Chapter 86: Sunlit Tides

 

Warning: Bad Language

  "Hey Dad, check this out!  I found yet another gecko!"

  Alder glanced back over his shoulder.  "I've seen enough of those, thanks."  He turned his attention back to cooking dinner.

  "This one is brown."  Ryder said.  "I wonder how they keep getting in?"

  "I don't know."  Alder grumbled, "but I wish they'd stay out of my kitchen!"

  The move to Sunlit Tides itself had been thankfully uneventful, living there however, had taken some getting used to.  The house was much smaller than the one they had in Midnight Hollow, it wasn't a bad size, just smaller, and some of the family's collection had to be put into storage, as there was simply not enough room in the new house for it all.

  Ryder picked the gecko up and released it back outside.  When he came back into the house, he could hear the howls of a certain young man.  "Out!  Want Out!  Out!!!  Out!!!!"

  Ryder shook his head and headed for the playpen.  "What's all this noise about?"  He smiled down at his great grandson.

   "Pa pa!  Up!  Want out!"  Kalen raised his arms up, and Ryder obediently picked him up.  Kalen called everyone Pa pa, even his mother.  Kalen nuzzled up against him.  "Pa pa hug."

  Ryder smiled again as he snuggled Kalen back.  Kalen could be very demanding at times, but he sure loved to cuddle.  "Let's go find Mommy."

  "Pa pa!"  Kalen said happily.


~<>~


  Trevor groaned, parents could be so embarrassing!  He was just really glad that Apple wasn't around to see it, or in particular, see his dad, Tanner, running around in really tight, brief shorts.

  Trevor had tried to talk to his dad about it, but his mom had interrupted and said she really liked them, which had made his dad smile, and had totally derailed his legitimate complaint that parents should dress like...parents!


 

  His dad had followed them to Sunlit Tides, to be a proper dad, or so he had said, but Trevor knew his mom was also a huge factor in his dad's decision to move.  It was so obvious that they were crazy about each other, he didn't understand why they kept pretending they were just friends.  He snorted.  Just friends.  Ha!  As if he was born yesterday.

  The other day he had inadvertently caught them making out in the car, he still didn't know who was more embarrassed over that, him, or them.   They had both started spouting off nonsense, like his mother had lost her contact lens, and his dad was just helping her find it.  Yeah right!  His mom didn't even wear contact lenses!

  He had point blank told them, then and there,  they should just make it official, instead of sneaking off like a couple of hormonal teenagers, sheesh, how old were they anyway??  They had stared at him for a moment before turning an interesting shade of red, then his mom had stammered out that she was late for a meeting and hightailed it out of there.  A meeting?  For what?

  His dad had finally noticed that he wasn't exactly ten years old anymore, and as such he wouldn't fall for such a lame story.  But all he would say is that it was "complicated".  Complicated? Complicated?!  Trevor didn't get it.  What was so complicated?  He loved her, she loved him, it was so simple.  Parents were so weird. 

~<>~


Hawk stared at the bottle of elixir that he had just made with a sense of satisfaction.

 

  He had hours and hours and hours of research and labor invested in this single bottle of Mandrake Essence, and it contained within it, hope, his hope. Hope that this elixir was the answer, and that it would allow Skye to conceive and have the child she so desperately wanted.

  The move to Sunlit Tides had overall been good for her, she smiled a little more, and she talked non stop about her kids, the ones she taught in school.  She seemed almost resigned to the fact that she would never have kids of her own.  He would even think that she had given up on the idea all together except that...sometimes...he could still see the longing in her when she looked at Kalen, he could feel her heartbreak.

  Hawk had never lost his belief or his hope.  He knew the prophecy would be fulfilled, that they would have a son, he just didn't know when.  He held the elixir up again.  Hopefully it would be soon, very soon.  Time was running out, his mother would not wait forever.  He needed his son to be of an age where he could protect himself from his grandmother.


~<>~


  Skye smiled.  It was a gorgeous morning, and it was so good to be alive.  She petted the soft fluffy chick that was in her hand.

  She was so glad that she had talked her family into getting the hen house and a few cows.  They had looked at her as if she had grown a third head at first, but in the end, they had acquiesced, and she had even caught her father out here playing with the chicks.  He would deny it of course, but she had seen him!

