Brilliant Minds: The Wainwrights of Sunset Valley
Chapter 62
When Iris went to bed, she picked up her Patches doll to take with her like she usually did. This time, however, something different happened. Patches started to wiggle, and Iris could’ve sworn she heard a little girl’s voice say, “Put me down.” Startled, Iris did what she asked. To her amazement, the doll began to sparkle and twirl. Iris blinked, and then suddenly, Patches was no longer just a doll on the floor, but a moving, talking doll as big as she was! “Patches?!”
“Hi, Iris!” She greeted her cheerfully. “Happy birthday! We’re big enough to play together now! Not just doll stuff, but anything you want!”
Iris was amazed. “You’re alive like me? You’re another kid?”
“Well, kind of. I’m alive, but only to you. I’m magic. Special. Not all toys are like me. I was made to be a friend for you, so only you can play with me and talk to me like this.”
“Wow! Is it because I’m a plantsim?”
“No, but it’s kind of like how you’re a plantsim and you’re the only one who can understand the plants or help them grow the way you can. I have a power that lets me turn into another kid so I can play with you.”
“But why? I like having a friend, but wouldn’t it be more fun to play with and talk to everyone?”
“It would! But I don’t work that way. I don’t know why. It’s just how it is. How I was made, I guess.”
“Who made you?”
Patches shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“What about parents? Do you have parents?”
“I don’t think so. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I just wondered. Parents usually know stuff. But I guess if you don’t have any, I could ask mine.” Iris yawned. “Though they wanted me to go to bed. I start school tomorrow.”
“Oh. We can play later if you’re tired. I’ll sleep in my doll form.”
“Okay! We’ll play tomorrow, then! Good night!”
“Good night!”
While Iris stayed up late, Orion simply could not sleep. It was something that had been gradually happening to him for a while. The older he got, the less he slept, and when he did, it was not restful in the way it had once been. He dreamed, sometimes, and while those could be good or interesting, they weren’t always. Focusing on space rocks like the meteorite that Eni Jish Xip gave him helped sometimes. Other times he would just lie there trying to clear his mind. He would feel alert and refreshed afterward, but it was strange, because it was not sleep. He was awake and aware of what was going on around him the entire time.
He’d mentioned it to his parents in the days before his birthday, but the advice they had wasn’t helpful. Boyd offered sympathy, and told him he had trouble sleeping at times, too, especially if he was keyed up about something. He suggested a few things—hot drinks without caffeine, distraction, a bath. But while those things were relaxing, they did not make Orion sleepy. He knew he meant well, but his own inability to sleep was not like his dad’s, or any human’s, he suspected. His father would fall sleep if he got tired enough. Orion just didn’t. Susan, meanwhile, advised Orion to try to relax as best he could, and let his body physically rest even if no sleep came.
The night after his birthday, Orion stayed up on the computer until late. He signed up for the afterschool activities he wanted, and then chatted online. Afterward, he went up to his new room. Now that he and Iris were older, their parents renovated the third floor rec room into two rooms: a smaller rec room and a bedroom. Iris kept the bedroom that they used to share for herself, with all new paint and new personal touches, while Orion got the new one upstairs.
His attempt to sleep once again proved fruitless, but letting his mind drift gave Orion a renewed sense of clarity and energy. After a couple of hours, he got up and entertained himself with his sprite, January. He’d unlocked some new forms and got better at it every day. His personal goal was to unlock everything on it before anyone else.
In the early hours of the morning, he messed around on the chemistry table. In addition to the “pee potion” he made a while back, he’d come up with more concoctions. He hadn’t tested them all yet, but he imagined they’d be fun to try. This time, he tried making one he’d seen online called Ninja Vanish. One never knew when a quick disappearing act might be in order, after all. He mused that Patrick could’ve used that the night of the party, although he snickered thinking that apparently his and Maria’s clothes had already taken it when Arlo Bunch walked in on them.
