Chapter 26 (Urbain) - Food Fight!

In a house full of loud, rambunctious boys, Allyn was glad to have a little girl!

Urbain finally finished his pirate map with a listing of all of his buried treasures! His children would thank him one day!

Sweet little Rogue becomes an adorable little girl.

And is a chip off the old block!

Under the cover of night, Urbain woke Teak from sleep and motioned for him to follow.

"Where we are about to go, you can never speak of," he told his son on the long walk.

Teak looked around in wonder.  "What is this place?" he asked

"Tortuga!"  (I got rid of the plants & created a desert landscape since this is an Apocalypse.  goodandgone's version has much nicer landscaping!)

In a small, hidden room, Urbain practiced his criminal craft.

While Teak amused himself playing on a hammock in the loft.  

It was much quieter at home now that the children were all growing up.  Allyn sleepily cuddled Quay.  If only she could get him to sleep, then she could take a quick nap before the children came home.

"Dad! You're home!" Sailor whooped, leaving his snowmen behind and throwing himself into Urbain's arms.

"Aye, what are you doing out here? Building a snowman army?"

Sailor laughed.  "Mom said to play outside!"

"Ah, then you should stay outside with me while I work out!" Urbain told the little scamp.

The second floor addition was finally fully enclosed. 

The children wound up with a long, narrow room with a small alcove for the nursery.

Feeling more rested after her nap, Allyn quickly changed Quay's diaper.

"Would you like a bottle?" she asked him, snuggling him tight.  It seemed like just yesterday he'd been a little baby and now he was a growing toddler!

Part of her longed to have another baby!  But she still remembered how hard her last pregnancy had been...

Sailor snatched the boat from Quay's grasp.  "Hey! That's my pirate ship!" he told the toddler. "You're gonna get spit on it!"

Quay reached up for the special toy and started to cry.

"No way! Dad gave this to me!" Sailor told him.

"Maybe one day when you're older I'll let you touch it," Sailor solemnly promised.

The house was a disaster zone since her last pregnancy.  Caring for a toddler and a newborn hadn't helped matters!  Finally, Allyn felt well enough to throw herself into cleaning again.

Thankfully Rogue was able to keep Quay occupied for awhile so that she could finish cleaning.

The moment Urbain walked through he door, all the kids rushed to his side to ask him to play. 

Even his older boys!

The ghost of Marsha still lurked the lot.

Crap.

This isn't going to be good.

Please don't kill me!

"Did you hear that?" Allyn said, bolting up out of bed.  "It sounded like the fridge slammed shut!"

Upstairs, the sound of a shrieking woke the children.

"What is it?" Rogue asked sleepily, looking around the room for a threat.

"Don't worry, it's just Quay," Teak said, padding across the room to change his little brother's diaper.

With all the residents in the house awake, Marsha had plenty of opportunities for scaring.

"Dude!" Sailor yelped.

"What's up?" Teak asked with a perplexed look.

Sailor clasped his chest and tried to catch his breath.  "Your mom!"

Teak shrugged. "Is that the start of a 'your mama joke?'"

Allyn should have grown used to seeing Marsha's ghost.  The woman seemed to delight in causing Urbain's new wife misery.

The family gathered around for an early breakfast.

"Sailor saw Mom's ghost," Teak announced. "How cool is that?"

Rogue shook her head.  "What do you mean? Mom's right there," she said, pointing across the room.

"Daddy had another wife," she said, adding, "Before he met me."

"Would you like to hear the Tale of Marsha's Ghost?" he asked his children dramatically.

Rogue clapped her hands. "Yes! A story!" she said eagerly.

"Once upon a time, on a dark and lonely night, a poor, pregnant woman was left to dance to the fickle fates of chance!"

Allyn groaned, looking around the room. "I'm not sure this is appropriate," she told him.

"What happened next Daddy!" Rogue asked excitedly.  "I hope I get to see the ghost one day!"

Working hard.

Hardly working.

Allyn bathed little Quay, making his squeaky clean.

It didn't take long for him to find a puddle and play and make a mess!

Urbain reached level 9 of the criminal career and knew he was in need of body skill and some creativity. 

Swearing his middle son to secrecy, he brought Sailor to Tortuga.

He loved the view from the cliff overlooking Calamity Canyon.  You could see all the town's buildings, as well as all the houses. 

In the main house, one of the rooms was were he and the others would get together to drink and tell fish tales.

There was also a small kitchen off of the meeting room where they planned their capers, and ate their meals.

Upstairs were two small bedrooms in case rest was needed during the late hours, as well as a small sitting area to entertain.

Off the main house was where their entertainment was set up.  All kinds of people visited Tortuga to try to win some money off a game of cards or win bets from hustling pool.

But the storage building off the side of the lot was where Urbain often occupied his time.

Through those double doors was pirate's treasure, hidden amongst the rubble and trash.

And in a small hidden room lay a special machine to help build up a man's ability to creatively lie when asked a question.

"Oh! It's so good to have an adult to talk to!" Allyn said, hugging her dearest friend, and cousin-in-law, Marisa.

"We definitely need to catch up!" Marisa told her.  "It's been too long!"

Sailor was glad to see his childhood friend, Vanessa.  She said she couldn't stay long, but they made plans to get together soon.

"Great, I'll pick you up tonight, at 1 am, unless you're chicken!" she teased.

He playfully punched her arm.  "See you then!"

Teak called up the university to see if he qualified for any scholarships.

The admissions lady checked over his application packet and started laughing.

"A simple no would've been fine," he muttered.

Family reunion times were his favorite part of the week. 

Although the place was always crowded, it was great seeing everyone altogether.

Everyone was busy talking, so they didn't notice when Sailor slipped from the house.

He'd just hopped down three steps, landing in the snow when he felt a whisper of something behind him.  Turning, he glanced to see if his parents had caught him and saw Marsha's ghost.

"Geez Marsha! You scared the crap out of me!" he hissed.

"Don't wait up!" he waved and winked at the ghost.

"Ready?" he asked Vanessa as he hopped in.

She tapped on the window dividing the driver and told him to go.

"I can't ma'am, there's a car in front of me," the driver announced, indicating an older sedan.

"Oh shit, Dad!" Sailor cursed, slumping down in his seat.

"Is he gone yet?" Sailor asked Vanessa from the fetal position on the seat.

She watched Urbain get into his car.  "Nope. I think we're good!" she said

With a sigh, Sailor sat up and breathed a sigh of relief.

That was a close one!

His luck didn't hold out.

(Actually, because he passed out, he didn't get yelled at. So, it's debatable whether or not he was lucky!)

Teak slipped away first thing in the morning, eager to break away and join his cousins at college.

"And the pirate made his get away!" Rogue announced, making the boat in her hand jettison over waves.  "Oh no! There's a sea monster!" she moved the sea monster closer.  "It's going to eat them!"  Laughing, she chucked the boat across the room.

Aw, happy birthday Quay!

Rogue threw a slice of cheese at Quay's head, laughing when pieces stuck on his forehead. 

Quay almost fell out of his chair laughing and Allyn sighed.

"Don't worry sweetheart, I've got this," Urbain announced, looking at the children sternly.  "What have I told you about throwing food?"

Rogue thought a moment. "Uh, nothing?" she answered slowly.

"That's right!" he announced with a flourish, then flung a piece of cheese at Sailor.

"FOOD FIGHT!"