“Are you even going to attempt to explain this?”
Alaric winced. “I don’t really think you want to hear my explanation.”
Madeline took a deep breath. “You know the doctor told me not to get worked up, and then you spring this on me!”
Alaric winced. “I don’t really think you want to hear my explanation.”
Madeline took a deep breath. “You know the doctor told me not to get worked up, and then you spring this on me!”
“It’s not like I did it on purpose!”
“Of course not! If it was up to you, your illegitimate child would have stayed a secret forever!”
“Surely you don’t think I knew she existed!”
“Fine, your affair would have stayed a secret forever.”
“I wouldn’t even really call it an affair. More of a… momentary slip-up.”
“Can you ever stop being a politician?”
Alaric just looked at her. “No. I really can’t, which is why we have to find a way to spin this.”
“A way to… we’re not even going to talk about the fact that you cheated on me?”
“We can’t right now. We have a vice-presidential campaign to worry about.”
Madeline closed her eyes and frowned. “Alright.”
Madeline closed her eyes and frowned. “Alright.”
--------
“So, officially, we made the family decision to adopt and provide a poor, innocent child with a good home.”
Jenny shook her head. “That’s absolutely insane, Jonah.”
“Oh, yeah, nobody’s happy about it. But looking on the bright side, at least I’m no longer the only member of the household whose very existence is a scandal.”
Jenny bit her lip, not really sure how to respond to that. Eventually, she just squeezed his hand. “You know I still love you, though, right?”
Jonah’s hard gaze softened. “And that means everything to me, princess.”
She blushed. “You have got to stop calling me that. You know I’m not an endearment sort of girl.”
“It’s not an endearment. If your dad wins this election, he’ll be president, which means you’ll effectively be a princess.”
“You know that’s not how that works.”
He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “You’re my princess.”
She giggled. “And you’re my knight in shining armor, I suppose?”
“Please, I’m definitely the dragon in this scenario.”
They both laughed, and the tension was broken. Still, Jenny wondered… how long until it came back?
They both laughed, and the tension was broken. Still, Jenny wondered… how long until it came back?
--------
“So now you have two little sisters, Amanda.”
Amanda nodded. “I know. Maxwell told me.”
Amanda nodded. “I know. Maxwell told me.”
Madeline sighed softly. “Not this again. Aren’t you getting a little old for imaginary friends?”
“Again, Maxwell isn’t imaginary.”
“Look, if you just admit it, you won’t even get in trouble for eavesdropping.”
“But I wasn’t eavesdropping! Maxwell told me!”
“What’s your new sister’s name, then?”
“Serena.”
“Serena.”
“See, there’s no way you could know that unless you were eavesdropping.”
Amanda shrugged. “Maybe Maxwell was eavesdropping, but I wasn’t.”
“Look, I can’t get into this with you right now. I have to explain everything to Willow. Your father will talk to you when he gets home.”
After her mother left, Amanda sighed. “Why don’t they believe me? I mean, you’re very real.”
“Well… that’s complicated.”
--------
“This is ridiculous!”
“No, this is how campaigns work. You knew perfectly well that they were going to come after your family.”
“Yes, but you must admit this is extreme.”
“Is any of it false?”
“No, but… they’re children, John. I have limited control over their actions.”
“Then extend your control. Do you think I haven’t had to keep a tight grip on my family? But anyway… to distract them from this, I think we should play up your son’s romance with my daughter.”
Alaric shook his head. “I don’t want them digging into Jonah’s origins. It’s bad enough that they’re accusing Amanda of having mental issues, I don’t want it coming out that I had an affair with my sister-in-law.”
“That won’t happen if we stay in control of the story. Your problem is that you can’t seem to handle anything with a firm enough grip. I’ll take it from here.”
Alaric bit his tongue hard to keep from telling his running mate what he really felt.
Author's Note: Everything's starting to fall into place! I'm really excited for the rest of this generation. The fifth and final heir-eligible child of Generation 4 was born between this chapter and the next one, so I thought I'd remind you of all of the children in this AN. You're also getting a quick sneak peek of child Willow.
Jonah, the oldest and Madeline's child with Beckett, was already an absent-minded neurotic genius who is now also brooding.