After breakfast but before school, Patrick worked on his newest project—a clay sculpture. After they’d put away Iris’ old playpen, he’d asked to set up a sculpting station where it used to be. He’d tried it out in art class and wanted to do more of it. Boyd and Susan didn’t mind, as they supported Patrick’s creative endeavors, but they couldn’t help but think of what Susan read in Maria Wolff’s novel from the future.
“Guess Redd’s sculpting wasn’t creative license after all,” Susan remarked privately to Boyd where they chatted across the room.
“I’m sure at least some of it was, though.” He wanted to reassure her as much as himself. “Was he successful at it?”
“The character was an accomplished artist and musician.” She looked over at Patrick. “I just want him to be happy. Not troubled, or angry, or…”
Boyd squeezed her hand. “He’s fine. He’s not,” he paused, and reworded his thoughts. “He’s a teenager. Mood swings and rebellion are part of it. It’s normal.”
Susan glanced over her shoulder. “It didn’t happen much with Blair. The worst she ever got was a little moody and childish. She never snuck out, or got in major trouble, or anything like that.”
“Probably because of all the time my mother babysat her during her formative years. It put the fear of the Watcher into her that she’d better behave. You remember Mom. I was a pretty well-behaved kid, too, knowing the wrath I’d face if I wasn’t.”
“You weren’t that good, Boyd. You just didn’t get caught at some things because your parents weren’t electronics nerds. Same with me. And we might not have snuck out or partied, but I remember a few teenage romance escapades on the sly. Remember that night in your old UFO tree house?”
Boyd smirked at the memory. “Hey, we didn’t get walked in on. I’m just glad you forgave me for that, ah, unfortunate splinter you got.”
Although Patrick’s focus was on his art and he didn’t hear what his parents were saying, it didn’t take his genius IQ to know they were talking about him. It set him on edge, especially because he caught the vibe that it was a concerned conversation, like the ones about Buddy, who they still didn’t believe existed except in his head. Even after Orion told them he could hear Buddy, the fact that he couldn’t see him led them to conclude that Orion experienced something that Patrick did, but whether that was a separate being, or a manifestation from his mind, they weren’t sure.
“What are you making?”
Patrick pointed to the reference drawing with his hammer. He didn’t want to answer aloud with his parents in the room.
“Oh, neat. Still looks like a big block, though.”
“Now’s not a good time,” he muttered quietly enough that only Buddy would hear.
“Oh, the old farts are giving you a hard time again, huh? Treating you like you’re nuts?” He snickered. “They should talk.”
“Heh.” Patrick couldn’t say more, but Buddy was glad that he agreed.
“Well, since the geezers are being a pain, guess I’ll see you later. Maybe I’ll short-sheet their bed while they’re at work. Bet they’d blame that dumb maid, hah!”
Buddy went out through the patio doors, where Orion swam to the side of the pool. After finishing on the chemistry table, he’d taken an early morning dip. Buddy sneered at him as he passed. “Well, well! It’s Alien Boy, the drip, dripping wet.”
“Nothing better to do than bother me? Even Patrick getting tired of you?”
Buddy was about to respond when he stopped in his tracks. He sensed a presence, a new presence, one that made him feel oddly competitive. Orion felt that presence too, and he paused mid-stroke on his way to the ladder as he tried to get a sense of it, while Buddy got downright agitated. “What the… who is that? Who is she?”
Orion’s puzzlement turned to amusement when he realized who the little girl whose voice he suddenly heard was. A little girl laughing alongside a much more familiar voice—Iris’. “I take it you haven’t met Patches.”
“Who the plum is Patches?!”
“I’d say ask Iris, but she’s lucky enough that she can’t hear you,” Orion said as he climbed out. “She’s Iris’ doll. Like you.” Orion cast a sarcastic smile in the direction of Buddy’s voice. “And from what I hear, a better model.”
“She is not, and there’s no one else like me!” Buddy retorted indignantly, his hands on his hips.
“Yeah, thank the Watcher.” Orion picked up his towel and went inside.
