The Crane Legacy: Chapter 4.12- Dealing

Welcome back dear readers. I know, it’s been awhile, but we needed time to grieve.

No, I played that like back in April, I’m just a filthy procrastinator. :P

Last we left off, Dorian and Donovan got married in a double wedding, to spouses who could not have been more different- it seemed that the loud and brash Perdita would overpower the quiet Dorian, while Donovan seemed to overshadow his shy wife with his large personality. But they were happy, and decided to stay at the house to build their skills before moving into their own house across the street. At the end of the week, the Crane family was devastated when Charity and Othello, Generation 3 super couple and parents of 10, died at the same time.

We now pick up with the Crane children after the death of their parents- will they be able to move forward, or will they crash without the love and support of their parents? We shall see.



Dorian had taken the death of his parents very, very hard. He worked all day, then stargazed all night, and it was most definitely taking its toll on him. He just couldn’t sleep, not after what happened to his parents- his mom had advocated for him to be heir, but his dad had chosen Dorothy, and he hadn’t told them he loved them…



Donovan, on the other hand, chose to seek solace with his wife. He had known it was coming, and he had accepted it with grace, or some semblance of it. Dorian was a very good son, but he had trouble accepting change- maybe he and Dorothy were more alike than they thought.

“I love you, Chandra. I can’t wait until we can have a baby…”



Chandra just held her husband. She had aspirations of her own, but she would do anything for Donovan… Her plans could wait until she had had a child with Donovan, of course. It just meant she had to work extra hard once she got there.



Perdita, on the other hand, was much more quiet than usual. She knew what Dorian was going through, but she couldn’t help but resent his parents a little, she had literally come THIS close to being the mistress of The Crane Estate. But she kept these kind of thoughts to herself- she would have a nice enough house, and a kid, which was all she was expecting anyway.



Time continued to roll by, and before long, Chandra had maximized her skills- she was now ready to leave The Crane Estate and get a job.



Perdita, on the other hand, was a slower skiller, and she spent a lot of time in the energizer because of it. She didn’t mind, but Dorian just wanted to get out of the house.



When he wasn’t working, Dorian would stargaze… for hours on end. He desperately wanted to get abducted, if only to experience a moment of true happiness once again.



As Dorian gave up for yet another night, he couldn’t help but sigh. This house had so many memories- even though his parents had only lived here for their elder years, it was obvious to Dorian that they had brought their love to this house as well.



Thankfully, they were not meant to stay much longer. That very night, Perdita completed her Lifetime Want and maximized all of her skills- the Crane Twins were ready to leave the house of their parents forever.

However, Dorian had one last business to attend to before moving out- he invited over his former girlfriend, Prof. Cybele Brentwood.



“I didn’t expect sentimentality from you, Dorian, You were kind of quick with the dumping..”

“I know, and I’m sorry Cybele. I know you don’t have a job anymore… and I want to make it up to you- move in here, and maximize your skills. Maybe you’ll be able to get a better job than teaching anyway.”

“Really? Thank you so much Dorian. You may have broken my heart, but you’ve given me hope for a new life!”

Dorian just smiled and went to the taxi.



Perdita was right behind him- in her underwear. “Perdita! Where are your CLOTHES?!”

“Who needs clothes to move out anyway? It’s a short ride, and I’ll get dressed once we get there, hush Dorian.”

But it was true- the twins were gone, and Cybele was now alone with Cressida.





“So,” started Cressida, “I hear we’ll be getting violins soon.”





At Annya-Oresha-Var, however, Donato was dealing with his parents death in a much more “productive fashion”- by bedding as many women as he could without getting caught.













He was getting ever closer to his goal of having 30 Loves at once, and he semed to brush off the fact that he was, quite suddenly, an orphan.



“Donato!”

“Oh hey baby, what’s up?” Donato was used to being stopped by the numerous lovers he had acquired, or young co-eds who wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Donato knew they were never disappointed with a night with him.

