Chapter 4.3: Opposite in every way

With Michaela moving out, Alexis and Syd knew that Martyn was going to need a lot of help with two little boys. It wouldn’t be easy for him to become a single parent – and luckily he had a lot of family around him to help out.

Madden was the most adorable toddler when being cuddled and talked to.

To make things worse, the next day was Martyn’s birthday – he would become an adult. As Martyn blew out the candles, the family could see he was not coping. They were going to need to help him as much as he could, and show him that everything was going to be just fine.

It certainly didn't look like Martyn was holding it together...

While the grandparent’s were looking after Madden and Blaze, Indie decided to spend a nice relaxing day with her brother, to take his mind off things. It wasn’t as easy as she had first thought. They played a video game, but he just got angry, and went off to go for a run on the treadmill.

Working out was the only thing that took Martyn's mind off everything.

It was during this time that Alexis realised just what a handful Madden really was. She tried to take him to the potty – he was growing up fast and should have learnt by now – but it just resulted in him hitting her and throwing a tantrum. She couldn’t deal with it.

It wasn't something someone as old as Alexis could deal with.

Syd took over, but he just had the same problems. There was nothing they could do, he was a very badly behaved child.

Syd had never imagined a toddler could be so badly behaved.

Alexis realised the seriousness of it when Blaze started acting out later that day. The two brothers slept in the same room, and Alexis wondered if that was such a good idea. The family spent the day shifting Blaze’s furniture to another room, hoping they could save Blaze’s perfect nature in time.

If Blaze started behaving like Madden, the legacy would truly be over. There would be no hope.

Even his parents couldn’t do anything, Martyn was once again left to look after his troubled son. He sighed, there was nothing he could do. At this rate, he was considering putting him up for adoption. It was too stressful, he had just been divorced, he didn’t need this.

It came to a point where Madden would spend 99.9% of his time alone in his room. No one could be bothered.

They didn’t have a party for Blaze’s birthday, for obvious reasons. Martyn invited Michaela, it was her son’s birthday after all. She promised she would come, but she never showed up. It broke Martyn’s heart, his kids would most likely never see their mother again.

Martyn prayed silently that Blaze would grow up to be the opposite to his troubled brother.

Maybe it was a curse on generation five. The birthday cake went up in flames once again, and everyone was thrown into a panic – memories flashing through each of them. The fire alarm went off, and everyone began to calm down. The firemen arrived in no time.

The fire alarm saved the family this time.

It had taken two firemen, but the fire was put out with only a little damage down to the kitchen interior. No one was hurt, and that was the main thing.

Indie thanked one of the firefighters, Roy Burton. She was instantly attracted to him, and chatted to him for quite some time. Alexis smiled and left them to it, she knew deep down all Indie wanted to do was marry and have her own family.

Martyn watched his sister, knowing they'd be seeing a lot more of Rory.

Martyn’s wish had been granted. Blaze grew up into the perfect child. The complete opposite to his brother. He took an instant understanding to potty training and had completed the skill within the first two days of becoming a toddler.

Blaze had inherited his grandfather's deep red hair - fitting for his name.

Blaze was happy in his own room, away from his disruptive brother. He would happily sit for hours in his crib, keeping himself occupied by chatting away to his teddy bear.

Blaze was such a happy toddler - never crying or throwing a tantrum.

Indie invited Rory over for a date. He happily accepted. The two got on so well, and went on plenty of dates together. Indie was only a couple of guitar skill points away from achieving her lifetime want, and now that she was an adult she knew it was time she settled down.

Indie was so happy, she never thought she would find someone to be her boyfriend.

The two quickly became an item, and they found themselves in a serious relationship. Rory would stay over most nights, Indie had fallen deeply in love.

Indie and Rory were in love, and Indie couldn't wait to have children with him.

Blaze learnt his other skills in an instant, and Martyn planned to take him to the library the next day for him to learn extra skills. He knew it wasn’t ethical – but Blaze was his favourite child. He was perfect. Madden…was not.

Blaze loved to talk, and learned quickly. Martyn was planning him to take him to the library the next day.

In saying that, Martyn still loved Madden of course. It was time for him to transition into a child and Martyn spent a long time picking out the perfect birthday present – he just hoped Madden liked it. Martyn didn’t bother inviting Michaela – she’d had her chance.

Martyn had spent many hours searching for the perfect birthday gift.

The designer, customized teddy bear had not been enough. After growing up Madden insisted, no demanded, on a complete makeover of his bedroom and ensuite. Everything had to be yellow (Martyn could not argue with this). But they ended up spending more than $20,000 on the yellow furnishings. In the hopes that Madden would be happier, Martyn gave him everything he wanted. Including the 18 full length mirrors around the bedroom and bathroom.

They'd had to customize all the furniture, and fly it in from Riverview.

Madden would spend hours playing in the mirror. It came to a point where the family were questioning his sanity. But after a doctors checkup, he was declared ‘perfectly normal’.

Madden could spend hours looking in the mirror.

Madden could be the friendliest child some of the time, especially when talking about himself. He could talk about himself for hours without getting bored.

Madden was Madden's favourite topic.

On the other hand, he could complain all night and all day too. It was like he had multiple personalities. It seemed he hadn’t simply ‘grown out’ of his problems, things were only getting worse.

Martyn thanked his lucky stars he had Blaze. Blaze would have to be heir.

Madden would never clean the dishes himself - but he could complain about it until someone else would.

________________________________________________________________

Thanks for reading. There will be one more update before Xmas, and then there may not be for a week or so – not sure yet.

Will Madden become a nicer Sim? Will Blaze get to be heir? Will Indie move out of the legacy home and marry Rory? How long do Alexis and Syd have left? Find out next update.

Chapter 4.4: Moving in, growing up, moving out – - ->