Evan takes full advantage of the dream pod his work place gave him, while Olivia prefers to have normal, unregulated sleep. The idea of choosing a dream to have before you go to bed is still strange for her.
Without school to structure his time anymore, Lincoln spends a lot of it tending to his mother's garden.
The work goes by much faster split between the two of them.
I also decide to give Lincoln a quick makeover...
Better.
All this gardening and air-drying is doing wonders for his mood!
Since he's an adult, his parents give him some input on decorating decisions. Lincoln chooses to cover the second floor in orange and geometric shapes.
Kipper isn't too sure about this new look...
It's not a time machine, but harvesters are high end equipment. He'll get a lot of money for this one!
It's not a full moon, but Olivia wanted to go hunting...
The way sims hold mushrooms will never fail to amuse me.
In the middle of what Lincoln is sure will be his next huge discovery, he gets a phone call.
"...Monique? What is it?" Lincoln's former high school classmate wants to tell him she's sorry for missing his birthday...
...and wonders if he's still seeing that Rose girl?
"Yes! Me and Heather are suuuuuper in love! Goodbye," he hangs up the phone.
He said it sarcastically, but at least on his end it's true. He does love Heather.
If only she'd talk to him.
He also finds himself missing his older brother, lately. Sure, Vincent texts him several times a week...but he wishes he could come over without it being awkward with his parents.
Speaking of parents...
Evan returns from another day of work.
...and decides to meddle in his son's life.
"I don't hear you talk about Heather much anymore. Did something happen?"
Lincoln sighs. As a teen, he kept this from his parents, but as an adult, he wonders if maybe he should ask them for advice.
"...I'm just bummed that we don't get to see each other everyday like before." She's still finishing up some final exams, having failed two of them and needing retakes.
Evan smiles, remembering being Lincoln's age and in love. "It really hurts at first, doesn't it? Not being able to see the love of your life everyday, not seeing their smile-"
Lincoln makes a face, "Dad, please, I'm trying to eat here."
The love of Evan's life is having some quality time with Kipper. She can't communicate with him exactly, but she finds it much easier to understand what he wants in her wolf form. She's kept this strange aspect of her werewolf nature a secret, not wanting anyone to make anymore dog jokes about her than they already can.
Kipper indicates that he wants to return home and rest his weary bones, so Olivia clips the leash onto his collar and starts walking back.
Lincoln dreams about....politics?
Raven the crow chats with Evan while he cleans out her cage.
"Have a party! Party! PARTY!"
Evan ignores her. He's always found crows creepy.
"Oh my plumbob, I'm so sorry," Olivia apologises to the poor mailwoman, "He's not usually like this!" What's gotten into Kipper? The normally sweet, docile dog gets so riled up when the mail's delivered!
"I'll just...leave this with you..." she takes out a wad of envelopes for the Silverly house, hands them to Olivia, then runs away.
Olivia puts them back in the mailbox. She won't have time to look through them- today's Lincoln's graduation!
He got class valedictorian, not that he cares.
Tammi changed out of her stuffy gown as soon as her parents finished taking pictures of her.
Heather did the same. As some stupid form of protest, she also chose to wear her panda hat instead of a cap.
"Lincoln, let's go to your place and talk..."
So they go to his place and talk.
"I wasn't sure you still wanted to date. You shove me out of the way as soon as your parents around."
Heather looks away guiltily. "...Yeah, I'm sorry. It's...difficult to explain."
"I'm listening."
"Well... I was afraid of getting on Mark and Crystal's bad side, you know? I wasn't a very easy kid when they first adopted me... I cried every time they tried to hug me for a few years. I told them I hated them when they decided to move here... but we finally got to a good place when I started school here. My grades got better... I was more at ease. I was scared that if I got a boyfriend, and they didn't like you... that they'd want to get rid of me."
Lincoln frowns, "I mean, I don't know them very well, but I doubt that would happen. No one would just throw away their own kid like that!"
Heather shakes her head. Of course Lincoln wouldn't understand, he's had two loving parents his whole life. "Well...we talked it out. Family therapy," she says quietly. It took her a long time to get used to the idea, but it wasn't all bad in the end. "The last few times, the therapist encouraged me to reach out to you... I resisted. It seemed too scary. But here we are, heh..." she looks away, nervous now.
Lincoln is silent as he pulls her into a turn...
And kisses her.
"You've been practicing," she murmurs.
"I'm a quick study... but Heather. It's alright. I'm still here. I love you."
She blushes, "I love you too."
An hour later, they're tired, sweaty, but happy. Lincoln pulls Heather into his arms.
"Any after graduation plans?"
"Well, I booked a train to Bridgeport. Going to meet up with an old friend." She watches him carefully for a reaction.
"That sounds fun."
Heather pulls him over her.
"I'll be gone for the weekend... I leave tomorrow."
"So how 'bout we have a proper goodbye?"
***
True to her word, Heather is gone early the next morning. Lincoln wakes up a few hours after she goes for some breakfast.
He's happy and relieved now that things are good with Heather again. It frees up energy and space in his mind to consider his own life plans. He has no strong desire to move out, but getting a degree could be helpful. Something to fall back on is never a bad idea.
Lincoln takes the university aptitude test later that afternoon. The questions are easy enough, but the personality section takes some thought. How would he describe himself?
"Brilliant...driven...wildly sexy..."
Over-confident, arrogant, ego the size of the moon...
He finishes the test, and puts it in an envelope. He should get the results in a few days.
He spends the next two days lounging around the house and sending the occasional text to Heather. She seems to be having fun with her old friend, going shopping, hitting up clubs. He smiles when he sees her photos of the smoke-filled bars and glittering skylines.
It's also his dad's birthday. Evan decided not to have a big party, happy to just spend the day with his family.
The night that Heather's supposed to be on her way back, Lincoln gets a phone call. It's her!
"Heather? Hello?"
"Is this Lincoln Silverly?" he doesn't recognise the voice.
"Yes..."
"We have some bad news..."
-------------------------
AN: Boo, starting the new generation with a cliffhanger!
Heather's final trait was hate the outdoors. Meh. Lincoln's...should become clear soon.
Evan fulfilled most of his perfect career goals by this point- max logic, level 10 career. All that's missing is the future technology skill!
Getting closer to where I am in game....
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