Chapter 20 - A New Patriarch and a Reconciliation

at #4 Heritage Trail, home of Lester Genester (gen 2-romance-age 60)
(continued from chapter 16)

Gen 1 was gone and Gen 2 was aging. Lester was now the eldest in the family so had become the patriarch and de facto leader. He was well suited for the position with his background in politics. He was still mayor, never having any serious opposition in the elections. And even though he was still unmarried, his responsible attitude toward the children he had engendered gave him more authority within the family.


As Lester prepared for his 60th birthday party, he thought that he should have been his mother's official heir as he would have been much better at it than Kester was with his messed up marriage. But he knew that he had terminated that possibility himself when he had elected to leave the famly home. His mother had told all her children that her legacy was set up to pass to the eldest child in each generation WHO REMAINED IN THE FAMILY HOME. They were first told of this on becoming a teen and again on reaching adulthood. And the last time when they announced that they were leaving. They were also told that if at any time all possible heirs had left the family home the estate would go to a charity and the property sold. So none of those who left could say they had not been fully informed. And he knew Kester was doing the same thing as he had spoken with Kester about it. That home though was still the heart of the family and always would be since their parents graves were there. And those who left would do their best to ensure that an heir always remained.

Lester stopped ruminating on that topic and started reviewing the events of his life since he left, especially the last few years. He thought about all his past loves as well as his current ones. (pic shows Lester's age when he began seriously pursuing a relationship with the woman. Some relationships were brief, others long-standing and yet others brief but recurrent. Initials indicate current status. D=deceased, M=married to someone else and no longer an active girlfriend, AL= active love, though how often Lester sees them varies considerably. Kay Bachman remains the one seen most often.)


Then he thought about his children. Spring (gen3-family) was 32 now and very happy in her marriage to Alvin Futa. She was still with the police department and doing very well there. He knew she was highly regarded by the Chief and by all the other officers too. She had recently been promoted to SWAT team leader. And she had been the first officer in Heritage to win the coveted Officer of the Year award given by the Crimestoppers organization.

Well, Spring was on maternity leave now. Had been for several months. Lester remembered the morning Spring had told him that she would be having another baby and how happy she had been.

Far different from her first pregnancy. Then Lester thought of Spring's son, Leith. He was such a lively, active boy. His favorite toy was his little rocket ship. He would run all over the house with it, yelling ZOOOM, ZOOOM.

Spring was a doting mother too. Despite her tiring job she spent much of her time every day with her son, and even more so now that she was pregnant and on maternity leave.

Lester had overheard Spring tell Alvin once that her children would never be raised apart from each other as she and her siblings had. He thought she was referring to her mother's other children but it made him a little uncomfortable since she had not been raised with his other children either, except for Laser. And he had to admit that it was mostly his fault. He was the one who had precipitated the break with her mother by his romancing. But Meadow was the one responsible for leaving Spring out of her life. Well, maybe he should see what he could do about repairing the mess he had started.
Lester's thoughts then wandered back to Leith. Alvin had been a wonderful father to Leith, doing much of his early training and unfailingly kind and patient. And one certainly needed patience when dealing with Leith. He was definitely the most active child that Lester had ever seen. He needed to be taught to swim very soon so that he would be safer around the pool. Well, they could start that tomorrow as Leith would be transitioning at the celebration that night also.
Alvin indeed was a good father, and a good husband to Spring. Lester was glad he had persuaded the young man to renew his relationship with Spring after Leith was born. He had been sure that Alvin loved Spring and he had not been wrong. At least that was one thing he had done right for his family. Alvin was working as a nurse in the hospital emergency room and was often assigned to accompany paramedic crews. He seemed to enjoy the fast paced work and to be very good at it. He had a very logical mind and could think quickly in any situation while maintaining a cool head.

Then Lester thought of his eldest son, Laser. He was so different from Alvin. Laid back and easy-going, he seemed to never have a care in the world. Laser was co-hosting this party tonight. And he would have his own share in the celebration. He had finally decided to follow in Lester's footsteps in politics, though Lester privately doubted that Laser had the stamina to go all the way. But he could surprise people on occasion. Like he would do tonight. His friendship with Lucy Hanby had finally grown to the point of love. Lester had seen them one day out on the patio talking.

And then kissing. Lester was pretty sure that was the first time that Laser had ever kissed a girl.

But he seemed to get the hang of it pretty fast.

Lester had quit watching then and gone back to his book. But that same evening Laser had asked him if he minded if Lucy moved in. Well, what else but yes could Lester say? He knew that Laser was not about to follow in his romantic footsteps. Most of his friends growing up had been boys, other than female relatives. Even after becoming an adult. Lester had wondered from time to time if Laser might be gay but he hadn't shown any romantic interest in boys either. Just wanted lots of buds to hang with. Well, that had changed somewhat now. He had chosen a Very Best Bud and he wanted to spend his life with her. They seemed ideally suited too. She also seemed to be all about partying and having lots of friends. Though she did seem to be just a bit more serious than Laser was. She also took an interest in Leith which Laser rarely did.

