Calamity Moms

by SuperYoshiFan

Summary:

The Calamity Trio's adventure in motherhood.

Chapter 1: The Decision

November 3, 2034

Los Angeles, California, Earth

 

The relationship of Anne Boonchuy, Sasha Waybright, and Marcy Wu is one for the ages. Each of them had romantic feelings for the other two for many years but they never got any further than pining over each other until they drunkenly confessed on Anne’s 23rd birthday. After that, they began dating and things had steadily progressed. It wasn’t too difficult for Marcy to move back to California, since she was mostly working from home, and some Hollywood animation studios were interested in hiring her. The three of them pooled their money together and got their own apartment. It wasn’t particularly fancy, but it was nice.

And things only grew from there. They happily dated for two years before they all decided to propose… at the same time. 

That was quite a night.

The wedding was as hectic and chaotic as you’d expect from an event planned by Marcy but they wouldn’t have it any other way. All the human friends and allies they met over the years were in attendance, even Maggie, who gained a newfound respect for Anne after the Frogvasion. Sasha’s parents were not there, but she had already severed ties with them long ago. She didn’t mind. Yes she did.

So yeah, things weren’t perfect, but the three heroes of Amphibia lived happy lives as happy wives.

 

 

 

 

So why did Anne feel like something was missing?

She had felt like this for a while but could never quite pinpoint what the source of the problem was. It wasn’t Amphibia. Not a day went by where Anne didn’t miss her frog family, but she had reluctantly come to terms with the fact that she wasn’t returning to her second home anytime soon. What she felt now was something different.

Anne finally realized what it was when she was watching an old comedy movie with Marcy and Sasha. The movie was about three guys having to take care of a baby, and Anne was transfixed the entire time. She knew exactly what was missing from her life. She didn’t want to interrupt the movie with what was bound to be a serious conversation, so she waited until it ended to ask what was on her mind. 

“Have you ever thought about kids?” Anne asked, somewhat nervously. 

Sasha could sense the apprehension in Anne’s question and tried to lighten the mood. “I’m a child psychologist, so I guess I think about kids a lot.”

Marcy chuckled while Anne was unimpressed. “That’s not what I meant, Sash.”

“I know,” said Sasha, a little sheepishly. “I never thought about having kids to be honest. I guess I see enough of them doing my job.”

Anne nodded and turned to her other wife. “Marcy?”

The artist shrugged. “I thought about it once or twice but I never seriously considered it. Did watching this movie make you want a baby?”

“I guess,” said Anne. “For a while I’ve felt that something’s been missing in our lives. I wasn’t quite sure what was missing, but seeing three people living together and taking care of a baby made me finally realize what it is: a baby.”

“I thought Domino 4 and the frogs at the aquarium are your babies,” said Marcy, laughing a little.

“They are!” said Anne. The gray cat jumped up onto Anne’s lap upon hearing his name. She began petting him affectionately. “That’s right, you’re my baby. Yes you are.”

“Uh, Anne…?” asked Sasha.

Anne was a bit embarrassed at what her wives just saw, but quickly continued. “So yeah, I want a baby.” She was quick to placate Sasha and Marcy. “We don’t need to have a baby. If you two don’t want that, that’s fine.

“Well I’m in,” said Marcy enthusiastically. “I think we’ll make great parents!”

“You two will, but I won’t.”

“Sash?”  “Sashy?”

Sasha stared down at her hands, not quite willing to look her wives in the eye at the moment. “Don’t get me wrong, I agree that it’s a good idea…”

“But?”

“But I’d definitely mess it up.” Sasha sniffled. It was clear she was holding back tears. “I’m afraid that if I become a mom I’ll only make the same mistakes my parents made.”

“But you work so well with children,” said Anne, trying to reassure her.

“It’s different when it’s your own child.” Sasha shed a tear.

“No, you’re wrong,” said Marcy with conviction. “You will be the greatest mom who ever lived.” She wrapped Sasha in a hug which Anne quickly joined.

“Marcy’s right,” said Anne. “Just think about your parents and all of the bad parenting you’ve encountered in your career and do the opposite.”

“And you’ll have us!” said Marcy. “If you ever feel like you’re becoming your parents then you come right to us. Besides, if we can defeat mechanical eldritch horrors, then we can do anything!”

“Thanks, girls.” Sasha had a newfound confidence. “I think I’m ready to do this.”

Anne and Marcy smiled knowing that Sasha’s crisis was over. Though she still had one lingering question. 

“You were thinking about adopting, right? ‘Cause I don’t think any of us want some random guy’s juices in our bodies.”

“Yeah, I was thinking about adopting,“ said Anne, blushing from Sasha’s choice of words.

Marcy didn’t seem to be embarrassed at all and seemed to be more energetic than before. She ran into the kitchen and came back with a champagne bottle the trio had been saving for a special occasion. “Yeah, we’re the Calamity Moms!”

Obviously parenthood wasn’t going to be easy, but it would be a wonderful experience.

Notes:

I'm not sure how long this one will ultimately be. I have a few chapters planned, but beyond that I suppose I'll update this whenever I get an idea involving Sashannarcy and their children.

The movie they were watching is Three Men and a Baby, which I haven’t seen but I heard is good.

Chapter 2: Telling the Parents

Summary:

Anne and Marcy's parents find out about the trio's decision.

November 5, 2034

Los Angeles, California, Earth

 

It had been a while since Anne had been inside her old home. It wasn’t a situation she was happy with, but her busy work schedule meant that whenever she wanted to talk to her parents it was easiest to just call them. But now that she would be getting a baby, things would be different. The Calamity Trio’s baby would get to see their khuṇ yāy and khuṇ pū̀ as much as possible.

But that would be a story for a different time. Today was the day the trio would break the news to the Boonchuys.

Thai Go had grown following the Frogvasion, and not because of Anne’s heroism. CCTV cameras and the Internet let Mr. X and his team find all the press and paparazzi who planned on hounding Anne and intercept them before they got the chance. Some of them complied when told to leave the Boonchuys alone, and the ones that didn’t were arrested for planning to harass/stalk a minor.

Instead, the restaurant grew because of what the Boonchuys did for the community following the invasion. Those whose homes were damaged or destroyed were given food, supplies, and shelter. Eventually word spread and Thai Go went from being somewhat popular to very popular. The larger demand meant more staff was hired, and by now Oum and Bee could live in comfortable semi-retirement. Sundays like today were dedicated to relaxation. Well, it would normally be, anyway.

“I wonder how they’re gonna react?” asked Sasha as she and her wives approached the Boonchuy home.

“They’ve teased me about wanting grandkids a few times,” replied Anne, “so they’ll probably be ecstatic.” 

“Not as ecstatic as me, though!” Marcy had been practically shaking with excitement for the past few days. She ran up the stairs and rang the doorbell, her wives catching up with her shortly after.

They heard a distant “Just a minute!” coming from within the house. A moment later, the front door opened, revealing Oum, who was surprised to see who was on the other side.

“Anne, Sasha, Marcy!” she said, wrapping her daughter and daughters-in-law in a hug. “You didn’t say you would be visiting!”

“Surprise!” said Marcy.

“We’ve got important news, and we want you to be the first to know!” said Anne. It seemed that Marcy’s enthusiasm was contagious.

“Ooh, come inside. I’ll get some tea for you all.”

Anne, Sasha, and Marcy followed Oum inside and found Bee sitting in the living room. “Dad!” called out Anne.

Once Bee noticed them, he too gave the Calamity Trio a big hug. “Welcome home, kiddos.”

“Hey, Mr. B,” said Sasha.

Bee stopped and looked at Sasha and Marcy. “You know you two can call me ‘Dad’, right?”

Even before Amphibia, the two of them were like unofficial daughters to the Boonchuys. It was clear that Sasha and Marcy didn’t have the greatest relationship with their parents, especially since they spent more time at Anne’s house than their own. So, Oum and Bee stepped in to provide the comfort they needed. (Okay, maybe they didn’t trust Sasha a little bit, but that was in the past.) And those parental feelings only intensified as the years went on, especially after the trio got together.

“Thanks, Dad,” said both Sasha and Marcy. It was a bit awkward for them, but neither were willing to deny the man’s request.

At that moment, Oum returned with a teapot and five cups. Everyone quickly poured their tea in anticipation of the exciting news.

“So what is it you wanted to tell us?” asked Oum.

Sasha and Marcy grabbed Anne’s hands and nodded, letting her know she should be the one to tell her parents. “We………… are going to adopt a baby!”

Oum and Bee comically spit their tea out upon hearing the news upon hearing the news. “Really?!” They asked simultaneously.

“Yes,” said Anne. “I think we’re ready to raise our own child.”

“That’s wonderful news!” exclaimed Bee. “We have to celebrate! We’ll pull out all the games and cook all of your favorite foods.” He quickly went toward the kitchen. “Ooh! I’ll get that bottle of champagne we’ve been saving for a special occasion!”

“No way, you have one too?!” said Marcy, running after him.

Oum sighed. “Those two will be occupied for a while.”

“I’ll go make sure they don’t hurt themselves or break anything,” said Sasha before she turned and left in the same direction they went.”

Oum turned to her daughter once they were alone. “This is rather sudden, isn’t it?”

Anne nodded. “Yeah, I suggested it a few days ago. I felt that caring for a child would make our lives more complete and they got onboard pretty quickly. I mean, we've obviously got a lot of preparation and purchasing to do, but at the very least we made a decision.”

Oum gave Anne a kiss on the forehead, which was a bit awkward now that Anne was slightly taller. “I’m so proud of you Anne. I know I say it a lot but I never mean it any less.” Mother and daughter both started tearing up and hugged again. “It won’t be easy, but your father and I will help you whenever you need us. I know you three will be great mothers.”

“Thanks, Mom,” said Anne, grateful for the reassurance. 

“You’re welcome, Anne.” They remained there in silent embrace for a minute or so before they let go and Oum spoke again. “Is Marcy going to tell her parents?”

“Yeah,” said Anne, “Marcy said she’ll wait a few days until this initial rush of excitement dies down a little before she tells the Wus.”

“I hope it goes well.”

---

November 8

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 

Stephen and Chen Wu had a strained relationship with their daughter. While they’re worse parents in comparison to the Boonchuys, they’re not outright bad parents like the Waybrights. They were proud of Marcy’s intelligence and achievements, but never truly understood her wants, instead they pushed their interests onto her. Their relationship with Marcy improved somewhat after her return from Amphibia, with both sides blaming themselves for everything that happened, but after they reconciled and moved across the country, the Wus quickly fell back into their old routine.

They never fully approved of their daughter’s choice of career, but Marcy had made it very clear she would be pursuing her own interests and not whatever they tried to push on her. Eventually they got the message and let her do her own thing. They were supportive of Marcy’s marriage to Anne and Sasha and flew out to California to attend the wedding, but they hadn’t physically seen their daughter since then. They hoped that one day they could repair things with Marcy, but they didn’t want to barge right back into her life.

Luckily, that day turned out to be today.

Stephen’s work was interrupted when his phone rang. He was annoyed, thinking this was yet another spam call, but his mood instantly changed when he saw who was calling.

“Honey, Marcy’s calling!”

Chen hurried into Stephen’s office. He answered the video call as soon as she was standing next to him. Marcy appeared on the screen. She appeared to be alone, though unbeknownst to the Wus, Anne and Sasha were standing offscreen, ready to provide Marcy support should she need it.

“Oh good, you’re both here. Hi Mom and Dad!” Marcy waved at them.

“Hello Marcy,” said Chen, politely.

“To what do we owe this pleasure?” asked Stephen.

“Well,” said Marcy, “there’s something I thought you two should know.” Marcy seemed to be a bit nervous. She looked off to the side where Anne and Sasha gave her silent reassurances. “Anne, Sasha, and I will be adopting a baby.”

Well, that was unexpected. Truthfully, the Wus didn’t know what to expect but it wasn’t that. 

Marcy continued. “We only decided on this a few days ago so the actual adoption won’t happen for a while. But it will be happening.”

“That’s wonderful news!” said Stephen.

“Yes, congratulations!” Chen agreed.

“R-really?” Marcy was surprised. She knew they wouldn’t be upset, but still didn’t expect such positive support.

Stephen and Chen looked at each other and nodded. It seemed they would finally be having that long overdue conversation.

“Marcy,” began Stephen, uncertainty creeping into the usually confident man’s voice, “we were never the greatest parents. We cared more about who we wanted you to be than who you actually are. And we’re so deeply sorry for that.”

“We’ve wanted to make amends with you for a while now,” said Chen. “We just weren’t sure how to do it without intruding on your life. This is a new chapter of your life, and we’d love to be part of it."

Marcy was touched. Happy tears began to form in her eyes as Anne and Sasha walked over and gave her a hug.

“I’d like that.”

Notes:

Translations: Khuṇ Yāy (grandmother) and Khuṇ Pū̀ (grandfather)

For the record, I don’t speak Thai. I used an online translator, so if these are incorrect please let me know!

Chapter 3: Sprig and Polly

Summary:

Three new moms meet their new child(ren).

Notes:

I honestly don't fully know how the adoption process works so some of the details here will probably be inaccurate. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

March 25, 2035

Los Angeles, California, Earth

 

The adoption process turned out to be a lot more complicated than the trio expected. There was quite a lot of documentation to fill out and submit, but luckily Sasha had experience dealing with bureaucracy. The adoption agency had offered to fast-track the process upon hearing that Anne Boonchuy was a prospective parent, but as usual she refused any special treatment for stopping Andrias’ invasion when she was 13. (Well she would accept some special treatment from her parents.) They also had to wait until they bought everything that was necessary for taking care of a baby: diapers, baby clothes, baby food, etc. It took a while, but eventually the three future moms managed to buy everything needed, along with surplus supplies.

But now, after months of planning and waiting, the time has come for the Calamity Moms to meet their baby. They had looked at the profiles for all the babies at the Los Angeles Regional Adoption Center, and there were a few in particular that appealed to them. They would make their final decision after they met the babies in person.

“I still think we should choose that adorable pair of twins,” said Marcy with determination.

“And once again I’m gonna point out that we might not be able to afford two babies,” insisted Sasha.

“Look,” said Anne, tired of hearing this argument again. “I agree that those twins do seem like the perfect match, and I also agree that there might be financial issues.” She looked both her wives in the eye. “We shouldn’t make any final decisions before we see any of the babies in person, okay?”

“Okay, you’re right,” said Sasha. “Sorry, Mars.”

“I’m sorry, too,” said Marcy. “I guess I was getting ahead of myself.” She reached her hand out and Sasha took it. The two of them walked toward the adoption center, with Anne following behind them. 

“Still got it,” said Anne quietly enough that Sasha and Marcy didn’t hear it.

“What was that?” asked Sasha with amusement.

“Nothing!”

Okay, maybe Anne wasn’t quiet enough.

---

The supervisor of the adoption center happily greeted the trio and brought them to the ward where the babies are kept. They looked at all the potential children they considered, a process which mostly consisted of them gushing over how cute the babies are. So far, all of the babies they looked at were all good choices, but none of them felt quite right.

Was it possible they weren’t as ready to be mothers as they thought?

That thought would soon be quashed once they were brought to the “wonder twins”, as Marcy had dubbed them. The 10-month-olds were sleeping peacefully in their large shared crib— the trio approached slowly so as not to disturb them. The twins both had a small amount of hair on their head. The boy’s hair was light brown and the girl’s was blonde.

“Oh my frog! They’re even more adorable in person!” Marcy somehow managed to sound extremely loud while being quiet.

“They’re so cuuuuuuuuuute!” said Anne, giddily. “You’re right, Marcy! We need to adopt both.” 

“You might have to,” said the supervisor. “These twins are inseparable. I don’t think it would be possible to give them to separate families.”

Marcy got even more excited. “That’s great news! Right, Sasha?”

Anne and Marcy looked over at Sasha and noticed she wasn’t looking at the twins, almost as if laying eyes on them would entrance her. “Yeah, it’s great,” she said, not making eye contact with her wives.

Anne and Marcy smirked, knowing what they had to do. “Look at us, Sash,” said Anne. Sasha turned and saw that her wives were giving her their trademark “cute eyes”. 

“Come on…” said Sasha.

Anne and Marcy just upped the intensity of their “cute eyes”.

“You were supposed to be the neutral one, Anne…”

Sasha resisted as long as she could before she suddenly got close to the sleeping babies, her “cute eyes” growing even larger than Anne and Marcy’s.

“Oh, I can’t resist these two cuties any longer,” admitted Sasha. “I guess we’re adopting both.”

“That’s excellent news,” said the supervisor. “I’ll get the final paperwork.”

She left the room and the trio just stood there for a few minutes, gazing at the twins. They really wanted to hold the babies, but they did not want to interrupt their slumber.

Eventually the supervisor returned with the forms and as the trio filled it out, Sasha felt the need to bring up something that had been on her mind ever since the trio discovered the twins.

