Once Upon a Time in Veronaville

The old man refused to move the graves. He went around muttering things under his breath that Nora was sure she was meant to hear, things like "next she'll be carting me off, interfering little ... "

Nora couldn't help but find him a little comical, but the stories she had heard made her wonder. Was he the monster he'd been painted to be, or just a lonely, nasty old man?

He clearly viewed her as an interloper. Her attempts to brighten up the dull grey mansion interiors were met with resistance, and conversations with Consort Capp were strained at best.

"I've tried," she said to Tybalt one night. She was close to tears. "I've tried to be nice. He doesn't want to meet me even a quarter of the way. I've had it, Tybalt. I want my own home, with pretty walls and peace and quiet and no ghosts to scare Fiona at night."

Unfortunately, she was hugely pregnant with their second child and moving right at that moment was out of the question.

"As soon as it's born," Tybalt promised. "I'll start looking for our own place right away."

 

But first there was Fiona's third birthday party to be endured. The entire family showed up. Nora had yet to meet any of them, other than Juliet and Hermia, of course. Juliet was left off the guest list but Nora put her back on.

"She's my best friend," she told Tybalt, stubbornly. "If the old man wants to shut her out that's fine but I'll be fried if I'm going to."

Consort's oldest child, Goneril Capp, showed up first, her four children and blustery husband in tow. She sniffed when Nora extended her hand and turned up her nose.

Regan, the second sister, was more direct. "You think you're so clever, don't you," she said to Nora. "Living the life of Reilly here while I'm forced to share a hovel with my husband and my layabout brother. Don't think I'm not on to you."

Kent Capp, the youngest living sibling, seemed nice enough, but vague and dithery, as if he wasn't really there.

The two youngest siblings, Juliet's mother and Tybalt's dad, were deceased. Nora wondered what they'd been like.

The party was loud, the sun was bright, and the guests refused to leave. Nora finally retreated to her bedroom, taking Fiona with her. She doubted they'd be missed. Goneril was too busy counting the silverware and Regan seemed determined to insert her opinion into every conversation.

Juliet and Mercutio didn't come. Juliet had called a few minutes before the party and said she just wasn't up to it. "The twins have been running me off my feet," she said. "The last thing I need is a double dose of the poisonous aunties."

"Coward," Nora said, but she didn't really blame her friend.

"I'll make it up to you," Juliet promised.

"No need," Nora said. "I'm just dreading this afternoon."

"I am sorry," Juliet said.

Nora lay in her bed and wondered how she'd ever thought she could make a difference. If these people were this nasty to their own families, what chance would there ever be of making peace with their enemies?

She fell into a restless sleep.

 

Nora woke up the next morning determined to try again. She wasn't so pregnant that she couldn't make a short visit, so she called a taxi and went to visit Goneril Capp.

The woman lived in a house that was smaller than the one Eliza and Nora had shared. Juliet and Mercutio had added a wing to that house, and it was downright spacious now. This house was crowded and overflowing with Goneril's large brood.

"Come to gloat?" the woman said.

"No," Nora said. "I just thought I'd try to get to know Tybalt's family, is all."

"Hmph," Goneril said. "Easy enough for you to extend the olive branch, living in a grand mansion like you do."

"Is there anything I can do to help you?" Nora asked.

Gonerils' eyes flashed greedily. "You could send money," she said.

"I can do better than that," Nora said.

 

"You did what?" Consort said.

"I invited Goneril to move in when we move out," Nora said. "You've got all this space, and you've been saying how lonely you'll be once we're gone ... "

"You had no right," the old man said.

"She's your oldest daughter," Nora said. "It's only fitting. I know it was a bit presumptious of me, but it's the perfect solution."

"Her kids are brats."

"If you don't wish them to come, all you have to do is tell them," Nora said, getting up from the table.

Tybalt followed her upstairs. "That was diabolical," he said, grinning at his wife. "No one says no to Goneril."

Nora smiled. "Was I out of line?"

"A little," he said, "but you were right. They need a better place to live, and he'd be lonely living here alone. I think he's getting exactly what he ... Nora?"

"I think you'd better call the doctor," she said, grabbing the bedpost for support.

 

Lorelei Capp was born at the hospital later that night. While she and her mother recuperated, Tybalt moved Fiona and all of their stuff to their new home, which was right next door to the house Nora had raised Eliza in, the house Juliet and Mercutio now shared.

"We're neighbors!" Juliet said, putting down the flowers she'd brought and giving her friend a hug. "Let me see that baby ... "

Two days later Nora and Lorelei came home. Nora couldn't stop the tears that sprang to her eyes when she saw the house, a charming small Tudor. It was everything she wanted in her own home, cheerful, bright and warm.

"Oh, Tybalt, it's perfect," she said.

"Welcome home," Tybalt said, giving her shoulders a squeeze.

 

I realized I owe you all some pictures ...

Welcome Fiona

Juliet pregnant

Twins! Oy.

A good reason to leave: the ghosts don't like Nora, or her baby.

Goneril's family moves in. Heh heh.

 

More pictures ...

Nora in her own kitchen, holding Lorelei.

Fiona

Nora teaches Fiona to talk

Tybalt feeding Lorelei

Smoochies

 

LOL at moving Goneril in with the old man. I liked the personalities you've summarized for all the relatives. And I'm sure glad that Nora got her own place.

