Nonikk's take on Riverblossom Hills

Introduction

2012-05-27T14:35:00.000+02:00

Riverblossom Hills is a pre-made neighbourhood in the game Sims 2.
Pre-made means that it is already inhabited, but then of course you are free to change just about everything: their appearances, their homes and last but not least - their fates.
This started as a makeover project over at Simscrossing.net and went from that to a story, which soon started to live its own life. As I wanted to tell the story also without (the very nice and appreciated) comments in between, I decided to start a blog of my own, and dedicate it entirely to this story. It took me a year and a half to finish it, and I hope you'll have patience enough for all 50 chapters.

Chapter 50 - The End

2011-05-02T21:10:00.009+02:00

It is summer now and school is over for Xander, but even so he still goes to Bluewater everyday as he is still together with Irene. The first days of the summer holidays, they spend on the beach.

But then weather changes and gets a bit unpredictable.

Instead they start visiting the gym every other day. Xander likes to work out, but he would prefer to go for a jog instead. He is getting very tired of always being in the city.

And even if he likes ice cream, he is tired of hanging out in cafes - he is longing to spend more time outdoors again. In fact he is getting a little tired of the relationship to Irene too, even if he doesn’t really want to admit it. He still finds her very attractive, but even if she is a very smart person they don’t have that much in common so their conversations tend to stay on the surface.To him it seems that they have started to repeat things they’ve said a lot of times before. They are moving in circles, not going anywhere.

As for shopping – sigh! – he is very, very tired of that.

So one day he tells Irene that he has things that he needs to do at home and stays in Riverblossom Hills. He intends to go fishing, but drops by the country store first to get a new fishing line. There he bumps into Daisy. What a coincidence, but a happy one. They haven’t seen each other in months and he is surprised how glad he is to see her. She seems equally glad to see him. There is no trace of the bad atmosphere that was between them last time they met, but at the same time it seems like no time at all has passed. They pick up where they left things – before it all went bad that is. At the same time they both have changed a lot. Has Daisy always been this pretty? He can’t remember being this aware of her body before either. He has to force himself to keep looking her into the eyes, even though he does not find their conversation one bit boring - quite the opposite: he is savouring it. He has forgotten how funny Daisy is and how easy he finds it to talk to her, how much there is to talk about. In fact he could have gone on talking to her for the rest of the day, but Daisy is expected at home with things her mother has sent her to buy and Xander – well he was supposed to go fishing, wasn’t he.

But somehow he has lost interest for fishing right now, so instead he goes home again and spends the rest of his day in his room in deep thoughts. Something has happened to him, something has changed. He can’t stop thinking of Daisy. But he has never thought about her this way before.

The moment he wakes up the following morning, Daisy is on his mind again, and he has a feeling that he has been dreaming about her as well. He decides to go and see her and takes his bike to the Greenman farm as soon as he has had breakfast. The Greenmans always get up early, they will be outside working already. It is a pleasure to ride a bike again, use his legs instead of the car. If he is honest he is also reluctant about taking the sports car when he goes to see Daisy. A fancy car is totally unimportant to her – instead she might find it a bit ridiculous.
Sure enough he finds Daisy and her sisters working in the kitchen garden, and when he sees Daisy his heart takes a leap and then starts beating much faster. No doubt about it: he sees her with different eyes now. As much as he wants to be her friend again, that isn’t enough anymore. But how does she feel? He has no idea. She behaves quite natural and treats him as she has always treated him.

But never the less, he can’t go on seeing Irene. His feelings have changed completely. It is break up time again. It doesn’t get easier with time, but at least he has learned a lot since the first time he had to do it. When Irene asks him if he has met anyone else, he is honest to her and tells her that he has fallen in love with a childhood friend, “But she doesn’t know about it yet.”
“So you break up with me for the sake of that peasant girl with the pointed ears! And you don’t even know if she feels something for you?! You’re insulting me!!” Irene exclaims.
Even if he still feels bad about hurting Irene’s feelings, he feels a little less guilty about it when she talks that way about Daisy. Peasant girl with pointed ears! That’s an insult for sure. He gets quite angry with Irene, but he manages not to show that. She is upset, he mustn’t take everything she says that seriously. But he feels relieved when they are done talking and Irene wants to say good bye.

So now he is back where he began, with old habits and old friends, it feels a little bit like closing a circle. But a lot has changed, and a lot still is uncertain: how do you go from friendship to something else? He sees Daisy almost every day again and spends a lot of time on the farm, but he still has no clue if her feelings have changed too. If they haven’t, he still wants to be friends with her, and he is very afraid that he will destroy their friendship if he tells her. So he says nothing, and everything stays the way it has been.

It is nice to spend so much time at the farm again, he feels just as welcome as he did before. Daisy’s family treats him as one of them and he often stays for dinner. And slowly the relation between him and Daisy really starts to change. He catches her looking at him when she thinks that he is not aware of her looking – and there is something in her eyes that makes him tingle inside. There is a new tension between them, a sense of anticipation in the air. One evening he decides to put everything on one card, it may make or break, and tells Daisy that there is something he wants to talk to her about.
“Let’s go outside, it is kind of private?”

Once outside he starts to feel real nervous, but then he realizes that Daisy is standing very close to him, much closer than she usually does, and when she asks him:
“What was it you wanted to say?” her voice trembles a little, and that makes him sure this is the right thing to do, so he reaches out and touches her face.

As soon as they touch, they seem to get connected and suddenly there is no need to say anything at all. There is no doubt about them feeling the same way about each other.

As much as Cleo loves Christian, she has been reluctant to tie the knot. There is a time for everything and Cleo’s career has come first this far. Christian longs to start a family and has repeatedly proposed to her, but marriage has not been on her schedule - until now. Finally she has told him yes.
“I don’t want a white wedding and neither does Christian, so we’re getting married at Jacob’s barn instead. We’ll have a big party though and invite everyone we know. You are all very welcome this Saturday!” Cleo tells her aunt Catherine. It is short notice, but Catherine of course tells Cleo that they most certainly will be there.
“Nothing could make me miss your wedding!”

Not long after the wedding, Cleo and Christian are delighted to reveal to their friends, that they soon are going to be parents too.

Soon afterwards Catherine has the pleasure of attending yet another wedding, this time in the chapel, when Jacob and Marianne become husband and wife.

As Leod has no children or any other close relatives, he has decided to make Jacob his heir and leave the farm to him. In fact he has decided to move in with Lillian in her cottage and let Jacob the farm to Jacob already now, as Jacob now has a wife that wants to work together with him. Leod is happy that someone will continue to work the land and cherish what he himself has built, and that the farm soon will house a family again.

At the O’Mackey’s Keith comes to visit and Jules is happy and proud to introduce him to her parents as her boyfriend. She is even happier as he gets along with them so well from the start.

That makes it a lot easier when Keith is lucky enough to get the first job he applies for at an architectural office in Bluewater, because everything happens so fast that he hasn’t had a chance to get an apartment, so he has to move in with her at her parent’s. Jules also gets a position as an intern at the hospital in Bluewater soon after her graduation, but she works nights and Keith works days, so sadly enough they don’t get to see much of each other. They are hoping that Jules can change her work hours soon, because this makes it a lot harder to plan for their mutual future, but they are planning to move in together as soon as they can find an apartment of their own.

When Jules starts working at the hospital she gets to see Brenda again as she has also got a position as an intern there. They lost touch for a while after graduation and now Brenda has shocking news: she is not going to marry Ralph after all. She has broken her engagement to him, and instead she has moved in with Andy!! Of all people!! Oddly enough they seem to be very happy together.

Morty is both surprised and disappointed that Xander has broken up with Irene for Daisy’s sake. No offence to the Greenman girl, she seems to be nice enough, but he can’t understand why Xander prefers her instead of the sophisticated daughter of his friend, the successful businessman. Wealth and social position are both things that are very important to Morty. But he is nice to Daisy anyway, and that is what matters to Xander. In fact Morty has other things on his mind right now. His daughter Sandra has started to work with him, something that makes him both proud and delighted.

And Xander’s stepmother Michelle is heavily pregnant and about to give birth any day now. Xander is relieved that his father will be otherwise occupied for a while and hopefully won’t pay much attention to him ...

... because he most certainly won’t be very happy when Xander tells him that he will not go to college this fall. Xander has decided that a life with Daisy is what he wants, and as Daisy is committed to farming, that will be his life too. He doesn’t know the first thing about farming, but Daisy does ...

... so he plans to buy the uninhabited Limestone Cottage, that lies next to the Greenman farm, for part of the money he inherited from Betty and start to work the land together with Daisy.

But that is another story.

Chapter 49

2011-04-30T12:46:00.002+02:00

The growing friendship between Keith and Diana is watched very anxiously by Sandra. She hates to admit it, but she would rather see them not being friends. She is jealous; it is as simple as that. When she learns that Diana is going to accompany Keith to the graduation dinner at his faculty it feels awful. She has great difficulties to hide her feelings as Diana is getting ready for the evening. She looks beautiful! Surely after this evening they will be a couple.

“Have a nice evening!” she tells them, but that does not sound at all sincere. Her voice cracks at the end of the sentence and she sounds like she is going to cry. It feels like she is going to cry too, and she can feel them stare after her when she goes inside the dorm.

She can’t take this any longer, she has to know, so she waits up till Diana gets home again. Diana does not seem at all surprised to see her though. She sits down beside Sandra and asks her:
“What’s the matter, why are you still up?”

“I am waiting for you, “Sandra confesses. “I can’t stand this any longer, I have to know: Are you in love with Keith?”

“Of course not!” Diana says. “Keith is a very good friend – but I am in love with you, don’t you know that?”

No, Sandra didn’t know. In fact she didn’t know for sure that she herself was in love with Diana either, not until this very moment. Another thing also becomes apparent to her: she has never been in love before.

Diana and Sandra getting together as a couple, makes a lot of people very surprised. No one saw this coming, everyone was expecting Diana and Keith to hook up. But Keith doesn’t seem at all surprised. And not at all sorry. Quite the opposite – he seems to be delighted. Jules gets very curious and has to ask him how he feels about this.
“I thought you two had something going.”

“This is the first time you ever speak to me, are you aware of that,” Keith answers and looks both pleased and amused.
“Well, uh ... I’m ... uh ...” Jules stutters and feels like an idiot.
“Oh, don’t take me wrong – I am happy that you finally do,” Keith says. “I have been trying to get to know you this whole year, but you kept avoiding me.”
When she thinks back, Jules can see that she really has. And every time Keith has spoken to her, she has been afraid that her feelings for him would show. Now she really feels like an idiot.
“So, now when you’re talking to me I must grasp the chance and ask you out on a date. What do you say? Do you want to go out with me?”
“But what about Diana?” Jules blurts out before she can stop herself, still somehow stuck in the idea of Keith being in love with Diana. What a stupid thing to say, she could slap herself.
“Diana is a very dear friend”, Keith answers, “and now I am very happy for her. I didn’t think Sandra would ever let someone into her heart – she seemed to have her feelings so shut off. I am very glad I was wrong. But what is your answer – do you want to go out with me? Tonight?”

Of course Jules wants to go! She can’t believe this is actually happening and is afraid that she will make Keith disappointed, but he is very easy to be with. It doesn’t take long before she stops being afraid of not being cool enough for him. They have fun together. Laugh at the same things.

And he wants to know all about her – what she thinks and what she feels. He wants to get close to her.

He wants to get really close to her.

Less than a week later they have all had their final exams but before they part there is still time for a last big party.

Sandra brings Diana with her to Bluewater, so she can meet her mother. They stay in Alex’ old apartment (that he has still not sold) for a couple of days, and the house is filled with youthful joy and laughter.

But soon Sandra and Diana leave again. They are going to travel for a couple of weeks before Sandra starts working with her father.

When they are gone, everything suddenly feels very quiet and empty. Even more so, as Ingmar often goes to visit Alex, Patricia and the children. But one day Stella bumps into Alex outside the grocery store. He has a little girl with him, and Stella immediately understands that this must be the daughter Patricia has with Morty. She can see both Patricia and Morty in her features.
“Hello”, she says. “My name is Stella, what’s your name.”
“My name is Faith!” the little girl answers and then she starts telling Stella all about her baby siblings. She seems very proud to be a big sister now. Stella finds Faith absolutely adorable. She has of course no idea who Stella is and she talks about Alex as her father. Alex looks a little nervous at first, but as Stella seems so pleased with the meeting and is so nice to Faith, he starts to relax – and they take a warm farewell.

When Stella gets home she feels the need to revaluate her feelings. Perhaps she would be happier if she could find it in her heart to forgive Patricia? Little Faith is innocent of course. Alex and his family are very important to Ingmar and it feels very sad that she can’t share this part of her husband’s life. She decides to call Patricia and tell her that she wants to talk and hope that Patricia feels the same.

Patricia gets very nervous when she hears Stella’s voice, but relieved at the same time. She still feels very guilty about the affair with Morty, and if Stella wants to talk, it would be wonderful if she could get the chance to apologize and be forgiven and at last be able to feel peace at mind.

They agree to meet in the park the very same day. It feels very awkward at first.

The atmosphere is a bit stiff, to say the least, but after a while they both start to open up and express their feelings, and as they have experienced this whole thing from different sides they certainly don’t agree on everything – it gets a little heated now and then.

They stay in the park until they both feel that have come to the bottom and reached an understanding. It is getting dark when they leave. It would be an overstatement to say that they now are friends, but there is no animosity anymore. No misunderstandings. No hurt feelings. They have both spilled their guts and are exhausted as they come home to their anxiously waiting husbands.

When the twins celebrate their first birthday, Stella is also there and a part of the family.

Chapter 48

2011-04-26T19:16:00.003+02:00

The thing with love potion is that the effect wears off after a while. Michelle has to take a new dose with increasingly shorter intervals, and she has almost no potion left now even if she has tried her best to ration it. As Jacob didn’t like her very much to start with, he starts wondering about why he keeps seeing her. Each time he goes to meet her he is determined to break it off.

But Michelle is always there before him and makes sure that she takes a little sip of potion just before he arrives.

So as soon as they meet, Jacobs feels his reluctance melt away and be replaced by desire.

But one day, Jacob catches a glimpse of Michelle hiding a mysterious shimmering bottle in her purse and as he once again gets the impression that his free will seizes to exist the moment he gets near Michelle, he gets very suspicious. Passion delays him acting on it right away – but afterwards, when Michelle is in the shower, he takes a look in her purse and finds the bottle. Already at the mere sight of it, one can tell it has MAGIC spelled all over it, and as he unscrews the cork and sniffs the content, he feels his thoughts get hazy and lustful. No doubt – this is some kind of witchcraft!

This time, as all the times before, Michelle makes sure that he leaves before her – but this time he hides behind the corner, waiting for her to leave. He intends to follow her home and perhaps see something that can give him more information.

But it is impossible to follow her – and unnecessary – her departure leaves no doubt about the fact that she is a witch. What a horror! What shall he do? If it seemed impossible to break free earlier, it now also seems quite dangerous. You don’t want incur the wrath of a witch.

He needs to research the matter, and he remembers that he found some old books about witchcraft in the attic when he and his father first moved in with Catherine and Betty. He found them very amusing at that time, but now he realizes that these things are real. Hopefully he can find some useful advice in one of them.

The day after, Michelle is hosting a big business lunch in Bluewater together with her husband, and Jacobs therefore knows for sure that he will have the big house to himself. He finds the books in the attic, just where he remembered seeing them and sure enough he finds some very useful information. It appears that the herb Vervain is very useful against all kind of witchcraft that targets the heart and the mind. If one makes sure to always wear a twig close to the heart, it shields the wearer from getting influenced.

He is sure he has seen Vervain somewhere on the property, so he goes out and begins to search for it. The garden is neglected and overgrown with high grass and weeds, but it doesn’t take him long to find the plant. What a relief!! But it remains to be seen if it really works ...

The next day when he goes to see Michelle as agreed, he wears a stalk Vervain in the pocket of his jeans. Like so many times before, he is determined on his way there to end the affair with Michelle– but this time his thoughts don’t get clouded when he meets her. He is very careful though not to make her angry and carefully considers every word he says to her. He tells her that he has had a wonderful time with her, but the fact that she is married makes him worried. For both their sake it would be safest to end this before her husband starts to suspect anything.
Michelle has been aware of Jacobs' reluctance from the start, and it isn’t that flattering really that their time together hasn’t influenced him otherwise, even if it makes her feel very powerful that she can force him to do what she wants totally against his own free will. But she needs the love potion to do that and she is fully aware of the effect wearing off. Now she simply thinks that the potion has ceased to work altogether. Well, to be honest, she is getting a little tired of Jacob and it could be time for a change.Even find a man that would fall a little more for her. So she says. “Fine. Go! You were starting to get a little boring anyway”.

Jacobs is very relieved that she has let him off the hook so easily, but he hurries to grasp his new freedom - a freedom he took for granted before he was unlucky enough to encounter a witch. Now when his mind is no longer under a spell, he finds his thoughts immediately going to Marianne. He shouldn’t have let her think that he wasn’t interested. He was, but she tried so hard all the time – she never gave him any time to respond. So he tried to cool it down a bit, to give him a chance to make a move of his own. Well, after the experience with Michelle, it seems strange to him that he could ever have found Marianne too pushy. She is a sweet and very attractive girl but perhaps a little too eager. He hasn’t seen her for quite a while now and he wonders if she could still be interested, but he phones her the same day and asks her if she would like to go the pub with him. She sounds very surprised to hear from him at all and the question about going out together makes her totally stunned at first, but she says yes in the end. When they meet he makes sure to show her just how much he cares and she can feel that he really means it. She has prayed and wished for him to feel the same way for her as she does for him, and just when she had given up hope it came true. Miracles do happen.

Miracle is a word that comes to Ingmar’s mind as well as his nephew Alex calls him and tells him that he has become a father! To twins!

He and Patricia now have a son and a daughter together; Julian and Judith.

“This is wonderful news!” Ingmar exclaims. “When can I come and visit?” As Alex is like a son to Ingmar, it now feels like he has become a grandfather.

The subject “Alex and Patricia” is something he never discusses with Stella, which has felt increasingly more painful to him ever since they announced that they were expecting a child together. Now when the twins are there and Ingmar is so happy about being a "grandfather", he feels very sad that he can’t share this with his wife.
Stella is of course fully aware of that – and it feels equally sad to her, but the fact that Patricia had an affair with Stella’s former husband Morty and that she has a daughter with him, is something that can’t easily be forgotten.

Still, when Ingmar visits Alex and Patricia, they are all aware of the fact that Stella chooses not to come with him.

Meanwhile Stefan has managed to show Nellie how hard he is prepared to work to make their marriage last, and she has noticed how much he in fact has changed. She can’t suppress her feelings for him any longer and longs to get close to him again. They feel that they need a little alone time together, so Nellie visits him in their apartment in Bluewater. She and the children are still living with her mother and even if Nellie wants to share a bed with her husband again, she is reluctant about moving back. She does not want to get back to the life they used to have, but one thing at a time. Marion’s feelings for Stefan have become a lot warmer. She has not failed to notice how hard he is trying to save his marriage and how deeply he cares for her daughter.
It feels a little strange to Nellie to see their old apartment again. It seems a long time ago that she moved away. So much has happened since. Stefan is clearly nervous and very anxious that she will approve of how things look. He must have made a real effort because everything is spotless. Nellie has no illusions about him keeping this up week after week with the children making a new mess every day, but now he has shown that he can if he tries. It is wonderful that he tries so hard – but it would be even more wonderful if he got up from that chair and kissed her.

When it comes to lovemaking, Stefan has no problem reading her mind and he sure gets up in a hurry. One thing is certain: The sweet loving feels even sweeter now after all this time apart.

The following morning at breakfast (after almost no sleep at all – but who cares), Stefan says to Nellie:
“Oh, I forgot! I intended to tell you yesterday, but – well ... there suddenly were other things on my mind ... Anyway – your old position at the school is free again. The music teacher submitted his resignation yesterday. He has gotten an offer from some posh school in the big city. I am sure you could have the position back!”
“That is great news!” says Nellie. “But will we get it to work? The children are of course old enough for kindergarten, but this apartment is far too small for us now. There is a lot to consider, I must talk it over with my mother.”

