Chapter Sixty Seven

As a teen Dorilys had developed a habit of doing her homework in the park rather than at home, she found she could concentrate much better out in the open air, plus being in the park meant she didn't have all her brothers and sisters around.

As she worked, she was joined by a classmate of hers, Pete Roman.  They chatted over their homework about school and Dory's preference for working outdoors, before Pete managed to pluck up the courage to ask her to meet him at the beach the next day.

Dory was quite nervous, Pete was the first boy who had evinced any interest in her, but she agreed to meet him there nonetheless.  She had butterflies in her stomach all the next day until she got to the beach and found him waiting for her.

At first they just chatted generally about their interests, school and their classmates, but after a while Pete moved the conversation on to his reason for inviting Dory to the beach.

"You know Dory, you're really pretty, and, well, I really like you..."

His voice trailed off and he blushed bright red as he waited to see what her response would be.

Dory, being thoroughly romantic, was utterly thrilled to have a boy telling her he liked her on a beach as the sun began to set...

"Oh, Pete, do you really think I'm pretty?  You're quite handsome yourself you know"

And she flashed him a glance from beneath her eyelashes, captivating him further.









The two of them continued to flirt as the evening drew on and the setting sun painted the sea and sand a warm orange.


As night fell, Pete suggested that they sit in the sand and look at the stars, and then used that as an excuse to slip his arm around Dory's back.

When they tired of looking at the stars Dory took the initiative and leaned in to give Pete a quick peck on the lips.

When he responded by kissing her back, a sweet, slightly hesitant kiss, she took that as encouragement to ask him if he'd be her boyfriend.His response was everything she could have wished for and they kissed each other goodnight (as curfew was rapidly approaching)

Meanwhile, across town, Kyra and Kariny had arranged to meet with their beaus.  They would have made it a triple date, but Karal was stuck in an after school music class.

The evening was particularly successful for Kariny who finally summoned up the courage to ask Rian Harris-Crist to go out with her and he agreed.

Alas, such domestic felicity was not to last.  A few days later, Joshua began to feel somewhat light-headed as he rose from the dinner table and, as his grandchildren began running in to see what was wrong, he felt his life departing.



















He had had a good long life and when the Grim Reaper came in the door he knew that his time was up.  


Tamara was of course hit particularly hard by Joshua's death.  The two of them had never been much into going out and making friends, especially given Joshua's shyness, and she felt very lost without him.


She took to tending his garden while Mira was at work and their grandchildren were at school.  It helped her to feel close to him and she couldn't bear the thought of his plants dying just as he had, it felt as though if that happened she would have lost some connection to him.



However, even though Joshua was gone, life still went on for the family and soon it was Nia's eighteenth birthday.  Mira threw a large party for her, inviting many of her classmates, as well as asking her own children to invite their dates.

Most of the party was fairly quiet, with the various teenagers, including Nia's little sister Bobbie, gathering in the front room to watch TV and chat.

Dory had worried slightly about how Nik would react to her boyfriend, but although it was disconcerting to always have him there watching while they chatted, he didn't attempt to talk to her or distract her from the guests.

The climax of the evening was of course the birthday cake, and the whole party gathered in the kitchen, cheering and generally making lots of celebratory noise as Nia blew out the candles and officially entered adult life.

As Nia became a young adult, Mira was struck by how much she resembled her mother, at least physically, and was moved to pray that her niece's life would be much smoother than her sister's had been.


Although Nia was now officially a young adult and had confessed to Mira that she wanted to move out and start her own life, she stayed living at home until her graduation a little while later.


The whole family went to her graduation, where her classmates voted her the "most artistic" and after the ceremony she immediately went to the appropriate department at the town hall to register as a professional artist.


Once she had finished and all the graduation formalities were over, her cousins and grandmother split up to go do their own things.  Mira however said that she had a surprise for Nia and drove her over to a small cottage in the town.

"I knew you wanted to move out and make a start for yourself painting and selling your art, so I've bought you a small place to get started.  It's not very big, but there's an easel in the main room and a sculpting wheel on the back porch if you decide you want to try different forms of art."


Nia was over the moon at this present and invited Mira in while she had a look round.

"Oh Aunt Mira, you shouldn't have, this is so perfect for me! Thank you so so much, you're such a wonderful aunt!"


Mira stayed there for a while as Nia explored the house and gushed happily over it, before handing her the deeds to the house.

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Pet Spam

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Town News

• Raindrop & Anastasia McKinley-Sabo had a baby boy called Michael and are now expecting another baby.
• Menolly Clemetis and Tempest Sabo had a baby girl called Sandy.
• Shadow Sperie-Fields, Sterling Harris-McKinley, Michael McKinley-Sabo and Sandy Clemetis aged to toddlers
• Andreas Harris-Crist, Sindre McKinley-Sabo, Ralph Marlin-Crist and Kaitlyn Sperie-Fields aged to children.
• Torey McKinley-Crist, Antoine & Christy Sabo, Bryan Harris-Crist, Alexis Sperie-Harris and Grant Sperie-Sabo aged to teenagers.
• Derrick Crist, Stacia Fields-Vamp and Menolly Clemetis aged to adults.
• Gary Sperie-Fields aged to an elder.
• Tyson Marlin has been dating Auburn Mitchell and Stacia Fields-Vamp and has got engaged to Auburn Mitchell.
• Bernard McKinley and Christy Sabo started dating and are now going steady.
• Grant Sperie-Sabo and Brook Harris-McKinley are going steady.
• Bobbie Clemetis and Kane Sperie-Sabo are going steady.
• Lukas Sperie split up with Adamaris Dennis, dated her again for a while and is now in a relationship with Susanna Stacy (townie).
• Quetzal Sperie and Blue Mitchell have split up.