1.20. Love Day

"I can't believe this is happening," Luna smiles weakly at her husband, "it seems like they were babies just yesterday."

"I know," Quentin agrees, "time makes fools of us all."

It's finally time for the twins to age up to teens. Luke and Lydia are thrilled, but Luna can't bring herself to accept that her children are so close to leaving the house. Just four years of high school, and then they'll be off to start their lives. Luna snuggles into Quentin’s arms as she tries to acclimate to the thought of being one step closer to an empty nest.

It's a beautiful spring evening, cold--as all Aurora Skies evenings are--but the sunset more than makes up for it. The Bees have been blessed with a truly phenomenal view from the kitchen window--Luna can see the waterfalls off in the distance, the green rolling hills, and the occasional wild horse. She still misses the dry heat of Lucky Palms or the gentle sea breezes of Sunset Valley, but she's ultimately glad that she moved to Aurora Skies. It feels more like home than any other place she's lived.

The phenomenal view also allows Luna to see the arrival of the first party guest: Stein Svard, one of Quentin's friends. He looks dour as he carries a plate heaped with steak. Luna meets him at the door and invites him in.

"Thank you for bringing steak, Stein," Luna smiles.

"It is nothing, Luna. I slaughtered the cow myself, in celebration of your eldest children's birthday," he replies solemnly.

"Umm...wow. Thanks."

Stein is followed by his nephew, Anatol Svard. While he's there as Luke's friend, he's particularly excited about Lydia aging up. He's only slightly older than her, and he had a fluctuating mild to severe crush on her all throughout elementary school. He wants to chase that feeling once she’s old enough.

Guests keep pouring in, even a few who weren't invited. Josefine Olsen arrives empty-handed and unrepentant about crashing a kids' birthday party. She sits down at Quentin's keyboard and begins to bang out a clumsy tune. Quentin doesn't object--he's too busy playing hacky sack with his sister-in-law.

"I know it looks stupid," Elysia says between kicks, "but this is really supposed to help slim my thighs. I'm tired of them jiggling, so..." she trails off and looks at him expectantly.

"Umm," Quentin blushes. He hates talking to his sister-in-law, "your thighs look--you look fine." He tries to push a sordid thought out of his mind.

She smirks. Quentin is terribly easy to read, and while he doesn't have a bad bone in his body she loves to tease him. "That's a nasty thought, Quen. Don't make me tell Luna."

"Oh no," he mutters in response. He tries his hardest to think pure thoughts: puppies. Flowers. Kim Kardashiasim in a bikini.

Goddamnit. Why'd he have to marry into a family with a telepath?

"Relax. I'm picking on you," Elysia laughs, "Besides, Luna has thought worse stuff than you have. I guarantee it."

"Really? Like what?"

Elysia smirks, but doesn't answer.

Crimson and Luna watch the cringe worthy exchange with apprehension.

"I believe my girlfriend is terrorizing your husband."

"Yeah," Luna pauses, "but at least she's leaving us alone."

The last of the guests arrive: Kristofer Vinter, who was personally invited by Lydia. Anatol and his father, Stefan Svard, size up the teen boy.

"That's the kid that all the girls like?" Stefan incredulously asks his son.

"Yes,” Anatol grumbles.

“What a dork,” Stefan says. He knows his son is a bit on the nerdy side, and his dislike of Kristofer is fueled by jealousy. But he resolves to dislike the teenager nonetheless. 

The twins stand ceremoniously in front of their respective cakes. Lydia considers her wish before she blows out her candles. There are so many things in the world she wants, but she settles on something simple: she wants to be the first female Leader of the Free World. No biggie.

Luke, meanwhile, wishes that he’ll win an upcoming chess tournament. His aspirations are lower than his sister’s, but that may ultimately be a good thing.

Quentin cheers on his children as they make the sudden and shocking change from child to teenager. Scientists are baffled as to why sims develop in this grotesque manner--it doesn’t make biological sense to develop in bursts as opposed to gradually. But Quentin is no scientist, so he happily accepts his children’s flashy metamorphosis. 

Sheba watches in wonder. It’s loud in here as all the guests cheer the birthday boy and girl. Sheba likes loud. She wags vigorously and howls a little, harmonizing with the cacophony of cheers.

Lydia is the first to age up. Many teenagers find the sudden change in height to be off-putting, and some even experience vertigo. Lydia, however, faces the change with a slight smile. Teenage Lydia is surprisingly elegant, a good genetic mix of both her parents.

Luke’s transition is less stylish. “How do I look, Aunt Elly,” he grins widely at his aunt. It’s a twisted, unnerving smile that clashes with his good-natured attitude.

“You look awful. Don’t make that face ever again.”

“Okay,” Luke deflates.

Lydia cheers on her brother by blowing on a noise maker.

Anatol really likes the way she’s blowing on that noise maker.

***

The following day is Love Day. The spring festival is in full swing, lovers are declaring their affection for each other, and Lark is seriously icked out.

“This is a gross holiday,” she mutters to herself from atop the playground. She surveys the festival grounds, which are full of happy couples--or happy soon-to-be couples.

Lark’s birthday is in a couple of days. But unlike her older siblings, she isn’t looking forward to it. She wants to be a kid forever. It’s, as far as she can tell, “the life.” After all, only a kid can fit on the spiffy beehive shaped playground.

