Reaper's Genetic Legacy Experiment [Complete]

[VioletG]

Aaaah she is adorable. And she and Bear together are adorable x 10.

[PeregrineTook]

So loving the Bear and Ev combo!  LittleEv is already adorable, but I can't wait to see how the genes play out with this little one as she ages up to child and teen.

[Serenity S.]

She's a little cutie, and I love how when you tell about her you tell how a blind small girl makes the most of her other senses. Also, I didn't know Sim eyes can be that white. How you made them so?

[Rhoxi]

Aw, Eveline and Bear together are the cutest! I like that we're already getting a feel for what life is like for Eveline even though she's just a toddler.

[Lisa46]

Eveline looks so different from the rest of the reapers! How did you get those eyes?

[LivvieLove]

Aaaah she is adorable. And she and Bear together are adorable x 10.

I love her! She's such a cutie. She takes so much after her mom.

So loving the Bear and Ev combo!  LittleEv is already adorable, but I can't wait to see how the genes play out with this little one as she ages up to child and teen.

I had a feeling you might. It's only going to get better from here too! I get the feeling she's going to look a lot like her mom, and I'm not complaining at all about that!

She's a little cutie, and I love how when you tell about her you tell how a blind small girl makes the most of her other senses. Also, I didn't know Sim eyes can be that white. How you made them so?

Eveline looks so different from the rest of the reapers! How did you get those eyes?

She's super adorable! She actually has brown eyes. I normally use default replacement eyes (which make my Sim's eyes have more depth and look a lot better in my opinion) but with Eveline I got a contact replacement mod that gives her eyes that bright white color.

Aw, Eveline and Bear together are the cutest! I like that we're already getting a feel for what life is like for Eveline even though she's just a toddler.

Yeah, I'm going to have a really hard time not accidentally putting in things that would indicate that she can see - so let's hope I'm able to catch myself - especially later on. It makes me have to think a little harder when narrating for her, but it also gives her so much depth as a character and a lot of personality.

Thank you all so much for the positive feedback! I'm working my stories on a cycle right now and I've also been playing a few other games so you may notice the updates become a little more spaced out - not to worry though. I'm very determined, but Tropico 5 will be coming out and I'm likely going to disappear for a little while to mess around with that when it does.

[LivvieLove]

So all, I will be leaving home for a few days coming soon, so I'm trying to get my story updates out. The Reapers are coming along slowly (or I feel like they are) due to the multitude of issues coming about. Here are some of the weird quirks I've been fighting:

• I once saved when Mary was throwing out the potty trash from Eveline's wonderful potty chair. When I opened the game, it shows Mary dropping it into the trash, and suddenly there's a glitch. There's no option to take out the trash (she was throwing it away in a kitchen trashcan rather than the outside one) and everyone has a filthy surroundings moodlet and a "disgusting" moodlet even when I remove the trash can. I've torn the whole house apart but it's just glitched. I have to reset the lot in order to even start to fix it.
• I had Alec learn to play the guitar by strumming out in the living room. Bear is a Quiet dog, so he hates noise. Now, however, whenever Bear is in the room with Alec he constantly gets the "Noisy" negative moodlet and the queue starts to line up with "React Negatively" to Alec (about four or five in a row) until Alec leaves the room Bear is in. Alec only played the guitar in front of Bear once, but apparently Bear simply won't forgive him.
• I'm dealing with a multitude of crashes that are coming about for no reason and with no warning. Everything will be fine, then suddenly, "The Sims 3 has stopped working." The Crash Log Analyzer keeps saying it's "maxed memory" but I find that to be completely bazaar. It only ever happens with the Reapers, and I have some pretty big files I'm playing other than them. Either way, this crashing has caused me to have to delete many, many pictures as that simply isn't how the game is going. Frustrating. I mean, I can normally tell when my game is chugging and memory is low (there's almost always lag, things will slow down) but things will literally be fine, I'll be on regular speed and just messing around when it goes down.

Onwards, to the chapter.

