Welcome back to the Bookacy Family Alphabet Adventures, this is chapter seventeen! First, let's go back to where we last left: Salahuddin and son.

"A work command? But that is wonderful, dear Joy! Where is it taking place?"

"I'm sorry, that's classified information, sir. You know how this Criminal business goes."

"Yes, indeed. That is what I expected. But this is a wonderful opportunity for you nevertheless."

"Yes indeed, mr. Chamcha. I can't tell you how pleased I was when I got the offer. If I do well, this should be very good for my chances to get promoted!"

"I am sure of that, Joy. But I suppose there will be one downside for us, will there not?"

"Me no longer living here? Unfortunately yes, sir." Joy was silent for a short while. This was the hardest part. "But I believe that there are benefits that should outplay the drawbacks, however."

"Benefits, Joy dear?"

"Well, yes, I think so. As a fellow Criminal located elsewhere, I might be able to give you some valuable inside information. Don't you agree, honey?" Joy asked, turning to Aadam, who had just silently approached them.

"Oh yeah, I do. That would be an opportunity for you too, Dad. We talked about it with Joy, and there should be plenty of opportunities for her to give you the best deals."

"Well, I must say that is a tempting offer", Salahuddin said, pondering, "When would you need to move out?"

Meanwhile, in the Bookacy family Greek House Greek House, the generation B kids are enjoying the new pool I built for them with their scholarship money.

Beth, the firstborn, a popularity sim with the lifetime want to become Mayor just like her late grandpa, Count Curtis.

Baudolino, the secondborn, a fortune sim with the lifetime want to have 5 top ranked businesses. He's got one in the bag already.

And Bill, the thirdborn and alien of generation B, a popularity sim with also the lifetime want to have 5 top ranked businesses.

But, speaking of Bill, there is something more interesting going on in the house than just swimming.

"Eww. Do not want!"

Umm... Bill? Have you forgotten to tell me something?

"Like what, C?"

Well, not that I have anything against it, but well, I didn't know your gender preference was set.

"You didn't?"

Nope. And as I don't have ACR, I didn't know your gender preference could be set without me knowing it.

.... Wait. We have a male cow mascot, don't we? Yes we do, Kacper. Bill? Have you by any chance been accepting a flirt from him?

That must be it. The cow flirts with everyone, and Bill has ten nice points. I can't think of any other explanation.

Well, actually I found this quite a fun turn of events. I got a good laugh out of this surprise. I bet it wouldn't have been quite as much fun had it been B... I mean, one of the kids eligible for heirship, as I don't have Pregnancy for All.

Well, Bill, now that you've told me you don't want Ryker, who would you like then?

"Wants that!"

Him? Ira, your old buddy? Okay, can do. I kinda like him. Go do something about it before he hits the guitar.

So apparently your Ira is a wealth sim, then. Lots of wealth and popularity this generation.

And he thinks you're hot too, so cool!

"Does this mean I can have him?"

Yep, I think I already said yes. And I think you'll be cute together.

The next day: autonomous backrub. You're officially adored, Ira.

"Thanks, I guess."

Aww. I know. Pointless cute picture of Bill and Ira flirting.

Oh. And only when I was getting them together, I realized their noses are exactly alike! The Goopynose, as they say. This must be a sign. These two are perfect for each other! Squee!

... yeah, yeah, okay. I'm done now.

And we have pink hearts, yay!

"Hello there! I'm Bill Bookacy, who are you?"

"Marylena Hamilton, nice to meet you."

"Okay Marylena, cool to meet you too. This, by the way, is my almost-boyfriend, Ira."

"Hi, nice to meet you."

"You too, almost-boyfriend Ira."

"So, you are a friend of my sister Beth, I suppose?"

"Well, actually it was Baudolino who invited me here."

"Oh. My brother. Go figure. I just always assume that new sims are friends of my sister, she's the popularity sim you know."

