Adam and Alice manage to get away from the house for a bit while her parents are busy in the cellars. They spent some time swimming at the pool until a crowd arrives with lots of noise and splashing. They are hungry and decide to leave and eat at the diner. They were just leaving after a great meal and trying to decide where to go next when Adam gets a call. "It's your Dad. I'm to meet him at the gym now for more lessons."
Alice thinks about it and tells Adam, "I'm going to run an errand and will head to the gym and workout a bit."
Adam gives her a quick kiss and heads to the gym.
Victor has Adam work with the training dummy and then shows him how to break boards. Adam practices that for a bit and eventually earns his new belt.
Alice decides she got enough exercise swimming and relaxes in a mudbath.
Victor with his vampire abilities in skilling has advanced rapidly in the Martial Arts.
Victor finally lets Adam go and Adam quickly texts Alice to meet him in the hot tub. (sorry for the bad picture, the room is tight and was hard to get a good shot) Curfew is getting closer and they reluctantly get out of the hot tub. Adam is thinking of Alice and Alice is thinking about both of them. (I don't usually see double thought bubbles)
They head back to the house before curfew. Alice heads to bed and falls asleep dreaming of Adam. Adam has some studying to do in the book that Alice gave him. He wants to try to read for at least an hour a day. He eventually falls asleep dreaming of Alice.
@bekkasan , The kids playing blocks and the pillow fight, nice bonding going on.
**I really can't wait to see who Autumn's mate is!
**Yeah, I hope she can find him easily now with all the help from Victor and Gardenia..
**very nice start on Adam's portrait.
**Adam is going to be great in MA by the time Victor is done with him!
**great shot of Victor breaking the boards!!
**that double thought bubble is great...
**sweet dreams of each other...
@Charlottesmom Thanks for the comments. I forgot that Victor would level so quick and now when they spar he beats the tar out of poor Adam. I've got Adam leveling and I won't let Victor do any more until they are same level again.
I've been cleaning up my screenshot folders and this update is mostly random shots of the Ballan family that I did not want to delete, but, are random and not storyline specific. I do hope y'all enjoy them.
Alice serenades Adam.
Working on cooking skill fixing breakfast.
Alice decided to learn to paint.
Dylan still loves to ride Draggy
Dylan is discovering the homework woes like his brothers and sisters, but, he usually chooses to do it outside.
Gardenia occasionally gets the option to revive plants now.
Gardenia had a wish to chat with a were. Pretty easy to give her that one, except having to pry Adam away from Alice
Ghost story
Cute faces while hearing the ghost story
Victor invited Gardenia to join him in the hot tub. She was in with the babies. When she arrived she got so excited and made all kinds of noises, pumping her arms. Do you think she was happy to see him?
Yup, I think she was happy to see him.
Got to take a breath every now and then even if you are a vampire and don't breathe.
Innocent romancing.
@bekkasan , Wonderful pictures!! I love seeing behind the scenes stuff that has little or nothing to do with the story. I love the mushroom table and chairs! The ones of Victor in the hot tub and Gardenia getting all excited to see him, then them having a bit of fun, too cute! The kids watching the ghost story is cute too, I love the reactions to ghost stories.
The light was just breaking when Autumn picked up her bag, hooked it to her cycle and headed out of town. She planned to use the teleportation portals as she did not have too far to go and her cycle would transport with her. Her nerves were taut and it would not take much for her to turn back and cower in her room. At the same time, she was also excited and kept praying that the fates have been kind to her.
Early the next morning after a brief rest at the last portal she arrived on the island that was pinpointed by Victor and Gardenia. She had heard Barnacle Bay was a seafaring little town with a history of piracy. She rented a small house through the vampire community rentals that had a convenient lair built underground. The rest of the house is a bit on the rustic, tacky side and she has no plans to stay long so will not fix it up. Her unsettled feeling seemed to increase after arriving on the island. This must be the place she thought.
Autumn decided to tour the town first and learn some of the area so she could make a systematic search. She had a couple of brochures about Barnacle Bay that had been left by the realtor. She quickly read through them and decided where to head out to first. She gets on her cycle and heads to the shipwrecked restaurant that she just read about. Her lifemate may not be there, but, it will be an interesting site to see and get a few pictures for her portfolio. She is fascinated with the ship restaurant and makes plans to come back later for a meal. She gets a few pictures of the ship and of an interesting sculpture. It is early for dinner but several people are in the area. She introduces herself to a few. There are no hearts or flutters from any of these so she picks out her next spot and moves on.
She visits a spot high on the cliff and can just imagine what it must have been like for pirates navigating through the small islands and cliffs to seek sanctuary in Barnacle Bay. Garden of the Forgotten is behind her and Autumn wonders what this spot was back in those days. It is a very pretty setting now.
Pirates Hideaway is next on the list and Autumn finds the steps leading down into the hideaway. It is very dark inside, but with her enhanced eyesight she quickly finds her way through the maze into the treasure room. She opens the chest and finds a stuffed dinosaur, a toy truck, a much loved sheep and a rocket ship. Lovely treasure for a child pirate. She places the items back in the chest before leaving.
Autumn finds that she is getting too warm with the island heat. It is getting too late in the day to use one of Gardenia's sunshine potions. She decides to find someplace indoors to search and decides to visit the art gallery. Surely her lifemate will be interested in art and perhaps she will find him there. She finds an interesting man, but no flutters or hearts. She wanders through the gallery and finds an easel and decides to paint until sunset.
Sunset arrives late on this island and as it approaches Autumn heads to the gym for a workout. She jogs around the building a few times and then heads inside to check out the people. Surely her lifemate will be athletic. She works out on the yoga mat while checking out the members. She meets a few of the members and doesn't get hearts or flutters. She is a bit thirsty so she drinks a little from one healthy looking fellow.
Night approaches and Autumn decides to check out the local cemetery. She wanders through the mausoleum and down into the catacombs, finding a mysterious Mr Gnome while down there, but, no lifemate. Autumn heads back to her rental and decides to paint awhile to unwind before heading down into the lair for sleep.
Autumn slept until very late in the morning. She woke up feeling refreshed and ready to start the search again. She looks over the brochures and the map of town and decides to head to the newly renovated spa. Surely my lifemate likes the finer things in life she thought to herself. The spa looks very luxurious and she decides to have a revitalizing mud bath while waiting to see who shows up. The lady that did show up laughs at her (no hearts or flutters from her for sure) and warns her about swimming in the ocean. Apparently there are some nasty currents because of the small islands and cliffs surrounding the larger island. She did not get any hearts or flutters from Odessa Cross, but, did get a nice, relaxing deep tissue massage from her. Her last stop at the spa was the new outdoor bar. She told the bartender to surprise her and ends up with a drink called the hemoglobin shooter. Autumn wonders how the bartender knew she was a vampire? She sips it slowly watching the towns people as they arrive at the spa and she does not feel flutters or hearts from anyone.
