Fortunes Fancy Chapter 2 Summary

Fortune’s Fancy- Chapter 2 part 1

A Legacy by Nicbemused
and simself Nicki
Bemused with possible
commentary by Other Characters

A quick recap of the last part: Flushed with happiness from Bastien’s wedding, Alex and Lief
return home to find their youngest child has been kidnapped. To get him back and punish the
perpetrator, they (and Brenda, Bastien, and Chloe) make a deal with wicked witch Deirdre that
requires the completion of a lengthy and generations consuming quest. Bryan opts out, creating
a rift between he and his mother. Brenda has Camden, Bastien and Chloe have twins Cleopatra
(know as Tara) and Colette (know as Lettie). Brenda graduates and returns home and discovers
herself pregnant again and has Conrad. Bastien and Chloe graduate and they and their girls
return. Bryan gets his master’s, graduates, and returns. Brenda is heir.

Once back in Enhearten, Bastien and Chloe bought the best house they
could qualify for a loan for. Brenda had suggested they ask for her parent’s
help, but Bastien had categorically refused. He wanted to do it himself, he
said.

It wasn’t a great house, though it looked OK from the outside. It was small to begin with, and then it
had been a foreclosure that the former owners had basically trashed before leaving. Almost all the
wallboard had been smashed and had to be taken out, the carpets were soiled with stains and needed
to be removed as well. The cabinets had been broken and they had taken the stove and most of the
other appliances with them. Bastien and Chloe had baby stuff from Alex and Leif, of course, but until
their bed was delivered they had to sleep in sleeping bags on the floor. It was going to be a long
project to make the house was truly livable.

Bryan was back in his hometown as well, but he deliberately chose to move into a
cinderblock bunker. The spying tools he was learning about in the SCIA training program
could see and hear a sim from a neighborhood away and with the stuff he wanted to
experiment with, he wasn’t going to take any chances unless he could afford his own
COMPOUND!

Elsewhere another child was moving on with his life. Dierdre looked down at her son.
“Boyo, you are growing up far too fast. Nearly human speed. A child so weak in our
genetics will not be useful to me in and of himself. You had best hope you carry the
necessary genetic markers.”
“Gwow Up FAST!”
“Yes, Corsair, you do. Unfortunately.”

However, everyone ages and Brenda was planning a party for her parents. She invited
Bastien and Chloe and their family and the guy she was currently seeing, Pete, and a
few of her parents’ friends. She was tempted to invite Bryan, but she didn’t want to
disturb her mother. Alex had called to say that she was going to be late, but they all
hoped she’d make it before the party was over, so Leif stood up by himself.

“This is a great many candles. It is best that I have changed the fire alarm
battery.” Leif joked as he blew out the candles and his children cheered him
on. “It is good your mother has not returned yet, she is afraid of such a large
flame.”

As Leif finished blowing the candles out, they heard Alex’s car pull up.
“Best I hurry so that your mother can have her turn.”

And with that, Leif finished his aging portion of the
birthday party.

“Hurry Children.” He told them. “We must hurry so that your mother does not sneak about
and have her birthday by herself.”
Listening to her father, Brenda realized that unless things changed, there would be no one to
share her birthday as her parents shared theirs. Did she want to be alone when she became
old? Did she want to shoulder all the responsibilities for the family alone when the time
came?

Alex shook her head to clear it and they all ran out to
the street to follow her father’s instructions.

They were just in time too. Alex had already started to hold her birthday
without them. She didn’t get away with it though. They were all there to
cheer her on.
“Go mama! Go!” Blake was a bit overexcited from all the birthdays.

And, with all her family there, Alex finally agreed
that it was time for her birthday.

Brenda didn’t know what her mother had been
worried about. As always, she was a beautiful
woman, no matter what her age.

That night Brenda asked Pete to stay over. They’d been going out for a while
and she thought she loved him. Maybe. Anyway it was the longest
monogamous relationship she’d been in, she must love him, right? Time to take
things to the next level and see.

With all the big people in the family busy, Camden took
a nap on Artemis.

With Blake grown up and going to school, she was his favorite playmate.
She always had time for him, even when mommy was tired and Grandpa
and Grandma were busy.

