November 7, 2010
Chapter 19: The End of a Legacy
Author’s Note: Well, here it is, the final chapter. I kind of rushed through this a bit, and I am sorry, but I’ve been really busy lately, and if I didn’t post this now, then I never would. I just want to thank all the people who took the time to read this. Thank you all so much, you really made writing this worth it.
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Chapter 19: The End of a Legacy
Ruben didn’t outright accuse Havana of cheating, but he began to see things differently. Finding excuses to skip work for the day, he began to spend more and more time around the house, just watching to see what was out of place. It disturbed him a bit to see how everything in the house seemed to flow well without him. His son Brisbane barely knew his face, and he hated how Dewey was the first person the little boy and Havana called for whenever they needed anything. Ruben realized he couldn’t let things continue this way, and decided to quit his job. He got a job in the criminal track where he could work less hours and made over his appearance to make himself seem more cool, but unfortunately ended up only having the opposite effect.
Ruben = Mr. Cool
Making himself over didn’t really change things between Ruben and his wife, but it did make Havana and Dewey decide to put some distance in their relationship. Neither of them liked the idea very much, but knew that it was for the best. Things had, after all, gotten out of hand. Still, though they put distance between them, this did not include Dewey moving out of the house, something he absolutely refused to do, especially since Havana had just delivered his baby, a little girl named Sydney.
It's a girl!
Daddy's girl
Sydney was Dewey’s life. Not that he wasn’t extremely fond of his nephew Brisbane, who was so alike him personality wise that he could have been his own son. But he seemed to have that special bond with his daughter. She was the first person he went to whenever he entered the house, and he seemed to go on the offensive if Ruben even looked like he was going to touch her, which upped the tension between the two brothers considerably, especially since neither Dewey nor Havana had yet to admit publicly that he was the father. By the time she became a toddler, Ruben had stopped trying to put up any pretense at being the girl’s father.
Hands off
Baby Sydney
Brisbane
Even Havana seemed to dote more on the little girl, giving the baby all the love and attention she couldn’t give to the girl’s father. Sydney for her part, lavished in all of the attention, and was a sweet little thing. That is, until she became school aged and her personality changed drastically. Not that she wasn’t still sweet, she really did have her moments of adorableness, but upon aging she had developed the hothead trait and found herself blowing up at the smallest things. Daddy’s precious angel could just as easily become his terror of a demon at the drop of a hat, but mostly with everyone else. With Dewey, she tended to cling to him and see him as her knight in shining armor to save her from the rest of the world.
Sydney
The one thing that would keep Sydney calm was her love of music. It seems she also developed her virtuoso’s mother’s obsession for all things musical. But where Havana had allowed marriage and family to hold her back from becoming the rock star she had long dreamed of, she was determined to not let the same happen to her daughter. Buying a guitar, giving her lessons, and taking her regularly to concerts, meant that by the time Sydney became a teenager she was already an accomplished musician and had a love of music deeply rooted in her soul.
School of rock
Her dream of being a rockstar taking precedence, Sydney decided that nothing else in her life mattered. Especially school, she spent more time skipping than actually attending, and when she did go she slept through most of her classes. Naturally this didn’t sit well with her parents, who tried everything they could to stop her from failing or being a drop out. But Sydney didn’t care, she was a musician, the only math she figured she needed was the numbers to count off the start of a song. With this mentality in mind, she finally did stop going to school, choosing instead to spend her time hanging around the new nightclubs that had sprung up around town, and trying to get gigs wherever she could, even if that meant playing her guitar in the park until wee hours of the night or hogging the karaoke machine.
Teen Sydney
Superstar Sydney and Dewey
Drama queen
It wasn’t until Sydney reached the legal age as a young adult before she was able to get a proper job of tending bar at the local club that steered her on course for the rest of her life. Often finding herself serving drinks to the featured bands, it was there that’s she met Frankie, the lead guitar player from one of the new up-and-coming bands in town. Finding herself instantly attracted to him, she began to see Frankie as more than a love interest, but also as a means to an end. Frankie may be new to town, but he already had dozens of connections to all the right people in the business. That info alone was enough to have Sydney star struck. With an offer from him to tour with them as the band’s bassist and singer, Sydney found herself with a dilemma on her hands. Touring with the band would put her one step closer to seeing her name in lights, but it would also mean she would forfeit the family legacy that was left to her.
All about Frankie
As expected, Sydney’s family wasn’t happy with the situation one bit. Havana was more understanding about it than the rest, after all, she had long dreamed of doing it herself, but she feared seeing her family’s legacy die. With no female heir as a spare, the house and money would all go to one of the distant cousins around town once Havana died, and she had no daughter living in the house to claim it. Dewey didn’t care about that; he just didn’t want to see his little girl going off with some random guy she barely knew for a pipe dream.
Siblings all grown up
Despite this, Sydney felt it was an offer she couldn’t pass up. If she let it go now, there was no telling if or when she’d be offered another one, and if she stayed behind she would always regret it. So packing up her things, she had little more than her guitar and duffel bag when she slipped out of the house late one night, and into Frankie’s waiting car. Not even bothering to leave a note. They may all not be on speaking terms after this, but Sydney was sure that some day after she made it big they would see that it all had been worth it.
As expected, the Van Pagan household was in an uproar the next day when they realized Sydney was gone. Angry and sad at their daughter for having left like that, it was a long while before the hurt had dulled enough that they could even mention her name aloud.
Time passed, and it wasn’t until Havana left out of the house to get the morning paper that she realized that there was a basket on her doorstep. Lifting back the cover, somehow she wasn’t really surprised to see the scrunched up face of a little baby staring back at her as it sucked on its fingers. Not sure of what to make of the sight, Havana searched through the blankets hoping to find some bit of identification, which turned up a short slip of paper, and not much else.
Nothing but a short note explaining:
“We named her Seoul on account of we were working on a new rock/blues fusion when I had her Korea.”
