Gen Two- Chapter Twenty Nine

Upon pulling the rolling chair closer to mom's bed, I gave her an exasperated but amused glance as I sat down in it. I thought she would be ecstatic with the news I presented her. She had instead frowned and let out a 'What?' that held an extreme mixture of shock, worry, and disapproval.

     "Please do remember that you told me to do something. 'Anything', you said. Anything," I pointed out with a grin, "Well, I picked my 'anything', so don't try to tell me now to chose a different something."

     "I know what I said, and of course I won't stop you if it's what you really want. But, a police officer? Coal, that's so dangerous."

     "I know." I accepted with a nod.

     "Berrybrook is a relatively calm place where there's not much going on, but there still have been murders. There is still crime scattered here and there, and it was just seven months ago where an officer in the department you'd most likely end up in got brutally stabbed and dropped out a window. You can't blame me for being hesitant about this."

     "No, I know," I repeated, much more solemnly this time, "I definitely don't blame you, and I certainly understand. Truth be told, I have become more nervous about it as the excitement has been wearing off and the reality of what being a cop entails sinks in. However, I'm determined to go for it no matter what. This is what I want."

Mom sighed, and a reluctant smile graced her lips.

     "Alright then," she accepted, "If you've finally found your calling, then, like I said, you go right head and grab it. Will you be starting testing soon, or...?"
     "Since you've said that, that's part of what I was hoping we could do today while I'm here. You have to be at least twenty-one to apply, so I've got some time until I can do anything on that front. Holly suggested the idea though of me taking some stand-alone law classes online. I was thinking you could help me look at different schools and what they offered. I tried doing it on my own, and I had no clue where to start."

     "That's music to my ears. This place is so horribly boring that I've completely run out of things to do. I've had to start watching some teen show about a boy who becomes a merman after falling into a magical pond guarded by three mermaids because that's one of the few things I haven't watched yet." mom pouted.

     "I don't know why you're making that face. That sounds like a classic right there." I teased.

With a chuckle, mom brushed off the topic and patted her laptop next to her on the nightstand.

     "You get it turned on, and we'll start by looking at a few schools I've heard of that have strong law programs." she instructed.

I did as prompted. Mom continued the conversation while we waited for the laptop to get booted up.

     "How have Daffodil and Umber taken the news of you wanting to be a police officer? Or have you not told them yet?" she wondered.

     "I told them. They took it pretty...well," I had a difficult time suppressing a good bout of laughter at recalling the memory, "They certainly tried what they could to keep me around though. Poor Daff even offered to double my salary right then and there. She's always been that hopeful that she could get me to take over the place if she could simply keep offering the store to me over the course of a long while. Mr. M's reaction was the best though. He still believes I'm dad, and he couldn't wrap his head around me suddenly wanting to become an officer when he knows 'I' want to be an astronomer. So, he twisted the announcement of my eventual departure around in his head to mean that I would be leaving because you and I were getting married. He kept trying to give me this check for a thousand dollars he wrote for a wedding present."

     "Ahh, poor Mr. M," mom giggled, "Even with his mind not like it once was, he's still remained a total sweetheart. I'll have to try and go visit him the next time I get out of this place."

My ears perked up at that.

     "And when do you think that might be?" I questioned curiously.

Mom let out a long exhale and glanced at the ceiling.

     "A few more weeks, hopefully? I've been decently stable for a bit now, but still sick enough to need to be watched. However, my doctor wants to run some certain tests. He thinks there's a specific trigger he can find that's causing the constant crashes, and if we can take care of that I might be able to go back to living normally."

     "If a few more weeks is what we need to get you out of this cycle, then that's great news indeed." I spoke in relief.

     "Exactly. I'm over and done with being stuck here. I want to be home for Ceri's birthday. I already had to miss Glade's fall play her class put on. Then there's Desi..."

Her expression grew crestfallen, and her eyes closed with a pain not due to illness. They were slightly wet when she opened them again.

     "It's the most frustrating thing in the world to not be allowed to see her. I get that it's because it'd be terrible if I passed something onto her right now, but I know she's struggling. Talking to her on the phone isn't enough." she mumbled bitterly.

Smiling at her sympathetically, I switched to sitting on the edge of the bed and holding mom's hand.

     "Do you want me to visit her more often? Since I worked a morning shift today, I have the whole afternoon. I could go see her when we're done looking at schools." I offered.

     "Could you? You know she's too stubborn to ask us for help on her own."

     "Of course." I promised eagerly.

