Chapter Seventy-Four

"So, Lucian popped the question, eh?" Patrick mused as he mashed his game controller.
"Yep, he did."
"What did Ana say?"
"I don't know. I haven't talked to her. Ana and I may be twins but I cannot possibly know what's going on in her head right now."
"Alex -- it's something we have to think about, too. I mean, after all, it's been nearly twenty simdays since your mother issued that decree and you turned me real in compliance."
"And I feel the same way about it now as I did then. It's absolutely ridiculous."
"How do you feel about the idea of marriage?"
Alexandra shook her head in annoyance. "Come on, it's the twenty-first century. I see no reason why a woman needs to get married at all."
"But you are not an ordinary woman, Alex. You are an extraordinary woman in an extraordinary situation, one that requires an extraordinary response."
Patrick's words took Alexandra by surprise.  Pausing her game, she put down her controller and asked, "What are you saying, Patrick?"
"Alex, I'm saying that Lucian proposing marriage to Ana has made me think that we have to start considering our own future."



Alexandra and Patrick met for hot wings at TGI Bees.
"Is it true, Alex? You have a forbidden fruit seed?"
"Yes, it is. I was working on the gene splicing experiment back at the university, and one of the experiments led to the creation of the seed. I have to study gardening procedures in order to learn how to care for this seed. Not even mom or Ana knows about it."
"Ana doesn't know?"
"I haven't told her. Besides, she's got plenty of her own issues she's dealing with. I don't want to spring this on her, too."



"I'm going to try that experiment with dad's ghost."
"Ana doesn't know about that either?"
"Nope. No one but you. And I hope it stays that way. I've lied to mom that it's a gene splicing experiment."
"Alex, you can't keep lying to your mother. Eventually she's going to find out."



"I have no idea what I'm going to do," confessed Anastasia as her father's ghost lurked around the premises. "Lucian has completely and totally blindsided me."
"Understandable. I bet when you came home from college you weren't expecting a marriage proposal."
"I don't know what to say to him. I mean, I love him, but not in, you know, that way."



"In what way do you love him, sweetie?"
"He's my best friend -- he's been with me my entire life."
"I understand, Ana. I understand you're hard-headed and stubborn and independent -- just like your mother. You were born to privilege, darling, and with that privilege comes specific obligations. Do you realize the moment you walk down that aisle is the moment you get exactly what you want?"
"What do you mean, dad?"
"You'll see, sweetheart. You'll see."
"How do you know what I want, dad?"
"Sweetheart... I held you when you were a baby, I bought all your art supplies, paid for all your lessons, and I've been with you your whole life. Believe me, Anastasia, I know what you want. I know what your sister wants too. Tell me this, Anastasia. If you do not love Lucian, then who do you love?"
Anastasia cupped her head in her hands and began to sob quietly.
"And believe me, Anastasia, I also know that you do not want to end up alone. Your mother and I, we're not long for this world, and I will eventually disappear even from this form. We'll still be around but not physically, not tangibly. Lucian is not going anywhere. He's been with you for this long, and I suspect he'll be around for the long haul, long after your mother and I are gone. Your mother and I, we've done our job. Twenty years ago, the Watcher saw fit to bless us with the two of you. We've done what we were tasked to do, which was to bring you and your sister up so that you could become the remarkable young women that you are. Lucian and Patrick, they can take over from here as your life companions."