The Crane Legacy: Chapter 4.1- The Family Way

Welcome back dear Readers! I'm excited, because wow, we're almost caught up! It only took... five months. Or so.

Last we left off, we discovered the real reason Winnie married Atlas, how Othello got to college, and basically, The Cranes lives aren't really theirs to live. But do they know that?

Meanwhile, Charity got engaged to the love of her life, Othello, and she decided to become a Family Sim, and they are now pursuing their quest to have 10 children. Her sister, spare heiress Charissa, got engaged to her lover, Baal Baum, secretly the chosen "plant" for this generation. Xerxes, the girls' alien cousin, was dissatisfied with his life, and begged his sister to bite him, thereby becoming a vampire. Now, we continue the story of The Crane Family...

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Upon graduating from college, all of the Annya-Oresha-Var members decided to go back to The Crane Estate. Charity wanted all of her dearest friends to see her marrying her love, Othello Dionysus.



"Come on guys! Lets take one last picture before we move on towards our new lives!" Charity was excited. The next day was her WEDDING. She could hardly believe it. As a young teen, she believed she would never marry. Now, she was taking the ultimate step, committing herself forever to one man.

"CHEESE!"

As the flash went off, the seven friends smiled, their smiles eternally frozen in that picture which would grace the halls of The Crane Estate for Generations to come.



Xerxes was glad that Charity had taken that picture. Maybe she would forgive him...







Xerxes wasn't always unhappy. But once he arrived at college, he just couldn't bear it anymore. He watched his cousins fall in love, even his brothers were happier than him. So he became a vampire. He thought being a creature of the night would make him happy, but it didn't. Now his cousin was getting married, and he was going to miss her wedding thanks to his stupid choices.

So he killed himself.



Of course, upon discovering that Xerxes was dead, and not wanting to wake up Charity on her wedding day, Cressida used Valeria's special phone to bring him back.



"Thanks for reviving me, Cress."

"It was no problem, master Xerxes. Might I ask you to stay away from the Cowplant next time?"

"Sure thing Cress."



Xerxes went right back to the Cowplant.



"Master Xerxes! What has happened to you!"

Cressida was feeling the robotic equivalent of shock. According to her Optical Receptors and her Biological Scans, Xerxes Crane was no longer anything near being a normal Sim. He was originally half-Sim, half- alien. Cressida had received information that he was bitten by his half-sister and was now a Vampire, his alien DNA even further converted. But now... he was dead. By all her accounts, he was no linger living.

Cressida had created a Zombie.

"Master Xerxes, what have I done? Forgive me!" Cressida couldn't bear the thought of having created such a creature. She was feeling the robotic equivalent of guilt.



"Grrrr.... *moan*"

Xerxes no longer had much of a brain, but he knew that *this* would DEFINITELY ruin Charity's wedding.

"Why don't you go for a little walk, Xerxes? I assure you I will inform Charity of your new condition."

Xerxes moaned in agreement and went outside, his new brain easily swayed by the kind robot's suggestion.



Only to find the sun had risen. Of course, due to his Vamipiric nature, he instantly began to melt. The sun was literally burning him to death.



Xerxes stumbled towards the area where the wedding would be held. At least this way someone would find his body- or what was left of it.



As he melted away, Xerxes thought of the father he never knew, and the family he never got to experience. He hoped that Charity raised her children well.





By the time Cressida arrived, Xerxes Crane was long gone. She bent down, and tidily scooped his ashes away.



Cressida stopped for a second as she saw the Grim Reaper standing behind her. For a brief moment, she wondered what it would be like to die.

She shook her head, and walked briskly back into the house, Xerxes' ashes in tow.



Later that day, the day had arrived! Charity Crane, Generation Three Heiress was finally getting married. She and Othello decided to get married immediately so that they could begin having children. Charity also decoded that adopting children was necessary, and had begun going through the motions to have a child delivered to them. Who knew that Kodak Development Inc. also was in charge of the Kodak Orphanage?



"I'm really happy, Charity."

"Me too O. Now we'll be together forever."

With this, the too snuggled in preparation for the guests to begin arriving.



Not that they were all that interested in the wedding to begin with. Usually, pool tables proved far more interesting a lure to unsuspecting friends of Charity's.



Once all of the guests arrived and were seated, Charity and Othello began the event that would cement their love for all the world to see.



"Charity, finding you was the luckiest thing that ever happened to me. I am so glad that I made it to college and found the love of my life. I love you, and I can't wait to begin our live together as man and wife."

"Othello, I love you. I gave up my fun loving ways for you- twice. You made me realize that Family is the most important thing in life, even if mine wasn't perfect."





The wedding was a success. Charity has risen to her position gracefully, and beautifully. She had done her duty as heiress, and married her love at the same time.



Even the party was a roaring hit. Charity, unfortunately had to miss most of it. Ever since they had returned from college she had been feeling sick, and she had a sneaking suspicion she knew why.



That night, the other left. Charissa told everyone that she and Baal planned to marry as soon as possible. Charity and Cressida waved them away. They were lovely friends, and she promised to keep in touch with all of them as they drove away from the Estate.



"Now we can do what we've wanted to do since last night..."

Othello snuggled closer to his new wife. Charity practically glowed.



"Well, we can do it for fun, but I think our little practice sessions have already proved quite fruitful..."

With that, the newlyweds kissed, and (after other activities) floated off into a peaceful sleep.



