5-26-08 Written & Copyrighted by... Short ending~

[sorrowfultear]

Omigod I just read through all of yours stories (it took me upwards of 20 minutes, because I started oggling the pictures of Tobias lol)
You have a very unique, FANTASTIC writing style. Never lost my interest.
(though I got a little confused at the first male pregnancy thing. I was like, "NO WAY")
...great job.
My favorite story was Tobias' (ah, heartbreak)

& I'll have to check out this sim a lot from now on. ^^
Major kudos to you...~~

[AxelVal]

The rest of the year passed without incident thankfully; then half the next.  After a while the embarrassment faded and Hari and I were back to going out for coffee once a week.  Then Hari said it again.
“Rayen?”

I looked up from my coffee.  We were sitting in the park, the bench where my parents had met each other actually, as we were both home for a weekend visit.

“I like you a lot.  And, I was just thinking that maybe we could make our weekly coffee rounds mean a bit more.”

I raised an eyebrow and asked what he meant.

“I want to ask if you’d like to be my girlfriend.”  He looked me straight in the eye as he asked this.  I’d never seen that happen.  All the girls at school would get notes or a friend would pull them aside in the hall and ask for the guy.

I nodded, overcome by everything at once. “Yeah,” I finally managed to get out.

“Could we try the kiss thing again?”  He was blushing again and so was I at that point.
Without waiting for an answer we both leaned towards each other.

We stayed that way for a bit, then Hari pulled back.  “Much better,” he whispered to me with a smile.
I could only nod.

Apparently word spread quickly at that college, faster than either of us expected.  Within the month everyone knew that we were officially an item.
And I can only say this: People are stupid.

After a while we started getting notes in the mailbox asking how far we’d gotten with each other and if we’d fought yet and a ton of other stupid things.
It really embarrassed us both too.

Every time Hari would go to get the mail – his class was a lot less work-hectic than mine and I was usually working on a project – he’d come back inside and throw all but maybe two or three things away out of ten or sometimes even fifteen letters.

By the end of our senior year (graduation time finally!) things had quieted down.  I had really accelerated in painting and photography and Hari had been majoring in business management.
We decided to combine our powers and form a portrait company.
Come in and we can either paint you a portrait with a variety of costumes or we could take a photograph and even do photo-manipulation on it for you.  It sounded like fun.

Until grad night.
It was amazing, we got our “diplomas” – we didn’t really, they would be mailed out later – got to go outside and all together we threw our hats into the air.  I’m sure it was just the euphoria of the whole thing but when we got home things didn’t stop at a kiss goodnight then off to our separate bedrooms as usually.

I woke up the next morning in my bed – not surprising as it was on the ground floor and we were too caught up to go upstairs – and almost rolled out of bed when I felt Hari’s arm wrapped around me.  I opened my eyes and he was still sleeping peacefully.

I picked his arm up carefully, not that I needed to.  By now I’ve figured out that boy sleeps like a log.
But anyway, I climbed out bed and pulled on a pair of pajamas quickly, then went out to kitchen.  I made some breakfast and just as I was putting the last pancake onto the plate my door opened.

“’Morning, gorgeous.”  Hari grinned at me.
I blushed and smiled back.

“How did you sleep?” he asked as he kissed me gently then sat down.

“Well enough.  You’re not acting too awkwardly,” I pointed out.  When we had our accidental kiss it took weeks for him to look at me without blushing furiously.

He shrugged.  “I just don’t feel awkward that’s all.”  Another grin.  “Do you?”

“I bit,” I admitted, but I still couldn’t help but smile.

“You don’t seem it.”

That lead to a few little one-line arguments that ended in a few kisses that ended us back in my room somehow.  I’m still not entirely sure how and I don’t know if he knows either.

That week we had to move back home.  They wanted to do renovations on the house and it would take almost a whole semester so they wanted to get started right away.
Instead of searching for retail we just went and moved back to our family homes.  Easy enough for him being an only child, but my house was hectic.

Dylan was sixteen, Shayn thirteen, Corbin seven and Rune and Sonya had just recently reached eighteen months.  I myself was twenty-one.  Father and Dad?  Thirty-eight and thirty-seven respectively.  Myles had moved out a few years before to go to some prestigious college a hundred miles away or something.
And it was crowded too.  The house was still kind of small as they hadn’t renovated yet or anything despite how large the family had gotten.

