The nouvelle Nouvel Legacy

Conrad graduated high school not long after Mom passed away. At least Dad and I were there to watch him walk in his cap and gown. He had an internship lined up at the science center and was supposed to start the next day. Because of that and our grief over Mom’s passing we didn’t have a party of any kind.

Dad passed away the next day. He didn’t even get to hear about Con’s first day on the job. I think the pain of losing our parents so close together really affected Conrad. He became so moody, his emotions swinging from joy to despair like a child’s swing at the mercy of a storm. He poured all of his energy into work, earning promotions and raises back to back it seemed. His goal was to reach the top of the science career as soon as possible so that he could marry his girlfriend Bambi. He swore to stay at home as long as necessary to make that happen.

My birthday was not long after Aunt Babs passed away. A few lines were to be expected, with all the stress we had been under and I began dressing a bit more professionally.

I was anxious to get back to work but at the same time, I knew I needed to try for a daughter to carry on the next generation of Nouvels.  I was still wary of labeling my relationship with August. Boyfriend seems like such a silly word. But he couldn’t be any worse a father than Danial and Dominick and I were doing fine.

Speaking of Dominick, he celebrated a birthday too. We had a cake for him at home. Both Conrad and I cheered him into childhood.

Dominick had not quite mastered talking and I think all the deaths had affected him a bit. He grew up with an odd fear of drowning and would have hysterics when we took him for swimming lessons.

As his baby features disappeared, I could see how much he resembled his father. I felt so bad that Danial had completely closed himself off from Dominick when it was obvious to everyone in town that he was Danial’s son. I took Dominick aside to tell him the truth about his father before he heard stories from anyone else. He surprised me with his logical grasp of the situation. “I understand, Mom. You can’t make someone be a good dad. And I’d rather have no dad than a bad one. You and Uncle Con are my family.” Little did he know that our family was about to get bigger.

Time was beginning to catch up with Mom and Dad. Mom stopped writing and spent a lot of her time relaxing and reading.

Between taking care of Dominick and going back to work, I wasn’t able to spend a lot of time with the folks. Con made sure to check on mom every day when he got home from school.

He also spent more time with Dad. The two of them would study together. Conrad was in his senior year of high school and Dad was still trying to become a world renowned surgeon.

Both Uncle Bert and Aunt Blythe had passed away and we all knew our time together was short.

Mom had just put Dominick in his high chair for dinner one evening when she suddenly seemed overcome by exhaustion. Her eyes closed and she swayed as if asleep on her feet.

Conrad and I begged and cried for the Dark Angel to release our mother. Dad just watched with resignation as she calmly made her journey to the other side.

He kept his grief inside but you could see the heartbreak and loss.

We buried Mom in the memory garden near her parents.

But old grim was not done with our family. We had barely finished mourning for Mom when he came to take Dad away too. Dad had left work early after an awards ceremony where he was honored as a World Renowned Surgeon. He planned to retire and take up a hobby like painting. But death waits for no man.

He joined Mom at rest late one night while I was working and everyone else was asleep.

Aunt Babs was older than both Mom and Dad but somehow we thought she’d live forever, she was too mean and crazy to die. We were wrong. Grim seemed to take special pleasure in his next visit to our house, as if he’d saved the best for last.

Babette was not too happy about being called away. Even her pleading looked more like she was arguing with Grim.

In a very short time our household had been cut in half. Now it was just Conrad, Dominick and myself to carry on the Nouvel legacy.

I soon adjusted to life with a toddler. Dominick was growing up so quickly. It seemed like every day he learned something new.

Before we knew it, he was running everywhere and jabbering up a storm.

My maternity leave was almost up so I made sure to get some guitar practice in. Dominick was my biggest fan.

My life was moving on in other aspects as well. After our disastrous confrontation at Dominick’s party, things between Danial and I had settled a bit. We handled the termination of rights through lawyers and pretty much ignored each other on the rare occasions when he was in town. With that weight off my mind, I felt ok to start dating again. I reconnected with August Lobos, another old high school friend who ended up in the theater biz. August worked with the band but preferred designing album covers and t-shirts. He was so fine, tan with sandy blond hair and gorgeous emerald eyes. I think he had more groupies than the lead singer of the Gnomes.

August didn’t notice all of the attention he was getting. In fact, he seemed to be interested in only one thing, me.  He told me he’d had a crush on me since high school and wondered if I could see him as more than a friend.