To be honest, this is a point where my pictures unfortunately get sparse for a moment. There was so much happening simultaneously that I got confused. You see, Bill and Ira were still playing poker when I heard the hearts flying tone. I was intending to have the two flirt, so I couldn't figure out why I got the music in advance. So I missed the picture of the flirt. But yeah, Ira's in love as you can see.

A moment later I went to Laura, our placeholder, to see what she was doing. I found her in the kitchen, platinum. It took me a while to realize what was funny about her want panel.

... oh yeah. The big red heart with the lock. It's gone. Ah, yeah. Barry is visiting. You could have at least warned me first, Laura. I would have wanted a picture.

"Lalala, I'm in love, so happy... Did you say something? Oh, that. Well, I figured that someone's got to make me happy."

Hey, I was working on it! I swear I was!

"I know. But you had other things going on, so I took care of it myself."

Anyway, I'm glad I didn't miss this. Aww.

"Ira, I think I'm in love with you."

"Thanks for coming over, Marylena. I hope my siblings didn't scare you or anything?"

"Not at all. Your brother seems very nice. He mentioned you have a sister too, but I haven't run into her yet."

"Oh, we'll have to fix that. Anyway, it's cool to finally meet you in person."

"You too, Baudolino."

So yeah. I suppose I have spilled the beans by now. Baudolino is my generation B heir. Again no specific reason, other than that I like him. And maybe the nice points a little bit.

"So my brother is heir, cool. Can I woohoo my boyfriend now?"

Well, he obviously could.

"So you're about to leave, Laura?"

"Yeah, this evening. Creator says it's time to have me live together with Barry and his cousin Bianca."

"Okay then, I suppose she wants to have controlling us a bit easier."

"Yeah. Anyway, it's been fun being your placeholder, and let's keep in touch."

And indeed, that evening it was time for Laura to go. Baudolino did make it to wave goodbye, I think he was again enjoying the pool and rushed from there.

Meanwhile, it looks like Beth has something interesting going on. Chris- I mean Sean seems to have wandered on the lot. And if my recollection is correct, he is a fellow popularity sim.

Well, at least this would suggest that. I've been looking for someone for Beth for a while, but haven't found anyone both of us would have approved. Seems that now I have, or what do you think, Beth?

"Yesssss, m'am!"

Excellent. And Sean doesn't seem to object either.

So Beth?

"Yeah?"

Did you hear what I said a while ago? About having picked the heir?

"Oh that. Yeah."

I hope you're not upset or anything.

"Upset, when I have this gorgeous popularity guy to interact with ad exhaustum? No way!"

Okay, good.

Nope, no objections from Sean. Good, Beth still has that first kiss want locked from her teen years. And yeah, goodbye kisses don't count.

Heya, Ira, whatcha doing here in the night? Bringing us something cool as a date reward maybe?

"I'm so bringing you something cool as a date reward! Have a pinball machine, me and Bill had such a cool date!"

Well, thanks Ira, I hope you don't mind me moving it off the porch. And by the way, you're standing in someone's date bouquet.

Just one question: how appropriate is this?

"Okay, Mar. So we're all doing fine at school. But there are other goals for us in college I think."

"Oh yeah. I think I saw you working on some other goals with that cute guy in a ponytail yesterday", said Marsha grinning.

"Well, yeah, that's a goal alright", said Beth returning the grin, "but that's not what I meant. I meant that Bill has been hinting me that we should go have his business started and help him like we helped Baudolino."

"Well that's only fair. When do we go?"

"I think he's ordering the cab as we speak, so better stuff the cereal in your face fast."

So this is Bill's place, Bill's first business. A venue as you might guess. Or rather, this is one of the main attractions of the venue.

And yeah, that was to distract you from the "interesting" nature of this picture. Bill and Amin, both in their nakedness pixels in the tub, discussing lamps.

"What? We're having a completely innocent discussion about lamps here!"

