Aaaaand.... Welcome to chapter 2.1 of The Four Legacies. That’s right, chapter 2.1. Generation 2 (well, half of them) have officially taken over! And it only took two and a half years too! *headdesk* I fail at life. AT least there wasn’t wait this time – yay for double updates!

Anyway, last time saw Amelia Merton and Dec Brown moved back into their respective family homes to take over as heirs. Dec married his hubby Knut and Amelia married Ichelle. Almost immediately all four got knocked up by their spouses. When I left you, the youngest official member of generation 2 (Vicki doesn’t really count) had finally headed off to college in the hopes of resurrecting his newly-discovered dead twin sister, who also happens to be a child. Unfortunately during his first night at the dorms he got arrested.

If that doesn’t make sense to you, then I suggest you go back and read the earlier chapters. I wouldn’t blame you – it hardly makes sense to me, and I’m the one writing it.

Now, on with the show!

“You got the right kid this time?” Rebecka Kimbrell asked as Yoosung Tse climbed back into the limo. Yoosung rolled his eyes.

“Sure, I make a mistake one time,” he shook his head. “Yeah, it’s the right one. There’s not exactly many Galahad’s running around, is there?”

“Huh, guess not,” Rebecka admitted as she pulled off. “That kid didn’t look like he’d been on campus long enough to make all the friends in the society. You’re sure it’s him, right?”

“For the last time, yes!” Yoosung said, scowling fiercely. “’Sides, he’s not getting called up because he got enough friends. Jasmine, you know, the cafeteria woman, put in a good word, some sob story about a dead sister. And you know what she’s like when she hears one of those.”

Rebecka hummed in response. Indeed she did know. Jasmine Downie was probably one of the most determined NPCs around, and if she decided a kid needed to be in the Volauvent Society, well hang the rules! They were getting in!

The journey from the dorms to the Volauvent Society was a surprisingly short one considering Rebecka needed dropping off somewhere in the opposite direction and Yoosung had had to chase Galahad down when Yoosung took his handcuffs off brought him up to the front seat. Yoosung did have just enough time to explain what was actually going on though as he drove off campus, out into the middle of nowhere.

“So... These guys have the phone thingy my Dad was talking about? And they won’t mind me taking it?” Galahad asked as a castle loomed on the horizon.

“Yup, you can take it,” Yoosung said as they got closer. He shrugged a shoulder. “You’re one of them now, and they’re members can do what they like with of the society’s possessions. S’not like anyone actually comes back b’sides to welcome new members anyway.”

With Yoosung’s words still going through his mind, Galahad clambered out of the limo as it came to a stop. He hesitated, not sure of what to so now. His dilemma was solved, however, as people who he’d actually seen around campus a few times even over the course of the single day he’d been there emerged from inside.

“Wooo! Guys! Daniel! Claire! Tish! Look! New member! New Member!” said one rather excitable brunette as she and three dormies with alien skintones came outside. She was actually jumping for joy. “We got a new member!”

“We knew that, Chloe,” the blond alien, Daniel, said as he approached. “Jasmine called, remember?” Clearly Chloe didn’t, but Daniel ignored it and turned to Galahad, looking put out by the whole thing. “Look, here’s the jacket, the phone you’re after’s inside – covered in bones and has a nasty habit of giving off orange smoke. Now can you get it out of here? It gives everyone the creeps.”

Galahad took the jacket from Daniel and pulled it on before heading inside. He found the phone quickly enough – hard not too when it was billowing orange smoke.

“I guess this is it,” he muttered to himself, feeling almost let down at how easy this was – no sneaking around, no hiding or leaping off of buildings or mishaps with cowplants. It was just anticlimactic.

Galahad shoved the phone in his inventory and pulled out his cell phone. He wouldn’t be able to use the bone one until at least he graduated. Right now all he wanted was to get out of this place. I was creepy here.

Late one afternoon in the last few days one spring Waylon Brown returned home from work to feel a chill settle over his bones. He let out a sigh. Waylon had know this was a long time coming and despite being so young he almost felt this day was overdue. He headed immediately up the stairs, into Vicki’s room, knowing she’d be there and would likely want to play. Kate caught him, pulling him into a chaste kiss and a warm embrace.

