Chapter 517) Truth & Change

Brindleton Bay
The Elysium

Briar Rose and Bradford walked over to the dining room area, where Bri had been doing homework, before she had let him inside.

“Hey Mrs. C.! How goes it?” he greeted her mom.

“She’s enjoying playing prison guard, don’t you mom?” Bri answered for her.

“Immensely. Distracts me from crying over having a brat like you for a daughter.” Hailey countered grinning, winking at Brad.

“So, still grounded, huh?” Brad deduced.

“Ooooh yeah, I will be stuck here for all eternity. All that’s missing is the orange jumpsuit and a ball and chain on my leg.” Bri sighed theatrically.

Hailey pat her daughter’s cheek.

“Oh honey, don’t be so melodramatic. You are allowed to go to school, and anywhere your dad or I go.” smiled Hailey.

Bri said nothing, just rolled her eyes, but Brad addressed Hailey.

“Is there any chance I could be part of that prison guard circle for today, Mrs. C.? My dad bought me a car and I was hoping I could take Bri for a little joyride in it? Pretty please? I promise not to let her out of my sight. Come on, Mrs. C, you seem like a cool mom, who knows what’s up, you’re still super-young and with it, you look like you enjoy having fun.” he gave her a smile that probably worked on teenage girls, but not on Hailey.

“Aww, aren’t you just the sweetest, but what I also am is too old to be buttered up that easily, sweetie. Bri will have to enjoy your new ride stationary and in our driveway. Sorry. Bri’s kinda over joyrides at the moment anyway, aren’t you, my sweet?” Hailey grinned at Briar Rose, who grimaced.

Her entire family never passed up a chance to rub her face in what happened. All of them, all the time.

Bradford started another attempt to liberate his girlfriend from the perceived parental shackles.

“Oh, come on, Mrs. C., have a heart. We’re only young once, you know how fast high school is over, then gone are the summers spent leisurely enjoying learning about life, before college and work and family and mortgages … A whole month grounded is seriously a bit extra harsh. All Bri did was take her brother’s car for a little drive, not even a tiny scratch on it, nobody got hurt, and she would never do that again, right babe?” Brad gave it all he had.

Hailey crossed her arms, smiling at Brad’s performance, trying not to laugh at what only seemed comical to her.

“My dear, sweet Bradford. I’ll make you a deal: you don’t tell me how I should raise my daughters and in return I won’t keep showing up at your place whenever you have children of your own to meddle in YOUR parenting. How’s that?”

“Yeah. Right. Stay in my lane, got it. Sorry.” he shrugged.

“See, I knew you weren’t just handsome, but also really smart and so well-mannered.” Hailey cooed, rustling through Brad’s curly hair while giving him back some of his own medicine, before shooting her daughter a glance, reminding her why there was no way Chase or Hailey would let her off the hook early.

Bradford wasn’t one to give up easily though.

“Umm, a few of us are gonna hang by the firepit on the public beach later. Can Bri at least come to that? It’s like right down there, just a minute or two away from where we are standing now, and you can see it from the window of your bedroom …” he tried to sell it to Hailey.

“Okay, first of all, no, Bri may not go to the beach. If you and the others want to hang by the fire with Bri, there is a lovely firepit in our backyard, you can all come over and spend time with her here on our fenced property where Bri is very much allowed to roam. Secondly am I at the edge of my seat to find out how you would know what I can see from my bedroom window, or ANY bedroom window of this home for that matter, Brad. Do tell.”

Hailey smiled at Brad, who threw up his hands.

“Oh, Mrs. Cameron, you wound me deeply with your distrust! Assuming something nefarious just because we’re young and may make mistakes occasionally! Your husband asked me to help him to move some furniture around in your bedroom last month and I happened to look out the window then. If you don’t believe me, ask Mr. C.”

“Well, not like I don’t believe you, but just let’s, shall we? HEY CHASE – DID YOU HAVE BRADFORD HELP YOU WITH SOMETHING IN OUR BEDROOM LAST MONTH?” she yelled over towards the door leading to the garage, which was cracked open, from where now a voice came back.

“DON’T KNOW ABOUT HELPING, KID’S GOT TWO LEFT HANDS, BUT YEAH, WE WERE UP THERE. WHY!?”

“NEVER MIND, BABE! TELL YA LATER.” she yelled back, then in her normal speaking voice at Bradford again, “Fancy that, it really IS harmless, which means I don’t have to kill you after all, what a relief, especially since I just got my nails done and getting rid of the bodies is always such a mess.”

