Chapter 53
Landgraab
Daxton Landgraab stood in his big empty mansion wondering what had happened to his perfect life? First, his sister Nicole and her husband Grayson Goth were killed in the terrible epidemic that wiped out half of the neighborhood. Then, his teenage sister Veronica and daughter Hannah started dating Wolfgang and Aaron. At least he had predicted the divorce close to the beginning of his relationship with Krystle Purdue.
The children, Jace and Braelyn were in school and his sister was off with her boyfriend Wolfgang somewhere. At least Krystle hadn't kicked up a fuss about him keeping the kids. After-all the kids were the only reason he had stayed with Krystle in the first place. Oh sure, when she first came to visit the old mansion and he met her he thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world.
Then when she kissed him, wow. Now he realized that living up on the hill in this big mansion is a curse more than a blessing because if he wasn't so naive he might not have fallen to Krystle's advances so easily.
Instead he was all too eager to be her boyfriend and give her a promise ring.
He didn't discover the truth about Krystle until their wedding. Her older sister Carlie made an off-hand comment about Krystle finally living in the big mansion she always talked about as a kid.
By then they had already given birth to Hannah. Daxton had been in such a hurry to start his own family he got her pregnant on his birthday. His kids and his sister are and always have been his life. It was when he realized things were falling apart with Krystle that he pushed to have Jace and Braelyn. Krystle was more than happy to comply.
Now Krystle was gone after a terrible divorce and his baby girl Hannah was gone too. Living with her boyfriend Aaron Noble! She had been devastated by the divorce and ran to the Nobles for comfort instead of her family where she belongs.
Daxton had thought he had it all figured out. He wanted a better life for his kids than he had had. His father may have been halfway decent in his elder years but when Daxton was young he wasn't the nicest person. His mother had been some random townie who got herself pregnant thinking that Malcolm would marry her. Instead he kept Daxton and kicked her to the curb. Was he as bad as his father? So bad that his eldest daughter would run to another family? He didn't know anymore.
Daxton's introspection was interrupted by the arrival of his sister Veronica and her boyfriend Wolfgang. She'd changed so much since the day that Wolfgang showed up at the door. First she went from bubble-gum pink to black clothes and dark makeup. Then she didn't have time for her little niece and nephew anymore. It didn't get bad until after Hannah left though. Now she only has eyes for Wolfgang and Daxton was sure she'd do anything that boy asked her to do. But she was almost a young adult and Daxton had already lost one daughter... and Veronica was more of a daughter to him than a sister. He remembered when his father, freaking out about being an elder, got his almost-elder wife pregnant and then remarked to Daxton that he'd have to raise his sister.
Daxton had happily taken care of Veronica, even though he was a teen at the time she was born. Shortly after her birth Krystle had given Daxton his own daughter in Hannah.
The girls had been more like sisters and he wondered if part of the
change in Veronica since Hannah left wasn't because she felt abandoned
by her.
Veronica knows that nobody understands her relationship with Wolfgang. They all think he's just some jerk... and maybe he is to everyone else. But she sees that beneath that meanness there's a sadness. She'd do anything, be anything he needed to help him feel happy. She doesn't know what happened to his dad and she thinks that's why he is like he is. But none of that matters to her because she loves him.
He says that he loves her too. He says she's his world now. He's her world, especially after Hannah up and left, that's for sure. Nobody else understands. Maybe someday they will, but she doesn't care. Wolfgang is all that matters now.
Daxton hopes that it's true. He hopes that his sister has found the happiness that he'll never have. He hopes that his eldest daughter finds the comfort she needs living across the street with the Nobles.
The girls' future might be out of his hands but he still has to be a good father to Jace and Braelyn. They've both been so sad since their mother left. He decides then and there as they play games together that his life is now about these two kids and making sure that they're happy and well-adjusted and more than anything, that they don't make the mistakes that all of the Landgraabs seem to make in their relationships.
He puts his plan into action right away, taking them to the local park. If they get out more, if they aren't secluded from everyone in the mansion on the hill, there might be a chance that they can find happiness for themselves instead of waiting for it to show up.
When Quinn Jones comes over to talk to the kids Daxton realizes that not all Landgraabs have been cursed in love, his grandfather Geoffrey found love late in his life and gave birth to Quinn's grandmother Andrea. After Andrea's parents died the Jones family took her in and she later married Sebastian Jones. The Jones family live in the biggest mansion in Willow Creek and yet somehow they all seem to have perfect and happy relationships. He decides to start paying more attention to that family and try to emulate them in his own life. He'll start by encouraging a friendship between his two youngest children and the youngest Jones child. What a lucky coincidence that Quinn happened to be here tonight!
While Daxton sits and chats with the kids he has no idea that his daughter Hannah is there at the park too. The coincidences just keep stacking up when Hannah meets Andrea Jones herself. "Aren't we related somehow?", she asks Andrea. After a few seconds thought Andrea replies that her father is Hannah's great-grandfather but she's not sure what that makes them. She points out her grand-daughter Quinn at the pool and Hannah is shocked to see her family there! Shouldn't her dad be grieving his lost marriage? Not sitting at the pool with the kids? She sadly says goodbye to Andrea and heads to her new home at the Nobles.
Noble
But returning to the Nobles' house made her feel even worse. They're such a happy family. You would think that Nebula, being an alien, wouldn't be as welcome but you wouldn't even know she's any different. Aaron has no idea how lucky he is to have the perfect family.
When Aaron notices Hannah lingering outside of the room looking sad he jumps up to comfort her. She tells him about seeing her family at the park and how everyone is moving on as if nothing happened.
He takes her outside to try to talk to her alone but she just wants to look inside at his family. "You're just tired Hannah. You'll feel better in the morning." he sighs. He hopes she feels better soon. All this moping around can't be good for her.
After everyone goes to bed Hannah stays up late into the night thinking about what she wants in her life. She wants a perfect family like the Nobles. Before her parents divorce her and Aaron were so happy. With determination she decides that they'll be happy again. That they'll have their own perfect family just like Aaron's parents have.
At breakfast the next morning Aaron is relived to see Hannah smiling and chatting with the family. He just hopes it lasts.
She even pulls out her violin from under her cot and gives an impromptu performance. His family is more intellectual than creative so they're all impressed.
When Nebula mentioned that she's having an Invaders club meeting at The Green Dragon Hannah asks if they can tag along.
Everything was great... until they went inside and she saw her Dad there. Instead of getting all depressed she got angry. She was rude and glared daggers at him. Aaron started to wonder if things would ever get back to some semblance of normal between them again.
Nebula didn't even notice when Hannah stormed out with Aaron trailing behind her. Harley Salisbury had arrived for the club meeting and she only had eyes for him. She couldn't believe her luck when she started The Invaders and there was actually a teen boy alien living in her neighborhood! He was funny and really cute too.
She just had to find a way to make him notice her.
Other than glowing pink!
Chapter notes: Those of you who have been reading Keeping Up with the Jones's this whole time are most likely wondering what's going on... I got really frustrated with the way I've been writing the story lately. I'm getting sick of feeling like I have no choice but play certain families just because I haven't played them in awhile instead of following the story-line that I'm actually interested in. I've been reading a lot of SimLit this last week and got some good advice from some new friends in the Sims forums. I've decided to not only change the writing style but also to concentrate more on the stories that interest me. I haven't decided if I'm going to turn aging off or not. For now, it's on. Surprisingly a lot of this chapter was inspired by coincidence. Certain sims just happened to be places that led the story in a different direction than I originally planned for it. I'm really happy with the result.
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