Hello! More of Seb and the kiddos! Enjoy! :D
"Did you learn everything by watching Themtube videos? Really?" Miz raised an eyebrow. Seb nodded proudly. "Themtube should have been a thing when I was fixing up the portal, dude. Teaching myself physics took forever. You want to hear the song I found about the periodic table?"
Miz blinked. "Actually, yes. Is it anything like the School House Rocks songs?" Hey, she was always up to learn a new song.
Seb searched for the song and Miz saw it. "Heeey~ Fordsie plays that one to the octuplets!"
"Oh my god, what a copycat." Seb complained. "I'll need a new song now." Miz rolled her eyes, hard. Why was he like this? Actually, all three of these dumbass triplets. They were all so competitive and petty. (Though, to be honest, she did find that endearing.)
Miz asked Seb random questions throughout the following days, she didn't want to sit him down to take a test to know if he's been actually revising, and she knew he probably wouldn't want to sit down for a test either, so this was better for everyone. He'd answer them correctly, some complicated questions about concepts he needed to know, and important chemical reactions because she didn't want him to fucking die from getting something wrong. Wanda had no idea what was going on, but Miz gave her some cards with questions to ask Seb too. Wanda complied, because it was so hot to see her husband answering sciencey questions~
And Miz also quizzed the twins on the subject as well, thinking training them early would make things easier. She wrote out all the different types of magic, in case they wanted to learn that instead. "Glyph magic only works if some source of magic is nearby. So Diego actually can't work it without being in a hotspot like Gravity Falls, or when I'm nearby." Miz explained. "There's also Invocations and Incantations, which is basically memorizing spell words and stringing them together. Or if you wanted to focus on elemental based systems. There are… a lot of kinds of magic out there." She huffed. "Even glyph magic varies depending on the source of magic nearby. There's the basic elemental stuff which can be used with almost all sources, and then there are some glyphs that only work around specific sources. My triangle symbol can actually be used as a glyph if I'm nearby. But the effects of that particular glyph are… unpredictable." She muttered.
When she deemed Seb capable enough to manage, she began her first matter manipulation lesson. She knew Seb needed some practice to be able to hold the atoms like she did. So the first thing to do was to hold matter steady.
"Here." Miz was in an empty field with Seb, Zach and Zoe, away from prying eyes. "I have some Helium atoms here." She held up her hands. "I have highlighted them in blue, so they're visible to you." Anyone looking would think Miz was holding a hazy ball of blue light in her hands. "I chose Helium because it's super light. Hydrogen is lighter, but it's also more volatile. So I figured this would be good as a beginner element."
"""Ooohhh~""" The 3 Pines cooed, leaning closer to see.
"Here, try to grab a Helium atom from me." Miz was gripping them softly, so they wouldn't float away.
Zoe pushed the 2 backwards to go first. Zach and Seb made the exact same pouty face. Gosh, so cute. Zoe carefully reached for the glowy atoms. Zoe's hands flickered with green fire and Miz raised an eyebrow.
"Remember to keep your fire in. You're not burning, you're here to grab and hold." She explained further, "Think about when you use your powers to pick up an object and move it. It's like that, but on an atomic level. Focus on the things I'm holding."
Seb picked up Zach and carried him as both watched intently. Zoe stuck her tongue out and raised a hand, trying to think it was floating any other thing like Miz said.
"You can do it, sweetie!" Seb cheered. Miz also gave Zoe an encouraging look.
Zoe squinted at the blue light. She thought and reached and tried to grab it. She didn't know if it was working or not. But eventually, a faint green glow appeared. She reached harder, the glow covering over Miz's blue. Miz allowed her own hold on the Helium to fade and let Zoe grab the ones she managed to grip onto. "Can you feel that?" Miz asked softly. "The weight."
"...I don't know…" Zoe's hands were trembling from the effort. "Am I supposed to feel it?"
"Well, Helium is light. So you might not feel it. But you ARE holding something." Miz slowly moved her hands away, leaving Zoe's hands up with a faint green between them. "You've got a bunch of helium there. Try moving them around."
Zoe tried, but she got a headache, and dropped her hands. The green glow vanished and Miz could feel the helium floating up into the air. "I can't!" Zoe practically spat.
"You did really well. We will just keep practicing until you get stronger mental muscles for holding things longer." Miz patted Zoe's head. "Also, good job letting go. When you start to feel something hurt, you let go. Ok? I don't want you getting harmed from practice."
Miz motioned Seb to have a try. He held himself a lot better than Zoe, despite not being born with active powers, he was older and had been using his powers for longer. He managed to hold them, using his internal Eye as a way to see the atoms better ("I do have something they don't, hah!"), and actually managed to turn them around before letting go because his nose was starting to bleed.
"Zach? Do you wanna try?" Miz smiled at the little boy. He did about as well as Zoe. The three practiced for a few more hours before Miz called a break for the day and teleported everyone home for dinner.
-.-
Sebastian wasn't neglecting his career just because he was studying and practicing magic now. He was still offering personalized, unique clothing for commission, that was kind of "his thing". Even though anyone could go to the store and choose something, it was actually showing your face for your work that did it for him. It reminded him of working in Gravity Falls, and it reminded him of working with his Dad…
(And Seb WANTED to be seen, dammit!. It's been so hard to make all this. He deserved it!)
His online store proclaimed he was open for anyone, be it plus sizes, people in wheelchairs, people missing limbs, etc. Because everyone should have the right to look FABULOUS, regardless if they fit into the 'norms' of what society expected humans to be shaped like.
And then Seb's manager pointed out, "Hey, you should make more children's clothing as well, since you normally make adult suits and dresses. Expand your brand! I've seen the photos from your wedding, you made the clothes for your children then. I think you'd be even more popular if you did children's sizes too."
"Tiny dresses and suits and inbetween." Seb whispered in awe. He stopped listening when his manager began showing him graphs and statistics and how people wanted real clothes for kids and not just overly sexualized or doll clothes on them.
So he later told Wanda about the idea, and how he wanted the twins to help.
"No. Absolutely not." Wanda was dead against the idea. "I don't want my children growing up to have body image issues."
"Aaw! Then who's kids am I gonna exploit for my benefit?!"
"I can!" Miz suggested and Seb laughed. "You're not a kid anymore. You don't fit." Miz was legally around '15' now after all.
"BOO!" She complained. ("Ahahaha! It's what you get for being a teenager now~")
His manager dealt with the "finding kids to exploit" thing. They didn't need too many kids, their budget was made for 2, a boy and a girl and that's it. A lot of kids turned up to the interview. Seb had never seen what kids' modeling was like. He's only dealt with adult women and men. He decided to wear his blue prosthetic, it made him look cooler.
So the studio was filled with kids putting on their clothes and getting fixed up by parents. One kid was crying somewhere and it made Seb cringe at how loud everything was. Ugh. Maybe this was a bad idea. Children suuuuucked. Dirty little flesh things…Only HIS kids and niblings were cool (And Avaritia Nicholas was on thin ice in his book but he was definitely NOT saying that aloud next to Ford or Yun, he didn't want to fuckin' die yet.)
