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 Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 1:23 pm
An overdue visit
To Gavin, the gravel driveway of Allen's house seemed to take forever to tread. His eyes, although alert, were distant as they scanned to house. He missed his friend immensely, but their last meeting had been sour. He couldn't help but wonder, would Allen still be the same? Or did bitter time change his soul? The merchant sighed, resigning from the thought, and shifted the sleeping toddler on his shoulder.
"Lydia, sweetie..." He said. "Rise and shine. We're here."
Lydia's bright yellow eyes sprang open as her body was shifted. She adjusted herself so she could raise her head and promptly began looking around the property, crinkling her nose at the rainy conditions.
"Aw, it's rain'in." She mumbled before turning to Gavin with a small yawn. "Where's your friend, daddy?"
"He's probably inside, Lydia" Gavin replied. "I haven't knocked on the door yet. But I wanted you to be awake to meet Allen. I'm certain he'll be happy to meet you." He gave the door a good solid knock and then, they waited.
Almost instantly, the door sprang open, but to Gavin's surprise, a teenaged girl stood before them. It took Gavin a moment to remember the face of the girl, she was Allen's younger sister, Creea.
"Creea! What a surprise!" He exclaimed. "I haven't seen you in ages!"
"The same to you, Tosher!" Creea replied, laughing soon after. "I was just going to call you to make sure you found this place alright, but then I heard a knock. I figured it was you." Her eyes turned to Lydia, and her smile widened. "And this must be Lydia! Allen mentioned that you would be bringing your daught-"
"Creea! Close the door! Its getting drafty in here!"
Creea squeaked and laughed awkwardly. "I'm sorry Allen!" She called, motioning Gavin and Lydia to come inside. "I forgot, we have other children here. Poor things are sick from being out in the streets for so long..."
Gavin nodded silently as he followed Creea into the living room. He slowly recalled the room, it hadn't changed. The paint was still that awful green color and the floorboards creaked like hell. But with all the chaos that happened within it, he reasoned that it was still in very good shape.
Lydia's eyes were still half-closed in a sleep. The portal ride had been very exhausting and long. She felt sick through half of the journey and fell asleep on Gavin's shoulder during the remaining walk to Allen's house. So even as her guardian's steps halted and she felt herself being caught between Gavin and Allen as they hugged, she wasn't aware of her surroundings.
Her eyes closed to sleep again as she was passed from Gavin's arms to Creea's and she drifted off to the sound of sobs and laughter.
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Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2011 11:03 am
A melting pot of people come over for supper
It was around dinner time when Lydia awoke. She sat up and stretched her arms out, her tentacles reciprocating the action, and looked about the room. She was in a very neat looking bedroom, clothes were folded on a corner side dresser and trinkets and jewelry were aligned nicely on shelves. To Lydia, the room was very pretty, the walls were painted a sienna brown and had pictures all upon the walls. It gave her a sense of warmth and comfort, like she was inside a gingerbread house with a fireplace. Out of whim, she sniffed the air, giggling to herself at how silly it was to think that a room could actually be made of gingerbread.
Swinging her legs out from under the covers and hopping off the bed, she made her way over to the door, which had been left open, and wandered out into the hallway. Amber eyes widened in amazement, this place was huge! There was a giant staircase made of white marble that looked over a grand entrance way. But what was the most incredible was the chandelier that hung from the ceiling high above her head. It sparkled from the light around it as if many diamonds made up its structure. For a moment, Lydia was entranced by its beauty, but the sound of her father's laughter echoed from the floor below her and the spawn ran quickly down the stairs.
Breezing through the large entrance hallway, she found herself in another big room. It had many couches, some with elaborately designed pillows, and tables with dazzlingly colored potted plants set upon them. She peeked around from behind one of the couches and saw that there was a t.v. on, and among those watching it was Gavin.
"Daddy!" She exclaimed and scurried right up to him. "Where are we? This place is so big!"
Gavin, who had been watching t.v. with Allen and a good amount of other friends and family, laughed when he saw Lydia hurry over to him. With a smile, her picked the child up and sat her on his lap.
"Well, I'm glad to see you've woken up." He said, fuzzing her hair. "I'm sorry that I didn't wake you to tell you that we were heading to my friend Spencer's house for dinner. He owns this whole entire house, Lydia, its called a mansion."
