Chapter 1.7: Summer in light, and winter in the shade

It's Sam's birthday. This is the first birthday party in the Winter household where non family members have been invited. Sam invited several of her friends; most of her friends were already teenagers and she was the last one to age up. Kayla was allowed to invite friends too. She invites just one, Rufus Nomori. (The boy with pink boots!)

There was one uninvited guest at the party. He wasn't there to celebrate Sam's birthday, but to talk with Silvia about the birthday girl.

Silvia was furious that Basil showed up at her house where her family lived. She wanted him as far away as possible from her daughters. 

However, she had known that Basil would come one day. 

"Silvia, always a pleasure to see you." Basil's low voice smoothly traveled through the room. Everyone elsewas in the living room celebrating Sam's birthday. It was just Basil and Silvia.

"Basil." Silvia coolly nods. "I had been looking for you before. Why do you come now? You aren't welcome here."

Basil is surprised at how levelled Silvia is. He notices that Silvia is no longer a vampire anymore. The Vampire B-gone potion was recently perfected. That issue will be soon taken care of. It's a pity, he thinks. Silvia would have made a good addition to the clan. A much worthier member than those pitiful Blightwoods.

"I had some business to take care of. Business you made for me. You've been busy girl, poking around about my coven." Silvia had been true to her words. She constantly published articles exposing the vampire clans in Grey Meadows. So far the damage to the clans had been minimal, but not negligible.

"Why are you here, Basil?" Silvia gets to the point.

"I came because of your child." It's obvious which one he is referring to.

"Don't you dare touch her! I won't let you near her!" Silvia furiously lashes out.  Silvia had desperately hoped  that Sam wouldn't need to deal with her vampire side at all. Ever since they moved to the new house, Irwin and Silvia had been saving money. They hope to have enough money to buy the vampire B-gone potion by the time Sam becomes a young adult. That way, Sam would never have to fear the sun. 

"Your child is a special one. Have you not noticed? She is a vampire, yet she walks in daylight. She drinks plasma juice, yet has no thirst. She was BORN, not bitten. Vampires are not born. Surely you know that, Silvia, you know so much about us now." Basil stares intently at Silvia. 

Silvia does know. She's constantly researching about vampires and writing about them, it's impossible not to know. She's relieved when she sees Sam playing outdoors in the sun for hours; she flinches whenever she sees Sam snacking on plasma juice. She's constantly asking Sam whether she's thirsty or not. Sam is an anomaly. A growing, vampire child has never existed before. Despite days of researching trying to find some record of a vampire like Sam, nothing showed up. There was nothing.

"We have been looking into the circumstances of her birth. This child may hold the key. We may never have to fear the sun and be slaves to our thirst. She must be taught our ways."  

Silvia shudders in fear. He cannot take her daughter away from her. "Get out," she spits out. Basil doesn't look surprised at her response. There is absolutely no change in his expression.

"We will keep our eyes on your child" Basil says as he disappears.

With Basil gone, Silvia joins the cheering crowd outside. There are too many thoughts swirling in her head for her to properly join the celebration.

As the guests and family cheer, Sam makes her wish and blows out the candles. 

And Sam grows into a teenager. 

After cake, everyone starts dancing to the music. Sam dances with Collin Rook. He's a nice guy, she's known him since elementary school. He's a decent dancer.

She also dances with Ti-ning Quailhogs. They used to be really close friends in elementary school before Ti-ning graduated.

 Sam quickly learns that Ti-ning has become a bit of a prat. He's constantly talking about his family's wealth and all of the conversation revolves around him. It doesn't take long for Sam to lose interest in Ti-ning. She keeps glancing over at Collin while dancing with him.

She spends some more time with Collin after the dance party is over. Collin is easy to talk to, funny, and sweet. Sam feels like she could just talk with him forever.

When the party is over and the guests are gone, Irwin gives Samantha her birthday present. 

"Dad! You didn't have to-" Samantha is somewhat surprised. She is aware that her family wasn't as wealthy as they looked. They may have a huge house, but most of the house was still unfurnished, and her parents rarely bought new objects.

"Of course I did. It's my princess's birthday. Happy birthday, Samantha." Irwin always insisted on calling Sam, Samantha. It makes her feel girly. It's not a bad feeling. She rather likes it. 

Kayla and Irwin play chess on the porch while waiting for Sam to come home. Since she became a teenager,  she's been coming home later and later.

Irwin takes note that she's usually escorted home by a boy named Collin. Later he hears from Samantha that she will be going to prom with him.

The day of prom. Sam spends hours agonizing on which dress to wear. She doesn't really have that many dresses, so she ventures downstairs and looks through Silvia's clothes. True to her past party animal lifestyle, Silvia has a collection of fancy party dresses. Sam finally finds something she likes.

Irwin approves that Collin has shown up early. He seems like a nice kid, but he'll have to wait and see if he's truly worthy of his daughter. Maybe he'll invite him over for a man-to-man chess match?

Collin can't take his eyes off Sam. She's just stunning in her dress. They take some pictures together before taking the limo and heading to prom.

