Who saw THIS coming?

Certainly not me.

Late last year, my middle daughter, Sierra, was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a milder form of autism, and oppositional defiant disorder.   It was the answer to years of searching, and years of her strange behavior.

Since then, Sierra has obtained her degree in physical education and sports science from Sims University - with honors -

and is now in her rookie season on the Llamas soccer team.

Sierra has always been a loner.  She's always had difficulties with making and keeping friends.  Even in college she pretty much kept to herself.

But since the arrival of my niece, Kaydence, they've practically been inseparable.
Kaydence is the daughter of my younger brother, Sebastian, and his ex-girlfriend, pop star Madison Avenue.

None of us can really figure out why Sierra and Kaydence have clicked.    My brother and I have attempted to put our heads together to try to speculate as to why this has happened.
My brother says that when Kaydence was little, she didn't really talk to the other kids - instead, she talked to their parents.

My brother also says that Kaydence read everything she could put her hands on.  She preferred books to dolls and stuffed animals. 
I only met Kaydence once when she was little, on the day of one of her custody hearings when she was seven years old.  Even then, she seemed much older than her years.  When she was asked which parent she wanted to live with, she told the custody judge, "Do I have to live with either of them?"  That was her answer, at seven years old. 

What's become clear, in talking with Bassy, is some of the same stuff has come up for both girls. Teacher after teacher has told Bassy that "Kaydence doesn't socialize with the other kids," and "She seems to be a loner." When he talks to Kaydence about it, she's not at all displeased. 

Kaydence doesn't have the record Sierra does, and she didn't start seeing a psychic at twelve, but boy, this thing about creating the fictitious utopia with the dews and the character/alter ego to match has to be the equivalent.  And she does have a mischievous side that she did inherit from Bassy himself. 

 When Sierra and Kaydence disappeared this last time after feast day, I finally had to break the news to Bassy. 

"She did - what?  Made up a - what?  Utopia?  How long have you known about this, Vanna?"
"For awhile now." 

"She's writing books about this?"
"Yes."

I decided not to tell Bassy everything I knew, that the rest of it would have to come from Kaydence herself, should she choose to tell him. 

And given the current status of their relationship.... I don't see that happening anytime soon. 

All That Jazz

My newest nephew, who was given the name of Jazz Lyric Nathaniel Plumb, has reached his 'terrible twos' and they're worse than anyone could have possibly imagined.

This is his usual posture.  He's incredibly demanding and cries all the time.

Even the plumbot Kaydence brought from Oasis Landing covers her ears.

The whole family was over for a feast party gathering, and he stole the show, quite literally.  Most of us realize the depth of the problem.

Potty training was a nightmare.  When I was over there, Jazz missed the entire potty.

There are times, though, when Jazz looks like a 'normal' baby.  But unfortunately those times are few and very far between. 

Somehow he got an IF doll and started singing to it.  Maybe he'll live up to his name and be musical like his daddy.

She went there!

I am now one hundred percent convinced that my brother's ex and Kaydence's biological mother, Madison Brooke Westley, better known by her stage name Madison Avenue, is absolutely, thoroughly, positively, evil.

Here's the deal.  Kady is writing a series of science fiction novels based on Kadyland, the futuristic utopia she created.
She can't sleep nights because, she says, she is having detailed conversations in her head with the characters who inhabit it.  So she gets up, opens her laptop, and starts typing.

Yes, Kady, you are a writer.

After she complimented me on my best seller, The Lost Dragon Egg, she told me she was working on her own series of books based on Kadyland - something that even Bassy himself doesn't know about.

You are in for a huge shocker, Bassy.  A whopper. 

It's funny how that worked out.  Bassy's daughter, Kady, wants to write, and my daughter, Skylar, wants to go into show biz as a performer.  It's almost like the girls were born to the wrong parents.

In fact, she was doing some kind of writing at Skylar's party while all the other girls were in the swimming pool.

Now, back to Madison. 
Just recently, she went on Joyce Ward's new TV show and said she had to deal with a 'little professor' in the house.  She admitted to Joyce that it drove her crazy when Kady asked for books instead of dolls or teddy bears, when she refused to go to yet another one of her mom's showbiz parties and instead preferred to stay home and read.  

Normally, when the book is finished, it would only be a matter of time before it's published... but now there's a problem. 

