105: Unmasked Part 1
Luci
“What are we going as?” Easton asks as he leans against the wall of the playroom watching
me sew.
“You’ll see.” I sing out and watch him frown.
“We’re not going as like Elsa and Olaf are we? Or are we going as anything together at all?” His brow is furrowed tight.
“We are going as something together unless you don’t want to. Cole is going to be his own thing. I let him choose.”
“Do I get a hint?” He looks truly worried.
“Did you forget it’s good guys from the 80’s cartoons, so Elsa and Olaf don’t really qualify?
Instead, we’re going to be the Care Bears.” I tell him with a straight face. “You’re going to be Funshine Bear and I’m Grumpy Bear.”
He stares at me searchingly. I continue to sew and he finally speaks. “You’re serious?”
“If I am, would you wear it?” I ask curiously.
“I’m going to have some serious compensatory demands if you’re telling the truth.” He folds
his arms now and comes closer. “That’s a much bigger deal than me tolerating your stuffed
rabbit.”
“You really have a problem with Corndog, don’t you?” I laugh.
“Not really. It’s our special inside joke at this point. I did at first because he reminded me of Julian. Then you told me how you like him because he was the first gift I gave you. Now I see
him as one of the first spoils of war.”
“War?” I question as I add Sydney’s and Becker’s to the completed pile hidden in my sewing
bag. The party is tomorrow night and I have six more to finish.
“Yes. When you decided you needed to add me to your Reed collection with Cole.” He says
mildly.
“Because I was really trying to attract your attention as I got lost in my wonderland like six
times that day.” I mutter as I grab Kingston’s last few touches for his.
“Playing hard to get. Taking care of my son. Being sweet. See, all weapons of Easton
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destruction. War.” He says dryly. “Can I help you with them?”
“Not really, because you can’t sew. I have everything cut out, I just have to sew them together. You could check my email and see if the rest of Cole and Barrett’s outfits that go with their mask is ready. It would be from the party store.” I hand him my phone. “The code is my birthday.”
He searches for a minute and then I see the slow grin. “Well now I know what they are. They are ready. I can go pick them up while you work if that helps.”
“It would be greatly appreciated.” I keep working.
“Luci Elizabeth Forrester….you’ve been busy.” He says slowly and I glance up.
“Umm am I in trouble? My entire name…”
He’s holding my phone and turns it around to some of my pictures. “How often do you take pictures of me sleeping? I’m going to have to watch you.” It’s him with all the animals Cole insisted he needed to continue sleeping.
“Scroll through and you’ll find out. Don’t even think about deleting any. I have them all backed up. You’re free to check for new photos anytime you want and send yourself any of Cole I didn’t.” I warn him with my scissors.
He raises one eyebrow and leans down to set it beside me. “Thank you for trusting me enough. to let me have access to your phone.”
“Aren’t we supposed to do that? Trust each other enough to do that.”
“Yes. You already know how to get into mine. I’ll go pick those up. I forwarded the email to
myself.” He kisses my temple and leaves. As soon as I’m sure he’s gone, I pull his mask out to
finish it. He’s going to be He–Man. I made his the same color as He–Man’s hair. In the center of
the mask between his eyes, I put the gray armor with two straps and then a very subtle
reddish orange “H” in the center of that. He told me to pick something for him so I figure he
can’t complain too much. For fun, I made a Funshine Bear mask out of bright yellow fabric
with his sunny chest logo on each temple corner. I’ll give him that one first. His is done long before he gets back. I finished my She–Ra mask. It was white with red stitching and in the center at the top, I glued a red jewel like her crown. The sides of the mask were the gold wings like her crown, the original one not the remake.
Sydney was going to be Rainbow Brite and I put the finishing touches on hers next. I made hers with the shiny blue fabric with red in the center starting at the middle of her eyes and bridging her nose. A tiny rainbow on each corner of her eyes along with some yellowish
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orange yarn fringe at the very top. A little purple bow with a star over the top right corner to finish it off.
Cole was going to be Bumblebee with Grandpappy as Optimus Prime. Baker was Voltron. I made theirs like their robot heads.
