Small skeleton in the closet

While the girls had some issues when living together, the Gaines boys were fairing a lot better. They both had completely different schedules and they both had laid down rules before getting settled in, the number one rule was no marrying girlfriends of course.

 When Drake wasn't at work he was out spending his time with Latarsha, their relationship was going quite well. And he was content to just be with her after a long day at the military facility.

When Drake was out on his dates, Jacey was usually at home enjoying dinner on his own. While by himself he often contemplated on things that he could do to help him reach his goal to become leader of the free world in a timely fashion. He decided that the best way to do this was to work on his family image so he decided to pay his older sister a visit.

When he first knocked on her door there was no answer, after a while of waiting he heard noises from the back and decided to try using the backyard gate.

As Jacey turned the corner what he saw astonished him, there sitting on the ground was a little boy who looked a little too similar to his sister.

Jacey aproached Marquis and asked him where exactly his sister was. "I'm right here." Serena said as she made her way out of the house. Drake turned to face Serena, there were a million thoughts running through his head.

"Is he my nephew?" Drake asked gravely.

 Serena just nodded her head.

 "Serena how could you keep something this serious away from us? How could you keep him away from his family?!"

 "I wasn't ready to tell anyone about Declan so soon." she said quitely.

 Drake was very upset at his older sisters actions. Keeping Declan a secret not only could have ruined his image as a politician but it was also just plain wrong. Even though Declan didn't have the Gaine's name, he was still family. Too upset to speak with his sister Jacey left before he said something too cruel. Before he did though Serena made him swear not to tell anyone until she was ready to let the family know.

 Against his better judgement Jacey agreed.

It turned out that Jacey wasn't the only person having issues with people that night, while on his way home Drake spotted in unfamiliar woman sitting alone on the bench outside of the grocery store.It was getting pretty late, so wanting to be nice he offered her ride.

 "Ride? Certainly not from you." the lady said with a look of disdain on her face.

Being the childish hot headed sim that he was Drake was immediately pissed.

"Hey lady don't you know how to show appreciation, when someone offers to do you a favor!" Drake screamed.

"First of all my name is Regina, and I would appreciate it if you adressed me as such, and second I would never accept a favor from someone who looks like a hethan for all I know you might try to kidnap me!"

"Kidnap you?! Why would I waste the effort of kidnapping someone as high maintanance, crazy and conceited as you?! If anyone was crazy enough to snatch you up they would surely bring you right back to where they found you in order to keep their sanity."

In all of his years of living Drake had never met anyone as ridiculous as the Regina woman standing in front of him right now.

They both looked at each other with pure and utter disgust. Drake deciding to be the bigger person decided that he would be the first to walk away, but as soon as he turned his back, Regina pounced on him screaming "I'll show you Crazy!!"

Drake knew that it was wrong to fight women but it was all he could do to keep from getting malled by the woman. He tried to go as easy on her as possible but she was relentless, finally he just had to kick her in the butt a few times before she got the message.

 After about twenty minutes Regina finally stalked off and Drake angrily made his way home.

The minute he got home the first thing he did was tell his brother exactly what happened.

 "I just got attacked by a crazy woman!" he screamed.

After explaning all of the details Drake was suprised to find that his brother got upset with him, of all people.

"Drake how could you be so childish, you do realize that I want to run for office someday right? Who wants to vote for someone whose brother fights with women?!

"What? Are you serious? I get attacked and you're worried about her?"Drake couldn't believe his brother

"I wont apoligize to her for being attacked if thats what you want." he added.

Jacey figured as much but he wasn't going to force the issue, even if his brother did put him in a sticky situation he didn't think it was anything that he couldn't handle. He did have to hand it to whoever the woman was because Drake was no small guy.

 "Don't worry about it Drake I'll handle the crazy lady."

Jacey was actually in need of some campain funds, and was going to throw a fundraising party anyway, so he took the oppurtunity to invite the Regina woman as an apoligy for his brothers actions.

She gladly accepted his personal invitaion.

He also decided that it would be a good idea to invite Serena as well, since Drake and Celeste would be there maybe she would be more inclined to tell them about their nephew.

