Moving Forward

Isaac and Lena had recently returned from their honeymoon and Isaac and I had formed a rather awkward truce. It seemed that we were both willing to let the past go, but our failure to confront it had left us unsure how to act around each other. Still,  I knew he was trying. He had asked me to help out on Saturdays with some of the junior local sports teams and even though I had never been athletic, I agreed. So far, I was enjoying it. It felt nice to be out in the community again.

I had continued working on my sculptures, it was wonderful feeling to rediscover my passion for something. I was, admittedly, very out of practise but had recently produces a few pieces that I was willing to let other people see. I even took a couple down to the local gallery. One of the owners had remembered my mother and I was shown one of her paintings that still hung in the gallery. I was surprised with the response I had received, and was told that they were willing to take a look at my other work. For the first time in years my life seemed to be heading in the right direction.

When I wasn’t working on my art or making sure Eden was okay, I had been working out what else I wanted. I knew that I was at least going to have to make some attempt to find Martha. I needed to know what had happened and maybe then I would be able to move on. I had pulled out the box that I had once pushed to the back of my cupboard and then unsuccessfully tried to ignore. I looked through the contents until finally I found the small packet of photos I had been looking for.  I slowly looked at the images one by one as the memories they contained returned.

My first love. So many memories, all of them good if you could overlook the unexplained ending. We’d met shortly after the accident, down by the pier.

“Are you okay?” she had asked, her words tripping over themselves. ”You’ve been out here all night. I’ve been checking. I thought I would come and see if you were okay?.” ”I’m alright” I lied, hastily brushing the tear that fell giving her my lie.

“You don’t look okay” She told me.

I looked at her. Sad green eyes meeting her concerned blue. “My parents died. Car accident. Out on Daly Road.”

”Oh” she whispered, “I heard about that. That was your parents? I’m so sorry. ” Her tiny hand slipped into mine. ”My mum died. Eight years ago” she informed me. “It’s hard”

I nodded. “I spent yesterday afternoon trashing my room” I found myself confessing, “I terrified Eden”

“Eden?” she asked, “Your sister?”

“Mhm, she’ll probably want to go and live with Uncle Liam now. I wouldn’t blame her.” ”I’m sure she won’t” she had assured me. “I’m Martha by the way, I live just over there. She had pointed to the house that was behind us.” ‘

“I’m Jonah”

”Hi Jonah, its very nice to meet you!” she had responded, smiling at me before quickly checking her watch. “I have to go right now. My Dad doesn’t know I’ve gone” she explained, “but if you ever want to talk some more come back here and I’ll be right along”

Without waiting for a response she had kissed me on the cheek before taking off running. As I had watched her run all the way back to her house still able to feel where her lips had brushed my cheek.

I picked up the photo of the two of us together, arms around each other, laughing. Martha had been true to her word, that first day. After our first meeting whenever I went to the pier she would arrive shortly after. Unlike every one else Martha had seemed to know what to say to make me feel okay. Everyone at school had become unsure of what to say to me and it had felt like I was ruining everyone else’s day just by being there. Martha had never made me feel like that, from the first moment it had been like I had known her forever. Martha had somehow made it easy for me to smile, something I still wasn’t sure how she had done. She had made me happy and I had fallen for her without thinking. My feelings for her had seemed as natural as breathing and at seventeen I thought that I had found my soul mate.

In the months that had followed when I had been around her I had been happy. But then she had left and I still didn’t know why?

“Who’s that?” asked Eden, pointing at the photos I had spread before me.

“That’s Martha. You don’t remember her at all?” I asked.

“Should I?” she asked, before picking up one of the pictures to take closer look.

“I think you met her a couple of times” I said, “it was a long time ago though”

“I can see that…” she said, laughing and pointing to one of Martha and I together. How old were you there?’

“Seventeen” I looked up at my sister, “It was just after Mum and Dad’s accident”

“Oh…….” she looked thoughtful,

“I’m thinking about trying to find her, I think I need to.”