“Tonight?” Kate asked him quietly so as not to disturb Vicki who was playing at her activity table only a few feet away. Waylon nodded.

“Tonight,” he said, the words catching in his throat even as he said then.

“Ew! Mum! Dad!” Vicki’s shriek of disgust broke the sombre mood and she immediately began looking out the window in case one of her school friends could see in. “Do you have to do that in here?”

Waylon couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

“We do, Vicki,” he said even as his youngest grimaced.

“I need to get this in while I can. Enjoy your birthday tomorrow, Vicki...”

Waylon Menon Brown met Kate, the love of this life just by chance as he wandered by her plot of land. Within twenty-four hours they were wed, confirming a love that was so strong that it held the two together for years to come. He fathered five children (Alice, Bayley, Cole, Declan and Edmund), adopted another (Vicki) and eight grandchildren (Griff, Benjamin, Christopher, Daisy, Dahl, Ellis, Franklin and Merlin). Although only 69 he lived a full life and will be missed by his wife, children and grandchildren.

The next day Vicki grew up without a party at her own insistence. She didn’t feel much like celebrating, nor even much like cake. She grew into a very pretty knowledge sim who swore that one day she would become a Mad Scientist. The world needed to get a bit more mad, in her opinion, and what better way to accomplish that than through science?

However when one life ends other begin. At the exact same time next door Amelia stood in the house’s newly built annex, breathing hard as her father and wife both watched on. Generation 3 was definitely underway

“You can do it,” Ross muttered under his breath. “You can do it!”

Amelia ignored her father’s murmurings – they were too quiet to hear properly anyway – and Ichelle’s panicking. Just one more push ought to do it – one – more -

-PUSH!

Amelia gave an almighty scream as she span. She came to a stop slowly, looking at the baby in her arms. Amelia smiled.

“You so were right,” Ichelle admitted as she waddled over to see her new daughter. “You were having a girl.”

“I told you, two women cannot a boy make,” Amelia replied, still looking at her daughter – she might have read all the parenting and pregnancy books, but it didn’t stop how in awe she was. Had they really made this? “What shall we call her?”

“I did agree to Lydia,” Ichelle said with a shrug of her shoulder. It was a nice enough name, she’d just been convinced Amelia was carrying a boy.

“If you’re sure-” Ichelle cut Amelia off with a firm nod. “I’ll take Lydie over to the nursery.”

“Yeah, you’d better hurry though.”

“Why?”

Ichelle’s labour was much shorter than Amelia’s, feeling almost as though there was something there was more to come out of it. Amelia hardly had time to get Lydia settled into her crib in the nursery before it was time for the big push.

One twirl later and Ichelle held her second daughter in her arms. She was already slightly different in appearance to Lydia – while both girls had received Ichelle’s brown hair and Amelia and Ichelle’s shared skintone, this little girl had inherited Ross’s grey eyes rather than Ichelle’s green or Amelia’s dark blues.

“We said Rosa if the second child was a girl, right?” Ichelle asked as she handed the baby over to a grinning Amelia, even as another wave of contractions hit. Amelia nodded. “Right, take Rosa than.”

Ichelle’s voice was firm and Amelia took her second daughter without question.

As you may have guessed, more than two babies were on the cards that evening. Ichelle found labour went much quicker with the second child of multiples and in what felt like only about five minutes Ichelle held another baby in her arms, a third girl who, like Lydia, had both Ichelle’s brown hair and green eyes. Ichelle glanced over at Amelia who was still holding Rosa.

“We both liked the name Ivy, didn’t we?” she asked, thinking back to the name discussions they’d been having. Amelia nodded, feeling too shocked to say a word. “Right, give me a second. I’m going to go find your Dad.”

What came next will come as no surprise to anyone, will it? Ross took hold of baby Ivy just in time. Again, within minutes it was over and Ichelle was holding another baby – another girl with her brown hair and – she had to smile.

“This one’s got your eyes too, Ross,” she said. That was two girls with Ross’s eyes, and two with hers. Feeling weary, Ichelle called out through the still-open annex door. “We need another name, ‘Melia.”

