2.49 – The Dragon Ages Up

Dorian rose from his bed feeling jolly and overjoyed. He slipped on his favourite clothes and skipped around his bedroom, and later he woke everyone up as they all gathered in the living room and delivered Dorian his presents. He was so excited to see what his family had given him for his birthday and when he saw all of the presents that he was about to open up, he was even happier!

From his mother, he received some clothes he could fit into when he turned into a teenager, a few cookbooks plus some starting funds for his restaurant. From his father, he received a new computer, plus a TV. And then he saved the rest of the presents from Callum, Veronica, Alec, Maven, Savannah and his school friends for later, since the party was going to start in a few hours and June had to head to work quickly to sort a few things out. Overall, Dorian was having such a fun birthday so far.

“Yep, I’m the birthday boy.”

When June got home, she immediately got into making the birthday cake and while she did that, she finished the Leader of the Pack aspiration! So, she decided that next she wanted to try Mansion Baron an– Oh wait, she just completed that as well! June was astounded at the fact she had automatically completed an aspiration, it put her into utter shock which made her accidentally drop an egg shell into the mixing bowl. She left her aspirations alone for now, just in case she accidentally completes another.

“No one saw me drop that egg shell in, right?”

And when the cake had come out of the oven, June waited for it to cool before applying the icing on top. Dorian came over and began to cheer when he saw his cake in front of him.

“It’s the Sugar Free Carob Cake! That’s my favourite cake!” Dorian cheered when June finished applying the sprinkles on top.

“Yes! Now, let me put the candles on so you can blow them out.” June smiled when she placed the candles on top of the cake, and then set them alight with the lighter she uses for the fireplace. Everyone gathered around Callum as they sang the Birthday Song to him. Dorian felt himself tingle as he moved closer to the candle, he felt himself growing and changing as he breathed in to collect air within his lungs.

“Happy Birthday to you, Dorian!” Everyone cheered as Dorian blew out the candles and made his wish.

“I want to have a highly successful restaurant!”

Dorian watched as the sparkles surrounded him and he spun around, and became surprised when he saw himself becoming taller and then when he saw his reflection in his phone, he was even more surprised when he saw that his face had changed.

“I like it! I love me!” Dorian giggled but when he saw the cake and Maven’s face, he felt the need to smash Maven’s face into the cake. Oh no… don’t tell me. Dorian gained the Evil Trait! (WHY?!) He walked out into the backyard where he saw everyone gathered around the Bar.

*He’s going to look different after this chapter since I longer have his skin*

Here’s a few extra moments from the Birthday Party!

“I’m so gonna win!”

Marisa even came to play her piano for Dorian! Such a good ghostly grandmother.

“Hey Mom, can I rebuild the house?”

“Uh… sure!”

After Dorian finished the Birthday Party and thanked everyone for coming, he moved into the kitchen where he got started on cooking Mac & Cheese, since he rolled the aspiration of Master Chef Aspiration after his grandfather. Dorian threw the ingredients together and stuck them in the pan.

“So, is this how you do it?”

And with that, it became the end of another day in the Devine household. But, change would be arriving soon, as there were only a few days left now until Generation 3 begins.

2.48 – Brushed by Death

After studying her mother’s autobiography, June managed to pinpoint the exact coordinates of her mother’s home planet and as soon as she discovered this fact, she immediately ran over to her rocket and input the coordinates so the rocket could calibrate the journey overnight before she launches in the early morning. June was both excited and nervous, she didn’t know what her mother’s people were like, and how different they could be from Marisa herself. However, June wore a happy smile and held the familiar silver drink in her hand, the one that her father told her would prolong her life only once.

How could she travel in space if her back was beginning to ache and pain? Age was catching up with June and while she overlooked the garden, she held the drink in her hand and tipped the contents down into her mouth.

After completing her Computer Whiz aspiration, June had moved onto becoming Leader of the Pack, which she thought was befitting of herself since she was the heir after all. While the morning arrived, June was giving herself a pep talk in the mirror, “June, you’re about to go on a journey to meet your grandparents. Let’s hope we don’t die!”

June changed into her astronaut gear, ran inside of the rocket and blasted off into space. She followed the coordinates exactly as her mother had described them; past the second star by the moon, then carry on until purple clouds your eyes and then lower yourself down onto the planet. June had done all of those things, but the more she lowered herself down, the more she flew downwards with nothing to stop her fall. Using her monitor, June had looked beneath the rocket to see what was there and there was nothing.

“What’s going on?!” June shouted as the red lights began to flash inside of the rocket, and everything began to malfunction. She slammed the return to home button while the rocket was blasted with a large space rock. The rocket was hurdling through space towards the ground, and there was no way that June was going to have a safe landing, there was no way that June could land this rocket at all.

