1.25 - Justine's Final Thoughts

One early morning, the sun slowly rose above the ocean coloring the sky like a wall of fire.

As the full moon made its descent, the outside was alive with one lone stranger, stalking its next prey

Marvin was growing plum trees.  He needed some outstanding plums for a special dish he was making.  Unfortunately, one of his trees turned into a tasty treat instead.

Poor Marvin's tree!  Thankfully, he had more plums he could plant.

He discovered the broken tree after everyone left.  Of course, he didn't seem to notice he was working in his undies...

...until the post woman sent a whistle his way.  With a red face, he went inside quickly to change before he continued his work.

That evening, Caitlin, Sophia and Lynelle played a game of hopscotch.  Lynelle and Caitlin sang together while Sophia had her turn.

However, while Caitlin was taking her turn, Lynelle was having a bit too much fun, at Sophia's expense. She kept giggling and pointing at Sophia.  Sophia thought it was quite rude.

"Can't you see Wiggles standing in front of you, twin?" asked Lynelle with a smile.  She couldn't believe that Sophia couldn't see him.  He was standing right there.

Sophia looked in front of her, then all around her.  "I don't see anything," she said with all seriousness.  This happened frequently and they would get aggravated with each other.

Wiggles looked back at Sophia and stuck his tongue out at her.  Lynelle giggled again.  

Lynelle and Wiggles spent time together frequently, talking and playing games together and their relationship grew. One day, she told me she had a special project, but would not tell me anything further.  I thought it must be something for school.

As with all friendships, though, Lynelle and Wiggles did have their rough patches.  I think Lynelle got annoyed with Wiggles' shenanigans at times.

Despite the whole Wiggles situation, she really did well in school and even made it on the honor roll.  She seemed to have a good head on her shoulders.  She also started a sci-fi book called "My Brother the Alien".

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Caitlin's POV

One day at school, my friends and I were talking and someone brought up the fact that there hadn't been a prank pulled at school for a long time.  I thought that was surprising.  However, the bell rang and didn't think anything further of it.

That night I went home and an idea popped in my head.  I decided that I wanted to end the dry spell.  I planned my genius prank for a week and then on a Friday night, I put my plan into action.  

I went to the school and saw the sign for the biology fair hanging on the front of the building.  I got a little queasy feeling in my stomach thinking of the consequences if I were caught.  In that moment, I almost turned around and left...

...but I had planned everything out very carefully, even down to scotch tape on the door latches to keep them unlocked.  I looked around carefully and continued my adventure.

After I got inside, I put on the gloves that I had brought and quickly made my way to the science lab.  As I passed the gymnasium, I noticed everything was set up for the biology fair.  I couldn't wait to hear what happened tomorrow!  I got a little excited and walked faster towards the lab.

I found the door to the lab still unlocked thanks to my tape trick.  I walked in and heard the frogs before I even saw them.  I flicked on a light and made my way towards rows and rows of cages.  The frogs were part of some kind of biology fair exhibit and they had to hold them in the lab since there were like 50,000 of them.  I don't quite know what they were planning to do with 50,000 frogs, but I didn't care.  It was the perfect opportunity!

I walked towards them and one-by-one, I opened up each cage.  Thankfully, there weren't 50,000 cages.  The frogs didn't all jump out at once, of course.  Many just sat there, but I knew, by morning, most would be roaming the halls.  I turned off the lights, left the lab door open, took my piece of tape from both doors, and went home.  

I heard later that the prank was epic....with the students.  The teachers tried to investigate, but there was no evidence and no one admitted to it.  Well, duh...not sure why they would think someone would admit to it.  I didn't think I'd ever be on their list since I'm usually a good student and even made the honor roll recently.  Thankfully, I never got caught nor did anyone ever find out it was me....well, except one person.

I told Felix what happened and he couldn't believe it! He thought I was a genius and I think that is when he started liking me as more than a friend.  I didn't mind.  I kind of liked him, too.

One evening, a few weeks before prom, he called to ask me to the prom...I accepted.  It would be a fun night!

I still loved the futuristic items I came across.  I bought a jet pack and had so much fun flying around.  It took some getting used to and a few times, I thought I might crash into the ground, but it was a lot of fun, nonetheless.  

Mom said she might even try it out.  I was shocked!  I thought all she wanted to do was work.  She was constantly coming and going.  

When I was old like her, I vowed I'd do all I could to have fun!  I was happy to at least see that she was trying.  I couldn't wait to see her up in the air.