“Alana,” Amelia called back. “It was about the only other name we could agree on.”

It was late afternoon on the very last day of Spring. Charlie climbed out of the back of the carpool at the end of a very long day at work. All the things that had gone wrong at the hospital... Charlie shook her head briefly. It was almost enough to make her quit, drop all those years of training and join the circus or something. Thankfully the house should be quiet. It was a Thursday, and Nadine always went round Alice’s after school on Thursdays. Lou had only grown up the night before, and she’d agreed too go with Nadine, to get to know Alice’s kids.

As for the twins, well if she knew her father as well as she thought she did, he would’ve put Daria and Quinn down for their naps a little while ago, and hopefully they’d sleep until the girls got back at six.

If she was really lucky she might even get two whole hours to herself.

Charlie shut the car door behind her and started heading inside when she spotted them. Her old grimoire and cauldron. They’d been sitting in her inventory since college. With everything that had gone on – first the wedding, then having and raising the kids, she’d simply not had the time to get them out of storage until this morning. She felt it was finally time they got put... Somewhere.

That was the problem, she had realised. Although the house was certainly larger than the one she’d grown up in, and it had just about enough space for her growing family, there wasn’t anywhere for her to store her witchy things away from the prying hands of children.

Charlie approached the cauldron and grimoire with an air of caution. It had been so long, almost – thirteen years since she had done any magic. It was still as much a part of her as it had been since she was a teen, but it had faded. Or, rather, she had faded. She still had the sparkle, but she didn’t have the glow she’d retained through college. After neglecting the craft for so long, Charlie couldn’t be sure how the grimoire would react.

The closer she got to the cauldron the lighter she felt. Her feet seemed to skip over the grass, and she almost felt as though she were soaring. It was a familiar feeling, one she used to feel all the time. Magic, it made you feel good. It made you feel like you could accomplish anything you put your mind to.

Charlie leaned in low over the cauldron and took in the scent of magic itself. It smelt of the air just after a thunderstorm.

Charlie let the magic wash over her once again, just basking in the feeling of warmth it gave. It was something she had never felt from anything else in her entire life. It was just... Good.

Charlie left the cauldron alone for not and stood behind the grimoire. She began skimming through the ages with magic. She hadn’t forgotten how to turn the pages through magic. Even after all these years the memory of using her magic was as strong as ever, now it had been refreshed a little.

She had been so thrilled this morning when she’d rediscovered her old magic artefacts. No, thrilled didn’t even begin to cover it. It was more than that, it was... Words couldn’t even begin to describe how it felt to come across these once again, and Charlie had immediately known she couldn’t go so long neglecting her magic studies again. Never again.

Charlie paused on the next page. She chuckled as she read the entry at the very bottom of the page for making someone perform an impersonation of an animal of her choosing. Charlie had used it a couple of times in college when a guy wouldn’t take no for an answer. Or during the odd dud of a party that needed livening up.

Hey, she was a good witch, not a perfect one.

The smile left Charlie’s face as rain began to fall on the ancient pages of the book. A stray lock of hair fell down before her eyes as she looked on without seeing. Why had she stopped studying magic? She was sure it hadn’t been a conscious decision, but sure enough at the start of her senior year she’d simply... Given up magic, pretty much. It was still part of her, but she’d all but ignored it ever since.

What had happened?

It must have been a little time after Gideon started college, maybe a semester. She didn’t think the two were linked – Gideon might have had a load of drama with Bayley, but she’d kept out of it knowing her little brother would sort things out in his own time and no sooner.

Apart from that, the only other thing that had happened was...

That meeting, the one with the matchmaker, with the vampire and warlock outside. Alice had stormed out, Charlie remembered, and they hadn’t gotten anything done. All they’d recieved was an ominous warning, and were told that one of the four of them would visit when they were ready.

‘Huh,’ Charlie thought. ‘I suppose I better go see what that was all about.’

The first time Waylon’s ghost emerged from his grave was only a few days after his death, on a dark and stormy night. It was almost like something was calling to him – and no, that something wasn’t happening in the bed behind him.

He wandered the house for a few hours, long after everyone had gone to bed and were deep in their dreams. He floated into every room in the house, but scared nobody. And just as he returned to his son’s room, it began.