To Nellie’s surprise Marion immediately tells her that she thinks she has the solution.
“I told you that I would help you to get your career back, remember? You should submit your application the school as soon as possible, there is no time to lose! ” But she doesn’t want to tell exactly how she plans to solve everything. “I’ll talk to you both over dinner tonight, if that is ok with you.”
Nellie decides that she will rely on faith and believe that they will find a way to make things function if she gets back to her work in Bluewater, so she submits her application the very same day, and the reaction from the headmaster makes her believe that she has indeed a good chance of getting her old job back.
In the afternoon she goes back to Riverblossom Hills together with Stefan, and Marion tells them her plan.
“This house is far too big for one person, it is meant for a family. I don’t think it is a good idea that should wait for me to pass away before you inherit it when it is now that you need it. I want you and Stefan to have the house now, and I will move to the Widow’s Cottage on the other side of the road, just as my mother in law did when your father married me. And you don’t have to worry about childcare. It would be a joy for me to see to them while you are at work. But I won’t do any cleaning!” And at those words she throws a stern look in Stefan’s direction.

This a wonderful offer of course, and it indeed solves all their problems. Already the following week Stefan has moved in with Nellie and the children again and the apartment in Bluewater is emptied.

Nellie also gets the job she was hoping for, so now she and Stefan are working at the same school again – just like they did when they first met, so they can take the car together to work.

Marion finds the cottage very cosy and even if she lives just on the other side of the road, she does not interfere – very much – with their life. She just makes sure that Stefan knows that she will keep an eye on him and see to that he treats her daughter right. It makes Stefan feel supervised of course and it does bother him, but he also realizes that he might need that pressure if he doesn’t want to fall back into old habits. And anyway – you are supposed to find your mother in law somewhat annoying, aren’t you? He’ll survive. The main thing is that he still has his family. He came awfully close to losing them.
But just in case, they also pay for a professional cleaner to come by once a week. With two salaries now, they can afford it, and it feels like money well spent.

Chapter 47

2011-04-23T20:42:00.003+02:00

Nellie has been living with her mother for a couple of weeks now. She hasn’t heard a word from Stefan since she left and she is beginning to lose hope. As painful at is feels to her, it seems their marriage might be over. The more important it is that she can support herself and the children and she is lucky to find a job at the pub quite soon.

It is not what she is trained for and she often has to work late, but she can earn quite a bit extra on tips and that is good money. She finds her colleagues nice and friendly and soon feels at home. After all she grew up here and knows almost everyone – both guests and colleagues.

Nellie’s mother is happy to take care of the children while Nellie is at work. The relation between Marion and her daughter has become so much better these last couple of weeks.
“I didn’t appreciate motherhood as I should have”, she tells Nellie. “You know how I always told you that I had to give up my career when I got pregnant- you’ve felt the blame no doubt and I am so very sorry for that. I hope I can make it up to you by helping you have your career back. Looking after the children is no sacrifice at all. Quite the opposite, it is a blessing!”

Meanwhile Stefan is starting to lose hope as well. It doesn’t seem that Nellie will regret leaving him after all; he hasn’t heard a word from her since she left. Without Nellie and the kids the apartment feels very quiet and empty and Stefan still spends as much time away from home as possible. But clubbing is no fun anymore and the attention he gets from the women he meets, makes him feel uncomfortable instead of flattered. Clearly they think he is single, but he stills sees himself as a married man and there is a hole inside of him growing for each day.

His family is missing and without them he has no purpose. He starts to realize that he must take hold of himself and make Nellie want to come back.

So he starts cleaning up at home.

And then one evening Nellie finally calls, but she doesn’t want to come back. Instead she tells him that she planning to file for divorce and that they should start thinking about custody and visitation rights.
“The kids need their father. Don’t you miss them at all?”
Stefan realizes that he has done pretty much everything wrong and that he is about to lose what is most important to him.
“Please, please don’t file for divorce!” he begs Nellie. “Give me another chance, let’s meet and talk before you make any decisions.”

At last he understands that they need to talk! Nellie feels relief wash through her, making her knees feel weak. But she tries very hard not to show that to Stefan. He needs to sweat a little now, fight for her and for their marriage. She lets him beg for a while before she “reluctantly” agrees to meet him the next day.
“I am working the early shift, you can pick me up after I have finished.”

The next day Stefan comes to pick Nellie up after work and they drive to the diner instead, for a civilized talk over dinner. At first the atmosphere between them is awkward and none of them knows what to say or where to begin, but then Stefan decides to take a plunge.
“Why do you want to leave me? What went wrong?”
“For starters: We should have had this conversation a long time ago!” Nellie tells him. “I tried to talk to you so many times, but it seemed to me that you didn’t want to listen.”
“I’ll listen now, I promise!” Stefan says.

And in fact he keeps quiet and listens to everything Nellie has to tell him – and there is a lot, she has been building up for very long. Even if he still can’t comprehend a lot of what she is telling him, he keeps quiet and listens until Nellie can’t find anything more to say.
“Why don’t you say anything?” she asks him.
“To be honest, I’m scared that I will say the wrong thing”, Stefan admits. “There is a lot that still makes me very confused, but I will try to understand – I will! I promise! We’ll have to talk more, that’s all.”
“That is a start,” Nellie says. “Let’s go from there. Now come with me to my mom’s place and meet the children.”

Marion greets Stefan politely but he can see that she feels very distrustful towards him. However she keeps in the background and lets Nellie and Stefan spend time together with the children. Seeing the children again, being with his family makes Stefan wonder why he could ever let them leave. His stubborn waiting for Nellie to regret her actions seem rather childish to him now. What a stupid thing to do. They are his life, and he is determined to do what it takes to make Nellie want to be with him again. She stills has feelings for him, even if she tries very hard not to show too much. That gives him hope, but he will take it slow and give her time. When they part they both feel that something new has begun.

At Bramble College the end exam time is approaching, but as busy as everyone is with their studies there still is time for fun. So much has changed since they came here. Sandra and Jules are good friends now, joined in their interest for training.

Sandra has also become very good friends with Diana. They can talk for hours.

To Jules’ surprise, Sandra’s old boyfriend Andy starts to show interest in her. At first she is afraid that Sandra will mind, but when Jules asks her she shrugs and says that it is completely o.k. for her.

Jules is not sure what she feels about Andy. He is very handsome and sexy – and a bit overwhelming. She can’t keep up with him, he is so intense. So when he pushes forward and wants to take their relationship to the next level, Jules pulls the break and wants to wait. She is not ready for this. After all – she hasn’t had sex with anyone yet and she wants to be sure about her feelings first.

But Andy does not want to wait. He immediately loses interest in Jules and breaks up with her. “This is too immature to me, I want an adult relation,“ he tells her. The fact that Jules never really knew what she felt for him, doesn’t make that any less hurtful. It is clear what he was after, and she feels humiliated for not realizing that at once. She feels inexperienced and childish.

Andy finds someone else soon enough. Within days he starts dating a cheerleader and as that relationship seems to run smoothly, the new girl probably is more in Andy’s league. Jules shouldn’t care, she knows that, but it still hurts that he moves on so quickly.

“Forget about him!” Brenda tells Jules. “He is not worth any tears. You’ll meet someone else.”
But that is easy for her to say, Jules thinks. Brenda and Ralph have been going steady a long time now and will get married as soon as they have graduated.

Life at home in the dorm seems less and less attractive to Jules. There she tries to avoid Andy as much as possible and still worries about bumping into him and his new girlfriend unexpectedly. It doesn’t make anything better that Keith, that she stills can’t help dreaming about, seems to really enjoy the company of Diana.

So Jules starts to spend most of her free time at the secret society instead.

It didn’t disturb Sandra the least that Jules dated Andy for a while, but the fact that Diana and Keith get along so well is not that easy to get used to. Something starts to stir inside of her.

In fact she feels quite depressed.

Chapter 46

2011-03-09T15:50:00.001+01:00

Takemizu Village is beautiful and Stella gets to satisfy all desires for travelling and new places that she has been holding back for so long.

Everyday Ingmar takes her somewhere new. She gets to see the usual tourist spots ...

... as well as truly amazing places.

And she also gets to experience new customs.

Time flies when you are having fun and their stay in Takemizu Village is soon over.

But Stella’s life back home is not bad either and contains so much more now than during the years before she met Ingmar. They often invite friends over for dinner.

Stella has also picked up some new habits. She has started practicing yoga ...

... and she has fulfilled an old dream and is now taking painting lessons.

Winter is over now. It is spring in Riverblossom Hills and Bluewater.

Patricia has finished her second book some time ago and is eagerly awaiting the reaction from her publisher.

But she has already started writing on her third book.

Faith has grown a lot and recently started school.

She is taking piano lessons from Christian in Riverblossom Hills, where Patricia takes her every Wednesday, and there she has met Daisy’s youngest sibling – Summer Greenman – who also has Christian as her piano teacher. They soon became best friends and talk on the phone and chat online almost every day, but for some time now it has become a habit for them to spend Saturdays together. Jason puts Summer on the bus to Bluewater after breakfast and Alex and Faith picks her up. Usually Alex then drives Summer home sometime in the late afternoon. Alex is very fond of Faith and happy that she has found such a loyal friend (Summer is a very likable girl – a lot like her sister Daisy) and Patricia is happy to see Alex so devoted to Faith. They are a real family now.

But they are all still very happy when they discover, that Faith soon will get a little sibling.

These days Xander is spending most of his time at the home of Irene in Bluewater.

She lives in a big, modern villa at the lakeshore ...

... together with her father and stepmom. Irene’s mother passed away a long time ago when Irene was just a child and her father remarried just recently. The red hair is the only thing Irene’s stepmother has in common with the new wife of Xander’s father though. She is very nice and Irene really likes her. In fact she is hoping for a little half sister or brother, even if the age difference will be rather large.

They are quite wealthy, and even have a butler.

Irene’s father owns the largest car dealership in Bluewater, and Irene is planning to start working with him and some day take over the business when he retires.

This car dealership is by Corrie at MTS and can be found here: http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=327205

But not before she has acquired a college degree in business. Xander and Irene spend a lot of time studying together. Irene has high ambitions and is willing to work hard for them. In fact she reminds Xander a great deal of his sister.

Just like Sandra Irene loves to shop, so Xander spends a lot of time following her around different boutiques and beauty shops.

Which can be rather boring ... There really are other things he could be doing instead ...

But when Irene decides to get a new haircut, Xander must agree with her that it makes her look very sophisticated and grown up - and even more beautiful.

Besides studying and shopping, Irene likes to dance and hang out in cool places, so most weekends they go out both Friday and Saturday. This is a whole new life for Xander. But he is adjusting real fast. He is surprised but happy to discover, that he has a real talent for dancing. Among other things ...

So he is cool now. Hip and groovy. And he has this beautiful, smart and outgoing girlfriend that anyone would envy him. But as much fun as he is having, Xander is starting to miss his old hobbies and habits. It is spring now, he would very much like to go fishing again, spend some time outdoors. But hiking is not in Irene’s taste, she is quite content with her life in Bluewater and is not at all interested in changing habits. She is a city girl.

Chapter 45

2011-02-17T21:31:00.012+01:00

The house where Nellie's mother is living, is a Maxis makeover that Twoflower has made. It can be found here: http://twoflowerslots.blogspot.com/2010/09/102-firefly-pass.html
At first I intended to keep it the way it was, but when Marion's personality got more clear to me, I wanted her home to reflect on that and did some refurnishing.

Stefan keeps running away from his troubled relation with Nellie, and often doesn’t come home until sometime during the night. After a while Nellie has had enough of that, and locks the door to their bedroom. The next morning she finds Stefan sleeping on the couch.

That doesn’t make things better between them. Now Stefan is angry too, and they can’t meet without exchanging harsh words.

And there are daily rows now, getting worse for each day that is passing.

Until Nellie can’t take it anymore. She realizes that she needs to do something, and she knows what she could do – but she wants to talk it through with Patricia before she makes the decision. Patricia has heard from Cleo and therefore does not get surprised about how things are between Nellie and Stefan – but she is very sad for their sake. She doesn’t tell Nellie about her knowing though. It is evident that Nellie finds it painful enough to confess to Patricia about how her marriage has gone downhill. Getting to know that Stefan’s recent clubbing hasn’t passed unnoticed and that people have started to talk, would only make things much worse.

Nellie has decided to go to her mother’s for a while – that is, if her mother doesn’t refuse to take her in, but Nellie wants Patricia’s advice before she makes the call.
“It is probably the best thing to do, “Patricia says. “From what I am hearing, you can’t get Stefan to sit down and talk this through properly. If you leave, he will be forced to see that this is serious. “
So Nellie calls her mother, who doesn’t seem very surprised that things have gone this bad. She doesn’t make a big deal of it though, and doesn’t hesitate about telling Nellie that it is alright for her to take the children and move in for a while. On the contrary her voice shows more warmth and care, than Nellie has experienced from her mother in many years.

Nellie spends the rest of the day packing and that same evening she takes a taxi to Riverblossom Hills, taking the children with her.

Stefan doesn’t fold until she is gone, but then he collapses into tears. She is gone, his family is gone. Why did this happen and what must he do? He feels completely confused and lost – but at the same time there is still a part of him that is very angry with Nellie and does not want to give in. What is she asking of him? What does she want? After a while he pulls himself together and tries to repress what he is feeling. He can’t show her how weak he really feels, then surely she would stop loving him. He must seem strong and convinced and wait for her to regret this and come back to him. Because she will come back in the end ... won’t she?

Now Nellie is back again in the house where she grew up.

The children get to sleep in what normally is Marion’s sewing room ...

... and Nellie is once again sleeping in her old room – which is still looking the way it did when she was a teenager. All the things she left behind are still there.

Marion is very happy to have them there. She keeps telling Nellie how wonderful it is to spend so much time with her grandchildren. Nellie has always experienced her mother as distant and almost cold, but now Marion's feelings seem to be thawing and the relation between them is getting better by the day. With her marriage going downhill, it is a great comfort to be so welcome here at her mother’s.

And it is also a great relief to get some help taking care of the children, and it feels good that they get to know their grandmother – and she them.

Nellie doesn’t want to be dependent on her mother, and Marion says that she gladly would take care of the children during the day and encourages Nellie that she should start working again.
“I know how you feel about your work. I don’t want you to give up on your dreams like I did.”
So Nellie starts looking for a new job.

Lillian has practically moved in with Leod now. At least she is spending most of her time at the farm. Marianne still comes by quite often, but she is clearly disappointed that Jacob is almost always absent.

Marianne starts to suspect that Jacob is avoiding her and Leod finds it very hard to see hope fading from her face. She is such a sweet girl and he had high hopes that Jacob would open his heart to her and find love again. She would make him a good wife. It isn’t easy to find good answers when Marianne is asking about Jacob’s wellbeing and whereabouts. She anxiously wants to know – should she give up on him?

There is still a lot to do on a farm when it is winter, but not nearly as much as during summer. Jacob has his chores done by noon, and then he disappears. He used to go to the pub with Leod and Lillian ...

... and they still go there for a while almost every day – but Jacobs doesn’t come with them anymore.

In fact he doesn’t spend many evenings with them either. That is due to the fact, that Morty frequently has to go out of town on business.

Because all the time that Jacob spends away from the farm – of course he is spending with Michelle. He is completely obsessed with her and can think of little else.

At first they had to keep their meetings to Leod’s truck, which was not only rather inconvenient but also risky.

But then Betty passed away and Catherine and Andrew moved to Bluewater, so now they have the whole house to themselves. Their secret is safe there ...

... as long as they are careful not to be seen together.
“Hurry up a bit now honey, and get dressed. It will soon be dark and we can’t leave the house at the same time,” Michelle says to Jacob as she is putting her makeup on, but she lets that take her a while and makes sure that Jacob is the first one to leave ...

... because she doesn’t want him to see her leaving either. She has her own secrets to keep.

That’s right – Michelle is a witch, and her darkroom is in fact a facade. It is a disguise for the room where she keeps all her magical belongings. She has had no teacher, learning all she knows from books, and although she has become quite skilful –there are still gaps in her knowledge. One thing she doesn’t know about, is how to make love potion, and her stockpile is running low. She has tried to find the fortune teller from Bluewater that originally sold her the potion – but she is nowhere to be found. She seems to have vanished into thin air.

Chapter 44

2011-02-13T10:23:00.012+01:00

So, how are things with the Greenman family? We haven’t visited them for a while.

Daisy is still dating Avri, but sometime around Christmas she starts seeing sides of him that she doesn’t like very much: his constant boasting for example. Of course he hasn’t just recently started speaking so highly of himself, but before she really didn’t want to see it. She turned a deaf ear to all that didn’t fit the picture of the person she wanted him to be. That pink shimmer of her first love has faded now and reality shines through.

But some things in Avri’s behaviour have also changed. In the beginning he clearly wanted to make a good impression and make her feel at ease with him, but now he has started complaining about a lot of things in her personality. He finds her far to boyish and independent and he gets very irritated every time Daisy speaks her mind (which doesn’t stop her from doing it), and he clearly finds it very disturbing that she is so handy (which he is not), but growing up on a farm teaches you to handle things on your own and Daisy is Daddy’s girl and has always followed him around and helped him with his tasks. She knows how to use a tool box.

Daisy’s youngest sister, Summer, has grown a lot and has learned how to walk now.

Violet has also grown a lot this winter and is not a child any more. But she is no tomboy as Daisy, but rather very feminine. She is never in jeans, always wears dresses or skirts and likes to wear jewellery and make-up - a proper young lady. Her biggest interest is music and she loves to play the piano.

“Why can’t you be more like your sister!?” Avri angrily asks Daisy one day. “I don’t want to have a girlfriend that acts like a boy!” They have been arguing a lot the last couple of weeks and the atmosphere between them has become very irritated.

“Well, perhaps then you shouldn’t!” Daisy hears herself saying and sees a shocked look spread over Avri’s face. This is not going as he intended. Daisy can see him very clearly now and has noticed how oft he tries to manipulate her. A subtle threat about breaking up doesn’t scare her though – on the contrary she can feel the relief flood through her body once the words are out there. She is so tired of him! So she makes up her mind here and now and follows up what she has begun and breaks up with Avri.

These last couple of months Daisy has been spending all her time out of school with Avri, leaving room for almost nothing else. Now she starts socializing more with her sister Violet.

The might seem different on the surface, but they understand each other well and have a lot of fun together.

And at last Daisy can read books again, which has been impossible with Avri always around, always needing her attention. God, it feels great to be single again!!

The single days are long gone for Nellie. The time has come to give birth to her second child.

A little daughter, whom they decide to give the name Emma. Stefan buys Nellie a lavish bouquet of roses ...

... but their home still doesn’t clean itself and with two children Nellie really has her hands full now.

Stefan is expecting everything to stay the same between them, but Nellie is too tired for any sweet loving now – and to be honest she is not happy with his laziness. Grabbing the toilet brush could prove very successful for Stefan if he wants her to get between the sheets with him, but of course he doesn’t understand that. He is completely confused and can’t understand why Nellie suddenly always says no. He feels hurt and mistreated, and starts stomping around with a suffering expression, replying curtly whenever Nellie tries to talk to him. Nellie in her turn starts feeling really angry with Stefan.

So one evening they have a real row, that doesn’t lead anywhere.

Instead Stefan puts his outerwear on and goes out. Nellie gets very upset. What on earth is he doing!!?
“Stefan, where are you going?! It is late! What are you thinking!!!” she shouts after him.
“I am going out!” Stefan shouts back, and then he is gone.

He goes to a club nearby and sits down to play some cards. Such a relief to get out of the house!! Nellie is acting so strange and unfriendly these days. She is always nagging at him for one thing or another and he loves his children - but don’t they seem to take an unbelievably big chunk of Nellie’s attention? She keeps telling him that they come first. Of course they do! He is their father; he would risk his life for them. But he is a man too, and a man needs to get his needs fulfilled. A man needs his woman. He can’t understand what is going on. Escape seems like a good plan right now and the company of other men feels soothing. No fuss, no nagging, no misunderstandings.

That very same evening Cleo has stopped by her old work place for a short drink after work. She used to DJ here. Everything looks the same, some old faces, some new. But one face she hasn’t expected: Stefan's.

What on earth is he doing here? He and Nellie have two small children now. Why isn’t he at home?

