Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Chapter 35: Some Real Work


Elliot may not approve of Jace's father, but he adores his new grandson. Grandson! It seem almost impossible that he's already grandfather. How is Delaney going to manage caring for this child without him, Elliot worries, how can he abandon her now to marry Claire?


"It's not physics, Farrell, just throw the dart already," Elliot says.

"Everything is physics," Farrell says, taking careful aim before he makes his throw, "But geometry is more appropriate in the current context."

Elliot laughs as his brother's dart hits the target dead center. "I can't win against a genius. The snow has all melted, why don't we see if the fish are biting?"


The brothers head out to the old fishing hole to enjoy spring's warmer weather.

"I'm still not so sure I should go through with this," Elliot says, "What if Delaney needs me?"

"I think Aouregan and I can handle any emergencies that come up," Farrell answers, "And Laney's never going to grow up if you don't let her go, Elliot. I think you going to Sunlit Tides to get married will be good for both of you."


"We've been together all our lives," Elliot says, dropping his rod to embrace his brother, "I'm going to miss you."

"You're only going to be gone for a week," Farrell observes, "And then we'll still be living in the same town."


"You look great," Cassidy sighs, her heart racing as she gets her first look at the newly matured Jesse, "How's your new job?"

"It's great, Cass. Just like we imagined working at the paper would be. But I miss you, working with you."

Cassidy gives an excited hop, "I can't wait to get started! How soon before we can move in together?"

"Actually, I moved into a new place this morning. It's got a great office space where we can both work. I was hoping you'd move in tonight."

"Really?" Cassidy beams, "Let's go get this birthday party over with, then!"


As usual, just the whole family gathered in one room is a party in itself. Jesse and Claire are the only guests invited to watch Delaney and Cassidy blow out their candles. Kyle had a game that afternoon and couldn't make it, and while Delaney would have loved to have Jack here with like like Cassidy has Jesse, her father would not let that happen.


Delaney goes first.


Followed by Cassidy.


Cassidy and Jesse eat their cake as quickly as possible before rushing up to her room to get her things.

"Are you ready?" he asks.


"So ready," she says, smiling as she surprises him with a kiss, "I just have to say goodbye to Laney, then we an go."


"Jesse did remember to tell Jack to come tonight, right?" Delaney asks.

"Of course he did," Cassidy promises, "Jack would never miss Jace's birthday. Don't forget to get your phone back Dad before he leaves, then you can call Jck yourself without relying on go-betweens. I'm moving in with Jesse tonight, but you know you can call me if you need anything."


The sisters hug goodbye before Cassidy takes off to start her new life.


"An office, right in our bedroom," Jesse boasts, showing off the new living arrangements.

"There's also a bed in our bedroom," Casidy purrs.


"The best day of my life was the day I followed you home, in the pouring rain," Jesse says, lifting her on to their bed, "That was the first time you kissed me."

"The best days of our lives are just starting," Cassidy replies, "We have a long way to go."


"This is it," Elliot says, taking Claire in his arms, "I'm all yours now."

"Then let's go home," Claire says, "Our home. We should make it an early night, our flight leaves in the morning."


Delaney kept Jace in the nursery while they were having cake, waiting to celebrate his birthday with Jack, after Elliot had gone and couldn't stop him. But hours have passed since her father left with Claire, and Jack still hasn't shown. Jace grows into a toddler with just is mother to celebrate with him.


He has his mother's nose, his father's mouth, and uncle Jesse's brown eyes.

"I wish your father were here," she whispers, knowing the toddler won't understand. After giving Jace a bottle and settling him back into his crib for the night, Delaney tries calling Jack again, for the sixth time this evening, but still gets no answer.


It's long after midnight when she finally climbs into her own bed, still with no word from Jack. Maybe he'll sneak in, she thinks wistfully as she slides under the covers.  It's wishful thinking, and she knows it. He's tried to keep it from her, but she's aware of his criminal undertakings, and she spends a sleepless night worrying about him, about what might have happened to him to keep him from her side tonight.