And then Seb overheard one of the stylists at studio tell a little girl's parents there was 0 point in trying because she should lose a few pounds if she wanted to get into modeling, to which Seb turned to them in a flash, told them to fuck off, because the entire point of his brand was 'All bodyshapes welcomed' and the stylist looked so startled at the outburst.
The thing though? That kid looked just like the twins , she wasn't overweight or anything ! ...He understood why Wanda refused to let the twins be part of all this...She was more intelligent when it came to stuff like this.
Humans were really the worst...How could grown ass people tell this to kids, it was not their fault. Nor was it anyone's fucking business. His hands twitched. Growing up, adults told him he looked disgusting because of his eye, because he was weird… and things like that were never forgotten…
And again he thanked Wanda for being more intelligent than him.
"Prepare yourself, sweetie, I still want to see you for the casting." Seb smiled at the little girl kindly. She looked a little shy, but she did meet his gaze and nod.
Seb turned back to the room at large.
"All clothes can look great as long as they're tailored to fit the wearer. You're all just too UNSKILLED to be able to tailor stuff that isn't for people who force themselves to match YOUR style." Seb taunted the other stylists here. It wasn't JUST him here, looking for a child model. There were other stylists and fashion designers here too. "Not everyone in the world has a skinny model build that you OH SO LOVE. And if you're only capable of designing clothes for just that one shape, then you're a sh- shoddy designer!"
Seb offended a lot of people that day. He couldn't care less. He had a lot of support from people, off and online who loved his personal dedication to each of their specific needs. And that made him glow with pride.
At the end 2 kids were chosen. That girl didn't pass, but a lump caught in his throat when the parents thanked him for stepping in.
"Hey. You just need to work a tiny bit more on the poses, kay? I know you'll do great in your next casting." Hey, saying supportive words to dirty little flesh things from time to time made you a good human. The girl beamed at him. Heh, for a little flesh bag, she was cute. Not as cute as his own spawn though.
But yeah, Seb was sticking to his guns. His business was going to make clothes accessible for all sizes. And if they wanted, he'd personally tailor it specifically for them.
Did it mean he couldn't mass produce stuff for selling commercially? Yes. But he wasn't about that anyway. He liked his own thing better. And since Miz insisted on helping by synthesizing some of the fabrics and materials he needed (Seb knew she was doing it, even if she said nothing. He noticed when his fabric was running low one night. And was miraculously longer by two yards the next day. He knew, but he wouldn't say anything, for now.) He didn't have to spend as much on materials and could afford to charge a little less.
It was something Seb was trying to figure out a solution for. Custom tailored clothing was way more expensive than just buying a sweatshop made t-shirt at the mall. And he didn't like that. Both because of the underpaid sweatshop workers who were being exploited, and how not everyone could afford to look fabulous.
There was a difference between Seb's dresses and suits, and casual clothing. He didn't do much for just casual wear. He wondered if he could get into that? But he was just one tailor. He had some assistants at his store, yeah. But mass production would never be something he'd be able to do. Nor did he want to. But he still wondered if there was something he could do about the situation. "It'd be easier if I could measure someone and adjust their own clothes to fit them better. Would be much faster and easier than having to create a whole new outfit for them." Seb complained. "But no one can afford to travel all the way here just for a fitting!"
"If the problem is that not everyone can travel all the way to your store to get their clothes tailored to fit, then how about you get them shipped?" Miz suggested. "Post on your website about what measurements you need, and how to take them, so they can write down what they need and things get shipped out."
"Oooh!" Seb brightened before he slumped again. "But the shipping would take forever!"
Miz deadpanned, "Oh no, it's not like you know someone who owns the most efficient shipping company on the planet."
Seb burst out laughing. "Right! I almost forgot! Yeah! Have them shipped by Void Deliveries!"
"I'll even make it a partnership deal~" Miz grinned. Seb grinned back.
The two fistbumped, laughing.
-.-
His babies were growing up and their birthday was very close.
Zoe and Zach had been in an "Enchantment" mood on loop since Christmukkah. Seb had sat with them thousands of times, and loved the songs. He cried every time. Wanda and the rest of the adults in the neighborhood were ready to stab their eardrums out. Sure the movie and music were great, but all the kids were obsessed with it, and they were getting sick of it.
So naturally, the birthday party had to be themed with that movie.
They were excited, and demanded to have the biggest birthday party with their friends and their family (because they brought them presents, that was their only purpose).
They brought it up during dinner, the twins happily eating their food as they explained how this had to be the best!
"Our last birthdays were the absolutely worst!" Zoe slumped on the table, chewing slowly.
Seb made her sit back straight. "Aaw what? I thought we had some fun…"
"Just a little. It was so boring! You didn't let us invite friends over!"
"Well-" Wanda spoke. "It was for security reasons." Because, y'know. Pandemic!
"I'm sorry you were bored." Seb apologized softly. "Was it really that bad? We watched movies and baked your favorite cake together…"
"Still! We can do that anyday! We had nothing special to do!" Zoe pouted.
"And I felt soooo alone!" Zach whined, kicking his feet. "We were just the 2 of us playing, and Miz when she visited for cake and to say happy birthday, but then I just had Zoe." He complained. Zoe punched his shoulder.
"No fighting!" Wanda glared at both. They stopped shoving each other to pout. "So party?! We want costumes and lots of music and real food!"
Wanda looked at Seb, pushing his food around with his fork. "Yeah, I'm sure we can make it." She nodded, making the twins squeal in celebration. Miz was awake and aware and here, since Yun was sleeping. "I'm sorry I couldn't make your last birthdays as great as they could have been. I'll do whatever you need for this one."
"Miz, Wanda and I will handle this." Seb told her. He'd heard from Ford about all the stuff Miz was already trying to do, and he didn't want to put more work on her. "I have to step up as dad to do this!"
Miz blinked. "Um… ok? But if you need help with the cooking or decorating…"
"If we need help, we'll ask." Wanda assured her, mainly just to get Miz to feel better. She got upset when she felt useless, so they had to find something easy for her to do just to keep her occupied. "I guess you can help Zach and Zoe write a list of what they want for this party, ok?"
"...ok…"
Seb sighed in relief. Ok, that's the plan then.
—
Seb looked at the list with a frown. While he acknowledged that most of this was do-able… he was worried. Zach and Zoe wanted to dress up as characters from the movie. Which was fine, but… well, it might have been silly, but Seb couldn't help but feel like…
"Aren't they too white looking to be the characters?" Seb asked. "Isn't that like… cultural appropriation or something?"
Wanda sighed. "You're overreacting. They like the characters, they're just kids. It shouldn't be a problem."
Miz also rolled her eyes. "It doesn't matter! Cosplaying is fun!" She huffed, "There's plenty of people who cosplay as people who aren't the same race as them!" She pointed out. "Besides, if they're going to have a party themed around a Colombian movie, there's not much they can do about it. I doubt anyone would be upset that some children want to dress up as their favorite characters."
That reassured Seb a little.
"Like there are some things that are inappropriate cultural appropriation, and other things that are not." Miz tried to explain. "Generally, clothing, activities and food are fine, unless they're religiously significant. Actually, anything religiously or spiritually significant is a 'probably don't do this' kinda thing. Like smudging. Lots of people do it, burning sage or other herbs as a spiritual cleansing thing, but like… smudging is something really important to the native people, so generally people who aren't part of that tribe shouldn't be doing it. There are other ceremonies that involve smoke they could do instead of appropriating that–"
Seb sighed. Miz was on a rant again.