Yeah. Just about as innocent as discussions about handcuffs and spatulas.

One of the main tasks in this business is to keep company for the customers, so they stay longer. And possibly make a couple of best friends in the process. So our two popularity girls do not object.

"So, who is this young lady here, Beth? A friend of yours?"

"Yeah, Marsha here is my best friend in the whole world. We've been buddies since teenage."

Umm... mr. Ramirez, would you please behave?

"Hey, I don't mind, I know that I'm hot!"

"Yeah, Beth is one of the most attractive girls on campus currently. She can pick anyone she wants, mr. Ramirez. She's currently dating this really cute guy and..."

"Mar! That's not public information yet!"

Meanwhile, in the Chamcha residence.

"Oh, I wish Aadam would come back soon. I'm tired of hiding and worried sick", Joy muttered to herself while gazing through their bedroom window. It was early morning, and Aadam had left a moment ago to see when it would be safe for Joy to come out.

A few moments later, there was a quiet knock on the door.

"Okay, let me go first, just in case", Aadam said quietly. "The sun has just risen, so there should be no danger."

"Are you sure?"

"As sure as one can be. I saw him head for the coffin myself and wished him a good day's sleep."

Joy came out of the bedroom, looking left and right. Aadam nodded to her reassuringly and quietly took out his cell phone. "Hello. I'd like to have a cab at the following address please."

He turned to Joy.

"Okay, it should be over there in about ten minutes. It's a bit of a walk, but I didn't want to risk waking Dad up even though the protections should hold and keep all disturbances out."

"Yeah", Joy nodded. "Even though he knows I'll be going today and seems to be okay with it, it's not a good idea to let him see me in this state", she finished looking down at herself.

Aadam just nodded back. Then a fond smile spread over his features. He approached Joy and spoke to her stomach.

"Okay then, little one. Be a good boy or girl, and don't give Mommy too much trouble. Daddy loves you very much, and will come to see you as soon as he can, okay?"

"Come here, honey. How are you holding up?"

"Okay, I guess", said Joy uncertainly. "I hate to not be with you, but I know it's for the best. I'm sure I'll start feeling better as soon as I'm sitting in that cab."

"I know", Aadam whispered into her ear. "Hey listen. There's one thing that I want to do yet."

"Oh. What is it?"

Aadam slowly separated from Joy, then got down on one knee.

"Something that might make you feel better. Even though the future is uncertain and maybe even dangerous, I want to show you that I love you and want to share my life with you."

Joy was swallowing hard, trying to keep calm as she realized what was coming up. She had to quiet a squeal when Aadam went on:

"Joy Mendoza, will you marry me?"

She had tears running down her cheeks when he slid the ring on her finger.

"Of course I will, Aadam."

"I know this isn't the best of moments, and it may be long until we can get married, but I still wanted to do this", Aadam said, equally teary-eyed.

Joy just dragged him up and squeezed him really tight.

"I'm sorry about all this trouble", Aadam said quietly, still intently listening for signs of his father possibly being awake. "I didn't mean any of this to happen."

"Hush, honey. It's okay, I know you didn't. And I promise to be there for you, no matter what."

"Love you, Joy." Aadam was quiet for a long while, just holding her tight. Finally he had to break the comfortable silence. "Hey, we'd better go. The cab must be there any minute now."

Back in college, Marsha keeps in touch with her "Dad".

"Hello, mr. Chamcha. Good to hear your voice!"

...

"Yes, all the others are sleeping, there's no one to hear anything of your Criminal business, sir."

...

"Well, I'm still having lots of fun. We just had this party a couple of days ago and..."

"... and Beth is dating this really cute guy called Sean. He's cool to be with, too, we might become friends later on."

...

"Yeah, Baudolino is I think kind of seeing this NPC, her name is Marylena, and Bill is definately seeing this Ira guy from school."

...

"Yeah, mr. Chamcha. Baudolino is the heir now, so it's good he's making friendly with an NPC."