Lydia tilted her head to the side, a mansion? But wasn't that where rich people lived? She looked around the room for a moment and nodded in agreement. If this house had a lot of fancy rooms and fancy stuff, then it must be a mansion. Then, a questioning look crossed her face again and she looked back up to her father.
"Who are all these people daddy?" She asked, a tiny finger pointing at every face that was left in the room.
Again, Gavin laughed. His daughter's questions never seemed to cease. It was a gift, a gift that he hoped would never go away. He raised his hand then, and began pointing out each individual.
"This is Allen, he's my best friend." He began. "And next to him is his sister Creea, she let you take a nap in her room when we arrived. Then we have Cara and Seth, they're the sister and brother of Allen and Creea. Now next to Seth we have Armaroq and Anna, they're sister and brother..."
Lydia watched as Gavin pointed out every single person in the room. She admired her father's ability to remember what a person liked or disliked, how old they were and when they met. She hoped that one day, she'd get to know as many people as her father did and have such closeness with them all.
Just as Gavin finished naming the last person, one of the cooks announced that dinner was being served. And so, with a grin and hopeful heart, Lydia set off to enjoy her dinner and her newly expanded family.
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Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2011 12:08 pm
One addition becomes five
After dinner, Gavin and Lydia were taken to see Allen's father, Marcus, who requested that Gavin come to discuss something. Gavin knew that he had promised to take care of a robotic child who had been abandoned and needed a serious update, but the word "discuss" from anyone, especially Marcus, meant trouble. Allen continued to reassure Gavin that it was probably his father asking if his housing conditions were stable enough for the kid and that it wasn't anything to worry about. But Gavin knew that it was something to be worried about when Marcus was standing outside his house to wait for them.
"Hello Gavin!" Marcus exclaimed, waving to the hooded man as the rain came down. He ushered everyone in, handing out towels in case they needed to dry off. "I'm so glad you had time to come out here today. I need your help." Without waiting for a reply, the elder man lead Gavin towards the downstairs family room but stopped him before going in. "Please, before you go in." He said, eyes growing serious. "Zen is fine and is a teenager staged robot now. He's slightly moody, but nothing like tantrums or the like."
Gavin was perplexed, Marcus was acting so anxious. If Zen was really okay, then what was the issue? The merchant boy nodded slowly, even if in confusion, and walked into the living room. There, he saw the blonde haired teen watching television and wandered over to him.
"Hello, Zen." He greeted. "I'm Gavin, I'm going to be taking care of you."
Zen turned his head towards Gavin and a smile formed on his face. His eyes were like green gems peeking out from behind the matted locks of blonde hair upon his head. But then they became distant and questioning and the robot boy spoke loudly.
"Oh, just me?" He pressed, eyes narrowed slightly as if angered. "What about my younger siblings?"
Gavin's eyes widened in shock. He whipped his head back towards Marcus who was now holding two small toddlers. He was being followed by two girls with animal ears and tails. He stared at Marcus for a while before he found he could speak.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He stammered out.
Marcus' eyes saddened, gazing at the two boys he was holding momentarily before speaking.
"I didn't know he had them either." He explained. "But the orphanage found out that he was here and said I was in charge of them now. I was going to take care of them myself but Zen protested and said that he wouldn't live with you if they were all the way back here with me. I didn't know what else to say..."
Gavin sighed and set Lydia down on the couch next to Zen.
"Alright." He said. "But I do need to discuss this further with you."
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Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2011 2:06 pm
Journal log
Author: Gavin
Number: 02
Dear journal,
It hasn't been long since I've last written, but there has sure been a ton of stuff crammed into it. I'm still unpacking the stuff Marcus gave me...
First off, Lydia and I took a trip to see my best friend Allen. It was a very overdue visit, I haven't seen Allen since the end of high school. He hasn't changed though, he's still as nutty as before. And just as cute. Neeeeh, even after all the hugging and crying I still didn't muster up the courage to confess that I love him. Maybe I'll write a letter?
Okay, back on topic. Lydia didn't do so well with the portal travel, but that's typical for first time travelers. She slept all the way through the visit at Allen's house.
But, thank God, Allen's sister Creea was there to watch her while Allen and I caught up. She even let Lydia nap in her room when we went to Spencer's for dinner. And after all the pranks I pulled on her...
The dinner at Spencer's was awesome, of course. He's a big corporate CEO that actually finds time for his family and friends. (How rare is that?) I'll admit, he can be moody, but he's pleasant enough.