“I just heard! I’m so sorry about your parents…”



“It’s all cool baby. Here you go, thanks for your concern…”

“For me? Aww Donato, thanks!”

“No problem baby!”



Donato didn’t even know her name, he didn’t need to- they all knew his, and that was all that mattered. Right?



Before long, he had gotten Antigone into bed as well.

Downstairs, Dorothy was moving in her twin brother.



“You’ve been a pledge long enough bro, welcome to Annya-Oresha-Var!”

“Thanks so much.” said Dorrigan dryly. He didn’t particularly want to join the family Greek House, but his sister had, and he might as well. Plus, he thought she might need comfort after their parents death.



Wrong. Dorothy was apparently tougher than any of her siblings, as she didn’t shed a single tear for her dearly departed mom and dad- her father was the only reason she was the current heiress, and she didn’t even feel the need to cry.

Dorothy felt crying was a waste of time- why mourn someone who’s gone? They would be remembered, they were the Generation 3 couple, they had 10 kids, it’s not like Dorian, Donovan, and Doris didn’t cry enough for all the other kids. She would be strong for Dorrigan. And she would not cry.

In fact, none of the siblings seemed to even want to mention the fact that their parents had died-



Douglas spent ALL his time painting, or at the energizer- he didn’t even go to class. Dorothy only painted because she wanted to, she didn’t go through any grief stages, it seemed that Doris was the most affected.



The next day, as Donato lay sleeping, his latest conquest had woken early from their post coital slumber and deftly got up. Cassiopeia Aberdeen sighed. She was getting too old for this- she was the head of a powerful company, and head of a secret organization within the company, and here she was sleeping with a college student- one of the very kids of the family she was supposed to “protect and guide.”



She did feel kind of bad- no, she felt more than bad. Before their woohoo, Donato had passed out from the heat (SSU is at the top of Kodak, near the Sim! Equator, explaining their constant Summer-Spring, while Main Kodak is at the bottom, explaining the Fall-Spring-Winter.) She knew the kids were all under pressure now that their mom and dad had died, and it was difficult for Romance Sim Donato to process.



But Cassiopeia felt bad for everything. She knew that Donato would grow old and die, and she would live on to manage the lives of his sisters descendants… She almost wondered what would happen if she gave up the jog given to her by Valeria, if the Cranes would be happier people…



Speaking of Happy People, Doris was not one of them. Before their deaths, Doris had spoken to both her parents, and both of them had given her the same advice- she needed to grow up. Little did they know that their death would be the very catalyst to move her from self absorbed young girl to caring and thoughtful woman.



Douglas had indeed noticed the change in his sister, but declined to say anything. He wasn’t especially close to anyone in particular, but he didn’t mind. He just wanted to make money and get out of college.



As her Junior Year rolled around, Doris got a more Mature look- her hair was growing out after her drastic makeover, and she wanted to reflect her new found maturity to the world- maybe the deaths of Charity and Othello hadn’t been for naught?



“So Dorothy, I got Quetzalpetatl in the Photo booth, and she’s like ‘oh Donato, you’re so dreamy! I could totally-”

Donato was cut off by his sister as she quickly changed the subject. “Donato, don’t you care that our mother and father are dead? Like, at all? You seem to be completely avoiding the issue, I was just wondering…”

“Dorothy, little sis, don’t worry about me! Everybody deals with things in different ways, and loving is my way of dealing!”



Dorothy just looked at him incredulously. “Riiiight. I’m going to class now.”



Dorothy planned to go the bathroom, but upon seeing Cressida, was stuck with emotion.

“Cressida, thank you. You did so much for my mom and dad, while we were all growing up- thank you. You really are a blessing.”

“Mistress Dorothy, your expression of gratitude could not have come at a more adequate time! I am very upset about the death of your mother, she was one of my favorite people- my Coping Software does not seem to be able to deal with this as well as I want to be able to.”:

Dorothy just smiled. “Don’t worry about it, Cress. Just keep doing what you’re doing.” With that, Dorothy turned on her heel and left the house.



