Gen Three- Chapter Eighteen

It took me another minute or two to convince my brain my friend was indeed before me and that my mind wasn't teasing me with a dream. I was, in fact, wide awake, and Timber's surprise arrival prompted such an energy boost that I then hurriedly rushed him out of our room so Gilly and I could change. Then we could get the day started for real.

     "Will you please just admit you might like him a little?" Gilly teased as she came up behind me admiring myself in the mirror.

     "I will not because I do not like him. Not like that," I rolled my eyes, too done with this kind of conversation to be annoyed, "I think I look good today. That's all."
     "Why did you choose today of all days to spend extra time on your hair and stuff then? It's a suspicious coincidence."
     "I don't know. We haven't seen Timber in a while. I don't want him to think I've been lazy or something, I guess."
     "Mmhmm."
     "You're impossible, Gil."
     "So I've heard."

She really was impossible. Gilly kept wandering behind me where she proceeded to make endless kissy faces and smooching noises. Taking my pillow to sneak several good smacks at her rear end stopped that attitude. My sister grabbed her own pillow, and a brief war distracted us for that moment. Mr. Mountain's laugh from the living room reminded us of our guests and why we were screwing around in the first place. Our room was straightened, I smoothed out my hair a second time, and Gilly and I finally made our way out the door.

     "It's so good to see you, Mr. Mountain!" Gilly bounded over, crushing him with a big hug.
     "Uf," Mr. Mountain struggled to breathe for a second, yet he still smiled, "It's good to see you too, girls. How have things been?"
     "They've been really great, actually! We love getting to see Uncle Prism and them all the time. Tinseltown is incredible in every way, and our new school is completely amazing. We've made lots of new friends. Our teacher is even super cool. Dia has a bit of crush on him."
     "Oh my god..." I vigorously shook my head at her before turning to the other two in amused exasperation, "She's somehow convinced herself I have to have a crush on every single male I find the slightest bit cute, even if he's our nearly fifty-year-old teacher. She won't stop going on about all of them."
     "Who else does she keep teasing you about? Other classmates?" Timber asked innocently.
     "Eh, you know, like, Rain, and stuff."
     "I can see it."
     "Don't you start too."

I pouted, and the other three chuckled. I took it in good stride, but relief hit my chest when I noticed dad wandering over. I was relieved for a brief moment anyway. My sister wouldn't dare tease me more about the subject with how vehemently dad lectured that she shouldn't make light of how I felt, especially when I had to repeat my denials over and over again. My lips started to curl into a smile at his presence. Then I remembered I was supposed to be mad at him. I saw the watch we'd bought for him on his wrist, and I did become mad at him.

     "Good morni-"

His greeting faltered into silence as Gilly and I turned away from him with a unisoned huff. I could easily imagine the smile sliding off his face. I'm sure it looked something similar to the way Mr. Mountain looked. My muscles cringed. Well, great. Now my friend and his dad being here wasn't the best. Gilly and I couldn't be petty like we wanted as it would make them incredibly uncomfortable.

     "Morning." Gilly responded gruffly and reluctantly.
     "Dad...Dad and I have been making waffles for breakfast. We've made all the different kinds you like." dad did his best to say cheerfully.
     "You can't bribe us into forgiving you with food, you know." I pointed out, although he totally could and it had been a useful strategy many times in the past.

Dad hesitated, and he had problems keeping his smile.

     "Come on, girls, don't act like this is front of our guests." he reprimanded ever so lightly.
     "You're not getting off the hook that easily." Gilly folded her arms in defiance.
     "I don't care how they act," Timber shrugged, coming to our aide, "They told me why they're mad. I understand."
     "He and grandpa were away for months, and we were really worried about them getting hurt or worse," I explained to Mr. Mountain as if it would help, "Then when we finally get to see them again, he takes grandpa and Blaze off with him to go hang out with some random old couple we met at the art museum. Gilly and I had presents we'd worked hard on, but mom had to give them to them instead since they ditched us the whole evening. They didn't get back until long after we'd gone to sleep."
     "I...see." Mr. Mountain replied, uncertain and more confused than feeling awkward.
     "Gilly, Dianthus, I'm really sorry. I know I upset you, but we had a very good reason for being away last night." dad finally went ahead and tried to apologize.
     "What is this important reason?" Gilly demanded.
     "I can't tell you."
     "Well, it doesn't matter if the reason is important or not then, does it? You can't give us a satisfactory explanation, and that's that. Why should we have to forgive you just because you feel we have to?" I pressed.
     "I never said that you did," dad sighed, "It's just-"

Dad's sentence went unfinished. I didn't want to let dad off the hook right away, but I also didn't want to stand there having a discussion about it. Turning my back to him, I addressed my friend.