...

"Mr. Chamcha!"

...

"No, I'm not seeing anyone in particular. Well, not yet at least."

And again it's time to take care of Bill's business a bit. Oh the hard work the kids have to do! Soaking in the hot tub for hours, then playing poker and kicky bag until it's time for coffee or energizing!

Oh, and yeah, that guy in the sweater is actually Thomas, Bonnie's boyfriend. Bonnie is a cousin of the kids, the daughter of Arthur and Meadow. Bonnie and Beth look very much alike.

"Girls in swimming suits to keep you company? Not bad."

Hrmph. And still you won't even give me a good review.

"No? But our business is the coolest of all, sir!"

In fact, the girls work quite hard, to earn their sales badges.

And well, to keep the customers happy and well fed. That doesn't always go that well. Luckily all customers are currently inside.

Marsha, if you have to panic, please at least stay away from the fire, okay? And somebody call the fire department, I think we don't have an alarm.

Well, something good came out of that. Aspiration points for meeting the fireman.

And Marsha, put that away. You're not feeding our customers burned food.

"I finally got my gold sales badge, isn't that exciting?"

"And that must be why I'm sitting here, right?"

"Yep, I can now Dazzle."

Oh oh. What's that, Ivy? That's a star! But that must mean...

Yes, we're halfway through! How are you feeling, Bill?

"Finally! I'm feeling good, except that I've been soaking here for hours and waiting for the last few stars, so I can be platinum and energize again."

Well, go and do that, then.

"Hi Mom, thanks for accepting the Dazzle!"

"No problem, Beth dearie. Of course I will help my children when they need it."

"And we have lot's of fun objects, too."

"But no grilled cheese, am I right?"

"No, no grilled cheese here."

"Good."

"Goodness, Bill!"

"Oh that. Yeah, Bill and the hot tub. He always does that. I'd just advise you not to look that way."

"What, me? But I have no nice points!"

I know. Neither does she. But it's not like you don't like hugs or anything. Besides, you're a popularity sim, you want to keep up your relationship, right?

"Oh ok. For the relationship's sake."

George showed up, too. He's a great customer, really. He doesn't have most of these difficult things called "needs" that the others have, so he can happily spend days just upping his fun and social. Which is perfect.

And when his energy goes down, he goes recharge himself. Cool. Well, there is the downside that we have to either close the business or explicitly send him away, if we've had enough of him.

And we have to watch over him, in case he decides that he wants to soak in the hot tub. So far he hasn't attempted it – I wonder if I'd be fast enough if he did decide that.

Back at home, then. Beth is quite fun when she's training charisma. She's always practically yelling at the mirror.

Marsha pledges cousin Bailey in.

And Bailey likes it. And he also likes her.

It's party time once again! Marylena is now a frequent guest at the parties. She doesn't seem to have a problem coming along with folks younger than herself.

Marsha found yet another sim to make buddies with. And yet another Bookacy at that.

It also seems she found someone she wants to be more than buddies with.

"Bailey?"

"Yeah?"

"Have I ever told you... have I ever told you you're kind of cute?"

"Hehe... Not as such, no I don't think you have."

"Well, you are. And I am a big sim on campus, by the way."

Way to ruin the beautiful moment, Marsha.

"Sooo... Would you... would you kinda... consider being my boyfriend or something?"

"I so would, Marsha!"

"Cool! Wanna, umm, play red hands or something?"

"Wow, C, seems my party was a roof raiser!"

Indeed it was.

"But how? The score was at good time last I checked."

Well, I guess you should thank Marsha for that, Baudolino.

"I think I'm in love. I'm gonna celebrate that..."

"... by taking out the trash."

"Hi Marsha! Another final exam done with, huh?"

"Hi Beth! Yeah, that's now done. Wanna pillow fight?"

"Sure, pillow fighting makes the exam stress go away!"

