Chapter Eighteen: Sparks

Nathalie finally sees Ned, the first time in a long time. She didn't even know he was turning elder soon, and she wonders what happened to their relationship.
"Hey, Ned!" Nathalie exclaims, trying to look cheerful despite the odd tension in the room. Ned stands awkwardly, a sad look on his face.
"Hey." Nathalie looks down at the floor, it's like there's a spark missing in his eyes, like there's something lost about him. And she doesn't believe it's because of his recent aging either, it's been like this for a while.

Nathalie stares at Ned, looking at his sad eyes and she realizes that he somehow knows. He may not know the whole picture, but he somehow found out that Thorne isn't his.
"Ned, I need to tell you something. It's kind of hard to believe, but I swear on Tyson and Thorne's life that I am not lying to you. And you know my babies are precious to me, just as much as I know that you're my soul-mate, despite the growing distance between us." Ned smiles sadly, unsure if he believes that Nathalie is his soul-mate anymore. "Thorne isn't your child Ned, he's the son of my deceased friend Hunter. But I swear, I didn't cheat on you." Nathalie is surprised that Ned doesn't yell out in fury, if only at the fact that she was saying that she didn't cheat on him despite having an illegitimate child. He just keeps having this soft, sad smile that freaks Nathalie out. What does one do with that? She could deal with yelling, crying, but this...this is just plain scary.

"Listen, Ned, my friend Hunter was a very sick man. He attempted suicide many, many times, and he suffered with numerous mental conditions. Yet, he was my friend, and I will always love him as a friend. But he betrayed me and yet gave me the gift of my second son. He did this in the worst way possible, by impregnating me without my knowledge."
"How the fuck does that happen?" Ned growls, anger cracking through his facade. "How does somebody unwittingly impregnate you?" Nathalie shakes her head slowly.
"I know you won't want to believe me, but it's true. Most people don't believe in magic, but I do, as I have seen the proof of its existence firsthand. My mother was a practicing sorceress, though her magic was very weak compared to the likes of Hunter Cottoneye. There are a few sorcerers and sorceresses in Riverview, possibly more then any other place in the world, hiding from the rest of the world's prejudice against magic." Ned nods softly, a knowing look in his eyes.
"My father's best friend was a sorcerer, we moved here to support him. But impregnation..." Nathalie nods, tears in her eyes.
"I didn't know either, but Hunter's magic was extraordinarily, perhaps abnormally strong. I believe his insanity increased the chaotic magics within him, causing it to twist into something evil. I know my friend, he wouldn't have impregnated me if he was in his right mind. I'm sorry I kept this from you, but I was so scared. I didn't want to lose you, and yet I already have..."
Ned looks down sadly, knowing it's the truth. He has lost himself, lost their relationship, and he's now losing everything that means anything to him.
"Tyson found out somehow, and accidentally told me that you cheated with me. I just, just didn't want to believe it, but it made so much sense. He doesn't really look like either of us you know, except the hair."

"Can we move past this Nathalie? Can we be a couple again?" Ned looks at Nathalie with the most serious look he can muster.
"We can try Ned, that's all we can do at this point." Nathalie whispers with achingly sad blue eyes.

"What about we try right now?" Ned says with a sly, if a bit sad, smirk on his face. It takes a moment for Nathalie to catch on, but when she does she's all for it.
"Catch me if you can, my precious fisherboy. Show me how strong you really are." She flirts, letting herself feel truly happy for the first time in a long while.

While the couple are Woohooing, Rosaline decides to try out cooking some muffins. She reasons that real people eat food and it looks like fun. She especially enjoys stirring the gooey mixture and see all the ingredients mingle and combine into one liquified mass of muffin batter.

"Yummy!" Rosaline exclaims as she takes out her delicious smelling muffins.

"It tastes yummy too!" Rosaline devours the vanilla muffin, the subtle flavours melting in her mouth. She loves being a real sim!

When the boys come home from school, Tyson feels the agnozing pain of growing up.
"Ya-hoo! I'm - OW - becoming a -OWWWWWW - teenager!"

Rosaline wonders if growing into a teenager is more painful then turning from doll to human. Either way, she's grateful she's not Tyson right now.

Despite the pain, Tyson will never forget the awesome feeling of floating above the tingling sparkles.

Tyson decides to up his rebelling with his new change, and being goth is the best way to piss the parental units off. Too bad they're too busy "rekindling" to see his new look.

Despite being goth and overall much more scary looking then before, Tyson can't lose his winning smile, especially when enjoying his favourite foods. Plus, he's a genius now, so logic is a must with rebelling.