Thanks to mom's help, we found two schools with online classes for non-students that were exactly what I needed. By using both of what they offered, my brain would soon be stuffed full on the best of what would help secure me my job. The second school even had a beginning class specifically to teach prospective police officers the basics. Excited at the realization of taking several huge steps forward soon, I wore a smile as I took a bus to Desire's apartment where she lived with her boyfriend. My sister welcomed me with a crushing hug, and placing an expression of disappointment on her face when I eventually had to leave was one of the hardest things I'd ever done. You can bet that I was back the next day though. The day after that too. I had no time the following day or the day after that day because of work and a group outing, but any time I had spare time I did my best to see Desire for at least an hour a day. It turned out to be a blessing that Doodle was so small. The apartment allowed dogs of his size, and he brightened Desire's mood even further. He rapidly began joining me on our trips into the city.

Several weeks had passed by that point. It had been a day where I thought I might take a break from visiting, but Desire texted me with a request that I didn't have the heart to deny. Doodle and I grabbed a taxi into the city since both our family's cars were called for, and we dashed to and from it and mine and my sister's respective places of residence to avoid the massive onslaught of rain pouring from the sky.

     "Doodle, come here!" Desire, sitting on the couch across from the front door, called for my dog the second we entered.

He dashed across without pause and leapt up into her lap as if he could fly. I chuckled before glancing around.

     "It's this sink in the kitchen you wanted looked at, right?"
     "Yes. Jasper has been trying his hardest to get it working once again, but he's not a handyman at all. He still gets confused with the different kind of screwdrivers even though I've explained it to him a dozen times. In fact...I didn't want to say it to him, but I think he actually made the problem worse." Desire explained wryly.
     "Well, I'm no expert either, but Ceri's broken that sink upstairs enough times that I should be able to get this running somewhat decently until I can do some research to fix it properly."
     "Thanks, Coal. You're a lifesaver."

The problem with the sink not allowing the water to run properly wasn't nearly as complicated as I thought. A few twists of bolts, a bit of scrubbing with a snake, and some cleaner poured down the drain had it working perfectly fine from what I could tell. Doodle remained with my sister the whole time I was working. For the most part he sat calm and contented while Desire pet him, but it was when I was finishing up when he started to get more fidgety.

     "Oof, watch out there, little buddy." Desire said.
     "Is he getting too rambunctious?" I asked, glancing over.
     "Not so much. He just decided to put all of his weight on my stomach where it doesn't need to be."

Desire placed him back further down on her legs, but Doodle had had enough with being in one spot. He jumped off her lap to wander over to check out what I was doing.

     "Is there a bump yet?" I asked.
     "Not that I've been able to feel, which I'm glad for. I'm not looking forward to getting big. I definitely feel bloated all the time though, but thankfully I didn't inherit mom's propensity for non-stop vomiting. I feel queasy and occasionally throw up when I get up in the morning, but that's about it." Desire explained.
     "Good to hear. Hopefully that will stay the same."
     "I hope so too. I don't know how much else I can handle right now..."

Desire's sentence, which started off optimistically, quickly faded off into somber desperation. Her cheerful expression was gone, but I was glad for that, if you can believe it. It took a lot of prodding to get my sister to reveal her troubles, and the face she wore now meant she was finally ready to trust me with some of them.

     "Are you alright?" I asked with concern.

Desire stared at the ground and shrugged.

     "Jasper's parents have been getting on my case more and more," she sighed, "They're Solid purist assholes."
     "So I've been hearing." I said with an angry scoff.
     "I can't stand them, but I've been trying to get along with them as best I can in order to make things work with Jasper and me. However, I'm pretty sure they're striving for the opposite. You should have heard them when we first told them we were dating. They said right in front of me that they could allow our 'little fling' because the red seems to run stronger than the green in our family. They could barely handle Jasper and I moving in together because I carry the albinism gene and mom is mom. Now that I'm pregnant though, and by accident, it's a wonder they haven't simply walked in one day and dragged Jasper away to live with them once more."
     "And what's he been doing about all this?"
     "Not a lot," Desire revealed with a heavy heart, "He's their only child. He doesn't want to upset them or fall in their bad graces. Jasper doesn't share their views about color, but he doesn't feel the need to challenge them. When they start griping on me, he'll do what he can to change the topic. Yet, he's never tried to stand up for me or tell them off or anything like that."

With a tired sigh, she motioned to the rug at her feet.

