Light at the End

This is where Bassy, Madison, and Kaydence lived in Starlight Shores. Bassy and Madison bought it together when they were both at the peak of their careers.
Huge, huh?   Three times as big as even Dad's mansion. I've actually never been inside it.

Bassy had made it.  Big time. 

Who could have guessed that behind these glamorous walls lurked unspeakable horror?

Anyway, the dwelling went up for auction today.  I haven't told Kady yet.

Kady's house of horrors is no more. 

There appears to be light at the end of her very, very dark tunnel.

I told you that she'd joined CSG's creative writing club and made a new friend, an actual friend her own age, a young man with the unfortunate name of Terry Ho.  I'd also told you that they share a love of books and an interest in film and literature.
I've since learned that the unfortunate Mr. Ho is also in the school's drama club and is an aspiring actor. 
As far as I'm aware, he knows that Kady is the daughter of an actor - he doesn't know which actor.

Nowadays she's reading her books on the IPad I gave her. I gave one to all of my kids, so I gave one to her too, and I think she uses hers more than my kids use theirs! 

And he's positively, absolutely, smitten with her.

They have a secret greeting (I don't know what it has its origins in but I think it's from something they read)

 They spend all their hours after school together (and, Skylar tells me, they're together at school too).  I have to tell you, to see Kady smiling and giggling after all she's been through gives me great joy. 

It gladdens me greatly that she's found someone she can share her passion for books with (well besides me)
My book-loving, temperamental niece has stability for the first time in her young life. 
I hate to say it but they remind me of ... well, me and Andy.  And you know what happened there.  Oh, I'm getting ahead of myself.  Kady's still got college, and I believe if there's any girl who'd thrive on the university campus, it's her. 

Poor Terry has the Grumpy trait, and around Bassy's little girl, being grumpy is just not an option.

She continues to prove she is made of the exact same Plumb family stuff.  She met him in the cemetery...

...showed him my dad's grave then dragged him into the catacombs. 

Yep, her first date begins in a cemetery.  She's a Plumb, all right. 

And then there are these letters he's sending her, each letter more forward than the one before it.

Oh and one more thing... On Saturday morning Terry called asking Kady to the prom. 

Say yes already, Kady!

Baby Girl

Baby Girl and I had a talk.  A long one. 
Andy repeated every word to me that she said in the car. 
Apparently, she thinks I favor Sierra and Kaydence over her.   I told her that isn't true.   It's just that their separate issues require more of my attention.
She's also got it mistaken that Kaydence has had flower beds of eaves due to my brother and his ex being mega famous.
"Skylar Rose Cheesman, your attitude, quite frankly, stinks right now.  Your father and I did not raise you like this."

"And another thing.  I'm not happy about the way you treat Kaydence, either.  She is family, and I want you to act like it!"
"Mom, all I hear about is Kaydence, Kaydence, Kaydence!  Ever since she showed up here, that's all I've heard about.  You act like she is your daughter and not me!"
"That's not true."
"Yes it is, mom!  She's perfect in your eyes, she can do no wrong.  Everything she flippin' touches turns to gold!"
I then told her Kaydence's story, even back to her spending most of her childhood in courtrooms bounced around between her parents.
"So you expect me to feel sorry for her?"
"No, but I do expect you to at least have a little bit of compassion, Skylar.  You should be thankful that you didn't grow up like that.  You grew up in a home of love, with two parents and lots of brothers and sisters who adored you.  Frankly I'm surprised she's as together as she is for the way she grew up."
"I'm your daughter, mom!  All I want is for you to love me!"
"I do love you, Skylar, like nobody's business, but what you do need to do is grow up - fast!  I hate to say it, but you are behaving like a spoiled rotten brat and it has to stop.  Now!"
We didn't have a blowout war, like the one I had with Sierra at the hospital.  The war I had with Sierra was a culmination of everything that had happened, with Sierra getting into all kinds of trouble with the law and me realizing that I was staring in the mirror at a more extreme version of my younger self.
Skylar doesn't have that kind of history.  She's an A student, taking advanced placement courses, and is by all accounts well-liked and popular at school. On top of that, she's an aspiring singer and musician who does sing-a-grams and the occasional Simfest because Andy and I have stressed school first.  She's my younger self - in a different way. 

I decided it was time to tell Skylar the story of her conception in Sierra's treehouse in Hidden Springs.  She's old enough now to hear it.  "So...you're the treehouse girl," I told her.

And what do you know... she laughed!

