4.41 Meet The Parents

**Warning: Language, long**

Ok, so I normally do my authors note at the end, but it would feel like I was interrupting something. A little disclaimer, I know nothing about chemistry and just googled 'corrosive chemicals' - you'll know what bit I'm on about. Enjoy!

  "I told him." Elise fumed. "I told him he liked her, but rather than admit that he has to be a baby and turn it into a fight."
  "Chill. We called it." Arlandria handed Elise the lit cigarette, blowing the smoke from her lungs long and slow. "What's it to you anyhow?" She asked, watching the smoke dance away on the light evening breeze.
  "Well she's going to be round my house all the time now, isn't she? I can handle Autumn, you just need to shout loud enough and Kaity will come and ground him... But Trisha?" Elise took a long drag on the cigarette before passing it back to her friend.
  "Yeah, she's something else." Arlandria yawned, wiping a stray flake of ash from her top.
  "Entirely." Elise agreed. The girls sat in silence for a minute while they passed the cigarette back and forth, before Arlandria finished it and flicked the butt into the bushes nearby. "Did Josh ask you to prom?" Elise broke the silence.
  "Yeah. Thanks for setting that up. Do you think he'll put out?" Arlandria grinned.
  "Ew!" Elise made a face. "I don't wanna know. 'Sides, we're fourteen..." She trailed off, not really knowing how to finish that sentance.
  "So what? Age is just a number, when you're ready, you're ready. That's what Mrs. Peterson said in sex ed."
  "Yeah, but I think she meant so we didn't feel like we had to have sex just because we'd turned sixteen." Elise pointed out, staring at the ground infront of her. Arlandria kept quiet, sensing her friend was a little uneasy talking about this subject.
  "We should probably go home." She mused. "I wonder if Trisha will be at yours making kissy face with Tummy." She giggled.
  "I doubt it." Elise's eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh! I bet he's keeping it a secret! I can't wait to tell Kaity." She burst out laughing. "When the twins got boyfriends, she organised this whole 'meet the family' thing where all the cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents and great grandparents came over."
  "Please invite me!" Arlandria cackled, imagining the awkward introductions already.
  "Maybe Josh will invite you and you'll get to meet the family too." Elise winked, before jumping off the wall.
  "Hah!" Arlandria laughed, joining her friend at ground level. "Can't see me being accepted into the Lansing family all to well, can you?"

***

  "Don't you dare!" Autumn shouted, grabbing Elise's arm and pulling her back towards him.
  "Ow! That hurt!" Elise turned to face him. "She's gotta find out at some point. Unless you're embarrassed? Are you embarrassed of your girlfriend?"
  "No, I just don't want to tell my parents yet. We've been dating six hours, it's hardly serious."
  "But she's your first love, Autumn!" Elise mocked.
  "Shut up!" He hissed, yanking on her arm.
  "Stop doing that! It hurts!" Elise kicked him in the shin and he pulled her arm again in retaliation. "You're gunna break my arm!"
  "Stop being a baby." He accused, finally letting go. Elise instantly rubbed her wrist.
  "I hope that leaves a mark. You're gunna be in so much trouble." She spat.
  "Oh, and I wonder what your dear Papi would think of you smoking, drinking and doing ecstacy." Autumn smirked as Elise's face fell.

  "How- You- How did you know?" She stammered quietly.
  "I know everything." Autumn replied cryptically.
  "Are you psychic like your parents?" She whispered.
  "No. I just have eyes everywhere." The pair fell into silence, Elise absent-mindedly rubbing her wrist while Autumn smirked at her, each studying the other carefully.

