“Is it lame that we match?” Comet asked.

“This is the only long-sleeved dress I own,” Marielle replied. “I don’t really have another option.” She spread out her arms. “Well… what do you think? Enough to fool your parents?”

“Probably,” he said, although he wasn't confident. Despite all his talk of not caring what his parents would think of Marielle, he’d had a change of heart in the days leading up to their visit. Explaining why she had decided to stay a plantsim would lead to him having to explain why he liked her that way, and Comet just wasn’t comfortable having that kind of conversation with his parents. Or anybody, for that matter.

The faint sound of a car pulling into the driveway interrupted his thoughts. Marielle glanced out the window behind her. “Well, it looks like your parents are here, so I guess it’ll do.”

“You look great,” Comet added, “if that matters.” She smiled in reply.

After waking Leo from his afternoon nap, Marielle and Comet met his parents at the door, where the twins has already pounced on them.

“It’s so nice to see you again, dear,” his mother began, “and meet the children, finally.”

“Finally,” Magnus echoed. “Our first… well, only grandchildren, and we haven’t so much as spoken to them until now.”

“Sorry about that.” Comet twisted his wedding ring around his finger as he spoke. “You understand, right?”

Bellatrix smiled. “Of course, dear. We know you’re doing what’s best for them. Like we did with you when you went to college.” She glanced around at the children. “And look how well that worked out.”

The adults soon settled down in the kitchen, after the children had received as much affection as they could tolerate.

“Is everyone back home doing alright?” Comet asked.

Bellatrix nodded. “Things have been peaceful for the most part. Lots of weddings.”

“What about kids?” Marielle piped up. “You mentioned you didn’t have any other grandkids yet? I’m a little surprised Comet and I are the only ones… I always thought legacy families were supposed to have a ton of children.”

His parents exchanged a look. “Well, Cynthia and her wife would’ve liked to start a family,” Magnus said. “You know… biologically, but… after what happened with you as a baby… they’re a bit wary of using magic. And adoption, well… it’s just not the same. Not for legacy families.”

“Actually, we need to discuss that with you,” Bellatrix added before Comet could ask any further questions. “Magic, that is.”

“What about it?” Comet asked. He briefly wondered if his parents were somehow able to detect that he’d gotten rid of his magical abilities.

“Well, we were wondering what you were going to do about your children,” Magnus replied. Leo’s still a bit young, but the girls…”

“If you want to train the girls, it’d be best to do it before they discover their powers on their own,” Bellatrix continued.

“Train them?” Marielle repeated with interest.

“Powers?” Comet asked, ignoring Marielle. “Why would they have powers?”

His mother looked amused. “Honestly, Comet, just because you don’t use your powers doesn’t mean they weren’t passed down to your children.”

“Yeah, but… Marielle doesn’t have powers. So we don’t know that they’ve got them for sure… I mean, mine can’t have been that strong.”

“Well, I also don’t have green skin, but that didn’t stop all three of them from inheriting it from you,” Marielle pointed out. “It’s more than likely at least one of them also inherited your powers, right?”

“I think we’d know by now if they did,” Comet argued.

“Have you even brought up magic with the kids?” Bellatrix asked, and he shook his head in response. She sighed. “Honestly, Comet, they at least deserve to know that magic exists.” Under her breath, she muttered, “especially since they’ve most likely inherited it.”

“Okay,” Comet replied, “let’s say I tell them about magic. And hypothetically speaking, if we find out that they do have magic powers — which they do not — we’re going to have to tell them. You know what’ll happen? They’ll want to start using them as soon as they find out. But I don’t want them using magic. I’m done with magic.” He folded his arms over his chest. “What do we do then?"

His mother sighed. “Comet, love, unless you’re absolutely sure that none of the children have inherited any powers, some magic is going to need to be involved. We can find a mentor to train them, or… well, I suppose there must be a spell to remove them-”

“No.”

“Comet-” Bellatrix tried again.

“Mom, no. I do not want any magic coming into contact with my children. In fact, I don’t even want to discuss magic in the general vicinity of my children.” He unfolded his arms, spreading his hands apart in an exasperated manner. “Can we agree on that, at least?”

“You’re being absolutely ridiculous,” Marielle muttered behind him. “I hope you realize that.”

His mother sighed, and cast a defeated look towards his father, before turning her gaze back to him. “Comet, dear, I didn’t come here to argue with you. I just want your kids — my grandkids — to be safe. You want that too, don’t you?”

“Well, yeah, but-”

“You know what,” Marielle interjected, her eyes darting between her husband, and her mother-in-law, “I think it might be nice for you and Magnus to spend some more time with the kids. You might spot something that Comet and I haven’t; you do have more experience with magic, after all.”

Comet turned to face her. “Marielle-”

She continued to speak as if she hadn’t heard him. “We should really start getting dinner ready, anyways, and I’m sure the kids would love to spend some time with you.”

“That’s a great idea,” his father agreed, before Comet could interrupt again. He gave Marielle a gentle smile, then extended a hand towards Bellatrix. “Shall we, love?”

“I think they’re right.” Marielle said, once his parents were safely out of the kitchen.

“Honestly, Marielle, I think…” His eyes darted towards the doorway into the living room, then he lowered his voice, “…I think my mother’s just being her usual, paranoid self,” he continued. “I don’t remember showing any powers when I was a kid.”

“But… you did have powers. So isn’t it totally possible that the kids could have them, too, but not show any signs until they’re older?”

“Okay, but mine weren’t very strong,” he argued. “That, combined with you not having any at all, could mean the chance of them inheriting any abilities is slim.”

Marielle sighed. “Well, If you don’t want to listen your parents, we could always try talking to Aralia-”

“Aralia?” Comet repeated. He set down the knife he’d been using to chop lettuce. “Seriously?”

“Look, I know she’s messed up almost every favour we’ve asked her for.” Marielle set a metal pan down on the counter with a loud clank. “But that doesn’t change the fact she knows more about magic than you, and since you’ve made it clear you’re not going to follow your parents’ advice-”

“If I did everything my parents told me to, I’d still be mute. They’re not always right, Marielle.” Comet picked up the knife again. “And I don’t think I really need to explain why I don’t trust Aralia.”

She sighed. “Fine. I’m done arguing about this.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her turn to face him. “Can you just try to enjoy the rest of your parents’ visit?” She asked in a softer tone. “Please?”

“As long as they don’t bring up magic again. Or your new ‘tattoos’,” he added, hoping to lighten the mood. “They’re definitely going to think I have some weird plant fetish if we explain that to them.”

She laughed, to his relief. “That’s definitely not something I want to discuss with your parents.”

The mood had lifted considerably by the time his parents rejoined them in the kitchen, and with the kids present, his parents had seemingly decided to steer clear of any conversation concerning magic, or the supernatural.

That, and the twins were far more interested in hearing why exactly his parents weren’t green like him, followed by questions about how many other members of his family were green, and why they all had such unusual names.

After dessert, and several more questions about his extended family from the twins, his parents announced that they needed to be heading back to their hotel soon, so that they could catch an early flight back to Astra Villa the next day.

“It was great seeing you again, dear,” his mother said, pulling him into a hug. “Everybody back home misses you, but it’s nice to see the two of you doing well here.”

