2.10 The final countdown

Rhiannon Kyoti was feeling smug.  She’d got herself a boyfriend.  OK, so he was a maid, which wasn’t the most glamorous of careers, but who cared?  She was surely that bit closer to becoming the heir to the Kyoti legacy.

Amanda was finding it hard work to try and meet a man, win her chess games and progress in her career.  She took to sleeping at strange times of the day, and started to neglect her personal hygiene, not quite realising this might be why she was having such trouble bagging a mate.

The twins’ father, Kali, was experiencing the common questions and desires all elders face.  What mark had they left on the world?  What did they want to achieve before their time was up?  What would their legacy be?  He was worried about his daughters and their failure to produce him any grandchildren.  He was worried about his youngest daughter, Carmel, and whether she would grow up well.  There was so much he had to think about, and so much he had to put right.

His first decision was to persuade Alli and Lola that they needed to celebrate their next birthday.  They both resisted.  All of their birthday parties had involved death, and they couldn’t face that happening again.  But he pointed out that it might be the last chance they got to really celebrate with the whole family there.  Everyone was getting older.  The elders in the family may not be around much longer, and the young adults and teens would soon be off doing their own thing.  They decided to hold a joint celebration with Lola’s youngest, Liam, and invited the whole clan round.

Alli and Lola were secretly rather pleased that they could celebrate together for their final birthday.  They were so much closer now than when they were younger, and they were happy to mark that fact.

Still, neither was all that impressed with the aging process…

Liam was equally unimpressed with teenhood…

Amanda left the party early with Garrick, a young man she’d known for a while, and was determined to get to know away from the madness of her family and the stares of her sister.  They went to the park and chatted about work, family and fishing.

They seemed to be hitting it off OK, but Garrick looked at his watch and made some excuse about having to be up in the morning for work.  Dominic was there, though, and they arranged to go for a picnic the next day and catch up on old times.

Amanda discovered he was still with Solomon, but that didn’t stop them having a cheeky flirt and playing a couple of games of chess.

Whilst the girls were busy with the men of Sunset Valley, Kali received a rather unexpected phone call.  It was Stacey, asking him to bring over some vegetables to stock her kitchen.

Kali’s vegetable business had been earning him a tidy profit, and Stacey was offering to pay well.  With a family to support after his death, he couldn’t really pass up the opportunity… but he hadn’t seen his ex-wife since Carmel was little.  He’d heard she was broke but other than that knew nothing about what she was doing these days.

Full of trepidation, Kali approached the door.  What would things be like between him and his ex-wife?  He’d hated her at the time for breaking his heart, but a lot of water had passed under the bridge since then, and he was too old to bear grudges.  Part of him wanted to make amends – after all, she was the mother of his children.

Somebody clearly wasn’t broke any longer.

They chatted for hours.  They both apologised for the mess they’d left their marriage in and forgave each other.  They hugged and held each other tight, both glad they’d managed to heal the wound before they reached the end of their lives.  Kali invited Stacey to Carmel’s birthday later that week.  She was nervous about whether she’d be welcome but he assured her that it was his house, and she was his guest.

Stacey was incredibly nervous at the party.  She found it difficult to interact with the rest of the family, and felt uncomfortable being back in the home that she’d found so repressive when she was a young woman.  She looked back on her life and wondered if she’d made good choices, and most importantly, whether the decisions she’d made had affected her daughters.

Kali encouraged his ex-wife to join in with the party, and brought her to the front of the group so she could see Carmel age up into the beautiful young woman he was confident she’d become.

Carmel did indeed grow up to be stunning… but also insane.  Perhaps the stress of losing her mother at such a young age and being reunited with her on the threshold of adulthood had caused her deeper scars than anyone had realised.  Stacey bought her daughter a twinset and pearls.  Begrudgingly, Carmel wore them…

…but as soon as her mother left, she changed into something that was much more her style.

Kali seranaded his youngest with a special birthday song.  He was so proud of raising three beautiful daughters as a single dad, of seeing his two little sisters age up into confident women with families of their own, of becoming a renowned musician, fisherman and gardener, and of healing the rift with his ex-wife.

There was nothing more he needed to do.

Surrounded by his whole family (plus Garrick and Andrew), in the afterglow pf Carmel’s party, Kali breathed his last.