Morning comes with still no no word of Jack.


The call comes after breakfast, from a lawyer. Jack is in jail, and they need her to come in to give her testimony. Delaney hops on her bike and makes several moving violations as speeds to the station.



"I'm so sorry about this, Jack," Delaney says, "I can't believe my Dad would have you arrested."

"I believe it," Jack laughs, "But don't worry. My lawyer says it's bullshit, since we were both underage. Your dad has enough pull to get me locked up for a few days while this gets moved through the court, but your testimony will get this whole thing thrown out."

"He's such a coward, having you arrested before he takes off for a vaction so he doesn't have to face me. I'm going to kill him when he gets back," Delaney snarls, "I thought this bullshit would be over once I turned legal."



"Let it go, Laney," Jack says.

"Are you kidding me? He had you arrested!"

"I know. But it's the last time he'll be able to pull that. I know I'll probably never be able to prove myself to him, but I gotta take that chance. Having you turn on him for my sake would blow everything."

"You're very forgiving," Laney laughs, "I'm not sure I'll be able to hold back. This is my life he's fucking with."

"How's Jace?" Jack changes the subject, "I'm sorry I missed his birthday."

"He has your brother's eyes," Delaney tells him, "But he's got your smile."

Jack smiles for her, "I can't wait to get out of here and see for myself. Listen, I have to ask a favor of you."

"Anything," Delaney promises.

"An associate of mine is coming to town today. Hook, our lawyer, should be able to get hold of him, but he's probably already here, waiting for me at the Toadstool. Could you pop in there and tell him what happened? And, if you've got the time, take him to the warehouse."

"Our warehouse?" Delaney asks.

"Yeah," Jack nods, "I told the boss about it, and he's interested in maybe acquiring it. He sent Wicked John down to scope it out."

"Wicked John?" Delaney raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah, we all get nicknames," Jack rolls his eyes.


Not caring about the rules or the cop on guard to enforce them, Delaney jumps up from her seat to throw herself in Jack's arms.

"I'll take care of it, I promise," she whispers.


"All right, break it up," the cop says, coming over to physically separate the couple.


"You must be Wicked John," Delaney says. For one, he's the only guy in the Toadstool besides the bartender. He's also not a resident of Drake's Hollow, that much is obvious.

"And you're the delicious Delaney I've heard so much about," he replies, taking her offered hand and smiling, "Pie Man talks about you non-stop. Boy has a bad case of you, that's a fact. Name's Ian, by the way. Wicked John is just a nick."

"Pie Man?" Delaney asks.

Ian laughs, "Yeah, your boy, Horner. Boss calls him Pie Man. Don't ask me why."


"Have you heard about Jack?" Delaney asks, and explains the details of his arrest.


"Don't you worry about your boy, Hook's a great lawyer. He takes care of us all. Got my ass out of the can more than once," Ian assures her, "So, Jack sent you to show me this warehouse?"

"It's not more than a half hour drive from here," Delaney says.


"I've got nothing else on the agenda today, how about a game of pool before we go real estate shopping?"


Ian lets out a low whistle as Delaney bends over the table to line up her shot. "Pie Man was not lying," he says in breathy appreciation.


"Lying about what?" Delaney asks.

"Your incredible...talent for pool," Ian lies.

"I'm not that good," Delaney answers with a light laugh.

"From where I'm standing..." Ian says, not finishing the thought.



When they finish the game, Delaney takes Ian out to the old abandoned warehouse. "It's technically still a crime scene," she informs him, "But even the police don't really come here anymore."

"It used to be a front for whatever local crime scene you had going on in this little town. Your local law enforcement wiped 'em out pretty good. But our boss is a little too big of a fish for your Barneys to take down. A place like this might come in handy."

"For what?" Delaney asks.

"Ah, now that would be telling," Ian answers with a sly smile. He spends a few minutes looking around the place before he turns his attention back to her. "I gotta say, it takes a special kind of girl to run these kinds of errands for her guy. Jack's damn lucky."

