2.7

The Farnham family lapsed into a familiar routine. Ella and Caden continued to tinker on their inventing workshops. Elijah spent most of his time playing chess matches against his family, friends, and anyone else that would play him. Castor spent his time locked away in his room dappling on his easel.

Fiona’s eyes never budged from the television in the Farnham’s living room. Her parents and siblings would often try to get the grumpiest member of the family to join them in family activities but Fiona never let herself be persuaded. The little girl preferred to sit in her spot on the couch and watch more glamourous characters act out their lives on screen. Her family’s eccentric and more academic pursuits bored the girl, she secretly hoped that one day she would be like one of the sims she watched on television.

The twins childhood seemed to fly by, before long Martin and Alaina were planning the twin’s birthday party. Fiona was less than thrilled to be sharing her big day in the spotlight with her brother.

As Fiona aged up she inherited her mother’s dark red hair. To no one’s surprise she developed the dramatic trait.

Castor gained the easily impressed trait as he aged into a teen. Partly in an act of defiance to his twin sister he grew his hair into a long mohawk that he knew she would hate. It was the only time in his life that the attention shifted away from Fiona’s dramatic ways.

Alaina noticed her oldest daughter heading out the door. “Where are you going Ella?” she asked.

“To the junkyard” was the enthusiastic reply she recieved “Caden and I need some more scrap, we are working on building a time machine!”

Alaina sighed “ok, just be careful and don’t stay out past dark” Alaina often worried about her daughter Ella, she was one of the sweetest girls but she always had her head in the clouds and not a shred of common sense. Her mother often worried that one day her daughter would be taken advantage of by someone and wouldn’t know better.

Ella was busy looking for scraps that she and her brother could use when she heard giggling behind her. It was her younger sister Fiona and one of her friends from school. Ella turned around and waved “Hey Fiona!” she yelled over to her sister. Fiona said a couple words to her friend and walked over to her sister.“Do you guys want to-”

Fiona cut Ella off before she could finish her sentence.

“What are you doing?” Fiona fumed at her sister “You look like a homeless person!”

“I was just-” Fiona cut her off again before she could finish.

“You are so embarassing! Why don’t you just go home where no one can see how weird you are?”

Fiona turned around and left her sister in the junkyard. Ella didn’t understand why her sister was so mad at her, she couldn’t comprehend any way that she could have made her sister angry.

Ella went to the library. She couldn’t stand the thought of going home while her sister was so mad at her. Ella loved to sit and read on the library balcony’s, the library didn’t receive very many visitors so she never had to worry about people interrupting her reading time. Ella stood on the balcony and looked out over Sim Valley. She usually never let what anyone said about her get under her skin, mainly because she rarely noticed. But she was growing up and didn’t understand why she was different from the other teen sims at school. She felt a growing feeling of loneliness descend upon her. She didn’t have any friends other than her siblings and her parents. Ella couldn’t help but think that something was wrong with her.

Ella heard someone enter the balcony behind her. Martin knew that he would find his daughter here. It was her favorite spot when she wanted to spend time alone. Martin sat down and patted the spot next to him.

“Come sit with me” he urged his daughter. Ella sat next to father. “Fiona told me what happened today” he said.

“I don’t know what I did, she just got so mad at me.”

“You didn’t do anything Ella, your little sister just cares about things that you shouldn’t spend your time worrying about.”

“Do you think I am weird, Dad?” Ella asked looking into her father’s warm green eyes. Martin smiled at her.

“No El, you’re not weird. Now let’s go home, your sister has something she wants to tell you.”

Elijah sat on the park bench in the middle of Pleasant Rest Cemetery. It was at least 30 minutes after his shift at the mausoleum and everyone had gone home for the night except for him. Elijah was completely silent, his ears picking up the sounds coming from the graveyard surrounding him. It was Elijah’s dream to the spirit of sims that had passed on. Every night at work he would sit in the same spot, confident that he would see something.

Elijah had resigned on seeing any paranormal activity and was heading toward the graveyard’s front gates when he saw a blue shimmer in front of him. The shadowy figure took the form of an elderly man in top hat for a split second and then faded away. Elijah’s heart raced in his chest. Elijah’s reaction wasn’t one of fright but one of excitement. He finally had seen one, a real life sim ghost!

