Chapter Seventeen:

Welcome to Chapter Seventeen. We begin this chapter a few weeks after prom. Lexi was focused on her studies, and Nora was focused on her boyfriend and his mouth.

Nora was well loved by her peers at school, even though she was quite shy. Alvin just seemed to bring out the best of Nora's confidence. They were truly lost in the whirl of teen romance.

Fun loving Alvin knew, in those lazy afternoons, that this sweet, beautiful girl was the love of his life. As seniors, they were nearing the end of their high school days and Alvin had decided long ago that he wanted to spend his life with Nora.

One of those laid back afternoons Alvin made a promise to his girlfriend. It might not be right away, but he would marry her one day. And luckily for Alvin, Nora was more than happy to accept this secret promise.

The days flew past. Nora was really looking forward to graduating. She and Alvin would spend their time together talking about the future; where they'd live, how many kids they'd have, how they would raise them, where they'd work. This talk was comforting for Nora and every day she got closer and closer to the life she wanted.

Tyler continued to teach the girls to drive. Now that she and Emerald were working, there was less time, but Tyler felt it was important that the girls were fully independent and ready for adult life.

As exams got closer Lexi was deep in study mode and Nora was out at the parties. In the lead up to the end of the year there was a lot of parties. And as one half of the school's most popular couple Nora had to make an appearance at each gathering before it could be classed as a party.

Regardless of their different looks Nora and Lexi were still best of friends. Despite Lexi's hard work with her studying and extra curricula activties, she was still considered as one of the more popular girls in her class, right next to Nora.

Nora was a bit of an odd duck. Just like when she was a child Nora enjoyed mixing things together. Only this time instead of mixing flour and butter she was mixing chemicals and things. Nora's theory was do things in life that make you happy, and when she wasn't with Alvin she was messing around mixing things up.

Soon it was time for Tyler's birthday. She didn't want to make a big deal of it, and so she just celebrated with Emerald while the girls were at their various after school activities.

Despite the years that had gone by since Tyler had fallen in love with her best friend, the love that these two shared was still as evident as ever.

Emerald and Tyler continued to work at the school to build the household funds. The pay was still terrible overall, but it was worth it. Emerald was an elementary teacher, while Tyler was a high school teacher.

The weekends were always fun for the small family. It was lucky that they were so tight knit. The girls loved their mothers very much and loved every minute they spent together.

Wilbur and Alvin spent a lot of time with their respective girlfriends. But towards the end of the school year, when the teens were all focused on a last ditch study effort, Lexi and Nora would spend their down time together. Usually by the pool.

Looking at the family, Tyler was so proud of her wife. She and Emerald had managed to make the best of a pretty weird situation. They had managed to find the courage to admit to the world who they were in love with, they defied the narrow minded and married against the odds and they raised two well adjusted and wonderful young women. Definitely something to be proud of. Tyler and Emerald both looked forward to their golden years together.

And speaking of golden years, Emerald was about to embark on hers.

Emerald's father passed away relatively early in his elder years, so Emerald was eager to make the most of what she knew would be her last years. Emerald was always thinking of her interesting family history and knew that the otherworldly influences of her alien grandmother and vampire relations would possibly take a toll on her life expectancy.

The family was suddenly reminded of their unusual history late one night. As the family slept peacefully in their rooms, an untrustworthy local decided to try their luck by breaking in to the garage of the Reed household.

What this woman had forgotten was, who the ancestors of this family were. While it had been years since they had seen their old family home, Maggie and Will were still active in the vampire community. Upon hearing about the impending break in, they decided to provide some swift action to remind the locals not to mess with the family of the Queen of the Undead.

No sooner had this creepy thief made it in the door, she was confronted by a terrifying sight. A stifled scream and a whoosh of air were all the sleeping family would have heard as they slept. As quiety as they had come, Maggie and Will departed the house, taking their prey with them. That terrified local was never heard from again, and the family was none the wiser.