After finishing the drink she heads over to the shipwrecked restaurant and has a lovely meal choosing the freshly caught tuna with wild rice. After finishing her meal she steps outside to a beautiful sunset. She introduces herself to several townspeople on the beach, but again, no hearts no flutters. ,
Autumn wanders up a cliff and watches as the sky changes colors and the stars flicker into life in the night sky. She knows in her heart this is the right place to find her mate. Her heart feels that tug that somewhere nearby her lifemate awaits her. She can't follow a feeling like a bloodhound to the scent, but, oh, how she wishes she could. She has waited so long for this to happen and as terrified as she is about who the fates have picked for her, she does not want to wait any longer. She stays on the cliff for hours standing motionless watching the night sky thinking and praying to the fates.
Autumn had watched the sun go down, and kept her eyes on the stars in the sky most of the night. She finally returns home, slept a few hours, awakens suddenly and unable to go back to sleep she teleports across the island to watch the sun rise across the waters. The colors delight her artistic soul and she wishes she had her easel and could paint the morning sky. She takes a few pictures with her camera and will try to paint from memory later. Several others show up to watch the sunrise so Autumn heads to a secluded garden where she can be alone. She opens her mind to the world around her and will let the fates take her on her journey today.
For such a small island community Autumn thinks City Hall is an imposing building and looks out of place. She wonders if the mayor has delusions of grandeur and wants to be leader of the world to build such a building. She heads inside to find the list of residences and see if any names spark her senses. Not a single tingle was felt. The park nearby has several people enjoying the morning including the illustrious mayor of the town who is chatting with a staff member. Autumn is inspired to paint once again by the beauty around her, but no hearts or flutters felt. She is pulled further on down the road, stopping briefly at the theater to see what movies are playing.
She continues on stopping to look at books on a rack outside of the bookstore. She notices a handsome man who is watching her as she approaches.
Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, the world changes, her vision blurs, lights explode and shine brightly around her, her heart races, she hyperventilates, she feels as if she was just hit by a lightning bolt. Autumn thinks, wow, the fates certainly made sure she didn't miss him. Her vision slowly goes back to normal, her breathing settles, her heart still races nervously as she watches him rise and come towards her.
Not a word is spoken. They look in each others eyes. He reaches out and kisses her, mentally telling her. "You are mine." They break apart. Autumn takes a deep breath, she reaches out and kisses him, repeating the words mentally to him, "You are mine."
What the fates have joined will not be broken even unto death they are together.
Autumn and her lifemate look at each other with very contented smiles on their faces. Those smiles gradually fade as they both realize what just happened in broad daylight, in the middle of town, to two perfect strangers. They have gone from uncontrolled, passionate kissing to acute embarrassment in a matter of minutes. Autumn is still trembling from the intense feelings evoked by her lifemate. She wants to tear his clothes off and woohoo right here, right now but luckily, something stops them both from doing just that. She looks up at him and declares, "I came to Barnacle Bay looking for you. I did not expect this to happen, not like this. I don't even know your name. You don't even know my name."
He looks at her and he wants to hold her and reassure her, but, he knows if he touches her right now he will lose what little control he has left, and whisk her away, teleporting her to his rooms and spend the rest of the day and night loving her. He realizes she needs to slow down and take some time and get used to this joining, the idea of him and her together at last. He will give her some time, they have a lifetime ahead of them.
"I'm Rafe Sinclair" he tells her in a deep voice that resounds with confidence. "It is a delight to finally meet you and I want to hear the story of how you came here looking for me, not even knowing my name."
"I'm Autumn, Autumn Ballan. I will tell you the story of how I came to find you. I have so many questions for you and my thoughts are all jumbled right now. I'm not usually so scattered. I came looking for you, but, never actually pictured what would happen when we met. I didn't really expect such a passionate meeting."
"It is not unheard of when lifemates meet for passion to overwhelm them. Especially for lifemates who have been alone and searching for many, many years,'' Rafe tells her. "Let us walk to the shade in the park and you can tell me your story."
They sat in the park and Autumn told Rafe the story of flying home from China and sensing her lifemate along the way. She explained how her brother and sister-in-law helped to pinpoint the search area and how she arrived three days ago and had been searching the area since. Rafe tells her he had a dream last night about the book store and that it seemed important for him to be there today. "I'm glad I believe in dreams" Rafe tells her.
Autumn asks Rafe about himself and he tells her a bit of his story. "I've been in Barnacle Bay for several hundred years. I was a pirate back in the glory days of pirating. I plundered in the name of my homeland, raiding ships of our enemies and taking the treasures back home. I tired of the game and had enough treasures of my own to start fresh and Barnacle Bay appealed so I sailed here, beached my ship and this is been my home since. I still like the adventuress life and take several trips a year to explore new places."
It has been a long day for Autumn and Rafe and both are tired. Rafe takes her hands and tells her he will see her tomorrow. He does not kiss her goodbye as he knows he will not let her go if he does. He senses she is not ready to trust him completely and let him fully into her life yet. He waits until she teleports to her home and then he teleports to his ship. He stands on the deck of his ship and thinks about Autumn and marriage. He knows he is ready, he just has to convince her of it.
The next morning Autumn invites Rafe over for a special vampire breakfast. A rare O positive blend that they will both enjoy as they have that in common as their favorite. They toast each other and enjoy the liquid refreshment while they chat. Rafe senses that Autumn is not as nervous and seems calm in his presence this morning. He is a natural flirt and he tries his charms on her. She smiles back at him and even moves closer to him and he is delighted. "I want you to meet some friends of mine. Will you come to my home with me?"
Autumn nods yes and quickly showers and changes clothing before leaving with him.
They arrive at his home that he shares with two of his friends. (thank you @Charlottesmom, it is a beautifully built home.)
Autumn is very impressed with Rafe's home. "Your home is beautiful, you did a wonderful job with the design of the home and the landscaping compliments the home perfectly."
Rafe is please with her admiration. "I hope you will love it. This will be our home and I want you to make any changes that you wish. I have homes in several worlds and you will have a free hand decorating them."
They head inside and Rafe introduces Autumn as his lifemate to his friends Edgar Montagu and Arabella Fontaine. Rafe explains they have been friends for many years and that Edgar and Arabella visit many times during the year to enjoy the tropical climate. They live in Aurora Springs which is a very cold climate. Edgar and Arabella are not lifemates, but, live together until such time as the fates decide to join them to another.
Rafe and Autumn spend the day getting to know each other as they play chess and video games and cuddle in front of the fireplace. Autumn discovers that Rafe is adventurous as well as brave, he is charismatic, friendly and loves to flirt. He surprisingly loves pop music as she does. His favorite color is red, but he thinks she looks beautiful in her favorite color of aqua. He laughs a lot, but, at times when he thinks no one is looking he has a very sad look on his face. They sit on the deck and watch the colors change in the sky as the sun sets. They talk for hours and stop long enough to have some plasma juice before they head out to watch the stars.