“Why Jonah, what happened?”

“That’s it, I’ve never really been sure what happened” I looked over at my little sister, “but I think I’d like to find out”

–

Over the following weeks I realised that finding Martha was going to be harder than I had anticipated. I realised that outside the little bubble that Martha and I had lived in, I barely knew anything about her. We had attended different local schools. I had no idea who she had hung out with when she wasn’t with me. I had never been to her house. We had always gone down to the pier and on very rare occasions we had gone to my place. I knew her last name, that she was an only child who with her widowed father and that she was only a couple of months younger than me but besides that – nothing. At least nothing that would help me find her. I knew that she loved the colour yellow, that she loved the spring time and that someday she dreamed of having a large family but this knowledge was not going to help me find her.

After she had stopped coming to see me I had gone to to her home. Unfortunately Martha hadn’t been there and the only thing her father had been willing to tell me was that she had left town and moved in with her aunt. When I had asked why, he had refused to answer and when I had asked if there was someway I could contact her I had also received a negative response. It had been obvious from the start that he didn’t like me but I’d had no idea why.

It was unlikely that he was going to help me this time but I was unwilling to leave any stone unturned. My second visit with Mr Kimball had not gone any better than my first.

Searching for someone wasn’t exactly one of my strengths. For the weeks following I tried to find her, using every method I could think of to track her down. Eden helped, and truthfully she seemed to have more idea of where to start that I had. Unfortunately with Eden’s eighteen birthday drawing closer, followed by the promise of her graduation our focus became less about finding Martha and more about Eden’s final exams and academic future.

Open Doors

It had to improve…my almost meltdown at my brothers wedding had proven that! It could have been worse. I could have completely lost it, probably would have if I hadn’t bailed when I had. To most of the guests it might have been  explained as brother drama. No doubt I had come off the worst in that scenario, but I was happy enough with that. It had been his big day, not mine. Sure, he could have picked a place less likely to cause me to crack, but after our little altercation it had become obvious to me just how out of touch with each other the pair of us had become. I found I didn’t like that. We had always been fairly close growing up, our obvious differences had never been something that had worried either one of us.

I was beginning to see what had happened as a blessing; a wake up call forcing me to realise that I had a problem, a big one. I hadn’t seen Isaac since the wedding, he and Lena were still on their honeymoon and wouldn’t be back in town until next week. I still hadn’t worked out what I was going to say to him when he returned. I did owe Isaac and Lena an apology, but I also believed that Isaac owed me one as well.

My talk with Uncle Liam had helped, I hadn’t realised how much I had needed hear what he had told me.

I had done a good job.

Just those few words had freed me from years of thinking otherwise, and the thought that there was no way I could ever possibly do enough.  I had spent the entire night after he had left in the upstairs sitting room just thinking. It may not have  been the ideal spot considering it also provided me with a view that reminded me of the other part of my life that I knew I hadn’t dealt with. The one thing I regretted not pursuing. My breakup with Summer made me realise that I also needed find some answers there as well. The combined effect of my parents death, first love lost and Isaac all leaving town for work in the one year; had been a massive blow, all three had combined to create a barrier that I hadn’t been willing to cross. It had left me with nine years of just going through the motions. Pretending. Only Eden had been able to motivate me to try anything more.

I realised I needed to work on my parental issues first. Being unable to go into three rooms in a house that you have lived in your entire life could not be healthy. It was a goal…something to work towards. Liam had been right when he said I needed to work out what I wanted and what I needed but first I needed to be able to go into those rooms. I did consider that I could move, find another place to live but like my parents before me I realised that I loved this house and I would rather stay. Moving seemed an easy option, it wouldn’t help me overcome what has been part of me for so long.

I had decided to try the garage first, it may not have been the best choice. The garage was likely to be the most difficult for me but if I could once again spend time here the others should be easy. It had been one of my mother’s havens and while I had loved my father, Mum and I had been close. We had shared many of the same interests and in many ways we had been very much alike.

