Chapter 18 - Shockwave part 4

at #1 Tradition Street - home of Genesis and Hawer Enabler (continued from chapter 9)

Genesis and Hawer wasted no time in arranging their wedding as soon as her divorce from Robi was final. They had no party but did invite family to witness. And they took plenty of pictures. However it did not go off as smoothly as Robi and Mabal's wedding did. First they had to delay the ceremony because it was time for Jager's first transition.



His red hair and green eyes seemed to kind of clash with his green skin.


But now he was able to watch with the grownups while the ceremony took place.


After the ceremony Genesis regaled Opalessa and Viggo with a funny story. At least Viggo thought it was funny. Opalessa seemed more shocked. Of course Viggo approved of everything that Genesis did. He didn't exactly have a crush on her, but he pretty much felt like she could walk on water.


A few weeks later, Genesis gave birth to a baby girl. She also had Hawer's green eyes, but Genesis's black hair.

Hawer got to be present this time too. He was again so thrilled when Genesis laid the newborn in his arms. They named her Loral.


The next year passed quietly and soon it was time for Loral to become a toddler.


And for Jager to enter childhood


Even though past 50 now, Genesis had inherited her mother's lengthy fertility. She and Hawer had not planned on another child but they weren't quite careful enough. Genesis was in the middle of her last pregnancy when Kester called to tell her that her mother was dead. Genesis didn't grieve as much as many others did. Though she had always been close to her mother, she carried a lot of secret resentment over the way that Hester had warned her away from Hawer. She felt she had lost out on a lot of happiness in her life because of that. But now that Hester was gone she was finally able to forgive.

at #2 Vintage Road - home of Platal Enabler, Hawer's sister and mother of Laser Genester and Viggo Enabler. (last seen in chapter 9)

Platal had continued seeing Travancor Pander. Yes, that man got around. Two Genester women (Hester and Opalessa) plus Platal and who knows who else. Well, he was after all a romance sim, so what could you expect? Platal didn't really care. As long as he was available. And he always was.


Of course eventually she wound up pregnant again, which just delighted her. Why, her twins were nearly teens. In fact, before her pregnancy was over, Leda and Lyra had their transition. First Lyra....


Then Leda.


They had thoroughly enjoyed dressing alike and wearing their hair alike as children. But now they wanted to stand out. Lyra, who was now a romance sim, chose a striking sun-streaked look for her hair.


While Leda, a knowledge sim, chose a practical, shaggy crop.


When the news of Hester Genester's death circulated through Trash Town, none of the family in this household were affected. They knew who she was but they weren't related to her. Platal had not kept the girls' father's identity secret from them, so they also knew that they were related to the younger Genesters. But they had not yet met any of them. Both the girls had sunny personalities so harbored no resentment of their rich relatives. They were too busy with their own lives. And they had never known want, thanks to their father's provision for them in his will.

at #5 Vintage Road - home of Christy Stratton and Brandon Lillard.

Christy had once had hopes of marrying Lester Genester but had finally given up on him. Brandon had been a longtime lover of Hester. Brandon and Christy had lived together for years without benefit of marriage and were pretty content that way. They had been only roommates at first, but with a romance sim like Brandon in your house, sharing a bed is only a matter of time. They had two children together and although Brandon had never been marriage-minded he did find he liked being a father, after their first child, Kristor, was born. When Christy became pregnant a second time, Brandon decided he wanted the child to have his name so he had actually proposed to Christy. He was totally amazed -and devastated-when she refused. How could any woman refuse someone as great as he was?


He just could not accept no for an answer so he began waging a campaign to win her consent. Not that he gave up his romancing of course. That would have been impossible. But he changed his image and started acting like any normal suburban family man.

Both their children had been quite precocious as infants, being able to walk and escape from their cribs before they were a year old


Kristor walks early.

