Two Worlds, One Heart - Epilogue - The Road Goes Ever On and On (Complete)

[SadieHamming]

Elysia is so cute! Happy birthday! I think I recognize him, but I still guessed wrong.

[RaiaDraconis]

Happy birthday, Elysia! She looks a lot like Holly.

When she aged up my first thought was "Holly clone" The only differences I'm seeing so far (she's a child in my actual game) are blue eyes and a slightly odd eye shape. The blue eyes could either be from Ethan or Nick, and the eye shape is similar to Vita's, though not nearly so severe.

Elysia is so cute! Happy birthday! I think I recognize him, but I still guessed wrong.

Just out of curiosity, who did you guess?

Honestly, I never really thought about pairing Darlene with anyone until that chapter where she got sick. The funny thing is that Malcolm aged up with one of Darlene's traits (Daredevil) and Darlene aged up with one of his (Good), both completely out of my control.

[Audren]

When she aged up my first thought was "Holly clone" The only differences I'm seeing so far (she's a child in my actual game) are blue eyes and a slightly odd eye shape. The blue eyes could either be from Ethan or Nick, and the eye shape is similar to Vita's, though not nearly so severe.

I'm thinking the blue eyes might be Nick's, since Holly's son (and maybe her daughter, I can't remember) in my game had blue eyes, as well.

[Callum]

I like how you use the pictures and the speech bubbles to work with the speech. Will you be continuing on with the story if and once Ethan and Holly pass away?

[RaiaDraconis]

I like how you use the pictures and the speech bubbles to work with the speech. Will you be continuing on with the story if and once Ethan and Holly pass away?

I might. I don't know yet...it's quite a while in the future, as in my current game Elysia is still just a kid and both Holly and Ethan are just over halfway to their adult birthdays.

Thanks for reading!

[SadieHamming]

I'm not really sure who I guessed. I thought Malcolm, then maybe Mortimer then I was just  , so I decided to wait and see.

[RaiaDraconis]

Because random events make for an interesting plot twist...

Chapter 16 – Experimental Treatment = BAD Idea

Hmm, so THIS is the blog that Ethan's been talking about. And I have the password!



In case you're wondering, this is Darlene. No, I'm not taking over for my brother, at least not permanently. Right now he's in the hospital (as a patient), but he wanted me to let everyone know that he's okay. Weak, exhausted, and probably a little bit annoyed, but okay.

I guess I should give you a little backstory here. Ethan graduated from medical school last month (go him!) and now works as a trauma surgeon in the E.R. What we didn't know was that he had also volunteered to be part of an experimental treatment testing program. Yeah, you know where this is going, right?

Sooo, fast forward to late this morning. Malcolm had spent the night and we were about to go out to see the latest Jimmy Sprocket movie with Bells and Morty. (What? He stays over all the time.) Then Malcolm remembered that he'd left his car keys on the table by the treadmill and went upstairs to go get them.

That's when he found Ethan passed out on the floor in the hallway.



We tried waking him up, no dice. He was out like a light, ghastly pale, and awfully sweaty, but at least he was still breathing. Without wasting any time Malcolm pulled out his phone and called his dad for help.



“Get him to the E.R. right away! I'm on call, I will meet him there.”

So Malcolm called for an ambulance, meanwhile I had to try and get a hold of Holly. She had gone to a baby shower for one of her girlfriends (River I think?) and had taken Elysia with her. Needless to say once I DID finally reach her she was practically beside herself with worry. Holly came rushing home and made it just in time to see Ethan being loaded into the ambulance. She dropped Elysia off with me and climbed in with him for the ride to the hospital.

There went my plans for the day, not that I would have been able to enjoy the movie anyway worrying about my brother. I told Malcolm just to go without me, but he refused and decided to stay here and help me watch my niece. How sweet.

We did what we could to try and keep ourselves occupied while we waited for news from the hospital. When 'Lysie was taking her nap Malcolm and I decided to go and hang out in the hot tub. Mmm...definitely better than seeing a movie.



