The Ink Family Legacy: Generation 5, Chapter 5 Part 3
This part does in fact contain Sparrow's wedding! And I contend that Row is the prettiest bride I've ever had in my game, so...
| Part One | Part Two |
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There was one member of the house that was feeling a little lonely during those three years.
After all, Seth was the only one without a significant other. When the house was getting too lovey dovey for his like, he found himself wandering off to the art gallery.
"Hey there!"
And, inevitably, Diana appeared. It shouldn't be surprising to him, considering she was a photographer, but it was still strange that she always managed to appear when he was feeling down.
"Looking at the labyrinth photo again?" Seth asked, amused.
"I swear to god this is photoshopped, okay?" she insisted, frowning at it. "No way is this a real photo!"
"Maybe it's just the perspective?" he chuckled.
Diana rolled her eyes. "Such an artist thing to say."
"But really, how've you been, Seth?" Diana asked lightly when they walked out onto the balcony. "You always seem to be moping around this place!"
Seth laughed, "Well, the house is pretty loud these days. Sparrow's fiance is over all the time, and now that her wedding's within the month my older sister and her family are over too. Twelve people are a bit much for this loner."
"Although...maybe I have been moping." he admitted. "I never seem to do much besides go to work and come here. Weird as it is for me, I wish I could do something different."
"If that's the case, I think I have an idea!" Diana proclaimed. "It's definitely different. Weird, but that makes it even better!"
Seth raised an eyebrow. "That sounds suspicious."
"But aren't the best things a little suspicious?"
Seth smiled. "You know...I think I'll trust you on this one."
Diana grinned. "Wicked."
--- --- --- --- ---
So yeah. Seth regretted that.
"C'mon, how long does it take to get dressed?!" Diana complained.
"I...I don't think I can wear this."
"You have to wear rockin' clothes to a dance club Seth, it's the rule! Now come on, you said you'd trust me!"
"IT'S PARTY TIME!!"
"Oh god."
"This is gonna be awesome!"
"Who wears these clothes? Who would ever wear these?"
"You and I are gonna party so hard, Seth." Diana said with a devilish grin.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't really do the whole...party scene." Seth mumbled. The VIP parties had been hard enough for him.
"Nonsense! What you need is a crazy drink."
"...crazy drink?"
"Yeah! It's called KTHXBYE and it's awesome."
Seth should've known that trusting Diana could only lead to something like this. But hell, he did need to do something different...
"...what's in this drink?"
"Oh, I don't know. Crack, maybe."
...if it didn't kill him first.
"Bottoms up." he sighed psychically, taking a swig of the drink. And yeah, it burned the whole way down, but at least it tasted good.
"See? Awesome, right?" Diana said with a silly grin.
Seth smiled nervously.
Naturally, the dance floor was next!
Now, normally strobe lights and blaring house music would make Seth run in the other direction, but a little liquid courage and Diana's encouragement had him enjoying it.
He could see why they called it crazy drink though. He was feeling a little more insane, somehow.
Next was the bubble bar, made that much more interesting by the black light in the room.
They spent more than the normal amount of time giggling and chasing the bubbles until the drink wore off.
You stay classy, Diana.
But the inevitable buzz crash followed, leaving them both with a bit of a headache.
"Urgh, I should've brought an aspirin or something..." Diana whined.
"Why don't we eat something? Might help." Seth suggested.
"Excellent idea, Seth!" Diana mumbled through a mouth full of hot wings.
"You know..." Seth said seriously. "...I honestly didn't think I'd have much fun tonight. But this has actually been a really great time!"
Diana grinned. "All part of Operation: Keep Seth from Becoming a Recluse, of course."
"What? Don't you just come up with most things on the spot, Di?"
"Mostly, yes. But if I can make you think it was all just as planned, then it's a success!"
The rest of the night was spent playing darts and dancing, the two of them staying out until the club closed. It wasn't until the very end, when Seth was aiming a dart, that he realized that Stella was the furthest thing from his mind right now.
That's odd. When did he stop associating the two...?
Ah, oh well. That just made some things easier, he supposed.
--- --- --- --- ---
Ah, it was a fine day for a wedding.
"Nervous, Ty?" Row whispered excitedly.
"Yeah, a little. I think your brothers are still glaring at me."
"Oh, they're just teasing."
The boys were just a little sad to see their little sister as such a beautiful bride. Their shy Sparrow was getting married.
"Well, nervous or not, this is still the happiest day of my life." Tyler added.
"So, what do you say? Shall we get this started?"
Sparrow smiled. "I couldn't be more ready."
The wedding was a smaller affair with only the immediate family and their dates invited.
Even the babies got to attend!
"Sparrow." Tyler began. "Even if my forever is only a fraction of yours, I promise to cherish and love you for my whole life."
"No matter how long my forever, I'll always love and cherish you too, Tyler." Sparrow replied fervently.
The rings were exchanged with smiles despite their serious vows. They were acutely aware of their differences, but the knew love would carry them through.
The crowd were all smiling too - yes, even the boys.
With a kiss, Sparrow Ink became Sparrow Perkins.
"I don't know how I got so lucky to marry such a beautiful woman." Tyler laughed. "Feels like a dream, almost."
Sparrow grinned. "I did enough dreaming for the both of us over the years, haven't I?"
Cheers, applause, and rice throwing followed!
These two were so silly in love - too cute.
And then it was cake time!
"Alright everyone, remember - one slice a piece until everyone's had one, okay? We had a problem at the rehearsal dinner."
Levi grinned sheepishly - he had managed to eat five dinner rolls then.
Sparrow did the cut...
...and the cake was quickly decimated.
"So...Diana." Seth started. "I've been thinking."
"Not unusual, I hope."
