Chapter Three: Boys, Boys, Boys

Why hello, and welcome back.  I'm nearing the end of the first generation (in game I'm already playing the second), so I thought I'd give you special piece of information now.  I'm doing "famous heir" which means I roll for who will be the heir at the beginning of a generation.  For this one, I had rolled a one, which means Marlin is the heir.  So that might be why he gets more face-time than Richard...

 Marlin grew into a young boy who, though excitable, had the unfortunate luck of being both unlucky and clumsy.  Alan took the precaution of moving as many things out of the way as he could, but even then Marlin was always tripping over something.  Both he and Bianca had been unable to convince their son that there were not, in fact, monsters waiting under his bed to steal his toes.  Where he got that idea from neither of them could guess.

 Bianca had begun to worry about what to do if she went into labor without Alan there.  They had just about decided to sit down and explain to Marlin not to panic if that happened and to just help Bianca call an ambulance when the decision was made for them.

Alan probably could have reacted better, but in his defense he had been soundly asleep when Marlin had decided to make his appearance, so he felt entitled to a few moments of panic, before he grabbed up some clothing for Bianca and instructed Marlin not to let anybody inside and to go to bed at a reasonable hour if they weren't back soon.

Marlin, of course, disregarded those instructions and sat up on the couch waiting for his parents and new baby sibling to arrive home.  He was very excited, since that meant he'd have something to tell all the kids at school tomorrow, when he started.  He'd worried that he wouldn't have anything at all to talk about.

Sleep has a habit of sneaking up on little boys, even when they are very excited and anxious, however.  Marlin was sound asleep before his parents had been gone even two hours, sprawled out on the couch.

 Alan and Bianca couldn't get mad at him when they returned in the wee hours of the morning, of course.  He had perfect reason to be excited, so they let him see his new baby brother, Richard, and even let him hold him for a few minutes, before sending him off to bed.  He still had to go to school tomorrow.

Richard was a very quiet baby, and even though his crib was in Marlin's room he hadn't woken up once during the night.  Both of his parents were sound asleep when the time to leave for school came and Marlin, feeling very grown up and responsible as a new older brother, decided to go to school on his own.

Most days he would take the bus, but for his very first day he had been planning to be dropped off by Alan.  Instead he took his little broom, a present from his mother complete with wheels to steady landing, and went off on his own.  He was very nervous, but most of the kids were envious of his magic ability and perfectly willing to listen to him talk about his little brother.

Alan, who had been alarmed at first finding Marlin gone in the morning, and then guilty over not taking him to school, was just relieved that his older son didn't care at all and was happy to relate the entire day of events to his father.  Alan was glad he had already started to make friends and seemed to have no inclination towards disliking school.

Bianca was the one to help Marlin with his homework however.  Alan had very much disliked school and did not relish the idea of going over basic maths or history lessons.  He supposed he would, but if he could get away with letting Bianca do it, he would.

For all of his maturity, Marlin was still a kid though.  And he still believed in the toe-thieving monster.  On some nights he was quite certain he saw the little, horrid monster when he checked under his bed.

Though they tried to convince him that it wasn't there, even looking for themselves, on some nights they gave up and let him sleep in their bed.  Alan nearly always found himself crowded out and sleeping in Marlin's little twin bed but he had settled into the role of father quite comfortably, and as long as it wasn't too often, didn't mind.

Besides, Marlin was an exemplary child.  He never got into trouble at school, did his work and chores without complaint, and had plenty of fun at the park without causing havoc in the neighborhood.  Alan felt that he was lucky to have such a wonderful son, even if they weren't biologically related.

Of course, he also adored Richard.  And he hadn't forgotten about his friends (in fact, he was often on the phone with one of them).  Most of the time, however, he was unable to join in revelry out and about on the town, being as he was the father to two little boys now.

He got along very well with his old friend Mr. Nix.  Most of Alan's friends were still childless and he found that his new life wasn't very compatible with the parties and random excursions he used to enjoy with those friends.  They kept in touch by phone, but having a friend who shared the same lifestyle was a large boon.

Marlin was very friendly and often met new children at the park, many of them classmates.  He shared his father's knack for making friends, even if he wasn't really what Alan would have called a social butterfly.  Something about his unfortunate collection of traits seemed to attract friends however, which was all to the good, considering the trouble they could have caused.

Hardly a day went by without Marlin telling them about an epic game of tag, whether he had won or lost it.  Alan and Bianca were quick to figure out what his favorite activity was.

 Bianca had taking up moonlighting at bars.  She had some knack with mixing drinks, thanks to days of partying, and Varg's Tavern was happy to have her help.  Not that she spent much time mixing drinks, so much as standing at the bar cleaning the same glass over and over.

Part of this may have been because most of the town seemed to be children or pregnant women.  For some reason giving birth in the tavern seemed to be trending, and Bianca had her share of freak outs during her nights working.

  Some of Marlin's friends weren't quite...human, but Alan didn't mind.  Everybody in Moonlight Falls, human or not, had been kind to him and as long as they didn't hurt Marlin he didn't care if they had sparkly wings, furry tails, or pink puff balls for feet.

