Woods Random Legacy: Chapter 52 - Someday

Love Day had once been James's favorite holiday of the year, but he had to admit that it had lost much of its appeal over the years.  He had nobody to spend it with, and his attempts to organize a party had met with failure.  He still sent the invitations out, but much of his old crowd was dead, didn't like him anymore, or had otherwise moved on with their lives.

As he surveyed the festival grounds, his fears were confirmed - not a single one of them had showed up, even the two who had returned the RSVP.  That was just disrespectful.

If only they knew who he really was, then they wouldn't dare.  But no, he'd kept that a secret for too long to spoil it all now.  He wasn't going to spend the last years of his life locked away in a cell somewhere.  Taming the temper that flared within him, he approached the kissing booth, slipping five simoleons into the waiting hand of the young woman behind it.  He was sure it would be the only kiss he'd get today, so he would make it count.

Omicron stayed at home to catch up on his late homework, but Epsilon stopped by the festival in the afternoon.  She wasn't sure what she had been expecting - a park full of boys just waiting for a girl to show up? - but it wasn't what she found.  She resigned herself to the egg hunt - put out for the little kids, really, though anybody could participate if they wanted - rather than any possibility of romance.

Then, it started to rain.

Epsilon sighed, abandoning the childish game.  She should get home before the sky really opened up.  No, not home - she had a better idea.

As she approached Alpha's house, Epsilon could hear a baby wailing.  She certainly didn't envy her sister the twins she'd given birth to!  One baby was enough of a handful, let alone two.  Nobody answered the front door, but the crying didn't really sound like it was coming from inside the house.  Wandering around the side, she found the source.

"Al!"
Alpha smiled tiredly to Epsilon as the rain continued to pour down.  "Hey Epsi.  Sorry about all this, if I'd known you were coming by..."
Epsilon shook her head.  "Don't worry about it, I've seen you dealing with worse.  Why are you out in the rain, though?"
Alpha glanced down to the angry infant.  "I'd be inside if I could, Marsha just won't stop screaming.  She was setting Niki off, so Mason suggested that I bring her outside until she calmed down.  I've been out here for almost twenty minutes, and she's still going strong.  I don't know what to do!"
"Al.  Give her here."  Epsilon held out her arms for the infant, accepting the swaddled child and following Alpha towards the door.

"There you are.  You're gonna stop crying now, okay?  You need to be nice and not upset your sister!"
Alpha glanced back as the baby's cries slowed, turning into coos.  "How did you do that?  I tried everything."
Epsilon shrugged, bouncing the baby for a few more moments before depositing her in a convenient playpen.  "She might just like the sound of my voice.  Or maybe she was all cried out anyway, and it was just a coincidence."
Alpha smiled as Epsilon walked over to her.  "You'll make a great mom one day."

"Eh, I don't know."  Epsilon frowned, uneasy with that idea.  "I'm not really sure I like the idea of a little person depending on me like that.  My own life's messy enough already."
Alpha nodded.  "I can understand that.  Just wait, you might come around to the idea eventually.  Or not, plenty of people never have kids.  Have a seat, let's catch up.  We haven't properly talked since before I went into labor."
Epsilon nodded and took a seat on the sofa, settling in for a long rainy afternoon's chat with her sister.

Soon after the seasons shifted to summer, Epsilon's graduation came.  She graduated with the highest honor - of course - and quickly turned her attention to university admissions.  She soon realized how painfully unprepared she was to pursue a degree in the area of medicine.

The only award she qualified for in that area was the apprentice award, giving her only six credits towards her degree.  There went any hope of finishing in two terms, as it was impossible to make up forty-two credits in less than three terms, even taking a heavy load.  Luckily she'd been able to qualify for a partial scholarship, so the financial impact wouldn't be too terrible, but she'd been hoping for a faster start in her professional life.

She called up the university and arranged for her enrollment in the science and medicine program.  She'd take her heavy term first, leaving the second two terms with a normal credit load.

After she'd hung up, she stood on the porch for a few moments, looking at the phone in her hand.  Three more years, and then she'd be a doctor, with an income that could actually pay the bills.  She couldn't wait.

~ * ~

Such a short chapter for such a long period of time.  There really wasn't anything of note that happened in the last week the kids were teens.  It was just running out the clock until they were old enough for things to start happening again.  I originally had teen romance subplots planned for both kids, but generation 2 was dragging on.  It was time to move things along.

If you're keeping count at home, there two "years" left on Orcus's ultimatum, meaning that it's due to expire at the end of Epsilon's second term at university, which is also when Omicron will age up to YA.  Not that that means anything, necessarily. ;)

Yes, Alpha really was standing out in the yard, in the rain, with her baby.  I don't even...

To make the short update up to you guys, I have a few outtakes!

There's been no need for me to really control James since Alpha reached the teen lifestage.  They were self-sufficient at that point, and James was free to run his life into the ground, which he was perfectly capable of doing without my intervention.  However, this hands-off approach leads to situations such as this.  I like to imagine that he's dancing on top of the dishwasher to dissuade his children from cleaning up the smelly bowls on the breakfast bar.

This popped up when I moved Epsilon to my set lot save when shooting a scene for the next chapter.  In case you don't recognize her, that's the Seer, aka Acadia Darrow, aka Epsilon's MOTHER.  Hell no.  We are not going there.

This is an awesome picture that I took back when alien abduction was going to be part of the story for generation 2/3.  Unfortunately, I soon realized that it was actually a bug, and ditched that part of the story.  This is still a great perspective shot, though, so I needed to share it!

After I installed Island Paradise, all Omicron wanted to do was snorkel in the swimming pool.  While acceptable, I suppose, it was downright WEIRD.  Stop being so weird, Omi! >_<