The Smith Family has moved in to a wonderful suburban home in Willow Creek. Richard has begun working at the local hospital and has moved up quickly to the position of Assistant Nurse. As Izzie was still young, Elizabeth had decided to stay at home in order to care for the youngster. She enjoyed the quality time she is able to spend with her daughter, as well as her other two children, even if William can be a bit of a handful at times.
Once Izzie entered school, Elizabeth found it hard to be at home all day alone, and decided to begin a career. She found out she loved painting while on a date with her husband, and that became her career. [more...]
William Smith branched out on his own by moving to his very own apartment in San Myshuno. He enjoyed his single life, but only for a brief few weeks. He got a job as a Tech Guru and eventually asked his girlfriend, Cassandra to move in with him. Even one of his sisters would come to live with him for a few days. That Love Day Cassandra tricked William into trying for a baby and she was now pregnant. Once William found out he only hoped that his new title of eSports Gamer came with enough pay to support a growing family. [more...]
William and Cassandra finally got married! Morgana's toddler years are filled with fun and learning, but the apartment began to feel less cozy and more cramped. After the power went out unexpectedly in the middle of the night the couple, who had been saving for a while, finally decided to move into a house where they would meet some rather interesting neighbors. [more...]
Morgana's toddler years had been fun and highly educational, but they, like a good cake, were short-lived. There was, however, one last thing they had to do while Morgana was still a toddler. Though William had not attended his sister's first birthday, he had heard it was a pretty fun time, and, though the rest of his siblings and his parents had been keeping the partying to a minimum there was no reason they had to. Besides less would go wrong if they host it at the old Smith Family Residence, especially with Emilie serving as caterer.
The small family arrived at the large dwelling William grew up in just one hour after Cassandra got back from work. The original plan was for William to still go into work at four, but that was only two hours after they got there. There would be very little time and they needed Morgana to have the best birthday ever!
Though Cassandra's parents were notable absent from the wedding, she was sure to invite them and her brother for Morgana's party. Most likely this was directly related to the fact that it was being held at William's childhood home. Either way both families were there.
After some dancing with Morgana, who had become quite the expert for a toddler, as well as some games between families, it was time. Emilie had prepared an odd sugar-free cake. No one was sure how it would taste, but they trusted Emilie wouldn't make something that would be to terrible.
Once the candles were in place and lit, Morgana went straight to her father. It was almost as if she knew what was happening. He picked her up and held her up to the counter so she could try to blow out the candles. Wouldn't you know it? She got them out on her first try!
Unfortunately there wasn't enough room at the table for everyone. Most of the guests just took seats in the parlor or at the bar while Cassandra, William, Bella, Alexander, and, of course, Morgana sat at the table. Much to everyone's amazement the cake wasn't bad. They hardly missed this sugar. Even Morgana seemed to love it.
All-in-all the birthday was a huge success. Cassandra and William really enjoyed it, but hoped these events wouldn't happen to often. Watching their children grow old is too good of a reminder of how old they were getting.
Despite being reminded how old they were getting, Cassandra and William decided one child just wasn't enough. They had tried for a baby on Winterfrest, but that was more futile. Upon returning from Morgana's birthday party, and waiting for the new grade schooler to go to bed, they decided to try again. This time that were far more successful. Morgana's final birthday surprise was a baby brother or sister.
There is an old saying that you don't realize some thing's worth until its gone. Morgana hadn't really done much in the snow all winter long. Now that winter was over and spring had started she knew the snow wouldn't be there for very much longer and she would be waiting another year before getting to play in it again.
Seeing her daughter finally excited about the snow, Cassandra decided it would be fun to work with her and build a snowpal. They both knew the snowpal wouldn't last very long, but it would be an fun activity. Of course Cassandra pointed out that if Morgana had been more interested in the snow earlier they could have enjoyed their snowpal a little longer. There was, of course, no arguing with that.
After finishing their snowpal, Morgana decided it to continue the play session inside with her doll-house. The doll-house, unlike the snow and the snowpal, wasn't going anywhere, but Morgana knew that she would probably not want to play inside quite as much when the sun comes out, especially after overhearing the plans to build a pool in the backyard.
