Smoothie Sims, Inc. is proud to present…

A Villainous Apocalypse

Episode 19 - “Pleasure To Meet You”

Hello, readers! Marina here, speaking to you from the barren wasteland of New Sierra Plains.

That’s right. New Sierra Plains. See, when a Sims neighborhood hates its Creator very much, it decides to get corrupted and makesaid Creator swear a lot and rebuild the whole thing from scratch. I ’m not really sure what happened, but after discovering aserious glitch in my game I did some investigating and found that Sierra Plains was very quickly going to be unusable for goodbecause some file or files in the neighborhood folder had gotten corrupted somehow. So I had to take all my Sims and recreatethem in a new neighborhood. Storywise, they won’t be the wiser, but I would just like to take the opportunity now to issue adisclaimer.

1) I wrote down all the skills, jobs, badges etc. that everyone in the neighborhood had and cheated them back once they were allsafely in the new neighborhood, so everything is exactly as I left it. Likewise, the main house was rebuilt to be exactly the sameas it was before.

2) Any and all costume changes that happen mid-chapter are due to the rebuild. If a Sim did not get the clothes they were wearingbefore, it is most likely because I did a complete overhaul of my Downloads and decided not to re-download their outfit.

3) I got a new computer, and have had to adjust my picture-taking as the screen is not centered the same way as the old one.Please bear with the less-than-stellar framing for a little while.

4) I’m also including a recap, since it’s been a while. I also apologize for the quality of those pictures as they were taken in asmaller size and thus get a bit blurry when put on SlideShare. From now on I am taking pictures in the largest size with the qualityall the way up. Hopefully that will help.

I hope you all enjoy, and I’ll see you on the other end of this monster!

~Marina

* * *

Previously on A Villainous Apocalypse…

“What do you need me to do?”

“Entertain the customers. Gabriel and I have ticket sales covered, so you can do whatever you’d like. Just make sure thecustomers are comfortable and having fun.”

Azula grinned. “I think I can handle that.”

“My teacher said to tell you I might need glasses.”

“Really?”

She nodded. “My eyes hurt when I read.”

Harry frowned. “How long have they been hurting you?”

“A while,” she said vaguely. “I didn’t wanna say anything, but my teacher caught me squinting and holding my headduring math today and she said to tell you ‘cause I might not be able to read at all someday if I don’t have glasses.”

Harry studied her for a minute, nodding slowly. “Okay. I’ll find you a pair.”

“I thought you had glasses now.”

Elle was still in bad humor from the night before, especially because Billy’s apology had been insincere. “I don’t wear‘em to sleep, dummy.”

“I’m not dumb,” he protested, glaring at her.

“Yeah, well, it hurt my feelings when you called me a Four-Eyes, and you didn’t even apologize right!”

“I said I was sorry!”

“You didn’t mean it!”

“There are a lot of men out there who wouldn’t like putting everything else aside to help their wives achieve theirdreams, and this isn’t a small thing. It’s a full-time job with a lot of hard work and not as many benefits, and it’s onlygoing to get harder from here, Harry. Wholesale businesses require a lot more patience and attentiveness. Thecustomers won’t always be as nice as they are right now.”

“I can handle it,” he said. “Honest, I can.”

“Where’s Gabriel at?”

“He’s making up some tulip and rose bouquets so we’ll have plenty to restock with when they run out,” Mya explained.“He’ll come down when he’s done.”

“Okay. What do you want me to do?”

“There are a lot of different things that need to be done, so we’re all going to switch off doing them. Harry and Elle willstart on the cash register, and you and I are going to be on the floor doing sales.” Mya grinned. “I’m counting on you tomake the customers buy us out, princess. Think you can do it?”

“Oh, yeah, not a big deal,” Azula said, waving a hand in dismissal.

When they finally closed down the shop and headed home, the two girls were exhausted. “You said it would be fun,” Ellegrumbled.

“The first one was,” Azula muttered, collapsing against the bedpost. “Ugh, that was a whole pile of fermented suck.”

“I don’t think I’m going to be reproducing. Ever.” The younger girl rubbed her diaphragm unhappily, trying toconcentrate on her book, but unable to.

“And we have to go back tomorrow.”

“Don’t remind me.”

As soon as Cid was gone, Riku got right back at it. “No, seriously, who are you. You say you’re my cousin? Which one?”

“Billy, I told you.”

“S’at mean you’re Azula’s brother?” Billy nodded, and Riku’s expression relaxed into a grin. “Azula’s cool. I like her. Youcan stay, I guess.”

Billy stared at him. “I was gonna stay anyway. I have to til my parents get home.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Riku snorted, waving a hand in dismissal.

“Riku, be nice to your cousin or you can’t play with any of the water balloons I just made,” Jon called from the stairs,where he was lugging down a tub full of them. The two boys instantly forgot about any altercation that might have arisenand ran to grab a balloon.

“What is wrong with you?” Azula cringed; she had no problems with raising her voice, but Mya rarely spoke in anythingremotely close to yelling, and when she did, it usually meant something unpleasant. “Azula Fitzhugh, I am your mother,and when I say no, I expect you to take it graciously. Stop arguing with me.”

“It’s not fair,” Azula repeated, in a smaller voice, feeling about to cry.

“Look, princess,” Mya said, in the ‘be reasonable about this’ tone of voice that was even more rare than yelling and so,so much worse, “I need you to help me today. I’m sorry. I will plan a day off soon so you can go have fun with yourfriends, all right?”

“Whatever,” Azula muttered, turning away and running up the stairs.

“Hello, General,” she said politely.

“Mrs. Fitzhugh,” he said, with a smile. “This is a lovely place you have here.”

“Thank you. Can I help you find anything?”

“Not just yet, thanks. I’m just checking to see that everything is on the up and up.” He indicated the shop with a sweepof his hand. “I think you’re doing great things for our community, really. I just need to make sure there aren’t anyillegal activities going on, you understand.”

“I can assure you everything is perfectly above the table,” Mya said calmly.

“I’m going to college tomorrow, by the way.”

“Already?” Elle asked in surprise.

“Yeah. I’d completely forgotten about it, but I talked to the others today and they’re all going tomorrow, too. That’s whythey can’t hang out. Last-minute scholarship prep.” She lifted a shoulder. “I already have all of mine because Grampamade me get them early.”

“Oh.” Elle wasn’t sure what to say to that, either, other than You can’t leave me here by myself, which she knew Azula wouldnot take well.

Azula seemed to understand, though. “I have to go, Ellie. Not just ‘cause it’s time but because I can’t stand it anymore.I’m tired of the businesses. I’m tired of Mom’s wants making mine completely unimportant. I need to have my own life.”

“Mom had to wait a long time to get what she wanted, too, you know,” Elle said.