Mary's Bad Day
Mary isn't a housewife.
Cleaning did not come naturally to her.
Oftentimes, the bed looked worse after she made it than it did when she had just gotten out of it.
Dishes often had to be washed a second time after Mary washed them.
And oftentimes Mary's clothing could fit Eveline when she would try to wash them.
Mary tended to get overly worked up over these little things, and it often took reminders that she was still a perfect woman to Alec.

Mary could feel when she woke up that this morning was likely to be a bad day. It's like an extra sense. Alec and she showered together and she couldn't shake that something was off.
"Just relax, Mary, you'll work yourself into a frenzy at this rate." Alec teased. He had it easy this morning though, all he had to do was wake Eveline up and get her ready for the day.

She was easy in the mornings, it was putting her down at night that was hard.

Mary started to get breakfast going, trying to keep her body in a routine so she could focus on being fit and active for her lifetime wish. She bit her cheek as she focused in on making waffles. "I'm just making waffles, it's not rocket science." She said to herself softly. She put the waffles in to cook, and after only a few minutes, something had caught fire.

Mary honestly couldn't believe what she was seeing. She had been watching them this whole time and one of them suddenly exploded like that? She felt numb as she watched the flames, but the witch in her spiked. She started to work up her pool. Spells came so much easier to her these days than housewife duties did. She was suddenly aware that Alec had joined her in a panic to help put out the fire.

After everything had settled, Mary quietly looked down at the countertop.
Alec asked a lot of questions - if she was ok, what started the fire, why she wasn't answering, but Mary simply couldn't bring herself to answer. She walked quietly to the fridge and pulled out Eveline's birthday cake that she cut a few pieces off of and handed one to her husband. "Here, breakfast of champions." She said numbly.

"Mary?"
She had just sat down, but she was looking elsewhere. She could tell Alec was growing impatient with her, and she could hear his tone growing closer to anger, but she just couldn't shake the feelings she already had enough to care.
Finally, Alec put down the plate and shouted at her. "Mary! Don't you even care?!"
Mary slammed her hands onto the table and stood up. "Yes! I get it! I'm a horrible housewife! I can't make a bed, I can't clean the dishes, and I can't even cook a darned waffle! Ok?" She shouted. Mary felt tears stinging her eyes."I can master any spell, I can defeat any enemy in combat, I can battle on a ship and steer one too. I can problem solve and quick think... but I can't even figure out basic things! You can be angry at me all you want, but you'll never be as angry with me as I am."
Alec stood speechless as Eveline started to cry from the shouting. Mary let out a hard breath and wiped her face on her sleeve. She took in a deep breath and went into the nursery to quiet her daughter.
Eveline had thrown herself into tears at the sounds of her parents' upset voices. She had been covering her ears by her toybox when Mary picked her up and shushed her. "Sorry, Evie, I didn't mean to shout."
Eveline, who had developed a disjointed speech - mostly revolving around the word "no" - pouted her face and began her mantra. "No. No no." She said softly. "No. No, no, no."
"I know sweetie, it's not good to shout. I'm sorry." Eveline reached up and felt for her mom's face. She rubbed it gently to show her she forgave her.
"No-no-no." Eveline whispered and she pushed her face into her mother's shoulder.
"I'm doing the best I can, sweetie." Mary said, swallowing back the sting of tears again. She put Eveline back down now that she had quieted and kissed her head. "I'm sorry that it's just not good enough." She whispered.
Eveline squeezed her eyes shut tight. "No, no."
Mary left the nursery and didn't even make eye-contact with Alec, who looked concerned. She sat down and ate the piece of cake she had gotten for herself in silence.

"Mary?" Alec's voice was much softer now.
"What?" Her voice broke.
Alec cringed hearing her voice. "I'm sorry, Mary."
"I am too." She said without looking up.
There was scratching at the backdoor. Paws hitting the glass rapidly caused Mary to jerk out of her sadness for a moment. Bear urgently wanted inside. With Alec's paycheck being so small, Bear had taken to spending his nights out constantly hunting the night away - hoping to find something worthwhile.
"He's probably really tired, can you let him in, Alec." Mary said numbly as she looked forward again, recalling all the events of the morning in detail so she could be reminded why she was so disappointed with herself.

