Futuretake – Modern Family

"Free fudge samples! Come and get a free fudge sample courtesy of Platt's Fudge Kitchen!"

Usually I'd love to hear those words, but the scene before me had me fuming. There was my eighteen-year old daughter giving out fudge samples to punk ass boys smoking dope with their pants halfway down their legs.

"Nope, nope, nope! Get your ass inside, Kat!" Call me abrasive in that situation, but I knew what those boys were thinking. They wanted to stick their dicks…

"Bella!" I called out, pissed, practically dragging Kat inside the shop by the elbow. Some customers looked my way, but I had tunnel vision.

"What?" she asked, coming out from the back.

"What is the meaning of this?" I questioned, gesturing to my daughter with a plate of fudge in her hands.

"Edward," she started with a hard tone, her own pissed off look on her face, "she volunteered to hand out fudge."

"Under no circumstances is she allowed to hand out fudge!"

"But Daddy," she whined.

"Don't start, Kat. Go in the back and help Reese do inventory."

"But-" The look I gave her quieted her and she mumbled her way to the back.

Triple B and I stared off at each other, waiting for the other to look the other way. We were both too stubborn to back down.

Neither of us said anything, but she turned away. She knew I'd follow her, and we ended up out back.

"Fudge, you were seventeen and handing out fudge," she rebutted, leaning against the wall with her arms across her chest. As much as she complained about her boobs after two pregnancies and time, they still looked fantastic in my book. Tasted the same, if not better too.

I had to bite my tongue to prevent a stereotypcial sexist comment to come out no matter how true it was. Kat was just over a hundred pounds at five foot three. I knew for a fact that Reese could pin her to the ground easily and he was only fifteen. Probably didn't help she looked fifteen and he looked eighteen.

"Baby, neither of our children will be handing fudge out this summer. Let the others employees do it."

"You're ridiculous, Edward. You realize this is a family business, right? The future owners of this business need to show face and make relationships with the customers."

"Kat's not even that interested in running the business. Reese is more invested in it than her." Kat was her mother's daughter and Reese was my son. Sometimes it was scary how much they reminded us of our younger selves. Kat liked the business, but I saw her more invested in her art work while Reese was a glutton for making fudge.

"Excuses, excuses. Face it, Fudge, you're worried she's going to prancing off with some guy who says a few sexy lines and go do it in the back of his car."

"Bella!" Why was she talking about her so casually in a sexual matter?

"You don't understand females sometimes." She shook her head at my nonsense. "Everyone always says she's her mother's daughter. If anything, Kat is going to scare the boys away. She looks innocent, but she might as well have razors for teeth." She pushed off the wall and wrapped her arms around my neck, leaning up to kiss me soundly on the lips. "You watch, Fudge, Kat can handle herself."

Of course, she was right. Triple B was always right. It was the third day since I banned the kids from fudge sample duty. A group of guys were gathered by Kat who was explaining the different products. One slipped her a piece of paper that gave me déjà vu. It better not have said anything about fudge covered…gah I can't finish that thought when it concerns Kat. I was about to go ape shit on the fucker when I saw Kat instigate him, but Kat, like her mother, was full of surprises.

She reached over the counter, grabbed him by the ear, whispered something in his ear, and flicked him several times on his forehead. Whatever she said was enough to get him and his followers to leave the shop.

I simply came up to her and hugged her tight to my body, kissing the top of her head. Looking at my daughter, I was one lucky fucker.

"I'm proud of you Kit Kat. I love you."

"I love you, too. Mom taught me well, Daddy. I know how to handle little fuckers in this shop."

I chuckled, but made no comment. She was just like her mother.

The next day we all took a break from the shop in preparation for the night. Triple B and Kat went for some spa treatment while Reese and I went to the beach.

Even though we were away from the shop, we talked shopped. Reese loved learning about every location we had, marketing, future plans, anything about the business. It was when he finally took a breather that he made a topic change.

"Dad, how do I know if a girl likes me?"