When Cleo gets home she tells Christian about seeing Stefan in the club.
“Is their relation on the rocks, do you think?” she asks him. “They always seemed so happy to me, nuts about each other.”
“I wouldn’t jump to any conclusions,” Christian says. It could be a million reasons for Stefan to be in that club.
“Not really,” Cleo says with a hint of sarcasm.
“Well, it is not for us to interfere,” Christian says, clearly uncomfortable with the subject. “They have hit a bit of bumpy road, that’s all. They’ll sort it out. You’ll see. Now, shall we watch the late movie or shall we call it a day?”
“You are probably right,” Cleo says but makes a note to herself to call Patricia the following day and see if she has heard anything. It could very well be so that Nellie is in great need of her friends right now.

As you can see, Cleo has finally gotten to remodel the house she got from her aunt.

It is mostly Christian's doing that the project got started and he has even done a lot of the work himself. He likes to work with his hands and he needed something to keep him occupied while thinking over his future.

The band Christian has been playing with for the last seven years, has split due to creative disagreements between the lead guitarist and the singer, who have been writing all their songs, and Christian has decided not to follow any of them.

He has always wanted to write music of his own, but there has been no room for that in the band. Now seems the time has come to make that choice and try something new.

Chapter 43

2011-02-10T19:41:00.009+01:00

Not long after the dinner party, the Reaper comes to visit Betty – very much to her own surprise, but it looks like she is on her way to gossip heaven.

She is buried at the little chapel in Riverblossom Hills.

Even if her time came a little earlier than she had expected, Betty had made all arrangements needed in connection to her own departure. Her headstone outshines all the other graves, she has spared no costs. This comes as a surprise to everyone except Catherine, but Betty was not at all the poor friend dependent on the goodwill of others. She was perhaps not as wealthy as Catherine, but she was quite rich. Much to Morty’s surprise, he doesn’t get a penny. Betty’s testament stipulates that her fortune is to be divided equal between Sandra and Xander. Morty can’t understand why he is not mentioned at all, he always thought they had a very good relation, but of course he doesn’t really need the money and he is in fact not a very greedy person. Now his children can provide for themselves already before anyone of them has graduated, and Morty finds that to be a good thing.

Betty’s death brings other changes. The big house is really too big for Catherine and Andrew. and the heating alone costs a fortune. Now when they just have themselves to care about, they decide to move to Bluewater. There it will be much easier to lead the kind of life they want, with frequent visits to the theatre and restaurants. They find a very nice apartment in an elegant building just a block away from where Stella and Ingmar live.

Moving into town doesn’t mean that Catherine has to give up her interest in gardening, as there is a very nice back yard where the residents can grow vegetables and herbs. There even is a small orchard.

The apartment is of course much smaller than the house, only three rooms and a kitchen, but it is just big enough for them and very comfortable.

Once again the big house in Riverblossom Hills is dark and empty.

Some of the furniture Catherine and Andrew have brought with them to Bluewater, some things are sold, and others – like most of the books from the big library – are in storage ...

... but some rooms are left untouched, like Jacob’s old room behind the kitchen. And Jacob still has the keys ...

At Nellie’s little Max has become a toddler. He looks very much like his mother and is a really sweet kid, but he needs more attention now than ever, and Nellie is heavily pregnant and can’t find energy enough for all that needs to be done at home.

But Stefan still doesn’t help her out with the housework. He seems completely unaware of the untidiness and mess around him ...

... and he still leaves it to Nellie to clean up.

She has tried to bring the subject up for discussion with him, but it seems impossible to get him to realize that this is becoming a serious problem. Nellie doesn’t know what to do, she feels that she really could use some advice now. Reluctantly she calls her mother, because Marion (that is the name of her mother) has been very skeptical of the rushed marriage and Nellie’s unplanned first pregnancy, and has not hesitated to express her critical views.

But the following day as Stefan has left for work ...

... Marion arrives from Riverblossom Hills.

Nellie has the coffee ready and has prepared herself for some grovelling, as long as she can get some good advice it must be worth it. Unfortunately Marion has no comfort to offer.
“Men like Stefan don’t change. You didn’t know him well enough before you married, that is all there is to it, I’m afraid. Not much to be done. I don’t want to hurt you, but you know your father was just like him. I had my mind set on becoming a concert pianist – instead I became a housewife. It seems to me you have made the same bad choices I made. But I must say I can’t understand why this happened to you. One should have thought that girls today knew how to protect themselves. Well, now you must take the consequences. ”

Nellie feels her heart sinking. She loves her work as a music teacher! When will she ever be able to get back to that? Her prospects seem rather depressing, in spite of the happiness that motherhood brings her. She can’t regret having Max. But perhaps she could have waited a little longer ... been more careful ...

Xander’s prospects on the other hand are starting to look brighter and brighter. He introduces his new girlfriend Irene at home, and it turns out that Irene’s father is a business acquaintance of Xander’s father’s. Mr Yngwe owns the car dealership in Bluewater. Morty is very pleased with Xander. He didn’t have very high hopes for his son to begin with, but he has really made some very good progress this last year.

Not telling Jasmine about Irene of course proves to have been a very bad idea. It doesn’t take very long before she walks into a tender moment between Xander and Irene, which causes an outburst of tears, much embarrassment and dishonour for Xander ....

... and the wrath of his teacher as well. He ironically tells Xander to please try keep his tangled love life out of class – which only a week ago, to Xander would have seemed to be a very unlikely problem for him ever to experience.

His life changes so quickly now, he can literally feel how he is growing from boy to man. Going out with Irene feels very grown up. They visit places he has never been before, but Irene seems very comfortable and urbane in those places and that rubs off on Xander.

Xander feels so much more now, than he did with Jasmine. Irene is such an attractive girl and that she wants to be with him makes him feel very grown up and masculine. Just feeling this way about someone is intoxicating. He is mad about her - wildly in love.

And with Irene he also loses his virginity.

That geeky teenager with bad skin and weight problems that he was last summer, seems a very long time ago. He is cool now.

Hip and groovy.

Chapter 42

2011-02-05T17:12:00.015+01:00

I would like to thank Masaharu777 at MTS for the little japanese temple where Stella and Ingmar get married. It can be found here: http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=268355

It is early in the afternoon as Ingmar and Stella check into their hotel in Takemizu village. They get a beautiful room and Stella is overwhelmed with all new impressions. Everywhere is something exotic and interesting to see and she is savouring each moment.

There is time to take a tour of the village before dinner, so they sign up for that with the tour guide at their hotel. Just so Stella can get a taste of what Takemizu village has to offer. Ingmar is very much looking forward to showing her all the things he has come to like most, and hope that she will share his opinion. The thought of sharing this with another person makes him happy.

But before all that the most important thing has to be done. The following day just before noon, Ingmar and Stella get married at a local temple.

Husband and wife at last.

That night Ingmar lays awake for several hours with the sleeping Stella in his arms. Hearing her breathing, feeling her heart beat. He can’t sleep for mere happiness.

For Stella’s son Xander life takes a step in a whole other direction – towards ending a relationship. He is still dating Jasmine, but is also still not feeling very much. To be honest, he is a little bit bored, so he gets both surprised and excited when another girl in his class tells him about a friend of hers that is very interested in getting to know Xander. Who could that be?

When she tells him the name of this “secret admirer” he is dumbfounded: Irene - one of the most popular girls at school, and also one of the most beautiful. She can choose anyone she likes. It is unbelievable that she would like to go out with Xander. But she really is interested. A meeting is arranged and when he asks if she would like to have dinner with him some time, she tells him yes.

But there is one thing he has to do first: break up with Jasmine. That feels even more awkward than trying to get that first date. Just bringing the subject up is hard enough and it doesn’t make anything better that Jasmine gets so upset and hurt. More so than he has expected. She cries and asks him why. Has he met someone else? It is all very painful and Xander can’t bring himself to tell her the truth. He feels like a coward but takes the easy way out and says that he needs some time to himself.

But as soon as the he has ended the relationship with Jasmine he seeks out Irene and asks her if would like to have that dinner this Friday evening? She is free and gladly accepts. It is too good to be true. He must pinch himself to prove he isn’t dreaming. He is going out with Irene! Unbelievable!! This girl really is hot!!!

Xander has booked a table at a very good restaurant where he has been with his parents before. A coffee at the ice-cream café wouldn’t do this time.

That same Friday his father and Michelle are invited to Catherine’s for dinner and just as Michelle has been hoping for, Jacob is among the dinner guest as well.

Jacob’s presence makes her endure the dinner party. Catherine is pleasant enough, always the perfect hostess, and her handsome husband is very nice to Michelle too, but he keeps his distance - probably because he doesn’t want Catherine to think he could be interested in Michelle. But Betty - she is not very nice at all. She turns the cold shoulder and doesn’t talk to Michelle if she doesn’t have too. It is quite obvious that she does not approve of Morty’s new wife. Morty seems completely unaware of Betty’s animosity although she is quite frosty towards him as well. He doesn’t seem to be very attentive to his surroundings. He is quite pleased with himself and assumes that goes for everyone else too.

After dinner Jacob asks Catherine if she has seen his old portable chess set, he wants to teach Leod to play.
“I put it in the attic together with some other things from your room. Why don’t you go have a look before coffee! I am sure you will find it right away. It is all in a box by the bookshelf in the corner.”
There comes that opportunity to see Jacob alone that Michelle has been waiting for. She discretely follows Jacob up the stairs.

But before she enters the attic she reaches in her purse and gets the bottle of love potion. This has been thoroughly planned and shall be thoroughly executed. She doesn’t want anything to go wrong.

As Jacob is digging through the box with his old things he suddenly hears someone say:
“I’ve been longing to talk to you privately!”
He immediately recognizes the voice of the second Mrs Roth and grinds his teeth inwardly. That persistent woman! She started flirting with him already when they met at the store and this whole dinner he has felt her leg brushing against his on several occasions, each time followed by a meaningful look through lowered lashes. Very annoying indeed. She is not at all his type. Far too pushy for starters. Besides that, she is married and should really know better. He starts getting angry with her and decides to be very honest with her and tell her to back off and leave him alone right away.

But when she gets closer to him he starts feeling dazed and dizzy and his anger fades away. A whole lot of quite different feelings start rising inside of him instead. How lovely she smells! What a warm and alluring voice she has!! And those full lips – he has to kiss them!

As soon as they touch Jacob is lost, like Morty he is carried away on a red tide of passion.

Chapter 41

2011-01-30T14:52:00.002+01:00

The bags are packed for Stella’s and Ingmar’s trip to Takemizu village.

But before they go, Ingmar has yet to attend Alex’ wedding to Patricia. They have decided to have a low key marriage and get married at home, but have invited all their friends. Ingmar is glad to be there. He is sure that Patricia will make Alex very happy.

And Patricia sure is more beautiful than ever.

But even if Ingmar is very happy for Alex to find love, his is more thrilled about the fact that Stella will soon be _his_ wife. A dream come true. It is time to leave for Takemizu village.

It is the middle of winter in Bluewater, and bitter cold weather.

But In Takemizu village, it is already spring.

Back in Riverblossom though, the winter is just as cold as in Bluewater. Marianne’s little cottage might look very cosy, but if you have to go, you have to go the outhouse as there is no toilet indoors.

But Marianne doesn’t mind, she loves her little cottage. For one person it is big enough. But perhaps she might not remain single for much longer ...

She thinks that she finally is getting some response from Jacob. Leo has told her about the traumatic break-up with Sandra, and now she understands why he has been so reluctant to get involved again. But today she finally could convince him to do something together with her, and they went skating. It was a lovely day.

They had so much fun.

They had fun, but they also talked a lot. She has the feeling that she he is at last starting to open up to her, that she finally is getting a little closer to him.

She got cold, having spent so many hours outdoors, but that is nothing that a hot bath in front of a blazing fire can’t take care of.

She allows herself to start dreaming about a future together with Jacob. He is the nicest boy she has ever met.

Sadly enough, she will soon get competition. Michelle has gotten settled in her marriage to Morty, and so has he. He has gone back to working long hours and Michelle has taken over Stella’s roll in his life, providing him with a comfortable and perfectly run home and being a beautiful and affectionate wife to him. He is very satisfied. Michelle is not. She was of course never very much in love with Morty from the beginning, she wanted his money and position. Now when she has that, she is looking for more. Morty is such a bore and to be honest - a little on the old side for her.

He is not that hot either ...

And like Stella she makes a new and exciting acquaintance at the shop. Normally she gets the food delivered, and she was just in for some things that she had forgotten to list when she sees this young farmer. He is tanned and slender, with a body that is probably hard and well muscled from the hard work. And in addition to that he has this wonderful long hair tied back in a ponytail. Michelle can imagine him with his hair loose. On a fell ... in front of a fire ... Yummy! She must get to know him.

As he is sitting at the poker table, that proves easy and she soon learns his name: Jacob Martin. Ah – the son of Ms Viejo’s handsome husband. That is good. Then there might be some occasion to socialize. But she should take the habit of carrying love potion with her, she still has some left. Jacob seems to be in need of a nudge in the right direction. He doesn’t react very much to her discrete attempts to be alluring. That will change in a heartbeat, if she has her way.

Chapter 40

2011-01-28T12:49:00.001+01:00

Alexandra is doing very well in her policing career and has had a promotion. Now she is out of uniform, working in a smart suit instead.

“Congratulations darling! I am so proud of you!! “ Gabe tells her.

Little Jackie is not so little anymore. She is in first grade now.

And she is best friends with her cousin Violet.

Now Gabe has several hours to himself every day and at last he can begin to write his book.

Jules comes home for Christmas.

When things were at their worst between Gabe and Alexandra, who would have believed that they someday would enjoy this happy Christmas with yet another daughter. Jackie is thrilled to get to know Jules. She finds it exciting to have a sister that is almost grown up. She doesn’t mind the age difference. She kind of likes it to have her parent’s full attention most of the time.

But right now Jules is getting a lot of attention. Her studies are going very well and her parents are very proud of her. She gets a long longed for lap-top for Christmas. At last she can work on her term paper in her own room and doesn’t have to use one of the shared computers in the common area.

At Nellie’s and Stefan’s the waiting is over and now they have a little son: Max.

For a while they are happier than ever.

But Stefan is still not at all helpful in the household. He seems to take it for granted that Nellie should deal with that and doesn’t seem to notice what needs to be done. Nellie could use a little help now when she has the baby to care for as well, and she tries to make hints, but she can’t bring herself to really argue with Stefan about it. She is too much in love and doesn’t want to spoil anything between them.

And the sweet love is still as sweet as ever.

A little too sweet perhaps. Very soon Nellie finds that she is pregnant again. Too soon, Max is still just a baby. It would have been so much easier if he was just a little older. She can’t feel that happy about the pregnancy this time. Especially as she feels sick quite often this time and also very tired.

Stefan thinks everything splendid though. He is looking forward to another child. But he still shows no interest in helping out at home.

Chapter 39

2011-01-08T14:34:00.007+01:00

At last Stella is ready to talk to Ingmar about Alex and Patricia. She is very afraid that it will cause a rift between her and Ingmar, but she feels that it is impossible for her to socialize with Patricia.
Ingmar is sad to hear that, but not at all surprised.
“I hope you don’t take offense if I do?” he asks her. “Alex is like a son to me.”
“Of course not!! You should keep seeing him! And Patricia I am sure will make him happy. She always seemed such a nice girl really. Well, until ... ” Stella says. “But I am afraid now you will have to go to their wedding alone.”

And at last Ingmar can stop worrying about what is going on in Stella. Even if he hopes that she and Patricia somehow can get a better relation further on, he now feels certain that his and Stella’s relationship is not on the rocks. Time to “pop the question”. He has been longing for this a very long time now. So to Stella’s surprise Ingmar kneels before her and proposes to her in this old fashioned but very romantic way. She doesn’t hesitate a second. She is sure – and she too is very relieved that her feelings about Patricia hasn’t caused damage between her and Ingmar.

Later that day Ingmar asks Stella if she would mind very much if her children can’t attend their wedding.
“I was thinking that it was about time for us to travel together. I would like to show you Takemizu Village. It will be spring there soon. And perhaps we could get married there? What do you think?”
Stella agrees that it is indeed a wonderful idea and tells him that at once. She has so much to be happy about these days. A new life with Ingmar that she loves so deeply – and now they will also start travelling together. She remember them talking about it this last spring – and how impossible it seemed to her back then. Life has really changed. But of course it is a little sad to get married without her children.

The happier she is about spending this Christmas with Sandra and Xander. It is such a relief that they will not have to choose between her and Morty, as he and Michelle will go on a delayed honeymoon and spend Christmas on Twikki Island. Alex will spend Christmas with Patricia, so Sandra and Xander can sleep over in his apartment and don’t have to go back to the house in Riverblossom Hills. Ingmar sure does have a beautiful home, but there are no guest rooms in his apartment.

Sandra and Xander settle in ...

... while Ingmar finishes some dinner preparations.

As soon as everything is ready, they sit down together and eat. Xander and Ingmar already know each other quite well, as Xander often pops by after school, but Stella is very happy to see Sandra really trying her best to be nice and friendly. She doesn’t recognize her daughter really. It seems she has matured these last months, growing into charming young woman, Stella thinks. She is very proud of her daughter, but they have never really been that close. Sandra has been more of a daddy’s girl, following in Morty’s footsteps and planning to start working with him when she has finished her education.

So it really makes Stella happy, when Sandra keeps seeking her company, and quite obviously wants to talk. They haven’t had that many intimate conversations during the years.

While Ingmar and Xander's enjoy a game of chess together, Stella and Sandra sits down and talk. Sandra tells Stella about her life at Bramble College, her relationship to Andy and that she broke up just recently. She seems so vulnerable to Stella, not at all that stubborn and self-confident girl she used to be. She seems to have some sort of life crisis and Stella tries her best to assure Sandra that it will all work out for the best.
“You should trust your feelings!” she tells Sandra. “If you feel that you need to be alone, don’t be afraid of it. I am glad to hear that you are getting along with Jules O’Mackey at last and you have found new friends as well. Focus on you studies now and on your friends. You can’t chase love you know, it just happens – mostly when you are not at all expecting it.”

Sandra gets to sleep in Alex’ bed ...

... while Xander will have to make do with a mattress in the living room. Being the oldest sibling pays off once again. But Xander has nothing against it. It is a little bit like camping. He is really enjoying this Christmas.

As are all of them.

They finish the evening by singing Christmas carols while Stella plays the piano.

And the following morning she sits by the piano again, enjoying to be once again surrounded by her family, even if it is only this morning. Xander and Ingmar are absently watching something on TV, in fact more concentrating on a conversation between them about science – and Sandra is having a very late breakfast, long after the others have finished theirs.

“This really was a wonderful Christmas, Mum,” Sandra says. “Just what I needed. I was really homesick - and I missed you terribly! You seem to be so happy with Ingmar, and it makes me very happy for you. I just wish that someday I could also find someone that is the right one for me.”
"You will! Someday you will", Stella assures her.

Chapter 38

2011-01-07T22:23:00.002+01:00

At Bramble College, Xander's sister Sandra is feeling something similar about her boyfriend, Andy. He is of course very handsome and nice enough, not at all stupid and very determined to become a sports journalist. But they really don’t have anything in common. Andy’s main interest is sports, and that is all he talks about all the time. But he doesn’t seem very interested in talking overly much to Sandra anyway. He is quite the opposite of Keith. No digging in her soul on his part.

The physical side of their relationship is more important to him. Much more so than to Sandra. To be honest she is “doing it” mostly because he wants to, even if she can’t complain about him being selfish or not accomplished. No, the physical side of a relationship is very important to Andy, and he is very attentive of her wishes and needs. Already with Jacob it was more about feeling admired and coveted than really caring very deeply about him. With Colin it was all about the thrill. Sandra starts to realize that she has never really been in love and that she is in fact afraid of being alone. She also starts to realize that alone-time probably is was she needs the most now.

So she breaks up with Andy, who can’t understand why she doesn’t want him anymore and gets very upset and offended.

The atmosphere between them is very awkward for a while, with Andy acting out his wounded pride by being quite rude to Sandra, which of course becomes uncomfortable for everyone else in the dorm. It ends when Ralph has a word with Andy, giving him some “manly” advice. “Let it go. When it is over, it is over. There are other girls.” Ralph seems to have told it in exactly the right way, because Andy stops behaving the way he has towards Sandra.

In fact he stops taking notice of her at all. He only talks to her if he has to.