When Iris woke up, she didn’t have to eat breakfast or do anything to get ready other than shower to water herself and get dressed. Patches waited for her, ready to play before her first day of school. They had a big giggly pillow fight before Iris had to leave.
“We can play more later when I get home,” Iris promised her.
“Maybe we could play outside? Or at the pond across the street? We could see if the unicorn’s been there!”
“That’d be cool. I’ve never seen a unicorn before! I didn’t even know they were really real!”
“They are! And I love horses, so seeing a unicorn would be even better,” Patches said.
“As long as they don’t try to chew on my hair. What if it tastes like grass?”
“I’d stop ‘em! Nobody hurts my best friend.” Patches bopped her with a pillow. “Except in pillow fights.”
“No fair!” Iris laughed. “I already put mine down.”
“Sorry.” Patches was still laughing. “I had to! But I’ll see you after school!”
“See you later!” Iris waved as Patches transformed back into her inanimate doll form, and she went out to the bus.
“You’re ready for your first day, sweetie? Remember everything we told you?”
“If I feel thirsty, ask to go to the water fountain because it’s important I stay watered. Always sit by a window. If someone has allergies or sneezes around me, don’t get close to them or touch their stuff. Listen to the teachers, pay attention in class, and work hard.”
Susan was proud. “Sounds like you’ve got it. Good luck!” She hugged her before she got on the bus.
School was a new experience for Iris, but she didn’t mind it. Despite being the only plantsim, none of the other kids treated her differently, other than to ask innocent questions. At recess, she played on the seesaw with Lester Sekemoto. He told her his big brother Tom told him about her because he was friends with Patrick, and he’d met her at their party on Leisure Day. After that, Iris showed Jeanine Andrews and Kristal Steel how she could make flowers. They thought that was cool, and luckily, none of her classmates had allergies to her.
As for her classes, learning wasn’t hard and some of it was fun, but sitting inside the classroom for too long made her feel restless. She managed, but the teacher had to remind her to stop staring out the window a few times.
As for Orion, high school wasn’t much of a change, other than more challenging classes and subjects. He was with the same schoolmates as before, for the most part. His old ballet partner, Tara Keaton, was in his science class, although he ended up sitting with Guillermo French as his lab partner. He didn’t know Guillermo all that well, as he was a quiet type who kept to himself.
“Hi.” Orion sat down and opened his notebook.
“Hi,” Guillermo replied.
“So, I heard we do a lot of chemistry experiments in this class, and brew formulas. I wonder if it’s anything I haven’t already done at home. If it isn’t, it’ll be an easy A, I guess.”
“Sounds like I lucked out for a lab partner, then.” Guillermo became a little chattier once Orion initiated conversation. “Your family’s all scientists, right? Don’t know how much help I’ll be. I’m okay at science, I guess, but my mom’s a cook. Sure, I can make a killer batch of brownies, but…”
“I know a formula that if you stuck it in brownie mix, you’d never taste it until it was too late. And it wouldn’t bake out when you cooked it, either.”
“Oh, no. Not the old ex-lax trick?” Guillermo grinned. “I never knew anyone that actually did that. Just heard of it.”
“Close, but let’s just say that’s not how you’d wind up in the bathroom. But while you laugh hard watching the victim, you wouldn’t be the one wetting yourself.”
“Hah! Seriously? That’s funny, but… did you really do that to someone?”
“No. There’s no one I don’t like enough to do that to.” In truth, there was, but as far as he knew, Buddy didn’t eat, drink, or pee, and since he couldn’t see him, he wouldn’t be able to witness his indignity anyway.
After the last class of the day, Rachelle Steel approached Orion at his locker. “Hey, do you know what room debate club is in? I forgot. I thought I wrote it down, but I can’t find where.”
That wasn’t an activity Orion took, but he knew it was down the hall from the gym because he’d seen a sign on the door. “It’s in 113.”
“Oh, thank you! You’re a lifesaver! I feel so dumb when I forget stuff like that.”
