11. Venus glared at the ceiling. It wasn't fair. Why couldn't she have a birthday party, or
go to the party the triplets were throwing Saturday for themselves, Quail, Pheasant,
and Loon? Why'd her mom have to be so strict?
Venus
12. Opal chose that moment to walk in. “Well, speak of the devil...” Venus grumbled
as she got up off her bed.
“So Venus, when are you going to college?”
“Can't wait for me to leave, can she?” “I dunno. When everyone else starts
going.”
13. “Hey, can I redo my room now that I'm a teen?”
Opal pressed her lips together. “Fine, but don't spend too much.”
15. “She won't let me have a party but she'll buy me the party poppers and noisemakers.
I don't think I'll ever understand Mom.” Venus thought to herself as she grabbed a
popper.
16.
17. She had to admit, it was kinda nice having a big fuss made over her birthday, with
sparklers and everything- even if she was the one making the big fuss.
“Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear Veeenus, happy
birthday to me,” she sung quietly to herself.
18. “I've really done it,” Opal thought smugly to herself as she left. “I've almost won.”
19. As soon as Venus reached college Opal would be able to accomplish the goal
Nathan had made years ago. It was finally going to happen, and nothing was in her
way.
20. “Hello, Puddinroy? You remember the prophecy, right? Well I think Venus might
have been the baby the line 'the seed shall live, despite what will be heard'.”
“If Venus is still alive then she's going to go to college soon. You don't have much
time. I'd help you find her but there's rules about these things...”
21. “Well where do I look? Can you at least give me a hint?”
“Ever watched those detective shows on TV? You've got to find someone with the
two M's; means and motive. Think, Tosha. I'm sure you can figure it out.” *click*
22. Frustrated, Tosha hung up the phone and went to the living room to talk to Otieno.
Maybe he'd have an idea where to start.
“Well they'd need to have some medical knowledge to fool all those doctors and to
take care of Venus and hook her up to another incubator. Speaking of that, they'd
also need an incubator. Basically, you should be looking at doctors.”
23. “Okay, I guess that's a good place to start. Thanks.”
“Anytime.”
24. “Hi Owl, it's Tosha.”
“Hi Tosha.”
“Bluebird's a doctor, right? Can you put him on?”
“Of course, just wait a second.”
25. “Bluebird, I was wondering... Is it possible that Venus' death could have been faked?
And if so do you any doctors that might have done it?”
“Well, I guess it's possible it was faked. Certainly not impossible, but I'd think it isn't
likely. Supposing it was faked though, I'd go with Opal as a potential suspect.”
“The same Opal that used to be in your greek house?”
26. “Yes. The same one who killed Keiko. I don't know where she lives, so I can't help
you there.”
“Thanks anyway. Bye.”
“Bye.”
27. “What now? Puddinroy said I didn't have much more time... I could call Opal up, but
that might seem weird. But she'll probably let Venus go to university, and then
Keiran could call Venus and tell her the truth about her parents. But is waiting that
long too risky?
29. “Now that you're teens I think you're ready to control sims of your own.” Their faces
lit up.
“Really? Who do we get to control?” Sarah asked excitedly.
33. “Can't you make some new sims for us or something?” Sarah asked hopefully. “Or
maybe you have a family you don't play?”
I shook my head. “This town's got enough sims, no need to add more. As for the
sims already around, there's always more than three in each family, and I don't want
the aging getting messed up because no one plays the others.”
34. “What if you gave us each two or something?” James suggested.
“I don't want to give you more than one to start off with.”
35. “I know you don't want to control people you're so close to, but it won't be as bad as
you think, I promise. And if you try it for a while and you really don't like it, then
maybe I can find some other sims.”
36. “Does forcing them to control their future spouses make me a bad mother?” I asked
Robi after they left.
“I still think it's a bad idea, but- wait, future spouses?”
“Remember that party? They kissed. And rarely do any of my sims not marry their
first kiss.”
37. “Oh. Well, I still think it's a bad idea, but if you can do it so can they.”
“So I'm not a bad mother?”
“No. If anything you're too good. You're even building them their own greek house!”
“It's not my fault two greek houses can't house eighteen sims!”
38. Lark's giggles filled the air. “Faster! Faster!” she squealed.
“I can't go any faster,” Pheasant laughed.
39. “Isn't it great that they're playing together?” Rosemary smiled. “I'm so glad our
daughters are friends.”
40. “Actually, I want to talk to you about Pheasant.”
Rosemary's smile turned into a worried frown. “What about her?”
“I'm not her father, am I?”
41. “No, you're not,” Rosemary said with a sigh. “At least I don't think you are. I was at a
party, and I had too much to drink, and I think I might have slept with Randy. I'm
sorry.”
“You were drunk, so I'll let you off with a warning this time. But you should have told
me. Speaking of telling, you should tell him and Pheasant.”