     "This rug here, and the one at your feet, I bought them because the ones we had before were disgusting. Some random family members gave them to Jasper years ago for Christmas. They were starting to smell something awful. Jasper was happy when I tossed them out and put these in their place. Oh, but when his parents came over a few weeks ago...you'd have thought I'd spread manure over the ground from how they were acting. He apologized of all things and said they were simply a cheap placeholder until we could find better red ones instead. He said nothing when his mother took out her phone to show me red versions of everything green I was wearing. She said she would buy them for me because they would look better."
     "Are you sure you're happy with this guy?" I had to ask indignantly.
     "I am when we don't have to deal with the issue of his parents," Desire professed, "Jasper's been otherwise kind as he's always been, and he's been especially supportive of me recently since I'm having problems with my graduate Psychology classes as well. He wasn't exactly jumping for joy when we found out I was pregnant, but I wasn't either. We've both come to accept it though, and everything he's done has showed nothing else but that he'll be a good father."

Despite saying that, Desire didn't appear the most convinced. I pushed my anger aside to take a seat next to her on the couch wearing a smile. She instantly scooted over and clung onto my arm.

     "I know you'll be able to make the best decision for yourself, whenever the time comes to make a decision," I comforted, "I trust you like that, and you're incredibly strong. I can always track down that gray guy who assaulted you to get him to tell Jasper's parents just what they're looking at if they push their stupid Solid preferences too far."

Desire giggled and rested her head against my shoulder.

     "Finding him could take some time though, so you can always call or text me if you need me. If Jasper's parents come over and you need someone to stand up for you when he's turning a blind eye to their shit, then I'll come right over. I don't care if I'm working or what. You've got me."
     "Thank you, Coal," Desire said gratefully, now slightly teary but smiling again, "You've never failed to be the best little brother in the world. Sometimes I even forget you're younger. I wonder if I've been a good big sister to you at all."
     "You've been the best too. Wouldn't trade you for anything," I encouraged, kissing the top of her head, "You're going to be an amazing mom as well."
     "If you say so."
     "Oh, don't you be like that," I teased, "You know you will be. You've even got a head start since your best little brother is the best babysitter too. I've had so much experience helping with Glade, Riny, and eventually Mal's kid. Even now I change change diapers like that."
     "I'll be calling on you a lot then." Desire giggled once more.

She and I talked and watched television for a good long while until Desire perked up again. We ate a lot of snacks as well. The apartment was stocked full of them because of my sister's steadily growing appetite. The two of us had just finished off a carton of cookies when the front door clicked and the swung open. Doodle was once again off like a bullet to greet the new arrival.

     "Hello, Doodle," Jasper greeted my dog with a grin and pet, "If you're here, then..."

He glanced up to see me.

     "Hey, Coal."
     "Hello, Jasper," I said, "Sorry if I'm becoming a little too familiar around here."
     "No, no, I don't care," he reassured with a laugh, "I love having the company."
     "Me too, especially when they can fix our sink." Desire added proudly.
     "Did he?" Jasper wondered.
     "Yup, it sounds like he got it working good as new."
     "Thanks for that. You're the best, Coal." Jasper complimented.
     "So I've been hearing." I beamed.

Doodle stopped darting around Jasper's feet long enough to allow him to move past the entryway.

     "I'm seriously useless with stuff like that," he continued as he walked over, "You know, today one of my co-workers gave me a gift card to Sparkling's Cafe as a return for a favor I did for him. Desi and I love going there, so I'll have to invite you to come along with us one time as a thanks."
     "Sounds good to me." I agreed instantly.
     "Me too." Desire added quickly as well, which made Jasper laugh.
     "Good," Jasper nodded, "It's the least I can do. The rain finally let up to allow me to reach the building dry, so I wasn't looking forward getting wet again when trying to struggle with the sink."
     "Oh, it's stopped raining?" I wondered, hurriedly turning around to see through the window what I hadn't noticed before, "You mind if I take off then, Desi? I've got some other things I'd like to do."
     "You go right on ahead," she spoke motioning onwards, although I was halted when about to head out the front door with Doodle under my arm, "Oh, but, Coal, sorry, I had just wanted to say this quickly earlier. Since you've started dating Holly, if you do anything...make sure you're careful."
     "Yup. Wrap up real good." Jasper's smile matched hers.
     "Don't worry. I always do." I reassured with a laugh.

Then I stopped laughing, because I had forgotten who I was speaking with. Desire wasn't one of the ones who was privy to my previous exploits.

