Hello, dear readers. I haven't posted a chapter in a while. Life kind of gets in the way, you know? Life and The Sims 4. That game really sucks you in. I've played over 75 hours of it. I love playing it and using mods and custom content. I'm considering fanfic-ifying some of my adventures. For instance, my lovely sim Avery Wu moved into Forgotten Hollow. In my headcanon, she inherited the house from a mysterious "relative", about whom there were no details other than his name: Baron Dominic Bludworth. She didn't know that most of her neighbors were vampires. She befriended and eventually ended up hooking up with vampire heartthrob Caleb Vatore. My bisexualness approves of this. Unfortunately, I had a risky woohoo mod and didn't realize that I had it set at 30%. Yeah. Guess what happened on Avery's first time. Poor girl. There was a vampire baby and I named her Mina because once upon a time, I read Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'. Caleb decided to make an honest woman out of Avery and there was a small vampire wedding. Caleb turned Avery on their wedding night and there was consummation of the union, but thankfully no babies because I reduced the rate to 1%. Also, Avery somehow managed to make friends with Vladislaus Straud, the damn creeper. Not bad looking when he's not in his dark form, but still a creeper. Admittedly, I kind of have a thing for older men. Looking back on it, I always have. I'm that crazy bisexual friend who is attracted to men old enough to be my father. Unfortunately, sometimes I get mistaken for someone young enough to be a grandchild. On my 30th birthday last July, a recent trip to the ER (I'm fine now), and several other occasions, I was mistaken for a teenager...
Anyway, enough rambling. On to the story!
Chapter 11
It was one of Basil's days off of work and Clara had finally decided to visit Basil's house. She honestly didn't know what to expect. She knew that he had a house and that there were two storeys and an attic, but that was about it. She was in the car with Izzy and she was following directions to the house. She knew that she would have to make friends with the man for Izzy's sake. How hard could it be? Izzy had made friends with the man and she had some of Clara's best and worst traits. Some people described her daughter as a "take charge kind of girl" while others described her as a raging control freak. Whatever the case, Isabel Pink often ended up in a leadership role when it was necessary for someone to take charge of a situation. It was times like that when Clara was very proud of her.
Eventually, they arrived at Basil's house. It looked old and a little boring, but well-maintained on the outside. Now Clara just needed to find out what it looked like on the inside. Her daughter at her side, she headed up to the door and rang the bell. A short time later, Basil answered the door. The frown on his face quickly changed into a smile when he saw who they were. "Clara, Isabel! Come in!"
The older man stepped aside and let the mother and daughter into his house. "Would you like some tea?" he asked.
"Yes, please." Clara replied.
"I can make it!" Izzy said happily.
"Isabel, I-" Basil tried to say, but the girl interrupted him.
"I. Can. Make. It." Izzy said slowly and evenly.
There seemed to be some unspoken words- you get to know my mum while I'm busy. The twelve-year-old then headed off to the kitchen. Basil led Clara to the living room and they both sat down on the sofa. "So," Clara said, "How are Izzy's guitar lessons going?"
"Isabel is doing well." Basil replied. "She's progressing surprisingly quickly for a beginner."
"She must be related to you." Clara quipped.
Basil laughed and said, "Goodness forbid."
A while later, Izzy returned with two mugs of tea, one for Basil and one for Clara. She looked at the doctor and asked, "Can I go to the music room and practice?"
"Sure." Basil replied.
With that said, the pre-teen hurried off, leaving the two in slightly awkward silence. Finally, Clara asked, "So, do you have any photos of you and Izzy?"
"A few." Basil said. "They're in my photo album. Please don't judge."
Clara smiled and said, "I'll try not to. I'd like to see them."