"It's just a simple favor," Delaney brushes it off, "I'm no stranger to trouble." 


"Well, listen, Jack and I had a job planned for tomorrow night. Been casing this place out for months. Him suddenly being in jail...well, I could do it alone. But I'd feel a lot better with someone at my back. Got any experience with B&E?"

"Oh, definitely," Delaney nods confidently. She did break into the school to steal the tests, that totally counts, "I could help you."

"Yeah?" Ian smiles, "All right. Me meet here tomorrow night, around sunset. I'll take you to the city for some real work."

_____________________________________

So, this is sort of the start of Gen 3. It won't be official until Shadow ages up in two days.
I'll be posting the new rolls soon enough, I'm sure people have some good guesses about marital structure and careers by now anyway.
I put Gen 2's info up in my Generation Rolls page. In case everyone forgot, my goal was Expansionist and my Misc. Fun was luxury. I added a greenhouse for expansionist. Or I can count the rec room as part of that goal too, since when I moved in the room just had a desk and a love seat. I added foosball, a bookshelf, and easel, a display shelf, a cat bed, rugs, a chess table and decor, and replaced the loveseat with a new one.
For luxury, well, I replaced so much stuff in this house with way more expensive stuff. I didn't go by the letter of the rule and do every piece in one room, but I spent gobs of money replacing and adding new things in nearly every room. I also made a point of locking and granting any wish anyone had to buy something, including Farrell's midlife crisis wish to spend 10k on renovations.

Elliot has moved out with Claire. Since they were engaged, they married immediately. Their trip to Sunlit Tides is just for the story obviously. Cassidy moved in with Jesse. SP got them engaged the next morning. I hope they do well together. They are both in the Journalism career.
It's nice not having 8 Sims to deal with. But that won't last long.

Also, Kyle Brannon has been added to the Sims download page.

Special Thanks to Colleen (Buckley) for letting me have Ian, from her Chronicles of the McKinley Clan legacy.

34 comments:

  1. Seriously, Elliot? Seriously?! Gah!

    I hope we'll get to see more of Delaney and Jack. I'm also excited to see the last of the kids become adults. I can't believe it's already time for the next generation. I'm so attached to this one.

    Thanks for another wonderful chapter!

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    1. Thanks Tsuki! I feel kind of bad, Elliot's going out in a way that will make everyone hate him. Maybe his wedding trip will melow him out and he can make up for it.
      Though he pissed Delaney off pretty hard there, she might not be ready to forgive him.
      This generation has gone on forever it seems. The first gen was over by like the 10th chapter. But I know what you mean, I'm attached to them too. I hate knowing my Farrell will get old ad die, and I miss Delaney and Cassidy as children.
      I am excited about Shadow growing up, though.

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  2. Ooooooh snap. I forsee lots and lots of trouble. : ) And of course, Delaney breaking Jack's heart. I should be hating her for this, I think, but honestly I'm just excited to see how everything goes down!

    Ian is one sexy sim... I thought he looked familiar, but I totally forgot about him.

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    1. LOL, you are right about that Cece. There's going to be lots of trouble in this generation.
      Ian is a sexy Sim, and perfect for the role I placed him in. It even worked out that the nick name I picked for him, Wicked John, which I chose before I even thought to ask Colleen for Ian, works out because Ian is a cognate for John. Nice!

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  3. Well, a bit of an emotional rollercoaster here! I'll start from them beginning.

    I almost wet myself at the second picture and the conversation that followed, it was so hilarious, and then Farrells facial expressions throughout added to it.

    And then the scene with Cassidy and Jesse was so sweet :) I like how you let us see them on their first evening alone too.

    And then, I was really worried about Jack when he didn't show for Jaces' birthday.