Bear ran in and sat down energetically by Mary's side. He bumped her leg with his face, looking at her with his wide, puppy eyes. He nudged the gem he found into her lap. Mary looked down apathetically. "Looks like an emerald." She said quietly, as she petted the top of Bear's head gently. "Every little bit helps, thank you Bear." She said without any feeling in her words. Her eyes stung as she held back her tears and Alec kept trying to talk to her but she wasn't quite ready to listen.
She started to feel nauseated. This jerked her out of her numbness, causing her to look down at the gem again.
"No... way... Bear... you didnt?!" She finally said loudly.
Alec looked thoroughly confused. "Uh... the emerald?"
"Alec, call a cab! I'm going to grab Eveline! Watcher!" Mary started to shout again.
What is it dear?
"You did place it, right? In the town. You placed one, right?!"
Uh... er... Bridgeport is very crowded. I had to tear down a few buildings, but yes, I did place it.
Mary ran into the nursery and swooped up Eveline who protested at first but gave in with her mom's enthusiasm. She ran out to find Alec looking at her with the same look on his face.
"This gem... is going to solve all of our problems." Mary gave a wicked smile, but the smile faded at once. "We're allowed to use it... right watcher?"
Of course. It's fair game, Bear found it.
The grin returned. "Let's go!"

After they had left...

"Er, I got a call that there was a fire here? Anyone?"

Mary, Alec and Eveline pulled up the blue building that stood out-of-place in the concrete jungle. "Uh... this is... unusual." Alec said strangely. "Uh... Mary... are you... are you like, ok?" He asked her as Mary threw herself out of the taxi and into the building which was completely empty.
Alec looked around the place. "If you wanted to buy something... it doesn't look like anyone is in, Mary."
Mary shook her head. "No, that's not why we're here." She plopped Eveline down in front of a big metal machine. "This is."

Mary tossed the gem in, and started up the machine. Eveline began to cry helplessly as she reached to cover her ears with her small hands. "No! No! No!" She shouted. "No!" Tears streamed from her little eyes as her hearing became hyper-sensitive. "NO!"

"Sorry love, it's all done now." Mary said as she took the special gem from the machine.
Eveline fussed and kicked when Mary picked her up. "No! No! No! No! Noise! No-no!" She wailed. Her hands gripped her moms hair and tugged hard, causing Mary to let out a sound of pain.
"Stop that Eveline." Mary scolded sternly, but Eveline kept kicking and pulling while screaming her mantra at the top of her lungs. Mary finally put down Eveline and sat on a bench across the way from her. Alec, who had been eyeing the strange bottles of things had come over to quiet Eveline, who stopped her tantrum as soon as Alec picked her up.
"What is going on here?" He asked looking between his wife and his daughter who had suddenly melted into an angel and rested her head on him. "Mary, I don't know what your problem is today, but I think we should go home." He said sternly.
Mary didn't really want to go home, but she didn't have a choice. Alec had to leave for work after noon, and then no one would be there to watch Eveline. She nodded in defeat.

As soon as they got home, Mary put Eveline in the playpen and began to lay out the gem she had cut.

