Chapter 21 - Growing Up in Trash Town

at #2 Vintage Road - home of Fester Copur (last seen in chapter 16)

Lester's second son, Fester (gen3-popularity) was rapidly approaching adulthood. His last teen years were spent working the streets to make spending money which he then spent at the Hooker house. But he also had girlfriends his own age. The most longstanding one was Jody Carr who had been his best friend since they were children despite being four years younger. She had her first kiss with Fester though it was long past his first.


He never went further than kissing with Jody though. His almost brotherly feelings for her prevented him from taking advantage of her feelings that way. His relationship with Poppy Jeffress was an entirely different matter. Poppy was the same age as Jody and they were in the same class at school. Both girls also belonged to the Marasong Girls' Club. They had a special uniform that they wore for club meetings and many of them wore it all the time. Fester had actually met Poppy through Jody. He had been really surprised that she was in the MGC when he found out who she was. Most of the girls in Trash Town belonged to the club but uptown girls usually belonged to a different one. He soon found out that Poppy was not much like the other uptown girls. She was wild as a doe and was looking for a buck. And he was the first one she met. A few days after they first met she called him up and invited him to her home. If he hadn't spent so many happy hours at Lester's home he might have turned her down. That was really a big, fancy house she lived in. But he went and had a great time. He had another first kiss with her in the kitchen.

And before long they were upstairs in her bedroom

She kept him there all night. He had to sneak out of the house in the predawn hour just before the rest of the family got up. Wow, that girl was HOT. What she lacked in experience she made up for with enthusiasm. Definitely a relationship he wanted to continue. And a lot cheaper than the Hookers. So they had other trysts at her home, though not too often. And they took advantage of the clothing booths at the department stores. And any place else they could manage. She had said something a couple of times about 'going steady'. Well, she was still a kid in some ways. So he decided to humor her. He actually invited her over to his home for supper one evening. Then he officially asked her to go steady with him. Of course she said yes.

But Fester's home was too small to avoid the rest of the family for some fun and games. And Fester's mother Ivy made herself downright unpleasant when she started teasing Poppy about going steady.

So that evening ended early.

Fester found conflicts growing between himself and his mother and step-father as he got older. He had come to accept his baby brother, Dolf, after he wound up being the one to assist the kid with his first transition.

That experience was a transition of sorts for Fester also as he found himself bonding with Dolf.

So during the final years of his adolescence Fester and Dolf became closer. When the time came for Dolf's next transition it was also Fester's turn again. There was no party and the brothers were the only ones in the house as both Ivy and Randy were at work. First Dolf became a child....

Then Fester transitioned to adult

At last no more school and no more after school jobs. He was ready for the real world now. With his experience on the street he quickly got a job as a bagman. He knew his father, Lester, would not approve of that but, hey, a guy's gotta have some bread. Maybe something better would come along later.


At #6 Vintage Road - home of Dexter Bruenig, Lester's third son. (last visited in chapter 16)

Dexter's mother, Marsha, sailed through her last pregnancy without difficulty and went into labor soon after getting up one sunny Saturday morning.

She quickly gave birth to a baby boy. Husband Christopher got that far fairly complacently.

And then another one. Christopher's complacent facade broke then and he let out a big yell. Whether of elation or dismay it was impossible to tell. They settled on Yansey for the first baby's name and Norven for the second. And also decided they would have to keep colored tags on the infants so they could tell them apart since they appeared identical.

Dexter and Christiona had arrived in time for Norven's birth and were now anxious to see the babies. At least Dexter was.

Christiona's nose was a bit out of joint. She had been the youngest for so long that she didn't really want to give that postion up. So she kind of resented the intrusion of these two squallers. But Marsha and Christopher both assured her that she was still their favorite daughter.

The next year passed tranquilly and soon it was time for the twins first transition.

First Yansey

Then Norven

The boys were still pretty identical. Can't keep them in matching outfits or they'll get mixed up.

Dexter's life was quiet and tranquil also. He focused his attention on his studies, his painting and his family. He had few friends besides his brothers.

#7 Vintage Road - the Bertinos, home of Tesler Go, Lester's youngest son.
(continued from chapter 17)

It was time for Tosha and Orlando's son, Roland, to transition to child. But there was no question of a party. Even just a family one. Besides the perennial lack of funds, Tosha was having a pretty rough time with her pregnancy. So Roland did it all on his own.


Finally it was time for Tosha to go into labor. Orlando was really worried. He wanted Tosha to go to the hospital but she refused. They just didn't have the money she said. Just as she had refused to go to the doctor during her pregnancy. Women had done this all through history without doctors, she said. She would manage just fine.

Well, she was right. She got through labor just fine, giving birth to a healthy baby boy. They named him Javier.

Then she went back to bed, as she was exhausted, while Orlando cared for the baby. She slept like the dead for several hours then suddenly woke to a horrible pain in her abdomen. It brought her out of bed screaming.

She knew something was terribly wrong. Her vision began swimming and going dark. She was dizzy and could no longer stand. As she fell to the floor, she called out, "Somebody, anybody, help!

Her family heard her calls and came running. But though they reached her quickly it was already too late. She was gone. Death had arrived before they did.

