While The World Crashes

It's business as usual with the Hess family. The family shop has seen many more customers enter ever since Sophia introduced her new line of teddy bears. Even though they take a while to mass produce, it is worth it. Their cute button eyes just call out to potential buyers. The new influx of customers leaves Roselle in a tizzy. Her fingers are fast but not fast enough to ring up all of them in a timely manner. She wonders if she will have more luck with actually selling the products instead of simply cashiering.

Henri experienced his first birthday and inherited a rich head from his mother. It was hard to tell who he took after, though. In any case, he was as easy to please as his siblings had been. Once he was fed and changed, he took to playing with the various gadgets in the nursery. Unlike his siblings, however, the activity table didn't seem to interest him. No, he found more comfort with the blocks. Instead of building an artistic craft, he seemed to have a knack for logic and intelligence. Ah, whatever made him happy, Sophia supposed. Having a bunch of artists wasn't always a good thing. None of them tended to get jobs!

For the next few nights, things became strange, however. There were unexplainable phenomena happening throughout the house. Food spoiled too quickly, lights broke and there were power surges. The children even claimed to hear voices. Sophia tried to erase their fears, using the usual calming claims of "It's nothing. You shouldn't watch scary movies before bed. Sleep with Mr. Pudgefuzz." But it could not qualm Gabriel's fears, especially when he saw something before bed. He had been using Roselle's easel when a violent moan crept behind him. He turned and saw the silvery outline of a man, wailing at him. The poor boy was so frightened, he ran all the way downstairs and hid himself in Sophia's dress as she did her stitching.

That wasn't the only strange thing to happen in Casa de Hess. Sophia walked into Roselle's bedroom, to put away some laundry, when she saw something unexpected. A man in tights was using the girl's ballet bar. It wasn't a stranger, either. Sophia knew this man. His name was Bruce and he was a regular customer of her. "Get out of here!" She yelled and watched the man sashay down the stairs. Weirdo.

Still, despite all the oddness, Daniel's birthday wouldn't be anything less than a joyous occasion. As with all the others, it was a small party, only close family friends attended. After becoming a teenager, Daniel seemed to really shift into the role of bad boy. His good looks, inherited from his mother, made him a hit with the ladies. Adding the dark leather and ripped pants to the mix simply made them line up for the chance to have him sneer their way. Ah, teen girls were so easy to please.

There would soon be another birthday to celebrate. After much hard work and much consumption of various chemicals, Sophia was pregnant once again. This one took alot out of her, so much so that she didn't even touch her sewing machine. She stared at Jenna as the brunette slept happily beside her. She was lucky it was taking so long. This child had best be worth it...