Cassandra really did enjoy spending the day with her daughter. She knew she had another kid on the way, but hoped that taking care of another baby, and, later, another toddler wouldn't push Morgana out of her mind. Morgana really was a smart, bright, and cute kid that she enjoyed spending time with whenever she could, and hoped that would not change even when Morgana was older and more awkward the cute.
They always say the second child is easier than the first. Well, William wasn't entirely sure of that, but he did know that he was a bit more prepared the second time Cassandra's water broke than he was the first time. At least this time he was able to check his wife into the hospital.
Richard's new position meant he would not be available to perform the birth of their second child, but the operation was left in the capable hands of another doctor. Cassandra didn't much care. Even if they said the second child was easier than the first, her second pregnancy had really been no easier, and she was just as ready to have this kid out of her as she was to have Morgana out.
Fortunately the hands of the new surgeon proved just as capable as Richard's had been. In mere minutes the baby was out and it was announced that it was another girl. Cassandra declared this one to be Amellia. William was both excited and a little scared to have to deal with two daughters. Mostly he was just scared for when he would have to deal with boyfriends and teen angst though. For now they would both be his cute, little girls.
As both of Cassandra's pregnancies ended in the middle of the night, Morgana would have to wait until morning to meet her new sister. She had mixed feelings about the helpless bundle of joy. On the one hand this would mean she would have someone to play with when she got older, but, on the other hand, she was helpless and would probably take time away from Cassandra and William, leaving little left for Morgana.
For now Morgana would just hate the damn thing, but maybe she could grow to love it when it was more than just a crying, fussing, ball of mess. Only time would tell.
In part Morgana's fears weren't entirely unwarranted. Amellia was a very needed and fussy child. She seemed to wine and cry constantly. Most of the time it wasn't because she was hungry or needed to be changed. The majority of the time she just wanted to be held, which was something Cassandra could tell, and, more importantly something William could do all on his own.
This meant that at least one parent was often available for Morgana, so she wasn't worried when she came home with a school project. She knew that someone would always be able to help her even if the two parents had to tag-team it. Fortunately it didn't really come to that. Sure William had to help out a few times, but he was able to take care of Amellia most of the time so Cassandra was most often free to help.
Morgana appreciated the fact that she wasn't simply left to her own devices just because everyone thought she could take care of herself, that she decided to show her parents that she could help out too. The first load of laundry was on her! Of course it was mostly her clothes and a few of Amellia's onsies, but that was less laundry for William and Cassandra to have to do.
In the end Morgana was rewarded with more time with her mother. Sadly they weren't doing anything all that fun. Cassandra had all but mastered the piano and had a desire to see her smart young lady learn to be just as creative as she was intelligent. She began tutoring the girl in piano. Hearing her attempts to pluck away at the keys in front of her reminded Cassandra how far she had come, and also proved just how much work Morgana had ahead of her.
As an champion gamer William had a very interesting schedule. He worked nights and one weekend day a week. Though this meant he was available to care for Amellia when Cassandra was at work, it meant he was often not home when Morgana was out of school. He did what he could to spend time with his other daughter though.
One weekend he decided to go ahead and send Amellia off to a daycare so he could spend time with both of his ladies. The day started off with a pretty simple trip to Newcrest Park. This was far from a distant trip as they actually lived next to the park, but they rarely visited it. Morgana decided to make use of the chess tables and joined a game with someone she had yet to meet. This proved to be a bit of a mistake as she was tricked into looking away as the person made an illegal move. Morgana never caught the move and ended up losing the game.
William had started a game with his wife, but it ended pretty quickly, so, as he had seen the trick the woman had played on his daughter, he decided to play the next round with Morgana. In a much more fair fight, Morgana turned out victorious.
While playing his game of chess with his daughter, William heard that the flea market was coming to San Myshuno. All the time he and Cassandra had lived in the city they had never gone. He wanted to spend time with both his ladies all day, but he was interested in the flea market and Morgana was far less enthused.
With his daughter's blessing he was allowed to go to the flea market with Cassandra while Morgana stayed at home to play. Part of the thrill of the flea market was haggling, and haggling was something you could do with anyone there, including the food-stall vendors. This was something Cassandra just had to try. She secured her meal for 25% off, but William was too busy listening to the entertainment and tipping the guitar player to bother with food.
