Author's Notes:

This is part one of the entry depicting Susanna's special birthday; she chronicles the step to step basis on how her day progresses and she also gives some insight into what her family life is like and the relationship is between her and her parents. There is also a scene that explores the complicated and tumultuous relationship between Lena Rosenberg and Susanna, who both share a birthday, as Lena reveals her feelings about her actions surrounding the infamous summer of 2008 and also confesses her conflicting feelings that stem from childhood memories that still haunt her to this very day. I think this is by far the most emotional piece I've ever written because you get a very good insight into Lena's mind and you also get a very good idea of why she did the things she did back then. I think even though Lena might have resented Susanna at times and might have even despised her, she also feels some sort of connection to the child and shares a very close and intimate bond with her, especially with a pet nickname Susanna used to call her when she was a baby.

Since I wrote this the summer before this past summer, I'm not sure if I'll be able to continue this. I hope I get to finish this soon; if I do end up writing Part 2, I might have to complete this story right then and there and write a follow-up to this diary if I can. But don't worry; there will be more stories to come, with the next one portraying Dorothy Zbornak. I hope to continue this as soon as possible but I don't see that happening in the near future; perhaps when I get an unexpected idea I'll begin Part 2 and that's it.

Read and review!

Happy Birthday Susanna! Part 1

Yay! Now I finally get to tell everyone about how my birthday went. It was the best birthday present my parents could ever give me. My parents woke me up with a "Happy Birthday!" morning greeting and to my surprise I was given a 10 week old tawny/auburn cocker spaniel named Turquoise, who had violet and turquoise eyes and fine, fluffy, smooth fur. She had squiggly and wavy ears and a rounded head and face and she also had the smallest muzzle I've seen in my life in addition to an overbite.

My mother kept dogs throughout her life, including one that looked like Zira. During the time she was filming "The Beautiful Great Dane", she owned a Yorkshire named Misty that would go crazy whenever she would return home from the set. And now my mother wanted to share her love of dogs with me by getting me a puppy for my birthday.

"Susa, this is your new cocker spaniel, Turquoise. Your father and I bought her from a kennel two blocks from here the night before and we wanted to surprise you for your birthday. However, you can't play with her right now because you need to get ready for your big superhero introduction society gala. In the meantime, Jacob, Frances and Hailey will take care of your new puppy, so don't worry about anything," Mommy informed me about what lay ahead of me on my special birthday morning. On the edge of my chair, my white cotton fiber sweater with the dove and the heart entwined on it and my white, slender, sinewy, strapped satin ballroom dress were carefully left dangling along with a thin, transparent, silky veil.

On my desk was a Cameroon lady hat, with buttercups and daisies clustered together in a uniform clump and adorned and ornated with slick and smooth, thick feathers of magpies and crows, (which I think is kind of disgusting and repugnant for my eyes if you ask me), and tied with a black velvet ribbon around the middle of the hat. I was then picked up by my mother and then ushered into the bathroom where I was promptly bathed and my hair washed and scrubbed thoroughly with shampoo and conditioner.

Suddenly, the door bell rang. "Thomas, will you go get it?" my mommy hollered from the drizzling and pouring of the shower water raining down on my body. "Okay, Suzanne!" Daddy replied cheerfully and then I could hear him rush downstairs to receive whoever happened to be visiting on that day and then when he opened the door it was a mailman! "Here's your mail, sir," the mailman answered.

My daddy then gathered the mail in his hands, thanked the mailman, and then retreated inside the house as the mailman calmly walked away. He then sorted through the mail on the counter in the kitchen and saw four envelopes mailed especially to me and then he read the names of the people who sent me birthday mail: Aunt Salina, Dr. Hubert, my pediatrician, Natasha Richards, and her mother, Vanessa Remington.

