Chapter 3.16: Still Growing Up

Vera meets up with her cousin Jess after work. It's been a very rough day after the passing of Claude and Amira all in one night followed by her own birthday, a reminder that the end is coming for her too.

"At least they didn't get eaten by a giant lake monster or an abominable snowman," Jess says as he tries to lighten the mood. "They lived good, long lives, Vera. What more could you want?"

Vera shakes her head and answers, "I don't know. It just seems so sudden."
"It will always seem to sudden," Jess agrees.

He squeezes her shoulders and tries to transmit his feelings with his touch. A single tear escapes the corner of her left eye and she draws in a shaky breath.

"Just take it one hour at a time," Jess says. "Eventually, things get a little easier."

Vera nods, "I know. I'm sorry to bring all this up like this."

Jess idly picks at his nail and shrugs. News of their uncle Marques's passing reaches them as they sit in the cafe. Jess buys two hot chocolates and they sit in silence staring out opposite windows.

Lindsay is off to high school on Monday but she insists on doing her homework even though she won't be able to turn it in. She doesn't want to jeopardize her grades or her standing on the honor roll.

Some solo frivolity before the impending hormones crash down on her. 

"This is such a huge thing. I didn't want all these people around," Lindsay complains to Michele.
"Sorry, kiddo. At least you're getting a birthday party. I don't think anyone even remembered my birthdays."

Lindsay would give anything to just hide under a rock or something until everyone left. Her stomach collapses in on itself and she feels her nerves bouncing around in her belly like jumping beans.

 "Just cut your cake and maybe people will start leaving? People usually only stay around for the cake." Michele says.

It's worth a shot, Lindsay thinks. 

I wish everyone but my immediate family and Drew would leave after I blow out these candles.

Lindsay blows out her candles and waits for the change to take effect. It seems unfair to her that she has to go through this in front of all these people she barely knows. Despite the fact that she has spent a ton of her free time with Drew, she doesn't actually know his brothers or his fathers very well. Ladonna Gates, also a distant cousin, has come to Lindsay's party as well, despite not actually being invited.

"How are we related?" Lindsay asks.

"Great-Granddad Claude I think," Ladonna replies.

She then shrugs and eyes the cake behind Lindsay's head. 

And then, BAM!, Lindsay's a teenager complete with the infamous mood swings that accompany this stage of life. She grabs a slice of cake and makes her way out of the crowd. Too many unfamiliar faces are getting on her nerves. 

"You guys can leave any time now," Lindsay whispers under her breath.
"I heard that," Drew shoots back.
"You can stay. You're like the only person I don't mind having here," Lindsay admits.
"That's cause I'm your best friend, doofus," he says.

Lindsay can't quite figure out why she's so cranky and aggressive.

"You look miserable," Michele says. "Have another slice of cake. Maybe that'll help?"
"Thanks for stating the obvious," Lindsay snaps back.

Michele raises her hands in mock surrender and goes back to her cake.

Lindsay disappears to fix her hair and change out of the stuffy sweater dress. It's the middle of summer and that thing was way too darn warm.

"Feeling better?" Drew asks.

Lindsay just frowns deeper and stares a the wall while trying to block out all the chatter going on around her.

"I can't believe how quickly my kids are growing up," Vera says. "When are you going to give them some cousins?"
Dahlia rolls her eyes and smirks, "I don't even know if I want kids. I'm perfectly happy being the awesome auntie, thank you very much."

Creeper!Tim is a total creeper.

Lindsay disappears and returns again with makeup on.

"Better now?" Drew asks.
"Are you eating a bottomless cake slice?"
"I'm savoring it, sue me!"

"Are these people witches?" Vance whispers to his father.
Barnaby cracks a grin and nods. "I don't know if you've noticed," he says, "but you're a fairy."
Vance laughs, "But I'm not a witch!"

Lindsay finds Brooke alone upstairs.

"Finally someone that's not going to try to dig into my psyche. Right, Brookie? You don't care what I'm thinking as long as I feed you."
Brooke babbles, giggles, then screams, "Milk!"
"That's right, I'm the milk machine."

Vera next approaches Barnaby about the proliferation of their family line. They have to make sure the family lines continue.

"Congratulations on your new baby girl," Vera exclaims.
Barnaby grins wide, "Thank you! Honestly, I think Mauricio and I are finally done with that chapter of our lives. Four kids are a handful."
Vera nods, "Yeah, I think we're done at three."
"Not going to try for a boy?"
Vera sighs, "Gosh, I hate when people ask that question."
"I didn't mean to offend you or anything. . . ," Barnaby trails off.
"No, it's not you. It's just, you know. Grandma had five girls, my mom had three girls, I have three girls. I hear the boy question more than I care to."
"Ah," Barnaby replies knowingly.

Tim just wants to take out his aggression on these dolls. He crushes them in his fists and lets out a low growl from deep in his chest. He's not sure why but it feels right.

Jude tries to pretend that he hasn't just walked in on Tim manhandling some dolls. After several minutes Jude finally clears his throat.

"I think your dads are getting ready to head home, buddy. You should probably go find them?"
Tim's face brightens, "Good evening, uncle and small cousin. I will take my leave now."

Tim bows swiftly and then runs out of the room.

"That kid is a little weird," Jude says to Brooke.
Brookes grabs Jude's bottom lip and tugs. "Weird," she repeats.