Prom was a blast. Unfortunately, Sam doesn't become prom queen. It wasn't a big surprise, since she's only a freshman in highschool, and Sam is fully aware that most of the girls don't like her that much. However, her night with Collin was just pure amazingness. They had their first kiss together. They totally dominated the dance floor, and Collin even asked to go steady with her! 

When she gets back home, Irwin is still up waiting to hear all about her night. No matter how sweet Collin is, Sam still loves her dad the most. 

The next morning, Kayla asks Sam all about her prom. Sam indulges her younger sister with a slightly more age appropriate version of prom. She tells Kayla about prom court, the king and queen, princes and princesses.

After school that day, Kayla acts out her own version of prom court. She is the Prom King. Maybe she'll let Rufus be her Prom Queen one day.

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Chapter Notes:

Ahhhh, I wish I had taken more pictures of Basil and Silvia's interaction :'(

It's just a couple pictures and a ton of words.

Title:

It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.

-Charles Dickens.

Chapter 1.6: Enjoy every idle hour

Silvia finds it easier to love Kayla. She just looks so much like her father, while Samantha constantly reminds Silvia of herself. She realizes she would need to talk to Samantha about her vampire side soon. Silvia had been trying to contact Basil about it. She isn't sure how Samantha would be as she grows. Luckily, so far she hasn't shown any sign of needing human blood. Silvia is just hoping she can keep pushing back that conversation with her other daughter as far as she can. For now, hugging Kayla, life seems almost normal.

Samantha likes going to school. She doesn't have many friends yet. A lot of the girls are scared of her because she's different. Samantha quickly realized that no one else in school was like her. Nobody at home is like her either. Sometimes she wonders whether she's secretly an alien. Maybe dad got abducted by aliens one day and had her? Dad WOULD get abducted by aliens.

It's up to Irwin again to teach Kayla how to walk, talk and use the potty. Irwin doesn't mind. He enjoys spending time with his little princess. Kayla is a sweet little toddler. She never fusses about anything, and is quite content being left alone playing with her toys, but also has a sweet smile whenever her family plays with her.

Now that Silvia and Irwin are both more successful in their careers, they find more time to dote on their youngest daughter. Silvia feels a bit guilty about not spending a lot of time with Samantha. She doesn't think she's consciously treating the two girls differently. It's really due to her advancement in her career that allows her more time to spend with the kids now, and as a toddler, Kayla just requires more attention. She just hopes Samantha doesn't feel left out.

She consciously makes an effort to talk with Samantha a bit more often. 

"So, Sam, have you thought about writing at all?" Silvia asks Sam over dinner. Silvia has no idea what Sam is interested in and so talks about what she's interested in, which is her work.

Sam nearly chokes on her food. She's surprised her mom talked to her. Silvia isn't really a bad mom. Most of the time she's just very busy and Sam knows that her mom is always busy. Even during meals, Silvia usually eats quickly in order to work more.

"Ummm, no mom. I'm not really interested in writing." 

"Oh, but didn't you, ummm, write a piece for the school paper recently?"

Silvia kind of notices the conversation is awkward.

"Oh yea, I didn't know you knew. But, that was really a one time thing. I like doing things at school you know. Remember that time I went all around town looking for gems and metals?" Sam is surprised that her mom knew about her writing for the school. She never thought Silvia knew anything about her school work.

Silvia didn't know that Sam collected gems and metal for the school, but she just nods and smiles. She thinks Irwin might have mentioned it. 

"Oh, well, what are you interested in then?" 

"Well, I kinda wanna ... travel, you know, kinda see the world and that kinda thing" Samantha shyly talks about her dreams and the numerous imaginary adventures she has already gone on. Silvia nods as she listens and continues eating her dinner.

Sam continues on and on about the places she wants to visit one day. 

"I really love French music, and I also want to eat real shawarmas some day."

"You know that traveling like that will cost a lot of money, right?" Silvia cuts her off. Sam notices that her mom is back to her busy mode. 

"Ahaha, yea, I guess." She laughs uneasily. It's really just a silly dream of hers. She wonders if her mom ever had silly dreams when she was a child. She can't imagine her mom as a child though. Mom as a kid would have been, well, still like mom.

"Sam, we don't really have money like that. Okay, mommy's gotta work now. Go do your homework whenyou're done with dinner." 

And like that, Silvia is gone, back to her room to work on the latest article on Quailhogs Inc. Sam stares at what's left of her dinner. It was nice talking to mom. It was nice telling her about her dreams. Sam wishes mom was less busy more often.

Sam does her homework like her mom said. She doesn't really like doing homework. Luckily it doesn't take that long for her to do all of it. She once saw one of her classmates do homework. He took hours to get through everything. Sam is very glad she has what her mom calls "vampire powers."

The bus ride to school is another good opportunity to daydream about adventures. Samantha's house is the furthest away from the elementary school, so she has the whole bus all to herself before the other kids get on.

Irwin's days are rather simple. He works at home until he runs out of scrap. He sells his inventions at the consignment store, and spends some nights at the junkyard or rummaging through neighbors' trashcans. 

