2.3 She's in control

Another catastrophe was upon the recently shriveled family. Benjamin had lived a happy life with his wife Anna, after it had taken them a very long time to get together. He had been one of the first sims she met when she came to Appaloosa Plains, and even though they seemed to be very different, Anna had been drawn to his strength and manliness immediately. When she was involved with Jo, she often met with Benjamin, hooking up behind the bushes of the house where nobody could see them. He never left her life and waited patiently until she was free again.

His life had taken a strong turn, but he had never been happier. Anna and her kids were lovely, and it didn’t matter to him that all of these were technically another man’s children. He loved all of them, just as much as he loved his own children who had stayed with their mother when he left them to be with the love of his life.

When death appeared on the doorstep to take him away from his beloved ones, no one was ready, but at least everybody was around. In the actual moment of his transformation Kokette had been the only one to be there, but everybody else sensed something was wrong outside, and so they came running. Seeing Benjamin’s ghost broke a lot of hearts, but it shattered Anna’s to a million pieces.

Benjamin accepted his fate. He was old, and recently he’d had troubles getting through a day without pain. In addition, he would not be gone completely. His ghost would always watch over Anna and her kids, something he had not anticipated when he started his adult life so many years ago. It had always been his wish to be with many different women, at least 10, and then leave them before they could break this heart. But that was before he met Anna, and as soon as he did, this lifetime wish of his was no longer relevant. Other things mattered more.

It was hard for everybody to deal with this catastrophe, but the children tried to cheer their mother up whenever possible.

But even though this probably was the most fatal thing to happen at the moment, it was not the only thing on Britney’s mind. Lately, she had seen her boyfriend with a lot of other girls, including her own sisters, and it had not always looked like a conversation between friends. She had refused to give in to his advances, and maybe this had been a wrong decision. He wanted more of her than she was willing to give, and it looked like he was going to get it somewhere else now. Barbra of all people seemed to be the new center of attention; they spent an enormous time laughing and giggling together.

This behavior hurt, but Britney decided not to let herself go right now. By focusing on her classes in school, she managed to avoid most contact with him. It almost killed her at first, but she got better with time.

Besides, she was going to leave all of this behind her now, anyway. High school finally got to an end, and soon she was about to enter the real world. The wish she made to herself was a secret, and she would never ever tell anybody.

And just like that Britney became a determined woman, ready to conquer the world.

There was no time to lose, so she immediately sat down on her computer, which had already helped her to gain first writing skills, and applied to the local newspaper. Weeks ago, she had talked to some of the people working her, and they assured her there would be an open position, as long as she applied on time. She would be the best journalist they had ever seen over there.

Graduation, which was celebrated a few days later, brought the results of her final exams: she had passed every test summa cum laude, and finished high school a valedictorian, and without a boyfriend who could make her feel bad. This life was all about her, and she was going to savor every moment of it.

While Britney started her life in the business world, Anna decided to end hers. She had been a scientist for a very long time, while she had been with both Jo and Benjamin, whose loss still made her heart ache every single day, and now it was time to lean back and watch her children live. This was the biggest reward she could imagine. If only her husband had been there to celebrate with her. He had been the only one she had told all her secrets to, and not having him around meant keeping quiet sometimes. She had never confided to Jo that it had been, in fact, his best friend Chuck who had threatened her on the day of them moving in together. He had blown his cigar’s smoke right into her face, and had told her that she would not have a single day of joy and contentment if she did not leave Jo there and then. She had been scared, and she had cried a lot, but she had not given in. Jo had made her much stronger than she had ever hoped to be, but she did not dare to weaken him by revealing what kind of person his best friend really was. She had kept it a secret.

Her entire past had been a secret to everybody, too, until she fell in love with Benjamin. He was the only one who knew, and the only one she would ever speak to. Nevertheless, she realized that her children, and her grandchildren, deserved to know where they were coming from, so she had decided to write a journal, keeping track of her life in a written form, that was to be passed on to each generation. Every girl and boy who took on the task of carrying on this family would be able to read and learn from it, and then add their own story, as well. This way, nothing and no one would ever be forgotten.

Soon after Anna’s retirement, Beth ended high school, too. She could not wait to finally leave the house and the sisters she had never really gotten along with. Unforgotten were those days of laughing at her, mocking her and her uniqueness, and they were also unforgiven. It was time for her to leave and figure out what made her happy.

