Chapter 57: Mistletoe Kisses

   Ryder placed his hands on his hips and smiled, today was going to be a great day.  It was his birthday.  He didn't care much about all the birthday fuss, he was just happy that he had successfully graduated, with honors even!  His Aunt Lia and cousin Alyssa were more than happy to make a lot of fuss and noise with cheers and party horns for him though.

 

    He really didn't understand why they did so, he only grew a little bit taller, that was all.

 

   He was already signed up at the local University for business classes.  Ryder still wasn't fond of dumpster diving, but he had gained a large following of people who had begged him to keep up with his adventures through his blog.  He decided taking a few classes to figure out how to make money at blogging was the way to go.  And if he had to do the occasional dumpster dive because his fans found his pictures hilarious, then that is what he would do.

   He shrugged.  Well, that and he couldn't think of a better idea. 

 

   A couple of weeks later, the new house was finished and ready to be moved into.  His mother was deliriously happy to have a house that was intended just for her, and his Aunt Lia had decided she wouldn't bother to unpack all of her or Monty's things since they planned to leave just as soon as Alyssa graduated.

 

~<>~


  Ryder frowned at the amount of homework he had to do that night, then sighed.  His University professors were so boring at times, that he found it so hard to stay awake.  However did they manage in the business world?  He snorted.  They must have been paid to shut up.

  While University had its challenges, he also found that it had its perks.  One of the main perks had a name, Cherie Rosseau.  He even loved the way her name sounded, and her French accent...  He liked how genuinely kind she was, and funny.  Oh and he loved her laugh, it was charming.  He sighed gloomily.  Yeah, he was pathetic, mooning over her like a highschool kid.

    He had felt a bit tongue tied whenever he had tried to talk to her in the past, but he was determined that today he would get the words out.  Instead of standing around and talking to her about inane things like the weather, or the price of tuna in the stores, he was going to finally ask her out on a date.  He was pleasantly surprised and thrilled when she actually agreed to go with him to the Spring Festival.

  "So you want to be a doctor?" he asked her as they headed for the Festival.

  She nodded.  "Yes, my Maman died of cancer when I was a young teen. I swore to myself that when I grew up I would do whatever it took to become a docteur, to get into cancer research so that nobody else's Maman would be taken from them because of cancer."

  "I'm sorry for your loss."  Ryder said quietly.

  "Merci." she said gratefully.  "It was a long time ago, but I still miss her."

  Ryder thought about her earlier statement.  "You'd do whatever it takes to be a doctor?" he questioned her.

  "Within reason, oui.  I've been holding down two jobs while going to University.  Oh look Ryder!  It's one of those relationship fortune things.  Let's try it out!" she said mischievously.

    He looked at her.  "Seriously?"

  She lightly punched him on the shoulder.  "Absolument!  What, you think jest because I am studying to be a docteur I don't believe in non-scientific things?"

  "Well, it is unusual." he said cautiously.

  "I am an unusual woman.  Now let us see here..." she studied all the knobs and dials.

 

   "Oh, I see how to do it!" she said excitedly.  She turned to look at him, and Ryder swore she was an angel from above.  She just glowed.  "Are you ready?"

  "Let's do it." he said.

 
  They both watched the lights run around and around until they all lit up, and then a slip of paper was spit out.  They both looked at each other.  "You read it first."  Ryder said.  "It was your idea."  She grabbed the slip of paper and silently read it.  "Well?"

  "It says that you and I shall have twenty bebes together."

  Ryder backed away.  "Wh-wh-what?!  Did you say twenty?  Babies?"  Ryder felt faint.  He liked babies well enough, but twenty?  How could it be possible that he would have more children than his father?

  "Your face Ryder, it is priceless!" she laughed.  "It is a joke, yes?"

  He let out a whoosh of relief.  "A joke!  Whew!  You had me worried there for a moment."

  "I thought you said this machine was silly?"

  "I never said that."  he defended himself.  "I said it was not scientifical."  She giggled at his use of a made up word.  "Stranger things than that have happened to my family, so I am not so skeptical of things as other people might be."

  Cherie was intrigued. "Really?  What sort of things?"

  Ryder smiled at her.  "Things for another day.  Now what did that paper actually say?"  She held it out to him so he could read it.

