I am participating in the Founders Challenge at
legacywriters.
The winning sim was created by
simrenity.
LAST TIME on the Libellus Legacy, we were introduced to Lilith Libellus, who told us how she'd come to SimCity from Point Place (yeah, just like in That '70s Show) to find Count Derek and to be turned into a vampire. When we left off, Lilith had just reached her goal and had been turned into a vampire by Count Derek.
In that moment, all I could think was that my dream had finally come true. I was a vampire and I would live forever as the years passed and my family grew and grew around me. It was just what I'd always wanted.
I settled rather well into the life of a vampire. During the days I would retreat into the safety of my coffin, hiding from the sun as I slept.
And at night I would wake, smoke rising out of my coffin as I greeted the night.
On one night such as this, I glanced outside and spotted someone I'd never seen before walking down the street. He was...
He was breathtaking. Swoon-worthy, even. Unable to help myself I ran outside to meet him and I was so enamored I could almost imagine tiny little hearts bubbling up out of my head.
Who was I to deny such a feeling? I immediately ran over and introduced myself. He said his name was Grayson Lewis and that he'd just moved in down the street.
Even though I had no real way of knowing then, I could swear he felt that same attraction to me as I did to him. Perhaps he felt like little hearts were bubbling out of him, too.
If I had any worries that my attraction to him was odd, they dissipated when he asked where I was from. "Point Place," I replied, and then braced myself for what I knew what was coming. "Oh I've driven through there before, it's a lovely little town."
It must have been fate.
"Baby you're so beautiful, you should call me sometime when you aren't standing right in front of me!"
He wasn't the most charming of men (in fact, he was rather silly), but I still found him so attractive.
We spent the whole evening talking on my front lawn about everything, like my love of spatulas.
"But honestly, spatulas are just so amazing! The way they slip things right up!"
"You know, you're right, Lilith. Spatulas are amazing!" H Especially for making omelets and scrambled eggs."
"Oh, I love scrambled eggs AND omelets!"
It was amazing the things we had in common.
I learned that he was working as a waiter in a downtown restaurant I hadn't seen yet.
He said the money wasn't good, but the chance for a promotion was and he knew it would pay off eventually. Not that it was his dream job. What he really wanted was to be a doctor.
It was obvious we had a connection. At first it was just little things; brushing up against one another, resting a hand on a shoulder. But then the flirting became more obvious and soon I was holding his hand and presses kisses up his arm.
When I reached his shoulder I glanced up and our lips met it a kiss. We wrapped our arms around each other, holding our bodies close together in a kiss that lasted for nearly a minute.
Unlike that rude paper boy, I didn't even mind when Grayson's eyes drifted down to my chest. He could look all he wanted.
Soon daylight was coming, I could feel it in my bones. I said goodbye to Grayson and got his number and we promised to see each other as soon as we could. He told me this was the best time he'd had in ages. I suppose that night was our first date, in a way.
The next evening when I woke up, I was eager to see Grayson right away.
I stepped outside to wait for him, but instead I found a beautiful bouquet of roses and a romantic note. It seemed Grayson had to work that night, but he promised he'd see me tomorrow. I spent the rest of the night reading books, but my eyes kept drifting over to those beautiful roses on the table.
The minute the sun set that next day, I was up and out of my coffin, wide awake.
I heard Grayson knocking on the door and I ran to greet him. I'll admit, I was a bit... enthusiastic. What can I say, I was happy to see him.
It seemed he was happy to see me too, because he picked me right up in his arms and carried me inside. We spent the rest of the night talking and laughing and getting to know each other even more.
I was starting to think I was falling in love with this man.
Over the next few nights, Grayson and I went out on a series of dates. We had dinner in candle-lit restaurants-
-Where we toasted the new relationship we were starting together.
And sometimes our dates were more fun, like when we went to the hippest downtown nightclubs and danced the night away.
I still remember what a good dancer Grayson was. He really knew how to move.
After awhile it got to the point where neither of us wanted to be apart. We couldn't imagine life without each other. So I asked Grayson to move in, and he said yes. He didn't have much money, but I didn't care.
He was so happy to be living with me that he immediately offered to cook me dinner. That was a mistake. It turned out that being a waiter really didn't give you a lot of cooking experience. I was in the middle of dancing to my favourite station when the stove top burst into flame!
