About one month later
From Sirio's diary
Sirio: Your house is crazy, it looks like an art gallery!
Maki: I'm glad you like it.
She hesitated a moment longer, before adding:
Maki: Listen… if you want you can come and live here. And Techna too. I mean, I'm pretty sure to have seen a mouse around the place you're renting now, and it doesn't seem very safe either, and...
Techna probably would have pointed out that mice were eradicated from our house weeks ago, but that was beside the point.
As she kept explaining why she decided to ask me to move in together, I could only stare at her, speechless. I absolutely didn't expect her to ask me that so soon. Yet, from her colours, I could only tell she was a bit nervous while making me that question, as if she was unsure about what my answer could have been, but the predominant colour was a bright shade of green I learnt to associate with hope. She wished me to say yes, and at that point I didn't see any reason why not to.
Sirio: Thanks, I'd love to live together.
We started carrying our things at Maki's place a few days later. Lily seemed perplexed at first to see so many people around her home, but deep down she didn't seem to mind too much.
Lily: Squidward!
Sirio: (perplexed) … What?
Lily: Squidward! Cartoons!
Sirio: Oh.
I suspect she may find my face funny, because it reminds her of some cartoon character on TV. Well, having a funny face is probably better than being weird or scary, so probably I shouldn't bother too much about this.
Sirio: Wouldn't you prefer to hear a story, instead?
Lily: No!
She's always very sturdy, but she clearly was sleepy enough to fall asleep in the blink of an eye, no matter what I did.
Sirio: "Once upon a time..."
Maki: (whispering) Thank you.
Sirio: (whispering) She fell asleep in no time, don't worry.
Maki had then come over to tuck Lily in again and say her goodnight.
Lily: (in her sleep) Squidward…
Sirio: (whispering) By the way, who is this Squidward? She's been calling me that way for half an hour.
Maki: (whispering) Oh, how strange… Squidward is one character in some cartoon she's always watching on TV. I think he's an octopus, or a squid... Well, in cartoons it's always difficult to figure it out the exact animal, isn't it?
Sirio: Ah.
Techna: I need to find an adapter to recharge my batteries, there are some strange electrical sockets here…
----------------------------------------------------------------
Techna: Let's see what's in the mail… Bill, bill… Hey, this is an invitation!
And what an invitation! I had no idea Halley was organising her wedding, I spoke to her a few weeks ago on the phone and she didn't tell me anything!
Anyway, that was just the kind of invitation I would have accepted with my eyes closed, and so was Techna. I also asked Maki to come with us, and she also accepted on the fly. She seemed very curious to see New Sixam in person, too.
But that last-minute invitation also meant that we had to rush in a lot of errands, attending a wedding also means finding a gift, and clothes suitable for the occasion.
I had just left the building, in a hurry, when I run into a person I really wished not to meet again anytime soon...
Hotaru : Hey you, smurf!
Sirio: What?
Hotaru: I was told that now you live with Maki! First that idiot with the robot that electrocutes people, now an alien smurf, what the heck is going through her head?
Sirio: … I don't think that…
Hotaru: And don't interrupt me!
Sirio: What do you want?
Hotaru: Maki and Lily are my family, not yours! I hired the best lawyers in the country, they'll revert that verdict in no time!
He hadn't changed since I last saw him, he disappeared for months and then popped out of the blue with his usual concentration of anger. Actually, if I had to point at a difference, it would be that now he's even angrier at me than before.
Sirio: Do you at least realize how bad Maki feels just thinking about you? Why can't you just leave her alone?
Hotaru: As if you knew anything, smurf!
I was really starting to become annoyed at him. Besides, what the heck is a Smurf?
I'm not particularly proud of what happened afterwards, but in my defence I can at least say that I wasn't the one to start it.
Hotaru is twice my size, he thought he was going to win easily and teach me a lesson, I guess. But, evidently, he forgot a few things about sixamians.
Hotaru: (confused) Wow, everything spins…
There are so many ways to use telepathy, Toq taught me many of them. You can quietly read through the others' memories, with them barely noticing. Or you can do the exact opposite, and shake the other's brain like a cocktail, which is exactly what I needed. Before he could give me a black eye, I also wiped a few seconds of his short-term memories, just enough for him to forget about the fight he had just started.
After which, aware that I had already done too much already, I had taken advantage of his evident state of confusion to slip away as fast as I could.
Until that morning everything seemed to be going well, but that encounter had left me with a horrible feeling crawling under my skin... And Maki also thought the same when I returned home to tell her the whole story.
