The Journal of Phillip Grant - March 16

It was a great trip abroad, everyone had a good time, mostly. Abbey wasn't happy when Stephen broke up but I'm sure they'll be fine.

Now that we were back from holidays, teenage hormones took charge of the house. With three teenagers, it was bound to start getting a bit intense.

Stephen invited his old friend Hayley over, and tried a bit of sweet talk with her. Last I heard, they aren't serious and he's thinking about starting again with yet another girl.

Why do my sons have such a hard time with this? I never did.

I went next door to catch up with Bradley and Emerald, now that their daughter was home again.

"Brad!"

"Phil! Was Abbey any trouble on the trip?"

"No, not at all. My son was trouble for her, though. 'Fraid he broke her heart by breaking up."

"What?"

"I know, annoying of Stephen to want to bring her on a holiday and then break up. But they are teens, Vanessa tells me that's really normal."

"Your wife has to tell you?"

"What can I say? Vanessa was my first and only true love."

"Abbey didn't even tell me they broke up."

"She was having a great time making friends with Penny and learning martial arts. I think she's pretty well over it now."

The girls came along to the Kane house too. Penny wanted to see her best friend Nicolas.

He'd only just had his birthday recently. Penny started with some innocent flirting but it didn't take long for her to ramp it up.

I must say that Penny on the prowl is a bit ... overwhelming. She had made up her mind that Nicolas was the boy to kiss first and

Penny's approach was completely irresistible. That poor boy didn't have a chance.

Seriously, how could any young male fail to fall under her spell?

Since Penny was monopolizing young Nicolas, Veronica spent a lot of the afternoon with James. James knows my sons but he is enough older than the girls that they're basically meeting for the first time.

After a while, she decided to chat to Bradley for a bit.

That lasted until she realized her sister had a first kiss. Veronica was not about to let her sister have a chance to brag about this later tonight. So it was back to James. The two of them don't even know each other that well but Veronica still managed to convince him to kiss her.

A man could faint from the barrage of hormones from two sets of teenagers kissing for the first time.

Honey?

Yes, Dear?

You still think it's a bad idea to lock the girls up for a few years?

I told you that they'll have to meet boys eventually.

No, Honey. I've seen our girls at work. The boys of Sunset Valley need protection from them. Because there won't be a single one that will be able to resist our daughters.

[laugh] That bad was it?

You should have seen poor Nicolas after Penny finished with him. He might be coming back down to earth now.

I'm sure the boys will survive. Men usually do.

Stephen still loves his new professional grade bar. He practices making drinks most of the evening.

The next morning was a school day. The kids decided to have some fun before they left. Apparently they really need this because it's seriously not fun in the classrooms these days.

I joined the games but the kids trounce me every time. It doesn't help that they join forces long enough to defeat their old man before they start playing with their friends.

I briefly went to visit my oldest brother Sammy. He's looking well these days, I haven't seen him for a few years. We've never been close, he was gone from home before I can remember. Maybe even before I was born. Still, you should make time for family and it was beyond time for a visit.

Vanessa happened to see Vincent's wife Kari in the park. She decided she should try chatting to Kari again. After all, we love our son and this is the wife he has chosen.

The meeting started well with the two of them sharing a joke.

Kari is just an unpleasant witch. Within minutes of meeting Vanessa, she was at it again.

I don't know how we'll deal with it if they have children. We want grandchildren and we'll want to be with our grandchildren at least sometimes. If Kari can't socialize for 10 minutes at a time, that's going to be tricky.

Penny asked to bring a boy home from school.

I'm glad my daughter has one priority straight. She and what-was-his-name-Wilfred? started homework first.

Honey, is there something wrong with Penny?

Why?

Well, she brought one boy home from school. She wants to ask the star sign of a different boy. She wants to have a group outing with yet a different boy. Poor Nicolas, I hope he liked that kiss.

There's nothing wrong, Dear. It's healthy for a teen to have a few romances. And she might just be looking for more friends.

God, I just wasn't ready for teenage daughters. I could cope while they were little but I just can't adjust to this.