He then opened Aunt Salina's envelope and then read her card. It had a glowing teddy bear on it and had a strawberry pink background with a tree and some grass in the background. Aunt Salina wrote, "Hello, Susanna, I just want to say happy 3rd birthday and I am so glad that you're thriving and doing well! I am elated to hear that you have three new half-siblings and you're also getting a new brother as well!"

"I'm sorry that I can't come to your superhero introduction ceremony and to your big birthday bash because I'm swapped with things to do from the German council concerning the current economical crisis; (you don't need to hear about that, darling, just go and enjoy your birthday party!), but with this birthday card I hope that you're at least comforted by the fact that I care about you enough to wish you a happy birthday and that I love you. Sincerely, Aunt Salina."

Daddy then opened up Dr. Hubert's envelope and then scanned through his letter and also took a peak at the birthday card. The cover depicted a duckling fishing through the lake with his nose submerged in the water looking for evasive codfish. Dr. Hubert's birthday card stated, "Hope you have a happy birthday! I wish you a happy and long, prosperous life! Dr. Hubert."

The letter said, "Dear Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Gaston Carmichael, I am excited and exuberant at the fact that Susanna's 3rd birthday has finally arrived. You do not know how long I have been waiting for this day! Mr. Carmichael, when I was commissioned to the care of your wife when she was first admitted to the O.R. at the Washington, D.C. Clinical Hospital, I was dubious and skeptical that her unborn daughter would survive the operation, given the fact that your wife was 69-years-old at the time; about 40 years late for her to be giving birth at this period of time in her life."

"But the risks that were abound in this operation and the probable tragic consequences that could have resulted were well worth it, because now the two of you have a beautiful, spirited, animated young lady in your hands, and well on her way to become one of the greatest superheroes of all time. I really and truly believe that God holds a special plan for this little girl."

"The first 3 years of her life must have without a doubt been harsh trials for you; Susanna had been through so much and had demonstrated her resilience and robust will to live with grace and dignity, just like her mother. Any other child could have been so severely traumatized to the point where he/she can isolate and distance themselves from their peers and become complete recluses, away from their family, friends and society."

"Susanna has shown some significant effects from the horrific events she was forced to live through, such as her apparent mistrust of police officers and other related authorities and her tendency to cling to her mother whenever she encounters any burly, brawny, husky men on social outings. But with the help, support and love of her parents, Susanna has managed to make a good amount of progress in healing emotionally and is now more or less back to normal, even though it is as yet undetermined as to how much emotional damage Susanna has suffered together as a whole and to what extent, if any, can it be treated and virtually cured. It is a miracle that Susanna came out of this practically unscathed as she did; for that you should be thankful."

"I am proud of your daughter and I am honored to be the host of her huge birthday bash and her superhero ceremony; I just hope all goes well and that nothing serious happens. This special day holds meaning for all of us, whenever we know it or not. One of our own has now come of age into the superhero business, and we should celebrate it. Again, I thank you two and keep up the good work on raising Susanna to be a contributing member of our wholesome American society. Sincerely, Dr. Hubert."

Furthermore, my daddy then moved on to the penultimate letter, the one Natasha Richards wrote. This time her card consisted of a garden of daisies, tulips, blossoms, forget-me-nots, Susan black eyes and buttercups, and a pair of jays taking off into the skies while a cardinal is perched onto a stalk of grass on the bottom left corner, glaring, seething and fuming with envy. That was so cute! Who knew that British people could be so creative! Daddy then peered at the card curiously. "Have a wonderful birthday, Susanna; you definitely deserve it. Take care of yourself, love. Sincerely and yours truly, Natasha Jenna Richards."

Then Daddy proceeded to read a handwritten letter from Natasha. She wrote, "Dear Mr. Thomas Gaston Carmichael and Mrs. Suzanne Anne Carmichael, I am writing to congratulate you of your daughter's 3rd birthday. It must be a very special occasion for you; I am also writing this letter to thank you for all that you had done for us; you, your leader and your entire team should be proud that you've helped my family and I go through a very difficult time in our lives. I have not had an opportunity to express my gratitude and thanks for some time now and I take this happy event as an opportune time to do so. Again, thank you for all of your help and may your daughter have a happy birthday. With love, Natasha Richards."