So I was stuck sharing my room with Corbin, which didn’t bother me in the least.  I hate playing favourites, but he is my favourite of my siblings.

Things stayed that way for almost a year.  Hari and I were planning out our business and saving up money for equipment and real estate.  Then we got the news.
Hari was moving away.  His grandparents on his father’s side (Dei that is, Anji was his step-father) had both died and not only did he have to be there for the funeral, but his aunt was in pretty bad shape.  The whole family was going to help make sure she would be all right.

I almost cried when he told me.  We were sitting on the bench at the park the day before he was supposed to leave and I was leaning against him.
Hari was resting his head against mine, I could feel his breath against the top of my head.  A car rolled up and Anji stepped out of the driver’s side, scanning the park.
“I have to go now,” I heard him whisper.

I nodded.

Then I felt a kiss on top of my head and heard these words: “I love you.”
Then Hari was clambering through the trees to the car.

This all happened just last week.  That’s really all I have to say too.  I doubt anything else exciting will happen in my life.  I may tell you in the future if my picture/painting career took off, but don’t expect too much from me.

There you have it.
This life has been written and copyrighted (not that anyone would want anything other than my grades) by yours truly:
Rayen Parker Lusana

[AxelVal]

Individual pictures anyone?

Andrea and Jahre:
Dylan:
Shayn:
Corbin:
Rune and Sonya:

[Elven_Song]

Aw. That was sad! >< I hope one day Hari comes back and they can be together! He was so cute!

Those are such cute pictures, Axel. They're such a lovely family.
I can't wait until we see the next story! You are doing more, aren't you?

[AxelVal]

Yep.
Dylan is after Rayen.

Should be some kind of update soon.

[AxelVal]

Hold up!  I stopped too soon.  Well, this will be a doozy to write about considering how much fun it was to go through.

A few weeks later I could barely get out of bed.  I was constantly sick and it was showing.  Large bags under my eyes and everything.  I was queasy a lot too.  Though I could barely keep food down I found that I was ravenous most of the time.  A lot of money from odd-painting and portrait-jobs went to buying the food that I was constantly eating.

Every once-in-a-while I would stop by their door and be able hear my parents talking, but if I walked by and it was open they stopped, and the same happened if they were in the living room while the three of us plus the twins were the only ones home.  I knew they were talking about me.  About why I might be sick.  I remember hearing the words “love-sick” and once I could have sworn dad said something about me having the same symptoms he did the first time.

What first time?  I had no clue what he was talking about until one night they called me into their room.
They were lying on the bed talking when I got there after Corbin came and told me they wanted to see me.
Father kicked his heel up a few times as a signal for me to sit down.  I climbed up on top of the bed and waited.

When neither spoke I began.  “What is it?”
My voice was strained from not really being used very much.

“We have something for you to do, Rayen.  It kills me to suggest it, but I want to be sure,” Dad answered.  I could see a bit of moisture gathering at the bottom of his eyes.

“Whatever it is I’ll do it.”

“Glad to hear that, dearest.”  Father reached over to his bedside table and pulled open the drawer.  “Take this and follow the instructions.”

I caught the little box he tossed at me.  “First response,” I muttered as my face began to match my hair.  Now I knew why Dad was so upset and what the “first” they kept mentioning was.
I kind of nodded and climbed off the bed and walked into the master bathroom.  I knew they would want to results as soon as they were available.

While I was waiting I stayed in the bathroom and just sat on the floor.  I didn’t want to face my parents until I knew.  I counted the minutes in my head, not very efficient but if I over-counted I’d be fine.
I waited until I hit three minutes past and picked up the test strip.  I looked at it and walked back into my parent’s room.  Dad had fallen asleep against Father’s shoulder and I handed Father the paper.


He smiled a bit and opened his free arm to me.  I leaned over and hugged him.
“It’ll be okay, sweetheart,” he whispered as he kissed my temple.
I nodded and wiped away the tear that I had accidentally let fall.

Those next eight months are a blur.  My hunger didn’t subside, but my queasy-ness did thankfully.  My stomach was ready to pop by the sixth month of my pregnancy and by my seventh I was having a hard time getting up out of chairs once I sat down.

