Lauren moved out of her mother's house the day she graduated. Her dream is to become the CEO of a mega-corporation. She also plans to marry and have children, a nice traditional family completely unlike the one she came from from.
Just a few days after moving out, Lauren married her high school boyfriend Tracey Wolff. Regan ran into her new son-in-law outside the grocery store, meeting him for the first time, since Lauren hadn't invited her family to her private wedding. She hadn't even known her daughter had been going steady with anyone, so her marriage so soon after graduation came as a huge surprise to her. Tracey, she discovered, is in the medical field, a commonly chosen career for his branch of the Wolff family.
Regan ran into Regina outside the bookstore. The cousins hadn't spoken to each other since Regan failed to help with Regina's revenge plot against Donovan, but time seemed to have cooled Regina's fury, and she was no eager to catch up with her former best friend. Regina had recently gotten married and had another child, a son named Lawrence.
"My back up heir in case Regan doesn't work out," Regina laughs, "My oldest boy has serious commitment issues, he's got a new girlfriend every other day. If he goes through them all when he's still in high school, there won't be any left when he grows up to marry and make a proper Goth heir with."
Alison Landgraab walks by their reunion unnoticed, glaring at the two other women, that she knows of, who have had her husband. Her sister may have his son, and her cousin has his heart, but Alison has his name, estate and heir. Being the mistress of an estate as fine as the one she came from, the one her sister inherited, was always Alison's dream, one she achieved very quickly. She would have been happier with her life if she had dreamed bigger, she thinks.
Though his mother has told him not to pick fights with Donovan when he visits, Tao can't help it. He hates the way everyone in school knows what's going on between his mother and Adria Landgraab's father, including Adria herself, just as Regan Goth hates the way everyone knows who his father is, though no one will dare say it out loud. This one man is the greatest source of teenage angst in Sunset Valley.
Tao avoids being at home as much as possible, and when he doesn't have to work at his after school job, he does homework with his girlfriend, Tomika Rhodes, by the beach across the street from her house, or he hangs out with his Goth friends, Regan or Raphael. Separately, of course, as Raphael Goth is a descendant of Helmut Goth, and therefore shunned by Regan's side of the family.
When he is at home, Tao spends most of his time in the garden. Like his great-great-grandfather Maximus, Tao has a green thumb and is happiest when surrounded by his plants.
Age has done nothing to diminish Reagan and Donovan's passion for each other, his visits continue even after they've both gone grey.
After getting a couple of promotions, Lauren decides it's time to start her family. Regan can hardly believe she's going to be a grandmother.
After his birthday, Tao makes plans to meet Regan Goth at the local bar. While he waits, he runs into Raphael Goth. Tao warns his friend that Regan will be showing up soon, and to prepare to be shunned.
"We're working in the same office," Raphael informs, "I see him every day."
"That must be difficult," Tao remarks, "He can't really snub you if he has to work with you."
Raphael shrugs, and laughs, "He's actually gotten quite friendly with me, in a creepy, handsy sort of way. I almost miss the shunning. What Regan is having problems with is the fact that Donovan Landgraab is our boss. You can see how much Regan wants to tell him off, but can't because he's in charge."
"Talking about me?"" Regan shows up as if on cue.
Raphael shifts uncomfortably, "I'm going to take off now, Georgia is expecting me."
"I hope you aren't leaving on my account," Regan says, his hand on Raphael's shoulder, "Hang around for awhile."
Raphael shakes his head, "Not on your account, I'm supposed to meet my girlfriend at the theater. See you later, Tao," he says and makes his exit before Regan can get in another word, or hand.
Regan sighs, watching Raphael walk off, "The only guy in town who's prettier than I am, and he won't even look at me."
"He does have a girlfriend," Tao comments, "And so do you."
"Actually, I don't, as of this morning," Regan responds.
"You broke up with Katherine?"
"Katherine?" Regan laughs, "Yeah, I broke up with her last week. Today I broke up with Jessica Landgraab-Wainwright. Do keep up. And now I'm a free man again."
"So you're harassing Raphael? Since when are you into guys, anyway?"
"I'm not, usually. But I wouldn't say no to some hot Goth-on-Goth action. Forbidden fruit, you know, on so many levels. My mother's head would explode."
Tao will never understand Regan's approach to romance. He wants only one woman, his soul mate, to marry and be with forever, and he believes he's found that with Tomika.
While Tomika returns his passion, she doesn't quite return the emotion."I don't know if I believe in true love, Tao," she says over breakfast. "I don't think we should rush into anything permanent."
"It's nice to see you feel so comfortable in our home," Regan remarks, finding her son's girlfriend hanging around the living room in her underwear while Tao works in the garden. Tomika doesn't quite catch the sarcasm, her attention on the TV.
Regan begins questioning Tomika about her relationship with Tao, asking if they are thinking of getting married any time soon.
Talk of engagement caught the girl's attention. "I'm not in any big hurry to get married," she answers, "I've always admired your life, traveling, having different lovers and never having to settle down with just one."
Regan hadn't ever really examined her life in those terms before. She never had anything against marriage, nor did she have any desire to be married just for the sake of being married. She would have married Donovan in a second, if that had been possible, and had turned down the only proposal she'd received because of her love for Donovan. Though her life didn't follow any plan for happiness, she just dealt with whatever came up, Regan didn't really have any regrets about how she lived it. Still, she wouldn't recommend it as a template for other women to follow. Especially not the woman her son is in love with.
(Challenge Notes. Generation 4 goals were all achieved. Tao and Lauren both made the Perfect Children requirement. And Regan had two multi-cultural children while staying single. Not required, but Regan also achieved her LTW, to master photography and painting, and reached level 10 in the Culinary career and maxed cooking skill. So we have an awesome new fridge. Tao's roll is single parent of 2, farmer career, and Party to Remember. I have a few ideas for how Tao will end up as a single parent. One idea I've had for awhile, but the fact that his girlfriend got Commitment Issues as a trait when she turned YA might shift it to another direction. So we'll see. Tao's traits are Brave, Loves the Outdoors, Adventurous (the runs in the family trait), Green Thumb and Hopeless Romantic. His LTW is Renaissance Sim, to max out 3 skills. Gardening will be one of course, he's already up to 8 on that skill. He's already got points in other skills, from the perfect children requirement, and I haven't decided which other two he will aim to max yet.)
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