“It’s really nice seeing you again, too,” Comet replied. “I wish I could take the kids to visit the rest of the family in Astra Villa, but-”

“It’s best they stay here,” Bellatrix finished the sentence for him. She then leaned in, and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Bellatrix withdrew her lips, but kept a tight hold on his waist. “And Comet?” She asked in a quiet voice, one that was almost a whisper.

“Yes?” He answered with a nervous smile.

“If any of your kids start showing signs of having powers, you need to tell me. If you don’t train them, they’re going to take things into their own hands.” She paused, then concluded, “and both you and I know how that can turn out.”

Comet nodded. “Of course… and… I’m sorry. For arguing with you earlier.”

The stern look she’d been giving him turned back into a smile. “It’s fine, dear. I know you’re just worried for their safety.” In a louder voice, intended for both his father and the kids to hear, she said, “Again, thanks for having us over, dear. Dinner was lovely.”

Despite his less-than-positive feelings about his children inheriting his powers, Comet intended to keep the promise he’d made to his mother.

So, as the winter season came to an end, he did his best to keep a closer eye on the twins, who were much more likely to show signs of magical ability than Leo. The two of them were prone to disappearing off to their shared bedroom for long periods of time, and he’d thought that he might spot something if he encouraged them to do their favourite activities in the kitchen, or the living room, rather than in the privacy of their room.

Instead, Comet had mostly just discovered how much he disliked cleaning a combination of glitter, paint, and glue off the tiled kitchen floor.

With the lack of signs indicating that any of his children had inherited his powers, the promise he’d made to his mother soon began to slip slowly out of his mind.

Still, Comet continued to spend time with his children; his priorities had simply shifted from studying their every move for a hint of magical abilities, to just enjoying their company. Spring had arrived, and with it came an excellent opportunity to spend some time outside teaching them new things. Things like botany, for example, which was messy, but not nearly as messy as glitter.

He’d long given up on trying to get Marielle interested in his field of study — some how, every lesson he’d attempted to give her had ended up with him losing his pants — but she seemed content enough to do her work outside, and soak up some sunshine.

The spring season had also provided Comet with a second, more important distraction from magic; the cowplant he’d brought home from work to study had grown steadily over the winter season.

He’d moved it outside to the garden, partially because Marielle disliked him keeping it in their bedroom, and partially because it had grown larger than his desk. The warm weather, however, only caused its growth to increase even more rapidly.

It didn’t take long for the plant to outgrow the garden bed altogether, which led to Comet making the decision to bring it back to the lab at work (a process which forced him to enlist the help of Aralia, and her pick-up truck) to further study it. He’d been allocated a private greenhouse for it, as well as the help of another botanist, who, he’d been informed, was eager for an opportunity to study the plant.

His new partner arrived as scheduled the following Monday morning. A quiet, but familiar voice had called out a timid hello as the lab doors opened with a click. As the voice’s owner rounded the corner, Comet looked up from the samples he’d been studying, and froze.

“Comet?” A slow grin spread across the face of Meadow Thayer. “Oh, my plumbbob, I had no idea you worked here! I thought I’d never see you again!”

Comet nodded, remembering just in time that she probably didn’t know that he could now speak. It would be easier anyways, he thought, spending the next few weeks in silence rather than talking about the relationship they could have had. As long as he didn’t slip up…

“You totally disappeared off the internet after you left for Sim State,” Meadow continued, blissfully unaware of his current thoughts. “I didn’t know what happened to you. Your parents were very vague about what you were doing, you know. It was kind of weird.”

He nodded again. Of course his parents wouldn’t have told her about his plans after leaving college. They were too afraid word would get around to Tosha. He still wasn’t exactly sure what Tosha would do to him — or his family, if she ever found them — but experiencing first-hand what could happen when magic went wrong was enough to make him cautious.

“Anyways, it’s really nice to see you again,” Meadow finished, interrupting his thoughts. She stepped forward, closing the gap between them. “I’ve missed you.” She smiled shyly, then spread her arms open to give him a hug.

Comet hesitated, thinking back to the last time he’d saw Meadow, and the kiss she had given him. It would be ridiculous to assume that she still felt the same way, he realized. He had moved on with his life after they’d parted, and clearly she’d moved on with hers.

He returned the smile, then leaned in to reciprocate her embrace.

It wasn’t until she’d leaned in closer, her face inches away from his own that Comet realized he’d completely misinterpreted her intentions. He turned his head to block the kiss, but she moved her mouth to the underside of his jaw instead.

For a split second, he hesitated. He’d be lying if he said that he didn’t like the way her lips felt against his skin. They were soft, her movements were more timid than Marielle, and-

Marielle.

Shit.

He had to break his silence. “Meadow,” he tried, his voice quiet. She didn’t seem to realize that he’d spoken; her fingers curled into his lab coat as her lips moved down the side of his neck. “Meadow, I’m married,” he repeated, louder.

“Oh!” Meadow covered her mouth. “Oh my plumbbob!” Her voice was muffled by her hands. “I am so sorry, Comet!”

“It’s fine,” he said in an attempt to reassure himself, as well as her, that they hadn’t really done anything wrong. His left hand moved to his neck, feeling for any traces of her lipstick. “I’m not… I won’t tell my wife. Just… don’t do that again.”

Meadow nodded. “I swear, if I had known-”

“It’s fine, really. I should have said something, I’m really sorry…” Her brow furrowed, and he trailed off mid-sentence.

“Hang on,” she said, “you shouldn’t be able to say anything… you can’t… you’re supposed to be mute.” She folded her arms over her chest, her face now arranged in a look of disgust.

“Have you just been lying this whole time? To me? To everyone?” Meadow continued.

“I didn’t lie, I was mute!” he protested. “I would never lie about having a disability like that.”

“Why should I believe you now?” She shot back. “You were just pretending to be mute when I walked in. And a few seconds ago? You said you’d lie to your wife.”

“I wouldn’t lie to her, I’d just… neglect to mention it. For her own good. And mine.”

She continued to frown at him. “Does she know you can speak? Or are lying to her about that, too?”

Comet ran a hand through his hair. “Meadow, listen. It’s complicated, okay? I just need a minute to explain. Will you at least give me that?”

She let out a sigh. “Fine.”

“Look,” Comet began, “I had a rough time connecting with people in college… my only friend was my roommate, and I was awful with girls, and… I just… wanted to change that. You know I’m from a legacy family; it’s kind of on me to continue the family line, and I couldn’t do that without a voice. Not with someone I cared for, and cared about me, not just my inheritance.”

She twirled a strand of hair around her fingers. Her expression had softened considerably by the time he’d finished speaking. “How did you do it, though?”

“Um… you know about magic, right?” He asked.

“Well, yeah. I learned all about the magical properties of plants in university. Didn’t you?”

“Of course. That’s how I did it; stole some plants, mixed a potion. You don’t have to believe me-”

Meadow cut him off. “No, I believe you. I’m sorry for what I said, I just thought…”

“It’s fine,” he interrupted. “Let’s just move on; focus on our work. That’s why you’re here, right?”

Meadow nodded, turning towards the greenhouse on her right as she spoke. “So, is that it?” She gestured towards the cowplant that was housed inside.

“Yeah,” he replied. “Laganaphyllis Simnovorii. Phyllis, for short.”

“Do cowplants even have a gender?” Meadow asked, with a look of amusement on her face.