Lester heard voices then from the family room. Ah, one of his other sons had arrived. He peeked in and saw Spring talking with Dexter Bruenig, his third son.

He had better take over now and let Spring get dressed. It wouldn't be long before the party started.

A few hours later the party was in full swing. Leith had transitioned to child, then Lester to elder and nearly everyone had eaten. Now it was time for the third major event of the evening, the surprise one. First, Lester presented Lucy to the family as Laser's girlfriend.

Then Laser stepped up to Lucy and dropped to his knees and proposed, right there in front of everyone.

Lester felt as thrilled as Laser when Lucy accepted

Way to go , boy!


A few weeks later, Spring went into labor in the bathroom as she was getting ready for bed. (The bathroom seems to be one of the most popular places to do this.) She seemed somewhat dismayed when the rest of the family all rushed in.

What are you looking at?

Well, she may not have wanted an audience but she got one anyway. And she didn't have time to argue about it. Very quickly the new baby arrived.

It's a girl!
Everyone cheered and welcomed the baby.

Then Leith crept closer and asked, "Can I see?"

Of course you can.
After Leith got a good look at his new little sister, Spring presented the infant to her husband, who was totally glowing.

Here's your daughter.
Then they announced that the baby's name was to be Brooke. Because, Spring said, of how happiness now flowed through her life like a laughing little brook, as she gazed with adoration at her beaming husband.

A few months later, Lester had occasion to do something about Spring's estrangement from her mother. Leith had come in all excited from school one day and announced that his new friend Cliff wanted him to come home with him after school the next day. Spring was reluctant to give permission since Leith couldn't even remember the boy's last name. But when Lester saw the huge disappointment and rebellion on his grandson's face, he asked Spring to let him check it out and see if it might be arranged. That pacified both Spring and Leith. So Lester got in touch with the teacher and found out that the child's last name was Cormier and he was the son of Ricky and Meadow. Why, the boy was Leith's uncle! Lester didn't tell Spring that. He just said the teacher told him the child was from a good family and would be a safe playmate for Leith. Thus reassured, Spring told Leith he could go. And Lester volunteered to pick him up after supper. If Cliff wasn't any better at last names than Leith was then Meadow probably didn't know that Leith was her grandson. Lester looked forward to telling her.
The next evening the appointed time arrived for the pickup. When Lester arrived at the Cormier home he found they were in the midst of a birthday party.
The elder daughter, Valley, was transitioning just as Lester walked in.

Meadow knew Leith's grandfather was coming to pick him up but didn't know who that was. Leith had a bit of a speech problem and often garbled or shortened long words. So Lester was Grampa Nesta (Genester) and he gave his own name as Leif Foota. So when she saw Lester and realized who he was, she had a big shock. Not only that he was in her home but how he had aged.

While the family celebrated with the cake, Meadow and Lester had a long talk.
No, she hadn't realized that Leith was her grandson. And she also hadn't known that Captain Futa, Officer of the Year and leader of the SWAT team was her own daughter. Meadow had only recently gone back to work at the police department when Cliff had started school. And her position as a desk sergeant didn't put her in contact with the SWAT team so she hadn't actually seen Spring there. Then she told Lester how much she had missed her daughter and how often she had wished she had not left her with Hester. And how guilty she had always felt for doing so. And how that guilt had kept her from contacting Spring in recent years thinking that Spring must hate her. So Lester responded by telling Meadow how Spring had always longed to see her mother and know her siblings but felt too shy to make contact thinking that Meadow did not want her. That intensified Meadow's guilt then and she broke down and cried. But she swore she was going to do something about it.

And the very next day she did. As the day shift was drawing to a close, Meadow made a point of going to the SWAT office. When she walked in, Spring knew at once who she was, even though she had not seen Meadow in years. She hadn't ever known that Meadow was a police officer though, since Meadow had been out on maternity and child care leave for so much of the time. Meadow asked to talk with Spring privately and Spring agreed. Then Meadow told Spring just what she had told Lester the night before. Soon they were both crying and after that they found themselves hugging like they would never let go.

But they did. Long enough for Spring to go home with Meadow to meet her siblings. And she stayed for supper, beginning the process of getting to know her brothers and sisters and becoming part of their lives.

Meadow had explained to Spring how Lester had brought all this about so when Spring got home she had a big hug and thank you for her father. He had done something for her that she would never forget.


What other changes will the new patriarch initiate? Will he attempt to meddle in the lives of the other Genester families? And what is going on in the lives of his younger sons? How do Spring's siblings feel about her advent into their lives? Tune in to the next episode of All My SimChildren for the answers to SOME of these questions.

next episode: Growing Up in Trash Town