Of all the times to give birth, in the middle of the night during a thunderstorm while ghosts wandered the house wasn’t high on Knut’s list. Unfortunately the baby didn’t seem to agree as he woken up and clutched his stomach in agony – how did women do this? It wasn’t right! Nothing that big should go in a sims body – or come out of it! IT WAS TOO BIG!

The family watched on – even Dec was getting out of bed though it was taking him considerably longer than everyone else. Even Vicki had managed to pull on her clothes and get in there in the time it took for Dec to wake up and get out of bed.

“Hey, Mum?” she said in hushed tones as she watched on in horror.

“Yes, sweetie?” Kate replied, using the same tone.

“I am so adopting when I get older – there’s no way I’m putting my body through that.”

“That’s what they all say, Vicki,” Kate had to smile a little at that. “But whatever makes you happy.”

It was a girl. She had Knut’s dark skin, dark blue eyes from Dec, and Black hair that was either from Knut or Kate. Knut held her out to Dec as lightning flashed in the distance.

“We said Eliza if the first one was a girl, right?” he asked. Having a naming scheme didn’t make much sense to him, but at least this one left names pretty wide open. Dec nodded.

“That’s right,” Dec said. “Should I hold her?”

“I’d say so, Dec.”

The second labour was much easier than the first, and before Knut knew it he was holding another baby, another little girl, this one a touch paler. She still had Knut’s black hair though, and –

“Hey, she’s got your mother’s eyes,” Knut noted, spotting how much lighter this girl’s eyes were compared to her sister’s and Dec’s. He looked from the baby to Dec. “Felicity, right? If the second baby was a girl?”

And so Felicity she was named.

Ah, but that wasn’t all the births in the Brown household that evening. Lest you forget, Declan was also with child that night.

And he decided to celebrate the coming end of his pregnancy in a manner that countless legacy sims had before him. By giving birth. In the smallest room in the house.

The room where you could literally JUST fit four people if they really crammed themselves in, and by Jove did they cram themselves in!

The room where adding even one baby to the three adults and single teen already there would be disastrous.

And then he gave birth to twins.

And heads met keyboards everywhere.

The labour was long and drawn out, but eventually Dec gave birth to the first of the twins. A boy, black hair, skintone 4 and with Kate’s light blue eyes, he was unique from his sisters. One quick scramble for a suitable name later and the boy was called Gavin and placed on the floor as the tiny room proved impossible for Dec to hand the baby to anyone.

And so began the long and drawn out second labour. Unlike Knut’s, Dec’s felt, if possible, longer than the first birth though that, of course should have been impossible. Still, all things must eventually come to an end and even Dec’s suffering was included. He gave one last push and – thankfully – the baby was born. It was another boy, their second son and fourth child, and he was...

... Purple?

At least no one would ever mistake him for his twin? He had completely different, and rather unexpected, genetics – dark blue eyes from Dec, Dec’s brown hair and purple skin from... Your guess is as good as mine. The best they could figure is that maybe sims had at one point been purple and this baby’s skin colour was a genetic throwback from that time, or maybe one of Kate’s ancestors was of alien origin. No matter the cause of his unusual hue, the baby was named Harry and his fathers decided as one that they were done with childbirth. Forever.

The babies were laid down in their cribs. The rest of the family tried to get a few more hours shut eye before they had to be up for work or school.

Harry has a geneticised skintone that shows up (I think) somewhere between S3 and S4. I completely forgot about it until Harry’s birth, but by that point it had been too long since my last save for me to exit and try again, so I just have to roll with it. I also have a blue geneticised skin I forgot about that one of Harry’s cousin’s has.

And Waylon celebrated.

When Charlie decided to go see the matchmaker, she wasn’t going to deny that she had a few ideas about what her home would look like. She imagined a clearing in a forest surrounded by animals frolicking about, shaded from the hot sun by the trees. When she got the address and found out it was in the desert she started imagining that instead the matchmaker lived by an oasis, so far down the canyon that it was beyond what you could see with the naked eye, the whole place lush and thriving. Or even a castle, hewn from the rock of the very canyon walls themselves.

She certainly wasn’t expecting this.

