Chapter 1: A New Home

It was more than a terrifying thing, thinking about leaving the familiar land of Sunset Valley and departing elsewhere. Leaving two families behind that had raised them from infancy? Leaving everything they'd ever known? Nae, it was more than terrifying. It was downright vomit-inducing. And yet they left. Newly married, with their honeymoon only a day behind them, they fled the city and sought a life that was completely their own elsewhere.

It can be argued that it was all Joey Randall's idea, of course. He had aspirations. He had dreams. He had desires, ones that extended far beyond his wife's simple ideas. The grandest of these was to visit the very stars above, to learn what it felt like to waltz through no gravity whatsoever. He'd wanted it ever since he was born and, by God, he was going to have it now. Twinbrook was making immense strides forward in their military program, and he knew on high authority that they were looking for new recruits, ones that had the drive to accomplish what great things they could coupled with the humility to let their superiors run all over them.

He wasn't too sure about that last part just yet. But he thought he could learn.

Beautiful Leda was his wife. She was classy, sophisticated, and yet possessed all the humility in the world that her husband might lack. The trade-off was the lack of self-confidence, especially when dealing with people of all shapes and sizes. She kept to herself, whether it meant that her nose was in a book or her eyes on a computer screen, and filled page after page with words. She dreamed faintly of making a living through her writing, yes, but mostly she dreamed of a small family, one that she could take care of in a nice, clean house.

The nice, clean house part, it seemed, would be long in coming.

  

Joey wasted no time. The small rooms and the low ceilings were going to drive him mad if he couldn't get his family out of there as soon as possible. He clipped out a few ads, made a few calls, and crept away in the middle of the day while Leda did what she did best.

She made a little nook for herself and Joey in the basement with the last bits of their spending money, tucking in a desk, an old computer, and an exercise machine to cure Joey's constant itch for exercise. As she sat down, she contemplated the keyboard, willing an idea to come to her.

The thud of the door closing at the top of the stairs startled her, and Joey tugged her away from her chair with an excited smile.

 

"I did it!" he exclaimed, barely keeping himself in check. "I'm the newest recruit of Twinbrook. Can you believe it?"

Leda always found it almost impossible to keep her excitement pressed down, and even now she brimmed with pleasure.

 

"God, you'll be up there before we know it! Rolling around in that spacesuit of yours, discovering new planets, visiting them..." The two chatted at length before Joey dragged a hand through his hair and looked over at the treadmill.

No better time than the present.

This whole running thing was a little harder than his high school track days, actually.

Joey was more quiet that night, even as Leda prepared his favorite food. He didn't touch a plate. She watched him quietly, more aware than ever that he was a bit of an enigma when he wanted to be. When he suddenly stood from the stool, she came after him. "You're nervous."

"Hell yes, I'm nervous," he murmured, rubbing his face with a heavy sigh. "This is what I want. This is what I've ALWAYS wanted. But what if I can't...even...like-"

"Shh." Leda gathered him into her arms and felt him sag in gratitude. "You're my husband, and I wouldn't have married you if you weren't capable of achieving every single thing that you set your mind to. Don't even fret." The tension drained out of his shoulders as she held him close. "I know just the thing to get your mind off of the situation."

 

 

He reflected later that the two of them had never eaten a bite of that salad, that it was perhaps the first time Leda had ever let something go rotten in the short time he'd known her. There was a certain niggling pride at making her forget about it for a number of long, fiery hours.

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This is my first random legacy challenge, and I'm pretty excited about it. 8D The rolls were as follows: Marital Status (Couple), Children (Three), Primary Job (Military), Secondary Job (Author), Goal (Property Mogul), Misc. Fun (Half-Siblings), Heir (Child 3).

Joey's traits are Good Sense of Humor, Brave, Handy, Friendly, and Athletic. His LTW is to become an astronaut.

Leda's traits are Loner, Bookworm, Exciteable, Family-Oriented, and Neat. Her LTW is to become a Professional Author.