1.05 A New Home

Previously...

Just as expected Mort pops the question and Amelia says yes. The wedding, although small is very much appreciated and is a success overall, with just a little distraction from Amelia's inebriated mother Olivia. After the party, the newlyweds and Mort's daughter Tilly are all off for the honeymoon... But the trip doesn't exactly go as planned. Mort, obsessed with treasure hunting, gets in a scrape and is close to death, but is saved by Tilly and Amelia finding him. Amelia is furious, and the trip ends abruptly, with the three of them going home early.

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The Sterling-Termine family's return to Riverblossom Falls was subdued to say the least. Tilly was shaken, but recovered from the sight of what she had thought to be her father dead, remarkably fast. She was quiet and thoughtful on the way home, but didn't seem particularly upset after the first shock had subsided. Amelia, on the other hand, had not let go of it so quickly and Mort applied the strategy of staying out of her way to keep her from bursting into angry fits. But the incident in Egypt wasn't the only thing to dampen their spirits.

“Amelia” Tilly said as she quietly stepped inside the hotel corridor where Amelia was just about to unlock her door.

“Me and dad are gonna have to stay here at the hotel for a while. The apartment's been sold. And since the new house isn't ready...” She trailed off, unsure of Amelia's reaction, who looked at her blankly for a moment.

“Sure, the more the merrier, I've been the only person here for weeks anyway!” Amelia's good reaction was unexpected, but very welcome.

 

As Tilly woke up the next morning she was at first alarmed. Where was she? She soon remembered, and looked around in mild disgust.

A hotel room. A cheap hotel room. She was no snob, but this just wasn't for her. She decided to call an old friend, who she had recently come in contact with again through e-mail, for some catching up. She needed a distraction.

 

Two rooms down the hall, Amelia too was making a phone call.

“What do you mean, he's not there?!” She shouted angrily at the receptionist on the other end. “I put Clark in charge while I was on my honey moon. He was supposed to take care of everything! Where is he?” The startled woman went silent for a moment.

“He's... He's at home, Miss Ster- Mrs. Sterling. He hasn't come in yet.” Amelia was steaming. Clark had seemed reliable. And here he was, sleeping in on a Wednesday. She hastily dressed and went out to the kitchen where Mort was already munching on some ice cream that a previous tenant had left behind.

As she sat down with a detached look on her face, he took a deep breath and called her attention by waving his hand softly in front of her face.

“Amelia, honey... I heard you on the phone. Lucky we're the only ones staying here or you would have woken up the entire place.” He chuckled nervously. “But seriously. You can't talk to the employees like that. I know you just want the best for the company, but sometimes your expectations are a bit... Too high.” He went silent, waiting for her response. He anticipated a heated discussion about work ethics, but instead he was baffled when Amelia completely neglected to answer him. She merely shot him a poisonous look, showing that she had heard every word he had said. She then stood up, washed her plate, and went to work.

Six days went by without a single word cutting the tension between Mort and Amelia. She was angry and he was patient. But finally, as they had both just come home from work one evening, Mort's patience ran out. He confronted Amelia in the hotel's common room.

“Amelia. Hey, look at me. What's your problem, why are you taking this out on me? I know you're not angry about Egypt. This is work stuff having your panties in a twist.” She stared at him indignantly for a moment.

“Yeah, so what? You are work, you're my boss for crying out loud! But you don't seem to understand that your workers are incompetent, they are slacking, just 'cause you let them!”

“Now listen here.” Mort was more than ready to put his foot down. “I am proud of this company, and I don't see any flaws in the people that I've hired. Except maybe that some take their work too seriously.” He gave her a pointed look. “I know you are my wife, but you're out of line. You can't treat my employees this way anymore, I won't tolerate it. As your boss, I am telling you to get rid of the sticks and bring out the carrots right now or I will have to reconsider your high position in the company.”

The honey moon was officially over, he thought. Amelia stared at her husband with her mouth open. Then her facial expression changed, confusing Mort profusely.

She bit her lip. He looked down at her, a smile starting to play over his lips. In an instant, as if someone had just given them a “ready, set, go!” they both threw their arms around each other and started kissing aggressively.

“Oh Maker you're hot when you take charge.” Amelia mumbled between kisses. None of them noticed when Tilly entered, stared for half a second, turned, and walked away with an amused shake of her head.

She didn't give the incident another thought all evening though. She was too caught up pondering over last night's escapades; the aftermath of rekindling an old friendship...