“I’m not going to wait that long.”

* * *

When it came time for The Littlest Fitzhugh’s teen birthday, he found himself surrounded by his closest friends--thethree cousins who were closest to him in age, as well as his sisters. He had never admitted it, but he loved those fivepeople best of anybody in the world. The fact that they were all there to see made him happier than he had been inalmost his entire life.

So when his cousins all tactfully turned their heads immediately after, it confused and annoyed him. “What?”

“Blue’s not your color, Billy boy,” Azula said cheerfully. “Don’t worry, bad clothes happen to the best of us.”

“Except me,” Riku commented.

Cid snorted. “Yeah, right. You grew up in that nerd tie with the soc--”

“HUMINAHUMINAHUMINASHUTUP”

“Right…I’m just going to go find something else now.” And Billy left the room, leaving his guests to entertain each other.

“I’ve been a teenager for two days and it’s already so boring I could kill something. College better be more interestingthan this.”

Azula smirked. “Riku, because I have been at college almost a year, I can safely say that you only get out of it whatyou put into it.”

“That sounds like something Susan would say.”

“Well, it’s the truth. Have you always referred to your mother by her first name?”

“Yep. Her reaction whenever I call her that is hilarious. Never gets old.”

Though Elle would not have said it the way Riku had, she felt similarly. Home had not been the same without her sister.She was eager to get to college, and the rest of the summer would not pass quickly enough for her. “I like your hair,”she said to Azula, although what she meant was ‘How are you? Is college fun? Do you miss me at all?’

“Thanks, Ellie,” Azula said, grinning. “You look great, too. How are things here?”

“Same as usual,” she said with a shrug. “School. Businesses.”

“Yeah, Mom told me you guys are running a salon now. I guess you got a business named after you, too.”

Elle smiled a little. “Yeah. Elle’s Enchantments. She’s also working on another one called Billy’s Toy Bin, so we’re allgetting one.”

“Toys. Nice. How’s the salon working out for you?”

“It’s, uh, it’s okay. A lot of the same, really. It’s not just a salon. We’ve got mirrors and dressers for sale, too.”

“Has it been harder to run without me?”

“We managed. We’ve been doing mostly the same jobs. Mom’s on the register, I’m restocking…”

“Ha, nothing’s changed.”

“Hey, if you’d been there you would’ve been proud of me. Sometimes when it was busy I had to help customers find things.”

“Now that I’d like to see!”

“Ask Mom. I was great. It helped that a lot of them were your friends though. They were nice and didn’t make it hard on me.”

“Great! You can feel free to tell any of them that I said hi next time they come in.”

“Of course I will! They keep telling me to say hi to you, too, if I see you. I don’t remember all of them but there was this one guywho came in that I knew from the flower shop who said he knew you. What was his name? Artie? He had a lot of tattoos.”

Azula coughed and plastered a smile on her face. “That’s Archie. He was one of our best customers at the spa.”

“Yeah, that guy.”

“Thanks for passing it on. Who’s been on sales?”

“Gabriel mostly. It’s the most important bit these days with only four of us and he can go for hours.”

“Aww, I miss that bucket of bolts. Don’t let me forget to say hi before I leave.”

“I won’t. He misses you a lot too.”

“So I guess Dad’s on the chair, then?”

“Yeah. He’s not very good at it. Luckily it’s not as popular as the clothes and the other stuff.”

Her sister smirked. “So much for the ‘salon’ part of it then.”

“I don’t think anyone really cares,” Elle said, with the first real smile she had given anyone since Azula went to college.“We’re doing well.”

“I’m glad to hear that, Ellie.”

“Thanks. So, tell me about college. How is it?”

“It’s good. Kind of lonely since I have the house all to myself. Hurry up and graduate, okay?”

Elle laughed. “I’m going as fast as I can, trust me. Do you see Mikey and everyone at all?”

“Some. Oh! That reminds me. The twins had a thing at their place the other day and I met this amazing guy. We playedthe first non-boring game of chess I’ve played since I was in diapers and talked for a while, and then he walked mehome after.”

Because her sister seemed so excited, and she knew it was useless to ask Azula anything about classes and professors,Elle decided to indulge her. “That’s great, Zuzu! D’you think you’ll see him again?”

“Probably. He’s a friend of Mikey’s.”

“Well, great. I’m glad you’re having a good time and meeting nice people.”

“Yeah, I think you’ll have a good time, too, when you come.”

“Not for the same reasons you are, though.”

Azula snorted. “I sure hope not,” she said, tone a bit strangled. “But I am going to make sure you have fun.”

“Sure,” Elle said, noncommittally. “I am looking forward to it.”

“Well, it’s a long ride back, so I’m going to say goodbye to Billy and get going.”

“Thanks for coming, Zuzu. It’s great to see you.”

“You too.”

“So I guess you won’t be coming over tomorrow,” Kirby Fox stated, as she cleaned up the chess set. Her brothers werealready on their way out, bickering as they went.

“Yeah, I’m probably going to go help out at the salon, or maybe we’ll open the toy shop, I don’t know.” Billy wasdefinitely excited about finally being included in his mother’s business plans. “So I’ll be busy.”

“I hope you have fun. We’ll miss you, though. You’ve been at our house so much it’s weird whenever you don’t comeover now.”

He smiled and patted his cousin’s shoulder. “We’ll still see each other a lot. You guys live across the street. It’d be hardnot to.”

“Yeah, true.”

“Looking good, Billy boy,” Azula said affectionately, reaching to ruffle his hair.

He ducked out of her reach. “Do not touch my hair. I just got it to look right.”

“Whatever you say, sir. Hey, I can’t stay, but happy birthday.”

“Thanks, Zuzu. Will you come visit again soon?”

“I’ll do my best.”

* * *

Harry had heard great things about the local private school from his sister, Bella, who had sent all three of herdaughters, but because the businesses took up so much time, he and Mya had decided not to have their children applyunless one of them asked to. Azula had expressed absolutely no interest, but it turned out that Elle really wanted to go,so shortly after Billy’s teen birthday, they took a night off and invited the headmaster for dinner.

“Oh, just call me Bill,” the elderly man said, with an enthusiastic smile, when Harry greeted him using the ‘Headmaster’title. “Life’s too short for formalities.”

“All right,” Harry said slowly. “My wife is fixing us dinner. Would you like a tour of the house while we’re waiting?”

“Of course I would! I’m sure you have a very nice place. You must feel like you’re rattling around in it, though, with yourkids starting to go off to college.”

“A bit. I am used to being full up around here, but that’s the way it goes, I suppose. We’re keeping ourselves busyenough not to notice much. Please follow me.”

