Supportive Family

You and Mr. O’Brien started walking back to the apartment in silence from Back Alley Bodega and Bakery.

Mr. O’Brien looked pensive, not really paying attention to you anymore as you ate the rest of the free donut Dante gave you. You gotta admit, the more you take bites of this thing, the more the flavor profile grows on you. You start noticing the things Dante mentioned at his bodega.

You and Mr. O’Brien make it more than a few blocks in silence, and he doesn’t seem all that eager to break it either as he looks to be deep in thought. It gives you time to check your phone, intending to check the app to try and figure out a way to help out Mr. and Mrs. O’Brien with magic. You see your phone screen and you apparently got a message from Viv, so you read it first.

“Hey boyfriend! Is it cool if you buy me some of those donuts too? :) ” Viv asks in her message.

Instead of replying with words, you take a photo of the paper bag of donuts you were carrying.

“Ooooh! They look so good! Thanks boyfriend! :* ” Viv immediately replies.

It seems like she’s relishing the idea that you guys are officially together now, constantly referring to you as ‘boyfriend’. It’s definitely better than her calling you daughterfucker though… or worse, Junior.

“They actually remind me of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.” You message Viv back.

“Noooo! Are you serious!? That’s it!? Even my chef and restaurateur friends say they’re called Angel Donuts because they taste like heaven. That can’t just be what they taste like. :( ” Viv immediately replies.

“Hey now, I thought the Cinnamon Toast Crunch you prepared earlier was heavenly.” You flirt with her a little.

“Get outta here with that. Leave the flirting to me, Junior.” Viv replies, reminding you of Stella’s assessment of your bad flirting skills, making you chuckle a little. Crap. You made her call you Junior again.

You glance at Mr. O’Brien, and he still seems to be deep in thought, so he didn’t seem to mind you were chuckling to yourself.

It doesn’t take a while before a new message from the group chat pops up.

[Viv]: They added me to the girlfriend group chat! They saw me chatting with you and poof! Here I am!

[Stella]: I don’t care if Dad said you guys were official. You’re not official unless you’re in this group chat. Hahaha

[Viv]: I just back read the earlier messages. You made it this morning :/

[Tanya]: V!!!! Welcome to our newly minted group chat! How’re you doing now? Better?

[Viv]: Much better! :D

[Viv]: Also, Cassie slapped Stella to not be rude since both of us were on our phones. So that’s why they’re both not replying. Mrs. O is telling us the story of why their son is such an asshole. We’ll update you later T.

[Jay]: Yeah, Mr. O’Brien’s telling me about it now too.

[Tanya]: How did that happen? You guys aren’t together?

[Jay]: I went out with Mr. O’Brien to buy donuts for Mrs. O’Brien. They had a fight, and apparently they make up as long as Mr. O’Brien buys her her favorite donuts.

[Viv]: Jay bought us some too! I’ll save one for you T!

[Jay]: It was actually Mr. O’Brien who bought them for everyone to try. You should thank him later.

[Viv]: Oh. So you’re giving your ‘Thank you Sloppy Toppy’ to Mr. O then?

[Tanya]: EWWWW! WTF V?

[Viv]: HAHAHAHA. Based on Mrs. O’s story, Mr. O could get it back in the day. Actually, it seems like they both did! Maddy’s jaw has been hanging open for a solid ten minutes now since that revelation.

[Tanya]: For real?

[Jay]: Yeah, they apparently didn’t just do orgies; they swung back then too.

[Viv]: ORGIES!! MRS. O HASN’T MENTIONED THAT!

[Tanya]: OMG! DON’T BRING IT UP! SHE’LL DEFINITELY BLAME EITHER ME OR JAY!

[Viv]: Too late!

[Tanya]: VIV!! DON’T YOU FUCKING MESS WITH ME!

[Viv]: HAHAHAHAHA. I’m kidding!

[Tanya]: YOU BETTER BE!

[Viv]: By the way, this is my last reply. Brooke noticed I was still on my phone and they’re starting to tease me that I’m a clingy girlfriend. Later!

[Jay]: We’re nearing the apartment anyway. See you in a bit.

[Tanya]: Are we still all going to the gym later?

[Jay]: I’ll talk to the girls first. Hopefully Maddy still wants to come with us.

[Tanya]: What happened with Maddy? Why wouldn’t she want to go with us?

[Jay]: Long story. Update you later. Promise.

[Tanya]: Alright. Just fix it. Comprende?

[Jay]: Is it just me or was that you on mommy mode?

[Tanya]: DON’T MAKE ME GO BACK THERE! YOU BETTER CLEAN THIS MESS UP YOUNG MAN! Hahaha

[Jay]: Yes, Mommy. Hahaha

[Viv]: Kinky.

[Viv]: Please continue.

[Viv]: Tell Daddy what you want him to do to you, Mommy.

[Viv]: kjadsf

[Viv]: This is Cassie. I took Viv and Stella’s phones away.

[Tanya]: I guess that’s our cue. I’m going back to work. I’m going to see you guys later in the gym. Maddy better be there! Haha.

