Cupcake Tales

"Aww, he's adorable! What's his name?" Chastity cooed, leaning over Sean's shoulder to view the picture of the beagle on his phone.

"W-Watson," the teen stammered slightly, from the feel of the ample breast pushing into his upper left arm.

"W-Watson?" Lacey teasingly whispered from his right side. A sly motion down low from Sean's right hand told the giggling redhead to knock it off. An interaction that didn't go unnoticed by several of the mothers.

"Yes, my son loves his mysteries. When we first brought him home as a puppy, Sean insisted on a detective name, and he already had a list made out. Sherlock sat at the top. A fact that didn't sit well with Peyton, who demanded to know why he got to chose," Bridget recounted. "Since we're a family of doctors, Dr. Watson turned into the compromise choice."

"That's not true. I had Dashiell on top, but Dad refused to have a dog named Dash," Sean grumbled.

"Is your dad watching him?" Chastity asked.

"My husband? Oh, no," Bridget answered first. "Watson is next door with neighbors."

"Won't he be sad, not being at his home?" Chastity questioned, looking concerned.

"Nope. The Kappmeyers often watch him for a few hours or a day," Sean responded.

"But you're here for a whole week," the honey blonde pointed out.

"Yeah, that's longer than usual, but he's with Slinky." Seeing the question written over Chastity's face, Sean swiped over to another picture of Watson and a dachshund. "That's Slinky."

"Oh. My. Gooseberries. A wiener doggie? I love wiener doggies!"

Swiftly, Sean hunched over on the kitchen stool in the hope of hiding his sudden hard-on. It could've been caused by the way the busty blonde said she loved wieners. Or it could've been the big tits repeatedly rubbing on his arm from her excitement.

"Uh, yeah, Slinky's a great dog," he mumbled.

"Have you ever had a dog?" Rachel inquired, recalling Chastity's previous excitement over Hutz.

"Fiddlesticks! I wish, but my dad always said no. He said our bunny rabbit made too much of a mess already," the honey blonde said, feeling sad until she noticed the clock. "Oops, time to do the frosting!"

Sean didn't know whether to feel relief or disappointment as the boob disconnected from his arm. Next to him, Lacey reached to touch his phone, moving over to another picture of his dog.

"I haven't seen Watson in months."

"You're always welcome to come over, you know," Bridget reminded. "Stop by anytime. He'd love to see you."

"Well, maybe. I know you and Mr. Tarver are always busy. I don't want to be rude or a pest."

"Lacey, your sister walks right in like she lives in our house," Bridget stated. "Unlike her, you're not a hurricane rolling in."

"That's an understatement," Sean muttered.

"At least I raised one girl properly," Rachel half-joked. "But you should stop over after we get back, honey. I'm sure Sean would be happy to entertain you."

"I bet he'd love that," Gabby hinted suggestively.

Any awkwardness from the comment got ran over as Kimberly literally stumbled into the kitchen. Shooting her arm out, she braced herself on the kitchen island.

"Geez, had enough to drink?" Gabby questioned.

"Wha--no, I'm half asleep," the platinum explained with a yawn. "I sat down for a moment after dinner and dozed off. When I woke up, I thought it was morning for a moment. Is there any coffee?"

"Uh, no. Guess you'll need a soda to perk you up," Rachel suggested after leaning over to check the coffee pot.

Grabbing a can, Kimberly took a long sip before she noticed how few people were around. "Where'd everybody go?"

"The kids are down in the hot tub, and the guys left to play poker," Rachel revealed.

"Oh, that's right," Kimberly nodded until she abruptly stopped. "Where's Sybil?"

"She went with the guys. Why?" Rachel asked, noticing the sudden scowl on Kimberly's face.

"Oh, no reason," the platinum blonde responded with gritted teeth as her attention focused on Sean and Lacey.

The two teens busily watched Chastity happily bounce around the kitchen as she used a spatula to frost the cupcakes. Her fast, fluid motions hinted at a considerable amount of experience.

