The Cooke Legacy:The Cooke Legacy:Chapter Thirty One – Chapter Thirty One –

Estrogen NationEstrogen NationA joint legacy between meadowthayer & ilovereecee

Welcome!

Thanks for coming to read the thirty first chapter of The Cooke Legacy. This is Katie, ilovereecee, filling in for Haleigh, meadowthayer. Haleigh’s caught up in the business of her own life right now and kindly asked if I wouldn’t mind playing the next generation. . . Of course I said yes – I love this family. :)I hope you enjoy the chapter – it’s a special chapter because all of the slides are PINK because this chapter shows the college years of Leighton and Hayden’s three girls: Madeline, the heiress, Molly and Melody, the spares.Enjoy and thanks for coming to read!

-Katie

This is the house that my sisters and I moved into after we were accepted into Academie Le Tour! Isn’t it perfect!? We renovated the inside and furnished it with as much as we could afford from our scholarships. We got down to our very last dollar decorating the inside. But, I supposed I’m getting ahead of myself! I should re-introduce you to my sisters and myself before we go on. . .

My name is Madeline, but everyone calls me Maddie for short. I’m oldest of three girls born to Leighton and Hayden Cooke; I was also chosen as the heiress to carry on my family’s legacy. I’m pretty thrilled about that! My primary aspiration is popularity with pleasure as my second choice. What I want more than anything in the world is to have twenty best friends! What better place than college to find that, right? I decided to major in the arts! I’m a drama major – it should be fun and interesting in the least.

These are my beautiful baby sisters. Molly, in the black top, and I have been best friends since we were growing up as kids together. She’s a pleasure aspiration so we have a lot in common! She decided to declare a biology major to help her reach her lifetime want to become an education minister. Melody, in the green top, is a family aspiration. Perhaps that’s the reason why we aren’t close – we’re so different! She declared a political science major so that it can give her a head start on becoming The Law! That is what she wants to accomplish after graduating four years down the road from now!

I decided not to waste any time starting towards my lifetime want. My mother and father, Leighton and Hayden, are already my best friends in the whole world! I love and respect them most of anyone I know. As I said before, Molly and I are BFFs! So I decided to work on my relationship with Melody. Mel and I are friends, but I want more than that. Especially since she is my baby sister. I also greet anyone that happens to be walking by our purple palace! You never know who will turn out to be your bestie!

Molly doesn’t waste any time meeting new people either. She’s been wanting to go on a date with someone since we moved into our new home. She’s determined that come Hell or high water, she’s going to make that happen soon! Almost every cute guy that walks by the house, she wants to greet. It wasn’t until she met Keith Stamps that I think she really got motivated for that date. I passed by the window and looked out to see Molly and Keith flirting. I think there is really something there – even I can see the chemistry they have together!

Melody has really taken on the role of “house mother” since we’ve been on our own. Our mother Leighton retired early from being a mad scientist to finish raising us. So we’re used to being pampered. Mel continues that pampering, even though she’s the youngest. She always makes sure Molly and I are up on time for class and that we’ve eaten three square meals a day!

As time is marching on, we’re making good enough grades to get quite the refund at the end of the semesters. We’re using this money to finish furnishing the house and we’re working on adding a pool in the side yard! Still, money gets tight sometimes and bills don’t stop; so we all put our maxed creativity skills to use and sell masterpieces! It’s fun and a great way to make sure we always have money.

Molly and Keith are always on the phone together! This makes it hard for me to keep in touch with my friends. I’ve made best friends with Brittany the cheerleader, Molly and both of my professors. So I’m right on my way to twenty best friends, but not if Molly keeps hogging the telephone like this to talk to her new crush!

Melody spends a lot of her time taking care of all three of us and the domestic things too. Now that we’ve finished out pool/garden area, she has one more thing to take care of. I’m glad I don’t have to worry about the cooking, cleaning or garden tending while we’re away from home. Although I do feel bad that Mel doesn’t have that much down time to spend with friends or a special guy.

Okay, maybe I spoke too soon! It looks like Melody does have a special guy in her life. She’s been harboring a secret from her big sisters! She’s got a crush on the campus mascot Cooper Oates. Although. . . personally, I don’t think I could date someone who walks around wearing a llama suit all the time. How are you supposed to tell if they are cute or not!?