But now, let us move into a different environment. It seems something is going on at Abraham and Kendra's.

It was one beautiful evening, when Abraham was just about to check the mailbox. He was descending the stairs when he saw someone familiar approaching the house with a determined look on his face.

Abraham stopped on his tracks, even backed down a little.

"You!" he gasped, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see you and Adson", Aadam started as calmly as he could, "and I'm here to apologize."

"Apologize? Don't you think it's a bit late for that?" asked Abraham, trying for a sarcastic and cold tone, but he was much too angry to succeed.

"I know", said Aadam quietly, "I know apologizing will not fix things, not in the slightest, but I still honestly want to do that. I wanted to come earlier, but it's been impossible with the... ah situation with me and Dad."

Abraham seemed to be too angry to speak.

"Listen, I know it's not good enough. But I still want to apologize, to you, and especially Adson. I'd need to talk to him", Aadam finished, looking very uncertain.

"No, you listen, brother", Abraham finally said, "You've been hiding with that 'Dad' of yours for months and months, leaving Adson heartbroken, without a word of explanation. Do you really believe I would let you come back now and upset him even more than you already have?"

"Abraham..."

"He's been trying to cope the best he can, with me and Kendra keeping company for him and trying to take care of him the best we can. He's been trying to work, trying to make it to his lifetime goal, but he's never been the same since Rebecca died, never! How do you expect him to forgive you?"

"I don't expect that. He has much more reason to hate me than you do, and I know enough not to expect you to forgive me. But let me talk to him this one time, it's very important. After that, if he never wants to see me again, I'll disappear. I promise."

"No, you're not upsetting your brother any more than you already have, I already told you!"

"What is it, Abraham?"

It was Adson, and Kendra was coming towards the porch right after him. Abraham's fist flew through the air in frustration, and Aadam jumped backwards, alerted, even though Abraham wasn't trying to hit him.

Abraham sighed. "Okay, come on here. There's someone here who wants to see you, Adson." Suddenly he sounded very tired.

Adson and Kendra stepped on the porch. Both were speechless at the sight of Aadam. He used the silence for his advantage. Giving a weak smile, he started:

"Adson, I am here to see you. Abraham wouldn't want me talk to you at all, but I have to. First of all, I know there is no way I could ever apologize you enough, and I don't expect you to forgive me. All the same, I want to say that I'm sorry. I'm terribly sorry about what happened, I really had no idea it would turn out that way. Not that it's really an excuse or anything, but I didn't. I'm sorry."

"Second of all, I have information for you", Aadam went on as the night fell. He was speaking very fast, as if he'd been practicing this a million times in his head.

"Information?", Adson finally spoke, dumbstruck, "What information?"

"Information that I have gained by working for my Father. Information that I think you deserve more than anyone else, and if I'm correct, information that you need more than anyone else."

Aadam finally drew breath. "You want her back, don't you?"

Adson was silent for a long while. "I do", he finally said quietly. "I do, more than anything."

He turned contemplative. "You know, I recently got permanent platinum. I thought that would ease the pain, help me forget. And well, it did. Kind of."

"I did truly enjoy getting there, it was a goal I had set for myself as a teenager, and had worked on since college. And then suddenly, I was there. It did make me feel good."

But... None of those numerous girls, and those couple of guys, none of them, felt really right. Sometimes I thought it was because of the aspiration – not all of them were romancers, so I though maybe that... But some of them were. I just felt that they were not... romancers in the same way as I was."

"So yes, I want Rebecca back, more than anything. But what information could you possibly have on that? There is no way, right?"

That was when Abraham spoke up. "Adson, I've been telling you that there is. If only..."

Suddenly Kendra interrupted her husband. "So that's what he's up to?" she asked Aadam.

"What? Who?"

"Your Father. He's trying to bring Author back, isn't he?"

Aadam turned awkward "You know I can't say that."

