Author's Note: I'm going to title these chapters after whatever I'm listening to at the time. Sounds all right by you? Okay, then.
Btw, I'd really like someone to comment on the story itself and what's going on in it. Please? I really wanted someone's opinion on Sasha having Hugh's child in the last chapter and I didn't get it. Maybe now?
Chapter Nine: Captain Casanova
Cindy Vortex stared at her mother in utter astonishment. A grin spread across Sasha's face and she positively beamed at her daughter. For one strange moment, Cindy thought perhaps she'd lapsed back in time to when Retroville was overrun by hypnotized freaks. Yet Sasha was gleeful without the psychotic, doped look.
The euphoria was muddled further by Cindy's repeated assertion that her mother had been furious with her two hours ago and Sasha was notorious for holding onto her anger, much like her daughter. Fury didn't fade into nothingness.
In addition, not once in her life had Cindy ever seen her mother truly happy. Sasha looked like the world had personally delivered her everything she had ever wanted and then some. While she dissected the look, she gawked. She was sure she ought to have a response to a question her mother had asked a while ago, but there wasn't one at hand. No matter how hard she searched for it, she couldn't even remember what she had asked in the first place.
"I said," Sasha said, no trace of annoyance in her voice. "We're going out to eat. Where do you want to go?"
They never went out to eat as a family, unless they had a social occasion or were bragging about an accomplishment. And on those occasions, Sasha was dour and cheerless, like normal. Cindy wasn't sure she could handle the new, improved version. It would leave even Jimmy scrambling for logic. So, Cindy's brain did the only thing that it could think of in the face of such a stark, unbelievable contrast.
She fainted.
When she recovered, she saw her mother standing over her with smelling salts in her hand. Cindy grimaced at the cloying scent burning her nostrils and choking her throat. Her eyes watered and she coughed, hurrying to dispel the irritant.
"I asked if you wanted to go out," her mother said, scoffing. "I didn't ask if you wanted to marry Jimmy Neutron."
"What?" Cindy said. She had to be mishearing things. "Go out?"
"To eat," her mother said and rolled her eyes. She smiled at her offspring and settled on the bed beside her. Cindy smiled weakly back, certain a trick was in the offing. The expression must've shown itself, because her mother scoffed again and grabbed Cindy by the hand. She rolled her eyes again, acting like someone half her age, and dragged her daughter to the door.
"IHOP is open until eleven," her mother said. "It's only ten o'clock. Come on, slowpoke."
Slow...poke? Cindy had enough time to process that before her mother whirled her down the stairs and into the living room. Her hand clutched Cindy's right hand and Sasha turned her radiant smile onto Samuel, who was sitting in front of the TV and flicking through the channels. An unopened beer can was in his hand and there were no signs of other drinking before that point. Okay, strike the part about her mother being hypnotized. Cindy was clearly living in the Twilight Zone.
"Are you coming or what?" Sasha asked and Samuel stared at his wife like a fish out of water. His mouth worked, but no sounds came out. Cindy almost pitied her father. He was probably completely out of his depth too.
"Coming...where?" he replied, mystified.
"To IHOP, of course," Sasha said, like she had never gone anywhere else at ten at night and shame on him for thinking otherwise. Samuel gaped at the two females and then looked at the TV, then at his beer. He sniffed it suspiciously, but it wasn't open.
"IHOP?" he echoed. She rolled her eyes again and Cindy mentally replayed her day to decide when she had ingested food or drink that she shouldn't have and what might have been in said concoction.
"Never mind," Sasha said. "We'll pick you something up. C'mon, Cindy. Let's go."
She charged to the door, forgot her keys, loped back for them, and then herded Cindy to the car. Cindy stared at Jimmy's house. Perhaps while Sasha was out, Jimmy had attacked her with one of his rogue inventions and twisted her mom's brain. That was just as probable as any other solution Cindy had created thus far.
Cindy hesitantly opened her door and her mother climbed into the car. They shut their doors at the same time and Sasha started the car. Cindy didn't speak. She wasn't sure she trusted herself to talk anyway. Her mother hummed (Cindy couldn't remember her ever doing that and eyed Jimmy's lab again suspiciously from further down the street) and sang along to the radio. Once in a while, she'd flick Cindy's hair or squeeze her shoulder. The affection brought Cindy out of astonishment and landed her in suspicion. Now that the numbness had worn off, she had an awful foreboding.
"The Neutron genius gene skips a generation," Sasha informed her. Cindy stared out the window.
"So?" she retorted.
"It'd be nice to have a little genius in our family," Sasha said.