Comet shrugged. “Dunno. Guess we’ll find out, won’t we?” He glanced at the cowplant, then back at Meadow. “Would you like to get a closer look?”

She grinned. “Well, duh.”

Comet led her into the greenhouse, picking up a chunk meat from the ground as he approached the cowplant.

“Is that a leg of lamb?” She asked as he held it out to the plant. “You know, those can do a lot of damage when they’re frozen.”

“Llama, actually,” he corrected. “Phyllis has very specific tastes.”

“Oh,” Meadow said. “I… it was a reference. Never mind.”

Comet chuckled. “Sorry, my cousin Charlotte majored in lit, not me. The last book I picked up was a text on algae. Exciting stuff, right?”

Meadow laughed.

The cowplant reared back as Comet tossed the meat into the air. Its jaw stretched open, then the head of the cowplant dipped forward, catching its meal in one swift motion. The leg disappeared into dark pinkness, and the thick, thorny stem of the plant bulged as the meat began to work its way downwards.

Meadow gaped. “Does it always swallow food whole like that?”

“Well, it used to chew,” Comet replied. “Then it got big. Won’t chew anything small enough to fit in its mouth. Haven’t tried feeding it anything larger than a leg of meat, though; can’t get the interns to go anywhere near it.”

Meadow gave him a look of horror, and he quickly backtracked. “That was a bad joke; I’m sorry. We’re about 75% sure it doesn’t eat sims, anyways, despite the name. It’s a bit of a misnomer.”

“It’s a lot larger than I expected,” Meadow commented as they exited the greenhouse. “Are you sure it doesn’t eat sims?”

“Yeah, my wife thought the same thing,” he replied. “She thinks it’s an abomination. Even when it was still the size of a regular houseplant, she thought it was going to attack me, or the kids.”

Meadow froze. “Oh, right,” she said. “You’ve got kids.” Her voice wavered. “Of course.”

Comet’s smile faltered. “Everything alright?” he asked.

“It’s going to sound so stupid,” she said, turning around, “it’s just… I thought we were going to be a thing?” Meadow glanced down at the floor. “Before you left for college… you promised that you’d visit me again.” She shoved her hands into her pockets. “You never did.”

“Meadow…” He rubbed his arm. “I… I shouldn’t have promised that. It was kind of naïve of us, wasn't it? To think that we were going to end up together? I mean, we never even had a real conversation.”

“I still waited for you,” she said in a quiet voice. “I didn’t want to date anyone else in college, because I thought… maybe…”

“I don’t think we should talk about this here,” he said as she trailed off. “Someone might walk in, you know? Not very professional. Let’s take an early lunch break and talk about it outside. Okay?”

Meadow nodded. “Okay.”

Ten minutes later, they’d seated themselves on the edge of a fountain an empty courtyard.

“How’d you meet your wife, anyways?” Meadow asked, folding her arms across her stomach. “Did the two of you have a class together, or…?”

“Well… we sort of did,” Comet replied. “But I was still mute at the time, and even if I hadn’t been, I would’ve been too shy to talk to her, anyways. Then, I ran into her again in our junior year, in the university’s greenhouse. Didn’t quite work up the courage to ask her out until the second semester. It worked out, obviously. We got married after graduation, and found out we were expecting later that fall.” He smiled. “We’ve got twin girls, and a little boy.”

“That’s nice,” she said, with a small smile.

“What about you?” Comet asked. “I know you didn’t date anyone in college, but now…?”

“Nobody,” Meadow replied, turning away from him. “It was stupid of me to wait, wasn’t it? You met another girl, and you’ve got a family, and I’ve got, well, nothing.”

“You’ve got a solid career, though,” Comet offered, unsure of what else to say in response. He felt responsible, in a way, for her loneliness. It wasn’t like he’d bothered to make any effort to reach out to her after they’d graduated. If he had just taken the time to get in contact with her, maybe she would have moved on already, and started a family of her own.

At the very least, she wouldn’t have tried to kiss him again.

“I’m a family sim, Comet,” she said. “I love my career, I just… I wanted a family, too.”

“I don’t wasn’t completely stupid of you to want to wait,” he tried to reassure her. Until I met my wife… I was thinking that maybe you’d be my first girlfriend after all.”

She sat up a little straighter. “Really?” she asked. “So, if you hadn’t met your wife… do you think we’d be married instead?”

Comet decided to backtrack. “I can’t say for sure,” he replied. “Maybe, if I hadn’t met her, I would have met a different girl.”

“But you had a crush on me, right?” Meadow continued to press. “In college?”

“For a little bit, yeah,” he admitted. Comet began to worry that he’d just given Meadow some sort of false hope. “I pretty much had a crush on every girl who paid even the slightest bit of attention to me,” he joked. “That’s how I lost my virginity.”

She didn’t laugh.

Instead, she asked “Do you remember when you took me to prom?”

“Oh, yeah,” he said, unsure how they had suddenly arrived at that topic. “Kind of? I think technically you took me, though. You know, since you were the one that asked?”

She smiled. “That was nice. I probably should have kissed you then,” she continued, “instead of doing it in front of your family.”

“I don’t think doing it in front of the entire senior class, and my cousins would have been much better.”

Meadow giggled. “No, you’re probably right. Everybody was talking about us after that night, you know. They all thought we hooked up… or something.”

“All we did was slow dance,” he said, surprised. “We went as friends! I didn’t even know you liked me!”

“I don’t think friends normally slow dance together,” Meadow said with a smile.

“Nonsense,” Comet joked, returning her smile. “I slow dance with my best friend all the time. His wife doesn’t like it too much, but I think she’s just jealous.”

She laughed this time. “Do you think we could still be friends, maybe?” Meadow asked.

“Of course,” he agreed. “I do like you, Meadow. Just in a platonic way.”

She smirked. “Yep, totally platonic. Just like when you slow dance with your best friend. No feelings there. Nope. Not at all.”

“So, um, where are you staying in Aurora?” he asked, feeling like it was high time he’d changed the subject.”

“Oh, I’m just staying at a hotel nearby. The Westin? It’s pretty nice. There’s a restaurant on the first floor; I’ll probably be eating there a lot.” She bit her lip. “Unless you have any recommendations?”

“I’m… not exactly sure. Haven’t really been anywhere fancy in a while. Not with the kids.”

Meadow nodded. “Yeah. Maybe it’s a good thing I don’t have any kids, then.”

“You know… I’m having dinner with some of my college friends this Friday,” Comet said. “My old roommate and his wife; we’re neighbours. You could join us if you’d like?”

“Your wife would be okay with that?” Meadow asked.

He nodded. “We have them over all the time; an extra person won’t bother her too much.”

“Sure,” she agreed. “That sounds nice.”

As she stood on Comet’s front porch that Friday afternoon, about an hour earlier than she’d initially promised, Meadow wondered why she had thought this would be a good idea.

Knowing that Comet had fallen in love with another woman, and that he’d decided she was the one he wanted to have a family with was one thing. Meeting that woman, and their kids, was another.

At least she had wine.

“Oh!” Meadow’s eyes widened when Comet opened the door.

“So, funny story…” Comet ran his fingers through his still-wet hair as he spoke, “I thought you were my wife.”

“I’m sorry, I’m really early aren’t I?” She said, taking a step backwards. “Um, should I come back later?”

