Chapter 38: Playing With Fire

As Blaze stood in front of her cousin all sense of vanity and self-control was lost. As she spoke she laid her heart out for all to see; saying everything she had wanted to for so long, but also everything she had feared vocalising. Now she could only hope Bronx would be kind, and perhaps reciprocate her feelings.



Unfortunately for Blaze, Bronx's compassion was lost. Sure he cared for his cousin and wanted to maintain the strong friendship he had formed with her, but at the end of the day his motivations were always selfish, and right now Blaze's declaration didn't factor into his plans one bit.



Blaze heard the words echo over and over in her mind as they escaped Bronx's lips. It was so simple, just 'no', but that utterance was enough to near destroy Blaze right there and then.



With not even her dignity left Blaze retired to her room; just needing to be alone with her tears and frustration for a while. If she'd had the option she'd have stayed secluded for the rest of her life.



Mere hours later the crowds gathered for the wedding of Bronx Mars and Sapphire Skye. It was a simple affair, just family and friends, but in Bronx's mind it simply didn't matter. This kind of commitment would be important to so many, but to Bronx it was simply a formality- a tool to further his political career; the gaining of the trophy wife.



Sapphire of course was clueless to his intentions. She loved Bronx so completely she couldn't even imagine the idea that he might not love her back, and as the smooth metal wedding band was placed on her finger Saph felt secure in the promise it symbolised. Little did she know the gesture was more akin to a death sentence...



After the wedding was over the party headed inside to celebrate. Well, most of the guests were enthused, but as you can imagine Blaze was less than impressed...



As the festivities raged on Blaze threw herself into her favourite activity- dancing- and tried her best to just blend into the background. Bronx on the other hand was the center of attention as usual as he began to get to know his new sister-in-law Gemini better.



Eventually night fell and the guests left. The happy couple were finally alone and so they went to bed for the first time as man and wife (or should that be schemer and fool?)



Blaze meanwhile was busy doing what she does best- freaking out, and who can blame her?



In the morning though she appeared more composed and refreshed as she began to get on with some work. By now Blaze was at level 6 in the law enforcement career and was therefore required to spend some time questioning citizens and writing up reports. Her first target was old flirt James Durham.



After the work was done Blaze engaged in a little play (finally) as she invited James to join her in the bedroom. It didn't help her forget about Bronx, but it took the edge off the pain for a while at least.



But it wasn't that easy, not for Blaze. After all these years of wanting Bronx, of being completely besotted with him no less, the rejection would not be something she could just shake off. Blaze was a strong-minded girl, foolish perhaps, but willful. In naivety she began to believe that if she could change herself then maybe, just maybe, she could become someone that Bronx would love.



It started rationally at first- just a bit more exercise and a bit less food is all, but as time went on and the results were less evident Blaze began to push herself more and more. Hopelessly determined and Neurotic as she was Blaze thought that by controlling what she ate she could control how she felt. She didn't realise that, although she could change how she looked, she couldn't change how she felt about herself- or how anyone else did.



Nevertheless the cycle remained. Every few days the sickly sweet taste of the apple would stave off the hunger, but it could do nothing to quiet the demons in Blaze's mind.



Once a hobby, now an obsession. Blaze's life was ruled by her own sad sickness, and she couldn't see the light for the shadows.



Elsewhere in the house life for Sapphire was much brighter. She had just discovered she was pregnant, and she was delighted.



Immediately Saph began to read in preparation for her upcoming motherhood.



But of course being as happy as she was she couldn't resist telling Blaze about it all, little realising Blaze's secret love for Bronx and her fragile state of mind would make this news unbearable.



Blaze! Stop that, you're going to scare the baby right out of her!



For the next few days life progressed as normal (or as normal as it can be in my game). Blaze continued to work hard in her career, and was rewarded with another promotion.



Bronx too was pushing on in his job. His political ambitions not only required him to give 110% effort every day at work, but this extended to his home life too. With a baby on the way his picture-perfect family was coming together nicely, and nothing could stand in his way.



For most of her pregnancy Sapphire was essentially lonely. With Bronx and Blaze at work all day and with no real friends of her own, Saph was isolated from all she held dear. But it would all be alright, because as the end of the day Bronx always came home to her.



Still, it saddened Sapphire somewhat that Bronx's only real contact with his child was giving the baby's head a good thwack with his *ahem*...



Soon enough Sapphire went into labor. So was Bronx by her side at the birth? Was he balls.



No, Bronx was outside working on getting some campaign donations, by any means necessary...



Back in the bedroom the sparkles hit as Sapphire welcomed her new baby into the world.



And it's a little girl named Zephyr- she has the Loner and Clumsy traits. Fun...



Sapphire took to motherhood extremely well, having no problems with putting aside her career as she tended to Zephyr's every need.



Bronx on the other hand was continually busy embracing self-indulgence. Yes, the needs of the mighty Bronx were always more important than those of anyone else.



So the baby stage is boring yanno, and essentially nothing happened. Therefore we're moving right on now to toddlerhood as Zephyr celebrates her birthday.



Hmm, who knew hair dye was genetic?
Still, ignoring the screwed genetics of this game she's a little cutie alright ^.^



Once again Sapphire immediately rose to the challenge of looking after her daughter, and this time she wasn't the only one...



Perhaps it was his birthday that did it- perhaps it was aging that brought a sense of maturity out in Bronx. Either way, after his transformation into an Adult there were definitely changes evident in Bronx...



Perhaps though it's nothing to do with age and wisdom and everything to do with the fact that Zeph here is so ruddy awesome-o. Either way, as the days went on Bronx began to spend more and more time with his daughter.



Aww!