It is a very stressful situation. Even more so as Sandra finds it very scary to be on her own for the first time in a couple of years. No boyfriend. No friends either ... She fills her days with studies and hard training.

But also starts to realize that she is surrounded by people that perhaps could be worth a closer acquaintance. The mysterious Diana is someone that Sandra secretly admires. She seems so self sufficient and calm. Sandra would very much like to be that way. Perhaps she could learn something from Diana.

And very soon Sandra realizes that she must not at all be alone. Diana seems to sense that Sandra wants to get to know her and to Sandra’s big surprise she seeks her company. Sandra’s relation to other girls has always been about competition. This is a new experience.

But a very nice one. Being friends with Diana brings forward sides of Sandra that she herself has been unaware of. Girl talk is much more fun than she has imagined.

She even gets a better relation to Jules.

But it is still a great relief that is winter now and close to Christmas. It will soon be time for holidays. She needs to go home for a while. Her father and his new wife will be going to Twikki Island over Christmas, so Xander and Sandra will be celebrating with Stella and Ingmar and Sandra realizes that really is for the best. She has never been longing for her mother this way before, but now she feels that she really needs to see her.

Chapter 37

2011-01-01T18:05:00.008+01:00

Without the friendship of Daisy, Xander is starting to feel lonely again, even if his life has changed a lot these last couple of months. He is no little boy any more and so he asks his father for money to redecorate his room, that has begun to seem a little too childish to him. He does all the paintwork himself and feels quite proud about it.

Not all changes are for the worse. There is still school, where his position has changed a lot this autumn as well. Perhaps it is time for him to try to keep a higher profile, there are ways he hasn't thought of before.

As Michelle shows little interest in driving his mother's old sportscar, Xander asks his father if he could use it instead and Morty has no objections. The car, and the attention it gives him, makes Xander feel quite cool ...

... so finally he takes the courage to ask Jasmine out for a real date.

He keeps it simple, because he somehow is convinced that it will be easier for him to feel confident and relaxed if he doesn't try to impress Jasmine with dinner in some fancy restaurant - a situation he has no experience of. That hunch proves to be right and he has a really good time with Jasmine over a soda and some cake, making jokes and being entertaining in a way that surprises even himself. Jasmine seems totally charmed.

So he asks her if she wants to catch a movie as well, and she gladly says yes.

In the dark of the movie theater it doesn't feel that nervous to move closer, but it still takes him half the picture to take the big step and put his arm around her shoulders. But when it's done, he starts to feel really at ease. Jasmine looks at him with stars in her eyes and evidently finds him very attractive.

Why stop when everything is going his way. This very first date ends with him getting his first kiss. Not really the overwhelming experience he has expected. A little awkward and slobbery - with a lot of teeth in the way. No fire works. But at last it is done! This is one milestone he has been despairing over. At last life can begin.

And now Xander has a girlfriend! His very first girlfriend. Pretty and sweet Jasmine that he has admired for so long now.

But shouldn't he be feeling ... a little bit more ...??? Is this it? Is this all there is to it??

Chapter 36

2010-10-24T16:06:00.004+02:00

Daisy was right about Xander’s new look.

He really gets a lot more attention from the girls at school. There is especially one girl in his class, Jasmine, that he has always found very pretty. Now he feels brave enough to talk to her – and she seems to be flattered about his interest in her. What a surprise!

So he starts seeking her company outside of class and tries to get to know her better. He still feels a little awkward and shy about that though. How do you do these things?

It feels so much easier to be with Daisy. He still spends a lot of time with her. One day they agree to meet at the library in Bluewater after school. Daisy likes to read as much as he does.

And she likes to play chess too, and as he is showing her some gambit he has just recently learned himself, he suddenly hears someone say:
“Hello Roth! Who is your friend?”

It is one of the boys from his class, Avri. He has never been especially nice to Xander before, but now he seems very keen on keeping them company, insisting that they should join him for a coffee in the library café. He speaks very little to Xander, concentrating completely on Daisy.

And when they go for a burger, Avri comes with them – paying no attention at all at Xander’s obvious antagonism. Daisy doesn’t seem to notice Xander’s feelings either. She seems quite enchanted by Avri and starts to behave in a way Xander has never seen before. Getting all giggly and stuff. Disgusting! What does she see in Avri? He is of course very handsome and athletic, but also quite arrogant and bossy. Not that he acts that way towards Daisy now. He is obviously trying his best to make a very good impression on her.

Xander starts to feel very much in the way. And quite deserted and lonely. He has never felt this way with Daisy before.

Next time he comes to visit Daisy, he is disappointed to find Avri also there. And Avri gets the most of Daisy’s attention. She is acting even more stupid now than before. Xander doesn’t recognize her at all.

And it gets worse: he hasn’t been there long before he understands that Daisy and Avri are now going steady. He is sure that they would rather see him leave right now, but he stubbornly stays watching a movie on TV with them . He feels even more in the way this time – but it doesn’t seem to hinder them.

As much as he feels that Avri wants him out of the way, he stays until Avri must leave and go home to Bluewater and then he tells Daisy what he thinks of her taste.
“What do you see in that arrogant guy? He is the kind that thinks girls are more stupid than guys, you know! I never would have thought that would appeal to you.”

“Now you're mean!” Daisy shouts. “He is not at all like that. And you stay away from my affairs! I am quite capable of making my own decisions, thank you very much! You’re just envious because you don’t have a girlfriend yet. Get a life!! And stay out of mine!!”
After that they start shouting at each other until they both stand with clenched fists, and Xander gets the feeling, that if he doesn’t leave now, it will end very badly. So he leaves, very angry and very hurt – with a feeling of great loss inside. What did just happen? They used to be buddies, best friends.

Chapter 35

2010-10-20T14:28:00.008+02:00

Morty does not waste any time.

As soon as the divorce between him and Stella is final, he and Michelle get married in a private ceremony at home.

It soon turns out that Michelle’s greatest interest is photography. She always has her camera with her and is constantly taking pictures.

Xander and his father get used to posing ...

But Michelle has no problem finding other motives as well. Just about anything could make a great picture.

She likes to experiment with her pictures too and wants some place where she can produce her films (this occurred before the “digital days”), so the garden shed gets turned into a darkroom.

Michelle is very nice and pleasant to Xander when his father is present ...

... but when Morty is not around, she is completely indifferent towards Xander. She seems to be mostly occupied with her own appearance ...

... but she also spends a lot of time in her darkroom – where a strange red light can be seen through slits in the blinds.

Meanwhile Alex is dizzy for happiness. At last Patricia has opened her heart and let him in, and he is more in love with her than ever. He does not want to rush things and scare her away, but now he is thinking of proposing to her.

But when he starts thinking about marriage, something he has tried to repress cannot longer be avoided and makes him feel quite worried: Stella. What will she feel about this? She won’t be happy, he realizes that. And Ingmar is the closest he has to a father. Alex will cause him pain now, but it impossible to get around. He loves Patricia and wants to marry her. He must tell Ingmar about that now.

So he calls Ingmar and asks him to come up to Alex’ apartment and as Ingmar only has to walk up the stairs, he arrives shortly. When he gets to hear about Alex and Patricia, he gets as concerned as Alex has feared – and expected. But as Ingmar knows Alex so well and really wants him to be happy, he accuses him of nothing and wishes him luck. But he also tells Alex that Stella most probably will not want to see Patricia ever again.

Ingmar decides to tell Stella about Alex and Patricia right away. He does not want any secrets between them, and nothing can be gained by waiting. He finds Stella in the living room playing the grand piano. At first she seems not to understand what he is saying. But when his words sink in, her face fills with pain.
“I need to be alone for a while”, she says, and goes for a walk. She stays away for several hours and when she comes back she is very silent and withdrawn.

She stays silent and withdrawn for a couple of days. Suddenly she feels so distant. Ingmar feels very unhappy about it, but there is not much he can do. He tries to show her that he is there for her if she needs him at the same time as he tries to leave her in peace. He doesn’t want to choose between Stella and Alex, but somehow he doesn’t think that Stella will demand that of him. It would be very unlike her.

Chapter 34

2010-10-12T21:55:00.011+02:00

Nellie is very happy with Stefan

The downside with the relationship being that Stefan doesn’t do very much (if any) of the housework. If Nellie asks him to at least please help her wash up the dishes, he always lovingly says: “Yes, of course honey, I’ll just finish reading/watching this.” But before he even looks up from the newspaper/TV Nellie has already finished tidying up a long time ago. She has tried a couple of times to just leave the dishes without saying anything, but then Stefan just went to bed without noticing so that they the following morning had to have breakfast in an unpleasant kitchen - which Stefan once again didn’t seem to mind or even notice. She doesn’t want to nag him about it, but it really is getting a little frustrating.

But the sweet loving is frequent and plentiful...

... So she shouldn’t be surprised really when she discovers that she is pregnant. It is unexpected and unplanned, but she is very much in love and just the thought of having Stefan’s baby makes Nellie very happy.

She isn’t sure though if Stefan will like it, so she is nervous when she tells him. But this time she gets his attention immediately and he stops reading at once.

“I’m going to be a father? Baby that is wonderful! Let’s get married as soon as possible! “

So Nellie soon finds herself being not just very pregnant but also very married – and still very much in love.

And Stefan doesn’t find her any less attractive now.

Patricia has decided that it is now time to move on and make a home of her own. She doesn’t have to worry about money since her book is going very well and she has the monthly support from Morty in addition. She finds a very nice apartment in Bluewater and enjoys the fact that she can afford to furnish and decorate it just as she wants to and buy everything new.

At last Faith gets her own room.

Faith goes to kindergarten a couple of hours every day and gets to know other children, and Patricia starts writing on her second book.

Alex spends a lot of time at their place, and shows a great interest in her writing. She gets to juggle all her ideas with him and gets very good feedback. He really is a great guy.

And wonderful with Faith.

Patricia’s reluctance is melting away and she allows herself to fall in love. It feels so different with Alex, not at all as with Morty. Probably because this time there are no lies but real care...

Both Cleo and Christian miss not having Patricia and Faith around anymore. Especially Christian, he begins to long for a family of his own. But Cleo is not at all ready to have children. Her career is going straight upwards right now. She has been approached by SimRadio and asked if she would like to have her own show. The opportunity of a lifetime. She is still working nights, playing her favourite music to those still awake and is now becoming something of a celebrity. This is much too important to her. She loves Christian, but children will have to wait.

So Christian gets himself a dog. This is Rocky – the new family member.

Chapter 33

2010-10-10T14:02:00.006+02:00

Faith

is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to Patricia. It doesn’t matter that she has a reluctant father that Patricia honestly would prefer never to see again.

Patricia and Faith still live at Cleo’s, and Patricia must admit that it is nice to have her friends so close at hand.

Especially as both Cleo and Christian care so much about Faith. Patricia gets a lot of help.

Nellie and Stefan comes to visit quite frequently and often bring Alex as well. Watching Patricia with Faith makes Alex fall even more for her. She is such a tender mother! Although Alex knows who Faith’s father is, he thinks of her only as “Patricia’s daughter”. Morty doesn’t matter at all to him. And – Morty is very absent from their life, although he is paying monthly support for Faith.

The fact that Alex doesn’t seem to care about Patricia having a child with a married man, doesn’t fail to make a deep impression on Patricia. After a while Alex is invited also without Nellie and Stefan. Both Cleo and Christian like him, so Patricia is starting to develop stronger feelings for him – although she is reluctant to show it.

Alex is invited when Faith has her birthday.

She is growing into the most adorable child. Mummy’s little princess.

Alex is just great with Faith. His name is one of the first words she learns to say. Watching them together makes Patricia make up her mind about letting Alex – a bit – closer, which Alex doesn’t fail to notice. He has tried before – but this time when he asks Patricia if she would like to have dinner with him, she says yes.

But there is some misunderstanding about the time. When Alex comes to pick Patricia up, she is still alone at home. Cleo has gone to work and Christian has not yet come home. And Patricia has not at all finished getting ready. She has to answer the door in her bathrobe, with face mask all over her face. It is an awkward situation. They both feel ridiculous ...

... until Patricia sees how funny this situation is and starts to laugh. Instead of feeling awkward, they now feel that they have grown a little closer.

It doesn’t take long before Patricia has dressed and put on make-up. Meanwhile Christian has arrived home to babysit Faith. Alex has made a reservation at the Italian restaurant in Bluewater.

This is the first time Alex and Patricia spend time alone together, and even if Patricia has come to grow quite fond of Alex, she is surprised how pleasant she finds it to be with him. When he takes her hand and tells her how deeply he feels for her – she blushes and tells him, that she also has feelings for him.

Chapter 32

2010-10-03T14:47:00.005+02:00

Getting up early

doesn’t come that hard to Jacob anymore. It doesn’t matter that it is still dark outside.

He has learned a lot this summer and takes care of most of the tasks on the farm this day, telling Leod that he should try to enjoy life more now when he has Jacob to help him out.

That leaves Leod with a lot of time to relax and think – something he is not very used to. He has been working hard all his life, now it occurs to him that maybe he would enjoy to retire some day. But what could he do instead? Doing nothing would drive him crazy, he is quite sure of that.

So one day, the TV breaks and Leod has to call for a repair man. But when he shows up, “he” proves to be a “she” – a repair woman with a firm handshake and a hearty laughter.

Mending the TV takes her no time at all and when she is done she seems to be in no hurry, instead she stays and chats to Leod. He is not very used to the company of women and would have been too shy to start a conversation. But Lillian (that’s her name) soon makes him feel completely relaxed.

After a while all shyness is gone and he surprises himself with asking Lillian to please stay for lunch. He is really enjoying her company. Lillian tells him that she is a widow and that she has a little cottage not far away from the Greenman farm.

After lunch he shows Lillian around the farm. When they have reached the orchard, Lillian stops and exclaims:

“I really like you, Leod!! What about you and me getting out to Jacob’s barn some evening soon, having a nice dinner and dance a little?”
Leod hasn’t been on a date in all his life – but there is a first time for everything. He blurts out. “That would be great!! What about tomorrow ?” before he even has time to think about getting nervous.

But there is plenty of time for getting nervous. Dancing .... Gee, that is not one of his specialities. Getting ready takes a while. He can’t even decide which one of his two best sweaters he should wear, and spends the best part of an hour in front of the mirror. Half a glance on Sundays before church is what he usually spends on his own reflection.

But there really is nothing to be nervous about. Having dinner with Lillian proves to be easy. She is so relaxed and sure of herself, that he lets her take care of everything and just goes with the flow.

In her company it is even possible for him to dance without feeling awkward about it. Instead he really has a good time. And that gives him courage, so before the night is over ...

... he makes a bold move and kisses Lillian. He is falling in love for the first time in his life.

Chapter 31

2010-09-24T12:55:00.000+02:00

Patricia’s friend Nellie

soon discovers that New job + New town = New people. After just a couple of days, the PE teacher Stefan Franzon approaches her and makes his best to make a good impression. That he is really attracted to her is clear to Nellie – and she must admit to herself that she finds him very attractive too, but she still feels reluctant. She is not sure she is ready to commit just yet, and with Stefan being a colleague it could get complicated if she wants to end the whole thing, so she decides to keep it on a friendly level only. No romance involved.

Stefan doesn’t find her reluctance at all discouraging – on the contrary, he doubles his efforts, but slightly changes his approach, going for friendly and not pushy at all. Quite smart this one, and determined, so it doesn’t take him long to persuade Nellie to come with him to the diner for lunch.

And Nellie cannot help but like him and feel comfortable in his company. He is very entertaining and funny.

Stefan makes sure to make arrangements for other joint activities as well, and invites Nellie to accompany him to the gym he trains at. Nellie has thought about starting some kind of exercise anyway - so yes, why not try the gym.

That of course gives Stefan plenty of time and opportunity to get to know Nellie better.

And very soon they start spending most of their free time together.

Patience pays off, and Stefan was determined that he would finally get Nellie. In the long run, she finds it impossible to resist him. And now when she has already let him come quite close to her, it doesn’t seem that scary to make a commitment.

It doesn’t take long before Stefan moves in with her, and soon living together feels completely natural – although this is the first time ever she has let someone come this close.

Stefan doesn’t know a lot of people here. It turns out that he too has just recently moved to Bluewater. But even if Nellie is new in Bluewater herself, Riverblossom Hills is not far away at all. She really didn’t have to move here to work here, but it seemed a good idea to do something new when she had the chance to. After all she was born and grew up in Riverblossom Hills and it doesn’t hurt to change the environment at least once in your life. But Nellie still has all her friends close by, and now they become Stefan’s friends as well. The very first person he gets to know is Patricia. After the first couple of weeks with her newborn, she is interested in meeting people again, so she visits quite often, bringing her little daughter as well.

When Faith needs to sleep, she can lie in Nellie’s and Stefan’s bedroom, so Patricia can spend the evening with them.

Nellie also invites Alex as often as possible, and finds it very nice to have dinner with another “couple”. She likes to cook for other people and makes Patricia help her in the kitchen but Patricia really is a lousy cook, Jell-O is about what she can manage. And Cleo is even worse, believe it or not. They were living on macaroni and cheese until Christian moved in with them.

But as much as Patricia likes Alex, she is very reluctant to let him close. Her experiences this last year, has made her very distrustful of men. And now she has Faith to think of. There is nothing more important to her now than taking good care of her daughter, so she is friendly to Alex, but keeps him at a distance. If Stefan was determined and patient – that is nothing compared to Alex. He still thinks that Patricia is The One And Only, and he is prepared to wait as long as it takes before she is willing to let him begin to court her.

Chapters 26 - 30

2010-09-19T16:05:00.004+02:00

Chapter 26 - Inspiration has hit Patricia

and she spends her days writing on her book. It won’t be long now until it is finished. It is a love story that she has decided to call “Where your heart belongs”, and it has much suspense - but a very happy ending. Just like before, she finds it really soothing to let herself get sucked into this other reality that looks so much brighter than her own does. She is very worried about her future – but she tries her best not to think of it just now.
“There will be a solution to everything,” Cleo keeps on telling her. “But first things first. The most important thing right now is that you stay healthy and take good care of yourself. When the baby has arrived it is time to think of what comes next.”

Then one day the book is finished and gets published and sells astonishingly well. It also gets very good reviews. “Promising new writer!” “Touching – but with lots of dry humor!” “Read it!” Patricia is overwhelmed and overjoyed. She can’t believe that she has done so well with this first attempt.

“I told you so!” Cleo says. “This is just the beginning, believe me! I don’t think you will have to bother about losing that lousy job at the newspaper.”
And then she starts reading the book from the beginning again – although she has been Patricia’s test reader all the time and knows every single word and sentence from cover to cover.

But now when the book is finished, Patricia gets restless and bored. She doesn’t like to go out in Riverblossom Hills, the village is far too small and everyone is staring and whispering with each other as soon as she turns her back at them, even though no one is unfriendly to her. She knows it could have been far worse, hadn’t she had her friend Cleo and the formidable Catherine on her side. Even Betty is keeping a low profile, because Catherine’s wrath would fall upon her if she gave in to her natural gossiping ways. But it is uncomfortable never the less, to always get so much attention. So Cleo starts visiting Nelly in Bluewater quite often instead. Nelly has a very nice and comfortable apartment, and as it is on the ground floor it even has a small garden.
“Perhaps I could find such an apartment too, when the baby is born,” she says to Nelly. “Then I will have to find my own place and a place like this would be lovely.”

One day Nelly tells her that she is expecting another guest as well.
“His name is Alex, he is an English teacher at my school and I really think you two will like each other,” Nelly says.
“Is this some kind of set-up?” Patricia asks. “Then you must be kidding! I’m pregnant! With a married man’s child!! Who on earth would find that alluring??”

[

When Alex arrives he seems almost shocked when he is introduced to Patricia. Thunderstruck. She can’t imagine why – but there is something very familiar about him. Have they met before? She catches him staring at her with the most fascinated look on his face, whenever he thinks that she is not looking. But they get along very well from the start. They have a lot in common, for example they have the same kind of dry humor and they both very much like music – and books, Alex is an English teacher after all. After a couple of hours they feel like they have known each other for a very long time already, and Nelly looks very pleased.

But it is really an amazing coincident that she chose to introduce them to each other because...