Tucking the letter in her pocket, she lifted the baby up slowly. No doubt the letter was from her wayward daughter. Havana could do nothing but shake her head. Maybe the Van Pagan legacy wasn’t dead after all…
baby Seoul, the next generation
The End…
Chapter 18: Love Is As Love Does
Author’s Note: Ok all, I know that I have taken the longest time with this legacy, and for that I apologize. But the end is this near (the next chapter in fact), so I hope that you bear with me just a little longer.
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Chapter 18: Love is as Love Does
Life in the Van Pagan household proceeded very quietly after the birth of the children. It was as if motherhood quelled the all the old rivalries between the twins, instead allowing them to be close as they should have been as children. It was something that Petra and Joanne were extremely grateful for as they were getting older and wanted to have as much happiness with their family as possible in the little time that they had left. And it seemed as if all that happiness revolved the next heir of the family, baby Havana.
Baby Havana
Baby Melbourne
Havana was utterly adorable, though it seemed as if Vienna had overdone it in the hair dye department, because the toddler soon sprouted a head of bright pink hair to match her mother. A bit feisty, the toddler was smart, and a virtuoso in the music department. And it never took her long to have everyone she met soon wrapped around her little finger. Growing to school age only added another layer of people to fawn over her. Tommy had a hard time keeping the boys away from his house, though Vienna encouraged it as everything about Havana was like the persona she had always dreamed of having when she was younger, but without the effort. Melbourne on the other hand was more just as smart, but more laid back than his older cousin, which often left him in the background, though he preferred it this way. His mother Venice, in her oft reclusive ways, was grateful for this.
Whateva!
Mommy & son date
Teen Havana
Teen Melbourne
Havana’s talents and beauty only seemed to grow as she aged into an adult. Finally she was able to get the freedom she had long craved, especially since after the sudden deaths of her dad and uncle, her mom and aunt decided to move out of the house to escape the sad memories and bought a condo in town, leaving her and Melbourne on their own. Left freely to her own devices, Havana set out to put her mark on the world…and every bachelor in town. Fortunately after guy number two her guy chasing came to a sudden halt when two new “family” members moved into the Van pagan household, Ruben and Dewey, Melbourne’s half-brothers, his father Adrian’s two children from his first marriage.
Rockin out!
Dewey & Ruben
For Havana seeing Ruben, it was love at first sight, and she put all her well learned talents to use to claim him for herself, including her almost daily “accidents” of walking in on him while he was in the shower, and her absentmindedly falling asleep in his bed. As to be expected, it wasn’t long at all, before Havana had him heading to the altar in a private wedding with just the two of them under the stars.
Mr. Right
Havana was ecstatic, she felt like she was finally ready to settle down, and for awhile everything was perfect. The two of them even had a baby on the way, and Ruben got a new job as a firefighter, something he had long dreamed of. But, as was typical of the Van Pagan household, this did not last long.
Ruben’s firefighting job kept leading him to spend more and more time at the firehouse, often on call there for more than a few days at a time, increasing steadily with each promotion. Ruben was happy with this arrangement, but it led to Havana more and more feeling alone and estranged from her husband. He was never home, and when he was, he was either sleeping or talking about the job, and there was only so much talk about chasing pyromaniac garden gnomes a woman could take. As a result, Havana found herself turning more and more towards her brother-in-law Dewey, the only person who seemed to be around whenever she felt the need to talk or hang out, her cousin Melbourne often out with his girlfriend to be available.
Dewey comfort
Dewey was perfect company for her. He was a cook at the local restaurant, and yet he always seemed to have time for her, whether it was to talk, watch a movie, or even just to give her a back rub whenever she seemed tense. The two of them had a lot in common; they could sit in silence and still not get bored with each other’s company. He understood what the problems between Havana and Ruben were doing to her, and he tried his best to make things better, including talking to his brother to try to smooth things over between them. But with Ruben working towards his next promotion, he didn’t really have time to listen to what his brother was saying. It was Dewey and Melbourne who was there to take care of Havana when she went into labor and baby boy Brisbane was born, Ruben not showing up until they were already home from the hospital. And though he was thoroughly upset at having missed the big event, the guilt didn’t have him changing up his hours one bit.
Confrontation
Baby Brisbane
For Havana, enough was enough. If Ruben wasn’t willing to be there, she wasn’t going to worry about it anymore. She had Dewey, and he was more than enough. Without him, baby Brisbane would have no father figure at all. Kind, sweet, available, it was no wonder that she soon found herself falling in love with him, and subsequently sleeping with him as well.
An affair to remember
Havana thought she would feel more guilt about her secret trysts with her brother-in-law, but honestly, Ruben was around so seldom that it was like she wasn’t keeping anything secret at all. The affair was so out in the open, that it was almost as if Havana wanted to get caught, often finding herself falling asleep in Dewey’s bed while Ruben was home, and yet he remained oblivious to it all. Even Melbourne ignored it all, at times finding it hard to remember which brother his cousin was actually married to. But finally things came to a head when Havana found out she was pregnant.
And, being that Ruben hadn’t touched his wife in more days than he could remember, he was more than a little suspicious…
Due date?
August 29, 2010
Chapter 17: Double Toil, Double Trouble
Author’s Note: Ok, all, I know, I know, I’ve really been MIA, but truly my excuses are sound. I was away on vacation for some weeks with no computer available to me, and then I moved right after which also left me unconnected. I’m really sorry for the long hiatus. Hopefully it will not happen again. Lol, at this point I’ve been so long from the game I can barely remember what went on in it, so the chapter may seem a littl rushed. But thank you to all who are still reading this.
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Chapter 17: Double Toil, Double Trouble
The birth of the twins, Vienna and Venice, really turned the Van Pagan household upside down. The girls were no doubt adorable, but they were just so noisy. No one in the house got any sleep until they became toddlers, which couldn’t come soon enough in Petra’s opinion. With Joann so often on call at the hospital, she was frequently left alone with both girls, as Petra’s parents died back to back not long after the twins were born.
But with their first birthday came peace, as despite the many differences between the girls, their one common trait were as “loners”, and neither ever minded being left to play on their own whenever Petra decided to spend one-on-one time with the other, or just needed a little alone time for herself.