     "Wait? What?" she spoke hurriedly, now frowning while Jasper looked at me curiously, "You two have already...but it's only been a few weeks..."
     "Not with Holly. With someone...before...bye!" I called out, rapidly dashing out the door and closing it behind me.
     "It was Candy, wasn't it!" Desire's muffled voice came from the other side.

I heard her whining to a loudly laughing Jasper about how I had 'grown up' a long time ago and no one had told her as I carried Doodle down the stairs to avoid having to wait for the elevator and having to listen to whatever conversation resulted from that.

Well, the truth had to come out some time. I knew there was no way Desire wouldn't tell Prism about the abrupt revelation. It was a mystery as to whether the two of them would be nice and not say anything further or if everyone in my family would be told by the time I got home. Honestly, I shrugged it all off. If word did get around, they would think Candy and I had only slept together back in high school, which was knowledge I could easily live down. No, I focused my efforts on determining where to go in order to achieve my goal. Cerise's fourteenth birthday was soon, and I had yet to purchase her a present. I did, thankfully, have one idea in mind. She had been talking recently about wanting a training dummy to practice her martial arts on, and I just so happened to know of a store in the city that would sell such a thing. I made that store my second destination. Desire's apartment was right near Mr. Mosaic's bookstore. I thought I would do a quick walk-by and say hello to whoever was there.

Umber spotted me before I could even cross the street. He was outside the door before I could get close to it.

     "What's up?" I asked him curiously.
     "This is perfect timing. I was about to start calling around to see if there was anyone who could come in to cover me, but you in particular were my first pick," he started to explain, "There's been an issue with dad. Nothing serious, nothing life threatening anyway, but Daffodil really needs my help right now. Do you think you could cover me for a bit? Just an hour or so? We can even pay you time and a half for it."
     "There's no need for that. I don't mind covering you either, but I do have him with me." I pointed out, motioning towards Doodle.
     "That's fine. I know he's well behaved."
     "We're all good then." I reasoned.
     "Perfect. Go ahead and clock in. I just need to grab my wallet, and then I'll head off."

Umber was gone before I could blink. The store was relatively empty save for two customers wandering about downstairs while another one was upstairs. I took my familiar favorite seat at the left register, upon which I began a battle of wills with my dog. Doodle willingly remained next to the chair for all of a minute. After that, he kept dashing away to look out the front window no matter how many times I called or carried him back. I eventually just let him stay there considering he was content to simply stare outside and tilt his head this way and that as he watched people and cars pass us by.

However, he soon became a little star. It began when an elderly lady noticed him. She asked if he was friendly and if she could pet him, both of which I said yes to, and the two of them grew quickly attached. A little girl walked in with her mother just as soon as the elderly lady went back to browsing. Doodle had no problem merrily sitting on the girl's lap and being showered with attention while the mother shopped. The cycle continued from there. Another customer sat down next to the girl to pet Doodle too. When a little boy came in as well, he and the girl played a quiet game of chase around the main counter with him.

The time spent working my unexpected shift went smoothly for the most part. It was almost when the hour was over when someone alerted me that a less than decent customer had decided to take two dozen books from upstairs and seemingly just scatter them here and there all over the floor and benches for no good reason before slipping away. My last ten minutes was used to clean up the mess. Daffodil found me right as the reorganization was done.

     "I can't even begin to thank you." she spoke as her greeting to me.

Her weary expression found a smile when Doodle had to be petted by her as well.

     "Everything alright with Mr. M?" I asked.
     "He'll be perfectly fine, thankfully. He took a little tumble, but all of the pain he claimed he was in was hardly more than an act. He's too darn dramatic." she explained with a slightly amused shake of her head.
     "It's good that he wasn't truly hurt though." I expressed.

Daffodil nodded at that before perking up some.

     "How has everything been here?" she wondered.
     "It's been mostly ordinary. There was some jerk who chose to strew a bunch of books everywhere, but it was an easy cleanup. Otherwise, I've been watching the counter, and Doodle's had a good time making lots of friends with the customers. He certainly has livened the place up."
     "You know, if you were the owner, you could bring him to work everyday if you wanted. Have him be the place's mascot." Daffodil proposed grandly.
     "Still haven't given up yet, have you?" I chuckled.
     "I'm mostly teasing," she smirked, "But if I get lucky and somehow mention the one thing that can convince you to stay, why not keep speaking?"
     "I don't know how much good it will do you, but you're free to keep on trying." I joked back.
     "I will do that indeed," Daffodil promised, "For now though, I'll let you take your leave. I'm sure you had other things planned for your day."
     "Not too much other than checking out a potential birthday present for Ceri. Mom is coming home from the hospital today too though, hopefully with news from her doctor on how we can keep her from going back. She should actually be home now by this point."
     "I definitely won't keep you then. Tell her I say hello, and that I wish her all the best."
     "Will do."

