Avery Legacy - Chapter 127 - Having it All

Cephei Byall and Marcus Lillard had gone off to college and moved into private housing. They were in love. Too much so really. They both wanted to take their relationship to the next level but feared the possible repercussions.

Cuddling just wasn't enough for Marcus so he made a decision. He would make a vow. With a ring of gold he would promise Cephei that he would always be there for her no matter what. He would love her and cherish her. They would be married after graduation. If something did happen, and she found herself pregnant, then they would marry sooner. He loved her. He wanted her to be his always. For better or worse. Cephei had no hesitation about becoming engaged to Marcus. She too wanted more than cuddling. That night things heated up in their little house.

Cephei and Marcus had studied up on contraception. They thought they knew what they were doing. They thought that Cephei couldn't possibly become pregnant. They hadn't even made it to midterms during their very first semester when Cephei began to suspect that they were wrong. Could she be pregnant? What would Marcus say if she was?

Cephei took a little test and found that she was indeed pregnant. It had probably happened on that very first night, during their very first time. She was excited at the prospect of becoming a mother (as any family sim would be) but she was also worried about what Marcus would say. She knew how badly he wanted a college degree. Knowledge was his life after all. Would he really be willing to give it all up and move back to Eden Falls?

The next morning Cephei broke the news to Marcus. Thinking about dropping out of school if Cephei became pregnant was one thing. Doing it was something else entirely. Marcus didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay and get his degree. He wanted to make Cephei is wife. He wanted to be a good father to his child. In short, Marcus wanted it all. He just didn't know if it was possible.

After a long discussion, Marcus and Cephei decided that it was possible. Why drop out of school? There were plenty of young parents that managed both school and family. They were married in a private civil ceremony. Afterwards they invited their respective parents over to tell them the news. Neither set of parents were overly happy but they were supportive. They promised to do whatever it took to help the young couple stay in school and raise their baby.

By the time their first semester ended, Cephei was in advanced pregnancy. The truth is, she was due any time. That hadn't stopped her from studying hard and completing her first semester with perfect grades.

She quickly began preparing for the next semester. She wasn't sure that she would be able to attend classes so she did her best to get ahead.

Early one morning, Marcus awoke to find Cephei in labor. He rushed her to the hospital where she gave birth to his son.

A few days later, Braiden Lillard was brought home. Cephei thought that he must be the loveliest baby she had ever seen. He had all of his fathers feature except his eyes. He had inherited his grandmother Meredith's brown eyes. (Braiden was named in honor of his grandfather Aiden Avery BTW. Not even an elder and already a grandpa.)

Life was hard after the baby was born. Late night studying and midnight diaper changes don't seem to work well together. Both mom and dad stayed tired all the time. They knew that things would eventually get better though. Somehow they would manage to get it all done.

Towards the end of their freshman year things did get better. They had finally gotten Braiden into a schedule that worked well for them. They both did their studying while Braiden took his nap. Cephei went to class in the morning. Marcus in the afternoon. Things just started to click into place. Of course the ease of infancy would soon give way to the chaos of toddlerhood.

Yes Braiden was soon a toddler. He is a Gemini with 1 neat, 8 outgoing, 10 active, 4 playful & 9 nice. He looks a lot like his father but his jaw line is not as prominent.

Marcus and Cephei took turns caring for Braiden. Marcus taught him to talk. Cephei taught him to walk. Sleep deprivation became the norm but even in their constantly drowsy state, mom and dad were very happy. In fact, they had never been happier.

Grandparents came by from time to time to visit with little Braiden. Braiden had an interesting life as a college baby. Not every child grows up under the watchful eyes of the cheerleaders and mascots. Life was hectic but good. Marcus and Cephei had somehow managed to keep their grades perfect. It's a good thing too. Formula and nannies aren't cheap and there was no way that either of them could fit in a job with everything else they had going on in their lives.

Soon Braiden was a child. He was a handsome lad that was well known around campus.

Unfortunately the school bus didn't drive all the way to campus to pick up kids. So Marcus bought a used clunker and drove his son to school each morning just as Cephei left for class.

Luckily they had managed to arrange for someone to drop Braiden off in the afternoon and had managed to find a nanny to stay with him for an hour or so until they got home. Braiden was a happy child even though there weren't many kids his own age to play with. He would occasionally bring a cousin home from school with him. Otherwise he just played chess with the college students. Needless to say he acted very mature for his age.

Before long, Braiden was no longer a child at all. He was now a teenager. He got his license and began driving himself to school each morning. He loved his family and couldn't wait to have a family of his own someday.

Soon that thought was crossing his mind with every girl he met. He had a whole campus full of women to sort through but eventually he knew that fate would bring the perfect woman to his doorstep.

With graduation only a few months away, Cephei got a big surprise. She found out that she was pregnant again. It was quite a shock. Luckily she knew that she would graduate before this child was born. She wasn't however looking forward to trying to study for finals with swollen feet.

But somehow she managed to study. Marcus helped her out a lot. Both she and Marcus finally graduated with perfect grades. It was time to head back to Eden Falls at long last.

But first they saw their baby boy grow into a man. Braiden enrolled in school just as his parents graduated.

Marcus spun into a swirl of confetty and a really bad outfit. He headed off to Eden Falls to buy the family their first official home.

Cephei gave her baby boy one last hug. She couldn't believe that he had gotten so big so quickly. (It seemed strange to her controller that she would be standing here for this instant the same age as her own son. BTW, notice young Royce doing research in the background. This was pre-shopping trip.)

Cephei called a cab to take her home. She would deliver her baby in Eden Falls. If she had managed to raise one son while getting her degree, she knew that she could raise this child easily while still becoming a working woman.

Marcus met Cephei by the curb. He had his wife and the love of his life in his arms. All was right with the world.

(I installed a new hack to allow for risky woohoo. I mainly wanted to use this in Pleasantview and my other neighborhoods. I didn't realize at first that a young adult in college could get pregnant. I figured out how to set them up on birth control which was suppose to reduce the risk of pregnancy to 2%. They got pregnant their first 'safe' woohoo. If I had realized how badly the aging would be thrown off I might have dropped them out of school and moved them back home. The main thing I learned from this experiment was that COLLEGE IS TO DARN LONG. Braiden was never aged early at any period. He was born when Cephei was still a freshman and he was half way through his teen years when she graduated. I aged him to a ya just to keep from having any problems crop up. Braiden will probably sit in college for a while to let some of the other kids catch up with him. He is a generation 4 sim and I'll be darned if I'll let him produce a generation 5 sim before I finish making generation 3 sims. As to whether or not I'll keep this hack around, I just don't know. In some ways I like it. In others I don't. For now I'm keeping it. At least it keeps life interesting.)