It was the big day. No, not Buzz's wedding, although his would be coming within the next week, but my court case. It had been so hot that it was only until I walked into the city hall that I realized I was wearing a slightly see through open buttoned shirt. I quickly buttoned it up, but I still didn't look professional. My lawyer gave me a disapproving glare as I sat down. At least I arrived on time though; the defendant was late and sat down unblushingly and without an excuse.
"Now that Mrs. Dennis has finally arrived, we may begin," the judge announced crustily.
The case was long and tiring. We took a break so everyone could get a drink and be refreshed and then continued once we sat down again. The reason why the case was so delicate was quite simply because I was the prince. The judge was good, though, and she treated me as if I was anyone else. The key factor that helped me with my case was proof from two doctors and the evidence from the jeweler that I bought the ring from, proving that Jessie had gotten pregnant the night of our wedding and that I had been planning this for several weeks. Though that in itself was evidence enough, the judge clearly wanted a complete, closed case, so she cross-questioned and called forth witnesses and those that knew the defendant.
Mrs. Dennis didn't have a chance.
Since I was suing for libel, a type of defamation, I had to go to the Supreme Court. Because of that, my total costs were higher-I ended up having to pay $1586 total, but I managed to weasel $5689 out of Mrs. Dennis, meaning I profited $4103. It wasn't the money that mattered, though, it was my returned reputation. Distant friends called me up, confessing how they had believed it was true, would I ever forgive them, blah blah blah. It was a boost to my ego, to say the least.
The minute I stepped out of the city hall, I unbuttoned my shirt again to give myself some heat relief. I hadn't even opened the door home when my cell phone was ringing. "Oi?"
"Hello, Andy Casmin?"
"This is he."
"This is Officer Barkley... Listen, my boys in blue are going to arrive on scene in one hour. I'm giving you one hour to get down and check it all out. You'll have to bust your way in, though."
"What? Where? What happened?"
"Have you been living under a rock? Major theft-a contending mayor's girlfriend's computer was hacked into. The computer was left with a warning on it. She said that the thief was most likely looking for dirt on the possible mayor."
"I was in court. Tell you more about it later. I'll get down there straight away."
Officer Barkley relayed the address, then paused. "Andy?"
"Yes?"
"I can trust you to find this small time criminal, but..."
"What?"
"I have a feeling that this is part of a much larger case. One that will last years. Oh, the Chief is calling me-got to go! Be careful, Andy." Before I could respond, she hung up.
I stared at the phone in my hands. Well, there was no time to lose. I didn't need a full hour. Twenty minutes would do. I raced inside to find my gear and clothes, but they weren't in their normal place. "Hello, hon," I said slowly, cautiously, sitting next to Jessie. She was concentrated on her book about pregnancies. "Do you know where my work clothes are?"
"Why do you need them? We're going to our first childbirth class today, remember?"
I forgot about that! Not good, not good... "Of course not! I was just curious."
"Well it's in the washing machine right now. And I put your other tools in the garage. Remember, the class starts at 8:30, so we need to leave at 8:20."
"Right... um, I should be back by then. See you, sweets!" I kissed Jessie on the cheek before racing upstairs. It was ten to eight. Not good. My white shirt was clean and dry, but my pants, tie, and long coat were soaked. I pulled them on with a shiver. At least it was hot out.
I grabbed my car keys and jumped into the car. I accelerated as fast as possible-not good for the car, and broke the speed limit while racing over to the client's home. Luckily there were no other cars on the road, which was not uncommon in a small place like this. I quickly drew out my handkerchief and tried the doorknob. As I expected, it didn't open. I didn't bother dusting for prints as I knew that the culprit would be clever enough not leave any behind-besides, my client would've touched the doorknob when coming home and leaving.
I pulled out my lock picking kit and heard a satisfying 'ping' as I unlocked the door. Thankfully I didn't have to use bobby pins like when I was a kid-this only took thirty seconds to do.