  "You wouldn't, would you?" Elise breathed uncertainly.
  "That depends. Fair's fair, a secret for a secret."
  "It was just one time, Autumn."
  "So? Do you think that will matter? He can forget about the drinking because that doesn't affect you as a vampire anyway, and the smoking... Well, who ever heard of a vampire with cancer? But ecstacy's different."
  "I won't do it again. It made me really sick." Autumn just shrugged and continued staring into her eyes. "I won't breathe a word about Trisha." She promised finally.
  "Then your secret's safe." Autumn agreed, turning to walk towards his room.
  "But Autumn." He turned back to face her. "I'm not just being a bitch, there really is something weird about her. If my Papi ever agrees to teach me to read minds-"
  "Leave it, Ellie. I'm old enough to make my own decisions about who I date, and I don't need you reading her mind."
  "But-"
  "And that goes for anyone else I date after her." He finished, heading to his room and closing the door behind him.

***

  "What do you think?" Kaity asked, eyeing herself critically in the mirrored walls.
  "I think I prefer the last one, but honestly you should be a wedding dress model or something because they all look so amazing on you." Shaena responded, tempted to join her friend in trying on dresses.
  "Stop saying that!" Kaity laughed. "But I prefer the last one too. This one's too... I dunno. Something."
  "It's too something?"
  "Yeah, you know what I mean."

  "Though I do like the colour of this one better." Kaity added, turning to face her cousin.
  "Yes, that colour suits you better, I think the other was too pink."
  "Really?!" Kaity scolded, Shaena giggled. "Hun, there's no such thing as too pink."
  "Ok, sorry." Shaena laughed. "This lighter pink looks better on you though."
  "No, this shade is just more wedding-y." Kaity corrected, turning back to the mirror again and sighing. "I really want that first one. It was so perfect."
  "But it was two hundred simoleons over your budget." Shaena reminded her.
  "I know, I know." Kaity smoothed the dress down and sighed again. "What do you think I'd have to do to get Winter to give me some more money for the dress?"
  "Kaity, he's been more than generous, don't put him on the spot."
  "But I'm his princess." She pouted, turning back to face Shaena as her phone started ringing on the sofa. "Is that him?"
  "Yes." Shaena replied, looking at the screen before handing it to her.

  "Baaaabyyyy?" Kaity put on her sickly sweetest voice as she answered the phone.
  "Oh no. Now what?" Winter joked on the other end.
  "Is there any movement on the budget for my dress?" Shaena shook her head disbelievingly, hearing her friends request.
  "What kind of movement?" Winter sighed.
  "Uhm... Two hundred simoleons..." Kaity replied sheepishly. Winter sighed again on the other end, and there was a pause. Kaity bit her lip in anticipation.
  "No, Kaity. Not unless you take the two hundred from something else."
  "Oh Winterrrr!" Kaity whined.
  "No." He reiterated.
  "Well where am I supposed to magic two hundred simoleons from then?!"
  "The same place you expected me to, I suppose? And don't make me out to be the bad guy either. You've got more than enough money to buy a dress that you'll only wear for a few hours. We're flying your entire family out of the country, Kaity. We have a budget we need to stick to."
  "Fine. Whatever. What did you want?" Kaity sighed, Shaena stifled a giggled at the grimace on her face.
  "Well, I rang to tell you that I think we've worked out that stone pillar and how it works, so we can sit down and talk about that later, but I've got to stay a couple extra-"
  "Are you kidding me, Winter?!" Kaity cut her fiance off angrily. "Your son is bringing his first girlfriend over for dinner tonight, or did you forget you have a family?! What, are you not going to be there for dinner now? You can't spend all your life at work!"
  "I know, I've not forgotton! I'll be home for dinner, I promise. And I won't work any extra for the rest of the week, and I'll even come home early one day and sweep you off your feet. That ok?"
  "No. It's not ok, Winter. Don't you remember last time you stayed late? You said you'd only do a couple hours and didn't get home until gone midnight."

  "Kaity..." Shaena tried to remind her friend they were in public, but all she got was a hand in her face shutting her up.
  "Kaity, last time I stayed late one of the lab technicians broke a test tube of chloroproponic acid and I had to help clean up. I promise I'll be home for dinner."
  "And what if you're not?"
  "What do you mean? I will be."
  "Well, if you're not, how will you make it up to me?"
  "I don't know, but I won't give you an extra two hundred simoleons to spend on the dress."
  "Oh, whatever. Bye."
  "Love you-" Kaity cut him off by hanging up the phone.