     "Timber, wanna get some waffles?" I cut off dad's words.
     "Sure."

Timber bounced off the couch to join Gilly and me in walking over to the eating area. Dad sighed again when we passed, and I think Mr. Mountain gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. Those two stood where they were and talked while grandpa attempted to greet us.

     "Good morning," he began with a smile, "Gil, there's a whole of plates of blueberry waffles here, and I made sure to buy a jar of marshmallow fluff. Dia, I put..."

His words faltered too when my sister and I proceeded to ignore him and serve up our own plates. Unlike dad, grandpa just smiled.

     "Alright, I understand. Just let me know if you need anything." he accepted our intentions with grace.

That was the start of the dissolution of our anger. Grandpa was just so darn nice during breakfast that we began to feel like we were the ones in the wrong. Finding fault in him had been more difficult to begin with too. Grandpa had chosen to stay out for the night, but dad hadn't given him much of a choice to start with. Breakfast was also incredible beyond compare. Grandma had passed down most of her recipes, but there were still a few grandpa was keeping secret until it was his time to go. The waffles had been made with grandma's touches. Just the simple treat of getting to eat them once more put me in a mood too ecstatic to be grumpy. Then dad joined us at the table with everyone else, and he followed grandpa's lead. Our determination wavered greatly.

     "We are really sorry," dad made a proper apology when he and grandpa called us to the private sitting area mom and dad had outside their room, "I know how frustrating it can be to be kept in the dark about something you're told is important. I had to deal a lot with that growing up. However, from that I also learned there are honestly certain facts you aren't meant to know. Being out last night was a situation incredibly personal to Uncle Blaze, dad, and myself. Still, I let myself get overwhelmed. The three of us all did. We forgot to consider how hard these past months have been for you, and so we should have dealt with our matter another time. We're sorry for ditching and upsetting you. Dad and I also really do appreciate your presents. They are quite lovely."
     "It's...alright." Gilly spoke slowly, and I couldn't help but to laugh when I saw how strongly she struggled to contain her desire to rush up to both of them and bring them in for a big hug.
     "Apology accepted," I caved, and I rushed in to tackle hug dad and grandpa for her, "Just make sure you don't go anywhere today."
     "Promise." grandpa chuckled as Gilly joined her arms to the clump of love.
     "We planned the whole day out. We're going to start by getting a Christmas tree, and then we're going shopping for new holiday clothes. After that-"
     "Coal, I thought we were going to keep our plans secret so everything would be a surprise." grandpa interrupted with a shake of his head.
     "Oh, right. I got too excited."

Gilly and I laughed.

Sadly, those plans wouldn't go the way they were intended either. Grandpa also had to quickly break his promise, but there was no way he couldn't with what happened. The secret itinerary, at least about the tree and clothes, spread throughout the household quickly. We all got prepared. After that, we waited. Uncle Prism and the others were due to meet us at our place so we could all travel around the city together, even though that would still take three cars. The appointed time of their arrival came and went by a large margin. Mom called Uncle Prism's and Aunt Taffy's cellphones every few minutes when she couldn't get them at home. Then her phone rang.

     "Oh, Pris. I'm glad I finally got you. Is everything okay? You guys are really late."

It was safe to say everything was not okay given the expression mom wore as she listened. I watched her in concern, and I took Timber's hand for comfort.

     "I mean...well, that's good to hear at least. I'm still really worried though," mom spoke before pausing and listening, "No, I'm not just going to tell him that. Here's right here. He'll get on my case if I hang up without letting him talk to you. No, seriously, Prism, I don't care if you have it under control."

Mom huffed and held the phone out to grandpa.

     "Please talk some sense into your son." she requested.

Grandpa took the phone with a frown.

     "Prism, what's up?"

That frown turned rock solid several seconds later, and I didn't like the words tumbling out of his mouth. He was asking if everyone was alright. He wanted to know where they were. Who had done it. None of them inspired reassurance in my chest in the slightest. It was quite the opposite, naturally.

