AMA - The Divorcee: Day 10

"Like Mrs. O'Brien said, it's no big deal—" you tell them as politely as you can, but Mrs. O'Brien cuts you off. "You see, Richard? What did I say?" Mrs. O'Brien asks her husband. "Yeah. So~, how can I help you?" you ask them, and you can't help but glance at the girl with them.

[Image: Maddy O'Brien No Make-up Introduction]

"This is our granddaughter, Maddy." Mr. O'Brien introduces the young lady with him. You wave to say hi, which she shyly returns.

"Oh, darling. Greet him properly. You're the one who was excited to meet him." Mrs. O'Brien encourages her granddaughter.

"Hi Mister—" Maddy started greeting you but Mrs. O'Brien didn't let her finish.

"Here, girl! Don't be shy. He's not as big of a celebrity as you make him out to be." Mrs. O'Brien tells her, which gets an eyebrow raise from you.

Maddy gets in front of you to introduce herself, but still raises a hand up to wave at you as a greeting. "Hi Mr. Craig. I'm Madeleine. I'm a huge fan." Maddy formally introduces herself. "It's nice to meet you Madeleine." You greet her back, offering a handshake, and this small gesture gets the girl to suddenly light up and smile widely. She returns your handshake excitedly, initially surprised by how it feels due to 'Magic Touch', but she can't help but shake your hand vigorously... for an awkwardly long time.

"That's enough, Maddy." Mrs. O'Brien tells her granddaughter, who immediately stops shaking your hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Craig!" Maddy tells you. "Well, now that you're acquainted, we wanted to ask you a favor, young man." Mrs. O'Brien tells you. "Grammy!" Maddy reacts. "You're going to be bored out of your mind in the hospital with us, Maddiecakes. We'd rather you take the opportunity to get to know your idol than be stuck with us for another entire day." Mr. O'Brien tells her.

"Hospital? Is everything alright, Mr. O'Brien?" you ask him with genuine concern. "Oh, Mary and I are just going for our monthly check-up. It's no big deal. Nothing to worry about." Mr. O'Brien tells you with a reassuring smile. "If it's just a check-up, I can go with you guys to assist you." Maddy tells them. "A check-up at our age takes hours, darling. This young man will be happy to have you stay over." Mrs. O'Brien tells her, imposing a decision for you.

"That's if you're not busy. Don't mind Mary, she's become rude in her old age." "Richard!" "But we were hoping you might be okay to host our granddaughter for a few hours? We wanted to introduce you after she arrived yesterday, so it wouldn't be too sudden now; but you were out the entire day yesterday... So here we are. We really do apologize for the suddenness" Mr. O'Brien politely explains the situation to you.

"It's no problem, Mr. O'Brien; but wouldn't it be better to have your granddaughter with you to assist you if you need anything?" you ask him. "We're elderly, young man. Not invalids." Mrs. O'Brien answers for you, and that immediately stops you from caring about her wellbeing any further; but you do care for Mr. O'Brien. "Are you sure Mr. O'Brien?" you ask him, completely ignoring Mrs. O'Brien's opinion. "Positive." Mr. O'Brien answers you.

"Only if we're not imposing, Mr. Craig!" Maddy chimes in. "You're not, Madeleine. I'd love to introduce you to Stella and Cassie." you tell her, and this gets a curious look from Mr. O'Brien. "Cassie? That's not Sylvie's daughter is it?" Mr. O'Brien asks you. "It is Mr. O'Brien. She's staying with us over the summer." you answer him.

"Who's at the door, Dad?" you hear Stella ask from behind you. "It's Mr. and Mrs. O'Brien with their granddaughter. Is Cassie with you? Come say hi." You tell her. The girls greet your elderly neighbors and Maddy; they introduce themselves to Maddy, and Maddy informs them of what's happening. The girls react positively to having her over and invite her inside for you. Maddy looks at her grandparents for confirmation, which they give. She then looks at you, and you invite her inside.

"Thank you, young man. We're even, now." Mrs. O'Brien tells you before she walks away and heads for the stairs ahead of her husband. "You go ahead, Mary. I'll just talk to the boy for a bit." Mr. O'Brien tells her and she just raises her hand to signify that she heard, but also in a way that made it seem like she didn't care.

"Be honest with me, are you sleeping with Sylvie's daughter?" Mr. O'Brien surprisingly asks you. Not seeing any point in lying, you answer him honestly. "Yes, Mr. O'Brien. Cassie's my girlfriend." you answer him. "What about Antonia? Aren't you sleeping with her too? If you're wondering, you already know my wife tells me everything that goes on in this building, right?" Mr. O'Brien asks another question. "Yes, Tanya's also my girlfriend." you answer him.