   "I think it is promising, no?" She said with a shy smile.

  "Yes, very promising."  They grinned at each other.



~<>~



   Alder was aiming more for a kiss on the lips, but Spring kissed him on the cheek instead.

 

  "Hey!" he complained.  "That's not a kiss!"

  Spring leveled a look at him.  "What did you do now?"

  Alder feigned innocence.  "I have no idea what you are talking about."

  "I know that mistletoe kiss trick of yours Alder.  You only use it when you've done something that you think will upset me.  So, what have you done now?"  She tapped her toe impatiently as she waited for his answer.

  Alder gave his best pitiful me look.

 

  "Well, Love, see it was like this.  There's these two girls..."  Alder launched into his complex, extravagant explanation, punctuated with a lot of hands motions.

  Spring heard him out, and when he had finished, she said, "What the..."

 

  "...so let me get this straight.  You expect me to believe that Ryder, our Ryder, loves both of these girls, and you just wanted to help him figure out which one he likes best, so you invited both of them to live here.  With us.  Without talking it over with anyone?"

  Alder thought about it for a minute.  Then he shrugged sheepishly.  "Yep, that's about it."

 

   "Alder, are you out of..."

  "Hey, I was trying to be helpful.  Both girls have had a really rough life, and they needed some place safe to stay..."

  "They will not be safe here."  Spring muttered darkly.

  "I'm not interested in them at all, " he lied, well, more of a half truth than a full lie.  Both of them were great looking, and if he wasn't a changed guy and all, he might have been more interested in them.  As it was, they had needed a place to stay, so he had offered, admittedly without thinking about it first.  The offer just flowed out of his mouth, and once said, what he could do about it?  He couldn't jerk their hope away like that.  He just needed Spring to be reasonable about it all.  Spring wasn't looking so reasonable.  He sighed.

  She glared.  "Alder, I..."

  Alder cut her off.  "If you don't believe me, then ask the boy, he'll tell you!"

  "Really?" she said skeptically.

  "Really, scout's honor and everything." he swore.

 

    "You were never a scout Alder, so I am unlikely to believe that.  You say that Ryder will verify it?"

  Alder nodded his head yes vigorously.  Absolutely the boy would help him out, he just needed to get a hold of Ryder before Spring did, so he knew exactly what he was swearing to.  "Of course he will." he said solemnly, putting on his best you-can-trust-me look.  "If he does, you'll let them stay?  They are foreigners you know, and..."

  She looked at him dubiously.  "If Ryder verifies what you are telling me, then fine, they can stay.  I will not stand in the way of my oldest son's happiness.  You better not be telling me a story Alder Kahekili, or I will be forced to do something that I won't regret."

  "Umm," he said hesitantly.  "Isn't that supposed to be, will regret?"

  "Nope," she answered cheerfully.  "If you are trying to get two of your mistresses to live under my roof, then I will not regret a single thing that I do to you in return."

  Alder gulped.  "Duly noted Love."

  It was a good thing that he really wasn't involved in those two.  He was trying to help his son, Ryder hadn't so much as had one little date with someone his whole life.  Or one kiss.  Or even a crush!  Alder found it disturbing, and he decided to help him along.  Really the boy was an adult now, and way too fond of his studying and books.

  How boring and dull, and not what he wanted for his son.  So, what better way to liven things up than to have two beautiful girls live with them?  Even his son wouldn't be able to ignore them if they lived in the same house.  It was just a bonus that he helped them out at the same time too.  He didn't have to worry about himself too much, for he was changed man.  He was pretty sure anyway.  If he wasn't, it was for sure that he was a dead man, by his lovely wife's own hands too.  He grimaced, really he was too young to die.  So he had better get a hold of Ryder and fast.  Lucky for him, Spring was on her way to work and wouldn't have time to contact Ryder first.

  As soon as she left, he grabbed his cell phone and dialed.

  It rang twice before Ryder answered, "Dad, I've got class in ten minutes, I don't really have time to talk."

  "Well, then just listen instead, that will work much better." 

 Alder heard his son sigh.  "What did you do now Dad?"

  "I don't know why everyone thinks I did something."  Alder said grumpily.

  "Because we know you.  Eight minutes Dad, and I have to go."