“I noticed on their profiles that they were named by the hospital.”

The supervisor froze and shed a few tears. The trio wasn’t sure what to say, but they all eventually realized the cause of her sadness.

“Their parents never got a chance to name them, did they?” asked Anne.

“No,” said the supervisor, in between tears. “Their car crashed on the way to the hospital. The doctors managed to save the babies, but the parents never made it…”

Naturally, the trio started crying as well. They were so happy to be mothers that never stopped to consider why these babies were up for adoption in the first place. Frog, how could they be so selfish? Sasha thought about all of the children she met who struggled after the death of a parent. Anne thought about the Plantars, who lost their parents at such a young age. Marcy thought about the parents who died protecting their children during the Frogvasion. At least all of them got to know their biological parents. The twins’ parents were taken from them before they were even born. 

Their thoughts were interrupted when they noticed the supervisor was crying much harder than the rest of them. Sasha rushed over to console her.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to—“

“No, don’t be.” The supervisor began to regain her composure. “I probably should’ve told you earlier.” She reached for the forms which she had set down when she began crying. “The names on these forms are pretty much just placeholders. When you get the chance, feel free to legally change them to something you want.”

“I know exactly what to name them,” said Anne with conviction.

Sasha and Marcy looked at her with slight concern. “I know we already decided on a name, but after hearing that story, I was reminded so much of the Plantars…” Anne trailed off, seemingly unsure of how to finish that thought.

“It’s okay, Anna-Banana,” said Marcy, giving her a hug.

Sasha joined the hug. “I was thinking the same thing.”

Anne sighed in relief. “Thank you.”

She walked back over toward the crib and reached out her hands. The twins slowly stirred awake and each of them grabbed a hand. Tears came to Anne’s eyes again. 

“Hi, Sprig. Hi, Polly,” she said softly. “We’re your new moms.”

They were going to be the best damn parents the world had ever seen.

Notes:

Credit to Marcanne4Life for the idea of baby Sprig and Polly losing their parents as a parallel to Sprig and Polly Plantar.

Chapter 4: Breakfast in Bed

Summary:

Sprig and Polly have a Mother's Day surprise for their moms.

May 10, 2043

Los Angeles, California, Earth

6:38 A.M.

 

It was very early in the morning, much earlier than when Sprig and Polly would normally be awake on a Saturday. But today is a special day, and the twins are preparing a special Mother’s Day gift.

There were so many awesome things their moms had done for them over the years: vacations, private aquarium tours, getting a cameo as minor characters in Ava’s Adventures, their epic 9th birthday which was only a few days ago, etc. And today, Sprig and Polly wanted to do something nice for them in return.

Making their moms breakfast in bed should’ve been easy. Sprig and Polly helped their moms in the kitchen several times in the past, and had watched their grandparents prepare dishes at Thai Go, so this was supposed to be an easy task. Of course, plans always sound easier than they ultimately are. 

“I really think those pancakes are done, Polly,” said Sprig.

“No, not yet,” insisted his sister.

“But they’re burning!”

“The burn gives it flavor!”

“That makes no sense!”

“Well, you’re not doing any better with those eggs!”

“Oh frog!” Sprig quickly turned back to the food he unintentionally neglected.

As you can see, things were going well.

Much like their namesakes, Sprig is somewhat level-headed with a penchant for fun, while Polly is pure chaos but also rather intelligent. They get along very well, and when they’re together, there’s nothing they can’t accomplish…

 

 

Except for making breakfast apparently.

 

 

“Okay,” said Sprig, taking the eggs out of the pan and putting them on plates. “They don’t look that good but they don’t taste bad.”

“Alright!” said Polly. “My pancakes are almost done.”

She flipped them over a few more times before turning off the stove and putting the scorched pancakes on the plates next to the eggs.

“They’re a bit burnt, but that’s exactly what I wanted so I succeeded. Luckily the smoke detector didn’t go off and ruin the surprise.”

Sprig wanted to be upset that Polly intentionally burnt the food, but he loved his sister too much to be mad at her. So instead he wrapped her in an awkward sibling hug.

“Good job, sis.”

Polly poured out three glasses of orange juice and Sprig grabbed some utensils. They well poured two bowls of cereal for themselves to eat. Breakfast was complete. They carefully walked up the stairs to their mothers’ bedroom with breakfast. It was rather awkward for two normally rambunctious kids to be tiptoeing so quietly, but such is life.

Sprig carefully opened the door a bit and peered inside. The Calamity Moms were sleeping peacefully in their bed: Sasha on the left with her arms draped over her wives, Marcy in the middle nuzzling Sasha’s neck, and Anne on the right with her face buried in Marcy’s long hair. Normally, the twins wouldn’t dare interrupt a rare moment when all three of their moms were calmly resting, but now was not a normal time.

Sprig looked toward Polly. “Is it time to get loud?”

Polly nodded. “Yes, it is. We’ll count to three and go in.”

“1…  2…  3!”

The twins both kicked the door open. (They were only able to do this because Sprig slightly opened it previously. They were only 9, after all.)

“SURPRISE! HAPPY MOTHERS’ DAY!”

The Calamity Trio immediately shot awake. Well, in Sasha’s case it was more like “awake”. 

“I will fight you, Mom!” she said, before Marcy jostled her out of her dream. “Wha…?”

Anne looked over at the clock on the table by her side of the bed. “Kids, why are you up so early? It’s not even 7:00.”

“Mama wants rest!” complained Marcy, who had a massive case of bed head.

“Mom, Mama, Mæ̀,” said Polly, “it’s Mother’s Day!”

Sprig presented the plates to the trio. “We decided to surprise you with breakfast in bed!” 

The three moms took the plates and looked at the eggs and burnt pancakes in shock. The twins certainly succeeded at surprising them.

“You made this?” asked Sasha.

“Yep!” replied Polly excitedly.

“So you used the stove without permission,” said Anne.

“Uh…” said Sprig, “it sounds bad when you put it like that… but yes.”

“Wouldn’t it have been easier to pour a few bowls of cereal?” asked Marcy.

“But that wouldn’t have been as special!” exclaimed Sprig. “You do so much for us all the time. You deserve a nice gift.”

“Yeah,” said Polly. “We put effort into our gift. Maybe a little too much.”

The Calamity Moms were all moved to happy tears and wrapped their kids in a hug.

“We love you two so much,” said Marcy. “That’s why we do so much for you.”

“Never feel like you owe us anything,” continued Sasha.

“But it does mean so much to us that you made us something, even if you might have ruined the kitchen.” said Anne, who paused for a moment. “Did you ruin the kitchen?”

“Only ruined the kitchen a little bit,” said Polly as her mothers began eating the breakfast. “Sorry that the pancakes are burnt… that’s the way I like them.”

“Don’t feel bad,” said Marcy. “It’s not any worse than most of my attempts in the kitchen.”

They all laughed at that.

The five of them chatted for a bit, discussing various topics: the twins’ schoolwork, Marcy’s webcomic, what Anne was planning on giving her mother, but eventually the discussion went back to the current situation. Sprig and Polly got nervous when they saw their moms shift into “serious mode”.

“We appreciate your gift so much,” explained Sasha, “but never use the stove without our permission again."

“Thankfully nothing bad happened but we can't risk you two getting the house burned down,” said Marcy, in between pancake bites.

“And you’re definitely helping us clean up whatever mess you made in there,” said Anne.

“We’re sorry,” Sprig and Polly both said.

“But…” continued Anne, “if you want you can help us with the meal we’re making later for your khuṇ yāy.”

“Yeah!“ cheered Sprig.

“Double Mother’s Day fun!” said Polly.

“But before all that you have to get dressed,” said Sasha, gesturing the twins toward the door. “There’s something your Mama and Mæ̀ and I have to talk about.”

 

 

Once Sprig and Polly left the room, Sasha turned back to Anne and Marcy. “So that tasted like Amphibian food, right”

“Yep,” said Marcy. “The eggs were prepared like the ones in Newtopia and those pancakes would fit in Wartwood perfectly.

“They tasted exactly like Hop Pop’s pill bug pancakes, just without the bugs,” said Anne. “I guess burning them was the secret ‘ingredient’. Who’d have guessed it?”

“I would have!” exclaimed Marcy, “Hop Pop burned things all the time!”

They chuckled at that.

Notes:

Translations: Mæ̀ (mom) and Khuṇ Yāy (grandmother).

Sprig and Polly accidentally making food that tastes like Amphibian food doesn't have any special significance. I just thought it was a neat way to end the chapter.

Chapter 5: Christmas Memories

Summary:

On one fateful Christmas, the moms tell the twins about some happy memories of Christmases past.

Notes:

Me: Writes a chapter where the twins run into their moms’ room and wake them up.
Me: Wanna see me do it again?.

 
Chapter suggestion from hunter hewett

December 25, 2040

Los Angeles, California, Earth

 

♪ I’m sure you feel it coming

There’s something in the breeze

It might be slightly snowing or seventy degrees… ♪

 

It’s a peaceful Christmas morning at the Boonchuy-Waybright-Wu household. It’s only been four months since Anne, Sasha, Marcy, and their twins moved into their current house, but it felt so much like home that they might as well have been there for years. 

The living room was filled with all sorts of decorations. There were the classics like the lights on the front window and the stockings hung up by the TV, the ones reflecting the Calamity Trio’s heritage like the gingerbread houses shaped like Wat Benchamabophit and Mengjia Longshan Temple, the ones referencing Amphibia like the commissioned scale model of Barrel’s Warhammer which flashes red and green lights, the arts-and-crafts made by Sprig and Polly, and last but not least the Christmas tree topped with a star adorned with three plastic gems in familiar colors. There were plenty of presents under the tree left by Santa for the twins, and a few special ones for the parents as well.

Speaking of the parents, the trio was sleeping peacefully. The past few weeks had been particularly stressful, so it was nice to have a calm morning…

 

 

 

Of course, Christmas morning with a couple of 6-year-olds never stays calm. 

“MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!” “Wake up, it’s Christmas!!!!”

Sprig and Pollly burst into their moms’ room and jumped on their bed, succeeding in waking them up as quickly as possible. Part of them wanted to be mad at the twins, but the Calamity Moms couldn’t be mad at children’s excitement for Christmas. Besides, it wasn’t the first time they had been aggressively woken up by their children and it wouldn’t be the last. 

Marcy was the first to arise, her energy seemingly going from 0 to 100. “Ooh! It’s already morning!” She fell to the floor while getting out of bed, but quickly got up, paying no mind to her fall. She looked over to her wives. Anne was awake, but Sasha was still trying to cling onto sleep.

“Sashy!” called out Marcy.

“Ugh…” replied the blonde. “Five more minutes, please…”

The twins, still on the bed, took this as the opportunity to get up close in Sasha’s face.

“Come on, Mom!” said Sprig.

“We must open preseeeeeeents!!!” said Polly

Sasha eventually sat up and put her hands on the twins’ shoulders to stop them from moving around too much. “Okay kiddos, I’m up,” she said.

The five of them walked downstairs to the Christmas tree. (Well, two of them walked. The rest ran.) Sprig and Polly surprisingly didn’t open their presents rapidly, since in years past Anne had drilled into the twins the need to unwrap presents carefully so she had time to capture some good photos. It seems she inherited her father’s desire to take perfect Christmas pictures. The kids got plenty of games, toys, and art supplies, and the parents received some special gifts too: a custom-made Sprig plushie for Anne, a new sword for Sasha, and the soundtrack of the Vagabondia Chronicles animated series for Marcy, which she had worked on.

Once all the presents were opened, the Boonchuy-Waybright-Wus ate breakfast and started playing some of the new video games, which in all honesty were gifts for Marcy as well as gifts for the twins. Things got really chaotic when Sprig and Polly played the newest Mario Party against Marcy and Sasha while Anne took plenty of pictures. Marcy and Sasha purposely did badly on the minigames to give the kids a fair chance of winning, but that ultimately proved unnecessary since they got screwed over by Chance Time, leaving them with no stars and the twins with three.

Eventually the gaming excitement died down and the family decided to simply relax for a while before they left to have dinner at the Boonchuys’ house.

“I know something fun we can do to pass the time,” said Anne. “How about we share some Christmas memories with you?” 

Sprig and Polly’s eyes grew wide. They loved hearing about their moms’ past.

“Yeah!“ exclaimed Polly.

“Tell us your favorite Christmas, Mæ̀,” said Sprig.

The Calamity Moms all looked at each other before responding.

“Actually…” said Anne, “I think I should go last.”

“I’ll start!” said Marcy. “My favorite Christmas was when I was 7. That was the year the first Cynthia Coven book came out and I really wanted it and my mom and dad said if I was reeeeeeeeeeeally good that year then Santa might get it for me, so I did! I did all my chores and I helped out in school and I aced all my homework, and guess what?” Marcy got up and walked over to the bookshelf and pulled out the book in question. “I got it! I was so excited I read the whole thing in one day, and yeah there were a few moments that were a little too mature for a 7-year-old, but my lifelong interest in the fantasy genre and magical worlds was born!” Marcy stopped to catch her breath before she put the book back. “I hope I didn't go a bit overboard there.”

When Marcy turned back to her family, she saw Anne and Marcy looking at her with loving eyes, and the twins looking on in awe and wonder.

“Can you read that book to us one day, Mama?” asked Sprig.

Happy tears came to Marcy’s eyes as she sat back down. “I would love to.”

“Your turn, Sash,” said Anne.

“I think my favorite Christmas was the first one we had with you two,” said Sasha, gesturing toward the twins, “but since your Mama and Mæ̀ are doing ones from before you were born I guess I’ll choose one from further back.” She thought for a moment before continuing. “When I was 10 I spent Christmas with my parents at a cabin in the mountains upstate. It was nice and cozy and we sat by the fireplace and watched the skiers. Maybe that doesn’t sound too special, but it was the last Christmas before my folks split, and honestly the last time all three of us were happy together.”

Sasha began to tear up a little but her crying ceased when she was wrapped in hugs from her wives and kids. “Thanks, everyone.”

Anne took this as her cue to begin her tale. “My favorite Christmas was in 2019, when the Plantars were living on Earth.”

“You mean the original me and Sprig?” asked Polly.

“Yep! Sprig and Polly and Hop Pop were trying to figure out the true meaning of Christmas, which now that I think about it sounds pretty cliché but it happened.” Anne chuckled. “Anyway, your khuṇ yāy always wanted to have a float in the Downtown L.A. Christmas-Palooza Parade, so I decided as a gift I’d make one with some help from Dr. Jan and the IT Gals— those two women who built that.” Anne pointed to an animatronic frog on a shelf.

“Ooh… what happened next?” said Polly.

“This was back when King Andrias was sending robots to kill me,” said Anne, “so he took control of this Santa parade robot and tried to crush us but we fought back and destroyed it.” Anne got up and grabbed a photograph which was alongside other holiday-time pictures and showed it to the twins. Sprig and Polly looked at the picture in awe, marveling at Anne and Mrs. Boonchuy and the Plantars cheering on top of a downed Santa robot. “Your khuṇ pū̀ managed to capture this in the midst of all the chaos. When we see him later, I’m sure he’ll love to tell you how long it took to get the perfect candid.”

Anne put the picture back and reached up to the highest shelf to grab something else. “And of course the best Christmas has to have the best gift.” She showed the twins a small homemade doll resembling her 13-year-old self. It was made out of simple items (the head’s a golf ball, the feet are uncooked beans, etc.) but it was clearly assembled with care.

“It’s that doll of you!” exclaimed Polly. She and Sprig had seen the doll atop the highest shelf before, but had never seen it up close. Anne put it all the way up there out of fear that the twins might accidentally break it if it was lower.

“Your Uncle Sprig made this for me,” said Anne. “It’s my favorite gift I’ve ever received. I miss Sprig every day, but whenever I do I just look at this doll and remember that part of him will always be with me.”

Now it was Anne’s turn to get a loving hug from her family. She put the doll down before fully leaning into the hug. “Thank you…”

Just then, an alarm went off on Sasha’s phone, signaling that it was time for the family to wrap things up.

“Alright, kids.” said Sasha. “Go grab whatever presents you want to show your grandparents.”

As the Boonchuy-Waybright-Wu family got ready to leave, it occurred to each of them that no matter what hardships they’ve gone through and what they will inevitably endure in the future, they would make it through because they’ll always have each other.

After all, the true meaning of Christmas is appreciating and spending time with the people you love.

 

♪ If you believe it’s special

Then that’s what makes it special

It’s a special, it’s a special

It’s our special time of year ♪

Notes:

Translations: Mæ̀ (mom), Khuṇ Yāy (grandmother), Khuṇ Pū̀ (grandfather)

Chapter 6: What Was It Like?

Summary:

While watching a Fourth of July fireworks show, Anne, Sasha, and Marcy reminisce about their old powers.

Edit 12/8/22: Terri's pronouns changed to they/them.

Notes:

Here’s another holiday chapter and it won’t be the last.