  "Shae, we're going. I'm not in the mood for this anymore." Kaity announced, heading towards the dressing room.

***

  "Mum, this is Trisha." Autumn introduced the pair, resting an arm around his girlfriends waist to show support.
  "Hello, Trisha! It's great to finally meet you." Kaity smiled warmly, welcoming the girl into her home.
  "Thank you Miss Mattell, I feel like I know you already." Trisha smiled. Kaity had a tingle run up her spine at those words, it really did feel like they'd already met, but she shrugged it off.
  "You can call me Kaity." She insisted. "My partner is working late, but he assures me he'll be here for dinner, Jaydean and Sophie, Autumn's sisters, you know them?" Trisha nodded her head yes as a response. "They're up in their room playing with makeup or something." Kaity looked around, not really knowing what to say. "This is Elise." She added, spotting the girl sulking behind her. "You already know her, though. My mum and nan are in the next room. Mum! Nan! Come meet Trisha!" Kaity called the last bit, and smiled awkwardly at Trisha as she waited for them to come through and hopefully save her from small talk. She had to remember to punish Winter for abandoning her later. He knew how much she hated things like this, she never knew what to say without embarrassing her kids.

  "WITCH!!" Lisa shouted as she spotted the unmistakable sim before her.
  "Trisha.... How....?" Taylor gasped to herself in shock. How was this possible? Trisha died of old age while the triplets were still in elementary school, how could she be standing in the room again?
  "Nan, what the hell?!" Kaity turned, appauled by her familys response to her sons girlfriend.
  "Hello, Lisa. Great to see you again, Taylor." Trisha took a few steps forward, flashing a decievingly warm smile to a very confused Elise.
  "What are you doing here?" Taylor demanded, putting on a brave face as she wrapped an arm around her mother.
  "What, you expected me to let you raise our children and never visit? You underestimated me."

  "I knew you were a psycho." Elise accused, not fully understanding what was going on.
  "Your mother sends her best." Trisha responded half-heartedly.
  "Will someone tell me what the f*ck is going on here?" Kaity demanded.
  "Trisha is your father, Kaity!" Taylor explained.
  "What?!" Autumn took a step away from Trisha, confused and repulsed.

  "What are you on about?" Kaity asked, confused. "How can she be my father? She's the same age as my youngest son."
  "It's her, it's her, it's her." Lisa repeated as she broke down crying. Taylor cradled her mother in her arms.
  "I don't know Kaity, please just get her out of here and we'll talk about it."
  "Oh, Kaity." Trisha smiled. "My beautiful youngest daughter. You're very special to me, you know? And you could be so powerful if you'd come with me and let me teach you."
  "Get out of my house!" Kaity shouted, Trisha just laughed, so Kaity grabbed her by the hair and started pulling her towards the door.

  "Mum! What the f*ck? Get off her!" Autumn still wasn't sure what to believe, but knew he didn't want his night to end like this.
  "Let her, Autumn." Elise hissed, bareing her fangs at Trisha in pain on the floor. "I've not finished my feeding lessons, Patricia. I don't mind you being my first live trial."
  "Autumn, I'll explain later. She's not your girlfriend, she's not an innocent little fourteen-year-old human, she's a centuries old witch who has tormented our family for generations. She's your grandfather, and don't say you don't believe me because you've always known I had two female parents." Kaity began to drag the witch towards the door again.

  "ENOUGH!" Trisha screamed, before disappearing into thin air, leaving a shaken and confused family in her wake.