I slowed my pace down and snuck inside, careful that I wouldn't leave any traces of me being there. Officer Barkley's job could be on the line if someone knew that I had gotten a tip about this crime scene. I ignored the computer. Unless I was supposed to be on scene, then the chances of me opening the computer up and trying to access information on it without leaving marks was very small. Instead, I focused my attention to the chair. A criminal who would leave the computer would also seem to be the type of criminal that took their leisurely time. Which meant they probably sat on the chair. I dusted my brush and then lowered it to the chair, but a big puff of the powder came off. "Crap," I muttered. I didn't have time to clean it up. When I finished dusting the chair and found no prints (of course, they were wearing gloves), I noticed something suspicious about the powder that had settled on the ground. I examined the ground carefully and found a dark strand of hair that blended in perfectly with the wood floor, caught between two pieces of wood. If I hadn't gotten dust all over the ground, I-and most likely, the police force-wouldn't have noticed it. I picked it up with tweezers and placed it carefully in a plastic bag before gently sweeping the dust so that it fell into the cracks between the wood. Perfect.
I gave the room once last look around before darting out the door, making it back just in time to go to the birthing class. "You thought I wouldn't make it, didn't you?" I said cheekily as Jessie raised her eyebrows at me.
"No, it's just that you're soaked with sweat..." Nevertheless, I had gotten what I needed.
"Seems like your reputation has been restored," mom said, leafing through the latest newspaper. "The Dennis woman issued a public apology and was canned from her job at the newspaper."
I walked over to the paper and read through it. Another article containing the word 'Casmin' caught my eye. "What's that?"
Mom squinted her eyes at it. "Seems that there have been rumours that some gang is going to plant something to ruin Buzz's wedding."
"But we haven't released the location of the wedding!"
Mom shrugged and folded the paper. "It's probably a load of nonsense. I doubt many people will take the word of the paper as seriously as they did before." Despite this, I wasn't about to let anything ruin my brother's wedding.
I changed into my investigator's gear and hustled down to the beach. I grabbed some handy bushes and kept a lookout. Okay, I was blatantly obvious while holding the bushes up, but I could easily conceal myself inside the bushes while lying flat. I didn't need to, though. The hours ticked by and nobody came. It gave me lots of time to think about the latest case we had. Officer Barkley was right-it was really easy to find the perpetrator, and he confessed right away and went to jail without complaints. There had to be somebody behind it-but who? The criminal had done nothing with the information he had gotten-or so it seemed. Was the crime a distraction, or did the man-or woman-behind the wheel really want the information? How could they use it?
I eventually went home when some friends came to set up what we needed for the wedding. We were waiting until last minute so that no one else would see where the wedding was.
It was finally time. I check the clock and stifled a yawn. "Buzz, mom," I said, walking into the dining room. "It's-whoa."
"Yes, dear?" mom replied. Mom was wearing a long white gown with her hair done up-it looked she was the bride to be!
"Uh, it's time to go," I said. They were both reading books, most likely to take their mind off of the day ahead.
"Do I look okay?" Buzz said nervously, fiddling with his bow tie.
"You look beautiful," I reassured him jokingly. He slugged my shoulder. "You look fine, dude. Everyone's eyes will be on Char, anyway."
"What's taking them so long?"
I glanced over at the two of them. It seemed as if Buzz wasn't the only nervous one, as he was calming down a frantic Char. "I'm sure she's just thinking about it all at once. She'll be fine," I promised. I took Jessie's hand in mine and stared out onto the water.
"It's pretty here," she sighed. The sun was lowering rapidly, casting a pink hue onto the water.
"I like it when you wear that dress."
"I like it when you wear that suit." Jess pulled lightly at my shirt. I couldn't resist her and turned into her kiss.
"I'm going to see if I can help," I said finally, "Because now there's no sunlight and I'm not sure how long the guests will stay."
"They'll stay as long as we damn well tell them to," Jessie said sulkily. I shrugged and headed in Buzz and Char's direction.
"I'm just... I'm just a little scared, Buzz," Char was saying anxiously.
"You have nothing to be scared of, darling," Buzz said, stroking her cheek. "You trust me, right? We're here on our wedding day with our friends and family. We're going to get married. What is in the word, marriage, anyway? Not much. We'll exchange rings, cut the cake, and have a great wedding night." I was halfway up the steps when I realized that I did not want to interrupt that conversation. I turned around, but the stair creaked softly. Crap. I was now stuck between a rock and a hard place.
"Oh, Buzz," Char giggled. Not listening, la la la la la.... Thankfully, a moment later, Char said, "I guess I'm ready to go now." Well, thank the Lord.
The young couple quickly spoke their vows, eager to end the wedding before midnight. "With this ring, I thee wed," Buzz whispered, pushing the gold ring onto Char's hand.
"With this ring, I thee wed," Char said back, but loudly. It seemed to be an odd Casmin tradition to whisper our weddings lines or something.