Madison went to the publishing company.  Apparently she introduced herself as Kaydence's mother and told the publisher that there's no way her daughter can publish her book.

Why?  Because having a daughter who writes science fiction would be bad for her party girl image.

And because, apparently, when Kaydence was born, she had her daughter's name, Kaydence Michele, trademarked, anticipating her future fame. 

How dare you, bitch, get in the way of your own daughter's dreams?  What the hell is the matter with you?

I fully intend to write to the publisher and tell him that this is what Kaydence wants, that I have custody of her now, and that Madison clearly has no say in the matter.

Bitch, you never wanted her in the first place. 

My niece is going to get her book published.  I don't care what her so-called mother says.  

The Talk

My husband, Andy, is not a happy bunny these days.  Have you ever seen him look like this?
First, the camping trip he so looked forward to had to be postponed...

..and now he's got to deal with the person who made him look like this.  Our youngest daughter, Skylar. 

I didn't catch the entire argument, but apparently Skylar wanted to go to a fellow singer's party downtown.  This singer is an adult.  And Andy wouldn't let her go.

Skylar went off.  Completely ballistic.  Stamped her feet and basically called Andy every name in the book.

When I talked to Andy I could definitely see the disappointment on his face.

Is Skylar's behavior that of a typical teen?  Or is there something going on?  I haven't quite been able to figure that out yet.

I mean, when Sierra was doing what she was doing, we knew what she was doing wasn't at all typical, especially since the police was at our house every other night.

Sage didn't do any of this stuff.  Nor did Satis, for that matter.

We can't really tell with Skylar.  We don't know if she's acting this way because of Kaydence or what. 

Meanwhile, we sent Kaydence on a visit to her dad, who'd returned basically to have his son.   And not much has changed...she still lectures him like I lecture my own kids.
Mostly, though, it's reminders about meetings and financial matters, stuff that she's handled pretty much since she was a tot.

At the end of the day, though, it's all love, although her sharing his bed at her age is a bit creepy to me.

The next day I went over to Bassy's to pick her up.  He'd installed security gates outside his new rental home because paps were climbing windows just to get pictures.

"Hey Sis!" I heard Bassy call from the backyard.  For a moment there it sounded like the old Bassy.  The Bassy I knew before he went to Bridgeport.

He had a broad smile.  It was like he wanted to see me.
He was dressed in a costume, I assumed it was for another role.

I looked closer.  His smile seemed tired and forced, and his forehead had creased into worry lines.  I knew he was aging but still, there were signs of the real Bassy underneath this shell of a person. 

I know my baby brother is in there somewhere.

"What's up?" he asked me.
"I came to pick up Kaydence."
He sighed.  "She's not here, she went to the studio."
I'd forgotten she had an acting job, in addition to her extracurriculars and her school work.  Seriously, the girl doesn't know when to stop.

I told him about the Skylar incident with Andy, probably against my better judgment.
He laughed.  "That sounds familiar."  He cited his own recent blowup with Kaydence before he left the first time. 
"Andy seems really hurt by what she said.  I don't know how to cheer him up."
"She'll cool off.  She'll realize what she said and come groveling to him in apology."
It's funny how the roles got reversed... and now I'm asking HIM for advice.

While we continued to chat, one of the paparazzo still managed to find her way in to snap pictures.

Then Bassy got serious.  I knew that look.  He wanted to tell me something.
"This is my last film role," Bassy said.  "I've decided to leave the movie business for good."
"Does Kaydence know?"
"I haven't discussed it with her yet."
"So, what are you going to do now?"
"Well, I've paid off most of my debts and because of this latest project I've got some left over to live on, so I'll figure out what I'm going to do next.  Right now I promise to spend more time with Kady and Jazz."
I'm wondering if he's just tired and needs a rest - or he's really going to walk out on his life's work.  Either way, maybe some time off would do him a lot of good. 

All the time he's spent running, he can't run anymore.

That bitch Madison broke his heart, took his money, and sapped his spirit.  Now that he is back in the Valley, in familiar confines, hopefully he will start to recover at least some of what he lost. 

Catchup time

When my baby brother Bassy's precocious daughter showed up here from Starlight Shores, I had no idea what to expect.

Now she's got all of Sunset Valley talking about her... and our whole family has been turned upside down.

