1.10 What Dreams and Woes May Come

Hi guys! I know, it’s been ridiculously too long but I am back finally with a new chapter for you all. If you only knew how much I struggled to get this legacy back on track. *shakes head* Just a quick heads up, some things have changed since the last update.  Since my game decided to be super super glitchy, it aged all the children up, so I had no other choice but to speed up the legacy some and please ignore some of the clothing in this chapter. When they aged up, they were wearing weird base game clothing and I was way too tired to give a damn so I left them as they were in some shots. Also, in this chapter, I wrote it a little different than the previous chapters. It’s still in first-person, but I focused more on all three kids rather than herself, so you’ll get to see the characteristics of each kid.

Before I post the next chapter–which I’ve already started working on–I will be posting an heir poll with pictures of the potential heirs. I ask that you please vote for your favorite. Since Brook is not Corrina’s offspring, I’m afraid she will not be eligible to become heir. Sorry.

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10 Years Later…

It has been ten years since Declan and I moved into a bigger home to raise our little family. We ended up living in a charming two-story home that Declan was renting out at the time. The family was nice enough to swap houses with us and since they only had one child, there was less maintenance, plus cheaper rent was an added bonus for them. I immediately fell in love when we first moved into our new home. It was the perfect setup with both Max and Brook having their own rooms with their own bathrooms and we had our en suite downstairs.

Then several months after getting settled in, we had our beautiful baby girl, Aubrey; the apple of her daddy’s eye. She was a perfect representation of the both of us with Declan’s jet black hair and my facial features. The only one who stood out with her honey-colored eyes that she had clearly must have inherited from her grandfather, my father. Sometimes when I see her pretty face, I secretly wished I had those eyes. The kind of eyes that harbored nothing less of love and innocence. But like with everything else in life, nothing ever works out the way you want them to.

I quickly became accustomed to the gardening business upon our arrival to 1010 Bart Bluff Lane. Our backyard was huge and was already outlined with apple trees. I added a few grape vineyards and with that, our income increased drastically throughout the seasons. I loved being a self-employed Gardener for the small town of Cape Garner. There was nothing like seeing the satisfaction of my customers when they purchased my grapes and apples.

The daylight slowly began to fade away as the evening was getting ready to settle into the night sky. As I finished clipping the last bit of the apples off of the trees, I heard the patio door steadily open, and then close. “Hey honey! I’m home!” I turned to see my husband standing on the porch, waving happily towards me. I smiled at him as I always did when he came home from work and promptly set my clippers down on the cool grass. “How was your day?” he asked when I approached him for a hug.

“Pretty good,” I replied. “I sold a lot of apples today. Looks like we’ll have a good chunk of change in our savings after all!”

Declan smiled satisfactorily and placed his hands on the sides of my hips. “I’ve missed you,” he whispered while slowly pulling me in for a kiss. I told him that I had missed him as well and then he pressed his lips tightly against mine. That same feeling always overtook me as it did the very first time we kissed that night ten years ago. After this many years of being together, his kiss still sent shivers down my spine.

The living room filled with chatter and laughter as they all rested comfortably in the living room to watch a movie as I resided in the kitchen to get dinner on the stove. I didn’t mind cooking alone and I often took advantage of the solidarity to gather all my thoughts and focus on preparing the meal. It was these times when I was thankful for having teenage kids who were self-sufficient enough to entertain themselves and their little sister.

Just as I had placed a pot of water onto the stove, I could hear Declan imitating the characters in the movie, causing Aubrey to giggle contagiously and uncontrollably. I couldn’t help but to giggle myself at the sound of her laughter and Declan’s silliness. “God Dad, you’re such a dork!” cried Brook as she looked at her father with annoyance. Brook’s disapproval only added fuel to her father’s fire as he continued on with his silly antics. Even Max couldn’t help but to shake his head and laugh at his father’s craziness. Brook knew her further protests would become a lost cause and decided the best thing to do was to ignore her father.

“So Dad,” said Brook after the laughter had finally ceased. “I was looking up private schools online and I found one that I really like! It’s an art school and it has everything from painting to music to dance…and I would really love to go!”