Molly and Keith are getting pretty serious about each other. I know they’re in love, but we’re only sophomores! I still think it’s a little early for Molly to even be thinking about getting married. She’s so young – she should be thinking about what to wear to the next party, not settling down. But if that’s what makes her happy (and I can see it written all over her face that she is happy with Keith) then I’m fine with it.

At the end of our sophomore year our professors pulled us all aside and asked if we would like to switch aspirations! I never knew this was possible, but jumped on the chance. A little change in a person’s life can’t hurt anyone, right? Instead of being a popularity aspiration, I’m now chasing the fortune path in life. Of course, I kept popularity as a secondary choice. Now I want to become a world class ballet dancer for my lifetime want!

Now that I have changed my primary aspiration to fortune, I spend a lot less time chatting with friends on the phone. I spend much more time being productive with the painting easels – it’s so easy to earn a couple hundred dollars from selling just one painting. I’m making bank on these pieces of art, and they don’t even take that long to make!

I used to be the girl sitting at the bar, but now with my new fortune aspiration, I’m the one tending the bar! I can make a good bit of money and meet some really cool people at the same time. I bar tend a few nights a week to bring home some extra cash. I’m saving quite a bit – I think as a graduation gift for myself I’ll buy a vacation home with the money I’m saving. Of course I’ve still got a lot to save to be able to afford that, but I’ve got a few years.

I still like to hang out and meet all kinds of new people (my secondary aspiration is popularity, after all)! That is how I met Shanna Miller. She’s a pretty cook chick. We got to know a little about each other at the cards shack where I bartend. It’s pretty neat working there because aside from the money and new friends, it’s where my parents Leighton and Hayden met. Neat, huh?

Molly and Keith have decided to tie the knot! They haven’t set a date yet, seeing as how graduation is still over a year and a half away. They want to finish school, start their careers and then begin their life together as Mr. and Mrs. I’m so happy for my little sis! She will make a great wife and Keith will be a wonderful husband. I can’t wait to see them walk down the aisle when their big day arrives.

When Molly and Keith decided to get engaged, I knew it was time for my parents, Leighton and Hayden, to visit us at our not-so-new-anymore college home. They needed to meet Keith, their soon to be son-in-law, and see how all three of their girls were doing in school. Melody invited her crush Cooper Oates and I asked Shanna, my new poker buddy, to come over and hang out.

After introducing Keith to his future in-laws, Molly and he decided to go up to her bedroom and take their relationship to the next level. I’m glad they got to experience their first woohoo together, but I think they should have waited until they were married. Graduation is only a year away after all!

While mom, dad, Melody and her unofficial boyfriend Cooper were eating dinner, Shanna and I tried out the new bubble blower. I have to admit, it’s pretty fun. Shanna and I blew bubbles and talked for a good little while. She’s actually very smart, goal oriented (we even share the same fortune aspiration) and not to mention pretty cute. . . I think I might have a crush on Shanna?

The party came to an end and it was time for everyone to go home, but Melody invited Cooper to stay the night. They’ve been on the brink of falling in love for a few semesters now, but they won’t admit that to each other. . . Silly kids!

But it looks like all that has changed! Spending the night was the one thing that brought Mel and Cooper together as an official couple. In fact, after the party ended, Mel took her boyfriend upstairs and they did a little more than simply sleep in her room together. I’m glad they finally talked and admitted that they love each other and want to be together officially. It’s about time too! We’re going to be graduating before we know it.

The next morning Melody popped the question to her boyfriend Cooper Oates! They woke up before Molly and I, so I didn’t get to see the proposal, but Melody assured me I wasn’t missing anything special. She said they came down to start breakfast, still in their undies, and it just hit her that she wanted to marry Cooper. She pulled out the ring, asked and he, of course, said yes!

Melody’s engagement has been really beneficial for our flower garden. Mel has always taken care of the flowers, but one day I woke up and she had planted so many more bushes and flowers in the yard beside the pool area. She even added a few stone fairy’s here and there plus a bench to sit on. It’s looking really nice!

Our senior year is coming to an end and both of my sisters are engaged and head over heels in love. Every time I turn around I see someone cuddling or kissing. I’m happy for my sisters, but worried that I won’t find love for myself. I haven’t told them I think I like Shanna. . . I really need to grow some courage and invite her over for dinner. I need to see if the feelings I think I share for Shanna are mutual.