 

The next day, Mort took a short but nervous ride in his limo to the house he had worked so hard to get for his wife. It was finally finished. Well, the necessary parts anyway, a few walls were still unpainted and the large garden was virtually empty. But they could finally move in, and that was all that mattered. Mort opened the door slowly and looked out. The sun made the brand new glass in the windows sparkle and shine. It was perfect, he thought, as he walked onto the lawn.

The smell of freshly cut grass tickled his nostrils. This was their new home.

Upon arriving at the lot in the evening, the little family looked up at the house in awe. None of them could speak for several minutes. Mort held on to Amelia's hand tightly, hoping in vain that he would get some hint to what she was feeling.

Finally Tilly looked at them both with a smile, her eyes moist and sparkling in the light. She, at least, was touched.

“It's perfect, daddy. I'm gonna go inside and have a look. Where's my room?”

“Third floor.” Mort answered without taking his eyes off his wife, as Tilly skipped along the path of smooth stones.

“Amelia?” He almost whispered, inquiringly. She looked up at him as if suddenly waking up from a dream. There was a smile on her lips as she stepped in front of her husband, taking hold of both his hands.

“I love it. You did good.” She said with a little nod.

“Really?” He had the expression of a timid boy being praised by the prettiest girl in school. 

He had never imagined when his first wife had died that happiness like this could ever exist in his life again. Hand in hand the two of them walked up to the porch and both of them felt like they were starting a new chapter in their life together.

Every room of the house had been thoroughly planned out to fit the current or future needs of the family. Tilly had the entire third floor to herself with a large bathroom and a bedroom/living room that was also prepared for a little kitchen area so that a stove, sink and refrigerator could be installed if need be.

The second floor had three bedrooms, the largest one being the master suite with a private bathroom attached to it.

On the first floor was the entrance of course, a large living room that was still quite bare, a study in the same condition and a kitchen and breakfast nook with large windows that took in the morning sun and had a view of the entire back yard. There was also a dining room that for the time being was left empty and unused, and a two car garage with a laundry room next to it.

 

Even though Tilly loved her third floor, the room she immediately spent the most time in was the study. A large oak table had been “borrowed” from Mort's office at the company and on top of it was a new computer! Tilly occupied it night and day, or so it seemed to Amelia and Mort.

“What are you doing in there anyway?” Mort asked one day at the breakfast table.

“Writing a book.” Tilly answered simply and confidently. Amelia and Mort looked at each other with the same, impressed, expression on their faces. So that was why she hadn't started looking for a job. She was planning to become a professional writer.

Amelia and Mort, who already had their careers “in the bag” spent their time in the house doing more... entertaining things.

They were newlyweds after all. No room nor time of day was safe.

Tilly did her best to turn a blind eye to the goings on, usually by fleeing to the study, or more frequently to Carl Eidos, her old friend who was slowly starting to become more than just a friend to her. He had only become more stunning with age, Tilly thought, the dark and handsome look really blossoming now that he was in his thirties. They saw each other every week now, sometimes several times, going out for coffee, meeting at his place to discuss her book, or just doing their grocery shopping together. It was obvious that they were doing everything to spend time together, even though what they did was always very innocent. But one day as Carl followed Tilly home after a particularly long day at the library, she was surprised by his hand gently touching her arm as she was about to go inside.

“Tilly wait.” He said calmly. She turned and looked into his eyes. “I'd like to take you to dinner tomorrow, if you want to. You know. Like a date.” The words amused Tilly somewhat, “like a date, but not really”, she thought, but she knew better. Butterflies were fluttering around in her stomach suddenly.

“I'd love to. Where should we meet?”

“I'll pick you up.” He answered with a broad smile. “And wear something nice. We're not going to the coffee shop.” He winked at her before turning on his heel and walking to his car.

Tilly closed her eyes and allowed herself to swoon for a bit. She had been afraid to take it to the next step, but she was so glad that he wasn't. What she couldn't see was the nervous but relieved expression on Carl's face as he walked away. He had finally done it.

The romance between Tilly and Carl progressed quickly. Before she could really tell what was happening, he had whisked her off her feet with flowers and those charming smiles that she had always adored.

Although he was a perfect gentleman and that type of person who everyone seems to take a liking to, she was very anxious about introducing him to her father. Sure, they had met a few times, but never as anything other than an acquaintance. So she went to the only person who could actually be helpful. Amelia.

“Hey, Amelia, can I talk to you for a moment?” She asked and looked around the kitchen in a paranoid way, as if she was expecting Mort to pop out of the dishwasher or crawl out from under the rug at any moment.

“Of course.” Amelia barely had time to answer before Tilly dragged her into the study.

“Okay, this is really important; you can't tell dad.”