Last but not least, Daddy ripped open Vanessa Remington's envelope and then read her card and letter. "Happy birthday, little one!" Vanessa inscribed in the card that had a ballerina design on it. Then, my daddy found her letter and then looked at it. It said, "Dear Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Carmichael, Natasha and I CANNOT thank you enough for all that you've done for our esteemed family. No words can describe the gratitude and joy for the time that all of you Team Legacy kids took the time and had the compassion and sympathy to aid a family fraught with pain, sorrow and anguish. You truly are one of the greatest superhero teams in the world and perhaps in the universe."

"If you have read my daughter's letter you would get at least a subtle hint of our present sentiments towards you and therefore my letter will be brief. I presume that you have a lot to do today for Susanna's birthday party so I will not take up your time by having you read my letter. Thank you for having the courtesy to read my letter and thank you again for being so compassionate and willing to yield some aid to us. We, including myself, are FOREVER indebted to you. Sincerely, Vanessa Remington."

"TOM! We better get going! Get dressed, will you?" Mommy hollered at Daddy. "Sure thing, Suzanne," Daddy complied and then he sped upstairs and tore right into the room to scramble for some last minute attire to wear for his daughter's special birthday. Finally he came out wearing a tuxedo, black pants, some tap dance shoes with black laces, and he also wore a bowler hat. Soon everyone stampeded downstairs all dressed in formal clothes and then they were all congregated at the front door. Daddy's hair was all slicked up and he was the very first one at the door.

Everyone in Team Legacy wore at least a variety of some of the expensive clothes in the world; some women wore mink coats and fur caps, (i.e. Alexis Carrington), most males wore tuxedos in varying lengths and sizes, and also the style and type of shoes that were worn also differed. For some reason Reuben had a moustache on while wearing a stiffly, smooth, leather tuxedo and a bow tie. Angel wore a silky, satin, overflowing, translucent wedding dress with a veil on and a pair of white, satin, diamond adorned gloves.

Leroy had a top hat, a tuxedo with a tie, some black formal trouser pants, Wellington boots, a right eyeglass, and a golden packet with a plentiful mint of cigars. Angela Lansing wore a white dress with puffy, ruffled sleeves, an long, overflowing skirt, and a thin, angular neckline along with a brooch and Beverly Andrews herself wore a polyester midnight blue/indigo, ruffled, satin, suede dress that had a dangling, lengthy skirt that reached all the way to her ankles and she was also decorated and curried with diamond earrings and a pearl necklace.

Celeste Hunter wore an amber/honey mink fur coat streaked and stole with black, bold tiger stripes and a matching fur hat. She had ruby lipstick on and also dabbed some mascara and eye shadow on her face. Beverly wore lipstick, eye shadow, mascara, some eyeliner, and some blush to paint color on her face. She also wore a heavy, black trench coat just in case and her hair was coiffed with a swirly, curled, scruffy bun.

And my mommy was dressed in a dazzling, sparkling, peach white ballroom gown with ripples on the umbrella-shaped skirt and spotted with tiny shimmering and gleaming pearls and diamonds. Her dress was completely sleeveless and had two straps on it and the neckline was low to medium, so she had to wear a golden ladybug brooch to cover her cleavage. Additionally she also wore a thick, fluffy, smooth, soft, overflowing mauve/wine colored mink fur stole, which was fake of course and wore simple pearl earrings and a dangling pearl necklace around her neck, which cost $20,000.

Mommy also carried me in the crook of her right arm, and I was wearing the outfit that she picked out for me, with the white cotton fiber sweater worn on top of my birthday ballroom dress. My face was also disguised with the thin, transparent, silky veil and my long, curling, straight hair had been significantly curried and stylized in a 60's style and trimmed to the point where my trademark white streaked bristles were completely gone and the tips of the ends of my hair were curled outward like the tentacles of an octopus. My Cameroon lady hat also rested snugly on the top of my small head with the magpie feathers and ribbons conspicuous. I sometimes wonder to myself, I get the formal dressing rule but is the veil really that necessary or is it a random accessory that my mother picked out from out of the blue?