"There. All of our problems will be over." Mary said softly.
Alec turned to her after overhearing and snapped at her. "The problem right now is you, Mary. I honestly cannot believe you today." He said coldly, but Mary wasn't listening to him any longer. If she wanted to hear about what a horrible person she was, she would just ask herself.
Mary held up a hand to silence Alec as she clenched her teeth together. She wasn't going to shout. Eveline was right here. She couldn't say any bad words. Eveline was right here. She closed her eyes tightly. Eveline was right here.
"You're acting like some kind of crazy woman! You lit the stove on fire, you drag Ev and I out to get some kind of stupid stone cut, causing Eveline to go into a meltdown and you just sit and let her go at it instead of trying to calm her down... and now..."
Mary was about to start screaming when someone else started to for her. "NO! Stop it daddy! No!" Eveline screamed as she beat her hands against the playpen. "No! No! No! Bad!" She shouted.
Mary, whose fists had been clenched - along with every muscle in her body, burst into tears and ran into the bedroom where she slammed the door shut behind her.
"No!" Eveline gave one last scream at the sound of the door slamming.
Alec sighed softly and he bent over to pick up his daughter from the pen. As soon as Eveline felt the hands touch her she started to swat. She was getting sick of being picked up and put down over and over. "Nooo!" She protested as Alec pulled her up to him.
"Calm down Ev." Alec said impatiently.
"Nooo!" She cried again. "Daddy mean." She cried.
This struck Alec like a slap to the face. "I'm mean?" He asked softly.
"No." Eveline said surely as she shook her head up and down firmly. That was as close to yes as Alec and Mary had been able to get her. "Mommy sad. Daddy mean." She reiterated.
"I wasn't trying to be mean, Evie." He said softly, trying to persuade her.
"Mommy face wet. Daddy mean."
The carpool arrived outside and honked it's horn for Alec to come out.
Mary had been slumped behind the door listening to the two of them talk when the carpool had arrived for him. She nervously stood up and opened the door. Alec had been bouncing Eveline, trying to make her happy again when he saw Mary.
"Mommy sad. Daddy made mommy sad. Bad daddy." Eveline had cried, Mary felt her tugging at her heart that her daughter went so far to defend her when she was sure an hour ago that her daughter hated her existence.
Mary came over calmly and pulled Eveline from Alec's hands. "Sh, no sweetie." Mary's voice cracked. "It's mommy's fault that mommy is sad. Daddy has to go now. He has to leave for work. Forgive your daddy so he doesn't feel bad when he goes to work. For me, please?"
Eveline pouted a face with her arms crossed before she let out a little sigh. She struggled and reached over for her dad's face and gave him a reassuring rub. "No-no." She said quietly. Forgiven.
"Thank you sweetie." He said returning a gentle facerub to his daughter. He gave her a kiss on the forehead and looked at Mary with sad eyes before disappearing out to the carpool with mixed feelings and anger at himself.


After a few minutes passed, Mary set Eveline back down on the floor. Eveline was happy to be free of the prison bars and eagerly enjoyed her time just sitting on regular floor and feeling the wood with her hands.
Mary started to work out, hoping to work out all the anger and pain she had been feeling all day long, and it did help a little. It always did.

Bear had come over and started licking Eveline's face, feeling very happy to see her after she disappeared this morning with all the other human sims.

She gripped onto his fur as he stooped over her and helped pull her to her feet. Bear had been doing this quietly. Helping her gain balance to stand up on her own. Alec and Mary had been at a loss for how to teach Eveline how to walk... how could they stand a distance away and urge her to walk when she had no idea where she was going? Bear had the answer though. Eveline used Bear as a crutch, and took her first steps with him. After standing her up, Bear would move behind her and nudge her forward with his nose, staying close behind her, and never letting her get to a place where falling would be hazardous.
After a couple of hours of playing with Bear around the living room within her mom's sight, Eveline gave a wail. "Mommy! Potty! No-no!" She cried.
Mary smiled and helped pick her daughter up to take her to the potty chair.

As Mary finished taking care of Eveline, she could hear the sound of the carpool outside which caused her to tense up suddenly.
"Mommy?" Eveline asked her quietly.
"I'm ok sweetie." Mary felt herself weakening, "I think your daddy is home though." She said quietly.

"Oh. Hungry mommy!" Eveline suddenly cried, seemingly forgetting feeling her mother tense up suddenly. Mary quietly put Eveline down in the high chair and left the room for the kitchen while Eveline cried. She absolutely loathed the high chair.

Alec uneasily stood in place as Mary moved about the kitchen. "Mary... I... can we talk?"
"I'm busy, Eveline needs some food. Don't worry. I don't think I'll mess this one up." Mary snapped without even looking up.
Alec opened his mouth to protest, but closed it quickly. Being snarky would only make the situation worse.
Mary took in the food to Eveline; she stayed in the room for a little while longer, preferring hearing Eveline's cries to the discussion she would have to face with Alec.
She could hear the door open behind her and she willed Alec with her mind to just drop it. She wasn't going to fight in front of Eveline. Not after how today went. Today was just a truly horrible day, and Mary wanted nothing more than to just go back to this morning and redo it.
"Mary..."
"No..." Mary's voice broke, "please. Not -" She turned and Alec had gotten out a bouquet of flowers.

