Heidi's Precious Mistake

Due to Beau's sculpting, painting, writing, and occasional rock collecting...the family had acquired a hefty sum of money in a short amount of time.

We can't have them being wealthy, of course...so I had to do something about it.

A pink Hummer seemed like the best waste of money that I could think of. It wiped them out almost completely. Wheeeee!!

I decided to give Fiona this one, and to catch Arielle the next time.

Although, I'm not entirely sure that there will BE a next time, considering Beau's lapse of sculpting skill all of a sudden:

 

I'm not really sure how big the market is for headless giraffe topiaries. Big fail, Beau. How am I supposed to buy your other daughter a completely useless luxury vehicle if you can't even sculpt correctly? Bleh.

Fiona used her new-found prize to take her little boyfriend out on a date.

They had a grand ol' time stuffing their faces...dancing...

...and flirting. Apparently, they were dancing so wildly, that his wig flew off again. This poor dude must have some sort of terrible scalp condition.

Eventually, Fiona managed to work her nerve up.

She didn't seem to care that he didn't have any hair, and that he had some serious wig issues. She thought that he was hot, anyways.

Not long after that, it was curfew time. Her sister might throw caution to the wind, but she just wasn't that type of person. She headed home so that she would be safely inside of her house by the time curfew hit.

Speaking of her wild and free older sister:

She was definitely NOT worried about the curfew issue. She had other (more important) issues on her mind at the time.

There was a visit that she needed to pay someone.

You see, Arielle was on a mission. There was a certain something that she was wanting to experience.

Gunther had quite a reputation around town for that sort of thing. She figured that he was an easy target since, from what she heard, he had very little discretion.

Plus, he was somewhat of a bad boy, which Arielle was finding it hard to resist, anyway.

This time around, there were no grandparent ghosts, or fears of parents coming home to stop them. Things proceeded very quickly, and before long, Arielle found herself exactly where she wanted to be.

It didn't take much convincing before things went further. 

Arielle didn't even bother to stick around.

She may have been a little crazy, but she definitely wasn't stupid. She didn't even try to make the whole thing into something that it wasn't.

Besides, it was getting dangerously late...or early, as the case may be. She really didn't want to have to deal with her parents asking where she had been. She had no clue what she would tell them if they DID ask.

A few days later, Heidi had an important phone call while she was outside working in her garden.

She knew that phone number well. She couldn't have said that it was unexpected, but she still found herself not wanting to answer.

...but she knew that she had to.

There was something that definitely had to be taken care of. She texted Arielle to come straight home after school.

Ari was more than a little confused. Her mom usually let her and Fiona go their own ways after school, she didn't check up on them. Of course, she didn't have to, thanks to their pantsless paparazzi stalker.

On the way to their destination, Heidi explained that she was going to let Arielle in on a big secret. One that could possibly change everyone's lives, should anyone but the two of them EVER find out about it. She explained that since Arielle was almost 18, she finally felt like she was mature enough to handle the truth about some things.

...at least I hope Ari can handle it.

As Heidi ventured up the steps...

Arielle found herself starting to worry.

What could possibly be so important that her dad couldn't know about it? Why couldn't they bring Fiona? How was she going to keep whatever this was from her sister...her best friend?

Finally, a man answered the door.

Arielle thought that he looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't figure out why. She knew for a fact that she had never seen this man before.

It was then that he invited both of them in to talk.

Heidi began to let Ari in on the whole story.


All she needed to hear was "Ari, honey, Beau is not your father..."

Before she (not so kindly) let her mother know that whatever it was that she had to say, she had no desire to hear it.

...but she had to.

Heidi started again, and this time was able to get the entire, horrible story out.

Ari wasn't as upset as one thought that she would be. But that isn't to say that she was pleased. She was more confused than anything. I mean, her parents had such a great relationship. How could this ever have happened?

Heidi tried a little harder to explain to her that the only man she had EVER loved was Beau...but there were certain things that she COULDN'T say...certain things that Arielle would NEVER understand. How can you explain a mistake to a child, without making them feel as if THEY were the mistake? Heidi had no clue. She could only hope that Arielle would understand that this was something that no one needed to know but them, and that she was mature enough not to hold it against her, and cause problems within the family.




She had no need to worry. There were things that she didn't know about Arielle...things that made the girl understand that sometimes people do things for inexplicable reasons.

Not to mention, Arielle adored both Heidi and Beau, and she had no intention of ruining their lives. 

But that isn't to say that she was completely accepting of Bryce. He wasn't her daddy...he was simply her father.

She was thankful to him for two things...giving her life, and allowing her to know such a wonderful man as Beau as her daddy.

She tried to give him a chance...

And maybe there was a small chance that they might work up a friendship. Things weren't completely HIS fault, after all. Maybe he had really cared for Heidi.

Speaking of Heidi...

She had never felt more awkward or naive in her life. She never suspected that Bryce would ever want anything to do with Arielle. Of course, who could blame him? She was a lovely, wonderful girl.

She decided to leave Arielle there to get to know her new family. She hated that her fate rested in an emotional teenager's hands...but she couldn't blame Arielle for anything that happened. She just prayed to God that she wouldn't have to pay dearly for her one mistake.

Arielle may not have been terribly interested in another father figure, but she was more than excited once she learned that Bryce and his lovely wife, M'Kenzi had a son named Randall. She had a little brother!

She and Fiona were close in age, so she never really got to have a baby brother or sister. This was very new to her. She spent a very long time getting to know Randall, and playing with him. To her surprise, M'Kenzi was also very likable, and she had a great time sitting on the front porch, playing with Randall and chatting with M'Kenzi.

When it came time to go, Arielle knew that she would be back...if for no other reason that her little brother. 

She was in a rush to get home, though. She had something on her mind all the way there.

More than ever, she felt the need to let Beau know how much she loved and appreciated him.

Fiona was very intrigued about what had happened.

It was easy to convince her that Heidi had just found out about her sneaking out, and just wanted to discuss it with her.



Soon enough, they were all ready for bed. After all, it had been a very exhausting day for most of them.




...




And that's where I leave you for the day. I decided to make this chapter into two. ;-)

Tune in next time to find out:

Who the new guy in town is, and how does he figure into the story?

Arielle finds out some news that causes her to make more than one bad decision, what is it...and what does she do?

Who does Arielle get a *little* too close to?