He sighed. “No, you can come in. I just need a few more minutes to get ready. My wife’s at the grocery store, I think? I don’t know; she didn’t take the car. She should be back soon, though.”

“Sorry,” she apologized again.

“I’m, uh, going to finish getting ready. You’re welcome to come in.” He pushed the door open wider.

Meadow stepped into the house, and he shut the door behind her. She set the bottle of wine down on the nearest surface, and averted her eyes as Comet turned and walked away.

She’d been here less than five minutes, and she’d already gone and made everything horribly awkward. It was going to be a long evening.

Meadow wondered if it was too late to pretend she was sick.

As she waited for Comet to return, Meadow decided she needed something to do. She crossed the room, turning her attention towards the shelves of pictures hanging above an armchair. Wedding photos. All of them.

Of course. That was just her luck.

They were really nice photos, too. It looked like the kind of wedding you’d see planned on a Simterest board. Meadow would know; she had one or five of those herself. Boards, not weddings.

The front door opened with a click, and Meadow turned back around. Comet’s wife entered the house, and set a bag down on the floor. She noticed that sometime between the wedding, and the present day, Comet’s wife had evidently decided to embrace the plantsim lifestyle. Would she even be eating with them, then? Meadow wondered.

“Hi!” The woman smiled as she met Meadow’s eyes. “I’m Marielle, I’m sure Comet’s mentioned me before. Meadow, right? It’s nice to meet you.”

Comet hadn’t actually mentioned Marielle’s name before, Meadow thought. But clearly, he’d mentioned hers. Meadow returned her smile. “Thanks for having me for dinner,” she replied. Meadow wondered if she should lie, and say she was pleased to meet Marielle as well. “I brought some wine,” she said instead, and nodded in the direction of the bottle she’d set down by the door.

“Lovely.” Marielle picked up the bottle. “Would you like to join me in the kitchen for a drink, then?”

Like Meadow, Comet was also second-guessing his decision to have her over for dinner. He wasn’t sure why he’d thought introducing his old high school crush to his wife was a good idea, especially considering that Meadow had basically admitted that she still had a crush on him.

And to make things worse, he’d also invited Jimmy to dinner. Jimmy, who knew about his old feelings for Meadow, but didn’t know how to keep his mouth shut.

At least he’d have Deirdre there to keep Jimmy in line.

Comet rounded the corner and entered the kitchen, slipping an arm around Marielle’s waist as he stood next to her. “Hi, Meadow,” he said with a small smile. “Sorry again about… earlier.”

“I heard all about earlier,” Marielle said with a grin.

“I’m guessing you’ve introduced yourselves then?” he asked.

“No, I just found this strange woman in our house, and we just happened to strike up a conversation about how my husband likes to answer the door half-naked.” Marielle was still grinning, so Comet guessed that she hadn’t been too bothered by the story. “Obviously we’ve introduced ourselves.”

He nodded. “Right. Obviously.”

“I’m going to finish up dinner,” Marielle said. “You two have fun talking about plants.”

Marielle busied herself with dinner preparations, and Comet was left to continue the conversation with Meadow.

“Your wedding photos are lovely,” she said, thankfully moving away from the earlier subject of their awkward greeting. “I noticed them hanging in the living room.”

“Thanks. I’m… sorry I never invited you to our wedding. It was kind of just a family thing, you know?”

“No, it’s fine.” She pulled at the sleeve of her blouse. “I understand. Would’ve been kinda weird to invite me, wouldn't it?”

The doorbell rang at that moment, saving him from having to give her an answer. “Excuse me for a moment,” Comet said, before turning and leaving the kitchen.

He opened the front door to find. Jimmy, as expected. What Comet hadn’t expected, though, was that Jimmy would show up by himself.

Jimmy decided to skip the formalities. “Dude. What’re you all dressed up for?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Comet rolled his eyes in response. “I’m having guests over. Maybe you heard?”

“You trying to impress somebody? Because you invited me, and your old high school sweetheart. You shouldn’t be trying to impress either of us... at least, not in front of your wife.” He smirked.

Comet sighed. “Where’s your wife, Jimmy? You know I invited both of you, right? And your kids?”

“Piper’s got stomach flu, Deirdre’s home with her. You can thank me later for not bringing her here and infecting your kids. I’m a saint, I know.”

“I guess that’s an acceptable excuse.” Comet twisted his wedding ring around his finger as he spoke.

Jimmy arched an eyebrow. “What’s wrong, man? You look nervous.”

“Nothing. I’m fine. Everything is fine. Except your kid, apparently.”

“You should be more excited to see me,” Jimmy teased. “Your dinner party would be totally boring without me; Marielle would probably fall asleep at the table listening to you nerds talk about plants all night long.”

“That’s what I’m worried about,” Comet admitted. “Your idea of interesting, that is, not my wife falling asleep. You know you have to behave, right? I don’t care how boring you think plants are, we are not talking about anything related to-”

“Relax,” Jimmy interrupted. “I know how to behave. I’m a grown-ass man.”

After another round of introductions were made – during which, Jimmy actually behaved himself – and the kids had been corralled into the living room, the four adults sat down to dinner.

“So,” Jimmy began, “Now that I’ve actually met Meadow, I’ve realized Comet totally has a type.”

“A type?” Marielle repeated.

“You don’t see it?” Jimmy asked. “You and Meadow?”

Comet sighed. “What are you on about now?”

“Come on.” Jimmy gestured between the two women. “Blonde hair, round face, kind of shy… I mean, your names even start with the same letter. I can’t be the only one seeing this, right?”

“I mean, I guess there are some similarities-” Marielle began.

“You’re basically like, a non-nerdy version of Meadow,” Jimmy interrupted. “I mean, the major difference is probably that she gets his plant jokes, and you just pretend you do.”

“Excuse me?” Marielle frowned. “I’m a knowledge sim. Look, I might not know as much about science as she does, but I certainly know more than you do.”

“No, no, I didn’t mean it like that,” Jimmy tried to backtrack. “You’re very smart. Way smarter than I am; we all know that. All I’m saying is-”

“Can we please talk about something else?” Comet interrupted.

“Great idea.” Jimmy took a sip from his wine glass. “What about you?” he asked, turning towards Meadow. “What would you like to talk about, Meadow? Plants? I’m sure you have some fascinating facts about plants.”

Comet sighed. “Don’t tease, Jimmy.”

“I’m not teasing. You’re just upset because we’re all tired of hearing your plant facts,” Jimmy answered with a smirk. “I swear, if I have to hear one more explanation about how ‘botanically speaking, corn is actually a grain’, I’m going to shove a cob of-”

“Actually,” Meadow said, effectively cutting Jimmy off, “I do have a plant-related question?” She glanced towards Marielle. “If that’s alright?”

“Is it about how corn?” Marielle joked. “Because we’ve just banned that topic from the dinner table.”

“Well… it’s about you, actually,” Meadow admitted. “I was curious. About the plantsim thing.” She glanced at Comet. “She is a plantsim, right? It’s not like, a tattoo, or…”

“She is,” he said hesitantly, his yes flickering between his wife, and Meadow. “But… maybe we should talk about something-’

“-sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.” Meadow’s gaze dropped down to her plate of food. “I just noticed that she wasn't one in the wedding pictures. I thought… maybe you were doing a study-”

“No,” Marielle said. “Definitely not.” She took a sip of wine. “It’s a touchy subject,” she continued. “For both of us.”

