Chapter Sixty → I'm reaching up towards the heavens but I'm holding onto hell, see facing her in heaven would be far worse than the devil himself

By the time Liberty got home from the park where she had been with Loretta, it was already very late. She hurried upstairs without a word to her parents as Tyrone watched Tommy pound away at his piano, the man had not moved from his spot behind the instrument all day. "We need to talk." Tyrone said to the other man's back.

"I don't want to talk." Tommy said sullenly as he continued to play, attempting to use Jazz music to drown out the conversation that he knew was coming.

"I'm sorry, did you hear me say 'your highness, would you do me the pleasure of speaking to me'?" Tyrone asked, hand on hip. "We need to talk, now."

Tommy sighed, hunching over his piano as he heard Tyrone move through the living room to sit, the soft sound his jeans made as he crossed his legs. It was such a gentle noise Tommy shouldn't have been able to hear it, but as it usually was with Tyrone, it was like everything was heightened. He could always hear him, feel him, pick up his scent from miles away. Tommy liked to pretend it was because of how head over heals he was for the other man, but he knew the truth, it was the little bit in him that was still a vampire, and he hated it.

"You didn't handle Liberty the best today." Tyrone said, resting one hand on the sofa he was sitting on, leaning on it slightly. He could always sit in such feminine ways and make it look easy, in tight jeans even, Tommy never understood how he could do that and still be comfortable. 

With a little defeated sigh, Tommy gave up on his music and got up, going over to flop on the adjacent sofa, leaning back on the arm. "No, i didn't." He admitted.

"Well, that's a start." Tyrone said, meaning the other man's admittance.  "Anything else?"

"Like what?" 

"Like perhaps you shouldn't have lumped all vampires into the same grouping as Darryl and his coven?" Tyrone offered, only to see Tommy roll his eyes. "Don't roll your eyes, you know you shouldn't have. You're not that small minded Tommy, i know you aren't. You weren't like him, were you?"

"I never had a chance to be." Tommy said gruffly.

"Okay fine, what about Gloria?" Tyrone asked of his step mother, the other man relenting slightly with a little shake of his head.

"You know she wasn't like him." Tyrone continued, his voice the only sound in the large room as night fell completely over the house. There was no sounds from above or below, it was like they were in a bubble, there wasn't even a ticking of a clock, not in this digital age. "And i know you wouldn't have been like him, one bad apple doesn't spoil the bunch." Tommy just swallowed thickly, not saying anything. "I think your own hatred, as righteous as it may be, is clouding your judgement. She's in love." He said, meaning Liberty. "You must remember what that's like." Tyrone smiled.

"That's insinuating i'm not still." Tommy said, speaking finally.

Tyrone smiled brightly, getting up from where he was and moving to sit on the sofa that Tommy was on, the man shifting his weight as Tyrone flopped back against him. "I know you are." He said as Tommy threaded their fingers together.

"Good."

"And just so you know." Tyrone said after a moment of comfortable silence. "Had the cure not worked, i still would have been here. We were in it for the long run, you and I."

Tommy just nodded, not saying anything, although right then it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders, his mind. Seemed that had always been a fear, pushing at the back of his thoughts. Had it been different, had he still been a vampire, would Tyrone have stayed? Seems he would have, and that knowledge alone made Tommy feel lighter.

The next morning, before anyone was awake, Liberty was already out of the house, zipping away on her scooter, really one of these days she'd get a damn car.

Most teenage girls spend their Saturday mornings in the mall or at the theater, Liberty, she spent her Saturday morning at the junk yard.

But there was art to be had, mostly because she was still very upset from the day before and burying her feelings in her art was her way of dealing.

She was just putting the finishing touches on a chair of all things, when Puzzle walked into her studio in his swim trunks, slightly damp, obviously having just come in from the pool. "Don't drip on the paintings." Was all Liberty said.

"I won't." Puzzle assured. "Listen, Libby, can we talk?" He asked.

"Sure." Was all Liberty said, looking off to the side, her eyes sad. That was one thing Puzzle loved about her, that even though her eyes were as black as oil they were still the most expressive eyes he'd ever seen. If anything, had she had normal eyes, it would have taken away from her expressiveness. "Listen, about yesterday...." He started out awkwardly.