  She wished she could have children, but it seemed that was never going to happen.  She was tired of the yo yo emotions, tired of having her hopes crushed month after month, she couldn't live that way anymore.  It was time to focus on what she did have, and to be thankful for that.  She had a wonderful husband who adored her, two adorable nephews, more brothers and sisters than she knew what to do with, caring grandparents, and the best father in the whole world.  She was blessed.

  So she had made her peace with being childless, as much as she could anyway.  Part of her would always long for what could have been, but it was time to find a new dream.  She cuddled the little chick again. 


~<>~


  "Hold still Bob, this isn't going to hurt a bit."   Jack didn't know why he bothered talking to Bob, it wasn't like he would ever answer back, Jack had never given him that ability.

  Still, it felt strange not to talk to him.  "You had a slight malfunction Bob, but I'll have you fixed up in no time at all."  Of course, his grandfather would disagree with the word slight.   Jack didn't see what the big deal was.  Sure Bob went around gathering dirty clothes only to dump them in piles around the house.  Sure he tried to fix things that weren't broken, or clean things that weren't dirty, people included.  Jack chuckled.  "Dumping that bucket of water on Grandpa Ryder was funny Bob, funny, but bad."

  A few more tweaks, and Bob would be less helpful around the house.  "Family, they never appreciate you like they should."  Jack muttered.



~<>~

  Trevor helped Kalen onto the Seahorse spring rider.  They were at the Carousel Park, and Trevor had volunteered to keep an eye on his brother, he sure hoped his parents took full advantage of the time alone.

  "Horsey go!"  Kalen squealed as he rocked back and forth. 

 

  "The tickle monster is going to get you!"  Trevor threatened playfully.  He extended his hands out, and wiggled his fingers. His little brother screeched, and Trevor winced at the volume of it.  Kalen sure had a good set of lungs.

   "No!  No!  No monser!  Go horsey!"

  "Go horsey!?"  Trevor repeated, "Well, tickle monster was going to go get some cotton candy."

  Kalen stopped rocking, and immediately held his arms up.  "Candy!  Candy!  Kay wans candy!"

  "Hmmm."  Trevor pretended to think about it.

  Kalen pouted.  "Candy!  Kay wants candy!"

  Trevor scooped his brother up off the seahorse and tickled him.  Kalen shrieked with laughter.  "Okay candy monster, let's go find some candy."  Once he found the cotton candy cart, Trevor set Kalen down on the ground while he paid for the treat.  "Yummy!"

 

  "Candy!  Candy!"  Kalen demanded.

  "Hold onto your horses there candy monster."  Trevor said as he tore a piece off and handed it to his brother.  "I think the candy monster is going to turn into a sticky monster."

  "Ticky!  Ticky!"  Kalen chortled happily.

  "Yes, you are sticky."  He sighed.  Maybe the cotton candy wasn't such a good idea after all.

 
~<>~


  Trevor wiped his hands nervously on his jeans.  Where was she?  Her parents were weirder than his parents, and had insisted that he couldn't go out on a date with their daughter alone.  They would have to be chaperoned.   Trevor rolled his eyes.  Who even did that anymore anyway?

  It was all because he had been caught kissing Apple on her porch, and it was a chaste kiss too.  His first kiss, with a girl he really liked, and she liked him too.  Then suddenly her father had come storming out, yelling and carrying on about how his daughter wasn't going to end up as a teen mother, and to get his filthy hands off of his daughter.  Talk about a mood killer.

 

  Apparently Apple's oldest sister had hidden her pregnancy when she was a teen, so Apple was automatically painted with the same brush.  Which was totally unfair.  At least her mom had been able to get her father to relent a little.  They could date, but only if they were chaperoned.

  There was no way he wanted to be chaperoned by her parents, that was just...awkward.  Imagine trying to hold hands with Apple under the intense glare of her father.  No thank you.  His parents had volunteered, but face it, as much as he loved them, they were nerds.  His dad geeked out about science stuff, while his mom geeked out over arty stuff.  

  Just the other day, both of them had attended the Science Art Exhibit, where it had fascinating, ha!, things, like: the planet formed from clay and tinfoil, with some weird yellow antennas attached, and it stood 10 ft tall.  His mother had actually wanted to buy it, but it wasn't for sale.  She said it symbolized her and his father, the perfect harmonic meeting of science and art, just like them. 