“Sorry,” Meadow apologized again. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Okay,” Jimmy said, breaking the silence that had fallen. “I have a story that isn’t about plants.” From across the table, Comet gave him an encouraging nod. Jimmy broke into a grin. “Okay, I lied, it is about plants, but it’s a good story.”

There was a collective groan from Marielle and Comet, but Meadow spoke up. “I’d like to hear it.”

Jimmy cleared his throat, then began his story. “So, this one time, back in college, Comet decided he was going to invent a new plant, and I thought it’d be funny to convince him that he’d actually grown marijuana, and…”

It wasn’t most appropriate topic for the dinner table, but it kept the conversation away from plantsims and high school crushes for the rest of the meal.

With dinner finished, the four adults moved into the living room to say their goodbyes.

“Thanks for coming tonight,” Comet said to Jimmy, leaning in to give him a quick hug.” And thanks for behaving yourself,” he added in a quieter tone, “…sort of.”

“Hey, I’m always on my best behaviour,” Jimmy protested with a grin.

“Give Deirdre and Piper our best, alright?” Marielle added.

“Yeah, of course.” Jimmy nodded. “And I’ll try to keep her away from your kids until she gets better, but… you know how they are. They’ve got a bond that rivals magnets.”

Comet laughed. “I swear, I feel like I have joint custody of triplets sometimes.”

Jimmy waggled his eyebrows. “Well, give it a few years and we could have joint custody of grandchildren… Unless our daughters end up together. Then maybe not.”

“Jimmy-”

“Come on dude, would our kids getting together really be that bad? We’re already neighbours, how bad could in-laws be?”

“Not now Jimmy, okay?” Comet turned his attention back to his other guest. “Meadow?”

Meadow turned to face Comet. “Oh, sorry! Zoned out for a minute.” She gave a weak laugh. “Once again, thanks for having me. It’s nice eating a home made meal again.”

Comet nodded “Of course. You’re welcome to come back anytime.” He glanced towards Jimmy. “Maybe just you next time.”

“Hey!” Jimmy protested.

“Thank you,” Meadow replied. “I’ll see you at work on Monday, then?”

“Do you need a ride back to the hotel?” Comet asked. “I could give you one; it’s not a problem-”

“No, that’s fine. I already called for a cab.” She took a few, small steps towards the door, then turned to call over her shoulder, “enjoy your weekend.”

After their guests had left, and the dishes were washed, Comet and Marielle settled down in front of the now vacant television. They’d initially agreed on catching up on one of the shows they’d recorded, but Comet soon decided there was another way he’d rather spend the rest of the evening.

“Comet?” Marielle asked? He made a muffled noise of acknowledgement, but continued to plant light kisses along the side of her cheek.

She considered forgetting the conversation, and instead reciprocating some of her husband’s affection… but after the conversation Jimmy had started about her and Meadow, there was something on the back of her mind that she needed to discuss with him.

Comet drew back. “Yeah?” he asked with a faint smile on his face.

“You don’t actually have a type, do you?” she asked. “I mean, I figured Jimmy was just trying to start something — he always does — but… you can’t deny there’s a lot of similarities. Between me and her.”

His brow furrowed. “What about them, though?”

“Look, it’s stupid but… you didn’t like me because I reminded you of her, right? Back in college? I wasn’t just like, the next best thing?”

“Plumbbob, Marielle, no. Don’t say that. Maybe I do have a thing for blondes, or names that start with M… but I definitely did not have a crush on you just because you looked kind of like her.”

“Honestly,” he continued, “I’d kind of forgotten about her completely by the time I met you.” Comet trailed his right hand down along her side, leaving it to rest on top of her upper thigh.

Marielle lowered her eyes. “See? Told you I was just being stupid.”

“You’re not stupid.” He squeezed her shoulder. “It’s not stupid to feel insecure.”

“It’s stupid to listen to Jimmy, though.”

“Well, yeah,” Comet agreed. “He still thinks corn is a vegetable. Can you believe that?”

Marielle laughed. “Oh my plumbbob, do not start with that corn nonsense again. I will divorce you.”

“Fine,” he teased, “but I get custody of all the plants. And the kids. And I’m going to need you to come over and hate-cuddle with me whenever I get lonely.”

Marielle turned to meet his eyes. “I love you,” she said, her tone becoming more sincere. “I’m sorry things never worked out with her, but I’m glad you ended up with me instead.”

“I love you,” he told her. Comet removed his hand from her thigh, and took hold of her hand instead. “If I could go back and choose how my life ended up, I’d choose to spend it with you, every time.”

“And if you were still mute?”

“I’d still choose to be with you.”

Marielle shifted on the couch. Letting go of his hand, she wrapped both arms around him, and leaned forward, pressing him down into the cushions as she pressed a kiss to his lips.

Comet reciprocated, tightening his arms around her, and pulled her down with him.

“Hey,” Comet greeted Meadow the following Monday. “I just… wanted to apologize for Jimmy. He can be a bit of an ass… I was hoping that his wife would be there to keep him in line, but…”

“It’s fine,” she replied with a small smile. “He didn’t say anything really rude.”

Comet shrugged. “My wife was a bit annoyed when he started comparing the two of you… I just wanted to check, you know?”

“Oh.” She shifted her weight from one foot to another. “That makes sense, yeah… And… I’m sorry. For bringing up the plantsim thing. I was just curious.”

He nodded. “It’s fine. Anyways, I was wondering if you’d might like to come bowling with us sometime? My son’s birthday is in a few weeks…”

Her smile slipped away. “Comet… your family is lovely, don’t get me wrong…” Meadow began, her gaze fixed on the floor in front of her. “It’s just… I don’t think it’s a good idea. You and I spending time together outside of work.”

“Oh,” he replied. “I guess, yeah. I just… I thought you wanted us to be friends still?” Comet pulled at the collar of his lab coat.

“I thought I wanted that. It’s just… it’s not going to work,” she concluded. “You understand, right?” Her eyes finally flickered upwards to meet his. “I like you Comet, really, I do. Just not in an appropriate way. Not when you’ve got a wife, and kids.”

“Right. We’ll keep things strictly professional, then.” He hesitated, glanced at his watch, then added, “Do you still want to grab lunch together? Like usual?”

“I don’t... No.” Meadow shook her head. “That’s not a good idea, either. I’m sorry.”

“Right.” He nodded. “I understand.”

“Sorry,” she said again. “I really am. About all of this.” She turned, and left him alone in the lab. Somehow, she managed to avoid running into him for the rest of the afternoon.

Despite the change in their working relationship, they continued to spend late nights at together the lab, studying the cowplant.

There was no getting out of their partnership when Meadow had been assigned specially to the case, and Comet wasn’t about to give up studying the most fascinating plant he’d ever encountered because of a stupid crush.

He did, however, miss the banter and jokes that made the long shifts go by a little faster. They worked in silence, now, broken on by requests to pass a tool, or to take a closer look at an area.

The study wrapped up around the start of the summer season, and Meadow left to return to Astra Villa. With the cowplant no longer needed at work, Comet asked for permission to return the plant back to his front yard. He was soon granted that permission, being the only botanist left in the workplace with a solid understanding of the bovine-like plant’s behaviours.

