Chapter 26: Being Normal

Oregon is surprised when Bianca Kindle (formerly Merrick) calls her for a makoever. But a client is a client, so Oregon drives out to Bianca's house, only to be accused of stealing Bianca's husband Beau as soon as she arrives on the doorstep.


"Steal him! He used his vampire mind control on me and seduced me!" Oregon shouts angrily. But Bianca is having none of it, and the argument continues fruitlessly.

Finally, Oregon gives up trying to make Bianca understand. "I'm not the only stylist in town" Oregon sighs, exasperated, "Why did you ask for me if you hate me so much?"


"You're the only stylist that knows anything about fashion. The other stylist makes everyone look like a clown. And you did such a great job with Chadd," Biance answers sheepishly. Chadd Kindle, Bianca's young second husband comes out at that moment holding their newborn daughter Annmarie.

Violet becomes a toddler, glowing skin and eyes a sure sign that she's a vampire like her father.

While he was kissing her neck, his teeth grazed over skin. Oregon flinched and pulled away with a sharp squeal.


"I'm sorry," Jeromy sighs, "I should have been more careful."


"I don't want you to have to be careful," Oregon says, her eyes welling with tears, "I don't want to be reminded of him every time you nuzzle my neck."


"The memories will fade in time, I'm sure," Jeromy tries to be reassuring, doing his best to keep his own jealousy at bay. It wasn't her fault, he reminds himself, she didn't want Beau.


Oregon pretends to be comforted. Sometimes she's sure that Beau is still in her head, calling to her, influencing her, and she's afraid that he will never stop pursuing her.

"I want to have a baby, your baby," she says, hoping to strengthen the bond she has with her husband, and weaken the bond the vampire forced on her.


"I'd love to have another baby," Jeromy agrees, "But we shouldn't distinguish between mine and...not mine. Violet is my child as much as any other we'll have."

Oregon is the professional and Jeromy is the primary caretaker. He makes good on his promise to care for Violet as though she were truly his daughter, treating her in every way like his own flesh and blood. He won't allow the child to suffer for what her father did.

Jeromy and Oregon have a son. Since Violet was named for her mother's favorite color, the couple decide to name their son for a color, as well. Jeromy's father's last name was Green, so they name their son Hunter, a shade of green. 

Even after his son born, Jeromy continues to treat both children as his own, but Oregon has a hard time showing affection for her daughter, who already bears all the signs of being a vampire. Every time Oregon looks at her, she sees Beau, and she shudders. 

Hunter becomes a toddler. He has his grandfather Shepard's eye and hair color, and seems to take most after the McDermott side of the family. 


"As long as he doesn't look like my father," Jeromy quips. Buck Green was not an attractive man. Jeromy fortunately takes after his mother.

When Violet becomes a child, she takes over the bedroom on the third floor across from the nursery, the one that used to belong to her great-grandparents, Allyson and Ewan. The room is redecorated in her favorite color, sea foam.


Though young, Violet is a perfectionist, and always makes her bed every morning.

On Friday evening, Oregon and Jeromy host a small dinner party for a few friends. Newlyweds Carter and Pauline are invited, as well as Bree and her husband Bennie (Bree shows up, but Bennie does not) and Oregon's cousin Karen and her husband Armando.
Shepard wasn't invited, but he has keen sense for parties and just happened to drop by when this one started.

Although Bree is Violet's half-sister, she is introduced as Aunt Bree. Someday Violet will learn the truth, but her parents think she's a bit young for that now.


"100% Plasma Fruit Nectar," Jeromy says as he offers the glass to Bree, "I hope that's all right." The last thing he'd want is to have one of his guests go hungry at his dinner party.


"Perfect," Bree answers, "Now I won't have to gnaw on your father-in-law."

Violet can't keep her eyes off her Aunt Bree. She's never met anyone before with skin and eyes that glow the way hers do.

Violet makes note of the fact that Aunt Bree doesn't eat the grilled salmon, she just drinks the plasma fruit nectar. She'll have to ask later what a plasma fruit is, as she's never heard of it.

