Hey hey! Welcome back to The Four Legacies! I told you this wouldn’t take me as long as the last chapter did! And it hasn’t, not by a long shot!

Now if you haven’t read the earlier chapters, please do. You won’t be getting a recap here. But it’s safe to say that if you’re struggling to remember what happened in the previous chapters, or you can’t remember who most of the sims in the above pic are, then you should probably go back and reread them.

Or, you know, just jump right in.

There was not a whole lot in life that the Jacobs children were willing to agree on. They couldn’t agree on what foods to eat, what games to play or what people they should hang out with. Unless they were around the children of the other three legacies in Quaver Kanyon or they were arguing with one another, they did not spend a lot of time together. And they certainly couldn’t bring themselves to agree on almost anything.

There was one thing that the three of them could agree on, and that was that ever since they returned from Twikkii Island their father acted like a new man.

They didn’t know what caused it. Perhaps it was opening a business. They had heard that their father had had a home business before they had been born, but he had shut it down. Perhaps he was just happy to have a completely independent source of income.

Or maybe it was the number of townies that he had started hanging out with. They had never known him to bring home so many townies from work. Normally if they followed him he asked them to leave immediately, yet ever since getting back he had been more than happy to chat to them for a while.

Perhaps it was doing him good to get to know some more people. People outside the same circle of friends he had had since he was a toddler – which was back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth if you listened to Ruby.

Ever since getting back their father had taken to singing karaoke, playing the drums, happily talking and joking with friends, and playing with his children.

Needless to say, to a pair of teenagers and a child a father who was happy for the first time in years was an odd experience. And though they couldn’t agree on a cause, the three of them could agree on one thing: they liked it this way.

Not least because a happy David was a more permissive one, who was less likely to object when the girls made out in front of the house for all to see.

Yep, life was good for the Jacobs. After all, what child would complain about the abolition of bedtimes, among other things?

In fact, life suddenly seemed a whole lot better for everyone in Quaver Kanyon, for a whole host of different reasons. Every single person in the canyon it seemed had hit their stride. All of the legacy sims had become close – best friends unless they were dating one another.

Most of generation two had even been accepted into private school too. Though there may have been some who suspected foul play, there was no evidence. And by the time any was found it was too late.

~~~

“Have I told you how gorgeous you look today?” David whispered as he and Mel danced.

“Only about a thousand times,” Mel replied with a smirk. Her eyes sparkled in the dark night. “I hope you realised what’s going on here.”

“Well of course! We’ve just gotten married. What else could be going on?”

“That’s not it and you know it,” Mel replied pulling a away slightly.

David shook his head. He tried to pull her back close again, grinning, but she resisted.

“Mel?” he asked uncertainly. There was something about this situation that he didn’t like.

“You’re moving on from me, David,” Melissa whispered.

“What?” David replied, shocked. “No I’m not – We’ve just got married! We’ve got our whole lives together! I’m not moving on from you..”

“This is a dream, David. You know that.”

“Mel, It’s not-”

“David, there’s a pink cat flying behind me.”

David looked over Mel’s shoulder, and sure enough there was a pink cat hovering a few feet away. It was relaxing on the porch, half asleep. It saw David looking at it and barked loudly. David jumped. It vanished with a pop. He shook his head.

“Does this dream mean we can’t enjoy ourselves?” David asked with a grin as he twirled Melissa. She laughed.

“Of course not,” Mel replied as she came back to face him. She looked at his, her eyes distant. “You can enjoy yourself in any dream if you want to,” Mel paused here, frowning a little. “Though there are certain dreams you should probably see a therapist if you enjoy.”

“Good.”

The two of them danced for a while longer under the stars. David didn’t know how long exactly, he just enjoyed the moment. They talked about nothing in particular for a while but they stopped and began to cuddle under the stars.

“You want to know why you’re dreaming this?” Mel asked his after several minutes of making up constellations.

“I thought you said I was moving on.”

“You are,” Mel said, sitting up and moving away from him. “And you need to let yourself. You’re falling in love with another woman, and that’s wonderful. You just need to do something about it.”

David didn’t reply for a moment. Was that true. He thought about it for a moment, going through all the women who it could be. Well, there was only one, really. Sarah McCarthy. She was an elderly women who worked in his shop. She wasn’t that much older than him, and in the time that she had worked for him he had gotten to know her well. He smiled as he thought about her. He sighed happily.

“See?”

“I can’t do anything about it,” David said as he and Mel hugged – he could feel it. Somehow he knew he was about to wake up. “We’re still married. We might not be together anymore, but I refuse to date anyone as a married man.”

“Don’t worry,” Mel smiled reassuringly. “It’ll all work out soon enough. Now, birthday boy. You better wake up now.”

David’s eyes shot open. He was suddenly wide awake, his mind filled with the dream he had just had. It had been so... Strange.

He sat up and pushed the covers away. Strange was definitely one way to describe it. What Mel had said in the dream though, it had made sense.

Ever since the day Melissa had vanished, right up to when they had gone to Twikkii, David had been miserable to put it simply. After though...

The kids would be the first to say he was acting differently, though David himself hadn’t put much thought into it at all.

David swung his legs out of bed and slowly got up. For a moment he relished in the feeling of the soft, warm carpet beneath his feet, something that he still loved even after all these years living in this house.

Once out of bed, he headed over to the window. It was still dark outside, though the eastern horizon was tinged with orange. It would be dawn soon. The weather looked good though – it might be the middle of window, but there had been little snow, and it didn’t look like it was going to snow today.

David pulled on some outerwear and headed out onto the balcony. He stared out over the desert. He thought back to his dream and sighed.

The truth was that David had realised that he had been acting differently. He’d thought it had simply been because he’d opened a business again, something that got him out of the house when he wasn’t at his job. But his dream tonight... He sighed again. Maybe there was another women.

David flushed a little as he thought of her. She was a little older than him, and a nice enough women. She worked in his shop over in Bluewater. David smiled. Maybe he would make a move and ask her out on a date one day. Maybe. Once the whole issue with Mel was sorted out.

David stared out over the desert for a few moments more. He briefly thought about going back to bed, but then thought better of it. He had a busy day ahead, and it would end with his growing old.

