I'll have as much luck in the love department as you and Hugo were having." "Aw, Zing... you weren't even looking," Toby scoffed. "There were other teens there besides Hugo's girl and that one I was kissing on. What do you think, Hugo?"

"Hmm? What was that?" Hugo asked with a dopey grin on his face. "Ah, there's no use talking to him tonight," Toby smirked. "He's completely twitterpated." "Yeah, but she's so gorgeous," Hugo said with a dreamy smile. "I think I'm in love, guys."

"I dunno, I think it's kinda crazy for you to be settling for just one girl when there are so many out there in the world," Toby said dubiously. "I mean, there's this girl back home, Marylena, and she's super fine. But then there's this other girl, Candice. And there's Sally, and Ivy... there's no way I could stick to just one of them." "One of these days you're going to get caught in the mother of all slap-fests," Hugo said. "I'm just sayin', dude."

"Yeah, but I think it's worth it," Toby said with a contented sigh. "Dudes, if you'd ever seen Candice... have I mentioned I like blondes?" "Only about a million times!" Zing complained. "Toby, man, you've got a one-track mind... that's certain." "I've never denied it, Coxinga my friend. I've never denied it."

The next morning, the entire gang posed for pictures before heading home, Roche sporting a shiny new sunburn and Zing a smokin' hot tan. And then they changed back into their regular clothes and headed home.

"Eurgh! This sucks," Robin complained. "I could handle the elementary school homework, but I'm not liking this highschool stuff. Can't we just stop going to school entirely?"

"Not if we end up having to go to college to stop whatever dastardly thing is being planned by whoever the new legacy villains are," Toast said pragmatically. "Besides, school is a great place to develop one's social life." She paused for a moment. "Did I just sound like a popularity sim?" "You did." "Crap." Toast shook her head as if to clear it. "Anyway, I think I'm a bit closer to finding out who's influencing Justinian's family. He and I have a *cough*date*cough* tonight." "A date?" Robin was quick, no doubts there. "It was the only way I could get him to hang out with me," Toast said. "Anyway, how's things going with you and Crassus?" "Well, we're not going on any dates or anything," Robin said. "But I'm tutoring him tonight and I'll pump him for details, have no fear."

"Cool," Toast said. "Well, I'm done now... guess I'd go get ready." "Why? It's not like it's a real date, is it?" Robin smirked. "Oh, hush."

A few minutes later, the taxi pulled up and Toast headed down the hill to the youth centre, where she was supposed to meet up with Justinian.

"Okay, so this is only sort of a date," Toast said as soon as she saw Justinian. "I mean, I'm technically a popularity sim right now so I know we have a whole bunch of bolts together, but I'm mostly in this to Meet Someone New. I mean, have fifty first dates. I mean..." "It's just a date," Justinian said. "It's not like I'm asking you to marry me. But if you feel that bad about it we can call the whole thing off." "No, I don't not want to date you or anything," Toast said. "I'm just feeling really awkward and all because I'm a simself and I try to avoid the whole legacy character thing and oh gawd I'm babbling again aren't I?"

"It's okay," Justinian said with a smile. "I think it's cute." "Cute? I do not do cute," Toast said, waving her hands and glaring until she realized that Justinian was complimenting her. "Oh." "So what do you want to do?" Justinian asked. "Now that we're more relaxed and you're totally not awkward around me or anything. And stuff."

"Err... well, there's always the photobooth," Toast said, turning around and heading in that general direction as the sun set. She stopped when she realized that Justinian wasn't following her. He had a rather shocked look on his face, in fact. "Oh good grief, I didn't mean that," she said with a grimace. "I just thought we could take a goofy picture or two." "I don't like having my picture taken," Justinian said. "Why? Did you think I was implying anything?" "Well, sometimes my mind gets all **BANNED4LYFE** and I think the most innocent things mean **BANNED4LYFE** and that makes **BANNED4LYFE** **BANNED4LYFE**

**BANNED4LYFE**," Toast replied. She paused for a moment. "Crap. Now it's even more awkward, isn't it?" "Uh-huh." "Why don't we start over?" Toast suggested. "Good idea." "I'm Ephemeral Toast," Toast said, sticking out her hand. "And I'll be your date for this evening." Justinian smiled.