“Dumb?” Orion was surprised. Rachelle was one of the handful of students that was honored along with him for excellent grades at elementary graduation. “You were on the honor roll with me.”
“Well, not dumb that way, but you know what I mean. It’s like, ugh, why am I such a doofus that I can’t remember something simple? So, are you in debate club, too?”
“No. I took sports club. I saw the sign when we left gym earlier.” She was in a few of his classes with him, both science and gym. They had faced off in a soccer shootout that day. He won, but she’d had a pretty nice kick, he’d noticed.
“Ah. Well, I totally missed that. Like I said, I’m such a doofus sometimes.” She let out a nervous laugh. “Thanks, though.” She closed her locker. “See you later.”
He smiled. “See you later.”
Patrick passed by on his way out. Normally Orion would’ve ridden home with his brother, but Patrick’s music club had a special award event in two hours, so he was going home to get ready for it while Orion went to his afterschool activity. “Hey.” Patrick noticed that Orion’s attention remained on Rachelle as she walked down the hall, and he followed his brother’s gaze. “Not bad,” he remarked. “She’s cute. You should go for it.”
Orion straightened. “It’s not like that. She’s just someone I know from class.”
“Yeah. That’s why you’ve got that dopey grin on your face and you’re only now looking at me and not her. But okay. Whatever you say. I just wanted to make sure you still didn’t need a ride home before I left. Don’t want to stick you with the bus if you don’t need it.”
“No, I’ve got a club today.”
“Okay. Iris is doing her first scouts thing today, too, so she’ll also be on the late bus. I’ve got to go shower and get dressed up. Playing guitar with an expert. I hope I don’t screw anything up.”
“Good luck!”
“Thanks.” Patrick gave his brother a sly look. “And good luck with your, uh, friend there.”
“Patrick…”
“Later!” Patrick waved with a grin, and headed down the hall.
Although he was understandably nervous, Patrick’s music club event went well. The famed guitarist, Andres von Butterfingerz, played for the students and listened to each of them perform a solo. Every student was rewarded for participating, but they were told at the start that the one who played the best would get a signed golden record to hang on the wall. Patrick was stunned, but honored, when he won it. He knew he’d played well and didn’t think he made any major mistakes, but his classmates had also performed well. Winning put Patrick’s mood and confidence through the roof. Maria was thrilled for him and gave him a “first prize kiss” when they went for coffee afterward. When he got home, the rest of his family also congratulated him. He hung his award in his room with pride.
That was also the same night that Eni Jish Xip came to visit. Everyone gathered in the living room when the time came. Boyd did his best to put his personal issues aside as he invited her in.
“Greetings, Boyd Wainwright. It is good to see you again. You look well.”
“Thanks. Come in. Orion’s looking forward to seeing you.” Boyd led her inside. Iris, who had been too young to remember her last time, looked at her in amazement. She’d never seen anyone that looked so much like Orion before. Her parents had explained who Eni Jish Xip was before she arrived, but it was still a shock. Susan regarded Eni Jish Xip politely, while Patrick did the same.
“She looks less weird in that alien space suit than in that crazy banana head getup she wore last time,” Buddy remarked, and he had to agree.
Orion was both excited and anxious. Although he wanted to learn about his alien heritage and Sixam, and Eni Jish Xip had been kind to him when they met, he couldn’t help but remember her last visit. Since then, Orion had come to terms with what he learned that day, but he didn’t know how to feel about his alien kin. Knowing how profoundly his father was affected by the abduction made it hard not to be a little wary of them, even though he got no sense that Eni Jish Xip had sinister or ulterior motives.
She greeted him warmly. “Orion Wainwright, you have grown into a strong and thriving youth. I am glad to see you looking so vital and… human-like. You are the first Sixam hybrid I have seen with such hair. I knew the human ones often grow it, but I had not seen it myself before. We are not often permitted contact with human-bound Earth Children of Sixam. Our technicians generally just study them from afar.”