I also bought a virtual pet called a "sprite".  His name was Fiery and I really enjoyed talking to him.  It was all a little strange to mom.  She kept muttering something about "young kids and their new fangled toys".   I just rolled my eyes.

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Justine's POV

Marvin and I continued working towards our next promotion.  Marvin never seemed to grow tired of all the reading and research he did to learn new recipes.  I'd much rather be out and about instead of my head in a book.  I was glad he enjoyed himself, though.

I never enjoyed rummaging, but I continued to do it so I could find any new suspicious information about those around town.  I felt I was closing in on something big.  One morning, I woke up to this picture on the front page.   

I wasn't too happy to find myself in this less than flattering position, but for the first time, I was ever so grateful for rumors because no one ever suspected that I was a spy. 

Yes, life never seemed to have a dull moment.  I walked in to wake up Sophia one morning, but found her sitting in bed looking bored.  She wanted to do something with all of us.  I suggested we try to go to the Summer Festival in town.  She brightened up quickly and was ready before all of us.

We made our way to the park and Marvin, London and Lynelle signed themselves up right away for hot dog eating contest.

"Kids, I'm going to beat all of you!  I'm #1!" exclaimed Marvin.

"No way, Dad!" yelled London.  "I am much younger and my body can tolerate the consumption of all this food.  You are far too..." 

"Watch it..." interrupted Marvin raising his eyebrows at his son.

"...mature," finished London.

Lynelle looked at both of them and started getting a little green.  "Um...I think I'm going to walk around with Sophia..." and with that, she left.

"Ha!  One less person that I need to beat now," said Marvin.

The buzzer sounded and the contest began.  Marvin did very well, but then suddenly London sped up with swishes of water in between bites.  Then, victory!

Marvin congratulated his son and walked over to me.  I pulled Marvin to the side and kissed him.  He asked what the kiss was for and I told him that he was a fantastic example to the kids.  He didn't whine or complain that the contest was a set up or that he lost.  He showed only good sportsmanship, which I appreciated.

He just pulled me close and kissed me softly, sending shivers down my spine. Breathlessly, I pulled away.  I couldn't believe that after all of our years together, he could still make my body crave him, with just a kiss.

To distract us, we decided to try the love tester machine.  We already knew our love was out of this world, but it was still a fun thing to do at the festival.

When we saw the results, we just laughed.  "Your love is burning your loins."  As we turned to go, Marvin pulled me close and said, "Baby, my loins are burning for you."  I almost started laughing again, but he captured my lips with his making my brain stop working.  I told him he'd better stop it or we'd have to leave earlier than we planned.  He said he didn't mind one bit.

Before we left, though, I really wanted us to get a picture together.  So, we rounded everyone up and made our way to the picture booth.  

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London's POV

Life was going pretty good!  I had an awesome computer.  I had a few friends at school that I enjoyed hanging around.  I had made it on the honor roll.  I already had a book published and another one in the works.  I had a car.  Yeah, life was pretty good.

Suddenly, it seemed, life got really complicated.

One day, I walked into the bathroom where I saw a strange man thing.  He wasn't real and I could see through him.  I freaked out!

"Woah!  Who are you?"

"Calm down, it's ok.  I mean no harm.  My name is Emit Relevart.  I'm a time traveler from the future.  Your name is London Ramsey, right?"

For a minute, I just stared at him.  I kind of looked him over and finally said, "You look like a hologram.  How is that possible that you're a time traveller?"  I was scared! I wasn't sure how he knew my name.

Emit just smiled and said patiently, "Yes, I am a hologram.  It's hard to explain, but yes, time travel is possible.  You are London Ramsey, aren't you," he said matter-of-factly. "The blue skin gives it away."

"Um..y-yes, yes....I am.  Why?"

"As I thought.  You are needed in the future.  You will come, right?  We need you right away."

I stared at him like he was crazy!  I could not just go to the "future" with this mad man!  I didn't even know how to unless there was a blue phone box around somewhere, which I doubted.

I decided he was probably a complete figment of my imagination.  Maybe I was dreaming.  Sometimes those dream pod beds gave me some crazy dreams.

"No.  No way!"  I yelled, thinking that would make him go away.  I turned to run out of the bathroom when I heard a "pop" sound.  When I turned back around, he'd vanished. It was the weirdest most unbelievable thing that has happened to me. It haunted me and I never forgot that encounter with the blue-haired holographic man in our bathroom.