She even let him see when she had her puppy. It
was kind of icky, but then there was a puppy!

Soon, though, it was time for Camden’s birthday. He was very excited that he would soon
be big enough to go to school and that mommy would be the person helping him get big,
even though she’d been very tired lately. He didn’t even mind sharing with Stinky Connie
because he got his very own cake that he would get to eat and Conrad would only get a
bottle and no cake at all.

And, with a quick puff at his candles, Camden decided that it
was time to be a big boy. And he was right, he even got cake to
go with his new maturity.

Then it was Conrad’s turn. Camden wasn’t really interested, he was more
into talking with Blake’s friends, but Brenda couldn’t wait to see her baby
become a toddler.

He was turning into such a cute little boy, it was time to
start teaching him to walk and talk and use the potty.

For now though, he was a very tired little boy and Alex was going to take
him into the nursery to put him down for the night before rejoining them
for cake

That night Brenda celebrated the Birthdays of her two sons in her own
way. She’d been too tired recently to go out much, but Pete seemed
fine with staying in and he got on well with her family. She wondered
if he really was the one, but how would she know?

Later that week, Brenda received what she chose to think of as a sign, ignoring
the fact that she hadn’t been regular with her pills and Pete didn’t like condoms
all that much and often “forgot” especially late at night or if they’d been out and
had some drinks. Surely the universe was telling her he was the right one, right?

Brenda wasn’t sure how to ask him, he’d never said anything about marriage,
but she figured that now was the time. She scouted out a few locations and
decided she liked the new place down on the beach. If she listened to her
nerves and chickened out, it would still be a romantic date.

Then she called to see if he was available. He was free that night, so she
asked him to come down and meet her.
First they went for a walk on the beach.

Then they danced to the live band up on the restaurant’s open deck
until dusk.

Finally they took the photo booth for a spin. Brenda came out giggling.
“That was a kick! I haven’t done that since Uni!” she laughed with him.
He agreed. “Brends, you are the best date.”
OK, that proved they were compatible, right? Another good sign. It was time. “Lets
go down to the beach again.”

“Sure, give me a sec, I’ll follow you.” Pete headed in the directions of the
restrooms.
Brenda was actually kind of relieved, it gave her a chance to get ready. She didn’t
see him stop, say something to a laughing waitress, and pass her a piece of paper.

When he got there, Brenda couldn’t take her nerves any more, she had to ask
him right away. “Pete, I’m in love with you and I’d like to spend my life with
you, laughing like we did tonight and maybe raising a couple of kids. Will you
marry me?”

He seemed surprised and for a minute she was afraid he was going to say no.
After a long pause, he finally answered her, “Sure. I love you too, so why not.”
It wasn’t the most romantic answer, but a yes was a yes. No need to be
nervous. Really.

And despite the not-terribly-romantic answer, he felt right in her arms.

Alex and Leif appeared thrilled for Brenda and it seemed like she hardly had
any time to think before the wedding was planned and she was waiting
under the arch for Pete. Waiting. And Waiting.

When he arrived, Pete apologized handsomely for having been delayed. He
stood solidly through the ceremony and seemed fine when she placed his
ring on his finger.

He only faltered a bit when saying his vows before putting her ring on her
finger. Maybe he was nervous too.

But the kiss at the end? The kiss was excellent.

It was so excellent that at first Brenda didn’t mind when Pete left her side to
“get some air.” But she did notice when it started raining and he didn’t
come back in.

And she kind of minded when he collapsed on the grass
with a moan. Was he sick maybe?

Then he started muttering to himself about marriage and she did really mind
that. But he pulled himself together and then apologized. “Sorry, baby, I never
expected to get married. I panicked for a minute.”
And Brenda forgave him.

There were no problems for the rest of the party.
They cut the cake and Brenda gently fed a bite to Pete. She was still
feeling… unsettled.

It wasn’t until they were all sitting around the table together that she
truly felt all was well. Everyone together in the kitchen, around the table,
this was how it was supposed to be. This was right.

She smiled when she caught her parents sneaking off together to share a
dance alone in the moonlight. That. That was what she wanted.