We needed a lawyer, a good one. And, by chance, the best lawyer I knew had just invited us to her wedding.
--------------------------------------------------------------
In no time the day of the wedding come, so I, Techna, Maki and Lily teleported to New Sixam early in the morning, we planned to spend two days there. Maki at first was quite perplexed by the teleport machine, it really occupies a lot of space in the closet, but quickly changed her mind when she eventually realised how easy it is to travel by using it.
We went straight to the wedding venue, arriving just in time for the beginning of the ceremony.
Maki: Wow, what a ceremony!
Techna: (to themself) I have to remember that adapter…
Halley: What a day!
Sirio: Congratulations, girls!
Everyone was so happy and glowing brightly. Even if they decided to organize the ceremony in a hurry (for reasons I haven't clearly understood yet), they really thought about everything.
Sirio: (surprised) Oh, you had a second dress too?
Halley: In those long skirts we would have stumbled all the time, but now it's time to dance!
Sophia: Yes, this is much more comfortable!
Florian: You see, Sirio, they really wanted us to be wearing something comfortable!
Sophia: Actually we put a note in the invitation, but don't you think to have taken it a bit too literally, Florian?
Florian: I just followed the instructions, I'm not responsible for anything.
Halley: Your dislike for elegant clothes is really ridiculous, even Sirio wore a jacket this time!
Sophia: Even if there's really no hope to see either of you wearing a tie, huh?
Venus: Well, I see you're having fun!
Halley: Yeah, it's all so... wow! You and dad got married in here too, right?
Venus: Yes… but I wish you a quieter ending than the one we had, definitely.
Halley: Why?
Venus: Well, Steve had been abducted by an old spaceship just when we returned back home, after the party, and it later turned out that this was the same spaceship with which uncle Toq had arrived on Earth. It has been quite a mess, to say the least…
Halley: Oh, right, the story of the abduction… But I didn't know it happened the very day you got married, it's absurd!
I'm glad to see all my relatives and friends again, especially on a happy day like today. It's all too easy to forget all the problems of Sim City by being here.
After the party was over, we still had quite a few people to meet before heading back to the big city.
Cassy: Hi Sirio, welcome back!
Sirio: Hi, mom!
First, we took the opportunity to introduce Maki and Lily to mom. By now she'd heard so much about them, with my (almost) daily phone calls, and she was genuinely curious to meet them in person.
Cassy: So you are the famous Maki. Pleased to meet you!
Maki: ... Nice to meet you too.
I distinctly noticed Maki turning towards me with an expression that said: “What did you tell her, exactly?”, later on that would have probably needed some explanation.
Sirio: I missed the summer here in New Sixam, you know mom? In Sim City it rains all the time instead...
Maki: Well, it's the monsoon season.
Cassy: (amused) For sure that place is very different from this desert!
I could sense that Maki was a bit concerned, as if she feared she could have made a bad impression on my mom (as if it was even possible). So I avoided talking about too serious stuff, like Hotaru and what he told me, it really didn't feel the right moment for it. Yet we talked for quite a while, as it always happens when I and mom stay in the same room for too long.
Mom, on the other hand, really seemed elated to have spent some time with us, and I also clearly perceived how she felt proud of us. It's impressive how she always manages to cheer me up no matter what.
Before finally going to sleep, I still wanted to have a word with an old friend. I haven't been able to chat properly with Florian for ages, we have to catch up!
Florian: Hey, Sirio, I was starting to think you were too busy to remember about me!
Sirio: C'mon, how could I forget about you?
Florian: Anyway, you really surprised me this time, you know? You've never ever managed to talk to those you liked back in high school, and now you move in with a girl in a matter of six months?
Sirio: (jokingly) And here we are again with the over-direct questions... Do you want to ask me something specific, or was it just a comment?
Florian: To be honest, I'm quite worried... I mean, she's pretty, but she's also divorced and has a daughter already... You're not obliged to share her burdens, you know?
He can read my emotions just the way I read his, so our conversations always rely a lot on what remains untold. Even if he doesn't know the details about Hotaru and his threats, I'm pretty sure he noticed the way both I and Maki are clearly worried about something.
Sirio: I see where you are coming from. But I took a choice.
Florian: (unconvinced) I see. Be careful, okay?
Sirio: Um.
We know it by ourselves, that we need to be careful.
And that was precisely the purpose of our last meeting before returning to Sim City. It was time to meet a lawyer, a good one, someone who was versed in divorces and children's custody.