(Maybe it was a good thing that we didn't go anyway, because Bells called me an hour or so ago and told me the news that Morty had finally gotten up the nerve to kiss her! It's about time!)



Afternoon rolled around and still no word from Holly. I fed Elysia her lunch (“Num-nums, auntie!”) and we all moved into the living room to wait it out. I have to admit, I was a nervous wreck. I mean, Ethan isn't just my favorite brother, he's my best friend. It kind of scared me when I saw him laying on the floor like that, and the fact that we still hadn't heard anything bugged me even more.



My little niece tried her best to distract me. She is so freaking cute, but that doll of hers totally weirds me out.

Finally at about four I got a phone call. It was Mom, and the first thing she did was get on my case for not calling her this morning when all of this happened. (Ooops...) She then gave me the good news that Ethan would be okay, thank the Heavens. The experimental treatment that he had been testing failed badly, but fortunately it didn't look like there was going to be any permanent damage. Still, it would take them a while to flush the toxins out of his system, so Doctor Landgraab decided that it would be wise to keep my brother overnight for observation.

“Tell Holly that she doesn't have to worry about her little girl," I said. "'Lysie's super-sweet and I don't mind watching her overnight if she wants to stay with Ethan."

“She was hoping that you wouldn't mind doing that," Mom replied. "I will let Holly know. Do you think that you will be all right by yourself?"

“Mom, I'm fifteen. I can handle being by myself overnight.”

“All right honey. Call me if you need anything.”

“I will Mom. Sorry I forgot to call you earlier. I kind of got caught up in everything.”

“It's all right. Take care, and give a big kiss to Elysia from grandma, okay?.”

“Okay, Mom. Talk to you later.”

So long story short, I get to babysit my niece tonight, which I don't mind too much since she's mostly potty trained. (Diapers are totally gross.) Best of all, I won't be alone. Malcolm texted his dad a little while ago and told him that he'd be staying over again, to which the doctor replied “I figured. Just behave yourself.”



Aw, but what's the fun in that?!

(A/N: Holy macaroni...2000 views? Thank you all so very much!

Just a little deviation from the norm on this one, an experiment if you will, in writing from a different perspective. Let me know what you think, and thanks again for reading!)

[SadieHamming]

Poor Ethan! Darlene and Malcolm make a cute couple! Elysia is so cute, and I agree, the doll is creepy.

[Shadow]

I hope Ethan is fine ... Can't wait to see Elysia when she grows up - she's already so pretty

[Rose]

Raia, I've been following your story for quite some time now, and I can't believe that I never left a comment.  This is excellent.  I never liked either of these families, but you made me care for them.  Their voices are very realistic, and you're a great writer!

[Katie123urgreat]

I am in the exact same situation as Rose! I read the story for quite a while now, but kept on getting side-tracked and forgot to leave a comment. I just love your writing style, and how it is in the perspective of Ethan, Holly and Darlene. I never liked playing the Bunches or the Altos, and now you have made me feel for them. The 2000 views is totally worth it! 

[RaiaDraconis]

Poor Ethan! Darlene and Malcolm make a cute couple! Elysia is so cute, and I agree, the doll is creepy.

Just for grins I CAS-aged Elysia to see what she would look like as a young adult. Let's just say she is all Alto...in a good way.

Raia, I've been following your story for quite some time now, and I can't believe that I never left a comment.  This is excellent.  I never liked either of these families, but you made me care for them.  Their voices are very realistic, and you're a great writer!

Thank you. You are very kind to say that!

I am in the exact same situation as Rose! I read the story for quite a while now, but kept on getting side-tracked and forgot to leave a comment. I just love your writing style, and how it is in the perspective of Ethan, Holly and Darlene. I never liked playing the Bunches or the Altos, and now you have made me feel for them. The 2000 views is totally worth it! 

It's a fun challenge trying to balance several different perspectives. I see Holly as being more elegant with her words (she is an artist after all) and Ethan more technical (being a brainiac bookworm). I'm still working on finding Darlene's voice. I see her as more of a fun-loving type who throws herself at everything that she does regardless of the risk (there's the daredevil part) but that's not necessarily easy to convey in writing style. Of course I don't know exactly how often I will have Darlene as the writer either. We'll see how the cookie crumbles as the storyline continues.

