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Page 1: Familiar Faces Chapter 30

Welcome Back to Familiar Faces: Chapter Thirty - Changes

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The call from Luke had been such a relief. Frankie was safe; the wolves had found him in the woods. He and Almeric had been staying with a Bigfoot named Squatch. Squatch had promised to return Frankie to his parents. Frankie would be in the village by dawn. Unfortunately, the wolves hadn't been told where in the village Frankie would be, just that he'd be there. Dave sent out the troops to canvas and everyone waited for word.

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"I'm Annie, who are you? Are you staying here? I don't remember seeing you yesterday."

"I'm Frankie Familiar, my parents are Emma and Aldric Familiar and . . ." the boys words trailed off. Squatch said that his parents would find him if he waited here, but would they? Uncle Almeric had said that they'd come, and they hadn't. "I'm Frankie, I don't know if I'm staying here or not. I was staying at Squatch's cabin, but that was before."

"Before what?"

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"Before, my Uncle died."

"My Daddy died. Mommy said he had to go to heaven, he didn't want to go but he had to. Sometimes you have to do things you don't want. Like eat spinach. I was sad when he went away, Mommy and me cried and cried. It's okay to cry."

Inside the cabin, Debbie Johnson searched for the card she'd been given the day before. When she found it she picked up the phone and dialed the number.

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After calling his parents, Debbie had walked out and approached Frankie. He looked tired, a little dirty and maybe a bit hungry. "Are you Frankie?" She asked. The child nodded his head.

Curious she asked. "Did your Uncle Almeric bring you here? Is he with you?"

Emma and Aldric walked up in time to hear Frankie's response. "Squatch said he's dead. Annie said he went to heaven. Is heaven nice?"

"Oh Frankie" thought Emma "What did you see?" Aloud she just said his name.

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Frankie turned around and after a few hesitant steps, he ran to his parents. "You came! Uncle Almeric said you would and you did! He didn't lie."

"No sweetie, he didn't lie." Emma ran her hands over her son's frame, as if checking for damage. He seemed okay, maybe a bit skinny. His eyes worried her; they weren't as bright as they had been before.

Frankie peered over his mother's shoulder was that really Daddy?

"Come on buddy let's go home." Aldric said as he patted his son's shoulder.

Frankie smiled; it really was Daddy this time.

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As Frankie walked away with his parents Squatch briefly stepped out from behind the trees. "Goodbye Frankie" He said softly, "I will see you again. When you need me, you will find me."

Squatch stepped back into the trees and headed home. Men would be coming to his grove, but they wouldn't find him. It wasn't yet time.

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"You should not have done it Ricky. Frankie needed you, your brother needed you." Squatch lowered his head, "I needed you."

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By the time Dave found the cabin, Squatch was gone.

The creature had departed for the upper hills and woods. He would return when the cub had become a man. Until then he would watch and he would wait.

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The morning after their return from Three Lakes, Aldric awoke before his wife. He took a few moments to lie in bed and think about recent events.

Throughout the long drive back to Familiarity, Frankie had been uncharacteristically quiet. If either he or Emma asked their son a question, Frankie had answered but not illuminated.

Careful questioning had led Aldric to understand; that while Frankie was confused as to why he had been with Almeric, he had never been scared. Almeric had been truthful, when he said that he didn't want to hurt Frankie.

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Frankie had told of a cabin in the woods where a large fuzzy creature named Squatch lived. Emma and her family had confirmed that there were indeed creatures such as Squatch. They were known to live in the woods around Three Lakes. Emma had met one when she had been a child, but it hadn't been Squatch.

Frankie seemed to think that Squatch had known Almeric well. He had told Frankie stories of Almeric as a teen and as a young man. The stories, which Frankie passed on, didn't completely gel with the Aldric's own memories of his brother. How well had he really known him?

