A Chaotic Experience
Chapter 25: Luck of the Scottish
"Popuri… I don't know what to say!" Ewan gasped a little, then realizing to get his feelings out in the open, "I mean, yeah, I'm definitely interested in you, too!"
"Great to hear. I've felt this way for a long time, you know." Popuri clasped her hands together and sat them on her dress.
"Me too…" Ewan looked away with a blushing face.
"Maybe… maybe I should give you something that you've deserved ever since the Flower Festival." the flower girl thought for a moment.
"Hmm?" wondered Ewan. Popuri lifted her finger to imply that Ewan should get closer. He did so and Popuri leaned forward to kiss Ewan, putting her arms over his shoulder. They held their kiss for quite a while and then Ewan let out a small laugh.
"This is unbelievable…" Popuri admitted, "In the best way ever."
"Everyone's going to go nuts when they tell us about us being together." the farmer told the other farmer as they finally stood up and walked towards the flower shop.
"I'm just sad that my dad isn't here just yet… I'm glad he'll be home soon so that I can tell him." Popuri blushed a little and held her face.
"Well… good night." Ewan got close to Popuri and lifted her chin the slightest amount and kissed her.
"Good night… Ewan." Popuri nearly whispered. Ewan smiled and then walked home. Once he got home, he let out a deep sigh.
"Today has been… possibly the best day of my life." Ewan looked to where Rosie was, not surprisingly, sleeping, "Or at least, from what I remember." he blushed a little. He was so tired from doing so much that he immediately fell asleep right when his head hit the pillow.
Ewan woke up in the brightest of spirits. He leaped out of bed to a happily meowing Rosie. Her food bowl was full and she was meowing for no reason at all.
"Morning, Rosie, my pet." he smiled at his cat, who meowed back. Ewan quickly got dressed and immediately did his chores. Right when he finished his chores, Popuri arrived on his farm.
"Hello… Ewan." she held her face again and blushed. Ewan giggled and scratched the back of his head. He began to blush a little too.
"Hi." he walked up to her and gave her a little kiss, "I'm all done with the chores. Ready to tell the world about us?" Ewan laughed.
"I've been ready." Popuri laughed back and they walked together, gathering the group. They didn't hold hands or anything because they wanted to keep it a surprise. All the couples plus Alex were at the area that included the mayor's house, library, midwife's house, and potion shop.
"So why'd you gather ALL of us?" Karen wondered, putting her hands on her hips.
"Yeah. I was a little busy with work." replied Joe with a slight snarky tone as he crossed his arms.
"Hush, Joe. Be nice." warned Raffi as she touched Joe's nose.
"Well, we've got some news." Popuri said as she looked up to Ewan. They all looked at Ewan and expected Ewan to say something. He only laughed and bent over to give Popuri a kiss.
"AHH!" they all screamed. It was out of pure surprise, but they all suddenly started laughing, blushing, or doing a mix of the two. It was a very humorous sight for both Ewan and Popuri
"Ewan! You finally got together with Popuri!" Kai finally was able to say something. Ewan chuckled and nodded his head.
"It's about time, Popuri." Elli set her hands on the apron on her dress as she blushed a little, "You wouldn't stop talking about Ewan."
"Yeah, same with Ewan, but only with talking about Popuri." Cliff looked away and murmured. They all laughed a little.
"This is just great! I suppose me coming here made Flower Bud amazing. I shipped Ewan and Popuri the whole time!" Alex told the group. They all looked at her a little confusedly when she used the word 'shipped'.
"Excuse me? Shipped?" Maria asked her friend a little curiously as she set her finger on her chin.
"Yeah! It's the couple I supported." once Alex explained, most of them understood, "Well, to be honest, I shipped a little Gray and Popuri…" she muttered under her breath, "Oh, and some Ewan and Gray." she said a little louder. This startled most of them.
"You wanted me to get together with my worst rival!?" Ewan yelled at Alex, who responded with a clueless tone.
