Break-ins and Birthdays

            Nothing overtly exciting took place for a long time. Although, I’m not sure if I’d ever describe anything in the hick town that way. Perhaps my bath. That addition nearly doubled the bills though.

            Dr. Allison gifted me an upgraded banshee banisher to go along with a new promotion, so I suppose the bills rising did not matter too much.

            Being a Rare Medium, I spent over ten hours at a time being out and working on cases. It made the wretched time go faster, and I did not have to muster up much effort making small talk with the girls. They were in school for the vast majority of time I spent at the shed.

            Not being home had its drawbacks though.

            For whatever reason, my shed drew robbers in like a hoard of zombies to an apple tree. The low and dirty criminal swiped my shower.

            And then he really proved how evil he was by stealing by hard-earned spirit. I’d even named that one. What, I can’t recall, but it still had a name.

            And what did my teenaged daughter do about this situation? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! She just stood there like an imbecile.

            I came home, replaced the shower, and then gave her a piece of my mind. She should have called the police or something! That robber could have done much more damage, like messing with my soaking tub.

            I put Aspen in time out for being completely useless.

            And then my savings took a big hit when I purchased a burglar alarm. I tried not to think of all the better things I could have done with those simoleons.

            Aspen did apologize, which solved nothing. I decided to try to move forward though.

            While I had my concerns about Aspen, Odessa never did anything to bother me so much. I even allowed her in my room to play with the mirror, as long as she kept it quiet. She nearly reminded me of myself at that age. Only hideous.

            Sometimes Odessa reminded me of her father. My heart would swell and I could not hold back from hugging her. It was always a bit disappointing though; Daniel had been a much better hugger. Of course, he was a mildly attractive man with excellent biceps.

            It was time for me to take action and rekindle the passion in our relationship. I sat down at the table and filled a perfumed notecard with all my feelings. Damen would read it and realize just how very blessed he was; Vienna DeMarco did not just pour her heart out for any man.

            While waiting for a response, I had a day off from work. I pulled the girls away from whatever it is they did, usually ghost stories and water balloon fights, and took them out to the festival.

            Once again, Aspen ungratefully complained about an empty stomach.

            Aside from that, it was an adequate day. I pulled a win in that disgusting apple bobbing game.

            And I finally found someone to take my order for a snow cone cart!

            Odessa, close to being a teen, chatted on the phone for hours.

            And Aspen surprised me by socializing with a boy. They seemed to get on quite well.

            My budding hopes were murdered when I spotted his face. Not to mention his hair. There was no way I’d allow her to fall in love with him and procreate. I would never be free of my curse if his genetics came in to play.

            A few evenings later, day which all three of us had off from obligations, I received word from Dequan for the first time since we created Odessa. It was a text inviting me to a house party he was throwing.

            I couldn’t believe it! But then again, he did know of some of my talents.

            I immediately left to see him, my true love. Something one of the girls said pinged in my mind. Something about a birthday? Oh well, they’d have to understand. Some other things are more important than hitting milestones.

            I got to his house and realized he wasn’t home. There was no party. Perhaps I was early, although I was fashionably late according to the time he put on the invitation, and so I waited. I stood outside his door for hours, nearly becoming disheartened. I had to tell myself it must have simply been dated wrong when I finally moved on to go back to the shed.

            Odessa celebrated her birthday during my cab ride back.

            Let’s just say, her fashion taste came as quite the surprise to me.

            I managed to catch the tail end of Aspen’s transformation. I hadn’t realized that they were both aging on the same night.

            She became a respectfully dressed young adult. My father would have been proud, had it not been for her terrible face. But, if he were around, he would have paid to fix it for her. How old was I, anyways? He was probably dead. Strange to think about.

            The two people that I’d given birth to were both nearly grown. My final birthday was just around the corner.