Saturday 22 June 2013

4.17 Different Ways


Bonnie's funeral was set to be a small affair. Cocktail dresses and casual suits were the dress code. Only family and friends. As her only blood relative was her father, Cortez, Kaity and Shaena invited their own families. Bonnie had been like a sister, a daughter, an aunt. Their best friend. Their light in the darkness, a voice of reason.

Madison broke down after the service. The whole day reminded her too much of Geoffrey's passing, and the fact they'd only just buried Summer really hit her hard. She would live a lot longer than Geoffrey, and she'd have to watch him die again. Go to his funeral again. How many other lovers would she have in her centuries of existance? How many other close friends would she have to bury?

Taylor comforted her. As her job involved a lot of death and violence, she was more conditioned to these situations. She was upset, but her outlet for grief was to help others grieve in their own ways.

Luis was like his mother, he broke down in Layla's arms, not caring that his children could see.

Liana cried quietly to herself, while her sister Lyris comforted Jaydean.

Rose and Myles couldn't believe what Sophie and Jaydean had seen, and Rose tried to talk to Sophie, to get her to realise that crying was alright. Sophie wasn't a crier. Jaydean was the silly girly one who cried, she was the strong one who told her she was being silly. She didn't tell her she was being silly today. Today it was ok for her to cry.

Lucas had wandered off somewhere. Rose and Myles weren't worried, they knew everyone dealt with grief in different ways.

 Jake just closed his eyes and went to a different world in his head.

Cortez huddled himself away. He didn't want to talk. All he had left in the world was his grand-daughter, who he couldn't raise because Bonnie had written a will saying Kaity and Shaena would share custody of Elise should anything happen. He knew the girls would let him see her, but in the space of a week he'd gone from having a girlfriend, a daughter and a grand-daughter filling his house with love and life, to being alone.

Shaena silently played with the flowers and notes scattered over the grave. She blamed herself. Of course she blamed herself, it was her fault Alex was in their lives. She wished she'd listened to Kaity years ago. She wished she'd left him before it was too late. She wished it was her. It should have been her. Alex knew where she'd be, he'd come to the house for her. Bonnie had nothing to do with this, she didn't even know vampires could die from a knife wound, but she'd found that fact out the hard way.

And Kaity cried. She blamed herself too. It was her house, she should have answered the door. A small part of her blamed Winter, too. If he hadn't been there, she would have answered the door. She hated herself for blaming him, because she knew that if he hadn't been there she'd be dead too. She had no doubt in her mind that Alex would have killed Shaena too. He'd have taken Joshua, and she hoped he wouldn't have had the heart to harm her children. She hoped that if this had gone that way, he would have changed, and raised Joshua well.

But the way things turned out, she wished she could get to him and torture him like he deserved.


_____

"Thank you for coming today." Kaity whispered. She hadn't expected Winter to come to the funeral, she hadn't expected him to stay long enough to either. He was supposed to have returned to Bridgeport the day after he'd come to the house, but in his opinion Kaity couldn't have been left alone then. He'd helped with the children a lot, leaving Kaity and Shaena some free time to process their thoughts.

"Don't mention it. I didn't know her, but if she was important to you, she would have been important to me." Kaity sighed at his words, and pulled herself up to sit beside him.
How can he say things like that? He barely knows me, so why would my friends be important to him?

 "What's up?" He asked, stroking the base of her neck with his thumb as he wrapped an arm around her.
"You. In the tabloids. I'm sorry about that." She replied, thinking quickly. She wasn't one to talk about her feelings towards him, and she wasn't really sure where they stood. She wasn't about to say something and have him shoot her down.

Winter sighed this time, and gently ran his hand down her arm as he turned himself a little.
"Don't be sorry, it's not your fault that these people have nothing better to do than make up stories about other people. Just ignore them, take it as a compliment that they want to be near you." Kaity shook her head. She knew it had hurt him seeing himself in the papers, especially the article that all but accused him of the stabbing. She was used to it, she didn't even read the papers usually, just threw them straight in the bin, but Winter was used to reading with his breakfast so she'd kept them aside for him, not realising what was written inside.