None of the Fitzhughs really knew what to do with Headmaster Bill’s laidback attitude--Harry and Mya were used tokeeping things as professional as possible because of the businesses, and Elle, who had been so excited about thecurriculum and teachers, was deeply confused as to how such a school could have that kind of headmaster. ButHeadmaster Bill continued through the visit completely unperturbed. He had nothing but praise for the house andcomplimented Mya warmly on her chef salad.

“So I hear you’re a senior,” he said to Elle, halfway through the meal.

“Yeah, I am,” she replied, nervously.

“Take it easy, dear. That’s not bad, just interesting. I’m curious as to why you would want to switch schools so close toyour graduation.”

“Well,” she said, swallowing her bite of salad, “I really want to do well in college, and I did some research and saw thatthe private school has a better curriculum for college prep than the public school does. Plus all my cousins who are still inhigh school go, and they like it a lot.”

“That’s fair,” Headmaster Bill agreed. “I don’t see any reason not to admit you.”

“Really?”

“Of course. You and your brother both have excellent grades, and we need as many students as possible to help get theprogram off the ground. I’d be happy to have both of you come.”

“Thank you so much!”

“When can they start?” Mya asked.

“As early as tomorrow, if you’d like. I brought the enrollment papers with me, so if you fill them out before I leave, I canget them to the office first thing tomorrow morning and our secretary can have class schedules for them by the time theycome in.”

“That would be wonderful, thank you.”

“It’s my pleasure. We’ll look forward to having them with us.”

There was one person, however, who was not pleased with this development. “What if I didn’t want to go?” Billydemanded, the next morning, as Elle began to chatter to him excitedly about their first day.

“I thought you did,” she said, frowning.

“Did you ever ask?”

“Well, no, but I talked about it a lot, remember? If you didn’t want to, that would’ve been the time to say something.”

He sighed. “You talked about it with Mom at the businesses when I wasn’t there, Ellie.”

“Oh. I guess you’re right. Sorry.”

“Whatever, it’s too late now.”

“Come on, Billy, it’ll be fun,” Elle tried. “Riku and Kirby and Cid all go to the private school, too. It’s not like we won’tknow anyone.”

“I guess. I really liked public school, though. And Riku keeps complaining about how much the uniforms itch.”

“Riku complains about everything.”

“…good point.”

“Besides, they don’t itch as much if you use fabric softener when you wash them. Which I did. So give it a chance, okay?”

“Fine, whatever. It’s not like I have a choice at this point.”

“What are you doing, Harry?”

Harry glanced over his shoulder briefly at his wife and smiled, before turning back to the impromptu nursery they hadset up while Billy was still a toddler but now sat there unused. “I was just thinking about how much has changed in thepast few years,” he said. “My parents are gone now, and the house looks nothing like it did when I was growing up. Nowour kids are starting to grow up and leave us, and we’ve been so busy with the businesses that time has flown by fasterthan usual lately. Sometimes I just want to slow down for a minute.”

“You’re so sentimental,” Mya said fondly.

“That’s a fault I’ve always had, unfortunately.”

“It’s not bad. It just means you feel these things more than the rest of us.”

“I suppose so.”

“Do you regret any of it?”

“Not at all. Do you?”

“No. We’re doing wonderfully, Harry.”

“We really are. We’ve got three great kids, things around here are getting easier to handle every day, and yourbusinesses are doing well. I wouldn’t take any of it back.”

“Neither would I. I love you.”

“I love you too, Mya.”

* * *

That same day, they opened Billy’s Toy Bin for the first time. Harry, Mya, Elle, and Gabriel had fallen into a routine andhandled the shop like they had the last two, and they were visited by many of the same customers that had been to theothers, had become friends with the family, and knew that the service was good.

Layout-wise, the store looked much the same as the flower shop had, but it was much more child-friendly and fantasy-like in décor. Though the stock was different, Mya had again decided to mass-import most of their items and onlyhandcraft a few. Gabriel had a gold toy badge, so every so often he spent a couple of hours on the top floor creatingmore Water Wigglers and Spin’n’Twirls.

The only person unfamiliar with the shop’s atmosphere was Billy, and he had a difficult first couple of hours, as Myadelegated him to the cash register right away.

“Just take it slow, kid,” Peter Sims advised, a sympathetic look on his face. “Both your sisters went through this, too.You’ll get the hang of it.”

“I can do it,” Billy insisted. “It’s this button. It just gets stuck--”

“--GOD! Cut that out, you stupid piece of--”

“Billy Israel Fitzhugh--”

“Sorry, Mom!”

After a while, Mya got fed up with his outbursts and pulled him off the register, asking Elle to help him get started onsales until Gabriel came back from crafting.

“So…why is she asking you to teach me how to do this, exactly?”

“Hey! I’m not that terrible at it.”

“Whatever you say. Teach me, O Wise One.”

“Well, you know what all the stock is. When people come in, just ask them what they’re looking for and then show themsomething you think they might want and say something nice about it. That’s what Zuzu used to do.”

“’kay.”

Billy did well with sales, and especially with sales to female customers. Cherryh Nebula, a frequent visitor who haddeveloped a fondness for the three kids, usually sought him out first when she wanted help with something, which madehim feel good. If he needed any help, Gabriel was usually right there to pick up the slack, and barring that, one of hisparents would leave the register for a moment.

“Are you sure my kids will want one of these?”

“Of course, Aunt Suzy! Cid’s always complaining about how hot it is now that it’s summer, and you know how much theylove water balloons. The Water Wiggler’s a lot less messy. You can just hook it up to the hose, and unplug it whenyou’re done. No plastic pieces to pick up off the ground after.”

“Well, you know how I feel about them making messes. Not that you weren’t just as bad.”

“Heh. Sorry.”

“I think I’ll take one. Can I charge it?”

“I think so. Ask Mom.”

Just then, the ding of the elevator announced the arrival of a new customer, and Elle glanced over, eyes lighting up.“Hey, Billy, isn’t that Saffron’s little sister?”

Billy turned around, spotted her, and crossed the room in a flash, putting on his best smile. “Hi, Snow,” he greeted her,flushing a little.

A happy grin lit up her face. “Oh hey, Billy. Do you work here?”

“My mom’s the owner,” he said importantly. “Can I help you with anything?”

“Oh, I’m just looking. I don’t really have any younger relatives around here to shop for or anything. I’m just thinkingahead, I guess.”

“Thinking ahead?”

She shrugged, looking sheepish. “Do you think it’s dumb to be thinking about toys for your future kids when you’re ateenager?”

“No, I don’t,” he said immediately. “It’s hopeful. That’s a good thing.”

“That’s what I thought,” she agreed, and her expression lightened again. “Saffy kind of thinks it’s dumb, though.”

Billy laughed. “Your sister’s not the type to keep a hope chest and plan out her kids’ names early, that’s why,” he said.“That’s not bad either, just different.”