I was really wary about starting a relationship. I didn’t have any experience with that sort of thing. Danial and I had been a one-night stand and not even all night if you know what I mean. I didn’t even have a real good example from my parents. Their relationship was definitely not normal but it worked for them.  But August was so hot! It was impossible to resist. So I gave him a kiss and asked if we could take things slow and easy.

Well maybe not too slow. After all I still need an heir.

I kept so busy during my pregnancy that the time really flew by. I woke up one morning feeling a little pain. Mom rode with me to the hospital.

Dad was already there, performing surgery but he promised to check in on me as soon as it was over. The labor was easy and I was so happy that both of my parents got to see their first grandchild born.  The next day I left with my beautiful healthy son, Dominick Nouvel.

He was an easy baby and seemed very content to just lay in his crib when he didn’t need anything.

Not that he spent much time there. Dominick was in someone’s arms almost constantly. Mom and Dad both doted on him but I was still Mama. I got up for the 2AM feedings and diaper changes.

I cuddled and walked him through bouts of colic and fevers.

I loved my son fiercely. The depth of that emotion surprised me a bit, and I swore to do everything I could to help him grow up happy and strong. Slowly my anger at Danial faded because without him, I wouldn’t have my wonderful son.

I planned a big party for Dominick’s first birthday. Conrad and I never had birthday parties growing up. Between his illnesses and Mom’s crippling fear of people, there was just no way. So this would be my first experience hosting a party. I decided to start out small and just invite family. Our cousins Petra, Ursula, Brendon and Dmitri all came.

Poor Ursula looked tired and worn out. She had some serious baby-daddy drama going on. Timmy Mather was a real dead-beat, always trying to skimp on child support and neglecting his daughter.

Petra and Brendon were in the party mood though. They had a dance contest with Con. Even my serious cousin Dmitri was ready to strike a pose.

And look who else showed up. Danial had never seen his son. He had been touring for over a year. I called him when Dominick was born and sent a few photos but he didn’t seem very interested.

I thought maybe meeting Dominick would change his mind. I wanted my son to grow up knowing his dad but I wasn’t going to chase Danial down and try to make him be a parent. The party was my last shot.

I brought Dominick to the cake and Danial was right beside us. That gave me a little hope.

Everyone cheered except for Aunt Roberta, who was starving.

Dominick became an adorable toddler. He reminds me of Conrad at that age.

Dominick Nouvel - Genius, Couch Potato

As the party was winding down, I got up my courage to speak to Danial.

I was really nervous but we needed to settle things once and for all. I would not have Dominick growing up like little Lashanda, who was so hurt and disappointed by her father’s neglect. I approached Danial cautiously and asked him if we could still be friends for our son’s sake.

I didn’t notice at the time that he was busy making eyes at the catering waitress we had hired for the evening. I was totally unprepared for the violence of Danial’s reaction.

“You stupid wench. I don’t need to be your friend and I don’t want the kid. I spend every night in a different city with different model or two or three. You were fun to play with while I was stuck here in between gigs and I might do it again if you got me drunk enough but that’s it.”

“And if you try to come after me for child support, you and the kid will regret it.”

Oh no he did not just threaten my son.

“I don’t need a dime from you Danial Newbie.You’re an asshole and I wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire. I’m going to call my lawyer and have your parental rights terminated. So if you ever come near me or my family again you will be on your knees begging for mercy after what we unleash on you.”

Needless to say, the party was not a huge success. I think we provided gossip fodder for the rest of the year.

Conrad was doing so much better since his last treatment. So was Bambi. They were both in high school now and spent even more time together. A couple of brainiac kids always had their heads together over some calculus or physics stuff.

Or at least that’s what they wanted us to think. They thought they were being sneaky but everyone knew what was really going on.

Secretly holding hands on the bus. Jeez was I that obvious as a teenager?

Are you alright Bambi? Cuz it looks like my brother is “leaning”.

Aww young love is so sweet. Especially after all the stress and worry we all went through when Conrad was little. It was so special to see him able to be a normal teenager.

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Conrad did have a few interests other than Bambi. He and dad were very close and had wicked chess matches a few times a week.

Con also took an interest in gardening. Mom was an excellent cook and Con loved to hunt down the perfect ingredients for her famous recipes.

Conrad was fascinated with space. From the time he was litle, he dreamed of becoming an astonaut, the first Sim to land on Mars. But his body was too weak from years of illness to handle the vigorous physical training required.