"I'm Justinian Toyonag-AAAAAAAHH!" he shrieked as Toast unleashed the full fury of the joy buzzer on him. Toast started laughing, and after a moment Justinian joined in. "Okay, that was pretty funny," he said, and all the awkwardness between them finally dissolved. "Do you want to go upstairs and shoot some pool or dance or something?" "That sounds like fun."

By all accounts, the rest of the date was a success, even if Toast didn't pry any information out of Justinian. By the time she went home, all thought of her mission had flown from her mind.

"So yeah, that's pretty much algebra for grade five," Robin said, closing the textbook and standing up. "Any questions, Crassus?" "Yeah, I have a question," the younger Toyonaga said grumpily. "I thought we were friends, Robin. Why didn't you invite me to that big party you had last week?" "What?" "I'm one of the only one of your friends who didn't get to go," Crassus complained. "And that totally sucks!" "It was way pasts your curfew," Robin said helplessly. "I mean, it was all teenagers and kids from the high school who went and stuff. I didn't think you would even want to come."

"Yeah, whatever," Crassus said, sticking his fingers in his ears. "Blah blah blah. I don't want to hear it. Obviously I'm not really your friend."

"Wait, Crassus," Robin said, a bit of exasperation crawling into her voice. "It really was a party just for teens, okay? And by the time the next one rolls around you should be old enough to come. Right?" "I guess," Crassus said. "That's really the only reason why?" "It is," Robin nodded. "I promise. I never thought it would bug you or anything--I didn't think you'd want to be invited to a teen dance." "Not really, but I thought you were mad at me or something and

that's why you didn't invite me," Crassus said. "Well, I'm glad you brought it up with me," Robin said. "I wouldn't want us to be fighting or anything, kiddo. Just remember--if there's anything you ever need to talk about or anything, you can talk to me. Even if you think it's something I did that's wrong--especially if you think I've done something wrong. Do we have a deal?" "Deal."

While two teenaged simselves were befriending two terrified Toyonagas, and a band of Buccaneers was battling the beaches, Grace and Lee slipped away for a vacation of their own. Grace had purchased two more vacation homes, one in the Three Lakes district and one on the outskirts of Takemizu Village. She and Lee decided to check out the Three Lakes first.

"Grace, my darling, this place is absolutely gorgeous," Lee said, planting a series of kisses up his wife's arm. "It's one of the best investments we've ever made." "Oh, Lee!"

Needless to say, they didn't start to explore the area until the next morning.

One of the first things they did when they finally left the cabin was go out and buy some appropriate attire. And the next thing they did was sit down to sample some of the local cuisine, especially since Lee was feeling the effects of his alien abduction in a profound way. "Grace my love, I admire you going through two pregnancies willingly," Lee said, his voice full of feeling. "Did you ever stop feeling like a giant yawning chasm of hunger?" "Only when the morning sickness set in," Grace said. "Just be glad you haven't experienced that yet, Lee. It wasn't pretty." Lee just shuddered.

Once they were done eating their fill, Grace went for a massage.

Lee, meanwhile, soaked in the sauna for a bit and then spent the rest of the afternoon trying to catch butterflies. Amazingly, he was successful! But he let them go free after a while, not wanting them to die in the jar.

"So what do you think?" Grace said when they stopped in at the cabin for a quick meal of pancakes to fill Lee's eternally grumbling tummy. "Should we check out the logging camp tomorrow?" "That sounds like a good idea," Lee nodded, taking a bite of his pancakes. "Next time we make these pancakes we should try the local recipe instead."

"Sure!" Grace was quick to agree. "I really want to try log-rolling," Lee added as he shoveled another mouthful of pancakes into his mouth. "There was a bunch of info on it in the travel magazine I was reading on the airplane. It sounds pretty cool!" "We're not looking for another Bigfoot, though," Grace said emphatically. "I adore Andrew, but I can't imagine having more than one of those things running around the house!" "You and me both," Lee nodded, stabbing another forkful of pancake. He started to raise it to his mouth, then abruptly lowered it and darted towards the bathroom.

It seemed morning sickness had hit with a vengeance!

To hopefully soothe her husband's stomach, Grace baked a batch of his favorite dessert while Lee took a bath to regain some comfort. "Can I tempt you with some cheesecake?" she called once she heard the bathtub draining.

