The Munster Legacy - Generation 3.5 - A New Day

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the ongoing third generation of the Munster Legacy, where playful points are needed to survive and beards are encouraged. Jasmine here would welcome you as well, but she's being a pill due to all the pregnancies she's been forced through.

Last time we saw the Munsters face their worst challenge yet as Meadow forced her way into the house, touching their children, almost killing Tosha, before making her way to the roof. After a battle with the heir, Liam, she accidentally fell to her long overdue demise, leaving the Munsters in peace for the time being.

Liam Munster stood in the living room of the house with his youngest daughter, patiently waiting. Today was going to be the best day they'd had in a long time.

"Are you gonna see grandma today, Vivy? You are! I can't wait either."

Jasmine was there too, along with Lucy, who'd taken to asking rather strange questions in the last week, much to Liam's dismay.

"Why won't the pretty lady come back with grandma?""Well, Lucy, you see.."

"She's on vacation, Lucy. A very long vacation."

He'd been trying to avoid the subject of what had happened that night with his daughter the best he could, but it was hard when she kept bringing it up. Lucy loved to talk, but he wasn't ready to discuss what had actually happened that night with her yet.

"Look, Lucy! Someones at the door for you!"

"Look, everyone, I brought someone home with me today!"

Barty had a few problems trying to get Tosha up the stairs at first, as she kept insisting that she'd be able to get up them, but they'd gotten into the door eventually.

Liam had never been happier to see his mother home, especially after she'd been left for dead. But he couldn't help noticing that she didn't seem as happy to be there.

"Do you need me to get anything, mom? Anything at all.."

"I'll be fine, Liam. I'm not paralyzed."

Ouch. Well, he couldn't say he didn't try to offer her some sympathy.

Barty sighed and walked a few feet away while Liam desperately tried to strike up a conversation with his mother.

She'd been difficult from the time they'd discharged her from the hospital, to the second they walked in the door, and it didn't appear to be changing. The doctor had sent her home with a wheelchair, telling her that her hip shouldn't have any unneeded stress put on it, but Tosha was far too stubborn to admit that he was right. He needed to get away from her for at least a minute.

"Well, there's my biggest granddaughter. I heard someone has a birthday later today!"

"Oh that's RIGHT, Lucy! You're gonna be a big girl later, aren't you? And you're going to sleep in a big girl bed and play with big girl toys."

"Do I hafta?"

Over by the door, Tosha had hobbled to her feet, despite Liam's protests.

"Come on, Liam. I'll be fine, just let me hold her for a minute.""Be careful, mom..."

"Oh, look at her. She's getting so big already. So much quieter than Lucy was at that age though.. ow, OW."

Tosha suddenly turned very pale and looked like she was about to collapse.

"Here, you better give me her back and sit back down."

"Fine, I'll just sit back down in the wheelchair like the invalid you all seem to think I am."

Liam had to muffle a groan. This was going to be difficult.

It wasn't until a few hours later, when they were alone, that Barty had the courage to say anything to his exceedingly on edge wife.

"You didn't have to get snappy with him, Tosha. Our son is only looking out for you. And he may not be physically hurt like you, but he's hurting, he really is."

He hadn't seen her smile since they'd gotten home, and now was no different.

"I know he is, Barty. But I'm not a cripple."

"No, you're not. But you're going to be if you keep it up. It's been hard on all of us, and we're all just trying to help. Now come on, I made us all cake."

Tosha, for now, managed to take Barty's advice and slow down while they all sat down at the table as a family.

"Barty, I didn't know you could cook, let alone make some of the best cheesecake I've ever had."

"Well, there's a lot of things you don't know about me, Jasmine. I can make some crazy grilled cheese, too. My mom's secret recipe."

Lucy made some rattling noises over from her high chair, which she had learned generally caused everyone to suddenly look her way.

"Dad, birthday time yet?"

"Soon, Lucy. You gotta wait for your aunty Jackie to get here, alright?"

Tosha forced a grin. Great, more people to ask her if she was going to fall down.

She distracted herself from that thought for a minute while everyone started putting dishes away by turning to talk to her daughter in law.

"Jasmine, this is the first opportunity I've had to say anything. I wanted to thank you for looking after me when I was knocked out cold. I'll have to make it up to you by showing you how well I can make cheesecake sometime.""

"It was nothing, really. And you'll have to do that, because I've been so stressed out lately this is the first thing I've even been able to keep down."