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Aldric remembered the summers at the lake, when his brother would disappear for the entire day. Invariably when Almeric had disappeared, he would return to the lodge with a string of fish, and a relaxed presence. No matter if his mother had yelled at him or their father had teased him of finding a wood nymph, Almeric would never admit to anything other than fishing. At the time, Aldric had known his brother had a secret. He had even tried, unsuccessfully, to follow him on occasion. Aldric had grudgingly admired his brother for defying his mother; he knew that Almeric had paid for it later.

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Emma's father had found Squatch's cabin, but he said that the cabin was now empty. Dave had stayed at the cabin for most of the day waiting, but Squatch hadn't returned. While Dave had been there, he'd explored the area, and had found a grave. The grave was freshly dug and stone above it unmarked. Was it Almeric's? Dave didn't know and he hadn't disturbed the grave in order to find out.

Frankie believed that Almeric was dead, but was that true? How would a child know for certain?

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Instinctively, Aldric felt that Frankie was telling the truth, and that his brother was dead. He tried to determine how he felt about it. While he was relieved that his brother would not be able to harm anyone in the future, he wasn't glad he was dead. Aldric couldn't, however, work his way to grief, not yet.

Aldric believed that Almeric had known more than he had been willing to tell. He was angry that his brother had, once again, slipped away without letting him in on the secret.

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And what a secret it was. At the same time that the family had been celebrating Frankie's safe return, Bob had been gathering a group of UA researchers. Bob had put some of his famed 'more money than Wright' to good use. He had secured the purchase of the land that the retreat resided on. After purchasing a helicopter he and his crew had departed for the retreat.

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Wanting to leave everything preserved as much as possible, the team hadn't cleaned everything out. They'd packaged up the documents and taken samples of everything else they could find. Once the initial research had been accomplished, they would return, and learn more.

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The families of Familiarity were curious to learn more about Cigam's claims. They were also concerned. Were Cigam's creations a part of their desire to empower 'the blood'? Or were those creations separate? Was anything truly separate for Cigam? Was the smart milk that they'd been feeding their children for generations really safe? They'd known that smart milk increased the mental capacity of their children but did it affect them in other ways as well?

____________Pictured are Evette and Evonne Capp twin daughters of Elliot and Deanna

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Testing would need to be done. Not only on the substances found at Cigam, but on people as well. The family would balk at that, but it would have to be done. They needed to know, didn't they?

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Quietly, Aldric slipped out of bed, and walked down the hall to check on Frankie.

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The child that returned to the legacy house wasn't the same child that had left. The changes were small, but his family could see them. However, children are resilient and Frankie was soon back to talking a mile a minute. He laughed, when thought something was funny, or even when he didn't but he just felt like laughing. If he took to sitting and thinking a bit more often than he had in the past, well that was okay too.

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No matter what else is happening in the background, life has a way of continuing on, particularly in a legacy.

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By the time that Ferdinand Familiar was born; life, such as the Familiar family knew it, was returning to normal. The research was ongoing and there were still plenty of questions needing answers. It would take time to sort everything out and they couldn't just sit in stasis waiting.__________Ferdinand "Ferdie" Familiar, is named for multiple rules of European states. Or, he could be named for the band Franz Ferdinand, or possibly even for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar whose given name was Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor. Take your pick.

Ferdie has his father's brown hair and the green eyes that have been predominant in the family for generations.

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"Guess what? I have a brother! Want to come meet him?"

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The answer to Frankie's question seemed to be a resounding yes. Most of the immediate Familiar family descended on the legacy manse to meet its newest resident.

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Ferdie's arrival marked grandchild number fourteen for David and Titania. Their other grandchildren ranged from current teens Egeus and Erasmus, and on down to toddlers still in cribs, not yet allowed to join in on family gatherings.

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Family gatherings happen on a fairly regular basis in Familiarity. At least once a week there seems to be some reason to get everyone together. And even when there isn't a reason, they still do.

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It was at one of those no particular reason, just because gatherings that Emilia Summerdream and Ezra Capp put their minds together. There was something Ezra had always wanted to do, but couldn't figure out how to do it. Emilia was a girl with lots of bright ideas, dangerous plans and fearless nerves.