  "Well, there were these two girls..." Alder explained, giving Ryder a bit of an abbreviated version since he was pressed for time.

  "You did what?!  You want me to say what!?  Dad, " Alder could hear his son muttering under his breath, "I..."

  "How am I the bad guy?" Alder complained, talking over Ryder.  "I simply offered lodging to Cherie Rosseau, this french girl that was losing her apartment, and to Katarina Borowski, this Russian immigrant who has no money, and both of them had no place to go and suddenly I'm a bad guy!"

  "Did you say Cherie Rosseau?"

  "I did."  Alder said cautiously, not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

   Ryder was silent for a few seconds.  "Okay, I'll talk to Mom, but you have to stop this!  You're the parent, I'm the child.  Remember, we had this conversation when I was twelve years old?"

  "Yeah, yeah, yeah."  Alder said.  "But you'll do it."

  "I said I would.  Now I'm late for class Dad, I gotta let you go."

  "See you tonight."  Alder hung up and grinned.  Mission accomplished.  Now he wondered just what sort of connection his son already had to Cherie Rosseau, since he was almost positive it was the mention of her name that caused Ryder to comply.
 


  Alyssa wasn't feeling well, her back was killing her and she felt a little bit queasy. Paeris had taken the night off from work so that he could go to the Spring dance with her, but she wasn't so sure she was up to it. 

  She made her way outside, she just felt the need to move around, and she knew Paeris would be by soon.   Niall cautiously followed her, afraid to get much closer.  She had already snapped his head off once already, but it wasn't her fault.  He kept hovering over her, driving her crazy.

  Moments later Paeris pulled up in his new car.

 

 

  When the first hard labor contractions hit, Alyssa was glad that she and Paeris had decided to stay at her house and hang out, instead of going to the dance.

 

   The labor was so quick though, Paeris didn't have time to freak out, and Alyssa didn't have time to get to the hospital.  Instead she gave calmly birth right there in the entry way to a little boy that she named Taeryn.
    

 
  Niall arrived home from the dance just in time to have his birthday, and meet the newest member of the family.

 
  Alyssa suddenly realized it was her birthday too, and with Paeris cheering her on (enthusiastically despite being tired from working all day), she grew up.

   Paeris wasted no time in showing his appreciation for the grown up Alyssa.

 
    They just smiled and gazed into each other's eyes for a long time.

 

 Finally Paeris broke the silence.  "Alyssa, you have been my best friend since childhood, my first and only love, would you honor me by becoming my wife?"

  Alyssa smiled at him, a smile full of promise and love.  "Yes!  And yes, yes, yes!" She peppered him with kisses in between yeses, and they broke into laughter.

 

  They were both eager to get started on their lives together.  Paeris suggested marrying right away, and in the morning they could all move into the charming little house he had bought for them.  Alyssa immediately agreed, she did not want to wait another moment to be his wife.

  'We swear by peace and love to stand,
  Heart to Heart and Hand to Hand,

  Mark O Spirit, and hear us now,
  Confirming this our Sacred Vow.'

 

~<>~


  The morning that everyone had left had been fraught with noise and chaos as everyone rushed around.  Then came the rounds of hugs, tears, and goodbyes, as Monty, Lia, Paeris, Alyssa, with little Taeryn drove off in the moving van.  The house had suddenly, been eerily,  silent.  Ryder had never known that his home could be so quiet.

  Several weeks had already gone by, but the house still felt kind of empty. While they had two new roommates to help fill the quietness, Ryder rarely saw them because of his class schedule.  When he returned home, most times they were either already gone, or already in bed sleeping. 

  So he was a bit startled when he actually ran into Cherie in the hallway early one morning.  Life had been crazy busy for both of them ever since their impromtu Festival date. And other than the seeing her in the one class they shared, and meeting for lunch a couple of times a week, he had not been able to see as much of her as he wanted, even if they sort of lived in the same house.  They had been like ships sailing by in the night.

  He started to say something to her, then swallowed his words, feeling a little flustered when he really noticed what she was wearing.  "Cherie." he managed to say in greeting.

 

 
  She smiled at him.  "Ryder." she said in that French accent that he loved.  Funny how he had worried at first that it would be awkward, her living in the same house as him, especially since they had just barely been friends.  He had needlessly worried, there wasn't any awkwardness between them, just a sense of rightness.  She belonged in his house, and he hated that his class schedule took so much of his time.

