3. “I can’t believe I trusted you… Thought you were my friend… And it’s been you ruining my sister’s life all along. You killed our parents…” Calvin was still in shock, but could feel both anger and nausea building…
4. Gina wasn’t quite so slow to react and was barely holding herself back. “I am so freaking angry right now that if somebody else doesn’t beat the crap out of you PDQ, I will turn you into a pile of unrecognisable flesh with my own two hands.”
5. While Mia felt odd about the whole situation… Her whole life, nearly all of it wasn’t as it appeared… She was mostly confused, but it also gave her a feeling of deep, deep sadness. How could somebody do all of this? Why would somebody do all of this…?
6. Seth himself was angry, verging on sulking even he would admit, but he would have his own way. “You can say and think whatever you want, and you may have taken my powers, but you can’t do anything else to me! In case you’ve forgotten, I’m the brother of the Mayor and the husband of the head of the police force – you have no proof whatsoever and they won’t let you do a thing to me!” Tiana barely suppressed a laugh as she said “You really think so?”
7. “Do you mind if I kill him? He is my brother.” “He’s my husband.” “He deliberately manipulated me.” “He deliberately manipulated me and made me get a facelift to cover up his crimes.” “Touché. Can I help a little bit anyway?” “You start him off, I’ll finish him up.” “Deal.”
8. “Ah, Sara – I didn’t see you back there… Er, had a nice day?” “I can’t believe you, you evil, lying, manipulative bastard! You usedme and my political powers for your own ends!” “No nono,” Seth interjected quickly, “not my own ends – our own ends! They took the heirship from our branch of the family! Okay, I probably would have won the heir poll for our generation, but it would have been good for all of us! If Mom had been heiress you might have been allowed to get married and have kids! That’s what you want, isn’t it?!” “Oh would you just stop talking crap, Seth, there’s no point any more!”
9. “I’m not talking crap! Tiana’s bloody well making me be honest! Mom could have been heiress and then we would have had better lives and more attention! And these mediocre idiots would be stuck in the obscurity that they deserve!” “You have to stop bringing Mom into this – you’re just lucky she’s not alive to see this or she’d be the one kicking your ass right now!” “Well maybe she wouldn’t if you’d all just listen to me for a second!” “I’m tired of listening to you and your lies! Noelle, your turn!”
10. Noelle started off shouting so loudly and high-pitched that it was difficult to understand it all, except the odd “lies”, “evil”, “betrayed” and a number of other words that Mia hoped the children inside couldn’t hear. Seth just tried stammered the same things, desperately trying to explain “But it’s all for us! If we get the heirship then you’ll be an official spouse – one of the children will be heir, we’ll get loads of grandkids! And holidays!” “I don’t care what you thought we’d get, Seth, what about the people you’ve done things to?! How many people have you murdered?!” “Well it depends if you count the Nannies – they grabbed the cake while I wasn’t looking – but it was all for us, Noelle! People would vote for us if you look like you do now!”
11. It was all too confusing for Mia. “Tiana? You put a truth spell on him, didn’t you?” “Hm?” Tiana turned around, not really wanting to be distracted from the show unfolding. “Yes, and it hasn’t worn off yet. Why?” “Well… All this stuff he’s saying about ‘heirs’ and ‘votes’ and everything… Does this mean what he’s saying is all true?” Tiana gave a sly smile and leant in. “Not exactly – what he’s saying is what he believes to be true, so in that respect he’s not lying. However, I personally reckon all the evil magic that’s been running through his veins has messed with his head, making him believe what he’s been doing is justified. Basically, he’s completely lost it.”
12. Noelle had lost it too – her patience, that was. “I can’t believe I changed my whole appearance for you! Married you! Had your child, raised your children! And all I was really doing was covering for your evil plans! If they’d ever traced it back to you, I’d be considered an accomplice! You knew that and yet you still endangered me and the children by carrying out some petty and vindictive vendetta against your own cousins!” “Well I never planned for you getting pregnant and passing on your genetics, I never asked for Winston, he could never be as good or popular as a reaper child-!”
13. And that was way too much for Noelle. “I’m going to kill you, Seth Jayapalan!” “Would somebody please stop making me so honest?! And get this crazy woman off of me!” Tiana tried not to sound amused. “Well we would, except as she’s a policewoman if she’s arresting you we civilians can’t really get involved… Are you arresting him, Noelle?” “You have the right to remain silent and die in a fire, you lying bastard of a now-ex-husband!”