When she heard Pete’s voice calling Brenda turned away from the window
and hurried out to the limo out front. Alex and Leif were going to watch
the kids while she and Peter were on their honeymoon. Alex had said it
would be no trouble at all.

It was a very short two weeks before they got back, but that last morning Brenda hadn’t been able to
fit into her regular clothes any more. She didn’t think Pete had noticed with all the travel rush, but
when the got out of the limo aback at the house, Pete turned to her. “I guess you weren’t kidding
about having a kid after we got married. I wonder why you didn’t say something.”
Brenda wasn’t sure how to respond. She should have said something, but he hadn’t objected when
she talked about having his baby and neither of them had been careful, it was just going to happen
sooner than he thought maybe. “Surprise?”

This pregnancy passed much as the last one had. Brenda took care of the
household needs.

And did a great deal of toddler training.

Though this time she added pet training to her round of household chores
and of course she went to her culinary classes. She was glad she was almost
through with those.

Brenda also tried to make sure she spent plenty of time playing with Conrad, as
she had with Camden, so that he wouldn’t feel deserted with the new baby on the
way. She wished Pete would spend some time with her boys, but he didn’t seem
all that interested. Maybe with the new baby?

Brenda and Pete did manage to spend time together as a couple, Pete
especially seemed to love it when she listened to him play and told him how
good he was.

Sometimes, though, especially if the house where noisy he’d shout and stomp
off to the observation platform to “Be alone Lady-take-you-all. Why isn’t it
ever quiet?”

On those nights Brenda would work on her Final Project for culinary school
until he came in. Pete complained she was spending too much time on the
computer if she worked on her cook book when he was around.

The night she finally finished her book, her Final Culinary Project, Brenda went
into labor. She’d been in labor for most of the afternoon, she figured out later,
but only got up when she started having really strong contractions. She tried to
be quiet so Pete wouldn’t hear.

Pete was still asleep when his son appeared. Little Cyr was a redhead like his
mama and grand-daddy, pale as both his parents, and cute as his button nose.
Exhausted, Brenda thought maybe he’d be her last.

She wasn’t able to stay home with Cyr for too long because the job she wanted finally opened up.
There was a tough, creative, chef at one of the local restaurants and she’d been dying to work in his
kitchen. There weren’t very many openings, his team had very low turnover, so she had to grab the
chance while she could. Brenda was nervous about leaving Cyr alone for the first time, but Alex
reassured her, reminding her that Leif would be home all day and she’d be home for a lot of it too and
she was sure that Pete would do fine with the baby as well. Brenda finally stopped fretting and hurried
to work just before she’d risk being late.

As if the house weren’t busy enough, Artemis chose that time to have two more
puppies. With the new baby, the people in the household hadn’t paid enough
attention to the dogs and nobody had noticed that Artemis was pregnant when
she sneaked off to den up on a pile of leaves behind the pond.

“I can’t believe you snuck off and had more babies like that. Not that I don’t like puppies,
but there are enough human puppies in the house right now and Mom and Papa are getting
too old to take care of so many dogs, and Pete isn’t fond of dogs at all, so you know all this is
going to be on me.”
“Wuff.”
“Yeah, I know, not your problem.”

Fortunately Brenda did really like dogs, even if everything going on kept her
running, and she was proud and happy with Artemis finally trusted her with
their newest addition and no longer growled when she petted him.

And Pete did try to help out. He and Blake seemed to get along well, he
often helped Blake with his music or his homework, and he did make dinner
most nights.

Some night, though. Some nights he disappeared after they all went to
bed. Brenda would wake up in the middle of the night and the sheets
next to her would be cold.

She didn’t know where he went on those nights.

She didn’t know what he was doing or who he was doing
it with.

And she didn’t know what to say when he snuggled down into bed
with her after he came back. So she didn’t say anything, she just
worried silently.

