The Kendrick Legacy

Duncan tries to let Starla down easy.

"I'm sorry. It's not you; It's me."

After his realization that he wasn’t in love with Starla and didn’t want to marry her, Duncan proceeded to break things off with her.  He tried to do it as nicely as possible so that they could still remain friends, but he knew that she was very hurt by his decision.

Jayne was also not happy.  She and Starla were really good friends.  Jayne had seen Starla as her niece-in-law and was quite disappointed with Duncan.  However, Duncan knew that Jayne would get to know and love Stacia as much as she had loved Starla.  At least he hoped so.

Duncan upgrades the stove while Stacia makes her Autumn Salad for their dinner.

Duncan felt slightly guilty for romancing Stacia as soon as he broke up with Starla, but he felt the twin pressure of needing to continue the family legacy and also what he thought was probably true love.  Stacia was the perfect girl for him.  He found out that she had a great sense of humor and loved the outdoors as much as he did.  she was also a natural cook, though he wasn’t sure what to make of her love of raw fish.  Duncan, a vegetarian, shuddered, at that one, but she made a mean Autumn Salad.

It was probably fitting that Duncan decided to propose to Stacia while they were playing in the garden sprinkler.  They were having so much fun and she was in a wet swim suit.  How could Duncan resist?  He was so happy when she said yes.  They decided to set their wedding for their next mutual day off, which also happened to be Duncan’s birthday.

Duncan pops the question after playing in the sprinkler.

Emanuel and Sherrie were in early marriage bliss and were more interested in being with each other than in Duncan’s messed up love life.  They didn’t even notice when Duncan broke up with Starla.

Emanuel is fired up by Sherrie's singed body.

The day that Emanuel finished his first novel, a science fiction piece titled, “48 Monkeys”, Sherrie came home from work after a failed experiment blew up in her face.  She was looking more than a little singed, but Emanuel found this look highly attractive.  He and Sherrie headed right to bed.  Unfortunately for Emanuel, who doesn’t like kids, their little fun had consequences.

Whoops, all that hot woohoo get's Sherrie knocked up.

Duncan was excited for Sherrie.  He couldn’t wait until his wedding.  He had waited a long time to woohoo, and he hoped that his first time would result in a baby for him and Stacia as well.

Before the wedding, Taven, Duncan’s cousin, became an adult.  Of course the Kendricks threw a party for him.  Everyone came.   As an adult, Taven got a job in the Culinary Career field like Stacia.  He also talked about moving out on his own, but Duncan begged him to stick around until after the wedding.

Everyone cheers at Taven's birthday party. Amy and Kaelynn are right in front with Duncan.

Stacia introduces herself to Hugo and tries to become friends.

Hugo doesn't look too happy about Duncan's bride to be and his half sister, Yolanda, just looks bored.

Stacia spent the birthday party getting to know Duncan’s huge family.  Duncan really wanted Hugo, his father, to like her.  Kerry, Duncan’s half-brother, liked her a lot.  She and he spent a lot of time in the sprinkler.  Jayne and Tobin both seemed to be warming up to her.

The day of the wedding dawned clear and beautiful.  Everything was set up on the lawn.  It was going to be a beautiful ceremony.  Duncan wasn’t hardly nervous.  Stacia looked beautiful in her sparkling wedding gown.  When Duncan placed the ring on her finger, it was one of his proudest moments.  To be surrounded by his family and making the girl of his dreams into his wife, Duncan didn’t think anything could be better.

Duncan gazes lovingly into Stacia's eyes before exchanging their vows.

Duncan puts the ring on Stacia's finger.

The happy couple celebrate their union with a kiss.

Taven is both excited and scared to be moving out.

Owen and Sherrie compare pregnancy stories.

Taven moved out right after the wedding.  Later, Duncan heard that Taven married his girlfriend Shasta Park as soon as she graduated from high school.  Also, Amy finally got Al Acevedo to marry her. Pricilla Kendrick had had four children with her husband Hugo and it seemed that her twin, Owen, who married a McFadden, was also expecting.  Owen and Sherrie traded pregnancy stories.

Although he was nervous, Duncan was glad he had waited so that his wedding night was perfect.

Tobin and Duncan speculate about children.

Duncan’s wedding night was long-anticipated and highly pleasurable.  The next morning over waffles, Tobin asked him if he thought Stacia was pregnant.  Duncan blushed.  But, he really hoped that Stacia was pregnant.

Stacia helps Sherrie in the garden.

Stacia fit right into the household.  Sherrie, believe it or not, was very grateful to have her around.  Stacia, it turned out, was a fanatic gardener who always wanted to grow the perfect plants.  She immediately helped the pregnant Sherrie weed and harvest the garden.  Duncan hadn’t seen it look so lush since Shalonda had died.

Duncan and Jayne after they were promoted. Duncan is at the 7th level of the military career and Jayne reached the 9th level of the journalism career.