     "Holly's right. I'm glad you're all fine, but I'm coming down there to meet you. What's the name of th...I don't care if you think you're okay. You need someone else there right now. Now will you...Prism, stop interrupting me. This is not the time to be stubborn. It's not going to-"

Uncle Prism didn't take grandpa's warning to heart. Grandpa's already stiff voice went completely rigid, and the commanding intensity of his tone made even mom cringe as if she'd been reprimanded. I swore all the wrinkles on grandpa's face disappeared as the grandfather part of him I saw was replaced in full by dad he still was.

     "Prism Quartz," he rebuked harshly, "I said to stop interrupting me. This isn't a negotiation. I am telling you what's going to happen. You're going to tell me which hospital you're at, and I'm going to come there and help you. If I hear one more complaint out of your mouth or you try to tell me again what I should do, you're grounded for the holidays. I have the power to still do that no matter how old you get."

Given by how smoothly the conversation went after that, Uncle Prism had gotten the message.

Not long afterwards, grandpa was heading out the door. He apologized for having to leave, but I shook my head and gave him another hug. Mom explained the situation once he left as everyone else meandered over in curiosity to hear what was going on. The basic truth was that someone had hit-and-run Uncle Prism's car. It happened from behind and had been strong enough to force his vehicle off the road. Thankfully, neither him, Aunt Taffy, Canary, nor Crescent had been badly hurt. Crescent's head had bonked against the window, but no real damage had been done. The four of them had obviously been taken to the hospital just to be safe, and when they were done there they'd be heading home to get some rest.

     "I can't believe someone could be so terrible as to take off like that after hurting other people." Gilly complained at the tree lot.

We'd picked out the pine we wanted, and now my twin, brother, Timber, and I were having fun wandering between the big trees they had available.

     "People can just be absolutely awful. I'm sure they'll find the other driver though." Timber reasoned.
     "I hope so, mostly for mom's sake. Dad won't stop pestering her about the details," I laughed, "We need to get him some mystery video games for Christmas so his itch for sleuthing can be solved."
     "Why doesn't he be a private investigator since he can't be a policeman?" Timber wondered.
     "He says there's not enough action in it. Also, he's invested too much into the bookstore at this point to give it up." Gilly smiled.

The clothing store came next. That was where things got really fun. Timber admitted that he and his dad never bothered with buying clothes just for the holiday. They stuck to their normal brown. Us Vivids weren't going to have that at all. Gilly and I dragged our friend all over the store looking for the perfect outfit for him while Merlot, borrowing mom's phone, followed recording and taking pictures of the event.

     "It...It's nice, but it feels really weird." he stated when his clothes were chosen.
     "I'm sure it does, but I don't think it'll be too hard to get used to it." I comforted.
     "Yeah. Wearing our school uniform felt really out of place, but it's fun to have something different for a change. It's no wonder more and more people aren't bothering to wear anything of their color at all."
     "Can you imagine a day where everyone stops wearing their colors?" I wondered in amazement.
     "That'd be so crazy," Merlot remarked, "I know I can't picture it."

We got a call from grandpa after we left the store. The other part of our family had returned to their house, taken some pain killers, and had gone to sleep. Grandpa was going to stay with them to make sure all stayed well. The rest of us finished the surprise plans for the day, which consisted of stopping at restaurants for meals, seeing a movie, going to several holidays events set up around the city, and finishing it up with hot chocolate after caroling. The following day was quiet. Uncle Prism and his family turned out sore beyond belief, so they relaxed at home for another twenty-four hours. Us kids made plans to do smaller activities. However, for some reason, the adults were all suddenly highly adamant that we remain home for the time being. The answer came the next day.

     "You really think the accident was intentional?" I echoed dad in horrified awe.
     "We can't see a reason how it could be unintentional," dad confirmed, "The car was unregistered and had no plates. The driver was wearing a mask and clothes to not only completely hide his or her color and appearance, but also to make it sure that we can't even tell if he or she is male or female. The police tracked the car using all the cameras in the city, and when they did discover it abandoned they couldn't find a single fingerprint or scrap of evidence. Someone went into this meaning to hit Prism's car."

It was all sobering, and terrifying, news.