He got an opportunity to make a little money tracking a new satellite that had entered our system and began doing more odd jobs for the science center, bringing them specimens of fish and rocks. So Con decided to focus his intellect on breeding the perfect bio-mechanical organism that would not be limited by human frailties and could explore the furthest reaches of the galaxy. It sounded like some mad scientist junk to me but he was totally into it. And it would give us a chance to get in with the Alto cell in the science center and hopefully force them out.

Inheriting the Nouvel legacies is a big responsibility. I’m really glad I have my parents and Aunt Babs to help me out at first. From the time I was little, I knew I was supposed to carry on Grandma’s name and pass the house and land to my daughters but Aunt Babs’ legacy blew my mind. Every industry in Riverview is run by a mob out of Sunset Valley? It sounds like the plot of a cheesy made for tv movie. It was a lot to take in you know?

So I found myself roaming downtown to the diner. A lot of theater folks hang out there, playing for tips or jamming on the weekends. My friend Danial was there. He’d been touring with The Gnomes as a roadie/band manager for the past year so we had a lot of catching up to do.

I was so happy to see him again. We hung out for hours talking and drinking.

You know what they say. One drink led to another.

And I invited him to crash at my place so he wouldn’t wake his parents and little brother.

You can guess what happened next.

Blecch. Is every major event in my life destined to be some horrible television cliche? Getting knocked up from a drunken one-night-stand with a loser musician is so original. Yeah I said loser. Danial and I haven’t spoken since the day I told him I was pregnant. His last words to me were “Good luck with that. I gotta catch the tour bus.” What a jerk.

I had to take several months off work. There’s not much you can safely do in the theater when you’re pregnant. But I kept busy.

I practiced painting a lot. Aunt Babette was always there to encourage and critique my work. I really want to get good enough to paint portraits of Conrad and my children as they grow. I also continued to work on my music, composing new pieces and practicing around town. I recorded an album of kids songs and was invited to perform it at the library during story hour.

I had a blast. I was really starting to look forward to sharing music with my own child.

Babette came home from work one morning in a complete state of rage.

“That’s it! Those gnome-loving, llama-brained imbeciles have messed with the wrong lunatic. They will regret this.”

That night Babs called a family meeting. All of the adults were to meet in the kitchen at 10:00PM. We were all curious since Babs didn’t have much to do with the rest of the family. Once everyone was gathered around the table, Babette began her speech.

“As you know, with Dad’s help I infiltrated the criminal organization here in Riverview, looking for information related to the chemical spill and its effects on the population. I have still not made it to the top of the career but I did manage to confirm our suspicions. The spill was intentional. The organization planned to contaminate the entire town with their mind-altering chemicals, hoping to create a violent chaotic environment that would allow them to easily take control of all the major industries and services. And they have. The top people in every industry are all under orders from the Organization. The military base, the science lab, the hospital, even the smaller businesses like the spa and book store, all pay tribute and take direction from the organization. I had hoped that by becoming Emperor of Evil that I could change all of that myself, but it is going to take much longer. Tonight I was promoted to the Emperor’s second-in-command and I finally learned where the true power lies. The Emperor takes his orders from a council based in Sunset Valley, headed by the Alto family. Each business in town reports directly to them, so even as Emperor of Evil, I will not be able to free our town. But there is a chance that we can still make changes. After I was promoted I was given a chance to buy in to the warehouse and take a cut of the profits. I had to give the Altos a “gift” of 15K simoleans for the opportunity. My plan is to extend my influence over time and either buy or force them out of the warehouse. Then I can pass along ownership to Clementine as heir to the legacy. But that will only free the warehouse. So a Nouvel will have to make it to the top of every career in town and be given a chance to buy in to the business if we are going to restore Riverview.”

We all sat silent for a minute, stunned to realize how far the corruption had spread into our town. Then Riley spoke up.

” I have already been approached with an opportunity to “invest” 30K  in the hospital. I’ll go sign the papers on Monday.”

“Good.” said Babette. “The more businesses we can influence the better chance we’ll have at finally forcing the Altos out. Clem, with the promotions you are receiving, you should soon get the same offer at the theater. And when Conrad moves into a career, he can do the same. If the only way to save Riverview from the Altos is to own it ourselves, then that is what we’ll have to do.”

That night both my legacy and Babette’s passed on to Clementine. A single legacy to cement the Nouvel name in the history of Riverview and rescue our city from the evil Altos.