Chapter 3-1: 100 Years

                Verne and Shane enjoy spending time together, playing chess. It doesn’t require much talking so they can avoid talking about Uvie. Even though the police have declared her dead, the empty urn does little to soothe their pain. So the men play. Shane realizes that Verne is not quite a genius like him, but his perception skills certainly pay off.

                 While her son and husband stare at the chess board, trying to outmaneuver the other, Carrie disappears to the graveyard. She stands at her father’s grave and weeps. “How could you have left me without saying goodbye?” she wonders, tears streaming down her face. As she thinks of her father, Uvie comes into her head. She also missed a goodbye to her daughter, and the unknown is killing her more than the guilt over her father’s death ever could. She wonders how she is supposed to move on when the people around her keep disappearing.

                 “Can I tell you a secret,” Patty asks Vesper one evening. Patty had become a close friend of Vesper’s after Uvie’s disappearance. Though she and Vesper were as different as apples and bananas on the outside, they were similar under the surface.

                “Sure.”

                “It’s bad,” Patty looked away, unsure how to tell her friend.

                “What did you get a B on the history test,” Vesper laughed, sure her perfect friend couldn’t be hiding something so bad.

                 “I, I’m pregnant,” she finally whispered.

                “You’re what,” Vesper exclaimed loudly.

                “Shh, I don’t want everyone knowing. And he dumped me.”

                ‘So the rumors are true. I’d heard about it, even Verne heard about it but no one believed anything. What are you going to do?”

                “I don’t know.”

                “Well, I say you go kick his door, and something else, in.”

                 Secretly, Vesper was relieved that it wasn’t her. Not that there was any chance of it happening to her. She’d never had a boyfriend or even her first kiss yet. But what was a teenager supposed to do with a baby? Patty had straight A’s and was bound to get scholarships to at least some of the Azalea League schools. Now she would have to raise a baby instead, probably alone.

                Vesper has always shown an interest in fashion though her tastes seem to be a bit more edgy and less classic than Carrie’s personal taste. Carrie invites her daughter to accompany her one weekend to a job at a client’s home. Things go well and they finish the job in good spirits.

                “Alright, I have one more appointment in the center of town. Let’s go,” Carrie says cheerfully.

                “That’s okay mom, you go on ahead. I’ll see you back at the house,” Vesper replies looking off at something Carrie doesn’t see.

                 What Carrie missed was her client’s brother. He had just walked out of the house and Vesper couldn’t help but notice his good looks. She introduced herself and they began talking. Finally, as the sun started to set, she declared that she was starving and suggested they get some food at the old diner. 

                  They ate and laughed and had a fantastic time. Besides her slight crush on Antwan, Thaddeus was the first guy that she really liked. When they left the diner, she could feel him looking at her and she liked the way it felt. Even though he was older, she couldn’t help hoping he was interested too.

                 Across town, Verne was walking Rump. He had planned a different sort of day but by the time he woke up, ate, showered, got dressed, and got Rump ready to go, it had been later than he had thought. So just a walk it was. Twinbrook really was a beautiful town. He didn’t think he really ever took the time to appreciate the views but he was going to try to stop taking so many things for granted. He had learned in his short time on this planet that life was short and fleeting.

                 “Oh my God! Really! Can’t you knock,” Vesper shouted as Verne walked in on her in the shower. He quickly turned tail and ran. Seeing his sister naked had not been in his to-do list for his life.

                 After her interrupted shower, Vesper met Patty at the salon. Today was her mother’s day off so, hopefully, her plan would go off without a hitch.

                “Wow, you’re so big,” Vesper exclaimed.

                “Um…thanks,” Patty sighed. Vesper was rather clueless about diplomacy.

                “Can I, can I feel it?”

                Patty nodded her approval and Vesper leaned in to feel the little parasite. She felt the baby kick and grimaced at the idea of it waging war. She glanced up and, to her surprise, saw that Patty was ecstatic, near tears really.

                “What is it,” Vesper asked, concerned for her friend’s mental well being.

                “It’s just that I am so happy. Even though Cary left me, this baby is my real family. I can’t wait to meet it.”

                 After the emotional outburst on the sidewalk, Vesper walked in and handed over some allowance to the tattoo artist. She quickly explained what she wanted. Unfortunately, during that time, Patty went into labor and had to leave. By the time Vesper was done, there still had been no word on the baby so she decided to go out and celebrate in her own way. When she finally arrived home, her father was waiting for her.

                “Vesper, where have you been,” he started, worried tone creeping into his voice.

                ‘Wait a minute, what are you wearing? And, heaven forbid, is that, is that a tattoo,” he yelled.

                Without waiting for an explanation, he sent her to her room. She didn’t get a chance to explain that the sparkly stars were in honor of her sister but, knowing her dad, it probably wouldn’t make a difference.