And so does Branna
Brandon continued his family man charade for a couple of years but any time he brought up the topic of possible marriage, Christy changed the subject . Then one day Christy told him that she was pregnant again. That did it. With uncharacteristic humility he again asked her to marry him. In fact, he practically begged.

This time she accepted. He was thrilled that he had succeeded but still had an awful sinking feeling in his stomach at the thought of the commitment.

Christy didn't give him time to change his mind. She hied him off to the Registry office right away. Then told the kids when they got home from school. Their daughter Branna had started school a couple of years before. She was a quiet, shy child who always did her homework and loved helping with the housework. And avoided a camera like the plague. Oldest child, Kristor, had become a teen quite some time back and he was as unlike Branna as chalk and cheese. He was a romance sim like his father and was extremely outgoing, but he was different from his father in a major way. He liked boys better than girls.


After his first kiss with Geoffrey Gregory, he didn't waste any time going as far and fast as he could. And considering that Geoffrey was several years older than Kristor they became very close very fast.


Hester's death had small impact on Brandon. While she was a memorable woman, there were so many others in the world. Although he had found that his pretense of being a family man had had a strange effect of making him feel more and more like one. Not that he would ever give up his romancing of course.

at #9 Vintage Road - home of Joe and Trista Carr (last seen in chapter 13)

Trista was one of the last of Abhijeet's lovers. She and Joe had been no more than friends before Abhijeet's death. But with Abhijeet gone she had turned to Joe and they had soon had a little girl, Isolde. Joe already had an adopted daughter, Jody. (People speculated that she was a natural daughter that the mother had left with him. Why else would a single man adopt a child?) After Isolde's birth Joe had proposed and they had married and moved out of the Stratton household where they had lived for so long. They bought a lovely little home on the edge of town.


Here their daughter Isolde transitioned to childhood.


And Jody became a teen. Her first act after her transitioning was to set the kitchen on fire when she tried to fix supper.


Then Trista became pregnant again. Joe was thrilled. He was 57 and Trista was only 10 years younger. But he still had what it took.


Joe was Hester's first lover after Abhijeet. Though their relationship had ended years ago, his memories of her were still green. But he was happy and content in his life now and knew he would always have those memories so felt no loss when he heard of her passing. And he was totally surprised when he received a small bequest. He would use it for his daughters of course. It wasn't long after Hester's death that a new life entered the Carr family. Of course Trista went into labor in the middle of the night when she had gotten up to get something to eat.


So in the wee hours a third daughter was born to the Carrs. They named her Lynette.


Hester's death affected a great many people in many different ways and would continue to affect many of them for a long time to come. What further changes would occur in these families as the result of her life and death? Stay tuned to the continuing saga of All My SimChildren.

next episode: Shattered Lives

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Chapter 17 - Shockwave part 3

#7 Vintage Road - the Bertinos (former Tosha Go) -(last seen in chapter 13)
Tesler Go was a year younger than Dexter and had more rough times to his name. He continued to dream of living with Lester and dreamt that his older brothers would live there too. He always had such happy times when he was there. The family didn't live with the Lillard-Stattons any more. Shortly before Roland's first birthday they had moved.


The house the Bertino family moved to was small and not quite finished but it was theirs alone and they finally had privacy.

Roland celebrated his first transition there

Orlando really enjoyed the privacy. He preferred wearing as little as possible and had often hung out at the Lillard house in his underwear, but now he even dispensed with that much of the time.

Orlando had never thought of getting married until he felt he had to but now he found he rather liked it.

And he also found he enjoyed being a father and doing little things like tuck his son in at night.

However he was never able to get close to Tesler again after Tesler had walked into his and Tosha's bedroom on their wedding night. Tesler still kept his distance and wished for a different life. He was even more sullen after transitioning to teen.

He couldn't even bring his friends home because he never knew whether Orlando would be dressed or not. Not even when Orlando was supposed to be at work. Orlando had a rather lackadaisical attitude toward work and would often call in sick even though he wasn't. So in addition to Tesler being unable to have friends over, the family wasn't as well provided for as they could have been. The support payments Lester sent often paid the rent or bought groceries, instead of buying him new clothes or other teen necessities.

