4.6--Lachlan

Dasia gets a makeover.  She may be getting older, but there's no reason she has to look older. Although her sister's half-naked romps around the house do make her feel a bit more self conscious than she would like to admit.

As soon as she returns home, she's back to working on her latest novel about... giant talking bears or something.  Her publisher has been pushing her harder than usual for her next novel, so she feels obligated to write something - anything, to placate him for a few days.

Lachlan enjoys his new room...

What he enjoys even more is when he outsmarts a rival hacking group.  He needs to assert Simnonymous dominance somehow - and what better way than to compromise the system that another group has been planning to hack for several months.

His success makes him quite popular among the group.  So popular, in fact, that one particular member asks if they can contact him directly.  He feels weary when he says yes, and even more uncomfortable when he receives a call just a few hours later.


"I live near you -" the mystery girl starts, "- and I was wondering if you wanted to get together to help me with a particular issue I'm having with a site."


Lachlan narrows his eyes. "How do you know where I live?"


"I'm a hacker." She laughs. "It's not that difficult.  If you put some effort into it, I'm sure you could find all of my information as well - although my security measures are much more stringent than yours."

Lachlan frowns.  "I should change that."


"Yes - you should.  So, are you in?"


"Fine."  Lachlan sighs.  "Where would you like to meet?"


"Tomorrow at seven, your house.  Mine is... well, mine is not a good place and we probably shouldn't meet anywhere public. I'll see you then."

When she does show up the following day, Lachlan is surprised that she's so... hot.  


"Have you been listening at all?"  She chides.


"Not really. No." Lachlan admits. "I can't follow what you're getting at."


She quirks her brow, smiling mischievously. "Are you confused... or distracted?"


"I still don't know your name."  He blurts.  "Who are you, exactly?" Niiice cover.

"I'm an interested party looking to hire you for your services.  Except I don't have any money and this will be for fun.  And the name is Lily."  She smirks. "So - are you still in?"


"To hack the Doo Peas Corporate website?" He shakes his head.  "I still don't understand why you're doing it."


Lily shrugs. "Is there ever truly a reason behind what we do?"


"I like to think so."


"Ah."  She laughs.  "So you're one of those 'stick it to the man' types?  I'm not."  Lily shakes her head, tossing her red curls about her face and making Lachlan even more distracted than he would like. "I just do it... well, because I can."

She inches forward, brushing her hand along Lachlan's arm. "I'll ask again - are you with me?"


Lachlan blushes and nods.  "Yes."


"Good. Once I get everything set up on my end, I'll need your careful eye to look over everything and help me get into the system quietly.  I'll talk to you later then, Lachlan." She smiles and before he can grasp what exactly he just agreed to, Lily is gone.


-----------------------------------------
Short chapter! I haven't had time to actually play due to... well, life - but I'll have some time this weekend to get a substantial buffer going.


I'll be the first to admit that I have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to hacking.  I'm seriously pulling stuff from a computer science course I took over four years ago. D: Hopefully this works in my favor.


UPDATES (because I actually remembered to write everything down):
--Ellis is at level 6 with the Law Enforcement (Wiretap Reader?) and pretty darn close to her next promotion.  She's maxed her Logic, level 4 with painting (starting early), and level 6 with Athletics.
--Dasia has maxed her writing skill and has written 10 novels so far; 4 of which have been hits. 2 have been biographies (1 of Alistair before he passed, and the other of Lizzie Wells' husband), 3 have been Humor, 3 were Romance, 1 was Sci-Fi, and 1 was Trashy (lol).  She's doing pretty well; I can't remember her royalty amount, but it's significant enough to sustain them while Ellis was on maternity leave (not that they needed it).
--Lachlan has 5 Logic and 3 Charisma (not sure where the latter came from).
--Harlan has 6 Logic and nothing else as of yet.


Whew.  I think that's it.

4.5--I Can't Hold All These Feels

Dasia goes through a renovation kick after finishing Ellis' exercise room.  She may have gone a bit overboard.


Here's the outside.

The upstairs nook area - that is never used.

Ellis' new bathroom.

The kitchen.

Aaaand the living room.

While Dasia spends her time making the house mildly headache inducing, Ellis works on her fitness.  Just look at those muscles!

It's been over a week since Logan left and he's only called this once to let Ellis know that he can't make it for his son's birthday.  Ellis feels like she should be surprised by this development, but she isn't.  She's not sure how she's going to explain it to Harlan though - all he does is ask for his father.

The next day, Harlan celebrates his birthday.  

And so does Lachlan.  

Lachlan decides to try using his new teenage manipulation techniques to ask his parents to buy him a car...

...Dasia and Duncan just look at each other and laugh.  His parents are smarter than he originally hoped.  On to Plan B - the guilt trip.


"But moooooom! Daaaaaaad!"  He says, pouting his lips.  "I want to be more self-sufficient and independent. Don't you both want me to be a successful adult?  And what better way than to give me something to be responsible for?"


