4.7 Engaged

"Yes, the party will be at 12. Looking forward to you being here!" 

Tammi hangs up the phone and then takes a deep breath. It's her daughter's birthday party, and she has so many things to get ready... 

And it really is a lot to do. Evan, Olivia, and Lincoln aren't slobs, per se, but they really don't care if guests come over and the place is in such a state. 

Instead of helping her get ready, Lincoln tends to his garden. If Tammi wants to be all fussy, that's her own problem. 

Though she wishes he were the least bit excited about this party. It's not everyday your child has a birthday! 

Still, she pastes on a happy face. Guests will be over soon! 

"Good morning, Lincoln." 

"Hey," Lincoln grunts. 

Well, that wasn't the...warmest...greeting. 

Mr. Silverly! Good morning!" Tammi hops to a standing position. 

"Tammi, I told you, Evan is fine... especially since we're family," he smiles weakly at her. 

And that is the only reason I'm tolerating your nudity, she thinks anxiously. 

Pah! Evan doesn't see the point in being so uptight. He has a fun morning diving into leaf piles. 

Soon enough the guests begin to arrive. 

Lincoln smiles. "Vincent! You came!" they haven't seen each other in a very long time. 

To his surprise, Tammi's mother is also here. He's never actually met her properly. 

"C'mon, I haven't got all day," she says gruffly, "Let's move it." 

"Wesley," Tammi greets her younger brother curtly. "You've grown." 

"It comes with aging up," his response is icy. Tammi didn't come to his birthday party, something that clearly stings. He didn't think their fight was that big of a deal. 

Not wanting a repeat of what happened with...Heather.... Lincoln introduces himself to Andi right away. 

"Pleasure to meet you," his greeting is polite. 

"Yeah, you too, buddy." She appraises him critically- his hat is stupid, his colourful clothes remind her too much of her ex-husband, and she hears this guy makes his living through weird scrap-metal toys. Tammi's basically going to get married to a copy of her dad, she thinks disapprovingly. 

"Tell me, Lincoln. Are you going to marry my daughter? I want to know who I'm going to be seeing at all the family parties." Her tone is flat, bordering on hostile. Lincoln wonders if she doesn't like him- did Tammi tell her he didn't want to get married? 

"Well, that's up to Tammi..." he doesn't want to tell a practical stranger about his rejected marriage proposal. 

"That girl is stubborn, that's for sure. I hope you know what you're getting into." 

Tammi, ever watchful, is by Lincoln's side in a flash. 

"What nonsense are you telling him, mother?" 

Andi rolls her eyes. "Here we go again. You say I have a temper, but I'm not the one making a scene at their own party!" 

Lincoln looks between the two, incredibly uneasy now. "I see you two have some things to work out..." 

Lincoln makes a quick getaway to eat. 

"Tired of the pissing contest too, aren't ya?" Tammi's younger sister Chau says sardonically. 

Lincoln nods, "I see your sister and mom don't like each other very much." 

"They both don't like anyone very much! When Tammi got knocked up, Tammi was all plumbob, everyone's going to think I'm a skank! and like, bawling her eyes out, and mom was all no one cares, Tam, could you give us all a break already? and they were SCREAMING at each other, and then Tammi just ran off! Next thing I hear is that she's living here with her baby daddy." 

Lincoln blinks. Tammi was right about Chau having no filter. "Um, what's with the turkey?" 

"Tammi's been super concerned about her carb intake and whatnot, post-birth and all, I thought it would be funny to give her food with faaaaat!" 

Lincoln grimaces. Tammi's stick thin, what is she worried about? And why is her sister being such a jerk about it? 

During all the drama, Rosalind becomes a toddler. 

She has Tammi's hair and Lincoln's eye colour. 

The party ends, but Tammi's work doesn't. She saw her sister's turkey and has taken it as a challenge. She asks Olivia to give her some fitness training. If she's going to bulk up, she would much rather it be muscle than flab. 

Olivia finds her intimidating werewolf face to be a good motivator. 

The letters to Heather have become long enough to become a book. Lincoln decides to enter the collection into a poetry contest, all names changed of course. 

A dead rose and the weeping silver, 

grey and lifeless without its light. 

He looks at his newest sentences, then sighs. It definitely needs work. 

He thinks about his poems as he drifts off to sleep next to Tammi. 

If Tammi knew what he was dreaming about, she'd probably have a stroke. 

While Lincoln dreams about his dead girlfriend, Tammi rouses herself to look after Rosalind. 

"Books. They give us such a clear blueprint for behaviors, for life..." 

"But people don't always act like they should." It's frustrating, and Tammi just can't understand people. 

It's clear that Rosalind doesn't understand her either... 

Tammi decides to take a break. 

She creeps into Lincoln's room to get a book, but freezes. 

She leaves the room as quickly as possible. 

Is he still in love with Heather? they never talk about her. Lincoln never brings her up and Tammi was initially relieved to not hear about his romantic past. She wonders now if that was a mistake. 

But she puts it out of her mind. She, Lincoln, and Rosalind will be a proper family. She's sure of it! 

Lincoln freezes in the middle of his walk. 

"This is what I wanted to show you," he says, not looking at Tammi. 

"A wedding arch?" 

Tammi puts Rosalind into the stroller, ready to keep going, but Lincoln stops her. She takes his hands into hers. 

"Is there something you're trying to tell me?" 

He suddenly kisses her passionately. 

Then drops down onto one knee. 

"Will you marry me, Tammi?" the only way to move on...is to move forward, isn't it? He saw Tammi scurry away this morning... and wonders if he forces himself to get over Heather if it'll work. 

This time, she says yes. 

She promptly throws together a bachelorette party. 

There are no hard feelings between her and her ex-boyfriend Ti-Ning. At least, not on his end. Tammi felt incredibly betrayed when he told her about his old feelings for Heather, but she tells him now that those things happened "ages ago" and that she's "moved on". In truth, she wonders how many relationships of hers Heather's ghost will hover over. 

Tonight though, she tries to focus on having a good time. 

She's not too happy when Lincoln's cousin Chandra decides to douse her with nectar. 

"Chandra. I'm not trying to be funny. Put that away-" 

She gets drenched anyways. 

Well, she figures she should get in the spirit. Her co-worker is all too happy for the blast of free nectar. 

The rest of the night is a bit of a blur... 

The last thing she remembers is gulping down a glass of water to try and sober up at 3 AM... 

And then suddenly she's home again, exhausted and a little hung over. She forces herself to eat before dragging herself into bed at 6 in the morning. 

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AN:

Again, the brooding flirty interaction (talk about feelings) is so weird. Lincoln says he hates marriage, and Tammi is overjoyed! Her fingers also struggled a bit there. 

Rosalind is dramatic and nurturing.