"Mmm... that does sound appetizing," Lee said, sitting down and swallowing a big forkful. "You know, I don't feel sick at all now. Does morning sickness work like that all the time?" "Not always, but sometimes," Grace said with a shrug. "Hopefully that's the last of it you'll suffer. Are you... okay with the whole alien thing?" "Let's just say that I'm not... not okay with it," Lee said with a shrug. "I mean, so far pregnancy kinda sucks, and I didn't like getting probed, and I don't like that I'll have to take maternity leave. But at the same time... it's kinda cool knowing there's this life growing inside me. It's not like it's dangerous or anything, and I've always known there was a risk of it happening if I wanted to use the telescope. It's rare, but not unheard of. So while it's shocking... I'm not upset." "You're remarkably well-adjusted," Grace observed. "I used to be a biology professor," Lee shrugged. "Before we were married, I mean. That part of my mind is finding the whole thing fascinating."

Grace was relieved that Lee wasn't especially traumatized by the whole abduction thing and was happy to accede to his request that they try some log-rolling. She won every time! A quick tour of the logging camp, though, and it was time to head home to pack for their next flight.

The villa Grace had purchased just outside Takemizu Village was considerably larger than the log cabin in the Three Lakes region, and Grace was pretty pleased with how beautiful and private the place was. Lee, as well, felt that it was a good investment.

Again, the two of them decided to try out the local cuisine before they did anything else, and again they were not disappointed. "Let's go and get some more local clothing so we blend in a bit better," Grace suggested eagerly once the local chef had cleared their plates. "That sounds like a great idea," Lee grinned.

Both of them were extremely pleased with the quality of the clothing they purchased and decided to go for full makeovers to match the new clothing.

That night, Lee retired early since his pregnancy was sapping his energy. Grace, meanwhile, followed a tattered old map that Roche had given to her before she left on her vacation, and in doing so found her way to the mysterious Pagoda in the Shadows.

Upon hearing that Grace was Gertie's older sister, however, the elderly man was more than happy to recount his knowledge to her, and asked that he be remembered to Gertie when Grace got home. Grace was happy to agree to his request. The rest of the vacation in Takemizu Village was quiet and uneventful, and very restful. Finally, though, it was time to head home.

"Daddy, did you hear?" Shih said excitedly when everyone had returned from their respective vacations. "I got a new penpal!" "That's wonderful, dear," Lee said as he eased himself into a comfy chair. Alien pregnancy was really taking a toll on his body and he found himself tired and/or uncomfortable often. "Yeah, I think it's pretty cool," Shih continued. "His name is Mr. Jim, and he's a teacher. I actually met him while I was there and he told me about the penpal program. I got to pick between three different penpals and I chose Mr. Jim because I already met him and he was

really nice. He's going to tell me all about Twikkii Island and all of the local customs!" Lee stifled a yawn. "That's terrific!" "Daddy, why are you so tired?" Shih asked, putting her hands on her hips. "Am I boring?" "Of course not," Lee said, yawning again. "It's just that daddy is very tired. It's because of the alien baby."

"Bleh, it's so unfair that you got abducted," Shih grimaced. "I want to get abducted! Is that too much to ask? But it hardly ever happens and it had to go and happen to you instead of me! I'm almost old enough!" "Whoa," Lee said, raising his hand and laughing a bit. "Who knows, Shih. You may get abducted when you're older as well, if you really want to." "I do," Shih said, pounding one fist into the other hand. "I think it would be the coolest thing ever to meet an alien. Or a vampire. Now that'd be really great. Do you think I could ever meet a vampire, daddy?" Thus continued a long and rather strange conversation about the supernatural in which Lee's participation was mostly limited to nodding or shaking his head, but Shih was somewhat mollified.

Grace, meanwhile, had no sooner arrived back on Pirate Island than she was dragging her older child off to a large, empty lot.

"What's this about, mom?" Zing asked, looking around the bare field. "What are we doing here?" "This is the site of my next business," Grace said with a smile. "And I want you to help me run it." "Really?" Zing's voice cracked. "Geez, mom, that's so cool! What kind of business is it going to be?" "Whatever you want it to be, since it's going to be your share of the family fortune," Grace grinned. "So think long and hard about it, Zing... what kind of business do you want to run?"

Oh, come on. Is anyone really surprised?

"Ms. Bendett, I can see you sitting in the front seat of this '04 pickup right now," Zing said with a dazzling smile as he pointed out the benefits of owning such a high-quality used vehicle. "Aren't you just itching to take it out for a spin?" "Well... maybe just a quick drive around the block couldn't hurt," Marisa said after a moment's consideration. "I have always wanted to own a blue pickup truck." "Of course you have," Zing flashed his pearly whites. "What sensible person wouldn't want to? In fact, you'd better act quickly, ma'am. I happen to know at least three other people are interested in this exact car, and you don't want them snapping it up before you even have a chance, do you?"

