Chapter 17 - Shockwave part 3

#7 Vintage Road - the Bertinos (former Tosha Go) -(last seen in chapter 13)
Tesler Go was a year younger than Dexter and had more rough times to his name. He continued to dream of living with Lester and dreamt that his older brothers would live there too. He always had such happy times when he was there. The family didn't live with the Lillard-Stattons any more. Shortly before Roland's first birthday they had moved.


The house the Bertino family moved to was small and not quite finished but it was theirs alone and they finally had privacy.

Roland celebrated his first transition there

Orlando really enjoyed the privacy. He preferred wearing as little as possible and had often hung out at the Lillard house in his underwear, but now he even dispensed with that much of the time.

Orlando had never thought of getting married until he felt he had to but now he found he rather liked it.

And he also found he enjoyed being a father and doing little things like tuck his son in at night.

However he was never able to get close to Tesler again after Tesler had walked into his and Tosha's bedroom on their wedding night. Tesler still kept his distance and wished for a different life. He was even more sullen after transitioning to teen.

He couldn't even bring his friends home because he never knew whether Orlando would be dressed or not. Not even when Orlando was supposed to be at work. Orlando had a rather lackadaisical attitude toward work and would often call in sick even though he wasn't. So in addition to Tesler being unable to have friends over, the family wasn't as well provided for as they could have been. The support payments Lester sent often paid the rent or bought groceries, instead of buying him new clothes or other teen necessities.

Orlando's habit of going nude would sometimes get himself an unexpected shock too.

Gotcha!
Although the results of that were usually to his liking.

But eventually there were consequences, even though both he and Tosha were fifty.


#5 Nostalgia Lane - the Cormiers (former Meadow Thayer)(last seen in chapter 13)
Meadow's seventh pregnancy ended in a quick and easy labor at 2:30 AM on a Wednesday. Leigh had awakened fussy so Meadow had gotten dressed figuring they would both be up for a while.

It was so quick that none of the rest of the family ever even woke up. She hadn't had time to call anyone.

The baby was another boy with Ricky's dark skin and blue eyes. They named him Cliff.

That evening was Marsh's turn to transition to teen

With three teen boys in the family there was usually something noisy going on. The two elder, Field and Forest, both had part-time jobs now and they both liked to workout. Which they usually did together in front of the tv.

The two were not quite as identical as they had been as children. At least if you had them side by side. Many people though still mistook one for the other if they were alone. But they were both good-looking and the girls at school all dangled after them.


Birthdays come often when you have a large family. Soon it was Leigh's turn to become a child and a beautiful little girl she was. That was the same day that Hester died and Brewster became a child. So Leigh and Brewster entered school on the same day though they were in different classes.

And on that same day Field experienced his transition to adulthood


Ricky was very glad none of his family were around when he heard of Hester's death. Robi Charvat called him the day after it happened as Robi knew Ricky had been a friend of the family for a long time. It had been ages since Ricky's short-lived affair with Hester but the news still struck him like a baseball bat against the head. He staggered and had to lean against the wall to keep from falling and for a few moments he couldn't speak. He finally mumbled a few inane comments to Robi and hung up, then went for a walk to compose himself before rejoining his family. Hester was a woman that no man could ever forget.

Meadow had an entirely different reaction when she heard the news. She didn't care that Hester was gone, and perhaps was even glad. At the time of her and Lester's breakup she had blamed Hester, thinking that if Hester had had a different lifestyle, perhaps Lester would have too. Now of course she would not even think of trading her years with Ricky for Lester. But there was still the issue of Meadow's missing daughter, Spring. It was Hester who had insisted that Spring would be better off remaining in the Genester home. So now her thoughts began focusing on Spring, wondering if there were some way she could get Spring back.

at #6 Heritage Trail - home of Opalessa Genester, youngest gen 2. (again last seen in chapter 13 but very briefly)
Opalessa was the first person Kester called to tell of Hester's death, after his own mother. They had grown up together and had remained fairly close even after he married and she moved out. She took the news fairly well but was totally shocked. She had really thought her mother would go on forever. She had been so hale, never sick, always so active. So YOUNG. She wished now that she had visited oftener. She had frequently put off visiting because she had so many other things to do. Now it was too late. She felt more alone than she ever had in her life, despite the large number of friends she had. She had always been happy in her little house alone. But now it felt empty and she didn't like the feeling.

Within the next few weeks she invited her niece Soressa Charvat to come live with her. Soressa jumped at the chance. She wasn't really happy at home so as soon as she became an adult she was ready to move out. Soon the house was echoing with new sounds as Soressa entertained her brother Kester and her boyfriend, Dorian Kauker.


at #1 Lineage Way - home of Robi Charvat and second wife, Mabal Enabler
(continued from chapter 9)
After Robi and Genesis's divorce was final, Robi and Mabal were finally free to marry. They had a simple, quiet ceremony at the Registry office and didn't even have pictures taken. Then they settled down to do what they loved best. Learn. And teach their children. When Korena transtioned to toddler it was without a party and again no pictures. In fact the only picture taken of Korena through her entire toddlerhood was taken by Soressa one day with possibly the intent of future blackmail.


The years passed quietly until time for Soressa to transition to adulthood. Little brother Sager, now 10, managed to get one picture for her.


Not too long after that, Hester called Robi and asked him to come over. It had been a good while since they had seen each other and he had thought of her often, despite being content with Mabal. When he came home that evening he was pale and shaken. Mabal didn't notice but Soressa did. When she asked him what was wrong he told her that her grandmother was gone. Soressa was griefstricken. Hester had been such an important part of her life from as far back as she could remember. She moped around for days. When Mabal tried to give very clumsy comfort by saying that "Well, look how old she was. She is much better off now in Avalon than she was here making a fool of herself chasing young men." ARGGGH. Soressa wanted to strangle her. Right then and there she decided she was moving out.

Soressa stayed just long enough for little Korena's next transition...


Then she moved in with her aunt Opalessa.