... half a year ago, when Gabe had just broken up with Patricia and she was still heartbroken, she met Gabe’s brother Jason at the store. Jason tried to comfort Patricia and assured her, that he was certain that she would find true love herself, and not before long. It happened that Alex was in the store that very day, as he has acquaintances in Riverblossom Hills and comes there now and then – mostly for fishing. But this day he wanted some company and had spent the afternoon playing cards in the store when this wonderful girl came in. He felt like struck by lightning as soon as he saw her. “This is the one!” he felt.
But he never got the opportunity to start talking to her because she was constantly talking to other people and before he got a chance to find a way to introduce himself – she left.

That was hard to get over, and he has never stopped thinking of her. And suddenly here she is – as lovely as he thought she would be. Now when he knows her a little, he feels for sure: “She IS the one!” But now she is pregnant, so at first he thought that he had found her to late and that she had already married another. There is still hope though, he discovers as the evening goes by, because it does not seem that she is married after all. There doesn’t even seem to be another man in her life. She is staying with her friend Cleo and her boyfriend Christian, he learns, but she is thinking of getting an apartment in Bluewater. He must find out more about her, but they hardly know each other yet! He can’t ask her just any question. He decides to interrogate Nelly thoroughly tomorrow at work.
But their cosy evening gets interrupted when Patricia suddenly begins to have contractions! She wasn’t supposed to give birth this early – not for another week at least. But when a baby decides to arrive – it arrives, be assured.

Nelly must rush Patricia to the hospital and says a hasty farewell to Alex. Before the night is over, Patricia is mother to a beautiful little girl, whom she gives the name Faith.

For the time being they are still living with Cleo and Christian, and Faith has her bed in Patricia’s room, but soon enough Patricia will have to start looking for a place of her own, as much as Cleo assures her that she can keep on living with them.
“I need to have a place to call my own”, she tells Cleo. “Somewhere, where I can make a home for the both of us”.

Chapter 27 - Keith is gorgeous

Jules thinks, but she still dares not talk to him – just because she finds him so attractive.

And she would hardly get any chance to speak to him alone anyway, because she keeps finding him entangled in some intense conversation with Sandra Roth.

It doesn't look very probable that Keith could get interested in her, so Jules tries her best to forget about him, and as her new friends with the mysterious jackets often wants her to join them, she starts spending a lot of time with them. She gets this feeling that they have reached some kind of decision …

… but she still gets very surprised when late one night a black limo pulls up outside the dorm and Berndt and a guy she's never seen before (both wearing this llama jacket though) cuffs her and brusquely make her sit in the car, without answering her questions where they are taking her. She is a little nervous, but she finds the jackets reassuring and feels certain some exciting secret lies behind all this.

And she is right. After a short drive they stop outside an amazing building and when she gets out of the car, her handcuffs are removed and suddenly she is surrounded by students in black jackets with llama badges. One guy clears his throat and makes a short speech. This proves to be The Society of Silly Handshakes …

… and Jules has been elected a member!

She gets inside …
This gloomy looking castle-like building is quite cosy inside.

And contains a lot of wonderful and fun stuff. The other members tell her, that she will also find that they have ways to make the studies much easier. It seems that Jules time at university will be full of excitement.

Sandra on the other hand is experiencing something new. Keith is the most attractive young man she has met here at Bramble College and what she likes she usually gets, but this time it is a little different...

Keith is not at all reluctant to spend time with her, but they are not getting anywhere. They haven’t even kissed yet. Sandra is used to rapid seductions, and the young men falling for her without any effort from her side. But Keith just wants to talk. He talks, and talks, and talks. Asking this, wanting to hear her opinion about that, obviously he wants to discuss everything under the sun with her. He wants to get to know her. He wants to get close to her. And that makes Sandra feel very uncomfortable. She doesn’t want anyone to get close to her. She wants to keep it on the surface and not think too much about what lies beneath. She does not want to linger and feel. No digging in her soul.

So she lets the whole thing go and stops seeking the company of Keith. She is aware that Andy has been circling around her from day one, waiting for an opportunity to move closer to her. She doesn’t have to do anything. Not spending time with Keith is enough...

And Andy is acting and reacting exactly as she is accustomed to – and expects. He is not asking a lot of questions, he is completely content having succeeded to become her boyfriend. Just as she wants him to be.

The real Sandra she buries deep inside herself. She is not for anyone else. She is untouchable. Private. A boyfriend gives her the image she wants, but Andy does not mean very much to her. Her first priority is her studies at law school, and then comes her place on the swim team. She spends a lot of time training for that. The time she spends in the pool training, is the time she enjoys the most. Then she is completely relaxed and does not feel the need to have her usual mask on.

Chapter 28 - It is autumn still

but it is getting close to winter now. Stella’s friend Kirsti does not bring their mail these days. She is expecting her first child and is already on maternity leave and Stella visits her almost every day in the little cottage, where Ingmar once lived. The cottage does not at all look the same anymore. Among other changes, the big living room has been divided to make place for a second bedroom.

Xander and Daisy have gotten very close. He feels that he can talk to Daisy about just anything – even things that make him feel silly and vulnerable. He finds himself telling her about his bad self-confidence when it comes to girls and his belief that girls think that he looks like a dork.
“Your hair looks a little too neat perhaps”, Daisy teases him. “It wouldn’t do any harm if you loosened up a little bit, if you get what I mean. And glasses often make people look very serious. Have you tried to wear contacts instead? Take your glasses off! And tousle your hair a bit!! Then let us see how that looks”

Xander follows her advice and is astonished what difference these small changes make. A completely different Xander looks back at him from the mirror, and brings out a smile on his face. Even his smile looks different. Self-confident – almost cool.
“Wow! What a difference!” Daisy says. “Your face was kind of hidden behind the glasses. As were your eyes – you have really nice eyes! They’re green – I didn’t see that before! I’m sure you will get lots of attention from the girls at school tomorrow. You’re a stunner Roth!! We’ll have you dating in no time!”

Talking about dating: Morty has decided to make the relation to Michelle personal rather than professional, and has asked her out for dinner.
“Oh, that would be lovely” she answers. “But why don’t you let me cook for you instead? I love to cook – and it would be so much cosier to spend the evening in my apartment instead of in some restaurant.”
Morty has no objections, and it as agreed that he should turn up at Michelle’s at seven the following evening. Michelle lives in an apartment above the little café, where Morty once took Patricia. And here we see Morty entering the building just before seven o’ clock

But let us turn the clock backwards a couple of hours, where we will find Michelle talking to this mysterious woman and doing some business with her. What has she just bought?

When Morty arrives, the delicious lobster dinner is ready to be served, but as Michelle goes into the kitchen to get the food, she also takes the opportunity to drink the potion she has bought.

It is a love potion – and I’m quite sure she would have done fine without it; Morty is no reluctant “victim”. But Michelle will take no risks in securing him. She is determined to be the second Mrs Roth, as soon as Morty’s divorce from Stella is final. So Michelle uses every seduction trick she can think of – and Morty is swept away on a red tide of passion.

“We’ll take coffee on the couch!” Michelle says, "but let me change into something more comfortable first."
And shortly she shows up again, wearing a smooth silk outfit with her hair let down, smelling of exquisite perfume. And she places herself on Morty’s lap. No room for misunderstanding.

The next step is a heartbeat away, and before the night is over Michelle has reached her goal. Morty feels that he is at last on top of things again, and can think of nothing else than making this wonderful woman his wife – and that as soon as possible. Getting back the kind of life he thinks he deserves. These events this autumn have been really humiliating.

So the next day he tells Stella, that he has met someone he wants to marry, so now he must ask her to finally move out from the house. He can’t help being a little smug about it. After all, she left him – but he is the one who found new love first. Perhaps Stella will even regret divorcing him in the first place.
That won’t happen, but Stella feels stupid to have put herself in this situation, and wishes that she could have made a decision earlier and gotten herself an apartment. Now she has to rush things and she still has no idea where she will move.

“What shall I do?” she asks Kirsti. “Morty wants me out by the end of this week.”
“I would ask you to move in with us, if the cottage wasn’t so small”, Kirsti says. “Don’t you have any friends here in Riverblossom Hills who could help you out here? Ms Viejo for example?” (although Catherine is now married to Andrew – no one calls her Mrs Martin).
And that could perhaps be a temporarily solution. Catherine would probably not hesitate to help her – but Stella is not overwhelmed at the thought of living together with Betty, knowing that every word she utters, every feeling that gets expressed, would be scrutinized and dissected – and eventually discussed by the whole village.

But the following day, the phone rings – and it is Ingmar...

Chapter 29 - Fresh air

and exercise can hopefully help Ingmar get over Stella. At least that is the plan, when Ingmar decides to go to Threelakes. He has to get out!
He feels like a caged animal in his apartment.

He intends to spend the whole autumn there with fishing and hiking.

Ingmar is a very attractive man, fit and well built with a certain charisma. Quite obviously a person with a strong personality, so he gets a lot of attention – even from women many years his junior … which he doesn’t notice at all.

Stella ... She means everything to him. And he can’t stop thinking of her. He does not want to stop thinking of her. Ever. He cannot help but buy a gift for her, a necklace with amethysts, even if he doesn’t know if there ever will be an occasion where he can actually give it to her.

When his stay his over, he feels as heartbroken as when he came …

… but quite a long time has passed really. He arrives home on winter’s first day.

At home he finds Stella’s message waiting on his answering machine. Already almost a month old!! Now there is no time to lose, he dials her number at once, and prays a little prayer that she can still be found at this address – and still is willing to talk to him.

Of course she still wants to talk to him! Since they both had given up on each other, the greater the feeling of happiness is now.
“Please come to me!” Ingmar says. “Please come and stay!!”
And that same evening a taxi brings Stella to her new home. The sports car she got from Morty, she has left behind.
“Let his new wife have both him and the car!” she thinks.
And then she is in Ingmar’s arms at last.

They both feel quite shy though, so it is a relief to sit down for dinner. It gives them a little respite, the opportunity to become familiar with each other. But it doesn’t take long until they feel at home with each other.

“I’ve been longing for you for such a long time now. Stella,” Ingmar says “Since the first day I saw you really. And now you are here, I hope you will never want to leave.”
“I am already happier than I have ever been before – and I think this is just the beginning,” Stella answers. “You will never get rid of me!”

After dinner they put on some slow jazz and dance with each other. Their bodies getting used to the shape of the other. Moulding to each other.

Until there is no distance left.

Chapter 30 - A new day dawns

And a new life begins. Stella wakes up in her new home, feeling curious, elated and peaceful at the same time. She can hear Ingmar in the kitchen, preparing breakfast for them.

She puts up her hair in a soft bun and joins him. The shyness from yesterday is far behind them now and they begin an animated conversation almost at once. Both enjoying lively meals. Neither of them feeling any need for silence even at breakfast. Living with Ingmar is vitalizing. So very different from her life with Morty.

Ingmar has a beautiful home, she thinks - some items she recognizes from the cottage. And the bathroom is a dream! After breakfast she enjoys a luxurious bubble bath …

… with Ingmar on a stool beside her, continuing a discussion they started at breakfast. She is not used to this intimacy – but strangely enough it feels all very natural. She knows this man better and feels more at home with him already after just one day, than she ever felt with the man she was married to for almost twenty years – and with whom she even has two children. They were strangers to each other, strangers – she can see that clearly now. She was too young to even know very much about herself when she met Morty. What similarities there were, whatever drew them to each other – that is long gone. When they grew, they grew apart. With Ingmar she feels at home. With Ingmar she is herself. A person long buried inside her, breaking free at last.

It is such a pleasure to be together, to spend their days together. All these common interests which they can engage in completely unrestrained now. Music …

... walks in the park …

... hours spent in cosy cafés...

...and frequent visits to museums and art galleries – everything really that Stella has been longing to do.

Not to mention those wonderful lazy afternoons...

At first they feel the need to keep to themselves. Really savour the pleasure of being together, but when almost a week has passed, Ingmar tells Stella that there is someone he really would like her to meet. His nephew, the son of Ingmar’s late sister, has a loft in that very same building in which Ingmar (and now Stella) lives. He lost both his parents while he was still only a teenager, and moved in with Ingmar. They feel more like father and son now, and usually spend a lot of time together. They both like fishing, for example.
“He doesn’t want to disturb now, but I’m sure he will be thrilled to get to know you at last. After all, he has heard a lot about you for a very long time,” Ingmar says. “Would it be alright if we invited him to dinner tonight?”

There is still so much to learn about each other. This nephew comes as a surprise, even if Stella remembers Ingmar mentioning something about a young relative with whom he usually spends a lot of time, now when she really comes to think about it.
So the nephew of course is invited, and Stella is introduced. He seems to be a charming young man – and the resemblance to Ingmar is striking.

His name is Alex.

Chapters 21 - 25

2010-09-19T15:00:00.010+02:00

Chapter 21 - Time flies

and summer is almost over. The day has come, when Sandra Roth is leaving home for Bramble College. She has been packing for the last couple of days. Colin left the country at the end of the week before, and Sandra does not feel overly sorry. The initial excitement died down rather fast, none of them very focused on each other. Colin thinking on his impendent trip and Sandra feeling eager to leave for college. They agreed to stay in touch though, but no promises made – and none expected. They parted amicably – feeling that their relation had already become more of a friendship anyway. Sandra takes a last look around her room. Has she forgotten anything?

But no – everything is packed, and her taxi has arrived to take her to the station. Her mother wanted them to drive her to the railway station in Bluewater, but Sandra prefers it this way. Nice and quick. She can’t wait to start the adventure of growing up. But the whole family is gathered of course, to see her off.

And the day after, Jules O’Mackey makes that same trip.

So now the Roths have only one child still at home, and feel relieved that Xander still has a long time before he has finished school too. School hasn’t begun yet though. There are still some precious days left of summer vacations. Xander keeps riding his bike to the small lake on the outskirts of Riverblossom Hills, which is quite a long distance.

All that exercise makes a great difference of course. One day he discovers that he is by no means plump anymore. Quite fit rather. What a nice surprise!

The pimples remain though. Time to start fighting them – he didn’t really bother before.

At the Greenmans’ time has come to celebrate Violet’s birthday. Daisy has become a teenager a couple of days before but has chosen to celebrate together with her sister. Marianne has come over for the birthday cake.

It is a warm day, still warm enough to sit outside.
“Now when I’m a big girl - can I stay up later and watch TV?” is the first thing Violet wants to know.
“We’ll see about that”, her mother says. “Not on school days of course! And you are starting school tomorrow. Don’t you feel excited about that?”
And Violet does, of course.

Violet does not only get a lot of presents, she also gets to have Daisy’s old room as her own.

Daisy is moving into the outbuilding instead – to what used to be the place where the farmhand or maid slept. Her father has put up new wallpaper for her, and she got to choose the pattern herself. The furniture is also new, her old bed and desk still in what is now Violet’s room. Violet will have to wear her old winter coat too ... the disadvantage of having an older sibling.

Daisy’s new quarters are quite spacious, the only disadvantage being that she has to go outside to go to the bathroom – but she has her own shower and toilet, in the little red building next to her room.

But the absolute best thing is that her parents think that she is now old enough to take care of a dog herself. At last she gets to have a little puppy dog, a female that Daisy names “Biscuit”. She has her sleeping basket in Daisy’s room.

This far, what has not been originally Maxis’ houses, I’ve built myself – but Bramble College has been put together with lots that I have downloaded.
I would like to thank kashintegreen at MTS for some cool faculties (including a secret society) as well as a bunch of other community lots.
[url=http://www.modthesims.info/member.php?u=228093]http://www.modthesims.info/member.php?u=228093[/url]
And (also found at MTS) I’ve used some of StephSim’s lots from A Small Modern Kingdom, that I thought would fit in nicely here.
[url=http://www.modthesims.info/member.php?u=656562]http://www.modthesims.info/member.php?u=656562[/url]
The dorm where Sandra and Jules live, I’ve built myself though.

Chapter 22 - Bramble College

is an old and well-known small university, situated in the mountains.

The dorm, where Jules is living, is quite cosy, built in mountain village style, and Jules thinks she is going to like it very much here.

She has a very comfortable and pleasant room in the girls' building – separate buildings for each sex, and matron is very particular about the rule “no visiting in sleeping quarters”. The main building contains good places for socializing: library, computers a pool table and even a piano. It would have been absolutely perfect ...

... if that awful Sandra Roth wasn’t also staying there. Not only in the same dorm – but in the room next to Jules. Jules finds Sandra snotty and self-righteous and she also has personal reasons to dislike her. It happens that Jules was already dating Jacob, when he ran into Sandra at the store and immediately was bewitched by her. With Sandra going to private school, Jules has barely met her – although they have been living in the same neighbourhood all these years. Sandra is probably completely unaware that she took Jacob from Jules – and she most probably wouldn’t care if she knew anyway. Jules does not like her.

But they are not the only ones living there and it is quite exciting meeting so many new people.
There is Brenda, who also happens to study medicine just like Jules. They get along super fine from the start, and Jules is sure they are going to be great friends.

Then there is Diana. She seems a bit mysterious, very nice but with lots of integrity. Very artistic and studying art as well. She wants to become an illustrator.

And then the guys: John, who is going to be an English teacher;

genius Ralph – studying math;

sporty Andy, the football player who wants to become a sports journalist;

and last but not least - hunky Keith, an architect student.

Jules finds Keith very attractive.

Sadly enough, it seems that Sandra thinks so too.

Chapter 23 - It is autumn in Riverblossom Hills

Nelly starts her job at the school in Bluewater and moves to her new apartment.

At the Roths’ Sandra is missing, but Xander has become much more extroverted – his parents hardly recognize him. His difficult teenage years seem to be behind him already. Morty paying attention to Stella didn’t last very long. They are back to normal again: Morty preoccupied and rather pleased with himself, and Stella feeling lonely and disconnected.

But things are about to change. Patricia’s pregnancy is starting to show – and then of course people also start to talk.

You can always rely on Betty picking up gossip faster than anyone else. But this time she is truly shocked and does not know what to think about what she’s heard. She must tell Catherine at once.
“Your niece Cleo’s friend is pregnant, and my cousin Morty is said to be the father! Can you believe it? I wouldn’t have thought that Patricia to be such a slut!”
“Don’t call her that!” Catherine reproachfully says. “We don’t know the whole story. I’d better ask Cleo over”.

So Cleo comes, and feels rather relieved to be able to speak to someone about this difficult situation at last. Especially someone as experienced and sensible as her aunt. They have always had this special connection and are very fond of each other. In fact they are very similar. So Cleo tells the whole story about how Morty has been courting Patricia for a very long time and how he has made great efforts to convince her that he is about to get a divorce.
“I don’t say that Patricia hasn’t done anything wrong, but I really don’t think this could have happened, hadn’t she felt so hurt when Gabe O’Mackey went back to his old wife. She was quite crushed, you know.”
“Well, this certainly is a disastrous situation,” Catherine says “and poor Stella has no idea about it. I think she must get to know it, the sooner the better.”
“I can tell her!” Betty volunteers. “After all, Morty is my cousin and I feel some responsibility. Men are such pigs!!”
“They are not all the same, you know Betty,” Catherine says dryly “but I’ve always thought that Morty was a pompous ass. Obviously he is also a jerk.”
So Betty is going to tell Stella, but sadly enough there is reason to suspect that she is not only acting out of some kind of responsibility, but also is feeling the thrill of the situation. After all, this is some really juicy gossip.

“She is WHAT!” Stella exclaims, shocked beyond words. And as Betty has heard everything Cleo had to tell, Stella also gets to hear the whole story from beginning to end.

Stella’s whole world cracks – as does her innocence. She is disgusted that she has been so naive. She may seem delicate and vulnerable – but she is in fact quite strong and able to process experiences quickly. Already she can feel a new Stella rise from the ruins of the old. And a very determinate Stella, that is. She of course feels very angry with both Patricia and Morty, but at the same time her head stays cool enough to realize which of them who has been deliberately delusive. That Morty does not want to take responsibility for his actions, she finds unbelievably disgusting.

She finds Morty in his study and confronts him with what she has come to know. He tries to deny everything all the same – and then she really becomes furious with him so he gets to hear every last thing she feels about what he has done. He has never seen Stella like this, and is completely dumbfounded.
“You will provide for that child! Do you hear me!!?” Stella ends. ”You and Patricia may have behaved badly but an unborn child is without blame.” And then she leaves the room but turns on the threshold and adds: “And by the way, our marriage is over, as you must understand”.