Aralia’s assistance was once again enlisted to transport the cowplant back home, as well as help landscape the front garden to accommodate the plant’s larger size. Remarkably, she managed not to mess anything up.

Marielle remained unconvinced that the cowplant’s diet did not include sims, but the kids’ reluctance to go near the plant (due to the smell, the twins insisted, not because they were afraid) soothed her worries somewhat.

The summer season also brought about Leo and Oriole’s birthdays.

Now that all of the kids were old enough to take part in more exciting activities, and neither Deirdre and Marielle were pregnant, the two families decided to take the kids out bowling to celebrate their birthday.

The older kids were far too distracted by who was winning the game to care (or even notice) that their birthday hadn’t been quite as extravagant.

The five children were beginning to spend more time together, too, now that they’d found they were all capable of enjoying the same activities together.

Leo and Oriole continued to share a strong bond, however. So whenever their older sisters disappeared off together, the two of them were more than happy to enjoy just each other’s company.

They spent most of that summer sat in the front garden (a safe distance from the cowplant), digging around in the grass for bugs, and other interesting specimens. What exactly they were planning on doing with all the bugs, they refused to say, claiming that it was ‘classified’ information, and that as a scientist, Comet should really understand that.

Diana and Halley also had a birthday to celebrate, towards the end of the summer season.

Having just had a large birthday party for Oriole and Leo, they agreed to have a smaller party for themselves, though promises of certain electronic devices like cellphones and gaming systems might have played a part in that decision.

While the twins had looked forward to usual perks that came with being a teenager, like later curfews and new cellphones, they found themselves particularly drawn to the new freedom they were given.

As teenagers, it was so much easier for them to for to sneak in old, arcane texts they’d borrowed from obscure libraries, without being questioned by their parents, and stay up late practicing the new spells.

Their parents were far too concerned about them misbehaving in the normal teenage ways to remember to all the paranormal ways they could get themselves into trouble.

As teenagers, the twins were also becoming more independent. Instead of being constantly attached at the hip, like they were as children, they could occasionally be found doing things on their own.

Halley was drawn to simple pleasures, like dancing around in her empty room to her favourite songs, or beating another level in the newest game. She’d also picked up an interest in writing, and sometimes spent entire nights curled up on the living room couch, scribbling away in notebooks that she kept carefully hidden.

Diana, on the other hand, usually had her phone out whenever she wasn’t spending time with Halley. (Although she could, on occasion, be found using it to text Halley when they were in different rooms, something which their parents would never quite understand.)

With the amount of time she spent on her phone, making calls, or posting pictures and new statuses, Diana was quickly becoming one of the more popular girls in their grade. And as much as she enjoyed that new attention, there was really only one person in school that she sought to gain the attention of.

It wasn’t too before Diana’s attempts to get a certain boy to notice her seemed to start working, too.

“Hey… Diana?” Isaiah Gavigan asked. Diana gave him a sly smile in reply, and nodded. “You free next Saturday?”

“Perhaps.” She twirled a section of hair around her finger. “Why?”

“Parents are out of town this weekend,” he answered with a mischievous grin. “Planning on throwing a little pool party. You in?”

“I don’t know. Is that invitation for me only, or…?” Diana glanced at Piper over her shoulder, and Isaiah’s eyes followed her gaze.

“Piper can come too, if she wants,” he added. “Just… not your sister, okay?”

“Um, excuse me?” Diana wrinkled her nose. “Why can’t Halley come?”

Isaiah rolled his eyes. “Think about it, Diana. She doesn’t really fit in with my type of friends, you know what I mean? Nobody’s gonna want to come if she’s coming, too.”

“If they have a problem with my sister, I don’t think I’ll fit in with them, either. Forget it.”

“Diana…” He reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, and she jerked backwards. “Come on, don’t be like this. You can’t always spend time with your sister, right? You’re never going to get a boyfriend that way.”

“Really? Because I think there are plenty of boys at this school who’d be happy to take me out on Saturday night, and wouldn’t insult my sister to get me to go.”

“Look, I wasn’t trying to insult her-”

“Oh, sorry what was that?” Diana asked. “I was too busy thinking about all the other hot guys I could be talking to right now.”

“Diana-”

“Also, now that I think about it, I’m like, super busy next Saturday. I have to walk our cat; I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it to your party.”

“You guys have a cat?” Isaiah frowned. “I thought you had a Dalmatian?”

“No, Piper has a Dalmatian, and… you know what? Forget it. Have fun with your idiot friends at your idiotic party.” She turned to leave.

Isaiah groaned. “Alright, fine. You can bring your sister, okay?”

Diana turned back to face him. “Excellent,” she said with a grin. “What time should we be there?”

Isaiah rubbed the back of his neck. “I dunno… five, I guess? How long does it take to walk your cat?”

“Forget the cat, Isaiah. I’ll see you Saturday, okay?” Diana glanced around the hallway. “But before I go… have you seen Halley, by any chance? She said she’d meet me here after class.”

He shrugged. “How am I supposed to know where she is? Aren’t twins supposed to be able to, like, sense each other’s feelings or some shit? Just do that.”

“Of course.” Diana nodded. “How stupid of me; I completely forgot.”

“You’re lucky you’re pretty,” Isaiah replied.

Halley had hung back in the change rooms after the bell, hoping to change out of her gym uniform once the other girls had left. To her dismay, she’d found that someone else was doing the same.

“Hey, Halley?” She nodded in response. “I just wanted to say I really liked the story you read in Simlish class today,” the other girl, Tessa, said.

Halley studied the dirty grey tiles at her feet. “Um, thanks,” she said. “I don’t think I did a very good job reading it, though. I messed up, like, fifty times.”

“You did fine.” She looked up to meet Tessa’s eyes, and the girl gave her a reassuring smile. Halley’s gaze dropped back down to the floor. “I’m sure no one even noticed,” Tessa continued.

“My sister’s always been better at public speaking,” Halley replied. “You know Diana, right?”

Tessa nodded. “Of course. She’s the only other girl in school with green skin… I think we have Chemistry together?”

“Yeah,” Halley said. “Cool. I’m taking biology instead. I’m not really great with equations.”

“You’re good at a whole bunch of other stuff, though,” Tessa replied. “Like Simlish; your story really was great. Do you write a lot?”

“A bit, yeah. When my sister’s busy with her own things.”

“I was wondering if you could help me?” Tessa asked. “Like, proofread my stories or something? I mean, it’s cool if you’re really busy or something.”

“Oh, yeah.” Halley smiled. “Sure! Do you want to send them to me online, or…?”

“Um, I was thinking maybe we could go to the library some time?” Tessa suggested. “So you could give me proper feedback, you know? If that’s alright?”

“Yeah, that sounds good. Are you doing anything Saturday?”

Tessa’s smiled faltered. “Um, yeah, actually. Isaiah’s throwing a pool party Saturday? You know Isaiah?” Halley nodded. “Yeah, I already told him I’d go.”

“Oh.” Halley forced a smile. “Okay, cool. Maybe another weekend.”

“We could hang out after school sometime?” Tessa offered instead. “I do a shift at the theatre every day, except Tuesdays and Thursdays?”

“Tuesday works for me.” Halley agreed.

“Awesome!” Tessa stepped forward, and pulled into a hug. “You’re the best, Halley.”

