22 - Home Again

After Maia’s limo picked her up from the airport, she received a call from Natalie to come and visit her latest grandchild!  Maia went straight to Natalie and Cale’s home and eagerly welcomed granddaughter Haley Steen to the family.

    

   

After playing with the new baby for a few hours, Maia finally returned home.

Kimberly was the first to see her arrive, as she was outside gazing through her telescope again.

Kimberly chatted excitedly to Maia about some of the new stars she had found in the galaxy, some of which she called sister stars.  Maia was suddenly reminded of the prophecy, and asked her daughter if she had ever heard of stars called the Seven Sisters.

   

   

“Yup, the Pleiades are also sometimes called the Seven Sisters,” Kimberly answered immediately. “It’s a star cluster in the constellation of Taurus.  It has nine very bright stars in it that you can see without a telescope, and they’re named after seven mythological sisters and their parents.  The oldest of the seven sisters is named Maia, just like you, Mom.  Isn’t that neat?”  Without waiting for a response, Kimberly continued chattering about the Pleiades, and rattled off the names off the other stars in the group.

   

   

Maia was stunned.  Was it just a coincidence that matched the prophecy, or was it another piece of the puzzle?

But she was too exhausted from her travels and all the recent revelations to be able to think coherently anymore.  After saying goodnight to Kimberly, Maia went inside to get some much needed rest, especially since tomorrow was Kimberly and Cosmo’s birthdays.

Kimberly returned to her telescope to do some more research.  But suddenly she felt a presence behind her.

   

   

“I’m Asewuk To’Vedachot, and I come in pieces,” a voice said.

Kimberly whirled around, and found herself standing face to face with an alien!  She had been searching the galaxy her entire life for extraterrestrials, and now here was an alien standing in her very own yard!  She had so many questions.  But...

“Wait... whaaaat??  Don’t you mean you come in peace?”

“That, too.  But also in pieces, you see?”  Asewuk turned to point to his spacecraft, which was indeed in pieces, then promptly tripped over the low fence that bordered the driveway.

“Yes, I see,” Kimberly said, trying to hide a smile from the clumsy alien.

Clumsy though he was, there was nothing wrong with Asewuk’s mind.  He was brilliant, and he and Kimberly hit it off right away. The longer she stared into his eyes, the more Kimberly was fascinated by him and wanted to know everything about Asewuk and his home world.

   

    

They spent the night pondering the mysteries of the universe under the slow sweep of stars.

   

   

But one thing was no mystery. Before morning, it was as clear as the sky above them that there was no one else in the universe for either one.

   

   

Kimberly asked Asewuk to move in, and when morning finally arrived, he was there cheering with the rest of the family as they celebrated Kimberly’s birthday.  It was the happiest birthday Kimberly ever had.

   

   

And Asewuk seemed pleased with how Kimberly aged up.

   

    

Then it was Cosmo’s turn.

   

    

She was mostly happy that she aged up so that she could graduate and become a self-employed inventor, since there was a very special project that she was working on in the garage.

   

    

The next day was graduation for Kimberly and Cosmo, who both graduated with highest honors, and Kimberly was named Valedictorian.

   

    

It was also Prom night for Alisha and Peanut.

   

   

Alisha was voted Prom Queen, although she later got into a fight with another girl who had the nerve to wear the same prom dress.

   

   

While Alisha and Peanut were both at prom, Cosmo completed her master invention.

   

    

And fell in love at first sight.

   

She and her Simbot creation, Clank, decided to take a trip in Cosmo’s time machine, to see what their future looked like.

   

    

Apparently, they liked what they saw, because they decided to wed immediately.  In the garage.

   

   

The next morning, Asewuk went to work for the first time, as a private investigator. He tried to be as unobtrusive as possible while digging through garbage cans for clues.

   

    

Kimberly also got a job, working at the science facility.

   

   

Meanwhile, back at the Lee home, Cosmo wasn’t feeling so well.  Time travel was definitely dangerous!

   

    

But it also resulted in the birth of Maia’s honorary grandson, Carson.

   

    

And speaking of birthdays, it was time for Alisha and Peanut to age up.

   

   

   

   

   

  

   

    

Both girls graduated shortly afterwards, and Peanut was named class valedictorian.

   

    

Alisha got a call the next day with an amazing job offer.  The spa she worked for throughout high school was branching out and had opened a new resort in Sunlit Tides and they wanted her to work as a masseuse for them there. Alisha was ecstatic to be able to travel to such a beautiful place, especially since her best friend Peanut decided to go with her.  Everyone knew that Peanut would easily find work as a chef and soon be serving the finest island cuisine.

   

    

After they moved out, Cosmo and Clank decided it was time for them to find a new home for themselves and little Carson as well.

   

    

Kimberly and Asewuk had planned to move out also, but then Kimberly had to take a leave of absence from work.

   

    

Asewuk was looking forward to hearing the pitter-patter of little feet.

   

   

Before the baby was born, he and Kimberly decided to get married at the beach.

   

   

It was a private wedding, but all the stars were in attendance.

   

    

And by the next morning, Kimberly had the baby.  Welcome grandchild number six, Cassiopeia To’Vedachot!

   

    

Maia was thrilled to have another child in the nursery.  Everything had been so crazy that she hadn’t had a chance to try for another baby of her own with Aashif.  But now that things had settled down, at last it was time to try again.

   

   

While she was waiting to see if she had become pregnant, Maia started teaching Cassie her toddler skills.  Her granddaughter seemed a little clumsier than most toddlers, but she was smart like both her parents and as cute as a button.

   

   

Finally, the day came when Maia knew for certain that she was pregnant once again.

   

   

And now that Cassie was a little older and Kimberly had returned to work, she and Asewuk felt it was time for them to move out, too.

   

    

After living in such a full household for so long, it was strange for Maia to be living with only Aashif, but she had never felt so pampered or more relaxed. And as the days went by, Maia’s belly grew and grew, until she became convinced that she must be having twins!

   

   

Finally the day arrived and Maia had the babies.  She had never been so excited to make the trip home from the hospital, even if it was pouring rain.  She had the most exciting news to tell Aashif.

   

   

As they stood in the nursery together, looking at their sweet newborn sons, Maia said, “Aashif, we definitely need to get another crib!”