Lydia enjoyed every minute of the dinner. From the food, to the music, to the lighting in the room. She was so engrossed with everyone there. I told her who a person was and she went right up to them to introduce herself! Politely too! It was an amazing thing to see a toddler do! I, Gavin, have been blessed with such a lovely daughter. Please, let her stay that way.
Now, after dinner, Allen took me to see his father, Marcus. He requested that I come to discuss something with him. Naturally, my stomach dropped. Not just because Marcus is notorious for scaring the crap out of people, just for the fun of it, but because no matter what, the word "discuss" means that there is trouble. No matter who says it. And as he lead me to where Zen was, (I had agreed to take him on. He was a robotic child who was abandoned.) I felt the sting of "Trouble! Trouble!" attack my back. And guess what the trouble was?
ZEN HAS SIBLINGS! But not just two, HE HAS FOUR! Two toddler boys and two preteen aged girls! When I questioned Marcus- "Why didn't you tell me?" He said that he didn't know about them until a week ago, when the orphanage found that the eldest sibling (Zen) was with him! And they just left them with Marcus! (Some stellar orphanage, right?)
Marcus was going to take care of them, but then Zen refused to leave without them. Marcus has a lot of medical bills to pay, so he begged me to take them with me. I couldn't refuse. Marcus has been through enough. I heard his wife left him because she saw that the house was dirty. Hm. Well, Kayla was always a b***h. No change there, I guess...
Well, anyway. All SIX of my kids are here in the Gaia bunker. The toddlers, Cameron and Sven will share a room until I can clean out one of my storage rooms. (Thankfully, it actually needs to be cleaned...) And the older girls, twins Michelle and Heather, will share a bunk bed that is in Lydia's room. Finally, Zen gets his own room. (Which was already set up for him in advance...) And I hope I get to sleep tonight.
Sincerely,
Gavin
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 3:19 pm
hi jernal! Iz Lydia! i want writ you 'bout stuff! <3
i wen wit daddy to c is fambly n' frends. dey wur cool! i like Ahlen n' Creeuh da moest. Den we 'ad dehnner aht Spehnsir's howse. He gots a manshin! Et wahs vary BIG 'n shynee.
Aftur dat, i meht meye new sehblings! Der naymes ar zen meshell hehthur cahmerun n' svehn! dey wer ahbaanndonned an lehft all a lone. i mayk shur dey feeel sayf heer. dey dun hafta worree no moor. i be heer tu halp dem.
Oh ya! i droo a fambly piktuer!
i no dat dey will b happee heer. i jus' gotta keep hop'in dat dey will
bye fer now jernal!
Luv
Lydia
p.s. i luv meye fambly. <3
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Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 12:21 pm
PortalBot001-ROSA:
Gavin! You have just received some new messages!
Would you like me to retrieve them?
YES/NO
Accepted! Retrieving messages!
...
....
Your messages have been retrieved!
You have two new messages!
Would you like me to identify the senders?
YES/NO
Accepted! Identifying!
...
....
.....
Your messages are from Armaroq Damino and Portal User 04
Would you like me to play the following messages?
YES/NO
Accepted! Will begin playing in...
3...2...1...
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Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 1:09 pm
Message
Sender: Armaroq Damino
Date sent: 8/24/11
Message:
Hey Gavin, I thought I would give you a call to thank you for the gifts you sent my way. I don't know how you got those stones. They're pretty difficult to get around here. So I thank you. They've really made my "quest" for a engagement ring much easier.
I can't wait to propose to her, Gavin. Creea's my life. I just have to wait until October. I hope my patience can stretch until then. I want you to know that you're all invited to the wedding. But more importantly, BE HERE FOR THE BACHELOR PARTY! Allen will be there. HINT HINT HINT! Ha ha ha. I still can't believe he doesn't get your hints. He's clueless. But hey, Gavers, keep trying. He needs you. Especially after what his mother did to him...
Anyway, call me sometime! I miss talking to my older cousin. Oh, and how are your kids? I heard that one of them is a hybrid between a demon and an angel! That must be a doozy. Are they a handful?
Well, I love you cousin! Keep your head up!
'Roq
End of message.
Would you like to reply?
YES/NO
Accepted! Recording now!
