Chapter Five: End of an Era

So I was able to figure out how to change the archive to a drop down menu, so I only need to put a little bit of text up here from now on to keep from having the picture be covered up with text.  That's good, right?  Yay!  Now, onwards to the last chapter of the first generation!  That's right, after this it's Marlin's turn to shine!

Bianca's elder birthday was quiet affair.  She didn't want to draw attention to it, and even her children knew how worried she was about looking old.  Perhaps she received a few more compliments on her appearance the morning of her birthday than she normally did, but otherwise nothing was mentioned.

 Alan, of course, made sure to prove she was just as attractive as she had been as a young woman.  He didn't say anything, but he didn't really need to.  Bianca, for her part, seemed to take the transition into an elder with more grace than she had her adult birthday.

 Richard was a chess genius.  Alan knew he wasn't an actual genius (he had not passed the tests given at school for advanced placement), but he could normally beat his father with little effort.  Or maybe Alan was just bad at chess.  He'd only bought the board as a birthday present for Richard, who had stated that he had no desire for a new wand like his brother had gotten.

 Richard never had been all that interested in magic.  He made use of his ability to ride a broom, of course, and he didn't mind casting good luck charms every now and then for people, but you didn't need a fancy wand for any of that.  His few friends, and a far larger number of Marlin's, all came to celebrate his birthday into a teenager.  Alan was suddenly struck by the fact that his children were both going to be young men.  He was old.

In fact, just a little bit after achieving his dream of being a rock star, his hair was as white (or even more so) than his wife's.  She didn't mind just as much as he didn't mind hers though.  And his fans, the ones that actually liked his music, were as loyal as they had ever been and always lined the streets to see him perform.

 Richard decided against after-school activities, unlike Marlin who was a member of the debate club, and instead got a job at the local bookstore.  He didn't really care about the money, since his parents would happily give him anything he wanted, but he did seem to enjoy working.

 The first time he rode a full-size broom, without landing wheels, was pretty nerve-wracking.  The way Marlin told it, he would only do it if he could follow right behind his older brother.  Alan thought they were both crazy to be flying around on a piece of wood in the first place.

 Although she didn't go as often, Bianca still occasionally moonlighted at Vargs Tavern.  She only worked for a couple of hours when she did, before her back ached too much.  There were a few regulars that were always happy to sit and chat with her though.

 Had Alan known about Marlin using magic to complete his homework there might have been consequences.  However, Richard kept quiet, even if he did think it was cheating as he struggled with his own, and refused to learn how to do it himself.  So Marlin got away with it.

 Beatrice, Bianca's oldest sister, had passed away without much warning, so Bianca felt as if she needed to invite her other sister, Belinda, over for a visit.  The two had never gotten along wonderfully and things devolved into a magical duel that, while Bianca won, ended up with a curse that Bianca couldn't figure out how to remove.

 Decided to try and help, Marlin entered the nearly-forgotten library's basement to study some alchemy, figuring maybe a potion could cure his mother.  He didn't find much of anything (besides a potion of Bliss) before he had to head home to avoid curfew.

 Richard didn't have as much luck, though he could have just as easily gotten in trouble for skipping school that day.  He couldn't explain why he had done it, just that the more he thought about school the more he felt like not going.

 He was properly chastised though, and to make up for it he cleaned the entire house to spotless, even making the beds that were rarely ever made.

 Bianca let him off the hook, before Alan had even returned from a day of performing concerts to know the entire set of drama had even taken place.

 He did get back in time to see Bianca with bright violet hair though.  Since they couldn't pin the blame on either of the boys, nobody got in trouble for it.  This time.

 One day, without any warning, Bianca tackled Alan in the beginning of a fight.  Alan, not wanting to hurt his wife, found himself seriously bruised and surprised neither of them had broken a hip.

 Bianca, of course, was appalled.  Belinda had cursed her, and it had finally activated.  After a great deal of apologizing, pleading, and promising, Alan relented, despite his aching back and ruffled feathers.

 While his parents were walking on ice around each other, Marlin spent more time out with Toni.  She was always willing to listen to his concerns about his parents.  Seeing them fight, when neither had ever raised a word at each other, frightened him.

