Chapter 22-Fledglings Leave the Nest

at #2 Heritage Trail - home of Pendillis and Cleve Wilson (last seen in chapter 15)

Cleve remained deeply involved with his son, Clever, throughout his toddlerhood and was right there with him when it was time for Clever to transition to child.
Clever had not wanted a party but Cosetta had invited her friend, Sager Charvat, over for the evening.



After everyone had congratulated Clever, Cosetta and Sager went out to the back yard to swing. There they shared their first kiss. Cosetta was 15 and Sager a year younger.

Once Clever was in school Pendillis was finally free to return to her job as a fashion consultant full-time. With four teens in the house, two of them nearly grown, she didn't need to worry about Clever during the hours after school before she got home. The next two years passed quietly as the children grew, attended school and made the grades that their father would have expected of a teacher's children. In what seemed like no time at all it was time for Chester and Vesta to transition to adult. They chose to have only the immediate family for the celebration, but they did decide to have two cakes. Chocolate for Chester and strawberry for Vesta.


They both elected to transition into their best grown-up clothes for picture taking and when they got their first look at each other they were both astounded. Where was that awkward kid that had been their best buddy for so many years? Now they saw a handsome man/lovely young woman instead.




By the time pictures were taken, the cake consumed and all the congratulations done, 7 year old Clever was ready for bed. 17 year old Fletcher had gotten up a few hours early that morning to bake the two cakes so he was worn out too and volunteered to see Clever to bed. Then he retired to his own.

The rest of the family retired to the backyard for swinging and more camaraderie.

Cosetta was quite subdued at the family party. Well, she had never been as outgoing as the rest of the family so no one really noticed it. But she had a lot on her mind. Ever since her 16th birthday in fact. She was struggling to assimilate what she had learned about her parents. She had become quite close to Kester since she met him at Pendillis and Cleve's wedding. Finally on her 16th birthday, Kester told her he was her father but warned her that she should not mention it in the family as it would cause them a lot of upset. She had always been humiliated by her mother saying she didn't know who her father was. But now she knew why she said it. Cosetta was determined not to follow in her parents' footsteps. She wanted to have a strong marriage and many children just like her grandmother. She already had a sweetheart. He was Sager Charvat, son of Robi Charvat and Mabal Enabler, and he seemed to be a strong and caring person. They had shared only an occasional kiss, but Cosetta felt he would be the man for her. The knowledge of her parentage though had deepened the way she had already come to feel about Kester so all things together she was glad he had told her. And now she was beginning to get to know her younger siblings also. Kester had not told them yet. He had said that due to the turmoil in their lives because of their mother he intended to wait a while before telling them.

Chester had been seeing a young firefighter, Maura Simpson, for a couple of years. She was two or three years older than he was and had so far refused to commit to any kind of serious relationship. But they were good friends and he hoped to be more. As far as the family knew, Maura was the first and only girl he had been interested in. What they didn't know was that for several years Chester had been sneaking out at night to visit the "happy houses" with a couple of his male buddies. There he had his first experiences with "love".


But he wanted to marry and have a family and those girls were not what he was looking for in a wife. When he met Maura Simpson he had liked her a lot. And she seemed to return the feelings. So he had given up partying and had been working hard on his studies to prepare himself for getting a good job. He had graduated with honors from his community college program.

Maura had been unable to attend the transition celebration due to her work schedule. But she had promised to stop by after she got off work that evening and she did so. One look at Chester and she knew where her future lay. And after a few words exchanged she laid her heart at his feet.

It wouldn't be long now before family sim Chester reached the first of his life goals.

Vesta's boyfriend, Acanthus Baxter, had attended the party but it would be several months yet before he transitioned so Vesta ended the evening feeling just a little let down. However, Chester was still her best friend and they had not left all of their youth behind. After everyone else went to bed, the twins shared one of their last playtimes together before going their separate ways into the future.

Second daughter Janeesis had stayed at home until she was 22 as she and boyfriend Jonathan Ternynck pursued their relationship. Finally they had decided that they wanted to share their lives more fully and bought a house together at #12 Legacy Drive. They had all their marriage plans made and shopped for rings together, but though everything was agreed beforehand, Jonathan insisted on presenting the engagement ring to Janeesis with all the formal ritual.


They wanted a formal wedding too but after buying the house they didn't have enough money left for the wedding so just moved in together until they could save up what they needed. But before that happened, despite precautions, Janeesis began suspecting she was pregnant and a pregnancy test confirmed it. Now what to do? Have a wedding or have a baby?


at #3 Heritage Trail - home of Estarr and Chandler Platz (last seen in chapter 15)

At the Platz's home more fledglings were preparing to leave the nest. Jeekobey managed to keep his romantic impulses to a minimum until he was 27 while he worked to save up a nestegg. He didn't want to live in some crummy little apartment or a one room hut. He wanted a decent house to begin with, maybe not completely finished but something he did not have to be ashamed of. After all he had his professional position to consider. Wouldn't do for a promising psychologist to appear to be a pauper. But finally he had enough and was able to move out.