She was going to die.

The rocket crashed into the ground, which woke up everyone in the household. They ran outside to find the crashed rocket, and screams were heard from Wesley, Veronica and Callum.

“Mom!!” Dorian shouted while they looked at the still burning crash site. “Please, don’t die on me!!”

“Who said anything about dying? Surely, you know that a rocket ship crash cannot defeat your mother!”

“Are you okay, Junebug?” Callum watched as June stood up, threw off her astronaut gear and looked at the large space rock that she had acquired. Weirdly, it was the last rock she needed to complete her space rock collection so instead of cursing it for almost killing her, she thanked it for arriving into her possession in such a spectacular way. Although, June was acting a little out there, since the crash made her a little dazed.

“OoooOOh!”

To get over it, June thought drinking some juice would be okay! Callum and Veronica certainly disagreed but June adamantly told them that it will help her.

She certainly looks calmer than what she was earlier…

Outside in the garden, Veronica had just finished explaining June’s near death experience to Nathan and Marisa while Alec had begun shouting Mom from the outside. From the weird fence glitch that happened, Veronica and Alec were able to talk across the shrubs to each other!

“Mom! Can you come over here please? Or can I come over and see you?” Alec asked and while Veronica loved her son, she didn’t want to show his messy tendencies in front of Nathan and Marisa.

“How about I come over and see you?” Veronica suggested and Alec shrugged his shoulders.

“I’m not sure, whatever’s best for you. BUT! Make sure you have something awesome to tell me if you’re coming around.” Alec led the proposition while Veronica laughed and replied back to her son.

“Oh, I have a few awesome things I could tell you.”

After meeting her son on the other side, Veronica crouched down to her son and looked at him in the eyes. “Hello, it’s me. I came from the other side!”

“Mom, stop quoting Adele! You’re way cooler than that.” Veronica felt overjoyed that Alec thought that she was super cool. Callum stared in disbelief as he was told by Alec that Adele was cooler than him, even after all of the heart-to-hearts they’ve had over the past couple of weeks. “Dorian’s birthday is tomorrow, isn’t it?”

“Yes! I was about to go inside to begin preparing the menu, do you want to help me?” Veronica wondered and Alec nodded his head before ushering his mother to come closer so that he could whisper in her ear.

“I think Dad’s jealous of you.”

“What makes you say that?” Veronica said and the pair of them turned around to see Callum staring at Veronica in envy and the pair of them played it off as they were looking at the birds in the sky.

“Woah, a pigeon! So cool!” Alec shouted while he leaned in to whisper his mother again, “Shall we really make him jealous.”

“Let’s do it!” Veronica laughed while she knelt down on the floor and her son started to hug her.

“Mom! You’re the best parent in the world!”

“You’re the best son in the world, Alec!”

“Has he noticed yet?”

And after, the Devines gathered for their weekly movie night! Maven and Savannah also came around to join in on the festivities, bringing over some sweets that Maven had designed the packaging for. Savannah and June were in the kitchen popping the corn ready for the movie while Veronica, Maven and Dorian were choosing the film for tonight.

Dorian had quite liked to watch Super Llama Man while Maven and Veronica were arguing over what genre of film they were going to watch.

“Let’s hope it’s not a Chick Flick tonight…”

2.47 – Appreciation

“Dad, why am I not the heir? i think I’d be way better than Dorian!”

“Well, I wasn’t the heir when your grandpappy had me, your uncle and your aunt, so that’s the reason why you can’t be heir.” Callum explained, and was surprised at his son’s sudden interest in becoming the heir. Alec had always known he wasn’t the heir and was allowed to live his life however he wanted, so why did he want the responsibility all of a sudden?

“Are you jealous?” Callum asked his son, who gasped in “shock” over the absurdity of his father’s question.

“What?! Of course not! What made you thi– Alright.” Alec sighed as he looked down at his bowl of popcorn. “Everyone’s so focused on Dorian and him growing up to become so great, and I’m just here starving for attention, y’know?”

“I do know what you mean, and it gets easier, trust me. You think I wasn’t jealous of June, I was SO jealous! But, I came to know that I had a special bond with everyone in the house, and because of that, I felt loved and knew that they wouldn’t leave me alone, ever. We will never abandon you, Alec. We love you.”

“Thanks Dad! Love you too!”

In the living room, Dorian had decided to play the violin for his father. He had chosen House of the Rising Sun to play as it was a piece of music he had recently learnt. As he watched his son perform, Dorian couldn’t help but feel proud of his little boy for taking on so many talents in his younger years,  it had made him feel so proud to be his father. It had also made him wonder if June would be up to having another child, seeing how great Dorian turned out. But, he was a little worried about the slightly evil tendencies Dorian had begun to take on, but he shrugged them off and continued to listen to his son play the violin.

