Tag Archive | xia

5.47 Love’s Battlefield

With Forest gone, Sawyer moved out of the room he had shared with Dylan into the empty space This gave Dylan a room he could arrange the way he wanted to.

Sawyer, on the other hand, took Forest’s musty, creepy room

And gave it his own touch.

Sawyer spent a lot of time in escapist play. He preferred the electronic variety. The rules were always either written out or easy to learn from the game.

He also spent a certain amount of time acting out scenarios with his dolls.

Sky and Sawyer had spent a lot of time using dolls in therapy, trying to help Sawyer socialize better at school. It warmed her heart to see him doing it at home. At least, until she overheard what he was saying.

“You’re supposed to smile. Your smile looks phony. You’re creepy.”

“I’m smarter than you are anyway.”

“I’m going to stuff you in a locker.”

“No you won’t. I can stop you with the power of my mind.”

“Then I’ll stuff your head int he toilet. I can beat you up a creepy like you.”

He was also wearing the muscle shirt to school again.

“Mom leaves the dirty dishes out all the time,” Sawyer pointed out over breakfast.

“Don’t remind me,” said Dylan.

Sky worried that things were getting worse at school again, but when she asked Sawyer, he wouldn’t talk about it.

She ended up leaning on Abby and Dylan to keep an eye on him, but they were both in high school and could only learn so much.

Dylan had his own distractions. He and Corrina spent as much time on the phone as they could manage with their busy schedules. Dylan had the newspaper, and she had an after-school job babysitting that took up a lot of her time. Whenever they managed to make time for a date, Corrina would get a last-minute babysitting offer and cancel on him.

Dylan had to settle for writing letters. He didn’t mind, really. He felt more comfortable writing out his thoughts and feelings than talking about them.

Sky started getting calls to perform in movies.

These were background roles, usually as a singing in a nightclub or bar, but they were wonderful publicity.

Her concerts were also better attended.

With more dedicated fans.

She went into the studio at the beginning of winter to record her first solo album, and sales were better than expected.

Then, in the middle of this day-to-day life, all hell broke loose for Xia.

It began with Dylan. He returned from a weekend at the Marmalades full of stories about a family party. Plum and Leah had three children of their own, two boys named Sherman and Stephan, and a little girl named Devon. It had been Devon’s birthday into childhood. The Marmalades had rented out a play center and hired an interactive children’s drama troupe.

“And in a few weeks, Sherman is going to be a teenager. They’re talking about taking me and him skydiving.”

Xia leaned forward abruptly in her chair. “Sherman’s going to be a teen already?” she asked. “When’s his birthday anyway?”

And that set off a lot of math that changed everything for Xia.

“He’s my son,” she told Sky bitterly. “Plum had my kid and never told me. Plum wanted kids really badly, and we’d been to see Dr. Hodgins several times about conceiving one before she found out about you and kicked me out. As far as I knew, nothing ever took. Why does nobody tell me I have kids?? Are there any more hiding under rocks I should know about?”

Xia was angrier than Sky had ever seen. Seeing her like this made Sky feel, really for the first time, guilty about having Abby without saying anything Knowing that she’s committed the same offense made it hard to talk to Xia about Sherman.

Xia deliberated all of five minutes before going to find her coat. “If Plum thinks she’s going to keep me away from him,” she has another thing coming,” she said.

“I know this is important,” Sky said earnestly, “but maybe we should talk to a lawyer first. I don’t think you can just show up unannounced. Dylan warned me about their security system.”

“She is not going to keep me away from him,” Xia said firmly. It was clear there was no reasoning with her.

Xia set out that very evening to confront Plum.

Castle Marmalade was an imposing structure in the dead of night.

It turned out that Sky and Dylan were right. The fortress was patrolled by trained guard dogs at night.

Xia was angry, but not angry enough to risk her life.

She had to retreat to fight another day.

Sky spent the evening calming Xia down. Xia, who was always the level-headed one, swung between fury and self-recrimination until almost dawn.

The day dawned for Dylan’s first date with Corrina. He had to let out his nervous energy, so the house was spotless by the time he needed to leave to meet her at the restaurant.

He wanted his first date to be as classy as possible, so he persuaded her to go out to dinner at The Round Table. Corrina insisted that this was far too fancy. He insisted that he was going to treat anyway, so she didn’t need to worry.

He wanted to be sure he wasn’t late, so he ended up arriving a half an hour early.

But that was all right. He could draft an article for the newspaper while he wanted.

Around him, diners drifted in and out.

Some of them seemed pretty happy, and some were inexplicably miserable.

Dylan had been absorbed in that work for an hour before he realized that Corrina still wasn’t there. Had something happened to her? He dialed her number nervously.

“Corrina? Are you all right?”

“Dylan!” Corrina exclaimed on the other end. “Oh, look at the time! I’m so sorry. I hope you weren’t waiting long. The Butterfield-Bookabets called me to babysit. I told them I had plans for tonight, but it was kind of important, and now it looks like they’re going to be out all evening. Please don’t be mad!”

Dylan hung up the phone, feeling lost. What had just happened?

If there wasn’t going to be a date, then he should head home. Dylan sank into a chair and glanced over his sketch for the paper, trying to collect his racing thoughts.

“Hey there! Aren’t you Dylan Sample? What are you doing here?”

It was Adria Sword, a new girl in the high school a few years behind Dylan. “Uh, hi! I guess I could ask you the same thing,” Dylan stammered.

“I come here sometimes because I love the food,” Adria admitted. “I’ve always wanted to travel to France to try the real thing, and when I’m older I’m going to do it.”

“I’ve always wanted to travel too,” Dylan admitted.

Suddenly, in the crowded snow-filled courtyard of the restaurant…

Dylan Sample and Adria Sword could only see each other.

“Do need someone on the newspaper?” Adria asked. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, but you’re always so busy. I think journalism is really exciting. Especially world events.”

“Would you like to help me on the article I’m writing now?” Dylan asked.

Adria’s face lit up. “Sure!”

Dylan looked over her shoulder and saw his creepy Uncle Forest arriving for dinner with his even creepier sort-of-boyfriend. “Uh, what about if we sit over here? It’s quieter.”

What do I do? his mind kept racing, even as he talked to Adria about the school lunch budget. Is this how I’m supposed to act? Am I doing wrong by Corrina?

But when he looked in Adria’s eyes, he couldn’t look away.

—

So, Plum had JUST gotten pregnant when she kicked Xia out of the house. I knew this at the time, but I got so focused on Xia’s career that I completely forgot about it until a stupid amount of time had passed.

Corrina, who is a babysitter service sim, agreed to go out with Dylan *three times* to The Round Table and then set the pop-up that something else had come up. I used MasterController and located her in the apartment where Ignacio and Alice Butterfield-Bookabet live, and for some reason she was route-failing there. So I made it part of the story. Ah well. Dylan had actually been rolling wishes to meet Adria and learn her sign for a couple of days.

I believe the gold-skinned, black haired cutie who bought Sky’s album is Freddy Cagley, son of Morand Cagley and Bella Bachelor Cagley.

