Chapter 13: The Tevellyn House

Content warning: Mild coarse language and a suggestive scene.

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“Now that is a bridge!” Ryker said proudly, marveling at his colorful block construction.
“It looks good,” Mason agreed.
Ryker and Mason were the only two who played with the toys in the playroom anymore, but they were both alright with that. They’d always gotten along, although Ryker was growing more annoyed with Mason’s incessant questions by the day. Ryker shared his brother’s curiosity, but preferred to try to figure things out on his own, while Mason tended to ask (and ask, and ask) for answers.
“Good?” Ryker raised an eyebrow. “This is how it’s done,” he told his brother.
“Okay,” Mason shrugged.
Ryker scowled. How could the only Tevellyn younger than himself have ruined his sense of accomplishment? Mason was only 6, while he was about to turn 10 – the coveted double digits.

“Ryker?” Mason quietly asked. “Is Rukiya gonna’ be another sister?”
“What?” Ryker scrunched his face. “That’s not how it works.”
“Well… what if she moves in with Emery and they get married?”
“Mason, Mason…” Ryker sighed. “So much to learn… logical thinking… appreciation for building techniques…”
Mason glared at him, but Ryker continued, “I’m surprised you noticed that Emery likes Rukiya, but—”
“It’s super obvious,” Mason rolled his eyes at his only-slightly-older brother’s patronizing tone.
“—BUT,” Ryker silenced him with a glare of his own. “Rukiya has a house already, dummy. And a boyfriend. So I doubt she’ll be moving in with Emery or marrying her any time soon.”
“Oh,” Mason frowned, looking back down at his half-built tower. “Is that why Emery’s been sad?”
“And grumpy,” Ryker huffed. “That girl needs to chill.”

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Like Ryker, Mason was also quite interested in their father’s telescope. All of the Tevellyn children learned how to use it, but the youngest boys enjoyed it the most. Unfortunately for the elder ones, though, Mason was still figuring it out.
“Matthew?” Mason called out from his perch at the telescope one evening.
“Ugh, yes, Mason?” the teen replied with a less-than-enthusiastic tone. It was hot and humid despite that it was well-past sunset, and Matthew was trying to finish his workout so he could go inside for a refreshing shower.
“Which one is dad’s?”
“Which star, you mean?” Matthew asked between stretches. “Buddy, I can’t show you how to find it right now, I’m kind of in the middle of something.”
Mason popped his head up from the eyepiece and watched Matthew stretching.
“Are you working out?”
“Yep,” Matthew answered flatly.
“Can you teach me how?”
“Ugh,” Matthew groaned. “Another time, okay?”

Mason looked through the telescope for another moment, then looked back up at his brother. “Hey, Matthew?”
“What?” Matthew answered reluctantly.
“Does being in love make teenagers grumpy?”
“What?” now he was just confused. “What in the world are you talking about?”
“Well,” Mason said, raising a finger matter-of-factly and stepping off his stool. “Emery has been grumpy because she likes Rukiya, and you’re grumpy and you like Dorothy.”
The boy smiled smugly and folded his arms. “Am I right?”
Matthew shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Shut up, Mason.”
“That wasn’t a deni-al,” he retorted in a sing-song voice, eyebrows raised.
Matthew turned up the stereo and started jumping jacks.
“Neither is tha-at!” Mason shouted over the music.
Unsurprisingly, Matthew ignored him.

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The weather was nicer for Ryker’s 10th birthday, so the family set up the balloons in the backyard and Bridget brought out the cake. Rukiya had already arrived and was dancing with Emery and Matthew, while Altman and Aria were discussing the songs coming through on the radio. Ryker’s attention was focused on a stray dog that had wandered up to the property; he’d given the animal some water and was now entertaining it with a ball. Bridget smiled at the scene before her. The family was all together – except for Mason. She was about to call him outside when—
“Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom!” Mason’s voice tore through the air.
“Yes, Mason?” Bridget replied with a laugh.

