Recap: Irwin met a woman at the Spring Festival by the name of Fantine Christenson. It did not take long for Irwin to begin to have feelings for her. He also aged up into an adult.

Waffles was showing Irwin some extra love on his birthday. At first, Irwin thought this was because he was wishing him a happy day. Once he looked over, though, he figured maybe Waffles was just trying to convince him to fill up his food bowl.

The only thing he wanted for his birthday was a kiss from Fantine. He ventured to the festival where she was working and pulled her aside. She smiled at him. “Hey, Irwin, happy birthday!” she greeted.

Irwin nodded in response and took her hand. Fantine lifted an eyebrow as Irwin slid his hand up to her arm, gripping it lightly and pulling her towards him. He brushed his lips against hers and heard her whimper a tiny gasp. He let go and stared at her. He had intended to be romantic and spontaneous, but suddenly he was afraid he was too direct. His heart started pounding.

Fantine chuckled. “How did you know what I was going to give you?”

Irwin left to let her work without interruption (so as not to upset her boss) and returned when her shift was over. The park was closed at this point, but it was a perfect opportunity to stargaze, so the two situated themselves in a spot where the sky was the clearest.

Before returning home, Irwin asked Fantine if she would be his girlfriend.

“I just can’t get you out of my head,” Irwin stated, brushing her hair from her face. “When I’m around you, I don’t know how to act… it’s as if I am in the presence of an angel.”

Fantine shook her head. “You don’t have to use any cheesy lines to keep me in your life,” she responded. “I have a great time with you, Irwin, and I would be happy to call you my boyfriend!”

Irwin was elated Fantine was his girlfriend. For the next several weeks, he ventured to the Spring Festival on the days he himself wasn’t working and watched the stars with Fantine. He was so smitten with her, he would even write love letters on the nights she worked late.

He considered bringing Fantine over to his humble shack of a home, but first a few things needed to be taken care of… such as Waffles’s smell.

A brush could only clean off so much of the dirt Waffles carried around after his hunting adventures. Some days, Irwin would try to get him to take a damn bath, but the cat still refused. Irwin had to ultimately resort in spraying the house with air fresheners just to hide the scent.

Though the idea of inviting Fantine over was appealing, Irwin was hesitant to bring her around Cid. He had just aged up into a child, and before long, Irwin could see an Ambitious trait shining through his son. Cid was the most important part of his life and he would not bring a woman through those doors if it would make him uncomfortable…

Not to mention, Fantine had never seen an alien before, let alone an alien child… how would she react to him? If Cid was a deal-breaker for her, then Irwin would dump her in a heartbeat. He was more concerned for Cid’s well-being than his own love life. After all of the ridicule he received from babysitters, the last thing Irwin wanted was to invite another potentially traumatizing event into Cid’s life.

The cradle in the middle of the house wasn’t going to cut it for a child, so Irwin built on a room for Cid next to his own. Of course, Irwin didn’t have a ton of money to make it fancy, but Cid seemed to enjoy it the way it was.

Irwin really felt he had lucked out with Cid. The child never asked him for anything and was happy with what he had, even though Irwin knew he deserved so much more.

He did extremely well in school. He always blew through his homework faster than Irwin could find out what subject it was over, and he would proudly show off his grades to his father after school. Irwin had very high hopes for Cid’s future… a kid this ambitious was sure to have a wonderful life ahead of him!

Waffles developed a strong bond with Cid as well.

He even started bringing critters home for Cid to play with instead of eating them himself. Cid praised Waffles every time and would love his little critters until they found a way to escape his pocket.

One day, Irwin sat down with Cid over a bowl of expired cereal and started talking to him about Fantine. Irwin was incredibly nervous about Cid’s reaction and had no idea what to expect.

“She is really sweet,” Irwin said, “and I think she would make a great mother to you.”

Cid smiled. “But, I don’t need a mother, I have you!”

Irwin nodded. “Of course, and you always will.” He glanced down at the cereal in front of him and his heart sank. Irwin didn’t make enough money to learn how to cook. He couldn’t even afford a decent makeover for his house. How could a father be okay with a less-than-mediocre lifestyle for his son?

Cid deserved a beautiful home. He deserved a hot home-cooked meal after school. He deserved a loving, caring mother figure who would wipe his tears away and help him with girl problems. Cid may not have thought he needed the latter quite yet, but Irwin knew one day he would.

As if he was reading his father’s mind, Cid set his spoon down on the table and cocked his head. “Dad?”

Irwin perked up, blinking away his worries for the sake of appearance.

“You know, Dad, if you love her, I will love her too!” Cid announced.

“Cid…” Irwin sighed. “You are everything to me, I will not put you in a situation where you would be uncomfortable.”