14. “Give it up, Seth,” Tiana stated rationally. “You have no powers, nobody’s buying into your little version of reality, you have the Mayor and head of police on your back and, if you try to escape them, I can bring you right back with just a flick of my wand.” Seth looked up bitterly. “You know, they never even gave your father the chance to be heir. And if he had been you might be heiress now with your powers and all.” “What part of ‘nobody’s buying into your version of reality’ do you not understand? Lock him away Noelle.” Noelle cuffed her husband, pulled him up by the shoulder and handed him to his sister for a moment.
15. “Words can’t express how sorry I am for everything my ‘husband’ has done to you, Mia, and for any way in which I may have unknowingly helped him.” “Don’t worry about it, you didn’t realise…” Mia just murmured. “Yes, well, don’t you worry about it, he’ll pay for what he’s done. Options are limited for what we can do at the minute, but I’m sure that between us Sara and I can affect the rules so that the gavel of justice comes down especially hard and painfully on Seth, if you catch my drift…” “Hang on, what?” Mia tuned back into reality.
16. “Look Noelle, I know everything he’s done to me and my family and I’m sure he does need to be locked away in jail and everything, but… Have you listened to him? He’s clearly not right in the head, and think about it – is that the man you fell in love with? I think Tiana’s right, after he was given that dark magic he just went progressively crazy. He ought to be locked up because he’s a danger to himself and others, but he should really be given help, not anything cruel and unusual. That wouldn’t be justice at all.” Noelle looked a little disappointed, but sighed. “I guess you’re right. It would explain things a lot better. We’d better take him before it gets too late. Goodbye everyone. We’re sorry for any trouble we’ve caused.”
17. “Speaking of it getting late, I’ve got to take off too, Mia. I told DJ I’d only be a little while, she’ll be worried… Are you okay?” “Yeah… Yeah, I’m fine…” “Mmm, you don’t sound it… Get a good night’s sleep and then if you still need to chat you know my number.” “Okay, will do.” “Bye Mia. Bye Tiana, thanks for everything!”
18. When Calvin had gone Tiana pulled Mia into a hug as well. “I suppose you’ll be leaving too?” “I do have to get back, but I don’t want to leave you with all this shock and sadness I can sense in you…” Mia gave a small, tired laugh “I’m sure it’ll go eventually.” “I might be able to do a little spell to make it go quicker, though…” “I don’t know,” Mia was uneasy. “I can’t say I’ve had any good experiences with magic so far…”
19. “That’s because you’ve haven’t had any experiences with good magic yet. Just stand still and let the spell wash over you and you’ll be feeling better in no time…” “Well given that the rain is currently washing over me…” Mia shut her eyes and tried to keep her mind blank. She didn’t know whether that would help with the magic, but it definitely helped with her emotions. Suddenly she felt something warm and bubbly breeze across her skin-
20. And another image appeared in her mind, like the visions she’d had before. It was odd – had she thought about it before, she would have assumed the visions had been caused by what Seth had been doing, but now he’d stopped and here was another… And it was completely meaningless to her.
21. “Feeling any better now?” Mia snapped out of her trance and remembered what was actually happening. “Yeah… Yes, I really do. I feel great! How do you do that? Can you teach me?” Tiana laughed “When I tell you it’s magic, that’s actually true for once. The only way for you to learn is to become a witch. … Would you like to become a witch?” Mia was surprised “You mean it’s really that easy? Well… Nice as it sounds, I think we should only have so many. And I really need to focus on my family now!” “Okay, that’s fair enough, but if you ever change your mind… I’m sure the world could do with some more people on the side of good.”
22. And as she left Tiana gave a small flick of her wand and the whole lot was bathed in the same golden glow she had used to remove the bad magic before. Mia stood out in it for a few moments, letting the warmth sink in, drying her clothes and hair from the rain before. Good magic was nice, but she thought she’d leave it to the professionals. Her job… Her job was to be a mother to three children. Speaking of which…
23. She had her new baby girl, still without a name. What to call her? Something good, something significant… But not weird, so she wouldn’t be teased at school. Hmm… Liv. Like live, like life. People ought to appreciate life and living more than they did, Mia reflected. Hopefully Liv would and be a happy little girl. Other people weren’t so euphoric and probably could have done with standing in golden light…
24. Gina had been primarily cross for Mia’s sake when she’d heard Seth’s exposition, but now he was gone and she seemed okay… Now Gina could refocus on another aspect. She’d been given a potion when she was small to make her mean and cruel. To make her tear her family apart for him. She couldn’t remember being given the bottle as a toddler, but now that it was brought up she could remember numerous times when she had been cruel to her siblings growing up. Jibes and taunts and everything… And she’d meant them. And it was all very well thinking about things back then, but was she a different person now? Would she have say something different now in the same situation? Probably not. He had tried, and succeeded, in making her a bad person and so she still was. She was corrupted, bad and wrong. No other way of looking at it.
