Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Gen 1.5 Powerful

I've really missed this challenge and this family, so I've been playing them a bit recently. Since it's been a while, I'll give a quick recap. Andi Banks planned on leaving home after several devastating events occurred in her life and the lack of support from her family. She made amends with her oldest brother but had an accidental death just minutes afterwards. The Grim Reaper convinced the Fates to give her a fresh start. In her new life, she met a vampire named Silas. She developed feelings for her, but once she shared them he began avoiding her. Silas had some memories of meeting Andi before and knew they didn't end well. After one of his fellow vampires attacked Andi, he begged for her to be saved. Andi began a new life yet again. This time, she left her home along with her cats and childhood friend Silas in order to start a new life. The two were married and soon expecting the birth of their first child. Though they were happy Silas still had brief bits of memories of their previous lives together. Now the story continues.

 Every night Silas dreaded going to sleep because every night was the same.


 Every night Andi died in some new and horrible way, and there was nothing he could do to prevent it.

He'd wake up, heart pounding, and find her sleeping peacefully on the other side of the bed. These were just dreams he told himself, not reality. It didn't stop him from holding her a little tighter as he tried to fall back to sleep.

 For her part, Andi's pregnancy was going well. She hadn't been really sure what to expect, but other than eating extra meals and feeling a little more tired, she didn't seem to feel much different. She knew Silas was worried about her and having all kinds of nightmares. She did everything she could to reassure him that she was okay.

"Of course our food would catch on fire. If I'm not careful Andi is going to die for real from my carelessness."

He slumped down on the ground once the fire was extinguished. The sleepless nights were really starting to get to him.

 "I, uh, burned dinner, so it's going to be a little while before I can fix us some more food."

"I don't know why you insist on making dinner. You know I'm obviously the better cook."

"You shouldn't have to worry about that while you're pregnant."

"So I'm going to be cooking all of our food once I have our baby," Andi responded laughing.

"You know that's not what I meant."

"I'm not helpless. If I sit around doing nothing I'm going to go stir crazy. Let me help you with the food and the garden."

She noticed the look on his face and sighed.

 "They're just dreams Silas. I'm going to be okay."

"I-I know, I just don't want to take that chance. I don't want to lose you."

"And I don't want to lose you because you're too sleep deprived that you end up accidentally hurting yourself."

"It was just some burnt food."

"I know it's not the first time," Andi said sadly, "Please take care of yourself."

"I'll try."

"That's all I ask. I know what will cheer you up. Feel my belly. The baby's kicking."

Silas smiled as he placed his hands on Andi's stomach. He made the most of these little moments.

 He had to protect them, all of them, and he had an idea about how to do it. He had heard of a town called Glimmerbrook that was full of spell casters. He wanted to learn as much about magic as he could to protect his family. If anything he could at least maybe find a potion that could get rid of his nightmares.

"Magic?" Andi asked, looking at him incredulously.

"I know it sounds ridiculous, hell I don't even know if the stories are real, but I have to try."

"Is this really what you need to give you peace of mind? I just know that everything is going to be okay with me and the baby. Can't you trust that I just know?"

Silas felt guilty by the hurt look on her face.

"Of course I trust you. More than anyone in the world, but yes I do need to do this for my own peace of mind. I'm sure your right, and everything will be okay, but I have to do this. I'm not okay. I haven't been since we've got here. Please let me go, just so I can rest easy."

Andi hugged him tightly, "I was never going to stop you. I'm scared of what will happen to you there, and I'll miss you, but I know you're brave, and you can handle anything that happens. I'm sorry for being so selfish. I know how much the nightmares are tearing  you apart."

He kissed her forehead, "You're not selfish."

"You don't always need to act like I'm perfect."

"You're allowed to disagree with me, and you're worried about my safety. I promise I'll be back by tomorrow night. I'd tell you to just relax while I'm gone, but I know that's not going to happen."

"No, it's not. I'll need to do something to keep my mind occupied while you're gone. Travel safe, and please come home soon. I love you."

"I love you too."

 Silas arrived in Glimmerbrook the next afternoon. The locals showed him the portal that lead to the magical realm. Once he walked through it, he noticed it was quite dark outside. Had time passed, or was it always this way?

 He walked a little further and ended up outside a large mansion. He knocked on the door, but no one answered. He decided to let himself in and wander around. Maybe he would meet someone along the way.

In the mansion, there were rooms filled with books, some new, some ancient with crumbling pages. Others were filled with cauldrons, for making potions he assumed. In one of the rooms, he ran into a strange creature floating on a cloud. It seemed happy to see someone, and followed him through the rest of the house.

 Eventually, Silas found a person dressed in a red cloak, a strange emblem above their head.

"I'm Morgyn, the Sage of Uncontrollable Magic. It's nice to finally meet you."

"Finally? Oh, did you here me walking around your house. I'm, er, sorry to intrude. No one answered the door."