"I don't care about me. I don't even look at those things, and the kids can't be mentioned, but if you moved here you'd have to get used to it too, and maybe even stop reading the papers..." She wrapped an arm around him, and stroked her hand on his shin.
"Kaity. I think I can stop reading the paper in the morning if it means I get to help raise my son." Kaity almost giggled at how stupid she must've sounded. It was the closest she'd come to laughter in two weeks.

"So you're still moving here?"
"Of course I am!"
"I thought you'd leave tomorrow and never come back."
"Well, you're an idiot then." He accused playfully, kissing her hair and gently tickling her waist and making her fidget.






Lucas, in reality, has dropped off the face of simplanet. I'm hoping it's just in my alternate save, but I don't think he'll be a big part of the story anyway. Just weird.
Sorry about lack of action, needed to start wrapping all that murder stuff up because it's depressing and I have other things to come. This generation is going to be a long one. Chapter 17 and the heir has just been born? (Although there are a few that I read that didn't have a birth at all until they were in their 30's. Some that still haven't at that stage...)

Also, sorry for the weird lighting, that's EA for you, and the odd clothing theme... Yeah, my game would have crashed countless times if I'd gone in and changed their formalwear! So, cocktail dresses it was.

20 comments:

  1. Oh, so sad. I've never staged a Sim funeral before, but I might be soon.
    You did a great job with that, getting a bit of what everyone was feeling and the different ways they grieve.
    It's so sad that Shaena and Kaity are blaming themselves. I mean, it's understandable, psychologically, it's classic survivor syndrome, but it's still sad when it happens.
    I am glad that Shaena does at least see now that being with Alex is bad for her and everyone she knows. Though that realization came at a heavy price, at least she's not going back to him. Well, he;s in prison for life now, hopefully, but her attachment to him seems to be finally broken for good.
    As sad as this all was, I'm glad it ended on a somewhat hopeful note, with Kaity and Winter. he still has her issues, but he's going to stick around to deal with them.

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    1. No, neither had I. It wasn't too bad, I suppose, but the most sims I'd posed before this was about 10, so it seems difficult. It helped that I added them all to the household, though.
      ...Wait... Farrell? NO!! :'(
      Oh, thank you! :) I didn't think this was anything special, but it had to be done. And everyone does grieve in different ways, more on that in the next chapter...
      Yes, survivor syndrome! I couldn't think of the word when I was writing this, and it really annoyed me! :p But, yes, plus the fact that it really *should* have been one of them, because Bonnie was the only one of the three who didn't live there.

      Yes, too little too late for Shaena, really. If this had been the thing Kaity had seen, I imagine their whole lives would have turned out differently. Hopefully the girls can raise Elise as Bonnie would have done herself.
      I would think Alex will get life at least, I wouldn't worry about that. At least Josh won't get his influence!

      Yes, a little glimmer of hope at the end there, I just hope Winter can handle all Kaity's crazy! :p

      Thank you :)

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    2. No, not Farrell. Not yet anyway. I'll be so sad when that happens.

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    3. Yeah, I know now :'(
      I bet we won't see you for days when he goes.

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  2. I thought you wrote that chapter very well, especially showing how Bonnie had touched everyone's lives and how her death affected them all differently.

    I'm glad Shaena has finally seen Alex for what he is, but I feel for her and Kaity blaming themselves for what happened. I'm glad Winter's not been scared off by everything and he'll be there for Kaity and the children

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    1. Thank you :) The Mattell and McQueen families are very close (and will continue to be, because the McQueens are my little uncontrollable background side legacy thingy.

      It is good that Shaena realises about Alex, it's just a shame it was too late. It would seem it might take a lot to scare Winter off, I guess he's got a big heart :) Will be nice to finally have a child with his father in his life! Been a few generations since that, even if he doesn't/can't live with them.