The household got smaller and smaller, but Britney was not too sad about this. She loved her family, but with her job came new responsibilities she had to take care of. Once her mother was no longer there, she would have to take care of her younger siblings, unless they had moved out. She did not want to live for others, she craved for a life that was just about her and her passions.

Her bosses noticed her commitment to the job early, and rewarded her with a promotion rather quickly, which brought her to the attention of her colleagues. They had made the fatal mistake of underestimating her, and now had to realize that she could be better then all of them. Surely, this would not result in regular tea parties and friendly get-togethers. Success always meant troubles, but Britney – being her mother’s daughter – was ready to face them all.

2.2 Slave for you

The very next day, something significant happened. Birdy, the oldest of the five siblings, was aging up into a young adult. Since she wanted to have an amazing last day before starting a job in the local hospital she had applied to during her last school year, she decided to celebrate on the summer festival, which happened to close the day after. Most of the town was present when Birdy became a young adult.

She had gotten tired of her long hair, because it always got in the way, so she decided to cut it and wear it straight. The clear cut gave her a determined look, which was exactly what she needed. 

The next morning, she got up super early and checked her work mails. There was, in fact, already one, from her girlfriend Sandra. She wished her the best of luck and told her she could achieve anything she wanted. 

Birdy had to think about Sandra’s words all day, and couldn’t even concentrate on work properly. Not that it was particularly on her first day, but she had been looking forward to it for years. And now that the big day was here, she could think about nothing but her girlfriend. They hadn’t seen each other for a few weeks now, and she missed her terribly. So she spontaneously called her up as soon as she got home, and invited her over. 

It was as if they had never been apart. Yet, wistfulness filled Birdy’s heart and mind. In a few hours, Sandra would leave again, and who knew when they had the time to meet again. Both were adults now, both had a job and not much free time. Something had to change if they wanted to make it together.

Then she had an idea.

Sandra was more than happy to accept Birdy’s proposal. She loved her girlfriend more than anything in the world, and the thought of being with her forever made her happier than she had ever hoped to be.

Why wait – they got married in the backyard there and then. 

The two girls didn’t want to stay in this house together, instead they planned to look around the neighborhood for a little place, big enough for the two of them. And maybe a third person, someday. 

Sandra knew of one house that was free, and they decided to check it out immediately. Little did they know that this would be the house they would be spending most of their life in. 

There was hardly any time for the family to digest the news – especially Anna was crushed about seeing her oldest daughter leave –, because Billy’s birthday into adulthood was already up. He hadn’t been much younger than Birdy, and had finished high school the same year as his sister.

Looking in the mirror, he nodded approvingly. This was what a future star looked like. Britney had already promised to keep an eye on him, and to publish small articles whenever possible. With the help of his soon-to-be journalist sister, it should be a piece of cake to become famous.

A star needed his own four walls, of course, so he moved out of his home as soon as possible. He would stay with Birdy and Sandra for a few weeks, since it sounded cooler to live in a shared house with two girls than staying with his parents and younger siblings. 

Britney continued expressing her thoughts in abstract pictures. They often had faces on it – human or not – that showed how she was feeling. After all, art was useless if there was no mental access for the people who looked at it. You had to know what the artist was trying to say.

Writing was different. Words were more distinct than colors and strokes of a brush, and they helped dealing with feelings and thoughts in a whole other way.

Feelings like the ones about her relationship with Hanfried. Even though he didn’t seem to be particularly interested in her character, but her body instead, she couldn’t help but feel attracted to him. He could be funny and make her feel like the most beautiful girl in the world. She felt like she would be completely on her own as soon as she sent him away, not having anybody who showed her that she was not worthless. 

What she didn’t know what that she was exchangeable to him. Britney was pretty, but there were plenty of other fish in the sea, or shapely girls on the beach next to the sea. Her mother, her sisters, lots of girls in his classes who were queuing up to go out with him… the list was long, and he was growing tired of her. She had to offer a lot more to him than just a shy kiss every now and then if she wanted to keep him interested.