He got a fluttery feeling in his chest when Snow giggled. “That’s funny. I’d like to see that. She would never hear theend of it.”

“Want me to show you around? You know, for future reference and all that.”

“Yeah, that’d be great.”

“Are you watching them?” Mya hissed to Harry.

“Relax, honey,” Harry said gently. “He’s still doing his job, and Gabriel’s out there too. If he starts horsing around thenI’ll go stop him, but he’s fine for now.”

When Snow had gone, Elle found a reason to sidle up to Billy, grinning smugly. “Is that why you wanted to stay in publicschool?”

“Shut up,” he replied, though without any real venom.

Yep, Elle thought, pleased. He likes her. Zuzu’s going to love this.

Now that they were in private school, Elle and Billy were usually allowed to go home for half-an-hour to an hour beforegoing to work so that they could change and get a snack, and the next day, Billy figured that was as good a time as anyto invite Snow over to hang out. He wasn’t sure when his next day off was going to be, and he didn’t want some loser atthe public school to ask her out before he could have the chance.

She arrived pretty promptly, and he figured that would give them a good thirty minutes of chill time before he had to goto work. Maybe if he was lucky, she’d even walk him there. “Hey, Snow.”

“Hi, Billy,” she said, giving him one of her bright smiles.

“I’m glad you came over. Sorry I don’t have long to hang out.”

“Oh, that’s okay. I’m just really happy you invited me.”

“So what do you want to do?”

“I don’t know, what can we do that’s fun but won’t make you late for work?”

“Well…”

“You are kidding me.” While Billy and Snow were making small talk, Elle was on Distraction Duty, and so far it wasn’tgoing very well. “How did that happen exactly? She’s so desperate you can smell it miles away, and he actually likesthat?”

Elle thought Snow was very nice, and thus felt irritated on Billy’s behalf, but was too nice to say so. “Billy does like her alot, and has for a while,” she said calmly. “Sorry, Kahlen. No one else really has a chance.”

Kahlen sniffed a bit. “Whatever. It’s just as well, I guess. I’m not into all that foo-foo cutsie crap.”

“I didn’t think Billy was either,” Elle said slowly, “but I guess I was wrong.”

* * *

One evening, Billy was in the middle of helping a customer when he caught sight of a woman waving at him as shestepped out of the elevator. “I’ll be with you in a minute,” he called to her.

“Oh, I’m just fine thanks,” she replied. “Don’t worry about a thing, just keep doing what you’re doing.”

She stayed only a few minutes, walking around the shop and observing how things were run while taking feverish notes,and then she quietly left.

The next morning, a glowing review of Billy’s Toy Box turned up in the business section of the paper and put Mya in anexceptionally good mood for the rest of the day.

Other than that briefly exciting moment, time spent at the shop continued as usual, and the days began to blend intoeach other for Billy, who had to be switched between various tasks to keep from getting bored, and was currently workingon learning restocking…

…which allowed Elle to have frequent, lengthy breaks.

They were all able to take longer breaks than they had before now that they had a routine and could leave the floor forlonger than it took to take an Energizer hit. Elle was the one most often unneeded, however, so she spent more andmore time downstairs with the snapdragons and her thoughts.

“So are you handling everything okay?” she asked Billy, close to closing one evening.

“Sure, it’s fine,” he replied.

Elle ignored the testiness in his tone and went blithely on. “Do you have anything you need me to help you with?”

“I just said I was fine.”

“All right, I’m just checking. If you needed help I wanted to make sure you got it while I’m here and have time, becausewhen I get to college I won’t be able to anymore.”

“I’ve got it, don’t worry.”

“Okay. That’s good.”

She was about to go back to her loafing around when Billy suddenly snapped to attention. “Wait, college?”

“Yeah, at the end of the season. Why?”

He shrugged. “It’ll be weird around here with you and Zuzu both gone, that’s all.”

“Aww, Billy, I’ll miss you too. You don’t need sisters, though, you have a girlfriend, and you’ll get to go soon too.”

“Do you always have to be so perky?” he asked, eyebrows raised.

“It’s reflex now,” she replied, offering him a shrug and a smile. She made herself refrain from adding that that hadbecome more of a reason to keep it up than actually having anything to be perky about.

If he noticed, he didn’t say anything, but he did let her hug him for the first time without complaining about sister-cooties.

The next morning, there was a bit of a crisis when Gabriel malfunctioned and Harry had to spend three hours fixing himup, followed by the hours he had to spend recharging. Because of this, they decided not to open the toy shop that day,and when the kids came home from school to this news, they immediately dispersed to do other activities.

“I deeply regret the unfortunate malfunction which caused me to believe I could fix the leaky shower,” he said, asemotionally as a robot can, to Mya after he had recovered. “Your setback is my fault.”

“Don’t worry about it, Gabriel. I’ve been using the time to work out the details for the next business, so it hasn’t gone towaste.”

“What will you be requiring of me?”

“I decided I wanted to finish off with an electronics shop. You have a gold robotics badge, right?”

“I have indeed been working toward obtaining one.”

“It’ll just be the usual then. Making some things, helping with sales, etc.”

“Of course, Mrs. Mya.”

“Is there anything you’re going to need my help with before I go?”

Mya smiled at her middle daughter. “No, baby, I think your father and I have everything under control. Have youcollected all your scholarships?”

“Yeah, I just placed a call to SPU and made sure they gave me everything I’m supposed to have.”

“Do you need me to call you a taxi?”

“Oh, no, I can do it.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re a good girl, Elle, and it means a lot to me that you’ve been so willing to help me out and haven’t complained.I’m sure you’ll do really well in college.”

“Thanks, Mom,” she said quietly. “Good luck with the last one.”

“Thank you, baby.”

Elle excused herself as quickly as she could, called her taxi, and said brief goodbyes to everyone else in the housebefore she made her escape.

* * *

Elle came home from class on the first day of college expecting to be able to curl up with a book and take it easy for therest of the afternoon. Instead, she approached the front door just as a man she had never seen before was walking outof it.

As she stared, he broke into an easy smile. “Well, hello. You must be Azula’s sister.”

“Who are you?” she blurted.

“I’m a friend of Azula’s,” he replied, glancing at his watch. “I’m running late, but it’s very nice to meet you.”

“Uh, okay, bye.”

He tossed her a wink and headed off, and she hurried inside to find Azula wandering around, looking distracted. “Azula?”

Her sister jumped two feet and turned around, plastering a smile on her face. “Ellie. I thought your class went until five.”

“It’s five after five.”

“Really? Already? I guess I wasn’t paying attention to the time.”

“Zuzu, who was that guy who just left?”

“A friend,” she said evasively.

“The guy you told me about when you came to visit for Billy’s birthday?”

“What? Oh, hell no. Definitely not.”