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For as long as he, or anyone else, could remember Ezra had wanted to fly. When asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, he didn't respond with one of the typical childlike responses. He didn't want to be a firefighter or a teacher or a doctor or even a cowboy, he wanted to be a bird.

Ezra had been known to talk like a bird, think with a bird brain and even eat like a bird. By eating like a bird we don't mean he ate small portions, but rather worms and bugs. Up until the point that his father removed his cooking privileges, unsuspecting friends and family members occasionally succumbed to his bird like concoctions as well.

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On this particular Saturday while his brother was manning the lemonade stand and his cousin Elijah was perfecting his sales techniques, Ezra had cornered Emilia with a new idea. He'd been at the soccer park on the day that their cousin Frankie had been abducted, and had seen Emilia's father's arrival with the Super Hero team. That Uncle Puck had found a way to fly, without growing wings, was something he wanted to explore.

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Emilia didn't know how exactly it was that Daddy flew, but she imagined that he'd needed a lot of practice. "Practice makes perfect, that's what Daddy always says."

Unfortunately for Ezra, practice made for a sprained ankle, a woozy stomach and being grounded until he was thirty.

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A short while later, after a long talk with his Uncle Puck; Ezra, declared that he would be a Captain Hero when he grew up, instead of a bird.

Ezekiel (Zeke) Capp - the red head with the Familiar chinSagittarius 1/9/9/8/4Fortune/PleasureLTW - Prestidigitator

Ezra Capp - the pretty blond oneSagittarius 1/5/9/8/9Family/FortuneLTW - Captain Hero

Ezra and Zeke are the sons of Elliot and Deanna Capp

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The second set of Capp twins, Evette (blond) and Evonne (black) celebrated their childhood birthdays on the same day their brothers became teens. The variety of personality genetics spread through out the Capp children enforces the idea that sometimes personality distribution is purely random. Evette is much like her older brother Zeke, messy, outgoing and downright mean. Evonne, on the other hand, has the predominant Familiar active and playful points; but, unlike anyone else in her family, Evonne is very shy and very neat.

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Evette took the chance to show off her personality, the following weekend. There were at least ten people outside the Summerdream's house. But, Evette still tried to be sneaky and steal their gnome.

Grandpa David had a talk with the budding thief; she'll try to be less obvious in the future.

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Meanwhile, Evonne was making friends with birthday girl Emilia Summerdream. Emilia actually has nice points, and wanted to befriend the only other neat freak among the first cousins.

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After fulfilling her want to befriend Evonne, it was time for birthday cake. Emilia, quickly blew out her candles and decisively declared that she would be putting her ideas to good use.

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Emilia SummerdreamVirgo 10/2/7/5/10Knowledge/FamilyLTW - Mad Scientist

Emilia is the daughter of Puck and Dorme Summerdream

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"Eat dirt Amin, you're going down."

"I couldn't lose to you if I tried, Euclid. Your mother could beat you at this game."

"Yeah well, your mother eats dirt."

Finding new and preferably disgusting ways to degrade a friend's mother was always held in high regard.

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"No just brains, you don't have to worry about that. Yours is too small to make a meal out of."

As Euclid discovered, it's pretty hard to insult the son of a zombie. Meet Amin Tricou, adopted son of Kiernan and DJ. Amin will be going to University with this generation.

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Soon after being pwned by Amin, it was Euclid Goth's turn to teen.

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Euclid GothCancer 4/3/7/6/6Family/PopularityLTW - Hall of Fame

Euclid is the son of Alexander and Bottom Goth

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Euclid, as his lifetime want would indicate, believes himself to be the jock of the generation. If there's a sport he plays it, and if there's a team he's on it. However, being a family sim, there was one event that he didn't feel should be a team activity.

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"I want girlfriend, and I desperately want a first kiss. But, I don't want your leftovers. Is there any girl in the hood that you haven't kissed?"

"There are a couple of kids out there that I don't have the family kiss option with. I'll have to wait till they grow up."

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"Very funny, 'Ras; seriously though, are there any teen girls in the hood that you haven't kissed?"

