Chapter Thirty-Seven: Aliens

The twins don't wish to have a birthday party. Instead, they decide to have a fun day without parent interference, just hanging out with some friends. Irish decides to visit a friend's house, while Isa invites over a friend of her own. Calloway Kizzik is super excited to play with Isa, silver-skinned kids don't tend to have many friends.
"Let's play hopscotch! Thanks so much for inviting me over Isa, you're such an awesome friend!" Calloway nearly screams, bouncing on the tip of his toes and clapping his hands. Isa merely laughs at her friend's enthusiasm.

"You can do it Isa!" Calloway yells out as Isa expertly hops her away along the hopscotch mat.
"I know, but can you?" Isa teases as she lands on the giant spaceship.

Calloway sulks as he fails at the human game. Isa made it look so easy!
"I guess us aliens can't rock at every game. I'll definitely have time to practice though, it's not like my birthday will be any time soon." He grumbles the last part quietly, but not quietly enough.

Isa just might be a little overdramatic at time, but her scream of indigniation is justified when she hears about Calloway's scary fate.
"YOU CAN'T AGE UNTIL YOUR MATE DOES? WHAT THE FUCK, YOU'RE STUCK AS A PERPETUAL CHILD FOR YEARS AND YEARS UNTIL SOME LITTLE BRAT IS BORN! YOU COULD HAVE THE MIND OF AN OLD MAN BY THEN! IT'S NOT FAIR CALLY!" Calloway has a odd look, between sadness and laughter. He's sad at his fate, yet super amused by his friend's rant.
"It could be a while Isa, they say at my home planet that it is hard for aliens like myself who must search for a human mate. My unaltered age, the one before I find my mate, is unmoving. I could be immortal if my mate is not ever removed from the womb from abortion or passed in childhood, as my mate is decided upon her conception." Calloway feels happy to be able to share something with his friend, though a part of him wonders why he's being so open with a friend that his species would consider unimportant. After all, without a human mate, he will only know Isadora Marlin for a blink of what his lifespan could - and probably will - be. Yet, her fiery ways are amusing, and the childish part of his psyche enjoys playing and goofing around with the fun-loving girl.

Suddenly Isa feels the familiar tingling sensation that signals that she's aging. She isn't sure whether she should be excited to age, just hearing about Cally's horrible fate, but the hormones decide for her.
"YIPPEE! I'M AGING!" Calloway just sighs, resigned to waiting for the 'one'.

Isadora jumps for joy, sparkles just make birthdays so awesome! She only wishes that Calloway could join her in aging. It's not like teenager really interact with kids all that much unless they're siblings or for a babysitting gig.

Isa doesn't feel much different, just a little wiser and taller. Nothing could change her personality, it's as fiery as her hair. As she focuses in on her surroundings, Isadora wonders why Calloway is starting to spin that little party favour. "Maybe alien tradition dictates that it happens after the birthday instead of during it?" She wonders to herself.

Isadora stares in shock as Calloway erupts in glitter. "I-I'm his mate?" She mutters in amazement, unsure how to process this news.

Isadora definitely gets into the spirit after the shock starts to wear off. Especially as it gives her a change to eye that hot silver body, her newly teen body not used to the hormones coursing through her body. Maybe she changed a little more with this birthday then she thought? "It's definitely not a bad thing, yum-my!" She thinks with a saucy smile. Cally just looks exhausted from the change, his muscles twitching ever so slightly. Isadora wonders if it hurt more for an alien to grow up. It didn't hurt her at all!

A hour later, Irish finds herself rushing home to have her own birthday. She smiles as Nathalie runs in to witness her birthday, feeling completely loved. She wonders why she's not feeling a whole shitload of pain right now, she's read that sim puberty is extremely hard on the body.
"I'm just lucky!" Irish thinks happily to herself.

Every child loves sparkles, and Irish is no exception! Nathalie just grins, loving the fact that she's been able to watch her grandchildren grow up.

Irish can't help but clap along with her excited grandmother, being a teenager feels so awesome! She's sexy and ready to reach for the stars! Or at least do well in school and find a hot boyfriend. Tyson sneaks into the room, a proud smile on his face. He's created such a beautiful daughter.

Isa snuck into the house, avoiding the party in the hallway. Who needs family when you've just found the soulmate? A snip here, a cut there, and she's created the perfect haircut. But she comes back to find a forlorn Calloway.
"What's wrong Cally? We've just found each other, this should be the happiest day of our lives!" She exclaims, worry shining in her eyes. Calloway smiles softly, knowing he has found the one for him.