After the wedding, life pretty much went on normally.  Emanuel was working on a new book, a drama this time.  Duncan and Jayne both got promoted.  Duncan thought he looked pretty smashing in his new uniform.  Tobin, also had finally reached the pinnacle of athletic achievement.  Duncan thought he was probably one of the fittest men Duncan had ever known.

Emanuel gives Sherrie a masage.

Emanuel, though he didn’t love children, was a loving and attentive husband during Sherrie’s pregnancy.  He didn’t read any pregnancy books himself, but he sat by Sherrie and listened to her talk about the pregnancy book.  Also, he massaged her whenever her back was hurting.  And, though she went into labor outside the grocery store (where she had been delivering vegetables), Emanuel rushed to the hospital to be there in time for their son, Stephan Kendrick to be born.

Stacia finds out she's pregant.

And, although their wedding night did not result in a baby, the baby wishes of Stacia and Duncan were finally going to come true.  After weeks of trying, Stacia was pregnant!  Duncan couldn’t be more happy, except that his uncle Tobin’s health seemed to be failing.

Tobin dies happily.

Tobin had refused to give up police work, enjoying the life of an International Super Spy.  He often raided the criminal warehouse just for fun.  But, he was becoming frail at 103 days of age.  Finally, his partner, Kip Mize, convinced Tobin to retire.  Tobin seemed happy with the decision, using his time to upgrade the fireplace and the stereo.  But, then one afternoon while he was upgrading the dishwasher, Tobin’s heart gave out.  Emanuel, Sherrie and Jayne rushed into the kitchen to find the Grim Reaper standing over him.

Tobin had lived a long life, so the Grim Reaper took him without protest.  A funeral was arranged.  Everyone came, of course.  There wasn’t one person who hadn’t loved Tobin.  The death was hard for Hugo, his best friend, and Kip Mize, his partner–almost as hard as it was for the immediate family.  Kaelynn, was especially broken up about it.

Taven, Amy and Sherrie head to the graveyard to mourn for Tobin.

Kaelynn loved her dad a lot and missed him even more.

Kip Mize, Tobin's partner, is so broken up that he comes to the funeral without a shirt. Jayne comforts him.

But people get old and they die.  The good thing is, that life goes on and babies are born to replace those loved ones that you lose.  Soon after Tobin died, Stacia was making sushi for the family (except Duncan) when her water broke.  Duncan was prepared, so they rushed off to the hospital.  The lingering sadness over his Uncle’s death was immediately banished by the joy of the birth of his two daughters, Toni and Robin (both given part of Tobin’s name to honor him).

The next generation of Kendricks is born: Toni and Robin.

Stacia goes into labor over her California rolls.

Unfortunately, also at the same time as his daughters were being born, Duncan’s father, Hugo Kendrick, had also passed on.  Hugo left behind his second wife and two children as well.

Danika held a private funeral for Hugo, not liking the huge parties that always surrounded a Kendrick death.  But, she did consent to coming to the party that Emanuel wanted to throw for the birth of the fifth generation of Kendricks.

Duncan talks to his half sibblings at the party celebrating the birth of the fifth generation.

Kerry had become a teen who looked a lot like his dad.  Yolanda was an exact copy of her mother.  Sherrie and Duncan tried to make sure that both felt that they were a part of their family.  Duncan especially didn’t want his half-brother and sister to feel like he didn’t love them.

Jayne feels herself going as Death finally claims her.

Dealing with three babies isn’t easy.  Usually once one child started crying they all did.  Luckily Stephan was soon to be a toddler, so he would have a more stable sleep schedule.  Duncan had plans to add an attic to the house and use it as an exercise and art room so that Stephan could sleep in his own room.

But then, at Emanuel’s party, another shock came.  Jayne Kendrick, Duncan’s beloved aunt, was taken by the Grim Reaper.  She was helping Sherrie change and feed the babies and then she was gone.

Of course, the appearance of the Grim Reaper wasn’t pleasant for the babies.  Each one was screaming by the time the Grim Reaper finally took Jayne’s soul.  The Reaper, of course, didn’t appreciate the noise, but it didn’t stop him from doing his job.

Right after the party, Stacia and Stephan had their birthdays.  Both events were overshadowed by the loss of Jayne.  Duncan would make it up to them by throwing a great party when Stephan became a child, but the only thing on his mind was arranging for Jayne’s funeral.  He laid her headstone near Tobin’s.  He felt sort of bad that hers was the smallest in the Kendrick graveyard.   She had had such a big impact on his life.

Jayne's headstone is small because she hadn't achieved her LTW and hadn't earned a lot of LTH points either since she was a grumpy Sim. Tobin's headstone was the same size as Deanna's, which I found odd since he had achieved his LTW.

←Go to Chapter 4.5: In which Jayne is missed by everyone.