Weasleys and Woes

Snow day continues for the residents of Barbieville.  Fred is sledding with Stacie and her friends when Mace shows up in the sleigh.  As children tend to do when Grandpas arrive, they flock to him.

Mace: Rosie send me out to find y'all.  Time for that family meeting to name those new pets.

Stacie: Hi, Grandpa!  These are my new friends Dan and Emma.  They just moved into the house where Mary Ann Bright used to live.

Mace: I know you, Dan.  Your daddy is my horse's doctor.  And Emma's mother is my dentist.

Dan: Yes, sir.  Emma is going to be my stepsister soon.  

Emma:  She's pretty much the whole town's dentist.  Can you give us a ride, just to our house?  (points) It's right over there.  

Stacie volunteers to sit on Silver Stream and give the rest some elbow room.  

James: Thanks for giving my kids a lift.  They've never had a sleigh ride before. 

Fred (amazed): Never?  

Mace: Pike told me you checked the horses. I haven't gotten a bill yet, though. 

James: Pike paid it.  

Mace: I keep telling him that the horses are mine.  They just stayed there when I moved out.

James: Well, that's a family matter.

Rose-Grace assembles the family while Mace puts away HIS horses.  

Tanner:  Why are Anakin and Nakoma voting on this?  Did I miss a couple of weddings or something? 

Rose-Grace: They're not voting.  Did you miss the part where both Finnick and Stacie are too young to get married? 

Finnick: Dad got married at my age. (Nakoma elbows him)  

Rose-Grace: I did remove some of the names from the running.  I am the mayor and have to think about how certain names might appear.

Tanner: There go all my suggestions.

Taylor: Can we remove the human names from the running as well?  I hate when animals have people names. 

Nikki: Remember when you tried to change Max's name?  That was funny.

Finnick: One of your dogs has a people name.  Ash is the dude with the chainsaw hand in those zombie flicks.  Yeah, we know she was born in a fireplace and is the same color as ashes, but still.

Nakoma: And there's a Pokemon trainer named Ash, too.  

Rose-Grace: I'm afraid you're outvoted on the human name issue, Taylor.  Most of -- (Her phone goes off)  I better take this call.  It's the fire chief.  

*******

Several days later

Zenobia:  Welcome to Zenobia's Vlog, the only openly biased news source in Doll County.  Today I've got some good news and some bad news.  We'll start with the good, and satisfy a lot of my viewer's curiosity in the process.  Becky?

Becky:  I made a previous visit to this Vlog and mentioned being part of a hush-hush custody battle.  A lot of you out there have been asking, and now I can tell you.  (Collects her thoughts) If you've seen the news recently, you'll know that millionaire real estate mogul Ronald Weasley Sr and his wife recently died.  They left everything to their two children, and a huge extended family started fighting for guardianship.  

Ron: Of the money.  Most of them didn't care about me and Ginny.  Becky wasn't even in on it til we asked her to take us.  

Ginny: I asked her, you mean.

Ron: Fine, til Ginny asked her.  Most of the family were trying to get us to buy mansions and yachts and stuff.  

Ginny: And then ship us off to boarding school. 

Ron:  Ginny, I'm telling this!

Ginny: Then get it right.  They wanted the money, not us.  

Ron: Becky was the only one who respected what Dad wanted.  We got real used to hearing her defend him.  Everyone else thought he was nuts.

Becky: Ronald was my favorite uncle.  He believed in a modest lifestyle and giving back to the community.  The bulk of his money has been divided in half and put into trust.  I have no intention of touching it.

Ron: We start school at Barbieville Middle School on Monday.  

Zenobia:  Now we move on to the bad news.  A fire late last week took out two local businesses and left the owner of one homeless.  With me are Midna Sunburst, owner of the Sunburst Diner, and Violet Baxter, owner of American Splendor printing.

Violet: I was watching television when Raven came out of her room and said something about a dumpster fire.  I thought she was speaking metaphorically at first, but no.  The dumpster was on fire.  

Midna: The dumpsters and my grease bin are far enough away that the buildings shouldn't have caught, but they did.  Once it got inside and hit my cooking oil...  (tears up)

Violet: I had a lot of flammable chemicals, as well.  The sprinkler system simply couldn't keep up with the spread.  (To Midna) They're down there right now.  They will find out what happened.

Zenobia: Was anything salvageable?

Violet: The first floor of my building was gutted and Midna's diner burned to the ground.  We may be able to save personal items from my apartment, but we've not been able to get back in there.  Arson is suspected and right now it's basically a crime scene.

Zenobia: Is it too early to ask if you plan to rebuild?

Violet: For me?  Yes, it's too early.

Midna: I was getting ready for a renovation.  (laughs weakly) I guess it's going to be a bigger job than planned.  But, yes, I'm absolutely rebuilding.  

Zenobia: Contact me for information if you want to donate things like clothes for the Baxters.  I hope next time, I'm giving nothing but good news.