It wasn't that much longer and it was time for Lucy to take the next big step in her life. Liam held her tight as he took her up to the candles, thinking about how much he'd miss singing nursery rhymes and playing peekaboo with her.

Jackie had come all the way down from the Acadamie Le Chocolate Greek House to visit the family and say hello to the birthday girl.

"Mom, you sure you can stand up alright?""It's just for a minute, Jackie. Sheesh, I want to be able to see the birthday girl.""Your funeral, mom."

Jackie was as silent as she normally was, but deep down, she had something she really wanted to say.

She'd been seeing someone. Well, she'd been seeing a lot of someones since she'd gone to college, but in particular, her mind always wandered back to Christopher Stratton.

He took her on dates, they had fun, made jokes, and he was perfect. Quiet like her, and incredibly smart. Sure, he was oddly dressed, but part of his charm was his complete inability to wear anything resembling a shirt.

And she was going to have to say something about him soon, because it was getting pretty serious.

But this was Lucy's day, and she didn't want to make it all about her.

"Alright, Lucy. You remember how to blow out the candles like I showed you, right?""Right, daddy."

That's what she said, but Liam still had to try to stop her from grabbing one of the still lit candles five seconds later.

"Come on, Lucy! Mommy is tired of potty training, now spin as hard as you can!"

Lucy watched as everyone clapped her on, loving being the center of attention, at least for now. She would have kept watching, but she suddenly felt an odd, sparkling, tickly sensation starting at her feet and moving upward.

And suddenly, she felt a whole lot bigger.

After changing into her new big girl clothes, she ran back, eager to talk to everyone.

"Daddy, did you see that? I was really small, and then poof, I was hyuuuuuge! How's that work?"

Liam stared down at his daughter, wanting to answer the question that nobody really had the answer to, but also realizing how much it was like looking in a mirror when he looked at her. She looked just like him.

"Tell you what, honey. If you're so interested, you should get nice and rested after you have some cake, because your sister's got a birthday tomorrow too."

With her cake shoveled down and her new room all set up for her, Lucy headed up to bed ready for her first day as a child in the morning.

"I'm not that tired, I'm sure I could stay up a little longer for my birthday.. Hmph."

Everyone rested for many hours after that, for the most part. But it was about three AM when Jasmine rolled out of her sleep, feeling very odd.

"Hmm... I don't wanna get up."

When she got up, it suddenly became very clear to her why she had not been able to keep any food down since the night of the attack.

"Uh.. Liam. LIAM. Get up, now."

"Goood morning, sunshine. What gets you up so ridiculously early?"

"Well, honey. It's occurred to me that in the chaos of the past few weeks, we may have failed to notice something."

"Or, well, someone.""... Baby.""Yes, baby."

"We're.. having another baby. Jasmine, that's great!"

Liam hugged his wife as tight as he could, not willing to let her see the worry that might have been on his face.

He was happy, he really was. But was he ready for another baby yet? He would have to have one eventually, he needed a son. But Vivian was still so young. And he still wasn't in as good as emotional state as he could be.

"Are you sure you're fine with it, Liam?""Yeah, I'm sure, Jas. Not like there's anything we can do anyway, right? Heh."

Out in the living room, Tosha was being presented with a conundrum of her own.

"Yes, Sim Medical, this is Doctor Go. I was wondering when you'd want me back in, as I'm ready to.. huh?"

"What do you mean, retire? I never put in a request to.. Forced? You can't force me to.. Well, yes, I know I'm in a wheelchair for the most part now but I'm getting better.. Not fit? I.. I have to go."

Tosha tried not to let how heartbroken she was show.

Everything had just been horrible lately. She couldn't defend herself against the now dead witch that had tried to attack her children. She was forced to wheel herself about the house for the most part, standing only when absolutely needed. And now they wouldn't even let her come back to work?

She couldn't help it. She hadn't cried when the doctor had told her how hurt she was, but this was the last straw.

She barely had time to try to hide it before her husband came in.

"Honey, I have some great news! Jasmine... Why are you crying? What's wrong?"

"They made me retire, Barty. They told me that keeping me hired at my age in my condition was a medical liability and.. I wanted to go back, I really did."

Jasmine came around the corner from where she'd been trying not to easedrop to try to cheer her up.

"Well, look at it this way, Tosha. You're going to have a lot of free time to spend with the new baby when it gets here."

"See, Tosha? Like I was trying to tell you, Jasmine's gonna have another baby! Isn't that awesome?""Yeah, I guess it is."