The golden boy was Asriel Bookabet, grieving over the death of his cougar Zuzu Weaver. I just had to drop him in there. 🙂

Adria must have aged up right after she talked to Sawyer. I’m not sure which kid she’s closer to in age.

The next post was supposed to be the last one before the heir poll, but when I laid it out, it was clear I’d have to make two posts. So I’ll get those out as fast as possible! Then I’ll be caught up — I think it’ll be the first time in the history of the Samples.

5.46 The Last Gasp of Fall

Mar18

Winter was around the corner. The leaves had fallen from the trees, and there was frost in the morning.

Xia prepared Hunter’s garden for the first snow, making sure the sensitive plants had enough mulch around their roots to protect them from freezing.

Abby tried to impress Xia by pretending she was interested in gardening.

Xia knew it was just a ploy for attention, but she didn’t call Abby on it. She wanted Abby to feel loved.

As the sun rose on Saturday morning, Sky painted and Dylan tidied up. Sawyer’s sleep schedule was off from everyone else’s again.

For brunch, Sky made yet another attempt at grilled cheese sandwiches.

They came out golden brown this time, exactly as she’d intended.

She took a tentative bite….

And to her shock, they tasted pretty good!

“Hey everyone!” she called! “Brunch is on!”

“These are great!” Abby quipped. “They taste just like chicken!”

“I have big plans for today,” Sky said with her mouth full.

“Mama!” Dylan complained. “Do you have to do that? It’s disgusting!”

Sky shrugged off Dylan’s rebuke. “Winter is almost here, and I’ve been promising everyone a day at the park. This is our last chance until Spring.”

“Mama,” Abby said patiently, “it’s dark and rainy outside, not to mention almost freezing. I’m not going to the park in that.”

Sky smirked. “Thanks to your grandmother Veronica,” she said, “I can handle that.”

So they packed up and headed off as a family to the park.

“Come climb with me!” Abby said immediately. “They just installed a climbing wall. I bet I can beat you.”

Xia blinked. “Seriously? Which of us is training to be an astronaut?”

Xia took up the challenge, though, and it went pretty much as one would expect.

Worst, Abby seemed genuinely upset about losing.

“Hey now,” Xia chided. “I’ve been doing military exercises since you were in diapers. Give me a little credit here!”

Abby smiled. “I know,” she said. “It’s silly. I just like to win, I guess.”

“Can I invite Mum?” Dylan begged.

Sky froze. “I was thinking this would be a family day out,” she said.

“Mum IS family,” Dylan retorted. “And you said you’d invite her to things. I heard you.”

Sky nodded. “You’re right,” she said. “Call her.”

Sawyer tried to strike up a conversation with Adria Sword, an older girl from school who was hanging around on the basketball court.

He started by trying to explain the scientific principles behind the patented Veronica Sample Weathermaster machine that had allowed Sky to make the day so pretty.

Then he told her about how advanced his brain was. Grownups kept saying that he had learning disabilities, but they couldn’t do calculus in their heads.

Adria nodded a lot, but didn’t say much. Then she said she had to go. Sawyer didn’t think it had gone very well.

Leah came straight over from a champagne brunch at the Castle Marmalade.

She was delighted to see Dylan. It was the first time in a very long time that Sky saw firsthand how close they were.

It was to be expected — in fact, it was a good thing. Still, it was hard not to compare the adoring way Dylan looked at Leah and wonder if if he felt that strongly about his mama.

She found ways to distract herself.

And it did get better.

As the afternoon wore on, Xia taught Abby the basics of basketball.

Sawyer gave up on the social stuff and began collecting, “specimens.”

Sky serenaded the park and brought in a nice collection of tips.

Everyone had a good time, and after the kids were in bed, Sky and Xia sat up and held each other tight.

“There won’t be very many more days like this one,” Sky said sadly. “Sawyer’s about to start high school, and it won’t be that much longer until Dylan graduates.”

Xia sighed. “I know.”

Sky nestled into Xia’s shoulder. “I hope I’ve done all right by them. I never imagined myself as a mom, but it just happened.”

Xia held her close. “You’ve done just fine,” she said.

———-

Just a slice-of-life character building chapter. I debated leaving this one out, but I just can’t let go of these little moments.

Since it was cold, they kept popping in and out of their outerwear, so some of the pictures are in different outfits. Ah well.

Also, Sky is floating again. Her and Charles’s walk styles set to a normal sim sometime while Sky was a teen, and I left it that way to show how human they’d become, especially since Sky was only 1/4 ghost. They could still walk over gaps and through walls, and with Twallan’s mod allowed her to teleport. However, I started experimenting with Showtime and Simports, and it turns out that ghost occults (or possibly any occult?) can’t Simport. So I removed her occult state in order to send her on Simport and then replaced it, which reset her walk style. I left her as human for a stretch later because of Simport, so she’ll be floating on and off. I figure, that’s probably reasonable for a 1/4 ghost anyway :).

BTW: Adria Sw0rd is the late-in-life daughter of Sebastian Hodgins Sw0rd and Lynn Winslow Sw0rd. She got Sebastian’s coloring, but a lot of Lynn’s facial features. You’ll be seeing her again :).

5.44 Old Demons

Mar10

Sky’s next big gig was at Coffee Under the Sea. The coffee shop was getting more and more of its business from live performances, and apparently Sky’s unsatisfactory performance at the park was enough to raise her profile as a solo artist enough for them to call her personally.

This was a much higher-profile performance. Sky was nervous. So nervous she had trouble keeping her feet on the ground — literally. She hadn’t felt this ghostly in a long time.

She arrived very early to the performance only to find her old lover February Callender hanging out at the coffee shop. February hated her for some reason she’d never really figured out. Not a good way to start the evening.

She tried to calm her nerves with a cup of coffee. It turned out to be pretty good coffee.

The crowed was smaller than her park performance drew.

On the other hand, they were much more engaged. The smaller crowd felt so much more intimate. She was able to build a rapport with the the listeners.

Her heart took flight. Sky had been a professional musician for so long that she’d lost track of the simple joy of sharing music that had drawn her in when she was young.

Afterward, the audience begged for pictures with her. They also wanted to buy her album. The problem was, Sky had never recorded a solo album.

She wondered what it took to reserve a studio. Maybe she could do a combined studio album with Ghostwriter.

While Sky was out, thinking of anything but home, it happened.

The Sample Estate was invaded. Again.

This burglar was not driven away by Riddle’s barking. Maybe he thought a dog was the worst defense the family had.

The sound brought Xia running. She never hesitated before acting. She had been trained for just such a moment.

The burglar never stood a chance.

The burglar alarm called the police department automatically, but Xia had the situation well in hand before the cop arrived.

Still high on adrenaline, she chattered to the cop about the fight while he cuffed the criminal and read him his rights.

“Thank you, ma’am,” he said respectfully. “You’re one of the good guys. If you don’t mind, I’m going to look around the property for anything irregular after this guy is secured.”

“Certainly, officer,” Xia agreed. “Anything I can do to help.”