Rafe tells her he has one more room to show her. He teleports her into his lair beneath his home. He has moved in a second slumber bed into the lair for her use. He explains, "I think it is important that we spend time together just as we did today, getting to know one another, feeling more comfortable around each other. I also think we need to develop the trust to slumber with each other as that is when we are the most vulnerable. Will you stay the night and sleep in my.....our lair?"
Autumn is surprised and thinks about whether she is ready for this step. She has enjoyed the day with Rafe, and they have much more in common then she originally thought. She really does not want to leave and go back to the rental by herself. She realizes she really does not want to leave Rafe. "I will stay and slumber with you," she tells him nervously, afraid she had taken too long to answer.
He nods and understands her hesitation. He knows he cannot touch her right now or he will not be able to stop himself, and he wants her to be 100% ready. They lie down side by side on the slabs and sleep the dead sleep.
Autumn wants to paint a portrait of Rafe. She asked Rafe and he agreed to pose for her and they port to her rental since her supplies are there. To their great surprise a ghost was in the house fixing waffles for breakfast! Rafe introduces himself to the ghost and finds out he is Mort Gauge, he died of starvation and used to own the home that his family rents out through the supernatural network. Autumn works on the portrait for a short time not wanting to keep Rafe posing too long.
Rafe asks her if she wants to see his ship and she does, so they port to the ship which is beached on a small island in the main inlet. Rafe loves showing off his ship and gives her the grand tour finishing up on the upper decks. The view is beautiful from up so high and she thinks she would love to put an easel up here to paint. He explains his current plan on renovating the ship and opening an exclusive casino. The work crew has a bonfire built for burning scrap and they enjoy the warmth of the fire. They cool off in the waters splashing each other and playing catch me if you can as they swim around. They dress and Rafe whispers flirty comments to her before whisking her off to her favorite restaurant for an evening meal.
Arriving back at the rental Autumn was planning on working on the portrait. Rafe suggested sitting outside and enjoying the moonlight. They watch the night skies viewing several meteors streak across the heavens. Rafe makes up a story that makes her laugh, about aliens who call the meteors with their powers and even kidnap and test and torture their victims who if they are lucky are eventually returned to the world with their memories partially wiped with only vague ideas of what happened during their lost time.
Autumn realizes that she is feeling completely relaxed with Rafe, as if she has known him forever. She never thought she would feel this comfortable sitting this close to another vampire that wasn't her family. Her worries and fears about being joined with a vampire are gone. Rafe is not just a vampire, he is her mate and he is her family.
Autumn stands up pulling Rafe into an embrace that surprises and delights him as he is thinking about kissing her. The embrace leads to passionate kissing. Rafe and Autumn have both reach the point of no return. Autumn takes Rafe's hands and teleports them below. They collapse on the loveseat kissing again. They stand. Rafe looks into her eyes and smiles and Autumn smiles back at him and nods. They kiss as they make their way over to bed, shedding clothes as they go. They fall asleep in each others arms feeling that love that they had both searched for during the centuries.
Autumn awakens feeling nibbles on her neck. She slowly opens her eyes and Rafe is grinning at her. "You are awake now" he laughingly teases her. He kisses her softly, cuddling and enjoying waking up with his lifemate. The kisses grow more passionate until they are diving back under the covers and loving each other thoroughly. They spend hours in the bed discovering each others passion, laughing and talking and sleeping as well as frequent good old fashioned woohoo. They finally crawl out of bed, shower, yup together, and face the day as joined lifemates in the truest meaning.
Autumn decides that one of the best parts of having a lifemate is the awesome massages he gives. It is mid afternoon and they sit at the table and drink some plasma juice discussing their plans. Rafe has a bit of business to take care of and they can meet after that to head to a party being given by some locals. The plans are agreeable to Autumn, she will work on his portrait and think about those gorgeous muscles of his.
Rafe and Autumn meet up at the party location. She meets a few of his friends and after an hour or so Rafe tells her he is hungry and since they are all dressed up they head to the Bistro. It is such a beautiful night they eat outside. After they finish their meals Rafe holds her by the waist and tells her "You are so beautiful and I am the luckiest man in the world." He kisses her softly and takes her hand. "I want to show you what I bought today. It has potential, at least I hope it does."
Rafe teleports her into a small bar. It is closed and dusty with disuse. He shows her around and tells her how he would like to renovate it. I don't want it upscale. I want it to be a fun place for the family and neighbors to have a nice night out. He takes her upstairs and she spots the ping pong tables. She runs back downstairs and collects some juice and cups and shows Rafe how to play juice pong. Autumn wins and struts around the room.
Rafe takes her by the hand and pulls her into the photo booth. What happens in the photo booth stays in the photobooth.
Rafe tries his hand at the claw machine and loses several times before snagging a genie teddy bear for Autumn.
Autumns phone rings and she checks out the ID. Oops, it is her brother Victor. She kinda forgot to check in with him these last few days. She answers and yup, yada, yada, yada he and Gardenia have been worried, yada, yada, why hasn't she called or answered her phone before now. Autumn shuts him up by reminding him what it was like when he met Gardenia. No one else in the world existed except for Gardenia.
Gardenia grabs the phone away from Victor and starts asking questions, What is his name? what is he like? what does he do? Is he a vampire? Is he good looking? Have you slept with him yet? Autumn can't even answer the first question before Gardenia rapid fire spits out the next ones. Luckily Autumn loves her sister in law and just laughs at her questions and fires back "His name is Rafe, he is fun and gorgeous and muscular and sexy, he is an adventurer, and yes, he is a vampire and yes, I did and yes, he is awesome to the one nosy question you didn't ask."
Victor grabs the phone back and tells Autumn to bring him home to meet the family. They would come there, but, it is too difficult to travel with the new babies. "I'm happy for you sister and I love you, bring him to meet us."
Autumn finds a tear running down her cheek and swipes it away "I love you too brother and I'm happy for me too. I will talk with Rafe and we will be there soon."
Autumn looks at Rafe and wants to know, "Are you ready to meet the family?" He wraps his arms around her and tells her "yes, I will come with you and meet the family. I will need to have Edgar handle a few things while I am gone. I will talk with him after he rises and we can leave after that." They teleport back to the manor and sleep nestled together in his bed.
The next afternoon Rafe and Autumn were just getting up when Arabella sneaks in the room scaring Rafe and heckling Autumn. Rafe has known Arabella a long time and barely puts up with her evil craziness. He yells at her and leaves the room as he needs some plasma juice. Autumn takes one look at Arabella and lets her have it. "I don't care how long you have been friends with Rafe. He is mine now and you will not come walking in this room ever again without knocking. You will not sneak up on us. You will not even look cross eyed at me. I will not put up with this kind of behavior from you or anyone. Do you understand me?"