25. Mia, in her still euphoric state, was oblivious to her sister’s internal turmoil. She was concentrated entirely on her children for now as she finished teaching Jose how to walk before he finally became a child. Calvin had told her to get a good night’s sleep, but now she never wanted to have to sleep – she couldn’t spend enough time with her children as it was, catch up on the lost time from when she’d been miserable and confused. She had so much to do now… Which meant being up all night.
26. Until Jose finally got to his feet to become a child just in time for his first day of school. Mia just felt sad for how quickly her children were growing and how little time she’d had to appreciate them whilst they were small.
27. And she said so. “Are you sure you’re ready to start so soon, Jose?” “I don’t want to get left behind, Momma! And Lyle says he wants to introduce me to all his friends.” “Oh, well, that sounds like more fun than being stuck at home then. Have a good day, sweetheart.”
28. “I’ll try.” And Mia watched her youngest son walk out to the bus. Such a smart little boy, grown up so much already. He reminded Mia a lot of his father – one of so many to die for her and her family. Had Zack really loved her, or had that been magic? Seth had said that what had happened with Rodney was magic, but had the others been genuine? If it hadn’t been for Seth would Mia be married to Zack right now with a whole family of his children? She guessed not, she was with Juan first… It was all so confusing. And sad. What could she possibly do now about what happened to Juan and Zack? She’d almost given up on ever seeing either again, but had been harbouring a hope that one day their sons might meet their fathers. Now they never would.
29. And of course, they weren’t the only ones who had died. At least Mia’s parents hadn’t died for her specifically – Seth hadn’t known who he’d been targeting at that point, besides her mother generally. She hoped they could rest peacefully now that everyone knew who was behind it and their descendents were no longer in danger. It was still sad seeing their graves – Mia’s children would never meet their grandparents when, in other circumstances, they’d probably still be alive at that moment. But also seeing them side by side made Mia think of her own future: would she have a husband one day to lie next to her when they were both dead and gone? Or would she be the only grave lying solitarily? It was certainly food for thought.
30. Other people were being given real food as Mia cleaned the kitchen counters thoughtfully. “Oh Liv… You’re all pure and as you should be, aren’t you? You’ve not been corrupted by evil people… Would you love me more if I was pure like you? Do you think I’d be really nice and popular if I was like that?” “Uh, Gina? Could I talk to you for a minute?” “Oh, I didn’t see you come back in, sis. Sure, I’ll just put Liv down…”
31. Mia was struggling not to laugh incredulously, but got the feeling that that might not help the situation very much. “Right, what did you want to talk about?” “What was all of that about? What you were saying to Liv…?” “Oh, well, you know…” “Gina...?”
32. “Oh you know what I was talking about! Seth made me into a bad person! Who knows what I would be like right now if he hadn’t! I used to be mean to Rick and Allen, and sometimes even you – my whole life since I was a toddler has been wrong! I’m wrong! Evil magic made me who I am today! Why are you smiling?” “Do you really believe all that, Gina?” “Do you not?” “Well, I do remember you going from a very sweet and amicable toddler to a rather more difficult one-” “See! That’s what I’m talking about!”
33. “Okay, so Seth gave you something that altered your personality and made you act differently to how you would have done otherwise. Fine. But remember, he wanted you to destroy the family and you didn’t. You aren’t how he wanted you to be, you’re nicer than that. Okay, so you were a bit harsh, but there are plenty of children and teenagers untouched by magic who are the same or worse. And instead of breaking the family apart you’ve held us together – you’re wonderful with children, all your nieces and nephews adore you and god only knows what things would be like here without all your help. I love you Gina, but you’re being ridiculous. And frankly, even if you are a little rougher round the edges than the rest of us, we could probably use some of that – if Sara and Noelle hadn’t been here then you may have been the only one prepared to take him to task.”