Basil nodded and headed off to retrieve his photo album. A few minutes later, he returned to a book that was about two and one-half inches thick. He sat down next to Clara and opened it. She perused the photos and laughed when she saw Izzy in the throes of an epic air guitar solo. Then there was a picture of Basil and Izzy in what looked like a dance-off. There were more photos, many making Clara smile. She turned the page, looking at older photos. There were photos of John and Oswin's wedding, some of which involved photos of Basil wearing a rather cross expression. Clara looked at him and said, "You look like you wanted to murder the camera man."
"It's the eyebrows." Basil said with a shrug. "Also, I'm Scottish. I reserve the right to be cross."
Clara rolled her eyes before returning to the photos. There were a few pictures of a rather mischievous-looking woman from John and Oswin's wedding. Next, there were photos of what looked like another wedding, which featured a rather bold-looking ginger woman. "My friend, Donna Noble." Basil supplied.
They spent a while flipping through the pages before Clara came across some photos that appeared to have been taken in the 90s. Included in the photos were photos of a strangely familiar-looking man. "I swear that I've seen this person before." Clara said, looking at the photos and then at Basil.
"That's because that's my sister, Missy." Basil said.
"How can that be Missy?" Clara raised her brows.
"Well, she was Harold back then." Basil explained. "Our parents weren't happy, to say the least. She's happy now, though." He paused before asking, "You don't have a problem with this, do you?"
"No." Clara replied. "Missy is Missy. Has she always been as crazy as Izzy said she was?"
"Even if she's not making trouble, trouble always seems to find her." Basil chuckled.
"What did she do, tranquilize your wife at your wedding?" Clara snarked.
"Ex-wife, but yes." Basil replied. "They never got along."
"Why?" Clara asked.
"Well, Missy never thought that River was good enough for me." Basil said. "She and I argue a lot, but if someone messes with me, woe be to the one who earns my sister's wrath."
"Only she's allowed to mess with you?" Clara guessed.
"That sounds about right." Basil said.
"It sounds interesting, having a sibling." Clara said. "I mean, I only know this from friends with siblings. I'm an only child."
"There can be banter." Basil explained. "Missy and I banter. My friend Mae and her brother, Louis, banter. Even John and his older brother, David, banter."
"I've met David." Clara said. "Great hair, that one."
"Normally I hate banter, but sometimes it's unavoidable." Basil said. "Sometimes you get caught into banter and don't realize that you're bantering until it's too late."
"Banter isn't always that bad." Clara said with a smile.
"You say that now, but wait until you're stuck in an endless loop of pointless pleasantries." Basil suppressed a shudder. "There are few worse fates."
"Izzy isn't good at small talk, either." Clara admitted. "She hates it."
"Maybe she gets it from me." Basil suggested with a shrug.
"Could be." Clara also shrugged. "I don't know how many ways that she's like you."
"We both hate pears." Basil supplied.
"Oh god, don't get me started on her and pears." Clara groaned. "She's gotten into fights over pears."
"She's fought with you over pears?" Basil raised a brow.
"Well, not me." Clara replied. "Other students at school. I hope that when she goes to secondary school, she won't have to deal with some of the students who've been giving her trouble for so long."
"Who?" Basil asked.
"Basil, that's not important right now." Clara said. "If it'll put you at ease, you have my permission to go to school to deal with staff about Izzy getting into a fight. Not that that'll happen."
"Good." Basil said. "I can deal with pudding brains."
"Don't get too carried away." Clara replied. "I don't want to get her into more trouble."
"Clara, I won't get her into worse trouble." Basil reassured the thirty-something mother.
"She's a good kid, you know?" Clara said.
"I know." Basil said with a smile.
"She likes you, Basil." Clara said. "I want to be able to trust you with her."
"You can trust me." Basil promised. "I'd protect her with my life."
Clara smiled at the older man. It was then that she knew that this man, this new family member, was worthy of her daughter. He wouldn't be Izzy's father per say, but Clara approved of the girl considering the man family. She didn't know if she would ever feel the same way, but she knew that Basil would earn her trust. She had known about his relation to her daughter for months and she was okay with it. Clara looked at Basil and said, "Basil, I think I would like to be your friend."