    And finally. OH DELANEY!! I hope she doesn't get in too much trouble... :/

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    1. I am glad I got a last scene in with Farrell and Elliot before the generation switched and Elliot moved out.
      I was also happy to get in a scene with Jesse and Cass in their new house. They are a very cute couple together, and I'm glad SP got them engaged so quickly. They should still be showing up in the story a lot too. In fact, I have plans for that involving my rolls.
      Jack is pretty bummed he missed his son's birthday.

      Delaney is out looking for trouble now. I;m pretty sure she'll find some.

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  4. Jumping in mid-story here, but, wow! You're quite the story teller.

    Is Farrell the one with the brown hair, throwing the dart? He's hawt! Do you have him packaged for download anywhere?

    And awww, baby Jace. My Lilith has a baby Jace too (although I haven't gotten around to that part of the story yet ;))

    ~~Margaret Pendragon

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    1. Thanks, Margaret!
      Farrell is the brown haired brother. I don't have him packaged at the moment. I don't usually like to share my heirs until their part in the legacy is over, but I can post him then if you like.

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    2. That would be awesome, thank you!

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  5. Why do I have the horrible feeling that Delaney is about to get herself into huge amounts of trouble? As for Elliot, words cannot do justice to how low I think he's stooped!

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    1. Probably because Delaney is out actively looking for trouble, lol.
      And, yeah, I agree, Elliot has really outdone the protective Dad thing by having Jack arrested.

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  6. Pie Man; does that have anything to do with the Mother Goose nursery rhyme about Jack Horner and his Christmas pie?

    I think Ian is quite attractive but I am not sure I like the direction things are going with him and Delaney. Her desire for approval (ooh, I totally know B&E) makes me wonder how far she will go to have guys like her.

    I'm really happy for Cassidy and Jesse though!

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    1. Yes, because Jack stuck in his thumb and pulled out a plum. =D
      I admit I'm getting a little goofy with the fairy tale/nursery rhyme thing, but I'm having fun.
      You are very right about Delaney, she's got some serious issues. And that's just going to make trouble for herself, for Jack, and maybe for other people as well.

      Cassidy and Jesse are one bright note here. They've become responsible young adults, they are very happy in love, and I really hope SP plays nice with them.

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    2. I hope SP plays nice with them, too. I've never forgiven SP(NRAAS variety) for continually engaging my YA spare off to one elder woman after another, despite the fact that I moved him out with a romantic interest in someone his age.

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    3. I have my SP set so elders can only romance with other elders to stop that. That was one of the things that drove me off awesomemod, Pescado put his foot down on making that tunable because in real life elders can marry YAs. At the same time, he was in denial that teens can get in romances IRL, so he refused to let teens get romantic in his SP. Which meant that every teen turned YA without any kind of pre-existing romantic relationship and was immediately swooped up by a recently widowed elder.

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    4. I had no idea that elders+elders only was a setting. I'll have to find that.

      In Awesomemod SP, I was more frustrated by how it required cribs to be on lots for spawn to be produced. It was irritating to me to have to manually edit every house in a new hood if I wanted to play for more than a generation. And even if you did have cribs, the rate of spawn was so low that you really wouldn't have much luck finding a partner for your heir, let alone any spares. NRAAS SP is definitely superior, even if it's not 100% realistic.

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  7. Haha... these characters are more and more fun to read about. =)

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    1. Thanks, Becky. I'm looking forward to a fun Gen 3. =D

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  8. I was quite worried about Jack right along with Delaney. I cannot believe that Elliot would have pulled that stunt, wow what an overbearing, overprotecting and slightly irrational father. I hope her little event with Ian goes well, or Jack may have a cell partner. But the baby is home :(
    Happy for Cassidy and Jesse, may they have many years of happy married life.
    Farrell and a mid life crisis, haha, for some reason I cannot imagine that. He's so calm and detached.
    Loved it :)

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    1. I'm more worried about Jack than Delaney, honestly.
      Elliot has become irrational; I'm hoping that becoming anewlywed and living with Claire will calm him down. Maybe SP will get them pregnant and he'll have a new baby to worry about. I'm not sure how I feel about that, my town is going to get overpopulated very fast, since I keep rolling for high numbers of kids.So, another kid from Elliot is a mixed blessing, lol. I'd love to see what his genes and Claire would produce, though. =D
      Cass and Jesse have lots of compatible traits, so much that they went into the same profession, even. So I have high hopes for them.