As soon as the coast was clear, Abby came clattering down the stairs. “You were amazing!” she cried. “Tell me everything!”

Abby adored her mum, and she was always trying to get Xia’s attention. But this time Xia really had been amazing, and she was eager tell her daughter all about it.

The cop returned. “Everything seems to be secure, ma’am,” he said.

He and Xia got their first real look at each other.

“Wow,” Xia breathed. “Have I ever mentioned how much I appreciate a man in uniform?”

“Um,” Abby said. “I’m going to go into the kitchen. And call Dion. I’m sure he wants to hear all about this.” She scrambled out of the room as fast as she could.

Sky returned, flushed from her performance, to find Xia making time with the police officer in the foyer.

“Hi Honey,” Sky said flatly, taking in the scene. “I’m home.”

“Sky!” Xia said, not taking her eyes off the policeman “May I introduce you to Officer Cobalt? You just won’t believe the night we’ve had!”

“Sky looked away. I’ll give you guys some privacy,” she said. “I think I need a drink.”

She escaped to the kitchen and stripped off her winter sweater, only to find Abby sitting at the breakfast bar, talking intensely into her phone. “I gotta go Dion. See you at school.” She hung up. “Mama!” she said. “Did Mum tell you all about beating up the burglar? She was amazing.”

Sky sank into the seat beside her daughter. “I guess that explains a lot,” she said. “What happened?”

Abby breathlessly shared every detail she’d witnessed from the top of the stairs. “Mum is such a badass!” she squealed. “And she’s totally making time with that cop. I’m sure you don’t mind. I know you and Mum have this open thing, and I think that’s totally the best thing! Monogamy is such a silly idea anyway –“

Sky let her talk, and she tried to listen, but her mind was a whirl. At last she said gently. “We can talk about this tomorrow. You still have school. This whole situation is exciting, but it’s not worth your grades.”

“Aw, Mama!”

Sky raised her eyebrows. “Now, young lady.”

So Abby headed off to bed, and Sky tried to think. In the foyer, she could barely hear Xia saying goodbye to the police officer over the pounding of her own heart.

She avoided Xia’s gaze as her lover pranced into the kitchen. “Can you believe this? What a night! And did you see how hot that cop was?” She did a little pirouette and singsonged, “I got his phone number.”

“You were amazing,” Sky said, “or so I hear.”

“Wait,” Xia said. “What’s wrong?”

“I didn’t think you were into guys,” Sky said.

“What, him? Sure I am, I guess, if it’s the right guy. Does it bother you that I’m bi?”

“I think I just need some time,” Sky said. “I don’t have any reason to be upset. I know you want an open relationship, and I’ve always been happy with that. I just–“

“Wait,” Xia said. “We have an open relationship because *you* wanted one. I never asked for us to be open.”

Sky’s eyes widened. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Finally, she managed, “I don’t understand. We’ve talked about this.”

“We talked about how we didn’t need commitment, and we weren’t going to require commitment from each other. You never asked me if I wanted it.”

“Wait!” Sky cried. “That’s not fair! If you didn’t want to live like this, you had to say it! I never tried to push you to anything that didn’t make you happy! I trusted you to be honest with me!”

“Hey, hey,” Xia pulled Sky into her arms. “Please calm down. I don’t mean you did anything wrong. You’ve always cared and listened.”

Sky clung to her, trying not to try. “I’ve been doing my best,” she murmured. “I really have.”

“You’ve been wonderful,” Xia said soothingly. “But let’s step outside. I think the walls have ears.”

Sky took a deep breath “OK,” she managed. Xia took Sky by the hand and drew her out onto the chilly back deck.

“I need to come clean,” Xia said. “I told you I had a crush on you in high school, but it’s more than that. The truth is that I couldn’t get you out of my head. You were just, well, aglow, and you were so crazy about Leah I knew I didn’t have a chance. I knew it was stupid to set my heart on some girl who didn’t know I existed, and I tried not to be stupid about it. I tried really hard to love Plum the way I loved you, but I don’t think I was ever honest with myself about how much I still wished we could have a chance.

“I was stupid that night in the pub with you because it was the dream I hadn’t been able to chase away since we were kids. Suddenly the real Sky noticed me, and I just couldn’t let the chance slip away, no matter what the cost.”

Sky frowned, trying to take it all in. “You never told me you felt this way,” she said.

“At first I didn’t want to admit it,” Xia said. “We’d just destroyed our relationships with our chosen life mates. I pretty much hated myself, and I knew you did too. I didn’t want to spoil your chances with Leah, and then I didn’t want to become your crazy stalker either. I don’t believe that you have one perfect mate or any of that kind of nonsense. I was determined to make my dreams of you go away.

“And then when we were both free and had a chance to try each other out for real, we were both so broken. I didn’t think you could take crazy love talk, and I didn’t think I could handle saying it even if it were true.”

Sky’s breath caught. “I was a disaster,” she agreed softly. “I was sure that I was some kind of broken good who would destroy anyone who loved me.”

“I’m really happy with exactly what we have now,” Xia said. “If you want to keep our relationship open, I’m fine with it. And not doormat I’ll-give-you-anything-you-want fine, but actually fine. The open relationship is fun. What what I want most is you. If you want to change things, let’s talk about it.”

She stepped into Sky’s arms and stared into her eyes with frightened, naked honesty. “I love you, Sky,” she said. “I always have.”

For a moment, Sky felt the old terror of commitment descend on her, but she realized that it was a cobweb of a fear that she could shake off with no trouble. She took a long shuddering breath and said, “I love you too.”

———-

This is the last of the string of burglaries. I guess the game was making up for the fact that I’d never had one in like four years of playing the game.

5.43 Social Climbing

Mar9

Abby joined the drama club. She spent most of her free time playing with costuming and practicing her lines.

Dylan wanted to learn to drive. He was now the head student editor of the school newspaper, and he really needed to be able to get places on his own. He had four parents to pester for rides, but it really bothered him to make them schedule their lives around him.

It was prom time. Dylan signed up for the decoration committee. Abby walked the halls between classes with an ambitious sparkle in her eye.

“I’m going to be prom queen,” she confided in Dylan as he drove her home. “Have you thought about running for prom king?”

Dylan frowned. “Why would I want to be prom king? That’s just a popularity contest.”

“And what’s wrong with a popularity contest?” Abby demanded. “Being popular just means everyone likes you. It’s good when everyone likes you.”

“I guess it works for you,” Dylan said.

“Who are you going ask to be your date?”

“You don’t have to have a date to go to prom,” Dylan said. “That’s such an outdated idea.”

Abby gave her brother a sly look. “You never even try to date,” she said. “If you paid any attention at all, you’d probably know that someone in your class has a crush on you.”

Dylan hit the break a little too hard, throwing them against their seatbelts. “You what?”

“You cut a pretty nice figure, brother mine,” Abby said. “Of course somebody noticed.”

“Who?”

Abby tossed her hair. “Not my secret to tell,” she said. “I’m trying to get her to ask you to prom herself.”

