Danielle and Willie came home from a wonderful honeymoon in France to find Dallas struggling to care for his new baby girl, Elizabeth. It seemed Ella could not function as a wife and mother with Dallas’ constant mean and belittling words to her. For Ella, it seemed Dallas was only interested in her for one reason and when baby Elizabeth was born, she wasn’t able to live up to his expectations no matter how hard she tried. She felt horrible every day and decided to end it the only way she felt she could. Little Elizabeth would grow up not ever knowing her mother.
This shocking news sent pangs of remorse in Willie Danielle, who did want a family, but given their circumstances decided against it (Danielle still didn’t want to pass her ‘affliction’ to any one else and Willie didn’t think it would be fair to the child or to Danielle.) The minute they walked through the door, Dallas practically handed them his baby girl so he could focus on his wants. They didn’t mind, however, and were very happy surrogate parents to Elizabeth. Willie, especially, was partial to the little girl who he said reminded him of Danielle. Elizabeth was just happy to have a playmate.
Willie and Elizabeth were a lot like Danielle and Bryce, which Danielle reminisced of when she saw the two of them together. Her bright little face and full cheeks melted his heart and he would do anything for the little girl.
Elizabeth was the perfect toddler, Dallas never realized how easy he would have had it parenting her. While Willie and Danielle spent their days with her, he spent his time on the road with the band. His lifestyle would eventually catch up with him, though. (BTW – if you noticed the blemishes on the furniture, the family attempted to adopt a stray dog and this was the dog’s ‘handiwork’)
A couple of weeks after returning home Willie was unexpectedly taken from life. He was with Elizabeth at the time and Danielle in another room when she heard Elizabeth’s scream. She raced into the room and found him slumped over as the Reaper’s grim shadowy figure appeared at his side. Danielle was devastated. She pleaded with the Reaper, but there was nothing she could do to save him. She fell into a deep depression but managed to stay collected for Elizabeth’s sake – the baby needed someone strong in her life. For several nights after his death, Danielle would visit his grave in the family cemetery where she could be alone with her thoughts and sadness.
But it wasn’t all tears and sadness for the Leday household. As Elizabeth grew up, Dallas paid more attention to his declining health and slowed his life down, realizing his time would come soon, too. He didn’t want to miss seeing Elizabeth grow and he began to realize the actions of his mean and hurtful past did not have to be an indicator for the present and future he would have. It was important to him that Elizabeth knew at least one parent, and he didn’t want her to know the mean and angry Dad. He spent more time with her and made sure to give her anything she liked. Her mot favorite toy: the pink toy oven that she could make REAL blueberry muffins in (he favorite kind of muffin.)
Isn’t she just a cute kid? She inherited a lot of good genetics from her mother (Including the nose! – Dallas’ nose was wide like his mother’s, but Elizabeth got her mom’s, LOL.)
Time really flew by and before they realized it, Elizabeth was growing up from a sweet little girl to a teen. Dallas was nervous for it because he knew his daughter was smart and he worried more about the more difficult questions she would surely ask him. It put a lot of stress on him, but Danielle encouraged him to just be honest, knowing Elizabeth would understand in her own way.
Danielle was actually excited to see her grow up. She needed a happy occasion like a birthday to pull her out of her depression and to remember the many joys in life. She missed Willie deeply, and while she was ready to let her broken heart heal she was afraid of letting go.
The party was a fun success. Through Danielle’s prodding, she got Dallas (shown in the red blazer) to open up and relax more around his daughter. Just as he had suspected, Elizabeth was eager to get to know her father more.
Dallas knew before the party that Elizabeth’s biggest wish was to have a pony. Sunset Valley had just welcomed a new equestrian center that was breeding horses for the local Sims. He had arranged for a new pony to be sent to Elizabeth on her birthday. The new pony, Cameo, was delivered the following day after the party and Elizabeth fell in love with her on first sight.
Elizabeth spent a lot of her free time caring for Cameo. She was a quiet and shy girl in school, so coming home alone never bothered her; it just meant she had more time to spend with Cameo. Dallas took care to have a nice stable built for Cameo and ordered a fresh bale of hay delivered weekly.
That evening Ella appeared to Elizabeth in the dining room. At first, she wasn’t sure who the spirit was – she couldn’t remember her when she was a toddler. Elizabeth was used to seeing ghosts in the house, though, so it wasn’t a frightening experience for her. Instead, she enjoyed having the opportunity to finally meet her mother and see what she looked like when everyone around her always said how much she resembled Ella.
Elizabeth was tenacious in her pursuit to learn more about her mom so she went looking for Dallas. She found him walking to the family cemetery in the back and caught up with him to ask a few questions.
The time had come, he could no longer hide the truth from her any longer. It was difficult to explain, but he took Danielle’s advice and opened up to his daughter about the truth of his dark side and the horribly mean things he did and said to her mother. She was shocked to hear it, because she never once saw this dark side. She couldn’t believe her dad, who was always so kind to her, could have ever been such a mean monster.
With tears streaming down both of their cheeks, Dallas finished explaining that he treated Ella horribly and it was really his fault that Elizabeth grew up without her mother. He apologized extensively to her, saying that he regretted his past and how he wished he could travel back in time to make it right again and to let Ella know how much he really does love her. He admitted he wished he were the one Elizabeth never knew and that it wasn’t fair for her that she would be left with an evil father. Elizabeth’s eyes were welled up, she couldn’t imagine not having her father in her life. After a couple of hours standing in the shivering cold, Dallas felt better knowing Elizabeth knew the truth and still accepted him and loved him. She couldn’t change the past but didn’t want her father to continue the rest of his life hurting. He needed love and forgiveness, especially now that he knew what he had done was wrong and was working towards atonement.
Over the next few days, Elizabeth processed the talk she had with her father by staying busy with Cameo and focused on her school work. Cameo had grown up which meant she could be ridden now. Elizabeth and Dallas bought some tack and she practiced her riding each afternoon. She felt a little clumsy at first, but eventually she got the hang of it. Cameo loved to stretch her legs and trot around the town, even when Elizabeth tried to keep her at a nice and easy walk.
Cameo was a silly and playful horse. When Elizabeth wasn’t around to care for her she as usually found on the front lawn with her ball. She loved watching the Sims pass by the house and would whinney at them to say ‘Hi!’, but usually startling them when they least expected it.
Danielle had decided to venture out of the house and the office and try to meet new people. She met Julianna at City Hall and initially they got along pretty well. They shared the same interests in fashion and cinema, but as she got to know her more, she began to like her less.
Soon it was time to celebrate another birthday. Dallas had just passed a few days before, so Elizabeth and Danielle thought it would be nice to just have a quiet celebration at home. They made a small party for he two of them and stayed up late watching their favorite movies sipping plasma juice and some of the nectars Danielle had brought back from France.
No special wishes were made this time, she just wanted to live a long and happy life.
Elizabeth was now a Young Adult. Danielle admitted she reminded her of both parents, but did still have a striking resemblance to Ella. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to with her life and Danielle encouraged her to take her time deciding what she wanted to do. Danielle had campaigned her way to the top at City Hall and had been the Leader of the Free World for some time, a post she wasn’t ready to retire from. With a steady income, there wasn’t really any need to rush out and start working. Danielle wanted to make sure that Elizabeth felt good about a career choice and believe in order to get there, she needed time to decide.
With an open future like this, where will life take the ladies next?
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