July 4, 2044

Los Angeles, California, Earth

 

The United States of America is a massive country, so it makes sense that different people would celebrate the country’s national day a little differently. Some people go to the beach, some have a large barbecue, and others flock to Coney Island to watch people eat dozens of hot dogs for fun. But whether it’s a baseball game or a festival or a picnic, what’s important is that people are having fun.

For one particular family and friends in Los Angeles, Independence Day is always rather explosive. (In a good way!)

The Boonchuy-Waybright-Wus unfortunately don’t get the chance to spend the whole today together, at least in most years. Anne’s amphibian exhibit at the Aquarium of the Pacific became increasingly prominent over the years, and since the heart of summer is peak aquarium visiting season for both tourists and locals, she usually can’t get the day off. She managed it a couple of times, but alas this was not one of them. But Anne knew not to get her hopes up this year. Why? Because the Fourth of July fell on a Monday.

Meanwhile, Sasha and Marcy take the twins over to their grandparents’ house where the six of them would make some red, white, and blue snacks for the upcoming party. Well, more accurately it was the adults doing most of the work while Sprig and Polly spent most of the time watching Independence Day on the TV.

They had fun together but eventually it came time to pick up Anne after her busy shift. Anne rode with her wives and children in Sasha’s car while the Boonchuys followed them in her minivan.

“Did you two have fun at your grandparents’ house?” Anne asked the twins.

“Yeah!” said Sprig. “Decorating cookies was so much fun!”

“And so was that movie!” said Polly. “There were these guys blowing up alien ships! I wanna do cool stuff like that when I’m older!”

Sprig raised an eyebrow toward his sister. “You want us to be invaded again?”

Polly rolled her eyes. “No, I said I wanna do stuff like that. I want action!”

Anne smiled. She loved hearing the twins’ silly sibling arguments. They were just like the Plantars.

Both cars drove toward the beach where they would join their friends for Terri’s annual Independence Day fireworks display by the sunny Pacific shore. Although Terri’s primary field was engineering, the blue-haired scientist had taken up pyrotechnics as a hobby a few years after the Frogvasion. Every year, they invited all their friends and colleagues (many of which they met through Anne) to watch.

The cars pulled up to the beach about half an hour before sunset, giving the Boonchuy-Waybright-Wus time to chat with the gathered guests and give them some snacks. Terri explained how fireworks operate, with certain chemicals creating certain colors, but of course didn’t let the children get anywhere near them. Dr. Jan, who over the years had become Anne’s mentor in designing exhibits, gave the family a virtual sneak peak of what’s coming soon to the Museum of Natural History. They talked to famous character actor Humphrey Westwood, who at this point was probably too old to be so close to the fireworks, but that won’t stop him from having a fun time. 

Ally and Jess showed the Calamity Moms and the twins one of their latest robots: a lifelike talking cat named Roxy. Anne immediately picked it up and began coddling it.

“Who’s a little precious baby?” said Anne.

“I am a precious baby,” said the robot.

“That’s right, you are!” said Anne, nuzzling the robot as everyone else looked on in amusement.

“Too bad Domino 4 couldn’t be here to see this,” said Marcy.

“I know, right?” said Sasha, chuckling a little. “Whenever Anne finds a new cat she instantly forgets about her old one. Domino 4 would feel so betrayed.”

“Hush, you two,” said Anne, not breaking eye contact with the robot.

Anne spent so long gushing over the robot that Sasha told the twins they should go play tag with Terri’s son Jack and the IT Gals’ daughter Ashley.

“Will you be making more of these?” Marcy asked the IT Gals. “Anne might steal Roxy if you don’t.” Anne didn’t seem to register the comment.

“Eventually,” said Jess. “This prototype has been pretty popular.”

“Though it’ll take longer to mass-produce them if people want them customized,” said Ally.

Anne gasped in excitement. “Domino 5 will be a robot!” 

---

Before long, the sun finally set and everyone sat down on the beach in anticipation of the upcoming spectacle. Anne, Sasha, Marcy, and the twins sat on a large towel while the Boonchuys sat on another towel right next to them.

Eventually Terri stepped up onto the makeshift stage they had set up and addressed the audience. “I hope everyone’s been having a good time so far!” The cheers from the people on the shore confirmed that yes, they have. “Well then, enjoy the show!” They reached for a remote and pushed a button, activating the fireworks.

Fireworks exploding in the sky never is always enough to amaze people no matter what age they are. The blasts came in all sorts of shapes and configurations, and while most were the colors of the American flag, there were a few special ones. Case in point, right near the middle show Terri set off three special fireworks with explosions in the calamity colors and shaped like the original gemstones. Come to think of it, the trio’s space battle probably looked a lot like this fireworks show to the people down on Amphibia.

“Mæ̀, Mom, Mama, what did your powers feel like?” asked Polly. 

The trio paused for a moment, unsure how exactly to answer. Sprig and Polly obviously knew some stuff about their moms’ Calamity powers—fighting a giant salamander atop a skyscraper doesn’t exactly get forgotten—but the trio had never gotten too in-depth about them. 

“It’s really hard to describe to someone who hasn’t experienced anything like it,” said Marcy. “It’s like trying to explain colors to a blind person.”

“That makes sense,” said Sprig, nodding in understanding.

“It was kind of like…” started Sasha, “every part of you is burning but instead of being in pain you’ve got plenty of energy.”

“Our senses were definitely heightened,” said Marcy. “I remember seeing colors I had never seen before and I’m pretty sure our hearing went beyond the normal human range.”

“This didn’t happen when I was only using the partial powers, but at full strength, the Calamity Gems essentially made creativity a physical reality,” said Anne, sounding very wise and making her family forget that she obsessed over a cat robot twenty minutes earlier. 

“That’s right,” said Marcy. “I remember just thinking I needed a special weapon and then I had a surprisingly effective 20-sided die! And your Mom had pom-poms, and of course your Mæ̀ had a giant tennis ball and racket.” 

“The big downside of the Calamity powers is how draining they are,” said Anne somberly. “They use up a lot of energy so when you go back to normal you’re really tired. Human bodies aren’t exactly designed to handle that much power…”

Marcy and Sasha both paled, knowing exactly what Anne was referring to. Although the trio had learned the hard way what happens when secrets are kept, they agreed that they wouldn’t tell the twins about Anne’s death and resurrection until they’re adults, if not never. 

Luckily the twins didn’t notice their moms’ uneasy looks since the entire time they kept watching the sky.

“Do you think you might’ve adapted to it over the years if you kept them?” asked Polly.

The Calamity Moms had actually considered that. Anne lasted the longest at full power since she had the most experience beforehand, so it seemed plausible that enough usage would reduce the powers’ energy draining effects.

“Probably,” said Sasha. “But we shouldn’t worry about what could have been. Instead we should focus on what we have now and what we can do in the future.”

“Wow, I thought I was the one being wise,” said Anne. “When did you get so smart, Sash?”

“Sometime between when I used a sword as a backscratcher and now.”

They all chuckled at that. 

 

 

“So what did you wish for?” whispered Polly to her brother.

“I’m not telling you,” Sprig whispered back. “If I tell you, it won’t come true.”

Notes:

Yeah, Roxy the cat robot is just Sox from Lightyear.

Translation: Mæ̀ (mom)

Chapter 7: Together We'll Go into the Unknown

Summary:

It's Sprig and Polly's very first day of school!

Notes:

This is just a nice fluffy chapter.

August 24, 2038

Los Angeles, California, Earth

 

There comes a time in every parent’s life when they have to send their child off into unfamiliar territory. And it definitely isn’t easy. They’ve always been with their child, nurturing them as they grow, so saying goodbye to them is difficult. And it doesn’t matter that the child will only be gone for a few hours, the temporary loss is powerful. Things will become easier over time as the process repeats and the child grows older, but the pain never fully goes away.

Anyway, today’s the day Pre-K begins at Public Elementary School 347 in Los Angeles, and Sprig and Polly Boonchuy-Waybright-Wu will be starting their first day at school. The twins were ecstatic to be finally going to school. They’ve become friends with lots of the kids their age around the neighborhood and now they’ll get to see them more often!

As for their moms, well…

“I can’t believe you two are starting school already!” said Anne in between happy sobs. “I swear it was just yesterday when we took you home!”

“You’re right, Anne!” said Marcy, who was currently giving Sprig and Polly a massive hug as they sat next to her in the car. “Pretty soon they’ll be leaving for college!”

“Don’t say that, Mars,” said Sasha. She turned around and—

“Eyes on the road, Sasha!”   said Anne and Marcy simultaneously.

“Yes, ma’ams.” Sasha quickly became laser-focused on driving. “Anyway, Sprig and Polly won’t be moving away anytime soon. They’re little and adorable.”

“That’s right!” said Polly, still being hugged. “We’re precious!”

“But yeah,” continued Sasha. “It is pretty hard to believe.”

“I'm not little,” protested Sprig, making a cute face. “I'm a big boy.”

“Awww…” That did not produce the desired effect, as it only made the Calamity Moms dote on their adorable children even more.

---

Sasha pulled into the school’s parking lot. She managed to get a spot very close to the entrance since there weren’t many cars there yet— Anne insisted they arrive a little early so she’d have time to take tons of pictures of the twins in front of school.

“First day of school! First day of school! First day of school!” as she got out of the car and ran around to the other side to let Sprig and Polly out.

“You make it sound like you’re going to school,” said Anne as she and Sasha got out.

“No thanks!” said Marcy. “Eighteen years of school was enough for me!”

Anne opened the camera app on her phone. She was gonna start taking pictures as soon as possible. “Kids, pose for a picture with Mom and Mama!”

“She says ‘a’ picture, but she means twenty,” said Marcy.

“Twenty? I think you mean fifty,” said Sasha.

Anne couldn’t argue with her wives on that. They were absolutely correct. She took pictures of the twins everywhere she could: by the car, in front of the school, in front of the school’s sign, in front of the doors, a few places inside the building, before the family finally stopped by Sprig and Polly’s Pre—K classroom.

“Last picture for now,” said Anne, “I promise.”

Sprig and Polly stood in front of a mural by the classroom and posed for the photo. Anne looked at it to see if it came out well, and satisfied with the picture, she put her phone away.

“I think we should each take turns giving some words of encouragement,” said Sasha. “I guess I'll start.” She kneeled down to get on eye level with the twins. “School isn’t gonna be the easiest. Well, right now it’ll be pretty easy but you know what I mean. Learning stuff is surprisingly fulfilling.” She put her hands on the twins’ shoulders. “You’re about to have a lot of fun with your friends, and if any of them start trouble with you, just tell us and we’ll handle it. We’ll always have your backs.” She gave Sprig and Polly each a kiss and stood up, ready for someone else to go. 

“Thank you, Mom,” said Sprig

Marcy knelt down next, knowing Anne most likely wanted to go last. “I won’t pretend I was the greatest student. I would often play video games whenever the teacher wasn’t looking… but that’s not important right now. What’s important is that you never let your creativity die. Always let it grow, even if others try to stifle it.” 

“Thanks, Mama!” said Polly.

Gave each child a little boop on the nose and stood up, making space for Anne to take her place. The Thai mom knelt down and wrapped the twins in a soft hug. “I’m so proud of you two,” she said.

“But we didn’t do anything yet,” said Sprig.

Anne chuckled a little. “That doesn’t mean I can’t be proud of my two precious tadpoles. This is gonna be the start of some of the best years of your lives.” Anne started happily tearing up again. “I wasn’t an amazing student either. None of us were! But we made it through in our own ways, and so will you. Sprig, Polly, I need you two to always remember that not only will we have your backs, but you two will always have each other.” Anne’s tears got a little more intense. “It’s still hard to believe this is happening right now…”

Sprig and Polly leaned into the hug even more. “We’ll be okay, Mæ̀,” said Sprig.

“Yeah!” agreed Polly.

“Dang it,” said Anne playfully, “I’m supposed to be comforting you, not the other way around!

Just then, a school bell rang, signifying it was time for the family to wrap things up.

Anne stood up and wiped her tears away. “Alright, now you've gotta go in there.” She pointed toward the classroom.

“I'm gonna pick you up later! See you then!” said Marcy.

“Have a wonderful day!” said Sasha.

The twins waved goodbye as they walked into the classroom.

“Bye!” said Sprig.

“We love you!” said Polly.

“We love you too!” said Anne as she and her wives waved back. She looked toward Sasha and Marcy and saw that they had been crying a bit as well. “I don’t know why it was so hard saying goodbye,” she said to them. “We’ll see them again in a few hours.”

“No one wants to see their kids grow up without them, I guess,” said Marcy.

“I think it’s making us feel a little old,” said Sasha, putting her psychology skills to work. “And that feeling will only intensify the older they get. We don’t know what’ll happen to them as they get older, but as long as they never have to go through hardships like we did when we were thirteen, things should turn out alright.”

“That was very wise, Sash,” said Marcy.

“Agreed,” said Anne, nodding. Just then a timer notification on her phone went off. “Oh crap, we’ve got to get to work!”

The Calamity Moms rushed out of the building as fast as they could. Their conversation would have to continue another time.

Notes:

Translation: Mæ̀ (mom)

Chapter 8: Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride

Summary:

The Boonchuy-Waybright-Wu family goes on a tropical vacation which includes volcanoes, coffee plants, and running into an unexpected familiar face.

Notes:

And if you look here, you can see SuperYoshiFan googling tourist locations and scientific facts.

And if you look even closer, you’ll see him writing a vacation chapter which mostly contains stuff about the past instead of making new memories.

July 21, 2047

Hilo, Hawaii, Earth

 

“Alright kids! Who’s ready for a week of fun?” asked Anne as she and her family disembarked the plane.

Anne, Sasha, and Marcy had been saving up money for over a year, and they finally did it. They pooled enough funds to take the twins on a nice vacation to Hawaii.

“Me!” exclaimed Polly. “I hated that plane ride but it was worth it!”

“Me too!” said Sprig. “I’ve always wanted to visit here. I wanna see a volcano up close!”

“Me three!” said Marcy. “This’ll be so much fun!”

“But Mama, she asked us kids,” Polly pointed out.

“Oh no, guess I’m a kid now.” Marcy crouched down a little to make herself shorter. “I can’t help you with your homework anymore because I’ll be too busy with mine.” Marcy and Polly both giggled.

“Mæ̀, are you gonna look for Hawaiian frogs?” asked Sprig. He recalled how on the family’s visit to Thailand, Anne searched for native amphibians.

Anne shook her head. “It would be nice to see some, but all the amphibians in Hawaii were introduced from elsewhere, so it’s not like there’s any unique Hawaiian species for me to find. This trip is purely a vacation: no research, just fun and relaxation.” She looked over to her blonde wife. “Isn’t that right, Sash?”

“Damn straight,” said Sasha. “I will be drinking piña coladas from as many places as possible and I will judge which one tastes best.” Anne gave Sasha a look, one that showed disapproval and slight disappointment. Sasha wasn’t deterred. “What? I’m gonna have to have pineapple at some point on this trip. I might as well have some fun with it.”

“I’ll drink one too at some point,” said Marcy as they approached the baggage claim.

“Marcy, you know how you act when you get drunk,” warned Anne.

“We’ll survive if it’s just one,” Sasha whispered in Anne’s ear.

---

July 23

Hapuna State Beach

 

It’s been a long time since the Boonchuy-Waybright-Wu family had a proper beach day, so it was nice to spend a day just relaxing by the sunny seashore. Sprig enjoyed feeling the ocean waves and so stood where they would cascade in, Marcy and Polly were building an intricate sandcastle, and Anne and Sasha were lounging next to them with their sunglasses on. Everything was nice and peaceful.

Of course, peace never lasts, as eventually the mood is interrupted by Anne. “Oh my frog! Look who’s here!”

Sasha and Marcy and looked over to where Anne was pointing.

“Anne, there’s got to be over a hundred people in the direction you’re pointing,” said Sasha. “You’re gonna have to be more specific.”

“Do you mean the partially sunburned man that looks like that one guy from Lilo & Stitch?” asked Marcy. “‘Cause I didn’t know he was real either.”

“Oh yeah, the guy who kept losing his ice cream.” Anne smiled fondly for a few seconds, before she remembered who she was actually pointing to. “But no, not him. Yellow umbrella, pink dress, green shades. I think she’s drinking a cocktail.”

Now Anne’s wives knew who she was referring to. It took a moment or two, but Marcy was the first to recognize the woman. “Is that Jamie Krieger!?” she said loudly.

“Oh shit, I think that is Krieger,” said Sasha. “It sure looks like her. Haven’t seen her since she moved after middle school.” She took a sip from her latest piña colada.

Normally Anne and Marcy would’ve admonished Sasha for using bad language while the twins are in earshot, but this time they were too surprised to do so.

“Who’s that?” asked Polly.

“She was one of our classmates back in the day,” said Marcy. “For whatever reason, Jamie didn’t like your Mæ̀ and she got really weird about it.”