Thank you all so much.

[ApplesApplesApples]

I enjoyed this chapter a lot! You captured Darlene's voice very well, I think. Everyone's voice is very distinctive. You're a great writer, and I love this story.

[RaiaDraconis]

Thanks Apples.

Chapter 17 – On Family Affairs and Toddlers

So volunteering to join that testing program was not one of my more inspired ideas.



I wound up spending two nights in the hospital thanks to a minor setback (a fever, nothing serious) and was given three days off from work to recuperate. As it turns out I wasn't the only one to be adversely affected; Morgana was rushed into the E.R. later that night with the same symptoms. Right then and there Geoffrey suspended the trial program and sent a scathing letter to the medical board against that pharmaceutical company. It will be a long time, if ever, before he will allow any new trials to take place here at the hospital.

I was more than ready to come home after that second night. The bed was hard as rock and the food was abysmal at best. Now I understand why my patients are always so impatient to leave...

The first thing I did when I got home was pick up Elysia. I was only away from her for two days, but it felt like forever. I missed my baby girl. That was when the real gravity of the situation hit me. I had taken a ridiculous risk without even bothering to think about the consequences—consequences that could easily have left Holly without a husband and Elysia without a father.

I took Holly into my arms and just held her, making a silent vow to never put her through anything like this again.



The next few months were rather uneventful for the most part, though it was quite the opposite story for the rest of the family. My little brother Arlo graduated from high school and immediately went into the firefighter's academy. Lisa, who had graduated last year but never really did anything after the fact, decided that she needed a new start in life and joined the military.



And, miracle of miracles, she finally called it quits with VJ. Maybe she is actually starting to grow up...? (Though that might be asking a bit too much.)

My baby brother Ian just started the third grade and is already starting to become interested in girls (he told Mom that Jodi Ursine was his girlfriend...oh brother.)



Mom and Dad announced their retirement a few months later and did something that they had always wanted to do: adopt a cat. Er, kitten rather.



Rembrandt is just adorable. Holly and I considered adopting one after we saw him, but we quickly realized that Holly is quite allergic to cats. (She sneezed nonstop for a good ten minutes after petting him.) Ah well.

Mom asked Darlene if she wanted to move back home now that VJ was out of the picture. She replied, and I quote, “Aw HECK no.” I had to laugh at that one.

Her sixteenth birthday was a few months back, which happened to be the day of the high school prom. There was no question who she would be going with; Darlene and Malcolm had been planning this night for months. I have to say, my little sister looked stunning in that dress, and from the look on Malcolm's face when he first saw her he very much agreed with that assessment.



They were voted prom king and queen, the perfect cap to a perfect evening. It would be their last big night together for a while...

...because Malcolm had his eighteenth birthday a month later, and they were forced to put their relationship on hold. Not that they planned to stop seeing each other, just anything romantic would have to wait until she came of age. It was a bittersweet moment, but if I know Darlene, she will find a way to make do.

She's a Bunch. We're a resilient people.

Elysia is almost three now and I swear is becoming more adorable by the day. Since I have Wednesdays off it's officially our “Daddy-Daughter Day”. Most of the time, at least lately, that entails heading off to the library for some quality reading time. She loves the picture books the best, and I've noticed that she likes to trace around the shapes with her fingers. Look out world, I think we have another artist in the making!



It's not all fun and games though. The other day the babysitter foolishly left the baby swing on high for too long, leaving us with a very unhappy and slightly motion-sick toddler. (And very unhappy parents. Candy will not be invited back.)



And if Elysia isn't happy...she will let the world know. Don't worry, she was perfectly fine after a bit of snuggle time.



I will be the first to admit that she has me wrapped around her little finger. Who could possibly resist that charming smile?

[Katie123urgreat]

Another great update! I was not expecting Lisa to join the Military or to dump VJ. Good on Lisa!  I'm pleased that Ethan is fine now, and yes, he should not have signed up for the testing.