And then she moves her things into to Sandra’s room.

Later that day she drives to the cottage where Ingmar used to live.

Inside there is nothing of Ingmar left. It feels abandoned and cold, just like she feels inside. Why oh why did she stay with Morty when Ingmar asked her to leave. She buries her face in her hands and cries bitterly.

Chapter 24 - Stella has decided to file for divorce

and now she is looking for some place where she can move. She has spoken to Xander about her leaving Morty and has told him that he is welcome to come with her if he wants to, but they have agreed that it is better for him to stay. She is not at all dependent on Morty as she comes from a wealthy family herself, and since both her parents have passed away she is quite well off. But she can’t decide if she is going to look for an apartment in Bluewater or rather rent some cottage here in Riverblossom Hills. As Xander is going to private school in Bluewater, it doesn’t matter where she chooses to live.

But it is hard to make the decision. She has never lived on her own – and she really doesn’t know where to begin now. Morty is quite decent about her staying in the house for now, and they try to behave as well towards each other as possible in order to avoid making things unnecessary difficult for their son – but of course the atmosphere is less than warm and relaxed.

As much as they try to spare Xander, he feels very sad about his family falling apart and suffers from the bad atmosphere between his parents. He tries to spend as much time as possible away from home and is longing for some real friends that he could turn to now. One day he meets this cute little dog outside the store.
“Hello little doggy!” he says. “Are you here all by yourself? What’s your name, huh?”

“Her name is Biscuit,” a girl coming out from the shop answers “and she is my dog. My name is Daisy Greenman, and this is my sister Violet. What’s your name?”
Xander introduces himself. Usually he finds it rather difficult to talk to girls, but with Daisy he is feeling completely relaxed. She seems to be quite the tomboy, perhaps that’s the reason that he finds it so easy to talk to her. And they soon discover that they have a lot of common interests. Daisy likes fishing too and has her own insect collection.

So suddenly he finds himself having a real friend and starts to spend most of his free time over at the Greenmans’ farm.

Where he also learns a little something about growing things, while helping Daisy with her daily tasks in the kitchen garden.

The Greenman family makes him feel at home with them, and it doesn’t matter that much now, that things at home are as they are.

So Stella is getting a divorce, but her friend Kirsti is settling down. Her firefighter boyfriend Roland has asked her to marry him, she tells Stella.

Stella is invited to the wedding …

… and the newlyweds move into the cottage where Ingmar used to live.

Stella has tried repeatedly to call Ingmar, but she only reaches his answering machine and finally she leaves him a message, telling him what has happened at that she is getting a divorce – and how dreadfully sorry she is that she didn’t leave Morty when Ingmar asked her to. “Please forgive me!” she concludes. “I miss you so very much.”

But Ingemar does not call back.

Chapter 25 - At Bramble College

the new dorm mates are beginning to form new friendships and becoming a group. Sandra Roth being one of the most influential and enterprising – as usual. Jules is shyer and is a little envious that Sandra so easily becomes the centre of things. Jules would like to be more outgoing and self-confident – and for example try getting to know Keith better. But she finds him far too attractive to dare talking to him.
One day Sandra gets the idea that they should all visit the nearby fun fair and have some fun together.

But of course that gives Sandra good opportunity to spend time with Keith – and that probably was also the reason for her making them go there in the first place. Keith looks as dazzled and charmed as guys always do around Sandra. That makes Jules feel dull and uninteresting...

... especially as her friend Brenda seems to be hooking up with genius Ralph.

But her mood brightens as she makes a new acquaintance. The trip to the fun fair was not a complete waste of time after all. Rebecca wears a black jacket equipped with an interesting badge. She seems to like Jules and asks all kind of questions. So many questions really that Jules almost gets suspicious. What is this all about?

Just a couple of days later, a guy at her faculty introduces himself as “Berndt – a friend of Rebecca’s” and goes on with asking Jules even more questions. He seems friendly enough but now Jules really starts to wonder. He too is wearing this mysterious jacket with the llama badge.

And finally this cool chic turns up at her dorm and introduces herself as “Alice – a friend of Rebecca’s and Berndt’s”. She is not wearing the black jacket – but somehow Jules feels certain, that Alice too owns one.

Meanwhile Morty is struggling to get his life together again and regain his self esteem. Stella filing for divorce was a hard blow, even if he has tried very hard not to show it. He had it all, hadn’t he? What happened? Other people might perhaps have learned something, but Morty does not want to see that it is entirely his own fault. He prefers to look upon it as “bad luck”. But soon life starts to look brighter again. His secretary retires, so he must hire a new one and as soon as he has met Michelle, he calls off the other interviews. There is something very special about her.

She didn’t have the best credentials, but she is efficient enough, as Morty often has opportunity to oversee, as he repeatedly seems to find a reason to go into the secretary room.

Michelle does not go out for lunch but chooses to bring something to microwave and Morty takes the habit of making her company with a cup of coffee. The more he gets to know her, the more special she becomes. And she seems to be so impressed by him – which feels very nice for a change...

Marianne wishes that Jacob could seem more impressed by her, at least a little bit interested. He is friendly and not rejecting – but he does not seem to get the signals she is trying to send to him. She comes visiting at McGreggor's farm as often as she can find a reason – and very often without one and Leod encourages her. He is worried about Jacob, who has changed from the carefree boy he was when Leod first met him into a very serious young man. Sandra breaking up with Jacob, made him grow up over night – but he has become much too serious for his age, Leod finds. He should be having more fun.

But Jacobs does not want to get out a lot. He seems to be content with the company of Leod...

... and really happy with the work on the farm.

Chapters 16 - 20

2010-09-19T12:43:00.007+02:00

Chapter 16 – Far, far away

from Riverblossom Hills, are Catherine and Andrew enjoying their vacation on Twikki Island and they won’t be heading home for a couple of weeks yet. There are lots of things to see and they go on sightseeing every other day …

… but they both enjoy basking in the sun, bathing and relaxing, so just staying at the hotel works just fine too.

The hotel also has everything needed for a real nice evening. They usually take a nightcap in the bar by the beach …

… before they withdraw to their suite …

Back home in Riverblossom Hills life goes on. The Greenmans keep working on that big family they so much long for and Rose is pregnant again.

With Jason working in the fields all day, Rose has a lot to do in the house and Violet still needs a lot of attention.

But Rose gets tired very fast now when she is pregnant, and she usually goes to bed very early in the evening …

… so Daisy spends most of her time with Jason. She is daddy’s girl anyway, although Jason isn’t her real father – but none of them thinks of it that way. Daisy looks very much like her late father though, with almost pointed ears and slanted eyebrows. The Greenman family is very old and lived in Riverblossom Hills long before any other people moved there. Some say that they originally came out of the woods, that they are descendants of the elves – that might be just a tall story, but the Greenmans certainly have a gift for growing things and Daisy is no exception.

She already helps out a lot on the farm. She is still too young to have thought about choosing a profession, but the one she is born to seems perfect to her. She can’t imagine life without farming.

But living outside the village also means that is difficult for her to see her friends outside of school. She spends a lot of time on her own and hopes that her little sister Violet will grow up fast, so they can have more fun together. Or perhaps, perhaps she can have that puppy she keeps nagging her parents about.

Jacob on the other hand has made a considered choice to learn farming, but it takes some time to adjust to the early mornings. When the alarm clock goes off on the first morning, he can’t believe] it is already time to get up. It is still dark outside and his bed feels so warm and nice … It takes a real effort to get out of bed.

He is glad that Leod isn’t the chatting type. They eat their breakfast in silence. But it doesn’t feel bad, it is a friendly silence. The both of them get along just fine. There seems to be a real understanding between them and they don’t have to speak very much. That is a good start – Jacob is confident that he has made the right choice. Could he just get used to get up at this unearthly hour …

Chapter 17 - It isn't very easy ...

being a slightly geeky and plump teenage boy with pimples when your older sister is beautiful, popular and very sure of herself.

Xander does not have many friends and keeps mostly to himself. His number one interest is nature. First there was the aquarium …

… and he still enjoys searching new specimen for his insect collection …

… but this summer he has spent most of the time improving his fishing skills. And that has given him new friends among the other enthusiasts. This is Xander’s first experience of socializing with grownups, and it has made wonders with his self esteem already. Teenagers can be so cruel to each other – especially if you are geeky and clumsy, but among his fishing friends he is just one of them – sharing this particular interest.

His sister on the other hand, has a hard time finding something useful to do now when Jacob is working with farmer McGreggor. She hasn’t seen much of him since he moved in there – in the evenings he is mostly far too tired to stay up long. They have been to the diner together once – that’s about it. Sandra is bored.

Her dork of a brother is no real company. Well – teasing him can be fun.

There is not very much to do in Riverblossom Hills, so it doesn’t take Sandra long to realize that Bluewater has more to offer. When only her mother wouldn’t insist on her taking Xander with her. “He needs to get out more”. Xander doesn’t want to go, and Sandra does not want to bring him – but it can’t be helped, she can’t have her mother’s car if she doesn’t take Xander with her. Usually they end up doing completely different things, Sandra shopping and Xander visiting the library or the museum.

At Cleo’s and Patricia’s there is much more going on. When Patricia met Morty, she slipped away from her friends, but now she has started seeing her friend Nelly again. Nelly is a music teacher and a hobby musician and has just got a job at a school in Bluewater that she will begin when term starts after the summer holidays. She has already sold her little cottage in Riverblossom Hills and moved in with her mother for a while because she won’t get access to her new apartment in Bluewater for a couple of weeks yet.
“But stay here instead!” Patricia says. “We can put a bed in the study. We could have so much fun!”
And that would also keep Morty from visiting when Cleo is at work. Patricia really wants to free herself from him now, but she feels the need of support in that.
“Great!” Nelly says. “Living with mum again feels a little awkward and I do think she would be relieved too. We really have very different habits and daily rhythm.”
So – Nelly moves in.

As does this gorgeous guy! Choosy Cleo has finally fallen for someone. Christian is his name and he is a musician.

“Congrats, Cleo!” Patricia says. “He seems to be a great guy – and totally devoted to you!”

So now the house is never empty and Patricia feels so at ease and safe in the comforting company of her friends.

It makes it so much easier to say no to Morty when he calls.
“I really don’t think we should see each other anymore,” she tells him. “After all – you are married.”
Morty tries to persuade her, but she is relieved to notice that he has no power over her any more.

Chapter 18 - Shopping is fun

and Sandra has a generous weekly allowance, but that does not make her feel less lonely.

Therefore she is thrilled when she gets a new acquaintance at the ice cream café. His name is Colin and Sandra thinks that he is almost unbelievably cool. He is a skater and plays in a band and even if he too just has finished school and intends to go to college – eventually - he is going to see the world first, backpacking. Living cheap, earning money when there is an opportunity, hopefully not return home until next summer. He has been saving money and planning this trip for a very long time and he and a friend of his are leaving the country about the time when Sandra will be off for college. Sandra finds him just awesome and is very impressed. It gets even better: he asks her out. And well, as Jacob has no time anyway … why should that stop her from having fun?

And as soon as she sees Colin again, he makes her forget all about Jacob. Sandra finds Colin wonderfully bold and exciting.

And what movie did they watch? Heaven knows – they didn’t pay much attention …

The same day Morty takes a client out to lunch and runs into Ingmar Backman.
“Haven’t seen you for a while”, he says “Have you been away?”
But Ingmar has moved back to Bluewater, he tells Morty, who is astonished that Stella has not mentioned it at all. And doesn’t Ingmar seem a little uneasy …? Morty realizes that he hasn’t given the relationship between Ingmar and Stella much thought, and he begins to suspect that perhaps he should have.

And then Betty asks him if Stella is depressed. According to Betty she seems not to be her normal self. She is spending a lot of time at the grand piano, playing Chopin – in the most expressive way - making an impression of tightly restrained but passionate feelings. Now Morty really gets suspicious. This requires action! Time to get closer to Stella again – after all, she is HIS wife.

He does not waste any time. After dinner he puts the TV on and asks Stella to join him. She is very surprised. Most evenings he withdraws to his study or goes to the pub, as soon as he has finished his meal.
“I’ve been so terribly busy the last couple of months!” Morty says. “I really miss spending time with my family! “
Since Sandra is having her date with Colin in Bluewater and Xander prefers to spend the evening in his own room – reading a comic book – that leaves Morty and Stella to themselves.
“Ha, ha – it is almost as before we had kids!” Morty says. “Kind of sad – but there it is, the kids are growing up. I am not sad to spend more time with you though! It has been too long!”
Stella hasn’t seen this side of Morty in a very long time. He really seems interested in hearing about her day, about her thoughts and feelings. She is starved for company and attention, and her attitude to him feels so much warmer at once.

But it still feels strange and unexpected when they go to bed and Morty reaches for her. He hasn’t really touched her for months.

But after a short hesitation she lets him embrace her – and after all, they have been together for so many years – she feels at home in his arms and she buries her longing for Ingmar deep inside. What is the point of longing for someone she can’t have? Someone she should not long for.

At the Greenmans’ Rose is experiencing a really bad pregnancy. She is really feeling ill and her doctor is very concerned. He orders her to stay in bed and tells her that it is crucial that she doesn’t move a finger before this child is born – or it could end badly. He also discourages her from having any more children after this one.
“You are more fragile than you think!”

Rose is sad and asks Jason if he really believes that it could be that dangerous to try for another baby after this one, they both love children and wanted a really big family. But Jason tells her that three will do just fine and that the most important thing for him is spending his life with her.
“I want to grow old with you! Now you listen to the doctor, and stay in bed! I’ll take care of the children”.

Managing farm and children without any help, proves impossible of course, and he is very thankful that their friend and neighbour Marianne is willing to help him out.

But after a couple of days Jason feels completely worn-out anyway.

Chapter 19 - In order to get some private time

Sandra and Colin join Xander on one of his fishing trips. Xander is not that naive that he doesn’t understand why they are coming with him, but they are having a surprisingly good time together.

Even if Sandra and Colin get tired of actually fishing relatively soon. That wasn’t their main intention with coming here.

After a day well spent (albeit in different ways), they reunite around the camp fire, having quite a good time with the other campers, making hot dogs and chatting.

Inspired by Sandra and Colin, Xander tries to get to know one of the girls better. It could be about time for that first kiss. Or is he going to die a virgin (which is quite a common fear at a certain point in life). Xander certainly thinks this must be the case. At least he doesn’t get lucky this time.

Unlike some ... (guess who)

Some also may engage in entertainment, others don’t have much time for that. Jacob works full days at the farm, which for each day is giving him not only more skills, but also muscles as well as a deep tan. But although it is hard work, he really enjoys it.

The pets on the farm adding even more joy. Jacob has always longed for a dog, and he soon gets very fond of McGregor’s bitch Trixie as well as the two cats. They are always up to some mischief, but that is fun too – even if he has to lecture them (the cats paying v e r y much attention, as many of you of course will recognize ...)

And after a couple of weeks Jacobs is not longer completely exhausted at the end of the day. He is feeling stronger and healthier than ever before in his life. McGreggor is a very generous boss, offering Jacob to take the truck if he wants to go somewhere when the working day is over, and there comes this evening when Jacob feels keen on really doing something instead of collapsing in front of the TV. He tries to reach Sandra, but her mother tells him that she is out, so he goes to the diner on his own.

It feels nice to have a burger and pay for it with money he has earned himself (he always gets paid at the end of the week) and even if Jacob would have preferred having some company, he enjoys feeling so adult and independent.

Then he spots Sandra when she comes out from the ladies' room, but before he is able to get to her, some other guy – a complete stranger to him – gets up from his table and walks towards Sandra and KISSES her!!!

Jacob can’t believe what is happening, but he jumps up and runs through the diner and confronts Sandra. Sandra is taken with surprise, and feels more than a little ashamed, but - as it so often happens when you don’t want to admit that you’ve done wrong - she reacts by getting angry and accusing Jacob of wanting her to be his property.
“I don’t belong to you! “she shouts – and then she breaks up with him, thereby – of course – leaving Jacob heartbroken.

And in another part of Riverblossom Hills, Patricia’s heart skips a beat when it suddenly becomes clear to her that she doesn’t look like she used to. All those loose fitting summer dresses has made her miss her waist disappearing.

A look in the great mirror in her bedroom confirms what she suspected. The roundness tells her that she must be pregnant...

Chapter 20 - How peaceful

this house looks. From the outside you couldn’t guess that it houses a very distressed woman, who has an import telephone call to make. To wait by the phone for the clock to turn 9, feels like an eternity.

Poor Patricia has to tell Morty about her pregnancy, and she assumes that it is best to call him in the office. Being discreet doesn’t pay off though. Morty immediately refuses to recognize the baby to be his.
“It can’t be!” he says. “We haven’t seen each other for quite some time now, and you’ve obviously not been lacking company …” he evilly suggests. “Now, I really have more important things to do, I do have a business to run, you know. Please do not disturb me again. Especially not with these allegations. I am quite sure I could have nothing to do with that. I refuse to hear anymore about it!!” And then he hangs up.

Patricia’s legs tremble so that she must sit down. She feels almost ill with fear – and anger against herself.
“You stupid, stupid girl! Why did you go to bed with him? Now, you’ve learnt a lesson – but at what price? What is going to happen now? How will I ever cope with this situation?”

And there Cleo finds her.
“Now love, what is the matter? I’ve never seen you look so desperate.”
So Patricia tells Cleo what has happened and ends:
“What will become of me? What shall I do? I think I will lose my job too – this is only a temporary position.”

“You’ll stay right here – of course!” Cleo firmly answers. “There will be a solution for everything. We haven’t seen the end of this. Don’t worry about money – you can live here for free for now, I didn’t pay a penny for this house myself – my aunt gave it to me with all that is in it. And I really think you should keep on writing on that book of yours. It will keep your mind busy if nothing else – and I truly think you could make a living out of it.”
“Oh, Cleo! You are such a wonderful friend!” Patricia says feeling very relieved. Right now her life looks like a complete disaster anyway of course – but at least she doesn’t have to worry about the most necessary things. She has somewhere, where she belongs and can feel safe even if she knows she can’t stay with Cleo and Christian forever.

“You can count on me too!” Nelly assures her. “Don’t think that I moving to Bluewater will change anything. You can call me whenever you need me! Don’t hesitate”.
And Christian also tells her, that he doesn’t mind at all that she keeps on living with them.
Patricia is very thankful, that she is lucky enough to have such reliable friends. What would her life look without them right now? She shudders at the thought.

It won’t be long now, until Jules (and Sandra Roth) will be leaving Riverblossom Hills for Bramble College, but there is still one week left. Jules is excited to leave, but at the same time she is sorry to leave home – especially as her new little sister is still so young. She will miss her growing up. At this age so much happens every day.

Little Jackie O’Mackey spends her days with her father, but her mother also tries to spends as much time as possible with her youngest daughter. It is Alexandra who teaches Jackie to walk.

And the relationship between Gabe and Alexandra is better than ever before. Their feelings maturing into a deep understanding (despite the differences in temper) and quiet joy, that they found the way back to each other. They make sure to take care of the affection they share. They know to appreciate what they have and will never take each other for granted again.

At the Greenmans’ Jason is juggling the daily tasks. He is very worried for Rose too, and is afraid that he will lose her.

Marianne is very good support though. She even moves in with them for a while, so she can help out 24/7. After all – Rose is her best friend and Marianne can afford to take some days off. She is a cabinet maker by profession and moved here not so long ago when she inherited enough money to live independently, especially as she is no big spender. She bought a little cottage a bit further down the road from the Greenmans’ farm. She keeps on working as a cabinet maker, taking orders (her most recent job being some refurnishing at the diner) – but has no need to earn very much from it. She is happy to have left town far behind and is enjoying the calm and peaceful country life.

But it is not so long before the waiting is over and Rose gives birth to a healthy little girl. Meet Summer Greenman! As soon as the baby is born, Rose feels good again. But Jason is determined that they will not try for any more children. And Rose has to see that he is right in that. After all – she can’t risk her own life and leave her children motherless.
“Three little girls make bunch!” she affectionately thinks to herself.

As it is customary the neighbours come to congratulate. Farmer McLeod of course bringing Jacob with him. He is quite surprised though, by the many questions Marianne asks about Jacob. Well now, he is on the verge of becoming a grown man and quite obviously the women in the neighbourhood recognize that. McLeod has been worried about Jacob, who has been very quiet since Sandra broke up with him. When he has overcome the most acute stage, Jacob will discover that he does not need to be alone for long...