“So…he’s not your boyfriend, then.”

Azula hesitated. “Not…really.” When she received a horrified stare in response to this statement, she sighed, taking aseat on the couch. “Ellie, you can’t tell anyone about this, okay? I haven’t told anybody and Mom and Dad will kill me ifthey find out--”

“Find out what?” Elle quickly took a seat beside her.

She sighed. “I’ve, um, dated a lot of guys since I got to college.”

“How many is a lot?”

“Tristan made twenty.” She gestured to the door.

“Twenty? In a year?”

“I know, I know.”

“So does that mean you’ve already dated that guy you talked about?”

Azula shook her head. “No. Dominic and I are friends and this dating I’ve been doing doesn’t mean anything. I wouldn’tdo that to him.”

“But you did date that Archie guy, right?”

“Right. He was the first one, actually. He didn’t want to commit, though, so we had some fun and that was the end of it.”She looked up, saw Elle’s expression, and smiled a little. “Don’t look so horrified. I haven’t done anything bad.”

“I guess, but…”

“Look, if it’ll make you feel better, I’ll stop bringing guys back here, okay? If I go out with someone, I’ll come backalone. This is your house now, too, and I know strange people make you uncomfortable. Just don’t tell anyone.”

Elle sighed. “Okay, it’s a deal.”

“Thanks, Ellie. I appreciate it.”

“I’m, uh, just going to have some salad now before it goes bad.”

“You do that.”

Azula stayed true to her word, and Elle did not see a single strange man enter her house for the rest of the semester.However, Azula quickly shifted from bringing people home to finding reasons not to go out at all, and Elle began to findthat just as uncomfortable. Her sister was clearly not meant to be a hermit, but she kept it up like nothing was wrong.

She frequently sat down to play chess with Elle despite the fact that she loathed the game…

…took obscenely long showers every morning…

…and did all the chores, even the ones that weren’t hers, without being asked.

Elle tried to put up with it the best that she could, but by the time Mikey called to invite them to a gathering at his place,she was more than ready for an intervention. “That sounds great,” she said, as perkily as possible. “We’ll be able tomake it for sure. See you then.”

“Guess who that was?”

“Mm?” Azula had been engrossed in a computer game, and thus not paying attention.

“Mikey just called. He’s having a party tomorrow night and wants us to come.”

“Oh? What did you tell him?”

“That we’d go, obviously.”

“Really? You want to? We could probably get out of it, if you don’t.”

“Azula,” Elle said, calmly, yet with a dangerous lilt to her voice akin to a parent at the end of her patience quota, “sohelp me God, you are going to go to that party, you are going to interact with your friends, and you are going to startacting like you again before you drive me to commit fratricide.”

“Oh, Ellie, I just--”

“YOU’RE GOING AND THAT’S FINAL.”

“OKAY, OKAY. Jeez, are you PMSing or something?”

“…I’m going to ignore that comment and walk away now.”

* * *

Elle wasn’t sorry she had forced Azula to go to Mikey’s party. Far from it. What she regretted was that doing so hadnecessitated her going, as well. Cousin parties were one thing, but her sister’s crowd had doubled during their first yearat college, so she was surrounded by people she didn’t know. It was almost worse than a day at the businesses--shewas unlikely to see much of the customers again, but her sister’s friends would be around until they graduated.

She managed to avoid talking to any of the unfamiliar faces, and found a couch in the corner to sit down on and watchthe proceedings from.

She was joined shortly by her cousin Edie. “It is hot in here,” the younger girl complained. “Too many freakin’ people.”

“You could go outside for a bit,” Elle suggested.

“Yeah, no. Callie will think I’m trying to make a break for it and chain me to something.”

“Tough break.”

“You said it.” Edie glanced at her sympathetically. “You look like you want to be here about as much as I do.”

Elle smiled. She and Edie weren’t close, but it was nice to have someone around who shared her misery. “You’rePopularity, though. At least you’d get the opportunity to Meet Someone New out of it.”

“I kind of thought college would give me the freedom to do what I wanted to do and not what my sisters wanted to do,though.” She k icked at the floor. “What’s your excuse?”

“Azula wouldn’t come if I didn’t and she needed to get out of the house. I’m hoping to just kind of sit here until it’s overand not have to talk to anyone I don’t know.”

Edie nodded absently, glancing around. Her eyes fixed on someone across the room and a slow smile came to her face.“That guy over there who’s looking at you will be very sorry to hear that.”

Startled, she looked up and caught the eye of a tall, brunette man standing across the room. He was, indeed, looking intheir direction, but Edie had to be wrong, he couldn’t be looking at her…

“He is not,” she hissed, turning to her cousin and trying not to blush.

“He so is. And now he’s coming over, too.”

A quick glance revealed that he really was. “You are just as sadistic as your sisters, you know that?”

“I speak only the truth,” Edie said righteously. “Besides, he’s really cute. At least say hi.”

“Excuse me.” Elle looked up into the green eyes of the stranger and almost forgot to be shy. The friendliness andsincerity in them seemed familiar. She had just begun to feel comfortable when she noticed that Edie was right about hislooks, and she flushed all over again. “I do hope I am not intruding.”

“You’re good,” Edie said cheerfully. “We weren’t talking about anything important. Why don’t you sit down?”

A warm smile crossed his face. “I should like that very much. Thank you.” He pulled up a chair. “Are the two of you Mr. H---ah, Michael’s cousins? He mentioned that you would be among the guests.”

“Yes, we are,” Edie confirmed, while Elle just listened, fascinated by his accent and manner of speaking. It was strange,but lovely to listen to.

A kick from her cousin brought her out of her reverie and she cleared her throat, surreptitiously shooting Edie a dirtylook. “Sorry. I’m Ellie and this is Edie. We’re, uh, freshmen this year. Um, are you a friend of Mikey’s?”

“I am indeed,” he said, offering her his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Stuart Legacy.”

Meanwhile, Azula chattered away with Callie, picking up her obligatory post-Slap Dance gossip. Secretly, she was gratefulto Elle for making her come. She had missed talking with her cousins and other friends.

“I don’t think you’ve missed anything too terribly exciting,” Callie said. “We decided to have a girls’ night at our placenext week and I want you to bring Ellie with you.”

“I’m there,” Azula promised. “A girls’ night sounds fantastic.”

“Excellent. What else…oh, you heard that Mikey and Naomi broke up, right?”

“What? Really? I thought those two were joined at the hip.”

“So did I. Yeah, she dumped him. It came out of nowhere, as far as I know. It really messed him up.”

Azula was now glad she had come simply because it seemed like Mikey really needed the company just then. “I’ve beenwondering why he’s seemed so quiet. That explains it, I guess. Do you know why?”

