Chapter 42: Alone

Concerned about her looks, Chanda checks herself out frequently in the mirror.

Sheridan enjoys the show of her posing and preening, then purrs, "You're a goddess, Chanda. Now, come back to bed."

Sheridan has quit his life of crime, and found no other employment attractive enough to pursue, leaving him a wealthy man with nothing to do and time on his hands. So, he's started spending the money wildly, adding to his collection of expensive cars.

Fast cars are great, but driving around town all day isn't much entertainment. The constant idleness drives Sheridan to seek therapy. If he gets nothing else from it, at least it's another way to blow some of his money.

Rex has lived an exceptionally long life, and goes willingly with Grim when he comes for him.

Sheridan is not so content to see his father go, and argues with the Reaper, demanding his father's release. But Grim cannot be bullied into bringing the dead back to life.

Chanda, who has been spending most nights at his house since he dropped his crime gig, is there to console Sheridan in his grief. Since his rebellious teen days, Sheridan and Rex had a difficult relationship. Losing him showed Sheridan how much he actually loved and relied on his father.

"I'm alone," he sobs onto Chanda's shoulder.

"You're not alone," she whispers. "Thessaly is here. I'm here."

"You're here now, visiting," Sheridan growls with bitter emphasis, "What gives, Chanda? I gave up my job for you, I spend every night with you. But you still don't trust me. Your partner married Demond when he quit, but you still treat me like I'm not good enough."

Chanda holds him close, not afraid of his rising anger. The shock of his father's death has made him lose grip of himself, and he's pouring out the feelings he's been holding inside. "I love you, baby," she whispers, "I'll move in here tomorrow, if that's what you want."

Rex's urn is added to the mausoleum he built, placed next to Tamsin's.

Chanda moves in, and, like Sheridan, she quits her job. She's a good enough cop to know she's been severely compromised by her relationship. Even though he no longer actively commits crimes, he's guilty of countless heists, and she doesn't feel right going to work when she's living with the man she knows is responsible for several 'unsolved' burglary cases.

With his father's passing Sheridan has taken on the role of cook for his family, and worries that his waffles aren't as good as Rex's. As ever, whatever Sheridan does, he wants to be the best at it.

With all their free time, Sheridan and Chanda spend many hours working on their bodies.

And working on each other's bodies.

"Maybe we should take a trip somewhere," Sheridan suggests, restless, needing to be doing something.

"Anywhere in particular?" Chanda asks.

"I don't care," Sheridan answers, "Anywhere you want."

"I've always wanted to see Twikkii Island," Chanda says.

Thessaly is a senior in high school, and her parents deem her responsible enough to be one her own while they take their vacation. It helps that her boyfriend's father is a vampire and Sheridan's best friend, because he'll know if they get up to any trouble and report it back to him when they return.

Thessaly spends her first night of freedom at Cog with Riley.

They dance until curfew, then go back to her house, where Riley spends the night.

Riley has spent so many nights in this bed as a child, he considers it his own. Despite the fact that the room's last official inhabitant had a noticeably girly taste in decor.

Thessaly comes in to wake him in the morning.

"This is nice, isn't it?" she says, "It won't be long now before we're living like this all the time."

"We won't be alone like this," Riley observes, "Your parents will be here. All the time."

Thessaly sighs. She loves her father, and to a lesser extent, her mother, but she doesn't relish the idea of continuing the family tradition of living with her extended family. But her father would freak out if she even hinted that she might move out after graduation, she's sure of it. "I hope that's okay with you," she says, "I want you to be happy here."

"I've been happier here than anywhere else," he answers, "I'm happy wherever you are."

Before her parents return, Thessaly adds purple highlights to her hair. Unlike her father, Thessaly is not the rebellious sort, and behaved very responsibly while he was away.

Out dancing at Cathedral, Sheridan runs into Vito Maldonado, Sedrick's younger brother, who decides to pick a fight with him, trying to defend his family's lost honor.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Sheridan asks, "I've kicked your brother's ass more than once, and I'll kick your ass just as hard."

Vito does not take the offered chance to back down, and the brawling starts.