“Yeah, I can imagine. Here to please, Mrs. C. Joking aside, can Bri at least come out front and sit in my car? You can come too; I think you might like it. It’s a convertible, perfect for a sunny summer day like today.” Brad wiggled his eyebrows at Hailey.

She sighed, looked at Brad, then her daughter, then Brad again.

“Fine. Our driveway is part of our property, so why not? Don’t make me regret not taking the keys from you and make sure my daughter doesn’t snatch them from you and just hot-rods off. I’ll pass though, thanks, you kids enjoy that new car smell without me. Cos I am the cool kind of prison guard, ya know.” smirking, she winked at Bri.

Bri just stayed quiet, trying not to let show how annoyed she really was about all the punishment, unwilling to dig herself in any deeper by fighting back and potentially making everything even worse. She was also very relieved nobody had felt the urge to tell Brad the WHOLE story, all he knew was that she was on the hook for taking Connor’s car without asking. He was blissfully unaware about anything regarding Jackson or her overnight stay in Chestnut Ridge and for that Bri was more than grateful. Brad was such a sweet guy. It would kill her if he got hurt by her dumbassery, especially since nothing even happened.

She followed him outside and admired his new car, then ended up making out with him in the driver seat for a while, wondering what she ever found so interesting about Jackson. Brad was the perfect boyfriend, just the right amount of sweet, considerate, funny, not to mention handsome and cute.

Later that day, some of Bri and Iris’ friends had assembled in the backyard around a fire, when their parents watched them from near one of the back doors.

“Think we’re being too strict with her? She seems to be punishing herself enough, feeling guilty and all. I honestly feel kinda sorry for her already, even though I will admit it is hella fun making her and Bradford squirm when he tries to save his maiden in distress. Good thing I am immortal, or I’d be on the express elevator downstairs the moment I croak.” Hailey giggled, when Chase shook his head.

“Nope, I do not think we’re being too strict, and you are not going to hell for having a little fun parenting, Lord knows it’s a tough enough job, not to mention an ungrateful one at times. We are lucky Jackson is a good kid, Patches. If he were like most boys at 18, he could have taken advantage of her in ways I don’t even want to think about. Our daughter could be pregnant for all we know, by that horse wrangler, what life would that be for our daughter? Cos – say what you want about how smart our daughters are – CLEARLY Bri’s brain wasn’t operational at the time all that went down. Every moment of torture we may put her through is well deserved, I say!” Chase grumbled.

“Chase, seriously, both girls are on birth control, and they are not stupid, nor some floozies who open their legs any chance they get. They might be hormonal and maybe even horny at times, and most definitely very curious when the hormones are getting the best of them again, but neither of them would just waste important moments in a girl’s life like the first time with just anyone. And even IF one or both of them were to ever be reckless with any boy, let’s not to forget all the problems I had getting pregnant; chances are high one or both of them inherited my low fertility, which is really gonna kick their butts whenever they are settled down and want to start families. And to further calm you, babe, during one of our girl talks Bri let slip that this particular worry isn’t an issue yet. She hasn’t felt ready yet to go all the way and neither has her sister. So, we’re good. They’re just regular bratty teens, not early bloomers too.”

“Maybe not with ‘Brat-fart’, but sounds to me like Briar Rose felt ready enough to bloom in that way around Jackson. If he hadn’t been raised to be a decent young man, we could be dealing with some serious aftermath here, including the fact that he is 18 and our daughter is a minor. Makes it impossible to hate that boy, which I really want to do, but can’t. I am just not ready yet to worry about whom our daughters are or are not sexually active with, I still am trying to wrap my head around the fact that I am a grandpa every time I hold Chris. I love that baby to pieces, but don’t want any more grandkids for at least 10 years. And please remember that your fertility issues might have been cancelled out by my Cameron genes in our kids. You KNOW my side of the family is extremely fertile, so I wouldn’t feel too safe there, Patches. Then again, Connor had a rough time getting Keira knocked up, took them years, so who knows?”

Hailey laughed.

“True, and this is funny coming from me, the former mortal, to you, a naturally born vampire, but that’s just what you have to expect when you have fangs. We already have a grandkid by our son who’s in his early 30s, which is perfectly normal, but before we know it, one day we’ll wake up and we’ll suddenly have great-grandkids and great-great-grandkids running around and still will never look or feel old enough or ready for it, which is where it all is gonna start getting freaky. Ask your dad. Blaine must be over 100 years old now and still hasn’t gotten accustomed to all that. Truth be told, the way he and your mom are, they could probably still be pumping out babies, and it’s a miracle they haven’t. At least not yet. The last two times we saw them both commented several times on how empty Cameron Mansion is with just the two of them now … just sayin’, better brace yourself, just in case.”