One Saturday morning, after he’d been out the night before, they were laying in bed talking.
“So. Cyr’s starting to get pretty big, and Conrad’s nearly a child.”
Brenda was surprised, she didn’t realize he’d noticed. “Uh huh. Soon it will be toddler training all over again.”
“It’s funny, looking at the two of them, Conrad looks more mine than Cyr does.” He paused. “How is Garrick
these days, anyway?”
“Hmm? Oh, I don’t know. I haven’t spoken with him since Con was born. I’m sure he’s fine.” Brenda wasn’t
worried about Garrick, he’d been out of her life for years.
“Oh. Well. If you’re sure.” Pete paused again. “I think we should have a baby. Another one, I mean. The
kids are getting older, and Blake is almost a teenager and could help out.”
“Are you sure? I’d need a lot of help if we had another, I can hardly keep up with what I have to do now.”
“I’d help out more this time.” Brenda looked at him for a long time and promised to think about it.

Brenda did think about it. She noticed that Blake and Cam were very good friends,
that Blake acted a lot like he was Camden’s older brother, helping him with school
work and making sure he had friends and including him in all Blake’s activities. And
sometimes giving him a hard time, but not TOO often.

She thought that Con learned everything so quickly and he was almost old
enough to go to school and that Cyr was a very good baby and hardly ever
cried. And in the end, she told Pete that maybe they should simply quit
taking care to not get pregnant and they’d see what happened.

It was not long before Brenda was spending her mornings analyzing the
cleanliness of the plumbing fixtures. In fact, it was just before Con’s
birthday, again. She was afraid he was going to get a complex.

As usual, they had a family party, with Alex inviting Lettie and Tara over, as well as
their parents. They didn’t’ get to spend nearly enough time together lately, everyone
was so busy with their own lives. Blake said he was too old for a kidparty, but his
mother looked him in the eye and told him not yet he wasn’t, so he quieted down and
enjoyed himself more than he’d expected.

Unfortunately it started to snow, so Alex called everyone in for cake and hot
Cocoa and brought Con in to blow out his candles. Brenda had stayed up late
the night before to make his cake, since she wasn’t able to make the party due
to work.

Everyone else had come to watch Con get older, though, including Bryan. Alex
still wasn’t talking to him, but she put up with his presence anyway. She
wanted to forgive him, but he’d never apologized and she wouldn’t forgive
until he did.

Con wasn’t sure what to think about this getting older bit. The cake seemed
good, and it was cool that he was old enough to play with Blake and Camden
and the cousins, but he felt awkward with his longer arms and legs and wasn’t
sure about school at all.

Two days after the party, Leif was doing his yoga on the back deck and thinking. He liked doing his
Yoga outside, but the cold was starting to get to him in his old age. The children were getting older
too, even Blake. He was almost a teen. Lady, the child he’d had after his oldest had already left the
nest was almost a teenager. He really was getting old, and Alex too. Even Brenda was getting more
tired. He hoped this was her last pregnancy, she had too much responsibility and more than enough
kids to carry on the family name and she seemed worn out.

Perhaps he and Alex should give Brenda and Pete a break and take all the older kids on vacation,
Lettie and Tara as well. It would be fun, the kids could become better acquainted before Blake got
too old, and it would give Alex and Pete a chance for some alone time before the baby came. This
was a good idea, he would speak with Alex. Leif looked out over the barren winter landscape. And
it would be warm. He would tell Alex to find them someplace warm.

Alex thought Leif’s idea was the best one she’d heard in a while and researched eagerly. It
would give her and Leif time to bond more with all the older children and Brenda could
definitely use a break. The pregnancy was wearing her down and she and Pete needed
some time as a couple. There was some problem there and maybe with everyone but the
baby out of their hair they’d have time to work it out.

In the end, she decided that Twikki would be the best place to go and, once
she’d gotten approval from all the parents involved, she booked the tickets.

So, very late Thursday evening (the kids were having a 4 day weekend) Chloe brought the
girls over, kissed them goodbye, and they all headed for the airport for their tropical
vacation. Alex grinned when she saw that Camden was so excited he was out the door
twenty steps before everyone else.
“Hey! Wait for us!” Blake wasn’t used to having to catch up.

Everyone slept on the plane and they got in, refreshed, very early Friday morning.
Since it was their first trip to Twikki and she and Leif were still paying off their home
improvement loan, Alex had picked a decent, but not top end, hotel. It met all their
needs, had a pool, and was only a short walk to the beach. Alex nodded to herself, “It
will do nicely.”