As the sun rose, Lucy came bolting down the stairs out of bed, desperate to find her dad and little sister.

"Hey dad, I wanted to talk to Vivy, can I?"

"Well, I don't know if she'll understand you, but I guess."

Vivy stared intently at her bigger sister, almost like she realized she was being spoken to.

"Hey Vivy. I just wanted to talk to you about how cool and magical your birthday is going to be later. You're gonna spin around a lot and it's going to tickle, and then you'll be twice as big. I don't know exactly how it's going to work but it's really cool."

Vivian smiled back and made indecipherable baby noises only she could understand.

"You'll even get to sleep in a big girl bed eventually like I do. But not the pink castle bed. That bed is mine, ok?"

Liam laughed, hoping he didn't have to deal with them fighting over beds for a long time yet.

Lucy proved to be a very fun child, much like her father at that age. She not only took after her father in appearance, but in spirit as well.

She was very bright as well, eager to sit down on the many creative instruments they had in the house, picking up on most of them very quickly.

Even Butter took a shining to her.

"Hmm, this one is cuter and less threatening. You there, feed me.""Bark!""Aww, who's a cute doggie. You are! Want a treat?"

Liam couldn't be more thrilled that he had such a wonderful daughter, but he was eager to see how his other one had turned out. And he was going to today.

Lucy was glad too. She loved her little sister but she wasn't much fun to play with as a baby. If she was bigger, maybe she'd be a bit more fun. She was pretty bored with no one her age to hang around with yet.

Sometimes being the eldest of your generation had it's downsides.

"Well, here we go Viv. Are you ready to get to the crazy stage of life? I'm never gonna be able to find you after this. Promise me you'll be nice and well behaved and.."

"Just toss her, son. I'm not getting any younger."

Tosha didn't mean to be abrupt, but she couldn't stand forever, and Liam always got super sentimental about his daughters' birthdays.

"Alright, mom. But remember, you asked for it."

With that, Liam tossed his daughter into the air, holding out his arms to catch her as she came down as an adorable little toddler.

Vivian was definately not the same as her sister, that was for sure. She was most certainly a Munster, as she had Fudge's eyebrows and Michelle's eyes like almost all of them did, but there was no mistaking that her nose and mouth were very much Jasmine's.

She also acted fairly different than her sister, being much quieter and less active, but still a tidy playful girl with a mean streak. (6/4/3/8/4)

"You know, I'm glad you look like me. I was beginning to think the genetics of my face were broken or something."

Jasmine had to say, she was really taken with the whole parenting thing. It was just the pregnancy part that she didn't like.

The next day, Barty took a drive down to a place he hadn't been in sometime.

He didn't see his littlest girl enough lately. Everything had been so hectic and Jackie tended to get lost in the shuffle with her already quiet personality. She'd told him she'd been fine by herself at the Greek House, but he still thought it would be nice to surprise her with a visit.

This place hadn't changed much at all. There was a lot more furniture and a lot more pictures now, but being in the room he'd proposed to his wife in so many years ago sure did make him feel old.

He was glad to see though, that he'd apparently inadvertently started a tradition back then when he'd hung their picture on the wall. There had to be at least a dozen more pictures of couples throughout the years hanging up now. Bunch of copycats.

He didn't see Jackie anywhere. It could be that she was at class, but as many assignments as she did in her spare time, she rarely needed to go.

Maybe she was asleep.

Or maybe not.

".. Who's that guy behind us, Jackie?"".. I seem to have interrupted something. I'll just.. go out there until your finished, then."

"Dad, wait."

Jackie ran up to her dad, desperate to explain everything before he would go and tell mom, which would be even worse.

"I didn't know you were coming, dad. You should have called."

"I was going to surprise you since I don't come over enough. I guess you were the one who surprised me then, huh?"

He needed to keep a hold on himself. Obviously Jackie had done a lot of growing up while no one was looking.

"Don't be mad, dad. Chris is really nice, I swear. And if it makes you feel any better, it's getting pretty serious."

"I'm not mad. I just wish you would have told us you had a boyfriend, Jackie. We all would have been really happy for you."

His littlest girl was in college and had a boyfriend. He really was getting old.

"Well, can you really blame me? No boys ever payed much attention to me when I was a teenager, I didn't want to jinx it. Plus, look at how mom took everyone else. She couldn't get along with Jasmine forever, and when she saw Ronan she fainted."