Let's see... she's gotten AJ a distinguished service medal for his work with spraying the dew all over Sunset Valley and a promotion to fighter pilot...

She's confirmed Sierra's story about her abduction and time-travel... and oh by the way, the two are practically inseparable now, this from a girl who hates everybody (that being my daughter).  All the more shocking because on the surface they have practically nothing in common - so why are they buds now?

Their alliance has certainly perplexed AJ.  He can't figure it out, but he as much as told me he thinks something huge is up.  I'm inclined to believe him. 

She convinced Satis to lose her loser boyfriend by telling him she'd seen him in town handing flowers to another girl...

...and he'd flirted with her openly at Jazz's party.  She went back and told Satis that he'd hit on her.  I think that was the last straw, hitting on a teenager.

She may be sweet most of the time, but you do not want to see her other side.  It's scary.  Josh found out, the hard way.

All this after Sage and I have both gotten blue in the face trying to convince Satis to leave him.

Last I heard, Satis did leave him and had gone backpacking through China to clear her head and Ramses was with Imsety (of all people)! 

I even confronted the bastard myself and told him to stay the hell away from Satis and Ramses. 

Then, she hatched a plan to get her dad out of debt... not only to pay back his creditors but getting him enough money to buy his OWN movie studio and finance his own projects.

She's still working on that one.

 She has a super-heroine alter ego... but now I'm beginning to wonder if she really does have a superpower.

She's fixing everyone else's lives while her own was pretty much crap.

Oh and one more thing.

She blew the cover off of the college admissions test.  I think they said it was the highest score they'd seen at CSG since they started doing the testing.  It's higher than either of my kids, and when my older kids took their tests they were high school seniors.
In fact, her teachers want her to take early graduation and start her classes now. If she does she'd be the youngest student ever formally admitted to the university.
Sierra took college courses there, but she was never an actual student until she took graduation a year and a half early.

 The return to the Valley has been good for my brother, too - the stuff with my niece notwithstanding.   His new son, Jazz Lyric, was born here. 

As you know, he's a huge, huge, huge movie star still - even though he hasn't had a hit film in years.  People still recognize him and know who he is.

But my kids don't see him as the big movie star.  To them, he's just Uncle Bassy.   Although AJ wasn't happy when 'Uncle Bassy' beat him at Madden.   

I would have to imagine that perspective - along with a kick upside the head - is just what Bassy needs at this point in his life. 

My brother was trained to be a musician, not a movie star.  He became a movie star because he was rebelling against Mom and Dad.  In retrospect, I'm guilty of putting undue pressure on him by not going into show business.  They trained him to be a star, and a star he became - but in a different way than they'd planned.

Now he is back in town, and he looks me in the eye and tells me he is considering leaving the movie business altogether...to go into music.  I am not making this up.  Personally, like I told him, it's up to him what he does, as long as he's happy and satisfied.

I'm through making decisions for him.  That ship sailed a long time ago.

Just between me and you, I actually don't think that despite his accomplishments in front of the camera, he was ever truly fulfilled as an actor.   

I don't think his heart was ever really in it.

Remember what I said about the truth - it will catch up to you, one way or another.  In the case of my brother, after years of running, the truth hit him square in the jaw.

 He LOVES food.  Cooking it, and especially eating it.

 And he has passed that on to his daughter, Kady. Every other word out of her mouth is about food - cooking it, eating it, learning how to cook it.

That son of his, though, is an absolute terror.  I've heard of terrible twos and had five kids go thru terrible twos but not like this.  The only one who even came close was Skylar, who almost caused our butler to quit - and he would have if Sage hadn't relieved him for awhile.

Bassy says Kady never cried but this one is always crying.

Neither Bassy...

...nor Cherise have any idea how to deal with him.  Poor Cherise, it's not just postpartum depression... this kid is horrible.  I actually feel sorry for her.  She's going to need therapy before he even turns teen - if she doesn't wind up in the hospital before then.

Bassy tried to feed him and he threw the food right back in his face.

Despite never having a sibling, Kaydence seems to be the only one able to even remotely calm him down.  His face lights up when she shows up, as if she's his mama.

She spends as much time with him as she could.

She even tried to teach him how to read.

What happens when Kaydence goes to college?  She certainly can't take him with her.  I can only imagine the chaos.