While Alex checked them all in…
“Boy, you’ve got a big party there, Mrs. Destin. Taking the grandkids on vacation?”
“Something like that.” She nodded vaguely.

Leif took the kids out to the pool. They didn’t seem to know what to do
first, but he had his heart set on a swim and then some time in the sun,
maybe he’d get Alex into the hot-tub after the kids were asleep. No winter
here!

Having had some fun, settled in, and gotten a good night’s sleep (spent
some time in the hot-tub), the next day they set off to explore the island.

Leif and Alex had let the kids choose their destination, so the Pirate ship was
their first stop. Due to the rain, Leif, Alex, and even Blake opted to stay
under shelter, but the rest of the kids didn’t mind the wet.

They explored all over the ship with Tara…

And, just before they went home, even young Con
taking a turn at defense.

While Camden played the commanding role of
Pirate Captain.

“ARRR me hardies! Crank that sail! Tote that line!”
“You crank the sail your own self! I’m going to climb the
crow’s nest!”

“Hah! He can’t boss me up here!”
“ARRRRRR, me hardy! Finds us some land!”
“Bother.”

Lettie couldn’t hear her cousin any more as she looked out over there ocean and then
turned toward the shore. There, near the volcano, there was almost a shimmer, it looked
like a face. No, she couldn’t see it, there was nothing. Disappointed, she climbed down.
“ARRRRR! Did you find us some land?”
“Nope, all ocean.”
“Then ye must WALK the PLANK!”

And so she did what none of the others dared to do. She walked out on the
plank and, when she could see them all watching, pretended to loose her
balance.

“Lettie?” Cam sounded anxious, “Lettie, I didn’t mean to really walk the plank. Come back! Don’t
fall!”
Unfortunately Grandma saw it all and called for them to get back to shore so they could go home.
Lettie smiled to herself and looked over the edge a last time before walking back onto the shipdeck.
She wouldn’t lose her balance, she never did.

The next day, when they went to the ruins, Lettie still felt like there was
something out there, but she didn’t see anything when she looked around.

The big waterfall was pretty cool though. Lettie sat on the edge listening to
Con tell Grandma about having an new baby sister or brother. She wished
they’d be quiet, there was something here that she thought deserved more
respect.

Finally they went to find Leif and the others and Lettie could give the
waterfall the attention she thought it deserved. She looked deeply into it.
Deeply. Deeply.

And the waterfall looked back at her. She didn’t know how long it was before Leif called to her. “What
is it that you are still doing here?”
It seemed silly to tell him the waterfall was looking at her so she shrugged. “I like the water.”
“Water is good, but lunch is better. Come and we shall have lunch.”
She gave a quick shudder and turned away, looking back only once as she followed her grandfather
back to the food stand.

After dreaming of the waterfall all night, Lettie asked if they could stay at the hotel and play in the pool
on their last morning rather than hunt up a new adventure. Leif and Alex agreed, so the kids spent a
pleasant morning playing in the pool while the adults lounged in the sun. Lettie’s eyes were drawn
toward the mountains over and over, however, until Con asked if she was OK. He said they felt weird
to him and she should come play instead of staring. She smiled at her younger cousin and did as he
asked.

Then it was time to go and they all piled back into the taxi for the airport.
“Hurry up, Blake, you’re going to make us late!”
“Coming!” Blake looked over at the mountains too. They were weird, he
liked the beach better.

When they got back to the house late that night, Blake was happy to be home.
The vacation had been fun, but he thought there might be bad stuff there too.
Mom and Papa were getting old and he liked Pete, but Pete didn’t seem to like
the little ones and Brends was only one person. He was glad he’d be old enough
to help protect the little ones soon, even if Lettie didn’t want protecting.

Author’s Note:
What is going on with Brenda’s marriage?
How will the kids interact as teens?
Will they ever have friends outside the family?

Find out next time!

Lordy, that took a long time. Buying a house and
painting, and putting in new floors didn’t help, either. I
don’t think the next section will take 6 months to put
out, half the kids are teens in play and I have a lot of the
scenes shot already.

Thanks for reading!

Fortunes Fancy Chapter 2 Summary

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Fortunes Fancy Chapter 2 Summary