"Like if they really want to burn herbs to cleanse a place, there's saining, or even just burning shit and calling it a smoke cleanse. But don't call it smudging, because the natives don't like it." Miz seemed to have forgotten what the conversation was about, "Like, the best way to tell if something is culturally misappropriated is to ask yourself, are you using this part of someone's culture with the full understanding of what it meant to that culture? Are you using it in the same way as them? Do you understand their original cultural significance? Is the way you're using this piece of someone's culture contrary or out of touch with what it's meant for?"
Seb sighed and had to interrupt before she got too into this rant. "So, is this party appropriate?"
Miz blinked. "Frankly, Disney has always walked a weird line because they like to take all sorts of things from different cultures all the time. I could go on another whole tirade about that, but this case, with the kids wanting to dress up as their favorite characters, is harmless enough. The kids can have this party, with this theme. That's fine." Miz sighed. "So much of other cultures have already been taken and used by people, it's only a real issue if the cultural group has an issue with it. I mean, the Stan from your old dimension wore a Fez all the time, and he definitely isn't religious…" Miz shrugged. "There are so many things that have already been taken and incorporated by this point… like mohawks. Or tweed. Or people getting chinese character tattoos just 'cause they think it looks cool…"
"Ok I think I get it." Seb patted her head as she continued ranting.
—
Seb took the twins to the store to find costumes, but he was SO offended by the material of the fabric that he dragged the crying twins away. Fuck that synthetic shit. He'd have to stitch all the costumes by hand apparently. Zoe loved the main protagonist, while Zach liked the little cousin, because Zach thought he was so cool. The way that kid was riding a jaguar and Zach wanted his powers. ("How come I don't have animal powers?" Zach pouted. Miz had grumbled, "You don't want to talk to animals, trust me, they're just demanding food and stuff all the time, that's about it.")
Seb would be in charge of decoration, the food, the costumes and activity planning. Wanda was in charge of sending the invitations to the kids' friends. "You can't fuck that up, right?" Seb joked at her.
Needless to say, he was hit by a shoe and had to sleep in the guest room until Wanda wanted him back for adult fun times. Sigh. "What a curse to be liked only for your body…" Seb dramatically sighed.
He was hit by a shoe again. And the more he complained about the domestic VIOLENCE he suffered, the more Wanda laughed and kept hitting him with a slipper.
Seb started his mission buying some dolls of the characters, but Zoe liked the strong girl, and there was no merchandising about her at all! He almost fought a mom for the last doll of her. Geez. There was also an abundance of flower girl stuff, but Zoe and Zach didn't like her so it was useless. Ugh.
He asked Mabel if she could paint the magic house and the doors.
"Will you pay me?"
"Can't you do it to make your wittle cousins happy~?" When he got no answer he sighed. "Evil Shooting Star. Fine. I'll pay you, but it better look great!"
"Yay!"
There weren't many decorations out there that were not the characters' faces, but besides candles, he couldn't find more local stuff!
At some point at night, without Wanda hearing because she'd throw a shoe at him, and he was hyperfocusing on the perfect themed party, he called Rico. He was Colombian! He must know!
"...I…" Rico was so confused with the gringo's call. What did he want? Colombian stuff?
"I can stand there for 30 bucks the hour?"
"I don't want you near a bunch of kids! I mean like, get me nice stuff of Colombia, I want the real vibe of the country that kept me unfairly locked up in prison with you for months~"
Rico laughed. He promised he'd see what he could do. All for the gringo's little kiddos.
Wanda sent the invites to the twins' school class with help from their teacher. Everyone was encouraged to dress up as a character or some other townspeople (just no Antonio or Mirabel since Zach and Zoe called dibs). The twins wanted a big party, everyone could come and have fun.
Zach wanted Amanda to come to the party, but even if she got her invitation, it was very clear Carol wouldn't let her come over. He was very upset about that.
Wanda made the great effort to cross the street and put on her best lawyer face with Carol. The twins were inviting not only school friends, but neighbors they really get along with, so there was one last chance. Seb wasn't allowed to go because she didn't want him catching fists with Carol. He did spy from the window.
Wanda tried to appeal to Carol's Karen mode, saying they'd be giving away little prizes and candies and cake and free food and Amanda could have fun with the other kids. But Carol just glared.
"I'm not letting my Amanda get ruined by you freaks." The woman sneered before slamming the door in Wanda's face. The lawyer sighed. Of course it wasn't easy.
"Soooo~ plan B?" Miz asked when Wanda trudged back into the house.
"What's plan B?" Wanda sighed.
"I sneak Amanda out of her house and put a perception filter in her room so Carol can't tell."
Wanda let out a loud, tired sigh. Ok. No one could tell her she didn't try the normal way...
Miz brightened and cackled as she vanished from view. Wanda sighed. She was grateful that Miz didn't use her powers for more malicious things. (If Wanda knew that Miz and Rico were still in touch, she'd be annoyed. Though Miz had been subtly manipulating Rico into leaving crime and working more in vigilante 'crime' nowadays.)
Miz brought the twins' best friend over to their house when a lot of little kids were already running around, so no one noticed Amanda joining the growing group. As for Amanda, she was used to climbing through her window by now, after putting pillows under her blankets. Amanda didn't know that Miz would flick her fingers and make it even less likely for Carol to notice Amanda was missing.
Zach and Zoe brightened at the sight of their best friend, so Wanda knew doing the weird magic was worth it.
"I brought my-my jaguar onesie!" Amanda grinned.
"Oh my gosh! We can match!" Zach screamed, pulling at his curly hair. Seb had combed and hairsprayed the twins' hair before the party, so their curls were more noticeable and defined. They loved the result. Zach was dressed up as Antonio for the party.
Amanda apologized for not having a gift for both of them, but she did make her dad buy her a toucan plushie for the twins' growing collection. She showed it to the twins.
"Ok this is weird." Georgie pouted. Amanda looked over and snorted. Georgie was wearing a Toucan onesie. And he had two Jaguar plushies that he got for the twins.
"YOU HAD BABIESSSS." Zoe laughed loudly.
Amanda and Georgie exchanged the presents to have their "babies" with them.
Zach giggled. "Thank you all for coming." He held Amanda and Georgie's hands, making his friends smile.
Dipper, the photographer who was being paid with snacks by his uncle ("You paid Mabel with money! How come I only get snacks?!" "She brought gifts!") called the kids. "Come here! So I can take pictures of you and your babies with the doors!"
The 4 ran after the young man (Amanda called him Sir, though, and Dipper's heart almost skipped a beat, oh wow. He was old and manly enough to be called Sir!), and Seb, dark bags under his eyes, collapsed on a chair. Worth it, he was so tired...but all was worth it…
Wanda sat beside him, patting his head. "You worked very hard for this party." She praised. "You didn't have to make all the costumes yourself, you know?"
"But...fuck Disney...synthetic costumes…" He made a face, sticking his tongue out. "I also ordered Zoe's bag from a Colombian website, because I'm not giving Disney money."