However, after that one trait, all similarities between the two ended. They were not identical in either looks or personality. Vienna, the older of the two, was good, yet excitable. She truly was an angel, and was always well behaved, though she was known to be a bit absent minded at times.
Little Vienna
Little Venice
Venice
Vienna
Venice on the other hand, wasn’t necessarily bad, only that she was born with the insanity trait, which meant that days with her were wholly unpredictable. Petra was never sure whether her little girl was going to stand in a corner talking to herself or go to school with just a bathing suit on, something she did quite frequently. Yet she was also artistic, a workaholic, and a perfectionist, and could easily spend hours working on her paintings. Petra encouraged this, as it was the only time she ever really seemed to be focused, all of which paid off as Venice was already an accomplished, highly paid artist by the time the twins were in high school. Somehow despite her social inadequacies she made many friends without ever really trying and garnered much attention from everyone around her.
Understandably, this lead to some feelings of jealousy on Vienna’s part. She and Venice were good friends, but it annoyed Vienna how she was so often pushed in the shadows. She herself was a highly skilled writer, though no one really seemed to notice or care, and would spend hours pouring her hidden feelings into her semi-autobiographical works. Both Joann, who Vienna was very close to, and Gabe, her father, tried to talk to her about it. But aside from their usual spiel of “Venice is a very special girl, and that’s why she’s treated differently”, the only thing Vienna got from either of these conversations is that she would just have to be “special” too if she wanted things to be different.
Father Knows Best
So the moment their birthdays came around, and the twins were now young adults, Vienna shed her good girl, angelic image, and went a bit wild. Deciding to put her career as a writer aside, she jumped into a job as a stylist, and made sure her very first client was herself, by dyeing her hair hot pink, and getting a small tattoo on her ankle.
Penny for you thoughts, Vienna
Party time!
Venice
Vienna
With her new found “edge”, Vienna soon found out that life on the edge wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. She quickly got bored of her stylist job, and quickly got bored with flirting around from guy to guy. She missed her writing, and she wanted to settle down with a family of her own. It didn’t help that she had met and fallen for Tom Barclay, a long time friend of the family’s, and quicker than a shotgun wedding, she was dragging him down the aisle for an at-home DIY private wedding.
Tom the cutie
Rules of Engagement
And as often with quickie weddings, quickie babies soon follow, which Vienna was soon to realize. Not long after she said “I do”, she was giving birth to a little girl who she named Havana. Havana was adorable, but still Vienna was surprised that Venice announced that she wanted a baby too. For while Vienna was always jealous of all the attention Venice received, Venice looked up to her twin and wanted to be like her, which meant meant she grabbed up the first guy she met, a short order cook named Adrian, and had a DIY wedding of her own. Her son Melbourne soon followed.
Something's in the oven
Baby Havana
Venice and Adrian sittin in a tree...
B-A-B-Y
Baby Melbourne
May 14, 2010
Chapter 16: Pitter Patter
Chapter 16: Pitter Patter
Cairo was shocked, to say the least, by the news that Petra wanted to marry Joanne, but she was far from being the one to stop her daughter from doing anything. She had raised Petra to think for herself, and couldn’t reverse years of that kind of parenting to suit her now. No, Cairo decided to do as she had always done, sit back and let Petra handle things for herself, even as watching her daughter propose to Joanne on the night of her birthday party gave her a feeling of dread.
To have & to hold?
This seemed to be the right decision, as after months of tension between mother and daughter, Cairo’s staunch support of her daughter looked to be the glue that would stick them back together, the two even closer than before. Tirelessly, Cairo worked to help Petra set up for the upcoming nuptials, inviting many of the old friends and family members that they hadn’t seen for ages.
Wedding decor
...and so much more!
The wedding went off without a hitch, even if somehow the nuptials took place in the living room rather than the well decorated backyard as originally planned. But the starry-eyed couple could care less. With all the wine and classical music flowing, Petra’s happiness was through the roof, especially with all the lavished attention she was receiving in the midst of all the rice throwing.
"I do"
The only person at the wedding who wasn’t very happy was Gabe, an old school friend of Petra and Joanne’s. He did congratulate them, but he couldn’t help the jealous thoughts that kept popping into his head as he watched them. He had, after all, had a crush on Petra for as long as he could remember. Smart, yet slightly snobby, he and Petra were alike in more ways than one, but the girl had always held him at a distance, and with her sudden marriage to Joanne, he now finally understood why. Still, he was only able to be happy for them for so long, before slipping out of the party early. No one seemed to notice him go.
Competition?
Jealousy abounds
The honeymoon now over, things began to go back to normal for the Van Pagan clan. Joanne joined the medical career in hopes of being a doctor, Cairo went back to her athletics, and Petra slipped into her new role as housewife. Predictably, it wasn’t long before the wild and tempestuous Petra grew bored from sitting home alone all day. Where was Wisteria lane when you needed it? And just as predictably the idea of having a baby soon came up. The idea soon became an obsession, and it was to her great relief that Joanne really wanted to take the next step as well. The only problem was how.
As hesitant as she was to cheat on Joanne, Petra’s longing for a baby was greater than her guilt and she quickly came up with the idea of calling over Gabe. Petra had always known that Gabe had liked her, and she felt bad for using him, but he was only one of the men in her life who she trusted. So alternating between flirting and doling out massages, Petra was quickly able to get Gabe to see her point of view as well, and it wasn’t long before she had him right where she wanted him…in her bed.
Little favors
Big deeds
Petra and Joanne was thrilled, Petra was now pregnant and she quickly got to work planning a nursery and child’s room for what she hoped would be a little girl. Gabe felt cheated, but Joanne was quick to give him a congratulatory pat on the back for a job well done.
A job well done
Buns in the oven?