Corbin was always by my side, making sure nothing went wrong.  Have I told you how much I love my little brother?
Grandpa Zwei would come over every once-in-a-while and he was happy for me you could tell.  Tobe came over a few times whenever he had a day off too and I was grateful for that.  Sometimes he brought his girlfriend Galia over and she was nice enough.  A little stiff, but that’s okay.  She wasn’t from around Corrin so if I was her I would have been weirded out by all the male-male and girl-girl couples with natural children too.


But yeah, I had tons of support.  Even Dylan and Shayn helped out.  They not only helped me shop for baby clothes and toys, but also put the crib together for me.
I think I can stop taking all my mood swings out on them now.  *chuckle*

But by the last month I was more than ready to get the kid out.  Every time the sucker moved was pain.  I was lying on the couch when it was finally time.  We rushed to the hospital and despite everything it was a quick process.  I got in, went into labour for maybe an hour, then got to sleep.  I think I slept twelve hours they said.  The drugs kind of morphed my memory a bit.

But holding that baby when I was finally done being groggy was more than worth it.
I named her Izabella and no one objected to my putting my life on hold to raise her.

I know a lot of parents say their children are angels when they’re really little brats.  I mean it when I say my girl was an angel.  Never broke anything or ran around the house when she learned to walk or anything.  Quiet as a mouse too.
We were never expecting her first word – Pop.  She’d sit there all day with her teddy bear saying ‘pop, pop, pop,’ under her breath, only leaving the toy when she got tired or hungry.

Perfect angel.

As it seems to be with this family, nothing extraordinary happened until Iza’s third birthday.  An E-mail.
Hari was coming back.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

You thought it was over?  Guess again!  *laugh~cough*
*ahem*

I apologize if any of you saw this coming, but I swear I have a bigger surprise waiting in the wings for Rayen's end of things.

[Elven_Song]

Yay spawn! She is so adorable! >< And it's no suprise to me that she's so perfect seeing as who her parents are... I love them together.

Can't wait to see more! (I was honestly worried there before, because I didn't think that was a normal place to end it, just when it was getting good! xD)
Hugs, ~Eve

[AxelVal]

((This chapter is a lot longer than usual, but there was a break between it all where she did the Written&Copyrighted part.  But, if I only put up to that it would have been shorter than normal, so I'm breaking this into two parts.))

I’m still not sure how I felt when I read that.  I know I was excited, but I angry and depressed too.  And above all that I knew I had to tell him.
If he found out from anyone but me he’d probably hate me.

It was three weeks until the taxi pulled up in front of our house.  I was waiting outside with everyone else, including Izabella.
Hari hadn’t changed, well, maybe his hair had, but that was it.  He smiled that winning grin at me and rushed over, dropping his luggage halfway across the yard.

He grabbed me and kissed my cheeks a few times.  “I missed you,” he whispered between them.
Then he saw everyone else.  “You didn’t say your family was this huge.”

Age update for you all – Dylan: twenty and attending an on-line college, Shayn: seventeen and doing well in school, Corbin: eleven and also good at school, Rune and Sonya: five and a half and getting ready for school, myself: twenty-five, Father and Dad: forty-three and forty-two.  And of course Iza was three.

I introduced him to everyone and he expressed his shock at how Dad was still alive after having seven kids.

“That’s the really big news,” I said.  Hari’s smile dropped and he looked to me.
I gave him a sad smile.  “Izabella’s mine.”

“You mean?  We?”  He looked at the little girl and back to me.

“Welcome to fatherhood,” Father said as he wrapped an arm around Hari’s shoulders.  “You’ll find it can be a bit of a shock at first.”
Hari nodded numbly and allowed himself to steered inside with the rest of us.

Seeing as Dei and Anji hadn’t sold the house when they moved - Anji’s pretty much rich from what I’ve heard - Hari invited me to come live there with him.
At first I joked that I would as long as he didn’t impregnate me again without my permission, but he didn’t seem to be in the mood for those jokes.  And I thought I was being clever.  Well, at least Corbin laughed.

I was glad to be out of the crowded house finally, but I still wasn’t sure about living with Hari.  Sure, I liked him and all, but it wasn’t there like it was in college.
It was a nice house though, and Iza had her own room for once, before she had been forced to share with the twins.  And Hari and I had the master bedroom, with a cot-type thing set up for him.  He insisted I take the bed even though it was originally his house and even his old bed – we’d moved it in from his old room, which is now Iza’s, and put it in there.