Despite her blessing, William felt guilty that they went somewhere without Morgana. While his wife was finishing lunch he bought something he thought his smart girl would enjoy. Cassandra would eventually go back to the table to try and negotiate a better price for a second one for Amellia, but she had far less luck with that vendor than she did at the food stall.
With the thrill of haggling now gone, William and Cassandra met Morgana at home only to whisk her off to a beach in the islands of Sulani. Despite just eating, Cassandra was a bit hungry. Fortunately William and Morgana had not yet eaten so William grilled some chicken on a public grill provided to them by a picnic table on the beach.
Even though the beach was overcast that day there was no way they were going to get so close to the ocean without going in, so Morgana and Cassandra donned snorkel gear and swimsuits and headed to a reef for some good old fashioned dolphin watching. Morgana enjoyed seeing at the fish and other sea creatures so close. So close in fact she could swear one brushed her leg.
William preferred to be a bit less close to the sea life. Instead of snorkeling with his girls, he headed for a canoe docked nearby and toured the ocean with that. He tried not to stray too far from Morgana and Cassandra, but it was hard when he had such a nice wind and such great waves to explore.
After snorkeling for awhile, Morgana found a float in the ocean and decided to relax a bit. The ocean waves were so relaxing, in fact that she fell asleep. Cassandra was still swimming, and William was having fun on his canoe so no noticed that she was asleep until it was just about time for them to go home. The sun had gone down and the waves were starting to get a bit choppy for the canoe. Cassandra got out of the water first, but didn't see Morgana. The float Morgana was on was a bit off shore and had a large tail which prevented anyone from seeing her from the beach.
Fortunately, William noticed her while sailing back to the dock. The father would wake up her daughter and return her to a less than happy mother. Fortunately Cassandra was just relieved she hadn't lost the girl, so Morgana was spared any ire.
It may have indeed already gotten dark, but there was still one thing left on Morgana's to-do list. Fortunately it was kind of something William wanted to do too. The two built a sand castle together. Perhaps it was because it was dark, or because they had never actually built a sand castle, but it wasn't exactly the prettiest thing in the world. Still it was fun to build, and even more fun to build it together.
After taking care of little baby Amellia and dealing with her nearly constant cries for attention, William and Cassandra were both excited and relieved when it was time for the baby to grow into a toddler. There job may be far from over, but at least Amellia would be able to start to take care of herself, and, maybe, just maybe Morgana would be a bit more willing to spend time with her sister now that she was older taking care of any attention needs she might have.
Of course the breakfast table that next day was certainly not something that would change Morgana's mind about her sister. She was loud and messy, not things Morgana particularly liked. Cassandra was worried that Morgana would never really accept Amellia, but, as a child with a younger sibling herself, she should have realized that things would cool down, and much quicker than she could guess.
That day was Sunday, which meant William was gone that afternoon and evening. This was the perfect time for Cassandra to take their daughters to a pool that they heard about from Emilie. It was a public pool, but it sported a little area for younger children too, so Cassandra could even bring Amellia.
Of course Morgana wasn't interested in the little kiddie pool. She had swam in the ocean. She needed something much larger. It was no ocean, but the pool itself was rather large and more than enough to satisfy her. Unfortunately this meant she was separated from her mother and sister, but Cassandra could still keep an eye on her thanks to windows looking out into the pool from the kiddie area.
As they were separated the entire afternoon, Cassandra wasn't sure what kind of impact the pool trip would have on Morgana and Amellia. She was shocked when the first thing Amellia did when the trio got home was run up and hug her sister. Neither Morgana nor Cassandra could really make out what she was saying, but it probably had something to do with how much Amellia missed her sister.
The most shocking part was that not only did Morgana hug Amellia back, but she said she missed her too. It was a very touching scene, and it was made even more touching later when Morgana revealed to Cassandra that perhaps it would be nice having a sister.
It didn't take long for Cassandra to walk in on Morgana playing with her dolls and seeing Amellia right next to her. Morgana didn't even seem to mind when a doll's head went into Amellia's mouth. She was too busy having fun to even care. It was really quite a sweet sight.
Unfortunately the stark truth was that Amellia was still young and she couldn't do everything with her sister, at least not yet. The most recent example occurred after William's pool was finally completed. Morgana was able to swim in the pool while Amellia could do little more than watch. The small child simply didn't know how to swim.
