#phoenix charm

[ravingsockmonkey]

Teen triplets no more!

A few days after prom came birthdays and graduation. Though the worst of the grief had passed, no one fully felt up for a big party or a formal graduation. The school understood given the circumstances, and the boys were allowed to get their diplomas in the mail.

To no one's surprise, the ever competitive Teddy got Valedictorian.

Phoenix and Finn, not far behind in school standing, both graduated with honors.

And Darrel? He graduated from his midlife crisis and was closer than ever both to Johnny and his family. The two were both proud of what the boys had accomplished, but also sad because they knew they would be moving out.

Teddy Zest-Charm added Loyal to his Hot-headed and Competitive traits. Despite how Jax could be, he never gave up on him nor did he try to change him. Jax Harjo couldn't help but to be a bit Romantic despite his Evil and Competitive ways by the whole thing. A lot of people in his life felt the need to try to fix him, but Teddy never did. He didn't hesitate to call him out on his bullshit and was the only sim Jax minded doing so.

Teddy moved in with Jax in Darrel and Johnny's old house in Copperdale. He is an eSports pro-gamer while Jax is sticking to streaming for now.

Phoenix Charm was already a Plant loving sim who Loved the Outdoors, but his decision to move to Simeon Silversweater's home in Glimmerbrook with his girlfriend, Lorena Volkov, pushed him into Mystical territory as well. Lorena was already a Geek who also Loved the Outdoors and became a Bookworm as well. Adjusting to this new life together has been a bit of a struggle so far. Dating a werewolf is quite a bit different from living with one, and Phoenix started noticing some things about himself that he wasn't sure how to discuss.

Couple's therapy hadn't gone well, Kristopher refused to give his blessing to marry Lorena, and even she seemed not interested in marriage. It's a lot to process and work through... will they pull through?

Finn Charm ever the Outgoing Creative type, decided to Bro it up with his "roomies" Dakoa Vatore and Leon Rocca. In addition to being Bros, Dakota and Leon are both Active. Dakota is Self-Assured, and Leon is an Art Lover. The three took their bromance to San Myshuno where they live in a penthouse in the Art Distract. Oliver the cat has been keeping an eye on them to make sure they behave!

Dakota, with big brother Alexander's help, scored a job as a body builder and personal trainer. Leon has a part time job as a life guard at the local gym's pool*, and Finn? Finn is an indie artist.

And with that, Darrel and Johnny are officially alone for a bit:

It kind of makes me sad since they've not been alone since they left Copperdale. I know Malcolm will be joining them in due time, but for now maybe they'll adopt a cat?

As is tradition for my fresh young adults, Phoenix got abducted by aliens on his birthday:

Dakota Vatore used to be Dakota Harris (in the same Harris family as Jeb!) before he died and was reborn. He died because I aged him up during a mood swing. Oops. I decided to have him recall his past life to see if there were any traits I wanted to carry over and uh...

Dakota decided maybe to leave the past in the past.

Teddy is all muscles, mullet, and thighs. Also that pair of pictures in the background? Were taken in the old Copperdale home that Teddy and Jax are now living in!

Finn has a collection of family portraits in the bedroom.

His tattoo is in Emilia's memory.

Billie Jang keeping an eye on things.

Some fun phone calls that came through during game play!

Dorks (Affectionate).

[ravingsockmonkey]

(Not so) quiet reminders of mortality

[Whew, sorry this took as long as it did. Between AGDQ last week and it being the start of the busy season at work, getting the story telling juices going took a moment.]

Time passed pretty peacefully in the Zest-Charm household. Finn had accepted that his mother was an elder, everyone was more than used to and accepting of Teddy's sweaty nature, and Oliver the cat was always around for pets and snuggles.

Johnny and Emilia traded jokes and mixology secrets.

And he tried to keep the paparazzi at bay in order to protect the kids.

And the trio of partners decided to take a Watcher imposed break from continuously serenading one another to work on some puzzles while the kids were at school. Johnny was less befuddled by them than last time.

The boys worked on their homework...

worked on their fitness...

Teddy maxing his out!

and they worked (struggled) on their magic. Looks like Erick took Phoenix's advice to heart!

With prom still inexplicably gone [wn: please vote and comment on this if you can and haven't already], the teens also did what they could to fill their weekends.

Finn was more than happy to hang out with Erick Ember and paint. He was also close to mastering pottery... perhaps it's time to branch out to tattoo sketches?

Teddy... well...

