Gen Two- Chapter Ten

I couldn't wipe the grin off my face, but Rosemary was have just as much trouble in that regard. Not that she had any desire to stop smiling though. It was my birthday party, but you would think it was hers given the sheer amount of joy radiating from her. Hesitant around the horses at first, she sat taller as the minutes passed on. I had asked to have my party at the stables to do something different from the normal celebration at the house or at the beach. There had been no deeper reasoning to it, but, as far as Rosemary was concerned, I might as well have already given her her birthday present. She waved to me grandly as she rode by.

Her hand instantly reattached itself to the rein afterwards. It was Rosemary's first time on a horse, and the unfamiliar movement of the animal and its simple large size had her somewhat uncertain despite her overall enthusiasm. Uncle Eden had had quite the hard time getting her comfortable with even just him leading her around as he was doing now.

     "How about we pick up the pace just a little?" Uncle Eden suggested.

     "I'm fine with this pace." Rosemary denied quickly.

     "What if I got up there with you? I think that would be more fun for the both of us."

     "Maybe," Rosemary considered, "How about after another ten laps?"

     "Ten!" Uncle Eden exclaimed in amusement, "I've gone dizzy from how many times we've gone around already!"

     "Eight?" Rosemary bargained with a perfect pouting expression.

     "Five."

     "Fine." she caved.

Rosemary pouted for a several seconds more, but her smile soon returned.

Out of the rest of my friends, Azure was the most adventurous when it came to riding the horses. It helped that Uncle Sap was an experienced rider, so Azure had been taking lessons all his life. He had spent a good portion of party time showing off skills to whoever would watch, but Cattleya had finally roped him into taking a ride with her. Not that Cattleya wasn't a good rider herself, but with Azure taking the rein he could have the horse doing jumps she wasn't able to initiate herself.

So, everyone was milling about doing their own thing and having a good time. I had been riding too, but I had gotten saddle sore. The ache was more bothersome than I wanted to admit. I doubted I would be able to ride for more than a few minutes later on, but that was fine with me. Mom loved horses just as much as Uncle Sap did, so it wouldn't be hard to come visit the stables another day instead.

I took to hanging out with mom, Uncle Blaze, Desire, and Cerise around the bonfire Uncle Blaze had started. It was getting close to lunch, and I was famished. I wasn't the only one. Mom seemed hungrier than I was. Enough time had passed and her pregnancy had stabilized enough for her to begin gaining the weight she should be gaining. The bump of my new baby brother or baby sister was finally pressing noticeably against mom's clothes.

I had invited Cattleya and a few other classmates to the party. That was partly because parties were more fun with extra people around, and I also wanted to introduce more people to Rosemary so she could feel as if she had a few more friends at school. It was true that Cattleya and the others were still a grade above her, but Rosemary remained determined about skipping up a level. However, there was one person from school who showed up that I never intended to see that day. I turned around to see my teacher suddenly there, staring at the scene with amused curiosity.

     "Mr. Trail? What are you doing here?" I asked in confusion.

     "I've been taking walks as often as I can since I got here to help familiarize myself with the community. I was wandering by here when I noticed the commotion, so I thought I'd take a peek to see what was going on." he explained.

     "It's my birthday, and we're having my party here."

     "Ah, that is right, isn't it? I did remember seeing that it was your birthday soon on that calendar we made it class. I'm afraid I do not have a present, so all I can offer is my well wishes." he smiled.

     "Unacceptable." I teased, folding my arms.

     "I could give you the gift of knowledge by assigning more homework- just for you and due tomorrow." Mr. Trail teased right back.

     "Well wishes are fine." I said quickly, and Mr. Trail chuckled.

His presence was quickly noticed by the others. I first spotted mom looking at him, so I motioned Mr. Trail over.

     "Mom, this is Mr. Trail. Mr. Trail, this is my mom." I introduced.

     "A great pleasure," Mr. Trail said, shaking mom's hand before glancing at Uncle Blaze, "And I take it you are Coal's father?"

That instantly got good laughs out of all of us.

     "I'm his nephew." I corrected.

     "Grand nephew, to be exact." Uncle Blaze clarified further.

     "Oh, my apologies." Mr. Trail laughed now as well.

