Chapter 45: Family Ties

Back in San Sequoia Harmony Jamie has gotten another promotion and is busier than ever at work. And so Harmony tries to be a good sister and help her sister with her schoolwork to help out.




But being a good sister can be challenging when your younger sister wants to be a part of everything you do.

"What are you doing?"
"Writing."
"What are you writing."
"A story."
"I can help, I'm great at stories!"
"But I need to focus."
"I can do that too!"

 


"Can I come in?"

"No!"

"What are you up to."
"Hanging out, listening to music."
"I like music too!" Walks in and sits down. "So what are you talking about? Boys???"
"No, and that's private!"
"Mom says we're not allowed secrets until we're eighteen!"

Sometimes Harmony wonders if it's not at least a little bit allowed to strangle younger sisters.   




With summer coming up and the school year coming to a close, the family is preparing to go to Brindleton Bay to see Link. But something has been nagging on Christmas' mind ever since the last Winterfest. Since then Sunny has been shutting her out, and she's seen nothing of Valentine. She worries, and so the family decide that before they head to Brindleton Bay they should stop by in Oasis Springs and visit Sunny and Carolyn first.

As Christmas hugs her cousin, the kids head straight for the pool. It's far too hot in the desert in the summer to not be in the pool.




"Can you coach my swimming?"
"No!"
"Why not?"
"I'm very busy!"
"Dad always coach me in swimming."
"So ask him."
"But they're boring, they're talking. Uncle Sunny looks upset."



He is. Christmas has not had a serious conversation with him for a long time, and now she is not backing down. "I can tell that something is wrong, why won't you tell me?"

And so he does. About Valentine becoming a vampire, about his moving to a place called "Forgotten Hollow" and only having contact with them through sporadic texts and phone calls of the type "learning lots, having fun, take care."



"You have to go to him!" Christmas insists, but Sunny shakes his head.
"He has strictly told us not to."
"He's your son, he'll appreciate you coming, and you need to be in his life. This is not alright!" Christmas insists. "Go to him, talk to him, tell him you love him no matter what he is or what he chooses to be. Maybe he's not ready to listen to talks about a cure right now, but if he feels loved and accepted maybe he will be eventually."
"Maybe you're right. I'll talk to Carolyn about it."



Unfortunately, they're not able to stay long enough for Carolyn to return from work, as she is working late more often than not these days. She had expected for Valentine to start working in the company with her at this point, but now she doesn't know if he ever will. She is still intent on making the company better than it ever has been before, however, which takes a lot of time and effort.

And so Christmas, Jamie and the kids head off to Brindleton Bay without having had the chance to say hello, to her. But in the grand scheme of things, maybe that is for the best, as Sunny and Carolyn has things to talk about that they'd most likely prefer to do in private.

In Brindleton, Link has had his first full day off. He started out the day by taking the dog to the park to work on his pet training skills.



He soon learns that it's easier said than done when the dog is a lazy couch potato who would rather be at home curled up and pampered on the sofa.

Link still has a nice day, however, and have time to meet some of the other dogs in the neighborhood.



At night, he heads over to the bar down in the marina to check it out. It's rather empty when he first shows up, but it gets livelier as the night goes on.



He strikes up a few conversation with the locals, mostly pet owners he's met at the vet clinic, which unfortunately mostly leads to conversations about their pets and not much else.



But imagine his surprise when suddenly he sees Daisy in the bar!
"But you moved to Tartosa!"
"Only as long as I had to, do you know how much of a drag Tartosa is? The town center closes down at 6 PM. 6!!! Do you know how insane that is? You hear about siestas and people going out at night for their aperitivo before dinner? Well not in Tartosa. It's must be the only town in the Mederterrainian that is not open for business after 6."
"Nothing?"
"Well, there is the beach bar, and a lounge, but lounges only have old people and one bar for the entire town? Besides, the twins mom adopted... I don't feel like being a nanny, so I got out of there the first I could."



For the rest of the night, Daisy and Link catch up outside on the decking area, their drinks forgotten. This time he makes sure not to flirt with her. She made her point clear and having her friendship is more important than anything else. He can't believe she's here now.