34. “Aw, you know just what to say,” Gina said as she pulled her big sister into a hug. “And I would have kicked the crap out of him pretty effectively.” “I know Gina, I know. And we appreciate that. Silver lining to every cloud, remember that.” “Like you getting three kids out of this whole mess.” “You bet. Now, if you don’t mind, I haven’t slept for about 30 hours now, I’m going to go to bed…”
35. Sometimes being a single mother of three was difficult. It was truly lucky Gina was there. “Momma! Momma! I got an A+! Momma? Oh, you’re asleep. I guess I’ll come back later… Aunt Gina! Aunt Gina…!” But what could Gina do on the father front…?
36. Mia finally finished her story and took a sip of water to soothe her increasingly dry throat. “So… The reason your prior relationships failed is because you have an evil and insane cousin who was trying to ruin your life with magic and he made them break up with you before he killed them…” “Right.” “But he’s not doing that any more?” “No, he was arrested by his wife and is now serving life imprisonment, most likely without any kind of parole ever.”
37. “Okay. And remind me what happened with regards to us?” “He put a spell on us – well, apparently he was aiming for your friend the cow mascot but hit you instead – so that I would have a child with you, because he believed that he’d be able to kill me or whatever then.” “Yeah, I remember the whole ‘you’re a father’ thing…” “I know, I swear I was going to tell you, but it all got a bit hectic…” “Yeah, I think I can understand that! But there is one thing I’m not sure I really understand about this whole situation…”
38. “Remind me why this means we can’t be together any more?” “Well come on Rodney – we only ended up together because some deranged warlock felt like it!” “Hey, we met without his help, we were getting along quite well-!” “And you tried to set me up with your friend!” “I wasn’t setting you up – I thought… I thought you could be friends!” “Ha! That’s not what you said at the time!” “Yeah, well, he’s come out as gay now, so it doesn’t matter, does it?”
39. “I just think that it’s hardly the best foundation for a lasting relationship. And I need a lasting relationship this time – I can’t keep putting my children through different fathers who they don’t get to keep! And do you really want to be with a single mother of three?” “If it’s you…” Rodney muttered quietly, not looking at her. “So you’re saying nothing’s happening here any more?” “Well… we can still be friends. And of course you can come over any time to meet and spend time with Liv. In fact it’s her birthday tonight, you can come for that if you want.” Rodney sighed. “I can’t. I’m working tonight.” “Another time then. Anyway, I’ve got to get back. I’ll see you around, okay?”
40. It wasn’t okay, Rodney mused as he watched her leave. Maybe he wouldn’t have picked Mia out of a crowded scene as the one for him, but now he’d gotten to know her… He didn’t care if magic had caused it at first, but he knew what was causing it now – he still and actually cared about her. He wasn’t going to let her dismiss what they could have just because it didn’t have good origins. He deserved a chance and he would do anything he could to get it… He’d find a way.
41. Naturally there was still a party back at the Ryman house that night with all Liv’s uncles invited, as well as some other friends. Liv seemed a little confused by the loud and unusually populous situation, but seemed happy if anything at the new event.
42. And a little while later she was a lot bigger and able to express her happiness. In terms of appearance she still bore little resemblance to her father – as well as his eye colour, she seemed to have inherited his nose, but the mouth was definitely Mia’s. As for personality, she didn’t seem as worried about getting dirty as her older brothers, seemed to adore all the attention she was getting from the visitors, was quite hyperactive (though not as much so as Lyle had been) and apparently as sweet and adorable as Lyle had been and still was. Liv was as happy a toddler as Mia had hoped for; unscarred by the problems in her mother’s life.
43. Gina decided to re-emphasise her value to the family by showing off her cooking skills to the admiring crowd. “You see? You nice, worrying members of the family wouldn’t be able to make anything as awesome as this due to fears about playing with fire. I, on the other hand…” Her brothers just rolled their eyes. Typical Gina.
44. Meanwhile Liv started forging an important relationship with the talking rabbit head toy, which she chose over the blocks and xylophone. The adults weren’t sure if she understood what the rabbit was saying given that she herself couldn’t talk yet, but she listened while it rambled and babbled back at it happily. It was enough to make some of the adults want more children of their own.