Chapters 11 - 15

2010-09-19T07:57:00.004+02:00

Chapter 11 - Drifting apart

It is raining as Ingmar leaves his rented cottage on Saturday morning to fetch Stella for the trip to the museum.

But when they arrive, the weather has already changed and it looks like it's going to be a fine day.
"I am very glad you wanted to come!" Ingmar tells Stella. "I am so looking forward to show you all the interesting things they have here - particularly this Egyptian exhibition is most fascinating."

Stella must agree on that, especially as Ingmar seems to know so very much. He has something to tell her about every new item they look at.

"Of course there is so much more to see in Egypt!" Ingmar says. "I sure would like to show you some of the beautiful places there; the temples, the pyramids - the many statues!"

They spend a couple of hours walking around in the museum, but in the end Stella starts to feel real dizzy. Obviously she has hit her limit of how many new impressions (and information to go with that) she can take in on one day. Her feet ache as well. They decide to have a refreshing cup of espresso in the museum cafeteria and rest for a while. And there is so much to talk about!

It is still early in the afternoon when they get back to Riverblossom Hills, and Ingmar offers Stella to have some late luncheon with him at his cottage. He prepares a salad while Stella has a look around. The cottage is quite modern furnished in a style that seems mostly male to her. She asks him if he was never married himself. Oh, he was, he tells her. He got married very young as a matter of fact, but they grew apart before they had had any children and divorced quite amicably. Since then he has had a couple of longer relations, but that has never gone as far as marriage again. Most of the time he has lived on his own as well.

He has had a quite different life than Stella then, who never has lived on her own. Well - apart from the dorm at college, but that's not really living alone. She met Morty at college and as soon as he had graduated they got married. And still Ingmar and Stella seem to have so much in common! The more they talk, the more there is to talk about. It's so vitalizing - she hasn't felt so ... well - alive - in years.

And when it's getting dark and finally she must go home, Ingmar kisses her hand before getting in the car to drive her home. Her heart races again, and she can feel her face flushing. She shouldn't be feeling so much for Ingmar - it sure can't be right. But at the same time - it so wonderful to feel this way. He makes her feel so interesting and attractive. So alive.

A few days later, Morty feels that now when Stella has been out with Ingmar, he has the right to invite Patricia for lunch so he phones her. And she gladly accepts. She's making an early leave today, she tells him, so Morty decides to do the same. No clients booked this afternoon, and the paperwork he can do later. He tells his secretary that she can close earlier and leaves.

He meets Patricia outside the restaurant, and is very pleased that she lets him embrace her without any hesitation.
"I saw Stella with Ingmar Backman the other day?" she tells him - but it sounds more like a question. Ah - that explains her lack of reluctance. Morty immediately decides to use this for his own good.
"Yes, I believe they are seeing each other quite frequently", he says. "As far as I know, they are just friends - but as I told you, Stella and I lead almost separate lives these days," and with that he gives Patricia the impression that if Stella and Ingmar were in fact having an affair, that would be alright with Morty.
Morty of course does not really think that there is more between Stella and Ingmar than friendship. As much as he wants to have a little fun on the side, he would most certainly not want his wife to do the same! But Ingmar could mean no threat to Morty - well, he's OLD! Too old surely for Stella.

This luncheon couldn't have started better, and with Patricia relaxing in his company it gets even better. Morty orders wine and goes on saying things that leaves Patricia with the impression that Morty and Stella are going to separate as soon as the children get just a little older. With Stella leaving for college this autumn, the right time for a divorce could be imminent.

And Morty really does his very best to convince Patricia, that she should see him as a possible partner. She of course really should know better - at least think twice, but it feels so good to be so desired by someone. Makes her feel so much better about herself. The humiliation of Gabe leaving her for his old wife, still hurts. And as luncheon goes by, Morty is able to get closer and closer to Patricia - literally.

As the restaurant has emptied after the busy lunch hours, staff is getting busy cleaning up and preparing for the evening and there are very few other guests left - he makes his big move and at last he gets to kiss Patricia. Ah - so long desired and just as sweet as he has imagined. But now he wants more. He wants it all.

Chapter 12 - Life is good

Andrew thinks. He really likes being married to Catherine. It's nothing but pleasant and fun. They fit together, and he finds himself finding it sad, that it is too late to start a family with her. It feels like he would have liked that – having a family with Catherine.

But Catherine is like a mother to Jacob. They have the garden as their big common interest. The more Jacob learns about growing things, the more he wants to know.

”I don't want to spend my life in an office”, he says, ”I would like to work outside somehow. Perhaps in a greenhouse or something like that”.
”We’ll see what can be arranged”, Catherine says - to Jacob's surprise. That was just a thought that he uttered out loud, but she seems to take him very seriously. She is quite the psychologist. She can clearly see that Jacob is that kind of person that needs to do something with his hands, and to spend much time outside. Being stuck in an office, would be like prison for him.

Prison is the least life looks like to Jacob right now. Since Andrew married Catherine, Jacob has the little room on the backside for himself. It's like having a flat of his own, which can be very convenient. With Sandra going away to university in the end of the summer, they want to spend as much time (and nights) together as they can.

Catherine and Andrew dine out more than once a week. Catherine likes going out. And so does Andrew. It's very nice not having to worry about money anymore. Everything he ever wanted to do, has become possible now,
”It’s about time we travelled somewhere”, Catherine says one evening. ”I like to leave Riverblossom Hills at least once a year. Perhaps Twikki Island this time – how would you like that?”
Well what should Andrew have against that. It sounds terrific!

Cleo too gets out a lot – well it's her job actually. She's a DJ and night time is the right time – for work. Then she doesn't come home until after 3 a clock in the morning. As they are neighbours, Morty can spot her car when she leaves for town. Time for him to ”go to the pub”...

So he pops by Patricia, who is not expecting him and is taken by surprise. Morty does his best to be absolutely overwhelming.

He has brought champagne and sees to that Patricia's glass is never empty,

and as the evening goes by it becomes easy to get cosy on the couch.

Which ends up in Patricia's bedroom … Everything is happening a little too fast. She doesn't know what to think or feel.

And Morty does not stay the night. As long as he and Stella have not officially separated, he does not want to make the children confused, he tells Patricia, who can't help feeling abandoned – and a little cheap – when he leaves. But he assures her that he loves her and that soon he will be able to be with her always.

And that Patricia passes on to Cleo, when she wants to know what the h… Patricia is thinking of, dating a married man. That could never end well. "Remember all the friends we have, that have made that particular experience. They [b]always[/b] say that they will get a divorce!"
”But he will!” Patricia says. ”Probably this fall, when Sandra leaves for university”.
But Cleo does not look very convinced.

Chapter 13 - It is summer

Little Violet Greenman has become a toddler now.

At the O’Mackey’s they are still waiting for Jules’ little sibling to arrive. Alexandra does look forward to the new baby, but she is feeling restless and has problems finding useful things to do. She tries to kip fit. Gabe waits more patiently.

Jules has passed her exams with the good grades she expected – but also has worked very hard for.
“I want to be a doctor!” she tells her father. And just that is what she is going to study this fall.

But for now she can look forward to several weeks of summer holidays and for once she can read things just for pleasure.

In the beginning of summer her little sister Jackie is born.

As Gabe is a teacher he too has summer holidays, but he will not return to teaching this fall. He feels quite content with this. When Jules grew up he was very busy with his career and he came to really appreciate the time alone with Jules he got when Alexandra left him. This time he won’t miss a thing! Alexandra on the other hand spent all her time with Jules when she was little and now she is happy to return to work. Gabe kisses her in the morning before she leaves and in the evening when she returns.

In between he happily spends the day with his youngest daughter.

Sandra and Jacob of course have finished school too. They spend as much time together as the can, occasionally even driving around in Jacob’s father’s fancy car.

“Let’s take some pictures!” Jacobs says. “Soon you will go away. I want something to remember you by. And I want you to remember me too!!”

The time that Jacob is not spending with Sandra, he spends in the garden. He loves the smell of earth and growing things.

So one day Catherine invites their neighbour, farmer McGreggor, over for lemonade and fresh baked raspberry pie. Jacob’s future is being discussed. She has been talking this over with Jacob, and when she suggested to him that perhaps he would like to learn farming, he did not only like the idea – he became enthusiastic.
“I could really need a couple of extra hands around," Mr. McGreggor says. "I would be happy to take Jacob in. Its better he moves in with me – farming starts early you see my boy. There will be no sleeping in before we’re past harvest. It’s up with the sun – or before it.”
That doesn’t sound that fun, Jacob must admit, but he really feels that farming could be the right thing for him, so he must get used to that. Worse is that living at McGreggor’s farm will mean an end to his nights with Sandra. Summer is the most hectic time for a farmer, so Jacobs’s new career will start in just a couple of days. Catherine and Mr. McGreggor both feel that Jacob deserves at least one week of summer holidays. Farming is hard work.
Andrew does not say very much. Jacob seems very happy about this, so Andrew is sure that Catherine has made a good decision - she usually does, he has come to think.

Chapter 14 - Patricia

Keeps seeing Morty – or rather he keeps seeing her. Popping by whenever Cleo is out of the way. Patricia suggests that perhaps they could go out together once in a while – they could go to Bluewater if he feels that it would start too much gossip in Riverblossom Hills.

But he is content with staying at home he tells her.
“You are all that I want!!” he assures her.
When she tries to discuss their future, he always seems to find a way to avoid the subject. And he never stays the night.

Patricia reluctantly begins to suspect that Morty is not completely honest with her. She does not want to tell Cleo that just right now, but she brings the subject “Morty” up. As always that makes Cleo look awkward, but now Patricia really wants to know what Cleo thinks.

At last she desperately exclaims:
“Could it all just be about sex for him?!”
At last Patricia starts to think, but it seems to Cleo that she wants to be reassured and comforted. She does not yet seem ready to break up with Morty.
“Well, I’m afraid that could be the case,” she says. But then – just as Cleo feared she would - Patricia starts to list everything that points in the opposite direction. She still wants to believe that Morty really loves her, that he will get a divorce and marry her instead.
Cleo sighs and shifts on the couch. This is going to be a long night.

In the end however Cleo gets the feeling that Patricia is starting to rethink the relationship with Morty. The next morning she tells Patricia that she really should keep working on her book.
“Focus on yourself instead! I think that you really were getting somewhere with this story. At least I’ve liked what I’ve read so far. Now you haven’t written a word in weeks! Stop thinking of Morty all the time and start writing again!”

That is good advice and as soon as Patricia has heard it she can feel the longing to write well up inside her again. She used to love writing. What has come over her lately? Right after breakfast she sits down and lets her mind get sucked into the story again. Just as before it feels really soothing. Real life keeps feeling like a rocky road – but this story will have a happy ending.

A happy ending is what Ingmar Backman is longing for too. He and Stella are seeing each other every other day now. He finds himself smiling at his own image in the mirror. He is feeling like a really lucky guy.

It is wonderful to be around Stella. She is a truly good person – and funny too. And she seems to feel so at ease with him. They still get around a lot, because there is so much Ingmar wants to show Stella, but they have also started to just spend time in each other’s company. Being quiet together works just fine too. More than fine.

He likes that very much. In fact he likes that too much. Because Stella belongs to another...

... but Ingmar finds it harder and harder to repress what he is feeling. He knows now that he is wildly in love with Stella.

And one day he cannot resist his feelings any longer. He reaches out and touches her face.
“You’ve brought joy to my life,” he tells her softly. Her eyes tell him she feels the same.

So he kisses her, for the entire world to see.

Chapter 15 - The kiss

lasts just a short precious moment, then Stella - with a great effort that seems to rip the heart out of her chest – tears herself loose from Ingmar and takes a step backwards.
“NO – we can’t! This is wrong!” She says. Tears in her eyes, pain in her voice. They have crossed a border now and there is no going back. No way to pretend this never happened.

They stay in the church for several hours, talking about their relationship, trying to decide what to do now.
“Please leave him!” Ingmar begs Stella. “You don’t love him anymore and he doesn’t seem to care very much about you. Your children are almost grownup.”
But Stella can’t help feeling guilty and that she has betrayed her family. She is no longer in love with Morty, that is very clear to her, but at the same time she can’t stand the thought of hurting him. She can’t stand the thought of losing Ingmar either, but there seems to be no other way.
“I am so sorry, she tells him, but I can’t see you anymore. Those have been the happiest days of my life, but I cannot let down the people that trust me. It breaks my heart, but I must beg you not to call me again.” And it certainly breaks her heart to tell him so.
Ingmar tries, but can’t persuade her to change her mind.

It is late when they leave the church. Graveyards are full of sad memories. Haunted by the ghosts from the past.

And so are Stella and Ingmar now – full of sad memories. Already haunted of what has been, could have been and never will be. Their walk towards Ingmar’s car feels like walking towards their own funeral.

Stella looks back at the church while Ingmar unlocks the car. The statue of the Grim Reaper looks back on her; most symbolically it seems to her.
“She is so lovely …” Ingmar thinks.

“… and now I’ve lost her forever. How could I be so stupid? I’ve ruined it all!”

When Stella gets home, the house is dark and empty. No one is home. Stella watches her own image in the mirror. The joy has gone from her eyes, life from her face. She feels empty now. Hollow.

But no one seems to notice. Everyone is occupied with their own business. Stella and Jacob are squeezing out the most of his last days in “freedom”. Driving around the countryside in his dad’s car – or Stella’s little sports car, a gift from Morty when she turned 40. Not really Stella’s choice of a car. But Sandra loves it of course.

And there are also lazy hours at the pool. Getting a tan, swimming and diving. Sandra is an avid swimmer; she was in fact on the swim team of her school. She spends at least an hour every day swimming, because she wants to get on the swim team of her college too. There are still lots of time left till term begins.

But Jacob’s short holiday has come to its end. In the end of the week he moves in with farmer McGreggor where he gets a very comfortable room of his own. It used to belong to McGreggor’s mother. But what’s the use of the big bed; Jacob thinks to himself and sighs. No way will McGreggor approve of young women staying overnight. He is a very agreeable man, and Jacob thinks that they will get along well – but he is also very conservative.

With everything arranged, Catherine and Andrew feel free to go on their planned vacation to Twikki Island. They will be gone a whole month.

Staying at the luxurious beachfront Hotel d’Azur.

Chapters 6 - 10

2010-09-04T13:40:00.010+02:00

Chapter 6 - A couple of weeks pass by …

and life goes on in Riverblossom Hills.

O'Mackeys are getting used to being a family again and Alexandra is introduced to Jason's wife Rose - they hadn't met yet, when Alexandra divorced Gabe and left Riverblossom Hills. Rose and Jason are expecting their first child together ...

and soon little Violet is born.

Patricia tries to get on with her life. She forces herself to go out with her friends and have fun ...

... but she prefers staying at home where she can forget everything about her own broken heart by writing about love instead. She has started to write a novel, a lovestory - that certainly will have a happy ending!

One day she meets Gabe's brother Jason at the store. They always got along very well, and Jason feels truly sorry for Patricia - but at the same time he knows that Gabe and Alexandra getting back together, was the right thing. Patricia still feels very hurt and betrayed.
Jason tries to comfort her:
"You are such a wonderful person, Patrica! I can't see you staying alone for long. In fact I have a strong feeling, that you will meet someone very soon - someone, who is the right one for you."

Meanwhile Stella has finally asked the nice woman who brings their mail - her name is Kirsti - to come for coffee, and is very glad she did so.

With time enough for a real conversation, they have even more in common than they thought. They already feel they are becoming friends and agree that they must meet and do something fun together, maybe go to Bluewater for shopping. Stella hasn't had a real friend in a very long time. Since she married and moved to Riverblossom Hills she has devoted her time to her family - as have her old friends from school, she supposes. She wonders what they are all doing today. Perhaps she should try to contact some of them again. She has not heard anymore from the nice man she met in the store, and that is probably to the best, so why then does she feel so disappointed ...

Her husband is also keen on meeting new friends. And he is spending more and more time away from home.

While some people are looking for love and longing for changes, some have found what they are looking for. Like Jason and Rose, who knew from the beginning that they were meant for each other. Or Gabe and Alexandra, that have at last found each other again - or Catherine Viejo, who comes over to visit her niece Cleo, looking 20 years younger than last time they met.

And she has the most remarkable news. She is going to marry Andrew Martin! There is going to be a big party, and Cleo of course is invited - along with her friend Patricia.[/size]

Chapter 7 - The wedding

They were married on a rainy day, the sky was yellow and the grass was grey - but the party still is great!

Catherine has hired a bartender ...

... and there is catering as well. A whole lot of people are invited and having a wonderful time. Among them of course the Roths, who not only are relatives of Betty's but also good friends with Catherine. Their families are after all the most prominent in Riverblossom Hills.

One of the guests turns out to be the very nice man Stella met at the store. His name is Ingmar Backman (no way of finding out the English names of these townies - there will be a large group of people with Swedish names here ...) The friends that he told Stella were living here, are in fact Catherine and Betty. He introduces himself to Morty and starts a conversation, but Morty has spotted Patricia and very much wants to speak with her (that he is very interested in getting to know her better, should be evident to everyone by now) so he quickly frees himself by introducing Ingmar to his wife. Phew! Thank God he got rid of that boring old jerk. Let Stella talk to him, then she's out of the way as well.
Way to go, Morty ...

Stella is very happy to see Ingmar again, and it feels quite different now when he was introduced to her by Morty. She can speak to him without feeling guilty. And he quite obviously is very happy to see her again too. He begins by telling her, that he has rented a little cottage here in Riverblossom Hills. A bit of country air could do him good. Meeting new people and getting new friends. He likes to travel, he tells her. Does she?
Stella has not seen very much of the world. But she really would like to. Soon the children won't need her that much anymore, then perhaps she could start doing things she hasn't had time for before - like travelling.

Speaking of children: Now when Andrew is married to Catherine, Morty no longer can object to Sandra seeing Jacob. He might still think that Andrew is good for nothing, but Catherine is very respected and liked by people. That makes Jacob respectable too. Now at last Sandra and Jacob don't have to hide their young love anymore.
And Jacob is very relieved that Andrew now has Catherine to look after him. Then Jacob doesn't have to worry all the time about Andrew getting them into trouble with his "great ideas" and "shortcuts".

It is a very nice party. Everybody is having fun - and it gets very late before it ends.

Very late ...

"Poor darling", Catherine says. "Are you not well today?"

"Here is a little something to brighten up your day". When Andrew opens the box he finds a set of car keys.

Taking his new car for a stroll, really makes him feel so very much better. A responsible thing, like avoiding driving the day after a party, is - I'm afraid - not to be expected of Andrew.

Catherine has other things on her mind. Winter is over and it is time to tend to the garden. There is so much to do. Jacob very much wants to know more about growing things, and is eager to learn from Catherine - and she of course appreciates the help.

Chapter 8 - Morty

So many years have passed so frighteningly fast! Morty thinks. It seems like only yesterday, that he was fresh out of law school and married Stella. Where did time go? Now even his kids aren't kids anymore. As long as Xander was still a child, Morty didn't feel that old ...

... but Xander recently had his birthday and became a teenager.

He is more introverted than his sister. He is very interested in nature and has become an avid collector of insects of all sorts.

He also likes to play chess - and to watch the stars.

And Sandra - well Sandra, she is growing up very fast. In just a couple of months she will be going off to university. Almost an adult now. She of course thinks she already is an adult, as teenagers always do. For them, time can't pass fast enough. And here she is - smuggling Jacob in on a Saturday night, when her parents have gone to sleep ...

Morty and Stella don't see very much of their kids these days, they are always off somewhere, and it becomes painfully evident that Stella and Morty have become like strangers to each other.
"Does he always have to talk about money!?" Stella thinks. There is so much she would like to do: travel, go to the theatre, learn more about art - all the things she hasn't had any time for before. But Morty does not want to do the same things she does. It feels very sad. And they both feel lonely.

Monday till Friday Morty spends long days in his office. Week after week.

The same old clientele, with the same old problems.
"So the police came and caught you red-handed, did they? And now I'm supposed to make them believe that it is all one big mistake?" His work just feels tiring these days. Wears him down.