The Kyoti family’s most frequent party guest may have turned up a little after the cake for a change, but he was still here…

Elias was the first to break down and cry as his best friend departed.

Amanda turned to Garrick and cried on his shoulder.  She told him he was such a strong support to her, she’d love it if they went steady.

Amanda whispered to her new boyfriend that if he really wanted to help her through her grief, there was one thing he could do for her…

…Funnily enough, Rhiannon was upstairs saying the same things to Andrew…

Whilst the rest of the family cried downstairs and cleaned up the cake crumbs, Amanda and Rhiannon took their boyfriends up to their bedrooms in the hope they could persuade them to give them the one thing they needed in this time of grief… a baby…

2.8 Secrets that she keeps

With twins Amanda and Rhiannon battling over who would be the third generation heir, the rest of the family got on with achieving their lifetime rewards.  The twins’ little sister, Carmel, wanted to be a Master of the Arts, so she joined her aunt Lola in painting most of the time.

When Carmel wasn’t painting, she was skulking around with her cousin Christopher.  They were both loners, but both liked art, music and writing, so they found a level of kinship.

Kali, having achieved his lifetime wish of living in the lap of luxury, spent his time playing guitar, fishing and gardening.  He’d often stay up late talking to brother-in-law Elias swapping tips for chord progression and suchlike.

Lola looked at her twin nieces growing up and pursuing men and she became nostalgic for her own youth.  Her relationship with her twin Alli had been tempestuous when they were younger, but since becoming adults and Alli moving out, they’d been a little closer.  They didn’t particularly share the intimate details of their lives, but Alli was often round for family parties and they’d have a good gossip about which teenage boy their nieces were fixated on that week.  However, Lola had never been to Alli’s new place, because her sister was so often round at the big Kyoti residence.  Lola decided she’d pop in to surprise Alli after work.

When she arrived, though, it was Lola that received the surprise.

A little girl was there, with the Kyoti hair inherited by Carmel and Christopher.  Who could she be?

Alli came home, slightly flustered to see Lola there.  She asked her sister why she’d popped round.  Lola said she thought it would just be nice to visit Alli’s place for once.  Alli stared at the floor, embarrassed.  She took a deep breath.

So, I take it you’ve met your auntie Lola then, Sherita?

Lola was hurt, why hadn’t Alli told her she had a daughter?  Who was her father?  It was clear from her genetics that she was a Kyoti.  Alli apologised for keeping Sherita from the family.  It had just seemed easier to keep quiet than answer difficult questions about Sherita’s father.  Alli asked if it was Miraj Alvi, the recently deceased sim Alli had fancied as a teen.  Or was it someone more shocking – Christopher Steel, Stacey’s father and Lianndra’s old friend, perhaps?  Or that strange guy from the comic shop, Mortimer Goth?  Alli simply replied that Sherita was her daughter, and that was all anyone needed to know.

As they were talking, Alli felt a tug on her shoulder from Sherita.  They turned around… and saw Sherita had become a teenager.  She was the spitting image of her grandmother.

Lola said that they both must come to Liam’s birthday party the next day.  All the other cousins had grown up so close to one another it would be awful for Sherita to miss out.

Sherita was immediately accepted as one of the family, and like her cousins, took to schmoozing another Sunset Valley man in dungarees and a grey sweater.  The guy explained how he wished he’d bought shares in the dungarees and grey sweater shop, as their trade was roaring.

Lola hoped her youngest child, who was the cutest toddler since she was one, would grow up to be an attractive and intelligent boy.  Liam was just excited about cake.

He didn’t do too badly…

But as Liam focussed on cake and Sherita got to know the rest of the family, the boys at the party were facing an altogether different challenge – fighting off the advances of Amanda and Rhiannon…

[Author’s note: The game surprised me with Alli’s secret as much as it did Lola.  I sent Lola round to talk to her sister because I thought it would be good for the story… I got as much of a shock as she did when she arrived.]

2.4 Please release me

The family decided to throw a pool party to celebrate Christopher’s growing up.  However, Rhiannon and Amanda wanted to wait until they’d finished their homework before joining in.  Alli couldn’t believe how different their relationship was to hers and Lola’s when they were growing up.

The girls’ cousin, Chastity Ursine, was becoming a firm friend and a regular visitor.  She also has something of Jared’s look about her.  Nobody knew who her father was though, Alison was resolutely single – or at least that’s the impression that she gave.