45. Outside the party, Mia had to spend some time helping out the other kids – Jose had gone to bed without doing his homework since he found it too hard. “Can’t we leave this until the morning, Momma? I can barely see what I’m writing…” “No Jose, I know what you’re like – it’s impossible to get you out of bed in the morning, so if you don’t do it now you won’t do it at all. And this may be the only time when I’m not having to keep an eye on your little sister, so appreciate this time whilst you can get it!” “Momma, why are there loads of roses around? Aunt Gina says they’re gifts, but-” “Now, now, no distractions – focus on the questions. Ignore the flowers…”
46. Back inside Liv was drawing more and more adults into playing with her with her hypnotic adorableness. She soon had Tiana and Jenna entranced and Calvin was struggling to resist, knowing that once he sat down he may not get up again for some hours…
47. “Well Mia, much as I love you and the kids, I think it’s time I properly grew up and moved out.” “Really? Already? It’s Lyle’s birthday tomorrow-” “And Liv’s again two days after that. I know. But I have to get a life of my own sooner or later. Besides, Mum’s ghost has been giving me the evil eye all night – I think I may have annoyed her with the ‘playing with fire’ thing…” “Well you could have set yourself on fire while just showing off…” “I know, I know. But when I move out I won’t have anyone to show off to, so I promise I won’t set myself on fire, okay?”
48. Suddenly Nicola’s ghost jumped out, scaring Gina half out of her skin: “No, it’s not okay! How can you joke about such dangerous things?! You could have set the whole house on fire! I raised you better than that!” “You died almost straight after I was born! And I was being careful-!” “Are you saying that I died because I wasn’t being careful?!” “Don’t worry Mum,” Mia interjected before the argument escalated. “There’ll be no more playing with fire, I assure you. And your death wasn’t due to carelessness it was because one of our cousins went crazy. So you can go back to resting in peace.” “Actually I prefer to wander, if you don’t mind…” And so she did.
49. “I can’t say I’m going to miss that aspect of living here, sis.” “I’m sure you’ll be able to relive it whenever we invite you for more birthday parties.” “Joy!” Gina responded sarcastically. “I’ll miss you and the kids, sis, but I won’t be far away. Invite me over any time!” “Bye Gina, hope your new house and stuff is nice.” “If it isn’t now it will be soon!”
50. With Gina gone, Mia knew she’d have to step-up her mothering skills in order to have time for each child, so while Lyle and Jose were asleep she started work on teaching Liv to talk. “Teddy!” “That’s right! Well done Liv!” “Want teddy!” “Erm-” “Teddy! Want teddy Momma!” Liv may have been sweet, but she was increasingly demanding… Mia just hoped she’d make do with the cat instead…
51. The next morning Winter begun and brought snow with it. The boys wished they could stay home and play in it, but trudged off to school nonetheless.
52. Lyle was even quite happy to do so – it was his birthday that night and then he’d be a teenager and a teenager was practically an adult in his eyes. His big cousin Wally had become a teenager a few days before and had been consistently telling him how amazing it was. Lyle couldn’t imagine what could be quite so amazing about it himself, but he believed every word Wally said, so he guessed it was true. He was looking forward to being able to cook for himself at least, anyway.
53. Mia liked the snow as much as her sons did, though she liked everything lately – even paying the bills. It was all so ordinary. There was no drama. Some people may have considered that boring, but it was heaven for her. She was like a proper adult – cooking, cleaning, paying bills, looking after her kids… No more dating or going out to clear her head from the latest tragedy. No crying on her siblings’ shoulders… Normal was bliss.
54. As for Liv, she didn’t know or understand what snow was, but she knew that she wanted it anyway. Sadly for her, she didn’t understand stairs either and so couldn’t get to the snow and threw a tantrum for a good few minutes before deciding to find something else she wanted.
55. That something turned out to be cat food. Lottie wasn’t happy, but with a big toddler hug she decided to let it go. Whatever Liv wanted she would get somehow eventually.
56. After what felt like forever to the boys, the school day ended and they were able to play in the snow with a girl who’d come home with them. That was something else Lyle had been told to expect from being a teenager – having a special liking for girls. He looked at this girl Chloe and she seemed nice, but he didn’t see anything that special about her. Maybe that would change. He still thought kissing and stuff seemed a bit weird.
57. “You’re getting through a lot of pet food lately, aren’t you Lottie? I wonder if we’re feeding you too much… Maybe not enough…” Lottie just mewed tetchily at her silly owner and her thieving offspring. Chloe, meanwhile, looked at the pretty lady and wished that she could be her Mommy too. It was a shame that the townie orphanage didn’t have an adoption or fostering service.