I know Skylar likes to paint and she likes photography (has since she was small) so I suggested we go downtown to the art gallery to see the new photography exhibit, just the two of us.
Her face creased into a smile.  I hadn't seen that smile in awhile.

Hodgepodge

Four days on and Bassy finally announced his son's name - Jazz Lyric Nathaniel Plumb.  Bassy promised he'd make a splash and he sure did. 

Remember I said the other night that brazen Josh Davidson dared to show his face at Jazz's 'birthday' party?
He was even more brazen to try to talk to Kady.  And as you well know, she's the sweetest little girl - most of the time.
But sometimes, the claws come out.  And they came out at the party, too.
"I swear," Josh said to her as he approached, "if you were ten years older..."
"You'd what?" Kady asked.  "You are the father of my cousin's baby.  And I saw you hand a bouquet of flowers to another woman."
"She ... she was just a friend..." Josh stammered.
"Don't lie to me!  I've thought about telling her just what kind of person you are."

Meanwhile, Baby Girl (Skylar) got Andy to teach her how to drive.  You could imagine that being quite the adventure.
Even more the adventure is what Andy told me she said in the car.  Wait till I get a-hold of her...

"You know, Skylar," Andy began, "your mother is very upset with you."
"When is she not?" Skylar replied snottily. "She hates me. It's clear, she prefers Kaydence over me."
"No, she doesn't," Andy attempted to reassure her. "She doesn't hate you. She loves you.  You're our baby girl.  Maybe if you'd make yourself available... you're always so busy with music and drama and of course your singing -"
"Nothing helps with her. Nothing I do impresses her. All she talks about, is Kaydence, Kaydence, Kaydence. I'm sick of it, Dad! She acts like Kaydence is her daughter and not me."

Last night AJ came to me while I was in my study working on my speech for the convention next week. 
"Mom, I need to talk to you."
"What about, son?"
"Mom, I don't know what's going on, but something is up. I feel something big is about to happen."
"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"The other night at the party.  Sierra gave me this look - I can't even explain it.  It was creepy.  She's my little sister, I know her. I don't trust her as far as I can throw her, look at her history, what she's done already.  And she's got little Kady following right behind her."
I had to admit there seems to be something fishy going on between those two.   The stuff Sierra has admitted to doing would make seasoned criminals blush.  They didn't call her 'Sierra the Terror' at Fort Starch for nothing.  She brags about her record and it's a point of pride for her. 
But to call Kady Sierra's sidekick, well, is underestimating Kady.  After all, she is responsible for the whole thing with the dew and turning sims all those different colors.  I don't think Sierra had anything to do with that...
It would probably be more correct to call them co-conspirators.
I also have to admit that the fact that Kady is following her makes me more than a little uneasy, even if Sierra is my own daughter.
Sierra by herself is scary enough.  Sierra with an accomplice...is downright frightening.  I've got no idea what those two are capable of.

Bassy's Baby Boy

Well, he's here.  Bassy's new son and Kady's new baby brother.  He doesn't have a name yet.
I'm happy for Cherise since it's her first child, and for Kady since she's wanted a sibling for so long. 
But for Bassy... I don't know what to say.  I sure hope he does a better job with this little boy than he did with his other two.
I'm gonna love the hell out of him, though, no matter what.  

The baby arrived the day before Bassy's birthday. 

The two rode back to their place... and then Cherise called everyone of us over to celebrate this occasion.

"You've done great with the place," I heard Sage tell Cherise as they continued to exchange pleasantries.  "Is the baby asleep?"
"Trying to," Cherise laughed.

Yep even Sage's dog showed up.  Bitsy is a golden retriever. 

Neil asked Sierra for an autograph ?? Maybe an autographed poster... who knows...

Sierra was playing Madden football on Bassy's Simbox...

...and appeared to be enjoying it.

Meanwhile, a bunch of us were sitting around the table eating Bassy's key lime pie.  Hey, the guy baked cookies for the royal family once.  That's how good a cook he is.  He's a better chef than he is a thespian. 
Anyway, Kady had spouted off some random fact about one of the constellations, and Cherise tried to convince her to try out for the school musical.

"I heard you singing in the shower, you sound great!"
Kady laughed.  "Nah, singing's not really my thing," she told her stepmother.  "I leave that to Skylar."
"Well, what about you two doing a duet?"

Meanwhile, Bassy was ripping AJ to shreds on some game, don't know which.  AJ was not happy about it.  "You got plenty to learn, boy," Bassy teased.