Arabella just pouts and whines "I just wanted to have some fun."
Autumn looks at her and shakes her head "What are you.....12?" Autumn bares her fangs at Arabella and reminds her "never again, is that understood?"
"Fine", Arabella mumbles and leaves the room.
Autumn dresses and heads to the kitchen for her plasma juice. Rafe is still not dressed and she teases him enjoying his muscles so clearly on view. They flirt back and forth and walk outside to the garden after Rafe gets dressed. Rafe is hiding something behind his back and he suddenly presents Autumn with a lovely bouquet of flowers. "I love yellow roses, how did you know?" she asks. Rafe just smiles mysteriously not wanting to tell her he read her mind. Autumn tells Rafe she is going to check the rental one more time for anything she may have left behind. Rafe tells her he will meet her in town at the bookstore and then they will start the teleportation to Midnight Hollow.
I just caught up on all your posts since Autumn and Rafe's first meeting. I love how their story unfolded, and enjoyed seeing all the various locations in Barnacle Bay they visited. @Charlottesmom 's mansion looks great in your game - it's a perfect home for a vampire!
And you managed to catch a woohoo foot picture!
@PalmArrow Thank you for reading and commenting! I love her build and it was perfect for Barnacle Bay out on that jetty. @Charlottesmom has given me a foot fetish trying to capture those pics now.
Rafe and Autumn meet up at the bookstore and spend a few minutes talking and cuddling on one of the benches. Autumn reassures him that he will love her family. Rafe wants to know "will they love me?"
She looks at him with love shining in her eyes, "of course they will. Victor will grill you about your past. He used to be with the council so he probably already knows about you, even though the two of you have never met."
Rafe nods, "I know your brother by his reputation. He was a formidable hunter and leading member of the council. Everyone was surprised when he retired from hunting as well as his council seat."
Autumn explains, "More than anything he wanted a normal life with Gardenia. She is a light witch and would have been unhappy with his hunting and killing however necessary it might have been."
Rafe smiles, "A normal life....or at least as normal as possible is what I want with you." He jumps up and takes her hand and they walk a few steps to the bookstore. "This is where my life started anew. I know it is not the most romantic setting, but, I will always love this spot in town as this is where I first saw you. I love you Autumn Ballan." Rafe drops to one knee, "Will you marry me, be my wife as well as my lifemate."
"Yes, yes, I will be your wife. This is the most romantic spot on the planet and the most romantic proposal ever." Autumn exclaims as she wipes a few tears away that are running down her face. Rafe slips the ring on her finger and wipes a few tears off his face as well.
Autumn admires her new ring and leaps up and into Rafe's arms, "The ring is so beautiful, you are so wonderful and I love you so much Rafe Sinclair." He spins her around holding her tightly and they kiss happily and passionately right on main street in front of the book store where it all began.
@bekkasan , I've been keeping up with your story on the main thread but leaving feedback for everyone has become too daunting.
**The gnome doing a handstand got me giggling!!
**I'm very glad you like the house! It was a fun build.
**Edgar looks a bit scary..
**Something is going on with Rafe, I wonder why he looks sad at times.
**The night pictures are pretty!!
**I guess sleeping on their coffin slab thingies like that is romantic if you are a vampire..I've never had one of my vampires use one, I think I just might now..
**The waffle loving ghost!
**Are you using the ship CL created way back when, I love parking it in the water in nearly every one of my saves.
**Awwwww!! So romantic!! The smooching, the woohooing, the cuddling!
**You got the feet!!!
**It almost looks like they are facing each other in the shower, but I know they are not.
**Rafe the business man, nice!
**LOL!! on the phone call from Victor and the ten billion questions from Gardenia!
**Autumn showing Arabella what's what! Good on her..
**Catching the feet in bed is the best type of foot fetish!
**I'm wondering if there is more to Victor and Rafe...
**Awwwww!! Too sweet, the proposal!
**They are gonna have tons of kids I can feel it!
@Charlottesmom I do thank you for your comments. Arabella is scarier than Edgar! He's just grumpy.
It is a shame no one ever figured out woohoo on those vampire slabs! But, they do get a moodlet from it, so I let my vamps use them occasionally.
Rafe does have a back story that has not been revealed that will come out in time.
Yes, that is CL's ship! I've had it forever in my downloaded stuff, but, never used it. It is perfect for Rafe's ship!
Thanks again for putting the house up. I totally love it and you do big rooms like I like.
Rafe and Autumn teleported safely to Midnight Hollow. It was dark by the time they arrived and Gardenia had left her little sports car at the outskirts of town for them to drive home, as she knew they would be tired from teleporting the distance from Barnacle Bay. They arrived at the house and Autumn takes Rafe's hands, "Are you sure you don't want to turn back?"
"No way, I'm looking forward to meeting them. From all you have told me I feel I know them already."
Victor sensing their arrival teleports Gardenia and himself to the entryway. He shakes Rafe's hand and welcomes him to their home. Gardenia welcomes him also and gives Autumn a hug. She invites them to sit and chat in the parlor.
Autumn tells the story of her search and how she found Rafe. Rafe takes up the story after they met and how the fates joined them and how instantaneous the bond was. Gardenia and Victor listen and both have their memories of how they were joined by the fates, but Gardenia took some time to convince to complete the bond. Victor can see the love in Autumns face when she looks at Rafe or talks about him. He notices that Rafe barely takes his eyes off Autumn, even when talking with him or Gardenia his eyes inevitably stray back to her. He wonders if he looked that besotted when courting Gardenia.
While the grownups were talking and getting to know each other, Alice and Adam are watching the stars. (They had been swinging when Rafe and Autumn arrived home, but, when I whisked the little kids off to bed, they most have decided it was safe to romance for a bit.) It was the night of the full moon and Adam had already changed to his werewolf form. "I will have to go out and hunt to get rid of this energy" he tells Alice.
"I know, I worry about you, please be careful." She kisses him softly, and then with more passion. (This is their first kiss with him as a werewolf!! Woot, woot) He responds and finally breaks off. "Wow, I really hate to go now, but, it will be cold shower time if I stay, since your Dad knows all, sees all and I don't want to die yet." He gives her a quick smile and turns and runs off into the woods.
The house is silent, everyone is finally asleep. Dawn arrives and awakens Adam where he fell asleep on the bench when he returned from hunting. He found two tiberium to add to the family coffers. The kids slowly show up in the dining room to eat breakfast before heading out for school. Victor and Gardenia awaken and take care of the hungry, messy babies. And Autumn, where is she this fine beautiful morning. She is in the bathroom throwing up that is where she is. Did she have some bad fish tacos?