Replying to: Armaroq Damino
Date sent: 8/24/11
Reply:
Hey 'Roq! Its great to hear that those stones helped you out. I assure you, they weren't hard to find. One world I've been to has such an abundance of it, they consider it worthless! Isn't that strange? Something worth everything to us is worth nothing to other beings on another planet. Its a funny thought, isn't it?
Creea is a wonderful person, I'm incredibly honored to help you ask her for her hand. I'm assured that she would have accepted your proposal without a ring, but I guess that wouldn't be "traditional". But I know you two will be together for a really long time. You're a match made in heaven.
Ha! Allen wouldn't last an hour if I wasn't there. He gets so nervous at parties. But regarding love, he is clueless. I'm a scardey cat when it comes to love, too. But one day soon, I'll tell him.
...
Please don't get me started on Kayla. If I ever see her again I'll snap...
I miss you too! Maybe you could come over here and stay a few days! The kids would love to see you. They're a crazy bunch of emotional speed demons but they're my crazy bunch of emotional speed demons. I love them anyway.
Ah, so Anita told you about my Lydia? She's a mix of Lust and Hope. She actually not as crazy as you would think. She listens to me, hasn't had any problems with other kids and is generally calm. Apparently her angelic side is more in control. I hope it stays that way.
Love you too! Stay on track, be good, and try not to cause any trouble! I'm here if you ever want to talk!
Gavers
Send message?
YES/NO
Accepted! Sending message!
...
....
Message has been sent!
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Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 2:18 pm
Message
Sender: Portal Guide 04
Date sent: 8/24/11
Message:
Hello, my name is Gabriel. I have been searching for my older brother, Gavin, since I turned ten. I have reason to know that he is a fellow portal guide as I have been confused with him for quite a while. This is why you have received this message.
According to my calculations, my brother should be twenty three years old by now. His hair is a peach orange and his eyes are an odd green and orange mixture. If this description does not fit you, please stop listening to this message and carry on with your day.
PortalBot002-XERIX:
Hello there, I am the portal bot associated with the particular user and their area, please call me Xerix. I have been asked to send a prompt to anyone who receives this message so please don't be alarmed if you don't recognize me.
Would you like to continue listening to this message?
YES/NO
Accepted. Continuing message.
If you have continued this message, I can safely assume that you fit the description I stated before. So, please listen carefully.
Your mother and father are alive and safe. You have three younger brothers and two younger sisters. Your mother is a princess, making you a descendant of a royal family. Your father is a legendary guide from a once great family of bird-people. Our family name is Linderhill.
Our mother is named Marianne. Our father is named Trevor. Your siblings are Gabriel, Gregory, Gabriella, Cyrus and Luljeta. We are looking for you.
Gavin, we are desperate to find you. You saved our lives when we were attacked in our home and you made sure each of us would live with the sacrifice of your wings. Then, you left us as if you were blinded. You feared death. You feared a banishment that wasn't going to happen. You ran for our safety. We thank you. But its time to be reunited.
Please message me back with your location, I beg you. I will come to you, brother. Don't fear me. I will bring no one else. I promise you, you will not be harmed. There is nothing that wants to harm you. You were never going to be harmed. I simply want my older brother back. So please, swallow any fear. I will not make you leave if you do not wish to. I just want to see you.
Hoping to finally see you again.
Gabriel
End of message.
Would you like to reply?
YES/NO
Accepted! Recording now!
Replying to: Portal Guide 04
Date sent: 8/24/11
Reply:
D-dear G-Gabriel...
M-My n-name is Gavin...I-I fit y-your description p-perfectly...
As you can p-probably hear...I am in tears...You've been looking for me...?
...I cannot believe th-that I...Forgot you. What happened to my mind? I barely remember anything anymore...
Its coming back...Slowly. So very slowly...
Gabriel. Please come visit. I live with my adopted children in the world of Gaia. My address is-
174 Beach St, Barton, Gaia
I look forward to re-meeting you. I'm so sorry that I've forgotten so much...
I want you to know that I am stable and have many friends. I am healthy, if not a little forgetful.
...If you want to bring the others...I have no rooms. But there are hotels nearby... But if you come alone...The only place to sleep right now is the couch...
I have four dogs, a cat and two other strange animals. Please expect a large, happy welcome from the dogs...
Call me on my communicator if you get lost...
Looking forward to seeing you soon.
Gavin
Send message?
YES/NO
Accepted! Sending message!
...
....
Message has been sent!
And then a seemingly long gone and forgotten world was brought back from the depths of time that warm August day...
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