Caden spent most of his time at his workbench, manipulating pieces of scrap metal into new inventions. The inner workings of machines were of more interest to the teenage sim than girls and other classmates.

When he wasn’t tinkering on bits of metal Caden spent most of his time napping, ignoring the piles of dirty clothes he accumulated. He was known to sleep through the noises the rest of the household made. Caden didn’t mean to be a messy sim, it was just that his mind was either on some new invention or sleeping.

While Castor had a fairly good relationship with his twin sister he enjoyed grossing her out with his daredevil antics. There wasn’t much the young boy wouldn’t do for a dare.

Even though he was the most rambunctious of the children Castor had an artistic side to him as well. When he wasn’t off performing some gross out stunt Castor would spend hours in front of a canvas.

While attending one of his younger brother’s house parties Kurt passed away in front of his brothers eyes.

Martin was heartbroken over his brother’s passing. They had kept a strong friendship over the years. Kurt was always there for his younger brother. They were in contact nearly every day due to their matching occupations. Martin couldn’t bear the thought of going back to the hospital knowing he wouldn’t see his brother’s.

Kurt’s widow Sun was much less heart broken about her husband’s death. The following day she married a much younger Jayme Mendez.

All the while she continued having an affair with this man, whom appears to have ulterior motives…

One night a couple days following his older brother’s death Martin was painting in his study. A creeping cold sensation crawled up his spine. He knew. It was his time. Martin felt a wave of peace flow through his body as his life left his body.

A few feet away Alaina felt a similar sensation. As the feeling swept through her body Alaina’s last thoughts were on her children. Before everything went dark she wondered how her 5 children would survive without her.

The Farnham household was left with five teenagers and no adults to supervise them. The children had lost their mother, father, and uncle in a span of three days. Their aunt was preoccupied with her own affairs. The children were left to their own devices, with the inheritance left to them by their parents and the income they had from their part time jobs providing for themselves wouldn’t be a problem. Each of the five teens expressed their grief in different ways. Caden was the rock for the rest of his siblings. He took over the responsibilities that his parents had, making sure the house and his family were taken care. Primarily Caden was the shoulder on which the rest of the family had to cry on. Crying was his brother Castors main way of dealing with grief. This brought the two brothers quite close following their parents deaths.

Fiona took the death of her parents quite hard. She was always the odd one out when it came to the more academic of her family. Her mother was always the one to make Fiona feel like she belonged. With her absent Fiona felt like she had lost her place in the family. To deal with the grief of losing her parents Fiona took to soaking in bubble baths away from the rest of her siblings.

Ella took the loss of her parents quite hard. Her more eccentric and insane ways were only amplified by her deep sadness. She would often walk around the house oblivious to others, talking to herself.

Elijah retreated into his books and homework. He took the loss of his parents less hard than his siblings. Mainly it was because Elijah was confident that he would see his parents again. He knew that his parent’s spirits were still with them, he could feel their presence. Until the time came when he would be able to see his parents again Elijah did his best to stay motivated and follow his dream of becoming a paranormal investigator.

Before long the twins were aging into young adults their older siblings decided to throw them a birthday party like they had years ago. The triplets had since aged up. Ella had gained the workaholic trait and had a lifetime wish of maxing out her inventing, sculpting and painting skills. Caden had gained the shy trait and was working on his lifetime wish of creating three monsters.

Elijah had gained the over-emotional trait and was diligently pursuing his dream of becoming a paranormal profiteer.

Castor rolled the natural cook trait and his lifetime wish is to become a master in the arts.

Fiona rolled the virtuoso trait and her lifetime wish is to become a hit movie composer.

That’s the end of Generation 2! Please take a moment and vote in the Generation 3 Heir Poll for who you want to be the next Farnham family heir. Thanks for reading

 

2.6

The great thing about Martin’s job is that it allowed him to work in the community and keep up with all of Sunset Valley’s residents and even more importantly, the members of his own family. All of his nephews had aged into teens and young adults by now and were making names for themselves. Martin’s favorite nephew Cody had just gotten engaged to this sim, Virginia and they were expecting their first child.