He decided to give bowling a shot while out at the Sweat Shop (a teenage hangout with an arcade, dancing, bowling, and vending machines) with Jax's gamer club.

They were both hilariously bad at it which only served to push the two sweaty competitive boys even further.

After a lot of gutter balls, Teddy managed to get two lucky strikes before the set was ended. Jax raged and swore that he'd beat his boyfriend next time.

The Spice Festival also became a fun outing (that Finn went to as well, I swear) for the boys to hang out with friends, enjoy good food, and engage in a few friendly duels.

Teddy even spent a New Year's Eve with Erick and his family.

Winter was happy to meet him... but not terribly impressed with his competitive tips.

Life in the Zest-Ember household was full of love, light, and laughter.

A bit too much laughter.

The Watcher did not see that Emilia was hysterical until the dreaded notification came up. Darrel was distraught... she had asked him to not resurrect her when she passed, but this was not an old age death.

However, that agreement was with him, and not the kids.

Phoenix had a death flower and confidently presented it to Grim in order to spare his mother.

Emilia was grateful to be brought back, and Finn in particular was happy to not have lost his mom early.

The situation reminded Darrel that a trip to Newcrest was in order...

"It's good to see you again my friend; I'm glad that you decided to stick around."

It would be a few years before him and Johnny would be doing the same with Malcolm Landgraab, and he wondered if Emilia would consider the option herself.

[ravingsockmonkey]

When intervention isn't wanted...

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.

[ravingsockmonkey]

Teddy & Jax being dorks + extra

I didn't get to show nearly as many pictures of Teddy and Jax bowling in the previous post , and I didn't want them to go unseen!

Before they ever got to bowling, they had a couple of rounds of Blicblock Turbo. The two of them are both terrible winners and losers, and watching their reactions was funny.

The redhead in the third pic is Karl Moyer (Alex Moyer from DU's son) giving them the sideeye. He's used to their goofiness and is a member of their gamer club.

The faces these two were pulling cracked me up, and you know that ball had to be hard to hold onto with all that sweat!

At one point, Jax told Teddy a REALLY INTENSE story that had him doing all of this. It was so over the top. I adore this absolute dork.

Jax's reaction to losing against Teddy.

I switched over to the Munch household to age Xander up, but needed him to do a few things before I did so. I sent him to bed, and his parents decided to make out in the hallway. His imaginary friend was still present and was just standing there awkwardly watching them with this expression. XD

Dork.

Oliver the cat goes spin!

Despite my best efforts, Darrel didn't deal with Emilia's death well, but I guess this isn't as bad of a change as it could be.

Teddy and Finn both experienced grief as well. Finn bounced back pretty quickly, and Teddy struggled a bit but ultimately came through without issues.

Phoenix, however, immediately got the Mean Streak phase and did exactly 2 (two) mean interactions - he yelled at Johnny and then at Darrel. He got a timeout for both (Because I wanted the phase to go away since Phoenix is not a mean sim). The second (last) time he did it and got a timeout, both Teddy and Finn came to hang out with him while he went through it.

Since neither could interact with him, I like to imagine they were low-key ribbing him the whole time.

"So what lesson do you think we can learn from this, Finn?" "I don't know Teddy, maybe don't yell at Dad?"

Story-wise, I decided that Phoenix yelling at his dads (and literally no one else) was him being confused and angry about the hesitation to revive his mom. The kids didn't know about the DNR (do not resuscitate) agreement that she had with their dads, and once Phoenix finally talked to them about why he was so angry, they had a whole conversation. Darrel, Johnny, and Emilia learned that their sons needed to know about these things, and the family came to an agreement that the DNR only applied to death from old age.

Way in the future thing under the cut - don't read if you don't want possible spoilers!

So Finn has not dated anyone yet. He's had a few crushes, mostly on Sims that he'd be miserable with (and on Jax which I made him get over because no he would not pursue that at all). I don't see him having a high school sweet heart unless something wild happens.

That being said, I've got an idea of what his third trait is going to be, and I'm thinking of having him become roommates with Dakota Vatore and [REDACTED] (teen I've not yet introduced) one they age up.

Should young adult Finn...

Date one of the roomies

Date both of the roomies (polyamory!)

Date someone else entirely

Voting ended onJan 24

[ravingsockmonkey]

Middle Child, Full of Grace

Phoenix always found it amusing that he was technically an older brother being the first born fraternal twin, but because Teddy was born a mere week or less before he became a middle child of sorts.

He didn't particularly mind though.