The sage didn't answer, but instead began to walk through a large set of double doors. After a while, they looked back to see if Silas was following them.

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

Silas rubbed the back of his neck. He was really, really uncomfortable in social situations, and this one seemed odder than most. A part of him wished he'd brought Andi with him. She'd know what to do. It started to seem like a very bad idea that he went here alone.

"Coming," he replied nervously, following Morgyn outside.

 "I'm glad you came to see me. A power like yours cannot be contained for long. It's too dangerous."

"What are you t-" Silas was cut off as Morgyn pointed their wand at him, seeming to draw out a beam of light from him.

"There, now you should be able to channel your energy into magic. Follow me up to the roof, so I can explain in more detail."

Incredibly confused, Silas felt like he had no choice but to follow him.

Silas followed Morgyn up to the roof, and the two sat in silence.

"So," Silas spoke awkwardly, "What are you talking about when you said my powers couldn't be contained for long? Was I going to explode or something."

"Most likely yes. I'm surprised your father didn't send you earlier."

"My father? He never said anything about magic, at least not that I remember anyway. That probably would have been useful protecting a noble family and all."

"No,  your real father."

Silas started to get irritated. It felt like talking to Morgyn was pulling teeth, and he wasn't getting any answers, "What do you mean my real father? Do you even have any answers, or are we just going to play twenty questions?"

"I see you are not ready for this information yet. That is highly disappointing," Morgyn said sighing. They flicked their wrist, and suddenly Silas was sent flying through some kind of portal.

He ended up outside his home where Andi rushed out to see him. When he looked closer, he could tell that she was angry, fist clenched.

"You said you would be back by the next night, and it has been weeks!"

"Weeks? It took about half a day to get to Glimmerbrook, and I was only in the Magic Realm, or whatever it's called for a couple of hours at most."

"Really? You're really going to try and convince me I haven't been going out of my mind with worry for the past several weeks. I thought you were dead."

He noticed her lip quivering.

"To me it was honestly less than a day."


Andi looked at him uncertain. Maybe he was telling the truth. Of course he was. He was her best friend, her partner, and he had never lied to her before.

"I'm sorry, I was just so scared. I sent a search party out after you. I would have gone myself, but I couldn't with how pregnant I am. They couldn't find you. I knew you couldn't be dead. I would know if you were dead. I would feel it."

"No," he said softly, "I'm not dead. The trip was a complete waste of time. I didn't find anything to make the nightmares go away or to protect us. I just spoke to someone who said they were a sage. They said all this nonsense about me coming at the right time, and how my powers would make me explode. Then they kept talking about how my father wasn't my father."


"Did they hurt you?" Andi asked seeming outraged, "Because if they hurt you, I don't care how pregnant I am. I'll hunt them down and make sure they'll regret it."

"No, they didn't hurt me. Just tested my patience."

"And you don't have very much of that."

Silas laughed, "No, I really don't."

"I'm sorry you didn't find what you were looking for. I guess I'll have to hold you extra tight to make sure you don't have anymore nightmares."

"I'm not going to oppose to that."

Silas followed Andi back into the house. He would do more research on his own about magic but not now.  Now, he'd just stay with his wife and look forward to the arrival of their new baby. Morgyn didn't know what they were talking about anyway. They probably never intended on teaching Silas real magic.

He crawled into bed feeling like he could sleep for a million years.

"You slept most of the night last night. Maybe you didn't need magic for your nightmares, you just needed me," Andi said smirking.

"Maybe I did. You sound quite full of  yourself you know."

"Oh do I now? Maybe I'm magical. You never know."

"Well you're more magical than whoever I just dealt with. I think I'd rather just get through this together. What ever the nightmares mean, I always feel better when I'm with you."

"Because I'm magical?"

He laughed leaning into a kiss, "Definitely."

"You know, I did some prepping for the baby while you were away. You'll have to check out the nursery. I hope you like it. You can let me know if you want to make any changes."

"I'm sure I'll love it."

Silas headed off for work later that morning, and Andi reluctantly let him go. She didn't want him to leave when it felt like he had just got home. Plus she wanted him home when the baby came. Thankfully he walked in the door as soon as she started feeling contraction pains.

"Thank God you're home, the baby is coming now!"

"Now?"

"Oof, yes now. Can you get a doctor?"

Silas raced off to find a doctor to deliver their baby.

The pain was becoming extremely intense, and Silas still wasn't back. Andi didn't know if this was normal or not as she'd never had a child before. Something didn't seem right to her.

When Silas returned, he found Andi collapsed on the floor. It was like all of his nightmares had come to life. She couldn't be dead. She just couldn't be.

He checked her pulse and felt a faint one. He scooped her up in his arms bringing Andi, along with the doctor towards the nursery.

"What happened?" she asked groggily.

"You, you passed out, but you're okay now. I have the doctor here and everything will be okay."

"I'm scared Silas. Something didn't feel right."

"Now that the doctor is here there's nothing to worry about. I'll take you to the nursery."