Duncan sighs.  "All right.  All right.  You can stop with the pathetic frown.  I'm okay with it if your mother is."


"Great."  Dasia laughs.  "Put all the pressure on me! Tell you what, kiddo - you prove to me that you can be responsible and I promise that your father and I will discuss getting you a car.  In the meantime..." She adds, interrupting Lachlan's premature celebration, "... focus on getting your driver's license first."

Lachlan's not entirely sure his attempt was a success, but he'll take what he can get.

"He's going to be a tough one."  Duncan laments, smiling sarcastically.


"Nah. Our Lachlan is a good kid.  I mean, he's nowhere near as troublesome as my siblings and I were; so at least there's that."


Duncan laughs. "And I thank my lucky stars everyday, trust me."


"Me too." Dasia smirks.

"So, uh - how is everything with you, 'Sia?  We haven't spoken in..."


"...a few weeks." Dasia frowns. "I'm fine.  Everything is the same.  I'm getting commission after commission for biographies and my latest novel did well."


"Yeah I know.  I read it. It was really good."


Dasia smirks.  "Even the part about the oblivious woman who fucked up a good friendship by getting involved, but doesn't have the balls to say so?"


"That was my favorite part." He laughs.  "Although I think the male counterpart should have the balls, as you say, to acknowledge that he shouldn't have pushed for something more if he knew she wasn't ready or shared his feelings."


Dasia shakes her head.  "I'm in the wrong here, Duncan - and I'm willing to admit that.  You were just being honest and I was just being willfully oblivious.  I'm sorry. Can we just, I don't know, start over or something?"

Duncan extends his hand with a snide smile. "Hello, Dasia.  My name is Duncan and I'm the father of your child."


Dasia laughs as she shakes his hand.  "Very nice to meet you, Duncan."

Harper rocking out - because she's one badass grandma. 

Gideon joins Pacey outside, who has recently taken to the guitar as well - although he knows he'll never be as proficient in music as his mother or brother.


"Judging by the sad-sack tune you're playing and that frown on your face, I take it things with you and Anne aren't going well?"  Gideon quirks his brow.  His brother never really displayed his emotions, other than through his art.  It was always difficult to tell when he was depressed due to his overly dramatic tortured artist persona and formal manners.  

Pacey peers down at his guitar sadly.  "Anne and myself have decided that being in a relationship would ruin our art.  Happiness doesn't breed true creativity; misery does.  So we broke things off."

Gideon smirks.  "Wait - you both broke up... for your art?"  Pacey nods.  "Well, I always thought your role was to be the weird one in the family; now I think it may be the insane one."


Pacey scoffs. "Insanity and genius are often one and the same.  I don't take that as an insult, brother."


"Hey, whatever helps you sleep at night." Gideon shrugs.

Harlan's retirement to his room didn't escape Lachlan's notice.  He feels bad for his cousin, knowing that Harlan is most likely disappointed with his father's lack of presence.  


"Hey - I got you a present."  Lachlan says, barging into his cousin's room dramatically.  "It's not much.  I got it on a field trip to the Science Facility when I was your age and when Aunt Ellis told me she was getting you that chem lab for your birthday, I thought maybe you'd appreciate it."


Harlan opens the box excitedly.  "A model of a DNA strand?!  It's awesome.  Thanks, Lachlan."


Lachlan shrugs.  "It's no big deal."


"It is to me." Harlan smiles.

As soon as the guests leave, Dasia feels herself engulfed by the familiar sparkles.  Somehow, planning for her son's and nephew's birthdays made her forget that she was celebrating her own that very day as well.

Getting older doesn't feel so bad - not yet anyway.


-----------------------------------------------
Aaaand I'm cutting this one short since all of my pictures after this point don't really make sense in this chapter.  I should have planned this one out better. *shrug*


As discussed briefly last chapter, I had this grand story planned with Logan - maybe grand isn't the right word, but whatever.  Anyway, he glitched and is no longer on any of the Harris' relationship panel and resetting the town, him, and Ellis did absolutely nothing and no one can interact with him - for some reason.  Since I can't be arsed to do anything beyond what I've already tried - I just scrapped my old story and rewrote him as the standard absentee father and then changed a future generation to have his story.  Poor, poor future Harris'.

4.4.1--Ellis Revisited

Once Ellis tells her sister that she's pregnant, Dasia immediately buys stuff for the baby room.  She's become the resident house decorator since, well - no one else can be bothered with it.  She also doesn't understand the concepts of "matching" and "color clashing" - so the house is doomed to be brightly colored and incredibly mismatch.  If Ellis' future child's room is any indication, their abode (and sight) is in trouble.

Dasia also doesn't understand the concept of a secret either.  


"Huh-Hi Dad."  Ellis stammers. "Um - how are you?"


"I'm fine.  And you?"  He asks,  gesturing to her stomach. "You certainly look different." 


Ellis slumps her shoulders and leads her father into the house.  Dasia and her big stupid mouth. 

"Your sister tells us you just passed your second trimester."  Ellis nods slowly.  "So when were you going to tell us - after our grandchild was born?"