     "No worries. I'll take it as a compliment- as it must mean my looks are still so youthful that I could be confused for this nugget's dad." Uncle Blaze bantered back merrily.

     "It is a pleasure to meet you," mom said, "Coal isn't one to speak often of his teachers, but considering all of what he has said about you has been positive it's intrigued my curiosity to see exactly how someone managed to bypass his default grumbling and complaints."

     "Well, it's a honor to learn I'm being praised in even a roundabout manner. It is good to know I can return the sentiment. Coal has been quite attentive in classes, although I do catch him doodling every now and again."

     "What am I supposed to do? I'm used to being in the back corner where I could doodle and daze off all I wanted!" I complained exasperatedly but still with a smile.

     "Exactly why I went the opposite route with the seating order. Need to undo those bad habits." Mr. Trail jokingly smirked at me.

I didn't get to talk to him too much more, but I was alright with that. It was okay seeing my teacher for a few minutes, but there was something about seeing him outside of the school setting and at my birthday party nonetheless that didn't sit right with me. I was looking for a way to escape the conversation mom started up with Mr. Trail when Mimosa rushed over to give me the perfect excuse to leave. She pulled me away, literally, with excitement.

     "Let's go up to the loft to try and see the ghost!" she proposed.

     "You know that nothing ever happens during the day, right?" I pointed out.

     "We might get lucky! Besides, since it's your birthday Snowbell might make a special appearance just for us. She and your mom are kinda friends after all."

     "Mom said she had a weird experience, but that it was mostly likely nothing more than a dream." I chuckled.

     "It's good enough for me!" Mimosa continued, unfazed.

She grabbed my hand and pulled me forward before I could say another word.

We would not, however, go on to have any interesting paranormal encounter in the slightest. The chances were low as it was, and those dove further once Mimosa and I saw that the loft was already occupied. Wisp, Hunter, Malachite, and Cyclone had taken up a spot there.

     "And, in the end, it was said the aliens' lingering psychic waves were the reason the corn stalks forever seemed to glow green at night." Hunter finished up whatever bizarre story he had been telling.

     "...I've had to hear a lot of ridiculous things come out of your mouth ever since you learned to babble, but that story has got to be up there in terms of absolute stupidity." Wisp rebuked, clearly not fond of the tale.

     "Hey, I think it's at least better than that one about the killer Mia Rainbow doll." Cyclone said with an amused shrug.

     "I love Mia Rainbow dolls!" Mimosa chimed in brightly, catching the boys' attention as we came up the ladder.

     "Ugh, I thought we would escape all the brats up here," Malachite, lying on the floor and staring out the window, grumbled, "Go back down to your lame party, why don't you?"

     "The only brat up here is you." Hunter instantly chided him.

     "Ooo, good one." Malachite retorted back sarcastically with a scoff.

He folded his hands behind his head and laid it down. Hunter rolled his eyes widely and sighed. I had heard that things had not been going well between him and Malachite ever since the water bottle vodka incident.

I knew better than to get involved in any argument, and Mimosa was too focused on seeing any evidence of Snowbell to care about Malachite's horrible attitude. She rushed over to the front center of the loft a few feet in front of a large stack of hay. She was down on her hands and knees examining the wood before I could even catch up to her.

     "Look, Coal. This is the exact place where she died. You can see this strange mark left behind. They say the wood's been replaced several times, but the mark always reappears." Mimosa spoke dramatically.

     "That's what I've heard too."

     "I wish it was dark! I really want to meet Snowbell."

     "You're not scared at all?" I wondered.

     "Nope!" she confirmed confidentially.

     "Not even of Yarrow?" I grinned with a raised brow, "You know how they say he loves to torment little girls."

     "I'm not scared of him either! I've read all about how to fight ghosts. I can protect myself."

     "I'll be sure to stand behind you then if we ever meet him." I joked.

     "Okay!" Mimosa agreed genuinely.

I shook my head when she wasn't looking and laughed incredibly quietly. Well, on the off chance the two of us did ever encounter ghosts, at least I knew I could count on Mimosa to uphold her word.