For three days I had been gradually working towards my goal. Yesterday I had spent a couple of hours perched on the steps. It was progress, the day before I hadn’t even made it through the door. Today, I had decided I was going to work on the project I had been in the middle of ten years ago.

Taking a deep breath I finally opened the door and entered. In the corner where they had always been stood two sculpting stations. Mine and my Mother’s. I opened up the garage door to let in more of the natural light, the light streaming through the windows had never really been sufficient. I noticed an old dusty stereo in the corner that had seen better days and switched it on, unsure if it would even work. It did. As the first notes of one of my mother’s favourite songs filled the room, I felt a sense of calm invade me.

I could do this.

My Brother’s Wedding – Bonus Pics.

Okay so once again too many photos. Not that I had planned on really using any of these but I didn’t see the point of setting up for a wedding without taking the photos. Just because Isaac is  not my heir didn’t mean he shouldn’t have a beautiful wedding though after this one I think Jonah’s is going to be simple or at least inside so I use some form of sim control…. outdoor weddings = not fun lol. However I couldn’t resist using this spot to get Isaac married – it IS where he was conceived after all. 😀  For anyone who allowed me to steal/borrow your sims for this thankyou.

Umm, yeah. Maggie crashed her son’s wedding…I think she forgot that she was supposed to be dead. Of course I let her stay…how could I not? 😀 Timeline wise she shouldn’t be an elder yet either but *shrugs*. I also now realise that none of her children got her skin tone.

Jonah and his Uncle Liam. I always forget that Liam and Toby were identical…and just how much Jonah took after his dad.

Even on autonomous Jonah wasn’t the happiest of simmies. Sometimes I think he must have the grumpy trait… oh wait that face would be his insane trait. lols

Marin and Santiago make the most adorable elders. By the way Santi, I think she knows all about your grandchildren….they are hers too after all. I think they enjoyed their oldest grandchilds wedding.

Liam and Ava. Still together. 😀

The Bride and Groom. ❤ I really do like these two together and if I’m honest about it I like how Isaac looks more than Jonah. Some of the expressions he pulls…OMG. 😀

Jonah and his ex-girlfriend Summer. Summer? That’s what I called her right? It’s actually something different in game..lol

Jonah and Eden. Did you know that siblings can’t slow dance together…how annoying. 😦 I had to make them unrelated so they could dance….It seems like it should be something that your sims should be able to do. I guess that would mean that Father/daughter, mother/son combos are not possible either. 😦

My Brother’s Wedding

Now that Isaac was back in town I realised just how much I had missed him, as much as I wished to deny it. It had given me a chance to spent more time with him in the last month than I had in the last two years. And Lena was lovely.

Earlier today Lena and Isaac had married. I was happy for them but I also envied them. I had once thought I had found love, that special person that I had wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Sure I had been young, just eighteen but I didn’t see that as a reason to dismiss it as fantasy. My parents had met in kindergarten. Love could become yours at any time. I knew that, I believed it.

Mostly, it had been a been a difficult week. Shortly after he had arrived home Isaac had asked me to be his best man. Of course I had said yes, what I had failed to realise was where he and Lena had planned to get married; if I had the answer may have been different. The Falls, the place that our parents had always brought us on family outings. My parents special place. I understood the reason he wanted to marry here, I really did. But discovering where the wedding would take place had been a shock; a shock I hadn’t taken well. There were entire rooms in our home that I didn’t like entering. I had no idea how Isaac thought that I could handle this, had I really been hiding it that well?

And then there was Summer….I was suddenly distracted by a tap on my shoulder. Summer…

“Dance with me?” she asked smiling nervously.

“Sure, Summer” I smiled at her weakly. I owed her this. I was the reason that she looked like she hadn’t slept for days. My fault.