One afternoon, Sawyer found the maid in the kitchen.

“I have taken an inventory of the leftovers in the refrigerator,” he told her, “and we are missing two slices of cake. My analysis indicates that you are the most likely to have eaten them.”

The maid was flabbergasted. “What are you talking about? Why would I eat your cake?”

“I don’t know why you ate our cake,” Sawyer said. “Why is irrelevant.”

“This isn’t fair! How do I know you didn’t eat it and are blaming it on me?”

Sawyer gave her a hard look. “Would I really bother telling you this if I ate it?”

She cringed. “Just don’t tell your moms I’ve been eating their food.”

“If it continues, I can’t be responsible for my actions,” Sawyer told her.

Abby thought long and hard on who would take her to the prom. Even though she could win prom queen regardless of who she went with, she knew that the right arm candy could be a big boost to her chances. She needed someone attractive, but not so attractive that he outshined her. It also helped if he had social connections and enough money to really dress up for the occasion.

She decided that her best candidate was Dion Callender-Doctor. She invited him over to her house after school to do homework together.

“Wow,” Dion said when she brought him in. “This is a really nice place.”

“I know, right?” she said. “The Samples have a long legacy. The family records go back to my great-great-great Grandparents, Susie and Connor Sample. She was a music legend, and he was an award-winning author. There are celebrities all over my family tree. We’ve had money for as long as anyone can remember. We’re really kind of like aristocracy.”

“That’s really impressive,” Dion said, though he seemed a little put off. “You wanted to do homework?”

“I know just the place. We have this picturesque arboretum just through that door. I always go there when I want to think clearly.”

Dion seemed to relax when he walked into the beautiful arboretum. “This really is beautiful,” he admitted.

“My mum and Uncle Hunter planted all the flowers,” Abby said.

“So what are you going to write for our history essay on the Fae Infusion Era?” Dion asked, getting out his notebook.

“I already wrote it,” Abby admitted, “but I have so ideas I didn’t want to use if you’d like them.”

Dion wasn’t terribly good at history, and Abby knew it. That’s why she had suggested they were on that subject. He was happy to let her dictate most of his essay for him.

“Thanks so much!” he said when they were done. “You’re really good at this. I think you might have saved my grade.”

Abby smiled graciously. “We make a pretty good team,” she said. “And I was thinking we’d be the most amazing couple at the prom if you would be my date.”

Dion blanched. “Wow,” he said. “I never thought someone as popular as you would ask me to the prom,” he said. “I’m really flattered. The thing is, I was planning to go with Sherman Ursine-Mentary.”

“That sounds really nice, and I know he’s your best friend,” Abby said, “but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you had a real date instead.”

Dion scowled. “We weren’t planning on going as friends,” he said.

Abby blanched. “Oh.”

“Look, I’m really flattered. Um, is there any chance you’d like to do something else sometime? Maybe go out to dinner? I think you’re really nice.”

Abby sighed, maybe just a bit theatrically. “I really like you,” she said. “And I just can’t get the thought out of my head of the two of us on the dance floor. I think we’d just be amazing together. I know it’s a terrible thing to ask, but do you think Sherman would be willing to go out with you some other time instead of prom?”

Dion seemed just a bit mesmerized by the picture she painted. “Yeah,” he said slowly, “we would look pretty great together.”

And that’s how Abby Sample landed her date to the prom. It’s also why Sherman Ursine-Mentary stopped speaking to her.

In the wee hours of the morning, when everyone else was asleep, a long black limousine drew up in front of the Sample estate.

Forest Sample stepped out into the pouring rain and thanked his new driver.

It had been an exciting night. Forest had led an army of minions into Sean Flynn’s office and escorted him out of the the underworld lair.

Flynn had been driven out into the rain alone, swearing that he would be back to retake his empire.

Whatever happened in the future, Forest had achieved his life’s ambition.

He was now the Emperor of Evil.

———-

I couldn’t imagine Abby going to the prom without a date, and of course Story Progression has paired almost everyone off. So I had her pick an interesting guy she was heart-farting for and persuaded him to break up with his boyfriend. Dion is the child of January Callender and our Matt Smith/11th Doctor simalike. I’m not sure about his face. We’ll have to see if he grows into it. Have I mentioned how much I love the genetics in my town?

I’m kind of disappointed in the Evil career track. It was really just skilling. I think there should have been some kind of special interaction that you needed to do to get a job metric, like police officers have to file reports. Maybe intimidate people, win fights, or extract protection money.

Ah well. Forest made it. Sadly, this means that he, his bloodlust, and his messed up love affair will soon be leaving this legacy. He hung around a crazy amount for time for a spare, though. Gen 5 is almost over. And I really had him cranking on his LTW almost the whole time.

On the positive side, I have vampire aging on, but he’s still probably going to live for a couple more generations. I think he’s going to become the Sample legacy’s antihero protector.

5.42 Sweet Teen

Mar6

Sky’s distant cousins the Crumplebottoms filled up Sky’s Sing-A-Gram schedule one week. A secret admirer sent a gift to Holly Crumplebottom-Yo (daughter of Shanni and her second wife Jeanna Yo).

She had grown into a truly beautiful woman with Sky’s great-grandfather Lance’s hair color.

Then Arya Crumplebottom sent her to serenade Garry.

Which met with a technical difficulty.

Xia, meanwhile, was a fighter pilot and training harder than ever.

And it seemed like there was a mountain of schoolwork. Dylan was largely independent, and it was difficult to tell what Sawyer needed, but Abby struggled a lot. Her heart was just not in books, numbers, and dates. Abby was a girl who needed to learn by doing.

Dylan was most fond of Riddle and took on most of his care. Training and grooming Riddle was what he did with most of the time he wasn’t studying.

One morning, Sawyer came down to breakfast to finish his homework in the garden before school.

Dylan did a double take. “What is that? A superhero costume?” he asked.

Sawyer gave him a penetrating stare. “I am simulating a much more intimidating, muscular body. It ought to scare off anyone who wants to stuff me into a locker.”

“Someone is stuffing you into lockers?” Dylan asked, concerned.

Sawyer scowled. “And my head into toilets. It stinks.”

“That has to be humiliating!” Dylan said, alarmed.

“No, I mean it stinks,” Sawyer said. “The toilets stink. I have to wash my hair in the sink or I smell all day.”

Dylan ran to get Sky and Xia. Xia was immediately on the phone to Chivalrous Preparatory School. “I can’t believe they’re letting this happen to a kid! And Sawyer has special needs!”

“I don’t have special needs,” Sawyer said, scowling. “I have a special brain.”

The flurry of parent-teacher meetings was probably how Abby’s birthday was forgotten until it was almost too late.

“I’m so sorry we can’t have a party,” Sky told Abby. “I’ll make it up to you. We’ll have a family trip to the park next week. Tonight I’ll bake you a cake.”

“Dylan got a party!” Abby protested. “Even Sawyer got a party, and he didn’t even like it. This is my big coming out as a high school girl! How can you do this to me!”