"All right, team. We're going to City Hall as of this moment; it is 20 blocks from here and depending on the road conditions we should be able to get there as soon as possible," my father announced to the entire team solemnly. "Tom, Susanna's birthday bash is in the City Hall building right on the top floor, right? It's where the meetings usually take place and where they hold the most expensive balls and parties in the world for highly esteemed families, social events and gatherings and for charities and causes?" my mother inquired Daddy inquisitively. She seemed a little worried, I could tell, behind all of that makeup she put on her photogenic face: the mascara, the blush, the eye shadow, the eyeliner, the lipstick; the works. And she was biting her freaking' nails too!

Yubaba wore a saffron/auburn lady hat with feathery ruffles stitched within the hat and also with a duck feather sticking out of the hat and also wore an expensive, silky, golden ballroom dress that was scrunched up and wrinkled because of her portly and chubby size. Lena Rosenberg herself wore a red/garnet fur ballroom gown with cylinder-shaped sleeves that had a soft and smooth texture with a dark crimson hue. She also had a maroon boa and mink stole, with a silver tiara with a ruby adored on it that was sitting on her black, short, sloping, silky hair. She also wore diamond earrings and a diamond lavaliere.

Lena looked like a majestic, regal, sophisticated, classy queen with elegant taste, even if she's somewhat mean and nasty at times. But I wouldn't want to upset her - today's her birthday too. Today she is chronologically 89, even though she is eternally 87 due to the fact that she is a reincarnated ghost. Wow! She's almost 90 years old! I guess that makes the two of us then - Lena's about to enter her 90's while I'm turning into a big girl today. Sometimes she envies me.

...

"You know, kid, sometimes I'm so jealous of you - you're becoming more beautiful every day and you're growing up into a young lady, and I'm the one who's getting older!" Lena snapped at me as I watched her pretty herself up for a date with Henry about two weeks before our birthdays.

"You don't have to be jealous, Lena; we share the same birthday," I piped in innocuously. "Ha, ha, ha!" Lena scoffed scornfully as she spun around and glowered at me. "Listen, kid, I don't know why the fucking hell your parents chose to hide you when you were in your dear mother's womb from the time the damn American War 2006 started when the villains threw us out of the 49 states of America and banished us to Alaska, to the time where we beat the crap out of Gantu, Reuben, Sir Ruber and his stupid griffin pet in an epic battle in outer space! I don't know why Suzanne never came to me! I just don't understand; I thought she trusted me! I thought we were best friends! I still resent her for that; do you realize how betrayed I feel towards your own mother! I feel like a fucking older sister who resents the presence of her younger sister!"

"And no one remembered my fucking birthday until a couple of days after we finished our epic mission to find Oxy and take her home! I'm glad Suzanne had the balls to give me a nice gift and I'm glad everyone brought in a birthday gift and a delicious cake for me, but I still feel pissed! Maybe I am actually jealous; maybe I'm afraid that everyone's going to ignore me and direct all their attention to you! Do you know how much it hurts to be ignored by your own mother, when all you want is her attention and love, all you want for her is to give you the time of day to pay any attention to you?" By then tears had seeped out of her eyes and Lena collapsed into her crossed arms and she started to sob and wail inconsolably as I could only stare at her with widened eyes in dead silence with my jaw dropped.

This lady has kept all of this emotional turmoil within her soul for THIS LONG? I thought to myself with a mortified and disheartened, disenchanted expression on my face. How can you spend 88 years of your life mulling and struggling with the vivid memory of the injustice that your mother has inflicted against you? I can't believe her! I've been through worse than her I'll tell you that! "Hey lady!" I shrieked with an explosive flair of my temper and then Lena swerved around and glowered at me with an infuriated and indignant sneer.