Miranda, still a family friend, turned up – and had gotten OLD.  No wonder there didn’t seem to be anything happening with her and Alli any longer.

Christopher was very excited about his birthday – mainly because now he’d be closer in age to his cousins and would be able to pay them back for all the times they put him in dresses and drew felt-tip hair on his bald head.

He grew up looking somewhat solemn – but inherited Lianndra’s hair, with the blue and yellow tips.  He may not be an official heir, but he was now a carrier of her legacy at least in his genetics.

Of course, a Kyoti party can never pass without incident…

Everyone at the party was shocked when Stacey went into labour!  Not least Stacey herself, who hadn’t expected this.  She thought they’d been careful, but then she’d always been convinced Kali was super-fertile.

Baby Carmel arrived and was immediately dumped in the cot in the back room out of the way.  Stacey didn’t even want to acknowledge this birth had happened.

Elias snuck out of the party to play with his new niece.  He knew that even if Stacey rejected the girl, he, Lola and Kali would make sure she was loved.  Elias longed for a second child, and was just pleased to have another baby in the household.

After everyone had retired to bed, Lianndra popped in to see her new granddaughter.  She took the opportunity to work out.  Even after death, she was concerned about keeping in top shape.

The next day, newly grown-up Christopher went to school with his cousins for the first time.  Rather sweetly, they offered to look out for him and protect him from any nasty bigger kids.  They also agreed they’d do their homework together so that they could all get good grades.

Stacey had some maternity leave to take, so she left Kali to deal with the baby and took herself off to the beach.  Whilst she was there, she bumped into Jamar again.

Stacey and Jamar chatted all night, ate hot dogs together and danced.  Being with him made her feel young again.  It reminded her of a time when she was carefree and childless.  If she’d had her time again, she’d have lived a little before marrying and having children.  If only for tonight, maybe she could pretend that she wasn’t Stacey Kyoti, married mum of three, but Stacey Steel again, young, free, single and going places.

As promised, the girls helped Christopher with his homework.  Amanda was a genius, though, and quickly got fed up of waiting for the other two to catch up with her.  She could be playing chess instead of waiting for them, after all.

After they’d finished their homework, their cousin Chastity came over.  Rhiannon started talking to her about weddings.  It was Rhiannon’s dream to have a wedding and a lovely marriage, just like her mum and dad and aunt and uncle.  Chastity felt sad.  Her mummy wasn’t married, she didn’t know her daddy, and her grandad, apparently, had been a selfish git – at least according to her late granny.

With Christopher now at school, Lola was able to focus on developing her writing skills.  Not only was she growing in success as a journalist, she was now putting the finishing touches to her first novel.  Elias continued to develop his career and his musicianship.  They both wanted a second child but were aware of the tensions between Kali and Stacey and didn’t want to aggravate things.

Kali focussed his energies on Carmel, the little baby he’d been wanting for ages.  She was the apple of his eye, and he devoted all of his time to her development.

At the beach, the drinks were flowing and Stacey was getting emotional.  She leapt into Jamar’s arms and begged him to take her away from the hell that was her life.

Jamar responded that he should probably get going, as it was pretty late.  Fuming and humiliated, Stacey stormed off home and arrived back long after everyone else had gone to bed.

Kali was worried about his wife.  She’d been so distant with him and had refused to bond with Carmel at all.  He sought solace, as ever, in his music.  In order to help provide for his girls, he would play for tips in the park and by the shops, and was becoming a popular local busker.  Sometimes he took Elias along and they’d play as a double act.

Rhiannon wasn’t really aware of the problems in her parents’ marriage.  She’d grown up remarkably secure in herself, and always loved to be the centre of attention.  At her and Amanda’s birthday party, she made sure she was the first to age up.

She grew up into an impeccably gorgeous teen.

Amanda was also pretty gorgeous, although her dress sense wasn’t so crash hot.

She certainly turned Jamar’s head.  Stacey felt sick at the thought of her daughters attracting the men she wanted for herself.  Kali stared daggers at Jamar.  He might be part of the ‘family’ but that didn’t mean they would ever become friends.

Speaking of the family, this was quite a gathering.