“I’m so sorry,” Sky. “I’d throw you a party if I could, but it’s too late, and we just can’t manage it. There has to be something I can do to make it up to you.”

Abby fled to her room to sulk.

It was not Sky’s day at all. When she headed down to the kitchen to bake, she discovered that the dish washer had broken a water line and was spraying soapy water all over. Worse, Sean Flynn was skulking around again. Riddle was at least keeping an eye on him. Sometimes it was really nice to have an overprotective dog.

“Xia!” Sky called out in despair.

Xia appeared, surveyed the situation, and rubbed Sky’s shoulders. “Relax. I know how to fix it.” She got to work and had the water line replaced in no time.

Meanwhile, Sky went to fetch Forest. “Your boy toy or whatever is in my kitchen. Could you do something about him?”

It wasn’t clear what was more disturbing — the state of the kitchen, or the people IN the kitchen.

Sky tried hard to focus on her task. This was her first cake from scratch, and Abby was already upset. The very last thing she could handle was disappointing her little girl any more.

“It’s all right,” Xia said gently. “I have the bakery on speed dial. We can order a professional cake and even pretend you backed it.”

“I’m going to do this myself,” Sky said through gritted teeth. She kept her back to Forest and Flynn while she worked.

The result was so good it amazed even Sky. Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and candied walnuts.

Abby herself perked up when she saw it. “Wow,” Abby she said. “You made that? You worked really hard for me, Mom.”

Sky gave her a hug. “That means a lot to me,” she said.

The family gathered around to welcome Abby into teenagerhood.

“This better be a great cake,” Abby said, “because I’m making a big wish!”

Abby was the first to take a slice. The cake looked as good inside as it did outside. Sky had outdone herself.

Everyone sat down and made delighted slurping noises.

“Thanks, Mom and Mum,” Abby said. “You really came through. Now when do we get to go shopping for birthday presents?”

“Um,” Xia said.

———-

Abby is, at this point: Star Quality, Snob, Perfectionist, Brave. I don’t know what her fifth trait is going to be yet.

Forest and Flynn making out in the kitchen was autonomous and pretty entertaining.

Sawyer has a rough life. Losers get beat up at school and stuffed into lockers :(.

Gotta crank through these! Must. Get. To. Heir. Poll!

5.41 Being Grown Up

Mar4

Sawyer spent so most of his time in a world of his own that Sky couldn’t help but worry about him. She spent her life in the public eye, and as he grew older, he would have to deal with her growing fame even if he didn’t want it himself. Also, deep down inside, she couldn’t quite believe that he would want to spend so much time alone if he could see how wonderful it was to spend time with other people

That’s how she talked the family into throwing a huge party for Sawyer’s birthday.

The guest list was too big for the Sample estate, so they decided to close the Charles Sample Sim Fu Academy for the day. The family still owned the academy, though Charles named other masters to take over the responsibility of his martial art.

First to arrive was Xia’s older brother, Jian Wu.

With him was his new wife, Dragonwife, who he wanted to introduce to his family and in-laws.

Also among the guests was Raquel Mentary-Sword, who was now one of the academy’s Sim Fu masters.

Xia did the honors and brought the birthday boy to the party.

He then found a quiet corner and threw a fit if anyone tried to make him come out and talk to people.

At least he had his cow toy that his great grandmother Zahra had made for Charles a long time ago. He liked the bolts and screws on it.

Hunter showed up needing a shower. Again.

“What’s with this?” Xia demanded. “I didn’t think gardening involved so much self-immolation.”

Hunter blushed, but he wouldn’t tell her what the problem was.

Xia and Dragonwife really hit it off.

They spent a lot of time talking about Jian behind his back. Especially his rocky relationship with his baby mama, Brenna Ursine-Sample.

The party was a big success.

Everyone had a great time.

Even Sawyer, provided nobody asked him to join in. Trying to pull him into the noise and the crowd made him very upset, but he kept himself happy if everyone left him alone.

The afternoon wore on.

And someone else showed up.

Sky was spending so much time with Sawyer, trying to encourage him to have fun, that it was quite a while before she noticed someone looking at her.

“L-Leah!” Sky stammered.

“I got your invitation,” she said.

“Thank you for coming. Um– you’re just in time for cake!”

She gathered Sawyer into her arms and hurried upstairs to escape.

While the rest of the family was enjoying the cake,

Sky pulled Hunter outside to pour out her soul. “Everything I try to say to her her is wrong! What do I do?

Hunter thought about it for a while. “Have you tried not talking at all? Just listening?”

“Of course I–!” Sky began. Then, more quietly, “Maybe I’ll try that.”

After she made sure everyone had a slice of cake, Sky took a deep breath and headed downstairs to face the music.

Dragonwife was trying to start a fight with Hunter, though Hunter hadn’t noticed yet.

Leah was trying not to pay too much attention to her brother Raen macking on his husband, Mitchell Bachelor Mai.

“Um, hi,” Sky said. “We always invite you, but I didn’t expect you to come.”

“Yeah, I know I surprised you,” Leah said. “I think we should talk.”

“I– I can listen,” Sky said, knowing she probably wasn’t going to like what she heard. “Is here the right place? Should we go someplace more private.”

Leah shrugged. “I don’t think it matters where I say it.”

“You and I had something amazing,” Leah said. “You threw it all away. I don’t think I can ever forgive you for that.”

Sky gulped. “I know,” she said.

Leah nodded to Xia, who was dancing unconvincingly with Jian, watching Sky intently over his shoulder. “I guess it helps to know that you destroyed our marriage for more than just a one night fling. At least she was someone important. I hope she’s making you happy.”

Sky opened her mouth to protest that she and Xia weren’t really an item. Then she closed it. That was unfair, and untrue. She’d been with Xia now almost as long as she’d been with Leah. And yes, she was happy, but there are times when agreeing with someone is the wrong thing to do. She just nodded.

Leah dropped her eyes. “This didn’t go the way I was planning. I guess I still have issues. What I wanted to say is that I want to bury the hatchet. We can’t get out of each other’s lives. Dylan’s too important. If we can’t be friends, I’d at least like to try to not be enemies.”

Sky’s eyes filled with tears. For a split second, she had to fight the impulse to take Leah in her arms. “Yeah,” she said. “We really did have something amazing. Please let’s not fight anymore.”

They settled for an exchange of tear-filled smiles, and Leah promised to come the next time Sky invited her to something. She was a bit more vague about inviting Sky to Marmalade events. Sky wasn’t sure, but she thought there was an issue with Plum. Maybe Plum wasn’t ready to be so forgiving to Xia.

Sky waved goodbye to Leah as she left, and Xia almost pounced her. “You look like you’re all in once piece,” she said. “What happened?”

Sky smiled weakly. “I think we’re both trying to grow up a little bit,” she said.

Xia laughed. “Who wants to grow up? Now is the time to party!” She grabbed Sky and started to bust a move.

It helped. Xia knew how to make Sky relax.

Meanwhile, Eliana found Sawyer dancing alone in an empty practice room. “Hey there,” she said kindly. “Would you like some company?”

