#cldc g2

[starandsims]

Florence is a precious little girl, she loves the simple things in life: hugging her brothers, playing with the rocking chair, chatting with the chickens, and pretending to help Mama cook dinner.

[starandsims]

In the fall of 1910, it was time for Harry to say goodbye to his family, everything had been happening so quickly for him, from his many offers to graduation, to his birthday, to finally this. He hugged his parents goodbye before getting on the train to Brichester, where he would be picked up by Professor Sanders and taken to his home. It was strange, but hugging his father, he reflected on all they had been through as a family. Things had started off great between them, then gone downhill, and now, well now that he was a man he actually felt like he could forgive his father for the past. He felt close to his father like he never had before. (caution: long post)

For George, yes it had been difficult to accept that his eldest son wouldn’t be inheriting the family farm, but he was the youngest son himself, and he had three other sons to prepare for taking over the farm. Peter was the next obvious choice, he loved animals just as much as George and had no love of school like Andrew. And who knew how little Liam would turn out. His fear for the future of the farm had driven his actions to push Harry towards farm chores, but now he felt he could let his son embrace this new future ahead of him, and he was very proud.

Rosalie cried, of course, hugging her oldest baby, who had just yesterday been a wiggly infant in her arms, teaching her about motherhood. She had always been supportive of her son’s academic pursuits, so proud that her son was so smart and showing up all the other students in his class. She had long been dreaming of his successful future, but now that she had to let go of him so that he could pursue that future on her own, she didn’t know if she had the strength to do it.

Finally, Harry was allowed to board the train and waved goodbye to his parents as it pulled away. He spent the ride reading up on the history of Brichester, his patron was a history professor and had worked there for two decades, so he wanted to brush up on possible topics that might impress or interest him. Finally, after a few hours, the train pulled into Brichester Station, Harry had only brought a modest suitcase with a few photos, his chess trophy, and a few outfits. He carried himself and his luggage off the train and searched the crowd for Professor Sanders, it only just now occurred to him that he would have no idea what the man looked like. Did he have a picture of Harry to recognize him? They hadn’t designated a specific rendezvous place, so how was…

His eyes swept over a familiar face and he had to do a double take. Wait a minute, was that? Yes, it was!

Smiling from ear to ear he moved through the crowd, waving a hand in the air. “Aunt Cordelia!”

“Ah, there is my favorite nephew at last,” Cordelia said, only a hint of a smile on her lips. “Let me guess, you barely boarded the train without your mother attached to your neck, hm?”

Her tone was mean, but Harry thought it was funny, and she didn’t actually mean it as mean, that was just how her voice sounded. The same could be said for her face, although at rest it looked judgemental and angry, he knew her better than that. She was happy to see him.

“Aunt Cordelia, what are you doing here? Not that I’m upset to see you, of course, it hasn’t been the same since you moved out.”

“Yes, of course, it hasn’t, you have four squalling siblings now, I’m fortunate enough to have escaped when I did,” Cordelia answered. “As for why I am here, I must admit to telling a few lies. But we best worry about that on the trip.”

“Trip? I’m sorry, I can’t go anywhere right now, I’m waiting on someone.”

“Oh I thought you were smart, boy,” Cordelia sighed. “I’m the one you’re waiting on.”

“You’re Professor Sanders?”

Cordelia hesitated. “Well, for the purposes of your offer, yes, somewhat, as I said, it’s a lot to explain, so let’s get going.”

Harry curiously joined his aunt on a half-hour car (yes a real automobile) ride through Brichester. She had her own driver, so the two of them sat in the back and talked. During this time, she explained that Professor Sanders was a friend of hers. It had not been the professor who had sent the scholarship money for Harry’s secondary schooling, it had been her! She explained that she knew how his parents would feel about her offering them money and never would have accepted it, so she sent it in the form of a scholarship instead. Then, when it was time for his university applications, Rosalie had written to her about Edwin’s visit and how much Harry dreamed of attending Brichester.

“Honestly, for such a genius, Edwin sure is stupid,” Cordelia commented as the strange car contraption bounced across the road. “If he had any sense at all he never would have offered your family money, no matter how he phrased it, he should have known how your parents would react.”

“So you disguised your own offer, and made it so that I still had to do some work because you knew my parents would swallow that better?” Harry asked.

“Indeed, but also, I agree with your father, you shouldn’t accept handouts, you’re far too smart for that, and you’ll never appreciate anything if you don’t work for it,” Cordelia paused and looked far away. “My time with your family taught me that.”

“So my room and board?”

“With me, not Professor Sanders, it will still be 2 simoleons a week and you’ll still have a curfew and other rules to follow. You’ll have a room and an office,” Cordelia answered. “You will still be Professor Sanders's research assistant so don’t worry about that, he is very excited to meet you, but I wanted the pleasure of seeing the look on your face when you found out about the ruse.”

Something akin to a grin crept across her face, and although initially disappointed, Harry was impressed by his aunt’s cunning.

“You did all this for me? Why?” He asked.

