#ginger capp

It was a prediction she kept to herself, as the issue was mostly about herself. She just didn't feel like being besieged by hordes of Capps right this second, not after the gaffe she'd made when going to visit the pregnant Patience and being turned away for bringing two sisters with her. Being frowned at by a burly bodyguard butler who was literally Bigfoot was an experience she never wanted to repeat!

However, needs must, and Miranda slipped on her signature ice cool blue glasses to meet guests arriving in the foyer. Patience was among the first and the young woman, clad in soft cashmere, lilac and grey, wrapped her arms around her 'aunt' (her mother Juliette was Miranda's cousin, so aunt was an easier term than some clunky alternative that everybody guessed at but nobody really knew). "Clovis sends his apologies, he's home with Lysander," Patience said in Miranda's ear, still holding her. A very polite thing to issue the status of the plus one to the party host.

The birthday girl herself enjoyed the benefits of being a guest at her party rather than the burden of organisation. Miranda gifted her baby sister a mocha brown suit to wear in her newfound years as a woman of a more distinguished age; Ginger changed into it immediately and sang the praises of her sister's choice all throughout the evening. "Ladies, gentlemen, honoured guests - my style icon," she had announced after tapping a silver spoon to a champagne glass. Her sweeping arm and upturned palm were directed at Miranda, who received applause.

That's how Nathaniel knew his cousin Ginger wanted to explore campus and meet new people as soon as she arrived to begin her freshman year. She was asking Gavin for the best food spots, then which clubs to join, then which classes had the cutest students. Nathaniel didn't need to hear a word from his other cousin to know that the escalating excited questions were making him nervous - Ginger came from a more rambunctious part of the family and they had a reputation to uphold! For now, she would have to be satisfied with pub patrons to fill her number list.

Then there was the poor lad whose father died, Rocky. Nathaniel heard sobs from his room that were muffled by Gavin's shoulder - the good man could relate and offer support, having grown up in the orphanage before aunt Cordelia knelt down and took his hand. No living parents... Nathaniel mused that his mum and dad hadn't been perfect, but at least he had them. With a start, he remembered that Gavin just lost his step-dad too! Those liberal students who spoke out in class about checking one's privilege could be onto something...

In the end, Rocky got expelled because he couldn't focus on study anymore, poor sod. The Capulet House class performance record maintained its picture of success; nobody could be too hard on a bereaved student, for one, even if the faculty were unmoved. But Daisy Greenman graduated with honours and showed off the Capp family's acknowledgement of, and support for, diverse learners such as faeries.

She'd wanted to brave the day to be with him. He'd expressed concern about things like installing blackout blinds, even boarding up the windows in the interim. She'd smiled and slid her hands under his sweater, and layers were peeled off from there, sunlight be damned.

It was a kind of love that Gvaudoin didn't mind being seen by anyone strolling by on the perfect blue spring morning at Mission University. Gavin was graduating so it was like a PSA with PDA: other ladies out there need not apply for this gentleman! A far bolder statement than what Fricorith was doing with Ginger; dating under darkness. They looked so sweet together that perhaps it was about enjoying each other before telling the world.

Still, Gvaudoin liked her way better.

"All I said" - Goneril cut into the sobbing of their sister Cordelia and wife Rosalind with a testy tone - "Is that we're not immortal. How is that so bloody unreasonable?" The snivelling continued and they sighed and produced a handkerchief from their blazer pocket for Ros. Perhaps a little too much Capulet Wine was consumed during afternoon tea, then dinner, then the poker game til midnight. Perhaps Gon shouldn't have toasted to the pearly gates when everyone had a flush on their face and heat in their bellies. But hadn't they all lived full lives and never wanted for anything?

"I came back without Cali," Cordelia mumbled later, when Gon was helping her into her nightie and they'd both had tall glasses of lemon water. She fumbled into bed and clenched fistfuls of threadcounts, pouting. "It would've been better with him."

Goneril snorted. "Probably not. Being resurrected might've gone to his head. Jesus Caliban." There was a pause in which Cordelia's pout quivered before she erupted into snort-laughter, which made Gon snort-laugh, and the entire winery echoed with the undemure cackles of siblings who usually kept such emotions sealed, but were now erupting together for perhaps the last time.

First to recover the next morning was Ros, who had invited Ginger to visit from university (and brought a bottle of ginger ale with her for the nausea she was sure the older generation were experiencing after their rare Big Night). Miranda was glad to hear the light tinkling of laughter rather than drunken blurts of chortling. Unlike her parents, she got all that silliness out of the way in her late teens. These days, she was concerned with being the model aunt for Desdemona's daughter, as she was going to stay in the beach house with them a while.

Delta refused to be reduced to the possible perception of her as a lover wearing rose-coloured glasses in the leadup to her wedding to Nylissit. The Tricous were a big family; Delta's family was bigger. They had complicated relationships with each other; boy howdy, Mary and Dixie's current battle for Edwin's affections was up to the challenge. A strange creature in a deep, dark basement - well, the Lands had never had a cowplant, but they did have their own sun-avoidant plant family member in Delta's baby brother Loren. Close enough - and, that was how she knew she could make a life with Ny, knowing all the lifestyle accommodations to make.

Whispers were persistent, however, and not just on the internet or those rare in-person rumour mills that touched grass. Ny shared with Delta her suspicions that her daughter Gvaudoin had slept with Kvornan, Ny's former brother-in-law. Delta knew the Tricous had a tendency to be insular, with Ny's ex-husband now being Jennail's current husband, but even Ny wasn't sure what to make of such a thing. It was exactly why she was keen to bring in Delta, and support Fricorith's relationship with another outsider. The family needed to.

Delta put forward that maybe being seen holding hands and heading upstairs was totally innocent - there weren't just bedrooms in the upper floors of the House of Fallen Trees - but it was a lame theory, and she knew it. She had her pick of numerous rooms when she moved in on account of nocturnal faeries having no need for them, other than sex... and Gvaudoin had been outspoken about free love as of late.

Well, anyway, the wedding went ahead as though nothing untoward was going on. The party in the basement-cave-bar was a hit with Lands and Tricous alike... and nobody was seen going up the stairs together hand-in-hand.

"You alright, Roz?" Goneril croaked the words out, having not sipped from their glass on the bedside table yet.

Rosalind sniffed and smiled as she whispered an explanation of her current emotional state: "Ginger told me we're best friends."

As it transpired, their youngest daughter had been treasuring car rides home from school with Roz, reaching a new peak with a request for friendship bracelets. Goneril approved of this development: it was exactly the outcome they'd hoped for when Ginger was brought into their family (other than raising Cordelia's hackles, of course). The newfound BFFs would need to be sent on a mother-daughter trip to shop for matching gold bracelets and seal the deal.

Several kilometres away, tucked into the hills, Ginger's name was also being spoken by a proud big brother, now in his freshman year at Mission University.

"She's so cute," said Hal, as he endeavoured to gain the favour of his girlfriend's mother. "You simply must meet her, Stella. You could just eat her up! Uh - on account of how cute she is."

Stella furrowed her perfectly plucked brows. Sandra put a hand on her mother's shoulder and suggested coming inside for tea and biscuits. The clout of a Capp didn't impress Stella as much as it did Morty, and she wasn't afraid to wear that on her countenance. Still, the families were on the verge of blending: Ariel and Xander were officially in a relationship, and Sandra rather liked the idea of settling down with Hal.