"Keeping the movie on repeat on Disney X gives them money." Wanda deadpanned.
"I'll pirate it."
Wanda rolled her eyes and kissed his nose before straightening his fluffy yellow shirt resembling Pepa's dress. He related to her so much it worried Wanda a little. "You forgot to wear the Sun earrings."
"OH NO!" Seb wailed, patting his ears, as his wife laughed at his despair. Wanda handed him the earrings and walked away to check on snacks and refill sodas before joining the adult family.
Wanda didn't know how, but Seb managed to trick his triplets into wearing green and blue shirts. Ford and Stan realized the theme was not the color they were told and screamed at their brother, but had calmed down hours ago.
"They don't get they're triplets, Ma! And it's a crime we don't match in a party themed with the movie! It's not my fault they haven't watched it!" Seb explained to his mom who laughed loudly. "Makes sense to me."
It was the octuplets' first birthday party outside of town too. Yun wanted them to get to know places outside of their home at the Mystery Shack. Shermie asked if Ford had driven here. Ford stared deeply into his brother's green eyes and said "Yes, Sherman. I hate my mental health that much. I drove 2 hours with 8 toddlers and without Yun, instead of using my teleportation device." Ford looked murderous at the mere suggestion. Idiot.
Stan laughed. "He's got a point though! Someday they'll have to be in a car or a plane."
Ford grimaced. That sounded like a nightmare only conceived by the cruelest and most evil mind.
Yun hummed as she listened silently. Fez was kinda right… "Well, you adults have fun, I'm gonna focus on being Miz today~" She waved at Ford, "Call me if you need an adult." She teased before her Yun vessel dispersed.
Ford blinked and seconds later, Nicholas came crying because he spilled soda on himself.
"Uncle Ford! Amelie and Marie don't let us play!" Zoe screamed, followed by a "I got this! Wait! don't do that!" from Mabel.
Stan gulped his drink as he patted Ford's back in support. Ford cried. Too many things for 1 person! "Yuuuuun! I need an aduuuuuult!"
The party calmed down a little after a while. Ford got his kids under control and Seb got them drawings to color, so they sat down entertained (close to where he could watch them) and let the older kids play and recreate scenes from the movie. (Seb had gotten a candle and put his own fire on it. The kids were trying to blow it out, but it was magic~~)
Everyone in the family got to help Seb a little, seeing how stressed he was. Carla teased Stan as he offered to wash the glasses and stuff the adults were using.
Mabel was connecting the karaoke machine to the Tv, being the party director for the kids. Miz was close by, smiling and watching her work. Karaoke was great! She'll probably drag Seb here later, if he didn't faint from exhaustion first.
Seb was nodding off in a chair, making sure no fights or problems occured. Decoration got torn? He'll fix it. No more cheemtos? He'll bring more. Cranky 2 year olds? He had apple juice and drawings and toys to calm them down so they didn't bother the 9 year olds.
"Dad, we need more soda." Zach pulled his sleeve as the first song played. Seb blinked slowly. "Dos oruguitas..." he mumbled in Spanish and the kids laughed. Miz huffed. "Seb. Go take a nap. I'll take it from here."
Seb walked to the kitchen, ignoring her. He noticed Stan piling up the glasses to take back outside and almost didn't notice...but…
"-sure I'm worthless if I can't be of service! A flaw or a crack, the straw in the stack. That breaks the camel's back, what breaks the camel's back it's! Pressure like a drip, drip, drip that'll never stop, whoa~"
The music came from outside and...
Seb woke up. "Are you singing?!"
Stan froze. When did he come in?! " NO ?!"
"You WERE! And you were DANCING! I thought you said you never watched the movie!" Seb accused, shocked. Then he gasped loudly, hand on his chest. "Which means you Ignored and lied to me when I texted you to come in blue to represent Julieta and you bitch said you didn't get it!"
Stan groaned. "I might...have watched it...with Diego...like...a couple times…" He mumbled.
"How many songs do you know?" Seb asked, feeling so betrayed.
"...Almost all of them..."
"BITCH!"
"You can't tell anyone!" Stan threatened with a raised finger. It'd ruin his image and he'd never hear the end of it from Shermie or Ford!
"..."
"..."
"Don't you mean, ' Hey bro, I want not a sound out of you? '~" Seb grinned.
"Oh shut up!" Stan grabbed the glasses and took them outside in a hurry.
Seb cackled. He couldn't believe his brother liked the movie and songs enough to sing along. To a children's movie! Hah!
Oh he loved his triplets~
Seb was feeling more awake, heading back out to the party. He grinned when he saw Ford's foot tapping along to the beat of the music. Heh. He went over to tease his oldest brother about it.
He flopped down next to him with a mischievous grin. "Oh~ First time hearing huh?"
"Huh? Oh, it's good." Ford nodded. Seb got uncomfortably close to his face.
"Personal space." Ford frowned. Seb stared. "You liiiike it~" Ford huffed. "What are you trying to say? I certainly do not like you being in my face."
"The movie! You watched the movie!"
"Oh don't be ridiculous, Sebastian." Ford sighed. "I don't get caught up in children's stuff like you always do."
"If you had given Ducktective a chance, you'd have loved it!" Seb shouted before taking a deep breath.
He walked away, Ford raising a curious eyebrow, and Seb came back with Gloria and Erbi, who'd been with their grandma in the guest wing with Luxuria, as the 3 got a little overwhelmed with all the noise and the stares. He didn't risk losing any fingers by trying to catch the loose 5 critters left.
"Sweeties, has your daddy ever seen this movie with you?" Seb raised a finger as the song on the karaoke played.
" Seven foot frame! Rats along his back! When he calls your name it all fades to black!"
Erbia clung to Seb's shirt as Gloria nodded. "Yeah! We watched it this many times!" The 2 lifted up their tiny hands, showing 12 fingers in total. "I wike it! Many colors!" Gloria giggled.
"Many colors right?" Seb cooed at them before staring at Ford, who was frozen. He had just been sold over by his own kids! Traitors!
"Soooo~ twelve times, huh?" Seb waggled his eyebrows.
Ford scoffed. "Yun likes the movie. She watched it with them multiple times."
"Nah uh, daddy was there too. Mommy was givin' him tishwuees. 'Cause daddy was cwyin'." Superbia said seriously.
"Emmy!" Ford gasped, his cheeks turning red with embarrassment. "That's not true!"
The brown-eyed girl pouted. "But it's twue!" She insisted. "Saying lies is bad!" She pointed with her arm at him. Gloria nodded solemnly next to her.
Seb yawned and nuzzled his nieces. "That's nice to know, thank you Jane, thank you Emmy, I knew your daddy also looooved the movie~"
The twins grinned. "He wuvs it! He makes us watch it with him aftwer work!" Gloria added, wanting to contribute to the conversation. "He sings to us."
Ford wanted to disappear. He was covering his eyes with a hand.
"To sleep~?" Seb walked away with his nieces, but Ford followed to see what embarrassing thing they'd say.
"Umm yeah." Emmy hugged him as they walked back to where Granny Kari was with Lux. "It-it's the one with lots of pwetty flowers."
"Isa bella ?!" Seb gasped.