“Naomi wasn’t ready to get serious and Mikey wanted to get engaged.”

“Poor Mikey. His parents never dated anyone but each other and they have such a solid relationship. I know how muchhe wanted to have something like that.”

“Yeah, but it’s so unrealistic.”

She snorted. “Says the girl who’s waiting with bated breath for her high school boyfriend to propose.”

“That is not remotely funny, Zuzu.”

“Just saying. Who’s that with Mikey?”

“Oh, that’s Elphaba. She’s our aunt, one of Gramma Marina’s daughters.”

“…really?”

“Yeah, really.”

“Uh, it looks like he’s kind of into her. What if they hook up? Wouldn’t it be weird if your cousin dated your aunt?”

“You know, that doesn’t really bother me. I feel like there are worse things that could happen.”

“I guess…”

“Besides,” Callie continued, “any girl Mikey dated right now would just be a rebound relationship.”

“You’re right. I guess it’s his business any way it goes.”

They were interrupted by a soft throat-clearing to Azula’s left. “Hey, girls.”

“Dom! Hey.” Seeing her friend put a big smile on Azula’s face. “How are you?”

“I’m fine, thanks. How are you doing? I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Yeah, I’ve been busy.”

“Well, I’m glad you weren’t too busy to come tonight. Wanna dance?” He glanced at Callie. “I hope you don’t mind.”

Callie smirked. “Not at all. You kids have fun.”

“Hey, just because you’re a day older than me--” Azula began.

Dominic caught her arm. “Forget it. Come on.”

She was nervous, but quickly found her groove. It was clear that Dominic loved to dance, but he was also very aware thathe was doing it with another person and obviously wanted her to have a good time, too. He’s such a good guy, shethought, a little wistfully. “You’re good,” she said aloud.

“Thanks. I’ve been dancing since before I could walk. That’s what my mother always told me, anyway.”

She laughed. “Well, with that much practice I’m not surprised. Ever consider making a career out of it?”

“Not really. I love dancing, but it’s too…personal for that, you know? I’d actually like to go into Law Enforcement.”

“Dancing for great justice?”

“Something like that,” he agreed, grinning.

Azula glanced over his shoulder and immediately became still more amused. “So, as your friend, am I legally bound totell you what your sister’s doing with Phil right now?”

Dominic made a face. “No, I’d rather you didn’t. If I can’t see it, it’s not happening.”

“Interesting way of looking at things, there.”

“You’re an oldest child, too. You can’t tell me you’d want to see that.”

“I’ll get back to you when it becomes an issue.”

“Regalton?” Elle had heard of the place in passing, and the only thing she really knew about it was that it was a long,long way away. “That’s really far from here. What made you come all the way out here for college?”

“I was offered a large scholarship to study engineering,” Stuart explained. “The university here has a splendid program,and the faculty seems eager to obtain new students.”

“That makes sense,” Edie agreed. “There’s a lot of outreach going on right now. They’re trying to get more people tocome here now that it doesn’t suck as much.”

He nodded, smiling. “Well, they are certainly doing a good job of advertising. I thought that it might be beneficial to dosome traveling before I settled into a career.”

“Do you like it here?” Elle asked.

“So far, very much.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“And what are you studying?”

“Mathematics.”

“Really? What made you choose it?”

She shrugged. “I feel comfortable with numbers, I suppose. I don’t have a career planned out or anything.”

“I am sure many people come to university in the same situation.” He smiled, and she didn’t feel ashamed of what shehad said anymore. “You have time to decide.”

“Yeah, I’m sure I’ll figure it out.”

“So Stuart,” Edie broke in, smirking, “do you have a girlfriend back home?” Elle shot her a mortified glance, but Edie wasvery much her mother’s child and therefore not abashed in the slightest.

His smile faltered slightly in confusion. “Ah…no, I am not seeing anyone at the moment.”

“What a shame. Good-looking guy like you. I was sure you had a girlfriend.”

“Stop it, Edie,” Elle hissed, now bright red.

“What? He doesn’t mind.”

Clearing her throat, Elle turned back to Stuart. “Please pardon my cousin. No one in her family has any shame. It’s asickness with them.”

“I resent that,” Edie said cheerfully.

Stuart laughed. “I assure you I do not mind,” he said. Elle was relieved to see that he really didn’t. She had the feelingthat there wasn’t much that really bothered him, and couldn’t help a little envy.

“I should go relieve Ellie,” Azula said after a while, reluctantly moving to disengage herself. “She came here for me andI don’t think she wants to stay too late.”

“Fine, if you have to,” Dominic said playfully. He then did something completely unexpected--reached over and pulledher into a hug.

Azula didn’t know what to do. She had never been that close to a guy she actually liked as more than just a casual hook-up before. Tentatively, she returned the hug, hoping she wasn’t holding on too tight or too long.

“Let’s hang out soon,” he said, as he stepped back.

“Yeah. I’d like that.”

“I guess I should go see if Zuzu wants to go,” Elle said, getting up. “I made her come, so she probably doesn’t want tostay late.”

Stuart got to his feet as well. “It was lovely meeting you,” he said, flashing that adorable smile at her once again. “Ishould very much like to call on you soon. Would that be all right?”

“Oh…sure, that would be great. We’re in the last house on the end of the road, but Mikey can give you directions in caseyou forget.”

“Wonderful. I will look forward to it.”

She smiled shyly back. “Yeah, me too.”

* * *

Having run out of children to name her businesses after, Mya decided to call the fifth and final--an electronics shop--Gabriel’s Gears, as a tribute to both the hardworking Servo who had helped her with all five as well as the loving husbandwho had made him for her. The layout of the business was barely any different from the previous four.

The downstairs housed two bathrooms and a lobby where customers could hang out in between shopping.

The upstairs was where the merchandise was displayed. The only handcrafted item they carried were the little toy robotsthat Gabriel could put together quickly at the station in the staff room. The rest, Mya imported from dealers outside theregion.

The thing that stood out most about the shop was the wacky décor. Mya had decided to go for a futuristic flavor, andhad put together a shop that her brother-in-law Jonathan could not have decorated better himself.

Now that he was the only child at home, Billy did multiple jobs. He kept up with sales reasonably well and most of thecustomers loved working with him and spoke kindly of him to his mother.

With Elle gone, however, he also did most of the restocking in between making sales. It was not a terribly hard job,since he had had a lot of practice at Billy’s Toy Bin, but he found it boring.

More to the point, he found working at the businesses pretty boring in general, but he didn’t want to say so to hismother.

Harry kept to the register, which seemed to be all that he could handle, as he became more and more tired as the dayswent on. He kept a cheerful attitude throughout the whole thing and was allowed as many breaks as he needed.

Gabriel’s time was once again split between crafting and sales, something he didn’t mind in the slightest.