Sawyer tossed his curls and glared at her. “I came out here so I could have less company,” he said. “Why does everyone always tell me I should be lonely? What’s wrong with you normals?”

Eliana blanched. “Sorry!” she said. “I’ll just be on my way.”

———-

So the last toddler is done. This is where Sawyer picked up Socially Awkward to go with his amazing combination of Loser and Diva. I didn’t realize until he aged up into a teen this week, but Loser is incompatible with Brave, so he can’t have the family trait. I have mixed feelings about this. It seems like being a Loser would require you to be MORE Brave just to get through the day. Or at least that’s how I intend to play it :-p.

Trying to keep this on the fast track, but man am I wordy.

5.40 The Other Woman

Mar2

Just like that, Forest was back at work. He and Flynn never spoke of the battle lines that were being drawn over control of the underworld. In fact, when they were together, they almost never spoke at all.

The day Flynn issued a direct order that Forest successfully countermanded, Flynn sent a furious summons to Forest to come to his office alone. To everyone’s surprise, Forest did so. When he left hours later, he was glad his suit covered up the rug burns. But the two of them hadn’t said a word.

Forest was also making his own booty calls.

This meant that in unguarded moments, Flynn could be found wandering around the Sample estate.

When Forest caught Dylan chatting with Flynn one morning, he took him aside and said in no uncertain terms to stay away. “He might show up in the hall in his boxer shorts, but he’s still dangerous.”

Meanwhile, Sky’s business was booming, but the thrill of the Sing-A-Grams was fading. One morning she had an audition for a wedding singer gig outside the chapel when she was caught completely by surprise.

It ruined her audition, and she lost the job.

Leah Marmalade walked by with barely a look, then seemed to have second thoughts and lingered at the gate, watching Sky.

“Come on!” Plum called. “The party is this way.”

Sky hurried to catch up with Leah without really knowing what she was going to say.

“Uh, hi. I didn’t expect to see you here.”

Leah shrugged uncomfortably. “A couple of friends are getting married,” she said. “It’s not like I stay away just because we’re divorced.”

“You’re having another child,” Sky said. “I guess you’re really happy.” It shouldn’t have hurt, but it did.

“I always wanted to carry a baby,” Leah said bitterly. “With you, I couldn’t because we could never plan anything. You didn’t even like being pregnant.”

Sky looked at the ground. “I’m sorry,” she said.

“Look, I’m going to be late for the ceremony,” Leah said. “You better go away.”

Sky watched her go, her heart squeezed so tight it might break all over again.

Before she went home, she slipped inside the chapel while the wedding was being conducted in the garden to down a glass of punch.

It tasted terrible. Perhaps it served her right.

At home, Xia still stole time on the Ghostwriter fandom forums to read what they said about Sky. Ghostwriter wasn’t performing as many gigs as it used to, and the forum had dwindled. The board on Sky’s woohoo life had few real observations these days and was mostly filled with wild speculation.

With Xia training hard as a fighter pilot and Sky performing in the evenings, Dylan spent a lot of time looking after Sawyer. Sky argued with him about it; they had plenty of money for a babysitter, and he shouldn’t be wasting his teenage years.

Dylan wouldn’t hear of it. “This is the proper thing for me to do,” he insisted.

“At least let us pay you for your time,” Sky insisted.

“Well, that’s not appropriate. You shouldn’t pay me for just doing what I should. We’re family.”

Sky took to slipping extra money in his wallet. Dylan must have noticed, but he let her do it.

In addition to the extra babysitting, Dylan became a photographer for the school newspaper. He spent his unauthorized babysitting money on a nice camera and spent long hours working on layout.

And after THAT, he took more practice exams for college placement.

“I don’t know what he’s trying to prove,” Sky worried to Xia. “I wish I knew how to help him have fun!”

Abby didn’t have much trouble having fun. She dressed as a princess and spent long hours sharing her dreams of glamor and fame with her dolls.

Sometimes she dragged her family into the living room to sit alongside her dolls for a big “performance,” which meant she danced and sang and everyone applauded wildly.

“Her singing voice is great,” Xia admitted to Sky. “I know where she got that.”

Sky shook her head. “I don’t sing anywhere near that well,” she admitted.

Sky continued to work on her domestic skills.

And kept working.

She was proud of her first real success. Too bad it was homemade dog food. At least Riddle ate like a king.

One evening, Forest received a mysterious phone call.

“I want to meet with you immediately,” a woman’s voice on the other end informed him.

“How did you get this number?” Forest demanded.

“This is Cynthia Flynn,” she said.

Forest hung up and went to meet her.

She chose the stadium — an odd, very public choice. Cynthia Flynn was an old woman. She had been married, apparently happily, to the Emperor of Evil for most of her adult life. She almost never ventured out in public.

The sun was setting, but it still was bright enough to sing Forest’s skin. He could smell himself burning. What could Flynn’s wife want with him?

“Good evening, Madam,” he began. “How can I help you?”

“You can get out of my Sean’s life right now!” Cynthia shouted.

Forest was caught completely off guard. “Mrs. Flynn! I don’t know what you mean.”

“All he can do is think about you. He doesn’t eat. He doesn’t sleep. I hear him speaking your name when he thinks I’m not listening. I don’t know what you’re doing, but you’re destroying him. My Sean is a good boy!”

Forest stood for a moment, stunned. He didn’t know whether to scorn or pity her.

“Mrs. Flynn,” he began. “You realize that your husband hasn’t aged since you married him, don’t you? Do you enjoy having a boy toy in your old age?”

Cynthia scowled at him. “That’s none of your business!”

“I’m afraid it is my business, Madam. You, on the other hand, are not my business. I can see that your husband keeps you happy, and I have no intention of hurting you. My problem with Mr. Flynn is purely…. business.”

Cynthia scowled. “You’re a wicked man. You leave him alone!”

Forest couldn’t help but laugh. “*I’m* wicked?” he said. “Has your husband ever really smiled at you?”

With that, he grinned, showing off his new fangs in the best possible light.

Cynthia’s eyes widened when she saw them, but she didn’t seem frightened exactly.

“I see there’s no reasoning with you,” she said. “My Sean will just have to destroy you.” And she turned and left.

It was the most bizarre interview Forest could remember in his life, and he’d had plenty of truly bizarre interviews.

———-

Not long after Forest started boinking her husband, Cynthia called Forest up for a date. I couldn’t resist accepting. Sims romance system for the win.

Cynthia, by the way, is a simalike of Miley Cyrus — created long before she had the big change in her image :). She and Flynn never had any kids.

Sadly, I don’t have very many pictures of child Abby that I haven’t used. Most of her childhood was lost in the deleted pictures.

I’m really trying to crank through the last of this generation to get to the heir poll!

5.38 Stairway to Somewhere

Feb21

Dylan had big plans. As soon as he started high school, he began taking practice advanced placement exams for university.

He wasn’t terribly thrilled by his scores, though. Sky tried to remind him that he’d just begun high school. Maybe he’d be more ready for university when he was further in his current classes.