"And your daughter?" he continues to ask. You wonder how Mrs. O'Brien found out about that one, but she probably saw Stella naked and coming from your room when she came over to make the noise complaint before. "Yes, Stella's my girlfriend too." you answer him. "So, you're with three women already." Mr. O'Brien remarks, and you can't help but nod.

"What about the new girl in 303? Mary mentioned she saw her at your apartment too." Mr. O'Brien continues asking. "No, Viv's not my girlfriend." you answer him, but he's looking at you like he knows you're not telling the entire truth. "Yet." you add, being honest that you are planning to date Viv, and pursue a romantic relationship with her. "There it is." Mr. O'Brien reacts with a laugh.

"Well, I guess I have to congratulate you on that part. It's none of my business how you're making that work, but I'm honestly happy for you. I can only imagine how rough the last few months must have been, so you getting back on your feet is a good sign. Hell, three girlfriends, you're practically off your feet again and flying." Mr. O'Brien tells you, letting out a chuckle at the end. "Thanks Mr. O'Brien." you tell him.

"That being said." he adds ominously, getting your full attention. "I'm not Sylvie. I'm not pawning off my granddaughter to you because I'm too irresponsible to take care of her myself." Mr. O'Brien adds with the same ominous tone, but also a bit more menacing than you've ever heard from the sweet old man. "My granddaughter?" he starts.

"Don't you fookin' dare." Mr. O'Brien warns you, but he does it with such a warm smile that you can't even see a hint of the menacing tone he used in his words. "I understand, Mr. O'Brien." you reassure him, the fear in your voice evident. "Glad to know I still got it." Mr. O'Brien says with an amused chuckle to himself, his voice going back to the sweet old man you know. He then takes out his wallet and grabs a couple of bills and offers them to you. "For having Maddy over," he says. You reject it, telling him it's fine.

"Pizza Time!" the same pizza delivery guy that's been delivering your pizzas since you've been divorced shouts out to you. "Hey Tom." Mr. O'Brien surprisingly greets him. "Tricky Ricky! You buying?" the pizza delivery guy asks him. Tricky Ricky?

"I still have some left from last time, Tom. Maybe next time." Mr. O'Brien answers him. "Cool, cool. No worries. Anyway, these pizzas are for you man." Tom addresses you, but you're still looking at Mr. O'Brien for an explanation. "He's my weed dealer." he answers you honestly. "Suh', dude." Tom greets you differently than before, before handing you the pizza boxes. "You buying?" he asks, looking at you. "He is now." Mr. O'Brien answers for you and he hands Tom some bills.

You try to politely reject his generosity but Tom's already counting the money that Mr. O'Brien gave him. "That's for the pizzas and the slice. Keep the change, Tom." Mr. O'Brien tells him. "Right on Tricky Ricky!" Tom tells him before walking away happy. Mr. O'Brien looks back at you and gives you a warm smile before giving you a salute goodbye.

"Have fun."

CHAPTER 104.1

What happens next?

Number One Fan

"Is that weed!?"

Stella asks you in shock, while Cassie and Maddy are wide eyed upon seeing the small ziplock of weed placed on top of the pizza boxes when you put them down on the table.

"Yep!" you answer her, in equal disbelief as they are. "The pizzas and the weed are courtesy of our loving neighbor, and Madeleine's grandfather, Mr. O'Brien." you tell them.

"Grandpa Rick gave you his weed!?" Maddy asks you in total shock.

"No. He bought some for us from the pizza delivery guy, and gave the parting message to 'have fun'." You explain to her.

"Oh my god! Grandpa!" Maddy reacts in embarrassment.

"Not surprised Mr. O'Brien tokes up though. Probably helps with muscle pain." Stella reacts, before opening up the pizza boxes so you can all grab a slice.

"Yes, my lovely daughter, please explain to your father the positive effects of smoking marijuana." you jokingly tell her, pretending you'd be furious to find out she smokes weed.

"What? Can we not pretend you and I don't both smoke weed recreationally?" Stella asks you, before taking a bite of her pizza.

"I'm just concerned, Stella. I just hope you're doing it in a safe environment, and you're doing it responsibly. You're still in school, there's definitely a school policy against that. That's all I'm saying." you tell her, as fatherly as you can.

