Ah yes, another drama-filled subplot I added because I decided more drama would be fun. This one actually originated because I got the idea of Alder being someone’s sugar daddy stuck in my head and it wouldn’t leave because the idea was so amusing to me. Mainly since Alder’s daughter, Kino, has been trying to set her dad up with people for a while now, so the idea of him finding someone to date but it turns out to be someone less than half his age to Kino’s shock would be priceless. (”That’s not what I meant, dad!!”) Actually finding someone who I thought would suit this role was… more difficult. Some jokes about causing family drama with another character just to fulfill this idea later and… here we are. Under a cut again since I know it’ll get long.

Here’s how things went down. The basis for Sorrel and Verity’s marriage wasn’t exactly great to start out. Verity desperately wanted to have a family and be a good mother in the ways her own mother wasn’t. She wanted a kid, but didn’t want to be a single mother, so she ends up dating her close friend and eventually marrying him. Verity doesn’t really have romantic feelings for Sorrel, but she likes him and thinks he’d be a good dad so that was all she needed to decide he’d be the ideal husband for her little “happy perfect family” plan. Someone she gets along with and, perhaps, understands her motivations since he, too, comes from a not-so-perfect household.

Sorrel, on the other hand, desperately craves true love. His parents were very distant with him as he grew up and what he most desired from a relationship was not a perfect family or anything, but just to find someone who he loved and who loved him in return. He wanted validation and support more than anything. So, when his close friend Verity asks him out, he thinks this might be it. He likes her, she’s cute and funny and fun to be around, and if she likes him then maybe this is his chance for that elusive “true love”. Of course, since both of the couple went into the relationship wanting different things and not communicating to the other their true motivations… it was bound to fall apart eventually.

After only a couple years of marriage, Sorrel and Verity end up having a huge argument where the motivations each had for going into this relationship are revealed. Sorrel especially feels betrayed that Verity never loved him the same way he loved her, while Verity wishes that Sorrel had told her from the start that he wanted something more than just a comfortable and stable family. The two grow pretty estranged after this, though they stay together for the sake of their baby son, Silas. It’s around this time, when Sorrel is purposefully taking more and more research trips abroad, that he meets Alder and the two end up in a relationship. Alder likes spoiling younger guys (in no small part since it makes him feel more young again himself, but also since it’s just something nice to do as a retired Champion), while Sorrel is craving validation and someone to just pay attention to him and to want him as more than just a means to an end. So really, the two ending up in a relationship was a bit inevitable from when they first meet. The only issue is… Sorrel never tells Alder he’s technically married, estranged from his wife or not, since Alder would never willingly participate in an affair.

Verity strongly suspects Sorrel is seeing someone else, but she figures that’s what she deserves for deceiving him like that. She feels horrible about how things went, but she doesn’t know what to do about any of this short of divorce.. but that would bring its own problems, like trying to figure out custody with their young son, not to mention she’d just be back at square one of her whole dream to have a happy family. The situation remains in limbo like this for a while, until Sorrel getting unexpectedly pregnant tips things over the edge. Verity knows full well the kid isn’t hers, so … now’s as good a time as any to just sit down and decide once and for all how they want to move forward. Sorrel, meanwhile, is incredibly stressed about the whole situation since, while he does want this baby, what is he even supposed to tell Alder? It was never meant to be a committed relationship, just something to tide him over while he was sorting through his feelings on his failing marriage. In the end, he and Verity get a divorce, splitting custody of Silas, while Sorrel and Alder end up breaking up, Sorrel not wanting Alder to be the focus of a scandal from having a lovechild with a married man. 

Sorrel ends up going back to his parents’ place and tries to figure out what he wants to do from here. He still likes working at Lucas’s lab, and the professor is nothing but supportive, but does he really want to be a single father? His parents end up answering that question for him, however, by deciding that they don’t want their only son to be an unmarried father with children from two different relationships, so begin to ask around their elite social circles to see if any family friends or acquaintances have single children who need a spouse. Sorrel is honestly mortified his parents are resorting to some kind of arranged marriage for him, but he goes along with their plans since he doesn’t really want to be single himself, nor does he have much trust in his own ability to choose a partner, given what happened with his first spouse. 

Ultimately, the person Sorrel ends up getting along with the best of all the “potential matches” his parents arranged is none other than one Lawrence III (yes, the villain from the second movie). Already in his late 30s and unmarried, Lawrence’s parents ended up setting him up to meet with Sorrel so perhaps he can finally settle down and stay out of (more) trouble. And surprise, surprise, the two end up hitting it off. They have similar interests in the sciences (though from different perspectives) and Lawrence doesn’t mind the situation with Sorrel’s kids at all. While there may not be love (just yet), the two get along and agree that a marriage would be agreeable for both of them. A couple months after their engagement is finalized, Sorrel has the affair baby, Cassia, and then he and Lawrence are married. Sorrel still works for Lucas, his new husband not particularly caring what region they end up settling down in. While initially I didn’t plan on Sorrel and Lawrence having any children together, my dear friend @pkmnomegaverse pointed out that I could give them a son named Lawrence IV and how could I resist that? So they have their son Lawrence (or Loren, as he goes by) about three years after they’re married. Despite the rocky start, they’re very happy together!

Verity meanwhile, ends up dating and marrying Risa and the two might have a kid together? I haven’t developed them as much to be sure, since I need to develop other characters from the Power of Us movie to get a better idea of what those two are up to. Silas stays with either his mom and step-mom or his dad and step-dad and likes both sets of parents pretty equally, Sorrel and Lawrence raise a little nerd and possible future professor in Cassia and a trouble-loving, outgoing son in Loren and all in all…. everything works out and everyone’s happy. Since I can’t have it any other way! I’ll do drama and angst but everyone gets a happy ending.