 "It's going to be your night I wouldn't think to ruin it with family drama." Serena said

 "But Marquis and I will definately be there to support you." she added with a smile.

Jacey didn't want to argue with his sister especially since he had found out about Declan. He was never a kid person but his nephew was the coolest toddler he knew. Even though his aunt and uncle couldn't know about Declans existance, Jacey wanted to let Declan know that he was loved by people other than mommy and daddy.

He even made sure that he was tucked in for the night before running home to get ready for his fundraising party.

Jacey was happy that almost everyone showed up to the party that night, he was sure that he would get loads of cash to help support his campaign.

As he worked the room talking to all the guests there was one that stood out above the all. Jacey was shocked to see the crazy lady actually looked really good in a dress.

Not wanting to be a bad host he immediately made his way over to speak to her.

"I'm glad you came, and I hope my brother hasn't been giving you a hard time." he told her.

"Don't worry he's been on his utmost best behavior, I'm actually shocked that you both come from the same family." she said with a smile.

 "Yea he's definately different" Jacey smiled back.

All in all the party went smashingly Jacey managed to raise over 10,000 simoleans and he also got to find out where Regina lived, coincidentally it was right down the street from his own home.

 Jace made it his first priority to stop by and make sure he thanked her for her donation.

Staying true to his word Jacey was at Regina's house the very next day. They spent hours just talking about whatever crossed their minds, Jacey learned that Regina was very ambitious and even a little hot headed. He figured that was why her and his brother didn't get along. Jacey couldn't understand why a girl like her was single, she was absolutely stunning, so he decided to ask her on a date.

"But you're in politics." Regina stated, "It wouldn't look good for you to just go dating around."

 Jacey smiled he like that she was interested in his image.

"Don't worry I want to date you with the intention to marry you..if thats okay."

Regina quickly areed to Drakes intentions, and they had their first date and kiss that same night. But knowing how people in Sunset loved to gossip he thought that it wouldn't be a good idea to take her home with him, until they were wed.

Even though it was logically a good idea to put their physical relationship on hold, it was still a little difficult to cope with. Especially when your younger brother is getting more action then you. Not wanting to stick around for what he knew was coming next Jacey made his way up to his room alone that night.

Nuptial Crisis

The past few weeks Marquis was feeling extremely down. He had finally found a job but he could feel a very huge gap forming between Serena and him. After leaving Serena's younger sister for her they both had to end up living in a world of secrets. First it was their marriage which had leaked out to town, but now they had another secret.

Declan Keaton was born a few months after their marriage and they had kept him from his extended family for a long time. Poor Declan knew that there was something wrong because he showed signs of being a little nerotic from time to time. No matter how many times Marquis would tell Serena to tell Declans aunts and uncles about him she simply refused.

Serena was determined to take everything on to herself and Marquis couldn't understand it. She wanted to be a surgeon so she spent most of her time studying on her computer, hoping for a promotion. Even though Marquis would try to cook dinner she simply lelft it all untouched.

When she wasn't studying she would take all of the responsibilities of Declan on to herself as well. She sat and taught him how to talk and potty trained him. She spent the most time with him not even bothering to let Marquis help out in the slightest.

Serena was taking up so much time with Declan that his relationship with Marquis was beginining to be affected. Everytime Marquis would hold him he would begin to cry out for his mother.

Declan even began to enjoy the maids company more than his own fathers. Marquis was at his wits end!!

Completely upest Marquis turned to his father for help. "How did you manage a career, me, and your marriage dad?" Marquis asked him. "Your mother and I worked together in harmony son. Right now you and Serena lack that harmony. She has a dream and Declan was very unexpected you have to assert yourself as the father, take the time, don't ask for it. She will be grateful for it."

Taking his fathers advice Marquis took the time to be with Declan. He woke up early in the morning to feed him before Serena could do it.

He even took the initiative to teach Declan how to walk so that Serena wouldn't have to stress out about trying to find the time for it.

Soon enough Declan was finally content with being held by his father. Marquis felt good about his relationship with his son now but was still a little worried with what was going to happen with the relationship with his wife.