Life carried on with the twin's birthday. Nora had considered having a nice big party with her friends, but in the end she and Lexi decided to keep it low key with just a small gathering in the kitchen with their mothers.

Nora was a stunning young woman. She enjoyed the unconventional and wanted nothing more in life than to be happy with a big family.

Lexi was a very down to earth girl. She had been the star of her debate club and had aspirations to be the leader of the free world.

The girls were in no rush to leave. They were both happy to remain in their family home, taking care of their aging mothers.

Speaking of which, Emerald and Tyler were over the moon to see their girls so happy. The graduation ceremony was in a couple of days and they were so looking forward to watching their girls graduate.

As when they were teenagers Alvin and Nora were inseperable. Just after her birthday, Nora invited Alvin over to celebrate the night before they graduated.

The next morning the young adults donned their new graduation robes and rushed out of the house, excited to be leaving their high school days behind for good.

Alvin had stayed over the night before and he tagged along with the sisters on the way to city hall. Emerald and Tyler took a taxi a few minutes after Lexi drove her sister and her sister's boyfriend.

As Emerald hugged her girls she thought back on how she came to have them. As terrified as Emerald had been at the idea of raising kids as a sinlge mum, and as confusing as those few months of pregnancy had been for Emerald, she would not have it any other way.

Lexi got highest honours for her school results, was voted as most popular by her peers and was made school valedictorian.

Nora graudated with honours and was voted as the most likely to burn her house down. While her boyfriend was voted, jokingly, as the most likely to get arrested. It was a nice day for the whole family.

As soon as Lexi got home she put her application in to City Hall for a job. She managed to score the job of podium polisher, and she was eager to get started.

Nora, on the other hand, wasn't in a rush to score a job. Instead she was eager to advance her relationship with Alvin. He was working at the bottom of the journalism career branch and any spare minute he had he was on the phone to his girl.

In order to celebrate the two young women's advancement into adulthood, the house recieved some structural work inside. A new front door was added when the front wall was pulled out to match the wall from the dining room.

Where the study desks used to sit a couple of walls were erected. Half walls were put up to divide the dining and living rooms.

This new room became Lexi's. Her mother's sketches adorned the walls and for the first time Lexi had her own room.

The old master bedroom was remade in purple and white for Nora, and Alvin. Who seemlessly moved in to the family home.

Alvin was a happy young man. Happier still when he was with his girl. He wanted nothing more than to be a world-renowned journalist and to be with Nora forever. He still remembered the promise he had made to her when they were teenagers and he hoped to make good on it soon.

The happy pair still talked about the future. Nora was reluctant to move out of her home, she always pictured herself taking care of her mothers and looking after this ancestral home. And Alvin was just happy where ever Nora was.

Emerald could see how happy Nora was with Alvin and told her daughter, as the weeks went by, that she didn't want her to rush into anything. After all she was still young.

Luckily for Emerald, Alvin and Nora weren't in any rush. They enjoyed eachother's company, just like they had when they danced the night away at their prom.

Alvin enjoyed his down time, but he did work hard. He spent a few hours every afternoon brushing up on his writing skills, hoping that soon he'd be able to show it off on more than the daily coffee run for the senior journalists.

While her man was out at work during the day, along with her mothers and her sister, Nora would spend her time in the garage with her chemicals. She didn't consider herself overly bright, but she did like mixing up random chemicals to come up with some great little potions.

While Nora and Alvin were lost in their romance, Lexi worked hard at her job at City Hall. However she and Wilbur were still as strong as ever.

Knowing that she was spending a lot of her time working so very hard, Lexi made sure she found time every couple of days to spend with her equally hard working and job devoted boyfriend.

Wilbur and Lexi would talk about what they wanted for the future. They were both of the same mind that they would work hard at their jobs and make sure their financial lives were secure before having kids.

The months were streaming past. Emerald and Tyler knew they had a decision to make. Who would take over the family when they were gone?


And yes, you guessed it! Here's an heir vote!