Orlando's habit of going nude would sometimes get himself an unexpected shock too.

Gotcha!
Although the results of that were usually to his liking.

But eventually there were consequences, even though both he and Tosha were fifty.


#5 Nostalgia Lane - the Cormiers (former Meadow Thayer)(last seen in chapter 13)
Meadow's seventh pregnancy ended in a quick and easy labor at 2:30 AM on a Wednesday. Leigh had awakened fussy so Meadow had gotten dressed figuring they would both be up for a while.

It was so quick that none of the rest of the family ever even woke up. She hadn't had time to call anyone.

The baby was another boy with Ricky's dark skin and blue eyes. They named him Cliff.

That evening was Marsh's turn to transition to teen

With three teen boys in the family there was usually something noisy going on. The two elder, Field and Forest, both had part-time jobs now and they both liked to workout. Which they usually did together in front of the tv.

The two were not quite as identical as they had been as children. At least if you had them side by side. Many people though still mistook one for the other if they were alone. But they were both good-looking and the girls at school all dangled after them.


Birthdays come often when you have a large family. Soon it was Leigh's turn to become a child and a beautiful little girl she was. That was the same day that Hester died and Brewster became a child. So Leigh and Brewster entered school on the same day though they were in different classes.

And on that same day Field experienced his transition to adulthood


Ricky was very glad none of his family were around when he heard of Hester's death. Robi Charvat called him the day after it happened as Robi knew Ricky had been a friend of the family for a long time. It had been ages since Ricky's short-lived affair with Hester but the news still struck him like a baseball bat against the head. He staggered and had to lean against the wall to keep from falling and for a few moments he couldn't speak. He finally mumbled a few inane comments to Robi and hung up, then went for a walk to compose himself before rejoining his family. Hester was a woman that no man could ever forget.

Meadow had an entirely different reaction when she heard the news. She didn't care that Hester was gone, and perhaps was even glad. At the time of her and Lester's breakup she had blamed Hester, thinking that if Hester had had a different lifestyle, perhaps Lester would have too. Now of course she would not even think of trading her years with Ricky for Lester. But there was still the issue of Meadow's missing daughter, Spring. It was Hester who had insisted that Spring would be better off remaining in the Genester home. So now her thoughts began focusing on Spring, wondering if there were some way she could get Spring back.

at #6 Heritage Trail - home of Opalessa Genester, youngest gen 2. (again last seen in chapter 13 but very briefly)
Opalessa was the first person Kester called to tell of Hester's death, after his own mother. They had grown up together and had remained fairly close even after he married and she moved out. She took the news fairly well but was totally shocked. She had really thought her mother would go on forever. She had been so hale, never sick, always so active. So YOUNG. She wished now that she had visited oftener. She had frequently put off visiting because she had so many other things to do. Now it was too late. She felt more alone than she ever had in her life, despite the large number of friends she had. She had always been happy in her little house alone. But now it felt empty and she didn't like the feeling.

Within the next few weeks she invited her niece Soressa Charvat to come live with her. Soressa jumped at the chance. She wasn't really happy at home so as soon as she became an adult she was ready to move out. Soon the house was echoing with new sounds as Soressa entertained her brother Kester and her boyfriend, Dorian Kauker.


at #1 Lineage Way - home of Robi Charvat and second wife, Mabal Enabler
(continued from chapter 9)
After Robi and Genesis's divorce was final, Robi and Mabal were finally free to marry. They had a simple, quiet ceremony at the Registry office and didn't even have pictures taken. Then they settled down to do what they loved best. Learn. And teach their children. When Korena transtioned to toddler it was without a party and again no pictures. In fact the only picture taken of Korena through her entire toddlerhood was taken by Soressa one day with possibly the intent of future blackmail.