 She was always able to calm him down though, and he knew things would turn out okay.

 Alan was willing to patch things back up, and Bianca was certainly working her hardest to.  The two of them were even acting like kids again, playing tag out in the dark.  It was almost like they were just starting to date again.

 Richard, who struggled through some of the homework that Marlin had breezed through (even without magic) turned to his brother for help when Alan and Bianca were off doing who knows what.  The two of them were actually home alone quite often lately.

 They mostly spent the time reading or watching television.  There wasn't that much more to do at their house.  Marlin didn't know how Richard put up with it all of the time, but his brother was a bit of a bookworm, so perhaps that was it.

 Alan and Bianca finally were back to how they had been.  In that they were embarrassingly fond of each other, hugging and kissing in front of their children all the time.

 Richard had the help of Bianca with his homework again, which was just as well since Marlin was starting to struggle the subject matter, having just magicked his work done for that portion of the studies.

 He was far more interested in occult knowledge than in school stuff.  His magic was always fun to work with, and he was becoming pretty good at alchemy.  He was even able to brew a few different kinds of potions, after a couple of failed batches.

 Alan found himself teaching his younger son to drive before too long.  Richard was more cautious than Marlin had been, but Alan wasn't sure if going five miles the entire time was better than stopping and going all the time.

 Marlin managed to convince Richard to test out a new potion he had made.  Richard had expected to drink it, not to have his brother throw it on his shoes.  It still worked somehow though.  Richard was curiously happy for quite a while afterwards.

 Which was just as well, since after one more pillow fight, it was time for Marlin's birthday.  Soon his older brother would be an actual adult, with adult responsibilities and all sorts of things like that.

He was still dating Toni Redding, though things had cooled between them until his beloved was a young adult as well.  That didn't stop them from dancing at his party, after cake, which Alan captured as a picture on his cell phone.

 Richard even made friends with one of the guests, to the joy of his parents.  Alan had been worried that his younger son wouldn't have any friends at all, since he'd begun drifting from his childhood friends.

After the party everyone sat down at the dining table for an infrequent family discussion.  Alan was the first to speak, "We haven't gotten you a present just yet Marlin.  We thought we would wait and see if you wanted what we planned on getting you."

Bianca picked up the thread of conversation, "You are, of course, welcome to stay here for as long as you want, but as a young man we thought you might have plans to move out on your own.  We're willing to purchase a home for you-within a reasonable price range, of course."

Before Marlin could say anything, Alan added on, "This will be the same for you too, Richard, once you age.  If neither of you wants to take the offer we're happy to get you something else."

Marlin decided to stay until after his graduation, which gave them enough time to look for a little home for him.  He loved his family, he really did, but he planned on marrying Toni rather soon and he didn't think she'd be happy to share a room with his little brother.

 Graduation was an affair filled with crying mothers, bored brothers, and stoic fathers.  Or mostly stoic fathers, Alan tried not to let anybody see the tears in his eyes.  His son was a proper young adult!  Ready to take on the world!  It seemed like an eternity ago that Alan was that same age, just barely moving to Moonlight Falls...

"Take my truck with you.  It's got the rest of your stuff in it, and I know you're excited to get to your new place.  But visit often!"  Alan hugged Marlin closely.  They may not have been blood related, but Marlin was every bit as much his son as Richard.

 ---

Bonus Pictures!

 His parents really don't care that he graduated.  Trying to get a picture was rough, as both of them just kept pulling out guitars.

 Richard is going to miss him the most, I think.  Poor boy doesn't have many friends outside of his family.

 He tried to make friends with some of Marlin's, but except for that one boy they didn't get along well.

 Alan made it to Rock Star, exactly one day before aging up to elder.  I think it's the first time I've actually gotten a sim up to rock star before elderhood...

Stupid Belinda cast that curse on Bianca and she completely ignored it until three hours before it was up, when she decided Alan needed to be her nemesis.  It took so much work to make them love each other again!  Unfortunately, my game refused to let me give them romantic options beyond the first selection for some reason, it just kept resetting to "blah-blah is being flirty".  Story progression got them married again, though.