"You wanted my friend to get with my BROTHER!?" screeched Ann. Alex replied with the same monotone sound.
"You wanted one of my STRAIGHT best friends to get together with another dude!?" Kai barked at Alex. The three of them were ganging up on Alex.
"I plead the fifth!" she yelled. Alex then rushed off, leaving the others in the same area.
"Thanks guys…" Maria muttered, "She started confusing me with all these words and terms she says that she uses from TV shows. Maybe she'll be a little bit quieter…"
"No problem, Maria." Ann replied, giving her thumbs up, "I love yelling at people I've only known for about a month."
"I'm just glad Kai yelled at her. I'm sure that if he didn't I would have." Karen wrapped her arm around her boyfriend, who gave her a look with his eyes half-closed.
"Okay guys, that's all for today's meeting. Carry on with your lives." Ewan lifted his hands and ushered that everyone move on. They all went on and Ewan and Popuri began to walk towards the flower shop.
"Did you know that the flower shop and bakery are having their annual lotteries?" Popuri asked Ewan, who shook his head, "Oh, well it's going on from today until the 29th. You should join in the one at the flower shop today."
"Okay." Ewan decided. Lillia greeted the two and explained the raffle to Ewan. She allowed him a free raffle. If he got 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th place and got a good prize, then he would be able to draw again.
"Here we go!" Lillia rang a bell and Ewan drew a card.
"2nd place!" announced Popuri as she read Ewan's card. Lillia took the card and rummaged through her belongings.
"2nd place is a set of flower aroma bath seeds. They'll relax you more when you take a bath at your house." explained the flower shop owner, "Now you can draw another card!" she smiled.
"Great!" Ewan lifted his hand and placed it on another card after Lillia rang the bell, "I got 3rd." Ewan told the two.
"Wow, Ewan. You're getting lucky today." marveled his girlfriend after his second win.
"3rd place is a group of seals that you can put on your calendar for special dates." Lillia handed Ewan a packet. He opened them and looked at them.
"Oh wow, there's a lot of them!" the farmer was astonished, "They're cool, too." he only had 5 more simple ones, now he had 5 more. Lillia rang the bell once again and Ewan drew his third raffle card.
"4th place is a bag of Pink-Cat Mint flowers. Congratulations!" Popuri's mother handed Ewan the pink bag full of seeds.
"Will you be planting those seeds anytime soon?" wondered Popuri a little curiously as she set her finger on her chin and pressured Ewan with a cute face. Ewan fell for it and said that he would, which won him a hug.
"Ooh, I hope I get 1st place." Ewan jumped up and down from slight excitement. Lillia rang the bell and Ewan pulled a card, "1st place! Yay!" he jumped up and down again, only a bit more vigorously than before. Popuri soon joined him.
"Wow! You got all the prizes in one go! Your prize is a flower-scented cushion that will help you sleep and keep nightmares away." Lillia was blushing as she smiled and handed Ewan the pretty designed pillow.
"Great job, Ewan! You've got the luck of the Irish!" Popuri congratulated and then joked.
The Homeland
"Okay, Ewan. Here we are in Flower Bud." the young boy's parents dropped him off.
"Do I have to be here…?" the boy mumbled a little angrily as he shoved his hands in his pockets, trying to act tough.
"Yes. You're getting too spoilt and we want your grandpa to teach you some things." the boy's father told his son. The son grumbled something about being bored and lonely.
"Don't worry, there are kids here your age." the mother told her son.
"How long do I have to be away from Scotland?" the boy asked his parents.
"We'll check on you in a season and we'll decide, depending on how you like it here." the father answered. The parents left after their good-byes and the boy met with this grandpa. He then met a young, cute girl.
"Hi… do I know you?"
"No… I just came here on vacation." the boy answered.
"I love your accent… are you from Ireland?" the girl's question seemed to infuriate the child, but he kept his cool.
"No, I'm from Scotland." the boy smiled.
"Awesome…"
…Then…
…Then?
"Popuri… I'm Scottish." Ewan told Popuri in what seemed out of nowhere.