Polly took offense to that. How could someone not like Anne? “How dare she!”

“It wasn’t that bad, Pols,” Anne reassured her daughter. “It’s not like she was a bully. She just didn’t like me.” Anne then gave Marcy an accusing glance. “And I didn’t get weird about it.”

Sasha scoffed. “Anne, you tried way too hard to get her to like you. If anything, constantly offering her pudding like there was no tomorrow probably made her dislike you even more.”

Anne frowned but didn't say anything. Sasha was probably right.

“I think she’s coming this way,” said Polly. The Calamity Moms looked over and saw that yes, she was.

“Sorry,” said Marcy sheepishly. “She must’ve heard me.”

“Eh, let’s just get this over with,” said Anne.

By this point Sprig had noticed something was going on and joined the rest of his family. “What's going on?”

“Someone we used to know is approaching,” said Sasha, pointing at Jamie.

“Hey,” Jamie said as she reached them. “Sasha, Marcy, ……… Anne…”

“So, you still don’t like me,” noted Anne.

“No, I got over that,” said Jamie. “It’s just awkward talking to you now.”

“Wait, you didn’t like Mæ̀!?,” Sprig had the same reaction as his sister.

Jamie sighed. “Yeah, like twenty years ago. Anne, I was just indifferent toward you at first. It wasn’t anything personal, more like our vibes just didn’t fit. And then I started actually disliking you when you kept being overly nice to me.”

“Told ya,” said Sasha, glancing at Anne.

Jamie continued. “And then I got jealous of all the attention you were getting after you saved the city (thanks for that, by the way). I got over it by the time I moved away but I thought it would be too awkward to try and start over right before I left, so I just didn’t say anything. So, basically I want to say I’m sorry.”

“I'm the one who should be saying sorry,” said Anne, taking off her sunglasses. “I should’ve just accepted that you didn’t like me.” She reached her hand out. “We probably won’t see each other again, so how about we end things on a positive note.”

Jamie accepted the handshake. “Agreed.” She turned to walk away but was stopped by Polly.

“Not so fast! Jamie Krieger, you stepped within the property limits of my sandcastle without permission, and now you must pay the 3 seashell fee.”

All the adults chuckled at that, but not Sprig. He knew his sister was serious.

“I mean it.”

---

July 24

Mauna Loa

 

A tour guide led the Boonchuy-Waybright-Wus and a couple of other families across the volcanic terrain. Anne and Marcy don’t have any strong opinions one way or the other, but Sasha really doesn’t like tour guides. That being said, she’s not stupid enough to take her children on a tour of an active volcano without an expert present.

“There’s some debate over whether or not this is truly the largest volcano on Earth, but Mauna Loa is definitely the largest active volcano,” the tour guide explained.

“Cool,” said Sprig. “Hope it doesn’t erupt while we’re here.”

“We do a geological scan of the area before each tour,” said the guide. “The chances of an eruption today are very unlikely.”

“Good to know.” Sprig was the only one of the family who was really paying attention to the guide. Everyone else was preoccupied with Polly’s questions.

“You said there was a volcano in Amphibia, right?” she asked.

“Yeah, the third gem temple,” said Marcy. “It was really hot in there, but surprisingly the temperatures were manageable.”

“For us at least,” said Anne. “The Plantars and Grime got really dried out.” 

Sasha chuckled. “I wish I took a picture of Grime all dried out. That was a funny sight.”

Anne frowned. “At the time I thought it was funny, but now I know how dangerous it is to put amphibians in an extremely hot and dry environment. 

Sasha’s chuckling stopped instantly. “Oof. Now I feel bad.”

“Yeah, maybe they should’ve waited outside,” said Marcy. Nowadays she doesn't feel as guilty as she used to for her past actions, but sometimes she still does.

Polly noticed Marcy’s upset face and decided to raise her spirits. “But you had fun, right?”

Her words did the trick. “Oh yeah,” said Marcy, “that’s where your Mæ̀ and I got reunited with your Mom! Well, Anne and Sasha met a couple of months before that, but they hadn’t seen each other since then.”

“Yeah, I followed them to the temple and I completed a strength challenge!” said Sasha proudly.

“So what would Mama and Mæ̀ have done if you didn’t show up, Mom?” asked Polly.

Her moms all froze. That… was a really good question.

“I don’t know,” admitted Anne. “We barely knew anything about how the box worked then, so we didn’t know we’d need Sasha to recharge the third stone.” She ran a hand through her hair. “I guess we would’ve just… failed.”

“Probably,” said Marcy. “For now, let’s uh… let’s just admire the natural beauty for a while.”

---

July 26

Kona Coffee Living History Farm

 

“I didn’t know coffee beans grew on trees!” said Polly excitedly. “We should plant one in the backyard!”

It had only been about a year since the twins were permitted to drink coffee, and just like most people who have tried the brewed drink, it has become a staple of their lives.

“I don’t know, sis,” said Sprig, holding a pamphlet. “According to this it can take years for coffee plants to bear fruit after they’re planted. It’s probably not worth it”.

“I’m not sure if proper coffee plants can even grow in the city,” said Marcy. “But maybe we can grow a small one inside the house.”

Polly smiled. “Okay!

“Too bad they didn’t have any coffee in Amphibia. Going almost 9 months without the stuff wasn’t fun,” said Sasha. Anne and Marcy looked at her in shock. “Why are you giving me that look?”

“There was coffee in Amphibia,” said Marcy.

Sasha stood there dumbfounded. “What?”

“Yeah, there was a coffee shop in Wartwood, a few in Newtopia, Hop Pop got some coffee at a truck stop-like place, there were probably some more,” said Anne.

“I can’t believe it!” exclaimed Sasha. “Grime said the only things to drink there were water and bog grog.” She angrily crossed her arms. “I guess coffee isn’t tough enough for the Toad Army.”

“Did Amphibian coffee taste good?” asked Sprig.

“Amphibian coffee pretty much tasted the same as Earth coffee,” said Anne. “So yeah, it was pretty good.”

“Yeah, but it’s not like you were missing out on something extraordinary, Sash,” said Marcy. “It was just regular coffee. Nothing to get worked up over.”

“I bet our coffee plant will make better-tasting stuff than whatever they had on Amphibia,” said Polly. “What do you think, Mom?” She looked up at her Mom with such happiness and certainty that Sasha couldn’t be upset anymore. 

“I think you’re right, kiddo.” Sasha ruffled her daughter's blonde hair affectionately. “We’re gonna have the best little coffee plant in the world.”

---

July 29

Hilo International Airport (again) 

 

The Boonchuy-Waybright-Wus sat at the airport gate, waiting for their flight back to Los Angeles.

“Okay kids,” said Anne, “I’m debating which of these pictures is the best one I took. Either this one…” She showed them a picture of the whole family with Mauna Loa in the background. “…or this one.” She showed them a picture of Polly and Marcy sitting proudly by their completed sandcastle. “What do you think?”

“The first one,” said Sprig, “since we’re all in it.”

“I agree,” agreed Polly. “As amazing as that sandcastle is, this is a family vacation, so the whole family gets to be in the best picture. The best times are when we’re all together.”

Happy tears came to all three Calamity Moms’ eyes. How did they get so lucky to have two amazing kids?

Notes:

Translation: Mæ̀ (mom)

For anyone who doesn’t remember, Jamie Krieger was mentioned in “Cracking Mrs. Croaker”. I definitely forgot and only remembered because of "Watching Amphibia".

Chapter 9: Game, Set, and Match

Summary:

Anne decides it's time to teach the twins how to play her favorite sport.

Notes:

I think I've played enough Mario Tennis to accurately explain how to play tennis.

April 21, 2046

Los Angeles, California, Earth

 

It’s a casual Saturday morning in the Boonchuy-Waybright-Wu household. Sprig sat on the couch watching cartoon reruns with Sasha, Marcy and Polly played a game together on Marcy’s old Switch, and Anne was searching for something important in the basement. She didn’t say what she was looking for, but Sasha and Marcy had their suspicions. The twins, on the other hand, had no idea what was in store for them today.

Eventually Anne came up from the basement with a large misshapen bag, confirming what her wives expected. “Kids, guess what we’re gonna do today!”

The twins looked at each other and shrugged. “I don’t know,” said Polly.

Anne was undeterred. “Come on, guess.”

“It’s got something to do with that bag,” said Sprig, not wanting to have to guess.

“Well, yes. But what’s in it?”

“A bunch of old stuff,” said Polly.

Anne nodded. “Uh huh, but what’s—“

“Just tell them, Anne,” said Sasha, knowing this could go on forever.

Anne frowned for a second but ultimately agreed. “I am going to teach you…” She unzipped the bag and grabbed something within. “… how to play tennis!” She held up the tennis racket she grabbed.

Now the kids were more interested. They had some experience with tennis rackets thanks to exercises in PE class, but had never played an actual game. “That sounds like fun!” said Sprig.

“Yep! We’ve got all my old equipment to use. Cmon, let’s go!” Anne was quickly out the front door, putting her old tennis stuff in the car.

Sasha turned off the TV and Marcy boxed up the remaining puzzle pieces as everyone got ready to leave.

“Wait a minute…” said Polly. “Mom, Mama, why weren’t either of you surprised?”

“Your Mæ̀ might’ve mentioned a few times that she wanted to do this,” said Marcy.

“When she says ‘a few times’, she means like a hundred times in the past week alone,” added Sasha.

Marcy grinned. “Okay, she’s really excited about this, but you should be too. It’ll be fun!”

“Come on!” They heard Anne calling from outside.

“Alright, let’s go,” said Sasha.

---

Anne drove the family to the local sports complex, which had a few tennis courts. She pulled out everything from the bag: four rackets, an unopened tube of tennis balls, her old tennis shoes which surprisingly still fit, and one of these visor hats because lots of tennis players wear them. She took the balls out of the tube and handed each of her children a racket while taking one for herself.

“When’s the last time you played tennis, Mæ̀?”

“Well…” said Anne, “I haven’t been an actual active tennis player since high school, but I’ve played several games here and there over the years. It’s good exercise.”

“Exercise?” asks Polly, looking up at Sasha.

“Hey, don’t look at me,” the blonde said. “I don’t play tennis. I’ve only ever served as a scorekeeper and accidental target during your Mæ̀’s practice.”

“And I have even less experience,” said Marcy. “I’ve played tennis video games like Mario Tennis Aces and Underwater Wimbledon and that’s it. I’m too clumsy to play sports. But not you two kiddos. You’ll do great!”

“Thanks, Mama,” said Sprig.

“Yeah. Good encouragement, Mar-Mar,” said Anne. Then she addressed the twins. “Anyway, you two know the basics of how the game is played but you don’t know exactly how you’re supposed to do that.”

“Yeah,” said Sprig.

“Pretty much,” said Polly.

“Okay, the most important thing to learn is the stroke. The two main types are forehand and backhand.” Anne demonstrated both forms and watched as Sprig and Polly copied the movements. “Both types of strokes are useful in different situations. It all depends on where you are in relation to the ball. Does everything make sense so far?”

The twins both nodded. “Yep,” said Polly.

“Strokes are different from shots, which are what happens to the ball when you hit it. There are many different ways you can hit a tennis ball, and shots can be divided in a multitude of ways. The very first shot is the serve, where either you or your opponent tosses the ball up into the air and then hits it. If you hit it high and deep, it’s a lob. If you hit it low, then it’s a drop shot. A down-the-line-shot is hit straight in front of you, while a passing shot is deliberately hit far to the sides where your opponent can’t reach it. If you let the ball bounce once before you hit it, that’s a groundstroke. If you hit the ball before it hits the ground, then it’s a volley. If you hit the ball quickly with the racket over your head, that’s an overhead smash.” Anne served a ball and hit it in a certain way to demonstrate each shot as she explained each type of shot. “There’s always a right move to use at each time. And don't forget to stay mobile. You might have to run to get the ball.”

She looked at the tube and realized she had used all the balls in the demonstration. “Sash, Mar-Mar, can you help me— what are you two doing?”

The whole time Anne was explaining how to play tennis, Sasha and Marcy played a game with the remaining racket: how many times can you bounce a ball on the racket before it falls? So far Sasha had the highest record with 26 but Marcy was close behind with 24.

“Nothing important,” said Sasha.

“Just having some fun while you guys are doing your thing,” added Marcy.

“Well can you help me out for a minute before you do more of that?” asked Anne. 

“Sure.”   “Okay.”

Anne decided to explain some more while Sasha and Marcy gathered the stray tennis balls. “When you score a point, you get a score of 15. Two points is 30, then three points is 40— I don’t know why it’s like that. Apparently it has something to do with clocks but then it should be 45, not 40. When you have 40 and your opponent has less than that, then you only need one more point to win. If both players have 40 points, that’s called a deuce and you need to score two points in a row to win. And it has to be two in a row; if you get a point and your opponent gets one immediately afterward, then both cancel out and you’re back to 40-40.”

“And having no points is called ‘love’, right?” asked Sprig. 

Anne nodded. “Yep. Once again, I’m not sure why. That’s just the way it is.”

Just then, Sasha and Marcy approached with the tennis balls and put them back in the tube. (They still kept the one they were playing with, though.)

“Here you go,” said Sasha.

“Thank you,” said Anne. “Typically, six games are played in a set, and there are three sets in a match, but don’t worry about that right now. Today you’re just gonna practice different shots. Is that okay?”

“Yep!” said the twins at the same time.

“Hmm… who will get the ball first?” Anne thought for a few seconds before she was struck with realization. “I’m thinking of a number between 1 and 100. Whoever guesses closer will start first.”

“73,” said Polly.

“39,” said Sprig.

“26,” said Anne as she handed Sprig a ball. “I picked that because that’s how many years it’s been since I saw your namesakes.”

The twins had proud smiles on their faces before taking their places on opposite sides of the court. 

“Go Sprig and Polly!” Marcy cheered.

And so the twins played, practicing what Anne taught them in a friendly unofficial game. It quickly became clear that Sprig was the better player of the two. That’s not to say Polly’s a bad player— she was actually doing quite well. It’s just that Sprig was practically playing like a prodigy. He could probably even beat Anne, but they’d have to find out another day. After about fifteen minutes of practice, Anne decided it was time for a quick break. 

Sasha handed the twins their water bottles. “Great work you two!” she said.

“Thanks, I was pretty good,” said Polly who turned to look at her brother. “But you were better than good, Sprig! Got You’re excellent!”

“Really?” asked Sprig. He hadn’t really noticed that he was doing well. He was just having fun.

“Yeah! You’re a natural!” said Marcy.

“I agree,” said Anne. “You might be better than some of the players I competed with in high school.” She wrapped Sprig in a big hug. “I’m so proud of you……………… and Polly. Also proud of Polly."

“It all felt so natural,” said Sprig. “I think I might’ve found my true calling.”

Notes:

Translations: Mæ̀ (mom)

No, Underwater Wimbledon is not a real game. It would’ve been released sometime between now and 2046.

 

No one:
Anne at the beginning of the chapter: https://youtu.be/dMeGr2yZ8n8

Chapter 10: Sprig's Date

Summary:

Sprig's going on a date! His moms won't spy on it at all.

October 12, 2050

Los Angeles, California, Earth

 

Marcy noticed Sprig’s cheerful mood the minute he and Polly came home. Granted, he’s usually in a good mood, but this was a lot even by his standards.

“What’s got you looking so giddy, Sprig?” she asked.

“I’ve got a date!” said Sprig excitedly.

Marcy gasped. “Really!? That’s so cool!”

“Yeah, he’s had a big crush on Connie Jensen on the basketball team for like six months and he finally worked up the guts to ask her out!” said Polly.

“Apparently she’s liked me since sixth grade,” said Sprig with an awkward chuckle. “I never noticed.”

“I noticed,” said Polly.

Sprig gave Polly a look that might be considered a glare if he wasn’t so happy. “You knew and you didn’t tell me?”

“Your love life is your problem to deal with, not mine,” said Polly with a huff.

“Yeah, but you could’ve—“ 

“Never mind that now!” Marcy gave Sprig a tight hug. “Besides, it’s normal to be oblivious to others’ feelings for you. Compared to me and Mæ̀ and Mom, five years isn’t that bad.”

“I guess so,” said Sprig

“Oh, I’m so proud of you! When’s your date?” Marcy eagerly asked.

“Tomorrow night at that fast-casual fish and chips place,” he said. “It was her suggestion. I was the one that asked her out so I figured she should at least decide where we go.”

“That makes sense.” Marcy sniffled a little. “Oh, you’re growing up so fast. I have to tell Anne and Sasha!”

With that, Marcy ran to another room to go text her wives. 

“Do you think she’s taking this too seriously?” asked Sprig.

Polly shrugged. “Maybe a little.”

---

Marmar: YOURE NOT GONNA BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED TODAY

Sashy: Did you finally get that item you’ve been grinding for?

Marmar: Ugh I wish

Marmar: anyway

Marmar: Sprig asked a girl out today and she said YES! 