"You little brat..." she started with her cracking and strained, rueful, anguished voice. "I've been through worse shit than you! I've had my mommy run around with someone who is not my daddy and he ended up impregnating her with my half-siblings! Capt. Leroy sexually assaulted me and treated me as if I was white trash garbage and abused me severely and took advantage of me! My parents almost split up because of him, and I've never been able to completely get over it."

"Some nights I would peer fearfully at my bedroom window and I would lay wide awake for hours, fearing and terrified that Capt. Leroy would break through the window and take me and Kip away from the club and hurt the both of us. I've even had nightmares about that, where my parents fail to rescue me and Kip and I are slaughtered at the hands of the captain. If you think you've had it worse, put yourself in my shoes sometime," I interrupted her brusquely and curtly as I raved and ranted and yelled and screeched about how much suffering and pain I was forced to endure and be subjected to when Capt. Leroy dated my mommy.

"You are so pathetic..." Lena hissed snarkily as she turned away from me and smoked with a long, skinny, black and white incense cigarette and gazed hard at her haggard and grotesque reflection in the mirror. She pondered and meditated her thoughts for a few minutes when her face lit up and she was struck with a moment of realization.

"I was responsible for you. I was responsible for every single one of you! I was responsible for everything that happened in this house! When your mother started dating Capt. Sawyer-McCray I was already the leader of this gang! I should have done something to prevent the consequences but I was already too corrupted and wrapped up in my own power to do anything about it. This bullshit happened right under my nose and I should have been on high alert about it. If there is anyone who should apologize to you about this incident, it should be me. But it wouldn't do any good, because I cannot reverse the past, I cannot wipe away all of the horrible memories of that dreadful summer. You were forced to face life in its most raw and cruel form."

"My childhood insecurities that I was forced to cope and deal with all my life are moot compared to the horrible things you had to witness. Maybe there's a reason why the two of us share a birthday together. Perhaps somehow our destinies are connected and linked together by unforeseen circumstances. Susanna, on your birthday I'm going to give you something special, something that should help you on your journey to become the most powerful superhero there is. I don't know where I'm going to find it, but I'll find it somewhere."

...

"I'll never forget the day I held you in my arms in the dark, quiet, serene living room when I was assigned to care for you while the rest of Team Legacy went out. You were just two weeks old and you weighed just about the same as you did when you were born. You were so cute, adorable and bubbly, I'll admit. A pain in the ass spoiled brat that occasionally gets on my nerves but you were an angel, most of the time."

"I remember feeding you in the same way I fed my sextuplets as I sat in the sofa and cradled you in my arms. You were calm, quiet and fortunately not that fussy. I was getting sleepy and was about doze off into a nap when suddenly the house rocked and trembled with a wild shake and the earth started to quiver with a rumbling roar. And that was when I hear the whooshing and whistling of the quick, blustery, heavy gales of wind and also the crunching and snapping of trees and houses being uprooted from their places and disintegrating and crumpling in the midst of the gusts of wind.

Holy shit... I remember thinking to myself. A tornado has struck in the Southbends! I recall clutching my throat and felt like I was going to scream in terror. I quickly vaulted out of the sofa and dashed right to the basement underneath the club as the ferocious tornado ripped and tore through the neighborhood and was about to strike The Legacy Mansion. I enfolded you in the bosom of my chest and I held on to you tightly as I detected the sound of the tornado thundering and crashing through the club and devouring it as if it were a piece of cake. I raced and torpedoed through a thousand hallways and I stampeded down several flights of stairs and many times I had to hurtle myself down 10 feet down each in order to keep a safe distance away from the tornado.

The club was breaking down into a million of pieces and was disintegrating and evaporating right before my eyes and when I got to the basement I was just inched from being sucked into the mighty storm. Luckily, I quickly kicked down the door and barreled right into the basement and took out my samurai sword. It was in a deep shade of black and the jewel encrusted in it was glowing a crimson red.