However, an incident that occurred shortly after the shop opened necessitated a third duty--that of Unofficial SecurityGuard.

Snow was a frequent visitor to Mya’s shops, since she and Billy were dating, and as long as he asked, he was allowed tospend a few minutes chatting with her. After he had to get back to work, Snow might hang around for a bit and browse,or talk to his parents, and some of the time she left to do something elsewhere. Billy had been worried about enteringinto the relationship when he didn’t have as much time for her as he wanted, but for now the arrangement was workingfairly well. Some days they even closed up early enough that he could call her before he went to bed.

One afternoon, once his break was over and Snow had gone, he went back to restocking and was dutifully sloggingthrough it when he felt a presence at his shoulder. “She’s really not that into you, you know,” a quiet, vindictive voicesounded. “She’s only going out with you because she’s desperate. Once she finds someone who doesn’t look like hewas fathered by a frog, she’ll dump you.”

Billy dropped his pencil in shock. “What?”

“You heard me. She’s too pretty for you. Everybody knows that.”

“Shut up, you’re wrong,” he hissed. The only thing that was keeping him from straight out punching the guy was the factthat he did not want to get into a confrontation with his mother.

“Oh no, I’m definitely right. You’ll see.”

He snatched up his pencil and moved away quickly, but not far enough that he did not see what happened next. Gabriel,who had heard the entire thing, calmly walked up to the boy and told him politely, yet firmly, that he was no longerwelcome in the shop.

Hearing that and knowing Gabriel would go to bat for him without being asked made Billy feel good and helped him toforget about the incident for the moment.

Meanwhile, Mya did her bit and helped out with all three jobs whenever it was necessary, though what she did mostlyseemed to consist of supervision.

“Hey, Aunt Mya!” Cid greeted her, cheerfully, when he noticed her walking his way after a brief conversation with Billy.“The shop looks awesome! It’s like a night club except that you can’t dance or you’ll break stuff.”

“Thank you, Cid,” she said.

Cid walked away to inspect a TV, and Mya approached her son. “Billy, do I need to give you a warning?”

“No, geez,” he said impatiently. “I’m still doing my freaking job, which you would see if you were actually watching. I’mallowed to say hi to my cousins. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Watch your tone, young man,” she said, sternly.

He muttered an apology and left to continue restocking.

Minor incidents aside, things at Gabriel’s Gears continued much the way they usually did. It was the most successfulshop of the bunch, and they attracted many new customers in addition to keeping all of the old…

…who in turn told their friends, which kept them the busiest they had ever been.

“So this is Number Five, huh?” Lex appraised the shop with a smile, while Mya waited anxiously for her friend’s opinion.“It looks good, Mya. Very organized and hip. No wonder I’ve been hearing such great things about it.”

“I’m glad you like it, Lex.”

“And how are you doing, Mya? Are you happy with all of this?”

She answered without hesitation. “Yes, I am. I did what I set out to do and did it better than I ever expected to. Thishas been an amazing experience.”

“Good to hear.” He grinned back at her. “You did good, Mya. I’m really proud of you.”

“Thank you, Lex. This couldn’t have happened if it hadn’t been for you, you know. I would never have met Harry orcome up with the idea to do it in the first place. You made all of this possible by being my friend.”

“Oh, you don’t have to thank me.”

“Yes, I do. It’s meant a lot to me.”

“Well, then, you’re welcome.”

* * *

When Mya told Billy that he could have a day off, he called Snow up without hesitation, and they spent the entireafternoon together.

He decided that it was a good thing that he would be headed to college shortly. He hated not having much time for Snowand hoped to have more afternoons like this once he wasn’t at the businesses constantly. He really enjoyed being in arelationship--especially now that he was the only child left at home--and felt lucky to have such a sweet, pretty girl as hisgirlfriend.

And yet the incident at Gabriel’s Gears kept bothering him. He would have been quite happy never even considering thefact that Snow might think he was ugly, or that she was using him. He did not want to talk about it with her, and so triedhard to give her the benefit of the doubt.

She stayed until it was past ten, and then reluctantly began to disentangle herself from his arms. “I should get home,”she said.

“Hold on a second,” Billy said, surprising himself. He hadn’t meant to stop her--he knew she had a curfew.

“What is it?” she asked, puzzled.

He hesitated, then blurted, “I love you.”

A bright grin instantly lit up her face. “I love you, too!” she exclaimed, and he knew that she wasn’t lying.

He pulled her into a hug, and she returned it enthusiastically. “I’m so glad you said it,” she said. “I didn’t want to be thefirst one to say it.”

Billy laughed, relieved. “I’m really glad you said it back. I was scared there for a minute.”

Unfortunately, Harry was not having as nice an evening as his son.

“Mr. Harry, that does not sound healthy. I believe you may have contracted a virus and suggest that you should rest,”Gabriel observed.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” he rasped, when he had finished coughing. “I’ll sleep up here so I don’t give it to Mya.”

He had hoped to sleep it off, but to his dismay, he ended up spending most of the next day in bed. It turned out thathe had contracted the flu and would have to stay off his feet as much as possible in order to nuke it and keep fromgiving it to anyone else. “Not exactly the best birthday present ever,” he mumbled to himself, more than a little upset atthis.

“Oh no, really? That’s horrible. Are you sure you don’t want us to come?”

“Positive,” Mya said, and Elle bit her lip. “You two have finals coming up and Harry wouldn’t want you doing badly because you’resick. Just give him a call later and he’ll be happy with that.”

“Okay then. I’m sorry we’ll miss it.”

“That’s all right, baby. You and your sister take care.”

“Sure. Happy Birthday, Mom.”

Elle went back to the salad she had just prepared, laid it out on the table, and sat down to eat it. She was soon joinedby Azula, and Saffron, who was visiting. “What was that all about?” Azula asked.

“Mom called,” Elle said. “She doesn’t want us to come tonight after all because Dad’s got the flu.”

“Oh, that sucks. Poor Dad. Sick like that on his birthday. I’ll call him after dinner.”

“Yeah, I told Mom we would.”

“Awesome.”

“Anyway. What’s up with you, Saffy? We haven’t seen you in a while.”

Saffron grinned. “Not a lot, really. Studying for finals and definitely not wreaking havoc with fire alarms at my dorm.”

Azula laughed while Elle facepalmed. “I thought you said that had nothing to do with you.”

“What had nothing to do with me?” Saffron said innocently. “I just said I wasn’t doing things like that. Gosh, Zuzu, Ithink you need hearing aids or something.”

The blonde shoved her good-naturedly. “And you need a better short-term memory.”

“If you two break my dishes, there will be consequences,” Elle threatened, when Saffron playfully pushed her back.

“So did your mother ever decide who the heir was going to be?”

“Oh, yeah, that was a while ago. It’s me.”