Of course Cressida already knew. Her Biological Scanner quickly alerted her to the fact that a young Sim was growing inside of the young heiress. She had specific orders, however, and quickly made the secret Crane Cheesecake, coined by Romulus. She was told never to tell what *exactly* was in it, Cressida did know however that whenever pregnant Sims ate it, the Sim inside them seemed to become two... It was odd, really.

"So, Cress, aren't you happy? Soon we'll have two children in the house!"

Cressida of course thought she meant the two babies.



She was wrong. The child that Charity and Othello had ordered had arrived, ready for them to raise.



His name was Arthur. Arthur was an enigma to Charity: he was incredibly serious, and odd. He never liked to play with any of the toys in the nursery, he preferred to read. "The poor child is probably traumatized after the death of his parents!" Charity would tell herself.



However, being pregnant isn't exactly the best of conditions to bond with a child in.



And Othello was training for the career that he wanted to go into.



It didn't matter to Arthur, however. He had a home, and a family. Even if they were currently too busy, he knew they loved him, and he enjoyed skill building.



Soon enough, another little girl was adopted. Her name was Athena. Athena was like a burst of fire let into the house, she was authoritative, dominating, and extremely domineering... Everything Valeria was, and more. Yet she was extremely intelligent. She was going to be a challenge to raise.





Later on, Arnaud was adopted. He was unlike his siblings- he was fun loving, playful and energetic. Charity and Othello were ecstatic that their children were so different, and that they were beginning their dream of raising children that no one else could.



Eventually, the time came, and Charity was in labor. She had NO idea it would hurt this much, but alas. All for the family, right?



First born of the Crane Generation Four Children was Dorian Crane- S3 like his mommy, but with blond hair and brown eyes like his father.





Needless to say Charity was surprised when another baby was born- they named him Donovan. S3 as well, but with Red Hair like his mother, and Brown Eyes.





Right around the time the boys were born, Arthur and Athena transitioned into teens. Arthur (SURPRISINGLY) chose a life of Pleasure, while Athena surprised no one when she chose Fortune.

Of course, some of the otherworldly residents of the house did not appreciate Arthur's random aspiration choice.





Truth is, the ghosts didn't like Arnaud either.



But, time marched on for The Cranes.



The boys became toddlers with opposing personalities. Dorian was extremely serious, yet outgoing, choosing only to talk to his brother and parents, ignoring his Siblings, while Donovan was sociable, wanting attention from Cressida, his siblings and everyone.



Charity worked extra hard to impress the headmaster and get her three older children into Private School.





She also made sure her kids worked extra hard to get all of the scholarships she herself had gotten as a teen.



Under her watchful eye, Arthur was approved for early admission (after earning all his necessary scholarships) and left the house of SSU.



That didn't mean that the Crane Children didn't have fun.

"Come on Cressida dance! Its good for you! Plus there's a scholarship for it! DANCE!"

Athena was fairly bossy at times.

And there was another round of birthdays.



Dorian grew into an awkward child.



Donovan grew into a less awkward child.


"Where the ladies at?"

And Arnaud grew into a cool, confident Romance Sim teen.



Late that night, Charity and Othello snuggled in bed together.

"We've done a good job so far, no?"

"Yes, we have. I'm so glad Arthur got accepted early."

"Thats our Arthur, always so smart and dedicated."

"Yes, but do you think he's... I don't know. Hiding something from us?"

"Charity, you worry too much."

"Maybe you're right..."



"Why don't we start working on another little bundle of joy?"

"Always."

With that, we leave you!

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I know this update moved REALLY quickly, but... Early Gen 4 moved really quick. I was SOOOOOO busy getting all the scholarships that I barely took any pictures. Sorry guys!

The kids are odd, I know, but... thats them. 5 down, 5 to go.



If you couldn't tell, right around this point (September, the beginning of school, I remember!) I discovered PMBD. My poor Laptop was never the same. I downloaded ALL of Peggy's hairs, even the ugly ones... I actually really like Charity's hair, and Athena's as well.

And while it seems that Othello and Charity never spend time with their kids, I made sure they got to 100 on the first day, even before skillbuilding. It was hard to get them to be friends, but I did it.

The kids weren't friends with each other though, Arthur, Athena and Arnaud had 0/0 with Dorian and Donovan until they got to college.

And, while it might seem unrealistic for the first five kids to go to college together considering Arthur was a teen when they were born... Its Sims, deal with it.

And WTF. Arthur and Athena Crane were clones- literal clones. They had the same face, same skin, same eye color, same hair color, same personality, the only difference is the gender. Arthur has the Pao face, and I gave Athena the Marisa Bendett face at random with InSim. It really freaked me out. I gave them different personalities though, because LATER ON, they act... differently, obviously.

As for Xerxes "killing himself"... SIGH. I wanted the Black Sheep point, and the Burned to Death Ghost, and it was perfect. The story sucks, but WHATEVER.

I'm sorry readers.

Thanks for reading and commenting!

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+1 point thanks to the huge Net Worth increase
+1 point for Xerxes becoming a Black Sheep
+1 point for a Time in a Bottle Bonus
+1 point for Xerxes' Sunlight ghost
+1 point thanks to the Birth of Generation 4
+1 point for having NPC Newspaper Delivery Boy in the bloodline
+1/2 a point for Arthur earning $9,500 in scholarship money

TOTAL: 66.5 points- Amazing right? Keep watching! :D