We had some talks about this before, but his tone told me this was a more serious inquiry.

"Well…it's different for different girls. Do you think a girl likes you?"

He told me all about his girl, Joy. She was in the grade above him, and they had a class together during school, becoming friends so her name wasn't new. However, recent developments made it seem apparent they liked each other more than friends.

"Reese, it does sound like she likes you, and it sounds like you like her too, more than friends. If you both want to take that step, then go for it. There's always a risk with relationships, but it's better than asking the what ifs, if you ask me."

"Like with Mom?"

I laughed loudly, those first few encounters with her clear as day despite it being over two decades ago. "Exactly like that. If I hadn't followed your mother's crazy ass up that sign, I probably wouldn't be married to her today." Yes, now that the kids were old enough, they knew the true story about how we met and some of the antics we got up to.

"I know you are both still in love with each other, but do you ever regret it? Regret getting together with Mom like that? I know you've said Alice wanted to set you up with her originally, and that happened, but not in a conventional way."

"Absolutely not," I immediately replied. "At the time, I thought she was fucking nuts, but despite that, I fell in love with her. Now look at us, living on the Jersey Shore with you and Kat. Soon enough you kids will have stories of your own about meeting the love of your life. You might give us gray hairs while doing it, but finding that other half is important. Your stories will never beat ours though. Try beating teasing glimpses, inappropriate sounds while eating fudge, hamsters, the Wildwood sign, Grab a Weiner, birthday shenanigans, and two beautiful children named after candy."

Having that talk with Reese, brought back so many memories with Triple B. We came a long way from those days.

That night, I stood in my suit in the living room, helping Reese with his tie. No matter what, he could never tie it correctly. Kat and B looked beautiful as ever when they emerged in this own dressy attire. I kissed Kat on the cheek and softly kissed my wife.

We piled into the car, ready to take on the night. When we arrived, we quickly entered the building to the designated area. Turned out that people were already attracted to the newest artist in the gallery. This wasn't the first gallery that she displayed and sold her art in, but it had the most prestige.

The curator, Aro, welcomed us with open arms and raved about how there were already several interested collectors in her work. Knowing my wife was getting the recognition she deserved made me so proud of her. She was in no way a struggling artist, not that she ever was since I met her, but taking her reputation to another level was amazing. Watching Kat discuss with Aro about some of the art she saw walking in and her own work and the fact that he seemed genuinely interested in her thoughts and work, filled me with more pride. Reese, like me, was not as involved in the artistic world, but we nodded and supported the women in our lives.

We made a loop around the gallery to see the other art, stopping at Bella's work. We took a moment to take in Triple B's work. I pulled her closer to me by the waist, quietly whispering how proud of her I was in our own private bubble. Aro found us once again, taking a picture of the four of us, claiming the moment had to be captured.

"Who knows, maybe the next generation of artists is in this picture?" he winked, bidding us his farewell.

Kat most definitely was the next generation of artists. Reese was the next generation of fudge makers. The next generation of Cullens looked pretty damn good.

"Now what, Triple B?"

"Let's go home and eat, Fudge Boy."

Back at home, we all sat at our dining room table. None of us bothered to change. Instead, we indulged in the fudge that we stacked into the shape of a cake the prior day. There was at least one of every flavor of fudge we made. This was the ultimate Cullen dessert.

"To artists and fudge," I toasted as we all clinked our glasses together, ready for the next Cullen adventure to begin.


Posted: April 8, 2020

And that's all she wrote! Seriously, I'm done this time. Fudge and Triple B have told their story. However, a little tribute to them may be featured in a story I have about half written. It's a matter of if I ever finish it and get it posted.

Hit the author alert button if you want to join me on the next adventure or send me a PM if you want to keep in touch.

Thank you all again for your love and support for these two. You're the best! It's been a great journey for all of us. When summer officially rolls around, don't forget these two! Stay safe everyone. Fudge and Triple B send their fudge, art and love to you.