Marmar: 🎉🎊👏

Anna Banana: Really?????

Sashy: Oh my god we raised a straight boy! What have we done!???? /s

Sashy: No but seriously good for him! Our little boy is becoming a man 🫡

Anna Banana: He could be bi like you Sash.

Sashy: Maybe but I doubt it

Sashy: We were watching magic mike last spring and he was not digging it

Anna Banana: That doesn’t prove it he might just dislike the movie

Marmar: ANYWAY

Marmar: He’s dating Connie from his classes and they’re going to Britannia’s Catch

Marmar: Should we do that thing they do on tv where we drop him off and pretend to leave but actually we’re watching them?

Sashy: That never works

Sashy: And britannias catch isn’t that big he’d definitely see us

Marmar: Not if we wear disguises

Anna Banana: I learned the hard way in Amphibia that interfering with other peoples dates doesn’t end up well

Anna Banana: But we could do it if you want

Anna Banana: Maybe it’s fun 🤷

Sashy: I guess it’ll be an experience whether it goes good or bad

Marmar: that’s the spirit

---

October 13

 

All three Calamity Moms got in the car when Sasha drove Sprig to Britannia’s Catch, claiming the three of them would run an errand during his date before they pick him up.

“Have fun!” said Anne as Sprig got out of the car.

“Text us when you’re getting ready to leave,” said Marcy.

“Okay, I will,” said Sprig.

The moms watched as Sprig approached Connie who stood outside the restaurant. She happily greeted him and they entered.

Sasha drove off and parked close by. “Alright, it’s go time.”

(Five Minutes Later)

“Okay. We all recognize that what we’re about to do is wrong,” said Sasha.

Anne and Marcy nodded. “Yes.”   “Uh huh.”

“Are we gonna do it anyway?”

More nods. “Yep.”   “Absolutely.”

“And he'll definitely be mad if he finds out.” Sasha emphasized this last point quite a bit, since this whole situation sounds like something the three of them would’ve done pre-character development.

A third round of nods. “Yes.”   “For sure.”

There was a moment of silence. 

“Let’s do it,” said Anne.

The three of them entered the restaurant with their disguises on. Sasha covered her hair with a hood and had a couple of bandages on her face to hide her mole and scar. Her disguise was the most normal. Marcy’s was the most extravagant. Her hair was done up in a bouffant and she traded her normal denim jacket for something that could best be described as a fleece monstrosity. Anne’s was somewhere in between. Her hair was relatively normal, being slicked back and in a longer ponytail than she usually has, but her jacket was also somewhat flashy, belonging to a stage production she served as an extra on in college (she would never sing on stage again, but being an extra was fine). All three of them wore sunglasses to hide their eyes— Anne and Sasha’s were standard, while Marcy wore her very gaudy pink shades which fit with the rest of her disguise. 

Sasha went and ordered while Anne and Marcy got a table positioned in a way that made it easy for them to see Sprig but hard for him to see them. 

“It looks like things are going well,” said Anne.

“Yeah, I’m glad we didn’t give him much dating advice,” said Marcy. “He probably would’ve screwed things up with our help.”

Sasha got their food after five or so minutes and they sat there and ate it, occasionally glancing at their son’s table. Nothing overly interesting was happening. It was just two people eating dinner and having a fun-sounding conversation.

“Spying on dates seems a lot more fun on TV,” said Marcy.

“I think TV writers invent contrived drama that doesn’t happen often in real life,” said Anne.

“Yeah,” Sasha agreed. “We could’ve actually gotten an errand done.” 

Anne hummed before her eyes lit up. “Wait, something’s happening!”

“Really?” asked Marcy.

“Yeah, I think they’re getting ready to leave.” 

The moms saw Sprig gather all of his and Connie’s trash onto a tray while she went to the restroom. He walked over to the trash bin near their table and they tried to look as inconspicuous as possible. However, instead of walking away after he threw everything out, he turned to look at his moms.

“So this is the errand you had to do?”

What? This wasn’t supposed to happen!

“I’m sorry, I think you’re confusing us with other people,” said Sasha in a deep, gruff voice. “My name’s Gloria.” 

“I’m Alia,” said Marcy with a vague European accent.

Sasha and Marcy had both chosen aliases to use in case this situation happened. It seemed Anne did not. She didn’t even disguise her voice. “And I’m uh… uh…” She noticed a painting of Big Ben on the wall. “London! My name is London.”

Sprig raised an eyebrow. “Your name is London?”

“Yep! My parents love the city so much they named me after it.” Anne could see her wives mentally facepalming. “Oh, screw this. Sorry, Sprig. We shouldn’t have spied on your date.”

Marcy nodded. “Yeah. It sounded fun yesterday, but all we did was spend money on a meal.”

“I'm sorry too. I agreed ‘cause the disguises sounded fun,” Sasha admitted. “I thought they were good. How’d you recognize us so easily?”

“Putting on new jackets over the same outfits you wore forty minutes ago aren’t the greatest disguises,” said Sprig.

All three Calamity Moms looked embarrassed. 

“Connie’s probably almost finished in there,” said Anne through her embarrassment. “We’ll continue this conversation when you guys are fully done.”

Sprig nodded and walked over to the restroom area where Connie emerged a few minutes later. They headed toward the exit and said their goodbyes. Connie gave Sprig a quick peck on the cheek and then left to walk back to her house. He walked back to his moms’ table with a lovestruck smile on his face. If anything, they seemed to be more excited than he was.

“Awww! You got a cheek kiss!” said Anne. 

“So adorable!” Marcy cheered.

“I bet you he’s already planning their wedding,” said Polly.

“Hey!” said Sprig.

Suddenly everyone registered who just spoke. “POLLY!?”

Polly waved. “Hey.”

“When did you get here?” asked Sasha incredulously.

Polly shrugged. “Not sure. Maybe twenty minutes ago. I wanted to see what the fuss was about.”

“I thought my love life wasn't your business,” Sprig complained.

“That was before you had a girlfriend,” said Polly. “Now I’m interested.”

Sprig grumbled while everyone else chuckled. 

Notes:

Translation: Mæ̀ (mom)

I hope you like the references to the trio’s actress’ other roles.

Chapter 11: Halloween Fun

Summary:

The Boonchuy-Waybright-Wu family has a good time on Halloween: playing games, trick-or-treating, and watching horror movies. Such a fun holiday!

Notes:

A Halloween chapter was suggested by hunter hewett in June but I waited until now to write it so it can coincide with the Halloween season.

October 31, 2041

Los Angeles, California, Earth

 

It’s Halloween night in the Boonchuy-Waybright-Wu household and as usual, everyone was having a fun time.

“You’re never gonna get me!” shouted Polly as he fired a few glow in the dark in his sister’s direction.

“No you won’t!” said Sprig. “My costume is more practical than yours!”

“Hey, don’t use those NERF guns inside the house…” said Sasha. The twins looked at their mom apologetically, but their expressions quickly switched to shock when Sasha whipped out a NERF gun of her own. “… unless you think you can beat me. I think my costume is superior.”

“It’s on, Mom!” exclaimed Sprig.

The aforementioned costumes were Marcy’s work, as she had taken up clothing-making in high school as a hobby. She never had any intentions of making it a career, it was mostly so she could have some awesome cosplay for conventions. She originally just made costumes for herself, but over time she also designed outfits for her girlfriends-turned-wives and more recently, kid-sized outfits for the twins.

Sprig wore a costume that was essentially a hybrid of his namesake’s trademark outfit and the attire he wore when in disguise on Earth. He wore a matching green hat and jacket with gold buttons, black shorts, goggles, a green striped t-shirt, and teal and white sneakers. It didn’t matter to Sprig that hardly anyone outside of the family would know who he’s dressed as. The costumes are important to him.

Meanwhile Polly was dressed as Skor, the main character from Vagabondia Chronicles. Skor had essentially been imprinted on her after Marcy introduced the twins to the franchise as toddlers. She wore an adventurer’s outfit in two shades of blue, a brown sash and belt with a small pouch attached, an orange scarf, a green headband, and brown boots. Both twins had fake weapons to go with their costumes: a little children’s slingshot for Sprig and a faux foam sword for Polly.

Sasha’s costume was comparatively simpler: a white tank top, green pants, brown boots and gloves, and a holster. In addition, she had her hair done in a braid.

The three-way NERF gun battle went on for a couple of minutes, but came to a close when Anne and Marcy entered the living room. Marcy wore a Sailor Saturn costume complete with purple laced boots and planet-like earrings. She cut her hair a little shorter than usual and dyed it very dark purple to complete the look. It’s the fifth year in a row she dressed as a Sailor Moon character for Halloween and she planned on making it through the whole Sailor Senshi team. Meanwhile Anne dressed as Lady Franklin from Primthistle Manor, with a green dress, light teal gloves, a pearl necklace and earrings, and her hair done up in a bun.

“What are you three doing?” asked Anne.

Sasha and the twins froze. “Uh…”

“You know the rule,” said Marcy.”

“Only use the NERF guns inside when Mæ̀’s not home,” said Polly.

Marcy nodded. “That’s right.”

Anne stood there confused. “What? That’s not—” She got distracted midthought as she noticed the kids’ costumes. “Awww… my little polliwogs, you’re so adorable. This might be Mar-Mar’s best work so far.”

“Do I look like Uncle Sprig?” asked her son.

Happy tears came to Anne’s eyes. “So much…” A few seconds later Anne looked back at Sasha and her unimpressed look returned. “Sash, you dressed as Helga from Atlantis last year,” said Anne.

“Yeah, ‘cause we look identical and it’s an awesome look!” protested Sasha. “I think that’s more than enough justification.”

“I tried so hard for her to let me design a new costume for her this year but she kept refusing,” added Marcy.

“If it ain’t broke…” Sasha shrugged with a smug look. “Anyway, you’re the main lady from… what’s that show? Primissile Manor?”

“Eh, close enough,” said Anne. “You know, it’s been more than twenty years since I found out, but I’m still miffed that Lord Frankerton’s accent wasn’t real.”

Sasha chuckled. “Psssh, I knew that from day one. The actor was in that movie with the invisible monkeys.”

“Well I never watched that,” said Anne.

Sasha looked down. “Yeah, you made the right decision.”

“Anyway” , emphasized Marcy. “Who’s ready to go trick-or-treating?”

“Yeah!”    “Let’s go!” The twins cheered as they ran out of the room.

“I put your fake weapons on the table by the couch, right next to my staff,” Marcy called out to them as they ran.

“Your staff?” asked Sasha.

“Of course,” said Marcy. “It goes with the outfit and I can whack someone with it if the situation necessitates it.”

---

“Trick or treat!”

This was the sixth house the Boonchuy-Waybright-Wus had stopped at and already they had made a great score. Getting twice as much candy with each stop was always a plus.

“And who are you kiddos dressed as today?” asked Mr. Johansen, one of the family’s elderly neighbors.

“We’re dressed as our personal heroes!” said Polly.

“I’m a frog!” said Sprig.

“Of course you are, kids.” Mr. Johansen dropped a few pieces of candy into the twins’ buckets. “Have a Happy Halloween!”

“Happy Halloween!” said the twins.

“And…” said Anne, stopping the kids from leaving.

“Thank you!” the twins quickly said.

“You’re very welcome,” said the old man as everyone walked away.

“You’d think they’d remember to say thank you after the first couple of houses, but I guess they don’t,” said Anne.

“Eh, this is a holiday where adults give children free candy and it’s not some sort of trap,” said Sasha. “Obviously the kids will be more focused on the candy.”

“Ooh… peanut M&Ms…” the moms heard coming from in front of them.

Sasha smiled. “Exactly.”

……

“This is Dylan’s house!” Polly chuckled. “I bet he’s still doing homework.”

“I thought you didn’t have homework,” said Anne.

“We don’t, but he does,” said Sprig.

“Oh.”

It made sense. Dylan Anton had made a name for himself in Sprig and Polly’s class by being the resident troublemaker.

“That’s what he gets for starting two fights in class today,” said Sprig.

Sasha hummed in thought as Polly rang the doorbell. After about fifteen seconds, Dylan’s mother opened the door.

“Trick or treat!” 

“Ah, Sprig and Polly,” said Ms. Anton. “Here you go.” She handed the twins some Skittles.

“Thank you!” the twins both said.

Polly looked back at her moms. “We remembered this time.”

Anne smiled as Sasha spoke up. “So, Sprig and Polly mentioned Dylan’s been starting fights in school.”

Ms. Anton sighed. “Yes, he acts up a lot. I’m afraid he won’t be trick-or-treating this year as punishment.”

“Well, I don’t like imposing like this, but I might be able to help. Here’s my card.” Sasha handed Ms. Anton a card which read “Sasha Waybright, PhD— Licensed Child Psychologist” and had contact info below. “I may be able to help both of you figure out what’s been causing him to ‘act out’, as you put it.”

Ms. Anton nervously took the card, not missing the implication that she was part of the problem.

“Mom, we’re supposed to be getting more candy,” Sprig protested.

Sasha wanted to be upset but she couldn’t help but smile a little. “Alright, let’s go.”

……

“Ally!” exclaimed Sprig as an old family friend opened the door.

“Hey everyone!” said the roboticist. “Jess and I worked on something special for tonight.” She pulled over a foot-tall mechanical contraption. “Check it out! It’s a candy-making robot!”

The device had a few buttons on top, a chamber in the back for holding ingredients, and a dispensing slot near the center. Ally pressed the center button twice. The device started rumbling, the parts inside clearly moving around, before it dispensed two jawbreaker-like pieces of candy.

The twins’ eyes lit up and they each took one. “Wow!”    “Thank you!” They put the hard candies in their mouths almost immediately.

“I must own a hundred of these,” said Marcy.

Ally chuckled. “Yeah, pretty much everyone has said that. Maybe we’ll make more and sell ‘em one day but right now Jess and I are just trying to make Halloween more special.”

“Where is Jess, anyway?” asked Sasha.

She’s out trick-or-treating with Ashley while I stay here for people who come to our door,” Ally replied. “I’m a little surprised you three didn’t do that. I bet plenty of kids have knocked on your door and got no response.”

The Calamity Moms glanced at each other for a few seconds and shrugged. “I guess if people show up really late we can give out candy,” said Anne.

---

“I’m gonna eat all my candy tonight!” said Polly as the family entered their home.

“Don’t do that!” shouted Marcy. “It’s very painful and I learned the hard way when I was eight. Try to portion it out until November 3rd, at least.”

Polly grumbled but knew her Mama was probably right. “Okay.”

“I think it’s good to make the candy last a while,” said Sprig. “Halloween lasts longer that way.”

“Exactly,” said Marcy.

With that, the twins headed up to their room, eager to dig into their candy supply, leaving their moms in the living room.

“What time is it?” asked Anne.

Sasha glanced at the clock. “7:26. Perfect time to start a late night horror movie marathon, dontcha think?”

“You know it!” said Marcy.

The three of them hopped onto the couch and turned Netflix on.

“Whoever goes the longest without being scared becomes the new sleepover queen,” said Sasha.

Her wives looked at her and smiled. “Ooh, this’ll be fun,” said Anne.

Notes:

Translation: Mæ̀ (mom)

Chapter 12: What I'm Thankful For

Summary:

It's Thanksgiving night at the Calamity Moms' home!

Notes:

Happy early Thanksgiving everyone!

A Thanksgiving chapter was also suggested by hunter hewett in June but again I waited until now to write it.

November 27, 2042

Los Angeles, California, Earth

 

Thanksgiving is a favorite holiday in the Boonchuy-Waybright-Wu household, and for good reason. While the Calamity Moms weren’t particularly thrilled with the holiday’s history rooted in European colonization, that didn’t mean they couldn’t enjoy a nice meal and be thankful for what they had.

When Anne was growing up, her parents would close Thai Go on that special Thursday and the three of them would spend the whole day whipping up a grand feast consisting of an  even blend of American Thanksgiving classics and traditional Thai food. For every serving of turkey or stuffing, there was one of pad thai or larb gai. And even the classics were made with some Asian spices to make them feel more like home.

“Putting extra spice in the food will increase your California stomach’s tolerance,” Oum told Anne one year.

And it worked because Anne now expects to taste chilies and turmeric when she takes a bite of turkey.

Meanwhile, when they were younger, Sasha and Marcy were secretly envious of the nice wholesome moments Anne had with her family. While Anne’s Thanksgivings were warm and comforting, Sasha’s were pretty lifeless just like most interactions with her parents, and Marcy’s were just distant relatives talking about business and other topics she couldn’t care less about as a child.

Luckily things changed once Sasha and Marcy married Anne and they adopted Sprig and Polly. Boonchuy Thanksgivings are now seven person affairs, and they wouldn’t have it any other way.

Oum and Bee led the kitchen well, having enough experience to prevent things from descending into chaos. By now Anne was just as good a cook as her parents and could direct everything if she wanted, but she knew to defer to them on a day like today. Together the three of them did most of the heavy duty cooking.