Sometimes he gets so absorbed in his projects that he forgets about petty things in life, such as clothing.

but he always has time for his little girls.

Sam made some friends at school and decided that she'd like to throw a slumber party. After getting herparents' permission, Sam invites two of her closest friends: Ti-Ning Quailhogs and Collin Rook. Both of them are boys. Sam is closer to the boys in her school than the girls. She likes playing catch or tag with the boys. The girls in school just confuse her. They're always talking and talking about dolls and clothes. Sometimes they are nice and sometimes they are mean. Boys are much easier to talk to.

The slumber party quickly turns into a pillow fight WAR. Eventually they call it a tie (but Sam knows she's really the winner) and sleep out in the front yard, each in their sleeping bags.

Time flies by quickly, and the Winters celebrate their youngest's second birthday. 

Yet again, the birthday party is a small family affair. Daddy and big sis enthusiastically cheer on as Kayla gets ready to blow out the candle.

Kayla has retained her chubby cheeks. She definitely looks like a younger version of her dad. 

Now that Kayla is also a child the house feels a bit too small to accommodate the whole family. They decide to move once again.

The new house is a bit further away from downtown area, but closer to the children's school. It's spacious with many empty rooms. The house was at the top of their budget, so the Winters didn't have much left for the interior of the house. They barely had enough to furnish the kitchen and bedrooms. As of now, Samantha and Kayla must share a room together. The whole second floor is left unfinished. There is space allotted as a 2 car garage, but since the Winters don't have cars, the space is turned into Irwin's work space. Silvia has a feeling that this would be the place she will spend the rest of her life with Irwin.

The Winters quickly settle down into a simple routine in their new home. Kayla enjoys reading in theirparents' room while mom is working at the computer desk; she's a bookworm just like her mother. Kayla is sure that her mom has read every single book in the whole world. She'd like to read some of the books mom  wrote one day, but right now they are a little too difficult for her.

 Meanwhile Sam and Irwin play catch outside. Irwin was never a big fan of any type of sports. He was secretly glad that he didn't have a son who would insist on playing catch with him. It turns out that Sam is more like a son than a daughter. While playing catch, Sam tells Irwin about her scouting club activities. Irwin isn't paying much attention to Sam's stories since he's intensely focused on the ball in order to catch it. Yet, his clumsy nature interferes and Irwin misses the ball. 

 Sam never misses a catch. Being outdoors and playing catch with her daddy is her favorite activity.

Silvia finally has a day off from work. The family decides to go to the park together. Kayla runs straight towards the chess table.

 Irwin joins Kayla at the chess table. Silvia thinks it's really funny how much the father and daughter look alike and act alike. While playing chess, Kayla tells daddy about the mystery surrounding scary clowns.

"I don't understand how they can see. I mean, they don't have eyes!" 

Samantha has a blast on the swings. When she's up in the air, she imagines that she's actually flying. 

Meanwhile, Silvia spots a suspicious gathering and she quickly approaches them. She's currently aweatherwoman and doesn't need to interview people anymore, but her instincts as a journalist propels her to inquire what's going on.

As the day gets darker, Irwin and Silvia sit together to watch the stars while their daughters play on the playground. Time has been flying by quickly and mercilessly. It just feels like yesterday when the two first met. She looks at Irwin's face and notices new wrinkles. 

'He's gotten old,' she thinks, 'and I've gotten old too.'

The wrinkles represent the time they've spent together. Silvia realizes that their ten year anniversary is just around the corner. Sam is almost a teen, and Kayla started elementary school. Most of her memories revolve around work: the numerous promotions, parties at her boss's house, interviewing people and rummaging for scoops. But she also has many happy memories of times spent with her family too: their daughters' birthdays, playing hopscotch with Sam, teaching Kayla to talk, and dates with Irwin. 

Swept in a romantic mood, they kiss in the dark playground. Luckily, Sam and Kayla are too busy playing catch to notice that their parents are doing yucky stuff.

Silvia and Irwin have some fun in the playground too.

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Chapter Notes:

A little bit on Silvia. Silvia is a workaholic, and this generation is Perfect career, so she's been spending most of her time working. It's generation one.... and Silvia and Irwin have had their fair share of money problems. Unfortunately, because of money and her workaholic tendencies, Silvia hasn't been spending much time with her daughters. She's definitely not the best mom, but I don't think she's a super bad mom, ...but she's not a good mom.... I think it makes sense given the circumstances, but I'm a little sad that Silvia hasn't been a better mom. meh, I'm rambly now.

basically, this is Silvia. In her work clothes, exhausted from work, trying to squeeze in family time somehow. However, Sam is not impressed.

Oh, and Silvia and Irwin are adults now. 

The new house is basically empty. need. more. money. I waited until Irwin maxed handiness skill so I can get discounts on build mode. ....and then I got excited about building a nice house.

another...boring....nothing-happened chapter :( but it sets-up the family relationships, so it was necessary? I think .

Title:

Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments,

embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour.

-John Boswell