“Sounds interesting,” replied Declan without taking his eyes off the movie. “Where is this school?”

Brook bit down on her bottom lip as she looked over to her father. “It’s in Bridgeport.”

“No. Absolutely not, I’m sorry sweetheart.” Declan’s hasty response caused everyone in the room to turn their attention on the conversation.

“But why, Dad? You know I’ve always wanted to become a professional dancer!”

“There are a few reasons, Brook. First, it’s too far; second, it’s too expensive I’m sure; and third, you’re too young to be traveling back and forth like that every day.”

Brook frowned in confusion. “But Dad, they have room and board there. I won’t have to travel.”

Declan gave his eldest daughter a stern look. “Well that’s an even more of a reason why you shouldn’t go. You’ll be just fine here at Cape Garner High.” Brook glared at her father and sat in silence until dinner was ready.

The sounds of forks clanking against the porcelain plates filled the air as everyone ate their food in silence. Max ate his dinner at the breakfast bar as he always did and Brook silently sulked over her plate while twirling her fork through her mess of food; not giving a second thought to eating her dinner. “Are you not hungry, Brook?” I asked before taking a bite.

Brook shook her head. “May I be excused?” she asked as she focused her gaze on me and ignored her father’s grim looks. I nodded and she quickly arose from her chair and headed straight upstairs without another word.

“I think she’s mad at you, Daddy,” said Aubrey with a slight bit of amusement on her face.

Declan chuckled. “I think so too.”

“Why don’t you come eat with us, honey. There’s room over here.” I said to Max who was by now scarfing down his food as if he hadn’t eaten for days.

“I’m good,” he replied flatly. “I’m done anyway.” Max arose from his stool to wash his dish in the sink and then began upstairs in the same manner as his cousin.

“What is wrong with our kids?” I exclaimed.

“They’re teenagers. That’s what’s wrong,” replied Declan as he took his last bite of his food.

“Aunt Corrina, can we talk?” asked Brook as she made her way downstairs.

“Of course. Is this about the art school?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer to my own question. Brook looked down at her feet and nodded as if she was almost ashamed to bring it up again. “Brook listen. I understand how bad you want this for yourself and I want this for you, but you have to understand where your dad is coming from. It’s a big world out there and we don’t know if you are ready for it. Bridgeport is not all cut out as they make it seem. I would know, I lived through my childhood.” Not to mention the many murders your grandmother committed out there.

“But I am ready! I’m fifteen already and I want to be able to get into a good college and this would look so good on my college applications!”

I hated to admit it, but she did have a valid point. I always wished that I could have gone to college myself, but seeing that she has the opportunity to, I wanted her to do whatever it was she needed to do to succeed. “What’s up?” asked Declan from our bedroom doorway. Brook took her eyes off of me and looked back down at her feet.

“Honey, I think she should go,” I proclaimed. “I think it will be good for her.”

Declan raised an eyebrow at me, shocked at the words that came out of my mouth. “You do? Of all people, you think she should attend a school all the way in Bridgeport?!”

“I know there are some parts of Bridgeport that are really shady, but for the most part, it’s a nice city with a lot of cultural things for her to experience. And it’s not like we don’t have the money for it.” Declan continued to stare at me in bewilderment for a few seconds and then turned his head to look over at his pitiful teenage daughter who stood before him and pleading with him with her big blue eyes. He let out a sigh as he looked down at the ground and shook his head. He knew this was one fight that he was going to lose and I knew that I would definitely pay the price if anything were to happen to her out there, but Brook was developing into a smart and mature young lady and even though he didn’t want to admit it, we both knew that she would be able to handle being out on her own. She indeed was her aunt’s niece after all.

“All right, fine. You can go,” he said, defeated. Brook let out a tiny shriek of happiness right before Declan quickly shut her excitement back down. “BUT…only on one condition!” Brook rapidly nodded her head in agreement as her excitement kept growing more and more inside. “You have to call us once a day. The day that we do not hear from you, we are pulling you out. Do I make myself clear?”