"Have you considered that I might take contact to my job and have you arrested?" she asked, measuring him with her gaze.

"I have. And if it comes to that, I should be able to disappear from view faster than they get here."

"Let's..." Interrupted Adson, signaling the others to be quiet, "Let's not talk about arresting anyone right now, okay?" Giving a sigh, he went on, looking determined, "Aadam, I'm not sure if I can forgive you, but I want to tell you that I don't hate you. If your apology is honest, I will try to accept it. And if you have information for me, I'd like to hear it."

As Adson had said that, Kendra strictly told all his boys to come inside. She told them it would be best to discuss matters over some snacks, and quickly served them some leftover grilled cheese sandwiches.

The meal was quiet at first as everyone was surprisingly hungry, and suddenly there was also an awkwardness in the air between the three brothers.

After a while, Aadam gained back some of his courage. He started talking, explaining what he knew about the process of resurrection through Salahuddin. He had not gained knowledge of the supernatural side of things, as there still had not been an opening position in the Paranormal career, but he knew quite a lot about the scientific matters having to do with the construction of the mystical device needed.

Kendra was worried. "Aadam, I know you want to fix what happened, but that thing you are talking about sounds very dangerous. Are you sure about this?"

"There are always some risks when you meddle with things that... well, things that should not be meddled with. But overall, the device should be as harmless as anything like that can possibly be."

"But... Have you considered the fact that the source of this information is..."

"Listen, Kendra. I understand that you are worried, I really can't blame you. Yes, my Father is in some sense, crazy, even dangerous. But the last thing in the world he wants to do is to hurt my Mother."

"I believe that but..."

This is where Abraham stepped in. "I think what he's saying makes sense", he said slowly, gazing into the distance. "I think I know what's wrong with my own calculations; maybe I have just found the missing piece."

Kendra gave him a pointed look. "Didn't I tell you not to? Even if you are a Mad Scientist, there are things that you could not possibly predict and..." Something in the look on Adson's face made her stop in mid-sentence. She sighed. "I guess I can't do anything to stop you. Just be careful, okay?"

She turned to Aadam. "Aadam, have you considered turning yourself in to the police? I think that if you made a deal and promised to help us find Salahuddin..."

Aadam shook his head. "Trust me, I have. But I doubt I would be much help finding my Father, no matter how much I tried. He's well protected. Secondly, I'm soon to have a family of my own", he showed the ring on his finger and added, "Joy's pregnant."

As Kendra looked alarmed, he said: "Dad doesn't know. She's safe. But all the same, I can't go to jail. I've already caused myself not to be there for my kid as much as he or she would deserve, and I don't want to risk losing them entirely. I just have to deal with my guilt."

"But..."

"Kendra, I know you're thinking about what's best for me and I appreciate that. It's just... I can't. At the moment you have to settle for me sticking with my Dad and trying to prevent him from doing anything dangerous."

Kendra sighed. "If you ever change your mind, you know where to find us."

Aadam just nodded.

After the evening snack, Aadam got up and spoke to Adson. "I have to get going, the sun has already set. If Dad doesn't find me home, he'll get suspicious."

After a moment of silence, he went on: "I'm sorry. I wish I could do more."

Adson surprised him by pulling him into a fierce hug. "I know. I appreciate that you came. I'll let the other siblings know." As Aadam looked worried, he added, with a sad smile: "Oh, they won't report you to the police. Arthur will know, and Kendra obviously does, and they will be interested in your co-operation if you decide to give them that. But my Father's last wish was that if you ever come asking for forgiveness, we try our best to give you that. And everyone wants to respect that."

Aadam nodded. He seemed to have difficulties to speak.

"So leave it to Abraham, I guess we'll have to trust that he knows what he's doing. You take care of Joy, okay?"

"I will."

It was only a few hours later, when Abraham came to Adson and asked him to join him in the back yard. Adson had known that he had some kind of a laboratory in there, but had never been inside.