“You’re amazing, Dorian!” Wesley clapped as he swayed to the melody of the song.

2.46 – Forgiving Yourself

Wesley crashed onto the ground, to which he immediately identified as sand. He stood up, looked around and found an old woman fishing along the beach, she looked like she was awaiting something. Wesley began to walk over, and he watched as the woman slowly looked over to Wesley and smiled, as she held her arms out and welcomed Wesley into her arms. “You have come, and I need to give you a reality check.”

“Excuse me?” Wesley was perplexed, a random woman had Wesley teleport right to her, where she’ll give him a piece of her mind? Wesley was about to continue speaking, but the woman pressed a finger to his lips and smiled, to which he did the same because he weirdly felt calm around this woman.

“Be quiet and listen. You may refer to me as the Hermit.” The woman’s soothing voice spoke as she gave Wesley a new fishing rod. Wesley accepted it eagerly as examined it, then cast the rod into the spring that was before him.

“Now that I sort of have your attention.”

“Your cosmic energy is unbalanced because of your guilt over what happened to young Jacob. But, it isn’t your fault as the world had already decided that the young one was to die then, you only tried to prevent it. He’s happy where he is, and you should start to move on from this and continue your life as June has done. I’ve been watching the Devines for quite some time, and I believe that they’ll change our world in generations to come.” The Hermit explained and Wesley took in everything he was hearing. How did she know so much about the family, and how did she know what was troubling Wesley?

“How?” He simply asked.

“It’s a secret that’s existed since the creation of our world. I would tell you, but it would probably destroy your very being.” The Hermit warned as Wesley shrugged his shoulders, being more focused on catching his fish and also taking in what The Hermit said about Jacob’s death not being his fault. But, wasn’t it? It’s a doctor’s duty to save people, and to make sure they’re fit and healthy, and Wesley failed in that duty. However, doctors can’t save everyone, and it was something that was new to Wesley, and something he had to become somehow used to.

“The brightest star shines beautifully.”

Wesley looked up at the sky and felt the sun rays rain down upon him, and he was filled with an unknown happiness which brought a smile to his face. He closed his eyes as he enjoyed the sun, and when he opened his eyes, he found himself right by June.

“That Hermit sure knows a thing or two.” Wesley muttered to himself as he snuck up behind June, “Boo!”

“AH!” June turned around to slap Wesley’s arm. “I told you never to scare me, oh my plum.”

“Come here. I love you.” Wesley said while he pulled June towards him and wrapped her in his embrace. From his experience with Jacob, Wesley had learnt that life could end at any moment, and that people will always feel guilty about someone’s death. Now, he wanted to make sure that when he eventually leaves this life, he wants to make everyone know that they shouldn’t feel guilty about it, by having lots of happy memories. He had finally forgiven himself about Jacob, and had started to move on from it.

“Aww, you better not be leaving me!”

Later on in the day, Veronica decided to bake some brownies for everyone while they were in the living room,where there was a heated debate over Voidcritters going on.

“My Veild would totally beat your Suintor! It has incredible attack power and also it’s more adorable than your pig.” Dorian spoke with confidence as Alec gasped at Dorian’s comment. Clearly Suintor was a better Voidcritter, was he not?

“My Suintor would beat your Veild and my Pleuro would beat your Meduso as well. Face it Dorian, you will never ever beat me in Voidcritters or any other game!” Alec argued but Dorian wasn’t going to take it from Alec and he immediately replied.

“I would beat you in Don’t wake the Llama!”

“Oh really! I don’t think that’s true. I believe I’m the best Don’t Wake the Llama player in this family!” Alec boasted while Dorian thought about ways he could silence Alec, many of them very evil! June turned to Alec in astonishment as she saw him being so boastful about himself, and she assumed it was the part in a child’s life where they need as much self-confidence as they can.

“Hm, how about we have a game of Don’t Wake the Llama then, dear cousin?” Dorian suggested and June laughed, she couldn’t take how serious the kids were being about such trivial things.

“Of course! Let’s just confirm how better I am than you are.”

“Oh and by the way, I swear I saw the Park Ranger burn your Voidcritter Cards earlier…” Dorian laughed evilly while rage boiled on Alec’s face as he screamed.

“HE BETTER NOT HAVE. OH MY PLUM!”

“ALEC! Language. I won’t tell Veronica, so shh.” June warned and Alec covered his mouth while Dorian continued his fit of laughter, falling off of the chair and laughing on the floor. After a while, the two boys headed upstairs to where they found the Don’t Wake the Llama table. Dorian had begun setting up the game while Alec sat down at the table, flexing his hands and arms and preparing himself for the game. This was no longer a game between children, it was the beginning of a war.