"I don't think so, but if you find any let me know. I'll rectify the matter."

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It took him a while, but Euclid did eventually find a girl that hadn't yet been conquered by his brother.

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Of course it helped that Evita London was the meanest girl in town. Erasmus might be the heartthrob of the generation, but he generally prefers gals (and guys) that have a bit of sensitivity.

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Having spent much of his life with his foot in his mouth, Euclid had to admire a girl that just didn't care what anyone else thought. After securing his first kiss, Euclid continued to pursue Evita during the many teen gatherings that threw them together. Euclid has fantasies of a lasting relationship, but at this point Evita isn't willing to commit.

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The one advantage that Euclid and Evita's relationship has long term is that they aren't at all related to each other.

Technically neither are Erasmus and Ezekiel.

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Nor are Ezra and Emilia.

The downside of having a rather large family, full of step and half cousins, is that many of them don't recognize each other as cousins. The downside of having a family, as close as most of the Familiar's are, is that best friends become crushes after a single flirtation.

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The possible drama revolving around Elijah Familiar's various cousins' relationships would make for good story telling. As he blew out his candles Elijah anticipated the stories he'd have to tell in the years to come.

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Elijah FamiliarTaurus 6/9/7/10/3Pleasure/PopularityLTW - Fifty Dream Dates

Elijah is the son of Dov and Elle Familiar

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Once he became a teen, Elijah was occasionally given the responsibility of looking after his sister Elisha, and his cousin Frankie. At first Emma had been reluctant to allow Frankie out and about without parental supervision, but Elle had worn her down. Frankie couldn't be held in a glass case for the rest of his life.

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Elijah would keep a good eye on the kids.

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And besides, what kind of trouble could they get into at the park?

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Out of all of Frankie's cousins, the one he's closest to is his first cousin Elisha. Not only is she the closest to him in age, she's also the most like him in personality.

The primary difference between Frankie and 'Lisha is in their willingness to relate with others. Frankie has never met a stranger, while Elisha needed time to warm up to anyone. When they are together, those differences balance each other out.

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When they were together, Frankie didn't feel the need to constantly talk, nor did Elisha feel the need to hide. She didn't tell him to be quiet and he didn't poke at her to be more outgoing. They just had fun and didn't worry about what anyone else thought.

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All told Frankie and Elisha were closer than many siblings are.

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But, having a first cousin, who was his best friend, didn't take anything away from the excitement of finally having a brother to play with. Frankie had wanted a brother for as long as he could remember. Once Ferdie was old enough to actually play with, Frankie hadn't wasted any time. Almost as soon as the candles on his brother's cake were blown out, Frankie had sat Ferdie down and taught him a nursery rhyme.

Once he'd learned the rhyme Ferdie wanted to sing it over and over all the time.

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It was almost as much fun as playing peek-a-boo with Grandma.

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Or making grumpy faces with Grandpa.

Much to David's despair, Ferdie isn't that much better suited for making grumpy faces than Frankie. While his personality tilts toward stubborn, it doesn't quite hit grouchy.

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When Dave wanted play with truly grouchy kids, he had to visit with either his Capp or his Langarek grandchildren. Ted and Eva's boys, Elm and Elan, were just slightly older than Ferdie and would soon be having their childhood birthdays.

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It was a surprise to almost everyone, that the twins weren't enough for Eva and Ted. They were going to have a third child, right on the heels of the boys.

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By the time the twins were ready for their birthday cakes, Eva was so big she could barely lean over far enough to help Elm blow out his candles. At least she thought it was Elm she was helping; the boys resembled each other so closely that it was hard to tell.

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While their grandparents dote on all of their grandchildren, you could tell that Dave took a special delight in Elan. Of all his grandchildren, Elan most resembled his grandfather in both looks and personality.

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The easiest way to distinguish between the twins is by viewing their profiles. Elan appears to have the Familiar nose, while Elm's nose resembles Ted's. Once they become a bit older it will be easier to tell them apart, Elm will most likely have the chin while Elan won't.