Kali, Jamar, Roberta, Alli, Alison and Chastity were all in attendance, along with a few family friends.  Even Stacey was prepared to play ‘happy families’ for a bit.

Carmel also aged up, but Kali let this happen quietly, out of view of everyone else.  He was glad, as he didn’t think Stacey would fall in love with their youngest daughter’s bald head and scary eyebrows.  To him, though, she was perfect.

Christopher worried that he would be neglected, what with the girls growing into teens and Carmel needing lots of attention in her toddler years.  Lola reassured him that he would always be loved, and she encouraged him to develop his own skills and personality.  He couldn’t play the guitar yet (although he was a virtuoso and couldn’t wait until he was old enough), but he tried his hand at painting and insect collecting, and Amanda took him to the park to play chess and do his homework on a regular basis.

Stacey returned to work after her maternity leave was over, and she was given the opportunity to take a client out for a meal.  She went to visit his house.

It wasn’t the most attractive place she’d ever seen, but she sensed in him a desperation for love that might mean he could be her escape…

2.3 What’s goin’ on?

Amanda woke up excited.  Her Auntie Alli may have gone yesterday, but she didn’t miss her too much – she’d be back later, because today was Amanda and Rhiannon’s birthday!  Now they’d get to make the most of the walking and talking they’d learned and they’d get to go to school.  As a genius, Amanda was very excited indeed about the prospect of school – lots of lovely learning!

Learning was something Christopher was getting plenty of, too.  It had taken the adults in the house no time at all to collectively train the twins, so with just one of him to work on, they were confident he’d soon be walking, talking and pooing like someone several days older than him.

Elias rehearsed some songs to play at the party.  Kali had been helping him work on his technique [apparently there is a real subtext beween Elias and Kali I hadn’t noticed until writing this blog!] and his skills were really developing.  He was still determined to do well in the law enforcement career, as per his lifetime wish, but music was a great way of relaxing.

Amanda aged up… but got a little confused about which of the lookalike gents in the kitchen was her actual daddy.

She looked at the imposter (actually Elias’ brother, Jamar) with suspicion.

Kali eyed up the young pretender.  He wasn’t ecstatic about having a rival.

Jamar reeled as Kali punched him in the gob.  No-one else noticed though, as they were busy watching Rhiannon grow up.  Even the elderly Miraj Alvi, a man Alli had unsuccessfully tried to come onto at a party when she was just a teen, turned up for the occasion.

Rhiannon aged up, looking very similar to her sister, hair colour aside, and immediately started thinking about cooking, just like her dad and grandad.

The girls immediately took pride in their status as the elder children and started bossing Christopher about in the guise of ‘playing’ with him.

Kali and Stacey retired for the night.  The girls’ birthday had been an emotional time for both of them and had stirred up a lot of emotions.  Seeing Jamar French had reminded both of them of their youth.  Kali felt insecure that he wasn’t that young.  Stacey was reminded of the young Kali she’d fallen in love with.  For the first time in months, they shared an intimate evening.

Amanda rolled a lifetime wish to be a creature-robot cross-breeder and got onto working on that wish straight away.  She regularly invited her aunt Roberta over to play chess.  This had several benefits.  Firstly, because Roberta’s chess skills were excellent, Amanda learned very quickly.  Secondly, Roberta’s life of crime made her excellent interview material for Lola, who then got promoted, and thirdly, if Roberta was busy playing chess, she wasn’t out beating people up, which was good for Sunset Valley as a whole.

Stacey, meanwhile, withdrew even more from the family and spent all her time chatting to men online [seriously.  She did this of her own accord with no prompting from me].

Stacey wasn’t impressed with Elias’s attempts at cooking.  Those waffles he made for breakfast had disagreed with her violently.  She decided to go and eat out instead.

On the way home, she popped into the library, where she bumped into an attractive young man.  They got talking, but she was offended when he asked her when she was ‘due’.  She’d always been exceptionally slim, how dare he insinuate she’d put on weight?

2.2 Here we go again

As Lola was putting Rhiannon to bed one evening, she told her a secret: another baby Kyoti was on the way: a cousin for Amanda and Rhiannon.  Lola and Elias were so excited about their new arrival but hadn’t told the others yet.  They weren’t sure how they’d all react.  Kali would be pleased, but they knew he wanted more children and Stacey didn’t, so it might also upset him.  Stacey would surely not be happy that there were yet more sleepless nights on the way.  As for Alli, they hoped she would be happy, but they knew things weren’t going too well for her with Miranda, and they didn’t want to rub her face in things.