"Honey, she has to live with Jasmine and Ronan is a blood sucking vampire. I think you dating a normal albeit shirtless boy is a bit different."

"Heh. I guess you're right, dad"

They talked for awhile that day. Probably more than he'd heard his daughter talk in her entire life. About Chris, school, Tosha, and all sorts of different things. Eventually though, Barty had to go home. He was sure looking forward to the discussion he was going to have with his wife.

"So.. you don't think your dad is going to show up again and kill me, do you?"

Chris had been hiding out in the kitchen for most of the visit, but now that the coast was clear he was ready to talk again.

"Kill you? I think he's just glad that his quiet recluse of a daughter isn't going to die a lonely old spinster. Plus, it's mom you have to worry about."

"You're just lucky he didn't find out about all those other boys from before we were serious.."

"How about I give you a hug and you never mention them all again?""Sounds good to me."

"A boy? A real boy, not a vampire or anything?"

Needless to say, Tosha had a lot of questions when Barty got home.

"He seemed pretty normal, Tosha. I mean, he didn't have a shirt on but.. hey, when you've got a vampire for a son in law, that's pretty tame, don't you think?

Don't be mad at her for not telling us, honey. We have been under a lot of stress, and I don't think she wanted to bother you."

"Mad, why would I be mad? Now she doesn't have to come back here. Plus, more grandchildren is always good, don't you think?"

Barty let out a sigh of relief. She'd taken that better than he thought she would. She hadn't been taking anything well lately.

Something that wasn't being taken well, however, was Jasmine's pregnancy. Despite having done this twice before, it hadn't gotten any easier. If anything, it had gotten worse.

Jasmine constantly felt drained and twice as bad as she had during the previous ones, and she'd even begun having nightmares.

This baby had to be a boy. It had to, or she would hurl herself off the highest place she could find, into a pit of spikes.

Thankfully, her younger daughter wasn't old enough to notice or care, and if she had, she was much too busy playing horsey.

For Lucy, well, at least Liam was around to talk with her.

"So, how was your first day at school, honey?"

Lucy was one of those children who was always glad to answer questions, and even go further to tell you thinks you didn't even ask at all.

"Oh, it was alright daddy. Mr. Curtin said I'm really good in math but he yelled at me for passing a note to Marsha. We were just talking about how funny his nose was, is that so bad?

.. Daddy, why isn't mommy out here to ask me how school was? Why is she always asleep now?"

"Well, I'm glad you're doing good in math, but first, Mr. Curtin is my cousin, honey. And he's got a very short temper, so I don't think making fun of his nose is a very good idea.

And secondly, well.. your mommy is having a baby, you know that. And the baby is making her really tired all the time."

"Was she this tired when she had me and Vivy?"

Liam knew the answer to that. No, she hadn't been this tired with them, but he didn't want to worry Lucy when she didn't need it.

"She'll be fine, Lucy. Don't worry. Now don't you want to go see Aunty Marylin and your cousin Vincent?"

Over at the house down the road, Marylin was having a pep talk with her firstborn and so far only child.

"Alright, Vincent. You're going to grow up big and strong and make mommy proud, aren't you?"

He'd been such a quiet baby, at times almost strangely so, and she was going to miss it. She supposed it was just one of the quirks of being the product of a 300 year old vampire.

She ran outside as soon as she'd heard footsteps, glad to see her mother out and about at last.

"Mom, you made it. Do you need to go in and sit down? We'll be having the birthday when the sun is down a little more."

Tosha felt so happy. It was good to see her daughter again. She lived only just down the road, but Marylin having a young child at home meant she didn't get out of the house as much unless it was for work, and Tosha wasn't doing much excess walking these days.

"I'll be fine, honey. The doctor said I was good to go for today. Come on, let's head inside."

She found her oldest niece next, eager to catch up.

"Hey, Lucy. You sure have gotten big since the last time I saw you. Uncle Ronan can't wait to to say hi to you, but it's still too light for him for another 15 minutes.""It's alright, Aunt Marylin. His blue skin freaks me out anyway."

Barty on the other hand, just wanted to hold his only grandson. Though he hoped that wouldn't be the case soon.

"Hey, little guy. Aren't you looking handsome today. You know, my son was just as small as you once. And soon enough he'll have a little boy just as small as you, hopefully. Or else I'll have to drag you back to the house and make you heir, and I don't really think you want that. .. What's that smell?"

Soon enough, Ronan had crawled out of bed and found his way to the nursery.

