06-04-2019, 06:23 PM
Troy, Julie, and Helen got back Monday night. The three of us had a lovely reunion and Helen listened to Ramirez and Ortega give her lectures about responsibility while Maria alternated between slapping her upside the head and hugging her.
Troy & Julie decided that it was time to leave Helen with the boys, go back to Federal Way, and resume their lives. Not permanently, we're going to be coming back and forth all the time to see the kids and everyone; and La Contessa's doctor also happens to be part of our Ultimados protection across the street, so they'll be coming to see us, too. (And, now that Troy's the father of the Royal Twins, we're not getting out of having that protection any time soon.) We're looking into getting vehicles of our own to keep here so we don't have to keep borrowing Helen's or the castle's.
I know that we often talk about moving to San Finzione as if it's some kind of horrible emergency last resort; like if the world learns our secret, our Plan B is "Oh no, we have to go move into a palace with Helen and be waited on hand and foot for the rest of our lives!" It's not that we're the world's biggest ingrates, or maybe it's one of those "hard to grasp if you can't control minds yourself" deals. It's that... remember how when you were a kid, people told you that you could do anything, you could change the world? And then you got older and found out that really, it comes down to one or two things that you can do better than most and beyond those things, there's a whole lot of stuff that you really can't do or change? These three never got the second memo. Well, Helen did, but their third memo, letting her know the second one was bullshit, came early enough that she eventually forgot it.
The life that Troy and Julie want to make for themselves is in King County, Washington; where Troy helps people make their worlds a little better, and Julie shows them the world she sees, that the one we all share could be. And the life that Helen might not want but needs to have is here, trying to carry on the work of one great old man who was, quite frankly, an impossible act to follow, because of the guidance of another. As much as they all need each other, they also need to do those things. (Every semester, the University of San Finzione offers Troy an honorary doctorate in Economics. And every semester, he politely declines and reminds Helen that he wants to earn it on his own.)
Troy & Julie liked my solution to the Lucinda problem as well. It turned out that they'd known what was going on the whole time.
"You felt like you needed to do this without our help, Susan." Julie told me in bed that evening. "You forgot that there's a part of you that knows better than that." She kissed me. "When was the last time you and Suzy-Q did that?"
Ok, you know how I've said that Suzy-Q can go off and visit Helen's mind when one of us is in trouble? Well, the first couple times it happened was without my knowledge. In fact, I didn't even learn until after the second time that there'd been a first. She doesn't require my permission to go see Helen. When she comes back, we have one of those meetings in my head, she kisses me, and all of her memories and experiences while off with Helen get 'uploaded' to me. (We're still working on names for all of this.) I even got to meet Propappou and the Count in a round-about way through Suzy-Q coming to Helen in a dream once. At least, Helen's dream versions of them.
"I'll have to get caught up on that soon, then." I told her back. Again, I can't be mad at her, because I'd have done it too if it weren't for, you know, what Julie was saying.
"Didn't you wonder why none of us called to see how you and the kids were doing during all of that?" Troy asked on the other side of me. "Suzy-Q said you wanted to take care of it on your own, so we respected that. Or did you think we'd be too busy having constant sex to turn on the news and see what was going on in San Finzione? I think it was the hardest I've seen Helen laugh without drugs."
"You know we've met La Familia too, right?" Julie said with a smooch. "If any of us didn't think you could handle a snotty bitch like Lucinda, we'd have come up with a reason to come back early."
"Or we'd be like the parents in every movie and TV show where the kids throw a party and 'decide to come home from our vacation early and surprise you.'" Troy said.
Julie cut him off and put a "mom" tone in her voice.
"There we were, enjoying Paris, and we thought 'let's cancel all the shit we had planned for the rest of the trip, go through the hassle of checking out days ahead of schedule, return the rental car, deal with the fucking airline and changing our tickets at the last second to squeeze into whatever seats are left; and with no ride home from the airport arranged, bring our son or daughter's experiment with independence to a screeching halt.'"
We giggled at that. Troy decided to go "dad," too.
"And don't think this means you're getting out of our next trip there, young lady."
"Ok," I told them. "The Mom & Dad thing gets creepy quick when we're all naked."
We looked at each other and agreed to stop.
"I think I need one more day with the boys." Julie said as she rolled over and turned off the lamp before rolling back. "Then back to Seattle. You coming with us?"