Betrayal
Time seemed to fly by after that, and it wasn’t long before Petra was giving birth. The baby she had longed for was arriving. Not only did she get the little girl she wished for, she got twin girls, which she then named Venice and Vienna. A surprise indeed…
Pitter Patter
Chapter 15: Petra-fied
Chapter 15: Petra-fied
As expected, Denver’s marriage to her distant cousin was not only a shock to her, but the whole family, who didn’t know how to take the news. Brooklyn was anything but thrilled at what her daughter had done, and immediately moved out of the house not wanting to be anywhere near them. Still, the others gradually came to accept it, especially after she announced that she was pregnant. And for awhile things were going well, particularly due to the arrival of Cairo’s newborn daughter, Petra, who just like the ancient Jordanian city she was named after, was unyielding in nature yet beautiful to behold. However, shortly after, Denver gave birth to twin girls, and the Van Pagan clan decided that was just one person too many in an already crowded household. So, as heartbreaking as it was, Denver and her newly made family were forced to go.
Denver in labor
Baby Petra
Denver was sad about being forced out, but took the news with all the dignity the Van Pagan family was known for, and searched for a house across town. Wilbur, on the other hand, refused to leave, lounging around the house in his boxer shorts for days on end. It was his plan to stay like that, until the others had all his bedroom furniture removed and his boss threatened to fire him for not showing up, causing him to finally realize his silent protest was getting him nowhere. He showered and ate for the last time in the house before slowly walking away.
Silent Protest
By now Petra had just become a toddler, and was as stubborn as ever, yet lovable, and Cairo and her daughter quickly became very close. Cairo dedicated more time and energy to her daughter than she had with anything else in her life, determined to be a better parent than hers had been. As a result, Petra grew to be very mature for her age, extremely smart, and a somewhat snobbish child. Xi’an constantly worried for her granddaughter, feeling that the little girl was growing “old” too fast. But Cairo ignored all of her mother’s lectures, and continued to do things her own way, even going so far as allowing little Petra to have an unsupervised birthday party, with formal dress code, bartended drinks and all.
Mother knows best
Petra
Party over here
With Petra now as a teenager things didn’t really get better as far as parenting went, though with Petra being a straight A student, constantly on the honor roll, and never really one to get into trouble, Cairo really didn’t have any room to complain. Even the sudden devastating deaths of Cairo’s parents, Geb and Xi’an, and the death of her longtime boyfriend, Josef, who was Petra’s father, the girl didn’t seem out of sorts. That is until Petra started hanging out with Joanne, the teen daughter of their French next door neighbors.
Petra and Joanne
At first, everything was ok, Cairo thought nothing of it as the two had been friends since elementary school. It started slowly with Petra often spending afternoons after school hanging out over at Joanne’s place, always there for dinner or sleepovers, the two always on the phone when they weren’t in each other’s eyesight. And it wasn’t that Cairo didn’t like Joanne, on the contrary, she found the girl to be very pleasant, and smart, a bookworm with a good head on her shoulders and how could that ever be a person you didn’t want your kid to hang out with? But gradually things started to build, with Petra seemingly starting to spend every waking minute there, and Cairo began to feel as if she never got to see her daughter anymore. The more Cairo tried to talk about it, the more Petra would pull away, and it wasn’t long before Petra began cutting class and being dragged home by the cops from Joanne’s place every night for missing curfew. The resulting lectures from Cairo afterward only left the two even more hurt and distant from each other.
Cops
Lecture #301
Petra wasn’t stupid, she knew her behavior was hurting her mom, and hurting herself more, but she couldn’t seem to vocalize to her mother just what was really going on with her life. It wasn’t until her someone suggested that Cairo take Petra away for awhile from Joanne, to let the girl clear her thoughts for a bit, did Petra let her family in on the secret that she had been holding: Petra and Joanne were in love and in two days time after her birthday, Petra was going to ask Joanne to marry her.
Kiss n' Tell
March 6, 2010
Chapter 14: The Ill in Hillbilly
Author’s Note: Hey guys, I’m apologizing in advance for this poor chapter. I’ve been a bit busy this past week, and as a result ended up rushing through this one, though it wasn’t my intention at all. It seemed like every time I would get a chance to write, I would get called away to handle something else. At that rate I figured it’d never get done if I kept postponing its posting. So I’ve decided to let this chapter stand as is, as horrible as it may be, and hope things turn out better for the next one.
Chapter 14: The Ill in Hillbilly
Even the sudden deaths of both Vegas and Dallas weren’t enough to fully stifle the joie de vivre of the Van Pagan clan. After all, with little Cairo fast approaching school age, and the birth of Brooklyn’s daughter, Denver, who she had after a fling with a wandering backpacker named Ra’ed Zayat she met in France, the house was as full and noisy as ever.
Death of Vegas
Dallas departs too!
toddler Cairo
Brooklyn meets Ra'ed
It was a little too noisy, at least according to Cairo that is. Especially now that she had officially left toddler-hood, and yet was somehow still forced to sleep in the nursery with her cry-baby cousin rather than have a room of her own. It seemed like she hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep since Denver was born, and it was fast beginning to work her last nerve. But no one seemed to care what she thought. Her mother, Xi’an, was always too busy exercising to hear anything over her own lungs gasping for breath, especially now after she reached her aspiration of becoming the most athletic and topping her career as a sports superstar. Her father, Geb, was always writing more chapters for his book or working on articles for the paper as a big time journalist to pay her a second glance.
Her aunt Brooklyn was equally useless. It turns out, her pretty face was her only decent quality, considering that she was a mooch, evil, had no sense of humor, and neurotic. Add to that the fact that she was a hard sleeper and could stay asleep no matter how long her baby screamed in her ear, meant that when it came to Denver she really didn’t have a care in the world. If it wasn’t for her mother Leigh, or Xi’an, the baby would never get fed.