(That was my mishap in sending her to another world. I did not change settings on the mods. I meant to import my settings from MH game, but was having so much fun....I forgot. So autonomous risky woohoo and try for a baby were options in the vacation world as default and guess who tried for a baby....not Autumn....RAFE!! The pregnancy was on hold while in vacation world and started progressing as soon as they landed in MH. My one rule is to go with the flow as best I can, so they will have the baby. Just a bit earlier than I had planned for them to have one.)
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The Training Continues
Adam and Alice manage to get away from the house for a bit while her parents are busy in the cellars. They spent some time swimming at the pool until a crowd arrives with lots of noise and splashing. They are hungry and decide to leave and eat at the diner. They were just leaving after a great meal and trying to decide where to go next when Adam gets a call. "It's your Dad. I'm to meet him at the gym now for more lessons."
Alice thinks about it and tells Adam, "I'm going to run an errand and will head to the gym and workout a bit."
Adam gives her a quick kiss and heads to the gym.
Victor has Adam work with the training dummy and then shows him how to break boards. Adam practices that for a bit and eventually earns his new belt.
Alice decides she got enough exercise swimming and relaxes in a mudbath.
Victor with his vampire abilities in skilling has advanced rapidly in the Martial Arts.
Victor finally lets Adam go and Adam quickly texts Alice to meet him in the hot tub. (sorry for the bad picture, the room is tight and was hard to get a good shot) Curfew is getting closer and they reluctantly get out of the hot tub. Adam is thinking of Alice and Alice is thinking about both of them. (I don't usually see double thought bubbles)
They head back to the house before curfew. Alice heads to bed and falls asleep dreaming of Adam. Adam has some studying to do in the book that Alice gave him. He wants to try to read for at least an hour a day. He eventually falls asleep dreaming of Alice.
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
*Fairy Jared and Vampire Connor*
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
**I really can't wait to see who Autumn's mate is!
**Yeah, I hope she can find him easily now with all the help from Victor and Gardenia..
**very nice start on Adam's portrait.
**Adam is going to be great in MA by the time Victor is done with him!
**great shot of Victor breaking the boards!!
**that double thought bubble is great...
**sweet dreams of each other...
**Wonderful updates!
*Fairy Jared and Vampire Connor*
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
I've been cleaning up my screenshot folders and this update is mostly random shots of the Ballan family that I did not want to delete, but, are random and not storyline specific. I do hope y'all enjoy them.
Alice serenades Adam.
Working on cooking skill fixing breakfast.
Alice decided to learn to paint.
Dylan still loves to ride Draggy
Dylan is discovering the homework woes like his brothers and sisters, but, he usually chooses to do it outside.
Gardenia occasionally gets the option to revive plants now.
Gardenia had a wish to chat with a were. Pretty easy to give her that one, except having to pry Adam away from Alice
Ghost story
Cute faces while hearing the ghost story
Victor invited Gardenia to join him in the hot tub. She was in with the babies. When she arrived she got so excited and made all kinds of noises, pumping her arms. Do you think she was happy to see him?
Yup, I think she was happy to see him.
Got to take a breath every now and then even if you are a vampire and don't breathe.
Innocent romancing.
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
*Fairy Jared and Vampire Connor*
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
Autumns Search
Part 1
The light was just breaking when Autumn picked up her bag, hooked it to her cycle and headed out of town. She planned to use the teleportation portals as she did not have too far to go and her cycle would transport with her. Her nerves were taut and it would not take much for her to turn back and cower in her room. At the same time, she was also excited and kept praying that the fates have been kind to her.
Early the next morning after a brief rest at the last portal she arrived on the island that was pinpointed by Victor and Gardenia. She had heard Barnacle Bay was a seafaring little town with a history of piracy. She rented a small house through the vampire community rentals that had a convenient lair built underground. The rest of the house is a bit on the rustic, tacky side and she has no plans to stay long so will not fix it up. Her unsettled feeling seemed to increase after arriving on the island. This must be the place she thought.
Autumn decided to tour the town first and learn some of the area so she could make a systematic search. She had a couple of brochures about Barnacle Bay that had been left by the realtor. She quickly read through them and decided where to head out to first. She gets on her cycle and heads to the shipwrecked restaurant that she just read about. Her lifemate may not be there, but, it will be an interesting site to see and get a few pictures for her portfolio. She is fascinated with the ship restaurant and makes plans to come back later for a meal. She gets a few pictures of the ship and of an interesting sculpture. It is early for dinner but several people are in the area. She introduces herself to a few. There are no hearts or flutters from any of these so she picks out her next spot and moves on.
She visits a spot high on the cliff and can just imagine what it must have been like for pirates navigating through the small islands and cliffs to seek sanctuary in Barnacle Bay. Garden of the Forgotten is behind her and Autumn wonders what this spot was back in those days. It is a very pretty setting now.
Pirates Hideaway is next on the list and Autumn finds the steps leading down into the hideaway. It is very dark inside, but with her enhanced eyesight she quickly finds her way through the maze into the treasure room. She opens the chest and finds a stuffed dinosaur, a toy truck, a much loved sheep and a rocket ship. Lovely treasure for a child pirate. She places the items back in the chest before leaving.
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
Autumn's Search
Part 2
Autumn finds that she is getting too warm with the island heat. It is getting too late in the day to use one of Gardenia's sunshine potions. She decides to find someplace indoors to search and decides to visit the art gallery. Surely her lifemate will be interested in art and perhaps she will find him there. She finds an interesting man, but no flutters or hearts. She wanders through the gallery and finds an easel and decides to paint until sunset.
Sunset arrives late on this island and as it approaches Autumn heads to the gym for a workout. She jogs around the building a few times and then heads inside to check out the people. Surely her lifemate will be athletic. She works out on the yoga mat while checking out the members. She meets a few of the members and doesn't get hearts or flutters. She is a bit thirsty so she drinks a little from one healthy looking fellow.
Night approaches and Autumn decides to check out the local cemetery. She wanders through the mausoleum and down into the catacombs, finding a mysterious Mr Gnome while down there, but, no lifemate. Autumn heads back to her rental and decides to paint awhile to unwind before heading down into the lair for sleep.
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
Autumn's Search
Part 3
Autumn slept until very late in the morning. She woke up feeling refreshed and ready to start the search again. She looks over the brochures and the map of town and decides to head to the newly renovated spa. Surely my lifemate likes the finer things in life she thought to herself. The spa looks very luxurious and she decides to have a revitalizing mud bath while waiting to see who shows up. The lady that did show up laughs at her (no hearts or flutters from her for sure) and warns her about swimming in the ocean. Apparently there are some nasty currents because of the small islands and cliffs surrounding the larger island. She did not get any hearts or flutters from Odessa Cross, but, did get a nice, relaxing deep tissue massage from her. Her last stop at the spa was the new outdoor bar. She told the bartender to surprise her and ends up with a drink called the hemoglobin shooter. Autumn wonders how the bartender knew she was a vampire? She sips it slowly watching the towns people as they arrive at the spa and she does not feel flutters or hearts from anyone.