It was a modern looking house, one that appeared newer than any other house for miles around, made of white brick and covered in windows.

Charlie checked the address a couple of times, but there was no way she could be mistaken. There were no other buildings for miles and miles – there was nothing on the horizon either side of it in the canyon. Every other building was way on the other side, even Bluewater and Downtown.

“The vampires must hate this place,” she muttered, before heading over to the front door.

As it turned out, Charlie didn’t need to ring the bell. As soon as she got to the door it opened and out stepped the matchmaker. She hugged Charlie tightly.

“Charlotte, I Saw you were coming,” the old women, Wendy if Charlie was remembering correctly, greeted, and Charlie got the distinct impression that she wasn’t talking about looking through the window. “Come in, come in! There is much I must tell you!”

Wendy led Charlie through the ground floor of the house over to the lounge, all the while humming to herself. Charlie followed in silence. The inside of the house was just as unlike what she’d expected. It was all sleek and sharply decorated, with none of the miscellaneous clutter she so readily associated with the magical world. The whole place was eerily quiet as well – no birdsong nor traffic from outside, neither was there a sound from upstairs.

She wasn’t used to this. With four girls at home she never got to experience silence like this, a quiet so devoid of noise you could practically hear the background hum of the universe itself.

Charlie was lead through to a small seating area near the back of the property. The pair sat facing each other, neither saying a word as they waited for the other to talk. The silence lasted a few minutes before it finally got too much for Charlie.

"Look, I know it's been..." Charlie started, pausing as she tried to remember how long it had indeed been - how far along in college had she gotten by that point? "Well, it's been a long time since you came to the Greek House. I know you said that we should come to see you as soon as possible, and we should come as a group but things don't always work out like that."

"I know that, my dear," Wendy said as Charlie paused to catch her breath. "I foresaw it. I also foresaw that that meeting would not go according to plan, however I naively hoped that I would be wrong as I sometimes am. I understand that you have been busy the past few years with your family, just as your fellows are busy currently. It is not an issue.“

"Right," Charlie said firmly, nodding. Another silence settled over the pair once again, but this time Charlie didn't let it last too long. "So... what was it you were going to tell us? It all sounded like it was pretty urgent back then."

"Not as much as you would like to think, young one - and before you object to that you are young in my eyes," Wendy said interrupting Charlie before she could even get started. The old woman had something of a twinkle in her eye even as Charlie blushed. "What I intended to pass on that night, the knowledge I still intend to pass onto you for you to pass onto the other three is of great importance, however there is little urgency to it yet. Unfortunately I have come to realise over my many years that what is needed to get the attention of mortals, particularly young ones such as yourselves back then is urgency.“

"Right," Charlie ignored the comment about them being young - it might all be a matter of perspective, but Charlie was in her mid-thirties now, and nowhere near as young as Wendy was making her out to be. "What is this important information then."

Wendy didn't reply straight away. Her face took on a sad expression, one of mourning as she stared out at Charlie with those chilling blue eyes of hers. Charlie suppressed a shudder.

"You remember what I told you and your friends back then? About the 'selves' and their 'simselves'? How worlds are set up with rules in mind and then no one can break them, that trying to will cause so many problems as the universe tries to correct itself?" Wendy began slowly. Charlie nodded in answer to every question - the memory had faded over time as she had tried to forget it, but she could remember most of it. Wendy sighed. "Our universe, our world itself... It was created to give a great deal of autonomy to us. Our Self set up a great deal of autonomy, allowing for minimal, if any, interference. Everything that happens to the sims of this world is because of the actions of other sims, and not of god-like powers or divine plans. It may pain many to realise it, but there is no divine plan for us."

Wendy paused, letting Charlie take it in for a moment before you continued.

"Everything was going fine. The Self placed a SimSelf into this world to maintain it, to fix the irregularities and ensure that there are no," here Wendy quirked her lips, "fiery balls of doom descending from the sky.“

"Seems like an important job then," Charlie chuckled. Wendy nodded.