"You look like a natural baker if I must say," Bridget commented. She couldn't care less about what Sybil did to upset Kimberly.

"Thank you! I usually bake goodies twice a week," Chastity stated, pausing her work. "Sometimes even more."

"Wow, that's a lot," Bridget remarked in surprise.

"Why do you bake so much?" Rachel queried, switching over to this conversation. "That's quite a bit of work."

"My goodness. It's never work when it's for a good cause," the honey blonde declared. "And there are great reasons at Diamond Corp nearly every day. Everyone deserves a special treat on their birthday, anniversary, promotion, or retirement."

"You bake cupcakes for every birthday at Diamond Corp?" Bridget asked in disbelief.

"Goodness gracious, I wish. Mr. Pierce told me that I couldn't make treats for anyone not in the main building," she responded with a slight, rare frown. "I worry about those poor people left without special occasion treats."

"So, I take it that you like working at Diamond Corp?" Gabby asked.

"Sweet Christmas! How could I not? Everyone there is so nice. They're like my extra family. Mr. Pierce, Mr. Diamond, and the other Mr. Diamond are the sweetest, kindest people," Chastity gushed.

"That sounds wonderful, but I can't imagine every single person is nice," Bridget commented.

"Shit, I know for a fact that my coworkers will stab me in the back," Gabby remarked about her real estate office.

"That's...awful." Chastity meant it as she walked over to give Gabriela a sympathetic hug. "Diamond Corp does have a few cranky curmudgeons," she admitted reluctantly. "I deal with them the best way possible according to Grandma: with kindness and a smile."

"Your grandmother and mother both worked there, right?" Rachel asked, recalling a detail that Whitney mentioned in the past.

"Oh, yes," Chastity nodded with pride. "Grandma was Mr. Diamond's grandfather's longtime secretary. And my mother was in charge of all the secretaries and assistants. People say the nicest things about her. She helped keep up spirits during the bad times."

"Wow, the women in your family have been there for decades. I bet they know a lot of interesting details," Gabby smirked. "Do you know any juicy stories about Harvey?"

"Oh, I couldn't, Mrs. Lockett."

"Call me Gabby, dear. We're all friends of Harvey. It wouldn't hurt to hear what he gets up to at the office."

"I...I can't do that, Mrs. Lo--Gabby. Mom taught me to never gossip about what I see or hear at Diamond Corp," Chastity stated solemnly with a shake of her head. "It's bad to do."

"Oh, telling stories about friends and family isn't bad," Gabby brushed off the response. Considering Harvey's life outside of work, she knew he didn't turn off his desires the occasional times when he actually went into the office. Some material to tease him about could be fun, and she knew a perfect way to get Chastity to open up. "I have plenty of Harvey stories that I tell amongst my friends."

"Gabs, maybe you should pass on that idea," Rachel warned. She knew her BFF's facial expressions enough to recognize a plan getting set into motion.

"Ooh, storytime sounds fun," a tipsy Bridget waved off Rachel's suggestion.

"And with our little matchmaker sitting here, I have a cautionary tale," Gabby signaled in Lacey's direction. "No matter how much you want to help, never, ever play matchmaker for a Diamond. Maybe they have a knack for it going sideways, or a witch placed a curse on them in the past, but without a doubt, your plan will fail in the worst way possible."

"Oh, I doubt that, Aunt Gabby. I have a great track record, and I'll find Whitney her future husband someday," Lacey laughed off the warning. Sean hoped her confidence was a good sign for him and Ramsey, but then he noticed her mother shaking her head.

"Gabs does have a rare point this time, honey," Rachel noted.

"Of course, I have a point, and I'll prove it," Gabby said indignantly. "Once upon a time, before Harvey met his main love of high school, his mother sought to set him up with the daughter of an old friend. This old friend had moved back to Blackbridge after living in Europe for years. Her eldest daughter had enrolled at Breakwater two years prior, and she missed her. As Harvey never failed to find a reason to avoid his parents' friends, this meant he hadn't seen that family since he was a little boy. Reluctantly, he went along with what was essentially a blind date with this girl, who we'll call Ester."

