Chapter 7: Passing the Maternal Baton

Brandon Slade, the second generation heir in this legacy story, has struggled to resolve the two relationships he got involved with and has promised his girlfriend, Qiana, that he wants to commit to her and is ready to continue building the legacy vision laid down by his father, Adam Slade.

In this chapter Brandon and Qiana, cope with beginnings and endings  ...

At this moment, Brandon couldn't remember ever being happier.  Qiana was prepared to stay with him and put the difficult past few months behind them.

And Cleo was growing up so fast.  It seemed like only yesterday that she was but a helpless baby but now she was starting to show her own personality.  Managing somehow to be both fearless and thoughtful she was the joy of their lives.

That's not to say that she wasn't hard work!  She had so much to learn if she was to have the best possible start that Brandon and Qiana wanted her .

They shared the tasks, and as difficult as it sometimes was to juggle teaching Cleo and working, between them they made sure she was soon walking and talking as well as anyone could have hoped for.

Qiana's style consultation business was doing incredibly well.  It couldn't get much better when she was nominated for the Sunset Valley Stylish Trophy.  But then to be named the winner was simply incredible!  Qiana was especially proud that she had achieved the same honour that had, several years before, been bestowed on River.

Having two such awards in the same family was quite a remarkable feat - in fact she couldn't think of any other family across the three cities that had such accolades.

While Qiana was out winning awards for her styling work, Brandon was equally busy creating remarkable new machines to improve the lives of his fellow citizens.

The culmination of his efforts was the discovery of time travel and building a machine in which it was possible to travel back into the past or forward into the future.

Fascinated by the potential of new technology Brandon made a couple of trips into the future, hoping to discover something amazing to bring back to the Valley.

The trips were certainly eventful and he came back with many ideas.  Though when he 'borrowed' a chameleon suit from the Technomages of Gignus 5 he quickly realised that time travel wasn't an entirely safe adventure!

It may have looked and felt like play time but whether it was tapping out tuneless tunes on her little wooden xylophone or banging away on her favourite peg box ,Cleo was slowly learning new skills, skills that would hopefully secure a bright future.

Like on many similar days, Cleo was totally absorbed with fitting the various shaped blocks into one of the many holes in the peg box, unaware that downstairs her grandmother was passing from this world.

Qiana and River were in the kitchen, comparing notes on some of their more 'awkward' customers as Qiana prepared their evening meal.

When, suddenly, River stopped, gasped, let out a deep sigh and fell slowly to the floor.

Qiana, moved swiftly to check her breathing and attempted CPR, but she quickly realised that there was nothing she could do.  She called for an ambulance, and as much effort as the paramedics put in to reviving her, it was apparent that there was no way back for River.

"You should come home, it's River ..." Qiana had hardly finished the sentence when Brandon rushed out of the "Swap 'n' Sell" to get home.  Even so, by the time he got there, the ambulance crew were already putting his mother on the stretcher to take her to the morgue.

When they left, Brandon just fell into Qiana's arms, there was nothing to say, he just needed to feel her there and take comfort from holding her close.

The following mornings felt empty without River. Always expecting her to come out of the shower, complaining, as usual, about how two generations of men still couldn't fix it to provide her with hot water.  Or bustling in from her garden and describing, in microscopic detail, the peculiarities of the fruits she had just harvested.

Brandon knew what it was like to lose a parent at a young age, and was going to make sure that Cleo would never forget the grandmother who had so doted on her.

It was obvious to both of them that Cleo's next birthday, just a few days after River's funeral, should be held in their memorial garden.

Even if she didn't consciously realise it Cleo was growing up surrounded by a family that cherished her and had great expectations for her future.  Brandon also hoped that, wherever their spirits resided, Adam and River would be happy to know they would not be forgotten as the generations rolled on.

These two recent events, the death of his mother and Cleo's birthday played on Brandon's mind for several days - if ever there was a time to make important life choices this was it.  He knew there was one thing he had to do to make his family complete ...

It was early morning, Cleo was still in bed, Qiana was still in her nightie, about to prepare  breakfast when Brandon descended the stairs, as naked as a Sim can be, carrying only a small box ...

"Qiana, I am naked before you, I have nothing with which to hide, you can see and know everything that I am.  I don't need anything but your love, and I am nothing without my love for you and Cleo."

"Everything that I have means nothing without you, being with you makes me the happiest man on this world.  Please say that you will marry me"

Qiana clapped her hands to her face, tears welled up, as she nodded furiously, just mouthing "yes" over and again.

Just in case he didn't quite understand she leap into Brandon's arms and, smiling broadly, whispered to him "Cleo is still asleep ..."


Chapter 8: The New Mrs Slade