Sasha’s a competent cook and even knows a couple of recipes of her own, but today she did exactly what Anne and her in-laws instructed her to do. Marcy and the twins’ contributions were limited to mixing things in bowls and passing ingredients along. Though Oum and Bee were also teaching their grandkids cooking tips that will be useful in the future when they’re allowed to truly cook.

“You have to check the turkey’s internal temperature periodically,” said Oum. She took the meat thermometer out of the turkey— it displayed 140°F. “The meat isn’t safe to eat below 165 so we’ll take it out then.”

“Some people leave it in the oven until it gets that high because the temperature will actually keep rising once it’s out,” added Bee. “But personally we like the meat to be cooked a tiny bit more, and so do you because we’ve been making Thanksgiving turkeys that way for years.”

“Cooking is more complicated than I thought,” said Sprig.

Polly wasn’t upset. “We can handle it when we’re older. Definitely.”

The family worked hard for nearly seven hours, but eventually the meal was complete: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, some seasoned corn, pad thai, sticky rice, larb gai, and rolls with some curry powder mixed in.

They also made a pumpkin pie, but dessert would come later. Right now it is time to feast.

---

The family moved the food over to the big dining table. The turkey of course went right in the center, with the other dishes surrounding it. Once the food was settled, everyone took their seats. Going clockwise around the table sat Anne, Marcy, Bee, Oum, Sprig, Polly, and Sasha. 

“Everything went perfectly this year,” said Anne. “But before we eat any of this we have to say what we’re thankful for.”

Marcy looked over at the twins. “Sprig, Polly, why don’t you start?”

The twins looked at each other and immediately started playing rock paper scissors. Sprig chose paper and Polly chose rock.

“Yes! I won!” cheered Polly.

“That’s not fair,” said Sprig. “Rock would absolutely beat paper in a real fight.”

“Paper is the most powerful!” Polly insisted. “Don’t act like you haven’t gotten a paper cut.”

“This isn’t a contest,” said Sasha, ending that argument before it took off any further.”

The twins both had sheepish looks in their faces. “Sorry, Mom…”

A few seconds passed before Polly grabbed Sprig’s hand. “I’m thankful for my brother. Yeah, we fight sometimes but we came into this world together and we’ll take it on someday.” She looked up at her entire family. Sprig looked shocked while the adults had adoring looks on their faces. “I'm thankful for all of you. I don’t know what I’d do without any of you. I’m thankful for the life I have and I’ll never trade it for anything.”

Sprig gave his sister a tight hug. “I’m thankful for you too, Pols.” He held on for a minute before letting go and facing the rest of the family. “I’m thankful we have a nice home, I’m thankful the best moms in the world adopted us, and I’m thankful we have all this food!”

Anne shed some happy tears. “That was beautiful,” said Anne. “I wonder how we wound up with such smart kids,” she said while looking at Marcy.

Marcy could only blush at that. 

Anne turned to her parents. “Mom, Dad, why don’t you go next?”

Oum nodded and cleared her throat. “I’ve said stuff like this in the past, but I’m so thankful for everything we have now. Sprig, Polly, when I was your age I wanted to be a singer.”

The twins gasped. “Really!?” exclaimed Sprig.

“Yes.” Oum smiled fondly. “Unfortunately it became clear I overestimated my singing ability quite a lot. I was completely lost but I met your grandfather and we left Thailand in search of the American Dream, and despite all the hardships we got a home, we brought joy to others at Thai Go, and we have such an amazing daughter who I am the most thankful for.”

Anne got up out of her seat and hugged her mom. “Thanks, Mom.”

Oum happily returned the hug. “You’re welcome, sweetie.”

Bee looked over at his wife and daughter with a loving expression. “I don’t think there’s anything I can say that can compete with that.” He turned toward the rest of the family. “But what she said applies to all of you. We’re so thankful you’re part of our family and we wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Thank you, Khuṇ Pū̀,” said Polly.

“Yeah. Thanks, Mr. Boo— I mean Dad,” said Sasha. “Even after all these years it’s still kind of awkward,” she muttered quietly.

Anne sat back down in her chair and looked toward her wives. “So which order are we doing this?”

“I’d like to go last,” said Marcy. “If you don’t mind.”

“Of course, Mar-Mar,” said Anne. “I think I went first last year, so it’s your turn, Sash.”

“Alright,” said Sasha. “I used to be a bad person. I’m not proud of it, and I’m so I was able to grow and become better. I’m thankful I haven’t relapsed into my old behavior. I’m thankful I have the ability to help other children who are in the same situation I was once in.” She reached her hands out for her wives to grab, which they did. “And I’m thankful that I have the greatest family in the world.”

“Aww. Thanks, Sash,” said Anne. “I’m thankful for my family and friends giving me wisdom and giving me strength and just being there for me in general. I’m thankful that even though we drifted apart and occasionally don’t see eye to eye, we always come back together in the end. I’m thankful I’m able to share my love of amphibians with the world.” She suddenly got quiet. “And I’m eternally thankful I got a second chance at life…”

Sasha noticed the twins’ utterly confused expressions. “We’ll tell you when you’re older.”

The twins grumbled. They hated that there were some things about their moms’ exhilarating Amphibia adventure that they weren’t allowed to know yet. 

“It sounds like I’m just repeating what everyone else said, but I’m also thankful for my beautiful wives and children and the wonderful memories I’ve made with them,” said Marcy. “I’m thankful for all the anime and video games that made my childhood (and adulthood) so fun. I’m thankful that I was given a chance to help bring the greatest video game in existence into the world of animation.” She took a deep breath. “I’m thankful for Leif and Dr. P and whoever’s responsible for putting the music box in Thrift Stop. I know that using the box to escape my troubles was a stupid, foolish thing to do, and led to a lot of bad things, but also plenty of good things. We destroyed the Core, we made close friends.” Marcy was happy she was still holding her wives’ hands, since she might’ve violently grabbed them otherwise. “Without Amphibia we wouldn’t have fixed the toxic aspects of our friendship. If we didn’t do that then who knows where we’d be today? We wouldn’t be happy. That’s for sure.”

Everyone else seated at the table gave a small round of applause.

“Now, let’s eat! I’m hungry!” She quickly craved a turkey drumstick before anyone else could get any food.

There were chuckles all around as everyone began to put food on their plates.

In a sense, today’s events perfectly summed up the Boonchuy-Waybright-Wu family dynamic. Things are always fun, chaotic, and awkward to some degree, but in the end things always end on a heartwarming note.

And that was something to be thankful for.

Notes:

Translation: Khuṇ Pū̀ (grandfather)

(Insert Fast & Furious meme here because of how many times someone said they’re thankful for family)

Chapter 13: Thai Go Go Home

Summary:

While Sasha and Marcy are out, the Boonchuys arrive and help Anne show Sprig and Polly how to make a family recipe.

Notes:

I wrote about half of this chapter at the beginning of August using a generic fried rice recipe I found online, but then I stopped because I didn’t really like what I wrote. The beginning worked fine, but then I got to the part where they’re cooking and then I realized I was pretty much copying and pasting a recipe and putting words in between, and that’s boring (well I thought it was, anyway). I put it aside and worked on some other stuff while utilizing parts of the original opening paragraph in chapter 9. But now that Marcy’s Journal has been out for a few months, I’ve come back and finished this chapter using the kai yat sai recipe. Enjoy.

May 16, 2043

Los Angeles, California, Earth

 

“I think these pieces go together,” said Polly, holding two similarly shaped Lego bricks.

“What?” said Sprig, exasperated. “I said that fifteen minutes ago and you said I was wrong!”

Polly shrugged. “Well, I was wrong.”

Marcy, Sprig, and Polly were building a large Lego model of a cruise ship. It’s the largest set they had ever worked on, but they were up for the challenge.

“Hey, don’t sweat it,” said Marcy. “At least we have all the pieces. One time your moms and I built the Lego Death Star, and the box was missing the flat circular piece for the laser.”

“Oof,” said Sasha from across the room. “That ruined the whole weekend.”

“Sprig, Polly, can you come here?” 

Anne looked toward her two children and beckoned them toward the kitchen. Sprig and Polly got up from their seats and headed toward Anne, though Polly stopped when she saw Marcy begin closing up the box of Lego bricks.

“Sprig, she’s putting the Legos away!” she shouted.

Sprig immediately turned around. “What!?”

“Sorry, but we’ll have to continue this another time,” said Marcy. “Your Mæ̀’s got a special surprise for you. You’re gonna have a lot of fun today.”

Oh, okay!

“Kids,” said Anne, “your Mom and Mama and I talked for a while after we ate your Mother’s Day breakfast, which was very nice, but again was something you shouldn’t have done.”

“Sorry,” said the twins quickly.

“Buuuuuuut…” said Anne, dragging the word out for emphasis, “we thought that perhaps you would enjoy some more supervised cooking experience, more than what you did last Thanksgiving.”

Excitement was visible on the kids’ faces. “Really?” asked Sprig.

“Yep! Your khuṇ yāy and khuṇ pū̀ will be here in a couple of minutes and together we’re gonna make a recipe from Thai Go!” 

The twins gasped. Anne’s a good cook, but they love their grandparents’ cooking, so getting a chance to help make it themselves is like a dream come true.

“Actually it’ll just be you and Mæ̀ and your grandparents,” said Sasha who entered the kitchen with Marcy. “Your Mama and I have got an errand to run.”

“An errand?” questioned Anne. This was the first she was hearing of this.

“It’s nothing big,” said Sasha. “I just need to get some more supplies for the office.”

Marcy chuckled a little. “Yeah, and I’m going with her because it's probably best to get me away from the kitchen today anyway.”

“No, you should stay!” protested Polly.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Marcy leaned down to give the twins a hug, but while doing so leaned in between their heads so she could whisper to them both. “We’re not getting supplies at all. We’re actually gonna arrange a big surprise for Mæ̀’s birthday while she’s busy. Don’t tell her that.”

Sprig and Polly nodded, knowing Sasha and Marcy would be gone for a good cause.

Sasha leaned down to give the twins a hug as well, though she didn’t need to whisper what she had to say. “Don’t feel bad if you make a mess again. This is a learning experience, after all.”

“Okay, Mom,” said Sprig.

“We’ll try not to though,” added Polly.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

“They’re here!” said Marcy. She ran over to the front door, Sasha trailing behind her, and opened it, revealing the Boonchuys carrying bags of ingredients they brought from the restaurant.

“Hi!” said Marcy happily.

“Hello, Marcy. Hello, Sasha,” said Oum. 

“Thanks for coming over,” said Sasha, “Let me take those bags to the kitchen,” said Sasha, grabbing the ingredients and heading off to deliver them to Anne.

“We should be thanking you,” said Bee. “Getting the chance to cook with the kids is a true gift.”

“Speaking of gifts,” said Marcy. “Sash and I are gonna head out and go handle the surprise .”

“We understand,” said Oum. She and Bee walked into the kitchen, passing by Sasha who was leaving. 

“Bye, everyone!” said Sasha as she headed for the door.

“We’ll be back later! Have fun!” said Marcy, quickly following Sasha. They were gone in less than a minute.

“Khuṇ yāy! Khuṇ pū̀!” Sprig and Polly gave their grandparents a big hug, which the Boonchuys returned.

“You two have grown so much since we last saw you!” said Bee.

“But that was three days ago!” said Polly, giggling a little.

“Exactly,” said Oum.

After that, they let go of the hug so they could start cooking. Anne just finished unpacking all the ingredients her parents brought, and went to grab a couple of others from the fridge and freezer.

“So what are we making?” asked Sprig.

“We’re making kai yat sai,” said Anne. “It’s one of my favorite recipes.”

“Yes, I distinctly remember you writing about it in that special journal,” said Bee teasingly.

Anne immediately flushed with embarrassment. “Dad…”

“Kai yat sai… those are the egg things with meat in them, right?” asked Sprig.

Oum nodded her head. “Yes. It’s a recipe that’s not too complicated, but isn’t quite simple either.”

“And if all goes well, then we'll teach you some of the larger items from the Thai Go menu,” said Bee.

“That makes sense,” said Sprig.

“Let’s start!” exclaimed Polly.

“No, no, no,” said Anne. “Before you touch any food, there’s something important you two have to do, isn’t there?”

“We wash our hands!” said Sprig.

“Oh, right,” said Polly. With that, the kids ran toward the nearest bathroom.

Anne fully gathered all the ingredients on the kitchen counter. Everything was laid out on the kitchen table: ground beef, eggs, garlic, an onion, ketchup, vegetable oil, Maggi seasoning sauce, a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, and some jasmine rice to be served on the side. After that, she and her parents took turns washing their own hands in the kitchen sink.

“Those are some great kids you have there, Anne,” said Bee. “You and Sasha and Marcy are doing a great job with them.”

“Well that’s because we learned how to be great parents from you!” Anne gave her parents a quick hug. “Thank you so much for doing this. I know all your recipes, but I can't explain them the way you can.”

“You’re welcome,” said Oum. “We may not be the only ones running Thai Go anymore, but it’s important our recipes are passed down through the family.”

After a minute or two, Sprig and Polly returned. “So what do we do first?” asked Polly.

“We’ll, first I can tell you what you won’t do: cut things with knives,” said Oum. “Anne will handle that.” 

“Got it!” Anne started mincing the onion and the garlic cloves.

“In the meantime, we can start with the rice, since that’ll take the longest to finish,” said Bee. He handed each twin a measuring cup. “Sprig, fill yours with 1 ¼ cups of water. Polly, open the package of rice and fill your cup with 1 cup of rice.”

Oum then grabbed a short pot and put it on the counter. “And when you’re done, pour both into these.”

“Okey dokey,” said Polly as she and her brother performed their tasks. They filled up their measuring cups as carefully as they could and then poured them into the pot. “So what’s next?”

Oum took the pot back, placed it on the stove, and turned the heat on. “I’ll cook these while you two can help your mother with the kai yat sai filling.”

“Yep!” Anne put the minced garlic into a skillet. “Now I’m gonna put this on the stove, and you two are gonna very carefully take turns mixing these around until they’re browned on all sides. Then more ingredients will be added and you’ll mix them all together to complete the filling. Can you handle that?”

The twins glanced at each other and nodded.

“Okay, you’ll need this.” Bee handed Sprig a spatula.

Anne turned the skillet on and held onto its handle while Sprig stirred the garlic around with the spatula for thirty seconds. After that, he handed the spatula to Polly and she stirred the food around in the same way for the same amount of time.

“Okay, that’s great!” said Anne. “Now it’s time to add the meat and the onions, and it’s the same sort of thing: make sure the pieces get even coverage as they cook. I personally don’t like the onions, but I won’t let my opinions color your eating experience, so you’ll get the full recipe.”

Anne put the onions in the skillet while Oum took apart the ground beef and put the pieces in.

“Khuṇ yāy, I thought you were making rice,” said Polly.

“Rice takes very little active cooking,” said Oum. “Right now it has to sit on low heat for ten more minutes before we have to touch it again.”

Once everything was in the skillet, it was Sprig’s turn again to mix stuff. He and Polly traded back and forth a few times until the beef was fully browned.

“That’s looking good,” said Bee. “I’ll go drain the fat from the pan while you kids can get the sauces ready.”

Anne grabbed the ketchup and Maggi bottles and offered them to the twins. “One of you will add a generous amount of ketchup—”

“Me!” Polly snatched the ketchup before Anne could even finish.

“Well, okay…” Anne gave Sprig the Maggi bottle and a teaspoon. “Fill this up and pour it in the skillet.”

Bee came back with the pan and Polly aggressively squeezed the ketchup bottle. Sprig followed with the teaspoon of Maggi and then Oum opened the bag of frozen vegetables and tossed them in before putting the skillet back on the fire.

“In the restaurant we wouldn’t use a bag of frozen veggies like this,” said Oum, “but for casual home cooking it works fine. Now, keep mixing it all together until the veggies are fully defrosted. I’ll tell you when.”

For the third time, the twins took turns mixing the filling around the skillet. They weren’t sure how long to cook it this time, but noticed the sauces being soaked into the food over a couple of minutes.

“The veggies should be defrosted enough by now,” said Oum. “Poke some of them with the spatula.”

It was currently Sprig’s turn with the spatula, so he poked a carrot and saw that it was mushy enough for the spatula to sink in somewhat. “Yeah, I think it’s done.”

“Awesome!” Anne turned off the gas and took the skillet off the stove, putting the finished filling into a bowl for now.

Meanwhile, Bee took the pot of rice off the stove and set it aside. It still needed ten minutes before it was fully done, but it didn’t need external heat anymore.

Oum opened the carton of eggs and got another bowl ready. “Now it’s fine to make the crepe. Take three eggs— that will be enough for five people.”

“But if I crack one egg and Polly cracks the second,” said Sprig, “who’ll crack the third?”

“Both or you can hold on to the third egg and crack it at the same time,” said Anne.