I've never been more scared in my life. I may have been immortal to most things, but fire wasn't one of them. If I burned, I would die.
Luckily, the smoke detector sent out an alarm and summoned the fire station, who immediately sent a firewoman to help put out the fire. I was relieved.
The next night as Grayson finished moving into my home, I gave him a bit of a makeover. I used to do my friends hair all the time back in Point Place, so it was no trouble for me to cut and style Grayson's hair. Add a bit of eyeliner around those handsome brown eyes and some sexy black clothes, and I think he looked very very sexy.
Grayson might not have had a lot of cash, but he did bring some furniture and things over from his apartment. We kept one or two pieces (including the bed) and sold the rest so we could add on to the house and extend the bedroom. I may have been able to sleep in a coffin, but Grayson really couldn't. And besides, we needed somewhere to make love, didn't we?
We'd managed to go no further than some heavy making out in the time that we were dating. But now that we were living together and that bed was so close... well you can imagine what our first instinct was.
Unfortunately, time seemed against me. The moment we headed towards the bed the sun came up. I crouched to the floor, covering my head in an attempt to hide from the sun and keening my anguish.
"I'm so sorry my love." I hurried over to Grayson and pressed my lips against him in a sweet kiss. "Tonight, I promise."
And then I fled to the safety of my coffin, Grayson looking on sadly.
I awoke that night to wonderful news. Grayson had finally received the promotion he'd been working for. I was so excited to learn that he'd been promoted to Prep Cook that I ran outside in my underwear to give him a kiss. Luckily there was no one around to see me.
This was definitely cause for celebration. I grabbed Grayson's hand and pulled him inside to the bedroom.
Soon we were laying on the bed together, hands roaming over each other's bodies in a flurry of kisses.
Then we ducked underneath the covers, and- well I'll let you imagine the rest yourselves.
Suffice it to say, it was wonderful and romantic and perfect.
And in the next few days there was more good news. I'd finally found the job I was looking for in the paper. See, now that I was a vampire, I had a new goal in mind. I wanted to become a Criminal Mastermind, and nothing was going to stop me.
The next couple weeks were filled with Grayson and I flirting and kissing and, well, you know.
The only bad thing was that I seemed to have caught some sort of bug and was throwing up all the time. I mean, I was pretty sure I was sick... the only other reason I could be throwing up this much was- but no, I was pretty sure it was just the flu or something.
Grayson didn't seem to notice. He was too busy gazing up at the stares through the telescope we'd bought with our most recent paychecks.
Every day I hauled myself out of the coffin and went to work. It was hard because the sun hurt so much, but if I lathered up on sunblock and flew to the car as a bat, I was usually alright.
And all our hard work was paying off. Within a little over a month, Grayson had promoted again, this time to Sous Chef.
And I had been promoted to Bagman (or rather, Bagwoman). I was pleased too, but a little more concerned with getting to the bathroom to throw up.
I felt sick every day now and I was starting to worry that maybe it wasn't just the flu.
Well it turned out my worries were right. I finally admitted it to myself when I looked down at my belly and realized it had become to slowly curve outward. I was pregnant.
I sat Grayson down at the table for a talk. "Hey Grayson... you know how I've been feeling really sick for the past few months? And how my belly has started to look like there's a ball inside it? Well, it isn't a ball. I'm pregnant."
At first he looked shocked, but then a smile grew on his face. "I knew it! Oh, Lilith, we're going to have a baby!"
He grabbed my hand and pulled me up behind the table.
And then, as my heart jumped up in my throat, he dropped to his knees in front of me. Even though so many years have passed since that night, I'll never forget what he said to me.
"Lilith. You are the smartest, funniest and most gorgeous woman I have ever met. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me, Lilith Libellus?"
I said yes, of course. The ring looked so big and sparkly on my finger.
I couldn't contain my happiness. I jumped towards Grayson and wrapped by arms around his neck.
"Be careful, Lilith! The baby!"
I knew he was right, but I just wanted to hug him.
In the next couple weeks I knew Grayson was planning something. When the sun would set and I'd wake up, he'd always just be shoving some papers out of the way, or hanging up the phone. One night I woke up and I finally saw what he'd been planning. Our wedding, in the backyard of our house.