Lydia is unperturbed by the loss of her childhood innocence, though. Her attention is on Kristofer Vinter. She invited him to the park and he accepted, much to her surprise. He’s currently dating Janelle Valquist, and Janelle is notoriously jealous of other girls.

“Thanks for meeting me here, Kristofer. I thought you would be with Janelle for sure.”

“Why?” He asks, his face blank.

“...because it’s Love Day?”

“Oh,” a panicked look overtakes his face, “oh no. I forgot about that. She’s gonna be so angry!” He turns to leave, “sorry, but I gotta go!”

“Wait,” Lydia grabs him by the hand, “it’s only noon. You can still spend the evening with her. You’re already here, so why not enjoy the festival?”

Kristofer looks thoughtful, “I guess that’s true.”

“Besides,” Lydia says casually, “if you forgot about her on Love Day, that can’t be a very good sign.”

Kristofer hesitates,“No. No, I suppose not.”

“In fact, you agreed to spend the afternoon here with me instead. If you ask me, that’s pretty indicative of your true feelings.”

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe Janelle isn’t the one you truly care about,” Lydia shrugs.

Kristofer looks confused.

“You know, my face is more symmetrical than Janelle’s,” Lydia continues, “And I dress better than she does, And I may have just transitioned to high school student council, but I’m a shoo-in for president in my sophomore year. That means I’ll get to sit in on the budget meetings.”

“So?”

“Well you’re in drama club, right? I hear the club’s funding might be cut next year. That is, unless someone--like the student council president--makes a compelling case in favor of the arts.”

"But you’ll do that when your president, right? You’ll make sure that the drama club stays? I really like acting, Lydia. It’s practically the only thing I’m good at.”

Lydia smirks, “tell me, Kristofer--have you ever heard of the term quid pro quo?”

And so Lydia hammers out a deal with the dim-witted Kristofer, who agrees to break up with Janelle and go steady with Lydia. The seal the deal with a kiss, Lydia’s first.

Luke is also trying his luck in the dating game; his quarry is Erin Beaker, a senior who happens to be the current student council president. He’s admired her from afar for a long time, and he’s finally built up the courage to talk to her.

“Hey,” he says smoothly, “I don’t think we’ve officially met, but I’m Luke. Luke Bee.”

“I know who you are,” Erin rolls her eyes, “there are, like, ten people in this town. And you kinda stand out.”

“Because of this hot bod,” he raises his eyebrow as he gestures to his chubby belly.

“No. Because you’re blue. Duh. Why are you blue, anyway? Are you like an alien or something?”

“I’m blue because as soon as I saw you, you took my breath away.”

“Ew,” Erin recoils in disgust, but Luke doesn’t seem to get the hint. He continues to chatter at the disinterested blonde.

As the night wears on, the festivities grow. Lydia drags Kristofer over to the dance floor, where they practice slow dancing.

“This is perfect, Kristofer,” Lydia smiles at him dreamily, “but we need to practice more before prom.”

“But prom isn’t for awhile,” Kristofer frowns, “besides, freshman can’t go to prom.”

“I know, silly. That gives us plenty of time to practice!”

Luke finds an acceptable topic for Erin: forensic investigation shows. The two bond over their shared interest of blood spatter analysis and DNA testing.

“You know, the community college has a criminal justice degree,” Erin says, “you should check it out. I’ll probably be attending next year.”

“That’s awesome! Hey, maybe we’ll both be on the force in a few years.”

“Maybe,” Erin smiles bashfully. Now that he isn’t trying so hard, she actually finds him a little cute.

While young love blossoms, old love is looking for reassurance. Quentin and Luna stand in front of a love testing machine.

“Looks pretty dumb,” Luna remarks.

“Yeah,” Quentin agrees, “wanna try it?’

“Sure,” Luna smiles, “though it’ll just tell us what we already know.”

Luna puts her hand on the tester’s button, and Quentin places his hand on top of hers. Her heart skips a beat when his skin brushes against hers. It’s amazing that after all these years, she still feels as deeply in love with Quentin as the day they got married.

The tester beeps, then spits out a message: “Meh. Lover Tester has seen better.”

“Oh,” Luna tries not to look disappointed.

“Hey, what does a machine know?”

“Nothing,” she plants a kiss on his cheek.

It’s late when the Bees finally leave the festival. So late, in fact, that Quentin and Luna--exhausted from a day of dancing and flirting--forget Lark behind. And Lark, who is focused on doing her homework for once, fails to notice her absent family or the festival shutting down around her.

Lark ends up bicycling home well after curfew. It’s exhilarating, quite the wild adventure for a young child. She doesn’t even get in trouble for arriving home near midnight--it is her parents’ fault after all.

How nice to be blameless for once.

***

Author’s note: Another so-called “filler” chapter. I’ve never shown an unposed birthday in either of my legacies, so I figured it was about time. Lark probably won’t get the same treatment because her birthday party was a trainwreck.

Lydia and Luke both rolled wishes to flirt on Love Day, so I tried to set them up with some of the cuter teenagers in Aurora Skies. BUT all the boys already have significant others so Lydia had to persuade Kristofer to leave his girlfriend. That’s already a really awful interaction, and to compound the awfulness, Lydia rolled wishes to snub Janelle (Kristofer’s ex) and egg her house.

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