"It's just my father. He's never understood why I have to have a human mate. I've tried to explain to him that it's not my choice, but it's like he doesn't get it. He think that humans are inferior, and I think he resents me for making the family move to Brooklyn Heights." Cally whispers, feeling burdened with emotions he never quite understood before. Isadora moves closer, skin against skin, hands in hands.
"I'm sorry Cally." That's all she can say, and luckily that's enough. They stand together for a while, finding comfort in each others presence. "You know, I didn't believe in soulmates until today." Isadora whispers as night starts to fall. Calloway has a rather strict curfew, and responsibility shouldn't disappear in the name of love. He has a lop-sided grin, slightly lovesick, as he runs off home.

Chapter Thirty-Six: Push the Boundries

"Ew, they're kissing!" Isadora squeals in disgust as she flips through the television channels. She'll deny until the end of time that she found the vows before the kiss swoon-worthy romantic.

She flips for a while longer, settling onto the nonsensical humor of the kid's channel. Dancing cows ahoy!

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?!" Isadora screams as a brown-haired creature dances on the screen.

Apparently Isa's never seen Sim 2 Werewolves before, he looks more like Bigfoot!

Irish is bored of doing homework, so she decides to join Isa.
"I'm surprised you're not watching the art channel!" Isa merely rolls her eyes.
"There is no art channel, you're such a doofus!" Irish raises her eyebrow before they both laugh, knowing that Irish isn't anywhere close in the range of doofus-land. She's only a few points short of being a genius with the school mandated IQ test, while Isa is woefully average.

After a few moments of giggles, Irish goes a little too far with the lighthearted teasing.
"You're so dumb Izzy, you couldn't be smart even if knowledge hit you in the face!"

Isadora goes from glassy-eyed to furious within moments, especially when she see the satisfied smirk on Irish's face.
"How dare you! Just because you got some little pathetic score on a freaking test doesn't mean you're better then me! I wish you were dead, life would be so much better without a pseudo-genius freak like you!" Isadora shoves Irish angrily, her little face red and purple as her rage grows. Irish is stunned, tears of her own running down her face. They were just bickering like they usually do, why did Isa say something so mean to her?
"I-I-" Irish has no clue what to say, what does one say to somebody who wants her dead? Isadora's face flushes with guilt, anger abating as she finally realizes what she just said. She runs off, leaving Irish to deal with this numb, tingling feeling swirling in her stomach.

Nathalie sighs sadly as she wakes up to the harsh words, she had hoped that it wouldn't come to something like this. She's glad in a way that Ned isn't around to see this, it would break his heart to see his granddaughters fighting so viciously. She knows that she can't interfere this time however, the girls need to figure out on their own the consequences of their actions.

After sulking for several hours, the girls retreat from their sides of the room. They meet in the kitchen, the tension thicker then the book Irish is reading. Isadora keeps bringing a mouthful of spaghetti to her mouth, then pushing it back onto the plate. They're silent as they stare each other with weary eyes.
"I'm sorry Irish! I didn't mean to wish you dead! I love you!" Isadora suddenly starts bawling, regret evident in her eyes. Irish struggles not to cry herself, unsure of what she should do here.
"Even if you didn't mean it, you said it. It really hurt my feelings Isa." Irish whispers softly, brown eyes watery and sad. Isa stirs around her spaghetti, her stomach too queasy to eat.
"Do you hate me now?" Isadora says, almost to herself. Irish pretends to read, but is really thinking. Could she hate her own sister?

"No, I don't Isa." Irish puts down her book and wipes off a tear running down her cheek. "I love you sis, but you can't just say things like that. It's mean, and you'll become a big mean bully if you keep it up."
"I'll stop, I swear! I love you Irish, I'm sorry!" The girls smile, reunited once more. Isa fights the urge to run over and hug Irish, things aren't all right yet. "I'm sorry that I keep on calling you a nerd, it's not nice. Just because you're smarter then me doesn't mean I should call you names." Irish nods softly.
"And I shouldn't flaunt it either, you're just as smart as me, but in different ways. I'm good at writing essays and stuff for school, but you write so beautifully. Your piece about the cat reminded me of Grampa, you're so good at writing about your feelings." Isadora grins, knowing that she really has been forgiven.
"Your essays are awesome too Irish, I bet you could be an awesome reporter or something! Mmm, this is good Irish, you should have some!" Isadora exclaims. Her appetite has returned, and Isa is now devouring the lukewarm spaghetti. Irish smiles back, almost laughing at her sister's antics. Reading is always more enjoyable with other sims, even if it makes it a little harder to concentrate on the words.

