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.)

Ramaswami/McDermott Random Legacy ch. 12: Taking Charge

"I can't believe they left me alone with Kamala and Sundari," Saranya complains to her boyfriend Harlan. As soon as she graduated high school, her parents married and took off for a long honeymoon on Twikkii Island, leaving Saranya in charge of her two younger sisters.

"You can handle it," Harlan assures her.

"I know," she sighs wearily, "But I don't want to do this all on my own."

"You aren't on your own," Harlan says, "You have me, you know."

Saranya smiles, "I didn't want to take you for granted." Her mother took her father for granted, and Saranya often resented her for it. It's a mistake she intends not to repeat. "Will you marry me, Harlan?"

"Absolutely."

Saranya and Harlan marry; she starts her career as a firefighter and he sets to work making her childhood home into their own place, starting by redecorating her mother's old master suite to suit their own tastes.

Harlan prefers solitude, and living with his wife's two younger sisters is not his idea of marital bliss. But having grown up in a house with two parents, his older sister and younger brother, plus two of his father's siblings, Lisa and Arlo, who never married or moved out of the Bunch house, Harlan is definitely in a better position here than he was before. The galley style, open plan kitchen wasn't exactly what he wanted either, but for Saranya, he'll make do. But he's not going to live with these pink tile counters much longer: no matter how much he scrubs it, he's sure the grout is harboring secret germs and bacteria. The kitchen is next on his list of remodeling projects.

Kamala and Sundari have a hard time taking their older sister and her husband seriously as parental figures. They all went to high school together, after all, and to them this time is like a parent-free vacation where they can do as they please.

While Sundari has been dating the age appropriate Darius Hatch, Kamala has been spending a lot of time with Vernon Goth, an adult with a long trail of ex-girlfriends in his past. Every time Saranya tries to warn her sister about getting involved, or tries to forbid her from seeing him, Kamala always responds with "You're not my mother, you can't tell me what to do!"

Saranya is too preoccupied with her rather demanding career to put the effort into raising her teenage sisters. Athletic and mechanically skilled, Saranya excels at firefighting, and finds her self being quickly promoted through the ranks.

The firefighter thing is a huge turn on for Harlan.

On the night of her graduation, Kamala elopes with Vernon Goth. That will show Saranya who's boss!


Harlan's new stainless steel countertops are much more sanitary than the old tile and grout. And while Kamala's manner of leaving the house distressed Saranya, making feel as though she failed her younger sister in some way, they are both relieved to have one less teenager in their marital nest.

Odd noises at night, TVs and stereos being turned on when everyone is asleep, cold spots in the house, all tell tale signs of a haunting. Saranya uses a large chunk of the family wealth that was left to her to buy the land behind the house and set up a cemetery for her grandparents' graves, and to serve for future generations of her family. Her grandmother, Lakshmi, had amassed quite a fortune, and Saranya hopes this memorial it bought pleases her.

For the first time, Saranya must use her skills to rescue her own family. A large fire has broken out at her Uncle Liam's house.

Happily, she gets everyone out of harm's way and extinguishes the flames before they do much damage.

Sundari graduates high school. The good news is she's to be the heir to the Wolff fortune and family estate, changing her name to Wolff as her father did. The downside is she has to move into Wolff Manor and live with her aging parents before she can inherit it.

Finally on their own, Saranya and Harlan take a romantic trip to China.

Harlan is interested in studying Chinese recipes, learning the secrets of making Stir Fry and Egg Rolls. He also acquires some cherries and pomelos, rare fruits in his part of the world, to add to his garden at home.

Saranya enjoys some martial arts training, and purchases a training dummy to practice with at home.

For some reason, locals keep calling them both, asking them to go look for some relic they've lost. Why do they think tourists want to go digging around in tombs? Do they not understand what a honeymoon is?

Harlan can barely watch as Saranya stacks up five boards to break. "Don't hurt yourself!"

"It's just foam board. Piece of cake," Saranya laughs.

"See? I told you, piece of cake."

