Edylin

These are the Pembrokes, Charles and Catherine Pembroke. They are one of the original founding families of Willow Creek and will remind everyone about that fact. Charles Pembroke is CEO of a big real estate company that controls most of Willow Creek, from restaurants, to retail shops, to the city park and everything in between. Catherine is a housewife, she supports everything Charles does and organizes the parties to do the necessary socializing to enhance their family further. Together they have 4 daughters and needless to say, they expect a lot of them. They have to do their duty for the family and nothing less then perfection will be tolerated.

This is Beatrice Pembroke, better know as Bibi in the family. She is the eldest and she strives to be the perfect daughter. She knows she is expected to take over the family business one day and she will do everything in her power to make no mistakes! She is currently almost 18, ready to graduate and go to university. She will be following the Boba Tea Tales Legacy, made by @malixacc

This is our second girl, Cecilia or Ceci Pembroke. She is just a sweetheart, she sees only good in people and breezes through live without a care in the world. At just 16 she is ready to embrace everything coming her way With Ceci we will be exploring the Just Desserts Legacy by @clumsyromantic

Our third girl, Arabella Pembroke or Bells is just 13. You can always find her buried in some book and she dreams of her prince on a white horse to come and sweep her of her feet, just like in the books she loves so much. Bells will follow the Struck By Love Legacy by @fruitysimsy and @hellohopesims

And then there is little Tilly, Matilda Pembroke, the youngest daughter. She is 9 at the moment and she is completely wild, her energy has no boundaries and her parents fear they wont be able to control this crazy girl This girl, although still very young now will have a lot of drama as she will be the first gen of the Hot Tea Legacy by the wonderful storyteller @lxdice

We will follow all four during their lives, of course at the start I will be playing more with the older girls before we start with the younger ones.

I have also added two new legacies in this rotational gameplay

Vivienne Ashcroft has entered the Willow Creek rotational ave as the heir of the Star Sign Legacy by @ginovasims

Here are all our families as we enter the new year.

Bibi and Sam and their four children, Madeline, Olivier, Juliette and Colette

Ceci and Nick and their three kids, grown up already. JJ, Sophia and Stella

Bells with her two kids, Louisa May and Travis John

Tilly with new husband Henry and her baby Charlotte

Vivienne and Julian had baby Nicholas, but he is still too small to pose for a picture.

And last Sybille and Malcolm.

Then realization kicked in and Bells pulled back immediately. "Estelle"

The young woman's face fell instantly "I am sorry"

"Estelle stop" The hurt in her eyes almost broke her heart and she took a deep breath "We can't, this is wrong"

"Why?"

The question was so simple, the answer wasn't.

"Because you're 18, I am a mother of two children." She laughed once, though there was no humor in it "My daughter thinks you're the coolest person in the world"

"Bells ..."

"No." Bells held up her hand "I am your mentor" The words sounded even worse said out loud. "I am suppose to help you, to guide you. This is wrong on so many levels".

"Bells, sorry, I never meant to make things difficult" Estelle said "but I don't regret kissing you"

After Estelle had left, the house felt strangely empty. Bells stood alone in the kitchen long after the door closed, trying to make sense of everything. Why was this different from anything she had experienced before, why did this kiss still linger in her mind. Why, despite everything she had said, a small part of her wished the moment had lasted longer.

The moment everything changed happened on a snowy day at the end of winter. They were alone at home reviewing edits for Estelle's university project. Outside everything was quieted by the snow. Inside the room felt warm, comfortable.

The two stood closely together looking at something on the laptop when somehow the air shifted. Bells heart started to beat faster, which was crazy, this was just Estelle, sweet, young Estelle, her student.

"Bells..." The way Estelle said her name made something flutter in her chest. Then, before Bells understood what was going on, Estelle leaned forward and kissed her. Soft, tentative as if she gave Bells room to pull away.

As the months passed, the friendship deepened. Estelle was there for Bells in a way nobody ever had been. Her sisters loved her of course, but they weren't part of her literary journey, they didn't understand the need to write like Estelle did. And Bells slowly became aware of something, she was looking forward to seeing Estelle and when they were apart she was counting the days till their next meeting.

What had started as chance meeting in a coffee shop slowly turned into something more. Estelle became a familiar presence in Bells' life. The young literature student had a sharp mind that reminded Bells of herself, before marriage, before the children.

Soon they were meeting weekly, in the coffee shop or the university library. Sometimes even at Bells' house while the children were at school.

The house became quiet after both Louisa May and Travis John aged up and started attending elementary school. So Bells settled most mornings in a nearby coffee shop with a cappuccino and her laptop. She had started writing her third book in the Velvet series, Velvet swords.

