Chapter Thirty-Eight: Family Bonds

The day starts with a steamy mix of pixels and Woohoo. Tyson and Roxanne's passion certainly hasn't faded after all these years of marriage.

Though with that hot bod, who could resist the occasional "clean" Woohoo?

Poor Nathalie has to clean the aftermath however, as the two lovebirds had to hurry to work.
"Why Roxanne can't take a few seconds from her bloody garden, I don't know! I have to clean up my own son's semen!" Nathalie rants as she scrubs furiously. "At least the girls didn't see this. How horrific would it have been if they were witness to this mess!"

After cleaning, Nathalie calls Thorne, longing to see her other son. But she gets some shocking news when an unfamiliar voice picks up the phone. After talking for a few minutes to the boy, she gets a hold of Thorne and gives him a piece of her mind.
"You have a son and didn't tell me! Yes, Thorne, I would have wanted to see him! Why did you not tell your little old mother that you had a seven year old son! Yes Thor, I'm an elder now, I even got a little old lady nightie for the occassion! No Thorne, I'm not becoming boring. I can karate chop you into pieces if I wanted! Mmm-hmm...I see. I love you too, but- I know it's been hard for you guys but...wait, what am I saying? Shame on you! I want to see you too, but, but come on! He's seven! Oh, yes...fine, I'll be over at around 7! No, no, nothing fancy, just a small get-together. Stop that, I've waited long enough! And I better see my only grandson!" Nathalie hangs up the phone, a small smile on her face from talking with her insanely grumpy son.

Irish isn't sure why she's being dragged away from a riveting game of chess with her Dad to visit some weird uncle and nephew she's never heard about before. She'd much rather just do some homework. Nathalie wonders why this random guy in the ugly brown sweater decided to invade on their little makeshift family reunion.

Tyson shrugs uncomfortably with Nathalie's request. Why does he have to distract the interloper while everybody else has fun? Plus he has to wear stuffy clothes as well, a real pain for the rebellious father.

Still, it gives him an excuse to interrogate somebody. A promotion would be an alright reward for losing out on this night of fun. But he scoffs inwardly at this guy's sweater, despite his manly ahorrance on thinking about people's outfit choices. "Seriously though, it's perputal summer here. There's no need for Granny's shit-covered sweater to come out." Tyson thinks with a snicker. There, swearing should make him macho again.

Nathalie smiles as she sees her granddaughter introduce herself to the surly Thorne. Just seeing her family interact with each other makes her heart sing. She's created these people, made their lives as best as she could. She wishes that Ned could be there with her to share this with her, but she's happy that she at least is still there for her babies and grand-babies. Speaking of grand-babies, where is this Skye child she's heard so little about?

As if reading her thoughts, Thorne smirks as he tells Nathalie of Skye's whereabouts. "Skye went out to get something to eat. He probably won't be back until late, he's a bit absent-minded." Thorne has to laugh as Nathalie's smile turns into a frustrated grimace. "He's kind of anti-social anyway Mom, you probably couldn't get a word out of him. Looks a lot like Ned though, oddly enough, even though there's no blood relation. Keeps his hair just like his, and his hair is much straighter then anybody else in the family. Weird." Nathalie sniffs sadly, she misses Ned so much, even after all this time has gone past.

Meanwhile, Irish completely forgets about being polite and talking to her relatives when she sees the telescope in the back patio. "I couldn't see this part of town using the telescope at home, limited range and all- Oh! There's a bit of light pollution here, but I think I see Tyson's Moon! Oh, I've been searching for that one forever! And what is that?" Yes, Irish will not be joining the party.

"Your walls are cool Thor, psychedelic to the max!" Isadora cracks a smile, she's super excited to talk to this strange relative of hers. He's like a mystery of madness! Nathalie fights to laugh as she sternly tells Isadora off for her impoliteness. They both shrug her off, neither especially caring about society's expectations. Besides, being called Thor reminds him of his son."Skye used to call me Tho-Tho, it always made Rosaline laugh." Nathalie laughs until her sides hurt, she thought calling Tyson "Ty-Ty" as a toddler adorable, but Tho-Tho is so much better! "It isn't that funny Mom!" Thorne can only shake his head at his mother antics.

Tyson surprisingly gets a lot of information from this character, he's in connection with quite a few of the more irritating pickpockets around town, and has limited information about a notorious burglar who the police have been struggling to make a case on. All he has to do is show off his badge, which is always on him, and make idle chitchat turn into confessions. Tyson finds that he rather enjoys interrogation, especially trying to read this guy's face when he realizes how much information he's just revealed. It's like the perfect game of chess, only harder. And Tyson loves a challenge.