”So how are you?” I asked Summer, dreading the answer. We had broken up only two days before, just days after she had admitted she was in love with me and I had realised that I couldn’t say the same. Summer hadn’t deserved that, but I had been in love before and this wasn’t it. To say that I felt like a complete jerk was an understatement.

“I’m okay”, she murmured, smiling brightly. “Any chance you’ve had a change of heart” she pretended it was a joke but I knew she was serious.

”I’m sorry, I just…” I started to apologise, but she interrupted me.

“Jonah its okay…lets just dance okay?”

“Sure”

***

I still had the terrible best man speech to get through, which I hadn’t prepared for. I took another drink from the glass that I was holding. Eden was suddenly beside me eyeing the glass I held it my hand. “Jonah, don’t you think you’ve had enough to drink?” she asked.

“Uh, nope not really”, I informed her, taking another drink. The encounter with Summer had only made me more stressed.

“Have you even written a speech?” she sighed.

“Nope, not really”, I grinned at her. “I’m going to wing it”. Okay so maybe I HAD had a little too much, I pushed the glass away. She sighed obviously annoyed with me, at that I felt a small twinge of guilt. I had always tried to keep this part of me hidden from her (not that I’d ever really succeeded) but she was older now, almost all grown up and she no longer needed me like she once had. “Why did he have to get married here?” I asked staring morosely at the scene in front of me.

“You know why Jonah…” Eden told, she was right I did. “Is that what the problem is ? That it’s here? I thought he cleared it with you?”

“Eden, why would you think he would clear with me? When was the last time he asked my opinion on anything? I could have handled the church but not here.” I said, hastily taking the glass and taking another drink. “I haven’t been here since…since..well, you know?” Unable to put the last sentence together.

“What? Not even once?” Eden exclaimed.

I slowly shook my head. “I know you and Isaac have come up here every year but I just couldn’t” The falls for Isaac and Eden had once again become a place filled with happy memories. Eden herself did not remember a lot of the earlier ones but it had been where Isaac had always brought her to talk. For me it was still a place that could bring me undone. I had thought that he had been aware of that – obviously not.

“Can you handle this speech?” she asked “Without stuffing it up?”

“Honestly, I have no idea” I told her. She gave me a kiss on the cheek and squeezed my hand a silent warning to try to hold it together. I didn’t know if that was possible. I had never felt more like I was losing it than right that moment. I was desperately trying to hold together the last fragments of my composure.

I watched from where I was standing as Eden pulled Isaac aside whispering furiously  in his ear.

It was obvious that Eden’s little discussion with Isaac had not gone well when he charged across the dance floor to confront me. “You cannot be serious? Your too drunk to give a speech.” Isaac glared at me.

“Isaac, it’s not drink that the problem it’s this place. You should have either picked another best man or another venue, I was hoping I could manage it but I don’t think I can.”

“Another venue why? Your my brother who else would I have chosen?”

“I don’t know…one of your mountain of friends?” I gestured at the now curious crowd.

“You are unbelievable!”

“Isaac, I haven’t been here in over ten years”, I paused waiting for him to work out what that implied. “Do you have any idea how many times I have stood at the bottom of that hill unable to bring myself to come up here. The only reason I made it this far today is because someone else drove. I thought you knew, I guess not. Look, I’m sorry Isaac, I can’t stay here. Congratulations on getting married though, I mean it.”

I went over and gave the Bride a kiss “Congratulations Beautiful” I teased “I’m really sorry but I’ve got to go”

She gave me a hug whispering as she did so. ” Take care of yourself okay?”

***

I was halfway down the hill when Uncle Liam caught up to me.

“Get in”, he said leaning over and opening the door from the inside. “Are you okay?” he asked when we were finally moving again.

“Yeah, I’m fine” I told him, “You aren’t here to lecture me too are you?. “

“Ah, no.” he laughed, “‘Does that happen a lot”

I returned his smile and but said nothing further as the car pulled up in front of the house. I was surprised when he followed me inside.