In their prudence Cassandra and William actually kept Amellia away from the pool, at least for now. So, in practice, if Amellia wanted to watch Morgana, she'd have to do it from the patio far from the pool.
Even when Morgana eventually fell asleep on one of the lounge chairs by the pool, there was little Amellia could do about it. Fortunately, Cassandra had finished sun bathing and was able to spend time with Amellia keeping her distracted.
Also, even though Amellia and Morgana were now pretty close there were still places Morgana didn't want her little sister tagging along with her to. One of those places was the house down the street.
William never picked up on anything strange about their neighbors, but Cassandra felt there was something odd about them. Morgana wanted to see if she could figure out what it was. She had a suspicion that the neighbors were actually vampires, considering they were never seen during the day.
Upon arrival Morgana found the youngest of the bunch, who actually appeared to be a teenager, and sat him down for a chat. Using her knowledge of vampires, she sprinkled in some facts and hoped the teen would eventually reveal he was a vampire. It took some time, but eventually Morgana was able to confirm her theory. Now the only questioned remained was whether or not to tell her mother.
Sorry for the weird stretching in the following screenshots. In order to make this story a bit more interesting I'm using a mod to allow children to become vampires. While I do plan on fixing these animations, it will take time, so you'll have to deal with some weird stretching with some screenshots involving Morgana from now until I get around to redoing animations. The screenshots, however, will not be fixed, sorry.
Summer meant longer days and warmer nights, nights that made stargazing just perfect. Few clouds and warmer temperatures just made sharing a nice spot on the sidewalk with your significant other just that much nicer. So, why not stargaze? Morgana was snoozing on the lounge chair by the pool again and Amellia had been put down hours ago. What could possibly go wrong?
Turns out a lot can happen while you're not paying attention. Even if they were down for only a few moments it was enough time for the neighbor boy to let himself into the backyard. Once inside he quickly found his mark. Morgana was right by the fence after all. With a wave of the hand he had the girl under his spell. Of course he wasn't looking for a snack or even a meal. Morgana had discovered the secret of his family and there was only one thing he could do about it.
When Morgana woke a few moments later, she was next to the lounge chair she fell asleep in, but wasn't really that close to it. She briefly wondered how she ended up where she was, but there was a weird feeling in her stomach that distracted her from her query. Still tired, she headed upstairs ignoring her parents lovingly gazing into each other's eyes as the headed to their bedroom.
Over the next few days something weird was happening to Morgana's body. At first, she kept feeling hungry, but food just really wasn't doing anything. Soon she was feeling even more hungry, but food just seemed to lose its flavor. There were other changes as well, but they were a lot harder to describe. When her canine teeth began becoming sharper and more pronounced Morgana started to get an idea what was happening.
When Amellia suddenly came up and yelled at her for apparently no reason, Morgana wondered if her sister was also picking up on what was happening to her. Even she wasn't exactly sure, but maybe Amellia was just going through a phase or something. After all Cassandra and William didn't seem to notice, despite her not eating nearly as much as she used to and constantly grabbing snacks despite it all.
It happened right after returning from the park one morning not long after waking up where she didn't think she should have. She was about to enter go back inside when something awoke deep within her. The worse part was that Cassandra, who, like her husband, hadn't noticed anything unusual about their daughter, had been there to see the power take over.
Fortunately Cassandra seemed more amused the concerned. The Goth household hadn't exactly been a normal household and the occult was something they were quite used to. Cassandra actually found it amusing that she had a vampire for a daughter now, even if she wasn't sure how it happened, and even if Morgana herself was scared of what she was.
The hardest thing to get used to for Morgana, now that she was a vampire, was the thirst for plasma. According to an elder vampire that somehow got her number as soon as she became a vampire, the thirst wouldn't kill her, but it could be rather uncomfortable. Plasma, according to him, could be obtained from various sources, but it was best from live prey. This was a problem for Morgana. The vampire did send over some plasma packs, but they did not help much, and, because of a strict curfew, Morgana couldn't just go out at night.
The plasma packs kept her from getting too uncomfortable, but, in the end, Morgana decided she would try and get someone she knew over, anyone really, to see if she could trick them into donating some plasma to her. In the end even this proved difficult since most people she knew were already asleep by now.