When Nathalie leaves the room, presumably to steal and then return a few of Thorne's lights and other small knickknacks, Thorne merely shrugs and focuses in on the red-headed twin. "You look a lot like Nathalie when she was younger, maybe a bit more fiery-headed then her. Did you dye it?" Thorne asks, trying to make pleasant conversation. His insanity has been much weaker since he's made his family with Rosaline, and his grumpiness is weakened by having a child. Grumpiness just can't last with children about, even when they're anti-social grumps themselves.
"Ruby Broke's grandchild's here, flaming red hair is her specialty!" Thorne smirks, he forgot that she's a Broke relative. It's been a while since his time in Riverview.
"So what's a little red-headed Broke child like you into?" Thorne asks, smiling at the fire in those bright green eyes, much like his own, at the mere mention of being a child.
"Hey, I'm no child! I'm starting high school next we-wait, you're teasing me, aren't you?" Glittering green eyes say it all. Isadora lightly smacks her uncle. "I know you're an artist, unlike Mr. Logic Guy over there" She gestures over to her father, who's still distracting the unwanted visitor. "I want to be like you, only with writing."

"It's a rough life Isadora, you need to be confident in your ability and love for your art." Thorne looks at her intently, searching for something, what it is he doesn't know. Isadora nods fiercely, her eyes alight.
"I love writing! They say a picture is a thousand words, but I've always through that you can't truly appreciate something without the words to describe it. And what is a picture without a title, or lack of?" It is obvious that she's been thinking about this for a while. He nods sadly, seeing the same fire that he once had. Perhaps it's still there, but died down from years of failure.
"You can't ever waver, and sometimes you may go without because you're trying to fulfill your life's passions. I wanted three or four children, but we can only afford one and keep up with the rent. We may never own a house, and most of the reason why we have a house at all is because Rosaline works as a handyman...or is it handy-woman? Either way, Rosaline and I have suffered in our attempt to have a stable life, due to my inability to sell my pieces." Isadora nods, but the passion in her eyes have not diminished.

"I know it's going to be hard." Isadora turns more serious, starting to process what Thorne had just revealed to her. "I'll consider what you've said, but I just don't think it'll change anything. I don't want to regret not living my life based on the fear of failure. It's a failure in itself, isn't it? One with no possibility of true success."

Thorne and Isadora talk for hours, until the darkness outside becomes much too obvious to ignore.
"It was really nice talking to you Uncle Thor, it's been a while since I've been able to talk like this to somebody. My sister Irish likes writing too, but she's much more like Dad. She never thinks outside the box, you know?" Thorne nods and reluctantly gives her a small hug/pat on the on the back. He likes this feisty little girl, she reminds him much of himself as a young child.

After the get together ends, Irish can't sleep. She feels like she's just messed up really big, but not sure why. Tyson, hyped up after his great interview, invites Irish to a game of chess.
"You kind of disappeared tonight, huh?" Tyson brings up tentatively after a few moves.
"Yeah, I guess. I know we have a telescope at home, but this one was at a different angle-" Tyson cuts her off, a sad smile on his face.
"That's not the reason sweetheart." Before she can protest, he puts his hand up. "Hear me out. How many friends do you have that Isadora didn't introduce to you?" Irish shakes her head, Isadora has always had a bright personality that people seem to radiate to. Only her family has acknowledged her as somebody other then Isa's twin.

"I'm just concerned sweetheart. I know that while you love logic and puzzles, you really want to get to the heart of life's mysteries. That's not going to happen in a laboratory, and you'll be bored out of your mind in paperwork and useless discoveries." Irish opens her mouth, then pauses. It's true, and she didn't even know that about herself.
"You're just like me Irish. I could have been one of the top scientists in Riverview or Brooklyn Heights. I certainly contemplated it, as I enjoyed working with my chemistry set. But it wasn't for me, just like it isn't for you." Irish nods as Tyson removes another of her pawn from the board.

"Thanks for the advice, I'll definitely think on it. I've always thought science was the only way for me, but maybe you're right." She stands up, a knowing smile on her face. "I'm just going to lose anyway, so I'm going to head to bed. I love you Dad."
"You're right, I better get this old body up to bed. Maybe Roxie will join me, if you know what I mean."
"Ew Dad, too much info!" They laugh softly as to not wake up the other family members.
"I love you too, I always will no matter what you choose." They smile at each other, feeling much closer to each other then they ever have before.