I then plunged the sword into the ground and then I was engulfed in a flurry of red electrical sparks and swift gusty gales of shadows as I slowly but surely transformed and morphed into a crystallized cocoon that trapped you and I into a large, gigantic crystal shadow diamond that served as a protective dome to shield us from the effects of the weather. In a matter of moments the both of us were rendered immobile.

I felt the tornado blow and cast its deafening winds that not only drowned out all of the outside sounds but tore apart and completely demolished the house by wiping out everything in sight and shattering and breaking glass, wood, and even displacing several pieces of brick off our roof and hurtling them right at some of our neighbors' houses. Some of the floors had wood planks that were uplifted from the ground and were torn right off, leaving huge, wide, gaping holes on the ground. A lot of our possessions were lost during the storm and were tossed aside like yesterday's newspaper; we did manage to retrieve most of our possessions mostly from our neighbors' houses and off the streets, but a handful of our stuff are still missing.

...

When the team finally returned from their outing, you should have seen the look on their faces: the rooms were left in disarray with debris scattered and littered all over the place, (papers, books, folders, pencils, pieces of glass shards left from windows, toys, weapons, bed sheets, pillows, food, etc.) and many pieces of furniture were thrown from their normal positions and left lying on the ground, blocking some of the exits. The tables were overturned and some of the chairs were left lying out in the backyard."

"The electricity was shut down and many of the wires were dangling and sprawled out in the open, waiting for an unfortunate accident to happen. Some of the electrical appliances had exploded into small bonfires. Your father accidentally got electrocuted by an exposed wire when he tried to search for you in the disassembled mess. The accompanying thunderstorm that came in an hour after the tornado must have caused some of our electrical equipment to combust into flames."

"Your mother was furious when she and the rest of the team finally managed to tread through the ramshackle house and advance towards the basement and find me cradling you in my arms. She was outraged that I used a potentially dangerous spell that could have endangered both of our lives and therefore we could have been killed. 'What the hell, Lena, what the hell?' Suzanne yelled at me in a hysterical rage once she got a chance to confront me. 'Do you realize that the tornado could have sucked you in and cast you right out into the open and get the two of you killed? I was petrified when I couldn't find Susanna anywhere in the house.'

'You know how important and precious Susanna is to me. She's my only flesh and blood daughter and if anything were to happen to her I'll never forgive myself for it. How could you scare me like that and think that my little Susa was in danger?' She then took a few minutes to calm down and then she gave me a big hug and sobbed in a muffled voice as she buried her head on my shoulder.

'You're a good friend, Lena. You saved my daughter's life. I'm sorry I yelled at you. It's not easy raising your first child; anything could happen and I'm not taking chances this time around. I thank you for all your help today,' Suzanne sighed as she addressed me with a soft and gentle smile. And I've never been happier, because when I looked at you, you were grinning at me with your raw, pinkish gums exposed and you were giggling as if nothing had happened. 'Lala,' you babbled to me. I remember you calling me that every single day and I would get constantly annoyed at that."

...

"I guess I'm still your Lala after all these years. I'll admit we have a very tumultuous and stormy relationship at times and things between us can get very tense, but I guess I do love you. Speaking of which..."

Lena sighed and mumbled to herself as she viewed right through the mirror with such a stoic, tranquil and grave expression on her face that it seemed as if she were talking only to herself and not to anyone else in the room, including me, although I heard every word she had to say; she raised her voice and screamed and berated and chided at herself on how she could have let her greed, avarice and lust for power cloud her judgment and put me in serious risk and also allowed all of those unfortunately events that befell us to transpire right under her nose and then eventually she just rambled on and on about memories that had preoccupied her, with her tone, voice, and expression changing rapidly at every thought, as if she were reliving them and preoccupying herself with them, and her eyes flickered and narrow with every trace of emotion that plagued her.