“Oh, um, no problem,” Halley said. She hesitated for a second as she tried to figure out the least awkward place to put her hands. She settled from draping her arms loosely over the girl’s shoulders. “See you next Tuesday?”

Tessa drew back to meet Halley’s eyes, but kept her arms around her back. “Yeah, see you then,” she replied with a shy smile.

While they hadn’t seen each other at school much that day, the three girls were able to catch up at a sleepover they held later that night.

“So, I don’t know if you guys have heard, but Isaiah Gavigan’s throwing a pool party this Saturday,” Diana told them. “And thanks to my charm, and good looks, we’re all invited.”

Piper rolled her eyes. “Isaiah’s such an ass, though.”

“Yeah, but he’s pretty cute,” Diana protested.

Piper smirked. “Him, or his ass?”

“Both, obviously,” Diana replied with a grin.

“I mean, he’s okay. Orlando, on the other hand…”

Halley traced the floral pattern of the bedroom rug with her index finger as she listened to Diana and Piper ramble on about the rest of the boys in their classes, and whether or not their asses were as cute as the rest of them.

When had they become so interest in talking about boys? It was as if the minute they’d left childhood, they’d dived straight into the world of dating, crushes, and boys, and Halley hadn’t even dipped a toe into that pool yet. She’d rather talk about homework than which guy in their homeroom was the cutest, and she didn’t even like homework.

“Um, earth to Halley?” Diana interrupted. Halley looked up to meet her sister’s eyes. “Halley, are you alright?”

She forced a smile back onto her face. “Yeah, I’m fine. I spaced out for a minute.” She laughed, and pushed a few strands of loose hair back behind her ear. “Get it? Space?”

Piper raised her eyebrows. “You sure you’re alright? ‘Cause you’re doing that thing with your hair. You always do that when you’re upset.”

“Are you feeling sick?” Diana pressed. “Do you want me to get dad?”

Halley felt her face growing warm. “Guys, I said I’m fine,” she said, her voice firm. Neither Diana or Piper looked convinced. “I just don’t want to spend all night talking about boys, okay?” She looked back down at the floor. “They’re all immature and stupid.”

Diana frowned. “Did one of them say something to you? Was it Isaiah? Because I swear-”

“Nobody said anything to me, okay? I just don’t care about things that are stupid, like boys. Can we please talk about something else?”

“Oh, I know why she’s upset.” Piper’s exchanged a meaningful look with Diana, who smiled.

Halley eyed her sister. “What?” she asked. “What was that look for?”

“Nothing.” Diana gave her an innocent smile. “I just figured out what was upsetting you, that’s all.”

“I already told you why I’m upset.” Halley let out an exasperated sigh. “And if either of you think it’s because I’m on my period-”

“No, it’s definitely not that,” Diana interrupted.

“You’re upset you haven’t gotten any attention from guys yet, right?” Piper asked with a grin.

“It’s okay, Halley,” Diana said before she could protest. “Piper and I will find you a cute boyfriend; we promise.”

“Isaiah’s pool party would be the perfect opportunity,” Piper continued. “Lots of shirtless guys.”

“He is inviting guys, right?” Diana frowned. “What if he just invited all the girls he thinks are hot?”

“No, he invited Orlando,” Piper reassured her. “There’s bound to be other guys there. Anyways, we’ll scope one out for Halley, and then she won’t be left out when we talk about guys.”

“But I don’t even want a boyfriend.” Halley frowned. “I told you; they’re all stupid.”

“That’s what you think now.” Piper smirked.

“Yeah, Halley.” Diana pushed herself up off the floor. “Just give it a bit of time; as soon as you meet the right guy, you’ll know what we mean.”

“You think so?” Halley asked.

Diana nodded enthusiastically. “I think the problem is that you’re way more mature than most of the boys at school. You need a guy who prefers writing poetry, instead of drawing dicks all over the blackboard. You’ve just got to wait a bit. Girls mature faster than guys, that’s a scientific fact.”

“Totally,” Piper agreed.

Halley gave her sister a small smile. “I guess you’re right. Thanks, Di.”

“Of course I am. After all, I’m older by an entire minute,” she teased.

Back in Astra Villa, Meadow had grown tired of moping around her apartment. She’d Celia out for coffee, in hopes that Comet’s cousin would be able to do a rather large favour for her.

“Thanks for meeting me here,” Meadow said. “I know we’re not really friends, but…”

Celia folded her arms over her chest. “Well it’s not like I’ve got anything better to do today. Unlike most of my family, I don’t have any brats to take care of.”

“I like kids,” Meadow said in a soft voice.

“Yeah?” Celia raised an eyebrow. “Then why don’t you have any?”

“I’m… working on that.” Meadow bit her lip. “That’s… well, that’s why I wanted to meet you, really.”

“Oh fuck no,” Celia interrupted. “If you’re looking for some sort of surrogate-”

“That’s… not what I’m here for.” Meadow set her mug down. “It’s… um… you’re a witch, right?”

Celia’s brow furrowed. “Who told you that?”

“Charlotte… she said you might be able to help me?” She nibbled at her fingernails as she awaited a response.

“With what, exactly?”

“I ran into Comet. Recently. While I was doing some botanical work in Aurora.” Meadow could see that she now had Celia’s full interest. “And he, well, he invited me to have dinner with him,” she continued, “and his family.”

Celia snorted. “Well, you should be honoured. The most I get from him are phone calls, and a card every Christmas.” She took a sip of her coffee. “Damn nice cards, though. Gotta give Marielle credit.”

“It was nice,” Meadow began, “I just wish… well, that he didn’t have a family, you know?”

Celia’s brow furrowed. “Don’t tell me you’ve still got a thing for him.” Meadow glanced down at her cup of coffee, a guilty look on her. “Meadow, he’s married. Don’t you dare mess with his marriage,” Celia hissed. “I will not help you ruin his life, okay? Don’t even fucking think about it.”

“I didn’t want to ruin his marriage,” Meadow spoke finally, “I just… I shouldn’t have bothered you with this. I’m sorry.” She picked up her coffee cup, and took a large sip. “I should go. I think I’ll go.’

“Wait,” Celia demanded, and Meadow set the cup back down. “What is it exactly that you want me to do? Since apparently, you’re not looking to destroy his marriage.”

“Well, I was just thinking… what if it was like his marriage never happened at all? You know, like if I went back in time? And asked him out in high school?”

“So, let me get this straight,” Celia said. “You want me to send you back in time, so that you can ask him out in high school, and ensure that he never marries Marielle, or even meets her?” She picked up her mug, and drained the rest of coffee, glaring pointedly ad Meadow as she did so.

“Um, basically?” Meadow replied nervously. “If you can do that. I don’t know how magic works, really. Or maybe you have a better idea…?”

Celia slammed the mug down on the wooden table, causing several patrons nearby to look in their direction. “Nope, sorry, not happening. That still counts as ‘trying to ruin my cousin’s marriage’.” Celia fished around in her pocket, and slapped some coins down on the table. “Have fun finding someone else to help you play home wrecker, cause I sure as hell am not interested.”

“Sorry,” Meadow said again, in a quiet voice. As Celia stood up and left, Meadow pulled out her phone, and cautiously typed in a new search query. She’d taken Celia’s last suggestion to heart.

“Welcome, ladies!” Isaiah said, spreading his arms open wide. Saturday had arrived in Aurora, and Isaiah Gavigan’s pool party was in full swing. “Glad you finally decided to grace us with your presence. The party started an hour ago, you know.”