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On the evening following the twin's birthday, Eva gave birth to her third son Eagle. Headmaster Vince was more impressed with the birth of the baby than he was with the burnt pork chops that had been offered for dinner. Eva still has difficulties when it comes to cooking, but at least she tries.

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Eagle's big brothers were properly excited to meet him. They're looking forward to tormenting him in the future.

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And torment they surely will do, Eagle's personality is a bit of an aberration. He's not only nice but he's shy to boot.

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The whole family had come out for Eagle's birthday and it was the first time that the older boys had really gotten to mix with their cousins. Not all of them got along perfectly from the get go. It wasn't very surprising, that Elan and Frankie don't have much in common.

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Frankie does seem to get along with Elm a bit better, and at least Elm isn't a kicker, which is nice.

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The scariest friendship that's developed among the youngest set of Familiar's is Evette and Elan's. The two took one look at each other and seemed to know that they'd found a soul mate or at least a best friend forever.

"My names Elan, I have one nice point.""I'm Evette, I have three.""Hug?""Sure!"

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So Titania, you have fifteen grandchildren, is that enough for you?

"I'd really like twenty."

That impossible want is beyond impossible at this point, especially since Titania only recognizes eight of the kids as hers and Dave only recognizes eleven. However, it doesn't seem to matter to them who the kids actually belong to, Dave and Tania love them all equally.

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Unlike David and Titania; Bob and Sierra aren't currently collecting grandchildren, it seems instead that they are collecting children. The generation three vampire couple had originally had two sons (Benjamin and Boris) and for many years they seemed happy just watching their grandchildren and great grandchildren grow. However, in recent years they had felt a decided need for a more immediate family. Since their vampiric state kept them forever young, the two had been able to fulfill their desire for additional children. First there was Blade, then Buffy and most recently Bram.

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Through their connections with the UA Bob and Sierra were well versed on the Cigam discoveries and recognizing that their vampiric states indicated that each of them must carry the mysterious 'blood' and that through them their children were also likely carriers. They were of course curious as to what that might mean.

They had sunk significant funding into Cigam research. Along side that they had purchased, for their own use, prime acreage lakeside in Three Lakes. Since the Cigam papers indicated that those who carried the 'blood' should often spend time in the Valley; Bob and Sierra packed up the kids, along with their faithful robotic Nanny/Son Adam, for a sojourn of relaxation and regeneration.

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For the most part, it was a typical family vacation; they saw all the sites, took a bunch of tours and ate a lot of flapjacks. Of course, being vampires meant that they did all those things in the dead night, rather than under the light of the sun. Bob and Sierra had discovered kids are very adaptable and none of theirs had ever seemed to mind the odd hours their family kept. It was normal for them, if not for most others.

The vacation served a second purpose as well.

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"This is just odd; I've never seen anything like this. Dan? Look at these samples we took from Bob's kids." Misty Cupp was the senior researcher for the UA and had been spending most every night comparing DNA samples taken from various members of the Familiar family.

"What do you have Mist?" asked her partner Dan.

"I don't know what I have, but I think that we've found a missing portion of our equation. This is a sample of Bram's blood from before Bob and Sierra took their family to Three Lakes. And this other one is from after. Do you see the difference?

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"Oh yeah, I definitely see the differences. How far apart were the samples taken? DNA changes aren't that unusual."

"Mutations to this degree should take years to occur. I double checked. These samples were taken only three weeks apart. There's something in the air up there all right, but we still don't know what the changes signify. Those kids are perfectly normal; nothing separates them from, say your average townie kid. Their IQ's are slightly above average but that's to be expected from regular smart milk infusions."

"What about the other samples, from the rest of the family."

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"The DNA changes seem more significant in the younger ones, though they are present in the entire family. Bram shows the most change, Buffy slightly less. Blade's samples have a few noticeable changes but there's barely a blip on Bob or Sierra's. I don't know if that's because Bob and Sierra are vampires, if it's because they have matured or if it's just that their DNA is so old at this point that it resists change. We're going to need to do much wider studies."