Since Martin’s work didn’t require him to put in a lot of hours he had a lot of time to be at home with his children. He loved to come home and teach them new skills everyday. Martin did as much as he could to share the responsibilities of child care with his wife. Between the two of them and the butler the house was able to run rather smoothly.

Alaina’s second birth followed a string of tragedy. The day before, Martin’s half sister River passed away. While Alaina was in labor her older brother Mortimer also passed away. The family had lost two important members of their family but they also gained two more because Alaina had twins.

The little boy sim was named Castor. He hates the outdoors and is artistic. The reason why he has such a feminine color scheme is because his favorite color is lilac.

They named the baby girl sim after her grandmother Fiona. She rolled the neurotic and grumpy traits and her favorite color is aqua.

The day after giving birth to the twins Fiona aged into an elder. Martin aged up the next day. While most couples would want to spend their elder years retired and relaxing Martin and Alaina were excited to have the time to devote to their young children.

Fiona grew up with her mother’s red hair and her father’s green eyes.

Castor aged into a cheesing toddler with brown hair and his mother’s violet eyes.

Luckily for the hard working parent the family had a live in butler that helped keep the home functioning in a somewhat organized manner. He also had amazing pancake flipping skills that kept the toddlers entertained. With a little bit of help Martin and Alaina were able to properly potty train, and teach the triplets how to walk and talk before their birthdays. Thanks to their parents hard work they all grew up happily.

Elijah randomly rolled the hydrophobic trait. He spent most of his time outside inventing toys and widgets on his workbench. Making new inventions was his hobby. The eccentric trait he shared with his siblings was apparent at a very young age. In addition to spending most of his time in junkyards looking for scrap metal the other sims his age would often comment on his odd and very yellow choice of clothing.

Ella randomly rolled the bookworm trait. She spent most of her time studying for school or reading about the newest science inventions. She was the quietest of the triplets and being the first girl to be born into the family, a little spoiled by her doting parents.

Caden was perhaps the most special of the three triplets. He randomly rolled the Hate the Outdoors trait. He enjoyed tinkering and making inventions as much as his siblings. However, most of his attempts ended in some sort of disaster.

His parents were particularly worried when their son accidentally set himself aflame. Luckily they were close by enough to extinguish him before he hurt himself. Martin and Alaina took special care to pay extra attention to their accident prone youngster. The two often worried about what the young boy would get himself into next.

Fiona also required lots of special attention from her parents. She couldn’t be alone without crying, her neurosis couldn’t handle being left alone. She was also a very grumpy child, she woud often cry and throw tantrums whenever she didn’t get her way.

Despite her sister’s cranky attitude Ella liked to spend time with her little sister. Her older sister’s calm and patient attitude made it easy for the two sisters to get along.

Castor spent most of his time trying to avoid his sister’s crying tantrums. He would sit and play on his xylophone for hours. His mother had high hopes that he would grow up and become a musician.

With the triplets grown into children and the twins potty trained and walking and talking Martin and Alaina decided it was time to fulfill one of their longtime wants. The couple had wanted to visit France for years and after years of time spent working hard at their careers and then on changing a massive amount of diapers the two decided it was finally time to take a vacation. Leaving their brood with their capable and trusted butler Martin and Alaina booked their plane tickets. Martin spent most of the trip exploring tombs for treasure.

Alaina spent most of her time in France visiting local vineyards to pick a variety of grapes and to learn how to make her own wine.

After long days of exploring and wine making the couple spent their nights taking in the romantic atmosphere of the country. It had been a long time since the two had a day without late night feedings to attend to.

The day before their departure they sampled the local cuisine at a small cafe. Martin was overjoyed at the chance of finally being able to sample authentic French crepes, his favorite food. Martin’s joy was evident in his face when he was served his plate of food.

The triplets took after their parents academically. The three worked hard to do well in school and made strait A’s and often volunteered for after school activities. The triplets weren’t the most popular students in their school, the three preferred to come home and work on building new toys instead of going over to other sim children houses after school.

Before long it was time for the twins birthday. Fiona loved all of the extra attention. She randomly rolled the couch potato trait.

Castor must have been tired of living in his twin sister’s shadow and randomly rolled the daredevil trait. Martin and Alaina had a feeling they would have more trouble keeping up the twins than they had with the triplets.