"I'm pretty sure that her name was Ester," Bridget pointed out.

"Shush, Bee. Now, they arrive down in Blackbridge, and Ester isn't home yet. So Harvey waits while the two mothers go out to brunch. Sitting alone in a strange house, he's getting kind of upset over the whole botched plan when in walks this gorgeous girl. Blonde, busty, and blue-eyed, Harvey can't believe his luck as he expected an awkward girl not far out of puberty. Already experienced with girls and women, he launches a full-court charm offensive. The girl didn't know what hit her, and in no time, she's down to her underwear as they make out."

Impressed, Sean glances at Lacey. The petite redhead doesn't look his way as she's frowning over the implication that she'd fail at playing cupid for Whitney.

"With Harvey well on his way to scoring with this hot blonde, the door opens with a younger blonde and a college-aged guy walking in. Immediately, all hell breaks loose. It turns out that the new arrival is actually Ester. The blonde underneath Harvey is her older sister, Elmira, who only recently got engaged to the guy standing next to Ester. Needless to say, when the two mothers arrived back, they find the blind date didn't go as expected. Ester's screaming at Elmira while the now ex-fiancé staggers out of the house with a bloody nose. Embarrassed, Mrs. Diamond dragged Harvey out of the house, vowing never to set him up again. I don't think her friendship with girls' mother lasted."

"What's the odds that Harvey eventually screwed both of those sisters?" Bridget chuckled, earning an exasperated sigh from Rachel.

"So it was one case of mistaken identity, that doesn't mean much," Lacey stated, unimpressed with the cautionary tale.

"Oh, Lace. With Harvey, it's far more than one case of mistaken identity," Rachel stressed. "Do you recall that Valentine's Day party our freshman year at Zurbrugg, Gabs?"

"As if I could forget it," the dark-haired woman laughed.

"As you know, honey, us cheerleaders stick together." Lacey nodded knowingly at her mother's comment as Sean rolled his eyes. "So as our former cheer captain and Gabby's big cheersister, Shelly Penfold made it her job to welcome us to Zurbrugg College for the entirety of our freshman year. She lined up invites for the best events. One such event was the Delta Delta Kappa sorority's Valentine's Day party for singles."

"This was THE matchmaking party of the year," Bridget stressed. "Many relationships started because of it."

"Yes, this is the party where your Aunt Blair met Uncle Cadmus. And where Yumi's parents first met," Rachel explained to her daughter.

"I bet you could run a better matchmaking party," Sean whispered to Lacey.

"You know it," the petite redhead agreed.

"Shelly and her BFF, Cookie Keeble, planned to bring Gabby and me. Then, Sela got wind of the plan and horned in as her younger cousin, Marley, came to check out the campus. Marley was a high school senior from Rattle Ridge, who Sela wanted to come to Zurbrugg the next year. Now, invites are almost impossible to get, but Sela's a Wynwick who expects people to move water for her. Luckily, Shelly's got connections," Rachel recounted.

"And Sela never appreciated that," Gabby added.

"So you can guess who's the most in-demand single guy at the party."

"Who?" Chastity asked, hanging on every word of the story.

"Uh, Harvey," Kimberly replied first, shaking her head at the ditzy receptionist.

"Oh!"

"Now, we all knew better than all these other girls. Harvey Diamond wasn't about to get roped into a relationship. And none of us were interested in hooking up with him," Rachel explained.

"Says you," Gabby remarked, giving her best friend an incredulous look. "I would've totally jumped him that night. And I'm pretty sure Shelly screwed him in the past. Maybe even Cookie. Hell, I wouldn't be shocked if they did it at the same time. You know how he manages to pull that off. Remember those cheerleaders from Muskie Harbor?"

"Young ears, Gabs," Rachel reminded with a nod at Sean and Lacey.