~~~

That day was busy for everyone in the desert, and all were relieved when it finally reached time to head over to David’s for his birthday party. Some were more relieved than others.

“Are you sure David won’t mind us using the hot tub?” Gil asked as he climbed inside it.

“Of course not – he should expect this,” Quinn said, climbing in after Gil. “What self-respecting sim doesn’t expect the hot tub to be used during a party?”

Inside, David stood behind his cake, staring straight ahead. He didn’t dare look down at the birthday cake on the table for fear that the number of candles on it would blind him.

Well, perhaps that was a little bit of an exaggeration. However there were a lot of candles on the cake, all there to remind him that he was about to get significantly older. He would be the first of the founders to become an elder. That hadn’t been something he’d minded that morning, but now... He swallowed hard, and tried not to think about growing old.

Still, as his family and friends slowly piled into the kitchen which was only just big enough to contain the huge crowd of sims, he couldn’t help but think that he’d done all right for himself. In his adulthood he had moved to an entirely new place, had three great children, kept in near constant contact with his childhood friends. He’d achieved a lifetime want, and since he’d gotten back from Twikkii he had started to work on his second – to own 5 top businesses. Perhaps it was a little late in life to really start on that, but he planned to give it his best shot.

He glanced around at everyone gathered there. It was hard to believe that they were all here because of a pleasure sim. If he had known this would all await him, he probably wouldn’t have argued with Quinn for anywhere near as long as he had.

David waited a few moments longer than he probably needed to as everyone found some space in the room.

He smiled once everyone was settled and leant over the table.

“Any ideas what I should wish for?” he asked, and had to laugh at the suggestions that were called out – not a single one serious.

David bent over his cake. He took a deep breath, and preparing himself for what was sure to be an embarrassing outfit, he blew out the candles and got ready to grow old.

And as far as he was concerned, the clothes were terrible.

“So that’s where Gil’s blue shirt’s disappeared to!” Quinn said with a laugh.

“Shush you, and respect your elders,” David scolded her, grinning. She grinned back as David push passed her and headed to go change.

His clothes changed to something distinctly more him, David retreated to the downstairs bathroom and looked himself over in the mirror. His face looked a little gaunter, he looked a little paler over all, and his hair was grey now. Beyond that there wasn’t much difference in his appearance.