The next morning, his parents and sisters arrive. Link has been looking forward to meeting them. Amity is first up the steps into the house.



And has all sorts of news to tell her brother when he opens the door.



Christmas makes sure to compliment Lilly Ritter on her home.



And they all check out Link's quarters too, to see how he lives.
"A bit bare?" says his sister.
"I haven't had the time."
"Maybe mom can paint you something?"



When they've seen the house and met the Ritters, Link takes his family to the park. He takes the time to play with Amity, allowing her to shoot bubbles at the monster for as long as she wants.



This gives Harmony some much needed me-time. She immediately takes the chance to get lost on the beach, just enjoying the sun and the feel of the salty wind on her face. Again, you cannot swim due to the currents. Such a shame on such a beautiful beach.



But the rest of the family is at least enjoying the lake in the park. And Amity finally gets some coaching for her swimming.



Christmas is using the park grill to cook dinner, and the whole family gathers around the table, just like back home in San Sequoia by their pool.




They round off the evening with a game of horse shoes, which none of them have played before. They end up having quite fun.



The next day they all head to the marina and the lounge, swimming in the pool, chatting by the pool, and playing board games. Most of all they just enjoy each others' company as a family.



But summer isn't long, and already that night the temperature drops significantly. Harmony makes sure to wear a sweater as she heads out to explore, looking for fossils, minerals, stones and frogs for her collections.



She helps mom with dinner that night, the last one here for this time, and Harmony shares her findings with her mother. "I like it here. Nature has so much more to offer than back home," she says.
"Don't tell me you too are moving all this way."
"Not now!" Harmony says. "I want to see the world, live in all kinds of places."
"And how will you support yourself then?"
"By writing. I think I'm getting pretty good, dad says so, so maybe I can freelance, or write books. Then I can work anywhere."
"Do we still have grandma's old trailer home?"
"No she sold that to be able to afford the house."
"Too bad. I think I'd like to live like that for a while."



While Harmony is making plans for the future, Carolyn and Sunny are trying to save theirs. That's how they see it as they take Christmas' advice and head to Tartosa again. This time it isn't a romantic trip, or a family vacation, but a rescue mission. Still, Sunny insists that they'll try to get some vacation time in too, as he sees how much Carolyn could use the rest.
"We can't go see Valentine until sundown anyway, so we might as well enjoy the beach for a while first." Reluctantly, Carolyn agrees. She can't see her own needs, or the worry wrinkles in her forehead she is denying is there, but Sunny's hair has started going gray and he started putting on weight. She tries to relax for his sake.



To be honest, both are happy (and nervous) when they arrive in Forgotten Hollow after sunset. Sunny knocks the door.



Valentine comes downstairs to greet them, but his greeting is more stiff than before. A brief kiss on the cheek? Since when? Carolyn wonders.



Sunny ignores the attempt and gives his son a big hug, whether he wants one or not.



It starts out well enough. Valentine brings them into the sitting room, says nothing about the fact that they showed up in spite of him telling them not to, and the three of them have a rather nice chat about vacations and how things are going.



But when they start bringing up the future, things go less well, as they all have very conflicting ideas of what that should entail. Valentine is still hoping that his parents will see things his way, that they'll agree to become vampires with him, so he never has to lose them. They are still wishing that he'd see things they're way and work to find a cure for his "condition".

"Why can't you just accept that this is my life, and a life you could have too!"
"But we don't want to live forever. Life is precious because it's short," his father says. "What will you do with forever? And a forever that entails everyone you care for dying?"
"But you don't have to die! It's so stupid, why would you want to? You're so stupid, and... mortal. It makes you weak"
"You watch how you speak to your father!" Carolyn snaps. From there on it deteriorates fast.



Things get really out of hand when he pretends to bite his mother. "What? It's a joke! You're so uptight!"
"You don't joke about things like that!"
"Yes you do. But you should probably leave before the others come home, they are less friendly towards mortals than I am, and she's pregnant, which means she's constantly thirsty," he lies, but it has the desired effect, and so the three part again, on possibly worse terms than before.
"We're not giving up on you," Sunny shouts as Valentine closes the door behind them.
"Perhaps not," Valentine whispers, but you're not exactly trying to understand me either.