 

Mercutio was home with the twins. He'd sent Juliet off with Nora for a little girl time. He didn't like how tired and stressed his wife was looking lately. Maybe it was time to hire a nanny.

He didn't blame her. Now that the twins were crawling, almost walking, they were more than a handful. Enrico had changed from a demanding baby to a sweet, well-tempered toddler, but his sister was another story. Every time Mercutio turned his back Irina was getting into more mischief, always with a sweet little grin on her face that made him instantly forgive her.

"No, no," he was saying now. "Toilets aren't for splashing in." Good thing it was clean, he thought, carrying the struggling toddler out of the bathroom and plopping her down in front of her rabbit. "Play with Mr. Rabbit instead."

Juliet came in, looking white as a sheet, and went to sit on the couch.

"What is it, honey?" Mercutio said, alarmed.

"I ... I think I just saw my Uncle Richard," she said.

 

Richard Capp, Tybalt and Hermia's father, had died ten years earlier, under mysterious circumstances, leaving Juliet's cousins orphaned. His wife Anne had died from cancer the previous year. The Montys had been blamed for Richard's death, further widening the gap between the families, but Mercutio knew his family was innocent.

"You mean, his ghost," Mercutio said now.

"No, I mean, my Uncle Richard. In the flesh. Walking around downtown. He looked young, and healthy. He didn't see me."

"Maybe he had another son that you didn't know about?"

"Another son with the same exact scar on his cheek that my uncle has? Yeah, right," she said, shaking.

"Did you say anything to Nora?"

"No. I mean, she'd tell Tybalt, right? Imagine how you'd feel if it was your dad. I wasn't sure, so I didn't say."

Mercutio still hated Tybalt, but he could see Juliet's point. "So, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to investigate, that's what. If he's alive he's got a lot to answer for. He left my cousins orphaned, to be raised by my horrible grandfather. He'd better have a really good excuse."

"Huh," Mercutio said, privately thinking his wife was just working herself too hard, to the point of imagining things. "It's late, so we can't do anything about it tonight. Let's go to bed."

"You don't believe me."

"I'm trying to. It just seems pretty ... "

"Far-fetched, I know. But I'm not imagining things, Mercutio. It's not like I've even given him much thought, lately, and there he was."

"Well, if he's in town he's got to be living somewhere," he said. Who was to say? Stranger things had happened. "So the first thing to do is start looking for an address."

"Good idea," she said, heading for the computer.

"Tomorrow," he said, scooping up Irina. "Right now, it's bedtime."

 

Sounds like Richard is a vampire...

 

Darn you, SBW, I spent a while away from the sims and forums to enjoy the summer and I come back to catch up on PDL only to fine a whole other story brewing!

I've caught up now with both and I must say . . . Fabulous!!

 

Or maybe he was resurrected.

 

Either way, it looks like something is rotten in the stat of Denmark! (Or in this case, Veronaville!)

 

Eliza didn't like studying. Everything else about college was cool: the cheap room and board, her new friends, even the classes were OK but she didn't like hitting the books.

So she blew it off sometimes. Big deal. What Nora didn't know wouldn't hurt her. Eliza called a cab and went to her usual hangout, the Stratford Strip, to shoot pool. She could have called Romeo but he was after just one thing lately, and she wasn't ready to give it. Not yet. She was pretty sure that once she did, she'd never see him again.

So she was shooting pool by herself, at night, when she realized she wasn't alone. She straightened, smiling at the stranger who'd just walked in. He had red hair, pale skin, and a scar. He looked dangerous, and Eliza was glad there was a pool table between them.

"Hey," she said.

"Hello. Mind if I join you?"

"Um, well, I was just heading home." Something about this man had alerted all of her danger signals. She hadn't survived living on her own by being stupid.

He smiled. "Do I scare you?"

"No, no, not at all," she said. "It's just ... late."

"I see." He looked amused.

She edged around him and out the door. "Well, um, nice meeting you," she said, and ran for the payphone.

She could hear him laughing behind her.

 

Oh, fun! I got shivers. Can't wait to see the new face in town.

 

I am all AGOG to find out what happens next!

 

Eliza was tired all the time, and she wasn't sure why. She started going to bed earlier, but it didn't seem to help. In the morning she had bleary eyes with bags under them you could count as checkable luggage. Not a good look.

She had a hard time paying attention in class, sometimes nodding off right in the middle.

And then one night she woke up in the middle of a field. She sat up, plucking straw from her hair.

Huh, she thought. That's weird.

 

She rose to her feet and looked around. Nothing but cornfields. Great. How was she supposed to get home? She picked a direction and walked until she found a road, then pulled out her cellphone.

"Nora?"

"No, this is Tybalt. It's late, Liza."

"I ... I know. I ... this is gonna sound weird, but I'm in the middle of nowhere and I don't know how I got here."

Silence on the other end.

"Tybalt? Can you come get me?"

"Yeah, but how do I find you?"

"I'm surrounded by cornfields, on a road somewhere."

"Do you see a sign?"

Hang up the phone, said a voice in her head. Come to me, Eliza.

"Liza?" Tybalt said.

"I have to hang up now," she said, and disconnected. Her phone rang almost immediately.

Turn it off, the voice commanded.

So she did.

Good girl. Now, come. You know the way.

And somehow, she did.

 

Ooh...freaky.