“Sure.” Tilly was surprised at how readily Amelia was agreeing to keep something from her husband. Maybe she had some secret of her own? But Tilly's thoughts quickly shifted back to her own little dilemma.

“Okay, so, I've met someone...” She looked at Amelia and waited for a bit.

“You know, met met.”

“Oh!” Amelia let out. “I'm so happy for y-”

“Ssshhh!” Tilly hissed and put her hand over Amelia's mouth. “I don't want dad to know, remember?” Amelia nodded with a solemn look on her face.

“So what's the problem?” She asked in a confidential voice.

“Well... He's kind of... Well, he's older than me.” She bit her lip, staring at the floor as if this was a crime. Amelia couldn't help but let out a little laugh.

“Um... Honey. I think he will understand.” She had raised her eyebrows and gave Tilly a very pointed look. She understood the meaning of this, but still it didn't calm her. She knew that her dad was very protective of her and even though he happened to have a very young wife himself, maybe he wouldn't want the same arrangement for his daughter. Somehow, Amelia seemed to read her thoughts, because she nodded gravely.

“It's true that he can be a bit overprotective, but I promise you, if this man is a good person, Mort will see it.” She smiled reassuringly at her stepdaughter. “Okay?”

“Okay.” Tilly answered and they hugged.

Before Tilly went out of the room, Amelia added:

“And I will back you up, one hundred percent, just bring him over some time and you'll see it will all be fine.” Reassured by Amelia's words, Tilly called Carl right away and asked him to come over the next evening.

“Hi, you must be Carl, I am Amelia, Mort's wife, it's so nice to finally meet you!”

Amelia shook his hand and beamed at him, continuing: “Tilly is in the kitchen.” She turned her head and called for Tilly, who appeared in the doorway a few seconds later. She looked flushed and nervous. At the same moment Mort came through the door to the study.

“Oh, Tilly, you never said Mr. Eidos was coming. We've met before, and here I thought this was some new acquaintance, with you bustling around for hours in the kitchen and all.” He looked both confused and amused, as he greeted the guest with a firm handshake.

“If I had known, I wouldn't have put on this uncomfortable tie.” He joked and jerked a bit at the tie knot. Tilly suddenly appeared at Carl's side with a nervous glance at Amelia.

“Um... Dad. You know, that's kind of why I invited him. Me and Carl aren't friends. Err, I mean, of course he's my friend. But we're... He's... I'm his girlfriend.” Tilly had gripped Carl's hand tightly. 

“Oh.”

There was only a second of awkward silence before Amelia took a step forward and covered for Mort.

“Well then, it's even nicer to meet you.” She exclaimed with a little laugh. “Come, let's go into the kitchen, is the dinner almost done, Tilly?” Everyone was ushered into the kitchen while Amelia used all the skills of charm, charisma and small talk she had acquired in her work, to keep everyone comfortable and the conversation going. But all through the dinner, Mort sat quiet.

By the time dessert arrived on the table, all four of them had privately realized that this was a shock to Mort, that Amelia had been informed beforehand, and that Tilly and Carl were very much in love, but that Tilly was far too nervous about her father's reaction to show it openly. Despite Amelia's best efforts, the conversation finally started to die out as the last crumbles of Tilly's beautiful raspberry pie was being scraped off the plates. To everyone's surprise, Carl addressed the still silent Mort.

“Mr. Termine, I was wondering if I could talk to you in private?” He turned to his girlfriend. “You don't have any more delicious food lined up, do you, 'cause I'm about to burst?” She shook her head in reply. Mort stood up quietly and was followed by Carl into the study. They could both hear Tilly and Amelia whispering to each other before the door closed.

“I love your daughter Mr. Termine, sir.” Carl began boldly. “As you know, we've been friends for a long time but these last few months have made me realize that I want more. We both do. And I am really sorry if this comes as sort of a shock to you, but I want to ask her to marry me. Which is why I asked to talk to you alone. I'm asking for your blessing, Mr. Termine, to marry Tilly.”

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Phew! After a very long break, I have fiiinally managed to finish another chapter. I told myself I couldn't play until I'd posted this. ;) What do you guys think of Carl? He's kinda cute. And Tilly simply adores him, which is important of course. This new "ask for father in law's blessing" interaction from Generations was too cute to not put into the story. But what will Mort say?

/Alexandra

 Creeeapyyyy.

 At least he's youthful. ;)

And making weird faces behind his daughter's back. (I might also add that he keeps rolling the want "go skinny dipping with Tilly". Not awkward at all.)

Here's the new house, front.

And back. Very proud of it, I am.