"Oh, right."

"Of course, Sela had zero interest in Harvey with that whole Wynwick-Diamond feud. Now, we think she warned Marley about Harvey, but what she said exactly isn't sure. No matter what, Marley didn't know that Harvey was a Diamond. And all Harvey saw was a pretty girl."

"Uh-oh," Sean sounded.

"Leave it to my boy to figure out what's coming," Bridget beamed with pride.

Chastity squeaked in concerned anticipation.

"Part of the attraction of this party is that the sorority members put together a bunch of fun games. They're designed to serve as icebreakers and to create...let's call it intimate contact," Rachel detailed. "With his bad luck, Harvey ended up with Marley as his partner for one of these games."

"I mean, was it really bad luck?" Gabby inquired.

"I'd call it more uncanny luck," Bridget suggested.

"Whatever you want to call it," Rachel continued in annoyance. "Marley ended up disappearing. Responsible for her younger cousin, Sela demanded we find her. Searching high and low throughout the sorority house, Sela proved the unlucky person who found Marley...let's say on top of Harvey."

"You kids have never heard a scream like that before," Gabby remarked.

"Oh, I think we might have," Lacey replied, thinking of Sela's daughter, Sienna. Making eye contact, Sean nodded in agreement.

"Well, shit broke out after that. We actually had to drag a kicking and screaming Sela out of the sorority house," Gabby recalled, shaking her head in amusement.

"It wasn't funny. Sela caused a lot of damage," Rachel reminded.

"Who could've thought that she could throw lamps that far and with such accuracy? It was impressive," Gabby added.

"And ended up getting all future Honey Hollow cheerleaders banned from Delta Delta Kappa's parties," Rachel revealed.

"Yeah, when we arrived the next year on campus, their sorority officers actually tracked down Tinny, Annette, Miranda, and myself one day at lunch. They warned us not to even think about showing up at one of their events," Bridget informed the kids.

"Did you listen?" Sean asked. Knowing his mother and her friends, he doubted they did.

"What do you think?" his mother asked back.

"Oh, we all got **** in our own way," Gabby remarked with a sinister smirk. "Annette managed to seduce the sorority president's boyfriend AND father."

"As Gabby said, we did it in our own way," Bridget emphasized after Sean swung his attention back toward her. "I didn't seduce anyone."

"So that's why Lana plays pranks on that sorority to this day," Lacey nodded, an unexplained piece of the puzzle finally making sense.

"It doesn't help that Delta Delta Kappa extended our previously annual invitations to former Sugarbees," Rachel explained to her youngest daughter.

"And this obviously didn't turn into a Romeo and Juliet situation with Harvey and Marley," Bridget noted.

"Not unless you call her family showing up to attack him," Gabby chuckled.

"Oh, no!" Chastity gasped.

"It's okay, nothing physical happened. Harvey's grandmother played peacemaker. Although it did add to the bad blood between the two families," Rachel recounted.

"Leaping lizards! This frosting is yummy," Chastity exclaimed. Finishing licking her finger, she immediately dipped another one into the pink frosting. Jabbing her finger at Sean, he moved to scope it off and onto his finger. However, the excited blonde wanted no part of that. "Lick it!"

Afraid to glance around as he knew there would be grinning or laughing faces, Sean licked the sweet receptionist's finger.

"Taste good, honey?" Bridget inquired in a teasing tone.

"Okay, so Whitney's dad has had a few mixups. That doesn't mean I'm doomed to fail with Whitney," Lacey once again stressed, seeking to save Sean.

"It's not only her dad. Graham's got an even more epic list of matchmaking screwups," Kimberly said, momentarily adding a comment.

"Oh, gawd. You girls remember that time Harvey wanted to set Graham up with a sure thing?" Gabby asked needlessly.

"Here, let Lacey try," Chastity whispered, holding a frosting-covered spatula at Sean. When he moved to take the wooden handle, the honey blonde shook her head with a pout. Realizing by now that Chastity wouldn't take no for an answer, he scooped up a glob with his finger.