"I'll be home in a few days." I told her as I turned to snuggle into Troy. Julie spooned up behind me and I closed my eyes, the two people I love most in the world holding me as I faded to sleep. "There's some stuff I want to take care of before I go."
* * *
Troy & Julie decided that it was time to leave Helen with the boys, go back to Federal Way, and resume their lives. Not permanently, we're going to be coming back and forth all the time to see the kids and everyone; and La Contessa's doctor also happens to be part of our Ultimados protection across the street, so they'll be coming to see us, too. (And, now that Troy's the father of the Royal Twins, we're not getting out of having that protection any time soon.) We're looking into getting vehicles of our own to keep here so we don't have to keep borrowing Helen's or the castle's.
I know that we often talk about moving to San Finzione as if it's some kind of horrible emergency last resort; like if the world learns our secret, our Plan B is "Oh no, we have to go move into a palace with Helen and be waited on hand and foot for the rest of our lives!" It's not that we're the world's biggest ingrates, or maybe it's one of those "hard to grasp if you can't control minds yourself" deals. It's that... remember how when you were a kid, people told you that you could do anything, you could change the world? And then you got older and found out that really, it comes down to one or two things that you can do better than most and beyond those things, there's a whole lot of stuff that you really can't do or change? These three never got the second memo. Well, Helen did, but their third memo, letting her know the second one was bullshit, came early enough that she eventually forgot it.
The life that Troy and Julie want to make for themselves is in King County, Washington; where Troy helps people make their worlds a little better, and Julie shows them the world she sees, that the one we all share could be. And the life that Helen might not want but needs to have is here, trying to carry on the work of one great old man who was, quite frankly, an impossible act to follow, because of the guidance of another. As much as they all need each other, they also need to do those things. (Every semester, the University of San Finzione offers Troy an honorary doctorate in Economics. And every semester, he politely declines and reminds Helen that he wants to earn it on his own.)
Troy & Julie liked my solution to the Lucinda problem as well. It turned out that they'd known what was going on the whole time.
"You felt like you needed to do this without our help, Susan." Julie told me in bed that evening. "You forgot that there's a part of you that knows better than that." She kissed me. "When was the last time you and Suzy-Q did that?"
Ok, you know how I've said that Suzy-Q can go off and visit Helen's mind when one of us is in trouble? Well, the first couple times it happened was without my knowledge. In fact, I didn't even learn until after the second time that there'd been a first. She doesn't require my permission to go see Helen. When she comes back, we have one of those meetings in my head, she kisses me, and all of her memories and experiences while off with Helen get 'uploaded' to me. (We're still working on names for all of this.) I even got to meet Propappou and the Count in a round-about way through Suzy-Q coming to Helen in a dream once. At least, Helen's dream versions of them.
"I'll have to get caught up on that soon, then." I told her back. Again, I can't be mad at her, because I'd have done it too if it weren't for, you know, what Julie was saying.
"Didn't you wonder why none of us called to see how you and the kids were doing during all of that?" Troy asked on the other side of me. "Suzy-Q said you wanted to take care of it on your own, so we respected that. Or did you think we'd be too busy having constant sex to turn on the news and see what was going on in San Finzione? I think it was the hardest I've seen Helen laugh without drugs."
"You know we've met La Familia too, right?" Julie said with a smooch. "If any of us didn't think you could handle a snotty bitch like Lucinda, we'd have come up with a reason to come back early."
"Or we'd be like the parents in every movie and TV show where the kids throw a party and 'decide to come home from our vacation early and surprise you.'" Troy said.
Julie cut him off and put a "mom" tone in her voice.
"There we were, enjoying Paris, and we thought 'let's cancel all the shit we had planned for the rest of the trip, go through the hassle of checking out days ahead of schedule, return the rental car, deal with the fucking airline and changing our tickets at the last second to squeeze into whatever seats are left; and with no ride home from the airport arranged, bring our son or daughter's experiment with independence to a screeching halt.'"
We giggled at that. Troy decided to go "dad," too.
"And don't think this means you're getting out of our next trip there, young lady."
"Ok," I told them. "The Mom & Dad thing gets creepy quick when we're all naked."
We looked at each other and agreed to stop.
"I think I need one more day with the boys." Julie said as she rolled over and turned off the lamp before rolling back. "Then back to Seattle. You coming with us?"
"I'll be home in a few days." I told her as I turned to snuggle into Troy. Julie spooned up behind me and I closed my eyes, the two people I love most in the world holding me as I faded to sleep. "There's some stuff I want to take care of before I go."
* * *
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