The night we went to the festival was a few weeks before prom.  I found myself on my bed trying to figure out what was wrong with me.  I was enjoying my life and had lots of fun working on my dream of becoming a famous author one day.  So, why was I so down?

Mom came in to say good night and noticed I was somber.  She asked what was wrong.  I surprisingly didn't hold back.

"I don't know, Mom.  I'm kind of sad.  I didn't think I'd care about going to prom or even taking someone, but I think I was wrong.  There is someone I care for a little more than I thought I did.  She makes me want to be with her."

"Esmeralda?"

I looked up quickly at Mom.  I couldn't believe she knew.  "How'd you know?"

"Oh, honey, I've known for awhile.  It may not have been obvious to most of the others, but I noticed.  You've known each other all of your lives and are best friends!  I've noticed the extra looks that you have sent her way lately."

I looked at my hands again.  I was so mixed up inside.  I didn't know what to do.

"I don't even know what I would say to her.  I doubt she even likes me in that way."

"Woah!  You cannot think like that," said Mom, as she sat on the bed next to me.  "You have no idea what she is thinking.  One of the first major no-no's in a relationship of any kind is to automatically assume what they are thinking.  Until you communicate with them, you'll have no idea.  It is key to ANY relationship.  Talk to her and see what she thinks.  Take one step at a time.  You've been friends for a long time, so continue to make that your priority.  I'd hate for you to lose your best friend."

I felt hope billow up inside of me.  Maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all. We talked all the time.  Sometimes I felt she understood me better than any of my guy friends did.

I got up to get changed with a renewed vigor.  "Thanks, Mom!  I think I'm going to run over there really quick before I lose my nerve.  It's only 8:00 pm, so it isn't too late."

"Honey, slow down!  You can drive over there if you want, I don't have a problem with that since you homework is done.  Just please think about what you will say.  Take your time and be respectful. 

You are very good at reading people, so just watch how she reacts to your presence and direction of talk.  If she starts to look uncomfortable, you may just want to save it for another time."

"Yeah, yeah, I will.  Thanks, Mom!" I said as I rushed out of the bedroom on my way downstairs to my car.  I knew if I didn't do this now, I might chicken out.  I was so excited, but I did try to calm down a little.  The last thing I wanted to do was get into an accident.

On the way up to the Macklamoor's front door, I tripped, of course.  I just got up and kept going as this was normal.

I knocked on the front door and Esmeralda answered it.  She smiled and gave me a quick hug.  Ok, so far so good.  Then, she let me in.  I apologized for coming so late, but she waved the apology away stating it wasn't that late.

"So, um...how was your weekend?"

"Well, it was good, I guess.  We went to the festival yesterday and then today, Dad and I took Jenni to the park so Mom could rest.  She's getting close to her due date, so she tires more easily."

"That's good.  I can't believe your Mom is getting ready to have another baby."

"I know.  She's so old!"  Esmeralda rolled her eyes, then looked at me.  When I looked at her, she just grinned and said, "London, did you really come all the way over here to ask me how my weekend went?  You could have asked me that at school tomorrow. What's going on?"

I was a little unnerved by her bluntness, but she knew me well.  "Um...well...we're friends, right?"

"Of course!  You're like..." she put her finger to her temple as if she were thinking, "...you're like my best friend!" she said with a smile.  I think at that moment, she realized that I was truly her best friend.  I smiled at that thought.  It also gave me the courage to go on.

"Can we go into another room?  For privacy?"  She looked at me funny, but agreed. She asked if she could use her Dad's study while he put Jenni to bed.  He agreed, but told us not to stay up too late.

My courage grew as I walked through the familiar house.   We walked in and she shut the door.   "Ok, London, out with it," she said sternly. I could tell she was very curious.

"Well, first, I just wanted you to know that you are also my best friend.  I feel comfortable with you and know we can talk about anything," I said.  My heart beat a little faster when she smiled and nodded in agreement.  She was so pretty.  My courage dropped a smidge, but I pressed on.

"I feel like our friendship is strong enough to make it through anything, so I'm going to ask you a question:  will you do me the honor of attending prom with me?" I asked as I looked into her gorgeous eyes.

Her face lit up and her smile grew wider than I'd ever seen it.  "Yes, of course!  I'd love to!"

"Really?!  Wow!"  I honestly couldn't believe she had agreed so quickly.

"You sound like you were expecting rejection.  Why?  You are my best friend.  Why wouldn't we go together?," she asked.  She suddenly seemed nervous and looked down as if realizing something for the first time.