And then one afternoon he runs into Patricia Wan outside his office. Beautiful miss Wan! The desired one. It's May now. Over a month has passed since Gabe left Patricia for his old wife. Could she perhaps at last be interesting in meeting someone new.
"What a pleasure meeting you like this!" Morty says. "Let's go for a cup of coffee and talk. There is a small cafe further down the street, just opposite the park."

It feels nice that someone is showing so much interest, Patricia thinks. She is fully aware that Morty has been very eager to get to know her for a long time now. Already since before Gabe broke up with her. She finds herself telling Morty all about it, all the painful memories. He listens patiently to her story and is very comforting.

"Well love seems not to be everlasting. Stella and I have grown apart, we are just friends these days. I believe we're just staying together for the kids' sake - and they are almost grownup now." He really wants to assure Patricia, that there is nothing between him and Stella anymore, so he squeezes in a lie: "We even have separate bedrooms these days - I sleep in my study as a matter of fact".

"Now let me drive you home, then we can keep talking. It was very nice to have coffee with you. Perhaps we could have dinner sometime?"[/size]

Chapter 9 - A new beginning

One evening as Gabe, Alexandra and Jules are having a family dinner at the diner, out of the blue Alexandra is feeling this sudden nausea.
"I couldn't be!" she thinks "it's not even morning!" But when she starts thinking about it, other signs fit as well. She's been through this before - it seems very likely that she is pregnant. She doesn't know what to feel about it. She knows for sure that she does not want to quit her job and stay at home again - but at the same time, she can feel a tingle of happiness inside. She wants this baby anyway.

When they get home and Jules has gone to her room, Alexandra brings the matter up with Gabe.
"But that is wonderful!" he says. "Are you sure?"

"No, I don't know for sure yet," Alexandra says, "and I really don't know what to feel about it. I do want another child with you, even if I haven't thought of that before - I thought this was past us. I mean Jules is a teenager now! I don't know how she will react. But at the same time - I really like my work and I don't want to let that go. I'm not housewife material. What shall we do?"

"Really darling, that is no problem at all!" Gabe says. "I am so happy that we've found each other again, and another child - well that feels just wonderful! You know I'm quite tired of trying to teach history to high school kids that don't give a damn of anything that happened before yesterday. We're quite well off, you know. I haven't touched what I inherited from my parents. You go on working! I quit. Then I can start writing that book I've been dreaming about - well, later on anyway ... I guess ..."

Then everything feels just right. She can have the child and still have a career
"You're such a darling!" Alexandra exclaims and throws herself in Gabe's arms.
The next evening Gabe tells Alexandra that he wants to speak to her. She's just about to start cooking dinner.
"That sounds serious, let’s sit down then", she says.
Gabe starts by telling her how very much he loves her ...

... "so I really feel, that now when we're about to become parents again, we should get married - again."
And he presents her the most beautiful ring. And Alexandra agrees with him. They really should get married again!

A couple of days later, they are invited to Gabe's brother and Rose. It's Daisy's birthday. It's warm enough now to have the birthday table in the garden.

Alexandra has had her pregnancy confirmed now and they have told Jason and Rose about it. And Rose can't stop herself from telling her best friend Marianne about it. Marianne is the only one outside the family that has been invited to this little celebration.

Marianne's a very direct person, so of course she brings this up with Gabe and Alexandra as soon as she sees them. Rose feels rather embarrassed and could slap herself. Why didn't she keep her mouth shut. Well it's too late now, and luckily Alexandra and Gabe doesn't seem to take offense that it's all been made public.
"I saw the doctor just yesterday," Alexandra tells Marianne. "We are absolutely sure - and very happy!"
That goes for Jules too. She didn't find it awkward at all when her parents told her. She is absolutely thrilled about it.

And then they all get out in the garden to start the birthday celebration.

Jason has set up a swing as a birthday present to Daisy. But when he has put it all together of course he has to try it for himself first - to make sure it works. As fathers often do ...

Chapter 10 - Not long after Daisy's birthday

Alexandra and Gabe are married in a private ceremony in their garden. Gabe's brother and his family are the only guests. They don't want a lot of fuss made about this. This is the second time they get married - not the first. But still - it is a very happy day, and a very pleasant wedding party.

Now only remains to wait. Not very easy for an active person like Alexandra.

The room she slept in, before she went back to sleeping with Gabe, has now been made into a nursery.

Jules also has something to look forward too. This autumn she will go to university - but that takes some studying. She has high ambitions.

As has Sandra Roth. She too is preparing for university.

Her brother Xander does not have to study that hard. This leaves him lots of time over for his newfound hobby. Besides chess, astronomy and his bug collection, he is now very much into fishing. Usually he goes to the nearby park with his friends.

And Ingmar Backman pays a visit to Stella and Morty.
"Please stay for dinner!" Stella says. Morty is not that keen on spending time with Ingmar, but Stella getting more friends could leave him time to do so himself ...

... so he does his best go be a good host, offers Ingmar a drink before dinner and makes small talk. But Ingmar [u][b]does[/b][/u] have boring interests. Art! Foreign countries and cultures! No interest for business whatsoever. And completely uninterested in sports. What a bore! Well, Stella seems to like him.

And dinner is pleasant enough.

Until Ingmar starts talking about an exhibition at the museum in Bluewater. Old Egyptians and what not! And Ingmar wants them all to go there this weekend. Morty quickly finds an excuse. "But you should go, dear!" he says. "I know you're interested in art and such." And Stella is of course. She very much wants to see this exhibition. Especially with Ingmar.
Xander and Sandra have their own plans, and they don't include spending unnecessary much time with their parents and their friends.

So now Stella and Ingmar are going to Bluewater, just the two of them. Stella is really looking forward to it, although it makes her feel a little guilty. It's not just the exhibition she is looking forward to. It's is also the prospect of spending time alone with Ingmar.
"I'll pick you up on Saturday then", Ingmar says and then he makes his goodbyes in the most gallant way by kissing Stella's hand. That makes her heart race, which she tries very hard not to acknowledge.

Chapters 1 - 5

2010-09-01T20:43:00.008+02:00

Let’s get started - and welcome to the new

Riverblossom Hills – Chapter 1

Where we start off with the wealthy Catherine Viejo and cunning Andrew Martin. Andrew has his mind set on getting a piece of Catherine’s fortune, so he's all smooth talking and oily compliments.
"Oh, how wonderfully you play the piano, Catherine!" In fact she does, but Andrew's really overdoing the flattering. Catherine does not seem to mind. She finds this very pleasant.

"And you are also a very attractive woman!" Andrew continues. "I hope I'm not to bold?"

But quite obviously, he is not ...

The next morning, Andrew gets up a little earlier than usual (most days he sleeps until lunch) and offers to help when Catherine goes to fetch some groceries. Off they go in Catherine’s old, but expensive car.

Catherine knows exactly what she needs to shop, and that part goes very quickly.

Then - to Andrews’s big surprise - she sits down to play cards. "Nothing beats a good game of poker", she says cheerfully. "Well except ..." and then she winks at Andrew.

When eventually there are places free at the table, Andrew also sits down to play. He is delighted that they have this in common. In fact - it's the first time that he has shared this particular (and to him very important) interest with a woman. (But in Riverblossom Hills he could have his choice, it seems ...) And Catherine is a good card player too, he has noticed. Quite shrewd. They are joined by Miss Wan and so they spend a couple of hours in this very unexpected - but pleasant way.

When they get home Andrew goes on with his smooth style and insists on carrying the groceries.

And then they sit down in the living room. Jacob's still in school and Betty has gone to work (she still works part time as a secretary - she does not want to retire in full). Andrew wants to use this opportunity to get things moving with Catherine.
"I must confess - I'm also longing very much to fall in love again. Since Jacob's mother died I haven't really met someone (which most certainly is not true ...) but now I feel that perhaps I have. We seem to have so much in common! And as I've told you before - you are a very attractive woman!"

Catherine reacts in a much unexpected way (but he should get used to the unexpected with her, it seems)

"I'm yours - if you want me!" she says.

And that - of course - is the signal for Andrew to DO SOMETHING. If he doesn't, she will feel like an idiot - and that could ruin all. So Andrew kisses her most passionately.

But surprisingly enough, he doesn't feel like he is acting. This feels real nice and - well - right. They sit together quietly and just enjoy the moment till Jacob gets home. When they hear the school bus outside, Catherine gets up and goes out into the kitchen, where she starts preparing for dinner, and Andrew goes to play some pool in the library. He feels that he needs to be alone for a while. He's feeling confused and delighted at the same time.

Later that evening, when they have all retired to their rooms for the night, Catherine takes a good look at herself in the mirror.
"I look younger!" she says to herself. "And I feel younger too - and very alive!"

Footnote
Catherine Viejo
is also the aunt that left her niece Cleo Shikibu her old house. So why did she live in that little house, when she had this grand? I've been thinking about that, and decided that...
The house Cleo and Patricia are living in now, was the house where Catherine lived with her late husband, Julio Viejo. The house where she now lives with her old school friend Betty Goldstein (who is Morty Roth's cousin), is the house where she grew up. When Catherine's parents both had passed away, it stood empty for many years. When Catherine's husband also died and left her a widow, she opened up the old house and moved there with Betty, who had never married and was quite tired of living alone. Catherine and Betty both were friends with Andrew's late mother, Linda Martin

Chapter 2 - Meanwhile at the Roths' …

Morty and Stella have been married for almost 20 years now. They live a very comfortable life together and have two great kids, but there is very little left between them except friendship. And in fact, they don't have that much in common. In the marital bed nothing beyond a good reading has been going on for quite some time now (if you get what i mean...).

They spend most of the days apart. Morty often works late, and then he still spends a lot of time in his study. He is a very busy man. Because of that, he means, he often needs to relax with pool at the pub, and therefore he spends a lot of evenings away from home ...

Stella engages with the household - although she has a maid, and does not have to clean the house herself.

The children don't need her like they did. Xander's still a child of course, but he has always been very independent.

Sandra's a teenager - and when were teenagers ever interested in their parents? When Stella is home, she spends most of the time on the phone, speaking to her friends.

There is not very much for Stella to do. Her days drag along and one day looks almost exactly like the other. She does the shopping ...

... and she cooks

- but apart from that there isn't much. She usually speaks for a short while with the very nice woman who brings their mail. But she of course soon has to get on with her work. Perhaps Stella should ask her to come for coffee, once she has finished her round?

Then of course, Morty's cousin Betty Goldstein comes over quite frequently, but she is far to interested in slandering about the neighbors for Stellas's taste.

But one day, Stella meets a very nice man at the store. She doesn't know how it came that they began speaking, but they immediately seem to be on the same wave length and after a short while she feels like she has known him for years. He used to be a dentist, he tells her, but he is retired now. And he lives in the nearby town of Bluewater, but visits Riverblossom Hills quite often, because he has friends here. He seems very disappointed when she tells him that she is married.

But that does not seem to keep him back. In fact he calls the very same evening.

"I would very much like to get to know you better. I would so much like to be your friend", he tells Stella. Stella knows she should tell him not to call her again, but she feels the same way he does. It couldn't hurt to be friends, could it?

Morty in his turn gets introduced to Patricia Wan at the pub that evening. She of course is there with her boyfriend Gabe O'Mackey and his brother Jason Greenman.

Morty is quite smitten with Patricia and tries his best to make an impression on her, but she does not seem very interested - mere polite.

When Morty walks home, he feels rather gloomy. There is so much missing in his life, he really thinks he deserves more. Of course he has wealth, a good job, a very good social position indeed, a beautiful wife and wellbehaved children, that are doing well in school. But he is not having fun ... He wants to have fun. He wants a mistress! Some young and beautiful woman, with whom he could have an exciting life - off the record, so to speak.

Chapter 3 - Catch the moment

As soon as Catherine Viejo wakes up, she makes up her mind to make this day the day of big changes. She wants to catch the moment. Not two days ago, she asked herself if the only thing left in life was waiting for death. Now, it seems to her, she has been given a chance of living a full life again. Falling in love with a younger man, doesn't scare her at all. She is not the old spinster she seems to be, she is a woman of experience, not naive and not easily heartbroken. She has broken not a few hearts herself in her life. She is also fully aware of what kind of man Andrew is. But she also knows that there is a spark between them and that spark could turn into a full flame, if she works on it. Sooner rather than later, age will catch up with them and he will think that she is too old for him - but till then it certainly could be worth it. Andrew, of course, has no idea that she so easily can see through him. And we won't tell him either, will we ...

It is still dark as she sets out for the town of Bluewater.

But it takes a while to get there, so it is full daylight when she arrives.

The first place she goes to, is the beauty shop and there she orders a full makeover: hair, nails and a facial.

She is very pleased with the result. Elegant - not cheap and (what is really important to her) not trying for "young". She knows exactly what impression she wants to make.: Well-preserved, well groomed, relaxed and perfectly comfortable with her age.

Then she spends a whole lot of money on a new wardrobe. Being wealthy really makes everything so much easier. And when she looks in the mirror, she couldn't be more satisfied. Just what she wanted! For far too long now, she hasn't been very interested in her looks. It indeed feels very nice, to care about her appearance again.

]

She gets home late in the afternoon. Betty is at work and Jacob is out somewhere, but as soon as she gets in she hears the clicking of billiard balls. Andrew is in the library, playing pool. She is very pleased to see true admiration in his shocked face. Yes - there really is a spark!
"Look at you!" he says. "My goodness, you are gorgeous!"

"Mmmm" he continues - "you make me crazy" (which was the intention)

If there ever was a whirlwind romance, this is it. Andrew goes all dramatic and kneels before her:
"Please - be my wife!"

She immediately tells him yes. This was to be the day of great changes, remember. This is the day to catch the moment. And everything goes exactly as she has planned it. Poor Andrew, he thinks he's cunning ...

Chapter 4 - Poor Gabe

It is not easy to get your love life to function, when you have a teenage daughter and an ex wife in the house. They both make things so very much more difficult.

Whenever Patricia comes to visit ...

... Jules always finds something to do in the same room. It is so annoying.

Gabe tries to talk to her.
"Why do you have to disturb every time Patricia is here? I do wish you could leave us alone. Please, can't you at least try to behave!" Gabe says.
"But I don't like her! What do you see in her? She is so meek!!" Jules answers.

But Gabe thinks that Patricia is such a lovely and tender woman compared to the tigress he was married to before. What a temper! She is so easily provoked and always seems to find a reason to start a quarrel.

And she is also always around, just like Jules. It makes Gabe so frustrated that he can't have any privacy - not to mention love life.

Alexandra’s obsession with training is also quite maddening. She seems to spend hours on the treadmill.

Even late at night. Gabe tries to read, but it is impossible to relax with this constant trampling in Alexandra's room. The floor seems to shake. He can't understand that Jules doesn't complain. Her room is wall to wall.

At last Alexandra stops running. He hears her come out from her room and go down the stairs. His anger has been building up for several weeks and now he's had enough. He jumps out of bed and follows Alexandra downstairs, where he finds her in the kitchen, having a glass of water.

What he really wanted, was to be cool and behave rational. Politely tell Alexandra that her staying with him and Jules was supposed to be a temporary solution that he thinks that is has lasted long enough now and that she really should try to find a place of her own. But he is far too angry - building up never does any good - so instead of acting cool and mature he is shouting.

That has never worked with Alexandra. With her temper it takes her half a second to get twice as angry as he is. So angry in fact, that she throws her glass of water in his face.

Everything Gabe feels about Alexandra just explodes in him. And what does he do ...

Well, what do you know ...

The next morning, when Jules comes into the kitchen she finds her parents already there, looking like newlyweds on honeymoon. This comes very sudden of course, but she has always hoped that this would happen. They are a far better match than they themselves understand. Gabe is more passionate than he thinks - and Alexandra does not realize how much she needs stability.

Chapter 5 - Later that day

Alexandra says to Gabe:
"Wouldn't it be fun to do something together, just like we used to. Let's go to the diner and eat something, maybe dance to the jukebox."
"Let me think about it," Gabe answers. "Surely there must be something that is a little more fun than that". But being a normal weekday, driving into town seems a bit too much.

But then he gets an idea:
"There's a band playing at Jacob's Barn tonight. We can go there - it would be just like old times!"
Alexandra too, thinks this is a great idea.

So in the evening they take the car to Jacob's Barn. During summer, it has open three nights a week and this is the place where the young inhabitants of Riverblossom Hills spend their summer evenings: dancing, dating, flirting ... getting jealous and heartbroken - getting all those first experiences of love. There's of course also the occasional fight. Young men ... you know.

When Gabe and Alexandra get out of the car, they can hear that the band has already begun to play.
"This really brings up memories," don't you think?" Gabe says to Alexandra. When they first started dating, years ago, they used to go here a lot.
"Lets go inside and dance!" Gabe says.

The band is not that good, and it's a normal weekday in the beginning of April, so there is not a lot of people there, but it still makes fun. They are really enjoying their evening out.

But suddenly Patricia comes rushing through the door. Somebody must have called her. Why must things always have to get messed up?!

Patricia's hurt and very angry of course. Gabe could strangle the person that must have called. This is not how he wanted her to find out about him and Alexandra. She deserves far better than that. He likes her very much. Until just yesterday he thought himself to be in love with her. He certainly didn't want to hurt her. It was foolish of him to postpone talking to her. He should have done that before he took Alexandra out for a date. But everything has gone so fast.
"Let's go outside and talk!" he begs Patricia. And outside he tries to explain, but that is not easy. Not only did he think himself in love with Patricia just yesterday - he was also constantly complaining to her about Alexandra staying with him and Jules. There is not much he can say, and Patricia is very hurt.

"I don't want to hear anymore!" she says. "It's obviously over between us. I don't know if I ever want to see you again. I need to be alone now." And then she leaves. Gabe's feeling like a real jerk - but then there is Alexandra. He can't feel sorry for having her back. In fact - he couldn't be more happy.

"I'm sorry about all this, darling," he says. "I wish I could have handled this better. But still - I am so happy that we're back together."
"Me too," Alexandra says. "Me too."

Makeover 11 - Greenman

2010-08-26T11:41:00.002+02:00

And now on to the last family

The Greenmans

This is Gabe O'Mackey's younger brother Jason (Or perhaps the eldest originally - I haven't checked.
I have decided that he is Gabe's younger brother). He is married to Rose Greenman (and has changed his last name to hers) - she is a plantsim and has spawned a little plantsim child herself, a girl named Daisy. I don't like plantsims. I haven't been very interested in the "monster" sims at all, with exception from an occasional vampire here and there. I mean - they are everywhere, aren't they. Just put on your TV, you'll see what I mean.

The most radical changes this far have occurred at the Roths'. Most houses still look almost the same at the outside, but theirs does have a much more posh and wealthy look now. This family however is the real BIG exception. They don't get to keep theirs at all. In fact - some of them don't even get to remain who they are.

In my Riverblossom Hills, Jason O'Mackey started out as an ambitious and brilliant young man, heading for a career in foreign office. Then he met a beautiful young woman: Rose Greenman, the widow of a farmer in Riverblossom Hills. She was left with a small baby when her husband took a fatal fall from the roof of the barn, while repairing it. Such a tragedy! Rose managed to keep the farm though (but heavens now how) and struggled on alone. But she was about to give up, sell the farm and move to the city when she met Jason. They both felt that they had met their true soulmate, and Jason left everything from his old life behind and decided to run the farm with Rose. He even changed his name to Greenman - the name of her late husband, as there have been Greenmans living on these lands for over 200 years.

They live on this farm, not far from the church.

The house is rather small, but there is room for more children - they want a whole bunch of them.

The don't have a lot of money, but they are not poor. And they are very, very happy.

And now the story can begin ...

Makeover 10 - McGreggor

2010-08-26T11:23:00.004+02:00

Now only two households remain to present to you, then the story can begin.
They live quite near each other, in these two houses:

First let us take a look at ...

Farmer McGreggor

This is his house.

And this is how he looks originally. Didn't much approve of his looks...

... so now he looks like this.

And he also got some pets. One dog and two cats (but one cat immediately went indoors for the food).

The house was prettier before, but I needed more room upstairs to get one bedroom more. As I said - I want houses for a growing family. I can't see that happening for Mr Leod McGreggor in the very near future though. In fact he will play just a minor roll in this story - at least for now. Perhaps he will be sucked into the action later on. Right now, he is just a neighbour.