We are okay.
There
is no return address or name on the letter—if three words can be
called a letter. There is, instead, a photo tucked inside. A blond man is
posed with an arm around a smiling boy. The kid has his father's eyes
and nose and freckles, but he must have gotten that smile somewhere
else.
Flora smiles too, as she tucks the slip of paper into a safe spot on the bookcase.
They're okay.
They were real, and they are okay.
It's a day for familiar faces.
Flora's little sister, Iris, is back in town for a few days.
Iris has a lot of dramatic university tall tales, and a new fiance with sky high aspirations.
The man she wants to marry is so intent on making it big as a performer that he's moving to Starlight Shores, and Iris is joining him there soon.
‟I'm disappointed you didn't bring your charming, ambitious boyfriend home to meet us," Flora grumps.
But when Iris hears 'us' she thinks 'Flora and Mom', not 'Flora and Ariel'.
‟Speaking of, where is Mom?"
Flora chews on her lower lip. ‟Well... uh..."
For reasons, communication across great distances is not easy in the sim world. Having attended university so far away, Iris is out of the loop on a lot of developments that Flora has to fill her in on.
They drink and chat long into the evening, speculating on their mother's whereabouts and on their brother's future and admitting with a deep shared shame that they haven't read any of Echo's books.
Iris's fiance is named Jules. Jules is the son of a famous, extremely wealthy stage performer, but was rejected by his father and grew up poor. Jules wants to make it big as a stage performer himself, seemingly out of spite, and Flora can't help but be concerned that this Jules might not be right for her sister.
‟Motivated by spite is never a good look," she says, trying to keep her tone light.
Iris is quick to defend her fiance's kind heart and artistic soul, and all the qualities that drew them together.
Flora is mollified a bit when she learns Iris won't be without support in a faraway place with only Jules to turn to; Marcie Nelson, the friend who went along to university with Iris, is making the move to Starlight Shores too. Marcie's reasoning for the relocation initially involved a boy, as well, but that relationship fell apart and now the move is strictly about the job waiting for her in that city.
‟I love what you've done with my room!" Iris teases.
‟You can sleep in Mom's room," Flora laughs it off. "We've been planning to turn it into a nursery, we just haven't gotten around to it."
Iris stays in town long enough to help Flora redecorate their mother's bedroom.
Flora spends more time with her nephew, Elias.
Getting in some parenting practice.
Pearl Yang, Echo's mother-in-law, wishes Ariel would get out of the way of the TV...
Kimi Choi sends Lupin a bunch of roses, making her intentions towards him clear with an embarrassing public spectacle.
Though she has retired from world adventures, Flora can still go on virtual ones.
These are much safer for the tiny new life growing inside her.
Pregnancy causes intense cravings for food Flora has never even had before.
She accepts this challenge to learn how to cook it.
Ariel and Flora are very excited about becoming parents.
When their baby arrives, they name him Lucien, with the hope he will bring a sense of lightness back into their lives, despite the weight of responsibility that comes with adding a new sim to the universe.
_____________________________
Etc.: Obvious set-up is obvious. Iris is so cool I had to have her run off and found her own legacy.
It probably doesn't need to be spelled out, but the blond man and the kid in the mentioned photo at the beginning are Acheron and Harcourt.