After Marisa picked up the Smord P328, Zing was able to convince her that for a second vehicle, she really needed a graffiti-bedecked '86 Smooga Minima as well. One could say that he'd finally found his true calling.

And Marisa was far from his first or last customer. One and all, Zing was able to convince them that what they most needed in their lives at that point was a car of their own--and a quality used car, at that. It wasn't long before the business was sitting pretty at level five, and all because of Zing's hard work. "I'm proud of you, son," Grace said fondly, ruffling her son's hair. "Thanks, mom," Zing grinned back at her. "You have no idea how happy I am right now."

"Okay, so today's the day you're going to get your boyfriend to spill all the details about his zombie dad, right?" Robin went over the plan one more time, ticking off points on her list. "Yeah, I'm good to go there," Toast said. "It's too bad I'm just using him to get information, though. Justinian's really cute." "You're allowed to date him because you like him, you know," Robin pointed out. "There's no law against it." "But... legacy babies!" Toast shuddered. "No thanks. I'll be happy if

we can resolve this thing while we're still teenagers so I never go to college or want to get married." "Well, good luck with your info-gathering," Robin said with a shrug. "Crassus is supposed to call tonight to set up his next tutoring session so I'll see if I can get some dirt from him as well. Maybe between the two of them, we'll be able to figure out the whole thing." "An excellent plan," Toast said. "See you tonight, Robin." She put her notebook away and strode down the street towards the Toyonaga home.

"Hey!" Justinian was surprised to see Toast standing outside his house when he got home from school, but happy. "What's up, Toast?" "I just thought I'd like to stop by and see you," Toast said with a grin. "I had a great time the other night. I thought maybe we could do it again ... Saturday night? What do you think?" "I think that's a great idea," Justinian said. "But why do we have to wait so long? Let me change and we can run out for a coffee right away--if you have time, that is." "Coffee would be great," Toast said.

"Cool, I'll be a couple of minutes," Justinian said. "Hey... why don't you meet me there? Save a table?" "I guess I can do that," Toast said. Impulsively, she leaned forward and planted a big, fat kiss right on Justinian's lips--a kiss that turned from a casual peck into something a lot more serious.

"Whoa," Toast said shakily when they came up for air. "I was not expecting that." "Me neither," Justinian said giddily. "I'll see you in a few minutes, okay?" "I'll be waiting," Toast said, and strode off down the street.

"What does the boy think he's doing?" Septimus asked his sister Octavia as he cringed. They'd seen the whole exchange between Justinian and Toast, and they were not impressed. "I think it's time I had a talk with him," Octavia said. "You head inside and make sure Sejanus and Ellen are still behaving, my brother. I'll deal with the little Cupidian."

"Oh, hi Aunt Octavia," Justinian said gaily as he joined his great-aunt on her way to the front door. "What brings you here this beautiful day?" "Who was that ... girl ... you were kissing?" Octavia asked coldly. "Why does it matter to you?" Justinian asked defensively, crossing his arms. "I'm allowed to date if I want to." "I don't think so," Octavia said. "You will date only who your uncle and I approve, my young nephew." "What?!?" Justinian couldn't believe his ears. "What right do you have to dictate that to me? I'll date whoever I damned well please!"

"Not if you want to avoid your mother falling into the same fate as your father," Octavia said with a sneer. "What are you talking about?" "Who do you think is responsible for your father's ... condition?" Octavia asked. "He refused to cooperate and so he reaped the reward. And your mother, your brother, your grandmother... and you... will suffer the same fate if you do not do exactly as you are told." "You're a monster!" Justinian said, glaring. "Wh-what do you want me to do?" "Give up your pursuit of the blond girl," Octavia ordered. "You are going to go instead to Ching Shih Buccaneer's birthday party... and make her fall in love with you. The Toyonagas are going to rule Pirate Island, my nephew, and you will be the instrument of that rule... and my puppet." "I won't do it," Justinian breathed.

"Oh yes you will," Octavia murmured, not noticing that Crassus had crept outside and was observing the entire conversation. "You'll do it... or your mother, grandmother, and brother will all die." To be continued...