Chapter Five - Arrivals and Departures

Johnny couldn't take up residence in the Deliah household indefinitely, and in the cold, early morning, he made to leave. Sharing one last goodbye kiss with Jessi, he could have sworn that he felt a kick in her stomach. The motion made him feel sick, and he held back tears.

"My kids...they're going to be fine, right?"

"Trust me, I only give the best of care to my kids. They'll be okay."

Johnny sniffed. Jessi pretended to not noticed the vulnerability and instead smiled, waiting for him to look back into her eyes.

"Take care." he eventually stated, hands deep in his pockets.

Jessi grinned. "You too, Johnny."

With a final nod, Johnny was out the door, never to return. Watching him as long as she could until he rounded the corner in his clunker, whose loud wheezes and shakes convulsed the early morning dew, Jessi cracked her knuckles. It was her time to start writing a novel or two. She considered it to be one of her greatest de-stressers during a pregnancy, and besides, after her experiences last night, she had plenty of ideas to put onto paper. Money would still be an issue for a while - even with Julian's offer, he had agreed to only pay her in full at the end of his stay, to prevent Jessi from taking his money and then kicking him out. There was only so far his down payment of thirty thousand could stretch, especially in such an old, rickety house in need of so many repairs. Plus, there was the added burden of feeding the men, which would complicate matters for a while. At least Carlos' work was free, laboring in the name of science. Heading for the writing room, it suddenly occurred to her that perhaps said men upstairs would have been interested in interviewing the now long gone suitor. Ah, well. It was their fault for not waking up early.

When the men did eventually awaken, they rose to a mostly empty house. The teenagers off at school, the men found that there was no one to interview, what with Jessi busy and the suitor from last night vanishing into thin air - an event Julian entirely blamed Carlos for; why hadn't he kept a more careful eye on him? They were left to their own devices, and largely avoided one another. Carlos began reviewing the notes that he had taken on the Delilah family, the fruits of an extensive research; they had to be brought into consideration before he could even begin his testing. The day prior, Jessi had confided her worries about her son Mars in Carlos - apparently, the teenager had been a happy child a few hours before his arrival. Could he save him before it was too late?

Julian, on the other hand, contented himself with a game of chess and lounging around in bed. He had no need for silly research - he was a naturally born charismatic, and he was confident that once he got to interviewing, the secrets of the Delilah family would come pouring out. He might as well enjoy what little splendor the home had to offer in the meantime.

"Oh, Jimmy Sprocket," he laughed, slapping the back of the hardcover with the flat of his hand, "You never cease to entertain."

Sudden gasping from the downstairs forced his attention away from the book. He turned to ignore it, the yells were feminine in nature: Julian had just assumed that Carlos had found a mouse in the kitchen. But when the sounds failed to cease, he sighed, throwing the children's book onto his dresser and slowly making his way to the staircase.

Julian was almost correct; Carlos had found something, alright. In the kitchen, Jessi sunk to the ground and ground her teeth together painfully.

"D-don't worry about me," she moaned through gritted teeth. "I'll be fine." Why did she always go into labor in the kitchen? It couldn't have been hygienic.

Carlos, who had discovered Jessi before Julian, was currently panicking. This situation was entirely new to him - it didn't matter how many times he read about it, experiencing it for himself was something alien and strange.

He continued to wave his arms in a flurried panic as Julian stood, stoic to the situation.

"Oh my God, is there anything we can do to help?" Carlos asked, for what must have been the hundredth time. Julian cut through him - there were more important matters at hand.

"Miss Jessi? I have another deal for you."

"What, Julian? I'm kind of busy at the moment, if you haven't noticed." She tried pushing her way through the men toward the nursery, but Julian held her arm. If it hadn't been for his money, his sudden act of rudeness would have flung Jessi into an uncontrollable rage.

"Let me record a video of you giving birth on my cellphone, and I will triple my original amoun-"

"Shove your deal! There's a baby on the way!" Jessi yelled, another contraction rippling through her. The last thing she needed at the moment was to be under the stress of a camera lens! Pulling away from Julian, she crawled toward the nursery, past the bathroom where Lotus was dutifully working on repairing the toilet after coming home early. She had blossomed into quite a Handy individual.

"Need anything, Mom?" she asked casually.

"Nothing, sweetheart. Come visit in a few hours, see your new siblings. I think it's triplets."

"Sweet." Lotus replied, continuing to bang her hammer on the soft porcelain.