  Her schedule was even worse than his though.  Not only did she have a full class schedule like he did, but she also worked several hours at the hospital, and she held a second job on top of that.  "That's quite the outfit."

  "Merci, this is my house cleaning uniform.  I work as a maid a couple of mornings a week."

  "In that outfit?"

  She glanced down at her clothes.  "Oui, it is what they call a French maid outfit, no?  If I wear this," she shrugged, "plus the accent, I get more tips."

  "I bet you do."  Ryder said, disgruntled.

  She gave him a look.  "What do you mean by that Ryder?"

 

  "Only that you are very pretty, and I hate the thought of those lechers looking at you."  Ryder answered truthfully.  She tilted her head slightly.  Ryder continued on, nervously.  "I like you a lot Cherie, and I hate that I'm so busy and you're so busy, and I only get to see you a few times during the week, and occasionally here at home, and it's not nearly enough.  I wish..." he trailed off.

  "What do you wish Ryder?" she asked softly.

   "I wish we had more time together, I wish you didn't have to work so hard, but most of all, I wish we were more than just friends."

  She moved in closer to him, "I'd like that too, very much so."

  "Um, which part?"

  She laughed and her eyes sparkled at him.  "All of them of course, especially that last one."

 

  He hesitated for a moment, a bare second, before he gathered up his courage and kissed her softly on the lips.

  

  After their first kiss they stared shyly at each other for a few minutes, neither wanted to break the magical moment.  Finally, Cherie said, "I have to know, your Maman, she says that you love this Katarina, is this true?"

  Ryder stared at her, aghast.  "No!  She's a nice enough girl I suppose, but I'm only interested in you and...how did Mom..."  Ryder groaned.  He somehow knew that covering for his Dad would bite him in the butt, but he had reasoned having Cherie so close would more than make up for it. 

  He had kept things vague and simple when he had talked to his Mom, so that he hadn't lied to her.  He was really interested in one of the roommates, and he had really hoped that she would move in.  It was only Cherie though, not Katarina.  Now how to explain all of that, plus explain his crazy parents and not scare Cherie off?  "Um, well, it's like this.." he started.


_________________________________________________________________

  Notes: Ugh, this chapter was being difficult, lol  How to get all my ideas in without making the story sound stilted, plus I kept changing my mind on things.  For one---Cherie really was their maid (as per Gen6 Hidden Heritage roll--though I made her less pudding like with MC), for a very short time, lol  Ryder captured her heart pretty quickly, and he didn't even need his phone app to do so!  Anyway---I changed my mind and decided that he should meet her at class first---so he would already know that she wanted to be a doctor---but then trying to get that to fit.  Then I decided she should be a roommate too with the other roommate.  I ended up with too many thorny questions I had to answer story wise, lol

  Finally I just said enough with all the rewrites---I am just going to post it, because I am tired of reading it over and over and...well, you get the idea, lol :P 

  As per Gen 5 Miscellaneous fun, which was Runs in the Family, I picked the trait Irresistible.  Both Alder and Lia earned that trait while at University, it was a new trait so I had wanted to see what it was like.  That made it a good choice for the Runs in the Family trait.  Alyssa, Niall, and Ryder were both granted the Irresistible trait when they aged to YA due to their excellent grades! =)  That finishes out Gen 5 goals.

  Ryder is at 9.5 social networking skill, and he is plugging away on the social networking challenges.  The family really has no need for money, so I only have him dumpster dive once or twice a week, because he really does hate it, lol  He gets unhappy and stinky really fast, and he always pukes 2 hours later.

  I was sad to see Monty, Lia, and Alyssa leave.  SP has been keeping them busy though.  Monty/Lia have had one more kid---a girl Cecilia.  Alyssa/Paeris have had 2 more kids, both girls, Silver and Rosina.


  Some outtakes:

   She still can't believe Alder married her. 

 

  Once Spring became an adult, she started acting like a kid, lol
 

  Well, that shut her up, and quick!

 

    Cheesy Photo!

  Um, stray dog?

  For those interested, I put more pics of their new house on the Random Pictures page.  Thanks for reading! =)