“Last night – Matthew – he went out,” Mason said excitedly as he still tried to catch his breath. “And he came back really late–”
“Mason, your brother is old enough, he’s allowed to–”
“No, no, that’s not the part,” Mason shook his head. “I checked his journal!”
“Mason!” Bridget snapped quietly. “It’s rude to interrupt and it’s even worse to go through your brother’s things!”
“But mom,” he whined. “It talks all about his horse!! Can I have a horse?! I really would love to have a horse and I’ll take such good care of it and–”
Bridget laughed and shook her head gently. “It’s his notes for his books, love. We don’t have – and are not getting – any horses right now.”
“But mooommm–”
“You know whining is my favorite thing,” she smirked. “Come on, stop fussing and let’s have some cake.”

The stray dog ran off, much to Ryker’s disappointment, but he couldn’t keep the smile off his face for long. His mother called everyone to gather ‘round and everyone began to sing and cheer. It was time for cake!</>

After enjoying the cake and more dancing, Emery offered to walk Rukiya home. Rukiya was grateful for the company – she was always a bit anxious outside after dark. A fact that Emery knew by now, and planned to take full advantage of.

The two young women set off down the road towards Rukiya’s house, chatting and laughing. Sometimes the walk down the hill felt long, but it never did when the two of them were together. They could talk about nothing and everything – well, almost everything. Emery knew the feelings she was holding back were causing tension between them. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the type of tension she wanted, either. Maybe it was time to come clean about how she felt.

“You okay, Em?” Rukiya asked softly. “You got so quiet… something on your mind?”
“Hm?” Emery emerged from her daze. “Oh, sorry. Yeah, was just thinking…”
Another silence filled the air.

“Em?” Rukiya repeated. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Emery slowed her pace and Rukiya copied. Emery stopped a couple steps ahead of her friend, looked down at the sidewalk and sighed.
“I’m not sure, honestly,” Emery admitted.
“Do you want to talk about it?”

After another pause, Emery turned around. Her stomach was in knots, but courage swelled in her chest.
“Rukiya, I—I don’t know how to say this, but… I want to say it. I’ve wanted to say it for so long, so I just will…” Emery held her breath for a moment, then admitted it: “I—I love you.”
Rukiya’s eyes widened and she inhaled nervously – it wasn’t quite a gasp, which made Emery think she wasn’t that surprised. In truth, Emery hadn’t expected her feelings to come as a surprise. She’d been pining for Rukiya for so long – she must have known, or at least wondered. Rukiya hadn’t gasped, but she also wasn’t saying anything. Emery wasn’t sure what that meant.

“I know you’re with Shaun,” Emery ended the silence. “That’s why I’ve never said anything. I didn’t want to be this annoying teenager that tried to mess things up for you. But now that I’m older… I guess, I feel like if my feelings for you haven’t changed after all this time – and Shaun is still blowing it by being a non-committal dickhead – then I should finally tell you. I want you to know you have another option. I want you to know that I want you.”

Emery swallowed, but her mouth was dry. She expected herself to be shaking from her nerves, but instead she felt as if her body were frozen. Her head was a balloon of anxiety tethered to reality by a body in shock, stunned to the point it almost felt unreal. Time, too, felt frozen. Her entire world had stopped turning and was stuck in this moment, waiting for Rukiya’s reply as if nothing else would make the sun rise or set again. Her world was trapped between Rukiya’s lips, stuck around her tongue, held still by her silence.

Until she spoke.
“You don’t love me,” Rukiya said quietly. “I know it must feel like you do…” she continued, the pain evident in her voice, “but I don’t think—”

“I do love you, Rukiya,” Emery said, her breathing growing heavier and shakier by the minute. “I’m sure of it. I wasn’t always sure – but I am now. I don’t know how else to describe wanting someone so deeply as I have wanted you.”
Emery moved closer and Rukiya stepped back to keep the same distance between them.

“I’m sorry,” Rukiya said, tears welling in her eyes. “I should have… I should have cleared this up sooner. Said something… I suspected, but I didn’t want to—I thought you’d grow out of it. You’re like a sister to me, Emery. I didn’t want to lose you as a friend, so I didn’t say anything, but I should have and I’m so, so sorry.”
Emery looked away as her eyelashes fluttered, batting away tears. Her lower lip quivered as she let out a trembling breath.