David sighed. It didn’t seem like any time had passed since he had moved here to Quaver Kanyon, but now... His grey hair was just evidence of how much time had passed by. After a moment though, David grinned. He had hit his golden years, and he might as well enjoy them. And with the number of parties that were coming up over the next few days, he intended to do just that.

Over the next few days it seemed like the desert was busier than ever before. So much happened over a short space of time that it felt like you’d blink and miss a major life event. David’s birthday was just the start. The following day Quinn and Gil went on their fiftieth dream date, catapulting Quinn into Perma-platness.

And it was just in time for Quinn and Gil’s joined birthday, shared because Gil had taken to guzzling large quantities of elixir so he could grow up on time.

Once they became elders, it was agreed by all that Quinn and Gil looked as good as they ever had. The party went well on into the night, and after the guests had left and they had change their clothes and hair, Quinn and Gil lay back on their bed and relaxed.

“So...” Quinn turned to Gil and looked him over. She certainly approved of his looks. “Woohoo?”

The worried expression of Gil’s face vanished and he grinned.

“You have to ask?”

The following day flew by as everyone prepared for the next major event: a triple birthday. Kate, Declan and Edmund all stood in front of their cakes, Edmund grinning broadly, Declan smiling slightly, and Kate looking at her youngest sons.

“Okay, boy,” she said to them. “You two grow up first. I’ll blow my candles out as soon as you’re done.”

The candles were blown out quickly and eagerly. The moment everyone had ages, the twins and Kate headed inside before anyone could ask what their clothes looked like under their outerwear. The twins changed in a moment and presented themselves to their friends and family.

“What do you think?” they asked as one.

Declan and Edmund, despite their similarities, had both chosen very different aspirations, and the differences in their looks was becoming more and more apparent. Edmund, with his shorter black hair, had chosen to become a family sim, like his mother, Alice and Bayley all had, and wanted nothing more than to reach his Golden Anniversary.

Declan, with his floppy brown hair, had chosen popularity. And his lifetime want? To be Mayor. The boy was certainly ambitious.

And their mother? She had aged gracefully to say the least. And while not perma-plat, she had aged with a high enough aspiration level to live for a very long time to come.

But the birthdays were far from over. For the fourth day in a row there were birthdays to come, another double birthday. This time it was Ross and Amelia. As Ross blew out his candles, Amelia stood by her cake. She watched her mother waddle by and smiled. She would have another brother or sister by this time tomorrow.. She hoped it was a sister – she already had two brothers, and didn’t think she wanted another one.

Ross grew up from a good looking adult into an even better looking elder – at least as far as Kaylynn was concerned. But then, he could have turned blue with pink spots and she would still have been as in love as ever.

As for Amelia, she grew up gorgeous, and took what was quickly coming to be known as the family aspiration – knowledge. She also took what was getting known as the family lifetime want – the same as both Todd’s current and Ross’s former lifetime want, to max all seven skills.

Having decided that her clothes were good enough, and having let down her hair and styled it a little, Amelia took up the armchair next to Todd with a book from the case.

A couple of hours passed for the two of them as they read. Finally Amelia got up and put her book again. Todd looked up at her.

“Giving up already?” he asked.

“Nah,” she shrugged her shoulder. “I’ve finished – I’m perma-plat now.”

“What?”

“Yeah – looks like all those skill wants I had as a kid came in handy,” she grinned, then frowned. “Kind of want to be a world class ballet dancer down.”

As Amelia was becoming the first perma-plat sim of the generation, in the downstairs bathroom something else entirely was happening. Kaylynn, in a move that so many legacy sims had done before her, had gone into labour. In possibly the only room in the house that was too small to get good pictures, much to the frustration of all.

The birth went ahead without complications, and before they knew it the next, and hopefully last, member of generation 2 was born. The child a was a little boy, who inherited Kaylynn’s red hair and blue eyes. Ross and Kaylynn deliberated over the boy’s name for all of a second before they declared it to the world simultaneously.

“Galahad Merton.”

