Chapter 25 (Tesira) - Sneaking Around

Whiskers first act in his new home was to attempt to destroy Tesira's homework. 

"No, no, kitty!" she said with surprise, scolding her pet.  It's not like she actually wanted to do her homework, but she didn't want to encourage her kitty to destroy furniture.  She'd heard awful things about mad ghosts from her cuz Sookie!

Melissa's recruits could all agree that she could yell really, really loudly.

It was a long-shot, but she was hoping she might be able to talk about Grilled Cheese with Abe.

Instead, they settled for a game of battle chess.

Look, it's favorite cousin, Tetris.  Why do you look so angry Tetris?

Hey! That's my newspaper!

Melissa loved her the new paint in her bathroom.  She wasn't sure why, but it reminded her of grilled cheese. 💓

Vivi missed her family.  It was so hard watching them continue to live their lives without her.

Everything was so crazy at home.  Sometimes Tesira just wanted to get away! She called up Benito to see if he wanted to sneak out.

She wasn't worried about getting caught since her Mom was busy upstairs working out

She crept silently down the stairs and then hauled ass and jumped in Benito's car.

It was well after 2 in the morning when she crept up the stairs and into her new bed upstairs.  Her mom was asleep downstairs and the radio was off.  She was pretty sure Mom knew she'd snuck out.  Hopefully she didn't get in any trouble. 

It'd been worth it, though.   She was so in love with Benito!

A snow day meant that Mom was at work and Tesira could have some friends over without interruption.

The teens paired up.

While Tesira chatted up Benito, her eyebrows raised when Sookie made a move on David.  You go girl! she thought with approval.

Melissa was pretty sure Tesira had invited friends over while she'd been at work.  She was worried about the girl. Sneaking out & inviting friends over!  What was next? Making out on the couch?!

Mom said that she needed to do something with her free time, so she made her get a part-time job.

Knowing that even on snow days, Tesira wouldn't be able to spend the entire day with her boyfriend made Melissa feel much more comfortable!

Unfortunately, no one was home to watch the cat.

Tesira was psyched she got her first promotion.  It was so exciting!  This part-time job thing was pretty cool!

Since she was on a roll solving cases, she decided to put in a little extra time reviewing her case files.  There was the case of the missing soup from the soup kitchen.  No one knew who'd taken the barrels of veggie soup!

Apparently her daughter wasn't the only one in need of a part-time job to keep busy!  With such lethal claws, Whiskers would be a pro in the security field!

It felt like forever since Vivi had died.  Melissa thought she might finally be ready to date again.  She called her partner over for a romantic evening.

"Um, I'll be upstairs," Tesira said, making a quick exit.  She knew what flirting usually led to...

"Bad kitty! Don't destroy this couch!" Tesira scolded.

"What are you working on, sweetie?" Melissa asked, joining Tesira at the chess table. 

"Just trying to see if I can figure out this case," she said with frustration.  She'd aligned all the pieces on the board on spots that were similar to the layout of the Great Veggie Soup Tale.  But, she couldn't see how someone could've snuck by the pawns and queen to get the rook... err.. the guards and cook to get the barrel of soup. 

Melissa eyed the table and tapped her chin thoughtfully.  "Has anyone questioned the cook?" she asked. 

"You're a genius, Mom!" Melissa exclaimed in awe.  "I've been thinking the Cook was the victim, but maybe he's the one that pulled off the heist!"

"Glad to help, sweetie."

Melissa's recent promotion to Police Chief was exciting.  She knew she was close to the top of her career and all the perks that would come with it.

There was still quite a bit of work to do for her next promotion.

Another snow day and Tesira spent it cuddled with Benito on the couch.

She couldn't wait to tell her Mom the good news!

Melissa was fairly certain that Benito had been over today, but she could find no traces of his fingerprints.  Tesira told her they spent the afternoon studying.  Ha, like she believed that!

"I have to run down to the Base," Melissa announced over breakfast.  "Would you like to come with?"

"Hey! She left without me!" Tesira complained when her Mom sped off while she was coming down the stairs.  Apparently it took her too long to find her mittens!

Melissa felt bad about leaving her daughter behind, but she had things to do today!

She did a few stretches and then tackled the Obstacle Course.  This was the best way to gain athletic skills fast!

Inside the soup kitchen, Kennedy Cox slapped around his half-brother's wife.  "Keep that in mind the next time you think about dissing me to my brother!" he snapped.

Allyn sobbed.  "I never want to see you again!" she said before leaving.  "Urbain will hear about this!"

"Mom! I can't believe you left me!" Tesira complained.  "So lame!"

Melissa was too exhausted and smelly to argue.  "I'm taking a bath," she told her daughter.  "Next time don't dawdle."

"Aw, aren't you a pretty kitty! Whiskers would just love you!" she said, petting the cat.  "Wait, are you a boy or a girl?" she asked, unsure how to even tell.

Melissa was glad that Vivi's family had the Family Reunion tradition.  It was always nice seeing everyone and catching up.

"Best. Friends. Forever!" Sookie shrieked as she pummeled her cousin during a pillow fight.