Chain Reaction 2.30: The Why

      The literal word on the street is that Ethan arrested the son of Geoffrey Landgraab, Malcolm. Turns out Malcolm has been wanting to clone himself, but his dad wouldn't give him the information and threatened a lawsuit if he went and did it on his own. There's apparently a big deal being made of this, and a rift in the Landgraab family looks imminent.
     But, to everyone's surprise, Geoffrey drops the charges against Malcolm. Ethan is furious, but there's nothing he can do. He still gets his promotion, but it irritates him that the man he sought is walking free.
     Upon hearing that Malcolm wants children, several women stepped up and offered to bear him a child, willing to sign an agreement that they would forfeit any rights to the child once it's born. Well, they'd do it for the right price. Malcolm is actually giving interviews!
     Sims are strange beings.

      Speaking of strange, Mom is finally aging to regular adult. It was weird with both her and her son being in the young adult stage. Another odd thing is that Uncle Alex comes to the party. Wait. Drake's parents have asked me to just call them by their names, Alex and Laura. I can't help but wonder if it's in preparation of them being my in-laws. I guess it would be strange to call my father-in-law 'Uncle' Alex.
     The Goths come to the party, and I'm surprised Dad puts up with this. So far, he's held to his promise and kept his nastier thoughts about my boyfriend and his family to himself.
     My boyfriend: he's really in a mood today. I don't get it, and I'm not sure I want to ask.

     Mom finishes blowing out her candles. Drake and Dad are talking about something. Judging from Drake's tone, I don't want to get involved. However, I do catch him saying, "Yeah, it would be a shame to hide something important about yourself from your family." His voice drips sarcasm. Dad doesn't reply.
      The rest of the party is fine, and we reach the silver level.

     Dad and I go to the spice festival, and now is when the Maker realizes something is buggy about the festivals. Look at the food booths. They're smashed together. The spice festival really looks like the flea market and spice festival smashed together.

     Here is further proof.

      And further proof.

      The next day, I overhear my parents having a discussion.
      Mom wants another baby. Dad tries to discourage her, saying 'we already have a boy and girl. We're blessed.' Mom throws at him that she wants another one before she gets much older.

      They keep discussing it, but I can already tell what will happen. Dad is a sucker for giving Mom whatever she wants.
      A younger sibling? But... I'm the baby.
      I can't think sensibly. I want to talk to somebody about this.

      It's Saturday, so after the sun comes up, I go to my boyfriend's house.
      "Another kid?" He looks shocked.
      I sigh. I knew he'd understand. "Do you think I'm being selfish?"
      "Not a bit. I mean, this affects your life too, doesn't it?"
      I don't need to say anything else, so I throw my arms around his neck and hug him. He reaches up, holds my chin in his hand to tilt my face up, and shoves his tongue down my throat. Drake likes to kiss... a lot. Sometimes I wonder if I'm going to have to tie his hands behind his back in order to get him to just sit and talk to me. Knowing him, he'd try to make out anyway.
      "Hey," he says after he pulls up for a second, "come inside and help me figure out fractals, okay?"
      "Math?" I squeak.
      He chuckles. "Yeah. Come on. You can do this. ... Unless you'd rather we spin into our swimsuits and make out in the pool."
       I actually consider this. He outright laughs and pulls me into the house. I do my best teaching him the reasoning behind this kind of mathematical art.
       It gets me thinking about a math problem I've been having lately, so I leave Drake working on his homework and go to look for his dad.

     I find him in his office.
     Hearing me enter, he turns to me and smiles. "Hi, Emily. What can I do for you?" He must be able to read on my face that I have questions.
      I ask him about practical uses for integers. I can plug numbers into an equation, but I want to know why I'm doing it. He pulls up a website that has pictures in order to further explain it.
      The more we talk, the more I stop caring about the why of integers and instead get distracted with the why my parents want another baby.
       "Okay. I get it. Enough, anyway. Thanks," I say flatly.
       "There's something else, isn't there?" Alex asks.
       I don't know if it's wise to talk to him about this, so I shake my head and back out of the office.
      Not wanting to disturb Drake with his homework, I stand in the upstairs hallway and stare out the large window at the people walking by. I only get to do this for about three seconds before Uncle Alex, um, Alex walks out of his office.

     "Something's up. Are you sure you don't want to talk to someone about it?" He looks honestly concerned.
      "I'm fine. ... I'm... Well, I'm freaking out."
      "Do I need to bash my son's head against the wall?" He acts like he's joking. I think he assumes my odd-ness has something to do with Drake. No. Drake is always doing crap to annoy me, but that's strangely part of his charm.
      I smile, and he looks like he relaxes some.

      "No, Drake is fine. It's... Well, it's stupid."
      "Emily, if it's enough to bother you, it's not 'stupid.'"
      I open my eyes. "Do you think I make a good daughter?"
      That question really threw him. Then, I think he tries to guess why I'd ask that. "I have always thought you'd make a good daughter. In fact, I've more than once thought that if I ever had a daughter, I'd hope she'd be like you."
      He probably thinks I asked that because Drake and I might get married one day, and he wants me to know that he likes the idea. That's sweet, but that's not my problem right now.

      "Then why do my parents want another kid?!" I don't mean to raise my voice, but the words angrily fly out of my mouth.
      He frowns, and I see 'it.' I have to swallow a gasp when I do. Deep down, he's still in love with my mom. Everyone who's always suspected that, my dad included, has been right all along.
      "I don't know, Emily." He can't hide his sorrow, and I wonder if he's really looking at me when he looks at me right now. "Midlife crisis? ... She just had that birthday, you know."
      I have to pull him out of this, but I don't know how. Maybe if I just agree with him. "Yeah. She did mention how she's not getting any younger. Something like that."
      "I don't know. I just don't know. I'd thought she's felt fulfilled. A son, a daughter, a successful career, a marriage she wanted. It's a good question. Why?"
      I'm not sure he's talking to me still.
      "Alex?"
      "I'm sorry. You've done nothing wrong. You've been the perfect daughter."
      I can think of several ways I haven't, but I don't bring them up. "Maybe I'm being self-centered. I guess it really doesn't have anything to do with me."
      "We're all guilty of that from time to time. But... Don't worry. If you're feeling pushed aside, which I don't see happening, mind you, you always have a place here."
      That was a very nice thing to say!

      "Thank you." I hug him because I want to.

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The next few chapters will feature Alex again. I'm just following the storyline, and that's where it naturally heads to next.

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