And there was a party crasher, who was thoroughly unwelcome.  Josh - as in Satis' baby daddy.  I told him not to be around my daughter or my grandson ever again... and yet he showed up here.  I decided to shut up and keep my peace in order not to ruin the joyous occasion of the birth of my nephew with this foolishness.  He keeps trying my patience...

And he decides to help himself to the drinks while Sierra's reading some book and Kady is doing her homework (!)

After she does her homework, Kady entertains the crowd with a rousing song she learned on guitar.

After playing, Kady recognized Sierra out of the crowd...

...and they spent most of the rest of the evening together. 

And I'm not the only one completely mystified by them being together. 

AJ, on his way to the kitchen to get a bite to eat, looked at them and smiled.  "What are you two up to?" he asked. 

I suspect something deeper is going on - something beyond even Oasis Landing. 

Welcome to Kadyland

The next morning was pretty typical around here.  The girls were at the breakfast nook eating breakfast when Kady started talking about her infamous kitchen mishap, when she nearly burnt down her dad's rental house across town attempting to cook a bowl of macaroni and cheese.   

I took a deep breath.  My dad's breakfast nook.

He'd special ordered it when we redid the house to pay homage to his dad, my immigrant grandpa who was a farmer.  Now three of his granddaughters were chatting around it.  He'd be happy. 

Later, we were reading our books on our Ipads when Kady, out of the blue, stopped.  "Come with me, Aunt Savannah," she said.

I was a little confused.  "Where are you going?"

"You'll see."

"Where are you taking me?" I asked her.  "I can't leave my family and my kids."

"You won't be gone long, no one will even know you're gone at all. I just want to show you a special place.  My special place."

I took a deep breath as I followed her to the backyard, where a mysterious portal glowed through the night.
"Where are you taking us, dear child?" I asked, partly real and partly rhetorical.
I saw a strange blank expression on her face.  Who was this little girl?  

"Kaydence Michele -"

"Kaydence Michele Plumb," I began, "don't you think you've gone a little bit too far with this?  I don't even know how to begin to explain this to your dad."

She looked at me with that disarming grin of hers that looked a lot like Bassy and smiled.  "You don't have to.  Since it's a hundred years into the future and in a completely different dimension, all of us will be long dead, so it's likely he'd never find out if neither of us told him."
I didn't know who this person was I was talking to.  But it sure didn't look like my niece.
She was dressed head to toe in a costume reminiscent of Wonder Woman.  She explained that her character, Astra Blythe, ruled over this utopia and was a super-heroine capable of making everyone blissfully happy.
"So, this character is, like, an alter ego?"  Kady gave me another of her broad smiles.

"Besides, he never took much interest in what I was doing anyway.  He and my mom were so busy with their schedules and when they weren't busy they were arguing.  As far as my mom was concerned, as long as I was out of her hair, she was satisfied."
She continued by telling me she'd had the story in her head since she was about nine, and when Sierra showed her the portal she figured she could do the steps to make it real.
"How did you find out about the steps?"
"When I came here the first time."

"Well, couldn't you just write this story down - instead of acting it out?"
"I'm an actor's daughter," Kady laughed, "it's not the same.  Before I write it down I have to experience it."

I'm wondering if Kady really knows what's real and what's in her head.

The next morning, we woke up to the strangest PINK sunrise I'd ever seen in my life.  Kady nudged me and said, "Welcome to Kadyland, Aunt Savannah."
Kadyland, indeed.  A pastel paradise, quite literally. 

And she went out and enjoyed the pastel paradise she'd created, swimming in the bluest water I'd ever seen...complete with pink flippers and a flower in her hair...

She collected more vials of dew from these giant flowers, and explained to me that each dew had a special power.  Some made you turn colors and the most powerful dew, the rainbow dew, was capable of making someone blissfully happy and even changed your gait.

She demonstrated by drinking a bottle of the dew herself.  Her gait changed and, frankly, seemed somewhat creepy.

She caught butterflies...

...dug up treasures from piles of gold...

... and for good measure came back and ate an endless supply of her fave peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

I suppose being a crusty old adult, I wouldn't get what a place like this would mean to a girl like Kady.  And I wonder if she actually understands the boundaries between reality and fantasy.  What Kady did was make her fantasy real.  
 
It hit me that the little girl who'd had no childhood used the full power of our family secret to give herself one.

She created her own private Neverland.

Never change, Kady.