The twins nodded, took three eggs, and cracked them into the bowl, saving their mutual cracking for last. They made sure to not let any of the shells get in.

Anne handed Polly a whisk. “Now, beat the eggs until they’re silky.”

Polly raised an eyebrow. “Silky eggs? What’s that mean?”

“Smooth and soft, basically,” said Bee. “It’ll take a bit of time but you’ll know when.”

“Gotcha.” Polly statfred whisking, which wasn’t too different from stirring the filling— it was just much faster.

Sprig went next, and the siblings’ combined work got the eggs just right.

“That’s good,” said Anne. She lightly coated another skillet with vegetable oil and turned the stove back on. “Now, pour the eggs just enough to cover the bottom of the pan,” said Bee. “We’ll need to make them one at a time.”

Polly slowly poured a thin layer of egg into the pan per her mother’s instructions. “So what now!”

“We’re just gonna have to wait for a minute or two,” said Oum. “It doesn’t have to be flipped like a Western omelet.”

“Our goal is for them to be soft on top, and crispy on the bottom,” and Bee.

A couple of minutes passed before Oum carefully lifted the finished egg crepe out of the pan and put it on a plate.

Bee reached for a tablespoon and gave it to Sprig. “Put two scoops of the filling on the egg. Put it close to the edge so there’s room for me to roll it.

Sprig added the two scoops, and then Bee rolled it up and folded it. The first egg crepe was done.

Oil-Pour-Wait-Lift-Place-Scoop-Roll-Fold

The family repeated that process four more times to finish the crepes. Anne took the pot of fully-cooked rice and plopped some on each plate. Oum took a knife and cut a little hole in the top of each crepe, letting out a little steam. Just like that, the meal was complete.

“So, can we eat now?” asked Polly.

“Hold on just a minute.” Anne grabbed utensils for everybody. “Let’s take this stuff to the table.” 

So they took their plates to the kitchen table, and they began eating. It was delicious.

“This is really tasty,” said Bee. “You kids did a great job.”

“Yes, one day you’ll be ready to work at Thai Go,” said Oum.

“You really think so?” said Sprig enthusiastically.

Oum nodded. “I really do. The restaurant will be in good hands.”

Notes:

Aside from the recipe in the journal, I'm also crediting this page for helping me write this chapter.

Translations: Mæ̀ (mom), Khuṇ Yāy (grandmother) and Khuṇ Pū̀ (grandfather)

Chapter 14: Unforgettable Beginnings

Summary:

The Calamity Trio tell their kids moments from the early parts of their romantic relationship.
(Part 1 of 3: The Confession)

Notes:

The very long-awaited chapters detailing the Calamity Trio getting together are finally here! Apologies that it’s taken so long, especially to AnneSavisaBoonchuy, who I promised stuff like this to back in November.

January 23, 2042

Los Angeles, California, Earth

 

“Happy Anniversary!!!!!” exclaimed Sprig and Polly as they presented their moms their homemade card. It featured kind messages from each twin, and a little drawing of the twins giving the moms the card.

“Awww, it’s beautiful!” said Anne.

“And delightfully meta! Great job!” said Marcy.

“We’re gonna have to frame this,” said Sasha, getting up to find an empty frame. “You know what, Mar-Mar, I think the kids are gonna put you out of business as the artists of the family.”

“Ha ha.” Marcy chuckled sarcastically. “But really, how have we been married for ten years? The time just flew by.”

“Did all of you really propose at the exact same time?” asked Polly.

“You bet we did.” Anne chuckled. “You never think something like that will happen to you until it does.”

“Did your grandparents tell you about that?” asked Marcy.

“Eh, kind of,” said Sprig.

Anne and Marcy exchanged a confused glance. “Kind of?”

“We first heard about it from Gabby Williams, but she talks a lot so we thought it might’ve been a joke,” said Polly.

“But last week Jack said that his Nini told him about it,” said Sprig, “so we asked Khuṇ yāy and Khuṇ pū̀. They said it’s true but we should ask you three for details.”

“Yeah, we probably should’ve told you our proposal story already,” said Anne awkwardly.

“Wuzzat? Talking about how we all tried popping the question?” Sasha walked back into the room with the anniversary card proudly framed. She set the frame down and sat down on the couch, gesturing for the twins to sit next to her, which they did. “Alright kids, gather ‘round. You’re about to hear one of the best marriage stories ever. But before we get there, we should start with the tiki bar.”

Anne frowned. “Sasha…”

“Hey.” She put her hands out in a defensive manner. “They as well know how we started dating.”

“Sashy, I don’t think a story about drunk, unfiltered adults is appropriate for the kids,” said Marcy. “I’ve looked through some of the books in your office so I know for sure that you know what isn’t something to tell 7-year-olds.

Sasha rolled her eyes. “I’m not gonna talk about that, just the confession part, and I’ll make that a censored version. Is that good?”

“Yeah, I guess,” said Marcy.

“Please try to keep it quick though,” said Anne.

Sasha nodded. “Got it, got it.”

---

May 28, 2029

 

After Anne worked a full shift at the aquarium, getting drinks with her oldest, closest friends was the perfect way to end her birthday. Sasha drove them over to The Kahuna Laguna, a pierside tiki bar that she and Anne had both independently been to before. It wasn’t the fanciest establishment, but none of them were really interested in those places anyway. Besides, the bar’s beautiful view overlooking the Pacific was way nicer than any fancy bar could dream of being.

“So what can I get you three ladies?” asked the bartender once the trio sat down.

“I’ll have a Blue Hawaii, please,” said Anne.

“A Violet Femme for me,” said Sasha.

“Okay, and what about you?” The bartender turned to Marcy.

“Ooh, I’m not sure,” said Marcy. “I’ve only had bottled beer and some wine. I wouldn’t know what cocktail to pick. Do you have anything that’s super cool?”

“What about the Big One?” said the bartender. “That’s one glass with a single drop of every liquor bottle on the shelves!”

Marcy frowned at that. “Okay, I’m once again reminded why doing crazy things for the sake of adventure is bad.” She turned to Sasha. “Why don’t you pick something?”

“She’ll have something that’s bright green,” said Sasha.

The bartender nodded. “Alright, one Blue Hawaii, one Violet Femme, one Tokyo Iced Tea coming up.”

“Bright green?” said Marcy. “So we’re getting drinks that match our special colors?”

“Yeah. It’s cool, right?” said Sasha.

“In high school, Sash said we should all do this when we turn 21,” said Anne. “Never got the chance until now, though.”

After a minute or so, the Calamity Trio received their drinks. Over the next hour the three of them talked about a wide range of topics: their jobs, their hobbies, childhood memories, of course Amphibia, and more. Sasha and Marcy treated themselves and Anne to as many drinks as they wanted, and by the time they made it to their third refills they were all suitably drunk. And alcohol tends to make people more likely to reveal what’s truly on their minds………

 

 

 

 

“You know, there’s something that’s been on my mind for a while,” said Marcy in a slurred voice. “You two are so beautiful… seeing you in person again makes me so happy…” A tipsy smile appeared on her face.

“Awww, Marcy has a crush on us.” Anne giggled. “She finally admits it.”

Marcy’s eyes widened. “You knew!?”

Anne gave Marcy a knowing smirk. “You drew hearts around us in your special journal.”

“Oh yeah.” Marcy blushed both from embarrassment and the alcohol in her body, before wrapping an arm around Anne. “But you like me and Sash too, don’t you, Anna-Banananananananana……”

“Guilty as charged.” Anne giggled again as she gave both Sasha and Marcy a loose hug, “You two are so pretty… but I didn’t realize I was in love with you until college. Tee hee hee…” Anne reached for her glass, finishing her fourth Blue Hawaii. “Guess that explains why I got all mad when Hop Pop asked if I had a boyfriend.”

“How dare he imply straight people exist!” said Sasha before finishing her fourth glass. She briefly stopped to wipe some residue off her lips. “I could never be straight, not when you two are so hot.”

“Whoa, Sasha the Slayer thinks I’m hot,” Anne muttered. “That’s unbelievabibble…”

“Haha, ‘unbelievabibble’.” Marcy chuckled.

Anne playfully pushed Marcy a little. “Shut up, Mar-Mar! I’m drunk…”

“So……” Marcy turned back toward Sasha. “Who’d you like first? Me or Anne?” asked Marcy.

“I definitely liked Anne first, before Amphibia,” Sasha admitted. “Toad Tower totally felt like a breakup.”

“Oh my frog, it was a breakup!” Anne looks like her mind has been completely blown.

“Anyway,” Sasha continued, “When we were hanging out for a few weeks after Amphibia I finally took the time to appreciate the whole Mar-Mar experience.” She then loudly coughed several times before resuming talking as if nothing happened. “Ah, good times…”

“So we’re really all in love with each other, huh?” said Anne. “That’s cool.”

“We should become a triangle!” exclaimed Marcy. “I mean a polynomial! Ugh, you know what I mean.”

“Hell yeah,” said Sasha. “Let’s head back to my place and have some fun.”

---

2042 Again

 

“And that’s how we became a throuple,” Sasha concluded. “Except the real version was louder and had a lot more swearing.”

“What kind of fun did you have afterward?” asked Polly innocently. “Did you play a game?”

Sasha suddenly became very aware of her wives’ intense glares in her direction. She was clearly on thin ice for how much she already revealed. “Uhhhhhh, that’s not important! You should just forget I said that.”

Luckily the twins accepted that answer without any further questions.

“Okay,” said Marcy, “now let’s talk about the triple proposal!”

Notes:

Thanks to Reddit for identifying what the cocktails in the series' final shot could be. Interestingly enough, I’ll be 21 on Monday so maybe I’ll try one of them.

I’m considering making an uncensored version of the 2029 section of this chapter as a standalone fic. It wouldn’t have any outright smut, but the sex stuff wouldn't really be glossed over either.

Translations: Khuṇ Yāy (grandmother), Khuṇ Pū̀ (grandfather)

Chapter 15: Unforgettable Proposal

Summary:

The Calamity Trio tell their kids moments from the early parts of their romantic relationship.
(Part 2 of 3: The Proposal[s])

Notes:

This chapter honestly didn’t take that long to write but I was on vacation this past week so the writing process was very scattered.

January 23, 2042

Los Angeles, California, Earth

 

“Before we adopted you, we used to go out to eat a lot more often,” said Marcy.

“Not all the time, of course,” Sasha added. “We wouldn’t be able to live without Anne’s cooking.”

“Really it’s my parents’ cooking,” said Anne. “Some of our early date nights were just to Thai Go, but as things got more serious we started going to places where we didn’t get a family discount. On the night of the proposals we’d been dating for 25 and a half months, and we’d already been living together for ⅔ of that. Proposing seemed like the natural thing.”

“But it was too natural, I suppose,” said Marcy. “Anyway, the triple proposal happened at a soul food place called Janson’s………”

---

July 13, 2031

 

Marcy had dreamed of marrying Anne and/or Sasha since before Amphibia, but for a long time it was just a theoretical fantasy. It wasn’t until she returned to California that it was something she began to seriously consider.

After all, it made perfect sense to her. Their bond had survived all the turmoil of Amphibia, and had recently grown even stronger after a prolonged separation. It seemed that the Calamity Trio could withstand anything, so they might as well take the next step.

There was really nothing Marcy would like to do more than spend the rest of her life married to Anne and Sasha, and she would ensure that that wedding day would come sooner rather than later.

She went to a local jewelry shop and prepared three rings, each with a colored crystal representing their respective calamity gems. And since neither Anne nor Sasha had really said anything much about marriage, Marcy knew this proposal would come as a complete surprise.

Tonight would be perfect…

---

When polyamorous marriage was legalized in 2027, Anne’s first thought was “What if me and Sash and Mar-Mar all got married one day? That’d be cool. I’ve got two hands, after all.” She hadn’t seen either of her two closest friends for a while at that point, but at the same time there was no one else in her life she would’ve even considered marrying.

She didn’t entertain the thought very much until Sasha and Marcy walked into the aquarium on her 23rd birthday. That night, she knew she was gonna marry those two women. Anne knew her parents considered the two of them to be honorary daughters anyway, so she might as well make it official.

She went to a local jewelry shop and prepared three rings, each with a colored crystal representing their respective calamity gems. And since neither Marcy nor Sasha had really said anything much about marriage, Anne knew this proposal would come as a complete surprise.

Tonight would be perfect…

---

Sasha had a lot of personal experience of the fact that marriage isn’t always ideal. Growing up in a broken home had made her practically resent the concept for a while, at least until she learned to become a better person.

Shortly after she got back from Amphibia, Sasha made a vow that if she were to ever get married, she would be the best wife ever— especially if her spouse is Anne or Marcy.

Fast forward a decade or so and suddenly she’s dating both of them, which is like having the best of both worlds. The past two years of their romance has been nothing but awesome— it seemed the three of them really were perfect for each other. And while the little naggy voice in her brain said she didn’t deserve them, Sasha was determined to keep her vow, especially after giving therapy to more children who’d dealt with bad marriages just like she had.

She went to a local jewelry shop and prepared three rings, each with a colored crystal representing their respective calamity gems. And since neither Anne nor Marcy had really said anything much about marriage, Sasha knew this proposal would come as a complete surprise. Although she was confused when the jeweler remarked upon selling this same set of three gems for the third time that week, she didn’t really analyze that.

After all, tonight would be perfect…

 

---

The trio had a lovely meal at Janson’s. Southern style stuff wasn’t what they usually had, but that made the meal more special. They were each waiting for the right time to pop the question— after the main course but before dessert. That way the dessert would become a little celebratory feast for the Calamity Trio’s engagement.

“So there’s something big I’ve been meaning to say,” said Marcy, barely hiding her excitement while waiting for the dessert to come.

“Oh me too!” exclaimed Anne. “I mean, I also wanna say something… but you can go first.”

“No, no, mine might take a while,” said Marcy. “I don’t wanna interrupt your thought.”

Anne shook her head. “Please, you go first. I insist.”

“Um… I could go first…” added Sasha awkwardly. “Because I need to ask you both something really important. I just have to grab something.”

“Oh, sure,” said Anne. “It probably doesn’t matter who goes first.”

Sasha leaned down to grab the rings out of her bag. Anne and Marcy independently saw this as a good distraction to grab their own rings. All three women closed their eyes, grabbed their ring boxes, set them down on the table, and spoke simultaneously.

“Girls, will you marry me?”

The three of them instantly opened their eyes wide in shock, and they arguably grew even wider when they noticed that they all had identical boxes of three rings. 

“Xô xụ…” muttered Anne softly.

“No [CENSORED] way…” said Sasha.

A couple of moments passed.

 

Silence.

 

Absolute silence.

 

Then a chuckle. At first it was tiny, but after a few seconds Marcy was straight up guffawing. And her laughter was definitely contagious, as within a few more seconds all three women were laughing hysterically.

“Whoa,” said Sasha. “This may be one of the greatest things that’s ever happened.”

“Definitely,” said Marcy. “I thought stuff like this only happened in fanfics.”

“I guess truth really is stranger than friction,” said Anne. “And oh my frog, yes I’ll marry you two!”

“Oh yeah, me too!” said Sasha. “I’ll marry the [CENSORED] out of you girls.”

“And it’s the same response from me!” exclaimed Marcy. “My greatest dream is coming true!”

She leaned forward and gave Anne, and then Sasha, a kiss on the lips. Once she was done, Anne and Sasha kissed to complete the trifecta.

The whole restaurant cheered in applause having watched the whole interaction. This would definitely make a good moment for Janson’s Wall of Fame.

---

2042 Again

 

“So yeah, all my anxiety just instantly disappeared once I saw we all had rings,” said Marcy.

“Oh, same here,” said Sasha. “Saying yes was just so obvious since we had the same idea.”

Anne nodded. “As I always say, awkwardness is sometimes the answer to all of life’s problems.”

“I’ve never heard you say that,” said Sasha.

“Yeah, Mæ̀. That’s what you say about cookies,” Polly noted.

Anne shrugged. “Well, now there’s another answer for problems cookies can’t quite fix. Which isn’t a lot, but there are some.”

Notes:

Translations: Xô xụ (Oh shit), Mæ̀ (mom)
(The kids don’t yet know enough Thai to know that Anne said a swear)

Chapter 16: Unforgettable Wedding

Summary:

The Calamity Trio tell their kids moments from the early parts of their romantic relationship.
(Part 3 of 3: The Wedding)

Notes:

This chapter took longer than expected to write because I was jet-lagged after my vacation and I had to wait for my brain to start working properly again, and then I honestly just spent several days adding only a tiny bit at a time because I was relaxing.

But now it’s here.

Next up I’ll work on the next chapter of “You’re About Seven Days Too Early” and a Gravity Falls request fic. I’m not sure which’ll be finished first, but it’s probably the GF one.

January 23, 2042

Los Angeles, California, Earth

 

“Kids, the first thing you need to remember if you want to get married is that you'll need to do some planning,” said Anne. “And regrettably, not all of us remember that crucial step.”