He'd ordered a beautiful arch and bushes and chairs and even invited some of our closest friends. Count Derek was there as well, which I thought was a little odd. Grayson must have found his name in my address book and assumed we were still close.
Well never mind that. It was a beautiful ceremony. As we exchanged rings all I could think of was "I will never love another man as much as I love this one."
At the end of the ceremony we kissed. I had expressed to Grayson my desire to watch over my family through all of its generations, to create a Legacy with my name. And so he agreed to take my last name, so our children could carry it on as well. From that moment on, we were Mr. and Mrs. Libellus.
The guests (which included Count Derek, the paperboy, and Grayson's friends Mitch and Jan) seemed truly happy for us.
We went around to the other side of the hedges and it turned out there was another surprise. Grayson had arranged for a cake, champagne, music and a nice little table and chairs.
I cut a slice of cake and was about to share it with Grayson when inspiration struck. With a teasing grin I smeared the cake all over his mouth. For a moment I thought he'd be mad-
-but then a second later he wiped off his mouth and burst into laughter right along with me. Grayson always did have such a wonderful sense of humor.
Later, Grayson's friend Jan Tellerman gave us a toast, which I've always thought was really sweet of her. I didn't know her very well, but she seemed like a great person.
As the music switched from classical to something more suited to dance, the paperboy busted a move! I couldn't help myself, I burst into laughter. Oh, I know it was mean, but he was such a bad dancer!
His enthusiasm was contagious though, because just a few minutes later we were all smustling together.
Grayson and Mitch tried, but- well it wasn't there fault, they just didn't know the moves to the dance.
After that, I caught Count Derek staring at me and Grayson, grumbling under his breath as we shared a kiss. He must have stalked off a little while after that, because I didn't see him again for the rest of the night.
Soon the party was over and Grayson led me to the front of the house. A limo waited out front, to take us to a romantic weekend in a tiny little B&B just outside of the city. It was the perfect honeymoon.
Over the next 5 months, my belly grew bigger everyday.
Of course, that didn't always stop Grayson and I from fooling around. What can I say? We were young, and I swear we were careful.
And Grayson was finally able to get the job he really wanted. He left his job at the restaurant and started up as a Emergency Technician. Even then I knew that someday he was going to become a great doctor.
There was one dark spot in the months before I gave birth, and that was Count Derek. Every night he would creep by the house and glare in through the windows. And then one night, he came right inside the house and 'blaaahed' at Grayson!
Count Derek seemed furious and I thought I knew why.
I sat him down at the kitchen table and sent Grayson into the bedroom so we could talk alone. He told me about how he loved me, and he thought I loved him.
He told me how seeing me marry Grayson had been so devastating to him. It had broken his heart.
I finally had to tell him the truth. "I'm so sorry, Derek. I never met to hurt you, but- well to be honest I sought you out because I wanted to be a vampire. I wanted to live forever and watch my family grow up around me. I never met to hurt you, Derek and I hope you can forgive me, but I love Grayson."
He stood up and enveloped me in a hug. "Of course, Lilith, I understand. I hope Grayson takes care of you as well as I would have. And good luck with your little one." He left, and it was years before I saw him again.
Just a month later, while Grayson and I were making dinner, it happened. I went into labor.
And let me tell you. Labor HURTS. Don't let anyone tell you it doesn't. I was screaming so loud I thought the neighbors would call the cops!
Grayson had no idea what to do except to call out encouragements and tell me that everything would be alright soon.
And it was. That night, in the middle of my kitchen, I gave birth to my first child. Her name was Pandora, and she looked so much like me except for her eyes. Those were just like her fathers.
She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~NOTES~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Lilith and Grayson have three bolts with each other. Even though I don't have ACR, they flirt and kiss all over the house.
- If you can't tell from the first baby's name, all of Generation Two are going to be named after characters in Anne Rice's vampire books. Pandora is actually the name of a book about a character by that name, and its one of my favorites.
- Lilith's eyes change part way through the update. That's because I didn't like the ones that came with the skin, so I downloaded an "eyeless" version of the skin and used contacts instead. They're by bruno, and they're WICKED. You can see them good in
this picture.
I think that's it for notes. I should be doing an update of the Flora's next and then its back to the Libellus family again! Hope you enjoyed the update. I haven't played past this point, but I'm DYING to know what little Pandora looks like.