Recap: Fantine, still undergoing her midlife crisis, tried to flirt with Joe Macduff. He denied her advances. She went and got herself a tattoo and continued to ignore her twin boys.

Fantine’s eating habits had started to spin out of control. She was eating only junk food and as soon as she finished a meal, she would go grab another one. Cid, having improved drastically with his cooking skills, had begun making food and placing it in the fridge for whenever someone felt hungry. Fantine took full advantage of this and cleared out the fridge in no time, refusing to clean up her plate afterwards. Soon enough, the Thrones household was infested with flies circling around the kitchen.

As you probably guessed, this did not sit well with Irwin’s Neat trait. He tried cleaning up her messes in a nonchalant manner, but it became more and more difficult each day. Eventually, he would grumble to himself about his wife and her horrid behavior ever since this mid-life crisis.

Something needed to be done. Not only was Irwin suffering, but now the cleanliness of the house was in danger — not to mention the fact that her biological sons were getting the short end of the stick as well.

He left the kitchen to search for Fantine. She was sobbing in front of a mirror, gingerly touching her sore tattoo and picking at the scabs forming around it. Irwin sucked in a breath and walked to her.

“Fantine… tell me what’s going on,” he began, hoping to approach this in a delicate manner so as not to scare her into filing for divorce.

She whipped around, tears shining in her eyes. “What? What do you want?” she screeched.

Irwin held up his hands and lowered his voice. “Honey, I know you’re having a really hard time right now. I can see it in your actions, in your wardrobe-“

“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”

He looked her up and down. “I’m… You…” He shook his head. “Nevermind. Just… talk to me.”

Fantine stared down at her knee-high boots and mini-skirt. Her gaze slowly drifted from her outfit to the scarring on her belly, then she turned back around at her reflection. Wrinkles were blatantly staring back at her. That was all she could see. “Irwin, I’m old. I haven’t accomplished anything in this ridiculous life of mine.”

“What are you talking about?” Irwin countered. He walked up to her and placed his hands on her shoulder, gently forcing her to face him. He softened his facial expression. “You have accomplished so much! You have become a wonderful mother to a child not your own, you have birthed two beautiful boys yourself, you have supported a man who’s only wish in this entire existence is to assist others with knowledge of their futures–“

“That’s just the thing!” She grabbed his wrists and flung them back to his sides. “You are so close to your Lifetime Wish. Just a couple more promotions and you are literally there. Me? I am nowhere near my ultimate goal. I wasted my younger years as a vendor for seasonal festivals. I saved money to the point where I never let a single cent go unless it was absolutely necessary… when… when I could have just spent it on art or photography lessons. Now, I’m a self-employed photographer who hasn’t taken a picture for anybody outside of this family.”

Irwin nodded once to show he was listening.

He thought back to Russel and Feign. “Fantine… I’m sorry you feel this way… I don’t know what I can say to make you feel better.” He hesitated before continuing. “And… I hate to say this, but you need to hear it. You are a mother now to two boys who don’t even know who you are.”

Fantine choked back sobs. “You don’t get it!”

“I know I don’t, and I’m so sorry, but you have responsibilities now. I was a horrible father to Cid in the beginning. I left him alone all of the time without a crib, without a bottle for nourishment, without a hug on nights when he screamed for attention. It took me awhile to snap out of the mindset I was in and thank god I did, because now he actually has a chance in this world.” He blinked, furrowing his brows harder. “I’m not trying to say he wouldn’t have made it at all without me, but he wouldn’t have been able to teach himself how to walk, to talk, and who knows how he would have fed himself!”

“The boys have you,” Fantine argued, “they don’t need me.”

Irwin started to feel angry. “They need a mother, Fantine!” His voice was getting louder. “I can see you are having a very difficult time with everything, and I don’t want to discount that, but damnit, you HAVE to snap out of this!” He saw tears rushing down her face faster, which made his own eyes water. “I love you, Fantine, so much so that I am speaking these words to you. You are the most radiantly beautiful woman I have ever met in my entire life and I don’t feel any different now that you are a few years older. You still make my heart skip a beat when I look at you. You have a fantastic personality and I want our children to see it as they age. I want Russel to learn your compassion. I want Feign to grow up just as smart as you are. I want so many futures to open up for our boys, but the only way that can happen is if you get back to your old self and show them how to become those people.”

Fantine took a moment to let her husband’s words sink in. “I… I don’t know how to let go of my dream.”

Irwin shook his head. “You don’t have to! You can keep painting and taking pictures! Who cares how long it takes to accomplish your dream? So what if you haven’t achieved it yet? Maybe you aren’t meant to at this moment!” He sighed. “You know, the futures I have seen never turn out the way the clients expect. Sometimes they aren’t perfect. But you know what? Fate is a funny thing… people always end up where they need to be, and it’s not exactly where they want to be.” He pressed two fingers to her forehead. “I saw your future once, remember? I saw you happily staring at a pregnant belly. You were meant to have those boys.” He dropped his hand back to his side. “Maybe you’re supposed to be a mother right now to those kids, and a Visionary later.”