***

  "What happened?"  Winter asked, confused, after returning home and finding the house quiet.
  "Trisha." Lisa sniffed, wiping another tear away.
  "She was Kaity's father." Taylor explained.
  "What?! Where is everyone?"
  "Autumn's in his room, bless him, I think he's blaming himself. I think the twins are with him. Shaena and Josh are still at Leightons, Kaity didn't want to disturb them-"
  "I assume she didn't want to disturb me, either?" Winter cut Taylor off, annoyed that his fiance hadn't called him home.
  "No, sorry. She went up to your room and cried for a while, then she came down and said she was going for a run to clear her head. I think she went to see Bonnie. Rose is on her way over to put some protective wards on the house."

  "Kaity went to the graveyard, alone?" Winter asked as the pieces of the puzzle slotted together in his mind.
  "Yes, I think so." Taylor looked worried at the look on Winter's face. "Why?"
  "She's not safe!" He replied, grabbing Kaity's car keys off the hook on the wall and running out the door.

***


 

Autumn felt violated. This was somehow his fault, he knew it. He'd put his entire family in danger, and the worst part was that Elise had warned him about her only a few weeks before. Why did she have to be right? When this had blown over she was going to be insufferable.

  "Knock knock." Elise said softly as she let herself in to his room, closing the door behind her.
  "Go away." He muttered half-heartedly.
  "I came to see if you were ok. Jaydean and Sophie said you wouldn't let them in-"
  "So you thought I'd let you in?" Autumn questioned. "I want to be alone."
  "Nobody wants to be alone." Elise replied, not moving from the doorway. He didn't respond, and she eventually sat beside him on the bed.

  "Wanna talk about it?" Elise asked after some minutes. Autumn just grunted, and they fell back into silence.
  "What was it about her?" He asked, finally.
  "What do you mean?"
  "You said there was something weird about her. What gave you that feeling?"
  "Oh, I dunno." Elise shrugged. "She just seemed a bit strange. Like, just not normal."
  "Like she was a reincarnation of my evil witch grandfather?"
  "No, I have to say I never saw that one coming." Elise chuckled.

  "My family is so f*cked up." Autumn sighed, turning to face her slightly.
  "Can't argue with that." Elise smiled. "But at least living here is never boring." The friends laughed a little, thinking back on the bizarre events of the evening.
  "I'm sorry I'm such a d*ck to you. You don't deserve it really."
  "Don't worry about it, it's just hormones. I'm the same to you." Elise smiled, and Autumn leaned over to brush the hair out of her face.

  "What are you doing?" Elise breathed, leaning into his embrace.
  "I don't know." Autumn admitted, before kissing her softly. "But it feels right."

***

  "I bet you would have known what to do." Kaity sighed, absent-mindedly plucking blades of grass from the ground as she spoke. "Oh, I started trying on dresses today. I wish you could have been there, just the three of us like old times. I found one that was perfect, but Winter wouldn't let me have the extra money to buy it." She sighed, ignoring the screeching of a car breaking just down the road. "I still think about you every day. Elise looks so much like you, and she's a stubborn cow like you as well." She laughed to herself, remembering when she and Bonnie were teenagers themselves.

  "Kaity!" Winter shouted as he ran towards her.
  "Great." Kaity sighed, recognising the voice. "When I want him home he's working, and when I want to be alone he comes to annoy me. Why doesn't he understand that sometimes I want some girl-time with my bestie?"
  "Kaity, we need to get out of here." Winter told her as he came to a stop beside her.
  "No, you need to get out of here. I assume my mum told you what happened tonight? When bad stuff happens I want to talk it out with Bonnie, and you know that." She replied, refusing to look up at him. "Plus, I'm still mad at you."

  "Kaity, we don't have time for this." Winter sighed, grabbing her arm and tugging gently to try and get her to stand.
  "No, I don't have time for you. I want to talk to Bonnie, there's a lot I have to tell her and I don't want you invading our privacy."
  "Kaity. I'm serious, please. I'll explain in the car."

