Now I know why my mother kept asking when Cedrick and I were going to have children, thought Rose after breakfast one morning. Rose knew how Dahlia had felt as time passed and her hands began to look like they belonged on an older person’s body, and yet the hands longed to hold a grandchild.
Maebe’s movements were lithe and her posture graceful, but Rose knew that she was a few years older than Reed, and she encouraged her son not to put off having children. She smiled into his eyes, feeling the rewards of motherhood as she talked with her talented, successful son.
Reed was making great strides in his music career, having just been invited to play with the symphony. He and Poppy talked about music all the time, although he had chosen to pursue a more public muse than she had.
Reed wasn’t one-dimensional in his interests; he could often be found at the chess table. Most of the family played, and many weekends brought Foliage family tournaments for fun and bragging rights. Daisy would sometimes participate, but more often than not, she did her own thing, like checking the newspaper for some mysterious ad she had placed.
Maebe made a point of going out to the park on the weekend to mingle. She had taken a job at City Hall, and her boss told her it was important to get to know as many people as possible. That sounded great to Maebe, whose natural charisma helped her get along with almost everybody, even little Guadeloupe Fish, the paper boy. The only one who didn’t like Maebe was Daisy.
Daisy managed to stay out of the house as much as ever, though, so the two didn’t cross paths that often. While Poppy was good friends with Jameel French, Daisy had become closer to Carmelo. She had alternately flirted with him and palled around with him over the years, and she could finally take pride in the fact that she had lured him into her choice of “career.” He would be very useful in the execution of her little investment scheme. She made careful arrangements, even checking the time it would take to run from the drop point to the meet-up.
Soon she would be rich beyond her wildest dreams, and all the town powers would be humiliated and powerless. She could hardly control the dark laughter that bubbled up inside her!
Rose remained in many ways the opposite of her twin, preferring to stay close to home and cultivate her real and metaphorical gardens. One afternoon, her moments in the sunshine amid the green leaves and ripening fruits were cut short by a cry from within the house.
Poppy heard the cry too, from her place at the kitchen counter, where she was preparing Reed’s favorite meal. It came from upstairs, and she ran as fast as her aging legs could take her.
The family followed the noise and found Lily knocked out cold on the bathroom floor. The one doctor in the family was unconscious, and her daughter Blossom was speechless as Poppy checked for blood where her head had hit the floor. Amazingly, there was none! They helped her gently into bed, stunned yet relieved that their Lily had been spared. The worst seemed to be over, but in the days that followed, they discovered what real struggle was. Lily turned out to be hard-headed in more ways than one, as she refused to take it easy. If she had to take a few days off work, fine, but she would spend them helping out around the house. And she would not hear any talk of retiring! Rose, Poppy, Reed, and Blossom were at their wits’ end.
And no one was amused when someone – whose name started with D and ended with aisy – took one of the garden gnomes and placed it in a strategic position while Lily was concentrating on repairing the TV, against doctor’s orders.
Finally, Blossom went to Reed and shared her worries about her mother and her refusal to take care of her delicate health. She shared with him the plan she had, and he thought it was good, if a bit sad. He wanted to talk it over with his mother before Blossom said anything to Lily, though. They would have to make some arrangements.
Meanwhile, Iris was seeing a lot of Rogelio. He had changed his look a little, but she still felt her heart flutter whenever she saw him. He was always interested in hearing her talk about anything, and she told him about discovering a new comet, her mother teaching her how to harvest the “money” trees, and her brother Reed’s latest promotion. Rogelio’s eyes would just shine as she talked, and she hoped his heart was doing flipflops like hers was.
One day, after a long conversation about their favorite colors, foods, and music, they decided to make it official that they were boyfriend and girlfriend. Iris had never been so happy!
…………………………………………… Meanwhile, the youngest member of the Foliage household had been carrying a heavy burden of worry about her mother. The only reason she was able to keep her grades up in the final year of high school was her dedication to making her smart mother proud of her. Her Aunt Rose and Aunt Poppy, however, encouraged her to find a hobby to distract her from all the seriousness of her young life. So, after coming home from school, checking on her mother, and doing her homework, Blossom soon found herself checking out local fishing spots. She particularly enjoyed the pond at the park downtown and the spot just by the old pier at the beach. Of course, sometimes she liked to stay close to home and just fish at the pond in the back yard. It was pretty well stocked, too. Blossom began to dream of building a giant collection of the pretty fish she caught.
Finally, Blossom’s big day came. It was her eighteenth birthday, and a big party was planned. Reed tried to get away from work a little early, but the rehearsal ran long and he had to hurry home.
At home, family and friends gathered round in festive colors as Rose set out the birthday cake. Blossom loved the swish of her skirt and the spark of excitement in the air as so many smiling people looked on. She squinched up her eyes as she thought of a wish.
From behind the crowd, though, Iris saw something that was in no way the answer to somebody’s wish. No!
From where Iris was standing, she could see Poppy suddenly go ash white and drop to the floor, motionless. Hating everything about the situation, she rushed over to her aunt as the partygoers slowly realized that something was going terribly wrong. But there was no pulse, and not even a world-renowned surgeon like Lily could do anything to bring her back. Poppy was gone, just like that.
Lily was disconsolate after the loss of her twin. Blossom felt oddly guilty, as if the excitement of her birthday party had been the cause of her aunt’s heart attack, but her mother assured her that wasn’t possible. The family had a quiet funeral, with Daisy significantly absent. It was no secret that she and Poppy hadn’t seen eye-to-eye for years, but still Rose and Lily were heartsick about Daisy’s choice to stay away.
