Chapter 33: We've Got a Line in the Sky

"I know you stop here everyday," Kelvin Marshall says as he presents Kelsey a bouquet of purple roses, "So I've been waiting for you. To give you these."

Kelsey remembers the first kiss thy shared fondly, but that was a long time ago, when they were teens. She knows she should give up on Chayton and move on, but no man she knows raises the kind of desires in her that he did. Luckily Kelvin has a pregnant girlfriend that provides Kelsey with an easy excuse to to turn away his advances.

"I thought you declared Rickie your nemesis," Kelsey says in surprise when Aimee tells her she's pregnant with a second child by her on again, off again boyfriend.

"Yeah, I know," Aimee sighs, "I despise Rickie. But, he was a shoulder to cry on when my Dad passed. And he's just so good on the guitar, when he plays, I can't resist him. So here I am, knocked up again."

Kelsey hugs her friend.

"The two of us," Aimee laughs, "What happened to our plans to wait to have kids?"

Fishing in the slow moving river, Kelsey thinks about Redwood Harbor and the ocean, and wonders if she'll ever see it again, wonders if she'll ever see him again.

His picture on her bedroom wall always stops her in her tracks when she passes.

Sage's birthday is a great excuse to get the whole family together for a party. Tennyson is pregnant again, her oldest son Jason is a teen. And Rory's wife Alana is pregnant with their first.

According to the gossip, Alana and Rory fight frequently, loudly, and publicly. Tearney takes her daughter-in-law aside to give her helpful advise on anger management. Alana doesn't appreciate the help and tells Tearney to butt out of her marriage.

The party is family only, but Aimee is of course counted as a family member.

"So, are you and Rickie together again?" Kelsey asks, noticing Rickie among her party guests.

"It's more like he was at my house visiting the kids when I was getting ready to come here and he tagged along. Probably all part of his master plan," Aimee says with a laugh, "I guess I''m just used to him hanging on me all the time." Aimee and Rickie's second child was a boy, Manuel.

Rickie wisely brought his guitar, knowing his talent is the key to Aimee's heart. Or at least, her bed.

The birthday girl becomes a child.

Kelsey gets Rory alone in the kitchen. "How is it going?" she asks gently.

Rory sighs. Whenever anyone asks that, they only mean one thing, "My marriage is falling apart. The baby is the only thing holding it together. How do you think it's going?" he asks bitterly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."

"No, I'm sorry, Kelsey. I shouldn't take my misery out on you. Whoever the father or fathers of your kids are, you did the right thing to not marry, believe me."

"Rory..." Kelsey whispers, shocked at what her young brother's deep unhappiness, "If you can't fix it, get out of it. Don't let it take you down like this."

Rory passes a hand over his brow, "I wish it were that easy. She's not ready to let go, and she knows too much about me."

Although it was Sage's party, the guests were mostly grown ups, and it isn't until they're all gone that the kids actually get to have any fun.

The new tattoo artist isn't as skilled as the one he replaced, and Kelsey flinches under his needles.

As a frequent customer, Kelsey always makes friends with the staff.

Aiden is still the master of hopscotch.

Time passes, but Kelsey still feels Chayton's presence around her, as though he's with her all the time. Sometimes she sees him out of the corner of her eye, but when she turns, he isn't there.

And the dreams continue, nearly every night.

The packages continue to come, little gifts from around the world along with his passionate letters. And he calls, frequently, and they pretend they are in each other's arms while they whisper of their mutual longings.

"I dreamed about you last night," she says when she answers the phone, "I showed you my falcon, the one I named after you. And you told me your name means falcon in your mother's tongue."

He's quiet for a moment, "Chayton means falcon in my mother's tongue," he says finally, "What you dreamed is true."

Kelvin keeps trying, but he's got no chance. For better or worse, Kelsey is in love with a man she only sees in her dreams.

Sage loves looking at her mother's collection of treasures, shells and sea glass, and little souvenirs. Kelsey tells her daughter they are sent from a friend who travels.

Sage has figured out that the friend is the man in the picture. And she suspects this man whose eyes are the same gray as her own is her father. But as her mother doesn't speak of him, Sage hasn't asked.

Sage has asked her grandfather about her mother's treasure shelf, but he only repeats the same story, that Kelsey has a friend who travels the world and sends her gifts.

Her mother gave her one of the gifts he sent, a small box with three drawers. Kdelsey told her she could store her own treasures in there, but Sage doesn't have any treasures to put in it yet. Someday Sage will go out in the world to collect her own treasures, and not wait at home for anyone to send them to her.

Logan becomes a teen.

Grim comes for Aiden.

Tearney was out at City Hall helping an artist when Aiden died, and learns of his passing when she gets home.

Frenzy and Tearney console each other.

Tearney follows a few days after her husband. Her passing comes just as Logan is getting home from his prom.


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Challenge Notes:
I was shocked that Aimee got pregnant by Rickie again after declaring him a nemesis, but that's SP for you. I was also surprised when he turned up uninvited to Sage's bday party, lol.
SP is also making Rory's marriage a misery. I'm constantly getting pop ups telling me about their fights. So we'll see how long it lasts (unless I step in and save Rory from that mess).
Jacy married his high school girlfriend when she aged up, and they live in her mother's house.
Jinx and Ted finally married and she's pregnant. And Jacy's wife, too.
Tennyson and Dakota had a girl, Teresa, and now she's pregnant with a third.

I had a weird bug with Grim in both deaths. I never got the animation where Grim interacts with the Sim. Things just kind of stopped (not a freeze, the mourners were wailing and crying, it was just Grim and the dying Sim that kind of froze) so I was afraid I'd have to reset or restart. But eventually the dying Sim went into their urn without ever interacting with Grim.

Kelvin Marshall lives with his mom across the street from the Bowman house, and he does come around a lot. He and his girlfriend (who does not live with him) fight a lot according to SP pop ups. They have one child.

Logan got Lukas' hair color, but he mostly takes after Kelsey.

Chapter title is a lyric from Golden Earring's 'Radar Love'. I was listening to my ipod shuffle while sorting through my pics, and that track came on. It's one of my husband's favorites, because of the bass line (he's a bassist). And the song just really fit, so I used the lyric.

RIP Tearney and Aiden.