3.2 No Grudges

Haliya wakes up disappointed to see that Uriah has left the house already. There's no reason he had to leave- he lives right across the street, after all. She tries to distract herself with some chores. 

And then by chatting with her father. 

Old age has made Paolo grumpy. "William called me scrawny! Do I look scrawny to you?" 

"Dad..." 

"Hmmmmph." 

Yana's trying to focus on TV. Sun stayed the night to avoid a long drive to the townhall after the party, and now Yana finds herself trapped with her, again, without knowing what to say. 

Yana's relieved when it's time to go. 

"HALIYA keep your eyes on the road!" Sun yells from the back.

"Mom, I just looked at the rearview mirror for a split second!" 

"The turn's just up there-" 

"I know-" 

"You gotta turn right there-" 

"Mom-" 

"You're turning way too late!" 

Yana puts her hands over her ears. 

Yana damn near sprints out of the car once they're parked. Tula's glad she drove here separately. 

-Interlude-

Once graduation finishes most of the household is starving. 

William included. He can't wait to go home and have some plasma orange juice.

"William, you promised to be more social with my family," Tula tries to convince him to go to lunch with them. 

William hesitates. "But...the restaurants here don't have plasma...I need to eat." 

"You could always feed from me..." 

William looks disgusted, "What? No way!" 

"William," Tula pins him with an intense stare, "You've been so rude to my family so. many. times. Don't you think you can do this one, little thing for me? Just one time?" 

Guilt pushes William to give into her demands. He tries to do this as quickly as possible. 

Nausea roils his stomach once he's done, but Tula looks...content? 

She's probably happy that I'm finally trying, he concludes, I do owe her that much.... 

Yana doesn't witness her parents' quiet argument. She's trying to slink away to the playground to get away from the growing crowd. 

But her plans are foiled by Haliya announcing that it's time for them to have lunch. 

Not everyone failed to notice William's dip into Tula's veins...

William tries hard to ignore it.

The heckler only stops to salute Paolo. 

Hmph. Ass-kisser. Paolo is not pleased. 

***

Afternoon turns to evening. Tula's able to convince William to accompany her to the spring festival for Yana's sake. 

He looks almost betrayed when she ropes him into a conversation with her uncle Rocky. Thankfully, William likes Rocky enough to attempt small-talk. 

"Rocky, hey, sorry I haven't been at the gym too much-" 

Rocky waves off his concerns. "Don't worry about that. You're a new father, it happens. I actually came here with more...lucrative offer than being my personal trainer." 

"You...what?" William is confused by the sudden change in conversation. 

Rocky smiles congenially. "Family loyalty is very important to me, and Tula is family. I know that the two of you have been a bit down on your luck since moving here. Small town people aren't very trusting, I'm afraid. I imagine it's been difficult to find well-paying work." 

William shifts uncomfortably. Sure, he likes Rocky, but something tells him he's a bit more Parrott than Tula is aware of. 

As if sensing his thoughts, Rocky smiles sadly. "I understand why my offer might give you pause. As a police officer, I'm sure you're aware of my family's...unsavoury...past. Trust me, it pains me to know that my siblings were involved in such awful crimes. Drugs, murder, even! But, before you dismiss me, just give my offer some thought, William. You told me that you used to maintain databases, right?" 

William nods. 

"Well, the video game industry here is quite new. This town is so small that they're taking pretty much anyone who knows how to boot up a computer. They're completely separate from my shipping business, but I know the CEO of the company. I could put in a good word for you. The interview and your application would be yours to do with, of course..." 

William scratches the back of his neck. It does sound too good to be true... but at the same time, can he be picky? "I'm going to be looking into this company." 

"Naturally." 

"Their public records. I can call in favours from Bridgeport PD," he blusters. In truth, he doubts his former boss even remembers him anymore. But sometimes the threat of investigation is enough to produce results. 

Rocky smiles again. "Of course. If anything's not up to snuff, then please, make reports and complaints. I don't want what my brother did to ever come back to our town. Anyways, I have some business with my niece now..." 

William is eager to leave the strange conversation. He starts a spirited game of tag with Yana while Tula talks business. 

"Your boyfriend was a hard sell," Rocky sighs, "I thought you two were desperate for money." 

"We are," Tula insists, "But he used to be a cop. He's going to have some suspicions." 

"I trust you aren't going to ask too many questions. We can't match the salary you probably got in Bridgeport, but we can make you very comfortable in this town..." 