Chanda says she doesn't like him getting into fights, but she's always thrilled, and turned on, by his victories.

But Sheridan come out tonight looking for a fight, he had something more romantic in mind.

"Oh, it's so...so huge!" Chanda gasps.

"Only the best for you, baby," Sheridan laughs, "Will you marry me now?"

"Yes!" Chanda enthuses, letting him slip the giant rock onto her finger.

Sheridan and Chanda go home and celebrate their engagement in the hot tub.

"The penthouse apartment at Roth Square apartments has opened up," Chanda observes, "It has an incredible view of the beach."

"We can't move there," Sheridan says, "Thessaly will need enough space to start a family."

"I was thinking that just you and I would move there. Thessaly would have this whole house to start a family."

"I grew up here," Sheridan protests, "My mother grew up here, and her father, and on and on..."

"And Thessaly will be here to carry on the tradition. We aren't as old as your parents were when you came of age. I'm not ready to become a full time grandmother. I'm going to be a newlywed, and I want some time with just my husband. I'm sure Thessaly would like the same privacy."

after a little more back and forth over the issue, Sheridan agrees to move out with Chanda when Thessaly comes of age.

Thessaly and Riley share their birthday celebration once again. When the cake is finished, Sheridan and Chanda drive off to their new apartment by the beach.

Leaving Thessaly and Riley alone in the Enmity family house.

____________________________________________________
Challenge Notes:
Yes, letting Chanda move in was against the rules for the single parent role. But, it fit in this place in the story.
I made sure that having Chanda in the house brought no benefit to the family. She quit her job right away. We transferred 30k to Dulce's household (an 'inheritance' from Rex). I did not allow Chanda to do any housework or cooking. Since she has the 'good' trait, I had her donate 1,000 a day to charity. (to Kleptos Anonymous, which I found funny as she also has the klepto trait). I also sent her to the spa everyday to get the most expensive treatments. So she was a drain on the household funds, and no help around the house.
The apartment Sheridan and Chanda moved into cost around 85k. Sheridan took his two cars, plus a new motorcycle he bought. I also transferred another 50k to his household so they could afford their tax bill. (that's an SP thing)
As soon as they moved, SP put Sheridan back in the crime career, and put Chanda into politics. They have about 10 days before turning elder.

Sheridan's argument with Grim was autonomous. He and Chanda were woohooing when Grim came for Rex, and when they were done, Sheridan came out on his own to yell at the Reaper.

Being done with the Fighter goal is a relief. Having it did add to Sheridan's character, but it grew tedious finding people to pick fights with, and finding reasons for the fights.

Now Generation 7 is on. Recap of the roll:
Mixed Couple, 4 kids, primary career is Author, secondary is Busker/Band.
The goal is Property Mogul and misc. fun is Fashion Diva.
I got Thessaly started early on the Fashion Diva by changing her outfit and hair as a teen. I'll probably change her hair back to basic black with pregnancy, so the kids don't inherit the funky highlights.
I'm not sure how seriously I'm going to pursue the band thing this time around. I did it once, and, meh, not excited about doing it again. Also, don't care about busking. Riley will play guitar a lot. He comes with the LTW to max all instruments. I'm going to change that as soon as he earns the points, because one thing I am not doing this generation is grinding skills.
Thessaly's LTW is Renaissance Sim. She already has a head start in several skills. Writing will be one to max, and probably cooking and painting will be the others.

So, for the first time I took the opportunity to send the parents on a vacation. I had wanted to do that with Sheridan's teen stage, but the opportunity didn't come.
And, of course, it glitched, Sheridan and Chanda popped back into the house before the first night was over. They lost most of the stuff in their inventory. Luckily nothing too important. Sheridan lost a collection helper, but we aren't collecting stuff anymore, anyway. I was actually not going to have Thessaly throw a party, anyway. I was just going to have her and Riley living together for a few days. So, meh, at least they didn't die or come home elderly.

Total side note, my husband caught a glimpse of a pic of Sheridan and Chanda in their clubwear, and he said "Looks like Jersey Shore." Well, that's what I was going for, so, yay me.