"What is it, Es?"  I noticed the change immediately and wondered if she would back out.

"Well, I guess I'm kind of nervous now."

"I know what you mean.  I was a wreck on the way over here, but very excited, too.  Let's talk about it."

"You were nervous?  You always seem so calm and collected."  She looked away again, but I touched her arm so she would look at me again.

"Look, it is true I like you as more than just a friend and I think you just realized you have feelings for me as well."  I stopped for a moment as I gauged her reaction.  She blushed, but then looked into my eyes.  I took that as a good sign and continued.  "I don't want to push us to be anything right now.  I just want to go to the prom with you.  That's my goal.  Let's go to prom, have a blast and see where things lead.  We can still hang with our friends while we're there, but I want to dance with you and you ONLY the whole night.  That is if you agree."  She blushed again and looked down.

I knew we were both a little uneasy as we wrapped our heads around it all.  I wanted her to feel safe and not pressured, so I waited patiently as she thought through my idea.

A few minutes later, I felt her hands lace with mine.  I wondered what I had just gotten myself into as she made my heart do some crazy flips.  I looked up at her and she softly said, "That sounds perfect, London.  Thanks for asking me!  I will save every dance for you alone.  I appreciate you taking things slow.  I am a little scared, but I do trust you."  

It was getting a little late, so I stepped back and pulled out a bouquet of flowers.  I gave them to her with a bow and said, "Thank you, malady, for letting me have the privilege of escorting you to prom."

She giggled and blushed as she accepted them.  She thanked me for the flowers and brought them to her face to smell them.

I knew I needed to leave or my discipline to be patient would fly out the window.  I gave her a quick hug, told her we'd talk details later and left.  I couldn't believe I was so lucky to have her as my best friend.

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Justine's POV

I was so thrilled for Caitlin and London as they got ready for their prom.  They both looked stunning and I had hired a professional photographer to take pictures.  We went to the local art studio and used it as the backdrop.  Afterwards, both couples went to eat and then to prom at the school.

Felix and Caitlin

  


London and Esmeralda

All together

It was a beautiful prom evening in Roaring Heights.  They couldn't have asked for a better night!

Many things happened on their prom night including:

- London received the most votes for prom king
- Caitlin received the most votes for prom queen
- London and Esmeralda were the dancing dynamic duo of the night
- Felix asked Caitlin to go steady (she accepted)
- Felix and Caitlin had their first kiss
- Esmeralda asked London to go steady (he accepted)

The night Caitlin had her birthday, I had a dream that she would become a doctor.  Unfortunately, my dream was shattered when she decided her dream was to become a pop star.  She decided her stage name would be "Pure Genius".  She didn't want to go to college and started right away with performing sing-a-grams around town.

I will say that Marvin and I were a little disappointed about her denial of college, but she was our daughter, so we would support her 100% as we would any of the rest of our children with their endeavors.  She was very talented!

She practiced any chance she got and always seemed caught up in the music.

She hated the outfit, but knew she had to follow company policy.  Once she hit it big, she would choose outfits that fit her style.

The day the twins had their birthday was a sad one for me.  They were growing up far too fast, but I held hope that they would still need me, if only for a short time.  

We had a birthday party for them and invited a few friends.

Dylan Libby, our old housekeeper, was able to get away to celebrate with us.

Scot and Sophie Macklamoor came with Tiberius Willard not far behind.

I had invited Grumpo Marks as well.  He was getting along in his years and I would be sad to see my good friend leave this earth.  I know Dyno would be sad, too, but he was holding up well despite that he had already lost two of his other brothers. Unfortunately, Dyno couldn't make this party due to his job.

"How's it feel to be a father again?"

"Awesome!  I just can't wait until Nathaniel sleeps through the night."

"I'm very glad you were able to come.  I've missed you both!  Now that London is dating Esmeralda, we probably should try to get together more."

"Yeah, though I'm a little worried they are moving too fast.  They are already going steady and we really wanted Esmeralda to go to college."

"Well, from what London has told me, she still plans to go while he stays behind to write and finish high school.  Only time will tell if they continue together as a couple.  As we know, college can definitely change you."

Scot laughed and completely agreed.  He went to find Sophia and wrapped his arms around her.  They were such an adorable couple!

Judy was also able to come, but she was only there for a short time as she also had to work.  I was so glad to see her, though.  I gave her a big hug and she told me a little of what had been happening lately.