"Huh uh!" Gloria nodded as (Erbia)Emmy tried to make herself small when they were out in front of the other kids. She was obviously aware she and her sister looked different than the other kids. While Gloria didn't seem to mind, Emmy was a very shy girl. "Daddy sings that to us." Gloria reached with a pout for Emmy's thumb now stuck in her mouth. No! She wasn't a baby!
"Aawwwww!" Seb cooed.
Gloria continued, "Mommy sings Miwabel's pawt!"
Ford scooped up the twins. "I'll take them to mom, thank you." He glared at Seb as he walked away.
"You're SO NOT done with me!" Seb cackled. He did expect his cowardly brother to hide with his kids and their mom for a while though… just like, apparently Stanley…Why were they so EMBARRASSED?! URGH!
"Dammit! It's not embarrassing to love a children's show!" Seb cried. "It's not something to be ashamed of!" He collapsed on another chair, rubbing his eyes. Urgh, tired, urgh, damn prosthetic eye, need eye drops. Later, he'll do it later and bother his brothers later too…
His kids were so happy, sooo happy with their birthday party. He was happy he could give them the very best when he didn't...have…
"Seb…Seb, wake up." Wanda shook him gently. "Honey, it's time to sing them happy birthday…"
"I FELL ASLEEP!" Seb fell out of the chair. He stumbled. Wanda took his arm. "Calm down. No rush. Come on."
"But I was-"
"Everything was fine. Don't worry. We heated up the pizza and the kids ate. Some even confused Stan with you so you were technically there." She kissed his cheeks as Seb teared up. He was mistaken for his brothers?! That's so sweet! Seb felt so happy for reasons he couldn't articulate.
Miz was herding the children together. "Come on. The sooner you all settle down for the song, the sooner you get to have cake." She left her Yun vessel on autopilot for now, standing with the adults and smiling. She kept her 2nd pair of arms hidden, for obvious reasons, but she did let some kids have some glances so they'd gasp and begin whispering and speculating. It was adorable.
Seb rubbed his arm, frowning a little. Stan (oh so he was back, huh?), raised an eyebrow. "What's up? Why's the long face?"
"I…I didn't…I fell asleep." Seb bit his inner lip, watching the kids crowd around the squealing twins. "I fell asleep and I didn't sing with them or-or help them if they needed something! Look! There's no more drinks!" He pointed at the empty bottles. "Or-or pick up the trash, there's wrappers everywhere…!" Seb gasped.
"The candle! How did it blow out it was not supposed to-That was the whole thing of the magic-!"
Miz and Amanda helped the squealing twins put on their party hats and accommodate everyone around the table. Mabel and Dipper smiled softly and nudged each other gently.
Stan frowned at the heavy breathing (hyperventilation) from Seb. "It's ok, calm down, Seb. Miz blew it out. The twins asked her to, you know, movie stuff." He mumbled the last part, blushing a little. "You were only out for like 2 hours, Wanda said you didn't sleep all night, calm down. We took care of things."
This was their 1st birthday party with friends after being locked up in the house for a couple years. Seb wanted it to be perfect and memorable and he fell asleep as if it didn't matter to him!
"I just wanted them to…have good memories of their birthdays! To not look back and think…something was bad or ugly!" And now it was ruined ! Because he fell asleep!
Stan patted his shoulder slowly. "Brother…" He said in disbelief. "Zoe and Zach haven't stopped smiling all day…you did everything you could to give them an AWESOME party, with all their little friends and they loved it!" Stan looked around in panic when he saw he made things worse, and Seb's eye welled up with tears immediately. Stan winced. Dammit.
As they got ready, Stan pulled Seb away from the party for a second so he'd not burst into tears in front of the kids. "What's up with you? You can't seriously be crying because you fell asleep for 2 hours."
Seb rubbed his eye and sniffled. Oh gosh, his prosthetic eye was killing him. "I…Everytime I look back at my birthdays, I don't remember…I felt alone and... I know you tried- I'm sorry, I'm-I'm being ungrateful."
Stan gripped his arm tightly, but just enough to not hurt him. "No. Spit it. What do ya wanna say?"
Seb spoke up, only because he was pissed with himself. "When I look back at my birthdays, they all sucked, ok? I felt alone, and unwanted, and no one cared that I existed. I never got anything for me , it was rare when some uncle gave me my own candies or a toy...You couldn't have friends as kids because of me…and when you did, you two-you two had friends and-you left ok? I know we met up at night to be together, but you left me, and I was alone, and I don't have any good memories of it…Heck, I didn't have any good memories of my birthday and being together with you two until you…you came back from the portal…" A tear rolled down his right cheek.
Stan gritted his teeth tightly as he listened.
"I just wanted the twins to have good memories. They already had birthdays coped up at the house, and I…I just feel selfish…for falling asleep on their special day. " Seb concluded with a shaky sigh, rubbing his yellow sleeve.
Stan pulled him into a silent hug. Seb whimpered a little more into his shoulder. "You didn't ruin anything just for taking a break, bro…This is a great present for Zach and Zoe, and I know they'll remember it forever. Look at them, they're surrounded by a loving family, and so many friends. And a huge pile of presents! They-..." Stan sighed tiredly.
Gosh, he was so dumb…Of course Seb would have killed for a party like this as a kid, or to have a party, at all. They didn't get that, but he was right, unfortunately right. Stan had friends, they invited him out, Ford was (surprisingly socializing) in his nerd clubs… And Seb was at home, waiting for them. He didn't want friends as a little kid, but when he wanted them…it was just so hard for him to make them.
"They'll never have to go through what you did…because they have you as their dad. And you will make them so happy. Because you're a great father, ok?"
Seb just cried some more into his shoulder, and you know what? Stan was gonna let him, because his stupid brother pulled allnighters for a little dumb themed Disney party, and he was so stressed and projecting and Stan couldn't really blame him.
Once he calmed down, Seb silently smiled at Stan and wiped his eye. "Gosh, I think my makeup is running…" They went back to the living room, to join everyone to sing the twins Happy Birthday and have some delicious cake.
Miz glanced over and smiled at the brothers, before turning back to the party. "-irthday dear ZACH AND ZOOOOOEEEEEE~" everyone sang. "Happy Birthday to yooooooou~"
The twins blew out their candles and everyone clapped. Yun was holding onto Avaritia to stop him from trying to blow out the candle. ("THIS is their Birthday, not yours."). The toddler began crying and Ford knelt with him. "Nicholas. This isn't yours. If you don't calm down I'll have to take you outside and we'll stay there until you stop screaming"
Nick rubbed his eyes and sniffled. "Wan' blow cake"
"We can blow candles back home, but not this" Ford shook his head with a hand grabbing Nick firmly. The boy sniffled loudly and asked to be picked up. He saw dad carrying the twins before and wanted to too!
"Woo! Cake!" The guest kids cheered.
Seb smiled and leaned forward to cut it… and froze.
The side of the cake was squished. Like it had fallen. "W-what happened?!"
Georgie's mom explained, "Oh, since you were asleep, Stan brought the cake out, but your... dog ran under his legs."
Said plant dog barked from his kidnapped position in some kid's arms. Sir Bedazzle loved not having to hide anymore.
"I didn't drop it though. Heh. Football reflexes." Stan grinned.