Downstairs, Doris was with her professor beau, Phobos. He had been called over to help her, and was upset, but proud.

“Look at you, Doris! You look so grown up… I’m proud of you, you know. Your mother and father may have died, but in their wake they left a responsible young woman…”



Doris just sighed. “That may be true Phobos, but I miss them nonetheless. I want them back, and I need them! And Dorothy needs them, and Donato… He’s handling it the worse, I think…”

Phobos agreed. “Donato seems to be intent on sleeping with as many of the campus girls as possible, and I don’t approve. Maybe you and him should talk?”



“Later, I have class. Thanks so much for coming Phobos, you always know what to say… I think I might love you.”

“I think I love you too Doris.” Phobos knew that she was still struggling with her newfound sense of responsibility, but she was a Family Sim, after all- she would get used to it.

Donato, on the other hand, was still doing what he was born to do- Romancing.



“Donato! I can’t breathe!”





Sugar was one of Donato’s favorite lovers- she was a romance Sim, So she understood the “use, throw away” part, and for that reason, he didn’t throw her away- they had too much fun for him to let her go.



“In case you didn’t know, Donato’s mother and father have just died, he might need a little more time before jumping into a relationship…”

“Listen, Prof. I’m not in a relationship- he and I are Woohoo buddies and that’s it. You need to go counsel someone else.”



But Donato already had some of his own therapy.



He and Joanne French had just met, but that was okay- he only needed about 6 hours to do his thing.

Unfortunately, Donato couldn’t account for Cassiopeia’s actions- and it led to disaster.



“So, you are another of my brother’s lovers?”

“What?”

“Oh…”

“Excuse me, your brother is cheating on me and I must go slap him.”

“You do that.” Dorothy watched as the train wreck played itself out, and eventually was taken outside. She knew that Donato was under a lot of stress, but he needed to learn some self-control. She would have a talk with him tonight, that much was certain…



“A rose? For me? Oh, Donato… I don’t feel as angry with you as I did before…”

“I know, baby, I’m sorry! I don’t know what happened, she just leapt into my arms like a mad woman!” Donato conveniently left out the part that he had woohooed that mad woman only two days previously.

After changing, Donato decided he was hungry- all the romancing he did was bound to take a toll on his hunger and energy! He was downright shocked to find his sister waiting for him in the kitchen.



“Dorothy? What’s up? What are you doing awake, it’s like 3 AM!”



Dorothy rushed towards him and pounced on her brother. “Don’t try to change the subject, Donato! What the hell is the matter with you? You have once again, embarrassed yourself and this family with that little fiasco earlier? Why can’t you just admit you’re upset and stop this little game you’ve got going on?”



“Oh, shut the hell up, Dorothy! I can do whatever I damn well please- Mom said that I would move back home, and live there with you, so don’t you dare try to tell me what to do! I’m freaking older than you anyway! Plus, I controlled the situation-”



“Oh did you really? Did you give her one of your little roses? Please Donato! Don’t you pull another one of your stunts again, or I promise you, I will remove you from your position as co-heir!”



“Don’t try that shit with me Dorothy! I have every right to live in that house, and your bitching isn’t going to stop me from doing what I damn well want to! Go to hell!”

And with that, Donato stormed into the living room.



“Douglas! Dude, where are you going?”

“Well, I graduated, Donato. I’m leaving.”

“Wait, you’re leaving me with Doris, Dorothy and Dorrigan?”

“Yup. Good luck.”



With that, Douglas transitioned into a horrible brown soccer uniform and left- the house was in his younger siblings hands now.

And with that, I leave you! Hope you enjoyed this ridiculously narrative chapter- I don’t know, it just seemed to work, especially with the way all the kids were acting, so I made it more serious. Do you guys like this style better, or do I switch back to light hearted? You decide. Thanks for reading!

I'll post the scorecard with the next update, I think.