Ch. 10

The apartment which Kimmie had grown up in was an absolute mess. Her uncle Toby had been staying with them for the past few months, and he was now officially moving in, occupying the room which her mother, Sarah, was preparing to vacate. She sat glumly watching the flurry of activity as her mother and uncle went hither and thither moving boxes.

Sarah stumbled into the living room under the weight of a particularly unwieldy box.

"Hey, sis, take it easy!" Toby said as he noticed her misstep. "I'll move the heavy stuff for you. You just sit."

The reason Sarah was moving out was that she had finally agreed to return to the Underground with Jareth, and today was the day Jareth had appointed for the move to occur.

Toby was getting ready to begin his second year of studies to get his teaching credential, and Kimmie was finally out of high school and was going to work part-time while she took some classes at the local city college. Sarah decided the two could share the apartment and keep each other company so she and Jareth could begin their life together. It was a situation which should have appealed to all, but Kimmie was not happy about it.

"Cheer up," Toby tried to reassure her. "It won't be so bad. Once your mom is out of the picture, we can live it up by ourselves." He lowered his voice so only she could hear. "No middle-aged hang-ups and restrictions to deal with." He smiled conspiratorially at her. He had grown particularly close to his niece, given how close in age the two were, and was actually looking forward to having her as a proper roommate.

She tried looking at the bright side, and logically, she understood why Sarah was doing this, but it didn't change the simple fact that it was not what she wanted. "It's not fair!" she exclaimed. Sarah glared at her reproachfully. That was a phrase which Sarah did not take kindly to, and which she had taken great lengths to ensure that Kimmie never uttered. However, the goings-on had Kimmie in a sour mood, so she refused to let it go, and muttered, "Well, it isn't."

Sarah had had more than her fill of Kimmie's whining during the past week, so she decided to ignore this most recent outburst.

"Please, mom," Kimmie continued. Sarah may have been done talking about it, but it was clear that Kimmie was not.

"Kimmie, this discussion is over. I've told you how things stand. You'll go to college, get a degree, and then if you want to revisit your request, I'm sure Jareth would be happy to accommodate you."

As if on cue, the lights flickered just before a cascade of glitter announced the arrival of the Goblin King. Sarah smiled brightly at him as he strode toward her. "And how are we feeling today, love?" he asked as he lovingly placed a hand on the swell which was just barely becoming visible on Sarah's abdomen.

"Well, if starved and malnourished is fine, then I guess we're fine," Sarah replied. "But honestly, I can't remember the last time I was able to hold a meal down."

Jareth barely had time to register concern for Sarah and their unborn child before Kimmie pounced on him. "Jareth, please talk to her. She's being totally unreasonable."

Jareth had always deferred parenting decisions to Sarah, particularly in light of the fact that Kimmie was not his daughter, and Sarah had managed so well on her own for so long. Having Kimmie appeal directly to him only made him uncomfortable. "Kimmie, your mother has always done her best by you, and you have to trust her to continue to do so."

"Sweetie," Sarah continued, in yet another attempt to convince her daughter, "you have your entire life ahead of you. You can't make a decision like this before you've even begun to live it. I am not going to take away your opportunity to succeed in life. When I found myself alone, without a degree, without a family, without a job and expecting you, I really had no choices open to me. I had to take whatever came up first and make the best of it. I don't want that for you. I want you to take advantage of everything this world has to offer so you can have choices as to how you want to live."

Kimmie looked sadly at her mother. She knew her mother's life had been tough, and she understood that Sarah did not want to deny her what she had been denied herself. But there was still something Sarah was not getting. "Mom, it wasn't opportunity that was taken from you, it was the ability to choose what you want, and isn't that exactly what you're doing to me? I don't want to go to college, I don't want whatever career a degree, any degree, can give me. I want to go with you, Jareth and the baby and live in the Underground."

"But Kimmie, this is your world. You can't just walk away from it without knowing what it has to offer."

"Mom, this world sucks! I've seen how hard you've had to work your whole life just to make my life bearable. And I'm grateful for it. Everything I've ever done has been so I don't disappoint you. But with you gone, I won't have a reason to keep trying. Please don't leave me here!"

