Gen 4 Chapter 9: My Mom, the rebel...

I haven't decided if my whole family is weird or if it's just me.

Take Puzzle, for instance. He likes to sleep in other people's beds.

He especially likes Nemo's bed and Nemo keeps complaining to me about that. Like I'm supposed to do something about it? I don't know. I think he should just share the bed with Puzzle... I mean, Puzzle is a little odd and used to be imaginary, but it's not like he's a serial killer or anything.

As far as we know.



Maybe I shouldn't have said that... Nemo is a little obsessed about Death right now! He tried talking to Dad about it, but Dad is mostly wondering if Nemo will ever graduate.

I know where Dad's coming from! Nemo hardly ever goes to school and he's exhausted when he does go since he refuses to sleep with Puzzle.



Dad did manage to make himself useful in other ways, though! He fixed the sink. Mom says that he used to fix things for her all of the time but this house is so new that not much has gone wrong yet. I think Dad liked getting the old wrench out again.

It's good for elders to feel useful, even if they've lived way past their useful years.

Not that I would ever tell Dad that. I don't think he'd take it the right way.



Mom has a tattoo from way back when Sebastian was born. She suddenly decided that she wanted to get another one!

I just don't know what's gotten into my parents lately. It's like they want to be all young again or something. Maybe it's a old-life crisis? They're too old for a mid-life crisis. I think.

Still, it would be pretty fun if Dad suddenly went out and got an earring or Mom started trying to be a cougar.



So I took Mom to the salon where I've gotten my tattoos. I mean, if she's going to be all crazy about stuff all of a sudden, I figure she should at least be supervised!

The Ariel who's a tattoo artist wasn't there. I kind of miss him. That Jo girl wasn't there either, so there was no audience for my music. I decided not to play.

And then it all got to be too much for Mom. I guess it takes a lot of energy to be the hip, young mom!



Meanwhile, Puzzle was hanging around in his underwear. Nemo called to complain about it. Like that's the weirdest thing to happen today?

But I think we might be a weird family.



So I went home to talk to Puzzle about personal boundaries. Not that I really care, but I suppose someone needs to teach him the social stuff.

I think it should be Sebastian since he's the one who brought Puzzle over into the real world. But Sebastian is still to busy mooning over Arvid.

Except that Arvid is homeless now! I'll bet it's because he has too many girlfriends and boyfriends. It must take a lot of money to woo that many people. Sebastian should find someone else to settle down with, I think.

I'll cut him some slack, though, since Arvid is super old and will probably die soon.

Which will probably throw Nemo for a loop. He's so touchy!



Dad tried to cook dinner while Mom was passed out at the salon. I don't think it went well.

I wonder if I can walk through objects. That would be a cool power.



Mom finally did wake up long enough to get a tattoo from that lady who did my last one. She got wings in honor of Nuthatch. He was our bird. I don't think I ever told you his name.

He was Mom's bird, really. She brought him from our old town. I wonder where she got him.



****************
A/N: This is a super random chapter, I know. It's mostly to finish up some pictures that I've had hanging around. Also, I'm writing this from our temporary home at my in-laws while I'm getting the kids ready for bed. So a little distracted today! Still, it does set up a bit for future events. I also noticed that Zeke is already 108! My life span is set for 100... apparently, he's just going to live forever!

Outtakes

Poor Nemo. No place to sleep.



Seriously guys, it's just a bird.



Ariel really wanted to pet this wild horse. She followed it around for hours, trying to make friends. But no matter what she did, it still hated her.



Awww... Nemo finally found somewhere to sleep!



Hi VJ! Always nice to see you! You died too young, but I think Zeke has added your extra years to his lifespan!