Unfortunately, Mr. Trail was still around when Mimosa and I reached ground level again. Mimosa wanted to explore the loft more, but Malachite's negative presence had me encouraging her to follow me down. I was not going to put up with my obnoxious cousin putting a damper on my birthday. Mr. Trail was doing that well enough. I had no idea what was causing my unease as the minutes kept on passing and he didn't leave. I wasn't sure if it was the fact that I was seeing my teacher out of school, because the gentle annoyance that purred in my chest when he and mom kept up the comfortable conversation they had started as mom began cooking lunch definitely didn't feel like the simple weirdness of something being out of place.

I was relieved when Mr. Trail left, as he himself didn't want to intrude on my party for too long. He even turned down mom's offer for her to at least wrap up some of the food in a paper towel for him to take home. That food was soon set out on a long table right after he departed, and I, naturally, was the first one to rush for it. Mom followed, and everyone else came after that. I stuffed my face full with all of the delicious goodies. I didn't even care about saving room for cake. Mom always got super huge ones, so I knew I would have a week or so of eating cake leftovers for breakfast.

Needles to say, I grew rather sluggish after I digested some of what I had shoved into my poor, unprepared stomach. I sprawled myself lazily on the grass to rest while a few of my friends sat nearby to talk. It was about twenty minutes later when the feeling of being a chubby pig wore off, and I gave the signal for everyone to gather around to open presents. I got the standard hall. Most of what I received were the items I put on my birthday list while a few random gifts were thrown in here and there. With so many people having come to the celebration, it took forever to get through the pile of wrapped boxes.

There was more to come too even after that pile was gone. I was able to stand being in the saddle for a little bit, and while I had that higher perspective on top of a horse I realized that mom had disappeared. I wondered if a bout of nausea had struck her again. As it was, she reappeared in perfect health around the same time my rear started protesting horse riding with soreness once more. I let Cinnabar take his turn riding while I went over to greet her as her eye had been on me.

     "I completely forgot about this. I rushed back to the house to grab it from under my bed." mom explained, holding out another present.

I stared at the box for a brief moment until I remembered the gift grandma and grandpa had brought me weeks ago. Their intuition had been right, for they had been unable to make it to my party. I took the gift and opened it eagerly, curiously to finally see what was inside. My mouth dropped open before a massive smile spread across my face when I saw what it was.

     "This is absolutely perfect!" I cried happily, "This was exactly what I needed!"
     "Oh? Why?" mom wondered.
     "This is going to help me with Mary's present." I explained.
     "What exactly did you get her?"
     "You'll have to wait and find out." I said mysteriously.

The gift was a fancy digital camera. I had to ponder a lot why grandma and grandpa had thought it would be the best present for me, because I hadn't made any sort of mention of wanting one. It had probably just been a random idea- one that was working out perfectly for me just as I said. Mom helped me get the camera set up, and I was off. I no longer cared about riding horses, eating food, or playing games. I took as many pictures as possible of everyone who was at the party. I went through a mental checklist of everyone I needed to capture, and I grew frustrated when it took me forever and a day to find the last person. After a lot of searching, I discovered Malachite hiding by himself in a quiet corner.

     "Smile." I said as I lifted the camera up.
     "Hell no." Malachite scoffed again, turning his head away quickly.
     "C'mon, just one quick picture." I requested.
     "Piss off, Lump." Malachite merely retorted back irritably.
     "Me taking pictures is part of the present I'm working on for Mary." I explained, suppressing my rapidly growing anger for that moment.

It wasn't something I kept up for long.

     "Don't fucking care." Malachite mumbled, turning his scowling face even further away.
     "No duh! That's obvious given how much of an asshole you've been lately," I snapped, "You don't care about anyone but yourself, but for some stupid reason Mary cares about you. She still looks up to you and believes in you even when all you do is moan about how you don't give a damn about the family she's a part of right alongside with you. You're luckier to have her than she is lucky to have you, and you can't force one small smile for one quick picture that could mean the world to her?"
     "God, alright," Malachite sighed in such great defeat that I felt the tiniest hint of guilt, but not too much of it, "You can take my picture, but one chance is all you get. If it comes out blurry or I blink, tough luck."
     "That's fine." I agreed.

I saw no point in trying to press for anything more. What Malachite considered smiling looked more like a grimace to me, but I got an otherwise good shot of him. I managed a thanks, and Malachite mumbled back a 'whatever'.