Dorian prepped himself before drawing out the first stick off of the pile.

“I shall go first, dear cousin.”

Dorian relaxed as the pile had only shifted a little. Alec outstretched his hand as he begun to take out one stick as well. He carefully withdrew it from the pile and saw it wobble, which made him worry a little.

“Please don’t fall… please don’t fall!”

It didn’t fall, and this time it was Dorian to take a stick out once again. Turns and turns later, and the pile had started to become harder to withdraw from, and when it became Dorian’s turn once more, he withdrew a stick and with it, the pile wobbled and wobbled.

“Uh oh.” “Is that the sound of victory, I hear?”

And crashed.

“Uh oh. Rematch?”

“Of course, I can just beat you all over again!”

2.45 – Vacation of Recovery

Wesley had lost his first ever patient yesterday, and the shock had hit him pretty hard from discovering that the operation hadn’t been successful. Everyone reassured Wesley that he did everything he could, and that he couldn’t have changed anything but Wesley still felt that it was his fault that Jacob died, it was his inexperience which caused the death of someone’s loved one. The hospital decided to give Wesley two days off as June decided to get out into the forests of Granite Falls for a little bit of a family vacation for Dorian’s upcoming birthday.

“Now everyone, keep calm. I’ll get us checked into our cabin.”

Everyone began to explore their immediate surroundings. Veronica found herself becoming attracted towards some of the wild plants that were growing in the vicinity; while she wanted to find out what type of plant they were, she didn’t want to taste them and suddenly become ill. Alec and Dorian decided that they were going to play a game of tag in the woods, and that Dorian was ‘it’ for now. Alec began to run deep within the forest as Dorian chased him, laughing at how serious Alec was taking the game.

“Don’t stray too far!” June said while she looked around for the park ranger. She gazed over at the pond where she saw her husband fishing where there was likely to be some good catches. June had tried to be supportive, and she had tried her best to cheer up Wesley but how can you cheer up someone when they think someone’s death was their fault? She watched as Wesley threw the line back into the pond, after an unsuccessful catch.

June had finally managed to find the park ranger, to which she immediately ran over to him to greet him. “Hey! We’re the Devine Family and we’re supposed to be staying in your largest cabin for three days and two nights.”

“Oh, I didn’t expect you to arrive so timely. This is perfect, you can move right on in!” The park ranger smiled as he ushered June near the front door, while June waited before going in so that she could ask him a few questions.

“Is there a horseshoe rack around the back? I promised my son and my nephew that we’d play together and I’d hate to break a promise because they’re so sacred and spe–“

“Yes, there’s a horseshoe rack.” The park ranger interrupted while June confirmed a few last minute things before waving goodbye to the park ranger and moving into the home.

“See ya soon!”

Let’s just say that June’s horseshoe game wasn’t as extraordinary as everyone thought it was going to be.

What?! I missed. What the heck?

“I guess Mom isn’t as amazing at this as we thought. We actually have a shot at beating her at something!”

Everyone retired for the evening as they headed into their own separate bedrooms and slept until the sun began to rise on the horizon. June awoke while Veronica had already began preparing breakfast for people; Callum’s favourite scrambled eggs and the boys’ pancakes with maple syrup. Veronica had saved the best ingredients for June and herself, cooking them a nice English breakfast. After breakfast, June headed out where she was momentarily blinded by a white light and when it disappeared, she only saw a book on the floor.

“Huh, what’s this?” June muttered to herself as she took a closer look at the book.

 Picking it up off of the ground, she looked at the title and felt her hands shake as memories began to flood back to her. Marisa’s autobiography was somehow right in front of her. June wasn’t able to find it after Marisa died and found it weird that it wasn’t with the majority of her belongings but now it made sense as to why it wasn’t with her. June guessed that their relatives from out of the world decided to pick up Marisa’s last words and see if it would teach them anything about our world, and June could only hope they learnt good things.

Meanwhile, Wesley had just caught a really massive fish ever! He raised it in the air as he flung his hand up to catch it. He watched as it’s body flew, and thought about how much money he could get from selling it.

And it was then he heard a voice calling his name, “Wesley.”

All of a sudden, Wesley felt himself being pulled through a tight tube and he found himself in somewhere completely different.

2.44 – Tough Illnesses

Wesley returned to work once again as he checked in, changed into his scrubs and shut his locker door before heading downstairs to check the vitals of some of his patients. He enjoyed working in this hospital, as everyone was calm and there wasn’t usually any problems. Wesley’s new thesis on treating certain illnesses was widely accepted by the Hospital and the Simlish Medical Boards and they had decided to award Wesley with few promotions himself, which allowed him to excel within the workplace.