“I’m sorry,” Rukiya choked out. “We should have talked about this sooner. I should have made the door more open for you to talk to me about how you felt, or encouraged your mom to talk to you about it… but I was a coward, like I always am. I was scared of things changing, of losing the only family I have.”
Both women stood under the streetlight, tears gently moving down their cheeks and falling to the sidewalk. When Emery looked back at Rukiya, though, it wasn’t sadness in her eyes. Her hurt turned into anger.

“You knew all this time,” Emery huffed, wiping a tear from her cheek. “And you’ve stayed with that man who has no interest in what you want or what you like? And then you try to tell me how I feel? That I don’t love you?”
Emery’s breathing shook audibly. She swallowed, pushing back more tears.

“You think he loves you?” Emery scoffed. “I thought you might just be scared to be alone and that’s why you hadn’t left him. That maybe if you knew I’d be there to take care of you, you could find the guts to admit that he’s just in it for the sex—”
“Em,” Rukiya tried to interrupt.
“If you don’t feel the same way about me, I can live with that,” Emery continued with a sharp tone, but her voice was starting to waver again. “If you’re straight, so you’re not interested, I can live with that. But don’t tell me how I feel. And don’t pretend Shaun loves you more than I do.”

With that, she moved around Rukiya and started walking back up the hill towards her parents’ house. Rukiya was left alone under the streetlight, trying to reassure herself. ‘Things will work out. She needed to get this off her chest. She’ll understand. She’ll come around. It’ll be okay.’ But was there some truth in what she’d said? ‘Shaun doesn’t love me,’ the thought crept in. ‘And now maybe no one does at all.’

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Emery barely left her room for the next few days. The family correctly assumed that she must have had a difficult conversation with Rukiya after Ryker’s party, and tried to give her space. It was difficult keeping up with the garden without her, though. Bridget and Altman woke up before dawn so they could avoid the brunt of the mid-day sun, but the weather had been so hot this season that they still struggled to be outside for long periods of time. They were especially grateful for her sprinkler system these days. Everyone knew that Emery was a big help around the house – and especially in the garden – but how much they relied on her became even more apparent now that she needed a break for a few days. Bridget wondered how she would manage once Emery moved out the following spring.

Altman encouraged Matthew and Aria to take more of an interest in the garden, but often wasn’t much help himself. His knees were getting worse, so he tended to focus on preparing meals, fishing at Cinnamon Crest Falls, and keeping an eye on the construction of Emery’s house. It broke his heart to hear her crying in her room, even now that she was an adult. She would always be his little girl. He knew the day would come when she’d suffer her first broken heart, but it hurt him to see it all the same. Time flew too quickly.
Altman could still see her as an 8-year-old: playing in the autumn leaves in front of the house; standing tip-toe on a stool in front of her easel, carefully watching as she moved a paintbrush along the canvas; or giggling with excitement as she reeled in a fish at the Falls.

She was so grown up now… they all were. It felt like yesterday that he was snuggling Ryker before tucking him into his crib for the night, and now he was teaching his younger brother how to fish. Time flew too quickly.

Trying to give Emery space and privacy highlighted the family’s need for more usable indoor space. The main entrance of the house currently led into a kitchen-dining combination, then a hallway which connected to the bathroom and bedrooms. Bridget and Altman had always planned to move the kitchen and dining area and replace its current location with a living room, but they’d been more focused on other projects such as the pool and Emery’s house. Now that all the kids were older, they all wanted more space to themselves, and the inside of the house needed to be more of a priority.
Meanwhile, Altman also had to consider Matthew’s house. They would need to start planning what they wanted to build and choose a lot the following year if Matthew wanted to move out at 20 years old like Emery would.

Matthew was keen on the idea of living on a ranch, which Altman hoped wasn’t expressly for the sake of “adopting a unicorn” – the premise of Matthew’s next book. Altman had to admit he found it strange that his son hadn’t grown out of his unicorn obsession, but he also didn’t want to start an argument about it and risk damaging their relationship. The last thing Altman wanted was to lose touch with any of his children.