"It just got a little banged up." Wanda patted Seb's shoulder. "Don't worry, there's still plenty for everyone."
"STANLEY!" Seb pulled his hair, emotions rising up once again. He wanted to lose it again. He hadn't seen this! "Th-that- I told you I should have been there!"
Zach reached to rub his dad's arm and Seb looked down. "Daddy, it's ok! We still have lots of it! And it doesn't have to be perfect! It's still yummy!"
"Ugly cake is the best cake." Zoe added, helpful and unhelpful at the same time.
Seb teared up and Wanda kissed his cheek. She let Stan cut the cake as 'punishment' and Stan groaned so loud the kids laughed at his antics.
"It's not symmetrical or perfect~" Ford sang softly, barely a whisper loud enough for Seb to hear, while blushing, nudging his shoulder against Seb. Stan had told him about Seb's almost meltdown. They wanted him to cheer him and if it meant embarrassing himself...well, Ford considered he owed Seb.
Seb gasped loudly, head turning around so fast Ford thought he'd snap his neck, and crushed his big brother in a tight hug.
"Look, how about… when the party's over and the kids are in bed… we… can karaoke." Ford suggested quietly, partially to keep other people from hearing, and partially because he couldn't breathe.
Another loud gasp. Seb rubbed his eyes, red now from so much rubbing, and he sobbed into Ford's chest. "I knew you'd be Isabela!" Seb sobbed.
"Don't make me regret this." Ford groaned. "No filming or recording it!" He pushed Seb away from the hug. "And you need your eyedrops urgently, geez."
The guest kids were gone by the time it was night, parents came and picked them up (some had to be dragged away because they didn't want to leave, they wanted a party this big and cool too). Most of the other kids complained that all the partying they had, made it so they ran out of time for the presents. The parents who had come to the party helped to get the place cleaned, at least a little, before they too left. Miz helped Amanda sneak back home.
The twins were so excited to finally open presents, but mom said to wait until tomorrow because it was bedtime. They told their big family good night and floated their gifts upstairs. Seb rolled his eyes backwards and collapsed on the couch next to his mom.
"Oh sweetie, you look exhausted." Kari stroked his curls.
"Was-was the party good?" He sniffled, tired.
"This birthday party was so beautiful, the twins loved it."
"M good dad?"
"Of course you are, you're great." Kari calmly said to prevent exhausted crying. "You love them and you make them happy, that's enough."
"Hmmmm! Haven't seen you all day!" He whined, cuddling his mom. Kari giggled. "I had a great time with Rosalind and the twins…" Kari explained as she petted his hair. She never passed up a chance to cuddle her boys.
"Fowd pwomise kaoke." Seb mumbled tiredly. Kari shooed the Stans to go do their dad job first.
Ford threatened Stan to come back after putting Diego to bed, because he had promised. Stan stomped away. The rest giggled and went to their own rooms in the guest wing. Shermie was not lying when he said he didn't watch the movie. Mabel offered to watch it with him, but he only said "I've had enough of that movie for a lifetime with the party, sweetie."
And as much as Yun wanted to stay for the karaoke, she was exhausted from putting the octuplets to bed. So she collapsed onto a larger bed (nest) with them all in a modified guest room.
And even Miz was curled up in the twins' room on her nest, passed out cold.
Ford finished picking up all the trash and stood up, groaning a little at his back. Ugh. He was getting old.
After kissing the octuplets good night, one little forehead at a time, he met with Stan in the living room. Their mom was holding, in her arms, a barely conscious Seb.
"Bru, he's dead, why do we have to do this?" Stan rubbed his eyes with 2 fingers. He had put on his glasses because his eyes were tired. (If Yun had seen it, she would have complained for him to stop trying to confuse her.)
Kari tutted as Seb grumbled. "M' awake! Sing…" She nodded. "See? You made a promise!" The old woman seemed very amused by this.
The Stans let out the exact same groan and Kari laughed, keeping her hand stroking Seb's curls. Seb was fighting for his life to remain awake, but the soft caresses made things harder.
Stan groaned. Ford rubbed the back of his neck. "Fine." Ford finally said. He went over to the karaoke machine and cued up [What else can I do]. "Let's get this over with…" He was glad Yun wasn't awake for this. So he sang, with Seb half waking and singing along in a sleepy daze. And when Ford finished, face red, he glared at Stan until he sighed and pulled up [Surface Pressure] next. Seb fell asleep halfway through the song, he was just so tired. Kari held Seb in her lap and smiled.
Kari also gave her two older boys a look , and they knew without words that she didn't want them to leave yet. So they both sat on the couch with her too, and she kissed their cheeks. They laid down as well, and it didn't take them long to fall asleep after a long exhausting day of family stuff.
Seb would later call this birthday party a smashing success.
Not everything in life was going that smoothly.
"Zoe's grades are dropping."
Seb blinked. Wanda was holding the newest report card.
"Hhhmmmmmmm." He stroked his beard. "Oh. Well then."
"This is a bad thing, by the way." The blonde woman deadpanned.
"I don't know, Wands, I failed courses too! Just, tell Miz to tutor her?"
"She already does that a lot. And you can't rely on Miz for everything…" Besides they had tried and Zoe didn't care. Zoe didn't care much for schoolwork most of the time.
"Look, school ain't everything. Look at me. All Zoe needs is to find her own passion and stuff. She'll be able to do what she wants, and why do her grades matter?"
"They matter because she still needs decent grades to get into a good college. Even if she's going into music or something, if she fails out of school altogether, it's not going to look good on her records, for christ's sake Seb, she's in ELEMENTARY school!"
"Ok fine! I'll, like… talk to her." Seb sighed.
When he asked Zoe about it, his kid was playing the piano quite nicely.
"We gotta talk about your grades." Seb sighed.
"Will you hit me?" Zoe asked without looking up from the keys.
"What? No! Of course not."
"A kid said his parents will hit him for failing math." Zoe muttered.
"Well you've failed more than math, still not gonna hit you, I just wanna know what's going on."
"School's boring."
"I know it's boring, but we gotta at least keep it in passing numbers, Zoe."
"Miz teaches math better. But the teacher don't like when I do what Miz teaches, even though I get the right answer. They want me to do it their way, and apparently it doesn't count if I do it another way." Zoe complained.
"What about English?"
"The books I gotta read is boringg! And I gotta memorize the meaning of words! And they are words no one uses! Except maybe uncle Ford!"
Dammit! She was making darn good points!
"Well...you barely passed History and I remember we studied History together...And showed you those cool documentaries. " Seb liked history, ok?
"And I remember what you said, dad! But they asked for dates and I didn't know the dates!" Zoe pouted. "I did know what happened…" She said almost desperately. "Also the teacher didn't like it when I said the colonizers killed the natives and gave them lots of diseases. Max told me about natives because he knows all about that and the teacher said I shouldn't say that."
"The fuck?" Seb stared. "Exams are getting so weird these days."
Zoe cuddled him. "Teacher said she wanted to write the good things...like technology...Zach wrote about guns and how they worked, but she didn't like my answer"
"And the only cool classes are music or art class, but that's it. Gym's not a class. And I'm-I'm so tired already! Because if I'm hungry, I can't eat! I'm not allowed to! Or if I need to go to the bathroom, I can't! Or drink water if I'm thirsty and I miss online class because I could eat cereal while listening and pet Sir Bedazzle during class and they didn't make me have to sit and not move and I hate going to school!"