He had a few interns of his own, and while he sent them away to check on some of his patients, he began to run tests to diagnose a new patient called Jacob. Jacob had called in earlier due to him feeling a bit of a pain in his stomach, and burning at the back of his throat which was an unnatural combination and Wesley thought that things didn’t look good.

“Could you open your mouth for me?” Wesley asked and as Jacob opened his mouth, Wesley began inspecting the inside with a light, while also measuring the temperature inside of his mouth.

“Woah, it says 38 degrees on here!”

“Do I have a fever, Doc?” Jacob inquired while Wesley considered a few options. Jacob had a fever, but there were no visible signs of sweating anywhere, nor any signs of him even acknowledging the fever’s existence. And there was also the fact that he had a burning pit inside of his stomach. Wesley couldn’t put his finger on it, and it annoyed him so much. Still, Wesley had to put on a smile and tell Jacob what he thought about his current situation.

“I think we’re going to have to run a few more tests because I can’t seem to pinpoint what’s wrong with you. You have too many symptoms so I believe you might have a combination of illnesses, which means that you’ll be hard to treat.” Wesley told Jacob, who laid back on the seat and wondered if he was ever going to get past this illness. Jacob felt his eyes beginning to blur as Wesley continued to speak to him.

“I think if stay here, I can closely observe you and see what route is best when it comes to treating you.”

The sudden shift changed when Jacob lost consciousness as he fell onto the seat and felt the heat rise and overcome him. Wesley had started to shout for a nurse to help him, while Jacob’s body began to sweat and sweat, expelling all of the internal heat Jacob had been keeping inside of him this entire time. Wesley watched as Jacob began to cough, and sneeze, and he watched as Jacob cried out in pain while cradling his belly. And then it hit Wesley, that there’s something inside of his stomach making him feel all of these symptoms come to be.

“Get me an operating table, I need to extract something out of this patient Nurse Fray.” Wesley had instructed but the nurse remained where she was.

“Doctor George might not be pleased with that, he is the doctor on call, after all.”

“I don’t care, this man is dying! GET ME AN OPERATING ROOM.” Wesley shouted with all of his might. He wasn’t going to let a man die tonight.

“You’re going to be okay.”

Season 1 – Episode 10

Standing in this room reminds me of the happy endings that I promised to bring everyone. Two months had passed since the funeral of Heather and the investigation ended with the fact that they couldn’t find her killer, nor could they find any evidence to point at any specific person. People did call Carl under suspicion, but his alibi was proven to be true so he was spared. I promised myself that I would bring justice to him, but I wasn’t sure of how I would do it.

I gave myself a makeover as well, after Penelope’s constant comments about the way that I look. I’m beginning to think the reason that she hates me is because I was spending time with Luke, which was clearly over when he made fun of Alexander. For the two months, I had spent them adding to the board, which was now filled with enough information on everyone that even I was surprised at the new things I had discovered.

Oh crap! It’s Luke’s birthday today, which means that he’s going to have a party. I guess his birthday is a good enough that I can forgive him today, but I’ll go buy him a present as well. I left the house after I checked that the room was locked properly, and I heard his voice call from behind me.

“Evelyn!” Luke shouted as he ran towards me and he was catching up with his breathing when he continued to speak. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been great. Happy Birthday, by the way.” I replied with an under layer of coldness towards him which I did feel apologetic for.

“I’m sorry for how I judged Alexander. He’s actually a great guy, now that I’ve gotten to know him. We even message each other everyday, haha.” Luke mentioned and I was shocked. Luke and Alexander almost never really became close at all in the show and now, they’re talking to each other everyday? Things were certainly changing into an unknown world.

“I forgive you, and now I can tell you that I’m heading into town to buy your birthday present so you can’t come with me!” I laughed as Luke sighed in disappointment but laughed afterwards.

“Damn! I guess I’ll be seeing you tonight at my party then?” That was just an invitation, right?! I got myself invited, yes! I played it cool as I accepted his invitation, and smiled.

“Yeah, totally!” I replied as we finished up our conversation.

I took a taxi over to the shopping centre where I saw a variety of shops that I could get Luke’s present from. I ventured to the middle of the shopping centre and made a mental note of all the shops I had to visit. But, I felt something tap my shoulder and when I turned around I was honestly surprised. Alison was standing before me, and I stood dumb-struck as she began to speak.

“I know it’s weird seeing me, but I wanted to tell you that I do want to be your friend, no matter what Penelope says. Penelope is a little hard to deal with, but she’s been a really good friend to me, so I hope you can understand why I’m friends with her.” Alison explained, and of course I understood. Penelope was the person who saved Alison’s life from her abusive father, and gave her a place to live, and Alison had felt that she hasn’t repaid Penelope’s kindness so far.

