The Hasslich RRAUglacy! Gen 1 - Blaue Hasslich, Founder
The only trouble with time is that time marches on - infants become toddlers, toddlers become children, children become teenagers.
And even the best-behaved teenager had secrets they wanted to keep from their parents. Had methods for keeping those secrets, for still appearing innocent.
After all, it was a bold new world they were exploring!
So it went - teenagers hiding secrets, and parents remembering being teenagers themselves.
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Shiitake was never proud of being eldest - they were triplets, and honestly, it was only a few minutes of difference. It could have just as easily been Maiitake or Truffle who popped out first.
There were more fun things to contemplate - like boys.
Girls too, but Momma always paid more attention when girls were brought home. It was easier to find boys, anyways. But girls were fun to talk to.
Well, most of the time.
There was the occaisional odd boy who turned Shiitake down, but . . but that hardly ever happened, anyways! And really, it was Truffle's fault - Truffle got there first, and this one actually had some loyalty in him.
It didn't matter in the end.
There was always more boys.
Lots of boys - and Shiitake had never had to resort to the Matchmaker. Unlike some.
Not even to find a girl - that had happened on its own. And it had been very . . . nice. Just as much fun as boys, but after that lecture in Phys Ed, it was clear that for fun, it was easier to stick to boys. Shiitake didn't want to be a parent!
No, there was way too much fun . . .
. . . way too many boys . . .
. . . to even think on settling on just one. Of either gender. It was good to keep a hand in on wooing girls - who knew, maybe they'd be more fun later on . . .
. . . but Shiitake was always keeping an eye open for the next boy.
And not once did memories linger on that one outing.
Because almost nobody refused Shiitake. Boy, girl, they all fell eventually - the dates of one's triplets were the only exceptions.
No one turned Shiitake down.
No one.
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Maiitake had never been very impressed with looks - attitude was all that mattered. And if you had the glam, you flaunt it baby!
And after watching Shiitake burn through the local boys (and to a lesser degree the girls) like they were after-school specials, could anyone blame Maiitake turning to the Matchmaker to meet someone new.
And oh, had it ever paid off. Jenna had it - she had the glam, even though she didn't dress that way. She didn't need to, to have it radiate off her.
She was perfect.
And better yet, Truffle had understood right off the bat why she was so perfect - even if there had been some teasing anyways.
That was fine. After all, they had always had more in common than with their triplet, despite having shared a womb and fashion tendencies. Neither of them understood Shiitake's approach to dating.
And after getting hit on by Shiitake's leftovers, it was harder to have any sympathy for the lost lads. They got used, they were discarded. Where was the difficulty in understanding that?
There was more fun in a stimulating conversation than any half-hearted date - really, the pleasures of the mind far outstripped the pleasures of just the body
It also was a safer approach to things in bars. Neither Maiitake or Truffle ever got kicked out for their behavior.
And really, the people who worked at the local Crypt o' Night Club were fascinating!
No, Maiitake was satisfied, content, and even delighted to be dating just one person. The right person.
And keeping up with the latest in fashion was always fun.
But Maiitake did wonder sometimes . . .
. . . what did Truffle really want for the future?
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Truffle was the youngest, but that didn't really matter. Alon mattered - he mattered a lot.
Even if the first thing their friends said upon seeing them dating was 'Oh Mamba, there's two of you!' It wasn't that bad, was it?
And what was wrong with being honest with your parents? After all, Momma and Daddoo approved of Alon. And it gave them ease of mind to know all shenanigans were being performed with proper precautions. Heck, Momma and Daddoo had dragged everybody else out to the movies or a dinner more than once to give them time together.
Although Daddoo had nixed the celebrator virginity-lost-beer.
They even gave permission for the one night Truffle went out with Shelly, the heiress to the local rent-a-tux place. The concert had been awesome, even if the romance had been dead in the water.
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"Momma, I appreciate you telling me first, but really, shouldn't you be inside then? It's cold out here!"
"Congrats Momma! . . . want me to run you a bath?"
"Yes, I'm going to be having another baby."
Out of all the kids, Shiitake's response was the most nonexistent. Her eldest just didn't care. But then, the second pregnancy was a complete surprise - both she and Blaue had assumed the potency of the gene treatment had worn off after so much time.
But no, now Crystal was giving birth in the middle of the night, as she drew near the twilight years of her life.
And to her relief, her spouse was overjoyed to have an out and out daughter. Funny how things worked out.
And for all the indifference shown towards the pregnancy, Shiitake spent plenty of time helping tend for the newest Hasslich. But Maiitake had him beat, hands down.
In fact, it was Maiitake who got to take little Pat to her cake - had the honor of helping her age up into a toddler.
And then it ended up a race to see who could help Pat learn her basic skills first.
Pat, thankfully, didn't have too much of a bias - as long as she was getting plenty of attention, she was happy.
Happy and precocious, growing up one evening without any warning.
Or maybe it was just a hunch? Because not an hour later, Blaue settled down next to the youngest with the creak of aging bones. Age had finally caught up with the head of the family.
But it was fun scaring the rest of the family with the sudden transition.
At least their littlest had plenty of love to give round the family.
Because things were due to change even further really soon.
Crystal briefly wondered, as the smoke trailed in the air - had it been worth it?
HELL YES.
It's not like old age was going to slow her down, not in these final stages when her children would need her the most. After all -
It was time for them to grow up and head out into the world.
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On to the Heir Poll!