"I'm-" Cindy started and then her mind crashed into a wall. She had intended to say "I'm not good enough?", which was her usual acerbic response. Instead, she gawked at her mother. It was impossible to have a genius in their family without that gene.
"Yes, yes, I know you're smart," her mother said, "but you don't have a genius gene."
That was a backhanded compliment if Cindy had ever heard one. "But, Mom-"
"It should breed true again," Sasha mused and stopped the car, having pulled into a spot while Cindy struggled to make sense of her mother's words. She toddled after her mother into the restaurant and they were seated right away, since the restaurant was mostly empty. The server guided them to a corner booth and Sasha turned her thousand watt smile on everyone she saw. It was starting to creep Cindy out.
"So," Sasha said in a rush, inspecting the menus. "What have you been up in the two years since I've been gone?"
"What do you care?" Cindy mumbled. Her eyes were fixed on the menu, but it was too close to her face to see it. Her mother pushed it down and stared into Cindy's eyes like she was trying to wrest her soul.
"I care," Sasha said. "I had to prevent Jimmy from discovering where we were, but I did think about you."
"Bullshit," Cindy said and stared at her menu. Sasha bit back a snarl and yanked her head back up.
"I won't let you ruin this," Sasha vowed.
"Ruin what?" Cindy said. "Another chance to destroy my life and Neutron's too?"
"My joy," Sasha said savagely. "My ultimate triumph."
"Over what?" Cindy said, but the conversation had to be cut short there, because the server had returned. Cindy ordered the nominal amount, just three pancakes and orange juice, because she wasn't sure she was hungry or sick to her stomach. Sasha ordered a whole platter and leaned over the table once they were alone again.
"Everything," Sasha said and her eyes twinkled with dark mirth. "Don't you understand, Cindy? My dreams are finally about to become true."
"I thought they were true," Cindy muttered. "Until you broke Neutron's stupid machine."
"Science can only do so much," Sasha said and laughed. She clasped Cindy's hands together and there was a fervent gleam in Sasha's green eyes that made Cindy think of kings toppling. "Oh, you'll see, Cindy. You'll see."
Jimmy read his back logged science magazines. It was luxuriating to relax and have his whole family here again. Goddard had ensconced his room in silence for an unspecified time period and not explained to Jimmy why, but Jimmy had an idea. He was grateful to his pet for his foresight. Goddard always cloaked the room in silence before anything his master didn't want to hear occurred, but he hadn't used that function in years. The sound proof existence was lifted and Jimmy heard his father protest and then a wham.
"Hey! Those pillows are for lying on-" his father protested. "Ow!"
"Oh, c'mon," his mother said. "Live a little."
Back and forth, they combated and Jimmy smiled at his cybernetic canine. Goddard woofed and settled beside his master.
"You know, I think things are finally back to normal," Jimmy said and then his father protested against tickling. The boy genius shook his head and grinned ruefully. "As normal as things ever get around here, anyway."
True to her word, Sasha brought back pancakes for Samuel. She even sprung for ice cream after dinner, finding the one spot within 50 miles that wasn't closed at nearly eleven at night. Dancing around the kitchen, she served herself, Cindy, and her husband and then burst up to her room to test something again. Cindy was relieved when she left. She exchanged an odd look with her father over the kitchen table.
"What was that all about?" her father asked.
"I think I know," Cindy muttered and jabbed her chocolate ice cream with her spoon. It was soft serve and it had dribbled out with a little loop at the top that reminded her of Jimmy's hair.
"Then what?" her father asked.
"You'll find out soon enough," she said. She wished she had a greater appetite, but figuring out why her mother was jumping for joy had killed that. Resolutely, she shoved away the ice cream and then, capping it, put it back in the fridge in the hopes that some time in the distant future, she might want it. From the kitchen, it was impossible to see Jimmy's house and her shoulders slumped.
"Good or bad?" her father asked around a mouthful of ice cream. He had tackled it first and left the IHOP bag lying unattended on the table.
"I wish she'd never come back," Cindy muttered. "Bad enough for you?"
"She didn't have a choice in the matter, did she?" her father asked.
"You know what I mean," Cindy snapped.
"Yes! It's still true!" Sasha whooped and rushed down the stairs. She enveloped Cindy in a breath stealing hug and then ruffled Samuel's hair. Samuel stared at his daughter.
"I see what you mean," Samuel said.
"I'll finally have a little genius of my own," Sasha said, grinning. "Take that, Judy Neutron!"
Oh, Jimmy's mom is going to 'take it', Cindy thought with a scowl, but straight to the abortion clinic.