“I think I can understand, and I’m glad that you’re honest with me so I think we can be friends.” I replied with joy and Alison smiled as she hooked her arm around mine and led me to various shops. Most of them were for girls, but the ones for guys that we went into, Alison helped me find some high quality items that were sold for quite cheap. I knew that Luke needed a new lamp after it almost exploded in his bedroom one night, so I bought a really nice one that would go with his bedroom aesthetic.

“See, you’ve now got a ton of good presents to give to Luke now.” Alison commented as she looked into my bags, and she grabbed hold of something in one of the bags and withdrew some underwear that I bought. “And something for yourself, ey?”

“Alison!” I snatched it from her and placed it back in the bag while the both of us began to laugh. It was so loud that people kept looking at us while they passed, but I didn’t care. I had found a friend that I could go shopping with, would look at art supplies with me (She was so interested in the different types of paint!) and give me a few tips on make-up where I was weakest.

“Well, what do we have here.” I hear the cold voice climb up my spine as I turn around to reveal Penelope, who also had some kind of makeover, walking over to me and Alison, and Alison gulping as Penelope’s eyes dagger towards her. “A traitor, and the idiot who doesn’t listen. Didn’t I tell you to leave this town?”

“Technically, you didn’t but you told her you’d do things to ruin her.” Alison reminded us and instantly felt guilty towards me. I didn’t mind however, but Penelope seemed to feel upset at something that I couldn’t pinpoint.

“Shut up! I thought you were going to be there for me, Alison! I thought after everything that’s happened to me, with my mother dying and my father becoming more angry these days, I thought that you’d be there for me. But, I see you with Evelyn and I just feel that you’re replacing me, that everyone just wants me gone and out of their life! I know I’m mean, and I know that I’m angry but it’s because it’s the only way I can stop people from trying to take advantage of me!”

Well, I knew that Penelope became nicer later on, but that was only because of what happened at the end of Season 2. But with what’s happening now, I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Penelope’s broken her own character open and allowed me to explore her inner thoughts and feelings, and I actually feel sorry for her. I took a step closer to Penelope as I tried to cheer her up.

“Look, everything will be okay. I promise. I haven’t stopped working to make sure that everyone’s happy, and that includes you.” Crap, what did I just say?

“What’re you on about? How can YOU of all people make me happy? I can’t be here, I’m going home!” Penelope pushed past me and ran off while I looked to Alison who was as dumbstruck as I was, however she came closer to me and gave me a hug as well. I didn’t want it but I felt like I needed it.

“Don’t worry, Penelope will be at the party tonight so you can sort everything out then.” Alison reminded me, which seemed like the ideal opportunity because I think I want to become friends with Penelope as it seems like a good way to get into her house to find evidence against Carl.

“Awesome. It was fun shopping with you today, Alison! I hope we can do it more often.” I smiled at Alison, who agreed with me and we hugged again before we both went home to get changed for the party. However, I had the lingering feeling inside of me that after tonight, everything would change for me.

2.43 – A Mother’s Birthday Wish

“Happy Birthday Auntie Veronica!”

“It’s nothing really, I’m only becoming an adult and… oh my god, an adult! My life is practically almost over and I’m not ready for that!” Veronica despaired while she took a bite of her cookie. Veronica had begun to become quite proficient at baking, with the neighbours coming round asking for her recipes which she kept hidden. She promised herself she’d only pass them down to her son or Dorian, if either of them took up cooking or baking and from hearing Dorian say that he’d open a restaurant, she was sure that they would go to him.

“So, what’re you doing tonight then?” June asked with anticipation, while she hinted to Dorian that he should stop looking like he’d set someone on fire.

“I think I’m staying in with Callum and Alec and watching a film together with some popcorn, something sweet!” Veronica had said while June shook her head, wanting to debate on having a party instead.

“Let’s have a party! Maven wants us to use his house, since he had finally bought everything to furnish it and he wants people to see it without him throwing a housewarming party.”

“Hm… I’ll think about it. I’m going to get dressed and then I’ll go see Alec! Excuse me.” Veronica got up from her chair, went into her bedroom and put on her favourite outfit. Today was her day and she was too excited for it, she knew that they wanted to throw her a party at Maven’s and she was looking forward to it. She headed out into the garden areas to find her son right by the plants.

“Aww, he looks so jolly playing over there!”

“Alec, come over here and give the birthday mother a hug!” Veronica shouted as Alec ran over and gave his mother a massive hug.

“You’re my best friend mom, you know that?”
“I do, and you’re my best friend too.”
“Yes! Dad will be so jealous.”

Veronica was very pleased with her son, he knew exactly who to ask when he wanted something and he knew that mothers always were the best friend of their children… sometimes. “What do you want then?”