She frowns, putting her hands in the pocket of her jacket, trying to save time, but her father is still there and waiting for a response. "I don't know." Is the best answer she can muster.


Cedric pinches his nose and sighs deeply.  "Please, tell me the father knows."

When his very pregnant daughter just stares in response, like he's asked the most off-the-wall question possible, he smirks.  "Why is it you and your sister believe that keeping this from the father is somehow a good idea?"  Ellis frowns, but doesn't say anything.  "Tell him.  I'm not going to nag you about it, but just as your mother told Dasia - he deserves to know.  And if he decides that he doesn't want to be there, well then you and your child are better without him."


Ellis smiles sadly.  "Yes, daddy.  I know.  Trust me - I know."


"Good.  Now where is your sister.  I'm taking the both of you out for lunch."

"Besides the obvious, how are both of my girls doing?  Anything else that either of you need to tell me?"  Cedric tries not to push his questions, but he still has Adamaris and Uther's visit in the back of his mind.  He and Harper have been keeping their eyes open for anything odd - but there's only so much they can watch at once.  Ellis' pregnancy managed to escape them; who knows what else they've missed.


Dasia and Ellis exchange a glance, then both turn to their father and shrug.  "You already know everything that's going on with me."  Ellis answers.


Dasia nods. "Same."


"Well - just promise me that if anything... different happens, you'll let me and your mother know."  


His two daughters nod slowly, almost suspiciously.  "Is there something you're not telling us?" Dasia asks.


Cedric smiles unconvincingly. "It's nothing important.  Let's talk about something else."

The car ride home is silent.  Ellis is clearly more than a little angry with her sister, and Dasia knows it.  She sighs.  "I'm sorry, Ell.  It slipped when I was talking to mom - and you know how bad I am at this stuff."


Ellis crosses her arms and looks out the window.  "It's okay."  She finally relents.  "They had to find out some time."


They both continue on in silence for a moment, before Dasia blurts, "Was dad acting strange to you, or was it just me?"


"Not just you."  Ellis agrees.  "It's hypocritical that mom and dad are keeping secrets, but lecture us when we do the same." 


Dasia smirks.  "I think that's the meanest thing I've ever heard you say."


"Pregnancy hormones."  Ellis laughs. "I guess they're getting to me."

The baby bump - it's growing.


Ellis' stomach is an everyday reminder of what is to come, but also the person she hasn't told.  She hasn't received one call from Logan since he left, not one; and she knows that's most likely a sign right there - but her father's right.  He still should, at the very least, know that he has a child.

So she makes the call and to her surprise, he picks up and agrees to come see her as soon as she spills the news.

Within ten hours, he's at their front door.  "You certainly weren't lying."  He says, staring wide-eyed at her belly.  "It's um - the baby is mine for sure, right?"


Ellis scoffs. "Yes, Logan.  The baby is yours.  We can do a test, if you're really that suspicious."


He puts his hands up and smiles wearily. "I wasn't trying to offend you.  We just barely know each other and now we're having a kid."


Ellis frowns. "I'm having a kid, you get to do whatever you want."

If Ellis thinks he's going to run, she's sorely mistaken.  Logan pulls her into a hug, a hesitant one, but an embrace all the same.  "I'll stay, if you wish."  He can't stay forever, they both know that much, but the offer is accepted.

Another person returns home shortly after.  Pacey got his art school education and is ready to take on Meadow Glen and bring some culture to this dreary town.

Anne shows up just a few hours after he arrives to help him pack his things.  They've decided to take their relationship slow while they get things settled, which is okay for both of them.  In the meantime, Pacey is going to be moving in to a house just down the street from hers - so they can at least be close.

And off he goes...

For the remainder of her pregnancy, Logan is there.  He tries, really tries, to warm up to the idea of settling down and staying in one area - but he just can't do it.  He never saw himself doing such and even now, with a child on the way ... he just can't.  So he and Ellis drift apart.

And they agree that he should spend the rest of his time on the couch.  Despite the outcome, Ellis is just glad he's still there to help.

Here comes the heir! 

"Are you ready for this?" Ellis asks nervously.


Logan smiles. "Not really."


"Me neither."

Welcome to the world, Harlan.


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

A close-up of Anne - because I think she turned out lovely.

I'm going to try posting every other day, if not every day in an attempt to get this legacy finished around the time that I graduate (not possible - tooootallly not possible).  Also, because I made a pledge on another board that I frequent to write something - anything, really - every day and see how much progress I make.  I'm dividing my time between this and my short story for a contest (which will also most likely never be finished before the deadline).  Goodness - it seems like an impossible feat of terribleness! But I'm going to try.  Emphasis on the word "try."


I also want to thank everyone for reading thus far and sticking with my legacy (even when it seems like it isn't going anywhere substantial, which I promise it is).  I know I can get a bit wordy and my chapters a bit lengthy, but your guys/gals comments really make my day! So, thank you - one and all.

/sappy moment over.