58. Anyway, soon enough it was time for yet another party in the Ryman household – Gina, Calvin and Wally were all back to celebrate and Lyle would be able to see if Wally had been telling the truth about everything he’d said.
59. “Is this outfit okay, do you think?” Lyle asked generally to all those in attendance. “It depends,” Wally stated patronisingly. “Would you like to be bullied or do you actually want to have friends and girlfriends?” “Wally! It shouldn’t matter what you look like when it comes to friends-” “Maybe when you were at school, Dad, but that was ages ago. Nowadays we have this thing called ‘fashion’ – you may have heard of it...?” Lyle ignored his cousin and uncle’s argument. He could probably find nicer clothes in a closet somewhere anyway.
60. The ghosts were out in almost full force that night – the only one missing was Nicola, presumably because she was tired from haunting the night before – and they were causing as much mischief as ever. “Stop arguing with your son – whoever has the dreadlocks wins regardless!” “Thanks great-grandpa, that’s what I’ve been trying to tell him!” “Have you considered wearing a headband with your dreads?” “Well, I would, except my mum does, so it’d be a bit weird…” “Ah, fair enough. You could learn a lot from this boy, Calvin…” “Ugh, grandparents…”
61. Having found an appropriate outfit and changed his hairstyle, Lyle discovered one of the most significant aspects of being a teenager – doing homework. Not many teenagers had to do it with the ghosts of their ancestors floating around, but none of them bothered him while he was working, so it didn’t matter so much.
62. Inside, Liv was up and about again, much to Lottie’s displeasure. “Want kitty!” Liv said as she grabbed Lottie around the neck. Lottie struggled with all her might, but to no avail. “Love kitty!” She just had to hope that somebody would rescue her from this monster…
63. Somebody, having just finished his homework, did. “Hiya Liv! Are you terrorising Lottie again?” “Bwuvver!” Liv said happily – trying to pronounce brother being a lot easier for her than trying to pronounce his actual name. “I think it’s time you learnt to walk. What do you say?” “Hee heehee!” “I’ll take that as a yes!”
64. Lyle found himself to be very good with kids. It wasn’t half as difficult as everyone seemed to make out – if you were nice and gave them attention and what they wanted they adored you. He could see why his Aunt Gina had liked spending so much time with them when she was there. In fact, Lyle could see himself dedicating his life to kids and family, though that might come second to just one thing…
66. Meanwhile, over at Simfield’s small and extremely exclusive high-security prison…
67. “Grrr, this sucks! It was real. I know it was real. I saw all those people in that weird building. I saw that website! It was real. It had to be real…” ~~~End of Chapter 10~~~
68. Over at Gina’s new place we finally got Jenna to become an adult, then promptly got them married according to their wishes (Gina actually both wanted and feared marriage, but she meant she just wanted it really, we’re sure…). It was a beautiful ceremony and very good times all around.
69. Elsewhere there have been many more birthdays (L->R, T->B): Clark and Josh Wong, twin sons of Rick and Celeste (Clark is a clone of Joey Wong, one of his older brothers *sigh*) – cousins to Lyle, etc. Daisy McCarthy, daughter of Allen and Audrey, another cousin. Billy Raymond, adopted son of May and Brandi, adopted second cousin (can you guess what he wants to be when he grows up?!) Isabel Verse, daughter of Calvin and DJ, another cousin and a clone of her older brother Wally. We really have to remember to roll the dice with our extended relatives…
70. Birthdays aren’t the only things happening around Simfield of late though – more death! This time we lost Sean at age 79. He died happily, having achieved his LTW of Criminal Mastermind and leaving behind two daughters (May and Tiana) and four grandchildren (two adopted, two blood). Much sadness all around, but at least he’s back with Opal now.
72. Sean wasn’t the only one though, Nery finally joined Marina at age 84. Nery had also had a happy life, having achieved his LTW of Space Pirate (which he continued to the end, hence his carpool in the background) and leaving behind five children and five grandchildren. If you can’t tell from appearances or memory, Nery was Seth’s father, but I like to think that his children would have kept that whole affair secret from him, given that he only lived one day beyond its revelation, so he died blissfully ignorant. And Nery wins the award for longest-lived sim in the legacy so far, despite only being a spouse. We certainly weren’t expecting that.