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"You want us to do what?" Titania was a bit shocked at Bob's suggestion.

"You were planning on taking the kids on vacation anyway, right? All we want is to take some blood from each of you before you leave, and then take some more when you return. Think of it as a medical check-up."

"But we wanted to take them to the Beach not The Lake. Dave and I promised Frankie he could go with us the next time we took a vacation. I don't think it's a good idea to take him back to Three Lakes so soon."

"I think it's vital that you take Frankie, in particular, to Three Lakes as often as possible."

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"Everything we've discovered indicates that the Cigam believed regular journeys to their valley, were important to those of 'the blood'. According to those same documents we know that the Familiar family, as a whole, should be carriers of said 'blood'. We have to assume that Richard Davis knew his family history, if he did, then Frankie and Ferdie have additional levels of 'the blood' from their father."

"But what does that mean?"

"That's what we don't know, yet. What we do know is that the so called blood doesn't really have anything to do with actual blood, but with bloodlines and DNA. Misty and Dan have been doing comparisons of our families DNA, and there are indications of DNA mutations and genetic markers. Some lines have more significant numbers than others do; the Indie lines, for example, have pretty low levels of markers, and the Summerdream kids' levels are fairly high. We can theorize why that is, based on their family trees, but not what it actually means."

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"As for Frankie and Ferdie their levels are as high as the Egeus and Emilia's but there's an added component, that isn't present in very many other Familiars. We have to attribute that to Aldric's family and the difference in the type of 'blood' that was present in the Davis line."

"I've heard all this before Bob, I don't understand why you think we should put Frankie through a trip to Three Lakes, what good will it do him?"

"Psychologically it would do him good to visit Three Lakes with people that he knows and trusts implicitly. Having a good memory of the town will help him to overcome any bad memories. As for the rest, well we know that it won't hurt him, and according to the Cigam it will do him good."

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"No Frankie's not going back there Mom. You can't take him, I won't let you."

"But don't you think?"

"I said no."

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"I think you're wrong, I think we should let your parents take him to Three Lakes. Most of his memories of his time with Almeric are pretty good ones, we were the ones that were worried and scared the entire time he was there, not him. The ending of his trip was pretty bad. It was the first time he'd experienced death and it's understandable that it upset him, still upsets him."

"It upsets him more than it upsets you, and Almeric was your brother."

"Almeric was lost to me a long time before he died. The way that he died upsets me a lot more than the fact that he did. It pisses me off a lot more than it upsets me. It was just one more way for him to hide and I still don't know exactly what he was hiding from."

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"But why should we force Frankie to drudge up those memories again, he's been handling everything so well. And all this Cigam stuff? We don't know what it means; he's got extra DNA markers, so what? He's always had them. He's still the same normal kid that he was before we knew about them, right?"

"Of course he is, nothing about Frankie has changed, and that's my point."

"Then why can't they go to Twikki, why do they have to go to the Lake?"

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"Why does it matter where they go? If Frankie's the same as he was before then so is Three Lakes. Frankie's never been to the Lake house, it will be a completely different experience for him than his first trip there was. If in the future, we find out that there really is something to this whole DNA thing and having been to Three Lakes had a positive effect on him? Then well we can pat ourselves on the back for being forward thinking. It's like taking an umbrella with you when the weather man's predicted rain, just a precaution."

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Emma relented and Frankie was allowed to go to the family Lake House with his grandparents and a group of his cousins.

Seated left to right: Ezra Capp, Elijah Familiar, and Ezekiel 'Zeke' CappSquatting: Titania and David FamiliarStanding: Evette Capp, Elisha 'Lisha' Familiar, Evonne Capp and Frankie Familiar

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As family vacations went the trip to Three Lakes was fairly predictable. The older boys attempted to segregate themselves from the younger kids, while the younger kids did what they could to get the attention of their elder siblings and cousins.

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"Elijah, if you don't come watch me swim I'll tell Mom about the party you went to, with Corey, last week."

