Chapter 27: All the Courtship Stuff

On his first day of high school, Kyle found himself swarmed by girls who wanted to go out with him. Even older girls who were already gong steady with other guys, like Lily Hawthorne and Juniper Crane, would stop in the halls to tell him how hot he was. By the end of the day, Kyle had made his choice, and invited childhood friend Amanda Rivers to the park with him after school.

Amanda can be clumsy and inappropriate, but she's the girl Kyle wants to have is first kiss with.

AS the sun starts to set, the young couple take to the skating rink and try a romantic spin.

It wouldn't be a first date without some moment of awkwardness.

But Amanda is not put off, and the date ends on a happy note.

"See you in school tomorrow," Kyle says, kissing her goodbye before curfew.

The universe has not been so kind to Elliot's love life. Both he and Claire came down with summer colds that kept them from going on dates for awhile and restricted them to phone calls and even love letters. When they are both well, Elliot visits her at her house during the afternoon while all the kids are at school.

"I promised to take you dancing," he says, "I'm sorry I haven't been able to do that."

"To be honest, I'm not that into night clubs. Just being together with you is all I want," Claire answers.

Claire slides closer to him, and Elliot wraps his arm around her shoulders.

"So, are you okay?" she asks, "I mean, I saw on the sports channel..."

"You mean about my ex?" Elliot says, "Yeah, I saw that too. The day we split up, she came out and told me she would replace me in no time. But of all the guys she could have picked, why she married Sebastian Striker...I mean, I knew him, went to school with him, and there is not a bigger asshole in Storybrook."

"He's a big sports star, though, right?" Claire points out, "From what you've told me about her, that's what Shelly wanted."

"That was exactly what she wanted. And I hope she's happy."

"I don't," Claire says with unexpected vehemence, "I hope she's miserable. It's all she deserves."

"Claire, you don't even know her, I'm surprised you care so much."

"I don't have to know her; I know you. And she tossed you aside without even realizing what she had. I know she broke your heart, Elliot, and you don't deserve that."

"My heart isn't broken," Elliot assures her,"I'm perfectly happy with the way thing are right now."

A magic portal appears in the wardrobe in their bedroom. Aouregan enters of course, and spends an afternoon drinking tea with talking beavers before she makes her ay back to the house.

Later that night as she and Farrell prepare for bed, she tells him about her adventure.

"A magic portal? In the wardrobe?" Farrell asks, still not ready to take this kind of thing on faith despite all the magic he's encountered since he met her.

"Come here, I'll show you," Aouregan says, leading him into the wardrobe.

"It look like an ordinary wardrobe to me," Farrell says with a shrug, but following her in nonetheless.

The portal appears to have closed, so the couple's adventuring takes place entirely on the mundane plane.

"How did you end up with more clothes on than what you went in with?" Farrell asks as Aouregan follows him back out of the wardrobe.

"Magic?" she laughs.

Leisure day arrives, and the kids are off school. Time to go to the park for the big holiday festival.

Shadow enjoys the broom ride attraction.

Kyle invites Amanda to be his date for the day.

Amanda's only sibling is still a newborn, so she grew up mostly as an only child until only very recently. That doesn't stop her from getting into a family water balloon fight with Kyle's young cousins.

Cassidy is getting really good at skating.

Of course, she and Delaney could still do with more practice.

Elliot and Claire play a little soccer together.

And then comes a big moment for their relationship as Elliot introduces Claire to his daughters.

Before noon, the festival is ruined by a sudden downpour. Iola had only just arrived when the skies opened and started pouring, and Shadow invites her back to his house for a game of chess.

Claire comes home with Elliot and meets his son Kyle.

Cassidy and Delaney are just as happy to play inside as to be at the festival. They have better toys here, anyway, and a trunk full of costumes. "There's still the blue princess dress, Aurora," Cassidy suggests, inviting their cousin to join them.

"No, thanks," Aurora declines, "Dress up is silly."

Auorara has serious research to do, she has no time for silly games.

"Be careful," Farrell warns, "A lot of his stuff could be explosive when combined."

"I know what I'm doing," his daughter assures him, "I'm not going to unintentionally explode anything."

"Right," Farrell says, "Well, if you decide to intentionally explode anything, make sure you tell me first, so I can supervise."

Aouregan is out working in her greenhouse when she's joined by a young visitor.

"When we grow up, I'm going to marry Shadow, and live here with you," Iola says, her voice flat and serious.

Many parents would treat that declaration as just a child's imagination at work, but Aouregan knows better. "You've seen this?" she asks, treating the girl like an adult.

"Yes," Iola answers.

"Do your parents know you have the sight?" Aouregan asks, continuing her gardening as she talks.

"They do. They say I shouldn't talk about it with anyone. But I can talk to you, can't I?"

"Of course you can," Aouregan says

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you," Shadow says, hugging Iola tightly as he joins them in the greenhouse.

"Your girlfriend seems really nice," Kyle tells his father after Claire has left.

"Claire's just a friend," Elliot protests. He's gotten as far as introducing her to the kids, but he'd figured he'd save actually admitting he's in a relationship with someone besides their mother for another day.

"Really?" Kyle laughs, seeing through his father easily, "Because she seems really into you. Maybe you should ask her out."

"And that wouldn't bother you? Me being with someone else?"

"Dad," Kyle says seriously, "None of us are secretly hoping Mom's going to come back. We don't miss her, and we want you to be happy and move on."

With his kids' support, Elliot invites Claire to the house for the twins' birthday cake that Friday.

The family and their two guests gather in the living room to watch the girls blow out their candles.

On the verge of becoming a teen, Delaney simply wishes for more toys and a childhood that never ends.

Cassidy grows into an identical copy of her mother.

Delaney has a lot of her mother's features, but she has her father's eyes.

"I can't believe they're all still cheering out there," Cassidy laughs as they dig into their cake.

"So, it's Friday. No school tomorrow," Delaney observes, "Arcade?"

"Totally."

They have a few hours before curfew to enjoy the games at the arcade.

Kyle and Amanda join them. Kyle formulates his pinball strategy. Or he's checking out Amanda's ass.

Delaney gets an unexpected phone call. "Happy Birthday, Laney. This is Jack Horner," the voice says, "You know who I am?"

"Of course I do," Delaney answers, "You're the only kid to ever be expelled our high school. You released all the frogs in the science lab and toilet papered the principal's office." 

"Suspended, not expelled," Jack laughs, "I have to go back on Monday. But we have the whole weekend before that. You want to hang out?"

"Maybe," she says coyly, while her heart jumps up and down in excitement, "It depends on what you want to do."

"I want to be with the prettiest girl in Drake's Hollow," Jack answers, smooth as silk. Delaney couldn't possibly say no, and she doesn't.

With all his kids out for the night, Elliot invites Claire up to his room.

"I feel like we've skipped over all the courtship stuff and went straight into the serious relationship territory. Am I wrong?" he asks, taking her hand.

"No, I feel it too," Claire says, "It's just so easy to be with you. I don't have to worry about what kind of impression I'm making or be afraid of saying something stupid. Like we've been together for years."

"Do you want to spend the night?"

"I'd love to."