So, he agreed. Altman and Matthew would work on some initial plans for a small house and a horse paddock. Ideally, construction would begin after the renovations to Bridget and Altman’s house were finished the following spring or summer. They would have until then to pick what property they’d buy for Matthew’s ranch.

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It was nearly two weeks before Emery started working in the garden again. She was still being rather quiet, but being outside seemed to be helping her mood. Slowly but surely, she started to seem more like herself. She even began encouraging Matthew and Aria, and taught them some tips and tricks for pruning and harvesting. They had a lot to learn if they were going to take over for Emery after she moved out.
One of those first few days ‘back outside,’ Emery came in to find Bridget had just set the table for lunch. She smiled and walked over, wrapping her mother in a hug.

“Feeling more yourself now, love?” Bridget asked softly.
“Yeah,” Emery sighed, glancing at the grilled cheese sandwiches on the table.
“They’re still a bit hot,” Bridget smiled knowingly. “We have a minute if you want to talk before I call the kids in for lunch.”

Emery rolled her eyes, but briefly returned her mother’s smile. It was clear her sadness returned to the surface when she thought of talking about it.
“Will you be okay when I move out?” she asked.
“We’ll manage. But that’s not what’s bothering you,” Bridget kept her voice low and her tone soft.
“I told Rukiya I love her,” Emery sighed. “Ended up arguing….”

“I see,” Bridget sighed. “Arguments happen, though, my love. It doesn’t mean you won’t work it out and be friends again.”
“I know… I just wanted it to go differently.”
“One day it will, Emery. Maybe not with Rukiya, but there will be another woman or man down the road. We don’t usually meet the right person right away.”

Emery nodded.
“I know it’s not much consolation. But it’ll get easier with time. And never doubt that you’ll find someone, if that’s what you want,” Bright smiled.
“Thanks, mom.”

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The rest of the year was busy, and Emery spent much of the winter working on the interior of her house and getting it ready so she could move in the following spring as planned.
When the day finally arrived, the family gathered outside. Emery laughed, reminding them she’d just be two lots over and they could visit anytime.
“It’s still a big deal,” Altman beamed.
Emery returned his smile and gave him a big hug. “Thanks for helping me with everything, dad.”
“Anytime, kiddo,” he replied.

“Our first baby to leave the nest…” Bridget said with a tear in her eye.
“Oh, mom,” Emery laughed. They hugged, too.
Aria, Ryker and Mason each had their turns as well. They were all looking forward to seeing her finished place, and were happily imagining what their own might be.

Matthew was the last to say goodbye. Still very close, it was obvious that the two were getting a bit emotional. Being 20 and 18, though, they weren’t going to let themselves cry in front of all their younger siblings.Emery hugged Matthew tightly and whispered that she loved him.
“Yeah, you too,” he mumbled in reply.

With that, Emery waved and gave a ‘final’ goodbye before walking down the street with the last of her things. It was the beginning of a big new chapter in her life, and she was looking forward to it.

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While Emery got settled in, the remainder of the Tevellyn house was busy with the interior renovations. They were finished by the end of the season. Meanwhile, Matthew and Aria set up the garden between the house and the pool, rather than its original location between the house and playroom. It made for a less crowded view when Sims approached the house and allowed for a more clear delineation of spaces: a patio area for the barbecue, outdoor easel and Aria’s workbench; another for the outdoor stereo and picnic tables; and of course, the garden on one side and the pond on the other. The new layout was a much better use of space, both indoors and out.

The main entrance of the home now led into a warm living area with comfortable seating, a coffee table, bookshelf, and easel. Matthew and Dorothy used the space the most. While the kitchen was being finished, Matthew and Aria had to temporarily share a bedroom (since neither wanted to share with Mason, who continued to find an endless list of questions to ask them at every opportunity). Since Aria and Dorothy had never gotten along, Aria made a point to be in their room when Dorothy was over, forcing them to spend time in the living room. Somehow, they still managed to find enough privacy to get into trouble.