Even with a chaotic household full of exploding work benches from the triplets, a random temper tantrum from Fiona when she didn’t get her way, and the gross out bug eating from Castor, Alaina was still able to find the time to bounce her cares away on the trampoline outside.

2.5

Kurt drew in a deep breath. The early morning sun had just started to rise. It was one of the rare times when the Farnham household was still. The rest of the family was still asleep. The young children were still tucked in their cribs. Kurt took a moment to breathe in the early morning air before he unfolded the newspaper. He flipped to the real estate section and began skimming the listings.

Tymon barely had time to age into a toddler before Sun started showing with her next pregnancy. Sun and Kurt were excited about welcoming their newest (and last) addition to their family. However, the couple were also concerned about having enough room to raise their large family.

Sun and Kurt’s marriage had slowly been improving. Kurt decided it was time to enlist extra help to aid Sun in keeping up with three small children by herself. The addition of a maid helped Sun spend more time caring for her small children.

Sun and Kurt’s last child was a baby boy named Cory, he was born with the neurotic and excitable traits. When Cory was born Sun and Kurt decided it was time to move out of the small home and buy one of their own. Kurt had been making steady advances in his career and was able to secure a nice house for the family to move into.

The day before Sun and Kurt were set to move into their new home Kurt received a distressed phone call from his half sister River. River’s husband Sebastian passed away after many happy years with his wife River and their son Finn. River was devastated by the loss. Kurt and Sun decided to move in with River instead of their new home.

For the first time in their marriage Martin and Alaina had a home to themselves. The peace and quiet provided the couple with plenty of time to study and focus on their careers. Advancing to the very top of the medical career ladder was their main focus.

The couple had a lot of success in their jobs. While most of their coworkers were burnt out from trying to juggle family life with children and the stress of working Martin and Alaina were able to focus on themselves and each other. The two were inseparable. And no matter the time of day or night the other arrived home from work the other was there for them.

Both Martin and Alaina took little notice as they aged into adulthood. Their younger years were dominated by reading medical journals, studying, and working intense hours at the hospital. Their lives had slowed down a bit by the time they reached maturity. The hours weren’t as long and the pay was better. But both of them knew they were going to have to keep working hard if they were ever going to achieve their lifetime wish of becoming world renown surgeons.

River had spent most of her life looking after others. She had taken care of her younger brothers when they were little and their parents were aging. She had looked after her mother after Casey had passed away. She could never comprehend the amount of pain that her mother had went through after her divorce until her own husband passed away. Her home was far from empty since Kurt and his family had moved in. But the role of family could never replace the companionship that a partner could.

Ethan Bunch had also recently lost his spouse Agnes Crumplebuttom-Bunch. He and River met months after their spouses had passed on. The two sims felt an immediate connection. The two sims didn’t want to waste a single second of their remaining days alone. The two were married and River moved in with Ethan. Finn wasn’t overjoyed with his mother’s decision to marry so soon after his father’s death but he agreed to move in with them anyways.

After years of dedicated work both Martin and Alaina reached the top of the medical career track. The two had secured a nice savings from their work and had achieved their lifetime wishes.

The couple finally decided that it was time to start their own family. It was later in life than some sims would choose but Martin and Alaina knew they were perfectly prepared to take care of a new life.

Alaina got pregnant on the couples first try. Being on maternity leave and having maxed out her logic skill a long time ago Alaina took to pursuing the more artistic endeavors. Her parents had always encouraged Alaina to explore her creative side. (Note: blasting the kidz channel on the radio, twins *fingers crossed*)

Martin and Alaina were confident that they would make good parents. Martin took to studying pregnancy books just to be sure they were doubly prepared. The finer points of chid rearing still amazed the poor guy.

Martin and Alaina decided to throw a baby shower. Kurt, as always, was over enthusiastic about the idea of a new baby. He spent the entire party gushing over the joys of parenthood. His own children were now well into their teens and Kurt was missing having small children in the house.

The baby shower went well until the stove caught fire and everyone freaked out. As soon as the flames were extinguished Alaina went into labor.

She proceeded to drive herself to the hospital with Martin in the passenger seat. She didn’t look happy about the driving situation.