And they shared their first kiss and husband and wife, confetti hearts showering around them as cries of joy filled the air. I could hear mom sobbing, dad saying, "That's my boy," and one person absolutely in hysterics as she cried.
I turned in my seat to see Anastasia Tremaine bawling. She was probably reminded of mom's wedding, which was taken place right on this beach, and the fact that Anastasia's nephew had gotten married before she. Robbie Platt, who was supposed to be Drizella's boyfriend, but word had gotten out that he and Anastasia had had a thing, sat next to Anastasia with a blank expression, his eyes occasionally flickering over to her.
The mood lightened up considerably when everyone got up from their green chairs and watched the best part of all-the cake cutting. Everyone quickly grabbed a piece and ate up. After all, we had been waiting for quite a while to eat. The party ended quickly and everyone said their goodbyes. Mom and dad left for a stroll on the beach and Jessie and I stayed to help clean up, leaving Char and Buzz to go home. They had decided to have their 'wedding night celebration' at home and then leave early the next morning to go to their new house.
"Let's get something to drink," I said, nudging Jess over to the barrel of juice.
"Isn't that beer?" she said doubtfully.
I pointed to the fruit on the side. "No, definitely juice."
"I don't want to risk anything for the baby... this is a crucial time when all of her organs are developing. Here, you have some and tell me what it is," she said, pouring some into a cup for me.
I took a sip of it. "It's juice, my dear. The baby will be fine."
"I dunno, Dee. You know what, I don't want to risk anything, I'm not going to-"
"NOPE!" I said, snatch her up in my arms swiftly. I was one hundred percent positive that it was juice. "Honey, do you really think I would want to sacrifice my child's well being for yours?"
"Well, no-"
"Then trust me." I lifted Jessie up to the nozzle. She steadied herself on the bin before lifting the nozzle to drink from.
Jessie removed her hand from the barrel and my arms started to shake. "Crap, Jessie, I think I'm going to-" wham. I stared at where I had dropped Jessie. She spread eagle on the ground. "Are you okay?" I cried, kneeling down beside her and touching her back. She sat up, rolling her eyes and giggling.
"You are such an idiot!" She said, getting up. "You know what's going to happen now, right?"
"Uh-"
"I'll just hold you up and see how safe you feel up there."
Jessie hoisted me up and I drank from the nozzle. Her arms were shaking by the end, but I hopped down without falling. "How did you manage to lift me?" I said sheepishly.
Jessie shrugged. "Maybe one of my many powers that I achieved from being an imaginary friend."
"Can we not talk about that? It makes me get all confused," I said, scratching my head. She wasn't imaginary... she was a doll come to life?
Jessie noticed my perturbed expression and said soothingly, "Just think of it like this-I am a human and always have been. But I was trapped in a doll's body as a curse and only the potion could break it." It didn't sound right, but I went with the idea anyway.
"Do you need another distraction?" she teased, sliding her arms around me.
"Oh, yes, Mrs. Casmin."
"I think I can handle that, Mr. Casmin."
Later, long after Buzz had moved out, he told me about his wedding night back at home. Apparently, they had set up a bed that they were going to move out to their new home. I had no idea how they had gotten in through the door and down the stairs, but apparently the frame was detachable. Didn't sound like a very safe bed, but what did I know?
Char had been in her bed reading when Buzz came in. Buzz refused to tell me what the words were that they exchanged, but I could assume they were equally as steamy as the ones Jessie and I had said the night of our union.
They got passionate pretty quickly and had their fair share of "Mr. Casmin" and "Mrs. Casmin." Looking back on it, it seemed odd to say that, since mom was always "Mrs. Casmin." It sure felt weird.
After years of having an emotion connection, they finally got to share their first extremely intimate physical connection. Sandy's old room quickly lost its innocence while they had fun in there.
The next morning, while everyone else was asleep, Char and Buzz got up to got to their new home. I got up as well, as I had been the only one that Buzz had confided in his plan. He would be a five minute drive from our house (just like everything else in this miniature city) so it wasn't like we would never see him again. I said goodbye and saw them off. I helped them load everything in Char's car. Buzz went through the house one last time, just saying goodbye to everything before he followed Char (dressed in what he gave her for the night he proposed to her) out the door.
I was sad to see my brother leave. True, there was no reason for him to stick around. I was heir to the throne and now king. Buzz never wanted to be the king, never wanted those responsibilities. He had matured a lot from his bratty, prank loving younger self. My hand rested on the ancient flower patterned wallpaper as I rested my body on the door frame. My brother and I had shared a lot together. But now it was time for him to start a family of his own and live his own life.
