The doorbell rang just as Penny and Kymberly (fully dressed) were about to leave the house. Kymmy asked, "Can you get that, sug?"

Penny opened the door, and a clown cheered with lions and elephants behind him, "Congratulations, random homeowner! You have been randomly selected to be given free tickets for the upcoming circus!"

Kym was startled, "Did someone say... circus?"

The redhead said, "Yes, apparently we get to go for free to a circus."

However, the word "circus" made the tall black woman feel... terror. She sweated as she shrieked at the clown, "GET OUT!"

That confused the clown, "You don't want free tickets?"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Kymberly slammed the door as the clown looked disappointed, "Guess someone doesn't like circuses. Oh well, their loss. Next door it is."

A nauseous and dizzy Kymberly bolted upstairs, making a worried Penny go after her. Penny found her tall black wife sprawled out and lying on her back on the bed door with a hand on her heart, making the girl with glasses ask with worry in her voice, "Kymberly? Kymmy? Kym? What's wrong?"

All Kymberly did was hyperventilate, the intense fear and anxiety rendering her unable to answer Penny, who was very scared for Kymmy. Her panic attack showed no signs of dying down. Penny got on top and hugged her tenderly, hoping it would calm Kym. It took roughly ten minutes for the freaking out to stop.

Gradually, the taller female's palpitations ceased, and her heart rate normalized as her breathing felt regular again. Kymberly no longer felt pain in her chest or stomach, nor any tingling in her finger and toes. Putting a hand on Penny's head, Kymberly exhaled, "Thank you, Penny."

"What's going on? Do you hate going to the circus?"

"...yes. I mean, no. I mean... I liked circuses, but now I really don't like them. I especially hate clowns."

"Why?"

"M-my husband was killed by a clown."

"I thought he passed away."

"I lied, ok?!"

"Ok, ok."

"I just didn't want anyone to know the real reason my husband lost his life."

"Do you want to tell me? It's ok if you don't."

Tears formed in Kymmy's eyes as she wiped her eyes and sighed, "I'll tell you."

Penny and Kym sat down on the edge of the bed as Kymberly proceeded to tell the tragic tale, starting with, "My dead hubby, Philip Arsenio Larson, owned a circus. I actually met him at one of his shows."

The country of Nigeria was only one of many countries where Philip's circus shows were featured. They were stunning with clowns, unicyclists, jugglers, trapeze artists, dancers, magicians, stunt performers, acrobats, birds, lions, horses, zebras, tigers, leopards, hyenas, kangaroos, elephants, brown bears, polar bears, panda bears, rhinos, penguins, pangolins, and otters-

Penny interrupted, "Wait a second. Pandas? Hyenas? Kangaroos? Penguins? Pangolins? Otters? I don't think animals like those are featured in circuses."

Kymberly explained, "He had animals representing all continents. It was Philip's way of appealing to audiences worldwide."

"Ah, I see. Please continue."

Philip's shows amazed the audiences. Shows sold out in Abuja, Lagos, and Kano. Lagos was where the relationship was born. One day, one of Philip's clowns almost threw a pie at their ringleader's face, but Philip ducked and taunted, "Too slow."

SPLAT!

The pie struck Kymberly Larson (née Zabu) smack dab in the face. Cream and crust dripped down onto her clothes as Philip got red in the face and stammered as he pulled out a handkerchief, "Oh, I-I-I am terribly sorry, ma'am."

However, Kymmy laughed as she wiped herself clean, "Don't be. I like pie, especially if the pie is chocolate."

Both of them laughed awkwardly.

"I'm Kymberly."

"I'm Philip."

From then on, Kym and Philip began dating. He'd give her discounted or even free admission to shows, he'd treat her to candlelight dinners with water from a seltzer bottle and pies, he'd even invite her to perform. 90% of the time, she said yes to trapezes, lion taming, juggling, unicycling, tightrope walking, flying out of a cannon, and balancing on a ball. She only declined a few times when she almost got seriously hurt, which was a lot, given she wasn't as experienced as the professionals.

One day, Philip proposed in front of a crowd, "Will you marry me, Kymberly?"

She said, "Yes!"

Everyone clapped, but then Philip announced, "Thus, today is the final show. The circus will be defunct after this. Sorry, everyone, but settling down requires sacrifice."

All the crowd members and clowns were shocked as they knew they'd be laid off, but one clown took it harder than all the others, Rudy.

Again, Penny asked her wife with fright now creeping into her body, "Did you say Rudy?"

"Yes."

"Was he huge and green?"

"How do you know about him?"

"My boss actually fought him during one of his treasure-hunting adventures."

"You're kidding."

"I'm not."

"Well, back to the story."

Rudy threw a massive temper tantrum when he realized he would out of a job. He threw things at the audience and at his colleagues. Luckily, no one got hurt. Philip, his performers, his animals, and I all fled to Diamond City, where he hosted his final show. It ended on a high note, and once everyone went their separate ways, we married and transitioned to focusing on science. Christine was born shortly after, and we helped her grow up to be a successful adult. It seemed like things couldn't be better for our happy family, so they didn't. They got worse.

A few days after Christine's graduation ceremony, we had a graduation party at home with loud music and lots of junk food. Once the house was empty, Christine, Philip and I were cleaning up the plastic soda cups and pieces of cake on the floor when a loud and violent banging on the door caught the Larsons' attention. The door broke down and a large demonic clown-like being was visible. Philip gasped, "Oh no! Rudy! Kymmy, Christine, you two hafta hide and call the police now! RUN!"

Christine and Kymberly hid in the broom closet, the latter calling the cops and holding the former, both quivering with the door open just a crack. Rudy glared and growled at Philip while holding his head in his hands, "Remember me, buddy?!"

Philip whimpered, "Be cool, man! Be cool!"

"Why?! You left!"

It now seemed like Rudy was squeezing Philip's head like a ball, intending to crush his skull in his hands like Omni-Man, complete with the eyeball popping out. Philip screamed, "Don't kill me! AHHHHHHH-"

*SQUISH*

"Honey!"

"Daddy!"

Rudy dropped Philip's lifeless body on the floor and heard those cries coming from the broom closet. Tears formed in the wife and the daughter's eyes as they helplessly watched the husband and father be killed by a sworn enemy. The police were too slow with sirens only being heard just now. Frustrated with the law closing in, Rudy retreated and disappeared into the night. The authorities obviously couldn't save a dead man, especially one with no head, and the family hasn't been the same since the funeral...

Penny wept into Kymberly's neck as the black chick ended the sad story. Kymmy waited 20 minutes for her wife to stop crying. Once the geeky girl was silent, she spoke with sadness in her voice as she dried her eyes, "It must have been so hard."

Kym sighed, "It was... for everyone."

"Who else knows the terrible truth?"

"Only mom, dad, and my friends."

"Do they hate clowns as much as you do because of this traumatic event?"

"Yep, they'd also get panic attacks when they so much as hear mentions of a circus. Unless Rudy gets sentenced to life in prison or put to death, it'd be impossible for them to like clowns again."

Giving her tall African American wife a comforting hug, the pale-skinned girl tried her hardest to console her.

They held each other for a long time. It was nighttime as Penny suggested, "Wanna get some sleep now?"

"Yes."

"Ok, anything to make you feel peaceful. I love you."

"I love you too, even though I miss Philip."

They took off their clothes and held each other again as they got into bed, letting the warmth and smoothness of each other's naked bodies keep them calm as they at least managed to get a good night's sleep.