After finishing her meal, Isadora tries out the new easel. Her clumsy, yet eager, hands are anxious to put some colour onto the blank canvas. Maybe if she becomes good enough, she'll show her pretty colours all over town?
"A picture is worth a thousand words, but without words to describe it, the picture would mean nothing." Irish says as she walks by, her disdain for art inherited by her mother. Isadora laughs softly, just happy they're speaking again.

Happy that the girls' fight is over and tired of the same boring routine, Tyson and Roxanne decide to visit a local bar for a date. They find it to be completely devoid of other sims, out clubbing at more flashy bars.

Tyson doesn't let this deter from their spontanous night out.
"Let's make this a private show." Tyson whispers seductively in Roxanne's ear, causing her to giggle. They don't notice the blue man in the corner, watching every move.

They definitely keep to their word, making out and groping so intensely that they don't realize that hours have gone by and the bar is closing.

The couple are shocked when blue guy comes out, seemingly out of nowhere. He shoos them out, while covering a rather large bulge "down there" with his hands.
"Come back again some time, me and my little friend really enjoyed the show!" They both collectively shudder, vowing never to come back to this bar again. And Tyson's own little friend goes limp as he realizes that they were probably being watched by the hiding bartender the whole time.
"We should spend our free time with the girls anyway Ty," Roxanne murmurs at a sulking Tyson. "Maybe they will fight less if we keep them busy." Tyson nods sullenly, wishing that he could have gotten some action tonight without blue perverts watching.

Chapter Thirty-Five: Life is What You Make It

The twins are having fun on the swings, even if it always ends up into some sort of contest.
"I'm swinging faster!"
"No, I am!"
"I am, and I'm swinging better too!"
"How can you swing better?"
"'Cuz I can!"
"Nuh-uh!"
"Uh-huh!"

Isadora scrunches up her face as she jumps off the swing. "I'm getting bored of swinging." Irish shrugs and hops off her own swing. They race over to the see-saw, panting as Isa does a brief victory dance.

"You just had a head start, that's all!" Irish complaints loudly, and Isa sticks her tongue out at her.
"Mom says the crows will eat out your tongue if you stick it out. They're pretty beady characters, I wouldn't mess with them." Isa promtly puts her tongue in it's proper place and sulks a little. They go up and down a little bit, enjoying the feeling of being weightless. In the silence, Irish decides to be nice to her sister for a change, after all everybody knows that it's the ravens that are trouble.
"Your hair reminds me of rubies Isa!"

Isadora smiles somewhat warily, not used to compliments from the normally competitive sister."Thanks Irish. Your hair's awesome too, it sometimes looks like it's blue!" Irish smiles back, she loves it when people notice the dark blue tips in her hair, it reminds her of Dad. Even through the rivalry, the sister bond is strong.

They play quietly for a few minutes, odd for the normally nosy duo.
"I love unicorns!" Irish pipes up after the silence becomes unbearable.
"I love fairies myself, I've heard that a new kid is coming to school soon who's a Fae!" Isa would be jumping up and down in excitement if she wasn't on a see-saw.
"No way! That's so cool! Do you think she owns a unicorn?"
"The Fae's a he, and I don't know. He'll be starting school on Monday! I can't wait to meet him!"

 "I didn't know there were male fairies!" Irish exclaims, surprised.
"That's because you have no imagination! No fae is going to let a little nerd like you!" Irish doesn't know why Isadora is being so mean, but now it's war!
"I do too! And besides, you'll probably bore him to death with your paint talk!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not! You're the boringest person in the world!"
"Nuh-uh, you are!"
"Uh-huh!"
"Nuh-uh!"
This goes on for a quite a while, the words growing more and more vicious.