Alaina emerged from the delivery room with a basket of three brand new babies. The triplets consisted of a baby boy Elijah with the traits of slob and eccentric, another baby boy named Caden with the same traits as his brother, the two boys had a baby girl name Ella with the traits of eccentric and friendly.

Martin and Alaina took great joy in their newborn babies. (Even though you can’t see it in this picture, Alaina looks ticked.) Their life had grown to be exponentially more hectic but the couple relished in their new lifestyle. The couple both agreed to hire a live in butler to help with the household chores so they could both devote time to their new children.

Ella grew up with dark brown hair and the Farnham’s green eyes. Her favorite color is yellow, her favorite food is Frog’s Legs, and her favorite music is Latin.

Elijah grew up with his father’s red hair and his mother’s violet eyes. His favorite color is yellow, his favorite food is tri-tip steak, and his favorite music is roots.

Caden grew up with black hair (some of the Goth genes showing through?), and his father’s green eyes. His favorite color is grey, his favorite food is tri-tip steak, and his favorite music is pop.

With the triplets aged up into toddlers Martin and Alaina spent all of their free time teaching the young children all of the skills they would need later in life. The recently expanded family was soon to grow even more as Alaina was well into her second pregnancy.

2.4

Alaina and Martin were married in an outdoor ceremony in the presence of their close family and friends. The Farnham’s threw a wedding party at their modest home. Kurt and Martin were doing well for themselves but the house seemed much smaller than it was with 6 people living inside of it.

The wedding offered the Farnham’s to catch up with their former family members. Martin and Kurt’s cousin Finn Robespierre attended the wedding. Since Finn and his parents had left the Farnham household he had grown into a teenager. He had rolled the vehicle enthusiastic and angler traits. He was doing well in school and had grown up looking very much like his father. Finn was quite popular among the girls at his high school.

River and Sebastian both happily aged into elder hood. River had done very well for herself selling her artwork. She and her husband were quite possibly the most affectionate couple in the whole of Sunset Valley. With their son Finn growing up the couple enjoyed taking vacations to France to visit Sebastian’s family.

Despite her feelings of guilt concerning her extramarital liaisons Sun continued to pursue other men. Sun still loved her children and her husband but she was bored. She was tired of being a stay at home mother. She wanted someone to look at her like she was beautiful and young. Her affairs gave her the excitement she didn’t feel at home.

The days immediately following her indiscretions were the most painful to Sun. She was overwhelmed with feelings of guilt. But more than that, she was surprised at the fact she could transform from being the object of some stranger’s desire to the mother in sweatpants and a stained t-shirt that nobody gave a second look at.

Kerry transitioned into a toddler much to the enjoyment of his overworked mother and his older brother Cody. The two boys got along well and loved to spend time playing together. The two boys were spitting images of their father and uncle when they were growing up.

Alaina spent most of her time at the hospital working .But when she had the time, she loved to help out with the two young boys. And even though she wanted to focus on her career Alaina loved children.

Martin had been working overtime at the hospital and his hard work paid off. Martin spent most of his time performing vaccinations in the community. He was almost too eager to use his oversized needle on the unsuspecting residents of Sunset Valley.

As Cody grew into a child he resembled his Uncle Martin  even more closely than before. As he aged up he rolled the ambitious trait.

Even though there was a considerable age difference between them Cody still doted over his younger brother. He wasn’t shy about playing with “baby” toys with Kerry.

When Sun got sick she immediately recognized the symptoms of pregnancy. After the first couple of days of throwing up in the morning she went to the doctor, he confirmed her suspicions. She was pregnant with her 3rd child. Sun knew that she was going to have to come clean to her husband about her affairs with other men. She was tired of sneaking around and lying to her family. She wasn’t going to bring this new baby into that kind of household. And she would have to admit she didn’t know who the father of her baby is.

Telling Kurt was the hardest thing Sun had ever done in her life. He didn’t scream or hit her. He merely asked how many men she had slept with since they were married. Her answer was the most difficult thing Kurt would ever hear in his life. “5″ answered Sun in a small whisper.

Sun would have preferred if Kurt had yelled, cried, or hit her. The look of disappointment and agony on her husbands face hurt more than any blow could.