Jessi's prediction was right on the money. After a handful of painful contractions, she gave birth to two boys and one girl, all healthy upon delivery. She named her female Marine, and the boys Alton and Neptune. She was feeling a longing for the ocean lately - the pictures she had seen of it online made her wistful.

Realizing that the nursery only had two cribs, she went to the guest room to lay down Marine. As soon as she had shut the door, there was an instant knocking, and, assuming that it was Lotus, she opened it once more. Instead, Carlos stood in the doorframe. She laid a baby down in a crib and smiled at him.

"Congratulations," he said, hugging her, "They look beautiful."

"Oh, well, you know, I try my best."

Carlos laughed. "I, uh, can see that." What a sense of humor.

"There's two males, Carlos. Over the next few weeks, do you think you can monitor them for me?"

"Well, that's why I'm here! What did you name them?"

"The girl is Marine. As for the boys, Alton and Neptune. They're both in the other room. Alton is the fairskinned one, Neptune is the other. Well, obviously. You can go check up on them now, if you'd like."

Thus began his research. In the next few weeks, he partook in lengthy observations of the babies, monitoring their habits and, with Jessi's permission, their brainwaves, which involved tight caps hooked up to Carlos' laptop and an inappropriate amount of gel to keep said caps functioning. The babies didn't appreciate the process, and there was much crying throughout the house, driving everyone to their limits. Fortunately, they all aged up normally, and Carlos agreed that in light of this fact there would be no more need for heavy testing - much to the household's relief.

Marine and Neptune quickly formed a strong friendship. So inseparable were they that it was almost impossible to get the two in different rooms from one another, for then they would just cry and yell until seeing the other one again. Both had inherited their father's signature hair.

They often played at the block table together, gurgling in a language only the two of them could have understood. It was rather hard to drag them away from this activity, even to go to the bathroom. Potty training the two proved to be the biggest challenge Jessi every had to face.

Alton, on the other hand, largely stayed separate from his siblings to play on his own. He was even somewhat distant from his own mother, accepting of the food and drink she offered him but mostly keeping to himself. Jessi could have sworn he taught himself how to walk.

 For all of his abnormalities, he did exhibit the qualities of a child prodigy, and often contented himself with the xylophone, a toy his siblings wouldn't use, unless chewing on the sticks counted. All three aged quicker than the household expected, but that too was a normal aging up. The kids seemed unaffected, and Jessi could breathe a sigh of relief for now.

Neptune and Marine, mischievous little devils, would often play practical jokes on the rest of the household, whether it be silly things like filling the toilet bowl full of stale jelly beans (Lotus did not appreciate unclogging their joke, and on that day, the siblings quickly learned to fear their older sister) or simply pulling a disappearing act: ironically, the two had developed keen Angler traits, and it was not uncommon for Jessi to check their rooms at four AM in the morning just to found them gone, looking for the freshest catch. She supposed that there were no complaints for getting the free food, but it was terrifying, nonetheless, to have her children disappear on her, and she invested in some heavy-duty locks for their bedroom window.

Not much had changed with Alton. He would still spend long hours by himself, playing chess or reading books with large words in them. Coming downstairs only to go to school and to eat, it was hard for Jessi to not worry for him - she'd try communicating with him, only to be met with one word replies. "Yes." "Okay." "No."

What a strange child.

The growth of the new generation did come with some heartbreaking news. It would soon be time for the older sisters to move out of the home, their birthdays in just a few days. This was a fact that Petal enjoyed to bring up every once in a while, much to Lotus' chagrin. Her reminders came to a boiling point a mere day before their aging ups.

"We're aging up tomorrow, you know. There's no need to do homework, seeing as we won't be in school."

"I know."

"Then why are you doing it?"

"Stop reminding me."

Petal sighed at her sister's quick dismissal.  "Look, I know it's a painful topic, but we really need to plan our future."

"Our future? You mean, me and you?" Lotus stopped looking at her work and instead stared straight at her sister, shocked by the idea.

"Well, yeah. You think I'd just leave you after we age up?"

"Well...I guess not." Lotus admitted. "I guess I never really thought much about it. What did you have in mind?"

"It'll be great. Tough for a while, but great. We'll rent a small house, and I'll buy you an easel and some paint and work so you don't have to full time. I'll squirm my way through college and into some astrology lab. That job I took at the grocer and my scholarships are funding all of this. I've got it planned out."

"How long have you been thinking about this?"