"Don't worry, Jay. She doesn't smoke weed much, and she keeps to her schedule even when she does. It actually helped calm her down a few times after... um... yeah. I was more okay with her smoking weed than cigarettes to be honest." Cassie assures you.

"What do you mean 'she', like I'm the only one? I smoke your weed!" Stella reacts to Cassie with a laugh. Cassie looks at you embarrassed, unsure how you would react to her getting Stella to smoke weed with her.

"Relax, Cassie. You're both adults now, and those are your decisions. Just make sure it doesn't get in the way of your futures, okay?" you reassure her, and your girlfriends just smile and nod to tell you they understand.

You are a bit surprised it's Cassie who's the one that's getting your daughter to smoke up, and not the other way around. You consider it a good sign in regards to your parenting that your daughter isn't the one getting other people to do drugs with her, but also a bad sign in regards to you as a parent that you expected her to be the one that would.

'You are also sleeping with her, so maybe there's no argument to be made about how good of a parent you really are anymore'

More importantly though, you've come to the realization there's still a lot you can still get to know about your girlfriends.

"Wow, you're really understanding, Mr. Craig. You're so cool. My dad would be livid if he found out I was doing drugs." Maddy tells you and the girls.

"I'm sure he's just being protective. It comes with being a parent." you reassure her.

"No~. You don't know my dad." Maddy tells you with conviction.

"Well, if she's anything like your grandma, then we have some idea." Stella tells her, and you can't help but admonish her for that.

"Stella!" you shout in reaction. Stella apologizes but Maddy doesn't seem to mind.

"Oh, you sound like grandpa Rick." Maddy jokes back, which makes you and Stella smile a bit in relief, knowing she didn't take what Stella said in the wrong way. "Grammy's strict, but she's been nothing but sweet to me and my sisters growing up. My dad though, he's more than just strict. He threatened Grandpa Rick he'll never see us ever again if he finds out he 'put me on the weed'." Maddy explains.

"Well, that rules out my theory that Mr. O'Brien bought this for us so we could smoke this with you then. Pretty sure Mrs. O'Brien will definitely tell your dad about it if she finds out." Stella points out, while shaking the ziplock of weed.

"I... I haven't actually tried smoking marijuana. I am curious, but you're probably right about Grammy. I'm pretty sure she's dad's spy while I'm here." Maddy says. You and the girls just give her knowing looks, since you have experience with how Mrs. O'Brien can be thorough in finding out things that happen in the building.

"Don't get me wrong, I'll always love Grammy. She's the one who introduced me to you, Mr. Craig. She was the one that sent me a copy of 'The Undying Emperor' back when I was in elementary. I've been following your work ever since then. The Chronomancer series is one of my favorite stories ever." Maddy tells you.

"Wait, you read those books in elementary? HOW!?" Stella asks in disbelief.

"What? Why?" Maddy asks, surprised at Stella's shock.

"I think Stella's surprised you were smart enough to get it." Cassie explains.

"Hey! Are you calling me stupid?" Stella asks with fake indignation.

"I'm saying she was smart enough to get it." Cassie replies with a guilty smile, making it obvious to Stella that she was teasing.

"Oh, um... I actually think they're really well written. It was never confusing for me what was going on, despite the time jumps, alternate identities, and alternate timelines. Figuring out that Al-Zayim was actually the Emperor in 'The Desert of Time' and not the POV character that was written to make us believe he was The Emperor for being a chronomancer, but was actually only able to use chronomancy due to Al Zayim being secretly around him was such an amazing reading experience! I can't wait to read the next book in the series! I want to see if the theory on the internet is right and that the Emperor's actually the god of time himself and not just a chronomancer, and that he's not actually cursed by the gods with immortality but he and his soulmate are both gods to begin with, and that his soulmate is the goddess of space, and they've been cursed with mortal bodies instead; and are therefore bound to live on Earth forever but always apart." Maddy fangirls.

"You got any of that, Cass?" Stella reacts right after Maddy's praises of your work.

"Nope." Cassie replies, and the two girls look at you with puppy dog eyes and exaggerated pouts, acting like they're asking forgiveness for not being big fans of your work.

"I still love you girls." you assure them, but you pretend to wipe a tear, making Cassie and Stella giggle.

"Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed reading my works, Maddy. I'm sorry to say that the latest book is delayed due to personal reasons." you tell her.

"Oh, that's unfortunate; but no pressure, Mr. Craig! Take your time perfecting your book. I'm sure I'll enjoy it!" Maddy tells you.