Although there are normal drinks served up at the bar, Carter decides to drink a glass of plasma fruit nectar. Pauline rushes past him in an awful hurry.

Pauline is pregnant.

Oregon corners her cousin Karen in the kitchen and demands she let her make her over. "It's on me," Oregon says, "I just can't have my relatives going around dressed like that. It's bad for my business."


"What's wrong with my clothes?" Karen wants to know.


"Everything!" Oregon answers, exasperated.

"Okay, but I want all my fabrics to be organic. I don't want this makeover to add to my carbon footprint." Karen is very eco-conscious.


Oregon gets Karen into an organic cotton fair trade twin set and a pair of second hand jeans. She doesn't have any make up that wasn't tested on animals, so Karen does without.

Her uncle Carter asks Violet weird questions about her sensitivity to the sun. "Do you, like, have to stay away from open windows during the day?" Violet has no idea what he's talking about.


"That doesn't happen until adulthood," Bree says over a second glass of nectar, "Leave the poor girl alone."

Carter regrets trying the plasma nectar.

Not wanting anyone to feel unwelcome, Oregon and Jeromy spend some time with the party crashers. Shepard tells Oregon all about his son Josiah, who just became a young adult.


Joanna Prattle-Baker is their next door neighbor and a good friend of both Jeromy and Oregon. She's also Carter's half-sister, the daughter of Marina Prattle and Buddy Baker.

The next morning, Oregon is back to work. Nawwaf Wolf-Ball has read an article in a fashion magazine about a stylist in Riverview who started a hot trend with the Han Solo look. Nawwaf wants in on this hot new trend. Oregon obliges.

"What was that juice you gave Aunt Bree at the party last night?" Violet questions her father, "No one else drank it except Uncle Carter, and it made him sick."


"That was plasma fruit nectar," Jeromy explains, "It will make most people sick."


"But not Aunt Bree," Violet observes, "And Aunt Bree didn't eat any food. Why?"


"Aunt Bree doesn't eat regular people food, she just drinks plasma." Jeromy and Oregon hadn't discussed how and when they were going to tell Violet about her vampire nature, so he's just winging it here, taking each as question as it comes. He's not going to tell any lies he'll have to take back later, but he's not ready to talk about blood drinking just yet, either. "Your Aunt Bree is a vampire."


"Am I a vampire?" Violet asks. "My skin and eyes glow like Aunt Bree's"


"Yes, you are a vampire," Jeromy confirms her suspicions.


"But I eat regular food."


"You will until you grow up. Then, regular food will make you sick the way plasma makes norm... non-vampires sick."

"So, what do you want for lunch?" Jeromy dives into the fridge, hoping Violet's questions are done for now, wanting to discuss this with Oregon before he gets any deeper into it.


Violet thinks about a future where regular food makes her sick and she has to drink some plasma juice instead. She heard how her father almost referred to non-vampires as 'normal', but stopped himself. Vampires are not normal, she surmises. Violet would very much like to be normal, to eat normal food and have normal eyes and skin. Why does she have to be a vampire?


Challenge Notes:
So, misc fun half-siblings is achieved. That's actually all that's required of this generation, except for raising the kids to adulthood.
Oregon is up to level 9 of the stylist career. Jeromy still has his part time job, but he may quit soon, as it doesn't make much money and I have better things for him to do. But money is actually very tight this generation, the bills are 12k a week and until recently Oregon wasn't making very much money. Now she makes over 1,000 per makeover and gets in two or three makeovers a day, 5 days a week, so we are finally in the clear for getting the bills paid. 
I didn't roll for heir this time because I wanted the choice between the vampire child and the normal one. Right now the Violet is heavily favored for heir because she's already got a story developing around her. Also, the heir will be going into the culinary career, and Violet has some issues with food and normalcy that could play into that.
Hunter is just a toddler, lol. So I won't know if he's in the running until he gets older. But as of right now, Violet has more story.


Credits to the R&R Legacy for the hot new Han Solo trend.