Bethesda had made him promise that she could come and live with him as soon as Mother would let her. And she had her own nestegg growing which she promised to put in on the new house.

Jeekobey didn't propose to live alone though. After weighing the pros and cons he had decided to ask one of his girlfriends, Brittany Parker, to move in with him. He made it plain up front though that he wasn't interested in getting married or having kids but she said that was fine with her. She had her career to think of, just as he did.


Jeekobey planned to open his own office as soon as possible. He had already rented the space and installed his psychotherapy machine. He had some interior decorating to do though before he could open. But he was already lining up clients.


A few months after Jeekobey left, it was time for Chalmer's teen transition.


No doubt who he belonged to with that nose. (Or lack of nose) Had some of Grandpa Abhijeet's features too. Chalmer chose popularity as his aspiration which was a surprise to the family as he didn't have many friends yet and what he did have were all younger boys.

A year later it was finally time for Bethesda to escape. She transitioned to adult, packed her bags and said her goodbyes. And it wasn't just a desire for easier romancing that inspired her to leave. Every two or three nights the ghost of her father would roam the house and seemed to take particular delight in appearing to her suddenly. She loved her dad but when he kept jumping out of the piano at her it was too much. She knew he was just playing with her but that was worse than all the tickling he used to do.


Then she caught a cab to Jeekobey's pad.



At #5 Nostalgia Lane - home of the Cormiers (last seen in chapter 17)


As Meadow's youngest child, Cliff, rapidly grew toward childhood,


her older sons were trying their wings in the wider world. Eldest son Field was a fortune sim and worked hard at his art studies but enjoyed late nights out with friends as much as any other young man, despite being quite shy. On one occasion he didn't get in until the rest of the family was getting up one morning.


Second son Forest was a romantic and spent as much time as he could chasing girls and hanging out at the Trash Town party houses with his friend, Chester Genester.


Third son Marsh, though popularity oriented, seemed to prefer being most popular with his siblings. He engaged in a lot of activities with his sisters and little brother, even going so far as to help Cliff with potty training. Needless to say, Cliff regarded Marsh as a hero.


The older the boys got the more crowded the house seemed. It was only a three bedroom house and none of them were large. It seemed that when little Cliff transitioned he would have to bunk in with his sisters as there was just no room to squeeze in another bed in the boys' room. Field however, offered a solution. Since he was beginning to make some money from sale of his paintings and it was nearly time for Forest to graduate, Field suggested that the two of them get their own place. Ricky and Meadow considered the idea thoughtfully and finally decided that the boys were mature enough to handle life on their own so agreed. When Marsh heard of this he strenuously objected. He didn't want his older brothers to go off and leave him. Now if they would consider letting him come with them, that would be okay. The three broached that subject with their parents with trepidation. After all, Marsh was not quite 16. But Marsh was probably the most mature of the three for his age so Ricky and Meadow agreed, to the boys' surprise and pleasure. With stipulations that there were to be frequent visits in both directions. So the arrangements were made and the three prepared to move out as soon as Cliff had his transition party. The big day arrived with lots of fanfare.

"Wo ho, go for it, Cliffie! You can do it!"

And Cliff did it.

After the festivities and putting Cliff to bed in a room now totally his own, the older boys gathered up their belongings and called a cab to take them to their private digs at #3 Lineage Way.

Not too long after that, Valley had her transition to teenhood.


Which ultimately brought daughter Spring back into Meadow's life. Meadow wept tears of joy when she said goodbye to Spring after that first visit and they both planned many more.

With the three noisiest members of the family out of the house now, it suddenly began seeming quite empty to Meadow. She longed to fill it up again but knew she was past the age to have more children. She and Ricky were both over fifty now. But there was no reason they could not adopt more children. Ricky made a quite good salary, they had a very decent home and with her working, they had money for savings. And if they adopted a school-age child she wouldn't have to stay home either. Though she still had lots of vacation time saved up. When she presented her idea to Ricky, he agreed instantly. He loved all their children as much as Meadow did, and even more he loved her. So anything that she wanted that was in his power he would agree to. After nearly 25 years of marriage he still felt the same as he had when they first wed. NO, that wasn't true. He loved her even more now. Despite the few slips from total fidelity that he had experienced. So they applied to Social Services for an adoptee. They were soon told that a five year old girl was available and they agreed instantly. She was the same age as Cliff and would be perfect. Her name was Dayle and when she arrived they couldn't have been more pleased. She had the same dark skin and hair as Ricky and Cliff. No question of her ever being pointed out as "different". Ricky immediately pitched in to help her learn to study right along with older sister Leigh.


How will being out of the nest work out for all the fledglings? How long before even more leave the nest? Stay tuned for the next chapter of All My SimChildren.

Next episode: Tranquil Times, Happy Families