"Hmm?" Popuri wondered, getting his bag together with all the prizes that he had won, "Oh, did you remember something?"
"Yes… I'm not Irish. I think we had this discussion before." Ewan thought about what he had just seen and then laughed a little, "Everyone thinks I'm Irish. It's the luck of the Scottish, Popuri." he chuckled some more.
Even with Popuri insisting that Ewan should try his luck at the bakery lottery, Ewan decided against it and to do it another day. Meanwhile, Maria was busy telling people about Alex's birthday in response to accidentally embarrassing her with her 'shipping' event.
"I have to ask, Maria, why are you planning a party for Alex and not having a bachelorette party? Or a bachelor party for Harris?" wondered Raffi as she set her finger on her chin.
"We decided that New Year's Day is suitable for a party for us. Besides, we'll all be drunk anyway." Maria laughed at the thought of her being drunk, or even buzzed. Raffi shivered at the thought.
"Well remember that my birthday is the same day as Alex's. So make sure we get equal birthday attention." said Raffi as she let out a little laugh, "Actually, I've got a good idea."
"Hmm?" wondered Maria curiously.
"How about, we have a party for me, make it normal and stuff, and then later on, or halfway through, we could suddenly change it and make it a big surprise and change it to Alex's party! Isn't it nice?" suggested Raffi. Maria loved the idea, so they decided on it and told the rest of the town.
"Hang on, though…" Popuri noted once Raffi, herself, Ewan, and Alex were together when Raffi was inviting the three of them to her party, "Your birthday is on the Spirit Festival. And only 4 people can go, including the spirit. So…" she muttered.
"Oh no! I just thought of that!" Alex gasped. She was known of all the festivals for a while, as Maria told her about them when they weren't doing anything.
"The party won't be a problem. We'll just have that during the day… but I suppose that'll be a dilemma." the doctor said as she sat her chin on her hand, "We can argue about that once the 27th rolls by." she chuckled.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Raffi asked her boyfriend as she entered the carpentry.
"I got some new clothes, so I'm changing into them." Joe said. His shoes were now mainly dark brown instead of bluish, tanner pants, an orange shirt with the sleeves slightly rolled up instead of his polo shirt, and a lighter colored vest mostly zipped up.
(A/N: .)
"Why?" wondered the doctor curiously as she turned Joe around from the mirror that he was looking into, "Nice, though."
"Thanks. And because it was kind of a spur of the moment type thing." explained the carpenter as he shrugged his shoulders slightly.
"Well it was a good spur of the moment idea." Raffi chuckled and kissed her boyfriend on the cheek. They walked outside of the carpentry and walked down to the snowy beach.
"Haven't things been going great recently? Everyone's together with someone and Maria and Harris are getting married in about a week!" Joe told Raffi and laughed a little.
"Well, everyone but Alex. But I don't think that there's anyone for her to get together with here in Flower Bud." replied Raffi in a 'matter-of-fact' way, "So, have you been thinking about what to get me for my birthday?"
"Oh, not at all, I almost forgot that it was your birthday." sarcastically answered Joe as he flashed a silly little grin.
"Haha." laughed Raffi in a bored tone as she hit Joe in the chest playfully, "But seriously, what are you getting me?" she asked.
"Not telling." Joe rolled his eyes and looked away, trying to ignore Raffi's constant whining.
"Come on!" she yelled and then got to her feet.
"Sheesh, you're impatient!" Joe smiled and crossed his arms, "Okay, I'll tell you." he answered. Raffi's eyes shot wide open and she got close to him again.
"And?" wondered Raffi.
"It's a present." Joe smiled. Raffi turned red from slight anger and stormed off.
"Hey, hey! Come back Ms. Impatient Pants!" he called out for his girlfriend. Joe then chased after her, but they both knew that they were playing around the entire time.
Once Ewan got home, he put his bag of Pink-Cat Mint flowers in his tool box so that he could grow them the next day. He set his cushion on top of his original pillow and put his new calendar seals on his calendar on the side. Lastly, he took a bath and put his flower-based beads in his bathroom.