I watched Char drive away with a heavy heart. But at least this way we would have more room in the house for our baby, who I was sure was a boy. Would Sandy ever move out? I had a feeling that she would have made a great queen, but her unstable emotions could get in the way of an otherwise great leadership. Sandy wanted to lead a life in the arts. She could express herself beautifully through art and music, and had started a special fund in our old school to support the arts, solely using money she made through selling her paintings to set an example.
"Whatcha doin'?" I asked Jessie curiously, finding her on the lawn taking a selfie.
"Taking a picture for my Internet peeps," she answered.
"I thought we weren't going to announce it to them until you're in your second trimester with a steady heartbeat?"
"We're not. But I want to show them how big I am at each month."
"How far along are you?"
"About 12 weeks. I look a bit round, but it's not obvious that I'm pregnant."
I kept up with my investigations, and whenever I had free time I would always look into that one nagging case. Trying to figure out which cases were connected and which weren't was always a headache, but Officer Barkely always pointed me down the right path. It was uncanny how she always seemed to know everything...
"Ask them for a briefing of what they threw out. There couldn't be much, seeing as how they just moved there. Root through their garbage and examine anything they didn't mention throwing out," she had said.
And she was damned well right. Without her help, I would've never examined the dirt inside the broken flowerpot, which ended up containing the micro chip. The woman was brilliant.
Yes, the winter passed by fairly quickly and uneventfully. Mom was keen to oblige to whatever Jessie's crazy food cravings were and I was always ready to give her a back massage or foot rub. I remember the most shocking event happen at around the end of December. The roads were quiet, most families away for Christmas holidays or simply enjoying the cozy insides of their homes, tucked away with a good book under some blankets, perhaps with a cup of hot chocolate. I however, was not. I was supposed to be investigating 'strange footsteps' found by a young girl. It was ridiculous and I eventually just packed it in. There were no footsteps and the girl was most likely making things up out of boredom.
I was climbing up the stairs to put my clothing away and have a nap when I heard a horrible retching noise coming from my bathroom. I ran in, scared. Jess hadn't had morning sickness in ages-why would she be throwing up now? The sight surprised me however.
"Sandy?" She got up from where she was bent over the toilet and flushed the toilet. She then washed her hands and washed her mouth out. "Are you okay? Did you have something bad to eat? Oh, I hope it wasn't food poisoning for Christmas, then we'll all be sick!"
"Relax, Andy," Sandy said with a sigh. "I guess I should tell you now. I'm pregnant. I've been vomiting for well over a week now."
"What? Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I took two tests, and they were both positive."
"I guess everyone's having a baby!" I said joyfully. Buzz had phoned to tell us that Char had gotten pregnant the night of their wedding, meaning that all of our kids would have the same birth year.
Sandy slowly descended the stairs. "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to write a letter to Cid. To tell him."
"He's the dad, right?"
"Yeah."
"He should marry you, then?" I said hopefully. To my surprise, Sandy burst into tears. I caught her in my arms. "There, there," I said awkwardly.
"Oh, Dee, I don't want to get married! I'm not ready for a baby!"
I stared back into her wet eyes, unsure of what to say. "You're... you're not going to terminate the pregnancy, are you?"
"No," she replied sorrowfully, "I... I think it'll be good. For me. To have a baby. But I don't want to get married."
"Then don't," I agreed. I knew what Sandy needed, and she was right. She was an intelligent, mature girl, but she had no responsibilities. "Do you think you should move out as well?"
She shrugged. "Yeah. Not right away though. I'm going to need to start saving up." She smiled. "I'm going to go write that letter. I'll get it all sorted out. You'll see."
And while Sandy got her life organized, I got mine. It wasn't long before Jessie was screaming my name to go to the hospital. When we got in our family limo, she made me sit far away from her so she would have leg space. It was a good thing, too, as whenever I did something that irritated her in the slightest-scratch my ear, for example-she would curse at me and say what a horrible person I was. I knew she was just in pain, though, so I lent her my support anyway.
"Come along, darling," Jessie grunted as she waddled up to the hospital. She was holding a parasol and looked as if she was going for a nice stroll. I winked at her.
"Always the comedian." She wasn't very funny through labour though, and I couldn't blame her. Based on what I had read and what I was seeing, she looked like she was in excruciating pain. I suddenly felt horrible for making her go through this, but the look on her face twenty-two hours later when holding our baby boy changed my mind.