She missed Frank, of course, but found that he had cheated on her multiple times. Many of his ex-lovers had stepped forward trying to get a piece of his estate.  Of course, they were all denied.  Sleeping with him didn't mean they were entitled.  They were laughed right out of court.

Judy didn't care about the money, though she was grateful to have it for their kids' benefit.  She was more upset and hurt hurt by his betrayal.  She didn't know what he was thinking! It was tough to see all of these beautiful women step forward and claim they had slept with her husband.

I never spoke about what he had tried to do with me.  I was sad that she had to find out the way she had, though.  However, I was also extremely happy for her.  She was dating Dyno and I knew he was an amazing man who would treat her with the respect she deserved.

Finally, it was candle time!

Afterwards, we all enjoyed some cake.  It was one of the most memorable parties I can recall.

I'm a sucker for family pictures, so we took another one shortly after the party.  I didn't know how many more pictures together we had, so I took every opportunity.

A few weeks later, I found that all my hard work had finally paid off!  I had been working on a case since practically the beginning of my career.  I had gotten the final piece of evidence and a secret warrant had been issued.  Only a few of us knew about the warrant because we were sure that someone inside the agency was feeding information to a suspected criminal warehouse just outside of town.  We had figured out who it was and arrested them. 

Once we stopped the leak, I knew we had a chance to bring down the top criminal family in town.  

I ran up to the building and quickly sneaked onto the property.  I was able to walk right up to the front door with no confrontation or attack.  I was quite surprised at the lack of security.  I guess they felt with an inside man, they could relax.

Working together, my team and I found many illegal activities going on when we raided the building.  We made multiple arrests including a few in China and France.  I walked out feeling elated!  I'd done my job and I'd also achieved my dream!   I had become an International Super Spy! 

After I was done protecting the world, I went home and decided to try my hand at flying with a jet pack.  I was ready to finally have some fun (and maybe pee my pants a little)! Caitlin was standing nearby getting a kick out of my screams.

I don't know what life would bring now.  I'd probably enjoy my job a little longer, but eventually, I would retire with pride.  Our children were our legacy, but only one could lead the way.

It seems in this world, decisions were sometimes tough to make.  We loved all our children equally and couldn't decide who we wanted to lead.  We were thankful that we did not have to choose.  It would have been impossible.


*lovesstorm's notes*

The next heir of the Ramsey Wishacy is:  London!  Thank you to all our readers who voted to make this happen.  It was incredibly close.  Here's the picture of our final poll picture:

However, I had one extra vote for Lynelle and two extra votes for London which didn't go through correctly on the poll.  So, the final tally was:
London = 36
Lynelle = 35

London won by ONE vote!  Amazing!  Hopefully, he's one you wanted.  If not, I will definitely try to keep you up-to-date with the others.  I'll leave them all together for right now, but I'll probably start running out of bedrooms soon.  :))

I did have some problems with the prom pictures.  When I got everyone to arrive to take them, I found that both Felix and Esmeralda had already aged up to young adult.  So, neither were actually at the prom (I really wish I'd have known this ahead of time), but the game acted like they were.  This explains the ugly prom clothes in the prom pictures.  :))

So, I did have to age them both down and take pictures.  Due to that little fluke, I didn't notice until AFTER everything was done that my custom eyes were gone and EA's defaults were in place.  I apologize for them not looking as gorgeous as normal.  :-O  I didn't even notice until I looked at the pictures a few days later, which I guess shows that it was NOT that important.  ;)

Also, I apologize for all the big paragraphs in this chapter.  I knew this was the last one for this generation and wanted to give everyone an update of some of Justine's friends around town.  :D

On a sad, scary note, I had to get into my save file earlier this week for last minute information.  However, it started crashing on me.  @-)  I've tried many things to fix it and nothing has worked so far.  However, I went into a new save and the game worked perfect.

So, my next step is to copy my family/house.  I think the save file is not necessarily corrupt (it doesn't say it is), but it is just so bogged down.  So, I'll move them into a new Roaring Heights save file, which I'm sure will work just extra work.  I'll try to save a few of the families that they talk to frequently and move them all in so we don't miss them.  However, I will need to cheat to put the relationships back to where they are.

Poses
Sadness Poses by Simprov/AristKate
The Ceremony Pt 2 by Kiddo's Dreams
With Love by Rayne
Loretta by Skylar
Reflections by IMHO
We Heart It Inspired Pose Pack by Skylar
Male Model Poses by Inna Lisa
Inseparable by Zoe Cabral

2.1 - Time to Fly