  She had finally stopped talking about it when he had asked her, "When is this perfect harmonic meeting going to finally stop being so afraid of commitment and get married?"  He had gotten two frowns for his efforts from that one.  Really, you could lead a horse to water, but you couldn't make them drink.  Suddenly he heard the megaphone, and he groaned.  What was his grandpa up to?  He had better go check on him...

 

  Trevor was horrified.  "Grandpa!  What are you doing?!" He closed his eyes, oh man!  Just his luck!  And it was Mr. Raas too, the mayor of Sunlit Tides, and only the most important man in all of the Universe.  And his grandfather was yelling at him, with a megaphone!  How embarrassing!

  He looked around, he sure hoped Apple and her parents weren't around to see this.  To Trevor's surprise though, both his grandpa and Mr. Raas broke out laughing.  How did his grandpa do it?

  "...and that is how you get lazy a*s teens out of bed."  His grandpa chuckled.  "It works every time."

 

   His grandpa noticed him standing off to the side, and waved him closer.  "Hey, this is my grandson, that I was telling you about, Trevor.  Trevor, this is Nate, Mr. Raas to you."

  Nate?!  How had his grandfather gotten on a first name basis with the man so quickly? Trevor sure wished he could be more like his grandfather.  "Pleased to meet you Mr. Raas."  Trevor said politely.  Now he wished Apple and her parents would show up!  He was talking to the most important man in the Universe!

  Mr. Raas held out his hand, and Trevor shook it.  "Your grandpa has been giving me tips on how to raise teens.  I have some teens at home that won't get out of bed until noon or later!"  He shook his head. 

  Trevor had heard that Mr. Raas had a lot of children, like ten of them, or more, and they all still lived at home.  Trevor couldn't imagine having that many kids.  "I never sleep in until noon."

   "That's what your grandpa has been telling me."  Mr. Raas smiled.  "In fact, I hear you're a real go getter, and I could use someone like you on my team.  Would you be interested in a job?"

  Trevor suppressed the urge to shout, and instead, very politely said, "Yes, Sir, I would be very interested."  He had just finalized all the particulars of his new job, when he heard Apple call his name.  He excused himself, and ran over to greet her.  "Apple!"

 

   Trevor could feel her dad's malevolent gaze on him, so he was really careful to just give her a friendly handshake, instead of the kiss he wanted to give her.  "I'm so glad you're here."

  Apple grinned at him impishly.  "You can kiss me when he leaves."

  Trevor grinned back at her.  "When is he leaving?"

  Apple shrugged.  "As soon as he gets bored with watching us stand here and just talk.  Is that your grandfather, talking to Mr. Raas?"

  Trevor nodded.  "Yeah, and you know what?"

  "What?"

  "Mr. Raas offered me a job working for him."

  Apple squealed.  "Really!?  That's awesome Trev!  Congratulations!"

 

   "Did you hear that Dad?"  Apple yelled out.  "Uncle Nate has hired Trevor!"

  Trevor's eyes widened.  "Uncle Nate?!"

  Her father honked the car horn as he left, and Apple waved good bye to him.  She nudged Trevor's shoulder.  "You're a shoe in now!" she exclaimed.  "You have the approval of Uncle Nate, and no one goes against him!  Not even my step-father!"

  Trevor was confused.  "Uncle Nate?!" he repeated.  "He just gave me a job not..."

  "If Uncle Nate didn't approve of you, there is no way he would ever hire you, he's a stickler for those sorts of things."

  "Oh, but how..."

  Apple smiled at him.  "My real Dad's sister is married to him.  Come on, let's go."  She tugged on him.  "Let's go hang out at the swings!"


~<>~


  Kalen's birthday was in the middle of the week, in the middle of the day, with only a babysitter around.  He was so gypped.

 

  He didn't even get any cake or ice cream.  He thought that would have made a most excellent birthday lunch, but the babysitter had disagreed.  The babysitter had even dared to give him green things to eat, they were...healthy!  Disgusting!

  He had refused to eat them, and had demanded cake instead.  The babysitter was mean then, and told him if he was going to have a tantrum, he could have it in his room.  Tantrum!  He wasn't no baby!  He didn't have tantrums! 

  Boy, just wait until his parents got home!  He was going to make sure that babysitter was... fired!

 

 
~<>~


  Hawk sighed.  His potion wasn't working as quickly as he had hoped.  Skye had rolled her eyes at him when he had started asking her to drink it, telling her it would keep her healthier, so she wouldn't get sick from her students.  To please him though, she drank it.  Every day.