"So, this is it." Abraham said.

"It's not that big or fancy but..."

He was interrupted by Adson's shriek.

"WHAT is that thing doing here?!?"

"You mean Dolores?"

"'You mean Dolores?' No, I don't mean 'Dolores', I mean the monster plant in the corner, the one that ATE my girlfriend!"

Abraham remained calm.

"Her name is Dolores, and she is not a monster any more than you are. As for what she's doing here, Arthur and Kendra confiscated her from the Shack when Salahuddin escaped, and I've been investigating her since then."

"Investigated? What do you mean investigated? How? By feeding it other innocent sims just like Rebecca?"

"You're being unreasonable, Adson. For your information, Dolores hasn't eaten anyone since then. It has become obvious in my experiments, that Salahuddin had been keeping her hungry for a while. If properly fed, Dolores is fully harmless."

"Yeah, well I guess it was 'properly fed' with my girlfriend, then!"

"Listen to me, Adson! I understand you're upset because of what happened. I'm upset too, she was my friend as well! But that doesn't make it Dolores' fault. It was simply used as a means to a goal."

"But, don't you realize..."

"She could be dangerous? I already told you my experiments confirmed that she's not. Besides, if it wasn't for Dolores, I might not have been able to construct the device to bring Rebecca back!"

This stopped Adson in his tracks.

"So... so you've actually...?"

"Yes. I believe it's finished now. Investigating the way Rebecca died, that is, Dolores, helped me a great deal when trying to understand some supernatural mechanics. And only tonight the information Aadam had helped me put the pieces together."

Adson was speechless for a while. "So... is that thing in the corner what I think it is?"

Abraham glanced behind his shoulder. "Yes, yes it is."

"Does it work?"

"Well, according to my experiments, yes. Of course, it hasn't really been used yet."

Adson fell silent, a longing on his face.

"Should we make the call?" asked Abraham, "It's your decision, really."

After a long silence, Adson nodded. "Yes. I can't have a peace of mind until we've tried."

"Okay. Do you want to make the call or will I?"

"You do it, you know how that thing works and all."

"Okay."

"Listen, Abraham. I'm sorry I yelled at you. It's just that I'm a little..."

"... tense and unhappy. Yeah, I know. It's okay."

"Thanks for trying to help me."

"Whenever you need me. Should I make the call now?"

"I guess so."

With his hands shaking, Abraham approached the phone. It had been months of work, and he still was not sure it would succeed. But if it did, Adson's happiness would be well worth the work and the uncertainty.

"Hello? Is this the Grim Reaper?"

...

"I'd like to request for the resurrection of miss Rebecca Custer, please."

...

"I'm sorry, mr. Reaper, I can't quite hear you."

...

"Full resurrection? Ah, yes, I suppose we want a full resurrection, whatever that is. So, yes please."

...

"Thank you, mr. Reaper."

"That's weird, Adson. He said something funny about..."

"Oh my goodness!"

Abraham never got to finish that sentence, as in a red cloud of smoke, a spinning Rebecca Custer appeared in front of his own two eyes, back from the dead. Almost.

On the other side of the lab, Adson was reacting just as powerfully.

"Rebecca?! Is that you? Rebecca!"

It was only when the red smoke started to disappear, that the two men started to suspect there might be something wrong with Rebecca.

"Rebecca? Honey, are you alright?"

With difficulty, Rebecca straightened her body. It was different than she had remembered, but it was still her body all the same.

"Oh my goodness!" gasped Abraham again. "What have I done?"

Rebecca was now looking around, getting used to her environment. She'd spotted Adson.

"Oh darling, you're just as hot as I remembered."

Adson could not but stare at her. Rebecca was, indeed, back.

After a quick but sincere apology to Rebecca, Abraham excused himself and went back to the house to look for a corner to fret in. Luckily, Kendra was still up and quickly found him. She took it to herself to both lecture and comfort her husband.