Amanda is Madeline and Alaric's oldest child, at 7 days younger than Jonah, and she was a loner and a light sleeper who is now also a bookworm.
Willow is somehow only 2 days younger than Amanda, and she was an athletic genius who is now hot-headed.
Serena is Alaric's daughter with Odessa Winchester, 2 days younger than Willow, and she is a friendly genius.
Finally, Felix is the youngest child of Alaric and Madeline, 1 day younger than Serena, and he is a brave virtuoso.
I really thought I had a picture of Maxwell, too, but apparently not. You'll see him in better lighting next chapter. He's named after Maxwell from Scribblenauts, although I can't remember why.
Anyway, these five will be your heir candidates for next generation. I hope you grow to love them as much as I have, and also have favorites because I could not choose if I tried. Next chapter: Amanda learns (some of) the truth about Maxwell! And some other things happen.
Tsk tsk Alaric, Madeline is once again my favorite character of this generation. Although I'm also a fan of Jonah, just because he seems like such a normal kid who keeps getting dragged around by adult drama (and his relationship with Jenny is so dorky and cute). I'm looking forward to getting to know the rest of the kids. Five is a lot, good luck with all those personalities!
ReplyDeleteYou almost had each kid with a different hair color! Felix's eyes look really interesting. Are they CC or is it just the lighting?
Give Jonah a couple of chapters. He's not quite as normal as he appears on the surface. Dorky, though? Definitely.
DeleteI was so close! Although I actually think that Jonah and Felix might have slightly different shades of brown (Dylan's color versus Tara's), but that's so slight as to barely be noticeably. They almost all have different noses, too, but that's harder to distinguish. Felix's eyes are just green, but that particular color looks really good with my default replacement eyes. It's Tara's eye color, but I changed out default eyes right after she was phased out of the story. Maxwell's eyes are CC contacts, though. I got them just for him.
Politics - Poly (Latin for Many), Tics (Nasty bloodsucking little creatures)
ReplyDeleteLove the scene with John and Alaric, and with Jonah and Jenny, the opening scene just makes me want to punch Alaric in the face, he knows I didn't vote for him right?
The kids are cute as proverbial buttons, although Felix green eyes seem a little out of place. Is that a genetic throwback to Tara Rose?
At least Alaric's version of politics...
DeleteHe's really terrible most of the time, and by this point everyone is fed up with it.
Felix's eyes are a throwback. They were a weird mutant color, but I changed them to that green because I wanted it to show up somewhere. It is a little weird with all the other dark-eyed kids, though, I'll give you that.
If there were werecats, they'd have eyes like Felix's.
ReplyDeleteJonah got three of my favorite traits to play with because they effect game play so much.
Amanda is gonna be an easy child to raise because loners hardly ever get into trouble. She's just going to be in the corner with a book for the rest of her life.
Serena is bog-standard except for her lineage, huh?
I've never really played with hot-headed, but it sounds like a terrible combination with athletic. Or a good recipe for a bully.
They definitely would. I love that.
DeleteI love those traits too, but Jonah's actually pretty boring when left to his own devices. All he ever does autonomously is clean, cook, read, call his girlfriend, and avoid doing his homework.
Amanda would love to stand in a corner with a book for the rest of her life. Unfortunately fate (aka me) has other plans for her.
She's just a toddler so far... but yeah, that's about the whole of it.
I actually think hot-headed is really entertaining to play with. Willow makes the best angry faces all the time. And I guess you'll have to see about that...
I think so far my favourites are the toddlers (going by looks). But it's too early to tell yet! I like IF spouses too, though.
ReplyDeleteMadeline must care a lot about her reputation if she let Alaric talk her into focusing on the campaign rather than yelling out into the world what a butthole her husband is.
Also, that's an interesting way of Odessa to deal with the "situation" :D
I'd actually agree with you, based purely on looks. Serena and Felix are probably the cutest of the bunch (Madeline's cheekbones don't look great on small children). IF spouses are great, aren't they? I've had to promise myself not to abuse them in this legacy, partially because there aren't a lot of plotline options.
DeleteMadeline does care a lot about her reputation. At this point, I'd say that's probably one of the only reasons she hasn't just left Alaric. They're really married in name only. And it certainly is, isn't it?