$15 Pointa
Becker was Egon from the cartoon Ghostbusters and I put red rims around his eyes along with making it blue and adding a tiny ghost to one side. I added a yellow curl of hair to the middle. Kingston was going as one of the Ninja Turtles, Raphael which made his easy to make. Jackson’s had been the hardest for me. He was going at someone called Matt Trakker from the Mask cartoon that I never watched. I ended up searching it and making it like his helmet. Barrett was going to be another Ninja Turtle and Banning was GI Joe.
Stormi chose Sailor Moon so I made hers white with a red bow in the middle and the blue and white striped collar was represented by having it in two triangles from the top of the mask meeting in between her eyes where the bow sat. I added two little blonde yarn pigtails to each side.
We might not be the hardest to guess, but it should be a fun party. I was going to wear a white sweater with a red scarf tied around my neck. Syd was wearing a blue sweater dress over some red leggings. Stormi decided to wear a white sweater dress and blue leggings.
By dinner time, I’m done with all of them. The guys all took Cole out to play in the snow, so l could finish uninterrupted.
While they are still outside, I wander through the house distributing them to each of their rooms. I’m in Becker’s room leaving his when he walks in. I hold it up for him to inspect. “That looks awesome Luci Lou. It should be a party to remember. We haven’t had anything like this in forever.”
“Hopefully. I’ve got to go finish delivering the rest. See you at dinner.”
Baker
“Luci has been extremely busy making masks for all of us. I can ask her to make you one if you’d like Kylie.” I shake my head as she protests. “I know you are very crafty too, but you only accepted today and might not have time.”
“Alright, well I look forward to seeing you tomorrow night. Text me when you leave please.”
As I’m hanging up with my daughter, I get an incoming call.
Imogen….She hasn’t called in a while. Not since the day Luci lit into her.
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“Hello.” I answer blankly.
“Baker, please don’t hang up. This is urgent.” Her voice rushes out.
“Are you hurt?” I do not wish that on her in any way.
“No. I am going to send you some files and videos. If you could, please make sure Jason looks
at them. He’ll need to show them to Luci and Easton too, but it needs to be done tonight. And
once he reviews it all, he needs to call me. I have some other things to tell him about this. This
isn’t about me, don’t worry. It’s them. Lorelei has plans.” She sounds very upset.
“I’ll get them to him immediately. Send them now please.”
“I will.”
She hangs up and I’m already walking to Jason’s study as the first file comes through. His
door is open, so I simply walk in.
“Baker, what’s wrong?” He’s on his feet seeing my face.
“Imogen called. She said this is important and it’s about Luci and Easton. Apparently Lorelei is up to something.” I begin playing the first audio file. By the end, we both sit staring at each
other.
“Text Imogen. Ask her to come here to the house as soon as she can.” He says gravely.
Thirty minutes later, I let her into the house. The boys all went to the game room after putting
Cole to bed. I lead her to Jason’s study where he sits waiting.
“Imogen, how did you get all of that?” He asks her straight away before I can even close the
door.
“I had help. I took a page from your book; buy off the informant for more. That doesn’t matter. She’s desperate to bring them back to her now. It started with jealousy after her director left her for a waitress. She tried to win him back so her contract wouldn’t be in danger. But he wanted nothing to do with her. As soon as she learned Easton was dating someone she used him and Cole to renegotiate her deal for one here in the US. Also, I called Lloyd.”
Jason’s brow furrows angrily at that. “Did you mention anything to him about Cole?”
She shakes her head immediately. “No, I wouldn’t. I asked him about Vivienne having any kind of mental illness. She does. She has histrionic personality disorder and that’s why he left. He couldn’t take it anymore. He gave her a hefty settlement for her to agree to the divorce, but she long ago ran through it. And without….” She looks down at the floor. “Without my help, she’s almost broke. I’m sorry about that too, not that it matters right now. Lorelei didn’t know
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anything about the rest until after her mother was arrested.” She closes her eyes. “Luci and Cole have both been through enough and don’t deserve this. Easton doesn’t either, but he’s her end goal.”
“It will be handled.” Jason assures her.
“I knew you would. If I learn anything else, I will call Baker and pass it along.” She rises to her feet and begins leaving.
“Imogen….” She turns as he calls her name. “Thank you.”
She gives a self–deprecating smile. “I don’t deserve thanks for doing the bare minimum job of protecting my children. Goodnight.” With that she leaves.
”
Ivory Row
I hope to have part two out tonight. What do you think Lorelei is up to?
