Eighteen Years Later

Calvin and Susie walked around the streets of their town, with the moon gleaming in the night sky above. The two had just gotten back from a trip to Miami, and now they had to adjust to the cold winter that had spread back home. Susie wore a scarf, a thick coat, and winter boots, but even then, she still felt a bit cold.

There weren't that many other people walking around the streets tonight. This made Susie raise an eyebrow, as the night was still young. Though they weren't exactly in one of America's biggest cities.

Susie took a look at her boyfriend. His face was less chubby than it had been when they were kids, but he still had that same spiky hair that he sported from those days. And not only that, but he also had a goatee on his chin now. The two walked around, holding hands.

"So, Calvin," Susie began as they neared the bar they were approaching. "You remember Rosalyn?"

Calvin returned eye contact with Susie. "Oh, yes, I do. Jeez, did I give her a hard time in school. Why?"

"Well, I just saw on Facebook that she's moved all the way to Canada. She got accepted as researcher for the University of Toronto!"

Calvin chuckled. "Well, good for her. It's funny. I spent so much time getting on her behind, but if I knew she was into paleontology, she would've been my favorite person in the whole world."

"Well, everything is all good now, and that's what's important."

The two didn't say much to each other for the rest of the walk, which only lasted another minute or two. They found the bar that they were looking for and walked in. It had dark blue doorways and marble flooring, and there were a few groups of people sitting at the tables. Calvin and Susie, however, went straight to the bar itself, where Moe was bartending.

Moe had grown a thick five o'clock shadow over time, and he waved over at Calvin and Susie. He had patched things up with the two in high school, and was now one of their closest friends.

"Well, well, I thought you guys were coming back tomorrow," he began as Calvin and Susie both leaned at the end of the bar. "How was Miami?"

"It was simply a blast," Susie answered. "I love it here, but it was nice to get away from the winter weather for a few days and enjoy myself at the beach."

Moe nodded. "Right, right, I know that feeling. Was Jungle Island great? I haven't been there in a long time."

"You would still love it," Calvin said in response, crossing his arms. "Definitely the best part of the trip."

Susie then reached into her pocket and grabbed something. "In fact, Moe, we got you a little gift."

Moe had been gushing about how much he missed Jungle Island shortly before Calvin and Susie departed for their trip, and Susie decided to get him a small gift from the park. "Here's a hat and a shirt in your size from the park for you."

Moe perked up and smiled as Susie handed the gifts over to him. "Oh my God, you shouldn't have. Thank you so much."

Susie nodded. "Not a problem at all. Calvin and I can't stay, unfortunately. We were gonna watch a movie at home."

"But since it's a bit of a slow night here," Calvin added as Susie grabbed some of his papers from her purse. "I know how much you like my Spiff cartoons. You want to see more of them real quick before we go?"

Moe nodded, and Susie placed the strips onto the bar for Moe to see. Calvin had been working towards being a cartoonist, with several ideas such as a superhero named Stupendous Man and a detective named Tracer Bullet. The one Susie had seen him put the most effort and creativity into was Spaceman Spiff. Susie imagined that Calvin just remembered all the times he pretended to be Spaceman Spiff and then he would use those memories as the inspiration for his strips.

Susie saw Moe look at the strips for a moment, before he began laughing out loudly. "Calvin, I'm not just saying this because we're friends. I really mean it. You have a potential goldmine with this strip. The daily funnies just haven't been the same since The Far Side ended and Garfield became even more stale than The Simpsons. They really need something like Spiff right now."

Calvin rubbed his neck. "Thanks, man. That means a lot."

Susie tapped Calvin's shoulder. "Alright, hon, we should get going. We'll see you soon, Moe!"

The two said their goodbyes to Moe before they walked out of the bar and started walking to Susie's car. Susie checked her phone again and saw that she had a text from her mother, asking her if she could come over tomorrow and help her set up something on her wifi. She showed it to Calvin, who chuckled.

"Well, hey, at least it was easier to convince your mom to get wifi than my dad. I went to see him right before we left for our trip, and he spent half the time complaining about the Internet before Mom put on his favorite movie to keep him quiet."

"That sounds like your dad, alright."

Susie then remembered that her mom had tried to get Mr. Derkins to help with her Wifi, only for him to be just as clueless as she was. She smiled at that. She smiled at the fact that her parents still got along as friends, even after all of these years. And Calvin's parents were still married and living in the same house that Calvin had grown up in.

"Speak of the devil," Calvin said, interrupting Susie's thoughts. "My Dad just texted me about how his Blu Rau is acting up. He's ranting again about how life was better with the VCRs and yadda yadda yadda."

The two chatted about their parents, hand in hand, until they reached Susie's car. She unlocked it and got in the driver's seat, turning the key in the ignition and started their drive home.

"So what do you want our next big trip to be?" Calvin asked.

Susie kept her eyes on the road while answering, "Not now, Calvin. We literally just got back from Miami. We have bills and rent to worry about for a while. Give it like six months and then we can discuss where we'll go next."

"Oh, come on, babe. What about Vegas? Doesn't Vegas sound like it would be fun?"

Susie shook her head. She refused to ever go to Las Vegas after the stories her uncle would tell her about. And then she perked up, remembering that Calvin's own Uncle Max had some troubles in Las Vegas as well.