He woke up on the 26th calmly, having a great night's sleep due to his new pillow. He fed his cat, who was out at the windowsill watching the snow fall. Ewan watched the snow with her for a few minutes and then had breakfast.
"Phew…" Ewan let out a little sigh as he took his first step outside in the cold weather. He had his bag of flower seeds ready for planting, so he went into his greenhouse first. Afterwards, he tended to his animals and then walked out to the front of his farm. He checked his mail, finding nothing, and ran into Raffi walking her dog at the crossroads.
"Hey, Ewan." Raffi waved. She began walking in circles with Oreo, "What's up?" she was panting a little. She had probably been running for longer than Ewan had been awake.
"Not much. You can carry on with your running." Ewan nodded his head. He waved to Raffi. She waved back and Oreo let out a little bark. Raffi ran off towards Green Ranch, most likely to the beach. Ewan went off to meet with Harris and they talked about the wedding and some other things.
"So are you excited to finally be living in town instead of just wandering around town until at night when you mysteriously vanish?" asked Ewan with a grin.
"You know, I live in town." Harris answered, looking away.
"Yes, I know." replied the farmer, and then he nodded his head, "But are you happy to not be living in an apartment?" Harris nodded his head.
"Yep. I'm a little nervous, but I'm also very excited at the same time." he admitted to Ewan.
"Aw, that's only natural!" Ewan said with a laugh, "I felt the same way when Popuri told me how she felt about me." he told him. They talked until the Bakery opened that day and Ewan went inside. He met Trent and Elli, who were off to the side, sharing some cake.
"Hi, Ewan. I suspected that you'd be here, aching for the lottery." replied a female voice. Popuri had walked into the Bakery, greeting a blushing Ewan.
"Gee, how'd you know?" he asked sarcastically. Ewan gave Popuri a kiss and they went to the counter.
"Could I draw a card for the lottery?" the farmer asked Jeff. Jeff explained that the rules would be the same as the flower shop, so Ewan hoped to get at least 4th.
"4th place!" Jeff read out Ewan's lottery card.
"Who knew!?" Popuri said, as if she were reading Ewan's mind or something along those lines.
"Here's a jar of honey." the bakery master handed Ewan a mug filled with yellow honey. He took it and put it in his rucksack.
"You guys should really sell this more often." Ewan laughed a little and pulled another lottery card. It was for 2nd place.
"I have no idea how you get so lucky besides you being Scottish." the flower shop girl turned to her boyfriend, "Raffi would kill to have that luck." she scratched her cheek.
"Your prize is a collection of mugs and tea cups!" he showed the two of them the design of the cups before he put them in some kind of packaging, which Ewan put away in his rucksack.
"Hey, guys." Trent greeted the three of them with his girlfriend.
"Doing well?" Elli was referring to the lottery.
"Ewan's won 4th and 2nd place already! He's Scottish!" Ewan's girlfriend nodded affectionately as Ewan pulled another ticket.
"3rd place!" the group let out a little cheer and then Jeff explained the prize: a group of designed luncheon mats.
"Okay, I swear, you need to have a picnic at your log-terrace or kitchen one day with everything that you're winning." Jeff told Ewan. He chuckled and took the box that contained his prize.
"I hope 1st place is good…" Elli muttered. Jeff was the only one who knew what the prizes were for the lottery.
"Don't jinx it!" complained the farmer. He pulled out another lottery card, which, indeed, was for 1st place. They all let out a little cheer, even Jeff.
"You get a blue and white patterned table cloth!" he handed Ewan the tablecloth, which had some wrapping over it.
"So… can we come over for lunch now?" wondered the doctor, flashing a somewhat innocent look. Elli, Popuri, and Jeff tried to do the same. Ewan looked away in a false-aggravated way, and then let out a laugh.
"Yeah, let's go to the farm and set all this up! But you lot have to bring the food."