And with Galahad’s birth, the major events of Quaver Kanyon were over for a brief period. Everyone could finally settle back into their lives, and David in particular could get to work on the Little ‘n’ Local Mart that he owned – it was getting to quite a high level now, and he was more than thrilled to go in every day and try and raise it just a little bit more.

Though his joy may have had a little to do with his saleswomen, Sarah McCarthy.

Sarah had been working with him from the moment he had opened the Little ‘n’ Local. Initially David had hired her for her high skill badges – he would need a manager eventually after all. But the two of them had gotten to know each other rather well. The two of them would spend hours chatting after he closed up shop and sent his other employees home. In fact, he was starting to feel very strongly towards her. There was just one thing getting in the way.

“I’m sorry, Mr – David,” Sarah sighed after he asked her out one night after he closed up shop. “I know you and your wife are separated, and that you haven’t seen her in years, but I wouldn’t feel right, seeing a married man.”

While David was having some trouble with his love life, Quinn’s life was just about to get a whole lot better. Alone in the house, she walked around the corner to head inside when she caught sight of the matchmaker leaving something on the ground.

“Hello? What are you doing?” she asked.

The matchmaker didn’t acknowledge her. Once the smoke cleared she cheered, and then turned and crept away slowly. Quinn shook her head at the matchmaker’s antics and walked over to see what had been left behind.

An old lamp.

“Humph,” Quinn grumbled. She knelt down and swiped her hand across the surface. Looking at her fingers, she saw they were covered in dust. “Couldn’t even leave up a clean lamp.”

Quinn turned to leave but stopped when she heard it. A rattling sound. She turned back to the lamp, and saw that something entirely new had emerged from the spout.

A purple head and torso had appeared in a cloud of smoke and stars.

“Behold, mortals! I am the genie of the lamp!” the genie said, sounding impressive.

“I’m over here.”

“Right,” the genie turned to face Quinn, his arms crossed. “You know the deal – three wishes before the lamp’ll vanish. Have anything you want, just not more wishes. Got it?”

“Anything?”

“Pretty much.”

“Hmmm,” Quinn scratched her chin and thought hard. She caught sight of the house. “Well the house could do with a bit of a make over. I suppose I wish for money to improve it.”

“Your wish is my command, my lady!” the genie waved his arm dramatically. “And I must say, you are taking this rather well.”

“My daughter’s a witch, her best friend’s a werewolf and one of my best friends got abducted by aliens,” Quinn shrugged. “This seems quite tame, really.”

THUD.

The genie ended up giving quite a lot of money from that single wish, and coupled with the money that Quinn had managed to save up over the years she was able to build the family a reasonable sized house.

And once it was done, she sat down in front of the TV, content. Finally she had a house worth living in.

“So, Aurora. We’ve known each other since we were kids. We’re pretty good friends. How do you feel about a date?” Edmund asked that same night.

As Edmund had said, he and Aurora Siew had indeed known each other since they were children. She had been a townie child who, much to the shock of everyone, had grown up along with the boys. Declan had greeted her one day and she and Edmund had hit it off. Now, after growing up and discovering that the other was a family sim, they were hitting it off more than ever, especially with their two bolts of chemistry.

Needless to say that before long the two of them had received their first kiss from one another, and were going steady.

While this was going on, Alice had decided that she wanted to give Meadow Thayer a bit of a make-over.

“... So just sit down and I’ll make you look beautiful,” she said, gesturing wildly.

“Why would you do this for me?” Meadow asked suspiciously. She had been burned too many times before. Alice shrugged.

“I’ve got a friend who likes you, so I thought I’d introduce you. But first I want you to look your best. What do you say?”

“I think I look cute,” Meadow smiled at her reflection – she now had pigtails and some makeup. She didn’t actually look too bad. “So where’s this friend?”

“She’s outside – only blonde girl here right now besides you.”

Meadow gave Alice a grin, then rushed outside.

And quickly got to work on getting to know Amelia -

- who had managed to come out to everyone before anyone even took a bite of her cake, managing to beat even Gideon’s record at coming out.

While the younger teens were romancing, the others were busy as well. Todd, having felt slightly embarrassed by Amelia beating him to reaching the same LTW, had been studying almost non-stop, trying to reach it. With help from the bookcase his Dad had brought home from work years ago, he managed to reach it in no time at all.