Kurt couldn’t bring himself to kick out his pregnant wife. He didn’t know if the baby was his or not. He wasn’t sure that he would ever be able to forgive Sun for what she had done. Kurt believed that marriage and family were the most important things in his life. Sun had betrayed their marriage and their family together with several men. Kurt wasn’t sure if he would be able to continue living with a woman who nearly destroyed his family. But, he reasoned that he could wait long enough to see if the child to be born was his and try to forgive his wife.

Cody was very aware that something was wrong between his parents. They did not speak of it in front of their children but Cody could still tell something was wrong. His mother stayed in her room crying and his father slept on the couch.  Martin could tell the young boy was confused about what was happening and took it upon himself to keep him occupied. Cody was very artistic so Martin would often take him to the art museum and the park on his days off.

Tymon Farnham was born into a crowded and fragile family. Just by looking into his green eyes you could tell he was Kurt’s son. Kurt knew that he could never break up his family. His sons needed a mother and he would never take that away from them. Looking at his newborn son he promised that he would do everything he could to keep his family and marriage together. Tymon was born with the loner and disciplined traits.

2.3

After River left the Farnham household the remaining members decided it was time to remodel their house. Using the money Kurt and Martin inherited from their parents and the money Kurt had been saving from his job at the hospital they completely remodeled their home. Kurt  still couldn’t believe what a lucky man he was. He was on his way to fulfilling his lifetime wish of becoming a world renown surgeon, his little brother was excelling in school, and he was looking forward to starting a family with his beautiful new bride. Martin continued to spend most of his time studying and doing puzzles on the computer. His entries into contests usually won him cash prizes. His efforts provided him a steady source of income that didn’t require him to acquire an after school job. Sun Young was soon pregnant with her and Kurt’s child. Kurt was more than a little excited that he and his wife were going to have a baby. He began picking up extra shifts and working twice as hard to get promotions at the hospital. Marin grew into an adult and rolled the Vegetarian trait. As he grew older the more Martin took after his late mother. He was a quiet person who enjoyed his solitude. As soon as he aged up he joined the medical career track like his older brother. Unfortunately, as he grew older Martin’s fashion sense took a nosedive. His brother often took him aside and reminded him that they could be proud of their heritage without wearing a kilt. A few days after Martin aged up Sun Young gave birth to a healthy baby boy with the traits Artistic and Virtuoso. His parents named Cody. His proud father excitedly called everyone he knew to give them the good news of his sons birth. Alaina and Martin had broken up when Alaina aged into a young adult. Her lifetime wish also was to become a world renown surgeon. After a chance meeting at the hospital they began to spend time together once again. Martin would often go over to Goth manor when he and Alaina got off work. He enjoyed spending time at the large house, Alaina’s parents had also passed away when she was young. Her older brother Mortimer had raised her for most of her childhood. As Cody grew older he began to resemble his uncle and grandmother. His bright red hair was exactly the same age as Martin’s. Martin enjoyed spending time with his young nephew. He would often spend his weekends with the young boy teaching him new words and helping him learn how to talk. Around the same time Cody aged into a toddler Sun Young became pregnant again. Sun Young did not have this kind of life in mind when she moved to Sunset Valley. Kurt worked long hours at the hospital leaving her alone to take care a young son and house. Watching over children wasn’t something Sun Young had wanted in her life. It was hard work and she never seemed to get ahead of the chores. The worst part for Sun Young was that her husband was completely happy with their life. All he ever did was talk about the children and how happy he was. Sun Young hated him for that, she couldn’t understand how he was so complacent with such a mundane lifestyle. Martin and Alaina restarted their former high school relationship and began dating again. Martin knew he had gotten lucky with Alaina. She was laid back, intelligent, and hard working as he was. Martin didn’t have very many friends and didn’t like very many people. Alaina was one of the few people he enjoyed spending time with. Sun Young gave birth to another baby boy whom they named Kerry. He was born with the traits excitable and friendly. One afternoon Cody was being fussy, he refused to sleep. All he would do was throw tantrums and cry. He was making such a racket that his younger brother Kerry wouldn’t fall asleep. Sun Young had tried everything to the young boy to stop crying. Exasperated she gave up and called a baby sitter. She needed to get out of that small house, away from the dirty diapers, and the crying children.