On witnessing her husband's growing affections towards their child, Sapphire began to make peace with some of the troubles she had been feeling. As she saw Bronx and Zephyr playing she knew that they were going to be okay... or at least that's what she thought.



Before long it was time for Saph to go back to work, and this meant that Bronx was alone in the house with only Zephyr for company. Naturally he couldn't wait to invite some pals over for a little fun...



In was then, whilst Bronx was flirting with some random girl, that Gemini first began to display signs of jealousy. She and Bronx were friends and nothing more, but still, for whatever reason, seeing Bronx with another woman made her blood boil- and I don't think it had anything to do with sisterly loyalty.



Of course, whilst all this was going on someone was being a little neglected...

Don't worry- Sapphire returned soon enough to care for her child.



That night it was celebration time for Blaze as her birthday arrived, though really there wasn't a whole lot for her to rejoice in...



As an Adult Blaze was given a whole new grown-up look, one that symbolised all the changes she hoped to make in her life.



Step one of The Changes was getting out on the dating scene. Blaze knew her 'relationship' with James was going nowhere as he just didn't push her buttons, so instead Blaze began looking for someone new. Fernando here seemed like a good prospect, especially after what he did next...



Clearly he's into his mad dancing as much as Blaze is : p

Howevers, after this I checked his relationship status and found out he was already married! Shizzle, Blaze really can pick 'em can't she?



Nevertheless, the two did indulge in a cheeky kiss...



Ahh Blaze, you bad bad girl. Still, it was a rare moment of naughtiness for her I'm sure.
The rest of the time Blaze was good to everyone, and she had even started to bond with Zephyr after avoiding her for so long. Blaze really wanted to hate the little girl, simply because Zeph was a reminder of everything she could never have, but she knew it wasn't the child's fault.



Family bonds were strengthening in other parts of the house too as Bronx got to spend some time with his dearly departed dad.



All the spooky activity in the household is proving rather productive for my new hobby- ghost watching. They pop up every single night but some are rarer than others. They're like Pokemon, and Christian here is a shiny.



Other than ghosts at night we also have birthdays, and here's Sapphire celebrating hers. But immediately after she was done aging Saph did something very strange...



For seemingly no reason whatsoever, Sapphire tried to put the moves on Fernando- right in front of Bronx! Maybe she was feeling a little neglected and wanted to make him jealous or something, either way it didn't work. In fact, it had a rather interesting knock on effect...



One night, Blaze was sat in her room just quietly reading. She didn't even hear Bronx come in, not until she looked up and felt her heart lurch as she saw him standing right in front of her.



Blaze and Bronx hadn't really talked since he had rejected her, and that was fine for all concerned. It had been so awkward between them that any attempt at conversation would have been so forced and uncomfortable. Even now, just sat next to each other, the tension was excruciating.



But perhaps words were not needed at this moment. As Bronx reached over and put his arm round Blaze she couldn't help but melt into him. She didn't understand what it meant; she didn't know where this could lead or whether it was even a good idea in the first place, only that, right then, she didn't care.



Bronx leaned in and moved his face closer to Blaze's. Every second it took for his mouth to reach hers was like torture, and she felt she would die if he didn't end her suffering.



In time the agony was over, and only ecstasy remained.



Outside the bedroom, Zephyr sat cold and alone.



In the morning the haze was lifted, and Blaze tried to shake off the mist as she headed out to work (dressed in the signature Super FuryRed colours I see).



In the afternoon the working day ended and Blaze returned home to find solitude in her room. Meanwhile Bronx was entertaining a guest...
When Bronx had invited Gemini over and promptly began to flirt with her she didn't even resist- not for a second. It's surprising, considering what happened next...



Your eyes do not deceive you- those are indeed maternity clothes. Yes, part-way through their conversation Gemini suddenly just popped out a baby bump! Apparently she had an affair with some old dude, he knocked her up, and then died! So not only is she preggers but she's also depressed as heck.
My game is ridiculous sometimes...



And speaking of badly timed storks flying in...



On realising she was pregnant Blaze couldn't help but panic. This could have been a great thing; this could have been what she needed to bring her and Bronx together, but Blaze knew him too well to expect that he would stand by her.



When she came across him flirting with Gemini just a few minutes later her fears were confirmed.



Yes, Bronx being the callous dog that he is even decided to take Gemini to bed, regardless of the fact that she was carrying another man's child and he was married to her sister.



Deary deary me. By now Sapphire at least knew that something was very wrong with her marriage; whether she was willing to admit was another matter entirely. And so Bronx got horizontal with his sister-in-law whilst his wife cared for his child in the other room.



And if you thought all of this was at least going unnoticed by Zephyr then you're sadly very wrong. She knew everything that was going on, and she was not happy.



For the next few days Blaze's bump continued to grow, and she continued to be completely clueless regarding what to do about it.



But in time she knew that she had to make a decision, one that would not be easy. Living in the same house as the man she loved but could not have, it just wasn't right. Blaze knew she would have to leave, it was just a matter of when to go.



For now though Blaze convinced herself to put on a happy face, her first in a while, as she prepared to celebrate a birthday.



She wasn't the only one faking joy, as Sapphire tried to put to one side her feelings of betrayal and upset as she attempted to ensure her daughter had a happy birthday.



As Zephyr blew out the candles she made a wish, for so many things...



I guess we'll just have to wait and see if her dreams come true, but for now let's have a looksie at our girl as a child.



Aww so cute, kind of exotic, and as moody as all my Sim kids seem to be.



So now Zephyr is a child, but considering how traumatic her first few years in the world have been so far, how will her life progress? Will Bronx choose between his three potential lovers, will he even get the option to or will they become wise to his ways? Find out in the next chapter of The Mars Family Legacy, coming soon.


You can find the original on the story board here- feel free to rec that if you've enjoyed this : )