"Mom knows about that already, she's a popularity sim brat, parties are her life. I already got reamed for staying out past curfew."

"Oh well, I thought hitching a ride to campus, and going to a party at Eureka's Greek house would be a bigger deal. I guess she doesn't mind how you ripped up her best sheets to make a toga either, huh?"

"Dude you went to the toga party? I heard about that party, everyone in five states heard about that party! Man that's awesome. Were the streakers really..."

"Shut up 'Zeke"

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Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it really didn't matter. The younger cousins all got along well together. They had fun even when their elder siblings were being 'jerks'.

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And really needs big kids when your grandfather is the biggest kid of all?

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The only downside of the vacation was that Squatch wasn't at his cabin. David had warned Frankie that no one had seen the creature, but Frankie had been sure his friend would want to see him.

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Frankie had wanted Squatch to meet all his cousins. Some of them didn't even believe Squatch existed.

There's no such thing as a Sasquatch Frankie, you just made him up."

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"I believe you Frankie, Dad met one of those Bigfoot things when he was a kid. He came up here with his grandparents, and they all saw it. Just ask Dad, Vetty, he'll tell you."

"Frankie was glad that at least someone believed him. "But why did he leave? Doesn't he want to see me? I thought we were friends."

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Sarrie had been listening to the childrens conversation. "Don't worry about Squatch, he'll be back. It's not time yet, when you need him you'll find him."

"How do you know? Did he tell you?"

"He didn't need to tell me, I know. Squatch isn't your only friend in The Valley Frankie, when you need us, we'll be here."

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Vacations never last as long as you want them to and pretty soon they'd be leaving the lake. Soon after they returned home they'd all be having check-ups with Aunt Demi. Anytime one of the kids had needed to go see Aunt Demi recently, they'd been stuck with needles. The lollipops weren't worth it.

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As the shuttle pulled away from the lake house, Squatch stuck his head out from behind the tree. He would have liked to talk to the cub, to have reassured Frankie of his friendship. There had never been a time when Frankie had been alone long enough for that to happen, so Squatch had been content to watch. It had been good enough just to see the cub and to know he was doing well.

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Dear Diary,

Why do these things always happen to me? Do I wear a sign that reads abuse me please?

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I am a magnet for randomly occurring events. While visiting community lots with my friends, I have twice been pick-pocketed. Considering that, since becoming a teen, I have only been to a community lot twice, I feel that this is quite excessive. Don't you?

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This evening while taking a brief look at the constellations through Emilia's telescope, I was tapped by the aliens for experimentation purposes. While I do not remember exactly what occurred, I don't believe it was particularly pleasant.

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"You know why it happened right? It's all in the book Dad brought back from Three Lakes. You did read the book, didn't you Egeus?" Emilia looked at her brother.

"I read it, most of it at least. It was too weird for me, and you know I don't like science fiction."

"But it's not fiction, it's a historical document."

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"It's balarky, just because some guy claimed to have been a wizard doesn't mean he really was one. The only reason you believe it, is that you want to believe magic exists. It doesn't. It isn't possible to just snap your fingers and make something appear out of thin air."

"Sure it is Ege, haven't you ever really wanted something and turned around and there it was?" asked 'Ras.

"That's not magic, that's Jenn. This is different."

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"If there isn't anything to this Cigam, why are all the adults running around trying to figure it out? Dad quit his party job and went back to working in the lab; he hated lab work, why would he want that job back?" Euclid had been surprised by his father's recent job shift.

"Better money, Mad Scientists average 2700 more a week than Professional Party Guests," said Zeke from across the room. When everyone just stared at him he added, "I can know stuff; just cause I'm not knowledge doesn't mean I don't know stuff."

"As long as there's a simoleon sign attached to it, right?" Ribbed his twin.

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"Okay smart guys, if it is true, what does it all mean?" Egeus asked the collective group of teenagers.