2.1 I'm stronger than yesterday

Britney spent a lot of her free time with her boyfriend, Hanfried Miller. They had met at chem class, where he had accidentally knocked over her test tube and spilled all of the liquid in there on Britney. Panicking, he had run up and down the classroom, thinking that there was something severely dangerous in it. It had, in fact, only been water, which is why Britney had started laughing at some point. Hanfried had stopped running, looked at her laughing, then went back to her table and nudged her. She had known she could have told him that she wasn’t in pain or anything before, but it had been too funny to watch him panicking. Besides, it had been kind of cute that he was so worried about her. They were dating ever since, but sometimes Britney couldn’t help but think that he was just into her because of her looks. More than one time she caught him staring at her, and when she asked what she had just said, he often couldn’t answer, and didn’t even seem like he cared.

She decided to process her thoughts in a new novel, one that featured a typical male teenager, dealing with girls and trying to get as many of them as possible. Even though she really tried to put herself in his position and not only write him as a two-dimensional, dick-driven guy, she couldn’t help herself. Thoughts and experiences with him kept coming back to her mind.  This was not going to be a complex, insightful ode to the range of male emotions, but much rather some kind of revenge, written for all girls in the world who were feeling like her. 

In addition to her writing projects, she had decided to take up painting. It was a brilliant way to express emotions that couldn’t be expressed with simple words, no matter how fancy. Pictures showed something; they let the observer feel what was on the artist’s mind. While trying different techniques and color combinations, a small thought came to her mind. The most desirable goal in life had to be being capable of writing and painting at the highest stage. This way, she would be able to open up to the entire world.

Not all of her siblings were this sure about what to do in their future, though. Barbra often spent her afternoons alone at school or at the local pool, because nobody seemed to enjoy her company. Sometimes, not even she did. Barbra didn’t quite know where she belonged, and who she wanted to be. The best parts of the day were the ones she spent with a book in her hands, not being disturbed by anybody. The world of books was where she could be brave and adventurous, where nobody looked at her in a funny way and made her feel insecure about herself. 

Family gatherings mostly only happened between Anna, Benjamin, Birdy and Britney. The others were out, doing their own thing and not caring about their siblings. Billy had managed to get himself a fan club, Beth was not exactly what you would call a pleasant company sometimes, and Barbra was…somewhere. 

Whenever Britney was not busy with school, writing or painting, she took up books to broaden her horizon. There were so many things other authors had already written about, and it couldn’t hurt to read about them. By the choice of topics, Britney could already tell a lot about the authors’ minds, which was highly interesting. People were extremely complex, yet there were some tiny little things that could be determined so easily. This was what she wanted to do. Get to know more people, learn all about them – and then write about them. Discovering secrets, connections, scandals, and making them public.

At one of their rare study dates on the school ground after class, the girls talked about their parents, who were their shared interest. Apart from this, they weren’t interested in the same things, but their mom and step-dad were important to all of them. Benjamin had grown so much older recently, and they were scared that he would leave them soon, leaving a devastated family behind. The kids had already lost one father, they couldn’t imagine losing another one. And Anna would probably collapse. Benjamin had picked her up from the ground, and he had made her happy again. Spending more time with them right now seemed like the right thing to do, just in case.

That weekend, they took another trip to the summer festival, which was coming to an end soon. While everybody engaged in their own fun activities, Britney took a book and curled up in a corner. Birdy spent most of the time eating, declaring that she had been extremely hungry for the last few weeks. 

Billy and Anna actually spent the entire afternoon together. It was nice to see them bond again, and it seemed like for a few hours, Billy was able to put down the masquerade of a cool guy. [A/N: can you say “perfect timing when taking the picture”?!]

Later that day, Britney put the book down – she had finished it – and went to the skating rink. A nice guy was making his first steps, looking absolutely stranded, but in an adorable way. Britney decided to help him out.

Needless to say that she had overestimated her own skating skills.

Birdy, however, seemed to a natural on the skating rink. She pirouetted, drove backwards and on one leg, drawing all attention to her. Britney, being challenged, tried to follow her sister’s complex movements, but ended up in some kind of yoga-position instead, not daring to move.

A huge firework ended this perfect afternoon that had brought the family much closer together.

Author's notes: Sorry that it took me so long to post again. As it seems to happen frequently in my family, tragedy has struck again and we're dealing with a lot right now. Between classes, intership, work and household chores there wasn't much space for playing or writing. But since Christmas vacation just started, I have a little free time on my hands now. I hope to get out more chapters within the next days/few weeks; not only here, but on my other legacies, as well. 

Thanks for staying with me/us! :)