Tula can oh so clearly remember being on the other side of this conversation...

It was her first official assignment with "the organisation" in Bridgeport. She was rather surprised when they sent her nearly all the way home. Riverview is only an hour's drive from Appaloosa Plains. 

She was even more surprised to find out what it was they wanted there- a reclusive, eccentric scientist named Mandi Krieger. Surely there were scientists who were just as good in Bridgeport, or Starlight Shores if they needed to go to another town? But no, Morrigan insisted on this woman. All Tula knew about Mandi at the time was that she used to be in Riverview's criminal organisation. But after a 'mysterious' explosion, she suddenly transferred to the sciences. She'd been free of the Bagley family in Riverview for a few years at that point. Safe to test chemical reactions and live a quiet life with her husband, Marty. 

Until Tula showed up. 

Mandi was busy making some kind of chemical. From the few glances Tula could sneak at the bottles underneath Mandi's workstation, she was working with highly volatile and explosive substances. 

Tula cleared her throat. 

"Ugh, what the hell do you want?" Mandi muttered, not even turning around to see who it was. 

Charming, Tula thought wryly to herself. "Mrs. Krieger. My name is Tula Winterly. I'm here on my employer's behalf. Perhaps you've heard of our company- East Tradewinds Shipping Company." 

That name certainly caught Mandi's attention. She shed her lab-coat, goggles, and gloves with hardly a tremor. Tula, however, could see the trepidation in the scientist's eyes. 

"I see you've heard of us." 

"Yes...my former employer spoke highly of you..." Mandi chuckled nervously. 

"Then you must know we can offer you much more than this...pithy lab. You're as close to an artist as a chemist can get, Mrs. Krieger. We can offer you all the resources you could dream of. This lab? Imagine all of its equipment reserved just for you." 

This did seem to give Mandi pause. "I..." No sharing a workstation with five other scientists? No budget restrictions? She shook her head. She couldn't make Marty a part of that mess again. "...no. No. That part of my life is done."

"But Mrs. Krieger, you haven't even heard of our generous benefits and vacation package-"

"Ms...Winterly, was it? I'm happy here. Do me a favour and buzz off." Mandi's grumpiness returned easily. What was it with people following her around in this town? Creepy vampires...weird papparazzi... where did they all come from? Her eyes narrowed at the strange woman in front of her. "Sorry- buzz off please."  

"Oh, Mrs. Krieger. I'm afraid I can't take no for an answer," Tula's tone turned deadly, "You see...as an incentive for you to join our organisation, we invited your husband to come with us before meeting you." 

Mandi's sour mood quickly turned into panicked worry. "You...what? Where is he? Did you hurt him?!" Anger flashed clearly in her bright orange eyes, her fists clenched so tightly Tula wondered if she would draw blood with her own nails. Tula could tell Mandi's emotions ran more deeply than other sims'.  

Tula shook her head. "Not at all. You see, he's perfectly safe." 

***

Earlier that afternoon, Marty Krieger had been having the time of his life. The Grind had finally finished building their long-promised bowling alley in their basement! 

He pumped his arms up and down. Another strike! And he hadn't even tried this game before. 

If only his wife were there to see it. 

Marty frowned at the figure in the back of the bowling alley. Had he seen this woman before? He was terrible with names and faces...and yet, somehow, he had the feeling that had they crossed paths before, he would have definitely remembered. 

"Ah, Mr. Krieger. I was looking for you," Tula greeted him with a smile and upbeat tone. 

Marty's frown deepened. That didn't sound good. "Who are you?" 

"Tula Winterly, a representative of the East Tradewinds Shipping Company. Ma Bagley was one of our biggest investors from this region." 

Tula continued to speak as Marty's eyes widened. Though he had never heard of this shipping company, he definitely knew who Ma Bagley was. 

"We're aware of your wife's...reluctance...to join us. We wanted to know if there's some way we can get her on board, Mr. Krieger." 

"Please, leave me alone," Marty said, a small tremor in his voice, "I don't want to talk to you anymore." He was all too aware of his wife's sordid past. He was relieved when he read in the news that the abandoned warehouse had been turned to ashes overnight. Such a lucky coincidence! And now this weird woman wants Mandi to go back to that kind of life? No way!

Tula frowned. "Well, as you wish, Mr. Krieger." 

Tula nodded to someone at the other end of the room. Before Marty knew what was happening, a strange vampire woman was staring deep, deep into his eyes. 