(Challenge Notes: Saranya was promoted to level 5 of the firefighter career as soon as she took the job, because she'd work on her handiness and athletic skills as a teen. On her first two days on the job, there were no emergencies, and I even thought it might be a bug, but she got a fire on the third day. Still, even just upgrading the fire truck and alarms on the first days got her even more promotions, and she's already reached level 10. Her generation goal is Perfect Careers, so she just needs to max athletic and handiness. Though it's not required, I'm going to have her max martial arts, too. Harlan's career will be a part time job. I haven't started him on that yet, since it's only 3 levels to raise, and I'd kind of like to keep the money down if I can. Firefighters pull in a huge bit of money, so he'd only be working to fulfill the requirement.

Buying the cemetery cost just over 50k, which brought the family wealth down to under 20k, still enough to upgrade all the furnishings (Harlan loves to redecorate, lol).

Harlan is like the ideal spouse, I set him to do the gardening when I go to work with Saranya, and he has the Neat trait, so he'll autonomously clean the whole house even if I don't assign in it in his queue. I love coming home and seeing the beds made and the laundry done! And he cooks, too, lol. I don't have to fulfill his LTW, Culinary Librarian, but I'm going to try, so that will mean traveling to buy the world specific recipes. He's also an amateur photographer and has been shooting some travel photos.

They will only have one child, so I'm letting them live a little while before they have their baby.)

Ramaswami/McDermott Random Legacy ch. 11: Change of Heart

Max has been promoted to Resident at Sacred Spleen Hospital. His oldest daughter Saranya has become a teen.

Their second child, Kamala, is also growing fast. She's a very bright child, her teachers even say she's a genius. She's already decided that she wants to be a doctor when she grows up, just like her father.

Kamala has become good friends with her cousin Colby, who is so far the only one of Thornton Wolff's grandchildren to inherit his black and silver hair.

Max is Resident for only a short time before being promoted to Trauma Surgeon. That's great for his career, but the schedule takes a huge bite out of his family time. Working from 7pm to 3am means no more sleepovers with his family. He visits after the girls are home from school and Rukmini is home from work to help with homework and have a quick dinner before his shift begins. Sundari, the youngest child is the most neglected of all the girls, no one ever has time to read to her.

For the first time in her adult life, Rukmini is sleeping alone most nights while Max works his late shift. The bed seems disturbingly cold without him in it, and the room has an eerie chill that keeps Rukmini up at night. It had been easy to not get married and have Max move in since he was always around anyway, and his absence now has caused Rukmini to think about her life and the choices she's made with it. She had wanted something different than the expected route that her brother had gone down, marrying his high school sweetheart, having kids, but the only thing different about the life she made was that she had raise her kids without being married to their father. She and Liam even had the same number of children, his third son Joseph having been born recently. And now Liam's hair was gray and he was thinking about retiring. If Rukmini still wanted more from her life, she'd have to act fast.

Sundari has grown into a child. Her birthday came and went without notice from her family.

Saranya has become very close with her classmate Harlan Bachelor-Bunch. She'd like to get closer in the romantic sense, but Harlan is notoriously shy and the effort required to get him out of his shell has put off many girls before her. Saranya is more determined than most, and having decided what she wants has plotted the course to get her there. Making no demands on him, she's simply spent time with him, hanging out, playing games, letting him talk when he felt comfortable opening up.

"Have you thought about what you're going to do after graduation?" he asks her.

"Oh, yeah," Saranaya answers with great self-assurance, "I'm going to be a firefighter."

"Really? That's so hot!" Harlan says, blushing as the words leave his mouth.

Saranya seizes the moment and throws her arms around him. "What about you, Harlan? What do you want to do with your life?"

"I'm just hoping I can avoid anything that forces me to be around people all the time," he answers, "What I want...isn't a career. This will sound kind of stupid, but my dream is to have a really great kitchen. I love cooking."

"It's not stupid," Saranya assures him, and then kisses him.

Kamala becomes a teen.

The weekend finally comes and Rukmini is thrilled to have Max back for a solid two days and most especially, nights. He spends as much time as he can with each of the girls, who miss them as much as their mother does. Rukmini waits her turn, knowing she'll have him to herself all night. As the sun sets, however, his beeper goes off, he's needed at the hospital, and Rukmini has to spend another night alone.

Sundari becomes a teen.

Max surprises Rukmini with the news that he's demoted himself back to Resident so he won't have to work nights anymore and can spend more time with her and the girls.

"You'd do that for us?" Rukmini asks.

"Of course. My career has never been as important as my family," he answers.