“Well… I am half human.” Orion was not sure what to say, but he didn’t want to be rude.
“And you live here among them. It was intended as a compliment. You appear to be happy living a human life. It is what we hope for with each Earth Child of Sixam raised by their human parent.” She eyed him curiously. “I see you still wear reflective eye covering. Does your vision require correction like your father, or are your eyes simply light-sensitive?”
“People stare sometimes. I mean, not that they don’t stare already with me being green and all, but the eyes really get some of them. The ones who don’t know me.” He shrugged. “Besides, I think they look cool.”
“I see. Well, I am glad your eyes are not malfunctioning. There is a procedure to fix it that I could have probably cleared for you, but it requires extensive documentation due to regulations.”
While Boyd bitterly wondered how many alien bureaucrats it took to approve him being abducted and experimented on, Susan just remarked, “Nice to know red tape is universal.”
Eni Jish Xip laughed. “Indeed, Susan Wainwright.” She turned to Orion. “I am pleased you are doing well. I imagine you must have questions now that you are reaching maturity. Our bodies go through many physiological changes during adolescence, and there are differences between you and your human family.”
“Other than the freak-green skin and random hair growth?” Buddy sneered, but Patrick elbowed him to be quiet.
“I can hear things others can’t. Some are pretty annoying,” Orion said on a pointed note.
“You mean the thoughts of others? Your telepathic abilities?”
“Something like that. I guess, also, things like that are on a different, I don’t know, level or plane or something?”
“That is typical. With proper focus, you can learn to experience either more or less of it, whichever you prefer. Use your meditative abilities, as I imagine you do now when you rest. You are at the age where you need to recharge.”
“If you mean sleeping, I don’t. I can’t.”
“We do not sleep past childhood, Orion Wainwright. That is normal. You merely need to focus your mind to keep it and your body sharp. Our physiology has a physical advantage that way. Your human genes may cause you to tire faster, but it will still work the same. Much of our genetic makeup is similar. It is why we can create hybrids such as yourself. We reproduce similarly, too. Has your human family explained that to you?”
Boyd had to bite back the urge to say that yes, Orion was aware that he could not go around abducting and experimenting on hapless individuals to impregnate them, while Orion tried to avoid a sex education talk even more awkward than the one Boyd gave him teaching him the birds and the bees. “Uh, yeah, that’s been gone over already, thanks. I know how it works.”
“Wonderful. I will only say, then, in case your human educators are not aware, we of Sixam are genetically compatible with humans even without being hybrids. You could mate with any fertile human of your choice, so you should have no trouble procreating when the time comes. We encourage all of our Earth Children of Sixam to have families if they desire, with as many different mates as they like. Variety is good for the gene pool.”
Buddy laughed. “Pfft. Like Alien Boy’s going to have even one girlfriend, looking like that.”
Orion’s eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses, but he ignored Buddy while answering Eni Jish Xip. “Okay.”
She sensed his awkward feeling and moved on. “Very well. Do you have any other questions? Perhaps about meditation, or bio boosting or draining?” When Orion gave her a puzzled look, she explained that was their ability to heal. As it turned out, they could also weaken others with their powers as well as strengthen them. “But I urge you not to drain anyone out of negative emotion. Not only will it fatigue you, but it is almost universally considered cruel. There are times it is necessary, but it is something that should only be done with a clear mind, conscience, and purpose. On Sixam it is considered akin to physical violence. I imagine your Earth custom would be no different.”
“You imagine correctly,” Boyd said.
“It seems you’re learning our customs,” Susan remarked. “Is that why you’re an ambassador now?”
“Indeed! I have been in training. After I reported what happened during my last visit and expressed my concern about our lack of understanding of certain Earth customs, they appointed me to a position to gather that valuable knowledge.”
“I see. Congratulations, then.”
“Yeah. Good luck with it,” added Boyd.