"Calvin, I will never set foot in Vegas for as long as I live."

"Fine, fine. But what about San Diego?"

"That's a much better option. But like I said, let's not talk about our big trip right now. Let's just get settled back in for a while."

There wasn't much said between the two after that, as Calvin evidently decided, wisely, that it would be best to end the conversation there. It was a fifteen-minute drive back to their apartment complex, which had gray brick walls and a flat rooftop. Susie went into the resident lot and parked her car there. After turning the ignition off, Calvin began to get out of the car, and Susie shut the door behind her. However, just before she locked the doors, she remembered some cans of tuna that were lying in the backseat, along with some cat toys. She quickly opened the back doors and pulled them out.

She saw Calvin standing there, with his hands in his pockets, waiting for her. He laughed.

"Good call. Our feline friend would've been ticked off if we came back empty handed."

"No kidding, he would be."

They walked towards the apartment complex and unlocked the security door with their key. Their apartment was on the bottom floor, and they walked down the stairs to see their brown door waiting for them. Calvin pulled out his key to unlock it, before he paused.

"Wait…aw, hell…are you sure you don't want to unlock the door?"

Susie took some steps back. She knew exactly what Calvin was thinking of. She grinned and shook her head. "I'm good. You got this, babe."

Calvin pressed his head towards the door, and then they unlocked the door with his key.

And just then, a familiar tiger pounced upon Calvin, sending him several feet away while Susie got out of their way.

Hobbes had actually managed to grow in size as well. Susie thought that she and Calvin would tower over him upon hitting their growth spurts, but he grew around the same time as they did and was on eye level with them. Aside from that, and wearing a black t-shirt, Hobbes looked exactly the same as he did when Calvin and Susie were kids.

"Damn you, Hobbes," Calvin uttered, to which both Hobbes and Susie giggled.

"I do hope that you both got me something good from Miami," Hobbes said in response as the three walked back into their apartment. Their apartment was a small one, with tan walls and peach carpeting, and the kitchen shunted off to the side.

"I'm still salty that I wasn't invited to Miami," Hobbes said as he jumped onto the couch.

Calvin shrugged. "What can I say? Susie and I wanted some time for ourselves. Also, being forced into a suitcase seems like it would be awful for you."

Susie went over to the kitchen, placing her car keys and the tuna on the counter, and went to grab the bread and make herself a quick sandwich and a bowl of chips…only to see an empty spot on the top of the fridge, where the bread was supposed.

"Hoooooooooobbes!" Susie yelled, narrowing her eyes. "We told you not to eat all of the bread and chips!"

"You guys were gone were nearly a week! What did you want me to do?!" Hobbes said from back in the living room.

Susie walked back towards her boyfriend and 'pet', and saw Calvin shaking his head. Calvin shot a glare at Hobbes, his hands on his hips. "You really do want to be made into a rug one of these days, don't you?"

"If I had a dollar for every time you've threatened me with that, I'd be as rich as Scrooge McDuck."

"Well then you could buy us a mansion and cater to us until the day we die," Susie snarked as she sat down at the edge of the couch.

Calvin pointed to their bedroom. "Alright, Hobbes, off the couch with you. Susie and I are going to watch some TV."

Hobbes groaned. "But the couch is comfier than your bed."

"I don't care. Off the bed with you."

Susie scratched Hobbes' face, to which he rubbed her leg. "Actually, Hobbes, you may want to rest at that big tree for a while."

Hobbes narrowed his eyes. "Oh, don't tell me. You guys are going to try and make a baby tonight, aren't you?"

Calvin shook his head. "Correction: We will be making a baby tonight. Now off the couch with you, mister."

Calvin grabbed out their weapon that they had to resort to when all else failed: A laser pointer. He pointed it towards the wall, and Hobbes flew off the couch in a vain attempt to catch the laser.

After the laser was turned off, Hobbes growled. He got over it five seconds later, however, and he brushed his arms and licked himself. Then he eyed his two owners. "Say, you guys remembered that tuna, right?"

Susie pointed forward. "In the kitchen, along with some souvenirs from Miami."

"Alright then," Hobbes remarked as he got up on his feet. "I will be grabbing my food and then heading outside. I will see you both tomorrow, when I don't have to hear you in bed."

"Don't forget to grab the spare key this time!" Susie said as she turned the TV on.

She and Calvin cuddled together on the couch while they could hear Hobbes grabbing one of their spare key and heading out of the door, shutting it behind him. Hobbes always went to the big tree near their complex to rest until morning when Calvin and Susie decided to add some excitement to their night.

Susie rested her head on Calvin's shoulder as the television played. She smiled at what her life was. She was dating the guy she loved deep down from day one, with hopes of having a baby and probably getting married one day. And while there were technically no pets allowed in their apartment, they got around that by having a tiger that only the two of them could see was alive. Susie had wondered what would become of Hobbes as they got older, and she loved the fact that he was still in their lives.

Of course, there was the fact that Hobbes wanted to attend their wedding, but Susie decided that they would cross that bridge when they got there.

She pressed her head tighter into Calvin's shoulder, and Calvin wrapped his arms around her. And Susie couldn't think of anything else she could possibly want in that moment.

Wow, the world has gotten a lot crazier this past month, because of a certain virus. Well, I hope that in these chaotic times, this story brightened your day just a little and that you are all doing well :)