Halley: I don't know in detail all the differences between the legislation in New Sixam in Sim City… But I'll do my best.
Both Halley and Sophia graduated about a year ago, and immediately started working. My cousin specialized in family law and works as an assistant in a large law firm specializing in family-related issues, so the first thing I thought of doing was to ask her for her help.
And so we decided to tell her about the whole situation with Hotaru, the first verdict and how he recently threatened us.
Halley: Well, I'm afraid you're right to be worried, and the fact that he's filthy rich complicates things a lot... At least, does he pay you any child support?
Maki: He should, yes. But he never did, and the only way to oblige him would be to involve the layers again, so...
Sirio: What do you think we could do?
Halley: Well... If he really hired the best lawyers in Sim City, sooner or later he will be able to reopen the trial about Lily's custody. And I don't think you can afford to hire a lawyer to defend you right now, can you?
Sirio: No, definitely not.
Halley: So I think you should play early…
Maki: (worried) Do you have something in mind?
Sophia: Technically speaking, Sirio would be able to change this guy's memory enough to convince him to leave you alone.
Halley: I thought about it too... But I also think that it would be a really, really bad idea. If the authorities in Sim City ever found it out, the diplomatic crisis would be huge!
Maki: Wait a second, I didn't know this. Could you really do such a thing?
Maki seemed to have been quite disturbed by that hypothesis, she must not have thought much about the fact that we sixamians are also able to alter memories. But, on the other hand, I didn't feel her rejecting that hypothesis altogether either. After all she had been through I kind of understood her, that seemed like a quick, painless, simple fix to a huge problem. But…
Sirio: … I have no intention of erasing nor modifying anyone's memory in this way, it wouldn't be right. And I agree with Halley too, if the authorities found out about it I and all other sixamians in Sim City would be sent back here without any chance of objection.
Maki: …
Sirio: Can't you really think of any other ideas, Halley?
Halley: … From here I can't help you much, you live in a whole different country now. But, on the other hand, the situation would be completely different if you decide to come here, to New Sixam…
Maki's heart had skipped a beat when Halley suggested that moving to New Sixam might have been a solution. After all, she has always lived in Sim City, among humans, in some ways I understand that for her the idea of leaving is inconceivable.
Halley: I suspect you both have a lot to think about. I'll try to find more information, but I have to admit I have been working on other more pressing matters at the moment.
My cousin had said that last sentence in a tone I hadn't heard her use often, she sounded like she couldn't wait for what was coming, just like with her wedding. And, despite everything, her tone could only intrigue me.
Sirio: (curious) What are you working on, exactly?
Sophia: Didn't anyone tell you why we were in such a hurry to get married right away?
Sirio: No, not really…
Sophia: Halley is working on a particularly complicated child custody case at the moment, there is this poor little girl who has been without a family since she was born due to an utterly slow bureaucracy…
Halley: I can't stand seeing her looking so sad any longer… And, so that I know the chances of being chosen as adoptive parents in New Sixam are much higher for married couples, we decided to don't waste any more time and just go on with the wedding.
Sirio: One second, you mean that...
Halley: I think it will take another couple of weeks of work, but yeah. We are about to adopt a baby girl.
And so Halley amazed me again, while we went home to worry about our problems she was busy getting a baby girl up for adoption.
They promptly sent us the photos a few weeks later, they were all really thrilled.
The little one is called Erika, she is the sweetest little girl ever seen. And I also think she just found the two best moms she could find, they seem like a really beautiful family, don't you agree, my dear diary?
------------------------------------------------------------------
§HermioneSims§ corner
Another chapter full of changes, isn't it?
I could comment on many things, but I will focus on a few funny pictures:
1) Noacho-ghost is very disappointed by the new apartment, as the furniture position doesn't allow him to jump on top of the fridge. Unacceptable!
2) Lil Lily was actually afraid of Techna for a while, and they seemed so sorry... But they are doing great now, don't worry.
I'm glad that Lily is getting along well with everyone. Her associating Sirio with a cartoon character she's familiar with (and that I assume she likes) is great. She's so cute. Even though Sirio's from somewhere pretty far away, he's not that foreign or scary to her because he resembles the cartoons she knows. Sirio beating up Hotaru is way better than anything I expected, but the next step is to hopefully beat him in a lawsuit. Halley is always pretty, but she looked extremely beautiful during her wedding. Congratulations! For a moment, I thought Maki and Sirio were getting married.
ReplyDelete