2.7--Young Face Gone Wrong

Just to break the trend of starting every chapter with a birthday; I'm going to throw some random pictures in... and then get to the birthdays. 

Here is Michelle Dennis; Sybil and Hayley's first daughter. She definitely looks like Sybil facially, but has all of Lee's aesthetics (skin and hair color).  Certainly an intriguing mix. *twiddles thumbs*

This is Kizzy Dennis, their second daughter (which Sybil actually doesn't pop out until the end of this chapter; an early sneak peek).  And yes, Twallan's SP totally gave her that name autonomously. I'm sort of in love with it.  I didn't really get to see how Kizzy progressed before my game a-sploded, but she looks like Hayley in this picture (with Syb's hair color)... but with random eyes.  Srsly; blue eyes? The only person in their family that has blue eyes is Rob... and Sybil was ADOPTED garb-nobbit. *headdesk* 

Some random snapshots of Adamaris's newly redecorated room... because I'm damn proud of it (and because it took me for flippin' ever to get her wall color right).

Aaaaand, back to the regularly scheduled shenanigans.

The Dennis clan was in for quite the busy weekend as both Adamaris and Harper had birthdays within a day of each other.

Here she goes...

I'm seriously starting to wonder if the Dennis family is even capable of producing an ugly child.  If so, I feel terrible for whatever kid that ends up being because they will be OSTRACIZED!

Next up was Harper, who had her birthday party at central park the following night.

The sparkle attack!
While grandma Dennis apparently turns her back on her grandchild... 0_o

And there she is in all her surly glory.

Proof that Sybil is NEVER a happy, pregnant lady.

After Harper aged up and was adequately occupied with the local children that showed up for her birthday party, Olive made her way over to her extremely pregnant sister.


"Do you still think it's a tumor?" Olive asked sarcastically.


Sybil scoffed. "Technically it is a tumor; or rather, a parasite that's feeding off of my nourishment."


Hayley laughed. "But it's our parasite."


"Is my stomach supposed to get this big?  What if it is twins? Or triplets?!"


Hayley put her hands on Sybil's shoulders, forcing her to relax. "If it is, we'll deal with it.  The more the merrier, right?"


Sybil released a long sigh, before nodding slowly in assent. "If we have quadruplets though, I'm pawning them all off on you Olive."


Olive laughed. "You can certainly try.  I think I've sufficiently mastered pawning off my kids on other people, to catch on to your tricks though."

After a few more moments of calming Sybil; she was finally persuaded to eat some cake and relax, leaving Olive alone with her sister-in-law.


"You're glad it's not you that is pregnant this time, huh?"


Hayley gave her side glance with a mischievous smile. "Damn straight."

On Sunday, Olive visited the tattoo parlor.  She got a flower for Adamaris who was just budding into the world as an "almost" adult and a moon for Harper because it reminded her of Harper's solitary and introspective attitude; she was always surrounded by people, but preferred to be alone and in thought.

Sunday night, Robert surprised Mya, Olive, and Feng with two day passes to a resort in celebration of his retirement.  When Olive brought up reservations about leaving the girls home alone so soon after their birthdays, Robert jumped to their defense.


"They are both responsible girls, Olive.  Plus, I've already discussed it with Mar and she happily agreed to take care of Harper while we are gone."


Adamaris nodded in the background, knowing full-well that she was going to be doing something that would betray all of their trust while they were gone. "Yeah, mom. Don't worry... I have it under control.  And no parties, I promise."


And with that, Olive and Feng packed their things and joined their parents for a little getaway...

...while Adamaris gathered the last information that she needed to track down her father.


The Next Day...

Adamaris woke up nervous, but content.  Her father's schedule in the police force meant that he got off work roughly the same time that she got out of school and fearing that she would miss her opportunity, Adamaris decided to skip her first day of school so she would have the day to prepare herself for their meeting without obstruction.

So after making Harper breakfast and dropping her off at school, Adamaris wandered around town; spending the brunt of the afternoon in the park thinking of what she would say to her father.

As soon as it was two o'clock, she rushed over to his house and found him already outside.  He looked slightly shocked, but recognized her appearance right away and invited her inside.