She then swiveled to meet me face to face and then beamed at me with a smile. "Why don't you come with me and Henry? We'll take you to a local Dairy Queen so you can eat all of the fucking crap you want. How's that sound?" I nodded and then I toddled right into her arms and then she picked me up by the underarms and then held me tight as she whispered in my ear, "We're going to have to ask your mother to come with us though, okay?" I then nodded my head enthusiastically and then Lena took me to my mommy, after which Mommy gave her permission to take me to Dairy Queen as long as I came home by 11:00.

Then, Henry and Lena whisked me out of the house and then for their date they went to an all you can eat Japanese buffet. I had some shrimp and some ribs and then I stuffed my mouth with the Girl Scouts blizzard they were recently advertising. I had ice cream splattered all over my mouth and I looked like a 8 month old baby who was just learning how to eat with utensils, with the ice cream dripping and smudged all over my blouse and my face was splotched with chocolate and ice cream that spread all over my mouth, making me look sort of like a clown. "God, Henry, she's just as spoiled as the sextuplets are," Lena grumbled and muttered to her husband as I continued to feast on my blizzard and grimaced as I was gorging myself like a "big, fat piggy", as my mother would say.

...

"Now, Susa, I don't want you to eat too many sweets you understand? There are kids your age that are already starting to develop atherosclerosis from eating fast food and other junk food," my mother once said to me as I started to slosh cookies and cream drizzled and sprayed with chocolate syrup into my mouth. "Why?" I squeaked casually as I continued to splurge myself into my sugar-induced feast.

"It's the way of the modern world, sweetheart. People are given to indulge themselves in detrimental, deleterious lifestyles because they are so caught up in the rat race adult world where you have to work to make a lot of money. The fast food industry make profuse quantities of profits primarily due to the fact that people come in to their restaurants on any given day and buy their products," Mommy tried to explain to me.

"Like whoppers, toys, cheeseburgers, and sundaes?" I quipped inquisitively. "That's right; now it's all about doing things quick and get it over with. That's why I want you to be as healthy as can be. You ever seen 12-year-old fat boys walking in the street? That's because they didn't take care of themselves very well and if they do not stop from continuing the path that they're on right now, they could face a lot of deadly consequences in the future; you can even get a heart attack or a stroke. That's one of the consequences of smoking as well; in my case, it was cancer."

"No one told any of us in the 60's that smoking was bad for you. The harmful effects of smoking were clearly misunderstood in my day. Hell, if I knew just how bad smoking was, I probably would have quit. That is why so many of my colleagues now wind up with a long list of health problems, including cancer. I don't want you to smoke either, Susanna. You're my daughter and considering my history with smoking, you could be predisposed to developing a nicotine addiction. I want you to be as healthy as possible and I'm going to help you do that, but in the end it's all up to you," my mother explained to me as she educated me on the effects the fast food industry had on people's lives and she also enlightens me on back in her day people were ignorant on just how impact smoking could have on their lives.

I then gawked at my bowl of ice cream and peered at my mother quizzically. My mother then sauntered over to me and then wrapped her arm around my shoulder. "Listen, honey, I don't want to burst your bubble; I only want to protect you. Just be a kid, but for God's sake be careful," she murmured to me sympathetically and then strolled away to leave me eat in peace. I then frowned for a moment as I looked at my blizzard, but then shrugged at the memory of my mother's words and then continued to eat on anyway.

"(Sigh) Oh Henry, this reminds me of when we took Oxy to the park and she started shooting fireballs at the ducks as if she was at a shooting range," Lena sighed as she watched me finish my dessert. "Yeah, the fireballs went off like fireworks; she practically scared all of the people away," Henry agreed, also recalling that day. "You know, Oxy IS practically our daughter and James's like a brother to her," Lena pointed out to Henry directly. "She's our goddaughter for Pete's sake; James's her older godbrother. We could actually get custody of her if something were to happen to Laverne and The Phantom Of The Opera. That was in their adoption agreement when Laverne and The Phantom Of The Opera formally adopted her," Henry notified Lena informatively.

