Chapter 41 - Someone as Wonderfully Evil as I
"Nice dress," I greeted the bride on the morning of her wedding.
"What, this silly thing?" Harley asked. "It's just the dress the party company gave me. I have a better one for the ceremony."
"Fair enough," I nodded.
"The party's barely started and you're already hitting the juice?" 
"You'd be drinking too, Watcher, if you were about to marry Gerald Morven."
"Ah, I remember my wedding day," Iris reminisced, fondly. "Of course, we didn't have money for an arch or any of the other accessories - spent so much on the house, we lived from bill cycle to bill cycle. Joaquin and I got married at the Von Haunt estate, you know."
"Sounds lovely, Nana," Harley sighed. "Of course, none of this is my dream wedding. They're just giant ruses to get people to spend money and fawn over looking pretty. I'd rather elope, but requirements are requirements. We need a party and we need to get married. Yawn."
"Sergio did the cooking for us. I know Gerald thinks I'm the best chef around, but really, he didn't taste any of Sergio's cooking," Iris continued, oblivious. "Oh! That reminds me! I'd better get started on the cake."
"Hey beautiful!" quipped Gerald.
"Alright, I'll play along. Hello, handsome," Harley replied.
"I thought I wasn't supposed to see you in your wedding dress until the ceremony?" Gerald inquired.
"Oh, this isn't my wedding dress," Harley replied. "It's my pre-wedding dress."
"Well, that's the cake finished!" declared Iris with a flourish. "Oh, I just love weddings!"
"I'm glad," I told her,
"because I'm sure this won't be the last one."
"It belonged to my great-great-great-great-grandmother," Harley explained.
"I…er, I can tell?" Gerald stammered.
"My mother never got to wear it," Harley continued, pointedly.
"Well I think you look beautiful, Harley," Gerald managed.
Meanwhile, I'm more interested in that little blue dot near Harley's hand.
There he is! The man of the hour! Isn't he just adorable! I never get to see my sim children in their formalwear, so I'm pretty stoked that I managed to get the toddler to a wedding his little suit!
It wasn't long before the rest of the family, as well as a small smattering of guests from around the neighbourhood, began to gather in the garden to witness the wedding between the third generation heir and his bride.
Rose didn't know how Gerald felt about all this. It seemed, so often, that he was too absorbed in his plots and schemes to think about family, to dream of finding love. One thing was certain, he wouldn't have ever gotten together with Harley without Henry's help.
As Rose took her seat (!!!) on the bench next to her husband, she remembered her own wedding day. Pregnant with Gerald, though she didn't know it at the time, she had spent the days leading up to it convincing herself that Norman was the right man for her. And, it seemed after all they'd been through together, she'd made the right choice.
She couldn't help but wonder what thoughts were whirling through the minds of her son and his bride on this beautiful morning.
Gerald took Harley's hands in his and cleared his throat.
"Harley Bjergsen," he began, "Love of my life, jewel in my crown,
My beautiful bride, on this our wedding day, under the sunlight
I welcome you to this place with arms wide open.
I'll show you everything. I'll show you love and laughter.
I'll show you power and prosperity.
Harley my bride, I promise you
My love will last longer and go farther
Than the super-dangerous nuclear missile that Edith will make for me so that together we can truly take over the world.
And I will make you grateful every day of your life
That you married someone as wonderfully evil as I."
'I definitely should have proof-read his wedding vows, hey?' thought Henry. He wondered how long it would be before the Sims Intelligence Management Services agents turned up to arrest his brother. Then he remembered that he was a S.I.M.S. agent himself.
Maybe his goal of deflecting suspicion away from his brother within the organisation would be more difficult than he'd initially thought.
If Harley had been at all put off by the content of Gerald's wedding vows (although, let's be honest here, no one should have really been surprised), she presented no reaction to indicate that this was so. Instead, she smiled, took a deep breath, and began to speak.
"Gerald my love, my light, my window of opportunity, opened to the morning sun. You don't need me. I'm neither smart, nor pretty, nor selfless, nor evil. I offer little to your quest and dynasty and goals, and yet here we stand.