Petal twiddled her thumbs. "Well, to be honest...ever since I was I kid. I thought it might make you, you know, like me. I always had included Axel in it, but...well, you know." There was an awkward silence. Lotus fiddled her thumbs.

"I'm still really sorry about that, you know."

"It's fine."

Soon, their birthday came and departed, leaving the sisters to stumble around in their newly adult bodies.

Lotus blossomed into an artistic young woman, who dreamed of having her fantastic artwork on display across the world.

Petal planned on taking a career in the science field, where she could finally be close to the stars she had relied on for comfort for so long.

The goodbyes exchanged were long and tearful, but none so more so than the one between the girls and Jessi, who would never again meet. Letting go of their bodies shattered Jessi's heart, who had to excuse herself to the bathroom a few minutes afterwards. Before their final departure, however, the nosy Julian insisted on an interview with the two sisters. Apprehensively, they agreed - something about the green skinned man skeeved them out, even if only slightly.

Leading them into his room and pulling out chairs to sit on, Julian quickly got to work, asking the sisters intrusive questions on their sexual orientation and the finer details of their upbringing. Lotus was rather flushed throughout the entire period, often turning her cheek to Julian in favor of her sister's face. It was a more welcoming sight. The questions become more and more focused on their mother as the session went on, to a questionable degree.

"Yeah, we help around the house a lot." Lotus replied to one of Julian's questions. "Mom gets busy a lot, you know? It's the least we can do."

Julian smiled sadly. "Busy, huh? With what, writing? Instead of taking care of her own children?"

Petal frowned, furrowing her eyebrows. "Are you attempting to go somewhere with that statement?"

Whatever percent of irritability that was present in his voice disappeared, and his charm reared its head once more. "Well, girls, I think we're done here. Have a great time out there."

With an unfinished painting still hanging in the easel and the telescope immobile, the house was unnaturally quiet.

Chapter 3: Daddy Issues

Every time Jessi opened the front door to her home, her life was always about to change in some manner. Usually, this change was the creation of new children, but if she had known who would be standing on the opposite end of the door frame that very day, she probably would have never gotten out of her bed to begin with.

The frequent ringing doorbell forced Jessi out of bed at the premature hour of nine AM, her children off at a summer school program she had signed them up for and an unfinished painting of hers still hanging in the easel’s arms. She hoped that it wasn’t another nosy suitor – occasionally, a few particularly bold (or simply drunk) men would announce themselves at her doorstep without being called and demand that she bring them into the folds of her bedroom, ignoring the fact that she was either a) pregnant or b) simply not in the mood for procreation. It was these types of men that Jessi detested sleeping with, and as she made her way down the stairs, she contemplated the easiest way to let the lover down.

Opening the door, her first thoughts were of how unorthodoxly dark the morning had turned, until she realized the sun was being blocked by the figure of an imposing man, whose hefty weight filled the door frame.

“Hubert?” she gasped, stepping outside for a better look. “What are you doing here?” 

“I've come to visit my children, that’s what I’m doing here.” He answered swiftly, as if afraid for Jessi to finish her sentence. His face was all smiles, but Jessi couldn't help feeling as if something was dodgy.

“Right, well, it’s nine o clock on a Tuesday morning. Even if the kids weren't currently all away, don’t you think they’d be a little too tired to speak with you?”

“Yeah, just suppose I’ll wait here until they come back.” He attempted to push his way through the door, but his fat rolls wouldn't give way.

“And who gave you the authority to…?”

“Listen, are you really going to give me crap for this? I’ll stay out of the way, just let me stay to see my damn kids.”

She bit her lip, contemplating. There was a lot of work to do today, what with fixing the faulty toilet, regular cleaning, maybe the completion of a small painting or two along the way, and then again, it was pretty rude to demand to see her children without prior notice, especially the way that he was doing it – but did she really have the right to deny her children a visit with their father? Not wanting to be mixed up in an unnecessary family drama, Jessi merely nodded her head, admitting him entry to the house through the larger side door.

“And you promise to not be in the way?”

“On my mother’s grave. Now, where’s your fridge, again?”

She supposed that sacrificing a few cheap morsels was a fair price if it meant assuaging the man, though Jessi hated to lose the money. Funds were tight enough as they were, what with her love of online shopping – alas, why couldn't she have been born with a Frugal trait?