The conversation started out civil enough, with him asking about how she was doing in school; but as soon as the topic of her mother came up he quickly changed tune. 

"So what, did your mother send you over to collect child support?" The way he said mother made Adamaris cringe.


"No. She hasn't told me anything about you. In fact, I had to research everything about you on my own."


Randolph scoffed. "Right. I cannot possibly fathom Olive not badmouthing me around town... especially to my estranged daughter." Again, the way Randy enunciated daughter made Adamaris feel sick to her stomach.  She shouldn't have come here and now she was regretting it.


"Listen. I just wanted to come here and find out who my dad is.  Mom had absolutely nothing to do with me taking the initiative, nor is she even aware that I'm here." Ada sighed, letting her anger calm a bit before continuing.  "I'm starting to realize that coming here unannounced was a mistake though."


Randolph scrunched his shoulders, letting his expression waver a bit toward compassion before donning the apathetic mask he wore so well. "Look, me and your mother decided long ago that it was best that we stayed out of each other's lives; and by extension, that means you too.  I am glad to meet you and you seem to have turned out well enough without me, but I don't care to go any further with this.  I'm sorry Adamaris, but I'm not your father and I don't want to be."


Adamaris sucked back the tears that were beginning to well.  She had built up her defenses and lowered her expectations in preparation for this, but it still hurt. "Then why spread those rumors about my mom holding you back from meeting me? What purpose did that serve?"


Randolph shrugged. "Everyone knew about what happened with us and I was confronted about it at work; so I lied to save what little reputation I still had.  Things got out of hand from there.  I'm sorry if it misled you, but I stand by my opinion.  Go back to your real parents, Adamaris; you won't find any here."

Adamaris looked back once at her father, the father that she hoped would want to be there as Feng was there for Harper, before leaving.  Feelings of disappointment, abandonment, and not fitting in neatly with her family began to rise as she rode her bike home.  These emotions were new and raw, but felt oddly familiar as if she had been harboring them for a million lifetimes... and she didn't like it.

Once home, Adamaris went through the motions.  She watched cartoons with Harper, who despite being so young, had always been particularly intuitive when it came to other people's feelings.  She knew that her sister had caught on to her plans to meet her father, and she knew that Harper was staying silent out of compassion for her obviously troubled sister.  Adamaris had never cherished silence more.

Harper asked Ada for a bedtime story, and she stoically obliged; hoping that it would distract her... but it didn't.


When Adamaris faltered a few times, turning her face quickly to wipe away a few tears that escaped; Harper interrupted.


"Are you okay, sissy?"


Adamaris nodded, knowing that any words she let out would betray her.


"I know what you did today... I mean, I saw the stuff on the computer last night.  I'm sorry if he wasn't nice, but I love you and I think it was really brave what you did."


Again, Adamaris nodded mutely.  Harper let the silence go on for a bit, before continuing the conversation. "Will you sleep with me tonight? I'm scared to be alone in grandma and grandpa's room."


Adamaris smiled, knowing that Harper was offering out of compassion rather than fear.  Harper was notoriously unfazed by anything that allowed her to be alone; sleeping included.  "Yes."

They went to sleep that night knowing that even in the most unforgivable circumstances, they still had each other.  Even this wouldn't comfort Adamaris though; she had let those new emotions fester and be held in for too long.  She was an outcast in her own family, a daughter without a true father that didn't fit in with the new family her mother had built, and there was nothing that could fix that.

------------------------------------------

Another Chapter with a song-title.  I think it *somewhat* captures Adamaris' feeling of helplessness and abandonment. (Ta-ta-ta-teen angst... wicka wicka).


Mogwai- Young Face Gone Wrong

'Ze Close-Ups

Ada-Mar-Mar; all grown up (sort of).

Harper.

Derp.

*Adamaris gained the Genius trait when she aged up.  She's sure putting that to use, ain't she?

*Feng is at level 4: Fertilizer Analyst
*Mya and Rob are still going strong.  Mya is at 106 days (it's capped so I have to guess how old she actually is... which I believe is around 115 days or so) and Robert is at 113.


We're inching closer to the end here folks. : ( 
And by "inching" I mean, one more Chapter.
Well, there's nowhere left to go but forward... to the bat mobile!