  He just didn't understand it.  It should be working.  He would have to double check his recipe and ingredients, there must be something he was forgetting. 

  He brooded over it as he watched the sky fill with color.  He loved this time of the day, it was nice and quiet, and better suited for getting his thoughts together.  Now if only he could get his elixir recipe together, so that he and Skye could finally have their child of promise.

 

 
~<>~


  "But Grandpa!  I want to go swimming!"

  Colin didn't even look at Kalen, but kept his watchful gaze on the people swimming in the Ocean.  "After your homework is done, then you can swim."

  Kalen pouted.  He hated doing his homework.  He stared at it.  "I hate homework."

  "All the better to get it done quickly."  was his grandpa's response.  Kalen scowled.  He watched as his brother had fun running around the beach with his friends, and he scowled some more.

  "It's not fair."  He muttered.

  He wished he could tear it up into tiny pieces, and he thought about it, but one glance at his grandpa, and he reconsidered.  His grandpa could be lots of fun, but he never let Kalen get away with anything.

  "It's so unfair!  Trevor gets to have fun!"

   "Trevor already did his homework." 

  "His homework is easier, that's why!  Mine is so hard!"

  Colin sighed.  "Kay, stop your whining, and do your homework.  Or next time you can stay home."

  Kalen frowned.  Stupid homework anyway.  It was invented by mean teachers that wanted to make sure kids couldn't have any fun.  Maybe he could get his teacher fired for giving out excessive homework?  He looked up at his grandpa, and sighed heavily.  Nope, there was no way his grandpa was going to go for that.  He grabbed his pencil and started working on his homework.

 

  Within ten minutes he was finished.  "Can I go play now Grandpa?  I'm all done!"

  Colin resisted the urge to tell his grandson once again, that if he would just sit down and do his homework, and cut out all the complaining and procrastinating, he would have been playing a long time ago.  Colin sighed.  Kalen was headstrong though, and if he didn't want to do something, it was like pulling hen's teeth to get him to do it.  Colin had his ways though.  "Have fun!"

  Kalen whooped.  "Trevor!  I can play now!"

  Colin smiled as he watched Kalen race towards his older brother.  He was glad to see that the brothers were so close.  Which reminded him, he needed to give his own brother a call.  Brae had not made the move to Sunlit Tides with him.  Brae had fallen in love with Melinda, and Melinda had no desire to ever leave Midnight Hollow.  So now Colin kept in touch with his brother through phone calls.

  "Kay, don't go out so far!"  Colin yelled, then frowned when Kalen didn't acknowledge his words.  Kalen didn't know how to swim well enough to go out that far.  Colin ran towards the shoreline, it was time to drag the boy out before he drowned himself.

~<>~

  Colin stared at his father in shock.  "What the h*ll?!"  Colin tried hard not to curse, but sometimes the words slipped out anyway.

 

  Ryder repeated himself.  "A war between the Seelie, and the Unseelie is imminent.   I've been called into service by the Queen as an emissary, to try and stop the war, if I can.  Dad seems to think I'm pretty good about keeping fairies in line."

  "Well, it's true that you help keep Grandpa out of most trouble, but still, he's only one fairy, and he loves you.  Dad, you're talking about the f*cking Unseelies!  And how does this Queen even know about you anyway?  It's not like we've ever f*cking been there before!"

  "Well, my grandmother Elly, which you have never met, is very close friends with the Seelie Queen.  Dad has talked to Grandma Elly a lot lately, and..."  Ryder nervously ran his hand through his hair.  "Dad brags.   A lot.  About me.  Apparently."  Ryder was embarrassed, he didn't think he had done very much at all to warrant his Dad bragging about his so called talents.

  "Everything I said was true."  Alder said, as he joined the conversation.

 

   
   Colin shook his head.  "You're talking about the f*cking Unseelies!" He repeated.  "It's hard enough reasoning with a Seelie, but trying to f*cking reason with an Unseelie?  Sh*t!"

  "I know."  Ryder said. 

  "He can do it."  Alder said confidently.  "Your father has always had a good head on his shoulders, he's very logical, reasonable, compassionate, and he thinks before he acts.  He's stopped me many times from making a bigger mess out of different situations, ever since he was a little kid.  Do you know how rare that is among the fae?  Especially compassion, I don't even think there's a word for that in their language!  Your dad has the mind of a human, yet because of his fae blood, he understands the fae, and the way they think.  He's perfect for the job."