  "No, I'm sorry, but I never get time to just sit and think, what with the kids and work and the wedding. You go away all the time, and don't have to think about running the house or forcing the kids to do homework or anything like that, you have time to be alone and think about whatever's on your mind, so let me do it for once."
  "Kaity, please, stop being difficult."
  "I'm not being difficult!"
  "You came to the graveyard, on your own, at night, after finding out there was an evil witch in town."
  "Oh chill out! I'm a big girl, I can look after myself."

  "Kaity, the stone pillar. Someone had to put the magic in there. When you tried to have a vision about it, you formed a connection, and the magic stored inside transferred to you. That's how you became a fairy."
  "But who would keep their magic in a stone in such a public place?" Kaity asked, calming down.
  "I don't think they were storing it, I think they left it there for you to find."
  "Well who-"
  "Trisha." Winter answered, cutting her off.
  "Oh." Kaity breathed, eyes wide.

 Sarcastic slow clapping sounded behind them, and they both turned to see the source.
  "Well done, Winter. I always knew you'd choose wisely, Kaity, and that you have. Pretty and clever."
  "What are you doing here?" Kaity demanded, scrambling to her feet.
  "Well, you kicked me out of your house, so I came to see my Jackson."
  "My grandfather? Look you obsessive little bitch, why don't you just leave my family alone?

  "Jackson was my first love, but he abandoned me. He walked all over me then moved away for a better education. How do you think that made me feel? I came to visit him and caught him kissing that Lisa. I told myself to forget about him, but I couldn't. He was the love of my life and we were meant to be together. I decided to move here. There was no way I'd win him back if he never saw me again, but he was faithful to your grandmother. That was when I realised I didn't need him, I didn't need love, I needed power. I could be more powerful than any other sim in history, and all it would involve was patience."

   "You bitch!" Kaity lunged forward, but Winter grabbed her, pulling her back. "All I am to you is a f*cking lab rat?! You did this to me! What are you going to do now? Kill me?" Winter tightened his grip on her, watching the witch carefully incase she made any movements.
  "I won't let you near her. No matter what you do, you'll have to kill me to get to her, and I'm sure you know what happens when you kill a genie." Winter threatened.

  "Hmm, now this is interesting. Yes, you've got a good catch here, Kaity. Hold on to this one." Trisha took a few steps closer and Kaity swiped at her with her hand, but she'd kept enough distance to be safe. "No, I'm not going to kill you. The original plan was to take your powers once you'd got the hang of them. Your psychic powers are ready for harvesting, and you've always been a natural at your fairy powers, which I always found strange as you were born a witch but can't even conjure a simple apple."
  "What do you want?" Kaity demanded, finally relaxing and letting Winter hold her.
  "Well, a psychic fairy witch is one thing, but then, just as I was thinking it was all over because I'd picked the wrong sister, you met a genie."
  "No!" Kaity shouted, swiping at her again.
  "Yes." Trisha smiled. "A wingless fairy witch genie, now that's an offer too good to pass up."
  "Stay away from my son!" Kaity cried, Winter considered letting her attack the woman, but he wasn't sure it would help.
  "Well, who knows? Maybe now he's single again he'll shack up with your pet vampire?" Trisha laughed at the tears of anger rolling down Kaity's cheeks.

  "NO!" Kaity screamed, lunging forward one final time as Trisha disappeared before their eyes. "Stay away from my son!" She repeated as the electric sparkles fizzled out and Winter's grip on her loosened.

  "Winter..." Kaity whispered, turning in his arms. "Winter, what will we do?" Winter looked into her tear-filled eyes, they were begging him to fix it all, just like he was wishing he could, but deep down they both knew there was nothing he could do.

   "Lets go home." He replied, as rain began to fall around them. He wrapped an arm around her, and pulled her close. "Forget about her. If you let it play on your mind then she's won. We'll train Autumn up and make him more powerful than she expects. We'll win this."
  "I hope it works." Kaity whispered, resting her head on his shoulder as they walked towards the car.