Maia was at her wit’s end. The school had just called yet again to report Natalie truant. Peaches wasn’t with her, so Maia could only imagine what sort of trouble she was getting into during the day.
The nights were even worse. Sometimes Natalie wouldn’t return home until sunrise. It was a wonder she hadn’t gotten picked up by the police yet! Maia had no idea what Natalie was up to, but suspected it had something to do with this Cale person that Natalie was always gushing about. That is, when she was actually home and not brooding sullenly. Maia had yelled and grounded Natalie many times, but it didn’t seem to matter. She’d just sneak out again.
Maia wanted answers. Perhaps it was time to contact the only investigator Maia knew... Natalie’s father. Even though he was no longer officially doing work involving Maia, Keith agreed to take the job, and called Maia when he had some information about Natalie’s activities. It hadn’t taken long. When Maia went to Keith’s to view the report, she had expected to see some sort of written timeline detailing where Natalie was and whom she was with, not the tabloid photos taken by paparazzi that Keith showed her.
“She’s going to bars and clubs? With an adult?? And shes... she’s...” Maia choked. “She’s being a teenager,” Keith said calmly. “She’s just rebelling a little.”
“That’s easy for you to say!’’ Maia retorted. “You’re not the one waiting for her to come home in one piece, all the while fearing the worst has happened!” “Well, at least I’m not the one out woohooing with random strangers and trying to get pregnant while deranged stalkers try to burn my house down with my kids in it!” Keith yelled back.
“That didn’t seem to matter much when you were one of those random strangers! And you can just shut the hell up! You don’t know anything about my life or what I’ve been through!” “I know more than you think,” Keith said evenly. “Some are things that I suspect you didn’t even know yourself, but your buddy Steve Cupp sure did.” “What are you even talking about?” “After the fire, I searched Cupp’s house and found those.” Keith pointed to a folder full of papers on his desk.
“According to these papers, Maia Lee isn’t your real name, and your parents didn’t die when you were a child.” Keith paused. “And apparently, your deceased husband, Charlie Ray Buckshot, knew all about it.” Author's Note - <3
Before Kimberly aged up, Maia taught her all her toddler skills and read to her whenever possible. Kimmy was so smart and eager to learn.
She aged up to be a very logical and serious child.
Kimberly developed a fascination with astronomy, and would spend hours stargazing through the telescope. Maia knew her little ginger genius would do very well in school.
And speaking of school, it would soon be time for Erin and Cuddles to graduate. But first would come their prom, or at least that’s what Maia thought.
“But I don’t want to go to prom,” Erin told her. “Caramel is due to drop her foal any time now, and I’m not going to miss that miracle for a school dance!”
And she didn’t. On the night of prom, Caramel had her filly, Peanut. Peanut was the talk of the household the next day. Erin was so happy she’d been home to see the birth, and she and Cuddles happily spent the entire day with their horses.
Afterwards, baby Alisha aged up, and it was time for Maia to start teaching toddler skills all over again. Perhaps not too surprisingly, Alisha’s first word was Peanut, which is also what she called her IF doll. Of course, she called everything else Peanut, too.
Next, it was cake time for Natalie and Peaches.
And then Erin and Cuddles aged up to young adults, and it was time for another graduation.
They both graduated with highest honors, and Erin was named class valedictorian. Cuddles was voted Most Popular, and Erin was voted Most Likely to Become a Sports Star. Erin had a good laugh about that. Everyone in the family knew she and Cuddles had always loved horses, and that they were going to start their own horse breeding and training program someday.
But for now, Erin, Cuddles, and their horses were moving away to work for one of the best ranches in the town of Appaloosa Plains.
Maia wished both the girls well and hugged them goodbye. While it was hard to see another child and her IF friend go, Maia tried to look at the bright side. Now that her household had room again, it was time to pursue that flirtation with Aashif and see what came of that.
But it was not meant to be, at least not yet. Kimberly had made her IF, Cosmo, real.
And then Alisha aged up again,
And made her IF, Peanut, real too.
It was back to a full house for Maia. Sadly, Aashif would have to wait. But there was plenty to do in the meantime. For one, now was a good time to get a few more gigs in to save up some simoleons for when she had her next child.
Maia also taught both Natalie and Peaches to drive,
And helped them choose dresses for their high school prom.
Natalie was voted prom queen. Each of them had gone with a classmate from the neighborhood, and though they both had a good time, neither girl was very serious about the boy they went with.
But Natalie and Peaches were both still enthralled with the Simfests Starlight Shores put on. Maia was excited that the girls shared her love of the stage, and were thinking of making a career out of their interests. Peaches’ favorites were the acrobats.
Natalie generally preferred watching the singers...
Except for one particular fire dancer named Cale....
Though everyone had been shaken up by the fire, life returned to almost normal. David was still more reserved than usual, but having Buddy to lean on made him less brooding than he might otherwise have been. They started making plans for their life together after graduation, which was coming up soon. In the meantime, despite Aashif’s quick clean up of the house, the smell of smoke still lingered on Maia’s clothes. It was time for a new wardrobe, and that meant a call to Jesse Kerns, her personal stylist.
Besides helping her make some additions to her wardrobe, Maia was pretty sure he also helped her make another addition to her growing family.
Shortly before graduation, David and Buddy shared a birthday party.
Despite the difficulties David had faced, he still was named Class Valedictorian, and he and Buddy both graduated with Highest Honors.
When Maia questioned David about what he and Buddy planned on doing for work, David told her that he wanted to start over in a new town where no one knew him or who his father was, so he could lead a normal life without all the gossips and tabloids around. Twinbrook was looking for commercial fishermen, so the boys decided to move there together.
But before they did, David and Buddy had a private wedding ceremony on the bridge over the pond with only the family in attendance.
As much as Maia hated for them to leave, she wanted her son’s happiness more than anything, and she hoped he and Buddy would find it together in Twinbrook.
After David and Buddy moved out, Erin, Cuddles and Natalie aged up.
Maia taught both Erin and Cuddles to drive, although the girls ended up spending more time on horseback than they did behind the wheel.
Natalie loved going with Maia to Simfests, which was something none of her other kids had ever seemed very interested in.
Shortly after the girl’s birthdays, Maia welcomed two new members to the family. The first was her newest daughter, Kimberly.
And the second was Natalie’s IF, Peaches.
Since her house was already up filling fast, Maia hadn’t planned on looking for another man to father her next child just yet. But she ran into Terrence while running errands, and they ended up going out to dinner together... and then back to his place... and then, well...
It wasn’t too long before Maia was welcoming yet another daughter, Alisha, into her family.
Now that Maia had a houseful again, she could wait awhile until she had to go through the difficulty of finding the next baby daddy again.
But in the meantime, poor Aashif! Maia thought he must feel incredibly out of place in a house full of females, but he was so good with all of them. He assisted her with Alisha’s feedings
and some of Kimberly’s diaper changes.
He helped Erin with her homework,
pushed Peaches on the swings for hours,
and scolded Cuddles when she tried to get away with cutting class.
And when Natalie would run to him screaming about the monsters under her bed that were going to eat her,
Aashif would read her a cookbook until she fell asleep, showing her all the recipes monsters found far more delicious than little girls.
Aashif was more than just a protector; he was, well, like a real parent. Maia couldn’t help but wonder what a child of theirs might look like. Maybe she wouldn’t have to look so hard for the father of her next baby, after all.