"I didn't mean, i mean, i didn't wanna get you in trouble. I was jealous and sorta snapped out and i didn't mean too. I didn't know your dad would freak out like that, i don't even mind vampires all the much. I mean, what right do i have? I'm a reincarnated soul that was stuck inside of a child's toy, at least vampires weren't handed around to various babies in daycares like a teletubby shaped crack pipe from hell."

Liberty cracked a slight smile, chuckling, which in turn got Puzzle to relax a bit, smiling himself.

"All i mean, is i'm sorry, okay?" He said honestly. "Friends?"

"Friends." Liberty agreed, pulling the boy into a friendly hug.

Later that night, after a long day playing in the pool with her brother and Puzzle, Liberty was surprised to see her father walk into her bedroom while she was looking for her night clothes. "Can we talk?" Tommy asked, Liberty was really getting tired of that sentence.

The girl turned to face her father as the man looked off to the side, surveying the bright room. "What is it daddy?" She asked.

"I wanted to apologize about me flipping out yesterday, i shouldn't have blown up the way i did."

"Okay." Liberty said with a little nod.

"And i realize i shouldn't have said the things about your girlfriend that i did."

"It hurt." Liberty said plainly.

"I know, i shouldn't have said those things, but it was a shock and vampires and i have a sort of history..."

"I know." The teen cut in.

"You know?"

"Loretta told me about grandma and the cure, all vampires know the story apparently." Liberty said. "What i don't understand is why you didn't tell me? I'm old enough, i could handle it, you know i could handle it."

"It wasn't about if you could handle it, it was about if i could handle it."

"What do you mean?"

"Vampires, they're my biggest fear. What they are, what they do, what could happen if you get involved with one." Tommy said.

"I can take care of myself dad, i'm not a baby."

"I know." Tommy said with a gentle smile

"Please dad, please trust me that i know what i'm doing."

"I do." Tommy said with a nod. "I do." And maybe, one day, he's believe that he did.

Chapter Notes:

Not a long update i know, i considered posting more, but my meds make me drowsy and considering how many i take, be glad i managed to keep my eyes open to post this much lol. The teens ended up getting another prom like the day after i posted the last chapter, so yay, i got to do that. That will happen next update, as will Liberty aging up, marking the start of the 6th generation. Not to spoil anything, but i'm extremely happy with how Liberty and Loretta aged up, amazing. But then again, it's no secret how happy i've been with those two. I'll be posting another batch of character for download as well, including Tommy and Tyrone, so keep an eye out for that.

Chapter Fifty-Nine → Don't make me chase you, even doves have pride

The family's life went on pretty normally, Riker living in his own little fantasy world.

While Puzzle found his own playmates.

Tyrone on the other hand, had become a Jedi and could repair the dishwasher with the powers of his mind.

That was the last straw, it was time for some help.

Rolando was hired.

"So, do you actually need the monocle or are you just like super pretentious?"

"Hey dad, do you think you could like stop being crazy neurotic for a second and teach me how to drive?"

 And in the Benz no less, rock on.

Soon enough it was the boy's birthday, Riker was up first.

Riker grew into quite a goofy looking teenager.

Puzzle on the other hand, grew up pretty nice, Riker was obviously jealous.

Later that night, Tommy and Tyrone had their birthdays, without any big fuss.

Age agreed with Tommy.

It agreed with Tyrone as well, hey, what's Liberty doing up so damn late, get to bed child!

The next morning, the boys decided to hang out in the newly decorated room that the butler lived in.

While Liberty flexed her creative muscles.

Later than day, Liberty gave a call to her girlfriend, asking Loretta if she wanted to come over and hang out. It was a weekend so they could spend most of the day just goofing off if they wanted too, what the colorful sprite wasn't expected was to be turned down.

Not wanting to spend her entire Saturday at home, Liberty went out, trying not to let the fact that she was turned down for a date to bother her, only problem was, it did, it bothered her a lot.

It wasn't like Loretta hadn't been to her house before, the only difference now was that it wasn't a weekday so both her parents were home. But why should that get in the way of anything, her parents were sweetie pies.

After spending the afternoon brooding over all the 'whys' at the beach, Liberty decided just as the sun began to set, that she would head over to Loretta's place and demand an explanation, nothing would deter her from her righteous anger....

Well, almost nothing. Oh well, the best laid plans and all that.