One night, while we were laying there in the dark, I heard Hari getting up on his elbows – the head of the cot is squeakier than the rest.
“Ray?  You still want to do that photography thing with me?”

“Yeah,” I answered unsteadily.  I wasn’t sure what he was going to tell me.

“Well then.”  More shifting as he sat up.  “I saved my money and I have enough for us to try to start now.”

And that’s where we are now.  Hari and I opened ‘Mementos’ last month and, despite the small number of customers, all of our clients have been perfectly satisfied with our work.  Hari takes care of the budget and I do the pictures, whether in paint or on film.

But, as you know with this family, nothing can stay simple for long and I’m sure something’s bound to pop up soon to ruin our perfectly content lives.  Let’s just hope it’s not tragedy.

So for now, this is ‘See ya later’ and, once again, this life so far is written and copyrighted by Moi.

[AxelVal]

I told you, didn’t I?  Here’s the story now.  Iza’s now six years old and Hari and I are getting big name companies to come to us to take pictures of models.  I bet Tobe wishes he had moved out while he could now!  His company is one of our biggest customers and I get to see him a lot.

But, yeah, anyway.  Another customer of ours is the Malchick family.  Two fathers, as is usual in Corrin as you should know by now, and their triplets – Toni, Jaslyn and Alek.  And Alek basically stalks me every time they’re over to have a picture taken.
No other time, so at least I don’t get love letters like my brother, but it’s kind of funny.  When the Malchick family is over he makes it a point to follow me around asking what time period all our costumes are from.  He’s let me dress him up more than once in weird outfits too.

But the best part, or worst depending on how you look at it, is that I don’t think this crush is only on his side.  I love hiding around a corner just to watch him look around for me.
I mean, it’s not that bad of an age difference is it?  I’m only twenty-eight and he’s turning eighteen in a few months.  There have been worse, right?
Like that Samantha McLeer that Tobias used to love so much?  Yeah, she’s in her forties by now and her new ‘boyfriend’ is twenty-something.

But, back to my story.  Not too long ago Alek came and asked if he could have a summer job with us.  Before he goes off to college that is.
Hari’s a little uneasy about it.  He’s seen how Alek follows me around and all the games we play with each other.  I think he still likes me, but I know I don’t still return the feelings.
So, because I’m the majour owner – after all, I do all the work he just keeps the money in check – I over-rode Hari’s decision and let Alek help me.

So now I have an assistant!  He helps me pick out the outfits for certain patrons and pick the backgrounds for the shots.  Even helps out when someone brings in a screaming baby to have a picture taken.  He’s like Super-Boy or something.
And Izabella loves playing with him too.  Even though they’re not allowed, and they know it, they still grab pillows and start whacking each other with them.

*chuckle*  But it’s still fun and I wouldn’t trade it for anything except being eighteen again, see if I can take another life path or something.
But all in all, I am happy with my life.

And, anyways…Alek and I have been spending a good deal of time together even though the school year has started up again, he’s still waiting for acceptance letters, and the patrons are slowly reducing to just the companies.

So yeah, I really get to see Tobias a lot, which I’m thankful for.  He’s the only one I really trust to talk to this about.  Well, unless he gives me a response like he did last time.  I told him that I think I’m starting to like Alek more and more and he told me “Just don’t get pregnant again.”

I slapped him upside the head.
“I mean it!” he responded, rubbing his head.  “At least wait until you’re married or something.”  He huffed and flopped onto a chair.

“Or do you want to set a bad example for Iza?”

That got me.  I sat down beside him and stared at the pictures on the wall.  “You’re right,” I managed to murmur.
“I have to figure this out as soon as I can.”

Tobias started laughing.  “Corner him or something.  Make him tell you how he feels.  See what that does for you.”
He patted my arm when we heard someone calling him name.  “Let’s go.  We’re wanted.”