One snowy afternoon she was deep into editing a chapter when someone approached her table.

"Excuse me? You are Arabella Pembroke, right?"

Bells looked up and saw a young woman, red curls framed an earnest face and an expression that tried very hard not to show how nervous she was.

Bells smiled politely "I am"

The girls face lit up, "Oh my gosh!" she laughed nervously "I am sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I am Estelle Harper, I just started studying English Literature at university ... and I wanted to tell you how much I love your books"

"That is very kind"

"No really, your books mean a lot to me" Estelle continued quickly "especially The Queen and The Maid. That book helped to understand myself, my sexuality, it helped me feel normal, when I was struggling with finding myself"

Aged 66 years old, the patriarch of the Pembroke family passed away on a very cold winter evening. Charles Pembroke was widowed when his wife passed away a few years ago. He had 4 daughters, 3 grandsons and 6 granddaughters.

The pregnancy itself went really smooth, Vivienne remained active almost until the end. Having meetings and even being promoted to council member during her pregnancy.

Labor however was something else. Hours stretched endlessly as the doctors grew increasingly more concerned. Vivienne was overtaken by exhaustion and complications threatened to arise. Julian never left her side, supporting her and holding her through every painful contraction.

By the time the baby finally arrived both Vivienne and Julian were exhausted.

The nurse handed her baby over to Vivienne "Congratulations, you have a boy"

A few weeks later Vivienne stood frozen in the bathroom holding pregnancy test that for the first time showed two pink lines.

"Julian" she called out

He rushed in immediately, worried. "What happened?"

Vivienne showed him the test and he pulled her in his arms "We are having a baby!"

So like always when life became overwhelming Vivienne escaped to the mountains, we she felt she could breathe and leave all her worries behind.

During the day they skied till their muscles burned and at night they sat wrapped together in blankets besides the fire place.

At first it was exciting, they joked about baby names and imagined tiny ski outfits for their trips to Mount Komorebi. But as month after month passed without success, the excitement became pressure.

"It'll happen" he reassured her after another negative test

"But what if it doesn't" she asked quietly

Julian hugged her tight, "We will still be akoy we still have each other"

"But I know how much you want a baby and Bells got pregnant so easy ..."

The hardest part for Julian of the week was always Sunday evening, when his kids went back to their home. No matter how he loved his life with Vivienne, he felt something missing. The house came alive when his children were around and got awfully quiet when they left.

Julian always stood at the front door watching Bells car drive off, shoulders sinking slightly. But Vivienne noticed every time.

One Sunday evening after Bells had driven off, Vivienne came to stand next to him and held his hand. "You miss them already" she said softly

Julian smiled faintly "Always"

"You are a good father" she said as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

"I would like another chance" Vivienne looked up, questioningly. "I want to do this again, with you."

In a gorgeous old church in Willow Creek Henry and Till got married, this time surrounded by her whole family.

For Tilly it felt like a magical night, she had never been happier. Except for the photographers and journalist surrounding the venue and taking pictures of everything.

The entire Pembroke family was still trying to catch up with Tilly's life. One moment she drunkenly married a musician, the next she got divorced and before they could process that information the family received cream coloured invitations announcing her marriage to Henry Wilton.

This time no expenses were spared, Henry and Tilly were arranging the wedding of the century and in the Pembroke family that meant something.

Henry spoke often how important this wedding was for him, for his company, possible investors. He could see the headlines "Up and coming young CEO marries youngest Pembroke daughter"

Life had settled for Bells.

After the success of her debut novel, Bells had written another book. It wasn't the huge success of the first one, but it still sold enough to reassure her that she could really write.

So when she started her third book, she stopped trying to control her voice and let the words pour out her. The story became centered around a lonely queen and a clever maid, what began as friendship developed into longing, tenderness and love. She hadn't planned to write a queer love story, it just happened. The characters had been there in her head and she just wrote down their story.

People adored it! Bells found her once again nominated for Romance novel of the Year!

At the award ceremony, she felt radiant!

She accepted her award with trembling hands. "Thank you" she said in the microphone" This story surprised even me. I think sometimes the best stories are the ones we never intended to tell"

She waited till Ethan came home back from tour. The moment he walked through the door, he smilled automatically and said "Hey babe!"

Tilly sat at the kitchen table with a stack of papers in front of her, something about her expression made Ethan freeze. "What is wrong?"

She simply handed him the papers "I can't do this anymore"

"What do you mean, divorce?" Ethan stared at her like he didn't kow who she was. "Where is this coming from?"

"There is someone else" The silence after felt enormous.

"You are serious?" He looked at the suitcases and boxes, he only now noticed "You are leaving now?"