It soon became difficult to hide the news though, particularly when the rest of the town got to hear about it.  Lola was a journalist, trying to become a Star News Anchor, so her face was pretty familar with the locals whom she interviewed on a regular basis.  She personally took to going round telling people she was going on maternity leave, but would be back with them soon.

With eight people living in the house, birthdays were a frequent occurence and there was nearly always cake in the house.  Kali’s cooking skills hadn’t advanced much recently.  Elias took advantage of this lull to grab a plate of cake and ask Kali about parenting books… whilst playing footsie with him…

Even though they thought they were prepared, when Lola’s waters broke and she got up to go to the hospital, Elias started to panic.

Baby Christopher arrived with very little fuss, though, and the rest of the family soon took to him as they had to the girls.

Kali was besotted with his new nephew, although it didn’t take away his desire to have more children.  Stacey, though, was adamant she didn’t want any more babies around.  She’d been very busy at work lately and hadn’t been coming home until very late.  The girls were starting to notice, and beginning to miss their mum.  Kali tried to comfort them as best as he could.

Stacey had troubles the rest of the family weren’t aware of, though.  She would leave work and her old friend the Grim Reaper would turn up to see her, killing off her colleagues in the process.

To add to this, her sister Roberta was causing all kinds of trouble, getting into fights and becoming someone the rest of the neighbourhood were slightly afraid of.

She did try to fit in with family life, though, even agreeing to have a joint birthday party with Christopher.

Christopher turned out to be a bald toddler, but no-one seemed to mind too much, not least his Aunt Alison, who went straight for the cake.

Party fever gripped Miranda and Alli.  Miranda finally agreed to stay the night, but explained she didn’t usually want to because she didn’t like the noise of all the children.

She did, however, finally woo-hoo with Alli…

…but left before Alli awoke.

As if sensing something was wrong, Lianndra visited the house for the first time after her death.  She met her grandson, who seemed remarkably unfazed.  She urged Alli not to waste her life waiting for someone who wouldn’t commit to her.  Alli needed to stand on her own two feet now.

Alli knew her mother was right.  Miranda had been flirting with her for a long time yet had never committed to being her girlfriend.  She would be waiting the rest of her life if she waited for Miranda to ask her to move in.  The house was becoming crowded, and she knew Kali was desperate for more children, and she suspected Lola and Elias would want more soon, as well.

It wasn’t an easy decision to leave her nieces and nephew, her brother and sister, especially as she and Lola were closer now than they were growing up.  But it was time for Alli to go and make a life for herself…

2.1 Daddy’s home

There was something heartbreaking about seeing Lianndra and Jared’s bed empty.

Kali knew he couldn’t mourn his mother for ever, though.  He was now responsible for the Kyoti family name.  It was his duty to care for the house, tend the garden and raise his daughters Amanda and Rhiannon well so that one day one of them would carry on as the new heir.

Sad as he was, he had to get on with life, and there was the little matter of the twins’ birthday to attend to.  He hoped they wouldn’t be too affected by the grief the fmaily was experiencing.  (He also hoped that with Lianndra passing away the night before, the twins would be spared his sisters’ usual experience of seeing death on their birthday).

He brought Amanda to the cake first.  He’d hoped to share this moment with the rest of the family, but they were all busy at work.  Alli had chosen not to take a career, but to live on the royalties from his guitar playing and gardening, and his part-time wage at the spa.  Stacey was missing her daughters’ first birthdays too.  Kali was secretly really cut up about this, but she’d just started back at work and was so eager to get on with things.

Amanda aged up to look just like her auntie Lola, but with darker hair.  She rolled the genius and good traits.

Alli got home in time to see Rhiannon grow up to become almost a clone of her infant self.  Rhiannon rolled good sense of humour and excitable.

Lola and Elias came home and were so excited to see the way their nieces had grown up.  They were eager to involve themselves in childcare.  Lola remembered how involved Kali had been in their upbringing and she wanted to make sure she repaid the favour.  Of course, this wasn’t the only reason they were so involved.  Stacey had been very distant since the girls were born, very rarely being the one to attend to their feeding or changing.  They didn’t want the girls to grow up feeling that distance from their family.