"Welcome to this world, Bert," I said, feeding our little baby his special formula. He cooed in my hands softly. I could already see the little blonde bristles poking out of his head, as well as the dark brown eyes that reminded me so much of his mother.
Sandy quickly filled in when neither Jessie nor I were there to practice for when she would be a mom. She made good use of the bathing and diaper changing table we had bought (and which costed more than the bed) and Bert always smelled fresh and scrubbed when I came home from my investigations.
"So how did Cid respond to being a father?" I asked her.
"Very well. Better than I expected. He supports me fully and offered for me to move in with him, but I insisted that I want some independence first. He'll visit the baby, of course, and that's all I want from him."
Buzz came over to see Bert right after a baby shower of his own. Or so I told Jessie. In reality, he used it as an escape from the cooing women as they fawned over Char's ginormous belly and all the gifts for the expectant baby.
"He's cute, I'll give you that," Buzz said with a chuckle as Bert downed his formula.
"It's weird, he acts perfectly normal on formula or breast-fed. Jessie still prefers to breast-feed him though," I replied. After all, the natural choice was a healthier one. "Have you thought of any names yet?"
"Oh, we like quite a few. We're concentrating on 'A' names, mainly, and debating the spelling between quite a few names," Buzz said. "Isn't this weird?"
"What?"
"I never thought we'd be talking about baby stuff together."
I grinned at him. "I'm kinda glad we are, though."
We put my boy to bed and then crept downstairs to go to a pub. "Nice to see both of my brothers again," Sandy said, her eyes glued to a book.
"Hey Sandy," Buzz said, "What're you reading?"
"A book on pregnancies." She looked up. "Where are you two going?"
"A bar," I answered after quickly searching the premise for signs of my wife or parents.
She sighed. "I wish I could join you. Men are so lucky."
I grinned. "I won't argue with you. Have fun!" Sandy gave me the finger as Buzz and I raced out to get some drinks.
Sandy wasn't just catching up on her reading, however. I would find her lower half poking out of the fridge, or I would want to make something for Bert but find her taking up the stove. "Hey, you finally made it right!" I said as Sandy flipped her pancake.
"Very funny. I've decided that the food cravings are a great way to help me with my cooking. I mean sure, I burned a few batches first, but I've really gotten the hang of it. I think all that time making muffins and cookies as a child really helped me," she said.
"Yeah, you're right. I remember you burning those, two." I ducked out of the way just in time to avoid her fist.
"Nice to see my family together," I said, walking into my room. Jessie was holding Bert in front of her and talking softly to him.
"When Bert gets older, do you want to have another one?" Jessie asked.
I gazed at my little boy and smiled. "If all of them are as perfect as my boy, then of course," I said, smiling at Bert's little face.
"You know, I forgot something," I added, tickling Bert.
"What's that?"
"I told you so!"
"You told me so what?"
"Bert's a boy. Like I said he'd be."
Jessie swatted me with her hand. "Yes, and he's the most precious boy in the world, even if he does have your pale skin."
"I don't have pale skin!" I protested, but Jessie ignored me and continued to play with Bert.
I traveled to the park to interview Drizella, who had called me to talk about a case. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?" I asked her.
Drizella looked off into the distance, smiling in an odd way. "Make my bed," she said to no one in particular.
"Is she okay?" I asked Anastasia, looking down at her in confusion.
"She's rather senile. In a few minutes she'll return to normal," Anastasia said calmly. Robbie, who was sitting next to her, nodded. I noticed him take her hands in his once they thought I had turned away. Anastasia was right, and in a few moments Drizella had regained her surely attitude and told me of her problem.
After writing down the case, I found Jodi and went to talk to her. She had apparently been keeping an eye on Drizella and reported that she suspected that Drizella had let her mind revert back to its teenage self on purpose. Every time Robbie went to talk to her and break up with her, Drizella would suddenly have one of her episodes.
"But never mind that," Jodi said with a sigh, "How are you? I heard you had a baby."
"Yes, Bert. And Buzz and Sandy are both expecting as well. How about you?"
Jodi's face fell. "The doctors are saying that I won't be able to have a child. Something wrong with how my body works, I dunno. I didn't really ask. There is something I wanted to talk to you about, though, Andy," she said seriously.
"Yes?"
"I heard you were working with Officer Barkley... well I have some information about her that you might want to hear."
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