When Aria wasn’t reading or practicing piano, she was usually busy helping Bridget in the garden, and Altman was often at the Falls with Ryker and Mason, leaving the enamoured teenagers to their own devices. They were opportunities Dorothy was always sure to take advantage of.

She loved the thrill of turning Matthew on with just a look, or a gentle touch on his thigh or hip. She knew most teenage boys were horny, but she still liked to think that with Matthew, there was something special about her that really got him going. It seemed a little too easy sometimes for her to get him kissing and groping at her. It made her feel sexy to be so wanted. After a few kisses, she could have him in the palm of her hand – figuratively or somewhat literally – and have his hands wherever she wanted them. All too often, she wanted them on her skin, up her skirt – and, well, further up.

“You like that?” he murmured as Dorothy purred. “Sounds like you do…”
By now he knew exactly what she liked, and she wasn’t afraid to give him instruction when she wanted to.

“You’re going to make a mess in your skirt,” he smirked.
Suddenly, she grabbed his wrist to stop him. His smile fell.
“You okay?”
“You look so worried,” Dorothy laughed. “Don’t be, I’m just going to change into my bathing suit. Wouldn’t want to make a mess in my skirt, apparently.”
She smirked and stood up. Matthew was at once disappointed to have stopped, but had to admit, he still liked the view as she walked towards the bathroom.

He went to his room and changed quickly, trying to tuck himself so it wouldn’t be too obvious if someone saw him on his way to the pool. Dorothy was still in the bathroom, and his mind started running wild thinking about joining her in there, where they could lock the doors…
“Dorothy?” he half-whispered at the door. “Want me to come in?”

She giggled as she emerged in her green and purple bikini. Adorned with little white skulls and crossbones, Matthew had never understood the design’s appeal, but he never complained. After all, when she wore it, she was barely dressed.
“Want to take me in the bathroom, do you?” Dorothy cooed as Matthew pulled her close.
“You can feel how much I do,” he growled before kissing her.
“You’re so bad,” she giggled.
“I’m bad?” Matthew scoffed playfully. “You’re the one who took my virginity behind a tree.”
“You’re really never going to let that go, hm?” Dorothy laughed.
“My parents could have seen us from the kitchen windows,” Matthew said in mock dismay.
“Shut up and kiss me,” Dorothy sighed, pulling at his shoulder with one hand and reaching back for the doorknob with the other.
“And now you’re going to lock me in the bathroom with you?!” Matthew smirked. “Scandalous!”
“Shut up!” she laughed, leading him into the bathroom by the tie of his swim trunks.

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They turned 19 that fall. As usual, they celebrated in the Tevellyns’ yard and the party began with some dancing.

When it was time for cake, everyone clapped and cheered. But as usual, Aria only cheered when it was Matthew’s turn to blow out his candles.

As the kids eagerly waited for their slices, Matthew turned to his girlfriend and held her close.
“I love you, Dorothy,” he said softly, ignoring Ryker and Mason’s expressions of disgust.

“I love you, too,” she blushed. “Happy birthday.”
“Here’s to many more,” he beamed. “Together.”
“UGHHHH,” Mason and Ryker protested, but the couple ignored them and enjoyed their moment.

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Author’s Notes: My apologies for the long hiatus! At first I was stuck on how to write Emery’s confession to Rukiya, then was having computer problems and a good ol’ dose of winter blues. I’m happy to be back and hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Emery & Rukiya’s chat was staged; I didn’t have proper screenshots from my original challenge play-through. I don’t use Pose Player or other mods (yet?), so the Sims’ facial expressions directed a lot of how I ended up writing it.
Similarly, Matt & Dorothy’s scenes were re-shoots. I somehow didn’t have any good interior shots of the new living room or kitchen to showcase in this chapter, so I used the opportunity to add a bit of spice (wink). For their birthday, I needed a re-shoot since the Sims default life stages don’t line up well with what ages they’re supposed to be; Ryker had aged up to a teen already. I’ve adjusted the life stages for Gen 2 to avoid having so many re-shoots to do for Part Two, which will also help me release chapters more consistently/easily.
Thanks for reading!