Todd closed the book with a satisfied sigh. He had a life of permanent happiness ahead of him, and he could hardly wait to live it out – and hopefully as a Media Magnate.

~~~

“Miss St Julien? Is something the matter? Do you need help finding the books again? They’re right behind you,” David asked with some amusement. Elise St. Julien had spent the better part of the day in the shop. Every time she found something she wanted to buy, she needed help in locating the next. This would have been more understandable if David had just sold a wider variety of items.

“Not this time, Mr Jacobs,” she replied, smiling a little. “I’m a reviewer for the Kanyon Daily. I must say I’m impressed with your business – you and your staff have been constantly willing today to help out any customer no matter how frequently they need it, and even the most difficult customers you’ve dealt with using the utmost tact. I would like to present to you the Best of the Best Award, and assure you that you will be getting an excellent write up in the paper.”

And with that she paid for the books and left.

Although gaining a good review and the Best of the Best Award was a very good point in David’s day, it wasn’t to last. As soon as he got the award it the number of customers he got increased dramatically, to the point where he and his staff were unable to cope with the number of customers. But as the day wore on fewer customers came, leaving all of them to heave a sigh of relief.

Even though it was only noon, it had been a long day, and the shop had made some rather significant profit. Completely exhausted, as David tried to convince Kate to buy a new computer. Seeing the look on her face, he could see that he wasn’t going to be successful, and bid her goodbye.

It was when he turned he spotted her.

“David,” Mel said as he walked over to her.

David took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. The last customer star had put the business up to level 8, and it wouldn’t do to cause a scene and lose a level.

“What are you doing here, Mel?” he asked her as politely as he could.

“Simple,” Mel replied, shifting her weight to one leg. “I want a divorce.”

For a moment David said nothing as he tried to process that. She... He shook his head. There was no point in trying to make sense of what Mel wanted – when they had been together he had never really known what her motivations had been and that clearly hadn’t changed in the slightest.

“Fine,” David said finally. He glanced around the shop. “I’m about to close up anyway. Wait around a little while, then we can go discuss this back home.”

An hour later David stood in front of Mel. He looked her over – she still looked the same as the day he’d last seen her. She had the same clothes, the same hair, the same makeup – the same everything. Momentarily life was back to how it had been when they were together. They were in the house, she still looked the same, the house hadn’t been changed since then, and... He didn’t feel the same towards her.

David smiled. The dream he’d had, a few weeks ago now, was right. He had been moving on at the time, and now, he had moved completely past Mel. Although he was still a little sore about her leaving him with the kids, he wasn’t even angry.

“So what do we need to do to get this divorce underway?” he asked pleasantly. Mel blinked at him.

“You’re taking this remarkably well,” she said. David shrugged in response.

“I just want to get this over with. So what do we have to do.”

Whatever it was that they needed to do to divorce, it did not take long and by the time Ruby and Gemma got home from school it was done.

“Mum!” Ruby said in surprise as she walked in after school. She rushed over and hugged her mother. Then she frowned. “What’s going on?”

“Oh nothing, Ruby,” Mel hugged Ruby back, then pulled away. “Your father and I have finally got the divorce sorted.”

“You’re getting divorced?” Gemma had followed Ruby into the room. She looked between her parents, looking like her world had just ended. “But-”

“Don’t tell me you weren’t expecting that, Gem,” Ruby said glancing over her shoulder at her twin. She looked back to her parents. “So does this mean that we’ll get to see you now, Mum?”

Mel looked at David and he looked right back. He shrugged. Mel sighed.

“Probably,” she said. “We’ll have to see how it goes, okay?”

Whether or not Mel would actually begin to be part of her children’s lives once again would remain to be seen. There was something else, something bigger than was about to go on in Quaver Kanyon that it would be a bad idea to miss.

Quinn paused in what she was doing for a moment to check out her husband. Aging hadn’t made him any less hot. In fact, it had only made him more attractive in her eyes. But unfortunately she would have to wait before she acted on any of those desires. She tore her eyes away from Gil and yelled up the stairs.

“James! Get down here! The guests are arriving and want to see you grow up!”

Yep. Yet another birthday season had started in Quaver Kanyon.

“Coming!” James yelled down to his mother as he clambered onto the banister.

