Gen 7 Ch 17: Family

The most recent addition to Appaloosa Plains' teenage populace was Meadow Brooks. Although Huxley was a few grades above her and knew her only as the neighbors' irritatingly hyper kid, she'd approached the new teen when she'd found her playing the piano in an empty classroom. The two girls had become fast friends and Hux was now often seen getting off the school bus at the Brooks' house.

"Badass," Meadow gushed, "My parents would never let me get my nose pierced."

Huxley grinned smugly. "It's not like I asked permission." The septum piercing was her newest 'screw you' to authority, and she was very proud of it.

"Awesome." Meadow was impressed. "Mom would skin me alive if I did that."

Meadow's parents were pretty chill though, in Huxley's opinion. They did not bat an eyelash when the girls decided to have band practice in their already cramped living room.

"Not bad," Huxley allowed, after they'd gone through the chorus again with barely a misstep this time, "though we should really find more band members."

"Yeah," Meadow agreed, "and sooner rather than later. Once we're famous, it'll sound much better if we can say that we've all been playing together since high school!"

Grace reclined in the tub and rested the back of her head against the wall. A rich fragrance filled the air while the pleasant heat of the bathwater penetrated her pores, but Grace was too preoccupied to savor the sensation.

She hadn't even said a word when Huxley had come home late one night, this time sporting a pierced nose. What was the point, really? Just as with the tattoo, it wasn't the thing itself that bothered Grace, but the message behind it. Huxley would do as she pleased, and nothing would ever stop her. Grace was all for her daughter being strong-willed, but with her high school graduation looming on the horizon, a mother could not help but worry. How would her daughter fare, out in the real world? Being a rebel at school was one thing, but how was Huxley ever going to keep a job with her confrontational attitude and disregard for rules?

Grace watched the hot steam fog up the window and sighed.

Surprisingly, Adam had much more success getting through to Huxley. After months of living in the same house, they finally bonded over the cows, of all things.

"When we first came here I thought you kept them for eating," Huxley, the vegetarian, confided, "I totally expected you to serve bloody steaks for dinner every night."

Adam rubbed the back of his neck. "To be honest, that was the idea at first; raising cattle for meat. I thought I'd have a completely self-sustaining farm, like I'd read about. But when I got them I just couldn't bring myself to do it," he smiled sheepishly, "They all have names, did you know?"

Bella was the one that gave milk; the only girl, Adam explained. Sunny and Duke were oxen, castrated bulls specifically meant to be slaughtered for meat. Now, in Adam's care, they would live out their lives as nothing more than pets until old age claimed them.

"This is kind of gross." Huxley grimaced as she squeezed Bella's udder the way Adam had demonstrated, but despite her disgust she did not stop. Finally, she presented the result of her hard work: a small bottle of fresh milk, faintly warm against her palm. It was still pretty gross, but Hux was proud of her accomplishment.

"You're a natural," Adam grinned, "Who would've thought? Now all you're missing is a stylish hat like mine."

"Whoa, slow down there, cowboy," Huxley laughed, but reached happily for the fresh peas Adam offered her to feed to the cows.

*

Like her big sister, Hazel loved animals. There were the fluffy yellow chicks, tiny enough to sit on her palm...

... Scout with his funny nose, so cold and wet...

... and all the other little critters flitting around, too fast for Hazel to get a closer look.

And then there were really huge animals, like the one her daddy brought home one day.

"What on--" Grace gasped, "Adam, please tell me you didn't just buy a horse."

"They were going to put him down," Adam whined, "I couldn't just leave him there!"

Jumper had been a rich girl's birthday present, Adam told Grace. "That explains the saddle," she remarked dryly. However, the girl and her parents had quickly been overwhelmed by the stallion's aggressive nature and decided to put the horse up for sale. But since no one was interested in buying a horse that was known to be difficult, Jumper's fate had been sealed. Until Adam came along.

"And you thought the best place to keep an aggressive stallion is where your toddler daughter likes to play," Grace teased. But of course, just like her husband, she had been swayed by the poor animal's sad tale. Jumper was allowed to stay.

*

Huxley already knew exactly whom she needed in her band.

 The upstairs storage room that doubled as Theo's refuge at the junkyard turned out to be much more comfortable than Huxley had imagined.