[Tanya]: Love you J :*

[Jay]: Love you too, T :*

[Viv]: Okay. That mommy thing was actually really kinky - Still Cassie.

You can’t help but smile after the end of that conversation. Viv being your new girlfriend doesn’t seem to be affecting anyone negatively.

Afterwards, you start to check the app; and go directly to the trait catalogue, not bothering to check scores for now. You open the filter button and there’s a drop down list of names that appear. You see Richard O’Brien on it, and one for Mary Jane O’Brien as well. Your initial thought was to see if you can find a way to help them both, but then correct yourself as you remember why this all started in the first place — because Maddy wants to date you... and how you don’t want to date her without addressing the issue with her Dad and grandparents.

You filter the Trait Catalogue to traits that would be Most Recommended for Maddy, and one of the top three recommended was something already on your wishlist — “Normalized Polyamory”. As per usual with this app, the top most recommended sounded exactly what Maddy needed.

Supportive Parents (25 Friendship Points): The person with this trait will increase the probability in which their parents support their life choices, accommodate their requests, and agree with their decisions.

It was cheap and seemed to be something that directly addressed Maddy’s needs; and, consequently, something that would possibly give her the opportunity to pursue the things she wants in life… including a relationship with you. You’re not entirely sure how much of an increase in probability will affect their dad’s adamant stance on his daughters not dating though. Also, if you only bought this for Maddy, would her sisters not find it weird she gets that support and not them? Could that lead to her sisters resenting her in the future? You wouldn’t want that.

Then again, the second most recommended trait for her is something similar to ‘Supportive Parents’, which is ‘Supportive Grandparents’, the trait description and cost of the latter being similar to the former except for who it’s targeting. You scroll down and below ‘Normalized Polyamory’ you see the answer to your question earlier about her siblings possibly not finding it weird that only she gets that kind of support from their parents if you bought the first most recommended trait. You assume if you bought the ‘Supportive Siblings’ trait, they wouldn’t find it weird, as they’re just as supportive of Maddy.

Available points: 500 (+50) Friendship points / 250 Love points / 200 Lust points

Upon checking your available points, it appears you’ve acquired another 50 Friendship points from someone. You check the profiles to skim for notifications for who gave extra points, and it seems to have come from Mr. O’Brien.

O’Brien, Richard - Affection Score: 53 (+5)

+50 Friendship Points. Total: 500 (For reaching the 50+ Affection Score goal with a person)

With that amount of Friendship Points saved, and since you’re not really saving up for anything other than not wanting to go below 100 Friendship Points for ‘Feel No Jealousy’, just in case it becomes necessary before buying ‘Normalized Polyamory’, you don’t hesitate any further to buy the traits to help out Maddy.

You confirm your purchase for ‘Supportive Parents’, and the Most Recommended Trait for Maddy shifts into something different. The app shows you the first Advanced Trait you’ve been recommended since ‘Magic Touch’.

Supportive Family (100 Friendship Points): The person with this trait will holistically spread the support and acceptance throughout their family, making all of their family members not just supportive of the person with the trait, but also supportive of each other.

Prerequisite Traits:

Supportive Parents: [ACQUIRED]

Supportive Grandparents (25 Friendship Points)

Supportive Siblings (25 Friendship Points)

Supportive Children (25 Friendship Points)

You can’t help but just be in awe at how convenient this thing is. In the back of your mind, because you’ve seen the app do it with the ‘Cheater’ trait, you know the app is only suggesting these traits so there won’t be any more complications or obstacles for you and Maddy to consider before pursuing a relationship. It’s probably the reason why ‘Normalized Polyamory’ is above ‘Supportive Siblings’, since you really don’t need Maddy’s sisters’ approval to date her. Still, you can’t deny that this trait could lead to the best case scenario for everyone; including a scenario where Mr. and Mrs. O’Brien can fix their relationship with their son.

You take a moment to think about what it is you’re doing exactly. Are Maddy’s family issues really your concern? Are Maddy’s family issues even really all that bad that you have to resort to magic to try and help fix them?

You sigh. Even though the answer to both those questions are a resounding no, you can’t think of a better way to spend magic points. Helping a family resolve its issues before it could cause irreparable damage? Yeah. You’d use magic for that. Plus, it’s not like it’ll brainwash Maddy’s Dad to immediately allow her to do whatever she wants. That means if he’s really adamant about the whole ‘no boys’ rule he’s imposed on his daughters, he’d still stop Maddy from dating you. Even then, you’d still buy all these traits for the O’Briens; because, that’s the thing, you’re not spending these points on just one person. You’re spending it for a family. You can’t think of any better use for magic.

You buy all other prerequisite traits as well as the Advanced Trait ‘Supportive Family’ for Maddy.

Available points: 300 (-200) Friendship points / 250 Love points / 200 Lust points

Once you’ve made the purchase, it didn’t take long for Mr. O’Brien to break his silence.

“Why couldn’t Connor be like Dante?”