"Oh, no, I'm not..." Lacey whispered at Sean before giving into Chastity's pouting face. Leaning forward, the petite redhead sought to take a quick lick, only to get bumped forward by Kimberly.

"Whoops," the scheming older woman sounded.

With Sean's finger inside her mouth, Lacey ended up sucking the creamy substance off his skin. Thank you so much for not being here right now, Austin.

"Tastes delicious with a capital D, right?" Chastity asked.

"Yeah, it tasted good," Lacey quietly replied. Both she and Sean stared down at the kitchen island, afraid to look at their moms.

"Oh, right, the story," Gabby giggled. "So, only a couple of months after that Valentine's party, Harvey badgered Graham into driving down to visit. He'd heard about his brother's bad date--that's a story for another day--and wanted to buck up his confidence. The plan was to set Graham up with a sorority girl that Harvey knew was easy from personal experience."

Seeing Sean and Lacey's heads shoot up, Gabby realized what they thought.

"No, she wasn't from Delta Delta Kappa; this girl was from Zeta Beta Zeta. It's not a shocking revelation to say that Whitney's dad gets around. Now, it sounds like he's pretty good at keeping track of who's who, but everyone slips up once in a while."

"This sounds scary," Chastity fretted. Searching for a distraction, she began to pass out cupcakes. "Want a cupcake?"

"And Harvey's slipup came from mixing up two different room numbers at the Zeta House. Instead of sending his brother to the easy girl for what Graham thought would be a normal date, Harvey sent him to a girl he'd turned down," Rachel picked up the story.

"Ooh, this is delicious," Bridget moaned as she ate the cupcake.

"The girl was ugly, so don't blame Harvey for rejecting her," Gabby noted.

"Gabs!"

"What? She was ugly on the inside too."

"What happened?" Sean asked, hoping to speed along the tale.

"When Graham introduced himself, the ugly girl went full bitch on him. Poor Graham got a slap fest. Other sorority members had to pull her off of him," Gabby narrated.

"Oh, poor, Mr. Diamond," Chastity moaned in sympathy.

"Of course, Harvey ends up making out of the situation. Seeing how bad he felt about the mixup, a few other Zetas consoled Harvey later that week," Rachel said, shaking her head.

"Wasn't Whitney's uncle mad at her dad?" Lacey questioned.

"Graham forgives Harvey for nearly everything. He knows that his brother is trying to help him but fails miserably," Gabby answered.

"Like with that one girl. That blonde Graham dated for a few weeks during his freshman year of college." Bridget paused to softly hiccup.

"Had enough, Bee?" Rachel asked.

"She's fine," Gabby dismissed Rachel's point with a hand wave. "Yeah, I remember this story. It was something with an A. Ashley? Adeline?"

Rachel became momentarily distracted by Chastity handing her a cupcake.

"Whatever. It doesn't matter," Bridget said, meaning the blonde's name. "The details of this story are rather sketchy as neither brother said much about what happened. However, the word is that Graham wanted his new girl to meet his brother. As Harvey was throwing a house party that night, Graham told the girl he'd meet her there. Graham also told her what bedroom was Harvey's, and when she knocked, she thought he said to enter. So she walks in on a naked Harvey, fresh out of the shower. Shocked, she stands there frozen and in awe. Now, Fred had told Harvey he knew a girl that wanted him, so Harvey thinks it's this girl, not his brother's new girl. To make a long story short, Graham shows up to find the blonde he likes getting totally fucked by Harvey. The rumor--"

"Bridget! Language!" Rachel screeched.

"Oh, right...young ears," Bridget's smile showcased just how drunk she'd become. "So the rumor has it that--"

"No, you're not telling the rest of this story. Move onto another one," Rachel ordered.

"Oh, okay. Hmm, what should I pick?"

"Are all of Whitney's dad's stories about mistaken identities?" Lacey inquired.