Being a horseman is not all fun and games. After Lindsay's party he spends several hours cleaning out the horse stalls before he can finally shower and head to bed. His muscles are sore and the horses are anxious from not getting enough exercise.

Tomorrow is another day, he thinks. 

The next morning brings a fresh outlook on life. Lindsay stretches in bed and decides to try something new today. She approaches the bee keeper box and sets to work trying to collect some honey without getting stung a million times. Michael walks right past and takes solace in Amira's garden.

Not getting stung by bees seems like a success story to Lindsay.

Vera drags the family to the Summer Festival for some much needed family time. Jude is about to protest about the horses needing training but she shoots his a glare that shuts him up immediately.

"I guess we're going to the festival," he says.

"Can I read some of your spell journals when we get back home?" Lindsay asks. "I'd like to practice a little, see what kind of power I can build up."
"Of course," Vera replies. "I have a bunch of journals from when I was a teen and just starting to do magic."
"Who taught you?" Lindsay asks.

The second the question leaves her lips, she realizes she's poked a sensitive subject. Vera's eyes cloud for a moment before a small smile crosses her lips.

"Grandpa Claude mostly. I wish he could have taught you some things."
Lindsay does the only thing she can think of. She hugs Vera and says, "I wish so too."

Jude spends some much quality time with Brooke. It seems like with each passing day, he spends less time with his family. He's not sure how Vera has put up with his absences so well. Unfortunately, the horse competitions start in the evening and he's gone for several hours every day. Michele's out of the house. Lindsay reached her teenage years in the blink of an eye. Brooke isn't going to be a toddler forever. Jude decides to make a conscious effort to be around for more family events in the future.

Vera catches sight of a boy making his way towards them.

"Oh, looks like there's someone here to see you," Vera says eagerly. "He's kind of cute."
"Moooommm!" Lindsay whines. "Please don't be so embarrassing!"

Lindsay feels the nervous butterflies start to build before she even has a chance to turn and see who the mysterious sim is.

"My little sister told me it was your birthday yesterday and I wanted to congratulate you," the mystery boy says.

Lindsay turns to great him and shakes his hand.

"I'm  Arthur," he says. "Amelia's brother."

Lindsay has never met Arthur before but Amelia was one of her elementary school friends. She should probably spend more time at her friends' houses.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Lindsay," she says.

Her nerves are completely frazzled and her mouth clamps shut. She thinks he's blindingly stunning. This is a new feeling for her. A silence descends like a blanket over them. Arthur nervously shuffles from one foot to the other and Lindsay racks her brain for something to say. She hates making new friends. Let alone new, very attractive, friends.

"Are hotdogs sandwiches?" Vera asks to break the silence. "Discuss."

She disappears into the crowd far too proud of her teacher icebreaker.

Lindsay's face flushes, "Sorry about her."
Arthur laughs a little, "It's cool. Your mom's funny."
"My real mom is a jerk." Lindsay says before she can stop herself. "Sorry, I probably shouldn't have brought that up. Hi?"
Arthur shrugs a little, "Eh, we all have family issues."
Lindsay changes the subject, "What do you do for fun?"

Jude teaches Brooke how to talk. He talks the little girl's ear off about horses and gaits and racing.

Arthur excuses himself and Lindsay takes the time to practice some magic. There has to be some confidence boosting spell or something. Right?

Vera finds Leslie, Salvatore's wife, at the other end of the park. They talk about the show review Leslie recently wrote for the Herald. Josef and Rashida Castor watch them from the bench. Everywhere she turns she's bumping into relatives. Maybe her worry about the family line continuing is unfounded. Seems their family is doing just fine.

Arthur reappears after a trip to the restroom and Lindsay accidentally shoots him with a spell. Lucky for everyone involved, it's a good luck charm.

"I'm so sorry, Arthur," she squeals.
He blinks a few times and then just grins, "Whatever that was, I feel great. Want to go on a date tomorrow?"
Lindsay is taken aback and then nods her head quickly, "Yes! I'd like that very much."
"It's a date," he says as he waves goodbye.

Vera takes the girls to Michele and Rosanna's pool party only to discover that there is not pool. Brooke is not pleased and they quickly head home.

Lindsay doesn't care about anything. She's still riding high on having a planned date with Arthur.

Cameo ages to elder while no one is looking. She looks horrifying when she does it.

Not much in the way of changes though.

Jude, still at the festival, decides to enter a hot dog eating contest against 3 little girls.

"You're going down," Elise Hoover calls out as the bell rings to start the contest.

They stuff their faces. Surprisingly none of the girls get sick. Not surprisingly, Jude totally wins.

Michael contemplates his existence while Brooke mashes her hands in a bowl of gruel.

Some slight spam of the teenage room remodel for Lindsay. An art area.

Dresser and makeup station.

Other side of the art area.

The stuffed animals are up on the shelf now. Little kid days have passed.

Lindsay finally gets back to finishing this random painting she started ages ago.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I forgot ti give you Michele's stats when she moved out.

Michele Van Hofwegen
Adventurous
Can't Stand Art
Lucky
Socially Awkward
Adventurous

Lindsay Van Hofwegen
Artistic
Friendly
Shy
Socially Awkward

Michael is still kicking. Moira is also still alive. Jesse Jones-Goode is also still going. Those are all the ones left from Gen 2 in town.