"You're a perfect mother, a perfect friend, and in my opinion, a perfect woman." He said quietly.
"Alec... I'm sor-"
He put up his hand. "No, I'm sorry. You've been stuck at home forcing yourself to do things that neither one of us could do well, and you're beating yourself up over the fact that yeah, you suck at making the bed, and sure, waffles are a little crispier when you make them, but who cares? Do you care that your mom can't make this house look 'aesthetically' pleasing Ev?"
Eveline loathed the highchair, and was much too busy struggling to get out to be listening to her dad. "Huh?" Eveline asked, not understanding a word he said, or what was going on really. She was stuck three feet above the ground in a dark prison of hard surfaces.
Alec laughed loudly. "The one time I need her to use her favorite word, she can't seem to find it."
"No! No!" Eveline scolded.
Mary laughed. "I'm sorry for all the craziness this morning."
"Ok, are you going to let me in on the silly rock?"
Mary nodded and took him out. "You can see for yourself, actually."

Alec's jaw dropped. "Wasn't... there just one of them and two excess pieces?"
"Tiberium is a very rare, very expensive and craved gem that grows. It also makes anyone who carries it nauseous." Mary shrugged.
"Expensive?"
"People will pay at least forty... to..."
"Forty dollars for that?" Alec seemed shocked.
"No dear, forty thousand - each." She said finally.
Alec looked as though he was about to go into shock. He fell to his knees and started to grovel. "I, Alec Reaper, hereby remove all of my decent sense for ever doubting my beautiful, genius wife, who has likely made it possible for us to throw away these stupid careers and housework duties for things we actually enjoy."
Mary smiled softly, but turned to clean up the dishes that Eveline left. Alec finally grabbed her wrists and spun her around.
"What are you doing? I was trying to clean up-"

"I'm doing what I should've done this morning when I saw you were distressed, forgive me? Please?"
"Of course I forgive you, forgive me for nearly burning down our house?"
"Oh please, those waffles were out to get you. Obviously."

No, Mary wasn't a housewife, but now she doesn't have to be.

[PeregrineTook]

Aww, so much sweet!  Totally digging Eveline.  She and dear Bear are the ones who really know know know what's up  ;=)

[Rhoxi]

The waffles are out to get you, haha! Clearly, they're evil!

[LivvieLove]

Aww, so much sweet!  Totally digging Eveline.  She and dear Bear are the ones who really know know know what's up  ;=)

You know, it took me a second to get your comment (yeah, I'm that dense) and then it hit me and I couldn't stop laughing. My boyfriend was shaking his head in shame practically. Eveline and Bear are my favorites at this point, it's hard though because I'm trying to take my time to describe her toddlerhood and build these relationships (whereas normally I could say "Mary learned how to walk, talk and go potty). It's a lot of fun to have a new perspective, but I feel like the toddler years are going on forever (I'm also trying to allow time for Twallan to give me some Bridgeport babies).

The waffles are out to get you, haha! Clearly, they're evil!

I'm totally serious! They WERE out to get her. One minute she was just cooking like normal, never taking her eyes off the stove and the next minute - poof, fire.
I've only ever had a fire happen out of negligence (like when my Sim decides to throw up when she's in the middle of cooking, or when my absent minded Sims start cooking something and walk away without me realizing that either has happened) or purposeful fires. I've never had my Sim put waffles in, be diligent about them and have them CATCH FIRE. Burn, yes, catch fire? No. Like, she was cooking them for the regular amount of time too. There wasn't a point where she kept them in for longer than usual in the Sims... so I was completely blown away.
Evil waffles. Cold cereal it is from now on.

[VioletG]

Eveline and Bear are my favorites at this point, it's hard though because I'm trying to take my time to describe her toddlerhood and build these relationships (whereas normally I could say "Mary learned how to walk, talk and go potty). It's a lot of fun to have a new perspective, but I feel like the toddler years are going on forever (I'm also trying to allow time for Twallan to give me some Bridgeport babies).

Wow, good for you. It is definitely hard to make those younger years interesting when most of the time you are just trying to hurry and get them to learn everything they need to learn. You're doing a great job!

[LivvieLove]

Wow, good for you. It is definitely hard to make those younger years interesting when most of the time you are just trying to hurry and get them to learn everything they need to learn. You're doing a great job!

