Kids

Round 13: Days 61-65

last update/Julian's last update/next update

After getting engaged, Collette and Julian wasted no time getting married. Julian moved into the Nihills' house in the morning and they were married by the afternoon.

Collette took Julian's surname and they were both thrilled to finally be Mr & Mrs Sitko.

All of their family and friends had turned out for the wedding. First to congratulate the bride was Marius, one of Collette's old college friends.

He wasn't so friendly to everyone though and got into a fight with Aphrodite.

Justina didn't know anything about the history between Marius and Aphrodite (they were long-time enemies). What she did know was that she was not going to have the woman carrying her future grandchild slapped around at her daughter's wedding. She asked Marius to leave and reluctantly, he did.

It would have been nice if Julian was able to stay for the whole reception but his boss wouldn't give him any time off, so he was forced to head off to work halfway through the party.

It continued without him though. It was like a switch had been flipped inside Lukas since his affair with Noelle. He had arrived at the wedding without Raffaella and was shamelessly flirting with Mina all afternoon.

Apart from the newlyweds, Collette's son Owen was the real star of the party. Uncle Charlton was only too happy to give him all the attention he wanted.

Uncle Ben, 10 years younger than his brother and still not quite sure about this whole kid thing, was a little more standoffish with his young nephew. A pat on the head was all Owen was going to get from Ben.

Owen couldn't take much more though. The overstimulation of the wedding reception had worn the little tyke out and he let his grandmother put him down for a nap without a fuss.

Julian arrived home unexpectedly early from work, in the last half hour of the reception.

He put a brave face on while the guests were still there but soon confessed that he'd been fired. Julian had needed to make some more money for the blog he worked for and had chosen to put up some banner ads. The readers reacted angrily and Julian took all the blame.

He didn't stay down for long though. He'd always wanted to open a restaurant and getting fired was the kick in the pants he needed to get going. He told anyone who'd listen all about his plans.
He didn't want any pretentious foods like lobster thermidor and lime-seared prawns at his restaurant. Julian just wanted simple but delicious meals that would appeal to a wide range of customers. Collette told him she had heard the diner in Exeter was up for sale and that was all Julian needed to hear. Julian Sitko was the new owner of The Greasy Spoon.

The newlyweds celebrated the same way newlyweds usually do.

All the necessary fixtures and furnishings were already in place at The Greasy Spoon, so Julian was able to open for business almost immediately. He'd taken the position of host for himself.

His mother and father-in-law, Justina and Cedric had agreed to help out as much as they could, at least until Julian could afford to hire some employees.

Julian had heard restaurants were the hardest kinds of businesses to run, so he was quite impressed with the job he'd done in his first week. He'd managed to turn a profit - a small profit, but a profit nonetheless.

In the bathroom one evening, Collette felt pains similar to what Aphrodite had described when she had miscarried.

Collette didn't even realise she'd been pregnant until she lost the baby. She blamed herself. If she'd known, she could have taken time off work and rested and made sure she was eating properly.

Collette and Julian were both upset by the miscarriage but they still had a little boy to raise.

Julian loved Owen but he had to admit, he really wanted a child of his own with Collette one day.

So as soon as the doctor gave the all-clear, Collette and Julian tried again. And again. And again. Falling pregnant was not as easy as it was the first time.

Finally, Collette did fall pregnant though and she wasn't taking any chances this time. She had some vacation days saved up at work, so she was able to go on maternity leave during her first trimester, as well as her second and third.

Owen, meanwhile, had turned 5 and was showing a strong interest in fitness, just like his two uncles. The adults in the house were glad the house with the pool turned out to be a good investment - Owen was a real water baby!

More sadness came to the Nihill-Sitko house during Collette's second trimester. Gardenia, the family dog, had finally succumbed to old age. R.I.P. Gardenia!

Collette was really enjoying her time off from work. She loved that she was able to greet Owen when he came home from his first day of school and help him get his homework out of the way.

Owen was just pleased that Collette was finally showing and he could "see" his baby brother or sister. He often talked to the baby or rubbed his mother's belly to feel the baby moving around.

The house was just a bit too quiet without any pets and Owen had started pestering Julian and Collette about a puppy or a kitten, so Julian headed to the pet store and came home with Abby and B.B. Hopefully, the cats would get along and make some kittens to satisfy Owen.

Random pics:Owen's first word was "Grandpa" and Cedric was quite touched!

I'm not happy with any of my wedding pictures this time because I had to angle them all so that Ben's angry head wasn't in the way. He would not move! I have no idea what his problem was. Probably the burglar that tried to rob him and Caterina while they were in college.

Notes:

• I probably won't allow this "Lukas is a cad" thing to develop much further. I'll let him have his midlife crisis this round and then I might switch him to "Spouse Only".
• That said, I'm glad this update ended on a happy note. Collette is in her second trimester now and if Sims can still miscarry then, it seems to be much more rare (I've never had it happen).
• Julian really does talk about food all the time, so I figured a restaurant would be a good business for him. So far, the restaurant has not been as difficult as I was expecting it to be though it's definitely not as profitable as a retail business.