After finishing the drink she heads over to the shipwrecked restaurant and has a lovely meal choosing the freshly caught tuna with wild rice. After finishing her meal she steps outside to a beautiful sunset. She introduces herself to several townspeople on the beach, but again, no hearts no flutters.
Autumn wanders up a cliff and watches as the sky changes colors and the stars flicker into life in the night sky. She knows in her heart this is the right place to find her mate. Her heart feels that tug that somewhere nearby her lifemate awaits her. She can't follow a feeling like a bloodhound to the scent, but, oh, how she wishes she could. She has waited so long for this to happen and as terrified as she is about who the fates have picked for her, she does not want to wait any longer. She stays on the cliff for hours standing motionless watching the night sky thinking and praying to the fates.
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
Autumn's Search
Part 4
Autumn had watched the sun go down, and kept her eyes on the stars in the sky most of the night. She finally returns home, slept a few hours, awakens suddenly and unable to go back to sleep she teleports across the island to watch the sun rise across the waters. The colors delight her artistic soul and she wishes she had her easel and could paint the morning sky. She takes a few pictures with her camera and will try to paint from memory later. Several others show up to watch the sunrise so Autumn heads to a secluded garden where she can be alone. She opens her mind to the world around her and will let the fates take her on her journey today.
For such a small island community Autumn thinks City Hall is an imposing building and looks out of place. She wonders if the mayor has delusions of grandeur and wants to be leader of the world to build such a building. She heads inside to find the list of residences and see if any names spark her senses. Not a single tingle was felt. The park nearby has several people enjoying the morning including the illustrious mayor of the town who is chatting with a staff member. Autumn is inspired to paint once again by the beauty around her, but no hearts or flutters felt. She is pulled further on down the road, stopping briefly at the theater to see what movies are playing.
She continues on stopping to look at books on a rack outside of the bookstore. She notices a handsome man who is watching her as she approaches.
Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, the world changes, her vision blurs, lights explode and shine brightly around her, her heart races, she hyperventilates, she feels as if she was just hit by a lightning bolt. Autumn thinks, wow, the fates certainly made sure she didn't miss him. Her vision slowly goes back to normal, her breathing settles, her heart still races nervously as she watches him rise and come towards her.
Not a word is spoken. They look in each others eyes. He reaches out and kisses her, mentally telling her. "You are mine." They break apart. Autumn takes a deep breath, she reaches out and kisses him, repeating the words mentally to him, "You are mine."
What the fates have joined will not be broken even unto death they are together.
Who is this handsome rogue?
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
Autumn's lifemate
Autumn and her lifemate look at each other with very contented smiles on their faces. Those smiles gradually fade as they both realize what just happened in broad daylight, in the middle of town, to two perfect strangers. They have gone from uncontrolled, passionate kissing to acute embarrassment in a matter of minutes. Autumn is still trembling from the intense feelings evoked by her lifemate. She wants to tear his clothes off and woohoo right here, right now but luckily, something stops them both from doing just that. She looks up at him and declares, "I came to Barnacle Bay looking for you. I did not expect this to happen, not like this. I don't even know your name. You don't even know my name."
He looks at her and he wants to hold her and reassure her, but, he knows if he touches her right now he will lose what little control he has left, and whisk her away, teleporting her to his rooms and spend the rest of the day and night loving her. He realizes she needs to slow down and take some time and get used to this joining, the idea of him and her together at last. He will give her some time, they have a lifetime ahead of them.
"I'm Rafe Sinclair" he tells her in a deep voice that resounds with confidence. "It is a delight to finally meet you and I want to hear the story of how you came here looking for me, not even knowing my name."
"I'm Autumn, Autumn Ballan. I will tell you the story of how I came to find you. I have so many questions for you and my thoughts are all jumbled right now. I'm not usually so scattered. I came looking for you, but, never actually pictured what would happen when we met. I didn't really expect such a passionate meeting."
"It is not unheard of when lifemates meet for passion to overwhelm them. Especially for lifemates who have been alone and searching for many, many years,'' Rafe tells her. "Let us walk to the shade in the park and you can tell me your story."
They sat in the park and Autumn told Rafe the story of flying home from China and sensing her lifemate along the way. She explained how her brother and sister-in-law helped to pinpoint the search area and how she arrived three days ago and had been searching the area since. Rafe tells her he had a dream last night about the book store and that it seemed important for him to be there today. "I'm glad I believe in dreams" Rafe tells her.
Autumn asks Rafe about himself and he tells her a bit of his story. "I've been in Barnacle Bay for several hundred years. I was a pirate back in the glory days of pirating. I plundered in the name of my homeland, raiding ships of our enemies and taking the treasures back home. I tired of the game and had enough treasures of my own to start fresh and Barnacle Bay appealed so I sailed here, beached my ship and this is been my home since. I still like the adventuress life and take several trips a year to explore new places."
It has been a long day for Autumn and Rafe and both are tired. Rafe takes her hands and tells her he will see her tomorrow. He does not kiss her goodbye as he knows he will not let her go if he does. He senses she is not ready to trust him completely and let him fully into her life yet. He waits until she teleports to her home and then he teleports to his ship. He stands on the deck of his ship and thinks about Autumn and marriage. He knows he is ready, he just has to convince her of it.
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
A Day With Rafe
The next morning Autumn invites Rafe over for a special vampire breakfast. A rare O positive blend that they will both enjoy as they have that in common as their favorite. They toast each other and enjoy the liquid refreshment while they chat. Rafe senses that Autumn is not as nervous and seems calm in his presence this morning. He is a natural flirt and he tries his charms on her. She smiles back at him and even moves closer to him and he is delighted. "I want you to meet some friends of mine. Will you come to my home with me?"
Autumn nods yes and quickly showers and changes clothing before leaving with him.
They arrive at his home that he shares with two of his friends. (thank you @Charlottesmom, it is a beautifully built home.)
Autumn is very impressed with Rafe's home. "Your home is beautiful, you did a wonderful job with the design of the home and the landscaping compliments the home perfectly."
Rafe is please with her admiration. "I hope you will love it. This will be our home and I want you to make any changes that you wish. I have homes in several worlds and you will have a free hand decorating them."
They head inside and Rafe introduces Autumn as his lifemate to his friends Edgar Montagu and Arabella Fontaine. Rafe explains they have been friends for many years and that Edgar and Arabella visit many times during the year to enjoy the tropical climate. They live in Aurora Springs which is a very cold climate. Edgar and Arabella are not lifemates, but, live together until such time as the fates decide to join them to another.
Rafe and Autumn spend the day getting to know each other as they play chess and video games and cuddle in front of the fireplace. Autumn discovers that Rafe is adventurous as well as brave, he is charismatic, friendly and loves to flirt. He surprisingly loves pop music as she does. His favorite color is red, but he thinks she looks beautiful in her favorite color of aqua. He laughs a lot, but, at times when he thinks no one is looking he has a very sad look on his face. They sit on the deck and watch the colors change in the sky as the sun sets. They talk for hours and stop long enough to have some plasma juice before they head out to watch the stars.