Lola and Elias loved playing with the girls, potty training them, feeding them and helping them to walk and talk.

Lola told Amanda that one day she hoped to go to her niece’s wedding, and if Elias had passed on by then, she hoped Amanda would throw the bouqet her way.

Elias and Lola got chatting.  They figured they were already pretty good parent figures to Amanda and Rhiannon, so maybe it was time to start to try for a baby of their own as well.  They could raise the child alongside its cousins.  With their family around them, the child would surely grow up well (and of course, they could stay in this nice house rather than scrimp and save for something rather small).

It may have been happy families where the rest of them were concerned, but Stacey was finding raising young children increasingly frustrating.  She hated the potty training and the messes that came along with it.

She was being driven slightly mad by the way they would wake up in the night demanding food or attention.  Stacey began to think this was all a case of too much, too young.

1.7 You raise me up

Alone, miserable and tired, Stacey gave birth to baby Amanda

… and her twin, Rhiannon.

Stacey rang Kali and begged him to come home.  The whole family came running.  Lianndra couldn’t wait to meet her grandchildren.

It truly was the happiest day of her life.

Of course, eight people in a family poses some problems, and newlyweds Elias and Lola still had to share a room with Alli, whilst the gym had to double as a nursery.

The newlyweds didn’t get to consummate their marriage that night, and had to sneak into Lianndra’s room the next day whilst she was changing the babies’ nappies in order to finally get some alone time.

Alli and Lianndra spent some time looking after Amanda and Rhiannon and sent Kali and Stacey off to have some time together as a couple.  They knew such moments were precious when you had young children, so they helped out where they could to ease the burden.

Kali was so excited by having twins that he tried to persuade Stacey they should have some more.  Stacey wasn’t impressed by this suggestion.  She had found the birth quite traumatic, was exhausted from the babies crying in the night, missed work and just wanted to get some sleep.

Alli made herself useful around the house, minding her nieces and doing bits of housework, but she knew it was time to move on.  She invited Miranda over several times a week.  She wanted nothing more than to get together with her and set up a home of their own, yet Miranda was so far proving elusive.

Finally, with the help of a few massages, Miranda succumbed to Alli’s charms, and they kissed.

Lianndra maxed out her gardening and art skills, helped play with the babies and spent time gardening, painting and running on the treadmill.  Although she’d lost Jared and all of her close friends, she had seen two of her children marry, the third at least find some level of romance, and two granchildren born.  On her 99th birthday, whilst she was painting, Lianndra finally passed away.

It had been a good life, a full life and a happy one.  Now it was time for Kali and his daughters to see what they could do to ensure the Kyoti legacy was a long and fruitful one.

1.6 Everything changes

Kali (lucky, bookworm, friendly, clumsy, ambitious – with the wish to live in the lap of luxury) and his new wife Stacey (good, hot-headed, can’t stand art, ambitious, friendly – wishes to be the leader of the free world) discussed Kali’s role as the heir to the Kyoti legacy.  They hoped their child would continue this legacy, but not feel it to be a heavy burden.

All and Lola were pleased to have a new sister-in-law and both were doing well at school – but they wanted to develop their own friendships and relationships.  They hoped, like Kali, they’d be able to meet someone to love whilst they were still young.

Both girls attracted a far it of attention, but Alli wasn’t too impressed at being hit on by a boy who looked just like her big brother.

Lola started to date Molly’s grandson, Elias French.  She knew Molly and Jared would love the idea of their families connecting.

The children endeavoured to honour their parents by developing skills.  Kali took to cooking, fishing and gardening; Alli to fishing and handiness, and Lola to cooking and painting.

Lianndra, meanwhile, was a little down.  She missed Jared, missed her sporting career, and had seen several of her friends pass away lately.  Stacey decided to cheer her up by announcing the news that she and Kali were going to become parents – Lianndra’s legacy was assured for a third generation.

The twins soon became young adults, and although Lola had found love with Elias, romance still eluded Alli.  She did have a very good friend in Miranda Chamberlain though.  Miranda came to all their parties, and when Alli aged up, Miranda was the first to celebrate.

Alli blew out the candles and secretly wished that this time she’d be the more attractive twin.