Rebecca, instead, was not actually very upset. She was feeling a bit weird, though, but she was one to take matters as they came. First, she decided to take a good, long bubble bath and think matters over.

Meanwhile, Adson had cooked late dinner, as advised by Kendra. At first he was perhaps a little bit surprised by his girlfriend's new eating habits.

But then, he found out that despite the changes in appearance and even character, she was still the same old Rebecca, his best friend.

The two had a long night, discussing what had happened to each of them while they'd been apart.

And Rebecca swore that there would be justice. In the end there would be justice.

After the dinner they both felt like they had to discuss some more pressing matters. And Adson realized that the long absence of his girlfriend had not changed his feelings about her in the slightest. So, he was the first to speak up.

"Rebecca, I don't know what you're going to think about this... I just wanted to tell you that... That I still love you."

"You do? Oh thank goodness! I was so afraid that maybe you wouldn't."

Before Adson could say another word, she added:

"Of course I still love you too, silly."

After a good night's sleep, Rebecca decided that it was time for a makeover, and Kendra was glad to help her out there. When she saw her own reflection, Rebecca couldn't but giggle.

"Oh, I look so silly in clothes that cover so much. And the hair color, so funny!"

With a more serious tone she added to herself:

"But now that I'm a zombie girl, I feel more comfortable in these clothes. And they match my new hair, too. And actually, I know that Adson has always loved black hair. Actually, this is not half bad."

It was soon afterward that Adson found Rebecca.

"Hey honey. Wow, you're looking good."

Rebecca smiled. "I knew you'd like it."

"Hey listen. There's something I've been wanting to do since college."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Or actually, first..."

"Rebecca Custer. As I said, I've been wanting to do this since college. But only now that I've come to lose you once and realize how much you mean to me, I've decided it's the perfect time."

"Is that...?"

"I don't know if I'll ever have the courage to take the second step of this, but..."

"Rebecca Custer, would you wear my ring and show everyone that you are my girl?"

"Oh Adson..."

"Of course I will!"

"How did you know?"

"Know what?"

"That this is what I've wanted since college, too."

"Well, I suppose I made a good guess, then."

So, all well that ends well. Adson finally got the girl he wanted, and they got to spend one last afternoon in Abraham and Kendra's tub, before going to check out their old residence.

"Rebecca, there's one thing that bother's me."

"Yes, honey?"

"It's just that... Zombies are immortal, aren't they?"

"Yes, I believe we are. Oh, you're worried that in time you'll grow old and die, and leave me alone when I don't?"

"Well... Yes."

"Oh Adson, don't you worry about that. First of all, it won't happen very soon in any case. And second of all", she continued giving me an amused glance, "I think that a certain Creator likes you enough to supply you with enough elixir for the rest of... well, my death, I suppose"

After a nice afternoon spent in the tub with Adson, Rebecca felt that there was one more thing she needed to do. She sought Abraham and Kendra in her hands. The former looked highly embarassed, so she spoke to him first.

"Listen Abraham. I know you're sorry for what happened. It's not your fault that the wire was faulty and you and mr. Reaper couldn't properly hear each other."

"Yeah, but I should have..."

"Don't worry about that. It's really not that bad. And I get to be with Adson again, which is what matters. So thanks for the help."

Kendra spoke up. "I see that you've gotten engaged. Congratulations."

"Thank you." Rebecca smiled. "And speaking of us, we'll leave for our own place tonight. So, thank you both for your hospitality, and especially for taking care of Adson while I couldn't."

"It was the least we could do."

"One more thing. Adson said that Barry is currently in college. Could I maybe use the phone? It's been too long since I've been in contact with my baby."

"Hello, am I talking to Barry?"

...

"Hello Barry. This is Mom."

And so, dear reader, Rebecca Custer made her return.

This is where I shall leave you for this chapter – check out a Dreamwidth archive near you for some more college fun!