After ten minutes, the pair are still fighting loud and dirty. The twins are about to jump off and brawl when they hear Gramma sobbing.
"My grandbabies hate each other! Ned would be so disappointed in me!" Nathalie wails into the cold night. The girls look at each other, chilled by their Gramma's crying.
"I'm sorry Irish, you're a very good writer and I shouldn't have called you unimaginative. And all those other names too!" Irish nods, tears running down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry Isa, I love you and all your paintings! Let's never fight again!"
"Never ever ever!" They both exclaim, jumping off the see-saw and giving each other a ginormous hug. Nathalie suddenly stops crying and obverses the stars with a small smirk on her face.

After the girls are asleep, Nathalie decides to have some fun with her board breaker. She's pleased her ploy to stop the fighting worked, Ned would be proud of her.
"Hi-YEAH! I'm going to get you, suckers!" Nathalie screams, forgetting all about the sleeping girls. Luckily the girls are so tired from their fight that they are dead to the world.

"I see the enemy Captain! All missions ahoy! Let's blow them up!" Nathalie cries out, now pretending she's part of a pirate ship.

With a resounding bam, the mission has been completed, and Nathalie is now the best blue belt the pirate ship has ever seen!
"Maybe next time I'll be the captain?"

After her tiring role-playing/marital arts training, Nathalie relaxes with a nice bowl of fresh Autumn Salad. Roxanne isn't a Ned in the kitchen, but it's much better then the canned stuff she used to eat.

As the girls sleep soundly, Tyson wakes up early and decides to fix up their computer. How the girls managed to obliterate the computer in a matter of days of receiving it he'll never know, but his handy skill should come in handy right now.

After a quick shower, Nathalie is back to her marital arts. She feels so alive when beating up a wooden dummy!

"Are you feeling better Gramma?" Irish asks softly as she walks into the kitchen.
"I've never felt more alive Irish!" Nathalie yells out excitedly. "Just because you're old doesn't mean you're dead! Live in the moment, that's what my mom used to say!" Irish flinches and runs into the kitchen, Nathalie clueless as to the emotional tidal wave she's just inflected on her grandchild.

"Am I a freak Isa? It seems like even Gramma's over Grampa's death, but I just feel so sad...so lifeless. I just don't know where he went off to. What if he's suffering? Oh Isa, I miss him so much!" Irish starts to cry, big fat droplets falling down her face.
"You're not a freak Irish! I think Grampa's in a better place right now, I imagine that he's playing with the angels! And I betcha he can fish all he wants, with a garden that never has annoying weeds!" Irish shakes her head at this, she appreciates the sentiment, but it doesn't sound like real life...or real death.
"I dunno Isa, it just sounds like another one of your stories. I want the facts, not a pretty little tale."

Isa only smiles sadly, knowing her sister is limiting herself by only looking at what she knows.
"It's what I choose to believe. If you want some of your precious facts, maybe you should become a scientist, but life isn't always about facts. Some things just aren't factual, you just need to believe in it and it's true. There's no form of technology that can tell us if we're even real, we just have to believe we are. Anyway, we're going to be late for school, you coming?" Irish nods, deep in thought as she rushes off to the school bus.

Chapter Thirty-Four: Do the People We Love Ever Truly Leave Us?

Tyson looks nervously at Nathalie. She's been too quiet for his liking, and he's starting to freak out.
"So, Mom, you know we need to make funeral arraignments soon. There's a website you might be interested in..." Tyson couldn't finish his sentence, the sadness radiating throughout the room.
"I don't want a funeral Ty-Ty, I just want to spread his ashes in the garden. I'm sure he would have loved to know that his remains would burn and rest in the soil." Tyson nods and stares down at his leftovers.

Nathalie forces herself to smile softly at Isadora and Irish, the children need reassurance right now, not frightened out of their minds.
"Grandpa Ned passed away last night girls. He went very peacefully, and his grave is in the backyard." Nathalie whispers, voice hoarse from wailing.

"We're not stupid Gramma, we saw his ghost freaking float above the house!" Irish screams, a hopeless fury coursing through her body. Nathalie starts wailing again and runs out of the room, and Tyson starts to scream at Irish. It's a mess of emotions that Isadora just wants to run away and hide from, but her body just won't listen. It's like she's frozen or something.

Forced out of the house for the time being to cool down, Irish lets out her anguish on her sand-starfish.
"WHY DID YOU HAVE TO LEAVE US! I BARELY GOT TO KNOW YOU, YOU FUCKING SELFISH BASTARD!" Irish bellows, tears running down her face as the emotions run their course.