"Yes, it was extremely important, my dear," she said, smiling. "It is something many SimSelves have to deal with in exchange for virtually all of the power that the Selves have. In most cases the SimSelves are free to use their power how they see fit and with few real consequences for anyone. But as our world is... hands-off, if you will-"

"Then the SimSelf couldn't interfere without breaking the rules the Self set up!" Charlie burst out, making the connection. She blushed. "Sorry. I, ah, get a little overexcited when I figure things out."

"Do not worry about it, child," Wendy smiled gently and shook her head. "You are correct. The SimSelf wasn't to interfere, and there was rarely much for her to do in our world as we were not as risk of the fiery balls.”

"So she got bored?”

"Yes," Wendy nodded. She pursed her lips. "Imagine all having all that power, and nothing to do with it. We are not sure when, but we do know that she began to use her powers. The SimSelf, she got to know the sims in the area, learnt about their lives and saw... that everything was not as perfect as she wished. So she interfered. She tried to improve things, fix relationships and... erase the problems as she saw them. It did not work."

"Erase the - wait does that mean-“

"Yes," Wendy cut Charlie off. "Your friend's brother, the one with the silly name, he is remembering a sister, a twin. She..." Wendy trailed off, shaking her head. "There are a few things the aliens who watch over our world have told us about, the inconsistencies they've noticed, and the biggest one is around her. At first she wasn't there, then she was, and then she was gone again. We can't pinpoint why that happened - perhaps she was created to combat the boy's - Galahad, I believe he is called? His loneliness, though we don't know why she was erased. We can only assume that young Galahad was able to remember her when she was gone because she was created to be his twin, his other half, and it couldn't be truly removed.“

"Well... okay," Charlie said. She tried to shrug off the chill that settled over her bones as she thought it over. The very idea - of bringing someone into existence, then - deleting them, essentially, didn't sit well with her. "Were there other changes? And what does this have to do with us? Why haven't you sorted out this SimSelf yourselves - it's not like all the supernaturals around here are weak."

"There were other changes," Wendy acknowledged with a nod of her head. "But none so severe as that, there were small in comparison. As for what this has to do with you and your companions... We began to notice these changes so long ago, back when you yourself were little more than an infant. There is nothing that can be done about them now, and myself and the other supernaturals within the city are simply not powerful enough to take on a SimSelf even were we to work together, and it will be necessary to take out the SimSelf if we want to correct the damage, or prevent it from worsening."

“Back before you could even walk we knew the battle would one day become inevitable, and that were myself, the vampires, the aliens, the witches and warlocks and the wolves to fight the SimSelf, even combined we would lose. I could See our loss as clear as the nose on your face. Only one option remained.

“From the number of legacies that have existed you may have come to expect it, but there is power in the blood. The longer something is pass on the power it becomes, taking on the collective strengths of its predecessors as well as adding its own power. Were we – this whole world – to stand a chance in the battle we would need the strength of the supernatural and paranormal to be passed down, through generations until the time came to fight.”

“For this I must apologise. Normally those we feel are worthy to join our ranks are given the choice, but that was not an option here. We needed someone for each of the four areas of our brethren.”

Wendy paused again, this time for longer. It took Charlie a couple of minutes to figure out what the old matchmaker was waiting for – her input.

“That is absolutely frigging insane,” Charlie said at last, her mind quickly making connections. “How can you – wait, is that why there was always wolves around mine, Alice’s or Todd and Ivan’s houses when we were kids?”

Wendy nodded. “Yes – we weren’t sure at that point whether the SimSelf was intentionally causing problems, or they were just unforeseen consequences, so the wolves were sent to protect your families. They also looked at every child in your families – the Jacobs too – and assessed who would be best suited to join who.”

“That is absolutely frigging insane,” Charlie said again, not caring that she was repeating herself. “Why would you do this?”

The elderly matchmakers gaze shifted from Charlie out the window beside her, staring out across the flat, sandy canyon floor. Wendy only stayed staring out for a moment or two, before her gaze snapped back to Charlie. She shrugged guiltily.

“We needed you,” she said simply. “There’s four basic elements that make up our world that we supernaturals and paranormal are linked too – and no, I’m not talking about the periodic elements. Aliens and their descendents, they deal with science – the technology, and always have a greater grasp of it than any other sims – just like your friend Todd. The wolves – and by extension, werewolves – have an affinity with nature. The plants and the animals of the world are closer to them than anything else. The vampires, you cannot doubt their connection to death, and as for witches and warlocks, you are linked to life itself.”

