Chapter 4 Family Matters-Part 2

Hester Genester's third daughter, Pendillis, was the mother of five children and became a grandmother just a few months after her twin sister, Genesis, giving Hester and Abhijeet their second great-grandchild. She and her husband,B.J. Ryan, were married for nearly 25 years. Their eldest daughter, Bertillis, was a great worry to them. After the birth of her little girl, Cosetta, Bertillis started skipping school frequently, then either hanging out in front of the TV, talking to who knows who on the phone, or gadding off downtown and being gone for hours. As a consequence, care of baby Cosetta was left pretty much to Pendillis, who also had her youngest child, Fletcher, to care for. B.J. and second daughter, Janeesis, did all they could to help out with baby care. Finally, just a few weeks before the death of Pendillis's father, Abhijeet, little Fletcher had his first transition. The family had a small party to celebrate.



It seemed Fletcher was going to be a carbon copy of his elder brother Chester.


A few weeks after Abhijeet's death, Cosetta also had her first transition. She looked like she would be a beauty. Certainly a different type than the rest of the family. Her only alien feature seemed to be her ears.


Bertillis's erratic behavior continued. She was barely able to keep her grades above failing, much to the distress of her father, who had spent his entire working life in education. B.J., now 68, was a professor of history at the University, but found that all the stress was taking a toll on his ability to do his job. So he decided that it was time for him to retire. He could help out more with the toddlers and free Pendillis to go back to work. She had been wanting to return to her career as a fashion photographer full time, instead of the little part time work she had been doing for so long. And it was nearly time for Bertillis to graduate and the young ones to start school. So the time seemed right. And besides, he hadn't been feeling really well lately.
B.J. enjoyed his first months of retirement. Besides helping with the children and housework, he spent time on painting, a hobby he had enjoyed for some time but had little time for. His work was nowhere near the quality of Pendillis's paintings. Her work was hanging in several galleries in town. But he enjoyed it.

B.J.'s last painting

Finally it was time for Fletcher's childhood transition. B.J. had wanted to have a party for him again but things got a little too hectic to get it organized. They didn't even manage to get any photos at the time, instead taking him to the portrait studio later.


Bertillis also elected to transition to adulthood at this time when she announced she was through with school whether anyone else agreed or not.


That night after everyone else went to bed, B.J. decided to paint for a while, since he had taken a nap in the afternoon. Still feeling restless though, he thought perhaps working out for a while in their new upstairs exercise room would tire him and help him get to sleep. The unaccustomed physical activity was too much for him however and he suffered a stroke. He lay on the floor unconscious all night. He finally awoke as the family was getting ready for the day and only half sensible, staggered down the stairs as the children were leaving for school. Here he found the Reaper waiting for him in the front hall.


Only Pendillis witnessed the event as Bertillis and little Cosetta were still in bed and the others were already on the schoolbus. She was so overwhelmed that she went into shock and had a nervous breakdown. It was lucky that Bertillis had elected to stay home again that day so she could summon help for her mother. However Cosetta was the first to respond to Pendillis's screams.

Cosetta climbs out of her crib

and goes to her grandmother.

She added her cries to Pendillis's and that finally woke Bertillis who actually did something useful when she called 911. After calling for help she stood and wept over her father's remains. She was so sorry now that she had given him so much trouble.


The doctor arrived, gave Pendillis emergency treatment, plus a sedative, and sent her to bed. He also prescribed further therapy for a later date. Bertillis met her sister Janeesis at the door when she got home from school and told her what had happened. The two comforted each other.


That evening was the occasion for Chester and Vesta's transition to teen. Due to the circumstances they didn't have a party either and the whole event was very subdued.


The next day Pendillis had another therapy session, this time with Doctor Von Ball.


A few days later things had settled down and the family was able to have a meal again without someone bursting into tears.


A few weeks later Cosetta had her childhood transition and began school. She got a studio picture too.


Here is the family's home. In 25 years it had become quite a substantial dwelling.



What was elder brother Lester doing while his sisters were having such upheaval in their lives? Working and romancing. As always. He had recently been elected Senator which had increased his work load. His daughter Spring transitioned to adult a few months before her cousin Kester and his son Laser had become a teen not long before Abhijeet's death.


His younger sons still lived with their mothers. Fester Copur was now a schoolchild. His mother, Ivy Copur, had finally given up on Lester and was now engaged to someone else.

Fester plays with his best friend, Kristor Stratton

And Dexter Bruenig was in school also, though a couple of years younger than Fester. His mother, Marsha Bruenig, had taken the first child support payment Lester had given her and made a downpayment on her own home.


Here Dexter soon transitioned to toddlerhood.


Marsha too gave up on Lester and married and settled happily into domesticity, preferring not to work outside the home. Her husband treated Dexter as his own and the two developed a very close relationship.

Dexter ready for his first day of school

Lester had also acquired another child. Another of his girlfriends, Tosha Go, had a baby boy that she named Tesler.


Lester attempted to remain a part of this child's life, more than he had done with the others. He was even present for the child's first transition.


Daughter Spring still worked as a security guard. She had her name on a waiting list to go to Police Academy but it appeared the wait would be a long one. She was extremely shy and had become friends with a young man named Alvin Futa who was just as shy as she was. Their attempts to flirt with each other were almost painful.


One day Spring became brave enough to want to kiss Alvin But when she tried he became so embarrassed that he ducked away from her. Needless to say she didn't try again.


Finally Alvin became brave enough to try it himself so Spring finally had her first kiss. The first for them both, at the advanced age of 22.


Spring had not heard from her mother in quite some time and had never met any of her mother's younger children. However she was still curious and made a point of finding out as much as she could about the Cormiers. She knew that when her second brother Forest started school people had trouble telling he and older brother Field apart, even though there was two years between them.

Alike as two peas. Field is the taller of the two.

But that changed when Field became a teen.


A third little boy had been born about the same time as Dexter and Prester so was now a toddler. He was named Marsh.


And a baby girl had recently been added to the family. Her name was Valley.


Spring longed to know these siblings. She was a family sim and all forms of family were important to her. But she was afraid to contact her mother for fear of being rebuffed. She felt like her mother must not want Spring in her life or she would have kept up the relationship. Spring vowed if she ever had children she would never leave them as her mother had done her.

Pendillis is alone now. Will she remain so or find new love? Will Spring ever be reunited with her mother and get to know her siblings? Will Hester and Lester continue to find new people to woohoo with? Stay tuned for the next chapter where SOME of those questions may be answered.