Gen 4 Ch 12: Payoff

Cypress was laid to rest next to Clover (on the far left) and Darwin's dogs Indi, Dusty and Bellaboosh were at his side. The family graveyard had grown.

 But life goes on...

 ... and so do the living.

 "Ouch! Not so hard, dad!"

 "Sorry Emily! My bad!"

"Okay, heeeere goes..."
"Nooo, not again, dad! D:"

 Dolores had already moved past recent events and was in top form.

 The Organization had never been more powerful than under her rule. She even had the local police in her pocket.

 But sometimes it helped to remind them who was boss.

Marking territory, Dolores style.

 One day that statue's smug face would burn too.

 Despite their disagreement about it the other day, Dolores wanted to show Dancer her new toy.

 It still delighted her.

 It's a step in the right direction. But you know...
"Yes, yes, it's still a long way," Dolores conceded. "But you've gotta admit..."

"... it's kind of fun!"

 But of course, Dancer was right. Dolores spent most of her time in her lab, working tirelessly to improve upon her invention. Now that she had The Organization at her beck and call, it was easier to obtain the resources she needed.

 Finally, she had another breakthrough!

 It was a clear, chilly evening in Hidden Springs, when all of the sudden...

 ... it started to rain. For a full ten minutes.

"Did you guys hear something just now?"

 It was not enough. Even with all the resources she had available now, it had not been enough.

 They knew where they had to go.

The military base would surely have what they desired. But they needed to wait for the right moment.

That evening, Dolores and Trent attended Emily's ballet recital and Esteban and Eric's badging ceremony at the school.

As soon as it was over, however, Dolores left.

"Where is mom going, dad?"
"She's... uh... Hey, let's go for some ice cream!

 Everything was prepared. Dolores' underlings had the base surrounded and were ready, just waiting for their boss to arrive.

Knowing this bunch of losers that called themselves the military here in Hidden Springs, they would all be asleep anyway. Still, Dolores sent in some goons to secure the area.

 This was going to be a piece of cake.

A few video-calls here, some maniacal laughter there. In the end, the government had been easily intimidated by a few threats from The Empress of Evil.
Only a couple of hours later Dolores emerged with exactly what she had come for. Dancer was pleased.

The house was quiet when they arrived back home.

The triplets were sleeping soundly.

And so was Trent.

Dolores and Dancer were elated. This was what they had been working for all this time. They were so close now, they could almost taste it.

Suddenly, their celebration was interrupted when it began to snow.

Finish it. , Dancer spoke and Dolores nodded once before striding off.

Trent, woken by Evelyn's soft cries, was gently rocking his youngest daughter to calm her.

 "Lookie, Evelyn! It's snowing!"

"Snowing!", Evelyn's small voice rang as clearly as a bell.
"Yes, great!"

 In the meantime, Dolores had gone down to her lab and finalized the contraption. This was it. It was perfect. All this work would finally pay off.

"Snow... ing?"

And all of the sudden, it wasn't.
Trent stared out of the window, baffled, when he heard steps behind him.

 "Dolores! The weirdest thing just happened! It started snowing intensely - for about five minutes! And then it stopped! Can you believe it? But it's probably going to start again soon... I mean, it always snows around this time of the year. The triplets are finally old enough to build snowmen, and Evelyn will be too!"

 His excitement soon wavered when Dolores explained, however. No, it was not going to start snowing again soon. There would be no snowmen. Not ever again.

Trent walked off without saying a word.