Chase gave Hailey a strange look.

“Whatever, I don’t even care. Just as long as we don’t have more kids. I know we were golden with Connor, aside from his constant whining about not wanting to be a vampire, that boy was a walk in the park to raise, so smart and just a good kid all the way around, but SOMEONE had baby fever about 16/17 years ago and now we have a Briar Rose. Thanks Patches. My poor nerves and whatever is left of my sanity now.”

“You are welcome. And – as I will continue to remind you every time you bring up me wanting a second baby after Connor – I didn’t make them myself, it still takes TWO to make babies and I didn’t exactly rape you to get myself pregnant, MR. CAMERON, you did that very willingly and with great enthusiasm, and while doing so, SOMEONE doubled up my order. I specifically wanted ONE baby. YOU made us TWO. TWO, Chase, and if you keep giving me shit for wanting a baby back when, then I am holding YOU responsible for the plus one. The twins were a handful as babies, but as hormonal teen girls now … ugh that is one teen too many for my sanity to stay intact long term. If they weren’t also so cute and really sweet and loving at times, and occasionally useful to help with pesky chores, I’d drive them out to some desert and just leave them both there with signs around their necks ‘free to good home’ with the ‘good’ crossed out, cos … let’s be real here, right?” Hailey laughed.

“Well, at least Iris is low maintenance for the most part. She’s a bit saltier than her sister, but throw a new Smartphone, tablet or laptop at her every now and then and let her have the car keys on occasion, bite back any comments about her awful taste in boys – UGH that Sterling kid, yikes! – and that daughter is pretty low key if you ignore the snarky commentary when she woke up on the wrong side of the bed again. It’s the one that looks like an angel with her big eyes and flowy golden locks, the spitting image of her mother, who causes all the trouble here.” Chase ranted playfully, now smiling at his wife.

“Daaww, I just LOVE complaints and blame tossed at me wrapped in compliments. Just remember, those kids are 50:50 you and me. Maybe she looks like me, but is all daddy on the inside, you troublemaker. YOU brought the Cameron-genes to the mix and there are volumes of proof that Camerons are TROUBLEMAKERS. Show me anywhere any Hansons created real drama, and I’ll bury you in evidence where Camerons mixed the crap up real good. I rest my case, sweet hubby o’mine.”

While her parents were teasing each other by the backdoor, Briar Rose was by the firepit with some of her and Iris’ friends, when she got a text message.

She pulled out her cell phone, and nearly dropped it when she saw WHO had texted her, so she excused herself to use the bathroom. Once there, she locked the door and read Jackson’s message.

JK: Hey – I know you are pissed at me now and probably wish I fell off the face of the earth, but you also said you wanted us to stay in touch again, not sure which applies here, so I just wanted to make sure you are okay.‘

BRC: Depends on what you call okay. I am getting the nth degree here for it from everyone and am grounded for a month. It SUCKS. How are things with Taylor and you? Was she mad?’

JK: Sorry to hear that. No, Tay and I are fine. Taking her to San Sequoia very soon, Connor invited us to stay with them for a week while we explore civilization. :)’

Reading that last part made Briar Rose’s eyes well up instantly, and she wasn’t even sure why. Maybe because she knew her brother invited Jackson and his girlfriend as some kind of reward for him ratting her out, which the adults liked to call ‘doing the right thing’. Whatever! Or maybe because she had somehow hoped her staying overnight would cause him and Taylor to break up. Clearly not.

Through a veil of tears not allowed to fall, she typed back that she was happy for him and hoped they’d enjoy themselves. A lie. She wasn’t happy for them. And she wasn’t even sure why. Well, she was sure why, but would never admit the real reason, not even to herself.

Someone knocked on the door, then she heard Brad’s voice, causing her to drop the phone.

“Bri, you okay in there?” he called through the door.

“Yeah … just dropped my phone. Butterfingers today, I guess.” she replied with a faltering voice.

“Can I come in?”

She got up and unlocked the door, stepping out.

“My parents would kill both of us on sight if we were to be in some bathroom together and I’d be grounded for the next 50 years!”

“You seem down. Everything okay? What happened? Bad news? You got some text and ran off like a bat out of hell.”

“Nah, just some family BS, nothing serious. I dunno. I just suddenly got the feels out of nowhere. I am just an emotional mess right now. Sorry about that.” she tried to hide the tears, but it only made it worse, so Brad gently ran the back of his hand across her face.

