Work Text:
SEND IN THE CLOWNS
“Yay, it's a party!” Josef exclaimed.
Shane smacked him upside the head.
“What was that for?!” Josef asked, rubbing his head and acting offended although of course he wasn't hurt.
“Not sure whether you were being sarcastic or not, so just to be on the safe side.”
“When am I not sarcastic?”
“When you're sleeping?”
“Gentleman, please, this is a kid's party we're planning. Can we get some decorum here?” Beth implored futilely.
“Decorum?” Shane said like it was a foreign word.
“Gentleman?” Josef echoed. “Well, only one of us.”
Shane hit him again.
“Have you noticed my children go around smacking each other?” Beth asked them. “You two are a bad influence.”
“Oh yeah,” Mick put in. “Remember when the twins were five, and Michael had to get stitches?” Mick asked his wife. “He still brings that up to Michele when he's mad at her.”
“Not helping, Mick,” Josef groused.
“Not a bad influence on Shara,” Sara defended her husbands.
Mick and Beth threw each other significant looks, but neither commented. Not that Shara was a bad kid... but at 14 she had already started her own rock band and swore like a sailor. Precocious would probably be the best way to describe her. She definitely took after her mother.
The St. John's parenting style was totally different of course, which had caused more than its share of situations over the years, but they were all best friends and nothing would come between their bond.
“I can't believe the M&M's are twelve already,” Beth changed the subject deftly. She'd had lots of practice doing that over the years.
“Yeah,” Mick said, with a touch of melancholy. He'd given up brooding years ago, but now that the kids were getting older, it was bringing up some difficult issues. Beth was starting to make 'turn me soon' hints at him, and he didn't know how he felt about that. Not for the same reason as he had before the children were born, but because of them. He worried that it would be damaging for them to go into their delicate teen years while having to also deal with a mother who was now undead. They dealt well enough with their father and family being vampires, but a mom... He was just a worried dad. Beth always reassured him and told him everything would be okay, but still the concern lingered.
“That reminds me,” Margo Turner said. “You need to schedule them to come into my clinic for examinations. Now that puberty is hitting, we need to do some tests to see what changes, if any, being an NB might be causing.” Beth's mother had gotten her medical degree years ago, and now ran a private clinic for the NB's, children of vamps, and whoever else with specialized needs might require unique help.
Aldo elbowed his wife in annoyance. It was a happy occasion they were planning, and he didn't want concerns over the future plaguing his daughter or son-in-law. “Now, Margo, there's plenty of time for all that. Right now, we're trying to focus on Michele and Michael's birthday party.”
“We need clowns,” Josef piped up.
Everyone looked at him.
“Kids like clowns, right? They had a magician last year, and the year before that--”
“Okay, they can have clowns,” Beth surprised everyone by agreeing. Josef spoiled all the kids, and the St. John's were usually trying to reign him in.
“We'd better ask them,” Mick suggested. “You know they aren't little anymore, and we should probably ask them what kind of party they want.”
Sara surprised everyone by going over to Mick and giving him a kiss on the cheek. “You're a wonderful father,” she told him. “I remember how it was when I was a kid, and no one would listen to me,” she explained.
“So do I,” Shane added ruefully, recalling those days of being referee between Sara and her parentals, Ethan and Alisha.”
“You really want to let them plan own party?” Beth asked.
“Within reason, of course,” Mick answered.
“So I guess this meeting is adjourned. We'll sit down with them tonight and discuss it.”
“Now that that's settled – let's party!” Shane decreed.
“Have fun you three,” Beth told them, going over and sitting in her husband's lap. “Mick and I have our own way of partying...”
“Oh yeah...” Mick agreed.
THE END
9/28/19