We got up and went to take some pictures of him in some new outfit.  You have to see these before they go out in a month or two.  I don't know what they're selling now, but these pictures are making me want to buy it anyway.  *laugh*





But, he was right, I had to do something, so I did the first thing that popped to mind – exactly what he had said.
I cornered Alek that night while we were cleaning up.  I closed the office door and locked it, the last of the stuff put away.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then,” he said with a smile.  Not as perfect as Hari’s but still pretty.

“Yeah, but first.  I want to tell me something and be perfectly honest.”

He looked at the ground and I could see he was blushing.
“Do you know what I want to ask?” I said quietly.

He nodded a bit.  “I think.  How about if I answer and you tell me if I’m right or not?”

“OK, fire away.”

“I like you a lot.  I just didn’t want to age gap to get in the way so I didn’t bring it up.  I thought that just working with you would be enough so I tried.  I do like it here, don’t get me wrong.  It’s not only because of you either.”

His mouth was still open but I lifted a hand to his cheek and he stopped talking.
His blush had increased ten-fold at least and I started chuckling.

“I’m an idiot aren’t I?” he asked.

“No, I am.  For letting myself not realize it sooner.”  I kissed his forehead.  Then, I put my arms around Alek and hugged him.

“What’s Hari going to say?” he asked quietly.

“Nothing.  And if he does I won’t listen.”

Alek managed to smile up at me.

So, here we are.  Hari left after we told him about us wanting to be together and last I heard was a postcard from Dei and Anji saying thanks for basically breaking his heart.  When he was younger, Hari had known Anji came from money and had always managed to manipulate his father, who had a weak spot for his son, to get what he wanted.  Being denied something hit home for him, but they were glad someone finally did it.

I laughed when I read that, and so did my parents when I told them.
Alek and I are just as popular photographers as Hari and I were, but with a better relationship.
Tobias is happy I did something for myself and gloats that it was his inspiration that made it happen.

But the best news is that Alek has recently turned eighteen – I will have a birthday in a few months that brings me to one away from thirty, eugh – and his parents have given us permission that whenever we want we can get married.  We’re sure that’s pretty far down the road if it happens at all.

But for the meantime I’m content, a big name in the picture business, not pregnant (which is the best of all) and, once again, I’m Rayen Parker Lusana.
And this life is, for the third and final time, written and copyrighted by me.



----------------

Yes, it's over.  A little shorter than the other two I hate to say.
But I did enjoy this one.
There will definitely be a delay between this and Dylan's story because I have no idea what could happen to her and I want to write these in order.
If anyone has any ideas, contact me and I'll see if I can make it work with anyone.

Elven: Thank you!  I just realized I never got a picture of her as a child, but I'm sure she'll be in someone else's story.  ^^;

[Elven_Song]

I hope to see what she looks like now! She'll probably be so pretty when she gets older. ^^

Aw, sad to see Hari go, he was too cute. But, at least Rayen is happy. And with that smile of Hari's I don't think he'll have to look too far for a waiting line of suitors. xD
I'm excited to see who's next! Everyone's getting older, and I'm losing track of the ages... ^^"

P.S. LOVE the pictures of Tobias. ^^ hehe.

[AxelVal]

Thank you, Elven.  I wonder if I even saved the lot with her born.  Doubt it...
Oh well.

Dylan is next, as stated before, but the big news now:
I'm going to start writing tomorrow!  I'm out spending the night with y great-grandmother every other friday (tomorrow is one of those nights) and I will be cut off from my DVR and all internet access.
So I'm taking a laptop and I'm writing stuff about Dylan Windsor-Lusaka!!

Besides that, I'll be at Stanford University in California for a summer program so I may have some time when I'm not in class, studying, or doing the other activities they're talking about planning.

[drsims]

love the story but the coments are so long to read ,could they be a little shoter..but let me know i would like to see more ..cool

[AxelVal]

drsims: Thank you.  I'm not sure what you mean by the comments making it long to read though.

You're in luck if you want to see more!  I'm already about half-way through Dylan's story!
If I keep going at this pace I won't be playing my sims this weekend, instead I'll be taking all the pictures I need for her story.  Then I can do little weekly updates like I do with my personal picture thread.

Check it out by the way.  
Rayen and Hari ended up having chemistry so I put them together *grin*.  They should have kids the next time I play them.

Crescentia and Terenti are both married to townies with multiple children of their own.  They each have three I'm pretty sure.