“Don’t cry, baby. I know this sucks, but we’ll get through it and then we’ll catch up on everything you missed. Tell you what, my birthday is coming up next month and my parents have been pestering me to say what I want as gifts, I couldn’t think of anything besides the car, which was kinda more for me keeping good grades so I can get into med school, so I was thinking I’ll just ask them for a vacation trip, just us. What do you think? You like skiing? Or do you rather wanna go to a beach? Maybe something more exotic, like an adventure trip? I am good with anything, as long as you’re there.”

“You are SO sweet, but my parents would NEVER allow me going on vacation with you, especially not now. Not without adult supervision, because you know, I made ONE mistake and all the times I followed the rules are down the drain in their mind. Wish their clean slate mentality would go both ways and cancel out the bad stuff whenever I do something good, but sadly, no.”

“Want me to ask them? We can take your sister and Sterling with us, to give them a false sense of security and all, ya know, the teens together, what can happen, blah blah. I know as soon as we get wherever we’re going, those two would be off doing their own thing most of the time and we FINALLY get our alone time away from the adults beating the fun out of everything with their rule books. I bet I can charm your mom into saying yes, and it’s always the same, if the mom agreed, dad is overruled … and if not, I’ll bug my mom until she asks them, she’ll get them to agree. She’s a judge, means she used to be an attorney, and that woman can talk anyone into anything – well, except me or my dad. AND – our moms know each other from that club thing they are both in. So, you wanna?”

Smiling, Bri nodded, Brad kissed her, grabbed her hand and went back down to have some fun with their friends.

Unfortunately, the happy moments wouldn’t last very long, as only a few days after that weekend, seemingly out of the blue, at least from Jasper, Briar Rose and Iris Marie’s perspectives, everyone’s lives were turned upside down again. One of those times where moments started to become memories, and something that was never going to change, DID change.

Their fathers had decided that the album they were currently finishing up was going to be their last as ‘2Dark 2C’, the band Chase and Colton founded back in college, decades ago now. After the tour following the album release, initially supposed to be a promo tour, but now marketed as a farewell tour, they would go their separate ways, in more ways than one.

Chase and Colton were still best friends, but decades of trying to be creative as a band while remaining relevant and competitive in an ever-changing music scene had turned their shared love for creating and making music into more of a chore than the passion it used to be, they already had made more money than they could ever spend, and somehow everyone had grown in different directions, not just musically.

While Hailey had always loved the calm, established life in Brindleton Bay, the beautiful scenery and the soft breeze and salty air of this quietly upscale place, her family had always mostly kept to themselves, a natural reflex for all vampires for obvious, but also maybe not so obvious reasons. It used to be easy, the kids were little, there was a lot of travel as band manager for her husband and Colton. But with her two mortal daughters growing up more and more, both had never known any home other than the Bay, Hailey realized she needed to be a trailblazer for them to get her family fully established in this very close-knit and gate-kept society. She started befriending the right people, even joined a women’s club for the upper class ladies of the old guard here, and once the discussion of retiring from performing started coming up more and more often, she even got Chase to join the men’s version of that exclusive members-only lifestyle, while Maddie and Colton had wanted nothing to do with those people or that club.

Maddie loved luxury and designer clothing more than most people, but she had always abhorred the old money stuffiness of old rules and old estates the Bay was so famous for, she hated what she called ‘the Stepford Wives look’ of the women here, all of them blond, slender, usually dressed in maritime-themed designer clothing from the same certain selection of upscale designer brands, all sharing the same love for horseback riding, while Maddie didn’t care about horses at all, she loved the big city life, fast luxury cars, modern architecture, luxury travels to exotic locations and the latest creature comforts, as she often was reminded of through all their travel with the band, her as the P.R. Manager for 2Dark 2C.
Maddie’s husband Colton wholeheartedly agreed, though their son Jasper was born here, just like Chase and Hailey’s daughters, and like them he had spent all of his life here.

Needless to mention now that the plan had always been for them to go their separate ways as soon as the kids had graduated high school and were off to college.
Those plans were moved up quite a few years when a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity presented itself the moment Chase’s oldest sister Vivien asked them if they were interested in renting or buying her Del Sol Valley mansion, known as ‘Villa ViVa’, after her stage name.

They finalized the paperwork that same day and moved not even a full week later, thrilled beyond words and truly felt like this had been the last missing piece to their happiness when the old sign was dismantled and the new sign went up, turning this mansion into ‘The Malton’, a combination of Maddie’s and Colton’s names, the final step to having accomplished anything worth accomplishing in life. They were DSV Hills residents now.