”Did you want a drink” I  finally asked when the silence became too much, gesturing towards the kitchen.

“Jonah, I’ve been wanting to tell you something for a while now and somehow I always seem to get distracted”. Liam said, pausing as if he was choosing his words carefully “You’ve done a good job”

I looked over at him surprised and unsure about what he meant. “I don’t under..” I started to answer.

“With Eden”, he clarified, “‘You’ve done a wonderful job raising her”

“But”

“I know who deserves the praise, you’ve done a great job with her. But Jonah she’s all grown up now, it’s time for you to chase what you want.”

“What if I don’t know what I want?”, I asked. “That is why it was so easy to let Isaac go off and do what he wanted, I was never sure”

“Has there ever been anything that you have regretted not doing?”, he asked

“Well, recently I been regretting not keeping up with my sculpting, I tried a few times but it was just too hard with mum gone.”‘

“That might be a good place to start. Anything else?”, he prodded.

Was there anything else? I stood there in silence, for the first time really thinking about what he was saying.

“Jonah?” Liam asked, when the silence had dragged on for too long.

Finally I looked at him. “There’s only one”

***

.

Memories

This house is full of memories. Memories that often threatened to reach up and choke me – my mother’s paintings found on nearly every surface and her sculptures in the garden.  Her half-finished portrait sitting on the easel, right next to the one of dad that she had finished and in the garage the half done sculpture that she had used to teach me just before she had got in that car. There are fragments of my father still here too, the memory of the sound of his guitar drifting down the stairs; the smell of his cologne in the bathroom.

Over the years I had managed to suppress my moods and my rages I had needed to. Eden had needed me too. Isaac and I had been all grown up, I had been mere months from my eighteenth birthday when it had happened. That single moment that had changed our lives and left us responsible for our seven-year old sister. Dad’s family had offered to look after her and we had given it some consideration. Especially Uncle Liam’s offer, but only because Eden and our cousin Olivia were also best friends born only months apart and almost living between both houses anyway. In the end we couldn’t bear to part from her either, to lose Eden as well as our parents.

Isaac had buried himself in his job. He had at one point received an offer to play professionally but it had been out-of-town. At the time Eden had not wanted to leave town and I’ll be honest I hadn’t wanted to either. So the pair of us had told him to go it was to big of an opportunity to pass up, as long as he made sure to come back often and visit us. Unfortunately the busier he got the harder it became for him to keep his promise and for most of the next eight years it was just Eden and me.

Despite the 10 year age gap between us, Eden and I were close; we always had been even before the accident. Afterwards we only got closer, she had been the one who had been present when the front I had put up had finally cracked. Sobbing into the lap of your nine-year old sister is not something I would recommend but it had helped. She knew all my secrets, even the ones that I had unsuccessfully tried to hide. She also knew how my mind worked. I had needed her as much as she had needed me.

Recently things had changed. For one Eden was almost eighteen; all grown up, the same age I had been when our parents had died and Isaac had also recently moved back into town. He has now started a new job running the local sports centre. He is also engaged, Isaac still seems to have it together….unlike me.  He’s still the local golden boy while I am still the screw-up; apparently working at one of the local stores while Eden is at school isn’t enough to keep the locals from judging me. I’ll admit I still don’t have a goal, it had always seemed that I was the only one who had no idea what I wanted.

Twenty Years

As the months passed Maggie’s pregnancy progressed with amazing speed.  As the baby’s due date came closer it seemed like it had only been mere days since we had learnt of his existence rather than months.

Grace moved out shortly before the baby was due saying that she wanted us to be able to enjoy our new arrival by ourselves but also that she would visit often.  She has moved the city I think that Appaloosa Plains may have become a little small for her.