Dylan wasn’t terribly moved by this argument. He was ready to be grown up, and he was ready for it now. He began joining after school study groups to boost his placement scores.

Forest had a few suggestions about where Dylan might direct his ambition.

Dylan even thought about it for a while.

But it was really just a hypothetical exercise that he was using to be polite. Dylan found the very idea of breaking the law pretty upsetting. He tried to stay away from his uncle’s pretty unjust form of justice as much as possible. Besides, Uncle Forest was just extra creepy lately.

Sawyer still seemed to be happiest alone in his room, grouping his blocks by color and building them into symmetrical geometric shapes.

Sky was having some success on socializing him, though.

He no longer pulled away when she held him, but when she tickled, it often took him a long time to remember to laugh.

Sky’s performance at the park pavilion was on that kind of creepy night that made your bones shiver.

Still, it was pretty well-attended.

She sang her heart out.

Crowd reaction was all over the map, from cheers to smiles to people checking their phones. Some of the listeners in the back might as well have been dead.

Xia tried to make up the difference with her own cheers. So much so that when Sky took her bow, she could tell how much of the response was Xia’s.

It was pretty embarrassing. She’d hoped her performance debut would be more… positive.

She made the second set into a Ghostwriter performance. The clouds opened up as she stepped down from the stage, but they’d played in worse. A lot of the crowd ran for cover, but the dedicated fans stayed to listen.

They had a new keyboardist now, Cliffton Hodgins, son of Sky’s long-suffering obstetrician Dr. Sebastian Hodgins.

At home, Dylan was now older enough to be in charge while Sky and Xia were out. He made sure Sawyer was in bed on time, but Abby was not about to let him boss her around. She stayed up playing queen until her parents came home. Dylan tried to ignore her and focus on his studies.

In the living room, the Sample ancestors were having a reunion. They mostly spent it playing video games together.

And then there were more Sing-O-Grams.

Her great-nephew Tomas Sample-Royale bought one to cheer up his roommate, Charlotte Stemple.

It seemed to be mostly a friend thing, since Charlotte most definitely preferred women.

Even with the lesbian community starved for new blood, Sky couldn’t muster the slightest attraction to Charlotte.

It was almost like they were sisters.

And then there was the time her bubble-maker exploded while she was performing for Faith Cagley.

Becoming a singing star was incredibly hard work.

———-

Just some slice-of-life stuff. There are a few better views of teen Dylan.

Yes, that was a zombie attending Sky’s park performance. The performance was a bomb — probably early performances are often a bomb. But the effect was that she got a high relationship with everyone who watched while they were watching, then took a nasty hit to those relationships at the end because the performance sucked. This resulted in a great notification window that I’ve lost, telling Sky that she wasn’t spending time with the zombie, and it wasn’t her friend anymore.

Sorry about how dark the stage was. Once you’ve set up a stage for a performance, you don’t get another chance to edit it. I clearly did not light it up properly. I’m still trying to figure out how to do that.

I probably shouldn’t show so many Sing-O-Grams, but I JUST LOVE THEM.

I also don’t using show ghost shots, but that was all four generations hanging out in one room, and it was so cute.

5.36 The Form of a Family

Feb18

When the invitation to Adam Bookabet and Ali Mentary-Hodgins’ wedding arrived, the big surprise was that it had taken so long. Ali apparently took a lot of time adjusting to Adam’s large and unruly family.

They kept the wedding modest — an arch Adam’s parents’ back yard and a reception inside with home cooking, dancing to the radio, and all the video games you could play.

The Bookabet house wasn’t huge, and it was stuffed with so many laughing, drinking people that it could be hard to get a place to breathe. That was probably why Xia walked in on Anita Bookabet in the bathroom. Anita stayed on the opposite side of the room from Xia after that. Xia murmurred to Sky under her breath, “I wish she’d stop looking at me like that! It was totally an accident. She’s not my type.”

After the obligatory first dance between bride and groom, they turned the music to live recordings of Ghostwriter, and Sky grabbed Adam for a dance or two.

“You finally did it,” Sky said to Adam. “I was wondering what took you so long.”

“Ali wasn’t sure she wanted to marry anyone,” Adam admitted, “but I brought her around.”

Ali had broken away from the crowd and was playing video games on her laptop in the kitchen. Big parties really didn’t seem to be her thing.

“Thing is, I’ve been wondering the same thing about you,” Adam said. “What’s taking YOU so long?”

Sky’s dance moves slowed. “Me? What’s taking me so long about what?”

Adam nodded over his shoulder to Xia, who was now tearing up the floor Adam’s elderly father, Franco.

Sky blanched pale silver. “I don’t know what you mean,” she said. “I already proved how bad I am at marriage. The last thing I want to do is screw things up with Xia by tying her down.”

Adam raised an eyebrow. “Have you ever asked her what she wants?” he asked.

“We talk about it all the time,” Sky said defensively. “No commitment.”

“Uhuh,” Adam said.

“You’re just going all newlywed on me!” Sky cried.

Adam laughed. “OK. You got me!”

Then there was cake, and finally everyone gathered on the porch to shower Adam and Ali Bookabet-Mentary on with glitter and confetti as they left on their honeymoon. Half drunk and laughing, Sky and Xia staggered home arm in arm to relieve the babysitter — almost, but not quite, like an old married couple.

Dylan’s birthday rolled around a few days later. They decided on a simple party at the park pavilion and invited family and Dylan’s friends from school.

This was the second time in recent memory that Sky’d had to share one of Dylan’s life moments with Leah and Plum. Xia squeezed her hand in silent support, and Sky kept her smile up and her mind on her oldest son.

Uncle Hunter arrived just after Dylan blew out the candles, looking more than a bit worse for wear.

“It’s a unicorn thing,” he said dismissively. “Sometimes Meteor is a lot more like a real meteor than you’d expect.”

Dylan laughed and couldn’t help but take a picture.

While everyone else was eating cake, Sky took a moment to audition with the pavilion director for a performance timeslot.

It went very well. It would be her first paid gig as a solo artist!

Dylan preferred things mellow. He spent some time with his cousin Ash, then a lot more time with his best friend from school. She was going into baking and brought more muffins and cake to a party that was already about cake. Dylan bought some just to be polite. He always was a boy who appreciated being polite.

“Hunter,” Eliana’s strained voice rose over the din over conversation.

Hunter was deconstructing Sky’s audition performance with her and wasn’t paying a lot of attention to his wife.

“Hunter!”

“Eh, what dear?”

“Hunter, get over here! The baby is coming!”

Hunter’s eyes became round. “The what! Baby!” He jumped up and grabbed Eliana by the arm, dragging her out of the park, shouting, “Make way! Pregnant woman coming through! Baby! Baby! Baby!”

Shortly after, he called to breathlessly inform Sky that her first full-blooded niece, Gina Sample-Baerwyn had been born. Gina had Eliana’s mother’s copper skin too. Apparently those genes were strong.

It was hard to keep the party going after that spectacle, and Dylan didn’t seem to mind. He wasn’t terribly wild about being the center of attention anyway.