As she headed home that night, trying to beat curfew, she decided that the next chance she got she would talk to Loretta about it, she and her lips could just shut up for a minute and listen to Libby.

As it turned out, no one noticed that Liberty made it home just slightly after curfew.

The following days went on normally, Liberty not really getting a chance to speak to Loretta between their hectic school schedule as well as their after school activities. 

Of course, there was always time to play.

There was also time to fire the butler, who made more mess than her was worth, and he never did laundry, the man was useless. Which of course, left the house with an empty bedroom again.

Liberty took to the room and in one afternoon used her epic powers of fashion and art to redesign the room for Puzzle.

"You did all this for me?" Puzzle asked when she showed him the room.

"It was nothing." Liberty waved off his thanks with a bright smile. "I can't imagine having to live in the same room with Riker." She said, poking fun at her brother.

"It's not nothing Libby." Puzzle said, taking a step forward toward her, which in turned caused her to take a step backward.

"Puzzle." The girl said seriously. "Um, i dunno what you thought, but i'm just your friend."

"Then why did you do this for me? Why have you always been nice to me?"

"Because i'm a nice person, it's what i do, i wanted to make you happy."

"You did." Puzzle said.

"And i'm glad, but that's all i wanted, all i'll ever want." She told him. "I'm with Loretta."

"You can't be serious about her, she's a vampire."

"That means nothing to me Puzzle, and it should mean nothing to you."

"Why?"

"Because it's my choice and none of your business." Liberty said plainly, not coming off rude or accusing, simply stating a fact. "I'm sorry." She said with a shake of her head before walking out of his room.

As she left, Liberty couldn't help but feel that there had been a slight power shift right then, and something told her, it wasn't in her favor.

The next morning, Liberty attempting to make breakfast, it didn't work out well. She might not be the best chief, but normally she was better than that. It had to be her mind, it was a swirl of worries. She was starting to have an inkling as to why Loretta wasn't willing to come around her house when her parents were home, if Puzzle's reaction to the girl's vampirism was any clue.

Once she had given up on the cooking, Liberty stuck her nose in a book, doing her best to ignore Puzzle's glare at her from where he stood after waking up later that morning. "Libby, your senior prom is coming up soon, are you going to go?" Tommy asked from the kitchen, oblivious to the two teens attempting to ignore one another.

"I dunno." Liberty muttered into her book.

"Don't have a date? Who did you go with to your last prom? Some girl right, what was her name?"

"Loretta." Puzzle said, unable to keep the bitter tone out of her voice.

"Puzzle!" She hissed at the boy.

"Loretta? I don't think i've met her, where do her parents work?" Tommy asked, noising into his daughter's life.

"Tommy." Tyrone said in a little warning tone, which implied that the other man was not to grill the girl on her love life.

"Um.. i dunno." Liberty muttered.

"Her parents are vampires." Puzzle said.

"Puzzle!!" Liberty snapped loudly, closing her book and glaring at the boy.

"What? They are, and so is she!" Puzzle snapped back.

"You're dating a vampire." Tommy asked in disbelief.

"Tommy." Tyrone said again in that tone that said for him to play nice.

"I don't wanna talk about it." Liberty said as she got up and attempted to walk away.

"No, wait a second, get your ass back here." Tommy said, stopping the teen from leaving.

"How come you didn't tell me that you were dating a vampire? How could you possibly be dating a vampire."

"Tommy." Tyrone said again from his seat at the table, Puzzle sticking his nose in a book because he really hadn't realized he would get her into that much trouble.

"I'm not just dating her."

"Oh Libby, don't tell me you're in love with it."

"She's not an it!!" Liberty shouted.

"You have no idea what vampires are capable of! They're murdering, evil, raping monsters!" Tommy shouted back, which got Tyrone to stand and shout for them both to 'stop it right now'. "I will not stop, she has no idea -"

"But I do!" Tyrone said to his husband firmly, which in turn did get Tommy to shut up for a moment.

But it was too late, the damage was done, words were said that could not be taking back. It took all of a second for Liberty to burst into tears and run to her room, Tommy sighing as she did.

"Smart." Tyrone said, sounding unimpressed. "Puzzle, go to your room." He snapped at the boy who was shocked at how much his little snip had snowballed out of control.