Myles is paired up with someone, Corbin is at college, Dylan and Shayn just became adults so they'll be going in next time.  Maybe getting married or engaged or something.

ETA: [singsong] Finished!!! [/singsong]

[AxelVal]

Holy cow....

How could I have let it get so out of hand?  How could it come out to this?
I can answer those stupid questions all by my stupid self.

My name’s Dylan Lusaka, and here’s my sob-story.
I graduated online college with a degree in criminal justice and after a year I got a steady-enough job to move out on my own.  Just a little studio apartment but I loved it all the same.  I adored the freedom I got for the first time at twenty-five instead of nineteen or eighteen like most others do.
That job was with a law firm just outside town.  The first one in Corrin County actually.  All the others before were at least two hours away.  It’s a big reason no one ever sued anyone else in Corrin.  I’m glad just because a firm was nearby that didn’t change.  We’re a pretty close town I guess.

There weren’t too many others there that I knew.  A few people whose names I recognized from class, but nothing other than that.
But that’s beside the point.  The real point I’m getting at is that the firm never really grew beyond the originators, I’m pretty sure it closed down recently actually.  One night, as a celebration for something, a small bunch of us went out for drinks.
I was the designated driver with another lady from my section of the firm as the second.  There weren’t many people out drinking despite it being Friday afternoon and we basically had the bar itself to ourselves.  We were having fun, telling jokes and stories, making fun of people who were out of earshot, you know.

Then, he showed up.  In walked a tall man in a dark coat and my eyes didn’t leave him.  I wasn’t drunk of course, but it felt like I was when his eyes connected with mine.  It was amazing beyond anything I’d ever felt before.
He took a seat five or so down from me and ordered two of the same drinks.  When they arrived, he patted the seat beside him without looking up.  Just took a drink of one and patted beside him.  I was entranced.
I moved down to sit with him and took the other drink.  I’d been watching him since he ordered it so I knew it wasn’t drugged at least.  My friends stared for a few moments before giggling and whispering behind their hands.
“Let them talk,” he murmured to me.  “What’s your name?”  He looked at me and all I saw was dark blue, his eyes sucked me in.

“Dylan,” I finally said.  “Dylan Lusaka.”

“Pleasure to meet you Dylan Lusaka.  I’m Dustin Marconi.”
We shook hands and the night went great from there on.  I don’t know what drink he ordered me but I got several more of the same and the conversation was so scattered I can’t remember what it was about, but it was enough to get me to agree to a second, or first depending on how you look at it, date.

Five months later we were sending out invitations to our wedding.
It was beautiful, even if only my family attended.  Dustin explained to me that he had been disowned years ago for siding with his friends during an argument that his parents were on the other side of.
It was a great setting.  The city park.  A gazebo had been erected not long before and we were the first to use it for such purposes.  Like I said, beautiful.


We moved me out of the apartment and in with him.  Just a small, almost starter home, with more than enough room for expansion than we thought we’d need.  We loved being together and our lives apart, which I think is what kept us together as long as it did.

Many tries and three years later I was finally pregnant.  We had some severe trials along the way, not to mention all the trouble we had just getting there in the first place.  Twice I had to spend a week in the hospital because of almost miscarrying, but thanks to someone or thing’s grace we made it to full term.
A little girl, the most precious thing in the world to me.  Catherin Delila we named her, Catherin Delila Marconi.


She was my light.  Then five years later, and again with some hard times getting there, we repeated the process.  Another girl.
This one was deemed Staci Theresa.  Another little bright spot to light our paths.


Then the fight.  Staci was about four when it happened, making Cathy nine, Dustin was thirty-five and I was thirty-three.  Neither of us knows what set it off or what kept it going.  I think it was a build up of stress on both our parts.  I had quit my job, which hadn’t gone anywhere it ten years, and he was fairly high up on the job-ladder at his business.  It was harsh on both of us, as we learned the hard way.
Eventually, I suggested taking some time off from each other.  Dustin agreed and I decided that since it was his house I had moved into, I could find someone else to crash with for a week or so.  He opposed at first, saying I should stay with the girls but eventually he agreed to taking some time off work to be with them and to de-stress.


~~~~
Short chapters because it's a short story.
I enjoyed writing it though.  Had fun taking pictures too.
Enjoy!

[drsims]

thanks for every thing...