The hours seemed to drag by as she waited for the kids to arrive home. She was subjected to vicious questioning about Mars’ real father by the volatile Hubert, who she was planning to call to the house for breeding next (“Undecided, and don’t call it breeding”), how she could be a successful author if she couldn’t even leave her house (“Welcome to the wonder of the internet”), and if she still missed him (“Weren’t you supposed to be leaving me alone?”). Jessi supposed that she couldn't complain – after all, she did complete her day’s work, even if Mars, who was staying home on account of a fever, was attached to her leg the entire day (sometimes literally), afraid of being left alone in the same room as the hunkering Goliath. She supposed that she couldn't blame the child, though she wished Mars was capable of just sitting in his bed for an hour at a time so his sickness would be cured.

Eventually, however, the triplets shuffled their way into the house, rumors of parties and pop quizzes fresh on their lips. It was Axel who first stopped short, noticing the new house guest.

“Oh, uh, God, mom. Sorry. If we knew that you were, uh, entertaining a guest…” The children were now old enough to understand their origins, and Jessi shot her embarrassed son a sharp look.

“Axel, Petal, Lotus. I have some important news for the three of you, so let's just get straight to the point. This man is your father, and he’d like to talk with you.”

Hubert stood up and spread his arms wide, basking in the glow of the moment. “Hello, children. I'm Hubert Galatica, your father. I know that we've only known one another for a minute or so, but I’ve come here with an offer.”

Jessi waved her arms. “Whoa, whoa, Hubert. You never told me you were offering some sort of deal. Don’t you think that this is the sort of thing you should run by me first?”

He ignored her and barreled on. “See, I’m leaving this town shortly. I’ve had it with being a gas station attendant. The hours are long and the gratification is nada.” He shot the children his best charming look, the fangs he called teeth glowing softly in the kitchen light.

“During my time I've collected a decent amount of money. I’m going to be gone for a long time. A long time. But then I thought, ‘Hey, before then, what a great time to bond with my kids’, right?”

“So you just want to say goodbye before you leave.” Lotus spoke up, out of character for her usually timid personality.

“Well, not quite. See, I was planning on taking you kids with me.”

“Wait, what?” Jessi interjected. “Wait a second, wait a second. These are my kids as much as they are your’s, Hubert. You can’t honestly expect to just bust in here and take them from me!”

He waved his hand nonchalantly. “Easy there. I’ll only take the ones that want to go with me. Nobody is forced to go.”

Jessi’s eyebrows arched. First he breaks into her home, then he eats her food, and now he tries to make off with their offspring! “And what about school?”

“Don’t try grabbing at straws, Jessi. It’s mid-July, and you know it.”

“But what about next year?”

“I’ll put them in the school of my new location.”

“And just where is that?” she asked, folding her arms impatiently. What a jerk.

“It’s the city.”

Upon the impact of the words, Lotus reeled, gripping on the edge of the table. The crowds, the people. All of it made her head spin. “I can already tell you that I’m not going then, Daddy Dearest.” The city was no place for a Loner like her.

“Fine. That’s one down, two to go. What about you two, uh…”

“I’m Axel, that’s Petal.” Axel offered, pointing at himself and his sister, who was lost in a quiet thought. A silence spread over the kitchen.

“Exactly how far away is this city?” Petal asked, breaking the spell.

“Well, we can reach it ten hours by plane, if that means anything.”

She lowered her voice to a haunting whisper. “Far enough away that people there won’t know who the Deliahs are?”

The kitchen restrained from noise, processing Petal’s words. Hubert struggled for an answer. This was obviously a question that he did not count on answering. “I can’t really guarantee anything to you, but…”

Petal cut him short. “I want to take a chance.” She turned to her siblings. “I mean, aren’t you tired?”

Axel tilted his head dumbly. “Of?”

Lotus shook her head, already aware of what was to come out of her sister’s mouth. “Not now. Not while Mom’s around.”

“Excuse me?” Jessi piped in. “What exactly is going on?”

But Petal continued, apparently either too invested in her tirade to take head to her sister’s words or simply ignoring them. “The adults of this town with their dumb traditions and their ideals and crap...I don’t care what the adults of this town say about us, the Deliah children, that we’re lucky to have such a large family, that they’re glad that the town’s still in touch with its roots, it’s all a bunch of bullshit. This entire ‘tradition’ is literally just a way for town hall to fund their luncheons and parties, and the high school knows it, goddamn it.” She stared at her mother, who at this point was on her feet. "They all know."

“Petal?” she asked softly, opening her arms as if expecting to receive a hug.