42. “Will you come with me to tell?”
“Of course. Who do you want to tell first?”
“Both. I don't want to have to do this twice.”
43. “Hello, Randy? Can you come over? I have something I need to tell you...”
44. “Pheasant, when Randy comes I want you in the living room. I have something I
need to tell you.”
“Okay, Mom.”
45. “Pheasant, Randy, you're probably wondering why you're here. Well the truth is,
Ethan's not your father, Pheasant. Randy is.”
48. Venus' stomach did cartwheels as she opened the door of the taxi. She'd anticipated
this moment; freedom, a chance to make some more friends and learn what life was
like in the real world, without a mother telling her she couldn't do this, and couldn't do
that. And now that the triplets' greek house was built she was finally going to go.
65. “I can't believe our baby's gone.”
Daisy felt a pang of guilt, the same one that she felt every time JJ mentioned Quail
with that fatherly pride.
66. “Quail's father is Bluebird,” Daisy blurted out. JJ stared at her, shocked. “We were
drunk at a party and...” she trailed off.
“Why didn't you tell me earlier?”
“I was afraid you'd get mad.” “Or worse, hurt.”
67. “Are you going to tell Quail or Bluebird?”
There was a moment of silence. “I probably should, shouldn't I,” Daisy sighed.
JJ nodded. “It's getting late. I think I'm going to go to bed.”
68. JJ headed upstairs and Daisy took out her phone. Her hands shook as she dialed
Bluebird.
70. Daisy took a deep breath and dialed the next number. One down, one more to go.
71. “Hi, Quail. How's college so far? Good, good,” Daisy continued to make small talk.
She couldn't bear to tell Quail that the man who'd raised her wasn't really her father.
72. But Quail knew that something was up, and eventually Daisy had to spill.
“Bluebird's your father.”
73. “Did you tell them?” a half-asleep JJ murmured as Daisy slipped into bed.
“Mm-hmm,” Daisy nodded.
“Good.”
74. “Have you ever noticed how Loon doesn't look like us?” Alejandro said as he set up a
game of chess.
“Not really,” Chickadee said lightly, but inside she was worried. “Does he know?”
“Well it's true.”
75. “In fact he looks like Mockingbird, which is weird considering how he's not really
related to you.”
“He does know! What do I say, what do I say...” “True, but our great-grandmothers
looked exactly the same. They were clones, remember? Your turn.”
“Yes, but that was so long ago.”
76. Chickadee's mind went into panic mode. She had to explain. “In my defense I was
drunk...”
“Wait, what? Are you saying Mockingbird's-”
“Loon's father.”
77. Unnoticed, Oriole had wandered into the room. His eyes widened as he heard
Chickadee's last words.
78. Unsure of what else to do, he went to the phone and dialed Loon's number. His older
brother would know what to do.
79. “Loon, Mom said Uncle Mockingbird was your father!” Oriole cried into the phone
when Loon picked up.
There was a moment of silence. “Can you put Mom on the phone?”
80. Loon ran over to Chickadee. “Loon's on the phone. He says he wants to talk to
you.”
81. Chickadee took the phone and went over into the other room, grateful that Oriole had
interrupted.
“Hello, Loon?”
“Oriole told me you said Mockingbird was my dad.”
83. “Hello?”
“Hi, it's Aria. I'm a townie now, legacy legal and everything.”
“And you think I'm going to divorce Lyndsay and marry you now, don't you? Well I'm
not going to.”
“But-”
“Goodbye, Aria.”
84. Aria sat down and closed her eyes. It was over, at least for now. If she ever did
convince Fir to leave his wife, by then it'd be too late. His three daughters would be
off to college and the heiress chosen, and it'd be too late for a child of Fir and Aria's
to become heir or heiress, and it'd all be for nothing.
85. Unless another boy heir came along, there was nothing she could do, especially now
that she didn't have Tosha working for her on the inside, to help make sure another
boy became heir. Aria sighed and got up. At least she'd be legacy legal next time.
86. “And where do you think you're going?” a voice startled Aria. “You're a townie now.
That means Jamie has given up control of you.”
“And?” Aria smirked. Inside she was worried about where this was headed, but she
wasn't going to show that.
87. “And I might not be able to control you, but that doesn't mean I can't find ways to
prevent you from marrying into the family, especially with a little help.”
_____
The simself to my left is ScribalGoddess, and of course to the right is Puddinroy.
88. “This isn't over,” Aria crossed her arms and glared. She didn't know how she'd win,
but she'd find a way. She had to.
90. “We have nothing to worry about, right?” ScribalGoddess asked.
“Of course not,” I assured as I went through the possibilities in my head. “If worse
comes to worse, we can kill her now that Jamie's given her up.”
91. “Besides, I don't think we'll be hearing much from her for a while.”