Sun Young went to the local gym to work off some of her frustration. She noticed a dark, muscular man eying her. He introduced himself as Francis Keaton. She knew he was hitting on her and after months of changing baby diapers she enjoyed the attention from the handsome man. She only hesitated briefly when he asked her if she wanted to go somewhere more private where they could be alone. She had never thought of herself as a cheating woman, but then again, she never considered herself a frumpy housewife either.

Only a couple miles away another couple were taking their first step into marriage. Martin proposed to Alaina at the base of Sunset Valley’s breathtaking waterfall. She immediately accepted and moved into the Farnham household.

When Sun Young arrived home from the gym her husband was in the kitchen cooking dinner. It was as if her indiscretion had never happened.

“Hey sweetie, I am making spaghetti tonight. I let the babysitter go when I got home from work. Where were you?”

“I just went to the gym for a little while.” Sun replied.

“Martin just called, he asked Alaina to marry him tonight. Isn’t that great? I know it will be a little crowded but she’ll probably be moving in before too long.”

Her husband continued talking about his brothers engagement and how happy he was that Martin was settling down. Sun started to feel unbearably guilty listening to him talking. She quickly made an excuse to leave her husband in the kitchen before it became too much to bear.

Sun put on a sweatshirt and went into the children’s bedroom. Both boys were asleep. Sun walked over to Kerry’s crib and picked him up. He was so peaceful resting in her arms. It was hard for her to believe she could ever get mad at the sweet child. Sun loved her children very much. The thought of losing them made tears well in her eyes. The shame of her earlier tryst engulfed her. She fought down sobs. There was only one thing that Sun could think at that moment.

“Kurt can never know.”

2.2

Fiona stood frozen. Her mouth was dry and her hand that held the pot of spaghettie noodles trembled. Her eyes stared at the burner, it was the same one her mother had been using the night she died. Fiona knew this because she had to clean the food that had boiled over onto it.

“She was standing right here, just like I am” Fiona thought to herself “And then she was just gone. Dead. Forever. And one day that will be me.”

The room spun a little. Fiona began to sob.

River was too wrapped up in her grief to hear the footsteps behind her.

“Hey, hey. What is going on?” Sebastian took his crying wife into arms. Sebastian hadn’t had the easiest time since moving to France. His first day of work at the salon had been a disaster, he was getting sub-par pay working at the school, he had impregnated River before they were married, and his mother-in-law had passed away the day after they were married. Still, he couldn’t help but feel he was with this family for a purpose. River wouldn’t have been able to manage looking after and caring for two younger brothers. Besides, he truly cared for the sweet woman crying into his chest. It was a rocky start but he knew they could be happy and have a good life ahead of them.

It was only a few minutes after the boys had left for school and her husband had left for work when River went into labor. One panicked phone call to Sebastian had him racing home to take her to the nearest hospital.

Their son Finn was born with the traits disciplined and taking after his grandmother, genius. He loved listening to his father’s french music records, the smell of shawarma cooking, and the color white on all his baby clothes.

It may have been that Sebastian was alike a child himself, but whatever the reason, he adored his young son. Finn was placed in Fiona and Casey’s old bedroom that was converted into a new nursery. Sebastian spent all of his extra time cuddling and playing with his newborn son.

The growing family would sometimes put a strain on Martin, who just enjoyed being alone by himself. Oftentimes he would escape with one of his books to a quiet place and read until the sun went down.

To his parents joy Finn aged up into a toddler who looked remarkably like his dad.

Sebastian’s joy for his son growing up may have partially been due to the fact they had just bought new toys for the growing toddler…Sebastian loves kid toys.

Martin had been wanting to find an afterschool job where he wouldn’t have to work around a bunch of people all the time. Luckily the local graveyard was looking for part time work, Martin quickly applied and received a job.

Martin also had other motives for gaining employment. Her name was Alaina Goth. She was in his grade at school. Martin had been harboring a secret crush for many months. Alaina and her family were considered a little odd by the other Sunset Valley residents but Martin thought she was the smartest, most interesting, and intelligent girls he had ever met.