He rolled his eyes. "I'm serious. Do you think we could talk a bit when we're done eating?"
"That serious, huh?"
Seth chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so."
So, while everyone hit the dance floor...
...dancing in couples, as was often the case...
...Seth took Diana to the side.
"So Di, we've known each other for about a year and a half now, right? And I still remember how our first conversation went. Do you?"
Diana replied, "Um, something about not letting me be a rebound, if I remember correctly."
"You do. But, considering that Stella and I were never together, it really couldn't be called a rebound anyway." Seth conceded.
"But that's besides the point. Diana, the truth is that I got over your sister a long time ago. And all this time, I've only been looking at you. If you're still interested...would you like to be my girlfriend?"
"Like you even have to ask, dummy."
Seth smiled and tugged her closer, kissing her soundly. It made Diana's head spin a little.
Looks like Seth wouldn't be feeling left out anymore, huh?
As the party wore on, Rhyme and Isis had to take breaks to attend to their babies. Lyra and Sobek were good babies, but they could get a little cranky without attention.
"I had no idea it'd be this much work!" Isis laughed once she got Sobek settled.
"Well, I think it surprises everyone the first time around." Rhyme chuckled.
Towards the end, Tyler and Row slipped away for a quiet moment together to watch the stars.
"Looks like everything went smoothly, huh?" Tyler said.
"Somehow or another." Row replied. "But tomorrow's the real start, right? We'll be living together."
"It's still a bit of a bachelor pad."
"Ha ha! Not for long, trust me."
"Hey Ty - isn't that the star that looks a little bit like an alien space ship?" Row pointed out.
"Yep! Right next to the moon, as always. It's good to know that we'll see it no matter where we are, huh?"
These two would probably have a pretty peaceful marriage. Even though Sparrow was sad to be leaving her family, she was ready to start her own with Tyler.
"Tyler." Row whispered with a giggle. "Let's have a baby soon, okay?"
"That's what you want?" Tyler replied, laughing nervously.
"Yep."
"Well, I guess we can work on that."
"I want them all close together, too."
"Ha ha! Whatever you want, dear."
--- --- --- --- ---
So, with Sparrow out of the house, it got a little quieter.
Noah and Isis were still working hard to raise little Sobek. They were both a little clumsy at parenting, but together they were doing a good job, getting more confident all the time.
And these two found themselves more committed to each other than ever. They never really talked about marriage, living together, or having another baby, but their feelings to each other were clear.
They would always be together - Noah, Isis, and Sobek.
And he was getting bigger every day!
Sobek definitely took after his mother, having both her skin tone and her hair color. His eyes, however, were the bright India blue that Noah had. It was still a little early to see who's face he had, though.
"Who's my little river monster, huh?" Isis teased as she tickled her son.
"Mommy! N-no!!" he giggled, batting her hand away.
Sometimes Isis was surprised that she managed to raise such a happy baby, completely oblivious to the world's troubles.
Well, it definitely helped that she wasn't alone.
After all, Noah was extremely involved in his son's life.
"Alright kid, we're going to try walking again, okay? That's your first step to being a man."
"Walk, Papa?"
"Hey, what did I say about calling me Papa?"
"Papa, Papa~!"
Noah grinned and tousled his son's hair. "Alright, whatever Sobek."
He knew that he was turning into a huge softie when it came to his kid. Oh well.
"Okay - come here, Sobek!"
Sobek, athletic as he already was, toddled easily over to his father before stumbling into his outstretched hands.
"I did it Papa!"
"You certainly did!"
"Is I a man now, Papa?"
"Ha ha, not quite."
"Hmph. Leave it to my kid to be good at everything."
Yeah, Noah definitely doted on him too much.
And then the day came when Noah and Isis felt confident enough to raise Sobek on their own. They were moving out.
"You guys know you could stay if you wanted." Abel offered. "It's not like we're lacking the room."
Noah laughed. "Not now, but watch you have a million kids."
"Ha ha, well..."
"Besides, we're twenty three already Abe. 'Bout time I live on my own, right?"
"I guess you're right." Abel laughed. "But you guys better bring Sobek over all the time! In fact, give me the munchkin."
"Ah, I'll miss giving this kid his daily tickling." Abel said with a grin, Sobek squealing. "I'll just have to visit often, right?"
"I'll miss you guys."
"I know."
"You better visit or Amy will cry."
"I know."
Abel laughed, handing Sobek back to his father. The brothers regarded each other for a second, then shook hands.
"Take care, No."
"You too. I'll...I'll miss you too."
--- --- --- --- ---
And, if Noah and his family leaving wasn't enough, Seth decided to talk to Abel just a few weeks later.
"I know it's kind of sudden..." Seth said. "...but Diana has to move out of Stella's house soon. We figured that it might be a good thing to move in together."
"I never thought I'd see the day when you moved in with a girl, Seth. Where'd my baby brother go?" Abel teased.
"You can hardly call me your baby brother Abe, I'm only twelve minutes younger than you."
"I know, I know."
"You know that you have to visit a ton, right? Amy's already pouting from how empty the house is."
"Don't worry. I can still drop her off here after school every day."
"Ah, that'll be good."
"I'll miss you, Seth. You guys are making your big bro lonely, you know?"
"I'll miss you too Abel." Seth said, speaking aloud. "Definitely. I don't think I would have been okay if you hadn't worked so hard to protect me all these years."
"Damn, now you're going to make me cry."
"Ha ha, sorry."
--- --- --- --- ---
And then there were three.
God, the last time the house was this empty was back when Ethan had moved out, leaving just Filly, Clover, and Rhyme. And Jin pretty much was over all the time anyway, so it felt like four. I'll miss having the quads all together.
Okay, let's hit up the finale in Part Four, shall we?