Emilia had maintained that she didn't to extend her age nor did she want to be brought back if she passed due to it. She felt that she had lived a good life and was happy to not only have reconnected and reconciled with Darrel, but also have Phoenix and Finn together with him. Not only that, but Johnny Zest - the man Darrel had initially left her for, had become one of her best and closest friends. It was an odd situation for sure, but it was one that had brought her multiple years of joy.
Darrel was at work and the kids were at school. It wasn't uncommon for her and Johnny to have a day together painting, joking around, and talking about their little family. It had been a nice morning whenever Emilia finally felt it happening.
There was no pleading, no flower exchange, no preventing Grim from doing his duty.
Johnny temporarily moved the grave outdoors and mourned the passing of his friend whenever it hit him that he should call Darrel and the boys. Them finding out at work and at school wasn't optimal, but at least they could prepare themselves for what they would be dealing with at home.
[WN: Teddy was hurting as much as his brothers were, but I didn't get a good shot of him.]
Knowing something will soon happen doesn't make it hurt any less, and there were many tears shed that night as the family mourned the loss of Emilia. Darrel did his best to pull through so he could go through her will figure out her wishes for the funeral.
While their father worked on the particulars for the service and Teddy worked with their dad to arrange for their testing to be rescheduled, Phoenix did his best to help Finn. His mom's passing was hitting him harder than he expected.
He thought he would have more time with her. Thought she'd be able to see him graduate.
The funeral was the next day, and Darrel made sure that both Finn and Phoenix had a role in the ceremony if they chose to. Finn opted to talk about fond memories while Phoenix held a moment of silence.
At graveside, Finn left a new vase he had made for Emilia as well as the tea set he had gifted her for her final birthday.
Grim was in attendance as well, and took his time to speak to the boy about his mother. Finn felt some relief in knowing that his mom didn't linger nor did she feel any pain.
Back at home, Finn and Phoenix discussed their futures. They knew that Teddy would be moving to Copperdale to live with Jax. The two were going to continue their streaming careers and were considering breaking into eSports. Though, according to Jax, "the aesthetic sucks".
Phoenix and Lorena were going to move to Glimmerbrook with Simeon Silversweater. Simeon was eager to continue mentoring him in magic, and wanted to extend his mentorship to apothecary skills as well.
Finn had no set ideas for his future. He knew he wanted to continue painting and also work on his pottery some more. Beyond that though he had no idea. Dakota Vatore and Leon Rocca were also graduating soon, and the three had discussed living together as none of them were rushing into serious times.
Grief worked its way through the household sparing only Phoenix in its wrath. Each dealt with it in their own way.
Teddy took out the anger of his grief through the punching bag and free weights. Darrel and Johnny worked through their blues grief together taking time to reconnect, reminisce, and encourage one another. Finn, like Teddy, also found his grief to be more of the angry sort, so whenever he wasn't painting he took time to cuddle Oliver, his mother's cat.
Finn, after speaking with the others, also decided to bring Oliver with him whenever he eventually moved out. He took on the feline not only as a familiar, but as his companion.
With graduation swiftly approaching, word on the street was that prom might be starting up again...
A random note about the Zest-Charm family: Unlike my test save where the Charm family has a dynasty set up, this version of them will not. Darrel has a lot of feelings about the pressure he felt that Minerva put on both him and his sister about their lineage, and Johnny is all too familiar with how too much focus on a family's name and reputation can make life hell for the kids. Darrel's never been one to force the kids to get on his level magically really only asking they learn the very basic utility spells that make life a bit easier. Both work to protect their kids from overexposure due to their own fame as well.
After much discussion with @feroshgirlsims, I decided that it made sense for him to do it and give Sho a way to have a clean break from his family. There was one other loose end that I needed to tidy up as well...
Akira's voice (legit in game) cracked with emotion as he read off the adoption papers. Unbeknownst to the Watcher, he had a single bucket list item: become a parent, and now it was officially happening.
The two had a celebratory duel once done, and for the first time Sho was able to beat him. The boost in confidence fueled his decision to officially leave the Ito dynasty, and Akira was sure to come along just in case.
Megumi, despite having basically replaced her son by way of Kenji, was still furious nonetheless. Whenever she started to yell at Sho, Akira intervened.
Akira had sworn to protect the boy, and now as his adopted father he was even more motivated to do so.
As Sho watched his new dad fight his bio mom, Wade Goth realized that he was no longer safe with the Itos. Even if Nanami and Megumi didn't suspect his role in Sho living with Akira, they surely would take out their anger on him.
With the fight over, Akira and Sho went back home leaving the Ito home in a very uneasy state. Nanami, already critical of her mom's leadership, was now even more disappointed in her. Not only that, but she had noticed how Sho stood with Wade. He wouldn't have done that if he didn't feel safe... she had already started to doubt her friend's loyalty, and this seemed to confirm her suspicions on how her brother was so easily able to slip out and vanish.