Rafe tells her he has one more room to show her. He teleports her into his lair beneath his home. He has moved in a second slumber bed into the lair for her use. He explains, "I think it is important that we spend time together just as we did today, getting to know one another, feeling more comfortable around each other. I also think we need to develop the trust to slumber with each other as that is when we are the most vulnerable. Will you stay the night and sleep in my.....our lair?"
Autumn is surprised and thinks about whether she is ready for this step. She has enjoyed the day with Rafe, and they have much more in common then she originally thought. She really does not want to leave and go back to the rental by herself. She realizes she really does not want to leave Rafe. "I will stay and slumber with you," she tells him nervously, afraid she had taken too long to answer.
He nods and understands her hesitation. He knows he cannot touch her right now or he will not be able to stop himself, and he wants her to be 100% ready. They lie down side by side on the slabs and sleep the dead sleep.
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
The Ship
Autumn wants to paint a portrait of Rafe. She asked Rafe and he agreed to pose for her and they port to her rental since her supplies are there. To their great surprise a ghost was in the house fixing waffles for breakfast! Rafe introduces himself to the ghost and finds out he is Mort Gauge, he died of starvation and used to own the home that his family rents out through the supernatural network. Autumn works on the portrait for a short time not wanting to keep Rafe posing too long.
Rafe asks her if she wants to see his ship and she does, so they port to the ship which is beached on a small island in the main inlet. Rafe loves showing off his ship and gives her the grand tour finishing up on the upper decks. The view is beautiful from up so high and she thinks she would love to put an easel up here to paint. He explains his current plan on renovating the ship and opening an exclusive casino. The work crew has a bonfire built for burning scrap and they enjoy the warmth of the fire. They cool off in the waters splashing each other and playing catch me if you can as they swim around. They dress and Rafe whispers flirty comments to her before whisking her off to her favorite restaurant for an evening meal.
Arriving back at the rental Autumn was planning on working on the portrait. Rafe suggested sitting outside and enjoying the moonlight. They watch the night skies viewing several meteors streak across the heavens. Rafe makes up a story that makes her laugh, about aliens who call the meteors with their powers and even kidnap and test and torture their victims who if they are lucky are eventually returned to the world with their memories partially wiped with only vague ideas of what happened during their lost time.
Autumn realizes that she is feeling completely relaxed with Rafe, as if she has known him forever. She never thought she would feel this comfortable sitting this close to another vampire that wasn't her family. Her worries and fears about being joined with a vampire are gone. Rafe is not just a vampire, he is her mate and he is her family.
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
A Night With Rafe
Part 1
Autumn stands up pulling Rafe into an embrace that surprises and delights him as he is thinking about kissing her. The embrace leads to passionate kissing. Rafe and Autumn have both reach the point of no return. Autumn takes Rafe's hands and teleports them below. They collapse on the loveseat kissing again. They stand. Rafe looks into her eyes and smiles and Autumn smiles back at him and nods. They kiss as they make their way over to bed, shedding clothes as they go. They fall asleep in each others arms feeling that love that they had both searched for during the centuries.
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
A Night With Rafe
Part 2
Autumn awakens feeling nibbles on her neck. She slowly opens her eyes and Rafe is grinning at her. "You are awake now" he laughingly teases her. He kisses her softly, cuddling and enjoying waking up with his lifemate. The kisses grow more passionate until they are diving back under the covers and loving each other thoroughly. They spend hours in the bed discovering each others passion, laughing and talking and sleeping as well as frequent good old fashioned woohoo. They finally crawl out of bed, shower, yup together, and face the day as joined lifemates in the truest meaning.
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
A Phone Call From Home
Autumn decides that one of the best parts of having a lifemate is the awesome massages he gives. It is mid afternoon and they sit at the table and drink some plasma juice discussing their plans. Rafe has a bit of business to take care of and they can meet after that to head to a party being given by some locals. The plans are agreeable to Autumn, she will work on his portrait and think about those gorgeous muscles of his.
Rafe and Autumn meet up at the party location. She meets a few of his friends and after an hour or so Rafe tells her he is hungry and since they are all dressed up they head to the Bistro. It is such a beautiful night they eat outside. After they finish their meals Rafe holds her by the waist and tells her "You are so beautiful and I am the luckiest man in the world." He kisses her softly and takes her hand. "I want to show you what I bought today. It has potential, at least I hope it does."
Rafe teleports her into a small bar. It is closed and dusty with disuse. He shows her around and tells her how he would like to renovate it. I don't want it upscale. I want it to be a fun place for the family and neighbors to have a nice night out. He takes her upstairs and she spots the ping pong tables. She runs back downstairs and collects some juice and cups and shows Rafe how to play juice pong. Autumn wins and struts around the room.
Rafe takes her by the hand and pulls her into the photo booth. What happens in the photo booth stays in the photobooth.
Rafe tries his hand at the claw machine and loses several times before snagging a genie teddy bear for Autumn.
Autumns phone rings and she checks out the ID. Oops, it is her brother Victor. She kinda forgot to check in with him these last few days. She answers and yup, yada, yada, yada he and Gardenia have been worried, yada, yada, why hasn't she called or answered her phone before now. Autumn shuts him up by reminding him what it was like when he met Gardenia. No one else in the world existed except for Gardenia.
Gardenia grabs the phone away from Victor and starts asking questions, What is his name? what is he like? what does he do? Is he a vampire? Is he good looking? Have you slept with him yet? Autumn can't even answer the first question before Gardenia rapid fire spits out the next ones. Luckily Autumn loves her sister in law and just laughs at her questions and fires back "His name is Rafe, he is fun and gorgeous and muscular and sexy, he is an adventurer, and yes, he is a vampire and yes, I did and yes, he is awesome to the one nosy question you didn't ask."
Victor grabs the phone back and tells Autumn to bring him home to meet the family. They would come there, but, it is too difficult to travel with the new babies. "I'm happy for you sister and I love you, bring him to meet us."
Autumn finds a tear running down her cheek and swipes it away "I love you too brother and I'm happy for me too. I will talk with Rafe and we will be there soon."
Autumn looks at Rafe and wants to know, "Are you ready to meet the family?" He wraps his arms around her and tells her "yes, I will come with you and meet the family. I will need to have Edgar handle a few things while I am gone. I will talk with him after he rises and we can leave after that." They teleport back to the manor and sleep nestled together in his bed.