People think I'm different.
I think I'm different. I think I think differently to everyone else. Sometimes I feel like I can sense things, like I know about things before they've happened. Or sometimes I know when something has happened even though there should be no way I should know about such things. You know that already. Sometimes, too, I feel like I can sense the watcher. I know the rest of you can to, but not like this. I sense her influence. I know what she can do. I know what she can't do. I wonder about her powers, but I wonder also about her limitations."
"Is she finished yet?" asked Morgan Kim-Lewis, before she lost interest entirely and pulled out her phone.
"Hush," hissed Iris, "I'm listening."
"I'm just here because Gerald threatened me if I didn't show up," muttered Sloane Goth.
"I think a lot," Harley continued. "Maybe I'm an over-thinker. For example, the more I learn about computers and programming, the more I play those silly games we all love to play when our fun meters are low, the more I can't help but wonder if any of us are even real, or if we're just imaginary creations, made for the entertainment of the Watchers.
"So people think I'm crazy. And I think it's because I'm different, but I'm okay with that. But what astounds me, Gerald Morven, is that you're okay with that, too. And I can't help but wonder if maybe it's because you're so different yourself, in your own way."
"So what if we're not really real, I tell myself. So what if we're just code and pixels? What matters is I feel like I'm alive, and as far as I know, I only get one shot at being alive. You maybe feel like you'll live forever, and hey, that's okay too. I don't resent your immortality. In fact, I would be honoured to help you achieve it."
"So I take back what I said, back in the beginning, about your not needing me. Because I've decided that that's not entirely true. You need me to keep you on track. You need me to uncover the truth - if I can. You need me to keep things interesting, and I guess you probably need me to produce an heir for you as well. I can't wait to start a family together, Gerald. Because here's the thing;
"I need you, too."
The audience clapped politely, though truth be told, many of them had stopped listening about two paragraphs in. Most of them were just grateful that the ceremony was over so that they could get on with the celebrations.
"Oh good, it's finally over," quipped Edith.
"I just love weddings," sighed Iris.
"And how are you doing, Rose?" I asked.
"Well, that's Milestone Three of Big Happy Family taken care of, I suppose," Rose replied. "So that's something. What's left?"
"Quite a lot, actually, and you're less than a week from Elder," I told her,
"But we'll talk through it all later.""Mmmmf, Harley?" mumbled Gerald.
"Hmmm?" Harley replied.
"Nana made cake," said Gerald. "It's time for cake."
"Mmmmhmmm," agreed Harley.
"I didn't know you got streamers and confetti and noise makers for wedding cakes, too," mused Gerald, "or is this just because you all forgot my birthday?"
"Taste it, Harley. It's like Mana from Heaven."
The party requirements were actually finished pretty early. But instead of ending the even once the gold medal was awarded, as they usually did, Rose decided to take advantage of the time to start (start!?) working on her friendship requirements. Friend #1:
Asher Kim-Lewis.
Asher ended up staying until long after the party finished, stargazing with Rose and generally getting to know her. And, score, they're good friends by the end of the day.
Everyone else dashed off to work on their…other...requirements. Norman was back on toddler duty, and Henry tried to catch up with some of the women before they left. Edith's application to become a scientist was not rejected, thankfully, and so she made her way downstairs to the basement to get working on some scientific breakthroughs. In peace.
Gerald and Harley, unfortunately, didn't get much of a honeymoon. They went to work that evening, as they usually did. One of the things Harley had been anxious was how slowly they were both progressing in the Criminal Career. Gerald's theory was that Harley didn't like doing any of the low-level dirty work with her hands. She would be much happier in a secret lair, hiding behind a computer screen, and just desperately wanted to reach that point.
Gerald, meanwhile, was happy to get to push people around, and given the added emotional boost from being newly married, he came home that evening with a promotion to…The Muscle. He was well on his way to becoming The Boss, and he couldn't be prouder.
Harley, on the other hand, simply returned home exhausted, and passed out on her way to bed.
Sorry girl! I'll get someone to read your book of life ASAP, and then I'm sure you'll be right back up on your feet and ready to tackle the world!