Phoenix tended the garden, talked to the plants, did his homework, journaled, and worked on his magic. Despite his brother's intensity and competitive nature, he was the furthest along in his studies having already achieved Adept level. Master was within easy reach.

Dueling wasn't his primary focus, but he was happy to accept a duel and give pointers when asked. Setting up a phone to record was easy, and he had found that it was a good way to show where things went wrong and advise on how to improve.

Lily had coached him in fitness in exchange for him teaching her more about gardening, and while he wasn't seeing quite the same results as Teddy, he did notice there were some practical benefits.

Oh dear... the vending machines at school were heavy, and Phoenix decided that they weren't worth the risk if they ate his money.

Surprising a lot of people, including himself, Phoenix is good friends with Jax despite being completely opposite in personality and hobbies. He doesn't even like playing video games, but would hang out and play Tantrum knowing the boy's family situation (or lack of) meant he spent a lot of time alone and lonely.

Lucas Munch invited him to join the Garden Gnomes, a gardening and nature focused club that recently expanded its reach beyond Windenburg, and Phoenix was happy to join. The prospect of having a mix of friends who all enjoyed being outside was more than enough reason for him to join.

But then he saw Her.

Lorena Volkov, one of Kristopher's adoptive children. They had a chuckle and bonded over the two of them having similar fashion styles. Phoenix explained about his magical mentor, Simeon Silversweater, having natural antlers and how he was inspired by him. Lorena wore them in an attempt to feel in touch with nature when rage threatened to pull her away from her senses.

As they got closer, Phoenix realized that maybe werewolves weren't so scary. Lorena, Kristopher, Lucas, and Jacob certainly tried their best not to be. He remembered that his big sister, Robin, had been one due to a Dormant Wolf trait suddenly expressing itself. She had passed due to an accident years before, but perhaps his dad could help him learn more about them.

He was a little nervous asking his dad as he knew talking about Robin made him sad. Darrel had always felt that his lack of understanding contributed a lot towards her unhappiness as a teen. While he did educate himself on werewolves and made amends with her before her passing, he would forever wonder if he could do more.

Phoenix found out that his dad had multiple books on werewolves; some of them looked to be fiction, but saw mysterious writing glinting in spots. Darrel encouraged reading and re-reading the books to unlock the cipher. He also mentioned another source of information the boy hadn't considered: his own mentor, Simeon Silversweater.

Emilia was invited out to the revelry and Phoenix asked if he could come along, knowing that Simeon would be there. While his mom chatted it up with other festival attendees, he asked his mentor if he could duel him for knowledge. It looked like anyone's game but the former Sage captured victory at the last moment.

Simeon: "You did better than before; you're clearly practicing. Very well, we can discuss what you're wanting to know while we go through some spell work."

Phoenix told his mentor about Lorena and how he wanted to learn more about werewolves. Simeon echoed Darrel's recommendation on reading the books, but also explained how werewolves had different temperaments that impacted how the world around them affected their fury. People who had been werewolves for a long time might also find themselves better able to manage the wolf within even up to no longer having to worry about the full moon.

It was a lot of information to take in, but in Phoenix's mind it was worth it. Lorena was worth it. Even if down the road they decided to just be friends, he wanted to be someone that she could always rely on to understand what she was going through. And if they didn't? Well, having that knowledge would be even more beneficial.

But for now there was high school, magic, and thinking about what he wanted to do in the future to focus on.

Bonus shot of Phoenix fire dancing before Simeon showed up.

[ravingsockmonkey]

GL HF! [Good Luck, Have Fun!]

When Teddy wasn't throwing down to defend his little brother, he was grinding.

Grinding ranks in games, grinding out stream views, grinding fitness, grinding out grades, grinding out magic... you name it, Teddy would find a way to turn it into a competition that he was going to win.

Streaming became one of his favorite pastimes, and his dads got him his own computer so he could stream without keeping everyone else from using one of the family computers. He started streaming and gaming under the name teddybearRAWR.

It wasn't long before he started recognizing a consistent name in his matches: JaxAx69. JaxAx69 seemed to be as competitive as he was and had a foul mouth to boot. He was constantly talking trash, and Teddy found himself both irritated by him and enjoying having someone on his level. After several sessions of them trading barbs back and forth, the two agreed to meet up at what would become the last after prom party for a while.

Despite a few insults, the two ended up becoming friends... or possibly closer to frenemies. They started hanging out, and the more Teddy learned about the boy, the more he understood why Jax was the way he was.