“Thank you, Susan Wainwright and Boyd Wainwright. Your sincerity is appreciated. Especially since it was you, Boyd Wainwright, that I upset so badly last time. I apologize again for that.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“And now I would like to present Orion Wainwright with the gift I brought. On Sixam, his age is an important milestone of independence and transitioning to adulthood. I understand that here on Earth, the freedom to travel independently is celebrated at this age, so I brought something that will allow him to do so quite efficiently. It is in your backyard, if you will follow me.”
Curious, Orion and the others followed Eni Jish Xip through the house and out the back doors, where a small spacecraft hovered in the lawn between the pool and the greenhouse.
“Holy llama!” Orion ran over to it with the others in tow.
“Is that a spaceship?!” Patrick was amazed.
“You got him a spaceship?” Boyd was equally shocked, while Susan gasped.
“It’s amazing!”
“That’s so cool!” Iris jumped up.
Eni Jish Xip beamed. “I am glad you are all pleased. Indeed, Orion Wainwright, this is yours. It is a Galaxa Space Car. It is very simple to pilot and responds to simple voice commands. Here is a manual for its maintenance and upkeep.” She handed him a tablet.
Orion was already halfway in it, while Patrick just shook his head. “Man, and I thought I got a cool car on my birthday! Orion, you’ve got to let me try that.”
“In due time, big brother. But this is my spaceship!”
Boyd joined Orion’s side. “Just a minute. You don’t have a license for that, or even for a regular car yet. Let’s not just jump right in and go flying.” He grinned. “At least not without me riding shotgun. You know. For safety.”
“Shotgun in a spaceship? What happened to ladies first?” protested an equally eager Susan. “You wouldn’t leave Mom behind, would you?”
“Yeah, ladies first!” Iris said. “And I’m small and won’t take up hardly any space!”
Orion laughed. “You’ll all get rides, I promise. But if it’s okay… I’d like to try it solo first.”
After some brief instruction from Eni Jish Xip, Orion got in and took off. It was surprisingly simple to fly, and it lifted off smoothly into the air. Eni Jish Xip explained that while it was spaceworthy, for now it was programmed to stay within safe flying limits in Earth’s atmosphere. Space travel was only for experienced pilots, she warned, although she said that those restrictions could be removed from it in the future.
Orion took his new spaceship for a cruise around the local air space, amazed. Riding around in it was not only fun, but he also felt a connection to his Sixam heritage in a way he rarely experienced, except when focusing on meteorites. It left him exhilarated and excited.
When he got back to the mansion, his family waved for him to land on the rooftop deck. They had shifted the bench and telescope off to one side so the Galaxa could be parked up there. Although it was narrow, he managed to maneuver it onto the small deck, and he climbed out to the cheers of his family.
“Excellent piloting, Orion Wainwright. I knew you would have little difficulty.”
“My son has a spaceship! That’s awesome!” Boyd clapped, while Susan laughed with him.
“How was it? You’ve got to tell us all about it!”
“Or better yet, give us rides!” said Patrick.
“Yeah!” echoed Iris.
“I will, I will!”
Eni Jish Xip smiled. “I am glad you like it so much. But if you do not mind waiting a little longer, I only have a brief time left for this visit, and there are a few more things I would like to discuss with Orion Wainwright.”
“Sure, that’s fine.” Orion looked at his parents. “Right?”
Boyd nodded. “Of course.”
Eni Jish Xip removed a meteorite from the space car’s storage compartment and went inside with Orion. “You have been focusing on these like I instructed, right?”
“Yeah. They help me with that mediation thing I do instead of sleep.”
“They are useful for that. But in a pinch, we can also consume their energy. Watch.”
Orion did as she asked, and was amazed to see her levitate it, focus on it, and engulf it in a beam of telekinetic energy. It spun and whirled, and to Orion’s shock, it slowly but steadily diminished in size until it was gone. “There are several geological specimens that can refuel our brain power in this way. Your parents’ lab has a good stock of them.”