                 With so many birthdays coming up, Shane quickly contacted the contractor who had originally done the house. He had some money saved up and wanted to get working on it some more before Verne took over. The least he could do was make sure his family was well taken care of. Soon, the house was starting to look like more than a box. They still had a lot to go, but, finally, it was starting to look like home.

                 Shane’s birthday was the first to arrive. Carrie surprised him with a party at Old Ebbitt’s where he proposed so long ago. A feeling of peace washed over him as he watched his family and friends cheer him on for the next chapter of his life. It was only after the sparkles wore off and everyone dispersed for dancing that he began to feel worried.

                 “Hey you, come here,” he whispered to his wife, pulling her into a slow dance.

                She rested her head on his shoulder and they danced silently for a few moments.

                “Can you still love an old man like me,” he said, looking into her eyes.

                “Don’t you forget Shane, I’ll be right behind you. Besides, there has never been anyone else for me. Not since you stammered your way into my heart to ask about prom and got arrested in the process.”

                She held his face and kissed him deeply, showing rather than telling him how much she truly loved him.

                 She was right though. Soon it was her turn. This time, it was only family that gathered at the house. Though she had started working in the fashion business, her role and true career had always been a wife and a mother and she couldn’t imagine celebrating anywhere but home. Gene was there as well, her and Tanner finally making their relationship public. And one random party crasher who didn’t even bother to pretend to celebrate with them.

                 After she blew out her candles, she found her sister and sat talking with her about all the things they had done in their lives. Dorothy had recently lost her husband, and though she had her children and a grandchild, she still wasn’t happy. Carrie tried to show her how great life had been and how blessed they both were but, as always, Dorothy was never happy unless she had something to complain about.

                 Both Shane and Carrie continued in their careers after becoming elders. They found that neither of them was ready for retirement yet. Shane was a worried as ever about providing for his family after he was gone and Carrie just couldn’t stand the empty house while the kids were at school.

                “So, I need a makeover. People are making fun of me for my clothes,” said Sondra Sergeant.

                “Is this woman kidding me? Didn’t she scream at me about my horrid fashion sense and blame that for Uvie’s disappearance. Does she not remember me,” Carrie can’t believe this woman. So she does what anyone in her position would do. She makes her look like a fool and gets a good laugh out of it.

                 Finally it came time for the twins’ birthday. Carrie decided that, once again, home was the place to be. She made sure to invite Cary, Verne’s cousin and best friend and Layla, his girlfriend. Carrie didn’t know that Layla was only a crush, whoops. She also invited Patty, Vesper’s best friend, and Thaddeus, some boy Vesper had mentioned a few times. Then, of course, family as well. All in all, it was going to be a big party.

                Layla was the first to arrive. And arrive she did, decked out in a wedding dress. A similar dress to the one that Carrie had worn when she got married.

                “Um, Layla, you look, uh, nice,” Verne stammered. “Got a big event after the party?” He found that he couldn't quite stop looking at her boobs.

                 “Oh, no silly. I’m just ready to get married. Don’t you become of age today,” she smiled coyly.

                 That caught his attention! Verne fought really hard to keep his mouth from dropping open. She’s nuts! He had to figure out how to let her down lightly and figured that, since they had never dated, telling her that they were just friends would be the obvious way to do this.

               

                Layla did not take the “just friends” speech very well, no matter how true it was. She had never given him the time of day in high school but, suddenly, that didn’t seem to matter now. Cary got a huge laugh out this but Verne wasn’t sure how to react. So he just shrugged his shoulders and got some turkey. 

                  Not that any of it mattered. Layla quickly moved on and began dancing with Cary. Patty looked on, unsure of how to feel. Cary was her ex-boyfriend and her son’s father and, to see him dancing with another girl, right in front of her, was painful. She quickly moved to another room so as to avoid him. Another oversight on Carrie’s part. “How am I supposed to keep everyone straight,” she bemoaned!

                 Vesper, meanwhile, was chatting with Thaddeus.

                “You came,” she smiled.

                “Of course. You wanna dance?”

                 “Um, there’s just something I have to do first,” she was ready to blow out her candles and officially become a young woman before her father found out that she and Thaddeus, who was a full-fledged adult, were more than just friends. No need having the cops arrive on a birthday.

                 Of course, after she blew out her candles, it was Verne’s turn. Layla was mysteriously missing from the celebrations for him. Verne guessed that clapping for him as he blew out his candles might have been too much for her.

                 The twins stood side by side, for the first time realizing that soon, they would be living apart. Vesper wanted to get out, travel to Egypt, work on her art and do things with her life. Verne wanted to stay home and make a difference. He knew he needed to get his PI license first but he was ready. 

                 They couldn’t help thinking that, for the first time, neither knew what to expect for their next birthday.

Chapter 2.13                                                                                                                                      Chapter 3.2