You kind of feel guilty that the book is the last thing on your mind right now. Especially since your publisher's given you time to take a break, and publish it when you're comfortable enough to do a promotional tour when the book gets released.

"Didn't you say the book was practically done?" Stella asks you, and Maddy gasps in excitement. The elation in Maddy's eyes upon hearing that is palpable.

"Can I read it, Mr. Craig? That would be so amazing if I could!" Maddy asks giddily.

"My contract prevents me from sharing drafts with anyone outside of the editors assigned to me, so I'm really sorry, Maddy." you tell her, tempering her excitement.

"That's okay, Mr. Craig. I understand completely. It's probably for the better too. So I can experience it as you intended." Maddy replies.

"Okay, I think my Dad's ego has sufficiently been stroked now, Mads." Stella jokes, getting an embarrassed reaction from Maddy.

"I'm sorry I'm being such a fangirl. I'm not normally like this, I promise. It's just rare to be around someone you idolize." she explains.

"Oh! No, don't get me wrong, I'm not asking you to change. I'm always happy to meet someone who's a fan of my dad's work. I'm just saying, knowing him, it's going to go to his head." Stella jokes, and you can't help but react with a "Hey!" since it might give Maddy the wrong idea. Thankfully, Maddy seems to see it as a joke like Stella intended and laughs.

"I'm sure you meet tons of fans of Mr. Craig's writing. I assume he's used to it by now." Maddy replies.

"I've met some, but you're the first without a neckbeard in a long time." Stella jokes, actually making you laugh along, as that is a weirdly distinct trait some of your more vocal fans have. You're not sure why.

"For that alone, I already consider dad's fanbase a hundred percent improved." Stella jokes, which actually gets a genuine ecstatic smile from Maddy.

"Hearing that's really... I'm sorry. To hear it from his own daughter though, that's amazing for me. I assumed you'd be his biggest fan! I'm kind of embarrassed to admit it, but I always kind of imagined myself in your shoes. Having such a brilliant father." Maddy explains.

"Well, I'm obviously not what you assumed to be; but as his daughter, with the power vested in me by nobody, I'm dubbing you..."

"Dad's number one fan."

CHAPTER 105.1

What happens next?

Maddy

"We'd actually like to get to know you more too, Maddy. How long are you staying with your grandparents?" Cassie asks her.

You and the girls finished your lunch and have been talking to Maddy for quite some time now... Well, it was mostly Maddy talking, and it was almost exclusively about her love for your works, her asking you about your worldbuilding, and asking your opinions about her headcanon of certain plot points you've left gray for the readers to piece together. After some time, Cassie took it upon herself by asking her question so that she can stop gushing about you; as it did kind of make you feel uncomfortable with how relentless she was with her questions.

"Oh, I'm starting college after this summer. My dad didn't want me to stay at a dormitory where he can't keep an eye on me, and wanted me to attend a college close to home. I had to argue that the pre-med course in the college I'm going to is one of the best in the country and way better than the ones back home, so mom and I convinced him that it gives me a better chance at landing at one of the top med schools later on. My mom was the one who ultimately persuaded him to compromise, and that's why I'm staying with my grandparents instead. So they can keep an eye on me for my dad. My mom convinced him to let me go here earlier too. She wants me to get used to the city, and the commute, and a life outside of homeschooling so she convinced my dad to allow me to stay with his parents before school starts." Maddy explains.

It seemed like a reasonable enough thing for her dad to want, until you and the girls find out where she's going to school.

"Wait, that's our school." Cassie has a sudden realization after Maddy answers where she's going for college.

"Oh, cool! We're going to be schoolmates! I haven't had many schoolmates outside of my sisters." Maddy jokes, giggling at the end.

"Mads, that's like a two hour drive to outside the city without traffic!" Stella reacts. "Also, is it cool if I call you Mads from time to time?" Stella adds. "Sure! I like Mads!" Maddy answers Stella's second question first.

"Oh, and yeah, I heard it's also around that time if I take the subway and a bus, so my dad thinks it's doable since public transport's a little more consistent for my time management." Maddy replies.

"Everyday!?" Stella asks incredulously again.

"Yeah. Believe me, I'd rather he allow me to dorm, but I'd rather have a two hour commute than be stuck at home." Maddy tells them with a somber tone. Stella and Cassie just look at each other, before they both look back at Maddy trying not to pity her, and failing miserably.

"Why is your dad so adamant about keeping an eye on you? He's more willing for you to commute two hours to school than get a dorm room. It's not like public transit in this city isn't dangerous either." Stella asks Maddy.