“It’s called being fashionable late, Isaiah,” Orlando Centowski called from behind him. “Don’t be so fucking lame, man.”

“Whatever, dude,” Isaiah shot back. He offered the girls a smile, and said, “Food isn’t here yet, so I guess you haven’t missed much.”

“Of course,” Diana said with a smile. “The party doesn’t start ‘til we walk in.”

Piper groaned. “That’s such an awful song, Diana. You have got to stop listening to such trash music.”

“Never,” Diana argued. “And I’m sure Isaiah won’t mind taking some requests from me, right?” She winked at him.

He shot back a cheesy grin in reply. “Anything for you, Diana.”

Isaiah stepped forward. His fingers brushed lightly against Diana’s as he extended a hand towards her. She smiled, curling her fingers into his. Behind them, Halley noticed that Orlando had pulled Piper aside, and the two of them were talking in low, quiet voices.

“Would you like me to grab you a drink?” Isaiah asked.

Diana raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know; are they alcoholic?’

“Would you like it to be?”

“No, thanks, virgin drinks are fine with me,” she answered with a playful smile. “Hey, Halley?” Diana called, turning to look at her. “Would you like one too?”

“Um, no, I’m fine,” Halley replied. “Thanks.”

“Come on.” Diana slipped an arm around Halley’s shoulder, pulling her towards the side of the deck as the boys left to grab drinks. “We’ve got to find a boy for you to talk to.”

“Right,” Halley said with a weak smile. She’d forgotten that Piper and Diana had promised to find her a boyfriend. She wasn’t that interested, really, in having a boyfriend, but if her sister and best friend were going to spend their night talking to boys, she’d rather not stand in a corner by herself.

“Hey, wait for me,” Piper called after them, trailing behind. “I want to help pick; I have way better taste than Diana does.”

They stopped at the edge of the deck, and leaned casually against the railing. “Okay, Halley,” Piper said. “Any preferences? Brunette? Ginger?”

“Um, nice?” Halley suggested.

Diana snorted. “How are we supposed to be able to tell if a guy is nice?” She asked, as she and Piper scanned the pool deck. “Unless you’re looking for nice abs, maybe. Or ass.”

“Okay, so that blonde dude over there looks taken,” Piper noted. “But there’s two guys over ther-”

“Ooh, him!” Diana interrupted, reaching out over the railing to point at a redheaded boy. “He’s cute, and he’s all by himself… it’s the perfect opportunity!”

Piper smirked. “You know it’s rude to point, right?”

“He’s not looking!” Diana protested, continuing to point. “What do you think, Halley?”

“Could you keep it down, Di?” Halley asked. “I don’t need the entire party hearing you.” She squinted in the direction in the guy. “Um… he’s okay, I guess?”

Piper smirked. “Okay? What’s that supposed to mean? Do you think he’s cute, or do you want us to keep looking? We’ve got all night.”

“Maybe he’s not nice enough for her,” Diana said with a giggle. “He’s definitely cute enough, that’s for damn sure.”

Halley bit her lip. It wasn’t the teasing that bothered her. It was that she’d noticed Tessa Go sitting with her friends at the edge of the pool, and Halley would much rather talk to her than any of the guys at the party.

But how was she going to tell them that? They’d had each other as friends since they were barely old enough to talk; Diana and Piper simply didn’t feel the need to socialize with girls outside their friend group (at least, not outside of social media). They hadn’t, for that matter, been very interested in talking to guys, either, until recently.

Halley wondered what magical switch had been flipped in their brains, and why hers seemed to be broken. There had to be some reason why she didn’t find Isaiah or Orlando as good-looking as Diana and Piper both claimed. Though, as she watched Tessa, Halley realized with a sinking feeling that inside, she knew the reason.

Boys didn’t catch her attention, because she was very much attracted to girls. Just girls.

She let out a shaky breath. Telling Diana or Piper was definitely not an option; they just wouldn’t understand. What’s worse, she was sure, was that if she told them, they might get the idea — the wrong idea — that maybe she had some sort of weird attraction to them.

She could ruin their entire friendship if she told them.

“Halley?” Diana turned back around. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m fine.” Halley brushed back a loose section of hair. “Sun’s in my eyes.”

“Are you sure-”

“Diana, I said I’m fine!” Her voice wavered. “You always do this! Just leave it, okay?”

“Ladies?” Isaiah and Orlando had returned with drinks. Halley had never been so happy to see them. “Everything alright?” Isaiah asked.

Diana cast a quick glance at Halley, who nodded, then turned her attention back to the boys. “Everything’s fine!” Diana chirped.

It took an extremely long time for me to finally get this update together, and I’d just like to give a super-duper belated thanks to all the readers who, despite the long wait between chapters, nominated and voted for my legacy in the Golden Plumbobs at the beginning of the year! I’m really stoked about winning Best Sims 2 Legacy, and touched that I was also nominated for Best Plot in a Sims 2 Legacy. I love writing and creating this story, and it means a lot to me that other people enjoy reading it. <3

A side note about one of the characters in this chapter: Tessa is Tosha Go from the usual townie pool, but I have changed her name for this story, to prevent confusion between her and Tosha the witch. Tosha already shares a very similar face with Celia, I don’t need any further confusion with her character by introducing another character with the same name.

And since I’ve never explicitly stated either of the girls’ stats, I’ve put them on the next two slides, along with their aspirations. I’ll do the same with Leo & Oriole when they become teens.

Diana is named after the roman moon goddess, and is a popularity/romance combo. I rolled for both aspirations, because I’m 90% sure that’s the rule, but even if I got to choose I still would have picked those two. They’re exactly what I had in mind for her character, and I’m super pleased.

Her personality is 5/10/2/5/9, easily making her the most outgoing member of the family. I have no idea where all those points came from, because neither Comet or Marielle are outgoing. It’s a mystery.

Genetics-wise, she appears to be a female version of Comet, with Marielle’s eye-shape and colour (and maybe her chin).

Halley is named after the comet (see what I did there?), and is a pleasure/knowledge combo, though she was almost popularity/knowledge. I decided to re-roll her primary aspiration because I didn’t want it to match Diana’s, and based on personality points, it made far more sense for Diana to be a popularity sim.

Said personality points for Halley are 5/2/10/10/8. Like Diana’s outgoing points, I have no idea where all the playful points came from. Again, neither Comet or Marielle have that many. It does suit her pleasure aspiration, but not so much knowledge. I’d have probably chosen family for her secondary instead.

Genetics-wise, Halley appears to take strongly after Marielle, but after checking the difference between her face, and that template in CAS, I discovered she actually has Comet’s forehead, cheeks, and chin (plus eye colour.)

Piper’s not part of the main family, but I’ll list her stats anyways, because they’re definitely not hinted at as much as the twins’ stats in the story. The naming scheme for the Phoenix kids are birds (super creative, I know), and Piper’s name comes from sandpiper birds.

She’s a fortune/romance combo, and her personality points are 7/10/10/5/3.

I checked Piper’s face against both her parents in CAS, like I did with the twins, and she’s a pretty even mix of both. Her eye shape, colour, chin, and cheeks appear to come from Jimmy, and I think everything else is from Deirdre (except skin tone, which I believe is slightly lighter than Deirdre’s.)