The years passed quietly until time for Soressa to transition to adulthood. Little brother Sager, now 10, managed to get one picture for her.


Not too long after that, Hester called Robi and asked him to come over. It had been a good while since they had seen each other and he had thought of her often, despite being content with Mabal. When he came home that evening he was pale and shaken. Mabal didn't notice but Soressa did. When she asked him what was wrong he told her that her grandmother was gone. Soressa was griefstricken. Hester had been such an important part of her life from as far back as she could remember. She moped around for days. When Mabal tried to give very clumsy comfort by saying that "Well, look how old she was. She is much better off now in Avalon than she was here making a fool of herself chasing young men." ARGGGH. Soressa wanted to strangle her. Right then and there she decided she was moving out.

Soressa stayed just long enough for little Korena's next transition...


Then she moved in with her aunt Opalessa.

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Chapter 16 - Shockwave - part 2

at #4 Heritage Trail - home of Lester Genester (continued from chapter 13) same time period as Chapter 14 & 15

Spring's romance with Bordeau Pander had ended when she told him she was pregnant and he disappeared from her life. Her pregnancy had seemed endless to her and was marked by long periods of depression when she would indulge in hours of weeping. When her brother Laser got her to try meditation her spirits began to lift and her last few weeks went smoothly, much to her family's relief. Finally, one morning after Lester had gone to work and Laser to school, her labor began. It was short and easy and she soon held a beautiful baby boy in her arms.


As she looked at him and saw how much he looked like his father, her tears began to flow again. She stood cradling him and crying for long moments, again mourning for the loss of Bordeau yet feeling love swelling within her for this tiny person.

Finally she turned to the task of naming. She chose the name Leith, which means "wide, slow river" both for the river of tears she had shed and the deep river of love she now felt for her son.

Lester and Laser were suitably enthusiatic on return home and life settled down into a new routine centered around this new life in their midst. A few weeks later Spring received a surprise phone call. From Alvin Futa. She had not seen or heard from Alvin in over a year. And suddenly here he was wanting to see her. She hesitantly agreed and he came over. He seemed a lot different now, not nearly so shy, more sure of himself. A confident man rather than the backward boy he had seemed before. It wasn't long before he made it plain to her that he wanted to take up where they had left off before. He even seemed to totally accept little Leith, showing no signs of jealousy or resentment. Spring was wary though. She had thought she loved Alvin before she met Bordeau and perhaps still did, but after what Bordeau did she was afraid to trust again. Alvin seemed to understand without being told and didn't push her toward any intimacies. Nothing stronger than friendly hugs now and then. Until one evening when several family members had come for dinner. After dinner as everyone gathered in the living room, Alvin dropped to his knees and pulled a box from his pocket. Right there in front of everyone he proposed to Spring.

He said his vows to her right then, promising to be faithful, to cherish her all his life and to do everything in his power to make her happy. And to raise her son as his own. Weeping tears of joy, Spring could do nothing else than say yes. She could barely believe that fortune had favored her with this second chance. Wanting to make sure of her, Alvin suggested they formalize the union immediately. With Lester's assistance, he had gotten a special license before even asking her. (Yes, he had asked for Lester's permission and help ahead of time.)

The kiss he gave her at the end of the ceremony was a gentle one. So gentle that she wondered if she would ever again experience the ardency that she had with Bordeau.

But she didn't need to worry. When they retired to their room, all the passion that Alvin had restrained in the past weeks of courting her was unleashed in full and Bordeau was completely wiped from Spring's mind. They fell asleep in each other's arms both fully content and happy.

A few days later Lester went over to his mother's after work. She was having her 84th birthday and he wanted to celebrate with her. When he returned hours later with his eyes swollen and face still tear-streaked, Spring was alarmed. "What's wrong, Dad, what happened?," she shrilled. He told her as calmly and gently as he could of Hester's death. Spring shrieked, stormed and cried, becoming more and more hysterical. She had grown so close to her grandmother during the months of her pregnancy. Hester had come to take the place of her absent mother in her life. She couldn't bear to think of never seeing her again. Finally, exhausted, she collapsed on the floor.