Everything has to be fine.

After several excruciating hours of Andi delivered their child, a daughter named Yelena.

Andi was sent to bed immediately, and the doctor tended to her. She seemed to have come down with an illness that was going around on top of being pregnant. She would need all the rest she could get in order to gain back her full strength.


This left Silas to handle most of the baby's needs. Yelena was not a fussy baby, at least. He kissed her head and held her tightly as he dared. Over and over in his head he kept thinking that everything will be alright.

Whatever Andi had caught had weakened her immune system. She would be fine for a few weeks before coming down with something else. The doctor told her that in her state, it would not be safe for her to carry another child.

That didn't matter to Andi right now. All she cared about was the daughter she had and the precious few moments she was able to spend with her.

"I'm sorry you've been stuck with work and taking care of Yelena. I wish I could do more."

"You're doing all you can, and that's what matters. I don't want you to over exert yourself."

"I'm her mother. I should be the one handling child care."

"That's old fashioned, and you know. Besides you know you couldn't keep me away from any child of ours even if you tried."

"I know you always dreamed of having a family."

"And now I have one, you, me, and Yelena."

"Are you sure I should be in here? What if I'm contagious again, and I don't even know it."

"I think it's good for her to see how in love her parents are."

"I love you so very much. If I had to choose all over again, I wouldn't change a thing."

"If you had stayed at the palace, you would have had better health care. You wouldn't have been scared, and sick, and alone. You would have had doctors by your side every waking second."

"Yes, but I wouldn't have had you. I'm not scared or alone with you by my side. I can handle being sick."


Some days she couldn't, though. Andi would stand outside the nursery door sobbing because she knew she couldn't go in or else she'd risk getting Yelena sick. What kind of mother couldn't be there for her child? 

Months passed, and finally Andi seemed to be able to recover. She smiled as she fed a bottle to her daughter. This is the way things should be.

Silas came in from the garden, joining Andi who was crouched down on the floor crying.

"Oh, I didn't realize you came in. I'll get myself together."

"Get yourself together. You don't have to pretend to be strong in front of me."

"I do!" Andi snapped, "What kind of example am I setting for our daughter. I'm so weak. When I'm not holed up in bed I'm a sobbing mess. She needs a good strong role model, and that's not me. I'm weak and pathetic."

Silas pulled her into his arms.

"Look at me, you're not weak. You were strong when you left and chose to live the life you wanted to live. You were strong carrying our child for nine months, and you've been strong fighting illness after illness. You are anything but weak."

"You really think so?"

"I know so. Would a weak woman threaten to track down a Sage in the Magic Realm to give him a piece of  her mind, while heavily pregnant I might add."

Andi smiled a little, "I guess not. When you put all that together, I guess I'm not that bad."

"You're more than not bad, you're perfect."

She sighed, "Stop saying that, I'm not."

"You're perfect to me."

"You're so good to me. Sometimes I feel like I don't add enough to our relationship."

"I'm sorry if I've ever made you feel that way. Andi you changed your whole life for me. You love me for me. You see right through me. You're protective and loyal, and the most loving and compassionate partner I could ever ask for."

"You're going to make me cry again. I'm glad I can make you feel loved. You deserve the world, you always have."

"And you've given it to me. This life, our little family, you, it's all I've ever needed."

They stay holding each other in Yelena's nursery until Andi drifted off to sleep. She knew how to put on a confident facade, but she had so many doubts. Silas always made her feel so special and loved no matter what.

Yelena was beloved by all, even the family cats. Sweet Pea and Juliette took turns watching over her.

With everything that was happening, Silas put magic on the back burner. Morgyn had definitely done something to him as he could now shoot sparks out of his hands, but nothing much seemed to come of it. His nightmares had, for the most part, gone away. The feeling that this had happened before, however, did not. A part of him wondered what Morgyn had meant by his real father, but a part of him didn't care. He just wanted to ignore all that and focus on the now. He wanted to live a normal life.

Time flew, and soon it was time for Yelena's birthday.

"I think we should get her a delicious chocolate cake."

"She's a baby Silas. I don't think she can eat cake yet."

"I guess you're right. I just want her to have the best birthday ever."

"I know we'll make sure her day is special."

Andi held Yelena tightly. She hoped that her daughter didn't remember the early part of her short time on earth. What if Yelena knew Andi didn't spend enough time with her? What if she didn't like her?

Andi didn't need to worry however.

"Happy birthday my sweet girl!"

"Ma!" Yelena cried out excitedly, running into her mother's arms for a big hug.

They let Yelena sleep in their bed just this once, though Andi knew it probably wouldn't be just once. Yelena was so precious and adorable, she had them both wrapped around her little finger. As things returned to normal, both Andi and Silas planned on showing their little girl how much she was loved and that there was nothing they wouldn't do for her.

2 comments:

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    1. She is super cute! I took a look at her grown up in CAS. She looks a lot like Andi with a bit of Silas mixed in.

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