The twins noticed the somewhat guilty expressions on Anne and Sasha’s faces.

“Mom and Mæ̀? You both forgot?” said Polly.

“You bet we did,” said Sasha. “Thinking about what’ll happen between proposing and getting married seems like such an obvious thing to do, but your Mama was the only one of us who actually did it.”

“Yeah, props to Mar-Mar. She ended up doing almost all of the planning,” said Anne. “Your Mom and I didn’t even think about that sort of stuff until we told your grandparents the next day.”

---

July 14, 2031

 

“Mom, Dad, we have exciting news!” exclaimed Anne.

“It better be exciting,” said Bee. “I’m too old to be woken up this early.”

Anne had a thoroughly unimpressed look on her face. “Dad, you’re only 56. You’re not old.”

Bee chuckled loudly. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. You should’ve seen the look on your face!” He laughed for a few more seconds before suddenly stopping. “But seriously, it is pretty early.”

Indeed, the Calamity Trio left their apartment at 7:30 in the morning and quickly drove over to the Boonchuy house. The last thing anyone wants on a Monday morning is to wake up earlier than expected, but the trio simply couldn’t contain their excitement any longer. The news had to be spread!

“Yes, it’s exciting,” said Marcy, who then turned to her fiancées. “Can I tell them, or should we all say it at the same time?”

“Go for it, Mar-Mar,” said Sasha.

“Great!” said Marcy, before turning back to her future in-laws. “The three of us are getting married!”

Oum and Bee both gasped loudly. “Really!? This is finally happening!?” shouted Bee.

“Uh huh,” said Anne. “I’m not gonna come to you two asking for proposing advice anymore— we’re finally engaged!”

“So that means you were the one who proposed, Anne?” said Oum.

“Uhhhhhhhhh…”

All three young women exchanged awkward glances. 

“Kind of… sort of…” said Marcy.

“It's not that important who specifically popped the question, right?” asked Anne.

“No, it is,” said Bee with surprising firmness. “Your mother and I betted on this years ago.”

“Like, two years ago, when we started dating?” said Anne confusedly. “Or before that?”

“Oh, way before that,” said Oum. “We made this bet before the three of you went to Amphibia. I was so sure Anne would be the one, but he banked on Marcy. Back then, Sasha was more of a wild card but we still considered you a possibility.”

There was an awkward silence for several seconds.

“Were we really that obvious?” asked Marcy.

“Definitely,” said Bee. “So who was it?”

“Yeah, that’s the thing…” said Sasha. She awkwardly twiddled her thumbs for a bit. “We literally all proposed at the exact same time, with the exact same set of rings.”

Another awkward pause.

“You’re kidding,” muttered Bee.

Sasha shook her head. “I really wish I was, Mr. B.”

Bee let out a frustrated groan. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. We waited thirteen years for this, and it ends like this!?”

“Believe me, we were just as shocked when it happened,” said Anne. “I think someone at the restaurant might’ve recorded the whole thing if you wanna see it.”

“Hmm, we may have to check that out,” said Oum. “Anyway, what are your plans for the wedding?”

Anne and Sasha’s faces might as well have been the visual representation of a record scratch. “Uh…” they both said.

“Well, I have been thinking of a few things but I figured we should all combine ideas, right girls?” said Marcy. It took a few seconds for her to notice the change in her fiancées’ moods. “Wait, do you two not have any wedding plans?”

Anne and Sasha reluctantly nodded.

“Wow.” Marcy laughed. “I never thought I’d be the least scatterbrained in a situation.”

“I guess we’ll let you do most of the planning then,” said Sasha.

“Yeah,” Anne agreed. “Mom, Dad, for the sake of your bet let’s say that Marcy proposed.”

Bee raised his arms in triumph. “Yes! I finally won one of these!”

“Congratulations, dear,” said Oum quickly before shifting her attention to the trio. “And much bigger congratulations to the three of you!” She got up and wrapped the three of them into a tight hug. “I’m so glad my little girl is getting married. Sasha, Marcy, I’d like to officially welcome you to the Boonchuy family.”

“Yeah,” said Bee, joining the hug. “Feel free to call us ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ if you want.”

“That seems pretty awkward right now,” said Sasha.”

Marcy nodded. “Yeah, but we’ll keep that in mind!”

---

October 18, 2031

 

“I must say, such vibrant wedding dresses are very nontraditional,” said the owner of the dress shop as she handed the trio their custom-made dresses.

The bottoms of the dresses looked relatively normal, albeit brightly colored and covered in sparkly sequins. The torso portions on the other hand, looked hardly like dress tops at all. Instead, they were metallic, looking like familiar sets of armor.

“We’ll, we’re very nontraditional ourselves,” said Anne defensively.

“But this metal plating…” The owner continued frowning, clearly disapproving.

“It’s in honor of the outfits we wore when we came home from Amphibia,” said Marcy with a fierce grin.

“Yeah, and quite honestly we don’t care at all about your opinions,” said Sasha. “We paid good money for you to make these dresses and that’s all you needed to do.”

“Oh… right… yes…” The owner backed away, thoroughly flustered, defeated, and humiliated. She could never show her face in this city again.

“Sorry about her,” said the owner’s assistant, approaching the trio. “She’s really skilled but otherwise is pretty unlikable.”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Marcy. “It’s not like she’s the first Karen we’ve had to deal with.”

“Yeah, my mom makes her look like a saint,” said Sasha.

“Ain’t that the truth,” said Anne quietly.

“Alright then,” said the assistant. “Please come with me to the register so I can complete your purchase. Also, if you don’t mind me asking, why do you each have three engagement rings?”

The trio each looked down to their left hands, where each of them had three identical rings of their respective gem color on their ring fingers.

“This… wasn’t necessarily planned, but it’s a pretty funny story,” said Anne. “Get ready to hear a funny story.”

---

December 31, 2031

 

For the past few years, Cheyenne has been throwing awesome New Year’s parties which have become pretty infamous in Los Angeles. And this year’s was bound to be the wildest yet since it doubled as the Calamity Trio’s bachelorette party. The next year would mark the beginning of a more perfect union for them, so everyone might as well celebrate it.

“How’s everybody doing tonight!?” shouted Cheyenne, rather drunk even though it wasn’t even 11:00 pm yet.

“I’m doing great!” Sasha replied, also way too drunk.

“Oh, I know you are,” said Cheyenne with a slurred chuckle. “Anyway, now that us girls are all here, I think it’s about time we all share embarrassing stories of the brides-to-be!!!”

[[Sasha!]]

---

2042 Again

 

Anne and Marcy interrupted Sasha’s anecdote before it barely even started.

“Sasha, stop telling the kids stories of us being drunk!” exclaimed Marcy.

“It was gonna be a censored version again!” said Sasha in defense.

“That doesn’t matter,” said Anne, crossing her arms. “Anyway, I’m gonna talk about the cake now.”

---

January 11, 2032

 

“Miss Boonchuy, I understand you’re upset, but you need to calm down,” said the bakery employee.

“Calm down!?” exclaimed Anne. “No, I won’t! The sign on your window clearly states you do printed designs on cakes, so why are you refusing this!” Anne gestured toward the drawing she’d placed on the counter.

“Yes, that’s true,” said the employee. “But you’ve shown that this is drawn by famous webcomic artist Marcy Wu, and since Miss Wu is a proud member of The Animation Guild, Jimothy’s Cake Shop is not allowed to print it without her explicit consent.”

“Wha— buh— wha—” Anne angrily sputtered for a few more seconds. “Of course you have Marcy’s consent! This is her wedding. She drew this picture specifically for it!” She grabbed the picture and practically shoved it in the clerk’s face. “Look at it! It’s Sprig and Polly and Wally and Grime and Yunan and the rest of the Amphibia gang all dressed to go to a wedding! That way they can all be here in spirit! And we were just gonna hang it as a banner but then Marcy said we should also have it on a cake, so there’s your permission!”

The employee shoved the picture away and sighed. “Technically, your word alone isn’t enough proof— I need written verification. Either that or Marcy comes in here herself.”

“Come on!” Anne angrily threw her arms in the air. “I am literally the reason why this cake shop wasn’t completely obliterated years ago! That’s gotta count for something!”

“Sorry, but rules are rules.” The clerk's tone was sympathetic but unwavering.

“Why was co-leading a military resistance less stressful than this?” Anne muttered to herself as she facepalmed.

Just then, Sasha walked in. “Is the cake ready?”

“No!” Anne shouted. “Can you believe this!? They don’t wanna make the cake at all ‘cause of some legal bureaucracy BS!”

“WHAT!?” While she usually kept her emotions in check, sometimes it was pretty easy for the old, nasty Sasha to return. “This is absurd! Do you really want the most precious person who ever lived to be disappointed when she sees her wedding cake!? ‘Cause I don’t think you do! And it’ll be her birthday a few days after that so maybe residual sadness will ruin that! So you better print this cake or I may have to challenge you to a sword duel.”

“Forget a duel, let’s do two against one!” said Anne.

The clerk sighed again. This wasn’t even the most stressful workday they’ve had this week, not by a long shot.

---

January 23, 2032

 

The only one of Marcy’s initial plans that didn’t quite pan out was having the wedding at the playground where she and Anne met Sasha and later where they opened the Calamity Box. Unfortunately, the site was far too small to accommodate all the guests who would be coming.

And boy, were there a lot of guests— hundreds of them, in fact. There were childhood friends (like Cheyenne, Gabby, and even Maggie), Amphibia-era friends (like Terri, Humphrey Westwood, and Molly Jo), friends and acquaintances from recent years (like Sasha’s psychology colleagues), some miscellaneous prominent figures from their lives, and of course family (All of Anne’s living relatives and Marcy’s parents were in attendance. Sasha’s parents were nowhere to be seen, not that they were invited in the first place.)

So, instead of doing it at the playground, the Calamity Trio chose another location meaningful to their romantic relationship: the beach, not far from The Kahuna Laguna.

The ceremony opened with Ally & Jess’ young daughter Ashley serving as the flower girl, while one of Anne’s young cousins served as the ring bearer. Since none of her family was present, Sasha waited in front of the guests while Anne and Marcy’s fathers walked them down the aisle. All of the guests agreed that seeing the three brides standing there in their dresses was a beautiful sight. They grabbed the rings (which were fancy versions of the triple engagement rings) from Anne’s cousin and put them on each other’s fingers.

Mr. X, of all people, was officiating the wedding. It was really the only way he could convince the government higher-ups to take the day off to attend. “Alright people, the president will be mad if I’m not on a plane back to D.C. by sunset, so let’s get started with the vows.”

“Sash, you were standing here longest, so you go first,” said Anne.

Sasha nodded and cleared her throat. “Oh boy, where do I even start? Anne, Marcy, you two were the first genuinely positive people in my life. I remember when I first saw them— they were being bullied by some teens and I just didn’t want to see two kids my age feeling miserable like I was. And after I drove those mean girls away, I was so shocked Anne and Marcy showed me kindness that I didn’t know what to do. Then I proceeded to take that kindness for granted for the next seven years. I know I say this a lot, but I really can’t put to words just how thankful I am for what you two did.” She reached forward and grabbed Anne’s hand. “Anne, I never would’ve become the woman I am today if you didn’t call me out, make me realize just how far I’ve fallen. And Marcy…” She grabbed Marcy’s hand with her other hand. “Sending us to Amphibia made me experience real consequences for the first time, made me see that Andrias was exactly the type of person I was becoming. Thank you for giving me the chance to change, and thank you for welcoming me back into your lives. Things really did feel incomplete when we were apart.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” said Marcy.

“Hey, this is still my speech!” said Sasha with faux offense. “I was honestly petrified that you two would say no when I proposed, but luckily for all of us all that tension vanished when we all proposed at the exact same time .” She briefly turned to look at the audience. “Truth is stranger than fiction, people. Anyway, I’m so happy for what our future has in store. Let’s make it an awesome one.”

The guests all applauded as Marcy stepped up to give her vows.

“Lots of people start speeches like this by pointing out how much they were underestimated when they were younger,” she said. “But for me, I feel like it was the opposite— I was overestimated.”

There were some unhappy murmurs among the guests.

“Hold on, hold on, I don’t mean that in a self-doubting way,” said Marcy, trying to calm the audience down. “I just mean that everyone just had these grand expectations. Mom and Dad wanted me to join some white-collar STEM job. Principal Murphy once said I would likely fix world hunger.”

Said retired principal instantly tried to look as inconspicuous as possible as all eyes went in her direction.

“That would be great, don’t get me wrong,” Marcy continued. “But I won’t be the one to do that. Everyone thought I’d be generic smart Asian kid #81520, everyone except Anne and Sasha.” She turned away from the guests and toward her brides-to-be, giving them a loving gaze. “You two never cared about those expectations— you appreciated me for who I am: Marcy Regina Wu, fun-lover. Yes, I loved fun to a reckless degree— I won’t deny it. But you two helped me learn to truly appreciate the fun things in life. Sure, that’s involved a lot of mistakes on all of our parts, especially mine, but what doesn’t kill you simply makes you stronger. And we are so much stronger together than we are apart. I suppose that makes us the Triforce.”

All the guests who understood the reference laughed at that.

“Or maybe we’re the Golden Goddesses themselves,” Marcy continued. “Either way, I’m so stoked to be married to the two greatest women in the multiverse. Let’s get started on our next adventure!”

More applause, more cheers.

“You know, I’m not sure how I can compete with what either of you said,” said Anne. “Things were weird when I was younger. Life really felt like just one episode after another but obviously that all changed with Amphibia. I ate bugs, I rode a giant snail, I grew up in more ways than one, I met the Plantars…” Some small tears appeared in Anne’s eyes but she continued on. “Sprig and I had this saying: Spranne Against the World. No matter what would happen in that crazy frog world, the two of us would stick together. And when all of a sudden Spranne Against the World became The World Against Spranne that frog family stuck by me no matter what. I’m mentioning all that now because everything I learned from the Plantars helped me be more understanding with my relationship with my friends. Even after all the hardships and betrayals, I never stopped loving you girls.” There was a pause. “Even if I was too dense at the time to realize it was romantic love.”

The guests once again all laughed.

“But once I did realize, everything fell into place,” said Anne, staring at Sasha and Marcy. “I knew why I loved spending time with you. I knew why I would sacrifice so much for you. And yeah, it hurt when we were separated again. I realized that change can be difficult, but it's how we grow. It can be the hardest thing to realize you can't hold on to something forever. Sometimes you have to let it go. But of the things you let go, you'd be surprised what makes its way back to you.”

Sasha and Marcy looked like they might melt from the affectionate look Anne was giving them. 

“I know for a fact that the next life will be chaotic and crazy, so let’s make this one even crazier.” With that, Anne’s vows were concluded, leading to yet another round of cheers.

“I don't know what you were talking about at the beginning, Boonchuy. That was the best speech,” said Sasha.

“You bet it was,” said Mr. X, “so let’s get down to business: Anne Boonchuy, do you take Sasha Waybright and Marcy Wu to be your lawfully wedded wives?”

“Yes, sir,” said Anne.

“Sasha Waybright, do you take Anne Boonchuy and Marcy Wu to be your lawfully wedded wives?”

“Damn right I do!” exclaimed Sasha.

“Marcy— same question, you know the deal.”

“Uh huh, uh huh, I’ll marry them!” said Marcy excitedly.

“Alrighty,” said Mr. X. “By the power vested in me by the United States Federal Government, I pronounce you wives. The brides may kiss the brides.”

Marcy launched forward and gave Anne a big, passionate kiss. And just as soon as it was over, she gave Sasha an equally big, passionate kiss. When Marcy was finally done, she stood with a satisfied smile on their face. “I’ve been waiting years for that.”

Anne and Sasha were frozen in shock for nearly a minute before they awkwardly kissed with way less energy than what Marcy gave them. 

In the end, the guests all cheered, happy for the newly wedded wives.

After that, things went swimmingly. The Boonchuys and the Thai Go team catered the event with delicious food that everyone loved. The cake that Anne and Sasha worked so hard to get was actually there, as was the banner with the same design. A local band played a rendition of “No Big Deal” as the newlyweds danced, doing an awkward 3-way tango that fit their overall dynamic.

Things couldn't have gone any more perfectly.

---

2042 Again Again

“So that’s basically it,” said Anne. “We could’ve talked about the honeymoon, but again that isn’t exactly kid-friendly material.”

“Wow…” said Sprig with stars in his eyes. “I hope I can have a romance as cool as yours one day.”

Sasha gave him a tight hug. “I know you will, kid. You and Polly have great things ahead of you.”

Ain’t that the truth.

Notes:

Think of Marcy’s drawing as a variation of this iconic image, just with a few more people and everyone’s dressed for a wedding.

Translations: Mæ̀ (mom)

Also, can anyone guess the significance of the number 81520?

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 4 of The New Guardians