“Oh yes, yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Daddy!” she squealed as she jumped in her father’s arms. Declan smiled warmly, but sadly as he hugged his little girl. He knew this day would come eventually, but he didn’t know it would have been this soon.

The sun soon rised, indicating that it was morning again. I smiled to myself as I gazed over at my sleeping husband. It was the weekend, which meant a couple of days off from work. Although I loved what I did, I was always happy to have some time to myself and with my family.

The house was silent when I opened my bedroom door and I automatically assumed that everyone else were still asleep, but as soon as I headed towards the kitchen, I could hear two distinctive voices squabbling away.

“Come on, pleeeease?!” pleaded Aubrey.

“No, okay? Go away!” cried Max, dismissing his little sister with a hand in the air.

Aubrey’s bottom began to quiver, but immediately stopped as a change of emotion consumed her. Her eyebrows lowered in a fury frown as she glared up at her big brother. “You’re mean!” she spat and violently brushed past him to run upstairs.

Max rolled his eyes, annoyed at his sister’s outburst and turn to head upstairs. He abruptly came to a halt when he saw me standing by the breakfast bar and sighed. “Geez Mom, you scared me,” he said, taking a deep breath.

“What was that about?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” he said with a shrug and continued on to head upstairs.

I soon followed suit to check on what seemed to have been a very upset Aubrey. It was without a shadow of a doubt that she doubly inherited her hot-headed trait from her father and I instantly felt very badly for whomever she would choose to marry.

I stopped at the door way of her room and watched as she unenthusiastically tossed around her outdated toys. I made a mental note to buy her some new things to entertain her with now she was getting older and would soon be out of the child age stage. “What’s wrong sweetheart?” I asked as I came in and stroked her pigtails.

“It’s Max! He doesn’t ever let me hang out with him! I think he hates me.” she exclaimed as she stood up from her table.

“Oh sweetie, don’t take it personally. He’s a teenager and he’s into different things now. Once you become a teen yourself, you will know exactly what I mean.” I combed the strands of her loose hairs behind her ears and smiled. She smiled back and nodded.

“But does he have to be so mean about it?” she asked. She twirled her thumbs together in a nervous manner and pain showcased on her face. I found myself wondering the same thing and realized how grumpy and distant Max has been lately. Declan always told me it’s his teenage hormones, but I knew there was something else deeper than that. Something was troubling him and I had to get to the bottom of it.

“I will talk to him about that. Now why don’t you get dressed. You and I have some shopping to do.” Aubrey grinned happily and swiftly went to her closet. I stepped out of her bedroom, closed the door, and made my way across the hall to Max’s closed door. I knocked a few times and paused.

“Yeah?” he greeted, clearly annoyed with the disturbance.

I cautiously opened the door in hopes of not walking into something I would regret to later. Max sat at his computer and casually looked over towards me. “What are you surfing?” I asked, indicating the Internet browser being open to an unknown web page.

“Nothing,” he replied.

I went over to him and placed my hands onto his shoulders. “Can we talk?” He shrugged and turned around in his seat to face me. His eyes shifting from left to right as he tried to figure out what posture to favor without giving away his uneasiness of me being in his room. “Is everything okay? I feel as if you’ve been distracted by something lately.”

“Yeah…I’m fine.” he simply replied.

“No. No, you’re not. There’s something wrong and I want to know. You’ve been really grumpy and very distant lately and if it really is nothing, then I expect your attitude to change very quickly, Maxwell  Willow!”

Max’s eyes widened at the mention of his full name and gulped. I only used their full names whenever I was upset with them and they knew it. With thought, he arose out of his chair and stood in front of his grim-faced mother. He hesitated to speak for a few seconds as he scanned the floor for an idea of how to begin the conversation. “I’m sorry,” he began calmly. “It’s just…” he paused for a moment. “…I don’t really know how to ask this, so I’m just going to ask.”

“Well you know you can ask me anything, honey,” I said warmly as I placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Was–uh…I mean–uh.” Max gulped as he struggled with the words to say. “Did my biological father rape you?”