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"Well..." Roch said, looking downright hesitant, especially after that "baby" statement. "Y'see... some things... j'st..." He headed for one of the stools, dropping down on it and jiggling his leg as he tried to come up with the way to tell the whole story.

"Y'know... I went out an' I toured, an' well, there was all that Amphi bullshit an' I started goin' around with all these different ghouls, y'know? I... ah... didn't... exactly STOP doin' that while I was on the road..." He looked so much like a little kid admitting he got in trouble that it was almost funny. "An' I ran into one that was, well, ain't gonna lie, a total B. But she was hot, man, REALLY hot. So she talked me inta... well... jack, I'm an idiot, I'll be the first t'admit it..."

He dug through his pocket, pulling out his phone and showing Ren the screen. "His name is San Francisco," he said reluctantly. "Cisco, for short."

"She was a Valkyrie, who wanted an heir so she could take over her family business," Roch said, looking at the phone rather than at Ren. "An' all I was SUPPOSED t'do was donate a bit of FEAR, but then the kid turned out t'be a grim--and a male... an' that ain't what she ordered," he finished, a hint of rage showing in his eyes. "A grim boil just wasn't good enough for her highness, so she dumped him off at Casino Royale, an' they called me in the middle of the night t'explain what in the hell I was thinking."

He looked at Ren, then. "If I ever meet the b***h again, I'm going to kill her." That was said perfectly seriously, with no hesitation. "But... the kid is awesome," he went on, cheering up quickly. "He's so jackin'... beautiful, man, it almost makes y'cry."

"That she had it coming?" Roch offers. "I'll do it nice an' close t'a pumpkin patch so she recovers quickly, but she needs to pay for just ditchin' my baby boil!" he says. "I thought Amphi was bad for just dumpin' me for no reason, but that looks downright kind compared to what Emilie did! Y'don't go out SHOPPING for a kid an' return it when y'get the wrong brand!"

He stood, pacing back and forth as his ire was reignited. "HOW could she dump a boil like Cisco, man? It makes no JACKIN sense to me--I've had him a year, y'know? I still get stunned that a no-account punk like me managed t'actually MAKE somethin' that amazing! But her! She treated him like garbage! She did EXACTLY what my ma did to me," he says, stopping and running a hand over his face.

"I'm givin' up on women, Ren," he said with a shrug. "Scythes seem t'have no luck with them whatsoever. How'd you get an awesome one like LW?"

"Y'wanna meet him?" Roch asks, breaking into a grin. The whole headlock didn't even seem to phase him. "But that's why I ask--I even dragged my sister up from Los Muertos t'keep an eye on the boil, but she's got to go back t'school sooner or later, so I'll wind up either bringin' them both, or bringin' someone else t'watch him while I work--he loves music. But if y'don't want scarelings in the house, I can leave him with one of his granddads."

Probably more likely with Monica, though.

Roch started laughing, heading for the door. "He's with my pop right now, who decided the boil needed an introduction t'blues, so they're downtown," he said, checking his watch to make sure he was right. "There's a concert in the park t'day, and a few of Pop's old friends should be playin, so I bet he got in for free," he added dryly as they started down the street.

He paused, honestly a bit startled. "You've never met my pop, have you?" he asked after a second of thought. "I used t'hate the guy, but the older I get the more I get him--that SERIOUSLY messes with my head."

Roch turned, looking at him with a bit of shock. "I've never introduced y'to Terra?" he asked after a second of staring. "Never? Ever? Terra's the one family member I'm actually PROUD of!" He couldn't believe it--he'd have thought--

Maybe he hadn't. Wow, that was rude of him! "Well, you'll meet her here. She's a Scythe from the top o'her blonde head t'the violin she beats others upside the head with," he adds proudly. "So if it's a concert, an' one of the family is going, the others should be there, as well."

There was a crowd up ahead and the strain of music dancing on the air--blues music. Roch stopped at the edge, looked around, and jumped on the nearest bench. "And... there they are!" he said. "Straight this way!"

"Yep, I got a scareling," Roch said, not nearly as stunned sounding as Ren was--then again, he'd had him for almost a year. "Time's different out there, did'ya know?" he asked, only to stop as they reached two tall blond men and a blond girl holding a little boil. The first to turn was the massive older reaper dressed in a white suit. He had a cigar, which Roch promptly took and put out on the ground. "What did I say about smokin' near my boil, Gramps?" he demands.

"That was a really good stogie, boil," Vegas mutters, looking mournfully at the ground.

"Ren, this is Las Vegas Scythe," Roch said, turning to Ren. "He's my granddead. This one is my Pop, Austin," Austin raised a beer in greeting, "and these two actually matter--" he went on as Terra turned to them with Cisco in her arms, "my little sis, Terra, and my boil, Cisco."

"Boos, Deaddy, BOOS!" Cisco said, waving his arm behind him at the stage. He was clearly enthralled.

"Well, I'm sure there's booze up there, too," Roch agreed, tugging him from Terra's arms.

"Hola, Senor Ren!" Terra said, giving Ren a huge smile and holding out a hand to shake with a stiff arm. "Thank you for taking care of mi hermano--my brother."

"Cisco, this is your Uncle Ren," Roch said to the boil who was still trying to see the stage. Cisco finally looked at Ren when no music started yet, and gave him a huge grin.

"Boos!" he said to Ren. It looked like he was a big fan of blues already.