Xi'an, sports superstar
Cairo
pre-teen angst
baby Denver, tiny terror
It wasn’t until her birthday, that Cairo finally felt free. Not only was she now a teenager, but now also finally got a room of her own. Sure, it was only her grandmother’s old room, same décor and all, but it was free of toys and whining toddlers, and at that moment worth more to her than gold. Cairo promptly threw herself a birthday party in honor of it all. But with her new found freedom, came teenage recklessness. The candles had barely been blown from her cake before Cairo had her bags packed and was sneaking off to France for a bit of her own style of celebrating.
teen Cairo
Vive la France
toddler Denver
Everything in France went as smooth as can be, with Cairo seeing some great sights, gathering a few boyfriends, and even managing to get back home just in time to get on the school bus Monday morning! The same couldn’t be said once she got home, however. Her parents were, understandably, upset with her for running off like that. Her aunt Brooklyn, despite her own bad habits, lectured Cairo for hours until the girl stomped off, while Geb contemplated kicking her out.
Cairo's new bf Theo
dull lectures
Meanwhile, little Denver, who had become school age while her cousin was out running wild, was having problems of her own. Except for when her mother was criticizing her for something, she was otherwise being ignored in the household. The only one who ever paid her any attention was her best friend Wilbur. Sick of her mother’s harassment, Denver often found herself stomping out of the house in a rage, not helped by the fact that she was born mean spirited and evil. As a result she was often found hanging out in the playground while skipping school with Wilbur during these moments, not surprised in the least to see that her rebellious cousin Cairo was frequently there as well.
Denver
little Wilbur
playing hooky
It was during these playground moments that Cairo and Denver really began to bond, their friendship strengthening even more after Denver aged to be a teenager as well. Cairo taught her all the bad lessons she had learned herself, whether it was things like staying out after curfew or running away to parts unknown.
teen Denver
It was around one of these so called trips that Cairo met the love of her life, a man by the name of Josef Stiles, who lived in the same trailer park as one of Cairo’s school friends. Josef was already much older than the teenage Cairo, and also engaged to someone else. Still, that did not stop Cairo from wanting him at all. Besides, Denver, Josef was her best friend, and always there for her, which was even more important now that her great-aunt Leigh had just recently passed away. Josef was a constant by her side, and she knew even if she could never have him fully that she’d take as much as she could get. So as her birthday arrived, she made sure his name was first on the guest list to her party and that he was standing right beside her the moment the candles were blown out on the cake. Needless to say, Cairo’s first night into adulthood was magical for more reasons than one, and left her with a lasting reminder.
Goodbye Leigh
Hello Josef!
XOXO
Go Cairo, it's ur birthday!
While Cairo was prepping for labor pains, Denver herself was prepping for her own foray into the adult world, and that was due to her own boyfriend, Wilbur. Wilbur, who she had practically grown up with, who always shared a birthday with her, who never minded skipping school with her, was the love of her life. And she knew that there would be no stopping her from marrying him the moment she turned of age.
There's something in the oven
Denver, so naughty
So, it was just Denver’s luck that Cairo went into labor on her birthday. While everyone was occupied with the birth of Cairo’s daughter, Petra, the future heir of the family, Denver and Wilbur were quietly having a private ceremony at home. It was the happiest day of her life…that is until she had a startling revelation. Although Wilbur had grown up in the Wang household, that was his step-father’s name and not his. Wilbur’s real last name was Van Pagan, son of Khalilah Van Pagan who was the youngest daughter of Denver’s great-grandmother, London.
In true hillbilly fashion, Denver Van Pagan had just married her cousin!
baby Petra
Now say I do!
January 28, 2010
Chapter 13: Evil Deeds and Mummy Speeds
Author’s Note: Well, here we go again…
Chapter 13: Evil Deeds and Mummy Speeds
Things were once again going well for the Van Pagan clan. Both Vegas and Dallas were progressing fast through their careers, with Dallas’ constant promotions earning him upwards of $4,000 + bonuses a day as a police officer, double that of what his sister made daily in the criminal career even though she was at a higher level than him. With the added money brought in by Dallas’ wife Leigh from her military career to add to the family stash, the Van Pagans were now Sim certified rich… well at least extremely well off.
Elder Vegas
With money flowing almost as smooth as all the nectar Vegas was bringing back from her trips to France, the kids should have been able to grow up with no worries, and for Brooklyn there weren’t. But for Xi’an, life wasn’t so kind. Sure she was born being a genius, brave, and lucky, but her problems all dealt with the external. Xi’an Van Pagan just wasn’t as pretty as her younger cousin, or even her mother.
Little Xi'an
Except for the blond hair, she pretty much got all of her features from her father. His long nose which was just aching for the sim equivalent of rhinoplasty, his funny chin, and the body shape which made him a muscle bound “hunk” but translated to fat on her teenage frame. While on the other hand her cousin Brooklyn was slim, cute, and was born with this amazing blue highlighted hair which no one in the family could figure out where it came from. For Xi’an all this translated into one long nightmare.
Teen Xi'an
Teen Brooklyn
As can be expected, Xi’an became obsessed with working out. She had seen how her aunt, Leigh, had been able to whittle down her own frame when she had to start exercising after she joined the military. Using her as a guide, Xi’an became a vegetarian and began to spend hours on the treadmill and the martial arts dummy until she could get herself down to a size she could feel comfortable with. And soon she did, celebrating it by giving herself a mini makeover. Sure, she kept most of the same clothes, after all it was her style, but she didn’t mind trading in that long baggy skirt for something a little shorter and tighter, something that seemed to make a big difference if the increase of boys she was meeting at school daily was any indication. One of these boys, Alphonso Gross, quickly became her boyfriend.
Smells like teen spirit
lookin' good!
Alphonso Gross
However, no matter how thin she got or how many boys followed her around, Xi’an was still self conscious, exercising so much she finally got a job in the athletic career figuring that if she was going to work out all the time she might as well get paid for it. It didn’t help that every time she turned her back Alphonso, who was a flirty Sim, was constantly trying to flirt with Brooklyn or any other female sim that passed by. Still, she didn’t break up with him. In fact, she married him soon after she aged into a young adult.
Womanizer!