Neither girl was amused to grow up looking the same and wearing the world’s ugliest dresses.  The rest of the party, however, were.

Of course, the twins’ birthdays had always been characterised by one element, and this one was no exception…

As the girls blew out the candles, Lianndra’s friend Martha passed away.

Stacey got chatting to the Grim Reaper.  She figured that he was going to be a regular guest at family gatherings, so they might as well become friendly.

The next day, Elias popped round to visit Lola.  She made sure she’d changed out of that dreadful dress and sorted out her hair.  She was pleased to see he’d aged up as well overnight.  He told her she was the prettier twin, which she was also very pleased to hear.

Alli, meanwhile, invited Miranda over all the time.  She was growing increasingly fond of her friend… in fact, she thought she might be falling a little in love with her.  Miranda would always stay and chat for a while, but then run off.  Alli didn’t understand it.

Lola was desperate to outshine her sister, so she proposed to Elias.

He accepted and was bowled over by the rock she’d bought him.

Stacey wasn’t enjoying maternity leave very much.  All this time away from work was making her a bit stir crazy, so she spent most of it upgrading objects around the home.

The next day, the whole family went to the beach for the wedding.  It was the first public wedding any of them had attended so they were all very excited.  They wished Jared could come, but they invited his daughter Alison along with all of their friends from the town.

Alli bitched about being there.  Although deep down she did love Lola, she was so frustrated at being second best that it was making her bitter.

Lianndra lost patience with her daughter.  She told Alli she should be happy that her twin had found someone to share her life with and to grow up and stop comparing herself to Lola.

Everyone dressed up for the occasion – except Elias, who seemed to own nothing apart from those scruffy dungarees and that grotty grey sweatshirt.

As the couple exchanged vows, Miranda decided to go and cheer Alli up….but one family member had disappeared…

Yes, the Kyoti family rule of never having one big life event when two will do was coming into effect.  Stacey ran home to give birth.

1.5: When You’re Gone

Jared’s death left a cloud over the family.  Lianndra slept alone for the first time in years.  Theirs hadn’t been a great romance, perhaps, but it had been a solid partnership.  The years they’d spent gardening, fishing, changing nappies and encouraging each other in their respective careers were over.  What was she to do now with the time she had left?  How would she help her children cope with the loss of their father?

In the days that followed Jared’s death, the family grew a stronger bond than ever.  Lianndra would often tuck her teenage daughters in at night, and she encouraged all of them to make friends, have fun, and live their lives to the fullest.

Lianndra filled out her days by painting masterpieces and gardening, maxing out her skills as she did so.  Kali, too, decided to take up gardening, in order to tend his father’s prize vegetables and somehow keep Jared’s memory alive.

Kali was becoming very much aware of his duty.  As the eldest child of the Kyoti family, he was the heir and responsible for keeping the legacy going.  He wanted to do this for his mother, but just as much to keep his father’s memory alive.  He also began spending a lot of time with his uncle Connor and cousin Colleen.  He knew Jared and Connor hasn’t spent as much time together as they’d wanted, and Kali wanted to make sure that Jared’s relatives weren’t left out of the family.

Lianndra encouraged the children to have friends over and host parties.  Guests became a regular feature in the Kyoti household, including Jared’s other daughter, Alison Ursine, who became a good friend of all three of her half-siblings.  Her  bright red hair was an even stronger marker of Jared’s genetics than Alli and Lola’s more muted tones.

Kali was becoming somewhat withdrawn, spending more and more time playing on his guitar.  His mother and sisters were concerned about his well-being (not to mention the future of their legacy).  They encouraged his friend Stacey to come over and visit him, and she began to be a regular visitor.

Even though Stacey’s visits were becoming more frequent, nothing much was happening with her and Kali.  Alli decided to force the issue and ask Stacey when she was going to realise that Kali was in love with her.  Meanwhile, Lola worked on her big brother, gently suggesting that he might want to act upon his obvious feelings for Stacey.  After this prompting, Stacey and Kali had a heart to heart.

Kali proposed and Stacey accepted immediately.  They decided it wouldn’t be appropriate to have a big flashy wedding with the house still in mourning.  However, there was something that Kali was keen to get on with that evening…

… and that was ensuring the legacy continued…

1.4 Girls on film

Kali coming home late with the cops worried his parents.  They apologised and offered to give him more freedom.  Then Jared realised what night it was – the night of the twins’ birthday.  Everyone was too tired to celebrate with a party, so they had a quiet night in, drinking plenty of coffee to get them through the transition to the terrible twos.