“Whaaaat? Who said that I wan– OK, Simtendo have brought out a new Voidcritters game and I really, really want it! Will you buy it for me Mom, please? I heard that you’re supposed to treat your children on your birthday.” Alec smiled at his mother, who then thought about it for a while before replying to her son.

“Okay then, I guess I could spare a few simoleons to get you the game!” Veronica replied and the look on Alec’s face was full of appeasement that he couldn’t help but jump up and down.

“Thanks Mom! You’re really the best!”

“Ok, head inside and get ready for the party! Maven and Savannah are coming around soon to take us there.” Veronica told her son as he nodded and went inside. After, Veronica made her way over to the graveyard where she saw Nathan and Marisa’s graves before her. She told herself not to cry as she smiled and began to speak. “It’s my birthday today, and I’m becoming an adult! It would’ve been nice if you would’ve been here but I guess life has plans for all of us. I don’t even think I’ll be around for when my son becomes an adult, but I wanted to tell you that Callum has grown into an impressive young man and I can see in Alec’s eyes that your grandson won’t disappoint you either. I still wish the both of you were here though.”

Veronica smoothed both of the graves with her hand before she turned around, but the rising pollen in the air made her sneeze again and again.

“There’s so much pollen!”

Using one of Nathan’s recipes, she had made a strawberry pie and managed to keep it hidden for long enough that she could take it to Maven’s with her once they were ready to leave. Not long after, Maven had come around, wished Veronica a happy birthday and led them on a journey to his house and everyone was certainly shocked when they saw the house appeared before them. It was smaller than the Devine house, but it didn’t stop it from looking as homely as it did.

*que :OOOO sounds*

Everyone inside had wished Veronica a happy birthday and had also helped themselves to the pie that Veronica cooked but luckily Veronica had another one in the oven as they took more and more from the pie. She had also found herself talking to Elsa Bjergsen as she began to tell everyone about the time she wrestled a bear in Granite Falls.

“It came up behind me, and I was scared at first, but then I saw it’s eyes met mine and I was no longer afraid. I hugged it’s body and threw it onto the ground. It clawed my leg, which healed spectacularly well since the doctor said it would scar.” Elsa said while Wesley began to laugh.

“Actually, she had fainted from the shock of seeing the bear and I said she would be okay.” Wesley corrected and everyone began to laugh, but Elsa wouldn’t lose this battle.

“Yeah right! My doctor was way more handsome than you.” “I’m married, I’m not interested.” “HAHAHA!”

When the cake was cooked and cool enough, June placed candles on it and called Veronica over as she began to sing Happy Birthday, to which everyone joined in. Veronica didn’t know her birthday wish at all, since all she had wished for was a good life, and now that she had it, she didn’t know what was next. But, when she saw her happy son singing happy birthday, she knew that she should wish for him to have a good life now. And so, she closed her eyes and blew out the candles.

And then…

“MY HOUSE!”
“Sorry Maven!”

2.42 – Small Vignettes

Alec only had three levels of the latest PlumbobQuest™ game until he had completed it, and he knew that there was no way he was going to leave his seat until he had completed the three of those levels. Making sure he had enough to drink, eat and emptying his bladder, Alec sat down and firmly placed his hands onto the keyboard. “Right, I’ve only got to go inside of the castle, rescue the princess and find the Golden Plumbob. Simple!”

However, things are always easier said than done as Alec found himself dying countless times while on these levels but he did not give up!

“Let’s do this!”

Two hours later, and Alec found himself conquering the last boss just before his mom told him that it was time for him to leave for school. He quickly packed up his backpack, and ran for the school bus before it decided to leave without Alec. At school, Alec told everyone about his triumphant victory over the Demon Lord and how he got the Golden Plumbob and it certainly gained him some popularity within the school. At the end of the school day, the teacher also announced that Alec had moved up a grade so he was now a Grade A student! Alec felt so proud of himself and it was truly the best day of Alec’s life so far.

“Honour Roll, here I come!”

In other news, Callum finally thought it was time that he took the Potion of Youth that he had been able to procure a while ago. There’s still a lot that Callum felt that he had to do, and his back had already began to ache more often. Taking a deep breath, Callum took the Potion of Youth and drank it in one go as he began to felt the youthful vigour return back to his body.

2.41 – Mothers

“Mom, is there a monster lurking under my bed? Everyone in my class has a monster, and I don’t and I sort of feel left out because everyone’s making friends with their monsters and I have no monster to be friends with.” Alec sighed as he sat down at the breakfast bar and ate a bite of his popcorn. Veronica laughed as she opened up one of Alec’s favourite storybooks and began to read from the page that was bookmarked.

“The old man shook his head as he looked down to the young boy, ‘If you want something to happen, you should only wish for it and if you truly believe that it will come true, then it will.’ The boy took this advice, ran home and wished for a dog to come into his possession.” Veronica looked over to Alec, who shrugged his shoulders.