Adult Xi'an
Quick proposal
Vegas was not pleased by this. She didn’t hate Alphonso, she just didn’t think he was good enough for her daughter. Being an evil sim, she hastily began plotting on how to get rid of him, and with Brooklyn’s help (who was also born evil), quickly convinced Xi’an that it was for the best. Soon after, the plan was set, and Alphonso soon found himself trapped in a fiery living room with a new fireplace, enough wooden chairs to fill a concert venue, and a “mysteriously” placed stove shooting flames at him. He should have been done in that instant, but being a brave sim managed to fight back the flames for hours before finally succumbing.
Evil plot
Bonfire
Man on fire
Xi’an was devastated at the loss. Though she had originally gone along with it, to actually watch it all was horrible. She hated to see him suffer like that, she had after all, loved him. Seeing that Xi’an’s grief was getting no better, Vegas swooped in and decided that what her daughter needed was to get away, like how she did long ago when she had problems of her own. Packing their bags, she rushed them both off to Egypt, a place she had taken Xi’an as a child, and let the pyramids work their magic.
Depression
The next Indiana Jones?
It took a little while, but eventually Xi’an got over her grief and began going on adventures, finding a love for tomb exploring she didn’t even know she had. It was on one such adventure that she met Geb Hawass, and promptly fell in love with him. Vegas couldn’t help but like him as well, he was just so sweet. So she wasn’t a bit surprised when two days later Xi’an married him.
Geb Hawass
Marriage #2
Needless to say, Xi’an arrived back home ecstatic, veritably on cloud nine, even more so once she saw the renovations that had been done to the house while she was away, which had been greatly damaged by the fire that had killed Alphonso. The house had always been big, but now it was multi-level with a small basement containing their wine racks, and featured a pool, a cabana, and a new two car garage.
The new Van Pagan manor
Cabana
pool
2nd level
new kitchen
All in all, the new house was stunning. And, better yet, had a brand new nursery which was right on time to house the newest addition of the Van Pagan family, Xi’an and Geb’s baby girl, Cairo, who arrived a few days later.
Labor pains
Meet baby Cairo
A new husband, a new house, a new baby, even a new car. Needless to say, life for Xi’an was now perfect… well almost, she still had that leftover baby weight to lose…
Workin' out...
January 21, 2010
Chapter 12: Wax On, Wax Way Off!
Author’s Note: Ok, all, I’m back! Lol, yeah , I know I said that before, but this time I mean it. I have a brand new computer…and finally know how to use it, and am now back fully into the game…literally. Anyway, here’s the next part. I’m not entirely thrilled with this chapter. Though it expresses exactly what happened in the game, I think it could have been written better. Oh well, better luck next time.
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Chapter 12: Wax On, Wax Off
Life seemed to blur the moment Vegas woke, and discovered her mother, London, had left them in the middle of the night. Both she and her brother Dallas were devastated. Sure, it shouldn’t have been a surprise, especially since she had tried to leave previously, but they had thought she had gotten over that feeling.
Filled with immense anger, Vegas decided it was her time to leave everything… at least for a while. Forget her mother, she was an adult now, she didn’t need anyone else. Grabbing up her brother, Vegas tried coping with the abandonment by forgetting about her life in Sim Valley, and deciding to travel. Her first stop with Dallas, was to China.
Where's Mr. Miyagi when you need him?
China seemed to be the best medicine for her. In China, her problems seemed to float away over the country’s many mountains, and she found a level of happiness that she hadn’t felt since her grandmother died and life turned upside down. While there she discovered what it was like to go on adventures, her thieving criminal skills suiting tomb robbery perfectly.
Almost like Indiana Jones...
Through this, Vegas began accumulating a tremendous amount of wealth and artifacts, while her reputation as an adventurer grew by spades. From then on her primary focus was on traveling and learning martial arts, which she picked up in China. She knew she should stop, and spend more time home with her brother who was often alone, but she never seemed to be able to slow down.
I of the Tiger
It didn’t help when after awhile she got word back from her mother, who after all this time was now living back in town, was married, and had a baby girl named, Khalilah. Neither Vegas nor Dallas took the news well. London, now remorseful for her actions, called daily to speak with them, but both refused her calls. Dallas, now an adult, channeled his anger into his new chosen career as a police officer. Vegas went back to traveling, not only traveling, but traveling excessively. When she wasn’t in China, the girl was in France, sipping nectar she found in hidden vaults. It was in France where she found her latest love interest, a Chinese explorer named Li Yuan.
Hey Handsome?
Smooches!
Li was unemployed, a bit of a snob, and married, but Vegas wanted him the moment she laid eyes on him. He wasn’t even all that cute, but she couldn’t stop herself from having a fling with him in the little remaining time she had left in France. It was a mistake on her part, especially since the next morning he was gone and she was pregnant. Still, it seemed just the thing to wake her up from the roller coaster ride her life had been on since her mom had left. With the recognition of her own mistakes came the realization that she couldn’t continue to hold a grudge against her mother for the mistakes she made as well.
Now back home, Vegas waddled over to see her mother, having stopped at the spa first to relax her nerves. It was awkward at first, and the two acted as strangers. London was shocked to see that she was going to soon be a grandmother, while Vegas was just surprised to see how much her mother had aged since the last time she saw her. Still, it wasn’t long before the awkwardness passed and the two were able to get to the root of the visit. London apologized sincerely to her daughter, and Vegas accepted it, hugging her tight. It was doubtful they’d be best friends as they were before, but it was a start.
Mommy Dearest
Baby on board!
Hugs and Squeezes!
Soon after, Vegas gave birth to a healthy baby girl, who she named Xi’an after one of her favorite relic filled cities in China. Xi’an, born brave and a genius, was exactly what the household needed. She was instantly spoiled rotten, never being in one place long before someone was rushing to pick her up, especially after Dallas finally married his long-term girlfriend Leigh and moved her into the house. The only one who didn’t pay her much attention was her father, Li, who was over visiting from China. Vegas was a little saddened by that as it was reminiscent of her own childhood, but decided that she would give the little girl extra love to make up for it.
Dallas and Leigh
Underwear model wannabe?