      Thank you :)

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  3. Poor Madi =( That's the downside of being a supe, and that's really a sad realization that she will have to watch Geoffrey die--again.

    Oh Shae. I didn't even think that she might feel that it was her fault. I suppose in a *way* it is, but it's not really something you can blame her for. Poor girl.

    Blaming Winter? Now that I didn't see coming. They'd probably all be dead if it weren't for Winter, as I understand it.

    It only took me 31 chapters...and that wasn't even for the heir, that was just baby number 1. The heiress was born in chapter 40 :P Hey don't knock it, we just luffs our stories!

    Kaity still surprises me in her responses and feelings sometimes. There's definitely a hard edge to her, but it's almost as if it masks some insecurity that we aren't seeing. Or maybe she's just been walling herself off because of her differentness for so long?

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    1. Yes, she knew it from the start of her experiments, but the thought of not even getting to marry him or live any of they life they'd planned drove the thoughts from her mind. She knew already, but this bought it to the forefront of her mind, I guess is what I'm trying to say. Thankfully, I shouldn't have to write that bit.

      Yes, haha, it is actually her fault, but still not at the same time. It's 100% Alex's fault for turning psycho, but without her he wouldn't have been in their lives.

      Yes, blaming Winter was something I hadn't expected either, but Kaity is full of surprises like that. She just mumbled to me "Y'no, if Winter hadn't been here I'd have answered that door...". Yes, my sims talk to me, so what?

      LOL! Yes, that was a direct stab at you and Sunny at the end there. Yeah, I love the stories too, but I don't have the patience to wait that long for babies. Plus, I always roll loads and I want them grown up before human parents would be elders. I'm gunna have to hold off not doing a teen pregnancy this time! Hah!

      Yes, that's exactly it! Both of them.
      She's walled herself off from everyone, even friends and family in some ways as she won't talk about most of her visions, because she's different. She wasn't really bullied at school (except that fight at the prom), but that was because her brother is sweet and protective (although he'd never win a fight).
      She's also incredibly insecure. I think it stems from the conception of the twins; she trusted him, and he just disappeared and left her to raise two babies alone. It makes her use sex as a toy, really. She just sleeps around, looking for something, I don't know what or how to phrase this properly, but she want something more, but isn't sure it exists. She wants to trust Winter, but as we saw above, she just expects him to leave and never come back too. Maybe it all starts with 'daddy' issues, she never met her 'father', has never spoken about it, and Taylor didn't think any of them wanted to know about 'him' because they never asked. It might help her a lot to understand why there was no father figure in her life, and maybe she'd find it easier to trust. (Luis was sort of a father, but only in the way that he was a male and helped raise her, he'd never discipline her or do other things daddys should do)

      Thank you for noticing that bit. I've been wanting to say all that for a while, but had no reason to ;) Hope that all made sense!

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  4. oh Bless Madi. That's got to be so very very hard. She's still so young and not used to it. But will she ever be used to it? And if she is would that even be a good thing? Oh, Shaena. I really hope she's able to grow out of that blame she's placing on herself. She had no way of knowing that could or would happen. And love happens sometimes in your heart without even your heads consent. Yay! Winter really is staying! Hurray!

    Hey! There will be an heir soon! Really. I hope. I've only written to 2.31 and I swear there will be bump appearance before 40. If I'm lucky. God I hope so.

    Yeah, Seasons really jacked with the outdoor lighting during daytime. I've found I usually have to start planning my scene about 2 sim hours before I want it to happen just to make sure the weather is cooperating so I can get the lighting right.

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    1. Yes, we all lose loved ones, imagine losing them twice! Wow. Madi, in reality, is in her 50's. LOL! But yes, she doesn't look a day over 20.

      Yes, hopefully she can realise it wasn't her fault. I know Bonnie would never have blamed her. Exactly on the love thing. You can't choose who you fall in love with, and love is blind. and a couple more cliches.

