40 ~ Over the Moon
by Starling Branch
Hello!!!!! Sorry, that’s a lot of exclamation points. I just haven’t written a chapter in so long! I was in grown-up time-out for like a hundred years! Haha, time is so weird!
The last time I got to write a chapter, my daughter Goldfinch had just become immortal. Now Goldie’s granddaughter is almost ready to become immortal. My great-granddaughter! That’s how much time has passed!
I think Meadowlark is going to be a great immortal. I was worried about her for a while, ya see. She’s always been an anxious kiddo, but through years of hard work and lots of time spent with the sexy scamp that is Arthur Vanderburg (I’m sorry, but all of my descendents’ spouses are hot stuff and I’m not afraid to admit it, and yes, I will be keeping my own voluptuous skin-sack to myself from now on, so stop looking at me like that), Meadowlark has blossomed into a bold, brave, and beautiful Sim who makes topiary giraffes look like art.
For example, a younger Meadowlark would have had a panic attack over Chip Cho staring at her at a party. A younger Meadowlark also wouldn’t have danced at a party at all. Look at her now!
Okay, so actually I’m getting nervous looking at these photos. Maybe Chip Cho was just feeling nostalgic, watching a couple of Branches have a good time. He died a day or so later. He was one of Charles Winterly’s sons. He lived a long time!
More proof that Meadowlark has come a long way: she’s still trying to get her last two BlackOps, and every time her phone rings and it’s NOT a BlackOp, she lets loose!
“Emmit Preston, this is ridiculous! You’re three hundred years old, you’re a fairy, you’ve tried this a thousand times already, and you’re STILL trying to ask a married woman on a date! I am not interested in talking to you unless you require my services in a legitimate Opportunity! No, a date does not count! Goodbye!”
Overhearing that was fun. Anyway! Now that I had been mostly freed from the Elder Flat, I’d been cooking up an idea. I talked to Goldie about it.
“Sometimes, when I was feeling particularly loopy in the Elder Flat, I’d play some upright bass,” I said. “And I think, now that there are three of us in the Old Lady Club and will soon have a fourth, we should totally start a band! An old lady band!”
“That sounds like a marvelous idea, Mother. But I must insist that if I join, I play the grand piano. It is the most proper instrument available.”
“You want to drag a grand piano all over Hidden Springs with your bare hands? I’d love to see that! You’re in!”
Then I asked Chickadee, who had just come in from a shift at the hospital. “I’ll play guitar,” she said. Which basically means she’s the leader. Maybe that’s for the best.
She must have known that Meadowlark would want to play the drums. Even though Meadow isn’t old enough to be a part of our immortal band yet, I told her about the idea, and she requested permission to sit in the back and hide from our audience. Drums would be perfect for her!
And so my daughter and granddaughter and I formed a band called FLOCK. What does it stand for? I’m open to suggestions. My only idea thus far is Fancy Ladies Opening Cans of Kidneybeans. Chickadee said that won’t work because “kidneybeans” is actually TWO words, and Goldfinch said that won’t work because “the whole thing is just…horrifying”. I like it, but maybe we’ll all agree on something in the future.
Usually what we do is hop in the Motive Mobile together, drive for seven hours to reach downtown Hidden Springs, and then set up in the central square to play for the zero townies that show up. We can stay there for a long time because our needs get filled on the way there. And sometimes Meadowlark joins us to practice! It’s a good time!
Other exciting events: Meadowlark sold the last sculpture she needed to max her career and become a Master Sculptologist!
She also purchased her third unique Lifetime Reward: Magic Hands. Now she can do magic without a wand and it looks totally wicked.
Chickadee had a good idea for Meadowlark’s BlackOps, which still weren’t coming. Chickadee was the first Branch to gain a celebrity star due to making so many friends at the hospital over the years. She told Meadowlark that if she gained a star herself, she’d start getting special celebrity opportunities! Meadowlark was very nervous about the prospect of attending red carpet events and such, but Chickadee assured her that “it’s really simple stuff, actually, like cooking a plate of spaghetti for no reason”. She also gave her a perfect way to get that star without having to talk to a bunch of people. Her suggestion: just go talk to the celebrity next door!
So Meadowlark did. Felix Vanderburg, son of Charles Winterly and Francisca Vanderburg and former flame of our darling Heron, still lives in the little house next door. Being a vampire has given him extra-long life - he’s still in his adult life stage! Anyway, Felix was a one-star celebrity already, and chatting with him for a couple of hours gave Meadowlark the star she needed. Blammo! Problem solved! If the BlackOps start coming in, that is.
More fun events! Wesley went on a date to the Starlight Picnic Park For Activities Other Than Picnicking. He and Amit definitely followed the No Picnicking rule!
Meadowlark and Arthur also got all lovey-dovey, cuz they always do that!
Ooh yeah, Wesley adopted a kitten! He got the Cat Person trait when he aged up, and since Coconut was getting kind of old, we all figured it was a good time to add a new member to the family. No, this isn’t the new kitten. This is the animal shelter guy, whom I totally hit on.
There’s the new kitten! Down there! See it? You might have to squint through Chickadee’s chest to see it. That’s what Wesley had to do, apparently.
There he is! This is Douglas Fur Branch. He is Aggressive, Quiet, and One Other Trait Somebody Forgot To Write Down.
See? What did I say? Coconut became an elder that very night. The timing was impeccable, and a little bit sad too perhaps.
It was fun having a kitten around again. Wesley was over the moon. And so was Douglas Fur! You know, because he looks a little bit like a cow? Get it?
Oh look, here’s me! At the moment this photo was taken, I had just come up with that cow-over-the-moon joke. Or possibly I was just laughing at Douglas Fur. Cats are funny, okay?
Wow, we haven’t even talked about Sandpiper yet! Sandpiper’s my great-great-Granddaughter, which is just crazy. Here she is become Best Friends Forever with Hope Boyles, a girl she met at school.
Sandygirl spent a little time inventing, but mostly she was really busy with school and homework and being friends with Hope. (Those girls hang out almost every single day!) She came home from school feeling stressed a lot, and her favorite way to relax was by playing with the toys she herself made at her workbench. I think that’s pretty cool. I also think her choice of location for this photo was very relatable. She’s a girl after my own heart!
Now I get to tell you about the most exciting thing that happened at the Nest recently. I may be old and crazy, but I’m also a brilliant scientist. Why is that important, you ask? Because I do the cloning of the spouses, obviously!
Specimen #9,541 came into the world without any problems. He was a perfect clone of his donor, and I named him Robin - an honorary bird name, even though he’s not yet a true Branch. Why? Because he's the clone of a very special Sim, and also because he’s the last cloned member of this family. Can you believe it? I can almost see the end of the dynasty, sparkling through a fog far away.