"How about the Halloween party screwup?" Kimberly suggested.

"Kimmie!"

"Hey, not cool, bitch!" Bridget jabbed her finger forcefully at her frenemy. Swaying the sharp motion, she nearly tripped over her own two feet.

"We do not talk about that Halloween, Kimberly. Ever!" Gabriela angrily scolded through gritted teeth. "And you know that."

"Let me get you a glass of water, Bee," Rachel said, hoping to sober the blonde up a bit.

"No, Lacey, not all of Harvey's stories are about mistaken identities," Bridget continued. "Many of them are about him beating impossible odds to screw some chick or two. Back when I was going into senior year of high school, Shelly threw this one party."

"Uh, Bee, I don't think you--" Gabby tried to change the subject.

"You see, Gabby wandered off, so I went looking for her. But instead, I found Harvey pulling off the craziest threesome ever. I mean, you won't believe--"

"Bridget! Not that story," Gabby interrupted, motioning toward the kids.

"Oh, right...right, Rach isn't supposed to know about that," Bridget drunkenly mumbled.

Sean and Lacey both looked over in time to see her mother abruptly turn away from the open refrigerator. With narrowed eyes, Rachel demanded to know why. "What are you two keeping from me?"

"Nothing, Rach, nothing," Gabby said, snatching the water bottle from her hand. Moving over, she placed it in front of Bridget. Sliding the wine glass away, she suggested, "How about you drink this and eat another cupcake before any more wine, okay?"

"Okay...you're always the nicest, Gabs," Bridget smiled.

"And you're always a talkative drunk," Gabriela patted her little cheersister's shoulder. Turning around, Gabby noticed Rachel glaring at her, Lacey giggling, and Sean propping his forehead up with a hand. "Now, does anyone have a story they want to share? Anyone? Something funny, maybe?"

"Ooh, I do. Me! Me!" Chastity exclaimed, holding her hand high like a student in class attempting to answer a question.

"Is it a good one?' Gabby asked, grinning as it appeared her plan had finally worked.

"I think so. It's sort of a mistaken identity thing, or I think it is," Chastity replied, appearing now unsure.

"How about you tell us, and we'll let you know. Sound good?"

"Okey dokey!"

"So..."

"Oh! So one day, Mr. Pierce was on the way out the door and remembered that he needed to give Mr. Diamond some papers. That's this Mr. Diamond," Chastity pointed around the cabin. "Not the other Mr. Diamond."

"We figured that," Kimberly said impatiently.

"Okay, so when I went up to his office and knocked, the door opened. I thought maybe he was in pain as I heard sounds that didn't make sense," Chastity explained. "I wouldn't have violated his privacy otherwise."

"Of course, you wouldn't," Rachel warmly smiled, growing curious.

"I don't know how Mr. Diamond mistook her identity. I mean, she does have a boyfriend. A really serious one too! Maybe the lights went out, and they accidentally fell on each other," Chastity pondered, the brain strain showing on her face. "But that doesn't explain how Shenai made the same mistake as Mr. Diamond and..."

Sean and Lacey glanced at each other with wide eyes.

"Doesn't sound like a mistake to me," Bridget muttered.

"Who was the other person besides Harvey and Shenai?" Gabby asked, motioning for Sean's mother to shush.

"Oh, it was--"

Everyone not named Chastity shot an annoyed look over as the door to the sunroom opened. Most of them hoped it wouldn't be Whitney as that would bring an end to Chastity's story. Instead, Skye walked in. A very flushed-looking Skye.

"Hey, Skye, I thought you would be down in the hot tub for longer," Lacey speculated out loud. She noticed the other woman seemed to be breathing a little faster too.

"Are you okay, dear?" Rachel questioned, moving over toward the flush-looking woman.

"I had to get out of there. It was getting a little too...hot for me. I couldn't be sure what...it doesn't matter," Skye replied, changing what she almost said. "So, what are you all doing?"

"Want a cupcake?"