Since his mother had had this house built from the money the genie had given her, James had discovered one wonderful, wonderful use for staircases.

“Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

They were great for sliding down.

As soon as his feet touched the floor, James ran outside and waited behind his cake. His candles were lit and he could hardly wait to join his brother and sister in teendom.

Slowly the huge crowd gathered around James. He bent over his cake as he looked around, trying to avoid looking at Amelia as she heart farted his big sister. There were an awful lot of teens in the desert, and he could hardly wait to join them.

“Awesome! A son with a rebellious streak!”

“Mum! It’s just my outerwear!”

It was too. And the clothes he was wearing under them... They might not be too embarrassing, but they didn’t suits him – he did not look good in blue.

James rushed inside and changed his clothes and dyed his hair. He paused a moment at the top of the stairs, and then slid down them.

“Weeeee!”

Some things would never change.

James’ feet hit the floor and he steadied himself. He thought about his new aspiration. The past few days had taught him what life was like when you had money, and now he had a taste of that he liked it. He was fortune him, and he knew right there and then that he wanted nothing more out of life than to become a Criminal Mastermind. After all, everyone knows that small towns need three criminal masterminds.

Over the next few days it felt like if you blinked you’d miss a birthday. First there was Waylon who managed to look so drastically different than when he’d been an adult that everyone did a double take when they day him.

Then Galahad became a toddler who everyone agreed was adorable. He did very quickly end up in trouble and constantly tried to follow his big brothers and sisters to school and his parents to work, but he was constantly foiled by every toddler’s nemesis: the stairs.

And then, finally Henry became a teenager and was the last birthday of the season, much to everyone’s relief. It didn’t take him long to decide to become a family and that he wanted to become Captain Hero.

The following day Charlie stepped off of the school bus. After informing her job that she wouldn’t be in and completing her homework, she headed downstairs. She had a busy day ahead of her.

She pulled on a thinking cap and sat down with a book. With any luck she could get another scholarship before she and Alice headed off to college that night.

Several hours later Charlie book the book down and took off the thinking cap. She rang the college and got any last scholarships.

Hanging up the phone once she got her final few scholarships, she quickly made the rounds with her family.

She pulled each of her brothers into hugs, the bys both still in their school uniform from the private school they had been going to for a couple of days now.

She shared a joke with Gil.

She kissed her mother.

She indulged in one final slide down the banister

- and called up the college to tell them that she would be accepting her place at college now.

The following morning after one extremely long cab ride, Alice stepped out of the cab moments after Charlie grew up. She looked over Charlie’s outfit and frowned a little.

“You grew up in your witches clothes! Cheater!” Alice teased her good naturedly.

“Just grow up,” Charlie said. “I’m going to head inside and change. Meet you in a minute or two?”

“Sure,” Alice replied as she grew up. “I’ll be in in a second.”

The confetti settled down before she moved. As she waited she looked over her outfit – neither the top nor the jeans were that bad, but they certainly didn’t suit her either. Sighing, she headed inside to change.

As soon as they were changed and made over, Charlie and Alice looked over the dorm. It was a nice enough place. They could certainly live here – at least until they were allowed to move off campus.

The two girls had both made a few changes to their appearance – they had both changed their clothes, and changed their hair. Alice had simply got rid of the headband, and pulled on a hat. It wasn’t a big difference, but it was enough that Alice felt more like an adult and less like a teenager. Charlie on the other hand had taken a pair of scissors to her hair. She cut off most of it, and was left with a short cut that had only taken moments to style.

In the time the two of them had been sorting their hair out, they had taken the time to take in their new appearances. It was now obvious where most of Alice’s looks had come from – her father. She had his eyes, nose and mouth. Probably some other features too. Charlie... Well she was still trying to work out where her nose had some from.

After a couple of seconds Alice wandered off to get to know their new dorm mates. Charlie was about to go talk to them too when her phone started to ring. She frowned – she had only just arrived – she wasn’t expecting to be inundated with phone calls from her family for another day or so yet.

“Hello?” she said, answering the phone.

“Oh, hi Mum. I just got here. How’s-”

“What do you mean, Grandma’s dead?!”

And this is where I leave you. Until next time, Happy Simming!