"I don't feel so good..." 

He landed on the floor with a loud thud. 

"Clean up this mess, will you?" 

Elvira narrowed her eyes. Such an ungrateful human. 

In retrospect, that was when the tensions began between them. 

Tula snaps back to the present, listening to Rocky's own "generous benefits package" spiel. 

Tula doesn't really care. She knows she can't say that, so she makes a show out of hemming and hawing. 

"Can't I get a cut of any of the precious metal profits? That's where the real money is..." 

She can see Rocky try not to roll his eyes. "Like I said before, even without any...special perks...your salary after taxes will still be three times higher than what you're earning now before taxes, Tula. Don't push your luck too much." 

"I just love what I do."

Rocky laughs, a genuine, throaty laugh, "Oh I know you do, Tula. To be back here, after nearly dying in the Bridgeport fiasco..." 

Ah yes. That one. 

"I still can't believe Morrigan managed to..." Tula looks around, seeing if anyone else is nearby, "...mess it all up for herself." 

Rocky shakes his head along with Tula. "A true waste. She had so many riches, all that product, up in smoke! All because she lost her temper..." 

"You don't let your emotions get the better of you, do you?" 

Tula grins. "No, never." 

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Haliya is attending a small party at her aunt Xara's house. She finds herself chatting with Dionne Bedlington-Blanco (formerly Blanco-Riffin, and Ephraim's evil, hot-headed, genius ex-wife). 

Haliya is naturally completely unaware of Dionne's temper or her questionable morals. Instead, she finds herself deep in a conversation about forgiveness. All it took was Dionne mentioning her messy divorce with Ephraim for Haliya's hopeless-romantic heart to dominate their discussion.

"Well, I was never one to hold a grudge...forgive and forget. Especially for true love! Everyone makes mistakes... and well, forgiveness is always better, isn't it? And for me, the forget part is especially easy," Haliya says with a nervous, self-deprecating laugh. 

"But what if you can't forget?" Dionne presses, "What if someone hurts you and you...just can't get over it?" She feels anger rising at the thought of her pathetic ex-husband, begging her to forgive him. He gave in too easily to her demands- the game was just too easy with him. 

Haliya frowns. "I can't say that's happened to me before." 

"You are so sweet," Dionne suddenly gushes. "Let's be friends." 

Haliya giggles. "I'd like that." 

After the festival, William and Tula collapse together on the couch, exhausted. 

"I'm sorry, if you felt forced into drinking from me," Tula apologises after a few moments, "I just wanted to have a nice lunch together and I just...got way too worked up about it." 

"I won't lie and say it's totally fine," William says after a beat of silence, "But I can understand..." 

Tulip sighs. "That's good..." 

"I couldn't stand it if you hated me." 

William blushes and kisses her lightly. "I would never hate you..." 

Tula smiles. Is that so? She'll certainly have to put that to the test. 

Long after the couple has gone to bed, Haliya creeps out of her room for a midnight snack. 

Haliya smiles contentedly. As she's just found out, her strange cravings and late period have a cause. 

She and Uriah are having a baby.

---------

AN: 

"Marty" and "Mandi" Krieger are slightly made over versions of Randy and Randi Archer from the R&R Legacy. If I ever get around to blogging about the Silverly family again, you'll see them there as well as "Andy" and "Andi" Duende. Their daughter in that save, Tammi, is a character in my asylum challenge blog.  I should also play that again. I always wanted to keep Guy and Tula roughly the same age, but I haven't played that save in about three years. 

If there are any Star Trek fans in the audience, you might like to know that the last name Krieger was inspired by the TNG episode "A Matter of Perspective", in which Commander Riker finds himself accused of murdering a scientist who was making Krieger Waves, an alternative to warp drive. I'm a huge Star Trek fan, so there might be more references to it here and there. My favourite Star Trek series will always be DS9 but I have a huge soft spot for TNG and Enterprise (yes...the one most people hated LOL). Voyager was alright, but lots of wasted potential imo. I tried a few times to get into TOS, but the pacing was so slow and the music and the effects and the ham of William Shatner... Then there's Star Trek Discovery which is...well. Ahem. Anyways. 

Given how LONG generation 2 was, I wanted to speed things along for generation 3, so I had Haliya try for baby right away. Her kid will be generation 3's second and last child! They're also the generation 4 heir :) I love Yana, so much, but I wanted to keep the family line "consistent". Hmph.