Azula blinked. “You? Really?”

“Well, yeah.” Saffron lifted a shoulder. “I guess it can’t really be anyone else. River’s Fortune and Snow’s…well, Snow.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“Sure. Taking care of everyone’s always been my job. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Ugh, I couldn’t even imagine it. There’s no way I want to be heir.”

Saffron looked amused. “Well, being heir’s a little different in my family than it is in yours, Zuzu.”

“I guess. Still.”

“Have you guys talked about it yet?”

“No, Mom’s been so busy with the businesses that I don’t think anyone’s really even thought about it. Have you, Elle?”

Elle blinked. She had expected to just sit back and listen to the rest of the conversation without being asked toparticipate in it. “Uh, no, not really.”

Azula nodded and turned back to Saffron. “Dad’ll probably ask about it soon. One of us has to, I just don’t want it to beme.”

“Totally understandable,” Saffron assured her. “So how’s everything at home besides your dad being sick?”

“Pretty good, it sounds like. Mom’s doing well with the electronics shop, and Billy’s nuts about your sister.” Azula paused.“Actually, forget I said that.”

“I already know,” Saffron said. “Snow can’t stop talking about him. It would be really cute if it wasn’t so saccharine.” Shemade a face. “You can tell Billy from me that if he ever hurts her, I’ll break his kneecaps.”

Azula snorted. “I’m sure he’ll understand.”

Once they were done, Elle collected the plates and let Azula and Saffron go off to do what Saffron had come over to do--study. “You are in really bad shape, Zuzu,” she informed her friend without preamble.

Azula smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, um, that might be because my prof this semester isn’t as lenient as the last one.”

“Or maybe because you just don’t care.”

“You don’t exactly care either.”

“Yeah, but I can pass my classes by the seat of my pants without ever cracking a book, and you don’t have that talent.”

“Ouch.”

“Hey, you’re the one who asked for help.”

“Is it just me or does Ellie seem like she’s in a really good mood today?”

“She is. She’s been like that for a while, actually.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, you were at Mikey’s house party a while back, weren’t you? I forget.”

“Of course. Why?”

“Do you remember that exchange student who’s living with him and Phil?”

“Oh yeah, that guy.”

“Yeah. He and Ellie met at the party and he’s been here almost every day ever since. He’s really into her, and I think she likeshim too although she hasn’t admitted it yet.”

“Wow, good for her. I thought she might be too nervous to attract anyone worth having. He checks out, obviously.”

“Yeah, he’s fine. He’s actually more concerned about all that stuff than I am, which I didn’t think was possible. He feels a lotmore comfortable talking with Elle when I’m in the room.”

“…uh, Zuzu, that’s not a good thing.”

“With any other guy, I’d agree with you, but Stuart barely pays me any attention. I can’t really explain it. It just seems like he’slooking out for her, which is great. Or it would be if it didn’t make me feel like I’m babysitting them.”

“So what do you do, just sit there?”

“And read bad romance novels, yeah.”

“Yuck. I can see why your grades are suffering.”

“Oh come on, that is not why. They’re not rotting my brain if I know they’re bad.”

They had to quiet down when Elle walked over to the bookcase to get a book. As she walked away, Saffron caught thetitle and blanched. “That is, unfortunately, more than I can say for my sister,” Azula said quietly.

“Is…is that…”

“Yes. Yes it is.”

“Why is she reading that.”

“To prove that you shouldn’t own a book if you’re only going to read it once. Cal gave it to me as a gag gift a whileback. I couldn’t stand it so now Elle’s reading it, and the worst part is, I think she likes it.”

“…I never thought I would see a version of Elle that talked to boys and liked romance novels.”

“Trust me, neither did I.”

“This subject is getting creepy. Forget I asked.”

“Forgotten.”

* * *

Harry and Mya both grew up well despite the fact that they were unable to throw a party and only had Billy and Gabriel foran audience. It disappointed Harry not to see his daughters or siblings, but he fielded calls until his coughing got in theway and afterward simply spent some time alone with his wife, making carefully sure not to breathe on her.

“You should get to bed,” Mya said after a while.

“I’ve been in bed all day,” he protested.

“And with good reason. We’re not young anymore, Harry, and the flu is a big deal. I don’t want you getting worse. Itcould turn into pneumonia if you’re not careful.”

He sighed. “I suppose you’re right.”

She smiled a little. “I just want you to take care of yourself. You’re the only husband I’ve got, you know.”

“Don’t worry, hon. I’ll be fine.”

* * *

Author’s Note:

Hello, everyone! I come to you bearing a new update and my deepest apologies for the following:

1) I said this was going to be a double update. As you can see, it’s a single. I wasn’t able to finish playing when Iwanted to and with the rebuild and everything even finishing this was difficult. To make it up to you, I plan to post 20and 21 together instead.

2) The fact that it’s been three months since I last updated. See rebuild excuse above.

3) No detailed Author’s Note this time around. I have very little to say about this chapter, except for…

MWAHAHAHAHA I DID IT FEAR ME FOR I AM AWESOME

I am not the first person to complete the 5 Businesses want by a long shot and I definitely could not have done it if itweren’t for the people who did it before me and passed on excellent advice. (I am pretty sure I am the first person tohave done this in an Apocalypse Challenge with Culinary and Politics still in place, though.) But I’m glad that I did it ifonly to prove to myself that I could, and for the fact that it has provided me with a series of excellent plot points.

And now I will never do it again.

Well, not for a while anyway.

Oh yeah, Zuzu’s permaplat too. I actually rushed her and Mya through the last bits of both their wants when I knewOriginal Sierra Plains was headed for meltdown because I didn’t want to have to do it all over again in the new ‘hood.Just seconds before she took this phone call, Azula gained her twentieth red heart, from…

…a guy who isn’t the one I said it was. :D Like I said, I had to rush to get it done, and Azula was a flirt away from redhearts with Dominic whereas with Tristan it would have taken much more time, so I went the easy route for the sake ofthe milestone. However, I showed the guy I had originally intended for #20 anyway for reasons you will see next update.

That said, I hope you all enjoyed the update, and I hope to see you very soon with the next. Until then, Happy Simming!

---

Guest Sims

Dominic and Kahlen Doran - The Boolpropian Round Robin Legacy

Stuart Legacy - A Victorian Legacy

Saffron and Snow Bohemian - The Bohemian Legacy

Shoppers/Aspiration Fodder: Spider Jerusalem and Archimedes Vetinari (The Vetinari Dualegacy), Aylee Devereaux (TheDevereaux Legacy), Claudius Caesar (The Ten Caesars), Cherryh Nebula (A Planetary Apocalypse), Norris Bauchman (TheScience of a Legacy), Derrial Whedonberry (Whedonberry)