The next night I invited Shanna over for some card playing against Cooper and Melody. The game was fun, but I wasn’t looking for fun that night. I was looking for romance! Every time I looked up Shanna was looking at me and smiling – I took this as a good sign! We were sort of playing footsie throughout the game too. I just hope Shanna knew the intentions behind it!

I was relieved after dinner when I went in for a goodnight kiss and Shanna pulled me closer into her! Looks like she’s been just as eager to show her love for me as I have been to find out if we really are meant to be together! Thankfully, we both feel the same about each other.

Melody, Molly and I spent the last few weeks of our college careers doing all sorts of things. We decided that we were going to buy the house, but rent it out to college students while we were doing our own thing post-graduation. This decision sent Melody into a gardening frenzy! She wanted to make sure her flowers were in perfect condition for the next renters. Molly and I spent the last few days painting. She wants to save money for her wedding and I have something special planned for the money I have saved as well. . .

I never really got to enjoy the pool much while we were in school, so I made the most of it before I left. We should have been having parties out here all year long! The slide is so much fun, it reminds me of being a kid again. All this swimming is bound to put me in great shape – I need to start thinking about my figure now if I’m going to be a world class ballerina one day!

The last night in our home was bittersweet. We all knew it would be the last time we’d be living under one roof together. We’re all moving back to the same town, but it’s not the same as living together. We’ve been in the same house since we were all born and tomorrow we will be starting our own separate lives!

Before I headed back home the next day, though, I had one more thing to take care of! I went and bought a nice ring with the money I’d saved up from selling paintings and I asked Shanna Miller to be my bride. (Thank goodness Molly spend so much energy and time working on the garden – it was the perfect place to propose). And of course, Shanna said yes :)

After graduation, Molly and her fiance Keith moved into a small three bedroom yellow home. They quickly got married in their new backyard in front of the yellow garden that matches the color of their first family home. It was a simple wedding. Molly said she wanted it to be just her and Keith. Hearing about my sister getting married makes me excited to plan my own wedding with Shanna.

Keith and Molly, in their newly wedded bliss, decided to adopt a kitten. They named the little girl Kitty – original, right? It wasn’t long after Kitty’s adoption that Molly found out they’d be adding a little one of their own to the family soon. This worried Keith because neither he nor Molly has found their desired careers yet. But they still have plenty of time before new baby arrives!

By the time Molly gave birth to Norman, my adorable brown haired nephew, they still hadn’t found jobs. I know the economy is bad, but I thought they’d have found something suitable by now. Keith loves being a dad, he isn’t so worried about finding work anymore. They’re stable with money from renting the college home and selling paintings. Plus Molly saved a lot while in college.

Molly finally found a job in the education field as a college senior professor! She was able to start out so high on the ladder because she earned her bachelors degree from Academie Le Tour. Only a few more promotions and she will have achieved her lifetime want.

Keith spent a few years taking care of Norman while he was a toddler before he found a job in the music field – Keith wants to be a rock god one day. Molly finally became perma plat once she got promoted to education minister. And little Norman grew into a handsome child – I certainly have a good looking little nephew. He will be a heart breaker in his teens! That’s all for Keith and Molly, now let’s go see what is happening with Melody and Cooper!

The happy couple got married on the back porch of their first family home. Melody took Cooper’s last name and now she is Mrs. Melody Oakes. Since both of them are family aspirations, they want a lot of kids together! That is their next stop on their journey together as a married couple.

Before kids start coming though, Melody and Cooper know it’s important to find jobs. So with a little help from sister-in-law Molly, Cooper found a job working as a principal in a high school.

Melody had no trouble finding her desired career in the law field and after two promotions she achieved her lifetime want and reached the top of her career!

When Melody achieved her lifetime want, she decided to retire early so that she and Cooper could start having a family together. When they found out she was pregnant for the first time, Cooper bought two cats Goober and Roux to celebrate. It’s a good thing he bought two cats, because Melody gave birth to twins!! I now have a niece, Nancy, and a new nephew Nolan.

Mel and Cooper decided that if they could make it through raising twins, that they wanted another baby. So when little Nathan was born he completed the Oates family. Nancy, Nolan and Nathan are all such adorable children. I hope that Shanna and I will have equally cute kids!

Bye Bye!

That’s all I have for you guys today. Look back next time to see how Madeline, the

heiress, and Shanna take on married life as they move back home with Leighton and

Hayden, Maddie’s parents.

As always, thanks for reading

:) Katie