As the months dragged on, so did life. Kinsley got tired of hiding in bushes eventually and retired. But it was also because Michael was getting bigger, and someone needed to stay around the house and watch the little boy.
As the boy grew bigger, the fact that he looked exactly like Joanna was harder and harder to ignore. Kinsley and Cherie were a little worried of how Zane would take that, but he dealt fine it seemed.
Fact of the matter was Zane had been a changed man since the night he went to see his sisters, he never spoke about what had happened, nor did Suzanna since she felt it wasn't her place. But the darkness that had been clouding his eyes had cleared and he had returned to his previous self, although he still did have moments of anguish, but they seemed few and far between.
Cherie, who was no were near ready to retire yet, had taken up tae kwon do and was into it rather seriously. Suzanna had her child, a little girl named Danica and was already pregnant with her second, while Katharine and Michelle had followed their sister's suit and gotten pregnant as well. Although Michelle was less willing to speak of who the father of her daughter Mary was, Katharine admitted the father of her daughter Farrah was he long time high school boyfriend.
While Zane and Cherie spent their days working, Kinsley took over the teaching of Michael. Making sure he knew all the important things, like who the real rulers of Earth were. "Say it with me Mike, ugly lama face!"
"Uggy 'ama!"
"Not quite, you'll get there."
The little boy was odd, he was quieter than most toddlers and could spend a lot of time on his own.
Kinsley had never seen a kid so young be so obsessive about learning.
"That's it kid, this house it driving us both nuts." She said to her grandson one morning when she caught him babbling to himself, seeming to be very interesting in what the air was saying back to him.
An afternoon at the park was exactly what the doctor ordered, or would, if she wasn't too busy hitting on Zane.
Speaking of doctors... "You're beard looks really funny under the black lights." Cora giggled one night that she had dragged Zane out to a club that she had always wanted to go too but had always refused to go alone.
"Can't be as bad as your jaundice baby eyes." He teased.
"How do you know what a jaundice baby looks like?"
"I'm a scientist." He pointed out.
"You work with plants." She smirked.
"There was a special about it on TLC last night, kay?" He chuckled, the woman just laughing in turn.
"That is one snazzy looking lab coat you've got there." Kinsley said without looking up from her book as Zane walked past her one day after work, both ignoring Michael's current fit that he was throwing, apparently it had something to do with gnomes and space lama's, at least that's what they could get from his garbled baby shouting.
"I had to be snazzier looking than Leighton." He said simply with a shrug.
"Are you having a 'lab coat off' with that old lab tech?" Kinsley asked with a chuckle.
"Damn straight." Zane smirked before heading toward the bathroom.
"Going out again tonight?"
"Yeah, you don't mind do you?" He asked, never even thinking to ask his mother if she had other plans, just assuming she'd be there to watch the baby.
"Not at all." She said with a little shake of her head, Zane just nodding as he continued on toward the bathroom although he could have sworn he heard her mutter something about 'dancing around Cora'. They weren't dancing, were they?
Okay, so they were dancing, and Zane damn well knew it. But it hadn't even been a year yet since Joanna had died, it wasn't right to get into a relationship, was it? Of course, Joanna was never really a 'relationship' for him, per se. At least, not according to her. And Cora, well she was Cora. She was their paper girl when he was a kid, she threw buckets of water on Michelle from the park tree house after school and always swore when she grew up she'd be a doctor and cure all the un-curable diseases. Like being a big jerk face, sure, as they got older they realized being a jerk face was sadly a life long ailment that was in fact not curable. But still, she was Cora and he was.... kinda head over heels for her.
"What?" She asked, looking at him oddly that night when they were hanging out at a local dive.
"How much would you hate me if i kissed you right now?" He asked, reaching out to touch her cheek.
Cora just smiled. "A lot less than i will if you make me go through another date without kissing me.
It was late, it was a work night and the bar was closing, but it was perfect, they might as well have been kids again.
Chapter Notes:
There we go, the start of Zane's second chance. Also, just and FYI, as per the rules, Zane and Joanna were in fact at 'couple' status in the game, it's just in the story that they weren't dating because well, it works better that way.
Suzanna and Derrick have two kids now, both girls, although she's yet to give birth to the second one, i only know what it is cause i checked via master controller. God love that thing lol, it's the only way i could have gotten Katharine and Michelle pregnant since they refused to hang out with their lovers. Yes, i used the pollinate tool on them, but it was worth it cause they were too purdy not to continue on the lines. Oh, and Michelle's little one is a vampire apparently lol. I was like, damn, i didn't know your romantic interest was a vampire, should really check those things better. Nearly all the babies were born with the 'can apprehend burglar' hidden trait because of Cherie being their grandmother, it's funny. Nobody better attempt to break into any future generations house unless they are prepared to get their arsed handed to them :D
Aww, finally! Now Zane can be happy!
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