“Why?” Cordelia asked incredulously. “Dear child, do not be daft. When I lived with your parents it was not a good time for me. I was barely older than you, I was a spoiled brat whose parents were dead and I was being pawned off to my vindictive, run-away sister. The only thing that ever made that experience bearable was you, perhaps not the diaper changes, but the way your eyes would light up when I came in the room. The way you would giggle at my exasperation and exhaustion, made my heart lift. I would never want to have children of my own, but if I did, I would want him to be just like you.”

Harry sat with a soft smile on his lips and Cordelia demanded he wipe it away. She hadn’t said “I love you” exactly, but it was close enough.

[starandsims]

That summer, just a few weeks after his graduation, Harry turned 18 and reached young adulthood. His mental skills clearly outweigh his physical skills, as he is prone to fall or trip even when walking across flat ground. His greatest aspiration right now is to go to Brichester University and do all that he can to be the best student there as well. He’ll be a big fish from a small pond jumping over to a much larger pond, but he looks forward to the challenge.

[starandsims]

In the spring of 1910, Harry graduated from high school at Henford Town School, and was by far and away the best student and was Valedictorian of his class. It wasn’t even really a competition. He spent weeks writing and rewriting and then practicing his speech in the mirror. When the day of graduation finally came, he needed a quick pep talk from Rosalie, and then felt ready to take on the world.

The whole Carter family was in attendance, the ceremony was held in the old gym. Harry was one of six students in his class, so the ceremony didn’t take too long. His speech, however, was an absolute hit, it was inspiring and just the right amount of funny to put people at ease. Harry felt he was certainly on the path to success.

[starandsims]

Now that Andrew had become top of his class at school, he could finally put his entire focus on what he really cared about. The piano. Rosalie loved to watch him play, he was an absolute natural, almost as talented as she was! She hoped that he would pursue his musical talents into adulthood, perhaps he could make it where she could not. She imagined him up on stage, playing for big symphonies and becoming famous. Her boy, the pianist, she was so proud.

[starandsims]

The summer was a hot one, and every member of the Carter family enjoyed fun days outdoors. Harry had developed his very first crush, a girl from down the street, called Sadie Robles. She was smart and funny, and she loved to come over and visit with the Carter family animals, and the first girl he had not considered strange, she made sense. The two of them were out almost every day that summer rolling down hills, playing pretend games, and just looking at the clouds, sharing their hopes for the future. At the end of the summer, Harry made her a doll of straw, it wasn’t much, but he wanted her to have something physical to remember him with.

As with most things concerning his oldest son, George did not approve. He complained to Rosalie that Harry was too young to like girls already, he was 14 before he even started noticing girls. Harry was only freshly eleven, far too young, George said, the girl would only be a distraction from his duties to the family and the farm. Rosalie gently reminded her husband that a girl would eventually be the only way that Harry would be able to continue his duty to his family, by having a family of his own. George did not like this.

[starandsims]

Now that Florence was old enough to attend elementary school, during the day it was just Rosalie and Liam at home. Rosalie was able to devote all of her attention to one child, which she hadn’t been able to do since Harry had been a toddler. Even then, though, she had chores and such she had to perform. Now that the older children could handle the chores, she really only had laundry to do, so Liam got much more attention than the other children had gotten. He soaked it up readily, not realizing the gift he had been given as the youngest.

One day while Rosalie was in the back doing laundry, Liam wandered back into the house without her noticing. She thought he was still playing with the chickens nearby. In fact, he had gone back into the house to get a toy he decided he wanted. The toy was on a shelf by the fireplace, and in his attempt to climb up to get it, his pant leg caught a flame from the burning fire. He didn’t even notice until he was back on the ground with his toy, and by that time the fire had caught on the floor.

His terrified shrieks drew Rosalie’s attention and she rushed back into the house to put out the flames. His pants were completely ruined but had been thick enough to protect him from the worst damage. She took him into town to get checked out by the doctor and he had burns all over his legs, but with treatment, she was assured the scarring would be minimal, although it would never fully heal. For the next few weeks, his legs burned and itched uncomfortably at all hours of the day, on the other hand, everyone gave him extra attention and love. Rosalie never took her eyes off of him again, blaming herself for the incident and crying herself to sleep at night at the thought of the pain she had caused her baby.

[starandsims]

Florence was not a fan of reading, unless, of course, it was about princesses. As she drew closer to her fifth birthday, she started insisting that everyone call her “Princess Florence” which most of her family abided by. Peter was really the only holdout, still holding on to some jealousy about the attention she always got and had therefore taken away from him. He didn’t get why everyone fawned over her just because she was a girl. Like it was special.

The family gladly celebrated her fifth birthday and Princess Florence, true to her name, discovered she was a horse lover. This was at least something that Florence and Peter had in common, although Peter’s love for animals was more general and hers was really just focused on horses. She loved how horses featured in her princess stories and imagined one day she would have a grand steed of her own to carry her from place to place like the princess she was on the inside.