She whimpered and hugged his arm as Seb blinked. Wow. Mom was right. Zoe was really a lot like him.
"What if Miz just home schooled you? For all the classes?" Seb wondered aloud. He had to go ask Wanda if that worked. She shook her head as soon as he finished asking.
"Zoe would need an actual licensed teacher, or else her education wouldn't get her any credits she can write down in her records. We would have to actually hire someone."
"Then let's do that." Seb stood his ground. "I'm not gonna send Zoe to a place that stifles her and makes her hate learning. I don't want her to go through what I did."
"Home schooling is expensive." Wanda sighed. Miz popped her head into the room, "I will pitch in with the costs~"
"Miz, you're a child, you don't have to help us with money." Wanda said immediately.
"Fine. Xin will pay." Miz said stubbornly.
Wanda groaned. "Nooo."
"But I wanna! I wanna help Seb! Help Zoe."
Wanda was so uncomfortable receiving so much free stuff from the demon. She knew it was Miz's attempt to help, but Miz was Wanda's adopted daughter. Wanda was trying to be a good parent to her, and teach Miz that she didn't have to put so much work on herself. Miz wasn't quite getting it. Wanda sighed. It wasn't helped by them all relying on Miz for so much. Wanda needed to work harder on that front, Miz needed to learn to relax and stop trying to handle all of their problems herself, she wasn't a real child, but she was still Wanda's daughter!
"What about Zach though? He can't be left there alone." Miz said quietly. She didn't like the idea of splitting up the twins.
"He only goes to school to see Amanda~ " Zoe chirped. Wanda realized the twins had been spying on their convo.
"That-that's not true!" Zach shrieked, blushing pink.
"Can we get Zach homeschooled too? Can we get Amanda homeschooled too?" Zoe asked.
"I'm not paying for freaking Amanda! I want Carol far away!" Seb complained.
"I would~" Miz sing-songed. "Like, I could just disguise myself as some kinda special scholarship person and just go right up to Carol and tell her that Amanda made it into our special program."
Seb blinked. "Ok, lying and tricking Carol, I can get behind."
"Nooo." Wanda groaned as everyone cheered around her. Why? Why didn't she go for the normal triplet?
…Wait, none of them are normal...Ew the Stans… Seb is fine. She wouldn't say it aloud though, she wasn't ready to be fucking murdered by Seb for insulting his brothers… or get pouted at by Miz for insulting her boyfriend.
"Look, I can agree to getting Zach and Zoe homeschooled. But we are not Amanda's parents, we don't have any say in what her education is."
"Whatever, I can still tutor them all in their dreams." Miz said quietly. Wanda looked over, "What was that?"
"Nothing!" Miz looked away. "Not like I've been making lessons in the general worldwide dreamscape and letting every child see them if they wanted, so everyone can learn stuff regardless of their financial situation or anything. Not like I've been trying to undo all the damage that Common Core has done to ruin children's ability to engage in learning, understanding and critical thought."
"That sounds so boring…" Seb deadpanned. "Why would you go through the trouble for that?"
"Different strokes, different folks." Miz shrugged.
Wanda had no idea what to say to this.
Before any actual homeschooling could happen, Seb and Wanda would need to find someone right for their kids. In the meantime, Zach and Zoe went back to school, to Zoe's disappointment.
She just needed to pass right? Shouldn't be that hard. She was learning to manipulate little atoms! Divisions can't beat her!
Then they got terrified out of their minds with a school shooting drill. Zach was crying because other kids were saying it was real ("I just saw someone with a black mask!") and they would die.
"Zoe!" Zach shivered as his twin helped him sit down on the floor, surprisingly calm throughout all this. Kids screamed and the teacher angrily shushed them.
The teacher quickly covered the window and barricaded the door. She turned off the lights and cursed as she saw the kids were just losing it. They were just 8, what did you expect?
Zach covered his ears as he trembled from head to toe, working so hard not to cry. This was hitting him hard, danger somewhere, everyone else was scared too. Amanda quickly crawled to her best friends' side and hugged Zach.
"I already texted my mom to let her know what's happening." Amanda whispered.
"You have a phone? Wow, that's so cool." Zoe whispered back, making her classmate shush her.
They had no idea how long it took for the 'drill' to stop, but they knew it had to be bad, because eventually they heard sirens outside and even more screams.
Someone pushed the door open (making the children scream) and a police guy entered to rescue them. The teacher looked so confused as he said the building was clear and they could leave. As the teacher guided the class outside, the kids noticed the police talking to teachers quite loudly, they sounded really angry.
Once outside, they saw the principal also talking to paramedics, looking quite frantic. Lots of cars were parked there too, and even the news arrived.
"Ms. Quincey…was there a real shooter?" Zach asked his teacher. The woman looked around at the chaos and down at the blond boy. "No Zach…it-it was a drill." She said, her tone wavering a little.
"But I saw a masked man."
"That was the gym teacher…" How did the police and paramedics get involved then?! None of the children believed Mrs. Quincey.
The twins and Amanda looked up when they heard 2 very familiar voices shouting, surprisingly not at each other, but in unison. ""MY BABY/IES!""
Sebastian and Carol ran towards them to hug them tight, as well as some other parents who began flooding the school.
"A-Are you ok?! Holy Moses!" Seb trembled as he hugged them tight. He got notice of this, surprisingly, from Carol herself. She banged at his door, screaming like the banshee she was, and before he could snap at her and tell her to leave his house, she shakily said Amanda texted her saying she was hearing shootings in her school and was scared.
Seb hadn't felt this afraid since…seeing Mabel and Dipper screaming in Bill's hand.
That was quite the parent solidarity, two parents putting aside their utter hate for each other for their kids. Carol's husband had the car for work, so Seb drove her to the school. They didn't murder each other in the car, either. Just drove in silence, scared.
Zach burst into tears, clinging to his dad for dear life. "Daddy I was so scared! Someone banged at the door and-and-"
"Shh~ I got you, it's ok." Seb rubbed their fluffy hair. He picked them up and looked around, trying to understand what was going on. When he picked up the pieces, he was in shock.
This was all a drill the school made. Actually one of the worst drills ever made. The school didn't tell the kids or parents there was gonna be a drill for 'realism', and had a REAL fake shooter (the gym teacher) shouting with a fake gun that made sounds. It got out of control when kids with phones began texting their parents, and the news just escalated from there.
"HAVE YOU ALL LOST YOUR FUCKING MINDS?!" Seb screamed at the principal. "DO YOU KNOW HOW TERRIFIED the kids were?!"
"I almost crashed coming here!" Another parent screamed, hugging her terrified son.
"It was meant to be realistic." The principal defended herself.
"Well if people get hurt, it's TOO realistic!"
"The kids weren't supposed to be texting! Phones should be off during school hours anyway!"
"What, so if it WAS a real shooter, you want the kids to have NO WAY to call for help!?"
It was a huge mess.
And it cemented it in Seb's (and later Wanda's) mind. They were pulling the twins from school. Homeschooling was the way to go. Surprisingly, Miz objected, but only because she didn't like leaving Amanda, Georgie and the twins' other friends at school without them.