"What it means is that at some point in the not so distant future really weird things are going to happen." Erasmus rolled his eyes at Egeus. "Ege, we don't know what it means, no one does. Why do you think Aunt Dems is always attacking us with needles? Same reason why our parents are all working overtime and huddling in groups when they think none of us are paying attention. They're trying to figure it out."

"And what are we supposed to be doing in the meantime?"

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"We're supposed to be going about our lives like nothing weird is going on so that we won't worry our parents any more than they already are. But, what we're going to do about it is this; we're going to listen in on every conversation they have, read everything we can get our hands on, and do whatever we can to help them figure it out," replied 'Ras.

"And we're going to keep an extra eye on the kids, make sure nothing happens to them." Elijah smirked. "Some of us can be trusted to actually do that."

"How were we supposed to know? They don't tell us anything, which is why we're going to do our own research."

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"Once we get to UNI we'll be able to find out more, we can use the labs there. They'll probably tell us more then too. College students are adults, right?" Emilia said.

"Parents never think their kids are adults," Speculated Ezra. "But, if we ask the right questions they'll be less likely to avoid the answers. We can join the UA once we're in UNI. They won't be able to tell us we're too young, there are all those college zombies that belong."

"Exactly," said 'Ras, "and now that Egeus has collected his extra scholarship, there won't be any protests when we say we're ready. He and I will go ahead and go, the rest of you need to stay and get the other teens involved. Don't worry, we'll try not to have it all figured out before you get there."

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"Where is everybody? They all disappeared." Frankie hadn't seen any of the older cousins for a while.

"They're up in the tree house; they're having a secret meeting." Elisha replied.

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"Well let's go! Come on!" Frankie started to head towards the stairs.

"Good luck getting up there, they pulled up the ladder." Elan looked up from his game momentarily.

"Aww man, why'd they do that?"

"Cause they think we're babies and they don't want us bothering them. Once we're teens they won't be able to exclude us any more." Elisha was more than ready for her birthday.

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"Call us as soon as you get there." Said Puck giving his son a hug goodbye, "Let us know what dorm you're in, so Betsy can send you some cookies. Don't go too crazy. Four years is a lot longer than you think it will be, so don't do anything to embarrass yourself right off the bat. Call Gvaudoin so she can add you to the Greek roster. Just cause there's a hot tub doesn't mean you should jump in it right away, be selective."

"Dad?" said Egeus, "you've told me all of this already, and so has Mom."

"Well it doesn't hurt being repeated."

"But Dad, I can't breathe."

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Erasmus and Egeus quickly settled into their assigned dorm along with their long time friend Edam Smith. There were currently three dorms that housed the first two groups of students from Familiarity, so they had plenty of friends with them.

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Gvaudoin threw a welcome to UNI toga party at the Greek house, so that all the new arrivals could mingle with the existing student population. The boys would be living in the dorms for their first year before moving into the Greek house.

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Once the niceties were over they were ready to take care of the serious business that is a college education.

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They hadn't been on campus very long before they were summoned back, to the main hood, for sidewalk smutsle party

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There were a few young men waiting to have birthday cake.

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Ferdie got to go first and he wasn't going to allow anyone to help him.

"My cake Mommy!"

"Well okay big guy, it's all yours," laughed Emma.

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After a brief pause to take a quick picture, it was Frankie's turn.

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The boy who had never met a stranger already knew exactly what he wanted to be when he grew up. There was no need to think it over.

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Unfortunately for the new popularity teen, the party was called early on account of fumes.

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Frankie FamiliarLibra 5/10/2/8/7Popularity/PleasureLTW - Icon (Showbiz)

Frankie is the son of Aldric and Emma Familiar

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A very short while later, Frankie and the rest of the cousins were present to help Elisha celebrate her birthday as well.

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Elisha FamiliarAquarius 4/1/5/8/8Fortune/KnowledgeLTW - 5 level 10 businesses

'Lisha is the daughter of Dov and Elle Familiar

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Thank You for Reading!Happy Simming.____________________________I'd like to give a general thank you to all of the creators of custom content that share their talents with the community. My apologies to anyone with true knowledge or experience with DNA Testing and Genetic Research.