Isadora is just as upset as Irish is, only the rage is more inward towards herself. The only way she knows how to vent her emotions is to write it out, though the quality of the work is questionable at the moment.

"Me-ow, Me-ow," a baby cat is crying for her mama because the mother cat left the baby kitten and she's really, really sad. In Simlish, she's saying Mama, Mama. Tears are dropping when she hears that her mama is dead. "Me-ow, Me-ow."

Rage turns to tears, as Irish visits Ned's grave. "I can't believe you're gone!" Irish cries into the quiet night.

Irish scrunches her nose at her homework, it seems so inconsequential compared to the life she saw float away from Earth last night. But she knows that school is important if she wants a future, and it's not like the work is that hard. So she fights down the emotions eating at her stomach and pretends to care about fractions.

But the grief gets to her half way through, and tears stream down her face as she throws the notebook across the room.

Isadora and Nathalie come in the room, arguing about the dirty dishes for some reason or another. Irish can't take it anymore and runs off to her room. She's not sure how she can deal with this grief and still live, even though she knows that it's possible. "I'm probably a freak that can't get over shit like this." Irish mutters, using a few of the many curses she learned from television. Yes, Irish has probably strayed from the kid's channel a few too many times, but she wouldn't really be swearing like this if it wasn't for all this chaotic stuff going on right now.

Roxanne's own grief is dying down, and she reminisces about the man Ned used to be as she waters the plants. "It's harder for the girls because they only really knew Ned as a sick, needy man." Roxanne muses to herself quietly, wondering what she can do to ease her girls' pain.

But Superdad is on the case, about the save the day. Well, that thought lasts until he sees the anguish in his little girl's eyes, and he wants to curl up in a ball and cry the rest of the day away. But he fights those feelings, running away won't solve anything.
"Sweetheart, what's wrong? I know Ned's gone, but he wouldn't want you to be this upset." Irish tries to suppress her rage, but fails miserably.
"WHAT'S WRONG? HE'S DEAD! HE'S NOT GONE, PASSED AWAY, WHATEVER THE HELL THAT MEANS! HE'S A FUCKING PILE OF ASHES! DEATH IS MOCKING US WITH HIS SHITTY BLACK CLOAK AND STUPID LITTLE SWORD! I HATE HIM, I HATE YOU!" Great, Irish is back to being angry again, way to mess with the grief cycle! Tyson takes in a deep breath, knowing that this isn't normal behaviour for his usually sweet little girl. Hopefully if he just talks it through with her, she'll calm down enough to know that he's just trying to help.
"I'm sorry Irish, I just want to talk about it. It's not healthy to be this upset, I've been there before and being constantly in rage is a horrible way to be. It's like if a person sings all the time, eventually their voice will give out and they will lose what made their voice special. Do you know what I mean?" Tyson's literally shaking, what if he says something wrong and Irish loses herself to her anger just like he did as a teen. Only Roxanne helped him get out, if not for her, he may never have become a cop and have the wonderful family he has.

Irish softens, her heart breaking with Tyson's obvious pain and anguish.
"I'm sorry, I just miss him Dad." Irish mutters quietly. "Is there anyway for him to come back?" Tyson nods slowly, but with a sad look on his face.
"Ned will probably come back at some point as a ghost, and science has made it possible to make the dead somewhat living. They are a ghost, but can interact with others. But it's a horrible process that causes a lot of pain to the ghost and personality wise it often leaves the ghost bitter. That's why ghost-hunters often have to banish really angry ghosts, they can't cope dying and living again." He pauses, hoping she gets the seriousness of this conversation. "Besides, Ned made peace with his death, he even shook Death's hand. I know he is happy, where-ever he may rest." Irish nods, but an unsettling fire lights up in her eyes. Tyson sighs, at least she's stopping yelling at him. That's a start.

Irish dreams of saving people from the horrific world of death, while Isadora dreams of swimming happily with a bunch of gold jellyfish. Nathalie peeks quickly at the doorway, finding it eerie how different and yet so similar her grandchildren are.
"Isadora's more happy, but with frequent bursts of emotions. Especially anger, the little rascal. Irish tends to stuff it all in until it explodes on her." Nathalie says quietly to herself, wondering if those traits will hinder them from getting far in this unforgiving world. But she will love the both of them, despite any flaws or hateful words they may fling at her. She understands that they just miss their grandfather, just as much as she does despite the lack of years. After all time is nothing compared to true love.