Sowing the Seeds
With Eugene's cooperation secured, Leia can proceed with her plan to cover up her relationship with the Grim Reaper: starting with a dinner party with her parents and sister, to formally announce the engagement to them first. And once the engagement is announced, no one will question her later pregnancy announcement. It's a perfect plan, isn't it?
Assuming all goes smoothly, that is.
Minor warning for NPC death related to the Reaper career.
Leia returned to work Friday evening, after her meeting with Eugene. She was a Collections Agent now, working the 2pm-10pm shift instead of the earlier shift she had been accustomed to. She would have to fill Hades in on the plan later, there was no time or secrecy to talk about it at work.
Now that she had been promoted, Leia was receiving larger jobs. This time, she was dispatched to a comedy club in Windenburg, where one of the featured acts had unfortunately been a little bit too funny.
There were four Sims down when Leia arrived, and the club was otherwise deserted. Understandably, she wasn't expecting the other patrons to stick around after that, but she would've expected a manager or staff member, at least... she would have to make note of that in her report.
An examination of all four Sims revealed a pretty cut and dry cause of death: hysterical laughter. Par for the course, in a comedy club, though always unfortunate. There was a fine line between being funny enough to have a successful show and not being deathly funny, and not many comedians could walk that line.
With the cause of death determined and the report complete, all that was left was to reap the souls of the departed Sims and head back to the office. She left the urns for the club to deal with, though, physical remains weren't her department.
When she returned to the Netherworld, Leia released the four souls into the portal. She hoped they had lived good lives up to that point, and if they hadn't, that they would find rest here. She supposed dying of laughter in a comedy club wasn't such a bad way to go, either. At least they were having fun!
Leia's new 'lunch' break came at the time she would normally be sitting down to eat dinner, so she had brought a can of red pepper soup and a couple of bread rolls to heat up in the office kitchen. The warm, slightly spicy soup and soft rolls warmed her right up after being out in the cold.
Next fall, maybe she'd be making this for her baby to try for the first time.
The rest of the shift was pretty mundane- ordering office supplies, reaping schedules, checking quotas. They had brought in some new Grimterns, though, so Leia spent the last little bit of her shift mentoring them.
It was a little funny, being the only mortal on the team currently. Everyone else was a ghost!
That evening, Hades accompanied Leia home again. They had a lot to talk about, Leia especially. She told him all about meeting Eugene earlier that day, and the agreement they had come to. The false engagement and marriage, his agreement to pretend the child was his in exchange for getting to stay with her in Ravenwood.
It would all work perfectly, if Hades agreed to it. And of course, he did- they had already agreed this would be the best course of action, and she liked Eugene well enough for it to not be miserable coexisting.
Their secret would be safe, now.
Eugene arrived the next morning. He hadn't brought a lot, just the essentials- he had been more focused on getting out before his family tried to stop him, tried to wrap him up in whatever mystery they were involved in.
He was relieved to be out, and thanked Leia warmly for letting him stay. He'd already arranged for an interview at the Crow's Crossing Courthouse, and hoped to start there soon.
While Eugene got settled upstairs, Leia went to prepare a couple of dishes for a small dinner party. She had sent a message to her parents and her sister, inviting them to come over. She planned to tell them of her engagement tonight, and then spread the word to the rest of her cousins later.
Then, she and Eugene would have to start planning a wedding.
Vanessa and Teodor arrived first, since they lived just outside of town. Leia welcomed them in warmly, always glad to see them.
"Your home looks lovely, Leia, I'm glad you're settling in so well." Vanessa told her.
"Thank you, Mom. I'm glad you guys could come."
"Of course, we're always glad to see you. Is anyone else coming?"
"Yes, Liliana and Aukai are on their way, and my friend Eugene is joining us."
Aukai and Liliana arrived not too long after that, and Liliana called everyone to dinner. She had prepared a nut roast, a pear and brie cheeseboard, and a lemon poppyseed cake. Simple compared to what she did for Winterfest, but something she was proud of nonetheless.
She wanted to remodel the living room eventually, to add more space for hosting. She really couldn't have that large of parties right now!
Before the party started, Leia and Eugene had discussed how they would announce it. They had ended up deciding that since Vanessa was taking the Dynasty thing so seriously, Eugene would formally ask permission to marry Leia, in front of everyone else.
So, once everyone had finished their appetizer and main course, Eugene pulled Vanessa aside.
"Mrs. Constantin, I've known Leia for a long time, and I care for her a great deal. I would like to ask for your permission to marry her."
Vanessa's smile lit up the whole room. "You're a good young man, Eugene, I remember how much she enjoyed your company before. Yes, of course, you have my blessing. I'll be very glad to see you two settle down."
Vanessa was so overjoyed, Leia felt a pang of guilt for lying to her- to all of them. But it was for the best, it truly was. Everyone would be happier, believing in this.
And Hades wouldn't lose his position because of their romance. She wasn't only doing this for her, she had to remember that.
While Eugene talked to Leia's parents, she pulled her sister aside. "When did this happen?" Liliana whispered to her. "What about-"
"Shh." Leia shook her head slightly. "I'll have you over another day, and tell you everything. For now, just play along."
"Okay, I trust you." Liliana agreed.
"Thank you, Lil. Will you be my maid of honor? I can't imagine having anyone else at my side."
"Of course, Leia. You were mine, after all!"
Leia also asked Vanessa to officiate the wedding, and Eugene asked Aukai to be his best man, just like he was at Aukai and Liliana's wedding. Both said yes, of course, and were thrilled for the prospective couple.
"So this is why you were so eager to set off by yourself." Vanessa remarked fondly to Leia. "Ready to start a family of your own."
"That was part of it." Leia acknowledged with a chuckle. If only her mother knew how true that statement was... well, she'd find out soon enough.
Once everyone had left, Leia and Eugene were left to clean up the party together. They made minor small talk, neither of them quite sure how to talk about everything now. It was different, to have announced the proposal in front of everyone.
"Thank you for going through with this." Leia finally told him. "I do deeply appreciate it."
"Of course, Leia. You're helping me out too, don't forget that."
"I suppose so. We should arrange for an engagement dinner soon, and announce it to our families in full."
"That's a good idea." Eugene agreed. "Where?"
"The Cathedral in town is a beautiful place for wedding events. I would suggest there."
"Then that's what we'll do. Say, two weeks from today? That'll give us time to get things in order."
"I think that sounds perfect."
With the party cleaned up and their plan settled, Leia and Eugene headed to bed in their separate rooms. Leia laid awake for a while, running through the coverup again and again in her head. Ava and Liliana were the only ones who truly knew about her relationship with Hades, and she would need their help maintaining this story. If one of them decided they didn't want to lie to Vanessa...
But that wouldn't happen. She trusted them both, and neither of them would want to see her expelled from the Dynasty. She just had to be careful, and make sure the rest of the family didn't see the truth behind the facade.
This concludes Leia's collection! We'll rotate back around to her soon enough, but next week, we'll be focusing in on Eirwen Walter, and the next collection of her story!
If you enjoyed Leia's story, please leave me a comment and tell me what you liked best, or what you're excited to see more of! Thank you so much for reading, and I'll see you next week!
- Paxxie
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