I had run out of time for present shopping, but instead of going straight home I called for a taxi to take me to the elementary school. It was where both elementary and junior high students got on the buses to go home, and I decided I would give my sisters a nice surprise by coming to pick them up today. The thought was at least appreciated by one sister. Glade instantly rushed towards me. Cerise went for Doodle.

     "Thank you, Coal!" Glade gushed happily as she squished me in an embrace, "I really didn't want to hafta take the bus. Olive has been really annoying today, and I hate that have to sit next to her. I really just want to get home and see mom too! She is home, right?"
     "She should be. Last she told me was that she was going to have a talk with her doctor this morning before heading right home. It's a little weird that she, or even Uncle Blaze, hasn't texted me yet or anything, but I figure she's just fallen asleep like normal." I shrugged.

Glade was content with that. I glanced at Cerise.

     "Any words of thanks you would like to give?" I asked with a raised brow.
     "Thank you, Doodle, for being the most amazingly adorable doggy in the world!" Cerise replied in typical Cerise fashion.

Doodle licked her face with fervor when she held him up to her, and she giggled like crazy. I rolled my eyes and scoffed, but I wasn't irritated. I expected nothing less from my heavily sarcastic and mischievous little sister.

We worked our way through the massive throng of students outside the building to find the taxi where it waited for us in the line of cars of parents picking up their kids. I was glad those days were temporarily over for me. As the majority of my shifts were in the afternoon, Cerise and Glade now had to take the bus home most of the time. Uncle Blaze would sometimes go get them instead, or if I was free and feeling nice I would surprise them like I just had. I snatched the front seat for myself while Doodle happily sat between my sisters in the backseat. Cerise requested to make a side stop to get ice cream. Her pouts of persuasion almost got me this time around, but Glade's desire to get home and see mom prompted us all to keep to our original destination. The four of us arrived home, I paid the driver, he politely requested to pet Doodle for a second, and then he was off.

I stretched, for even the front seat was confining to me, and I barely raised my arms when Glade strove to become a leech. A small cry of surprise escaped my lips when she abruptly tossed all her weight on me. I almost elbowed her in the face as I wasn't prepared to hold her up.

     "Glade! C'mon." I protested.
     "But it's time for me to give you your daily test!" she reminded me cheerfully, "Lift, Coal!"

I sighed, but did she as she requested. Glade got a firm hold on my arm, I flexed it, and then I raised it higher and higher until Glade's feet dangled off the ground. It was beyond me why I had suggested this as a way to see how my new exercise regime was progressing. Going to the gym was a daily thing for me now. I would put myself through a mock physical test like the one I would eventually go through, and then alter my workout accordingly to focus on whatever needed improvement. Mal would sometimes join me or give me some free coaching if he was around and not busy.

Letting Glade hang from my arm had at first been a way to simply show that I was building muscle. Now she demanded we do it each and every day to make sure I wasn't slacking off. It was her brilliant idea that I had to hold her for at least a second longer each time. If I could only hold her for as long as I had the previous day, it was fine. If I held her for less, I had to give her a piece of candy or something from my private stash of snacks. It hadn't been bad at first, but there was no way I could gain strength that quickly to improve a second each day. I could hardly maintain the record I made of fifteen seconds. It felt more like a minute of time to my tired muscles.

     "Six.....seven.....eight....." Glade counted.
     "Seven...four...nine...nine..." Cerise countered.
     "You're counting too slow," I spoke through gritted teeth at Glade before glaring at Cerise, "And you'd better shut up."

Cerise brushed me off, shrugging impishly and placing Doodle on the ground. With a deep breath, I kept Glade hanging until sixteen seconds just to prove to Cerise who was the true victor.

However, of course, she'd stopped paying me any attention. Her focus shifted towards getting inside, and Glade dashed to catch up the instant she touched back down. Doodle shadowed her steps while I stretched once more before following. My mouth opened to remind them that homework came first before leisure time exactly how I had always had to remind them and how I would always have to remind them, but an uncharacteristic shriek of surprise from Cerise had me jumping as I walked through the door. Her gaze was fixated left. Mine had no choice but to follow left...