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
Surprises
Part 1
The next afternoon Rafe and Autumn were just getting up when Arabella sneaks in the room scaring Rafe and heckling Autumn. Rafe has known Arabella a long time and barely puts up with her evil craziness. He yells at her and leaves the room as he needs some plasma juice. Autumn takes one look at Arabella and lets her have it. "I don't care how long you have been friends with Rafe. He is mine now and you will not come walking in this room ever again without knocking. You will not sneak up on us. You will not even look cross eyed at me. I will not put up with this kind of behavior from you or anyone. Do you understand me?"
Arabella just pouts and whines "I just wanted to have some fun."
Autumn looks at her and shakes her head "What are you.....12?" Autumn bares her fangs at Arabella and reminds her "never again, is that understood?"
"Fine", Arabella mumbles and leaves the room.
Autumn dresses and heads to the kitchen for her plasma juice. Rafe is still not dressed and she teases him enjoying his muscles so clearly on view. They flirt back and forth and walk outside to the garden after Rafe gets dressed. Rafe is hiding something behind his back and he suddenly presents Autumn with a lovely bouquet of flowers. "I love yellow roses, how did you know?" she asks. Rafe just smiles mysteriously not wanting to tell her he read her mind. Autumn tells Rafe she is going to check the rental one more time for anything she may have left behind. Rafe tells her he will meet her in town at the bookstore and then they will start the teleportation to Midnight Hollow.
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
And you managed to catch a woohoo foot picture!
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
Surprises
Part 2
Rafe and Autumn meet up at the bookstore and spend a few minutes talking and cuddling on one of the benches. Autumn reassures him that he will love her family. Rafe wants to know "will they love me?"
She looks at him with love shining in her eyes, "of course they will. Victor will grill you about your past. He used to be with the council so he probably already knows about you, even though the two of you have never met."
Rafe nods, "I know your brother by his reputation. He was a formidable hunter and leading member of the council. Everyone was surprised when he retired from hunting as well as his council seat."
Autumn explains, "More than anything he wanted a normal life with Gardenia. She is a light witch and would have been unhappy with his hunting and killing however necessary it might have been."
Rafe smiles, "A normal life....or at least as normal as possible is what I want with you." He jumps up and takes her hand and they walk a few steps to the bookstore. "This is where my life started anew. I know it is not the most romantic setting, but, I will always love this spot in town as this is where I first saw you. I love you Autumn Ballan." Rafe drops to one knee, "Will you marry me, be my wife as well as my lifemate."
"Yes, yes, I will be your wife. This is the most romantic spot on the planet and the most romantic proposal ever." Autumn exclaims as she wipes a few tears away that are running down her face. Rafe slips the ring on her finger and wipes a few tears off his face as well.
Autumn admires her new ring and leaps up and into Rafe's arms, "The ring is so beautiful, you are so wonderful and I love you so much Rafe Sinclair." He spins her around holding her tightly and they kiss happily and passionately right on main street in front of the book store where it all began.
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
**The gnome doing a handstand got me giggling!!
**I'm very glad you like the house! It was a fun build.
**Edgar looks a bit scary..
**Something is going on with Rafe, I wonder why he looks sad at times.
**The night pictures are pretty!!
**I guess sleeping on their coffin slab thingies like that is romantic if you are a vampire..I've never had one of my vampires use one, I think I just might now..
**The waffle loving ghost!
**Are you using the ship CL created way back when, I love parking it in the water in nearly every one of my saves.
**Awwwww!! So romantic!!
**You got the feet!!!
**It almost looks like they are facing each other in the shower, but I know they are not.
**Rafe the business man, nice!
**LOL!! on the phone call from Victor and the ten billion questions from Gardenia!
**Autumn showing Arabella what's what! Good on her..
**Catching the feet in bed is the best type of foot fetish!
**I'm wondering if there is more to Victor and Rafe...
**Awwwww!! Too sweet, the proposal!
**They are gonna have tons of kids I can feel it!
*Fairy Jared and Vampire Connor*
It is a shame no one ever figured out woohoo on those vampire slabs! But, they do get a moodlet from it, so I let my vamps use them occasionally.
Rafe does have a back story that has not been revealed that will come out in time.
Yes, that is CL's ship! I've had it forever in my downloaded stuff, but, never used it. It is perfect for Rafe's ship!
Thanks again for putting the house up. I totally love it and you do big rooms like I like.
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
Home
Rafe and Autumn teleported safely to Midnight Hollow. It was dark by the time they arrived and Gardenia had left her little sports car at the outskirts of town for them to drive home, as she knew they would be tired from teleporting the distance from Barnacle Bay. They arrived at the house and Autumn takes Rafe's hands, "Are you sure you don't want to turn back?"
"No way, I'm looking forward to meeting them. From all you have told me I feel I know them already."
Victor sensing their arrival teleports Gardenia and himself to the entryway. He shakes Rafe's hand and welcomes him to their home. Gardenia welcomes him also and gives Autumn a hug. She invites them to sit and chat in the parlor.
Autumn tells the story of her search and how she found Rafe. Rafe takes up the story after they met and how the fates joined them and how instantaneous the bond was. Gardenia and Victor listen and both have their memories of how they were joined by the fates, but Gardenia took some time to convince to complete the bond. Victor can see the love in Autumns face when she looks at Rafe or talks about him. He notices that Rafe barely takes his eyes off Autumn, even when talking with him or Gardenia his eyes inevitably stray back to her. He wonders if he looked that besotted when courting Gardenia.
While the grownups were talking and getting to know each other, Alice and Adam are watching the stars. (They had been swinging when Rafe and Autumn arrived home, but, when I whisked the little kids off to bed, they most have decided it was safe to romance for a bit.) It was the night of the full moon and Adam had already changed to his werewolf form. "I will have to go out and hunt to get rid of this energy" he tells Alice.
"I know, I worry about you, please be careful." She kisses him softly, and then with more passion. (This is their first kiss with him as a werewolf!! Woot, woot) He responds and finally breaks off. "Wow, I really hate to go now, but, it will be cold shower time if I stay, since your Dad knows all, sees all and I don't want to die yet." He gives her a quick smile and turns and runs off into the woods.
The house is silent, everyone is finally asleep. Dawn arrives and awakens Adam where he fell asleep on the bench when he returned from hunting. He found two tiberium to add to the family coffers. The kids slowly show up in the dining room to eat breakfast before heading out for school. Victor and Gardenia awaken and take care of the hungry, messy babies. And Autumn, where is she this fine beautiful morning. She is in the bathroom throwing up that is where she is. Did she have some bad fish tacos?
(That was my mishap in sending her to another world. I did not change settings on the mods. I meant to import my settings from MH game, but was having so much fun....I forgot. So autonomous risky woohoo and try for a baby were options in the vacation world as default and guess who tried for a baby....not Autumn....RAFE!! The pregnancy was on hold while in vacation world and started progressing as soon as they landed in MH. My one rule is to go with the flow as best I can, so they will have the baby. Just a bit earlier than I had planned for them to have one.)
The Cowboy and the Mermaid