Thank you! It's hard work, but very worth it.


Anyways, I apologize for the prolonged update, I've been busy with a million other things and I've only recently got to play. I was going to update yesterday, but my eczema was acting up (it takes over my right hand index finger, middle finger and ring finger) and I lost most of the skin on my index finger the day before yesterday. I am trained in typing, so I type very quickly and the rapid movements was just too much for my finger to do (way too painful). I have it thoroughly wrapped up, and I really want to get this out before I start having to bundle up my other fingers too and then I'll get really clumsy. Please don't mind the typos.

Also, did a bad thing by accidentally calling Alec, Alex. Alec Reaper the son of Majnun Keeper (the mad god), and then there's Alex, my boyfriend. I've been doing pretty good by not accidentally calling Alec - Alex, but I noticed I slipped up already, and I corrected it. Sorry for any confusion there.

On another note, not that anyone would ever be saying this "wrong" but I've always referred to Eveline's nickname as Eh-vee. Eevee is totally exceptable too, but I just thought I'd share what my mind is processing for that, and I noticed it can likely go two ways for that.


Unexpected Visitor
It had been a day since Mary's "bad" day, and she was starting to feel a little better about how things were going. After sending Alec off to work, she wrote down a few things she needed to get done that day - some of which were: trying to get Eveline to say something coherently other than no; to drop the tiberium off to be sold at the consignment shop; to clean house and to hopefully be back prior to Alec getting home. This was going to be a long afternoon.

"Hey, Evie, how are you doing today?"
"No! Uh... No! I good. No."
"Sweetheart, I think you meant to say, 'I'm good.'" Mary emphasized the whole phrase out slowly so Eveline could understand.
"No!" Eveline pouted.
"No?" Mary's face fell.
"No!"
"Ugh..." She finally got up and excused herself while Eveline went back to playing. "Watcher help me." Mary said under her breath.
She'll grow out of it dear, it's a phase at toddlerhood, besides, it'll make great blackmail when she gets older and wants to date other boys.
"Oh watcher... please don't say that... especially not around Alec. He spent a whole week and a half baby-proofing this house, I can't imagine how long he'll take boyfriend-proofing it."
Well, you better talk to him about this, because you and I both know that she's going to have to marry and have children eventually.
"I just don't know how someone will be able to handle it." She looked tenderly at her daughter.
I'm not too concerned. She's independent, and very feisty. Besides, if you leave her speech the way it is, she'll already turn down all the guys that approach her.
Mary laughed. "True story." She bent down and lifted little Eveline. "Can you try one last time for mommy?"

"I love you, momma."
Mary's heart melted. "I love you too, sweetheart. Always."

Eveline often gets to sit in her walker and meander around the living room with Mary's watchful eye on her. The nice thing about the walker is that if she's going to run into something, it won't hit her, but the plastic she's surrounded by. This has brought plenty of ease to Mary and Alec's minds.

Mary had just really gotten started warming up when Bear started to act funny. Mary gave him a funny look for a moment. He was growling, but not in his usual way. There was something very different about this growl.

Bear senses someone magical is approaching. He doesn't like it.
"What?!"
The door burst open and Mary froze in place. Eveline was still wondering around, and Bear was fixated on the door.

Mary almost couldn't believe her eyes, a clown-looking man walked into the room in stride. His face as white as day, his lips painted bright red and a thick frown furrowing him. He was mumbling under his breath in a strange manner.
"Who... who are you? What are you doing in here!" Mary raised her voice and Eveline stopped, right at the foot of the stranger.
The stranger's face melted into a smile, but his voice was very deep and seemed almost angry. "We should've known Aleccas wouldn't tell us where he ran off to. No. Why did he lie to us?" He picked up Eveline and Mary almost let out a screech.

Eveline pushed back against the strange hands pulling her up.
"Hm, aren't you just adorable!" His voice was suddenly high pitched and amused. "Such a sweet little one! What is your name, my sweet little one?"
Mary had begun to work up whatever magic she could, her panic was rising in her.