Time passed, Xi’an grew into a cute little toddler, and Vegas, who hadn’t traveled since she was pregnant, was now being called more and more to travel for her job. She was moving up the ranks in the criminal career, and was being called upon to deliver messages and “mysterious” packages to crime bosses overseas. Vegas felt bad for leaving her behind, especially now that Leigh had just had a baby of her own, a little girl named Brooklyn, but she had no choice.
Toddler Xi'an
Play date
Baby Brooklyn
Packing her bags, Vegas quickly headed off to China, out to deliver a note to the elusive Ms. Hua. Everything with the exchange went exactly as planned. It wasn’t until Vegas was ready to leave did she realize that not far from Ms Hua was Li Yuan’s home. She wasn’t sure why she did it, she should have just gone home. But she couldn’t help going to the Yuan household to pay them a visit. Li wasn’t even home, which she already knew, but she couldn’t help wanting to see how his wife and grown children lived.
Li's children
Vegas found Li’s children to be pleasant, and well mannered, as they quickly welcomed her into their home despite the fact that she was a stranger. It wasn’t until she came face to face with Li’s wife, Xi, that things turned ugly…namely when she called his wife a llama and hit her. She wasn’t even sure why she did it, its not like Li’s wife had done anything to her. After all, it wasn’t her fault that her husband was a cheat, and it wasn’t like Vegas was in love with him either, having not even spoken to him since he left her house. Still, it was the principle of the matter, a role which she, as one third part of a “love triangle”, was scripted to play whether she actually wanted the guy or not.
Gloating, Vegas waited to see what Xi’s reaction would be to the unprovoked attack, ready to use every martial art form she knew, as if out to steal the woman’s pride even if she couldn’t steal her husband. Too bad the fight wasn’t going to be as easy as Vegas hoped, especially when Xi was revealed to be a practitioner of martial arts herself…
Duel of the Iron Fist
Crouching Tiger
December 1, 2009
Chapter 11: Four Deaths and a Funeral
Author’s Note: So sorry everyone for not being around for so long! I was having computer problems for over a month, and then after that I was very busy. As a result, I didn’t play the Sims 3 for much of that time. However, I’m back now, and hopefully for good. And right on time for the new Sims 3:World Adventures expansion pack, which I think will be a great addition to legacy gameplay. Anyway, back to my sims. This chapter is a bit short for the amount of things that went on since the last chapter, but this will serve as a decent overview to get everything back on track.
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Chapter 11: Four Deaths and a Funeral
Life for the Van Pagan clan seemed to take a turn for the worse. The somewhat happy family seemed to have a streak of bad luck. At first things were fine. London and Vegas had decided to put their grievances to rest, both York and Dallas grew from adorable toddlers to adorable school age kids, and all the adults were advancing nicely through their careers.
However, not long after the problems began, first with the death of Heriberto. His passing was quiet, but all the adults were sad. Even London, who had never gotten along with her father since birth, felt remorse for not getting along better with him in life. Paris was just heartbroken from the loss of him, as well as Troy who had always been a “daddy’s girl”.
Missing daddy dearest
From that moment on, the changes were subtle, but things seemed to be going in a steady decline. After being so close when he was a baby, Lewis and York found that they had nothing in common, and there daily disagreements started to mirror those that used to occur between London and Heriberto. York, however, found that he did have plenty in common with his older cousin, Vegas, such as being evil, and the two quickly became best friends. Dallas often felt a little left out when it came to his sister and his cousin due to them being so close no matter how much they tried to include him, while Troy and Lewis were barely on speaking terms by that point, and seemed to be only staying together for the sake of their son.
Don't Speak
It was at this point when things really deteriorated. On a night when the whole family was home and having a good time, Paris Van Pagan died. It was a blow that did in the entire family. Everyone was devastated. There was not a person there who did not feel brokenhearted and as if they lost their best friend. They all tried pleading with the Grim Reaper, but Paris knew her time was up. Even after the smoke cleared, and Paris and the Grim Reaper were gone, the family still couldn’t seem to get their grief under control everyone looked as if they were frozen in place. The sorrow was so much that both Lewis and Cortney fainted.
Vegas, all grown up!
Dallas, sweet Dallas
Things were never the same after that. A deep depression appeared to have settled over the whole household. The dreariness feeling unbearable, Troy and Lewis decided it was best to take York, who was now a teenager, and move out on their own. York wasn’t happy about being separated from his cousins at all and made it a point to come over to visit every single day. Vegas, also now a teenager began to immerse herself in playing her guitar, feeling that music was a great way to express her emotions. Dallas did as many teenagers do, turned his grief into anger, and slowly became more and more antisocial.
teenage York
Guitar on her mind
Meanwhile, the once wild and carefree London appeared to lose a part of herself. She was still carefree, but only in that she didn’t seem to care about anything that went on around her, not really about her family, about Cortney, there was nothing. She still went to work every day, but now all she dreamed about was running away, to just jump in a car and explore the open roads. It was an idea that wouldn’t leave her. It was a feeling made twice as strong soon after when she received word that both Ian and Cortney had passed away within hours of each other.
Somewhere over the rainbow...
With this train of thought on her mind for days, London finally called her children to meet her outside. It was there that she unveiled to them a brand new expensive sports car. Vegas and Dallas were excited, thinking of how cool they would look driving it, until London announced to them her plan to leave. Vegas didn’t know what to say, they were pretty much the only ones really left of the family, and they were too young, they couldn’t make it on their own. Dallas was furious, he ranted and raved at her about her evil ways. Feeling guilty, London apologized for upsetting them and promised to sell the car. She would stay.
Family feud?
An Oprah moment?
Things went well after that for the next 2 days. London managed to earn a raise and make it one step closer to being the Emperor of Evil. Dallas met a new girl at school, named Leigh, and though she wasn’t the prettiest and unflirty, Dallas was already making plans to marry her someday.
Leigh, future member of the family?