Lola became the cutest (and most camera-shy) toddler ever.

Alli, meanwhile, was left to grow up alone, because her uncle, Connor, and her father’s best friend, Molly French, had come over to visit.  As the girls were growing up, so another life was ending.  Molly passed away in front of her closest friends.

Alli had no idea that her father had witnessed the most significant event of his life.  He mourned for Molly for days afterwards, but what he was also mourning for was himself – he knew he wouldn’t see his children grow up, nor was he likely to achieve his ambitions.  Jared decided to be as hands-on with his daughters as he could be.  He potty trained both of them…

…although he wasn’t so hot on cleaning.

The family built Kali an upstairs room so he could chill out, and Molly popped by most nights to check her Facebook whilst he was sleeping.

Lianndra and Jared kept working on their careers, as well as gardening and fishing, but the family finally came first.  Lianndra was so busy with all she had on that she forgot it was her birthday.  One day, after work, she simply aged up on the pavement.

She wasn’t particularly impressed by the fashion that old age brought with it, and she vowed not to let it slow her down yet.  After all, she had three children to raise, and she had captained the local team into finally winning some matches.  This wasn’t the time to get creaky and retire.

Kali, meanwhile, finally met someone at school that he brought home: Stacey Steel.  His family were relieved.  It was the first time he’d ever shown any interest in making friends.

The new found love of family life had drawbacks.  Jared left a pan on the stove whilst playing with the girls, and the kitchen set on fire!  Stacey seemed to find it strangely fascinating…

Things were all getting a bit too much for Jared, though.  He started to wonder if he’d achieved anything with his life, if he really mattered.  He had a daughter he was estranged from, a son who seemed to be a real loner, and two young girls he might not have much more time with.  He hadn’t reached the pinnacle of his career, hadn’t maxed out any skills, hadn’t done much that would leave any sort of impression on the world.

Whilst he was out contemplating the deeper things of life, the family  held a small ceremony to celebrate the girls’ birthdays.  With Jared so depressed at the moment, Lianndra and Kali didn’t want to make a fuss.

Lola became a cute, but sombre looking child.  It was almost as if she knew things weren’t going to be smooth from now onwards.

Alli found the transition rather painful, but hoped this time she’d be as cute as her sister for once.

Unfortunately, fate wasn’t that kind.  She gave it a slow handclap to show her displeasure.

Alli refused to sleep in the same bed as Lola.  Lola was really sad – she’d hoped she’d grow up to be close to her twin, but it wasn’t looking like it would be that way.

Jared, meanwhile, maxed out his gardening skill and made sure the bills were paid on time.  He wanted his family’s future to be secure.

He encouraged his kids to develop hobbies. Alli took a shine to fishing……even if her preferred place to do it was the graveyard.

Both girls seemed to have a fascination with death, often wanting to visit the graveyard to collect bugs and rocks.

Molly often stopped by to talk to them, reassuring them that things weren’t so bad on the other side.

Jared, meanwhile, remained one elusive stage away from that life-fulfilling promotion, but he decided that spending the rest of his time with his family and restoring his old friendships was just as important.  He wanted everything to be in order before he passed on.

Kali still struggled with friendships, but a few girls were starting to show interest in his guitar-playing.  He continued to find solace in music and encouraged his sisters to work hard at school and find hobbies they loved, too.

Alli became very handy with the blocks, something that would serve her well in later life.  However, the distance between the two sisters remained.

Lianndra maxed out her athletic skill and achieved her lifetime wish of becoming a Superstar athlete.  She went on to gain the top sporting job available, before retiring to take up painting (whilst still signing the occasional autograph).

Kali became a young adult, and Jared gave him his old leather jacket to wear on special occasions.

It was soon the girls’ turn to age up, too.  They didn’t really have a party, though.  Their dad had gone missing after work, and they weren’t in the mood to celebrate.

Alli inherited Jared’s hair colour and Lianndra’s style.

Lola did too, but they didn’t really care, because at the precise moment she blew out the candles, they could hear a  bell toll, and they knew that somewhere, their father had passed on.  Although his body was never found, the girls knew it was over.