Fantine silently walked out of the room and towards the nursery where Russel and Feign were playing. She watched them for a little while.

Russel was tapping the xylophone in rhythm to the noises made by the blocks Feign was playing with. Russel smiled at himself and crawled away, banging his hands on his knees to continue his song. He closed his eyes and giggled.

Feign didn’t look quite as happy as his brother, but he still chuckled to himself as he built little towers and then knocked them down. He kept glancing over at his twin during his play, almost as if he was making sure Russel was still making music.

Fantine’s thoughts were swimming too fast for her to really make sense of them. Her mindset that made her feel like she missed her chance was slowly being replaced with regret. She felt knots in her stomach.

Look at what I’ve been missing, was the one thought that stood out among the chaos in her brain. She started crying again, but this time, the tears were for her boys. They obviously were smart children who were developing talents that may one day propel them to the top of their respective careers, or win over the hearts of the women they would strive for. She had been so focused on her self-pity that she forgot all about the two lives she had brought into this world.

Irwin stood in the nursery doorway watching the transformation gradually wash over his wife.

She started towards the door, pushing Irwin out of the way as she walked to the living room. Russel noticed her leaving and got up to follow her. He walked to Fantine and sat down in front of her, reaching his arms up.

Fantine waited. She bent over and lifted him up, resting him on her hip. He had gotten so big since the last time she had held him.

She had an urge to tickle him. She had no idea where this came from, but she obeyed it and started playing with him. Russel burst out into laughter. Fantine’s heart soared. She felt her lips curl upwards and herself laughing with him.

This feeling… it was wonderful. She was giving Russel a moment of joy. She did that. She made him laugh.

Irwin dipped his hands into his pockets, recalling the moment he, himself accepted fatherhood.

He approached her. She sniffed a few times before setting Russel back on the floor. “Irwin, I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

He held up his hands. “You don’t need to apologize,” he answered, “you have a lot going on right now. You were dealing with everything the best way you knew how. I just wanted you to remember Russel and Feign. I know you will be a wonderful mother to them, I think you just needed–“

“I just needed,” she interrupted, “someone to remind me what was really important.”

“I will continue to work on my skills,” she continued. She looked away from Irwin. A smile crept back onto her lips. “I will get where I want to be in my career someday, I know it…” She grabbed Irwin’s hands and held them. “…I know that because I have a wonderful husband who will be by my side always, and will help reel me back in during times like these.”

Irwin pulled her into a hug, caressing her back as he started to smile himself. “I don’t need to look into the future to know you will get everything you want out of this life, Fantine.”

———————————————————————————————

It took a few weeks, but things in the Thrones household were slowly returning back to normal. Fantine’s mid-life crisis was finally over and she was spending as much time as possible with her boys. Waffles was happy all of the tension had vanished from the atmosphere at last, and found that playing with his toys was a lot more fun when he didn’t have to worry about the humans.

Irwin bought the boys a clubhouse even though they weren’t quite old enough to use it yet.

That’s not to say the clubhouse was completely vacant during the winter, however…

Cid was at the top of his class and was a shoo-in for valedictorian at this point. His grades were the highest any teacher at the school had ever seen before. He found the homework less and less challenging as the year went on, so he began trying to work on it outside during the coldest days in order to give himself more of a challenge.

It didn’t work. At this point, he probably could have done the homework in his sleep.

Fantine had thrown her clothes away and started wearing an ensemble that was less revealing.

She kept the little promise she made to herself and continued improving her skills when the twins were sleeping.

To make up for lack of attention lately, Irwin bought Waffles his own kitty tower. Waffles adored it instantly and spent almost entire days playing with it. He was often found smiling and mewing, alerting his family that he was the king of his castle.

The material it was made out of was much more enjoyable to scratch, so he pretty much abandoned his previous scratching post.

Waffles started playing games where he pretended to be the guard of his own castle. Whenever someone would walk by, he would straighten his posture and stare at them until they left the room. Fantine and Irwin got a kick out of this behavior and found it adorable, but Waffles eventually started taking it seriously and would hiss if someone got too close to it.

The tippy top of the tower became his new favorite sleeping spot, as he felt he was literally on top of the world. Needless to say, Waffles absolutely loved his new present.

Cid was no longer just playing with his chemistry set. He had learned how to create a handful of potions that would actually effect others. He started documenting his findings in the hope that one day he could share them with a scientist. Surely, no one had ever discovered these potions before, right?

Several birthdays were coming up, such as the twins’ and Waffles. Irwin and Fantine were in a happy place for the first time in a long time, and Fantine was, surprisingly, looking forward to seeing her boys age into children. She could actually watch the next generation of Thrones go about their lives. She found that the thoughts of seeing them graduate high school, get fulfilling careers, fall in love, and maybe even have children were good ones. She was no longer afraid of aging, as she knew her future would be a happy one.

Even if things won’t turn out the way her boys want them to, she will stand by their side anyway and help them through it all… just as her husband did for her.