To his surprise Alaina quickly warmed up to Martin. She enjoyed spending time with the quiet boy and he was the only person she had met who could challenge her in a game of chess. After work the two would often go to Maywood Glen and play a match before going home for the evening.

It was a Saturday when Alaina came over to watch a movie at Martin’s house. She had been over a few times before so Martin felt comfortable having her sit next to him. However, he was not expecting her to lay her head on his shoulder. She didn’t resist when he put his arm around her. Martin couldn’t tell you what movie they watched that night, but he would always remember the way she wore her hair, the color of her lipstick, and the smell of her body spray.

What Martin would never forget was his first kiss that night and how nervous he was when Alaina’s lips first touched his.

Meanwhile Kurt happily transitioned into adulthood where he acquired the shy trait. As a graduation present and a reward for having such great grades his family arranged a vacation to China.

Kurt’s plans of sightseeing and adventuring in China were derailed the moment he arrived when he met the beautiful Sun Young Kim. She was easily the most gorgeous woman he had ever met.

Normally Kurt would have shied away from such a beautiful young woman. But Sun Young took an immediate liking to the slightly awkward but attractive young man. Kurt would normally have been overwhelmed but Sun proved to be very easy to talk to. She had a great sense of humor and the first time they kissed Kurt felt a little woozy.

Kurt’s time in China was quickly running out. He knew that he would either have to do something drastic or risk leaving Sun forever. He had watched his sister suffer through the hardships of a long distance relationship and he knew that he wouldn’t have the willpower to endure it. Days before he was due to leave Kurt proposed to Sun and asked her to marry and live with him in Sunset Valley. They quietly eloped without either family knowing.

River was more than a little surprised when her brother arrived back from China with a bride. That night while she watched her son fall to sleep she decided it was time for her, Sebastian, and Finn to move out on their own. Kurt was a married man, Martin was fixing to graduate college and River wanted a house of her own where she could raise her own family.

Together with her husband and son she scoured Sunset Valley for a suitable home to raise a family. She fell in love with an adorable yellow house with plenty of room to raise Finn and any other children they may decide to have in the future.

Martin hadn’t realized how close he had become to his nephew until the moving day came. He hugged Finn one last time and promised the young boy he would come and visit him in his new home.

After saying her final goodbye’s River got in the car with her husband and drove away to start a new life with her own small family. As the house she had spent so many years in disappeared in the background River could feel tears welling in her eyes. She had many good memories in that little house. She took comfort in the weight of her young son sleeping in her lap and feel of her husbands hand over hers as they drove on.

Interlude

Fiona could smell salt. She opened her eyes, the bright sun hovered in the blue sky above her. The bright light burned her eyes at first. Fiona didn’t know where she was, she could hear waves lapping around her and sand underneath her fingers. She didn’t remember how she ended up here. The last memory she had was standing in front of her stove cooking when her phone started to ring. Then everything went blank.

Fiona stood up and looked around. The beach was deserted, she did not know where she was but she felt as if she had been here before. Despite the fact that she had just woken up on a strange beach in the middle of nowhere Fiona felt completely at peace. Looking into the distance she could see what appeared to be a figure of a man.

As she drew closer she could see the man waving at her. She didn’t recognize him but like everything in this place he seemed so familiar.

Fiona slowly approached the man. He didn’t say anything. He just watched her  approach with a kind looking smile on his face. Fiona stopped in front of the young man and looked into his eyes. She knew those eyes.

“Casey” she whispered “how are you so young?”

Casey laughed and gently took her hand in his.

“Look at your hand”

Fiona looked at her hand that Casey was cradling in his. The skin was smooth and young. It wasn’t the wrinkled hand she had grown used to in her old age.

Fiona softly touched her husband’s face. She had never seen Casey at this age before. He was so young, the lines and wrinkles that had marred his face before were gone. But his eyes were the same ones she had spent the years looking into.

“Where are we?” she asked “where is River and the boys?”

“This is where we wait” Casey replied

Fiona didn’t need further explanation as to what he meant. She knew that she would wait here to see River and her boys just as her husband had waited for you.

Reunited the couple sat and took comfort in each other. There was no sadness, no boredom, just the enjoyment of being back in an old lovers arms. Together they sat and waited until the day the last of their loved ones washed upon the shores and they could move on.