 Marlin enjoyed being at the park and spent most of his time there, when not at school. This left Alan and Bianca alone with calm, quiet, and to be quite honest, boring, Richard.  Not that they didn't love him, but he was quite content to sleep all day.  So Alan took the chance to spend more time with his wife, often acting like children out on the front lawn.

 At the park one day, presiding over his armies of the great land of Chess, an old man came up to him.  At first Marlin was annoyed at being disrupted in directing an epic battle, but he had learned to be respectful to those older than him so he didn't immediately shout at the older man.

 After confiding in Marlin that Pappy Wolff-that was the old man-was his father, Marlin shook his head and gave up on respect.  His father was Alan, who was there to tuck him into bed or play with his toys with him.  Alan had a tough time that night, explaining that Pappy Wolff was his biological father and that Alan loved him just as much as if he were as much his biological child as Richard.

 The younger boy had become more active, growing into an bright haired toddler who enjoyed exploring every room in the house.  It even became habit to lock the front door, after Bianca found him wandering happily about the front yard one day.  Nobody could figure out how he had opened the door.  Alan had simply muttered, "So both of my kids are witches?"

 Of course, Alan still loved them, even if they were a bit strange.  Nobody did any of that magic in front of him and he was perfectly happy to keep it that way.  With Richard learning to walk and talk (and to the relief of his parents to use the potty), Alan found himself helping Marlin with his homework.  Most of the time he was able to do so without trouble, but some of the things Marlin was learning seemed to be far beyond his grasp.

 Alan was just happy that Marlin wasn't jealous of Richard.  In fact, he often came inside to find the two of them playing on the floor, giggles echoing through the rooms of the house.

 No matter how many times Marlin popped out from behind his hands, Richard was always extremely surprised and laughter would send Marlin into laughter that had both of them rolling around on the floor.

 Every night before bedtime, Marlin would give Richard a hug before going to brush his teeth as Alan or Bianca got Richard ready for bed.  Most often it was Alan, who would leave for work shortly after doing so, just as Bianca returned from moonlighting.

 She still hadn't made very many drinks, but as she confided to Alan, the glasses at Varg's were cleaner than they ever had been before.  At least one of them was anyways.

 Marlin had joined the Scouts, and even managed to earn a badge.  He was very proud of that badge and constantly showing it off to his parents.  They tried to seem enthusiastic, but after the twentieth showing it was hard to summon up enthusiasm.

 Alan had made it to lead guitarist.  If he had wanted to relocate to Bridgeport he would have had no trouble finding a band willing to take him in, and he would have had no trouble paying to live there.  But instead he found himself annoyed with the fan girls, none of whom were as beautiful as his wife.  The idea of moving his children to Bridgeport frightened him as well, the big city being dangerous and not nearly as friendly as little Moonlight Falls.

 It was rare the three of them being able to eat dinner together, and when they did Alan often had to scarf it down and hurry to work.  But he loved those opportunities.  Despite his love of music, and how much he truly did enjoy his job (fan girls not-withstanding), he sometimes wondered if it was the best career to have, or if he ought to have something that let him spend more time with his family.

 Then again, if he had, he would have been home during what Bianca labeled, "The Child Invasion".  Marlin had begged to have a slumber party with all of his friends.  Thinking that would be two or three other children, his parents had agreed.  It turned out, Marlin had six friends, his entire grade in the small town.

 Richard was a favorite of his friends, but he soon withdrew to the boy's bedroom to play with his toys.  Giggles and "poofs" drew Bianca to check in on him, to find him teleporting his toys around.  Alan wasn't sure he believed her, even after she had assured him multiple times, that he couldn't just pop his family around too.

 A few of the pillows in their bedroom had met their demise as Marlin and one of his friends beat each other into submission in a pillow fight before Bianca thought to go and look for the two of them, leaving the herd of children in the living room unwatched for a few minutes.  Marlin gave up two weeks of allowance to replace those pillows, but otherwise seemed to be unfazed by the mess he had made.

 After that experience, Bianca wasn't sure if electrocuting herself with the stove was better or worse.  Alan was pretty sure the children had been better, as he'd been terrified to come home to the smell of singed hair and a rather worse-for-wear wife.

 It wasn't serious though, and Bianca continued to moonlight, even later that same day.  Most of her work now centered around reassuring young mothers-to-be that everything would be okay, and yes, babies were born that way and it wasn't going to be the end of the world.

For a short while, Richard and Marlin were the same age and Alan found that having two young school-age boys was much easier.  They were happy to play together in the front yard, leaving Alan plenty of time to cuddle on the sofa with Bianca.

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Bonus Pictures!

Marlin gets patronized whenever he visits his faerie friend.  Speaking of which, it's kind of cheating to fly during tag...Also, Richard hasn't quite figured out the peg box yet.  He's working on it.

You saw that blonde-haired kid in the light blue pajamas at the slumber party?  Wanna know a secret?  That is Toni Redding.  A girl.  She was one of Marlin's best friends and I thought she was a boy the entire time until his teen birthday.