"Miz, we're not their parents. We can't decide their education for them." Wanda explained patiently. "I know you don't want the kids to not be able to be with their friends, but we can still invite the other children over for playdates."
"...fine…" Miz looked away. Seb gently patted her head. "I know how important the concept of 'friends' is to you. Heck, I also think it would be cool if they could all be together, but I don't think Carol would agree to sending Amanda over here for schooling."
Miz had a look on her face. Wanda groaned. "Please don't try interfering in this. It's not your business." Miz just looked away. Wanda wasn't sure what to do with her. "Well, can you at least help me with looking for a licensed homeschool instructor for the twins." Wanda compromised, so that Miz could feel like she was helping out.
"...fine…"
Miz was pouting when the homeschool instructor finally came over. Wanda put Seb on 'petting' duty to keep her calm. Seb wondered if it was normal to treat a kid like a dog to be trained? But the petting was stopping Miz from growling at the poor man when he introduced himself, so probably?
"Hello. I'm Collie Anderson." The man smiled, reaching out a hand to shake Seb's. He glanced down at Miz. "Is she one of my new students?"
"I've graduated." Miz said blandly. Seb sighed, petting her again until she settled down. "No not Miz, you'll be teaching my two youngest kids. Zach, Zoe, come say hello to mister Anderson."
The twins were a little wary. But mommy and Miz had both done a look into the man's background, so it seemed he wasn't a bad guy. Zoe strode over and put her hands on her hips. "Are you a good teacher?" She asked bluntly.
Collie laughed. "Well, I hope so. Are you Zoe?"
Zoe nodded. "Miz says she'd be a better teacher than you." Wanda looked horrified as Seb snickered.
"Oh?" Collie gave Miz a kind smile. "Well, if you want, we could teach them together?" He said, expecting the teenager to just sit in on the lessons and help out.
Miz tilted her head, expressionless as she stared up at him. Collie tried not to let it unsettle him. She hadn't blinked at all. Seb chuckled. "Miz, we talked about this. No scaring away the new home teacher." He made it sound like a joke, to hopefully not scare the man.
"I will be sitting in, to evaluate him." Miz stated. "If he's gonna try any of that overly complicated math that just makes learning harder, I'm taking over."
"I hope I live up to your expectations then." Collie chuckled.
"Good luck." Zach told the man.
Collie didn't know what he was getting into.
-.-
"So, the kids have been doing well with the home schooling." Seb told Stan over the phone. "Miz also contacted all of the twins' friends, which is mainly just Amanda and Georgie, to come over after school to do their homework together. She really wants to help the kids stay in touch with their friends. It's cute."
"Wow. How'd you all get Amanda to come over?" Stan asked. "I thought her ma was refusing to let them hang out?"
"She got Georgie's parents to call Carol and tell her that Amanda was going to have a homework and study group with their son. Which isn't technically a lie." Seb laughed. "And then they just come over to our house through the back."
"Heh. Nice." Stan grinned.
"They all work on their homework together, or, rather, Amanda and Georgie get Miz to help them finish their homework as she helps them understand it better, and then the kids all play for a few hours. Most of the time they stay for dinner. Miz goes all out with cooking for them. It's so cute."
"She really does love cooking for other people." Stan smiled. "Also, lucky bitch, you get to eat her cooking all the time!" He whined. "Send her over here sometimes!"
"You can LITERALLY just hire a personal chef. Or eat out at a fancy place. You're fucking rich." Seb deadpanned.
"Yeah, but saving money though~" Stan laughed. Seb shook his head. He was a lost cause.
"How's Diego doing anyway?" Seb asked. Stan didn't talk about his kids anymore! And Dillon was alllll grown up and barely messaged hiiiimmm! So unfair!
"Heh. Tiny nerd. Doing well. Always on that tablet of his though." Stan rolled his eyes. Kids these days… "Speaking of homeschooling, Diego's been homeschooled since the pandemic started." Stan shrugged. "It was just easier."
"What?! You didn't tell me that! I would have gotten the twins homeschooled sooner if I knew you were doing it!"
"You never call me!" Stan drank soda as he typed down some stuff.
"I always call you. Ford's the one who never calls unless Yun reminds him to!" Seb pouted, almost tripping on Queen Flutter as he paced. The maple cat hissed and he hissed back. Damn thing! Getting in the way! "But you never pick up!"
"You never call me when I'm free." Stan said in a 'duh' tone. "I'm a very busy guy."
"Bitch." Seb stuck his tongue out. "You should always drop what you're doing to chat with your favorite brother!"
"Shermie doesn't call me either." Stan snarked. Seb sputtered. "How dare you imply that I'm not your favorite brother!" Seb whined. Stan just laughed at him, the bitch.
"So, how's the homeschooling going with Miz? I bet she wasn't happy about some stranger coming into the house and being near her siblings." Stan noted.
"Oh my god. Miz has been… territorial." Seb ran a hand through his hair. "Like, sometimes I forget she's not human, and then she starts displaying behavior almost like an animal and I'm like, oh right."
"Heh. What's she doing?"
"Marking her territory by leaving her origami all around the house. Hissing at Collie when he goes past any of the boundaries she's set up. Mainly around her and the twins' room. Collie isn't allowed near their room at all. She also sits in with all the lessons, correcting him when she knows more about a subject than he does. Which she usually does. Mostly in science."
"Oh man, how's the guy handling this?"
"Surprisingly well. He's very patient, and will actually check over her corrections and praise her when he realizes she's right. The look on her face is adorable. I don't think she's used to having people be polite and respectful to her after she's corrected them."
"I mean, that's good. At least Miz ain't gonna eat him, right?"
"She prowls." Seb admitted. "Like… stalking the edges of the property after the guy leaves, like making sure he's actually gone. I'm not sure what to do with her."
"I mean… have you tried taking her to talk with Linda about this?"
"We have. Linda says that Miz is just antsy because she feels like a stranger is now getting one on one time with her siblings, and she doesn't want to risk anything happening."
"I thought you guys checked his background?"
"We did. Miz is paranoid." Seb rolled his eye.
"Well, I guess, sucks to be you." Stan chuckled. "Have you heard any news from Ford?"
"Eh, Miz gives me updates about how she and Ford are doing. The babies are fine. MY godson is as amazing as always. They're still having trouble with Ava. He's still picking fights. Mostly with Ira."
"Rough kid, huh? They're only 2. Incredible." Stan shook his head.
"It's only up for Ax to give such a kid to the most impatient guy." Seb sighed. "And Ford worries me. He doesn't admit to it, but he's scared and doesn't know what to do. Fears he'll end up like dear ol Fil." Seb laughed somewhat grim.
Stan snorted. "Good luck with THAT." He sipped his soda. "No one's as messed up as our bitch of a father."
That didn't mean it wasn't such a present fear for any of the 4 Pines brothers…
They were always afraid of turning into Filbrick.
"Give a headpat to Diego for me." Seb finally said, feeling the conversation was getting awkward.
"Sure will. Same for those critters of yours."
Seb got a lil anxious here, projecting and feeling bad for the p4nfemic. Please leave a comment :3