During Maggie’s pregnancy I continued to pursue my music career, while Maggie started to make a splash in the art world. She was never far from her easel which she had upstairs near a large window or she was in the garage where she continued to work on her sculpting . Something else she was determined to try was inventing, she promised me that she would wait until after the baby was born to try it. She was determined to master all three fields. I would often take one of my instruments to wherever she was to practice while she painted or sculpted.

Soon it was time to welcome Isaac Liam Young into our world. My grandfather Liam  had recently passed away and to name Isaac after both him and my brother had seemed appropriate.

I loved being a father and Maggie is a wonderful mother. We hadn’t realised how much Isaac would add to our lives until he was a part of them. It wasn’t long before we decided that Isaac needed a sibling.

It was less than a year later that we needed to go to the  hospital where our second son Jonah Santiago Young was born.

It was about this time that Liam and Ava had announced their engagement. Their romance had gone from strength to strength and she admitted to me at the engagement party that she and Liam were far better suited to each other than the two of us had ever been. A statement that I more than agreed with.

Time can pass so quickly especially when you are chasing two small boys around. Isaac and Jonah grew up so fast. Isaac had started school before we knew it. On his first we drove him to school and took him to his classroom. After that he had insisted he was big enough to go on the bus by himself. Maggie had followed the bus into town for the next two weeks before finally admitting he was fine going by himself.

We still visited the falls often it became a place for us to picnic, fish and swim with the kids. We had somehow managed to acquire a puppy. Isaac had found Sophie in the yard one day and she had never left. We had tried to find out who her previous owner had been without any luck. Being the animal lover that she is Maggie loved the new addition.

While she loved her boys Maggie had always secretly wanted a daughter. Just after both of the boys had started high school we were blessed with a little girl, Eden Marin Young.

The years passed and our children grew. Isaac and Jonah were in high school and Eden was enrolled in the local primary school. Isaac like his aunt was very athletic and was in the local high school’s soccer team and seemed to coast along in every thing that he did.  He spends hours out the back of the house practising with soccer net that we had installed for him and when he was not practising he is usually surrounded by plenty of friends.

Jonah however was the cause of some concern. While his teachers have labeled him as exceptionally bright he was prone to sudden bouts of depression and mood swings that only Eden seemed to be able to talk him out of. The two of them had a shared love of the outdoors and were virtually inseparable.

In other respects Jonah is a lot like his mother, the two of them spend a lot of time in the garage with Maggie’s sculpting equipment and the results have been amazing.

If Jonah is our storm cloud, Eden is our ray of sunshine. If she was outside she was happy and like Maggie had been at the same age she was fascinated with the local wildlife and as a result loved the spring.

For our twentieth wedding anniversary Maggie and I organised to go on a holiday. It had been originally planned that we were to take the entire family but one by one our holiday party had shrunk. Isaac now fully grown had just started a new job at the Stadium and hadn’t wanted to ask for the time off. Jonah in his final year of school was for once studying. Something he had rarely needed to bother with in the past.  Seven year old Eden had been going to come with us until she had become sick just days before we were due to leave. Isaac and Jonah had insisted that we go without them. They could handle one little girl who was already on the mend.

Before we left town I decided to take a quick detour up to the Falls.

“Why are we here?” Maggie asked, “We could halfway out-of-town by now?”

“We haven’t been up here in a while, thought it was time to pay a little visit” I told her taking her hand. “For the first time in twenty years we have nowhere else we need to be right now”

“But we have a reservation?” Maggie protested.

“We do, but when we get there is up to us” I told her.

We spent a couple of hours there just enjoying the quiet before we decided it was time to get moving.

“I love it here” Maggie whispered as we made our way to the car.

“Me too” I agreed.

Okay, I’ve been procrastinating with this one. 🙂 I’ve had these pics for ages and most of the I couldn’t/chose not to use them in the actual legacy. For story line purposes this is when the baby who will arrive in the next update was conceived. 😉 I also just wanted to let you all know that I haven’t forgotten this story, in fact a big chunk of generation three has been written in the last couple of days, I have just hit a snag where I need an item from seasons to make the next update and a lot of the next generation to work. Trust me, it’s killing me that I can’t take the pictures to go with what I have written so far because that always helps me shape everything else that I wish to write. Anyway, thanks for reading I appreciate it.