I wanted to forget about my troublesome cousin, but the task proved impossible over the next few weeks. Malachite stayed out of trouble at school, but I caught loud whispers of the problems he was causing at home. Uncle Eden and Aunt Deny were desperately trying to find out if something had happened to change his behavior so greatly, but Malachite himself said he was simply tired of trying to pretend like he was ever actually going to merge with the Yonder family like everyone wanted. I gave him credit for his honesty, but I still couldn't see why he thought not wanting to be a proper member of the family meant that he had to separate himself so ferociously as if we were the enemies. I held out the hope that his stronger connection with Rosemary could change things around. That was especially true when her birthday rolled around. She had gone for the classic beach party.

Everyone was having a great time, and the weather was cooperating beautifully. The heat was slipping away now that summer was coming to a close, but as soon as you started running around you couldn't tell at all. There was little for anyone to complain about.

     "Damn mosquitoes!"

I heard Malachite cry that out from where I was by the water's edge. He was still in his perpetually sour mood, and he was the one finding the pointless things to grumble about. We were all biting our tongue though. Despite his complaints, Malachite was making an attempt to keep them to a minimum for the sake of his sister's birthday. I really couldn't fault him for being bothered by the mosquitoes either.

Regardless, I took my chance to ask some questions when I saw that Uncle Eden was by himself getting a fire started. I had been wanting to talk to him, but it had been hard to get him alone. I know I could have just asked to speak to him privately. However, I didn't want to alert any attention to myself or spark up Malachite's anger again.

     "Hey, Uncle Eden?" I said as I walked over to him.
     "What's up, Coal?" he asked back with a smile.
     "This probably isn't the time where you want to talk about it," I began hesitantly, "But I just wanted to know something. Mary told me that Mal's bad actions could really have a negative influence on the case. She said it was going to be made more obvious to him of that fact, but with him continuing to act up I have to wonder if no one's made it clear yet or if Mal's ignoring it."

According to Rosemary, she had gone ahead and let all of her family know that she had revealed the custody case to me.

     "We sat him down that evening and spelled it out incredibly clear for him what his actions could mean for the case, but," Uncle Eden explained before sighing deeply, "He either is ignoring it or he believes we're exaggerating pointlessly in order to make him shape up."
     "Even if you were exaggerating, I can't believe he would still go ahead and risk giving Mary's birth parents a better chance at stealing her away. He's made it known he doesn't wan't to be one of us, but surely he has to know how much being a part of our family means to Mary?" I said bitterly.
     "I'm doing what I can to get answers and understand him, but you know how he is." Uncle Eden shrugged with a wry grin.

I pouted before glancing Malachite's way quickly.

     "If I can, can I ask why you did adopt Mal? I remember him saying then what he keeps reminding us of now- how he only wanted a temporary place to crash until he became an adult where he could do whatever he wanted. How he didn't want a new family because he continues to believe in his birth dad. What were your thoughts when you took him in?"
     "I know Mal thinks I'm stupid and that I'm oblivious to his intentions, but I am obviously very aware of his mindset. I grew up in the world surrounded by the kind of hardships he's faced, and I knew exactly what I was getting into. I can't count the hours Deny and I talked about what adopting him would entail. Truthfully, I've never expected that Mal would just accept us. That was never my goal. It's just...there's a certain point when you grow up in the system for long enough where you stop believing in pretty much anything good. Some people can make it out that stage just fine, and for some people it can pull them down into a chaotic spiral. I don't think there's a need for me to say which way I saw Mal heading when I first met him. I've seen so many good people at heart be destroyed by a situation that was always out of their hands, and I was simply in a position to help one of them. If all I achieve is that Mal learns he has one place to turn to for help no matter how deep or dark the trouble he's gotten himself in is, then I'll be satisfied. To have no hope or faith is one of the worst things to experience."
     "Hmm..."

I wasn't sure what else to say. All I had in my mind was another question, and I decided that Uncle Eden had been open enough for me to be bold enough to ask it.