So the whole family headed home to… well, be a family.

Sky realized that she was content.

Maybe for the first time.

———-

Pictures resumed right after Dylan aged up, and I lost his full-face shot. I cannot express how ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE he grew up. Hopefully you’ll be able to see better in later posts.

Adam and Ari’s wedding was a party invite from the Bookabet clan that I gave a story purpose, same as I did with Garry and Arya. I even gave both sims the “Just Married” moodlet to give the story some authenticity. I’m terribly grumpy about losing it. It was the most rockin NPC party I’ve ever attended, with a good 10 attendees (half of which were Bookabets, but still) crammed in a 20×20 house. Most of them were dancing to the stereo. So cute.

The party was pretty hilarious, what with Hunter having blown himself up and Eliana going into labor. I have no idea what he might be doing these days that would involve blowing up. Mostly he gardens and wins races with Meteor.

Leah still has a terrifyingly bad relationship with Sky, though :(.

And now the long screenshot drought is over.

Also, I haven’t been playing for at least a month due to computer trouble. My Windows partition on my elderly Macbook Pro blew up its boot sector without warning (or something like that — this is out of my area of technical expertise). The bottom line is that I could access the files from OSX, but I couldn’t boot to Windows. So I was able to get the most up-to-date files off the computer, but then I had to wipe out the partition. We decided that the old computer had gotten pretty creaky and it was a good idea to have a new one regardless. Thus, I have spent the last month ordering and configuring a new computer. Did you know that installing Sims 3 from scratch is a huge pain in the butt? You did??

I now have everything installed except the CC and mods, I think, and I’ll probably take a deep breath and try to load a save game sometime soon. You know… this might make me move the Samples to Monta Vista earlier than intended. I love Avalon with a passion, but I’m using a custom world by Bakafox that I edited in CAW myself… and you can’t load a save game if the world isn’t installed properly. Well, there’s no reason to panic until there’s a reason to panic. Wish me luck :).

5.34 Third and Final

Nov20

Xia moved in without much fanfare. Dylan didn’t mind, and Abby was ecstatic to have her mum around more often. Now that she was there full-time, she picked up even more slack in the family routine and added a few extra embellishments. For one thing, she started reviving Hunter’s abandoned garden.

That reinforced Sky’s cooking efforts, which everyone admitted were getting better.

A lot of Xia’s spare time went into training for her flight program, so she was often found outside running at all hours and in all weather.

Riddle got a lot of benefit, since she enjoyed his company.

That was a very good thing because Riddle had an inflated sense of his territory and could be a real problem when he was bored.

Sky continued to perform and do Sing-A-Grams until her due date. Her fans loved her for it and spent a lot of time speculating on fan forums who the new baby’s mum might be.

Dylan won first place for a painting contest in school. Sky attended the ceremony alongside Leah. It didn’t hurt as much as when they saw each other at Leah’s wedding. Wounds did heal, if slowly.

Sky’s due date passed, and she began wishing for stronger contractions. At last they came. Xia rushed her to the hospital and stayed with her while Dylan and Abby visiting Hunter and Eliana. It was by far Sky’s most comfortable labor, and in due course Sawyer was born. Afterward, at her request, Dr. Sebastian Hodgins tied her tubes and ensured that this was the last child she would carry.

When she first laid eyes on him, Sky was pretty sure she knew who his mum was. He was silver-skinned like her, but his bright green eyes were distinctive. It was the come-hither look in Amy Winter’s identical bright green eyes that had caught Sky’s attention in the first place.

In between feedings and sleep, she and Xia had long, anxious conversations about what to do about Amy. Xia would not hear of Sky keeping the information from Amy the way she’d kept it from Xia. Finally, they agreed that Sky would call Amy and invite her over to tell the story and see what Amy thought.

It was a long, strange conversation. Sky held baby Sawyer in her arms for the entire time, and she mercifully slept for most of it. Amy was incredulous and said at least four times that if Sky intended to ask for child support, she’d want a parentage test to prove Sawyer was her child. Sky assured her that money was not an issue. They agreed at last that Sky would send Amy email reports on Sawyer’s development, and they would have the option to become involved in each other’s lives if Sawyer wanted it when he grew up.

“You know, I used to date her,” Xia said with a grimace as Amy left.

“The lesbian community in this town is just too small,” Sky said with a sigh. Amy was now living with February Callender, and February was carrying their child. I guess if Amy told February about her unexpected baby, February wouldn’t be able to get too angry, considering that she’d had her own fling with Sky.

Weeks later, February hired Sky to give Amy a Sing-A-Gram for her Elder birthday.

That was awkward, but it could have been worse.

Sawyer grew into a toddler reminiscent of both his mum and the grandfather he never met. Sky’s throat caught when she saw Charles’s hair.

But from the very beginning, there seemed to be something different about Sawyer. He didn’t respond well to being touched and was prone to nasty temper-tantrums for no apparent reason.

He was developmentally far enough behind Sky’s other two children that she and Xia decided to enroll him in speech therapy, and Sky spent hours sitting with him and working on his words.

The first word she could recognize was bug.

He was an exhausting toddler, and Sky and Xia tag-teamed his skills as much as possible.

As he approached Elementary School age, Sky with much trepidation took him for a psychiatric evaluation. The diagnosis was upsetting but not a complete surprise — Sawyer had a high-functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The diagnosis came with a list of support groups and special educational programs. It was a huge relief to Sky to know what kind of help to seek for her son. Still, it was clear that helping Sawyer socialize and get a full education was going to be a lot of work.

——–

I scrounged up a decent number of pictures for this one. I’m pleased that I had the picture of Sawyer’s first word. The Sing-A-Gram to Amy was much later, but I thought it was worthwhile to get SOME picture of her in here.

Again, this would probably have been a couple of posts if there had been pictures. I guess this is advancing Sky’s story much faster than I’d have done on my own.

Missing pictures: The conversation between Sky and Amy about Sawyer did happen. Xia took Sky to the hospital, but for Amy was called also, and all three of them went home from the hospital together. Sky then stood in the front hall of the house and had a long talk with Amy while holding the newborn.

Also, Sky’s maternity Sing-A-Gram uniform was friggin’ adorable.

Sawyer was also born with the same pale, normal skintone. I also discovered that Abby didn’t have Xia’s eyes — she had the yellow preset color from CAS. Sawyer had the same eyes. His whole genetics were so in question that I just assigned all of them. The considered giving him Amy’s green skintone just so all three kids would have different skins, and now I’m kind of sorry I didn’t. But this glitch seems to happen when the game tries to assign Sky’s skintone, so I gave him silver. I just arbitrarily decided on Amy’s eyes and Charles’s hair because out of seven applicable kids at this point (including Hunter’s) NOBODY ever got it.

Sawyer rolled got a really rough set for his random traits, which is why I decided that he was Autism Spectrum. I’ll try not to write him too insensitively, but I don’t claim to actually know anyone who is Autistic since graduating from high school. I do have a friend with Asperger’s Syndrome.