“The effects on you and your friends is negligible,” Wendy said, holding up a hand. “But you will pass on your abilities – you won’t have a choice in that. When the time comes you won’t be able to stop yourselves from passing your gifts on to one of your children though you and your werewolf friend will be able to keep your powers if you wish.”

“But-”

“Please, let me finish,” Wendy said. Charlie pursed her lips in annoyance, but nodded anyway. “Thank you. Your children will feel the connection to their element much more strongly, and their children will feel it even stronger. The four of you, your lines will always be there, gaining in strength out of the spotlight of the legacies if this neighbourhood until the time comes to do battle.”

Wendy finished speaking. By this point everything Charlie had been going to say had left her mind. She looked at the old woman in disbelief, one eyebrow raised. There was only one thing to be said.

“That is absolutely frigging insane.”

Over at the Greek House, both Henry and James posed in front of the camera in their graduation robes as one of the many visitors snapped a quick photo. They had done it. They were officially graduates, ready to face the real world and take over their families’ legacies. Henry had finished his senior year with a 3.8 in Literature, while somehow James had achieved a 4.0 in Economics – amazing, considering James had a severe aversion to studying.

The camera flashed as the picture was taken, and it was handed back to James. He took it, and after flashing a grateful grin to the dormie who’d taken the picture, turned to Henry.

“So are you going to start throwing this party or what?” James said, a cheeky grin on his face. Henry just had to laugh. “And don’t forget to invite Ally! She’ll want to see me off!”

Henry rolled his eyes even as his pulled out his cell phone and started dialling.

“I won’t forget your precious fiancée,” he replied. “’Sides, she comes up first in my phone. Kinda hard to miss her.”

The party was, of course, a success owing at least part of that to the liberal use of the hot tub and beds by both the boys and some of their guests too, when they could find the time to sneak off. James even managed to find the time to invite both Galahad and Tessa to move in before the party was through, and not even a spat between a very pregnant Ruby and husband Prof Kevin could bring the mood down for long. The party was over before anyone knew it, and Ruby welcomed her little brother to his adult life with some vital information.

“My husband is a philandering jerk.”

Yes, ah, vital...

And with those words both Henry and James were off – both fully grown adults ready to face the world. At least, that’s what they hoped they were. And if they weren’t ready, well that was just tough luck. Like was about to get up to full steam for the boys. They each had a girl to marry – Henry to Erin Langarak, and James to Ally Reeves – legacies to continue and lives to lead. And none of it would wait for them.

L is for the way you look at meO is for the only one I see

V is very, very extraordinaryE is even more than anyone that you adore and

Love is all that I can give to youLove is more than just a game for twoTwo in love can make itTake my heart and please don't break itLove was made for me and you

L-O-V-E By Nat King Cole

Henry married Erin Langarak, a family sim who desired nothing more than to one day have 6 grandchild to spoilt rotten.

James married Ally Reeves, another family sim who plans on one day becoming Captain Hero.

But despite it being a joyful day for many for others it was a day of grieving. It began well enough, but as noon hit the Merton household felt a chill settle over their bones as the Grim Reaper made his presence known as he glided towards Shannon, an elderly dog Galahad had adopted shortly before he left for college. Despite her old age, she had quickly wormed her way into everyone’s hearts.

She passed away quietly, none of the family noticing until it was too late, and Grim was long gone. Amelia looked to Ichelle, a look of absolute heartbreak on her face.

“I want her back,” Amelia said, tears filling her eyes.

“It’ll be all right,” Ichelle said, pulling Amelia into her arms. Amelia gave a weak smile. “I’m sure she’s in a better place. It was just her time to go. Now how about you and me-”

Ichelle stopped abruptly in what she was saying.

“What?” Amelia asked, eyebrow raised.

“We’re got company,” Ichelle nodded down to the floor where one of their daughters – all now toddlers – was walking up to them.

“I thought the girls were all down for their naps.”

“I think Rosa must have woken up.”

Amelia turned, and sure enough Rosa was walking toward them on unsteady legs.