Sarah was speechless at realizing that Kimmie was right. She had wanted her daughter to have everything she had been denied, regardless of what Kimmie wanted. "Is this really what you want?" she asked.

"Of course it's what I want."

As mother and daughter tearfully hugged in reconciliation, Toby realized he was about to be left alone. "If Kimmie's going, I want to go too!" he blurted as he felt a knot form in his stomach at the thought of losing the only family he had who didn't judge him. He looked at Jareth expectantly.

"Toby, you understand what you are committing to? Jareth admonished. "This isn't a decision which you can make on the spur of the moment."

Toby nodded mechanically, not at all certain he did understand, but knowing that he was unwilling to be left with two vindictive and disapproving parents as the only family he had.

Sarah was clearly started by this last-minute request. "What about your parents?"

He thought back at their reaction when he told them he would not be attending law school. They had essentially done the same thing they did to Sarah. The only difference was that he had been given the option returning when he "came to his senses." It was an understatement to say they were shocked when he told them he would be moving in with his sister while he pursued his credential.

He had had to stretch the truth a bit about how Sarah was dating a rich and powerful man who had managed to track him down (not a difficult thing to do, since he still called the same house Sarah had grown up in his home) and delivered a message that his sister would like see him, if he was interested. It was all close enough to true, so it really wasn't really lie. It was then that he realized just how much his mother had resented Sarah's presence in their lives. She had been primarily responsible for things turning out the way they did, and she was the one who continued to insist they were all better off without her, despite his father's misgivings. Sarah was his daughter, after all.

"It'll probably be years before they miss me. Ever since I told them I didn't want to go to law school, all contact with them has been initiated by me, and they seem to go out of their way to make me feel like I'm a disappointment. And the whole situation with them refusing to see you and Kimmie. I really don't think I'm interested in maintaining a relationship with people like that, even if they are my parents." He didn't mention that their father had expressed an interest in meeting Kimmie. She was his first, and so far only, grandchild. He knew his niece well enough to know that any invitation that didn't include Sarah would be taken as an insult.

"What about your career?" Sarah continued. Even though she loved her brother very much and would like nothing better than to have him come with them, she wanted to make sure he understood what he was giving up. "Kimmie may not want one, but you've been determined to do this since before you came back into our lives."

Toby's whole demeanor changed. He bristled with excitement at this new prospect. "I can teach the goblins! They're about as child-like as you can get, and are desperately in need of an education."

Jareth was dubious of anyone being able to teach the little cretins he called subjects anything, but he was not about to say anything to dissuade Toby. In fact, he was quite touched at how all of these people were arguing over how many of them got to go home with him.

For the briefest moment, Toby looked somber, but it was quickly replaced by enthusiasm as he considered a future he had never even dreamt of. He again looked at Jareth. "What do you say? Is there room in your kingdom for one more human?"

Jareth's heart was filled with joy as he took stock of the people surrounding him. He had come today to collect his beloved queen, the woman who now carried his heir, and was returning with a complete ready-made family.

He turned to Kimmie with a twinkle in his eye. "Choose your right words, Kimmie.

Kimmie grinned broadly as she uttered the same words her own mother had said all those years ago. "I wish the goblins would come and take us away - right now!"

And in a flash, the apartment was empty, save for a generous dusting of glitter in the middle of the living room. In his joy, Jareth performed one kindness to the people who had made life so difficult for his beloved Sarah. Robert and Karen Williams never grieved for the son and who had so disappointed them, because to the best of their knowledge, they never had any children, not even a willful, rebellious daughter. To all outward appearances, the Williams children had never even existed. All memory of them disappeared from our world. But down in the Underground, they became the stuff of legend.

Author's Note: So there it is. I hope the ending lived up to everyone's expectations. Please review and let me know your thoughts. And once again, thank you to everyone who favorited/bookmarked this story. I'm overwhelmed by your response. I'll probably post another story later this year, but it will likely be in another fandom.