Thanks again.
Lil 😀

Meet the Youngs

Hey, this is the second part of the Toby/Maggie Pictures that I promised ages ago. I really only used a couple of these in The Young Legacy, but these did still happen I just chose not to dwell on the moment. Well, I basically skimmed past it, but if you have read any of The Young Legacy it is very obvious were most of these fit and what the end result was. 😉

Once again hope you enjoy.
Lil. 😀

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Wedding Day

When Grace had heard about both the baby and the engagement when she had finally made it home she had in true Grace form taken over.

”So when’s the wedding?” Grace had asked.

“We hadn’t really got that far yet Grace,” Maggie replied. “I’m probably going to start showing fairly soon, so maybe after?” she turned and looked at me the question burning in her eyes.

”I’ll marry you anytime you choose, just tell me when and what I can do to help.” I had told her.

“Aww that’s sweet. How about Saturday? Grace asked.

”Saturday! This Saturday? – Grace that’s only five days away we don’t have enough time”

”We could do it” she argued. “please it’ll be fun”

”Grace” I warned, “Maggie hasn’t really been feeling well. I don’t think…”

“I’ll do all the hard stuff, promise”, she pleaded.

I turned to Maggie, “Really, it’s up to you. We can wait if you want ” I told her.

Maggie nodded, “Saturday? Grace are you sure we can do this”

”Yes, I helped Mum organise hers – I don’t think we can use the same church?” she mused. ”I think it’s getting redecorated at the moment, maybe that place on the other side of town.” Grace had already been in full organisation mode. “Toby, ring Mum, Lily and Ava and get them over here now”, she ordered taking Maggie by the hand dragging her towards the stairs.

***

That’s how I ended up less than a week later waiting nervously at the Wedding Arch for Maggie to arrive.

”Are you ready for this?” Liam asked, leaning in from where he was standing in his role as best man.

”More than ready”, I replied eyes trained on the door through which Maggie would arrive.

“Toby, I just wanted to say thanks for whatever it was that you said to Ava” Liam said eyes looking towards where the girl in question was seated.

”No problem” I replied, smiling at him and receiving one in return.

‘Here we go” Liam said nodding at the door.

I looked up to see Grace poke her head in to make sure everyone was where they were supposed to be. As her eyes caught mine she suddenly stuck her tongue out at me before going back outside. All the guests fell quiet as the music started to play. Grace followed by Lily made their way slowly to the front of the church to take their place by the wedding arches.

Finally Maggie entered the church she stood still for a while framed in the entrance. As her eyes fell on me a small smile crossed her face even as I felt an answering smile appear on my own. I lost my ability to think.  Beautiful. She was beautiful,

and mine.

***

Toby and Maggie – Meant to Be: Part 1

Meet the Youngs

A/N For those that haven’t read my legacy this pic special is about my Gen Two heir Toby and how he meet Maggie, at this point I think there will be three of these. This particular one is about the early years. I took way more screenies than I could ever use in the legacy story but they do fill in some of the gaps. Hope you enjoy, because I am totally in love with these two at the moment. 😀

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A Very Important Question

A week later and we had moved in, it had taken a little while to organise some furniture as well as having to move some of Maggie’s art gear from the old house. Grace in the end had got her way. When I failed to give her a direct answer she had gone behind my back and asked Maggie instead. So were now stuck with her. Unfortunately ever since we had moved in Maggie hadn’t been feeling the best.

After the sixth morning in a row of her losing her breakfast I finally asked her to go and see a doctor.

”Toby, I don’t need to” she informed me, ” I went yesterday”

”To the doctor?” I asked starting to panic

”Mmm” she murmured before suddenly bolting back into the bathroom. I followed her in to make sure she was okay. Wetting a washcloth and gently washing her face after she was finished and still a little shaky on her feet.

