The Acrimonious Addendum (completed)

Chapter Nineteen

Beatrice POV: *Three years later* "Don't forget to be back by 8PM!"

"I won't! Bye, Uncle Lemony! Bye, Moxie!" Moxie and Uncle Lemony briefly raise their heads to look at me.

"Bye, Bea!" I walk down the sidewalks which are covered in cherry blossoms as summer approaches. Uncle Lemony has told me about my mother, little snippets of information about who she was, forming the big picture of Kit Snicket, and one of the anecdotes was about her favourite musical set in 1900s Germany. I've listened to one of the songs and it was pretty good, and I'm thinking about it now as I walk down the street. "And all shall know the wonder of purple summer." When I reach Violet and Duncan's house which I'm told is almost exactly down the road from where the Baudelaire and Quagmire mansions once stood, I knock on the on the blue door and am answered almost immediately by a smiling Violet with her one-year-old daughter Nikola Marie nestled on her hip. "Beatrice! Come inside, but be warned that the house is still in a little bit of chaos." she says, ushering me inside. Nikola begins to wail and Violet gently passes her to Duncan who rocks her softly. "Hello, Beatrice. It's good to see you. You can hang your coat on the door." I do, leaving it on the brassy handle of one of Violet's many inventions dotted around the house. I suddenly feel my legs bombarded with a hug and look down to see the gap-toothed grin of little Alfie as he gazes up at me. Klaus, looking slightly harried, scoops him up and smiles, talking to Alfie and to me. "You're a fast runner, boyo." Isadora plants a kiss on Klaus's cheek as he places Alfie on the floor. She envelops me in a warm embrace on and says, "He gets his running skills from his father." She musses my hair affectionately. "I should probably tell Quigs and Fiona that you're here. Sunny, could you please call them?"

"Sure, Iz. Quigley, Fiona, Beatrice has arrived!" Sunny shouts down the corridor, promptly returning to stirring a large pot of some indeterminable substance and flicking some of it at her girlfriend who giggles and gasps in mock outrage. From the side Isadora's baby bump is barely visible aside from when she rests her hand on her stomach. She sees me looking and whispers, "We're going to name her Adeline, after my mother." I smile at her and she winks back at me. "Her middle name has also been decided and it just so happens to be the name of her godmother."

"What is it?" I ask.

"Beatrice." she smiles and in that moment I feel so happy that I can't even talk. Quigley bounds into the room and gives me a gigantic hug. "Hello Little Bee!" he practically yells.

"Quigley! You combed your hair!" I say.

"Well, only the best for my favourite niece!" he winks. Fiona giggles from behind him and as Quigley turns around to grin adoringly at her I make a mental note to ask Quigley when he's planning to buy the ring. Once everyone is in the same space (which takes longer than herding cats) we sit down at the table and talk about everyday matters of everything and nothing. Over the delicious meal of roast lamb and mint jelly ("Alice's recipe," says Sunny proudly to which Alice blushes profusely,) we talk about Violet's recent prize-winning invention, Duncan's investigative journalism, Klaus and Isadora's book of poetry, Fiona and Quigley's trip around the world to find rare fungi, Lemony and Moxie's engagement and what Arthur is doing at preschool. Once the plates are cleaned and have been taken away, Sunny disappears into the kitchen and reappears holding a large, beautifully iced cake adorned with thirteen candles and the words "Happy Birthday Beatrice!" written in blue frosting. Violet taps on her glass and stands up, looking at me. "Beatrice, you're thirteen years old today and just... wow. It's been a privilege to raise you and to see you grow into the young woman who you are today. I know that all of the adults around this table haven't had the most normal teenage years," Laughter from the couples. "I particularly recall Klaus spending his thirteenth birthday in a jail cell accused of murder." More laughter. "But the thing is, Bea, we don't want your childhood to look anything like ours. So, as a birthday wish from all of us, I wish for you a normal childhood."

"Are you kidding me?" I say. "Nothing in this family has ever been normal... and I love you for it." After a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday I blow out my candles. "What did you wish for, Beatrice?" Alice asks.

"Sorry, Alice, I can't tell you." I say.

I can't tell you either.

But I can tell you that after several large slices of cake each, when Duncan, Violet, Izzy and Klaus have taken the children up to bed in the two adjoining rooms, when Quigley and Fiona are curled up on the squishy leather sofa with a book and Sunny has gone outside to walk Alice home, I considered both of my families. My biological family, half of whom started fires and the other half who fought to put them out and in doing so both fanned more flames than they ever could've imagined. And then my non-biological family, the ones who have loved me and raised me and in doing so proved that you can walk through the fire and not burn but instead come out as a diamond from a piece of coal. As I look around at the home that they built from scratch and love, I realise that this is one fire that I'd like to keep burning forever.

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A/N:

This is the last chapter of my book. I hope that you've enjoyed reading it because I've really enjoyed writing it and hearing from you all. P.S. the song mentioned is called the Song of Purple Summer from Spring Awakening and I really like it.

Also about the song I've put in here, it's kind of a weird tradition because when I was writing my screenplay the last song I chose to put in was that one so now whenever I finish something off I always put in the song even if it has no actual relevance to the storyline lol.

I've loved becoming a part of this fandom and really hope that you all liked this and if you did you can like it if you like it if you like (to quote Dodie ;))

xxx Jess