Ramaswami/McDermott Random Legacy ch. 13: Hero

Sunset Valley awarded Saranya with a key to the city for her heroic service as their Fire Chief.

The commendation is nice, and saving people does make her feel good, but Saranya became a firefighter for the thrill. Fire and danger have always excited her.

The military asks her to Egypt for them, to learn about a game played there, called Senet. They don't tell her why they need this information or why a game is so important, that's all on a 'need to know' basis. Whatever the reason, Saranya is happy to serve her community, and it gives Harlan an opportunity to learn new recipes like falafel and shawarma, and to get new fruits, pomegranates and plums, to grow in his garden.

Al Simhara doesn't have a decent hotel, or any hotel, and while sleeping in a tent with a view of the pyramids can be romantic, it's not very comfortable, so the couple stays only long enough to get the information for the military, Harlan's recipes and fruits and a few trinkets to take home.

Saranya is happy to be back to her daily grind at the firehouse.

Harlan has been busy redecorating the livingroom, using the trinkets they've picked up in their travels as accent pieces.

While dealing with a fire at the Hart residence, Saranya suddenly feels very sick. This nausea can't be from the smell of burning, surely she's used to that by now.

She manages to hold it in while she's working, but as soon as she gets home she rushes to the toilet.

"So, what's the deal with this room, anyway?" Harlan asks. The room has a pretty view of the backyard, and it's own door to the outside, but it's wallpapered oddly and is being used to house exercise equipment, a computer desk, an old dresser, various trophies and awards, and an easel.

"This used to be the master bedroom, when my grandparents built the house. After they died my mother converted it into an office, sort of. She never changed the wallpaper or the carpets, and just kind of threw anything in here she didn't have a place for."

"Is it okay if I pull up the carpet and make this into a proper office as my next project?"

Saranya smiles, "It's all yours, Harlan. But you might want to put a priority on fixing up a nursery."

Kamala visit the family mausoleum with her husband Vernon. She is pregnant with their second child. (The first, a daughter, Regina, was born very shortly after their elopement.) Kamala has come to realize her hasty marriage might have been a mistake, she and Vernon are known around town for their heated arguments. While she visits the family cemetery, she doesn't visit her sister, not wanting to admit Saranya may have been right about Vernon.

Their younger sister, Sundari, has married her high school sweetheart Darius Hatch (now Wolff) and is also pregnant.

Saranya and Harlan have a daughter, Regan.

(Challenge Notes: Saranya has achieved her Perfect Career requirement, having reached level 10 in Athletic and Handiness, and in the firefighter career. I didn't mention it in the story, but Harlan has started his part time career, working in the family mausoleum. He's already been promoted to level 2, so he should have no trouble achieving perfect career.

Harlan has achieved his LTW (not required) of learning 'all recipes'. He didn't actually learn all the recipes, though, and is only level 9 cooking skill. But the LTW triggered when he hit level 9. So I think the WA recipes do not add to the total you need to learn, so if you do learn WA recipes, they count toward the total and leave you not needing to learn all the at home recipes. He's learned all the recipes available to his skill level, so all he had left was turkey, angel cake and ambrosia. The fact that he learned egg rolls, stir fry and falafel replaced those. Not that any of this matters, lol, he wasn't required to get his LTW anyway. But it surprised me, I thought he'd have to learn, you know, all the recipes.

Saranya's LTW is to rescue 30 people as a firefighter. She's got 13, so 27 to go.

Regan will be the only child in this generation, so she's the heir. Her generation roll is: Single parent, 2 children, Culinary career, Perfect Children, multi-cultural.

Regan's favorite music is Chinese and her favorite food is shawarma, so I might use those as indicators of what two cultures her two children come from. But I'm not ruling out France yet, you never know what could happen while traveling to learn new recipes. I love that her career will be Culinary, because it's like she's taking after her dad, who is a natural cook.)