Orlando was in shock. He knew he should have insisted Tosha seek medical attention. Now it was too late. And all because he wasn't a better provider. And what would he do now? He couldn't take care of a baby and work too. And Tesler was only 14, too young to take up the slack. And probably wouldn't want to anyway, as grumpy as he always was. What was Orlando to do? Briefly he considered turning them all over to Social Services and just getting on with his own life. But the thought of giving up his son, Roland, was unendurable. So he had to find another way. He finally settled on a nanny for the hours that neither he nor Tesler were home. Then he threw himself into his job with more determination than he had ever shown in his life before. When Tesler would get home from school he would dismiss the nanny for the rest of the day to save a few dollars. So the bachelor family struggled along for a year. Then Javier had his first transition. Orlando was at work so Tesler had to help him, thus establishing a lifelong bond.

Tesler shed a few tears then while he thought about his mother and the fact that this little brother would never know her. Not that she had been that great a mother but better than nothing.


During the year since Tosha's death, Orlando had not let his social life slide. He had been renewing old contacts as well as seeking out new women. Every afternoon after work, he spent a couple of hours pursuing love interests. Since he always got home at the same time, Tesler just assumed he was at work during that time. But finally Orlando's pursuits paid off. His relationship with Platal Enabler blossomed to the point that she invited him to move in with her. Well, that had to mean the boys too, he pointed out. That was fine with Platal, cause she just loved kids. So the two families combined with the Bertino's moving to

#2 Vintage Road - home of Platal Enabler (last seen in chapter 18)

Platal's last pregnancy ended at the same time as Tosha's but without the tragedy. She had home birth also as the majority of women in Heritage did. But she had seen her doctor throughout pregnancy so went into labor with all possible safeguards in place. It was an easy labor and produced another little redhaired girl. She was named Aura.

During her pregnancy, she had finally had the house exterior painted, at the twins insistance. She had let them pick out the paint. And she had to agree it looked pretty now.

The girls were only 14 when Aura was born but they both already had boyfriends. And they weren't boys either. Lyra was going out with Dominic Phillipine, a 20 year old whom Platal suspected was a romancer, but so was Lyra.

She really hadn't expected anything different from the girl. Nor did she criticize. After all, she had been no different and her life had turned out fine. Platal was surprised at Leda though. Leda had always been more of a bookworm than Lyra and not much interested in boys. So when Leda brought home 22 year old Field Cormier one day, Platal had been shocked. But after watching Field for a while she figured she didn't need to worry.

Turned out he was an artist and every bit as bookish as Leda. And very shy. There was never any handholding or kissing going on between the two like there was with Lyra and Dominic. Leda and Field just had serious discussions about all sorts of boring topics that Platal was not the least interested in. But nonetheless, Platal made sure both girls knew how to prevent unwanted babies. She had never bothered with such measures herself as she had wanted all she could get, but she wanted her daughters to have the options.
Meanwhile she had her own life to worry about. Aura's father, Travancor Pander, hadn't been around much since she had gotten pregnant. He didn't want any responsibilities. So she had to look around for someone else. She wasn't getting any younger. And men were getting scarcer. Men of a suitable age anyway. Orlando Bertino had been a 'close' friend before his marriage to Tosha Go. Well, admit it, even after his marriage. But that had fizzled out after a while. Then after his wife died, he had started coming around again. By the time Aura was ready for her first transition, Platal and Orlando were pretty thick again.
pic 29 aura transition
Aside from her coloring, Aura didn't look much like her sisters or her mother either. Nor did she look much like Travancor. She was just herself and unique.

Finally Platal and Orlando's relationship advanced to the point that Platal wanted him around all the time. She had never felt this way about any of her previous boyfriends. Oh, she had loved them all while she was with them, but once out of sight, she didn't think about them much until she felt a romantic urge again. And when she was involved with her cousin Chader who lived in the same house she found his constant presence an annoyance more than anything. But now, with Orlando, it was different. She found herself wanting to wake up beside him every morning, to eat breakfast with him, to share all the daily trivia, even to hear him snore every night. So she asked him to move in.

He immediately said yes after making sure she was willing to take on his sons too. And so the whole tribe moved in.
But as soon as they arrived, Orlando went one better. He proposed.

They had an immediate simple marriage ceremony, while Platal's twins welcomed their new brothers.

Afterward, Lyra made a joke about them being just like that family in the old TV show they used to watch. With three boys and three girls they were now "The Bertino Bunch".
Then Orlando and Tesler demonstrated a new game they had invented, called Stomp the Feet. They held hands and each tried to stomp the others foot without getting stomped themselves. Tesler won the match which Orlando ruefully said that he usually did.

Later in bed, Orlando confided to Platal that he had invented the game to help Tesler get rid of some of his frustrations and hostilities. He thought Tesler blamed him for Tosha's death and he thought Tesler might be partly right. He promised Platal he would try to do a better job now than he had in the past. He didn't promise fidelity though nor did she expect it. She had what she wanted, in fact more than she had asked for. So she was very content.


Will Fester manage to avoid the law in his new profession? Will Dexter remain untouched by the intriques of Trash Town? How will The Bertino Bunch adjust to their new relationships? Stay tuned for more drama among All My SimChildren.

Next episode: Fledglings Leave the Nest

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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

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