     "Doesn't it hurt a lot though...when he says stuff like he's using you or that you're not his dad?"
     "Its hurts. But, like I said, both Deny and I knew what we were getting into," Uncle Eden confirmed as he folded his arms, "And I'm sure as hell not going to let it cause me to lose. If that teenage son of mine thinks he's being a pioneer by saying he hates me to try and get his way, then he's in for a nasty wake up call."

I laughed. The slightly downcast mood rapidly vanished.

     "You know, you're pretty cool." I praised, slightly teasingly, with a big smile.
     "You say that as if you already didn't know it." Uncle Eden teased back, ruffling my hair.

He and I turned our conversation to much merrier topics while we continued to banter back and forth. We were so into it that the small fire Uncle Eden made went neglected, and we both jumped a mile high when a sudden bright light blinded us.

     "Why on earth do you have the flash on, Mary?" Uncle Eden asked as he rubbed his eyes.
     "I'm still figuring out how to work this thing. It doesn't help that the sun is so bright that I can't see the screen properly." she explained, turning the camera in her hands this way and that.
     "That camera looks awfully familiar. It looks practically identically to mine, actually." I pointed out, drenching on the sarcasm.
     "I'm simply borrowing it." Rosemary smirked at me.
     "Doesn't that usually entail asking the owner first before you take it?"
     "Bah. I'm the birthday girl. I'm gonna take first and ask permission maybe never." she taunted.

I couldn't be angry or annoyed in the slightest. I couldn't even stop myself from chuckling.

     "Fine. Just remember that if you break it or damage it or anything that you will be paying the repair fee." I laid out the terms.
     "Sure, sure." Rosemary said dismissively.
     "Try not to take too many pictures either. I've been using it a lot, and I know I'm running low on space."

Rosemary instantly went quiet and shifted guiltily.

     "How many have you taken?" I demanded gently, folding my arms now myself.
     "Not more than two hundred." she admitted quietly.
     "Mary!" I laughed in exasperation.
     "What?" she laughed back, "It's a digital camera, isn't it? You just plug it into the computer, and you're good to go. It's not like you have to worry about developing them all."
     "Still..." I shook my head, smiling despite myself.

There was basically no space on the camera left. Mom had brought her laptop though in order to play music and for something I needed to do, so we were able to transfer all the pictures in order to give Rosemary the picture snapping spree she wanted. Everyone had at least a dozen shots of them taken. Save for Malachite, of course, who dashed away whenever Rosemary got near. She treated his aversion like a game. She sneaked all over to find good hiding spots where she had a decent chance of catching a shot of him. It got my camera in a lot of awkward positions where I feared it was going to be dropped, but Rosemary thankfully kept a death grip on it. In the end, she was able to at least get Malachite to join in on the large group picture she set up. He did hide as much as possible behind mom and Cerise, but it was something.

I was able to take my camera back after that. I hid with it and mom's laptop in the car so I could finish putting together Rosemary's present. Then I joined everyone else in the celebration once again. A massive game of tag was started. Sandcastles and sunbathers littering the landscape were obstacles to avoid as we ran. Rosemary must have spent at last an hour tossing a frisbee back and forth with Hunter. I was surprised to see that Hunter was just as, um, absolutely terrible at catching it as Rosemary was, but the two of them were having such fun that they didn't mind their lack of skill.

Uncle Eden finally got the fire started properly, and Rosemary and the rest of our friends stole the seats around the pit before anyone could claim them. We gorged ourselves on what felt like half of the marshmallows in a bag Uncle Blaze bought. Somehow, we still had room enough afterwards for the big buffet that followed. I even munched on a small piece of cake. Presents came immediately after everyone was done eating. I was going to add my present to the pile and have Rosemary open it with the rest of her gifts, but I changed my mind. I snuck the box back into mom's car to give it to her when the timing felt better.

That timing didn't come until much later. Until the sun set and the stars came out later. The party had lasted all day, and, while everyone continued to enjoy themselves, the atmosphere had calmed down immensely. I grabbed the gift and took Rosemary's hand to lead her towards the water's edge where it was nice and quiet.

     "I thought I hadn't gotten a gift from you, but I figured I had just overlooked it." Rosemary said when I placed the box in her hands.
     "Nope. I was waiting because I think you'll enjoy opening it now compared to earlier."
     "Well, let's find out." she smiled.