“They call you terrible things, mom, the students. They call you a showpony breeder, and a disgusting introvert, and the teachers do nothing about it. The kids graffiti my locker with all sorts of slurs, and a few weeks ago, they broke into the music room and destroyed Axel’s tuba.”

“You told me you dropped it.” Jessi said quietly. Axel looked at the floor, suddenly very interested in his shoelaces.

“And what about the time that Lotus came home with that black eye, huh? Did you really believe that she had walked into a door? Someone called you a slut and she just lost her mind. Got suspended for two weeks, and just pretended that she went to school during that time. Can’t you see that none of us can take this shit anymore?” Petal took a step closer to Hubert. “Come on, you two. Can’t you see that we can start new somewhere else?”

Axel began inching his way toward his father, but Lotus was steadfast. 

“Are you two really going to do this to me? To mom?” Lotus asked, but her words fell on deaf ears as her siblings smiled at their new guardian. She spun to her mom. “Can’t you do something?”

Still dumbfound from the new information, Jessi slowly shook her head. “If this is their decision, then I’m afraid that there’s very little that I can do. I just wish that everyone here had told me earlier.”

“Goddamnit, you two always do this to me!” Lotus suddenly yelled, forcing her retreating siblings back into the fray.

“What do you mean by ‘this’?” Petal asked coolly, stepping up to her sister. Axel remained in the shadow of his sister, feet pinned to the floor. He had always hated confrontation.

“You and Axel have always been so close, ever since you were kids. You guys always forgot about me.”

“What the hell are you talking about? You and Axel with your buddy-buddy painting skills, and your playing tag…you were the two who always left me in the cold!”

“We only did that stuff because you’d never stop using that damn telescope for hours at a time! And when you weren’t, you’d be teaching Axel to read better. There was never any room for me to do anything!”

Petal balled her fists, and Lotus, hardened by many a playground brawl, drew her arms up to her face. "Are you forgetting about how happy you were exercising on your own, isolated from the rest of us?"

“Petal, Lotus.” Axel's deep rumbling voice scared the two sisters, who stopped their scuffle to look at him. “I honestly have no idea what either of you two are talking about. I always thought that we spent some great times together. I remember painting with Lotus as fondly as I do remembering Petal teaching me how to read. And I’m truly sorry if something I said or the way I acted made you two think otherwise.”

“Do you really mean that?” Lotus asked with caution.

“I…I never thought of it that way.” Petal concluded.

“Look, this entire thing is heartwarming and all, but we really need to get this show on the road. It’s getting 

late, and I have a plan to catch,” yawned Hubert. “Which one of you is staying, and which one of you is going?”

Petal walked back to her sister. “Call it sudden, but it appears that I was wrong all these years. I can’t leave my relationship with my sister in this state, not after this. I’ll stay. C’mon, Axel.” But Axel remained by his father’s side, unwavering.

“Axel?” she asked. “Let’s go.”

“I’m leaving.”

“Wait, what?” the sisters said collectively.

“Axel, this isn’t funny anymore. Please, come back.” Lotus laughed nervously.

“No, I’m serious. I’m going. Look, I’m not interested in college, and I couldn't get the test scores necessary to get into one in the first place. I already know music theory like the back of my hand, and I’ve drawn more nude models that I feel comfortable admitting to. The city could be a great place to get my start, you know? Please, don’t give me that look. We’ll see each other again, definitely. I promise.” He twisted, meeting his father's pleased gaze.

"When do we leave?" he asked.

"Immediately. The plane leaves in two hours."

“Axel–“ Lotus was about to start up again when Petal intervened.

“Lotus, I know it’s painful, but he’s right. I'm thinking that a big city is a perfect place for a guy of his talent. He’s old enough that he doesn’t need his sisters telling him what to do. Let’s let him leave with a good start, okay? Mom,” she wheeled, facing her mother, “you’ve been awfully quiet. This is okay with you, right?”

“Like I said before,” she sighed, “If he wants to go, there’s nothing I can do to stop him.”

“Well, goodbye, Axel. And godspeed.”

The goodbyes were long and tearful. First to say goodbye was Jessi, who did not stop hugging her son until it was absolutely necessary to say goodbye. Mars was awoken from bed, and when he had stopped howling in the face of the news for long enough, he embraced his older brother in a teary fit. Pointing to the closest easel, he sniffed. "I want you to take my painting. To remember me by."

"That's gonna add a lot to my carry on fee-" Hubert began, only to be cut off by Jessi's nasty glare.

