I guess moving closer to the school really helped our kids build new relationships. Within a few days they had made a number of friends, so that the house never was empty at all. I wasn’t surprised that Freya always had some kids over, she was such a sweet kid and nice to everyone. Finn sometimes seemed more careful, but when he opened his heart to let somebody in, he would keep them in forever. He was truly a good boy and I felt that he would be the one to carry our family and our traditions on in the next years. There was no way that I loved him more than our daughter, but he seemed to be more reliable and trustworthy than his sister.
He really was a serious person. Maybe even too serious. The day our sweet Eddie passed away, he spent his time consulting all of this, without shedding a tear of his own. My little boy. Yes, this was the right decision.
Felipe and Freya didn’t quite agree with me there. Both thought that she would have earned it to be the heir of our family. And when I told them why I felt this way, both walked away disappointedly. From then on they would even spend more time together, leaving me and Finn banned from their little community, just consisting of two persons. It was hard for me to see my husband to take sides with her, as we were always able to talk about everything that had happened. But at the same time I understood parts of him – all decisions that we had made had been based on conversations between us. This was something I had decided on my own. It was my decision after all! I had been the heir of our family and I’d had to go through so much stuff when I was young. Now it was my turn to hand the responsibility over to my son.
It was pretty clear that Felipe wasn’t too happy with how we were acting. To be precise, with how he was acting. But instead of talking to me he worked out whenever he had some free time on his hands. I didn’t know what was on his mind and I was too afraid to ask. So I quietly watched him and wished there was a way we could work this out.
For days we weren’t speaking at all. But one afternoon, after we had both returned from work, he grabbed me and pulled me into a tight hug. Then he looked me in the eyes and told me that he was sorry. How could I be mad at him when he was looking like that? He explained that he had always felt as if I had cared more about Finn than about Freya. So he had decided to stick with her, trying to avoid that she felt lonely. This was so strange. Hadn’t I always felt that he had preferred Freya all along and therefore took care of Finn more? Maybe we were both partly right and partly wrong. But at least we both knew that now.
Not having that on my mind any longer, I decided to spend some time apart from home and work on my guitar skills. I hadn’t played it for ages and was pretty sure that I had forgotten everything I had ever learned. But apparently I still was able to play a few songs and even had some people tipping me. (At least I think that they gave me the money because they liked what I was doing and not in order to stop me) One of them was an old friend, Gavin Pinkerton. He was Kim’s new husband and I stopped playing to chat with him. Apparently their kids were doing great, but Kim was pretty exhausted. I decided to invite her over the next few days.
When I talked to Felipe that night, I mentioned that Kim wasn’t feeling too well. He was really sorry and liked the idea of having her over soon. Some time ago, this situation would have been absolutely awkward and terrible, but by now we were all good friends and it was like they never had been married.
My little boy was so conscientious. Every day after school he would come straight home and do his homework. Alright, one or two times he preferred watching TV, but then got up very early and did his homework then, while his sister was still sleeping. Every day that passed confirmed me.
And as time passed, Felipe and Finn grew closer. It was so nice to see father and son bonding!
He would even read him a bedtime story. And although I wasn’t too sure about whether Sherlock Holmes was the right thing to read before going to sleep, I didn’t say anything. Those two had to catch up on a lot of time.
Before I knew it, it was time for my birthday. Freya and Finn gathered around me and my birthday cake – Felipe was still at work -, and we celebrated a little. All of a sudden I felt so old…
But I wasn’t looking that old, right? I decided to let my hair down and to wear something that made me look younger than I was. And Felipe told me I was more beautiful than ever. Hopefully he wasn’t lying about that!
Of course I was a little nervous about how our marriage would look like, now that my hair had turned grey and the wrinkles on my face had proliferated. But he assured me that he still loved me and nothing would change that. Aww.
Despite that promise we were spending less time together than ever. I had decided to retire so that I would be able to spend more time with my family. But my family apparently did not share that desire. Finn and Freya were getting independent more and more every day and Felipe used his free time to work on his skills. I swear, we had at least five versions of this picture in the house by now.
The twins’ birthday was approaching way too fast and Finn worked hard. He wanted to apply for one of the best schools there was, which meant that his grades had to be really good. Not that this was an issue. I was rather worrying about Freya, who had been very lazy in the last few weeks. But she still was mad at me for making Finn heir of the family, so she refused to listen to anything I was saying.
That night I decided to visit Kim. Whenever I had invited her over, she had told me that she was busy with the kids and asked me to do this another time. Maybe it would help her if I helped her a little. While I was waiting on the porch, it occurred to me that this was the place where I had really fallen in love with Felipe. In this house we had made love for the first time and in this house he had proposed to me. And now his ex-wife was my best friend.
Kim was really happy to see me, because she barely had time to talk to any grown-up lately. We were interrupted a few times, but I think I cheered her up a little. And it was nice to see her kids and how old they already were.
The last week of school was over and the twins’ birthday had arrived. It was so weird to see them grow up into teenagers. I thought it had been only days since they had been born and here we were, celebrating their birthday. First up was Finn. Happy Birthday!
My handsome boy. The heir of our legacy. There was something in his eyes whenever he spoke to children that made me know he was a nurturing person.
Freya also blew out her candles. Happy Birthday, Freya!
She was so beautiful and somehow reminded me of my youth. When I had been her age, my mother had died, leaving me alone with numerous pets and a big house. I hoped that wouldn’t happen to my children! Anyway, this wasn’t about me anymore. It was time to make room for the next generation.
But before I could raise my glass to the next generation, something terrible happened. Bello, who had been around forever, died. It was so sad to see him go and I swear that a big piece of my heart died with him. He had been there for me ever since my mom had died. Even before that! He had been around in Sunset Valley when my aunt and sister were still around. And now he had to leave our family the night my kids aged up. But I guess this was a sign – it was a new age now.
Author's notes: And the third generation is over! You decided that Finn would be the heir for the next generation, which is great! After I put up the poll, I hoped you'd vote for him, because I really like him and want to see how his life will look like, especially with his trait combination. See the next chapter for his official introduction! Hopefully I will get that out the next days, university is starting again on Monday, so I guess I will be busy after then.
There is something I wanted to say in between - thank you for staying with me and my legacy through the first three generations!
(And something for the next generations - if I screw up my sentences or word orders, feel free to tell me! Sometimes stuff doesn't seem right to me, so I just hope you get what I mean anyway. ;) )
(Chapter Title: A great song we once sang in school choir. This must have been in..um...2008. Oh boy. Anyway, it's from the musical Fame and really great.)
And the last thing for today - anyone who would like to is very welcome to wish me luck! I'm trying to get a job in a place that hosts lots of different concerts and shows. I would be catering, help the audience if they had questions and stuff. But I would reallyreallyreally love that job, not only because I love that place and would be really close to all the shows there.