  "A mind of a human?"  Ryder laughed.  "Was that a backhanded compliment Dad?"

  "You know what I mean."  Alder smiled.

  "But, Dad..."  Colin protested.

  "I have to try Colin."

 

  "A war between the two courts could spill into this world, with disastrous results.  And Dad is going with me to Alfheim, so I won't be going alone."

  Colin turned to his grandfather.  "Sh*t.  You're leaving too?"

  Alder nodded.  "My mother has always wanted me to live there.  I'm a prized male you know."  Alder joked.  "I wasn't too interested in going before, but, now, I think it's time.  You kids are all settled here, and happy, you don't need us old guys hanging out."

  Colin could hardly take it all in.  He had never imagined that his father and grandfather might actually move away, let alone to Alfheim.  Only those with fae blood could travel the fairy realm, unless one was kidnapped by one of the fae, but that practice had ended many, many, many years ago.  Though, with the threat of this new War, it was possible that the ancient practice of kidnapping humans could resume.  "H*ll, you're hardly old, either of you."  Colin muttered.  "And I'll always need you."

 

  "Not in fae years, certainly."  Alder agreed.  "We'll practically be kids to them.  In human years though, well, that's a different story!"

  Ryder smiled warmly at his son.  He sure wished Cherie had been able to see the way their son had turned out; Ryder was really proud of him.  The younger Colin would never have admitted that he needed anyone, let alone that he needed his father.  "I'll keep in touch Colin."  Ryder promised.

  "D*mn.  I suppose there's no f*cking use in arguing with either of you?"

  They both shook their heads no.  Ryder said,  "I've made my mind up.  They really need our help, and I'd like to do what I can."

  "When will you guys be leaving?"

  Alder answered.  "After Trevor graduates.  That's just a few weeks away.  That'll give us some time to get everything ready, and say our goodbyes."

 
   
  "I don't f*cking like it, at all."  Colin said.  "But if anyone could talk sense to a f*cking Seelie or an Unseelie, you could Dad."

  Ryder clapped his hand on Colin's shoulder.  "Thanks for the vote of confidence Son."

  "You better f*cking keep your promise." 

  Ryder said solemnly, "I always do."

   "Well, if you run into any serious trouble, call me.  We all know I'm f*cking resistant to magic of all kinds, and I'd happily knock some f*cking heads together."

  Ryder eyes twinkled as he looked at his son.  "I'll keep that in mind."

 
 _______________________________________________________________________________________

Notes:  *cries*  Yes, it's true.  Alder and Ryder have moved out, so this is likely the last we'll see of them.  (we all know how terrible I am at keeping up with sims once they leave the household!)  It was super hard to let them go, but because of the rolls and upcoming storylines, I just didn't have the time to babysit the lot of them and make sure they were all behaving.  As soon as Alder moved out, I got this notice:

  So Alder is loose in the town, and he's already causing trouble, lol  I did make sure that neither he nor Ryder could have any kids.  I feel mean about it, but I don't want Alder to overpopulate my town, no matter how pretty his babies are.  Another reason why the family had to move from Midnight Hollow is that they were related to practically the whole town!

  I actually deleted all the pre-mades in Sunlit Tides, because, well, they all died in that War, lol  I added in a bunch of sims from some of the many saves I have.  So I have my versions of the Capps and the Montys, my family from my Sim Soap Opera story (the Mallorys, of which Twallan's self-sim was a part of), and even a sim or two from some of the Random Legacies I read.  One of which you may have recognized, and speaking of one of them, here are the type of notices I get from her:

 

 

  She is supposed to be having cute kids with Jesse, and populating my town with great genetics, but so far, the two of them have remained childless.  She's too busy terrorizing the males in town instead, lol 

  She even calls Colin quite often:

 

  Which I find really humorous.  Despite how tempting she is though, Colin still holds a torch for Ivory, and isn't interested in any one else.  So he politely declines her offers, lol :P

  So you guys might see some familiar legacy faces in the background, but they won't really be a part of the story.  Any progeny, on the other hand, might get drafted someday, haha!

    And just because---here's some pics that I couldn't use, but I really, really, really wanted to!

 

  Those last pics, she reminds me so much of her mother, lol  That temper!!

  Thanks for reading! =)