Vegas was just excited, it was now her birthday and she was going to be a full-fledged adult. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do with her life, but she had done so poorly in school that she didn’t develop many skills. Plus, she spent so much time brooding and playing her guitar, that she had developed the unflirty trait. Add that to already being evil, she was sure it was going to hurt her social life at some point in the future. But she didn’t let any of that bother her. She was now an adult, she would find a way. And with that thought in mind, it became her lifetime aspiration to become a “Master Thief”, one of the things besides rock star she dreamt of becoming while watching her mother advancing through her own criminal career.
Happy birthday, Vegas!
All the while London watched on proudly, with a sad glint in her eye, but her children were now growing up and didn’t need her any longer. They would be fine on their own. Making one last walk around the house to repair the few things that were broken, London waited until she was sure her children were sleeping, before slipping out in the middle of the night, leaving home for good…
September 27, 2009
Chapter 10: DIY Breakups
Chapter 10: DIY Break-ups
Troy herself gave birth to a little boy named York a few days after London, though things were not going quite as well for her. After all those years spent together, Troy was finding only now that her relationship with Lewis wasn’t as great as she thought. The man was in the medical field, studying to be a doctor, but he was also slightly insane, as evidenced by the weird outfit he always wore. Troy began to wonder if she did the right thing by marrying him. Still, when it came to their son, it was always Lewis who took care of him. Ever the snob, Troy spent more time looking in the mirror than tending to baby York. Even at night if she was awoken by York’s cries to be fed, she would angrily leave the room and head to the kitchen until someone else dealt with him. Needless to say, this was also adding a strain to their marriage, and Lewis found himself discussing it with the least likely person, his sister-in-law London.
Who's the fairest of them all?
Can we talk?
London, surprisingly, was understanding and not just because Troy was her enemy. Lewis was her friend and also was her biggest help when it came to baby Vegas. So she couldn’t help but try to give him a little advice, though she doubted it would do any good.
For Lewis' ears only
Meanwhile, London was still getting her own life on track. She and Cortney were now unofficially a couple, unofficial in that she had yet to fully break up with Ian Hairston though she hadn’t spoken to him in days, while Cortney and her were even having a baby together. Vegas, now a toddler, felt deeply hurt and betrayed, though she had never met her father. Still, she couldn’t help but dislike Cortney because of it. London, however, desperately wanted to have a family with him, even if he did try to sneak away from the scene of the “crime” when he realized she was pregnant. Turns out, for all his criminal ways, Cortney was a coward.
Almost a family?
They won't pin this "crime" on him!
London’s pregnancy was progressing nicely, and the only thing even slightly in her way was Ian. Here she was, her pregnancy nearly full term and she still had not broken up with him. She had not seen him since that day she kicked him out of her bedroom, and he had not bothered to call even once to check on Vegas, but she was still tied to him in a “relationship”, and didn’t want him to come between her and Cortney. So picking up the phone, London invited him over, figuring now was as good a time as any to do it.
As usual, things did not go according to plan. Ian, now an elder, took one look at her, hugged her, and then started talking with her as if nothing was wrong between them. London was shocked. By now it was obvious that she was pregnant, she was almost due in fact, and the baby obviously wasn’t his, but Ian acted as if nothing was amiss. London just couldn’t understand it. Out of the corner of her eye she caught him staring at her with a look of hurt in his eyes, but he never once confronted her about it and she was too stunned by that point to bring the subject of the “break up” with him, though she couldn’t help bitterly pointing out how he had missed Vegas’ first birthday.
Ian's happy...
Things continued in this way for days, even after London gave birth to her cute little boy Dallas, with Ian coming over to see his girlfriend while pretending everything was alright with their relationship. London tried and tried to break it off with him, but Ian wouldn’t let her get a word in, in fact spending most of the time he was over talking with her parents and ignoring her altogether so he wouldn’t have to hear the words. By this point, Dallas was now a toddler, and London was fed up. She had tried respecting Ian’s presence by not having Cortney come around, but here their son was growing up not knowing his father. She was tired of catering to Ian, and this time not caring about whether he was there or not, invited Cortney over. After introducing him to their son, London spent the rest of the evening pretending Ian wasn’t there while her and Cortney continued to flirt and make out. She expected all of her behavior to anger Ian and force him to break up with her, but it didn’t. He did as he did the first time, pretending that nothing was going on.
Introducing baby Dallas!
All the while Vegas, now a school age child, watched the adults with bitterness, while watching her little brother and cousin with envy. Vegas was desperate to have a father, and jealous that her brother and cousin did while she did not. Sure Ian had begun hanging around again and hanging on to London, but not once in all the days he was there did he acknowledge Vegas’ presence. He was her father and yet he acted as if she was invisible. He would never talk to her and if she was in a room he would walk out of it. At the same time she could see her mother was back to spending time with Cortney Jones, and resented London for it. After all, if Cortney was never in the picture her parents would be together and they could be a family, right?
Lonely Vegas
Vegas went stomping into her mother’s room hoping to discuss how things were so wrong in their family. But instead there the two of them were, Cortney and London, in the bed , and it was obvious they hadn’t been playing poker. Vegas was devastated! How could London do this with Ian in the house?! What if he ended up leaving now and never coming back? Vegas would never get her chance now.
London, for all her evil ways, couldn’t help hanging her head in shame as her daughter’s feelings came rushing out of her mouth, while Cortney obliviously congratulated himself for “entertaining” London so thoroughly. She tried to talk with Vegas, explain, but the upset Vegas ran off not wanting to hear anything from her mother who she now considered her enemy.
Caught in the act!
Job well done!
Feeling ashamed at the situation, London did as she knew she should have in the first place. Getting dressed, she marched into the living room and gently but firmly let Ian know that their relationship was over. She apologized to him for having betrayed and hurt him, but she let him know that she was in love with Cortney now and he was the one she wanted to be with. Ian listened calmly. He was hurt, but knew the relationship had long been over and he shouldn’t try to hang on any longer.
The "TALK"...
With that done, London went off in search of Vegas. She found the little girl outside in the dark in the garden, playing in the sprinklers. At first Vegas did not want to talk to her, but London apologized and explained to the girl the same thing she had explained to Ian. Vegas listened and gradually began to understand. Vegas just wondered if she was ever going to get that family she craved.