“Read on! I want to see what happens!”

“The next day, the boy woke up to find a pug snuggled up right next to him. He tried to contain his excitement to not wake up the pug but the boy couldn’t help but squeal and thank the Maker for making his wish come true. — Alec, if you want the monster to appear, maybe you should just wish for it to appear?” Veronica explained to her son, in which Alec took careful consideration in his decision. He’d gain his own monster, but what if it wasn’t a nice monster and was really mean to him and scared him? Alec couldn’t deal with something like that, it could take all of his cheerfulness away!

“Maybe I’ll wait and see later if I really want a monster under my bed…” Alec reconsidered as he stepped off of the stool to head upstairs to get changed for school. Veronica closed the book and headed outside to the where the new Wishing Well had been placed as it had been decreed by the Simlish Council that the Devines now had to own a Wishing Well because they need some place to put their loose change without it overflowing their banks. Holding a spare simoleon in hand, Veronica tossed it into the fountain and wished for a little bit of help with knowledge.

Suddenly, the fountain began to emit a golden light as strands began to surround Veronica and warmly embrace her.

“Ooh, what’s happening?!”

As the warm light enveloped Veronica, she found her mind opening up and allowing knowledge to flood right into it, enriching her mind with facts and statistics that she had never known before. Did you know that 1 in 5 goobleck is slightly radioactive? Veronica smiled as she walked back into the house with a mind full of knowledge that she was desperate to use and so when she saw Dorian struggling with his homework, she immediately ran over to see what was wrong. “Hey Dorian, what’re you stuck on? I BET I can help you!”

“Well, we’re supposed to write 500 words on what we want to achieve by the time we’re an elder, and I’m not sure of my own personal goals. I know I’m a child, and I’ve got my whole life ahead of me but if I have some idea of what I want to do, then maybe it’ll make me happier later on in life.” Dorian explained to Veronica, who ran though algorithms that were programmed into her head by the Wishing Well to think of a solution.

“Why don’t you take inspiration from jobs that your mom, dad and grandparents had? Your grandfather, Nathan worked in the Restaurant Industry and he was this close to getting his own restaurant before… you know.” Veronica sighed as she looked down to the ground but looked back to Dorian as she continued.

“Or maybe there’s something else that might interest you just as much.”

“Auntie Veronica, I think I’m going to complete Granddad’s dream for him. Why don’t I own a restaurant, and one day become a world-renowned chef owns a five star restaurant where all of the top celebrities come and eat at? I think it’s a great way of making me happy, because I can make someone else happy. Plus, I’ve got Granddad’s name as my middle name for a reason, so maybe this was it!” Dorian became firm in his plan as he began to write down his plan of action for owning a restaurant while Veronica stood triumphant as she believed that it was due to her wisdom that Dorian was able to be led down this path.

“Let me know if you need any of my cookbooks, I still have some of Granddad’s as well that he gave to me!” Veronica smiled as she began to think about the restaurant that Dorian wanted to open.

“He’s going to need some professional help. Luckily, I can fill that position perfectly!”

Later on, June journeyed to the kitchen to begin adding upgrades to the oven which was a very careful process as the oven could potentially explode while June was using it, so she had to have her full concentration on upgrading it. However, the silence that June needed was soon to be thwarted when Alec arrived in the room and walked over to June with a smile on his face.

“Hi Aunt!” He beamed as June made the final adjustments to the stove as she slowly screwed the last screw back into the frame of the stove, which then made her feel a sense of relief as she knew that the stove had been fully upgraded.

“Hey Alec.” June smiled as she opened the fridge and began to look for upgradable parts. The fridge could be upgraded so that the quality of food kept within the fridge would improve, and she could also upgrade the fridge so that it would never break, by installing tough metal within the inner frames of the fridge. “Hm Alec, would you prefer an unbreakable fridge or a fridge that keeps the food cool at a higher quality?”

“Higher quality! I’m so hungry right now that I think I could eat an entire feast whole!” Alec groaned as he felt his stomach rumble, but then his bladder also filling up really quickly, making him bursting to want to go to the toilet. He tried to hold it in, but it was no use as he had already began to move to avoid the feeling of wanting to go.

“Nooo!”

Meanwhile, June was too fixated on improving the fridge to notice Alec’s disappearance, she had kept herself focused for the past couple of weeks as she knew that Dorian’s birthday was coming up which meant that she would gradually have to pass the torch over to Dorian. Because of that, she wanted to make sure that Dorian had nothing major to worry about while he took over as the head of the household. Alec felt that he needed to go to the toilet in that instant, so he looked over to June.

“Right, I’ll be right back Aunt!” Alec smiled as he gave his Aunt a wave before running right over to the toilet.