     "Why though?" I wondered quietly.
     "That's what everyone's been trying to figure out," Canary sighed, "Being famous makes people hate you over the stupidest reasons, but dad's never done anything to give anyone a reason to want to hurt us."
     "The person could be unstable though. They wouldn't have to have a proper reason if they merely wanted to cause chaos. Perhaps the other driver went after your dad not because of who he is, but because he simply is famous." Timber offered.
     "There is the worry that this isn't because of my status I've built, but because of who mom was." Uncle Prism added.
     "You mean that evil organization company whatever that's been broken and dissolved for years? God, it's been so long since all that happened now. If they were still out there, why come after us? You didn't do anything. We didn't do anything." Canary spoke in disbelief.
     "It could have been them coming after us for the same reason they went after dad and Coal," Uncle Prism explained, and dad visibly stiffened, "We're a part of it only for the fact that we're connected to the ones who brought them down. As for their reasons, well, we never got any solid conclusions about why they did what they did in the past. I doubt we'll find answers now."
     "Happy holidays, everyone." I joked miserably.
     "Everything will be fine," dad reassured, smiling, "We've been talking to those who have been helping us out all this time, and we're going to make sure we've got some protection until we can get more to the bottom of this."

I didn't spend much more time in the kitchen. The conversation wasn't making me feel all that great, so I forgot some of my worries by hanging out with Ember and Crescent.

     "Did dad remember to tell you about the test results?" Crescent offered that tidbit of information.
     "No? What test results?" Ember asked.
     "The tests they were doing about grandma's albinism. There's still a lot the scientists want to do, but some of the results got sent to dad yesterday morning. I figured he forgot about it because of the  craziness of the crash."
     "Oh, that's amazing!" I gushed, "I've been waiting forever to hear about those."
     "I don't remember too much because there were a lot of numbers. They said it was true though that grandma's strain is its whole own thing. The other albino babies that company made have something similar, but it's not as strong or something. Proper results were hard to come by because most of them are dead too, and the remaining ones are really sick" Crescent frowned, "Dad read off that their bodies are breaking down because of the manipulation."
     "That's really unfortunate." Ember spoke sadly.
     "Is there any risk of that kind of thing happening to us?" I wondered.
     "I don't think so. I know they want to do some testing with Uncle Wisp since he's the one most at risk for him having manipulated genes though. They said they'd examine any of us who wanted to be looked at too so they can confirm how the new albinism is passed down."
     "Well, I'll have to get myself signed up then. This is such an incredible opportunity." I beamed, ecstatic.
     "Looks like Christmas has come early for you, huh?" Ember laughed.

Dad said we would look into the testing after the holidays were over. He was interested too in how the separate strain worked, but with Christmas being right upon us and the nervousness about the people behind the crash there were more important aspects to focus on. Honestly, one couldn't help but to focus on that latter part. By the time we departed from Uncle Prism's house that day, we'd gained bodyguards in the form of two policemen. The days of just walking outside and going wherever we wanted were over for the moment. Until the threat could be tracked or determined, us kids were told we couldn't be anywhere past the yard without one of those two cops with us. The restriction didn't turn out overly confining. However, having fun only to see Officer Fizzle there did put a damper on things even if he was super nice.

Officer Storm was the other policeman. He proved to be a little more rigid and strict, but overall he just let us do our own thing as well. Despite Gilly and I wishing for a little snow to make winter more like winter, the temperatures remained comfortable for typical clothes.

     "We heard some amazing news this morning!" Ephemeral gushed when we met them one day for food and tea at a little outdoor cafe.
     "Yeah?" I prompted.
     "Our mom knows Divi's wife, and she told our mom that Divi is planning to move up to teaching at the high school after the next school year!"
     "So, after we're done with eighth grade?"
     "Yes. With the way the school system works, when a teacher moves up with a class they keep the same class in the new building. That means he's going to be our teacher all through high school!" Ethereal explained eagerly.
     "That's really great for you guys." Gilly smiled.
     "What do you mean? It's great for you guys too, of..." Ethereal said before remembering, "Oh, we completely forgot you aren't here permanently. You'll be moving back to Berrybrook sooner rather than later."
     "Most likely once this school year is done, yup."
     "It's a little frustrating," Ephemeral admitted sadly, "I'm glad you'll finally be able to go home, but we'll miss having you around."
     "Same here. We'll miss you guys. Public school is going to be a major drag after Zenith Peak too." I sighed.
     "Don't remind me." Gilly laughed quietly.

Christmas Eve came and went. My twin and I jumped out of bed Christmas morning not thinking first about presents, but still about snow. None had fallen despite our strong wishes before bed and sacrifice of flushing crushed ice down the toilet. The crushed ice thing was a superstition to make the following day a snowday, but in this case we merely hoped for a few flakes. Despite our disappointment about a bright sunny day, Gilly and I did have one way to combat the heat.

