Morningstar Manor

It was happening again. One second Bridget was sitting on the floor, building a cardboard brick fortress with the kids, and then the next it was like all the air pushed out of her and that surprisingly familiar feeling of someone else inside her head was back. The fortress didn't last long after that and the kids, now frightened for reasons they couldn't really figure out, were soon forgotten as Bridget found herself abandoning them in favor of the balcony attached to the master bedroom. Her brain said she wanted to feel the wind on her face.

( To be continued in comments. )

"Can you get me a soda?" Layla asked from the living room when she saw Neil head into the kitchen.

She wasn't really thirsty, but the pointe shoes Neil had received as a Secret Santa gift were sitting on the bottom shelf, next to the soda bottle. Layla had been having a lot of fun taking them and hiding them all over the apartment for Neil to find. She was way too amused by their existence and the fact that someone had given them to him.

Ever since she and Neil had made plans to move into a new apartment, Layla had been looking forward to hosting some family events there. The first one that came up was Thanksgiving, so this year, instead of going up to the Smith family home in New York, everyone came to Morningstar Manor. Because Neil and Layla only lived a few floors above the Pandigaeshik apartment, there really was no excuse for Phin not to go. Even though no one aside from Bridget or the kids particularly wanted him there, having him stay at home just wasn't an option.

Considering this was the first time Phin had seen Bridget's parents and younger brother since his big secret was revealed, the day didn't progress very smoothly. There were some pretty awkward moments before and during dinner. Luckily the twins functioned as a buffer. Bridget noticed that Phin generally had one within arm's length most of the time. She couldn't exactly blame him. For that.

At least the food was good. After the majority of it was eaten, it was time to clear the table. Neil and Layla had plenty of volunteers to help bring plates into the kitchen; Bridget was one of them.

"These pre-packaged costumes get worse every year, I swear," Layla shook her head as she pulled down a plastic bag that seemed to contain a few scraps of fabric and piece of posterboard, and some stray balloons. The label on the bag read 'Party In My Pants'. She held it up for Neil to see. "Can you believe they're charging twenty bucks for this?"

Costume shopping had not been going too well so far and Layla and Neil only had two weeks left to find something good enough for the Manor's famous Halloween Ball. Getting derailed by cheaply made, poorly executed, and all-around stupid costumes like this probably wasn't helping.

Neil and Layla were moving their things into the Manor today, and Neil supposed things were going pretty smoothly. He was just finishing carrying in a box full of...he thought they it was Layla's shoes but he could've been wrong, when one of the other elevator bays opened and he heard thundering footsteps and loud cheers that could only belong to Jeth and Penny, heading his way. He'd stopped in front of the doorway and turned to look up the hall in time to try and brace himself before a toddler barreled into each of his legs, each one latching on and babbling a mile a minute. "Whoa..." He said as he tried to keep his balance without spilling the box. He wound up on his ass with the box lading next to him and spilling a couple of shoes out, whoops. He had no choice but to laugh though because once he was on a more even playing field, the kids crawled right up his torso in an effort to be the first to give him a hug. So before he even saw Bridget behind them, he'd already morphed into the tickle monster and was rolling around the hallway floor like the tallest toddler in the world as he tickled his niece and nephew. He was a very mature thing for random neighbors to wind up seeing, should they enter the hallway.

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After Neil dropped Bridget off from the Pandas' apartment and at the same time picked Layla up from watching the twins, the two drove to Neil's apartment. It was time to pack up his place, or as Neil referred to it 'get rid of everything Layla doesn't want him to bring to the Manor'. He was not getting rid of his armchair. No sir. That thing had been with him since high school. It was a trooper and it was broken in and he loved it. Everyone was afraid to sit in it, which meant he was always guaranteed a seat!

"I'm just saying that I think it's premature to just move him back in while he recovers. She's trapping herself. What's she going to do if she changes her mind later?" He was saying as he unlocked the door. After he let them into the apartment and shut the door behind them, he stretched as he set his keys and wallet in the bowl by the door and then pulled his phone out. "Want to call for pizza while I call Brad?" He'd talked to Brad earlier about trying to talk some sense into her about Phin. Clearly she wasn't thinking straight after Phin's accident if she was so willing to just take him back after what he'd done to her.

Visiting hours were almost over. Bridget was going back to work on Monday after taking a week off, so she had stopped by a few hours earlier to spend some time with Phin.

"What else do you want me to bring the next time I come?" she asked, looking down at the little list she'd started writing before they'd been interrupted by a nurse who was checking on Phin's status.

Neil and Layla were already in the Manor when they'd gotten the call to come in for an interview about an open apartment in the Manor. That was convenient, or Neil at least thought it was anyway. Thankfully, Neil's mom was in town currently anyway and had been up at the hospital with Bridget and Phin while Neil and Layla were babysitting. So they called her up to come home a little early so they could go to the interview.

"Ready?" He asked Layla as he looked over at her after they reached the TA office's door. At least they'd had enough time to run to Neil's current place and get some nicer clothes so Neil no longer had a spaghetti-o's stain on his shirt from where Jeth had launched a spoon of them at him earlier in the day.

The kids were coming in to visit Phin today. Phin was not happy about this, but it had been over a week since the last time they'd seen him. So Bridget put her foot down and said they had to come by. The kids had been prepped at home that their father wasn't in great shape and Bridget went to the hospital early to prep Phin. Neil would be coming not too long after that with Penny and Jeth in tow.

"It's going to be all right," Bridget assured, frowning down at Phin.