It wasn't long before the two tore into the young man with Megumi even going as far as to threaten him. Wade didn't care how much he was getting paid to spy on the family, he wanted out.
Seeing how the Ito family operated made him appreciate his own even more. He regretted the times he was mean to them all, and hoped that his dad could help him get out of this mess.
And of course he could. The Goth-Vatore family might not have a dynasty, but they had something Ito family lacked: connections and the kind of a quiet yet powerful presence that came with immortality. No one would stop them from helping Wade leave, and they didn't dare retaliate.
Not only was his dad, Marco, there to welcome him home, but his twin brother Garrett was as well. The two had a difficult dynamic growing up due to Wade being mean to him, but the two were eager to put the past aside and catch up.
The first night Wade was back home, Marco didn't stray far from his side, even taking time to play games in the room while the boys slept. He claimed he was simply checking out a new release, but the truth was that he had worried so much about his son while he was away and simply hearing the sound of them sleeping brought him some peace.
As the days passed, Wade heard from Sho that him and Akira were doing well and were safe. The teen thanked him for helping him leave the toxic and dangerous situation at home. Wade was glad, but also started to wonder what he wanted to do with his life.
Garrett had become a diver excavating old wrecks for whatever he could find. It didn't pay much, but he really enjoyed it. He had been considering moving to Sulani, but didn't want to have a whole house by himself.
On the morning of Winterfest, Garrett decided to ask Wade if he would move with him. The two had reconciled their differences and were closer than they had been since they were toddlers. Wade liked the idea of having a part time job so he could focus more on relaxing, sorting out what he wanted in life, and maybe even finding a special someone as well.
Marco was sad that Wade would be leaving again, but he had the peace of knowing that this time the brothers would be together.
Bonus picture: Wade and Garrett's older brother, Logan, came home from work, and his little girl Zoe came out to welcome him home.
I thought it would be nice to show off Giovanna Goth's family because I love them. <3
First up we have her dads! Blair and Marco Goth - in the first picture Marco is holding her niece/his first grandchild, Zoe. They're not even set as caregivers, they're just being good grandpas autonomously!
The two met and bonded easily in high school as fellow bros - that friendship turned into a bromance which led to marriage and kids!
Blair is a trans guy and is biologically Giovanna's big brother (they were orphaned by neighborhood stories well before I could ever see their parents). Together Blair and Marco have four bio kids - two sets of twins! Both are stay at home dads with Blair making money via plopsy and Marco doing freelance programming work.
They live in Willow Creek across the street from the Zest-Charm household.
The first set of twins make up Giovanna's older younger siblings - Jayda and Logan Goth. Jayda has since moved out of the family home to Oasis Springs where she is living with her fiance. Logan is set to inherit the family home and is currently engaged to Stephanie Zest-Charm. They have a baby named Zoe Goth who is a cutie. :D
Despite living literally across the street from one another, Logan and Stephanie didn't meet until high school. Both of them being goofballs made hanging out fun, and mutual crushes soon developed. There were a few times where one of them would sneak out to go visit the other during the night as well (which Marco gently mentioned to Logan that he knew what was going on and to be careful).
The youngest set of twins and the youngest of Giovanna's siblings are Garrett and Wade Goth (and the last kids that Marco and Blair will have despite how much they really want to have more). While Jayda and Logan were pretty chill kids and teens, these two were and are a bit of a handful. Garrett is a hot head (but loyal) and Wade is mean and cringe. The combination made the two of them clash a lot as kids - as teens Garrett has mellowed out a bit and Wade is now too busy spouting memes at him to really make him mad.
Blair and Marco were worried they had somehow done something wrong for the two boys to be like they were, but family assured them both that even with the most love sometimes people's personalities just are different. And genuinely Wade tends to direct his meanness towards non-family members now that he's a teen (not that it makes it better... but he does love his family!).
While not officially one of Blair and Marco's children, Sofia Goth IS their niece. They are raising her because her mom (Hope Goth - adopted as a child by Bella and Mortimer while Alexander was still a child himself) and paren (a sim named Kayde [they/them]) passed in an accident. While she never felt particularly close to them, the loss left her rather gloomy. The family welcoming her in and the youngest twins treating her like a sister keeps her from spiralling too much into the gloom. <3
I don't have a picture of Zoe Goth on her own because she rarely is on her own. Everyone in the household from her parents, her grandparents, and even her teenage aunt and uncles are constantly fussing over her whether it's to stop and give her a bottle in the middle of the night while they're up going to the bathroom or stopping by her crib to give her a good night kiss while she's asleep.
Seriously, no one else has been set as caregivers of her... they just all autonomously pitch in to look after her. Even Wade's cringe mean self.