Rukmini follows up on that with a surprise of her own. She wants to get married. Saranya will be graduating, and Rukmini wants to give her the family house, leave her in charge of her sisters for awhile while she and Max take a long honeymoon together. Max is reluctant at first to leave the girls, but the Kamala is nearly grown up herself and he trusts Saranya to be able to handle the responsibility. It won't be long before all the girls are on their own, and he's waited for Rukmini all his adult life, he wouldn't be able to turn her down now.

(Challenge Notes: So generation 2 comes to an end. Rukmini will marry Max and move into Wolff Manor with him as soon as Saranya reaches YA. Rukmini achieved her generation goal, Expansionist, as soon as she reached YA, and playing Hands Off wasn't too hard, so generation 2 wasn't much of a challenge. The goal I set for myself was to have Max become friends with all three of his daughters, which was a bit challenging since as a guest his autonomous interactions with infants and toddlers was minimal. When the girls got older and could initiate interaction it did happen for him, however. Rukmini did make it to the top of her career, though she spent so much time on maternity leave, there was some doubt on that. Saranya's goal will be Perfect Career, in the firefighter field, and No Strangers allowed. Her spouse will be part-time job only. Lucky for her she's got Harlan, who is a Loner and a Natural Cook, he was born in game, to Bella and Ethan Bachelor-Bunch, but it's like he was made especially to fit into generation 3's spouse.)

Ramaswami/McDermott Random Legacy ch. 10: Life and Death

Max spoke with Morgana as she had requested. She not only offered Max a job at the hospital, she also informed him that Thornton had meant to leave his house to his only son. Her husband had died before he had amended his will, but she intended abide by his last wishes. Her daughter Bridgette certainly did not want Wolff Manor; she was better able to love her father when she wasn't constantly reminded of what it was like growing up with him. Morgana had only one request, that Max take the Wolff name. That was easy enough for Max, since his own mother had given up their family name when she married his stepfather.

So now Max is a bed pan cleaner, wealthy heir to the Wolff name and fortune, and a father-to-be yet again. With Rukmini's second pregnancy, Max doesn't bother to propose again, knowing what the answer will be.

Their first child, Saranya, has grown into a toddler. She's inherited her grandfather Maximus' red hair and green eyes, but has the distinctive Wolff nose.

Maximus dies suddenly after eating his last autumn salad, which had been his favorite meal.

Max does his best to console Rukmini while dealing with his own grief. Maximus was more of a father to him than Thornton had been, or his step-father, who his mother had only recently married.

Their second daughter Kamala is born that next morning.

Lakshmi tries to tend Maximus' garden, but it's difficult work as she knows nothing of gardening, and is constantly reminded of her husband just by being near his plants.

It's just as difficult getting into bed alone at night, and trying to sleep without her husband by her side.

In the days following her husband's death, Lakshmi devotes herself to raising her young granddaughters. Little Kamala has become a toddler. Liam and Bridgette have also had another child, a boy named Colby. Lakshmi tries to make time to visit them as often as she can.

Rukmini and Max seek consolation in each other. Not surprisingly, Rukmini becomes pregnant again.

Saranya enters childhood, Rukimini and Max have a third daughter, Sundari, and Max is promoted to intern. Though the medical field is very demanding of his time, he does his best to be with his 'family' as much as possible, spending the night with them every night, no matter how late his hours.

Maximus' ghost isn't very happy about the state his garden is in these days. Some of these plants are deader than he is.

At first, Lakshmi is not able to deal with what she's seeing.

But she misses Maximus so much she overcomes her fear and horror. Perhaps, she thinks, she is near her own time.

Lakshmi's time comes the next evening, shortly after little Sundari becomes a toddler, while she's potty training her third granddaughter. Max runs into the nursery when he hears the commotion, but there's nothing he can do for someone dying of old age.

Rukmini mourns her parents. She's alone now, her children's father a mere guest in their home. But still, she cannot find it in her to make the final commitment to him.

Max's own mother, Narcissa, passes away, as does Morgana Wolff, leaving Max the sole owner of Wolff Manor. His offer to marry Rukmini stands open, but his need for a rigidly defined family has lost some of its significance. Though she isn't his wife, Rukmini has given him everything he wanted from a family, and while Wolff Manor is now his house, this place is is home.