     "Oh, I see why you wouldn't let me see your outfits beforehand," Timber remarked when he knocked on our door after we changed, "Went with a different approach this year, I see."
     "We saw these sort of matching dresses, and Gilly and I thought they'd been a fun choice to stand out." I revealed.
     "It was a good choice. You look great."
     "Aww, thanks, Timby." Gilly stood proudly with her hands on her hips.
     "Timby?"
     "It's about time we start calling you silly names." she determined suddenly.
     "Thanks, I guess?" Timber laughed.

With that amusing note, Christmas got off to a good start. A satisfying breakfast of cinnamon rolls, homemade applesauce, and eggs and ham filled us with enough energy to sustain us through unwrapping presents. There were a lot to go through as usual with there being so many people. Mom and dad even took pity on Ember. They gave her half of the money mom received for selling her nice laptop so that Ember could buy presents for the rest of us. Anything left over she was allowed to keep. To my surprise, Ember didn't do what I would have done and buy cheap things so most of the money would remain hers. With the items she bought, I doubt she had enough to get even a meal at a fast food restaurant. I even got one more present from her than everyone else.

Right when the living room quieted some, Uncle Prism and the others showed up. They'd wanted to start off with a slow morning for just them, but now they were here to bring their presents for us and unwrap the ones for them we'd gotten. The floor swam in a sea of paper when noon finally came.

And so, Christmas was lovely. A good portion of the day went into calling our family scattered across the country. The rest of the day included cleaning up the mess we'd made, eating, playing games, enjoying our gifts, and taking the sporadic nap or two. Preparations for New Years began, and in what felt like a blink that holiday had come and departed as well.

     "These two weeks went by way too fast," I whined as Gilly, Timber, and I walked on the beach the day before Timber had to leave with Officer Storm following some distance back, "I can't believe you have to leave."
     "Don't worry. Before you know it, Berrybrook is going to be all better. Then things will be like they did before." Timber comforted
     "But then we'll have to miss everyone here."
     "Dia, you can't always get everything in life." Gilly patted my shoulder.
     "I know, I know," I sighed, "It just sucks having to say goodbye to people."
     "We'll find a way to make it not so bad. We do at least have it easy today with cell phones and video calls and whatnot." Timber pointed out.
     "True." I agreed.

Mr. Mountain met us at the beach to take us out for ice cream before driving us to the house to finish out our day there. Gilly, Timber, and I planned to develop better ways to keep in touch, but the peaceful atmosphere dissolved before we so much as walked through the front door. Loud voices I first assumed had to be from the television turned out to be dad on a rant. Ember sat at the table looking absolutely miserable but doing her best to block everything out. Mom stood as the peacemaker for whatever was going on.

     "Coal, you're getting too upset." she warned in a calm voice that quivered as if she struggled to keep it that way.
     "Too upset? I'm not nearly upset enough! We had that mess last year, and now Ember's gone and put that to shame! I've been giving my children the same freedoms our parents gave to us, but they just seem keen on abandoning my trust and doing all the things they shouldn't!"

I shrunk into myself as the four of us slowly inched further and further inside.

     "I'm not saying she hasn't done something very wrong, but this kind of discussion isn't doing anything other than making us all miserable," mom tried again, spotting us, "We should take a moment to breathe."

Dad's shoulders stiffened intensely and rigidly, and the guilt I had no reason to feel dug deeper into my gut.

     "No!" dad huffed both in a tone of complete command and that of a whining child.
     "Coal." mom chastised.
     "Excuse me," Mr. Mountain, thank goodness he was there, spoke with a courage I certainly didn't have, and dad's head whipped around to finally notice us, "Uh, I've brought Gilly and Dia home."
     "Thank you." mom replied.
     "Thank you," dad repeated, not sounding grateful at all even if he tried, "You two. Room. Now."

Gilly and I glanced at each other quickly before hurriedly shuffling off. The curiosity of wanting to know what had changed since that morning to turn dad so angry itched me incessantly, but it was not worth staying around his wrath. My sister and I shot as much as we could of departing smiles towards our friend. Timber waved.

     "I...I see you have some matters to deal with here. Timber and I will head back to our hotel room now." Mr. Mountain reasoned.
     "Thank you, Russet. Have a good evening." mom smiled weakly.
     "You...as well..."

Mr. Mountain instantly caught the futility of his words as he glanced around at the situation. Still, he forced his own smile before leading Timber out the door with a hand on his back as Gilly and I silently slunk into our room to await the return of whatever explosion Ember's bomb set off.