The stranger put up a hand, and his voice was suddenly lower again. It sounded as though he were many people in one mouth. "Mary Reaper," His voice raised to something sweeter, "please, I have no intentions of hurting my family," his voice lowered to something devious as he grinned, "so I ask you not to hurt your husband's father."
Mary dropped everything immediately, stunned. He did seem pretty crazy, but how could she be sure?
"Where is that useless Watcher of yours, she'll vouch for me." He reached in and began to tickle Eveline, who had now accepted that she was just going to have to be held.
"No, no!" She giggled.
"Watcher?" Mary asked unsure.
Hello, Majnun. Yes, Mary, this would be Alec's father. Grandfather to Eveline. You are aware, Majnun, that I specifically told you were they were going, right?
Majnun muttered under his breath, then shook his head. "What's your name, my little child?"
"Ev-el-line!" Eveline took her time to sound out her own name.
"Angela?!" He said putting a finger in his ear.
"No! No! Ev-el-line!" She said again, shaking her little fist.
"Eveline? Ah." He grinned wildly, he pulled Eveline up in the air while she giggled. "Hello my dear Eveline! I'm your Auntie Majnun!" He said with glee.
Mary's mouth hung open as she watched. "You can't be serious...?" She muttered under her breath.
Nope. Very serious.
Mary sighed loudly.
"Oh my, there's something off about this little child..." Majnun's face furrowed into thought. He poked at her cheeks and her nose.
Eveline giggled and swatted and swatted, but she could never see where his hand was. She eventually just covered her eyes with both of her palms.
"Hmm... Does she have all of her fingers?" He went through seriously and checked both hands. After seeing she had all ten fingers AND ten toes his confusion deepened. "How about your tongue? Do you have an extra one of those?" He opened her mouth with his hand and examined. Now he was just perplexed.
Mary was exasperated. "She's blind. Majnun." She said shortly.
"No! That's not it." He kept examining her over. "Ah well, it will come to me eventually." He shrugged and put her back down into her walker.
Mary pulled out her phone to call Alec when she suddenly noticed the time and groaned. "Oh no... I need to get these to the consignment store before it closes!" Yet she didn't want to leave a madman home in her house alone with Eveline. She sighed and swooped down to pick her daughter up. Bear had been fixated on Majnun from the beginning, keeping his eyes glowering at the man. So when Mary called to him, he was jolted out of his thoughts. "Bear, watch Majnun for me, I've got to get these to the consignment store!" She called out in a hurry and took off. Majnun shrugged and gave Bear a wide smile.

Alec walked up the lawn calmly and he could smell food cooking. "Oh dear..." he thought of Mary the last time she tried to attempt to cook something and went running inside to be completely stunned into silence.

"Welcome home Aleccas!" Majnun beamed and his voice quivered with joy.
"Where's Mary and Eveline?" Alec was almost sure she must have packed her bags at the sight of his father and took off with their daughter. Panic set in as he looked around for signs that they left, but saw Bear laying defeated in front of Eveline's door, guarding it from the strange man who had taken over the kitchen. Mary never would've left Bear if she had no intention of coming back.
"Oh, they went out... somewhere. I can't remember. Had something to do with those green funny rocks! Don't worry, Bear makes a good conversational partner!" He gave the dog a grin, and Bear only moved to cover his ears with his paws as he whined softly.
Alec pressed his lips together. "It's good to see you, dad." He said, his voice very slightly holding sarcasm.
Mary got home a few minutes later and apologized for running late. She tried to explain that their visitor had caused her to run late with her errands, but as she looked around the once-dirty house she stood stunned. Majnun had cleaned while she was gone - and cooked dinner that didn't end up burning down the place.

"Thank you... Majnun." Mary said, amazed.
Majnun simply grinned and went back to doting on his granddaughter.