The one bright spot to come out of the tragedy was its effect on Iris. After seeing how quickly life could end, she resolved to take a big step. It was time to get on with things…
—-
[…] Next chapter Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)3-4 – An Adaptive Shift4.1 Birthday Candles and Flirty Glances3.6 Asunderthings we love […]
Note:
The weird thing that happened during play is that the Grim Reaper came for Lily, only unbeknownst to me, she had a death flower in her inventory from some gardening she had decided to do at some point. Since she didn’t die after all, it set her back to the beginning of her elder phase. Giving Grimmy a death flower is against Pinstar’s rules, but I didn’t mean to do it. So, as much as I hated to do it, I tried to re-introduce Lily to him by having her work on the teleporter and the big TV. (The mischievous little gnome just appeared there all on his own, lol!) However, industrious Lily survived, and I didn’t have the heart to drown or starve her. I do have a plan, though, which will show up in the next chapter.
Heh, those pesky gardeners and their death flowers, tell me about it!
I love the emotion in this chapter. Poor Blossom, so troubled – but yay for a fishing sim. Wait until she’s caught all of the perfect fish before putting them in bowls. Trust me.
Gen 3 are really getting old, aren’t they? Goodbye Poppy – I guess it won’t be too long before the others join her. And admit it, you LOVE writing Daisy, don’t you? 😉
Did you notice how happy Blossom looked catching her fish? It’s been a real breakthrough for her! The family has had a few perfect fish in bowls for three generations now; you may have seen them in Rose and Cedrick’s bedroom and in Reed’s; they seem to add a lot to the environmental/decor moodlets. But yes, the whole collection would be a bit much. It’s too bad that Rose is unable to fish more often than not, since she’s maxed it. Wish I knew what made that happen.
Yes, it is Geritol time around the Foliage house. (Do you get Geritol over there? It’s one of those supposed old-age remedies.)
I do enjoy writing Daisy’s mischief, but I have to say I was very sad to see Poppy go. She ran Rose a VERY close race for heiress. Silly hatred of the outdoors…
I’m glad fishing makes Blossom happy. I fear her happiness might be short lived with the Gen 3 getting old thing, so I hope she can do more of the fishing to keep her spirits up….
Well that is certainly an interesting turn of events. Poor Poppy….and at Blossom’s birthday party, too. 😦
The garden gnome situation was hilarious! I need to use gnomes more in my houses. 🙂
Yay for Iris and Rogelio! I wonder if you’ll make her move out or stay…. especially since Reed will likely be having some babies soon.
Yeah, Blossom’s birthday parties are real popular with ol’ Reapie.
I have another garden gnome shot that is pretty funny, but it doesn’t fit into the story at all. Maybe I’ll put it up on the Bloopers page this weekend. They amuse me greatly. 🙂
I like to keep my spares around when possible, but crowded legacy houses are hard to run. More people means more chances to get points (esp portraits and LTWs!), but more pause, check, click, go, pause, check, click, etc.
We need more Daisy spam!
awwww Poppy died.
I think lots of people have problems with death flowers accidently getting into inventories.
Love the gnome. I can’t get enough of the magic gnomes.
Aww, she did see some action this time, though. And she DID actually convert Carmelo from his previous career to a life of crime. I think he had been in the culinary field, and after she increased her relationship with him, he suddenly showed up with a co-worker icon in her relationship panel. Can you hear her evil little chuckle from there?
I still wish Daisy had, had children. They could have been fun. But she can still sleep with the male spouses? Please!You know you want too!
I wish all my sims could have kids. I love the genetics. Unfortunately, there is only so much room in the house!
Just thought I would pop in and say that I am really enjoying your legacy. Your unique style of writing really enables characters to come to life. Keep up the good work
Hi! Glad you’re enjoying it – thanks for letting me know you’re reading.
I popped over to look at your legacy. For some reason, it wouldn’t let me comment, so I’ll say it here:
Yours is the first legacy blog I’ve read in graphic novel format, and it’s working well!! I laughed at Torgo “preparing for work” and completing his comedian challenge by consoling a widower. Congrats on your excellent pointage!
Hurray for updates! Poor Poppy! I had thought Lily had passed out from needs failure or something, and that we were going to see her pass this time around. I didn’t even think it was a “saved by the Death flower” experience!
And I love the gnomes! I have never EVER been able to find one in my game, so I love living vicariously through those who have them =D
Hi Sunflower! I love the gnomes, too. I suggest fishing for long stretches of time. I’ve gotten them twice this way, and never from having gems cut.
[…] Previous chapter […]
Your opening lines are lovely DB. The sentiment behind those few first lines brought me right back into this soulful legacy.
Aw… Daisy more interesting in ads and then checking pick off-drop off times! Can’t wait what that little (now a little old looking) rascal comes up with! 🙂
Gosh, I thought Lily died there… then I read your explantion. Not your fault I would say and hooray for Lily living longer. The story counts, not the challenge! Welll… the challenge counts less than the story. 😉
LOL – is that garden gnome looking under her skirts?
I suppose he would… they are both grey haired after all.
Awww! Poppy… (my favourite name so far). Blosom must feel terrible… I hope relaxing being outdoors with a fishing rod and the quiet peace nature brings she will recover soon! 🙂
Aww, thanks! 🙂
Daisy is just incorrigible. She’s always scheming at something.
Yes, that impertinent little gnome is behaving very badly!
I know! Poppy was a GREAT sim. Very expressive and quick to skill. ~sniff~ But it wasn’t Blossom’s fault.