In the end she decided the curfew shouldn't really apply to her now that she was a vampire and didn't need to sleep, so she snuck out and headed for the park. Maybe there would be some kind of night owl her was playing chess or something that she could get a quick bite from.
She was in luck, that was exactly what she found and she only had to wait on the monkey bars for a few moments. As the plasma packs had kept her pretty satisfied, she didn't feel the need to take too big of a drink from her donor. She was lucky the man was practicing his chess moves alone though, so she could have probably taken all she wanted. She left with just enough plasma to completely satisfy her though and headed home.
Unfortunately Cassandra had gotten up in the middle of the night and saw Morgana trying to sneak back in. She was too tired to deal with it right then, but decided to confront her daughter after she got up just a few hours later. Her attempts to discipline her daughter for breaking curfew sparked an argument. For Morgana's part she argued that, as a vampire, she needed to got out at night because the sun hurt her (according to the elder vampire that kept texting her it could even kill her, eventually). Never the less she had still broken the house rules.
Cassandra even offered herself, and her husband as donors, but Morgana argued that, while she appreciated it, it just wasn't sustainable and she wasn't about to start sucking plasma from all of her family members. It just didn't seem right. Of course neither did hunting strangers, but at least it wasn't as bad as just using her family as her personal buffet.
In the end Cassandra couldn't argue with Morgana's logic or her feelings so the two ended up hugging it out and Cassandra agreed to remove the curfew so Morgana could go out and hunt at night. Morgana thanked her mother for being so understanding. This whole thing was, after all, pretty hard on the child. She would have to talk to the one responsible.
Everyone had the day off on Sunday, and it was a very hot day. Naturally William's home was air conditioned, but sometimes you just wanted to cool off another way. There was also the pool, but why cool off in a pool when you could cool off in the ocean. At least that was William's logic.
William, however, wasn't really thinking about his daughter's new needs. Being a vampire meant that the sun hurt Morgana, and there was no place that had more sun than Sulani, except, perhaps, Oasis Springs. Now, Morgana had the option to stay home. She was a big girl and she could take care of herself, but she wanted to go anyway.
Once the family arrived in Sulani they all began to wonder what was burning. Turns out it was Morgana. She quickly retreated to a small hut on the pier where she would have to be content playing doctor and perhaps hoping some helpless person might just wonder in so she could have a different kind of fun.
Of course hearing everyone, including Amellia, playing in the ocean while she sat on the pier was just no fun. The elder vampire had said as long as Morgana had enough vampire energy to help shield herself from the effects of the sun she could be out without worrying about any permanent damage. Didn't mean the sun didn't hurt, but she had to go out into the ocean. Perhaps the ocean could protect her a bit.
Well the ocean certainly didn't help her much, but it was worth the pain to feel the cool ocean water and nice salty air on her skin. What really made everything worth it though was a certain gray, ocean fairing mammal that decided to swim up and splash the vampire girl. The water didn't help her burning skin, but the playful dolphin was an awesome creature and even more fun to talk to. Nevertheless Morgana had to retreat to the safety of the hut before the sun burn became to unbearable.
She cursed her new form for restricting her play time with her new friend. Fortunately she knew just who to blame. It could be argued that it was her fault for talking to the boy about vampires and discovering his secret, but that alone shouldn't have prompted him to just up and bite her like he did. So it was really all his fault.
After everyone came home from the beach Morgana used her newfound freedom, thanks to no longer having a curfew, to visit the boy who turned her and give him a piece of her mind. He had said he turned her because it was what he thought she wanted. She argued that no one would want to be a vampire. The boy revealed even he didn't have much of a choice on the matter, but that was of no comfort to Morgana who promised she would find a way to free herself from the curse.
The coming day was one of reflection for William. It was his birthday, and he certainly no longer felt young, yet he didn't feel old either. He looked back at what he accomplished, most of which sat right in front of him. He had a lovely wife and two adorable daughters. He had a nice house and a great job. He had managed to build quite a life for himself in his young adult years.
As he sat around the table, eating a chocolate cake he baked, with his girls he couldn't help but continue to reflect on all that had happened and all that he had accomplished. There was certainly more good than bad and he was not sad to grow up. He only hoped he could be as wise, calm, and patient as his own father as he looked forward to Amellia's childhood and continuing to raise his family.