After Eveline was put down for the night, Mary and Alec sat down with Majnun to talk for a bit. It turns out, Majnun had brought along a gift of several thousand dollars for his granddaughter's well being. This sent both Mary and Alec into shock. Mary thought about her long awaited dream of learning Martial Arts, how long she had been holding onto the wish to visit China and finally learn. Alec and she had planned on leaving as soon as one of the tiberium sold, but now they didn't have to wait. Except the problem that came with leaving after a tiberium sold was that they weren't sure who could watch Eveline... and her birthday was coming up soon too. Mary felt awful for wanting to pursue her dreams as she realized that she would likely miss a lot of things when she left.
Majnun's idea was simple: "I can watch her!"
Mary's eyes went wide, but she saw Alec was going back and forth on the possibility. Alec looked as though he were about to accept, as he has been wanting to take Mary on a real honeymoon for a while, but Mary blurted out, "we'll sleep on it."
Majnun explained he would sleep on the couch, and Mary and Alec headed for their room.
"I'm not so sure..." Mary said suddenly.
"He raised me, Mary. I know he's a bag of nuts on a good day, but he's not that bad of a father." Alec said with a firm tone.
Mary felt bad for blurting out that she wanted to sleep on it suddenly. Of course she should trust him. Alec turned out fine. It was just hard to trust someone she just met with her daughter. "I'm sorry..."
"No, I'm sorry, you just met him, of course you're reserved... I just... I know what my father is capable of, and hurting family is not one of them. Besides, I really want to take you on this trip, Mary. You've been dreaming of it since you were a little girl. I felt terrible enough when I knew we'd have to put it off for a while, and then we moved here and Eveline's getting older... but we can't keep putting it of." He walked over and embraced her.
"I know... but we'll miss her birthday... I just don't think I can..."
"I think she'll forgive us, especially if she knew how much you sacrificed for her from the start. We can always have a mini-celebration when we get back, and I'm sure she'd love a gift from another country."
Mary was starting to be swayed. Finally she nodded. "Ok, we'll book the trip tomorrow. Do you think your dad will be ok for a week with her?" Mary suddenly remembered something from earlier.
"Why not?"
"He hasn't even figured out she's blind yet. I tried to tell him, but he was insistent that she wasn't blind."
Alec's face flushed and he sighed. "Typical dad." He shook his head. "She'll be fine, she's got Bear! And she's very good at voicing when she's not happy, so I can't imagine he'll miss that." They both shared a laugh and went to sleep.

In the other room, Bear was wide awake, feeling an extra need to protect his little master.


The next morning, Mary and Alec awoke to the smell of French Toast. Their mouths watered as they went out to let Majnun know their final decision.

Majnun was delighted to be left alone with his granddaughter, though Mary did let him know that Palmira and Noten would be stopping by occasionally, though Palmira's work schedule was difficult as a nurse.
They went quiet for a little bit and Majnun went to pick Eveline out of her crib. When he came back after taking care of everything he sat down with a serious look on his face. "I think you two should know something important." He said in a low, serious voice.
"What is it?" Mary said, suddenly nervous that she had just booked her flight.
"I think..." He paused and looked around the room. "Don't get me wrong, but I think Eveline is..." He paused and looked worried, "blind!" He blurted out the final word with shock.
Mary's face fell into her hand and Alec just sat there for a moment before laughing uncontrollably. "You know dad, I think you're right." Alec said between laughs. "Be sure to keep an eye on her for us." Alec said as he got control of himself.
The taxi arrived for them outside and they both grabbed their bags and kissed Eveline goodbye. Mary took a long time to finally let go of her daughter, but soon, they were on their way to fulfill one of Mary's biggest dreams - they were going to China.



The next chapter will have two segments. One where you see Alec and Mary in China, and the other is getting to see Eveline grow and interact with her Grandfather Auntie Majnun. I have most of the pictures already, so I may update again today, but if not today, it will happen sometime between now and Monday.

[PeregrineTook]

I love how you have Majnun standing out against the very grey house and dull tones of Alec and Mary's wardrobes.  Quite impactful.  Since Bear will be around, one would have to think Evie will be just fine.  And if Majnun steps out of line, Granny Agnes may have to make a special visit  ;=)

[Rhoxi]

Okay, I so did not see Manjun coming along to lend them a helping hand. Interesting and fun twist, there.

[ManiSims]

Haha. I just finished reading all this and I love it!  Manjun is really hilarious. 
Also, sort of random topic here, but whenever one of the couples proposes and says something along the lines of "Can I say something crazy?" I can't help but be reminded of Frozen.  Especially with Palmira and Noten.