Though I had worked hard on the gift, I couldn't help but to be a little nervous watching the paper fall and Rosemary carefully sliding her present from its box.

     "A digital picture frame?" she said as she examined it curiously.
     "The fanciest one I could find. It can hold hundreds of pictures. You can choose the rotation speed, and you can flick through them individually too." I started to explained, turning it on for her.
     "You've already put a bunch on here. Some of these are even from today!" Rosemary said in surprise as she clicked from each picture to the next, "What? You got one of just Mal, and he's even trying to smile!? How did you do that?"
     "I bullied him." I grinned.
     "You'll have to teach me." Rosemary giggled.

I just smiled until we got to a certain picture. It was one of Hunter.

     "Why I really liked this frame is that you can also record a short message with each picture. If this little blue light is on, it means there's a recording for that picture." I told her.
     "What did Hunter record?"
     "I have no idea. He wandered far away so I couldn't hear him, and he told me I wasn't allowed to listen until I showed it to you." I shrugged.

Intrigued, Rosemary pressed the play button. What we heard was nothing like what I expected. I figured Hunter had recorded some super sweet and sappy message or he would say he loved Rosemary in his typical teasing tone. However, Hunter didn't record one word. What he did record was him making a high pitched screeching call that sounded like a sore-throated pterodactyl. Rosemary and I were doubled over laughing before it finished, and there were tears in both of our eyes when she played it again.

     "That is perfect," Rosemary gasped through her laughs, "It's exactly what I should expect from him by now."

We went through all of the pictures. We listened to all of the messages, which included at least one from the majority of our family and friends. Hunter had the most along with Uncle Eden and Aunt Deny. I had filled half of the space in the storage, but Rosemary and I enjoyed ourselves so greatly it felt as if we looked at it all within seconds. Rosemary had the biggest smile on her face when we were done, and there were hints of true tears in her eyes when she glanced up at me.

     "Thanks, Coal. I got so many nice things today, including the fact that this had been my best birthday ever, but your gift is my absolute favorite." she gushed.
     "Glad to hear it, especially since I had no clue what to get you at first. I thought this frame was something you could really use at this point in time."
     "I did need it. With the support I've been getting, I haven't been worrying about the case all that much. This makes me feel even more confident though."
     "It's even better to hear that. I know it's going to turn out fine. I know I'm not supposed to say it, but with my wish on that star that you would win the case in addition to yours there's no way things can go wrong."
     "What?"

The happy expression on Rosemary's face instantly fell. She looked at me in confusion.

I mirrored that confusion.

     "What?" I asked back likewise.
     "You used your wish on the star to ask for the case to go well?" Rosemary asked.
     "Yeah?"
     "I thought you were going to wish for your dad to come back."
     "I was going to, but I thought you needed the extra boost to your wish more than I did." I shrugged.
     "Your wish didn't boost mine though. I didn't wish about the case."
     "You didn't? But, wasn't that the whole point about you wanting a wish in the first place?" I questioned, my confusion growing deeper.
     "It was, but with the way your comforted me I felt as if I didn't need help from a star," Rosemary admitted, "I wished about your dad in order to help you out."
     "Really?" I said in slightly amused awe, "We both wished the other's wish then?"
     "Looks like it." Rosemary giggled again.
     "Well, I guess all that means is that we're quite a pair." I said proudly.
     "It must indeed." Rosemary agreed.

Rosemary glanced down to the ground, still smiling, before she turned her gaze upwards.

     "Hey, Coal. I have a present for you too." she said brightly.
     "Yeah?" I repeated
     "I've been thinking- I can't believe your dad is dead. I just can't. I believe you'll see him again, because he's definitely fighting to come back. In the meantime, I'm sure he's looking up to the stars like he's always done. You might not be together right now, but you can still connect with him by keep your chin up." Rosemary encouraged, her finger drawing a line towards the heavens.
     "That is true," I agreed eagerly, "You know, he and I always spent the most time looking at the Big and Little Dipper. The Great Bear and the Little Bear. We likened it to ourselves. Dad's surely still searching it out, so I'll search it out too."

Rosemary beamed happily, and she took my hand in hers. Our stares remained transfixed on the heavens above.