 *Notes* when i came back from playing Celeste and Gideon, I entered the Keaton house to find Declan sitting in the middle of the floor. Serena and Marquis were never out and about, and since Celeste and Serena hate each other right now there was no way I could know that she was preggers. So Declan was very unexpected!! Either way I found a mod for story progression so I shouldn't have too many more suprises like Declan again.

Miss. Lonely

Celeste felt alone. She wasn't speaking to her sister anymore, and she had to come to  terms with the fact that her high school sweetheart was a big jerk. Not only that but after living with her family for so long she didn't know how to cope with being by herself.

Serena tried to apoligize to her before her mother died but Celeste didn't think that her apoligy was sincere enough seeing as how the moment she left the house Serena got married to Marquis.

Their mother had told her all about what Serena did the last day Celeste had seen her. Not that any of it came from Serena's mouth. Serena stopped speaking to  everyone in the family after they got into a fight. Everything that their mom knew was from the town gossip ring.

Tired of staring at the walls Celeste decided to get out of the house. She tried to visit her neigbors home to introduce herself. But they were all on their way out of the house, misunderstanding why she was standing on the sidewalk they offered to share their cab with her since they were all going into town anyway. Not wanting to look like the loser she felt like she was she thanked them graciously and hopped into the cab.

Celeste bid her neighbors farewell she hopped out of the cab and looked at the SunsetValley bookstore. It was the only place that popped into her head when the cabby asked where she was headed.  Halfway into the bookstore she decided that she didn't want to read books at all, it reminded her too much of her mother and that just made her feel even more upset. Suddenly Celeste was struck with an idea.

Music was her life and now it would be her savior. Celeste quickly ran to the park and begin playing until her heart was content. As she played her guitar given to her by her parents she couldn't help but feel a bit of calm rush over her. She was entranced as the music swirled around her. She was so into her playing that she didn't even realize the people gathering to watch. Embarassed she packed up her guitar and ran off.

After a few hours of wondering around the town Celeste found herself at the community pool as she looked around  she noticed that sitting at a picnic table was a very strange guy. He was sitting alone among all the groups of people and Celeste felt like she could actually relate to him on some level. Well not the fashion victim level but the loneliness level.

Giving in to her sudden urge Celeste struck up a conversation with him learning that Gideon was his name. After a little bit of general conversation they were actually hitting it off, the next thing she knew, she was rambling about what was really bothering her. "I wanted to get married, I wanted to have a small family. I just wanted someone to share my music and my life with!" she exclaimed.

Gideon gave her a soft knowing smile,he didn't  even say a word, and just listened to everything that Celeste needed to say.

Celeste realized that it felt good to have someone listen to her issues. Her brothers were off in their own little world and her parents were gone. Thinking about her family situation made Celeste feel even lonelier, so she hugged Gideon goodbye and decided that she would drown herself in her music career.  

A few days and nights passed and each of them were spent talking on the phone with Gideon. Even though Celeste was trying her hardest to not get emotionally involved with him, he made it extremely hard. One night as he came over to have a late night chat with her, Celeste got so carried away with the mood that she actually got down on one knee and proposed to him. Gideon completely adored Celeste so he gladly accepted.

.

It was a fast and very private cerimony. And the next morning Celeste finally came to her senses what on earth was she thinking marrying a complete stranger, even if he did look amazing without his hair braided.

 

Even still Celeste didn't have the heart to tell him that she thought things went a little too fast. Gideon was quite happy being with her, not only that but she didn't want to be alone either. She also didn't mind having him around because he did so many things around the house, he clipped coupons...

He even started a garden on the side of the house, where he grew all kinds of great vegetables.

He even enjoyed hearing her music as he fixed things around the house, Celeste quickly learned that Gideon was extremely handy.

He didn't even mind cooking dinner while she was off at work. Even if it was only mac and cheese he still made the effort.

Most of all he was someone to sit and talk to. Gideon was a fantastic listener and Celeste actually felt that for the first time in a while maybe she wouldn't be so lonely anymore.