Jax lived alone. Every adult in his household had died except for Ervin who was like a big brother to him. Ervin had moved out to live with his fiance and didn't visit often. His parent, Ash Harjo, apparently wasn't his parent*... researching his own genealogy revealed nothing, and there were no adoption records either. As far as he knew, he had no family.

And though he'd never admit it to anyone, he was incredibly lonely.

Teddy noticed that Jax's insults were becoming less of a thing or at least they were shifting to be more teasing than cutting. He had his suspicions on why, but didn't want to push things until the boy was comfortable.

When he wasn't hanging out with Jax, Teddy was working on his magical ability. He really looked up to his big brother Callen, so whenever the young man challenged him to a duel, he was excited to give it a shot.

Callen was a significantly stronger spell caster, and Teddy found himself straining against the very first clash.

All Teddy could think as he felt himself being lifted into the air and flung onto the ground was that he was glad Jax wasn't there to laugh at his loss.

A surprise waited for him at home though!

Jax was there, and he was in a flirty mood. As Teddy suspected, the boy had a crush on him and was finally feeling comfortable enough to express it.

The two traded flirts back and forth until Jax, feeling a little overwhelmed around so many people, headed outside. Teddy went with him to show off some new games.

The chill in the air couldn't put a damper on the warm feelings between the two, and Teddy leaned in for their first kiss. Jax was a little surprised at first, but quickly recovered with a chuckle insisting that he won.

Later after Jax left, Teddy found Finn and his da working on a puzzle. Johnny was struggling a bit (a lot), and gave up to make himself a drink.

Finn: Teddy, can you help me with this? Da wasn't having much luck.

Teddy: I will crush this puzzle. I'm going to beat this puzzle so fast your head will spin!

Phoenix: Oh, this is going to be rich.

Finn: I don't think that's how puzzles work, but okay.

Phoenix eventually stepped away, and Johnny came back to check on the boys.

Teddy was unleashing a concerning amount of sweat for a puzzle game, and Johnny knew it wouldn't be long before it would become a problem.

Sure enough...

Finn: TEDDY!!! You're sweating all over the puzzle! You're going to ruin it!!!

Everyone (else) chuckled. Finn was having fun despite the sweat, and Teddy was simply happy that he "won" at puzzles. Even if his family didn't quite understand his competitive nature, he knew that Jax would appreciate the victory.

*Whenever I still had neighborhood stories turned on, I found Jax as a toddler in the Harjo household. Since Ash and Noah's parents had been dead for a long time, I assumed that Ash had adopted him. However, whenever I view the family tree, Jax shows no one as his parents or family. My current working theory/HC on this is that one of Ash's more bonkers fans "gifted" them a child, and that child was Jax... which would also explain the weird relationship the two had and the mess that he is now.

I thought at first it could be a case of ghosts/sims being purged, but if I look at Teddy's family tree I can still see Nancy, Geoffrey, and Minerva showing as grandparents... and they've been dead for well over a full actual year. So yeah, Jax was a weird fan gift to Ash I guess.

[ravingsockmonkey]

Zest-Charm Extras

Some notes about the Zest-Charm family that I thought might interest folks:

Darrel and Johnny's biological kids all have the Zest-Charm surname. The four they adopted and the twins Darrel had with Emilia all have the Charm surname. I decided to use it at the time because I didn't want the Zest name to be lost in the mix.

I didn't realize Darrel and Emilia were engaged back whenever I first got RoM as I wasn't familiar with the townies yet. Darrel started autonomously flirting with Johnny while at a club, and then started coming over regularly.

So imagine my surprise whenever I decided to take Johnny to visit and uh... yeah.

I didn't yet have lumpinou's Open Love Life mod installed, so I couldn't do polyamory, so Emilia broke things off with Darrel.

Once I did install it, Darrel and Johnny opted for an open relationship and discussed what could have been had they known about it before.

In game years later, I found her living in Sulani and decided to move her to Willow Creek, completely forgetting I was moving her into the same neighborhood as Darrel and Johnny... which made the welcome wagon a bit awkward.

Despite the awkwardness, there was very clearly still a spark there, so I slowly rebuilt Darrel and Emilia's friendship until they could fully reconcile.

Their current arrangement: Darrel and Johnny are married, Darrel and Emilia are romantic partners, Johnny (who is gay) and Emilia are besties. She really wanted more with Johnny (I can't blame her), but yeah.

The children:

Celeste Zest-Ember [She/Her] -currently living in Brindleton Bay.

Lilly Charm [She/Her] - oldest daughter of Gemma, adopted by Darrel and Johnny after her death. Currently living in Windenburg with her fiance, their cat, and two children.