      Of course Winter is staying!! He's no deadbeat, but I don't think Kaity really believes him still. *sigh*

      Hehe, yep, that bit was aimed at you! Looking forward to a baby when one finally appears.

      Yeah, well, this was between 3.30pm and 4pm, but it's spring. I had to change it to sun, so maybe that messed with it a bit? I dunno. I never change weather in my real save, btw. Not that I think you're about to accuse me of cheating... :p
      Morning light it better, but unfortumately the girls had to start school, and I wanted them at the funeral. I just gathered all the adults up while they were at school, and posed them all, before stealing Liana and Lyris from school, teleporting the four over and posing them too.
      Anyway, you didn't need to know that... :p

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  5. I read this earlier, but for some reason, my tablet wouldn't let me type stuff. (I am hating on the company that makes it today.)

    I'm sad that Bonnie died, but I can't help but be happy that Winter is there. I can understand why Kaity is upset and mildly blaming Winter for being there for the reason that Bonnie is dead and not her, but she really needs to focus on the fact that if Winter hadn't have been there, then she and everyone would be dead. She realizes this, she just needs to focus on that.

    I still worry about Shaena going back to Alex. I worry that something will happen that will trigger her I-can't-remember-what-it's-called-but-has-to-do-with-her-personality-type thing. Co dependent! There I remembered.

    Even as I look back on it, I still think it was sexy as hell how Winter handled Alex.

    Now to just catch that slimy little bastard...

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    1. Oh, I hate tablet typing anyway, so whether it'd type or not I don't blame you for waiting ;)

      Glad you understand Kaity's reasoning for blaming Winter, it made sense to me but I worried my brain was just messed up and weird :p Yes, she should focus on the positive and the fact that Winter saved her, she can now watch her kids grow up, he'll be there to help her etc

      I wouldn't worry about that. This is two weeks on from the last chapter (I wasn't sure, but I think in murder cases you can't bury them as soon as normal), and Alex is in custody awaiting trial. Co-dependant/doormat whatever :p Hopefully, Kaity's strong personaility will work and Shaena won't need to go out looking for trouble.

      Oh God, wasn't it? I keep going back and looking at that picture. If I had a printer, I'd frame it. HAHA!

      He's caught, he just needs to be found guilty. :)

      Thank you :)

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    2. Okay, good. I wondered. As usual, I probably missed an important detail. Glad he's caught.

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    3. No, don't think I've mentioned it. That's a fail on my part. I do that, just assume everyone knows what I'm thinking ;)

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  6. Wow, this was such a sad update. You made me cry :(

    I'm glad Winter's around and giving her moral support, she can def use a shoulder to lean and cry on.

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    1. I'm sorry! I didn't cry writing this one, but I did the one before when I was deciding why Bonnie would answer the door. She doesn't even need to eat, yet she dies for a pizza... Tragic. (Why am I giggling now :|)

      Yes, Winter is a big help to her, although he'll have to return home at some point. Hopefully Kaity uses the time he's away to grieve with Shaena and hopefully they can get some of the supressed emotions off their chests.

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  7. Nicely done on the funeral scene! It's not easy wrangling so many sims into one area!

    Winter is a good friend for Kaity, I hope she is able to let herself lean on him a little, that is what friends are for. I also hope he has an overabundance of patience, because he'll need it if he intends to stay, lol

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    1. Sorry---I just noticed that I am posting in the future---how freaky is that? These are my words tomorrow, because today is only the 6th---and the post shows the 7th! O.o

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  8. You did a great job on the funeral. I've did one before, but mine didn't have so many people. Winter is very good for Kaity. He's just very supportive and kind. I really like them together. He's like the yin to her yang.

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  9. For some reason, I thought that maybe Geoff wouldn't be able to did again. I forgot that he's human, but at least they will still have a lot more years together.

    Poor Cortez! So much loss for him in a very short period of time. His poor granddaughter too!

    Kaity was really afraid that Winter would leave now! Maybe some men would have though. He seems to genuinely care about her and I'm glad he's staying.

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