      I get midlife cries for nearly every Sim, I'm used to it. And I only mention it in the story if I think it fits the Sim. In Farrell's case, no, lol.
      Thanks, Zhip!

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  9. Not cool, Elliot. Not cool at all. I hope the reason none of the characters seem particularly worried is because Jack is actually going to get out of this situation easily, and you're not just lulling us into a false sense of security. I'm sure you would never, ever try and do that to us. ;)

    Laney is developing into a very interesting character. Will be interesting to see how this job goes, and whether a life of crime may suit her!

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    1. LOL, I would do that...but, no, Jack has been jailed unfairly, and not even the fact that Elliot is marrying the mayor's daughter can lock him up for very long. For what he was being locked up form that.I can't make any promises for Jack's future, since he's involved in organized crime. At least he has a good lawyer, lol.

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  10. You always have such great looking sims! :) I love the Pie Man nick---very clever. It goes along with the fairy tale/nursery rhyme themes! :D

    I feel bad for Jack---and Jace. It's a pity, but our decisions never just affect us, but usually affect others too. It seems like Laney is going down a hard road! At least Jace has his extended family around him.

    Elliot with his grandson was cute. :)

    This generation was great, and I love Farrell, and will definitely miss him when he's gone--but I'm looking forward to reading about the next generation of Brannons!

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    1. Thanks, Nirar! I got a giggle ou of the Pie Man thing. Wicked John is also a fairy tale reference, though more obscure.

      It's true, Jack and Delaney's choices will have effects on their son. But, he does have his extended family, so he'll never be abandoned, at least.

      Elliot is cute with his grandson, but the rest of his behavior has been less cute, lol.

      Farrell will still be around for some time, he's not quite an elder yet, though he is getting on in years.

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  11. Oh, Delaney, this is a bad, BAD idea. You've got an adorable little boy at home...

    Elliot, that sir was also a very bad idea. Stupid and a waste of time. *shakes head sadly* I do hope that he and Claire are happy, though. Same for Jesse and Cassidy.

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    1. I was looking at Delaney in CAS recently and discoveeed she has a 'Bad Idea' tag sewn on her jeans...Seriously, though, Bad Idea is like her motto.
      And I guess she gets it from her father, Or he got it from her, since Elliot's bad ideas have all come from reacting to Delaney's issues. It's a Bad Idea vortex!

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  12. Oh boy. I feel like Delaney just got herself in a whole lot more trouble.

    Partly I'm blaming Elliot though. If he'd been more understanding from the beginning and not gotten Jack thrown in jail then Delaney might not have gotten involved in crime.

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    1. It's true that Jack sent Delaney to meet with Ian because he couldn't do it while in jail, so that gave her an easy in. But even without that boost, I think Delaney would have found a way. She's determined to take the dangerous path. =D

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  13. Aw gimme a reak, Elliot! Arrested! Really? Low. Real low. Below the belt low. By doing that, you've ushered your dauhter i to a life of crime.

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    1. Yeah, everything Elliot has been doing is going to backfire on him.

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  14. Yikes. Delaney sure is trouble. She and Cassidy look so much like their mom. I don't think Elliot should have had Jack arrested, but I can see where he's coming from. Hopefully he mellows out a bit, but with Delaney turning into a criminal, I can only see things getting worse!

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    1. I know. Cassidy is Shelly's twin looks wise, and Delaney has everything but her eyes.
      Elliot really just wants to protect his daughter, but he's making the wrong choices on how to do that.

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  15. sigh...

    Delaney. You have no excuse to be doing this kind of thing.
    I'm disappointed. :\

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    1. I know, Delaney did disappoint a lot of people with this.

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