“Maggie?” I questioned, ”Are you okay? What did the doctor say?”

”Yeah, just give me  moment. Her arms came around my waist as she held on for support.

I had one hand helping her balance and the other stroked her back. I didn’t like seeing her sick, I told her this just as the phone rang and she rushed to answer it. After that I got to listen to a one-sided conversation that didn’t tell me anything other than the fact that it was the doctor’s office. “Okay”,  ”Mmhm”, ”I understand” and ”Really” are not the words that make you confidence grow when considering the health of the most important person in your life.

When she finally turned around she threw herself into my arms a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “You don’t like seeing me sick, huh? she asked, laying small kisses along the length of my throat stealing my concentration.

”No, I really don’t”, I informed her taking her small shoulders in my hands. ”Maggie whats wrong, I’m starting to freak out here…” She surprised me when she suddenly burst into tears, “Maggie?” I gently brushed the tears away with my thumbs watching a luminous smile spread across her face even as I tried to calm down.

Her tears continued to flow even while she smiled at me. ”I suggest you get used to me being sick in the morning for a while” she stated,  ”because Toby I’m pregnant, we’re pregnant”

”That’s incredible” I told her, hand reaching out to touch her face before pulling her into my arms. I held my family in my arms blown away by the love I felt already for this tiny unformed life that we had been gifted. I kissed Maggie only pulling away when I remembered. ”But I haven’t proposed yet!” I blurted out without thinking.

”You were planning to propose?” she asked.

”Wow, I said that out loud huh? I asked, she nodded, starting to laugh at me. ”Yeah, I was going to propose. I had it all planned out and everything too for our one year anniversary but if I leave it til then your going to be…” My eyes dropped to her stomach.

”Huge” she said, once again finishing my sentence for me.

”Wait there” I told her,  dropping a swift kiss on her forehead and pointing towards the nearest chair.

***

I was pregnant. I had sat down where Toby had indicated and was now contemplating the life that we had created together waiting for him to return. I hoped that I could be a better parent than my rather absentee ones, I wasn’t even sure where they were at the moment. Once I had graduated they had virtually disappeared, I hadn’t seen or heard from them in months. I had sent them a message to say that I was moving out and that I would make sure the house was secure but all I had received in return was a request from my father’s secretary to drop the key into the local real estate so that potential buyers could view the house. As role models they failed miserably, I considered that as I realised that I had managed to find far better ones all by myself. Toby’s parent were great and I was glad that my child would have at least one set of grandparents that cared.

I also thought  about what Toby had inadvertently revealed and a huge smile spread across my face. I wasn’t all that surprised after all it was the next logical step in our relationship and we were now living together. I really only had one answer to that question when he finally got around to asking. Afterall, being his wife had been a dream of mine for quite a while. He may have forgotten our playing acting as a child, I never had.

When he finally returned he pulled me out of the chair surprising me by picking me up and carrying me out to the backyard. Unfortunately the rocking  motion made me a little nauseous, I was relieved when he finally placed me on my feet giving my stomach a chance to settle. When he saw that I needed a moment he pulled me down onto his lap at the end of the tree house slide that was in the backyard. The baby was going to love it when he got old enough to use it.

“You are going to say yes right? he asked, as we waited for me to feel better. His finger stroking my arm in a soothing movement that did nothing to help with how I was feeling except to maybe distract me a litlle.

”I’m not sure” I teased, turning slightly to look at him. “It’s a important question that I may need some time to think about it”.

”That’s really not funny” he complained, his hand continuing to stroke my arm.

”I will tell you that I think you have a pretty good chance of the answer you want.” I informed him.

”That’s good to know” he laughed, “Feeling better?”

I nodded and the the next moment he was down on one knee in front to of me asking me that very important question.

”Margaret Lucille Campbell, will you marry me?”

***