Most people's musical inclinations usually leaned towards one, maybe two particular instruments. Huxley had always been the exception, until she'd met him. Like her, Theo was already proficient in several instruments and able to pick up whichever new one you'd throw at him in a flash. He was the natural choice.

Plus, he had the most captivating eyes...

*

Children grew up so fast, Grace reflected.

It felt like only yesterday that she had taught Hazel how to string basic words together into simple sentences on the soft rug in the nursery.

And now Grace sat beside her on that same rug, trying to make sense of her science homework. When had grade school assignments gotten so complicated?

Father-daughter time consisted of much simpler tasks, such as gardening. The pair could spend hours together, working side by side. Since it was getting colder they were confined to the greenhouse on most days, but Hazel eagerly anticipated joining her dad outside come spring.

But when Adam got a strange phone call one day, he went to the grocery store by himself.

 He was glad he hadn't taken his daughter with him, because even he himself wasn't entirely sure what to make of that curious encounter.

A literal egg-plant? The grocery store clerk had to be pulling Adam's leg.

Deciding to play along anyway, Adam placed the egg in the soft dirt and watered it generously. He'd always been one to appreciate a good prank.

Hazel, with her critical mind, would surely have chided her dad for being so silly. Adam found her on the other side of the house, under the watchful eyes of her mother and pets, just reeling in a minuscule fish from the garden pond.

"What a catch," Adam exclaimed, "should we send it to be mounted? We could hang it over the fireplace."

Hazel have him a deadpan stare. "Mr Brooks says you have to throw the small ones back in or you could disrupt the delicate balance of the ecosystem."

Adam laughed and went to ruffle his daughter's hair.

Hazel was thrilled when Adam arranged to take her on a fishing trip to Cinnamon Crest Falls.

They got up before dawn, stopped at the Brooks' house to pick up Aidan and his father Hawk and marveled at the rose-colored sky when they finally reached their destination.

It was a magical morning; the chilly autumn air carried the sharp scent of pine trees and as the four of them stood in absolute stillness, they even spotted a doe walking calmly past them.

Unfortunately that had been the last day of the fishing season, as the following night laid a thick blanket of snow over Appaloosa Plains.

*

Despite her problematic behavior, Huxley received an early Snowflake Day gift in the form of a makeover for her room. The changes were minor, but this time it turned out to be more in line with her personal taste rather than her mother's.

Grace pounced on her unsuspecting husband in the dining room. "Mistletoe!" she chirped and gave him a peck that quickly turned into a passionate kiss.

After they'd disentangled themselves from each other, Adam smiled enigmatically. "I have a surprise for you too," he purred.

Grace followed him down into the wine cellar with growing apprehension.

"Another nectar tasting?" Grace smiled nervously as Adam presented her with a tray of glasses, filled to the brim, "I don't know if I've fully recovered from your Cherimola-lettuce blend yet..."

"It's the last bottle, I promise," Adam said, took a sip from his glass and winced. "And don't worry, this is not the surprise I was talking about."

"... this is."

 In the wake of the renovations on Huxley's bedroom, Adam had taken the liberty of remodeling one of the unused rooms in the basement as well.

"It's a movie theater, all for ourselves," he announced proudly, "finally we have a place to display the awards you've been keeping in that box. Do you like it?"

Grace snuggled up to him and smiled.

When Snowflake Day rolled around, they opted for a quiet dinner with Grace's parents.

 Freddie and Charity had just returned from a trip to Monte Vista, where they'd spent some time with Gloria and her growing family.

"Family," Charity sniffled, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye, "I still can't believe I've been so lucky to have all of you, in the end."

_____________

*clears throat* Adam, may I remind you that Grace is a technophobe and probably hates that big movie screen? (Gah, that trait is so annoying!)

And since we're talking about traits, neither one of the girls actually has the animal lover trait, even if it might have sounded like that. Hux is a vegetarian and Hazel is eco-friendly and loves the outdoors. (I'm still having trouble figuring out what outdoorsy sims/people like so much about fishing. You can be outside without cruelly impaling helpless animals on a hook, after all.)

Also, for those of you who read my post on the MTS thread; the horse purchase happened long before I found out about the equestrian roll later on. Adam the cowboy simply needed a trusty steed :)