Chapter 3.17: My Heart is Yours

With Amira gone, Michael finds his will to work becoming non-existent. There's nothing left to prove and no one left to prove it to anyway. He decides to retire with a pension of §430 per day.

He is mildly impressed by his own accomplishments. 

Lindsay has to call Arthur as soon as school is out.

"I know we were supposed to have our date tonight," she explains, "but my parents won't let me go."
"Why?" Arthur asks.
"Between my stupid homework and my little sister's birthday, there isn't going to be any time left for a date," Lindsay huffs. "It's so unfair!"
"Are you guys having a party?"
Lindsay is suddenly confused, "For my homework? Uh, no?"
Arthur erupts in laughter, "Not your homework, silly! For your sister's birthday? Can I come?"

Lindsay is startled by the question. Arthur is eager enough to see her that he'll come to a kid's birthday party. She buries a squeal and clears her throat.

"Um, yeah," she responds shyly. "That would be great."

Just a few hours later this house is bustling with activity and Arthur is there in full armor of some kind.

"Sooooo, a costume?" Lindsay asks quizzically. "Any particular reason?"
Arthur shrugs, "What kid doesn't like superheroes?"
"I like superheroes."

Arthur winks and strikes a heroic pose for Lindsay.

Michele arrives with news of her own.

"You're going to be a grandfather," Michele tells Jude.
"Isn't Deric still. . ." Jude stops mid sentence. "Sorry, I mean congratulations!"
Michele has to work to keep her eyes from rolling, "Thanks, dad."
"I didn't mean anything, honey. I just thought you two would wait a little while longer."
"He's graduating tomorrow. We didn't want to wait longer," she says with a huff.
"Congratulations, really. I mean it."

Deric pretends he can't hear this conversation.

Michele dances with Drew to help her forget the awkward conversation with her dad. Deric is less than amused by this development.

Growing up time!

Brooke is not a fan of the cake, the candles, the people, or this party. 

Jolie isn't sure why she's even here. She should be celebrating her engagement to Rickey tonight. She ignores the festivities and instead thinks about Rickey and their future together.

*Twinkle sounds*

Brooke is now a child and none of this will do.

 Jude and Brooke sit in the dark eating slices of cake.

"Don't you want to join the party?" he asks.
Brooke shakes her head and whispers, "They can't see me like this."
"What do you mean? Are you shy?"
"I'm not shy, dad! I just don't look as fabulous on the outside as I obviously am on the inside, duh!"
"Oh?" Jude answers. He is still not sure exactly what she means.

Inside, an avid discussion on the latest music hits takes over the party. Everyone is a critic.

Michael brings out his violin to prove that kids these days have no idea what good music is.

This is so much better, Brooke thinks to herself. 

Gorgeous! Ready to show her new self to her adoring fans, Brooke rejoins the party.

"Mom, don't I look fabulous? I feel fabulous!"
"You look beautiful, baby."
Brooke shrugs coyly, "I know," she murmurs. 

"I don't want to go home," Drew pleads with Lindsay. "Can I just stay one more night."
"You're going to have to face Tim sooner or later," she replies.
"I'd rather it be later," he says shyly. "Much later."

Deric dances with Jolie in a bid to make Michele jealous. Michele doesn't even notice. Jolie uses this as practice for her wedding. 

"I know you're going to have a baby but it's probably not going to be as fantastic as I am," Brooke says. "Sorry, it's just the truth."
"Cute," Michele says through gritted teeth. 

 Play room turned bedroom spam. Check out Vera's imaginary friend doll up on the shelf.

Brooke knows two things for sure. One, she is amazing. Two, she loves all things ballet. She loves that her parents installed a ballet barre in her new room as a birthday present.

 After a very exciting day, Brooke sleeps in her new big girl bed. Everything is coming up roses.

"Last night's party was a hit," Vera says. "I hope Arthur had a good time. I'm glad we all got to meet him."
"Mmmhhhmm," Lindsay agrees. "I'm going to meet him later."
"Is your homework done?" Vera asks.
"Uuughh!"

Cameo may be an elder but she is still very able to bring in first place trophies.

With all his free time, Michael has really taken to gardening. He's found some seeds he can't identify and a funny looking flower that he doesn't know what to do with.

He places it high on a shelf, in case it's poisonous, and then quickly forgets about its existence.

Jude cares for Cameo, prepping her for yet another competition.

"I can't go out with Arthur until we finish this so can we just get through it?"
"But then I'll have to go home."
"Oh my goodness, dude! Go talk to Tim and stop being terrified of him. He really doesn't seem that bad."
"His eyes though," Drew counters.
"I love you, Drew, but I really want to go see Arthur. I think he's going to ask me to go steady. Will you go home if I give you a good luck charm?"
Drew sighs heavily, "I guess."

Inside, Brooke rolls her eyes at her childish homework. This is ssssoooo easy. She breezes through it without even asking for help.

The downside to Jude's job. It's a good thing they have a garden.

Arthur calls to say, "I'm leaving my house now. Meet you at Central Park."
"I'll see you there!"

Meanwhile, across town, Moshe and Deric both graduate from high school.

 They meet up at the park and Arthur immediately launches into talking about a song he heard on the way to the park.
Lindsay interrupts him, "Um, aren't you going to ask me to be your girlfriend?"

Arthur takes a step back. Lindsay's eyes go wide and she clasps a hand over her gaping mouth.

"I'm so sorry!" her voice is muffled by her hands.
"That was kind of rude. I think I'm going to just head home."
Lindsay stumbles over her own feet as she reaches for his hand and says, "I'm sorry, Arthur. I got way too excited knowing that prom is coming up and I really like you. I got wrapped up in my own head. Please don't go."

She can feel her eyes welling up with tears and she's pleading with herself not to cry.

"Of course I want to go to prom with you," Arthur says. "Just like, chill out a little bit. You seem cool, I wan to get to know you better before deciding if I want to go steady and all that. Deal?"

Lindsay nods enthusiastically, "Deal!"

 Vera works on her alchemy since the house is nice and quite. She can hear Brooke listening to Dance of the Sim Plum Fairy and makes a mental note to sign her up for ballet classes.

Arthur and Lindsay spend the rest of the afternoon at the park talking about their interests and skating together. It's the best day Lindsay has had in a while and she's so happy her outburst didn't completely ruin the day.

Michael meets up with Jolie and Rickey at the library. They share the news that they eloped. Michael reaches for his phone and has half dialed Amira's number before he remembers that she can't answer.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Moira passed on. It's just Michael and Jesse still standing from Gen 2. Michael is struggling with being one of the last ones left.

Brooke Van Hofwegen
Diva
Genius
Loves the Outdoors

Lindsay's socially awkward trait almost ruined her chances at having a prom date. She is working hard against me. >.<