"(Chuckling) Of course! Henry, do you remember when Oxy married Oxygen? This little pip squeak over here was no more than two weeks old," Lena chortled gaily while gesturing over to me with her left hand. "That's right! Oxy and Oxygen have been married for about 3 years now. They also have 6 children as well: Oxyi, Oxine, Pentagon, Hexagon, Oxygon... crap, I forgot who was the sixth child," Henry continued on with his reminscening and then his mind went blank. Lena shook her head.

Even though the two of them were now dead and had died at approximately the very same age - 87 - Henry was still struggling with his senility and tended to forget things, which was why he was judged to be incompetent to stand trial. And as for Lena, the more sensible, strategical, calculating, competent of the two, was left to be picked on by the vultures that were the court justice system. Or so according to her mindset. Not that Henry would be considered to be retarded, hell, he was a brilliant businessman who knew his way around the realty business; he owned dozens of hotel chains across the state of New York alongside his more notorious wife during his tenure as The King Of New York.

Lena had the upper hand to being capable of wielding enormous amounts of power to her advantage when she and Henry took over as the leaders of Team Legacy, leaving her husband to be trapped within her own shadow. Lena did implement some pretty good upgrades to the team when she was still in authority, and I believe that if she had not let the power go to her head, she would have engineered one of the most powerful superhero teams of all time.

She had so much potential as the Queen of Team Legacy, and yet she blew it. I feel so bad for her though; she's like the quintessential anti-heroine of this team whose clandestine, shadowy past stalks her every move no matter how hard she tries to redeem herself - when she's not being a bitch.

I finally finished my blizzard and I started licking inside the blizzard cup as if it was a bowl of cake batter my mother and I were baking."Susanna!" Lena screamed at me in an explosive fit of rage as she swung a hand at me and was about to strike me across the face when Henry came right into my rescue and grabbed his wife's wrist in an attempt to block her hand. "Lena! Don't you dare lay a hand on Susanna! You don't know what Suzanne would do to you if you were to lay a hand on her child!" he scolded her fiercely and then Lena lowered her hand and then gawked at her husband with a stricken and mortified, disheartened visage and stuttered as she tried to come up with something to say to her lord and king.

"Henry... I don't know what came over me; I'm sorry," she stammered to her husband in dismayed shock. "You're damn right you're sorry. Suzanne will be furious at what you tried to do to Susanna once she finds out about this," Henry chided his wife reproachfully with a cross facial expression. Lena just gulped and stared herself right into space, dreading at what kind of horrific punishment she'll receive from my mother once the trio got home.

"Lena Mandy Rosenberg, what the fucking hell did you just do to my daughter?" Mommy growled at Lena with an irate and ire voice as she tapped her right foot with displeasure and slapped her left hand lightly with a newspaper in tandem. "I apologize, Suzanne. I don't know why I acted out the way I did, I swear. I would never hit your daughter," Lena tried to explain herself as I saw Mommy's eyes flare and blister in a malignant and maleficent glow. "You know how I feel about my daughter. You know how precious she is to me. She's the only daughter I ever had from Thomas. I would never forgive myself if anything were to happen to her."

"You should definitely control yourself more, Lena. I trust you with my daughter's life, especially right after you saved her from that tornado that totaled the entire mansion. You should really respect the trust I have in you, Lena. Not that many people can trust you with their children, especially with the history of your criminal past," my mother directed a lecture to Lena and her tone changed from that of sheer, unadulterated anger, to that of sympathy, compassion and understanding. "I understand completely, Suzanne. I will be especially careful around your daughter. Come along Henry, let's go check up on our sextuplets," Lena returned a pithy retort to Mother and then she beckoned Henry to come with her to go and check up on their children.

Originally written July 18th, 2009 1:35 P.M.