And as Axel left the front door, his sisters waving him off with forced smiles, Petal felt a great, heavy weight lifting off of her chest.

---

Note) Don't worry, no rules of the challenge were broken with this event. Axel was on the honor role, and I aged him up to a young adult before he left. Here's how he looks:

Shirt seems kind of fitting, due to his Virtuoso trait and all.

Aging Up Special, Chapter 2.5: Everyone's Aging, Something's Changing

When Mars aged up, Jessi felt as if something was slightly off. His irises had an odd habit of never quite lining up, and his attention span was shorter than Lotus' hair - abnormal even for a toddler of his age. To her best efforts, Jessi tried to teach the little boy how to speak, but he always seemed more interested in his shoes than her constant repetition of "caaaaat, raaaat". Sometimes, he'd stare at her as if he had finally understood, and Jessi half expected for him to get on his legs and say "Well, that was lovely, mother, but can you feed me now?" - but then he would just gurgle and stick his fist in his mouth, leaving Jessi at square one once more.

She knew that it wasn't right to be this frustrated with her gurgling son: after all, he was just a toddler. But she felt as if this process had sped along must faster with her previous three, and wondered if she was doing something wrong. But eventually, Mars got the hang of things, resulting in his growth from toddler to child.

Meanwhile, the triplets faced obstacles of their own.

Petal was facing serious stress at school, where she overexerted herself tremendously to reach the top of her class. Soon, her siblings found her sleeping in the oddest of places, usually the carpet of the living room floor, too burnt out from her workload to drag herself to a proper bed.

She was a regular Sleeping Beauty.

And things could only get worse for her health, as the triplet's teenage years loomed around the corner, meaning high school was now coming into the picture for the three triplets. Before they could age up, however, Jessi insisted on some individual photographs. "You'll thank me when I'm older," she insisted as she forced them into position.

Axel was first on his mother's insistence, always a Momma's boy. He forced a smile, then lumbered back to his easel.

Lotus gave her best, passive smile into the lens. "I wish you'd grow your hair out again, like when you were a toddler." Jessi sighed.

"Leave me alone, mum. I like it this way."

Jessi supposed it was miracle enough she had gotten her to pose for a photo to begin with, and took what she could get.

Last was Petal.

"Babe, are those bags under your eyes?" she asked, worried.

"What? Oh, no. Don't worry." Petal lied, yawning.

Later that night, their transformations started. Jessi could have sworn that the air grew heavier with the addition of raging teen hormones, but she guessed that she couldn't complain: aging meant new sources of income, and as much as she hated relying on her children for money, it was a necessary part of their lifestyle.

Being the oldest, Axel reached teenagehood first.

He was very excited for this event, too much of a Daredevil to be nervous about the turmoil of his teenage years. Though it was doubtful he'd even realize that he was in turmoil once it caught up to him - he was a great artist, sure, but he wasn't exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer. Jessi sometimes worried for his safety, as any good mother is wont to do.

Axel's baby fat carried over from childhood, and his face still retained its childish innocence. While he wouldn't be getting on the honor role soon, he was constantly bringing home artistic and music based awards: age had made him quite the Virtouso, as it proved.

Lotus had made the decision to grow her hair longer, partly to appease her mother and partly to try out something new - it was only by her mother's pleading that she didn't dye it an outrageous color, like orange. Though she still kept the coloring in a secret package, hidden in the bathroom's uppermost cabinet. She at least kept it in a boy-like cut, staying true to her tomboy personality and in an attempt to break out of her shell a little more. People seemed to be drawn to her spunky, yet to-the-point personality, and as she discovered this little by little, it made her want to explore her world more. Large groups still made her uncomfortable, but she soon made friends willing to work around this barrier.

As for Petal, her hair began to reflect her personality: somewhat hidden from the rest of the world. If possible, age had made her even more withdrawn from the family, spending her days either in the backyard or the local library, rarely returning to the inside of the Deliah household until after midnight. Her eyes grew tired and sunken, and her childhood interests largely remained the same.

 

Her tradition of lurking in strange places continued.

All in all, Jessica was pleased with the growth of her children, albeit a bit worried that the day they would have to leave her nest was approaching too close for comfort. But on the bright side, she still had Mars - whom she quickly discovered had picked up the Insane trait, possibly attributing to his eccentric behavior - and an uncountable amount of suitors at her beck and call, so the excitement of her life was far from over.

Just how excited things would get in the Deliah family, however, was unpredictable by even Jessica herself.