G III: Chapter 16

Brian and Dylan had leftover cake for breakfast. A meal of champions, or teenagers who have a high metabolism.

"Brian, I took care of Dad's tombstone last night. I went ahead and put it in the family cemetery. I know Mom and Gramma would have had a hard time with it, so I did it for them." Dylan told his brother.

"That was thoughtful of you. I'm glad you did, but I could have helped you know. No biggie. Did you do your homework last night?" Brian asked.

"Ha! No of course not. Maybe we should work on that." Dylan replied. He and Brian finished up their cake and got to work.

After they finished, Brian went to work on his sculpture while Dylan fixed one of the sinks that had broken that morning.

Isabel spent most of the day with Johanna upstairs. When James came home from work he requested that Isabel play a song on the piano for them. She agreed to and sat down at the piano. Soon Daphne joined them. When she finished James mentioned that it was time for Johanna's birthday.

"I didn't invite anyone, it's just us. I got a cake though." James said.

"James, do you mind if I hold her while she blows out her candles?" Isabel asked.

"Of course not." He smiled at his mother, "I'm sure she'd like that."

Johanna had her whole family there to cheer her on as she entered child hood. She still carried her pigtails in her older years though she changed them to blue for her night clothes and lavender for her daily. Red just didn't seem to be her color. With age comes the yearning to do more things. Johanna started to want to fish, the new trait she carried was Angler. She couldn't wait to start learning and casting those lines.

The broken electronics had been starting to pile up in the house. No one wanted to fix them because they feared electric currents now. James finally got tired of not being able to write any police reports on his home computer so he got the nerve to start fixing these things. His knowledge of mechanics was pretty high, he figured he could do them without harm. He did get it done fine, but was nervous the whole time.

Johanna spent some of the day on the jungle gym in the back, but for some reason didn't like it much. She decided to skip across the street to the side of a small river and start learning to fish. James had given her her first pole and she wanted to use it. The first fish she caught was just a tiny minnow, but she loved it. She loved it so much she decided to keep it.

For the boys, the next mornings breakfast consisted of leftover Autumn Salad. They had started to slack on actually making breakfast and settled for eating what they had the night before every morning. They talked about school, and about Johanna. It was her first day today. In addition to that, the two brothers were making big plans for their sister. They would still be teenagers when she entered her own teen years, and they were going to give her a great birthday present. The two of them made an agreement to save up money together for her gift.

Johanna got up that morning and showered. She then made her bed and fed her new fish - which she named Karla. She had a bowl of cereal for breakfast and left for her first day of school. She was quite nervous, and figured if she just stayed low and in the back of the class, nothing would happen to her. Not completely true. Each class had a pet, such as hamsters, gerbils, and even mice. She was volunteered by the teacher to remain after school and clean the critter cages.

After a long day for the kids, they got home and did homework first. Then they all ate an early dinner. Dylan asked Brian to go out and play a game of catch, and Brian accepted. They played for hours with each other. Johanna went to play with her fish, but was soon joined by James and the two of them talked in her room for a while.

The rooms had changed around a little bit since Johanna became a grown girl. She needed her own space now. James moved into the downstairs room, which was used by Dylan. Brian suggested that he and Dylan share a room. Isabel and Daphne's room were still their own.

Daphne went to work for the evening catching the wild and angry spirits of the town. She helped some crossover but some refused and she had to banish them. Most spirits that she collected were donated to Science, or the School. She even had the Old Warehouse request a donation. She didn't ask what they were for - didn't really want to know - but she gave them five captured ghosts. She got a great payment from each place that wanted them.









Daphne was still sleeping on Charlie's side of the bed, but with her own pillow. She wanted to keep his scent next to her as long as she could. Her garden was still growing well, she took care of it every day at noon. She was growing a variety of veggies and fruits, but was looking for more. Maybe some that were a little tougher to grow, something to challenge her ability.

That night Daphne went in search of seeds. She found many that were very odd looking, rare actually. She also found a lot of special seeds that she could plant as well. She wasted no time in getting them into the ground when she got back. She planted and fertilized each one. Daphne couldn't wait to see what they turned out to be. She was hoping at least one would be a garlic plant, the family was running low.


James got home from work one day and watched Daphne garden. He began to think of having a woman. Not that he was thinking of Daphne like that in anyway, but she reminded him about women in general. He hadn't fallen in love yet during his lifetime. There was only one woman who came close, whom he had thought about in that manor. Kathleen Colon. Thinking about her made him wonder how she was doing. He hadn't talked to her in a while, so he picked up the phone and dialed her number.

She agreed to come and visit him, though he had to give her directions since he had moved.

Kathleen came over and found James by the bar. They started talking about old times and new ones. James and her had always been really great friends, if not best friends. There were some topics they had not discussed in their relationship though, and that was if she was or had ever been married. When James asked her, he was happy to find out that she was single.

"Maybe you and I should get together sometime." James said completely joking. It was just a small flirtatious joke, but the response he got shocked him.

Kathleen looked serious. "I'd really like that James, I thought you'd never ask." She laughed at James when she noticed how surprised he was. "I'm serious, I've crushed on you long enough. I'm getting along in years now, and I'd like to spend my time with you."









She took James then, and wrapped him in a hug.

It felt great to James to hold a woman like that. He hadn't done it in so long. Even when he did, it wasn't because he loved her. He took Kathleen's hands and they talked for a little longer, about anything and everything. They were so comfortable together, it was like they had been married for years - everything just flowed nicely.

James served a small dinner and they ate together. Afterward, while James was doing the dishes, Kathleen came in the kitchen to say goodbye.

James hugged Kathleen tightly. When he started to pull away, he couldn't get very far. Their lips met and they shared their first kiss. Kathleen was sad to go, having finally broken through with the man she had had a crush on for so long. She was not the type to initiate any type of romantic gesture, she was too shy. So their relationship never went further than 'best friend'. Even if he was joking when he said it, James had given her the perfect opening to tell him how she had been feeling.

James felt like he was on cloud nine. He was so happy, and he never thought he would feel this way. He wasn't sure if he was going to call it love yet, but he sure did like her a lot. Also, he wanted to see her again, soon.