Liberty threw herself onto her bed, burying her head in her pillows, sobbing.

After crying for a good long while, Liberty got dressed quickly and headed out, managing not to alert her parents to her sneaking out of the back door. She was just about to grab her scooter when she noticed Loretta at the park near her house, forgoing the vehicle she headed over to where the other girl was.

"Hey!" Loretta smiled brightly as she greeted Liberty before her face sobered.

"What... what's wrong?" She asked her crying girlfriend.

Liberty just shook her head before falling into Loretta's arms.

"Libby?" The vampire said, her voice hitching in worry. "What's wrong?"

"How could he be so e-evil!?" Liberty sobbed against the other girl's shoulder, hiccuping slightly.

"Who?" Loretta asked, wondering exactly what could have happened that would get the other girl this upset. It took some coaxing, but eventually she got the entire story out of Liberty, Puzzle's misguided romantic feelings, Tommy's reaction to vampires, all of it.

As the sun began to set, Loretta finally managed to calm Liberty down to an even level.

"You know, it's not easy for your father, i'm sure." Loretta said, looking over at the other girl, the dulling light causing her eyes to glow brightly. 

"Why, because he's a racist?" Liberty said sullenly, Loretta just smirking.

"How could you possibly thing your father's a racist?" She asked, after all, it was no secret that the Talliway's had a long history of marrying out of their own race or in some cases, species, considering their fay connections.

"Well what am i suppose to think?"

"What if i told you, your father use to be one of us?" Loretta asked.

"I'd laugh."

"It's true." Loretta said. "He's not a pure bred, he's like me, half fay, half vampire."

"But he's... not a vampire." Liberty said, forgoing the word 'human' since technically he wasn't that either.

"It's well known in the underworld where the cure comes from."

"The cure?"

"For vampirism."

"Where does it come from?"

"Your house." Loretta stated plainly, the her lapsing into the story that was well known within the covens of both ancients and the fringe groups. The story of one little fay with the muddy blood of a human running through her veins, spending her entire life digging through the most dangerous of magics to get her revenge on the vampire that wronged her. But more importantly, to save her children from being taken from her, twisted and turned into predators, into something lower on the food chain than any real vampire would ever let themselves be. Into parasites that feed off the weak, the young and the wounded. "She was your grandmother." Loretta finished.

"So dad, and Aunt Trista...."

"Were vampires, born and raised."

"Why didn't he tell me?" Liberty asked, not really expecting Loretta to have the answer but needed to ask it anyway.

"The way i see it." Loretta said as she scooted closer to Liberty, taking her hand into her own as Libby tossed an arm around her. "It's not an easy thing to talk about, it's unclear to those out side of the family what happened in the house that night. But when she was found, beaten, there was a pile of ash next to her. We can only assume she got her revenge, weeks later the cure was sold wide spread and in the end, she got her last wish, she saved her children."

Liberty swallowed thickly, it was like she had just tried to dry swallow a big pill, her throat closing up. "No wonder he hates vampires." She said softly.

"I'm willing." Loretta said rather randomly.

"What?"

"I'm willing to change." Loretta clarified. "For you."

Liberty smiled gently at her girlfriend, a hint of sadness to it. "I don't want you too."

"But -"

"Don't change, not now, not ever." Liberty said before pulling the other girl into a heated kiss.

Not ever, she thought.

Chapter Notes:

Whew, caught up to where i am in my game. I'd be even farther had i not gotten side tracked by a clean hood i started playing in to see if i could fix a glitch that keeps happening in CAS when anyone (aka my niece & mother) attempts to start a new game. Suddenly the characters names go poof and the rest of menu becomes unclickable, it's started happening on my mother's brand spanking new laptop as well, so i'm assuming it has something to do with either the newest patch or the August store packs, because the new laptop literally has nothing else in it but Sims and those three store packs. I thought it had fixed when i cleared the caches and world files, but alas, nope. Back to the drawing board, just what i need, more reason for me to yank my hair out lol. Oh well, it's falling out on it's own anyway, stupid tumor. Also! Puzzle really did have a crush on Liberty, he kept getting wishes to have a first kiss with her, so of course that meant i got to turn him into an asshole in my story. There isn't another prom coming up in my game, that was again, just in the story, but i'm hoping another will happen soon so i don't have to pretend it happened just for the blog.