Seeing the condition she was in Alvin called for emergency care. A doctor came and administered therapy, then gave her a sedative and sent her to bed. Then baby Leith began to cry. It dawned on Alvin then that it was time for Leith to have his first transition. They had no party planned and no cake for him. So Alvin did the best he could. He went to Leith, cleaned him, fed him, cuddled him, then tossed him in the air.

Leith came back to his arms shrilling with laughter.

Then Leith nestled close to Alvin, gurgling something that sounded to Alvin very much like "My Daddy". Alvin's heart filled with wonder and love. This WAS his son.

A few months later it was time for Laser's next transition. He elected for a change to have no party. Grandmother Hester had always attended his previous parties and he still didn't have the heart to have a party without her. The only non-family member in the house was the maid, Lucy Hanby. But she was not on duty. Laser had become good friends with the young woman over the past months and on this particular day he had asked her to hang around after she finished work. So that evening, with Lucy and his family gathered around, he made the transition.

Then it was time for Lucy to go home. No dramatic pronouncement of love or anything like that. Laser was still more interested in having friends than anything else. And that was solely how he saw Lucy. A friend. Well, maybe his best friend. He still had not determined what he wanted to do with his life. In many ways, despite the man's body, he was still a boy.

#2 Vintage Road - the Londons (former Ivy Copur)
Next son, Fester Copur, had a much rougher life than Laser. He didn't particularly like his new step-father but Randy pretty much ignored him so it wasn't too bad. He was much closer to his mom's cousin, Joe Carr, who had lived with them all his life. And Joe had an adopted daughter who was just a couple of years younger than Fester. Her name was Jody and she had been Fester's best friend when they were little. He still felt very close to her even though she was still a child. When Joe married Trista Shaw, Fester got to be the "usher" even though it was a home wedding. His job was to seat his mother and Jody.

It was the first real wedding Fester had seen and he was impressed.

But after the wedding, the Carrs moved to a home of their own and even though Fester was able to visit them he felt that he had lost two good friends. It just wasn't the same as when they lived with him.
He did have new friends though. The visits with his father Lester had introduced him to his two brothers who also lived in Trash Town and they also were becoming friends. Especially Dexter, the older of the two.

By this time Fester's mother, Ivy, was expecting a baby.

In due time a baby boy was born, who was named Dolf.

So now Fester had another brother. But way too young to ever be a companion.

Although Fester was four years younger than Laser, in many ways he was much more experienced in the ways of the world. Living in Trash Town he was exposed to a lot more of the seamy side of life. Like living right next door to the Hooker house and seeing the men coming and going all hours of the day and night. He knew it cost money to go in there so he saved his up until he thought he had enough and ventured in one night after dark. He got quite an education. And the first thing he learned was that he needed more money. So he got a part time job as a street hawker. Before long he had enough to dance with the girls and got his first kiss. More saving finally got him entrance to one of the back rooms with a pretty blond named Willow. `


Now THAT *WAS* an education. And an experience that he repeated whenever he had the money.

#6 Vintage Road - the Stompels (former Marsha Bruenig)
Dexter Bruenig got along well with all his siblings, on both his father's and his mother's sides. He was three years younger than Fester but considered Fester his best bud. Although they hadn't reached that status until Dexter himself had become a teen.

Dexter had been of an artistic temperament since a small child and was very creative in his approach to everything. So his mother, Marsha, had gone all out to get him a really artistic outfit. And he loved it.

Dexter was the one who designed the landscaping for the house.


A year later his little sister Christiona transitioned to childhood

And Marsha was expecting again, despite being 48. And she was happy about it, going around her housework singing or whistling all the time.

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