"Mr. Munster, there you are. I hope you have been well?""I'm managing. You?""Hmm. Well, I've been fine. Though I have gained some weight thanks to your daughter's fantastic cooking."".. Vampires eat?"

Marylin took her son from upstairs and down to the cake that was waiting in the kitchen. While everyone filed down the stairs, she had a moment to think.

She supposed he had to grow up sooner or later, but it's not like she was looking forward to it. The older he got, the harder he'd be to look after.

She put on a happier face once everyone got to the kitchen and looked down at her son who was seemingly smiling back at her. It was time to let go. He could take care of himself someday, but for now he was still her little boy.

For the next hour, the new toddler Vincent was poked and prodded by overjoyed grandparents, who couldn't stop remarking how much he looked like his father, while his cousin Lucy expressed disappointment that he wasn't large enough to play tag with yet.

Eventually, the young boy got fairly cranky from being bothered and the stampede cleared, leaving him with his father.

"Well, finally I get a good look at you. Hm, I think they were right. You do look a fair deal like me. You know, I was worried about having a child at first. I thought nothing good would come of it, but looking at you, I think we'll be fine."

By the time they had gotten back home, it was fairly late, but Lucy wanted to spend some time with her sister.

"I wish you could have gone, Vivy. The cake was really good! Well, I like our cousin too, but he's too young to have anything in common with. Maybe you'd like him more."

"Got a boat!"

Vivian had much more important things to worry about than funny looking cousins she had never met. Like boats.

"You need to grow up, Vivy. Mom's gone have a baby soon, so you're going to be a big sister, like me. Everyone should be more like me."

"Eugh, those two tire me out. How about you?"

Jasmine just sat there for a second, technically awake, but still half asleep like always.

"I'm always, tired, Liam. And.. I'm sorry."

"I know you'd rather not have had 3 kids. I really hope this one is a boy. I love them, but I'm sick of making you do all of the work while I just sit around, getting fat."

"Why would you be sorry? Our kids are awesome. I love spending time with them."

Liam hadn't been more amused by a statement in his life. He loved being a dad.

"It's just that.. I.. ow. Just a second, my back hurts."

"Or make that my EVERYTHING hurts. Ow, Liam, baby, now!"

"Don't worry, Jasmine. I'm here for you, just do what you've always done."

"How am I supposed to not panic when you're jumping fifty feet in the air? Ow ow ow ow YEEOWCH!"

Jasmine felt like she was going to fall over dead. This pain was the most crippling pain she'd ever felt in her life. She didn't know why, she'd done this twice before. Shouldn't the baby just kind of fall out by now?

She just needed to concentrate. This was just going to go like every other birth she'd gone through.

Except it didn't.

She'd almost blacked out, but when she her vision cleared, she was staring at a little baby colored just like the love of her life.

"Liam, it's a boy. We had a boy!"

"Did you hear that, dad? A son, I've got a son!"

Liam felt like dancing and crying tears of happiness. He had a little boy.

"Here, Liam. Do you want to hold him?"

Liam took the little boy in his arms, staring down. This was his heir.

"You've got a lot ahead of you, kid."

"You gave me another wonderful grandchild, Liam. Good job.""I did, didn't I? You know, I think I'll call you Leonardo, or just Leo. It works well with my name."

Jasmine tried to smile, but for some reason, her stomach really still hurt. She felt like she was going to collapse in a heap on the ground.

"Liam, I feel weird."

"I think I'm having another one!""Did you hear that, Leo? Silly mommy."

Jasmine began pushing again. What in the world was going on?

".. You weren't joking.""I TOLD you."

Jasmine couldn't believe it, but there it was. Staring at her was another little girl, with tan skin and red hair just like Vivian.

"Well, this is a fine mess you've gotten us in, Jasmine.""It takes two to tango, you goof. Since you went and named the boy, I get this one. I think I'll call you Abigail."

Barty tried not to laugh. Maybe he'd tell them about the cheesecake someday. On his deathbed.

"Ugh TWO of them? Now I get even less attention..."

Oh, Lucy. You have no idea. See, she doesn't know it yet, but coming up soon you'll all be getting something special. Lucy here is going to be getting her own BACHELORETTE CHALLENGE!

So that's where we've got to leave you now. The Bachelorette Challenge will take place soon, with the winner getting a spot later on, and then we'll rejoin the main legacy to see how our heir (FINALLY!) and his twin sister grow up. Keep reading, or I'll hurt you.