Boyd and Susan, who came in along with Iris, Patrick, Buddy, and Patches, watched but otherwise did not interrupt them until they were mentioned. “We do,” Susan said, although it was clear she was not comfortable with the idea that the aliens knew the lab’s inventory. Boyd felt the same.
Eni Jish Xip met Orion’s eyes, and somehow without words being spoken, aloud or telepathically, she imparted the understanding of how she did what she’d just done. Orion also realized that he now understood how to bio boost and drain, and how to manipulate the vibrations of the rocks as well as absorb them. He glanced over at his room, focused, and one of his small space rocks flew through the open door to his hand.
“Excellent! I see you understand how to use your abilities now. You have a great intellect and keen reflexes.” He heard her voice in his mind. Be mindful of the size of the rocks you summon. As your powers hone, your strength and range will increase. I do not want harm to come to you or anyone you care about.
I will, Orion thought back, and she put her hands on his shoulders.
“I believe I have taught you all I can at this time, Orion Wainwright. I am pleased you are doing so well, and I have no doubt you will continue to do so.” She turned to Boyd and Susan. “Boyd Wainwright and Susan Wainwright, thank you for allowing me the chance to interact with Orion Wainwright. Your son is a fine Earth Child of Sixam and on behalf of my people, we are proud to count him among our kind.” Eni Jish Xip stepped back. “My allotted time here is up, and I must return to the ship now.”
“Okay.” Orion was disappointed. Although the visit had been awkward at first, he now felt more comfortable around her, and still had so many questions. “Will you ever come back?”
“I will try, but visits are difficult to schedule. Our appearances on Earth are heavily restricted, even for an ambassador.”
“Yet they let me walk around like no big deal?”
“I’m still not sure I even get why that is,” Boyd admitted. “But from how she explained it when you were born, if the human who has you wants you to stay, you’re considered an Earth citizen.”
“That is correct, Boyd Wainwright,” she confirmed as they walked her out the front door. “Our approved interactions with Earth citizens are strictly regulated.” They paused on the sidewalk. “I would like to say that I very much enjoyed this visit and hope to arrange another one in the future. I wish you well, Wainwright family. Orion Wainwright, take care of yourself and congratulations on your aging milestone.” She waved. “Goodbye.”
“Bye.” Orion waved back while Boyd and Susan also said their goodbyes, and Patrick and Iris also waved.
Eni Jish Xip tapped her wrist, and she disappeared in a teleporter beam.
“Well, it’s been quite a night, hasn’t it?” remarked Susan.
“Yeah, it sure has.” Orion laughed. “I can’t believe it. All the stuff I learned, and… I have a spaceship!”
“That’s the coolest part!” said Iris.
“Yeah, I’d say so,” agreed Patrick.
“You are going to be careful with that, right? Not going to scare me into a heart attack taking crazy risks in it?”
“No, Dad. I won’t.”
Boyd smiled. “But I will get a ride in it… maybe now?”
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll take crazy risks?” Orion teased.
“Well, I’ve already got plenty of gray hair. What’s a few more?”
“All right. Come on.”
“That’s my boy.” Boyd hugged him, and they headed back to the rooftop deck.
Patrick hurried after them. “Dibs on the second ride!”
“Nope. Sorry,” Susan interjected with a grin. “I’m pulling rank, and I’ve got seniority. I go after your father.”
“Oh, fine.”
“Aw, that means I’ll have to go last,” Iris pouted.
“There’s an upside to that,” Patches whispered beside her as they skipped behind Patrick, who was right with his parents on Orion’s heels.
“Oh?”
“You get to stay up late,” Patches pointed out.
“Yeah, I do!” Iris ran to catch up, and the Wainwrights’ night of joyriding in a space car for the first time officially got underway.
Author’s Note: The Children of Sunset Valley page got another update with this chapter. Along with a bio for Patches, the following sims got updated: Wilbur Keaton to young adult, Guillermo French and Rachelle Steel to teens, Kristal Steel and Lester Sekemoto to children, Owen Frio to toddler, and one new baby, Lakeisha French, was added.
Cheezey Sims 