Robin Charm [She/Her] - youngest daughter of Gemma, adopted by Darrel and Johnny after her death. Had Dormant Wolf trait, later sought the cure and became a spell caster. Died in an accident leaving her twins to be with Lilly.

Hannah Charm [She/Her] - Adopted by Minerva Charm shortly before she passed away. Adopted by Darrel and Johnny after her death. Currently lives in Oasis Springs with her girlfriend and cat. Almost was submitted to Dating Deanna!

Callen Charm [He/Him] - Biological child of Gunther Munch and L. Faba, though neither were particularly interested in the boy. Minerva, who disliked L, tipped Darrel off to the boy's plight. He was able to talk Gunther into letting him adopt the child. Despite Gunther's reluctance to be a father to him, Callen maintained an amicable relationship with him until his death and is still friendly with his biological siblings. Currently lives on a small farm in Henford on Bagley with his three partners and children.

Stephanie Zest-Charm [She/Her] - Youngest daughter and second biological child; she was little whenever Darrel and Emilia reconciled, so she sees her as a mom figure. Is currently engaged to Logan Goth (son of Marco and Blair Goth) whom she lives with across the street from her parents. She has one child.

Theodore "Teddy" Zest-Charm [He/Him] - Hot headed and atrociously competitive, Teddy doesn't seem like someone you'd want to be around on the surface, but he genuinely cares about his family and tends to save his toxic side for everyone else. His competitiveness has driven him to be an excellent student (seriously, this kid autonomously does his homework, extra-credit work, and projects all of the time). He is a few days older than the twins, and never lets them live it down.

Phoenix Charm [He/Him] - Oldest of the twins that Darrel and Emilia had together. Named Phoenix because the Watcher was celebrating their reunion. Saw Simeon Silversweater once and decided to adopt the same aesthetic. He's a gentle boy who loves plants and the outdoors, but also enjoys spending time with his brothers despite how different they are.

Finn Charm [He/Him] - Whenever Johnny and Emilia decided to "twin" with their pregnancies, no one knew that Finn would crash the party causing literal twins. Outgoing and creative but not particularly motivated, he is hoping for an easy life surrounded by friends where he can simply paint and bake.

[ravingsockmonkey]

A matter of family...

While August and Dylan slowly blend their little families together, it might be worth taking a look at the dynamic Celeste grew up with. You see, Dylan would be the first to admit that being co-parented by four people might not have given him the best picture of how challenging raising kids could be (though he'd not use that as excuse for his prior inattention), Celeste didn't have such a setup.

She is the oldest of 9 children, four of which were adopted while she was still living at home. Initially, it was just her dads raising them all as Darrel and Emilia didn't reconnect and reconcile until after her youngest sister, Stephanie, was born.

Maybe such a large family made her long for something smaller and quieter?

Were Darrel and Johnny younger, they may have assumed they did something wrong, but they had long since learned that their children had to learn to make their own path once out of the nest. They simply made sure to be there to support them in their own way.

Celeste had been trying to put on a facade that everything was okay, but the two knew that it was slipping quickly. They also wanted to make sure that Erick knew that he was welcome in their home as well.

Out of respect to Dylan, the two made sure to clear it with him that he was okay with the boy having a key to their home. They also wanted to make sure that he knew that they had no animosity towards him after the divorce. Keeping Erick safe and happy was the right thing to do even if their oldest was in the mix.

Erick enjoyed being able to visit his extended family more often, and developed a closer bond with them as a result. He bonded easily with Grandpop Darrel over their shared love for cooking, and he decided that being a food critic sounded like something he might be interested in once he aged up. His youngest uncles were also his age, and he enjoyed hanging out with them whenever he was over.

The next time that Celeste came to visit, it was very clear that things were not okay. Not only was she afflicted with some sort of ailment, but she also seemed to have very mixed feelings being around her siblings.

Their lives were far from perfect, and yet they all seemed happier than her. Lilly and her fiance had been raising Robin's twins after she died in an accident, but doing so made her realize she wanted to get a bigger home so they could have children of their own. Hannah wasn't sure if her career was one she wanted to stick with, but she had reconnected with an old flame and things were going well. Callen was exhausted juggling the small farm and his start-up, his bio-dad had passed a while back, and him and his partners unexpectedly had twins... but their house was full of love and chatter.

Maybe it was time to do some reflection, work on her bucket list, and sort out what she wanted in life. Maybe it was worth even attending grief counseling to finally work through losing her childhood best friend.