Basil nodded and said, "I would like the same thing, Clara."
They heard a happy, if somewhat muffled squee from nearby. They both looked to see that Izzy was trying to conceal herself and she looked quite happy. Clara let out a melodramatic sigh and said, "Izzy, just practice your guitar."
Izzy also let out a melodramatic sigh and said, "Fiiiine!"
The twelve-year-old then stomped off in a huff to head to the music room. Clara looked at Basil. Her lips twitched before she burst into laughter. Basil also smiled and began to laugh. Clara decided that when he smiled, he definitely looked kinder, more approachable. Not necessarily attractive, but still more approachable than before. At least his eyebrows didn't look like they were about to drop off his face and attack someone. Izzy would get one similar expression on her face, only with less eyebrow. It wasn't quite as intimidating on Izzy as it was on Basil in the photo, but it worked on some people. Maybe there were other ways that her daughter was like Basil. Clara looked forward to finding out.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Izzy plugged her guitar into the amp, feeling quite happy. Her mum and Basil were finally friends. Things were going very well for her. If the two of them got along, it would make things easier for her. Izzy wanted this so badly, especially after the drama of their first meeting at the café. That had been awkward, to say the least. It had been upsetting, too. Izzy hated to hear her mum say those things about Basil. He was a nice guy. He didn't deserve that. Izzy strummed her guitar. Life had gotten more interesting since she had met Basil and now that her mother knew him, it would be even more interesting. What would happen with that friendship? Only time would tell. The twelve-year-old cleared her throat before she began to sing.
"She's got a smile that it seems to me,
Reminds me of childhood memories,
Where everything,
Was as fresh as the bright blue sky.
Now and then when I see her face,
It takes me away to that special place,
And if I stared too long,
I'd probably break down and cry.
Sweet child o' mine,
Sweet child of mine."
She didn't really think much of her singing voice, but she enjoyed singing and she loved music. No, she wasn't really impressed by her own voice. However, Basil and Clara could hear her from the living room. The thirty-something mother turned to the doctor and smiled. "That's my girl." Clara said happily.
Basil smirked and said, "She definitely gets that from me."
"The voice of a twelve-year-old girl?" Clara snickered.
"Clara!" Basil groaned. "I'm talking about her love of music."
"She's always been that way." Clara said. "I'm glad that she inherited that from you."
"She's going to go far." Basil said with a smile.
From the other room, the song changed as Izzy sang,
"Now dance, fucker, dance!
Man, he never had a chance,
And no one even knew,
It was really only you,
And now you steal away.
Take him out today.
Nice work you did!
You're gonna go far, kid!"
"Isabel Carmen Pink, watch your language!" Basil scolded.
"Not the full name!" Izzy groaned
"She definitely doesn't get that from me." Clara said.
"I don't swear, either." Basil said. "Not in a while."
"How much did you swear back in your day?" Clara asked
"Give me some slack here!" Basil groaned. "I survived the 80s. What more do you want from me?"
Clara rolled her eyes. Clearly the man was more like Izzy than she had ever suspected. The girl didn't swear often, but when she did, she swore with skill. Isabel Pink was a clever girl and Clara didn't know how often she swore when she wasn't around. Hopefully with Basil's influence, she would swear less. It kind of sucked that she had chosen to sing a song with "Fuck" in the lyrics. The Offspring had some good songs, according to a few friends. She really wasn't into them. Clara liked other bands and artists. Some of the stuff she liked was newer. She would never admit it, but she was a Lady Gaga song and would sing Bad Romance or Born This Way while she was cleaning. Her voice wasn't as nice as Izzy's, though. She had the raw talent. Maybe Izzy would go far. Only time would tell.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
'You're Gonna Go Far, Kid' by The Offspring and 'Sweet Child O' Mine' by Guns N' Roses don't belong to me. Good songs, though. I recommend that you listen to them. I'm sorry if the chapter is a bit short, but the banter took up a lot of space.