“Mama! Where dog-dog?” the little girl demanded. “Want play with dog-dog!”

Amelia pulled Ichelle into another hug before letting go slowly.

“You go get ready for work,” she said, quickly putting on a brave face. “I’m not in until this afternoon, so I’ll keep an eye on the girls.”

Amelia didn’t give Ichelle chance to respond to that. She turned at once and scooped Rosa up into her arms. Rosa grinned at her, giggling madly for a moment before she remember why she’d come in search of her mothers in the first place.

“Mama! Where dog-dog!” she demanded once again, this time more persistently.

“I’m sorry Rosie,” Amelia said, feeling a little subdued she’d have to introduce her daughters to death so young. “Shannon’s... gone.”

“Oh...” Rosa looked thoughtful for a moment. Then she reached her tiny, chubby arms around Amelia’s neck and hugged her tightly. “Mama look sad. No be sad.”

“Mama will be okay,” Amelia reassured Rosa with a small smile, holding the girl to her. They stayed like that for a minute or two before Rosa started to wriggle restlessly in Amelia’s arms. “All right, all right, let’s get you back to the nursery. Your sisters should be awake by now.”

Amelia was right. Rosa’s sisters were awake, and currently the girl in the green dress was being huggled to death by the girl in the pink smock, while the girl in the purple dungarees played with her rocket ship.

“Said ‘Larnie huggle too hard, Vee,” the girl with the rocket, Lydia, said as her two sisters let go of each other and landed on the floor with a soft bump.

“It’s not ‘Larnie! It ‘Lana!” Alana corrected Lydia as she sat back – there might have only been an hour difference in their ages, but there was a little bit of rivalry between the youngest and eldest girls. “Mama said so!”

“’Lana silly!” Ivy interrupted. She grinned broadly at her two sisters. “’Lana huggles not dat bad, Lydie. Rosie huggles tighter!”

Alana stuck her tongue out at Lydia. Lydia stuck her tongue out back. Ivy laughed delightedly, and clapped her hands. Then she stopped.

“You fink Rosie find the dog-dog?” she asked slowly. “Me want doggie cuddles!”

“Me no know,” Lydia said as she banged the rocket on the floor. It made a good noise, even on the carpet.

“Me neither,” Alana said, getting up and walking away as Ivy chewed on her own fingers. “Me gonna play bunny now!”

Meanwhile, over at the Browns, an important meeting was taking place between the youngest members of house over their activity table.

“... and den the tower got dis big!” little Eliza held her arm up to her head excitedly as she spoke. “Den I knocked it!”

“Nuh-uh,” Felicity objected from across the table, shaking her head. “Can’t do dat! I tried!”

“’Liza did!” Gavin said from between the girls. He gestured about wildly. “I sawed it! I did! Helped knocked it down! Blocks everywhere! Like dat!”

Gavin moved quickly and knocked over his tower – it was much smaller than Eliza’s had been, but it was still pretty big. Just like he said, the block did go all over the table.

“See?” Eliza said, as though knocking over the tower proved that she’d built one that was as tall as her. “Told you.”

Felicity looked down at the table. Her own tower had been almost as big as Gavin’s, but it had wobbled and fallen over when he sent his blocks everywhere. She shook her head.

“I no believe you,” she said stubbornly. She looked to their own brother, Harry, who so far had been quiet through all of the very important discussion. “What Harry fink?”

“Harry fink...” Harry said softly as he looked down at the block in his hands. He was the quietest of the four toddlers, content to sit back and listen in on what his brother and sisters had to say instead of saying what he was thinking. He didn’t want to take sides in this, so instead he brought up one thing he knew they would all agree one. “Harry fink blue block nommier dan red and green.”

Taking in Harry’s words, Gavin and the girls looked at each other. Was he right? Were the blue blocks really that good? They each grabbed the nearest blue block to them and brought it to their mouths. As soon as they did their eyes lit up. Blue really was the nommiest flavour!

And this is where I leave you – with pics of the other two brides of gen 2 about ready to pop :D I should get the next couple of members of gen 3 next time I play their houses, and I can’t wait!

See you next time! Until then, happy simming.