“I’ll be fine!” Cid stood from his chair and leaned over to hug Irwin. “Whatever makes you happy makes me happy! All I want is you to have a wonderful life.”

Such an odd thing for a child to say.

Irwin did not immediately invite Fantine over to meet his son. He spent many days thinking over how the encounter would go and what the worst that could happen was. He came to the conclusion that yes, he wanted more with Fantine, and he needed to know how she felt about Cid before anything could go further. If things went poorly, then there was no future with this woman.

When he finally did give Fantine the ‘ok’, she hurried over as quickly as she could. She waited by the door for Irwin, unaware he was pacing back and forth on the other side, playing over the conversation in his head.

She didn’t even know he had a kid.

He had told her over the phone that he needed to confess something to her. Whether or not she had guessed he was a father ahead of time, Irwin never knew.

“Fantine…” he began, “…I haven’t been entirely truthful to you.”

He could see her bracing herself for the worst. “It’s okay,” she nervously responded, “just… tell me now.”

“When I first arrived at Moonlight Falls, the only thing I focused on was getting my career off the ground. All I have ever wanted was to be a Master of Mysticism — a psychic who annihilated the stigma that all psychics were con artists.” He could see she was unsure where he was going with this. He huffed in frustration. “What I’m trying to say is, I have a son.”

Fantine gave him no reaction.

“The thing is,” Irwin continued, “it’s not like I met a girl, fell in love, then decided to have a family. Like I said, all I focused on was work. I didn’t have any time to meet anyone! I mean, the first girl I kissed was a potential client, and I had no idea she was a married woman who only came onto me to make her husband jealous!” Fantine’s eyes widened and Irwin held up his hands. “Uh, nevermind, forget that part…”

“Irwin,” Fantine interrupted, “I don’t care that you have a son. It doesn’t change how I feel about you.”

“You don’t understand, he’s a–“

“I’m sure he’s a nice boy, having had you for a father!” Fantine placed her hands on Irwin’s shoulders and locked eyes with him. “If you brought me here to meet him, I am honored. I promise you, I will be on my best behavior.”

Irwin gulped. “Uh…okay, come on in.”

Irwin led her to the couch where she waited to meet his son. He motioned for Cid to come over to her and watched as they saw each other for the first time.

Fantine’s facial expression stayed the same as Cid approached her, green skin and all. He greeted her with a smile. “Hello, you must be Fantine,” he said. “My dad has talked a lot about you, I’ve known about you since before I could talk. I think he really likes you.”

She didn’t say a word.

“My name is Cid!”

Fantine slowly stood up and searched the room for Irwin. He was standing in a corner, sweating profusely.

Please sit back down, please sit back down, screamed Irwin’s thoughts.

Fantine just stared at him. He had no clue what she was thinking. Cid patiently waited to see what she was going to do next and quietly twiddled his thumbs.

After what seemed like hours, Fantine finally looked down at Cid and held her hand up. “Hello, Cid,” she greeted, a warm smile beginning to fill her face. “You’re quite the handsome little thing, aren’t you?”

Cid put his hands behind his back. “Thanks, Ms. Fantine!”

Before he knew it, Irwin was watching an entire conversation unfold before his eyes. Fantine and Cid were speaking.

No, not just speaking, they were talking, like, really talking.

She asked him about school, about his interests, about his thoughts in general. Cid was answering and learning about her as well. It was almost enough to make Irwin’s eyes water. Fantine accepted Cid, despite the fact he was an alien, and not only that, but Cid accepted her as well.

He let them talk for a few hours before asking Cid if he could spend a little time with Fantine on his own. Cid nodded and winked at him before exiting the room.

Fantine turned to face Irwin. “I told you I would love him,” she said, crossing her arms across her chest and cracking a smirk.

“Fantine, I…” Irwin took his hands and rubbed his face with them. “You have no idea, I am so happy right now.”

“He is a part of you, Irwin. I love you, so of course I love Cid as well.”

Irwin dropped to one knee so hard he bruised it a little. Fantine jumped back for a second, reaching down to help him up. “No, no, I’m sorry, I’m just so excited I can’t even think straight,” Irwin replied.

“Fantine Christenson…” Irwin reached into his pocket. “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever known. You are kind, thoughtful, loving, beautiful–“

“You already said that!” Fantine cried, becoming increasingly aware of what Irwin was trying to do.

His face turned red as he revealed a ring box. “I want you in my life forever and ever. I never want to let you go. Will you marry me?”

Fantine’s eyes started watering. She bounced a few times on the heels of her feet before nodding. “Yes,” she squeaked.

Irwin shot up from his knee as soon as she answered. He threw his arms around her and gave her the tightest embrace he could muster. She started laughing and he could feel her body shaking slightly.

Here she was. This was the girl Irwin was going to marry.

Maybe Unlucky Irwin wasn’t so unlucky after all?