River, sea, ocean

Round 14: Days 66-70

Maria's last update/Filippo's last update/next update

Narrated by Maria Collins

Right before bed one night, Filippo surprised me by asking me to marry him. I accepted, naturally and I figured that soon after that, we'd actually get married.

Looking at our finances though, we really couldn't afford it. Filippo was $11,000 in debt and I had barely a cent to my name either.

We were literally living paycheck to paycheck, because those bills just kept piling up. It seemed like there was more money to pay out every day.

So a wedding would have to wait. Luckily, we were too busy with raising the boys to think about it too often.

Have I mentioned how tiny our house is feeling right now? When it was just me and Emil, the place felt positively cavernous. Now with Caleb and David, we were very short on space. We had no money to extend, so the twins were going to have to share a room for the foreseeable future.

Emil was growing up fast and he constantly had classmates calling the house.

He didn't seem to actually be friends with any of them though Neither Filippo or I could figure out why but he had some anger issues.

Meanwhile, our bad luck was continuing. Not only were we headed deeper into debt but Filippo has brought the flu home from work.

So he could get all the rest he needed to get better, I ended up sleeping on the couch most nights while he was ill.

I needed multiple cups of espresso to get going in the morning. The couch never seemed uncomfortable when I was watching TV but that all changed when I actually tried to sleep on it.

Luckily, Emil was not far away from his 13th birthday when Filippo first got sick, so he was able to help out with the twins when he could. It was like the boys knew how exhausted I was, because they would often go to Emil for their bottles before they'd go to me.

Even though Raines was a huge help around the house, we finally had to let him go. We just couldn't afford to keep him on any more. Hopefully, we can rehire him one day when we're back in the black.

Emil was more interested in dating and girls than family but he made huge sacrifices while his almost-stepfather was sick and taught himself to make Comfort Soup. Filippo was better almost immediately after eating it and I was so relieved. I didn't fancy being a widow again!

We had a little bit of luck, finally. We found a genie lamp and Filippo used it to wish for wealth and we suddenly had thousands of dollars to throw around. We paid off the rest of Filippo's debt and took care of some unpaid bills. The rest was put into trust for the boys.

Of course, things couldn't continue going well for us. We were robbed not long after.

The $500 we got as a reward for helping catch a criminal was no consolation for Filippo. He was rather distraught.

We did finally get around to having a wedding though! We couldn't afford much more than a wedding license and an arch rental fee (we got all our money back if we returned the arch before midnight) but we loved the ceremony anyway.

I didn't get much time to enjoy the reception though, because there's no break from being a mother!

David even took his first steps at the reception.

Luckily, everyone seemed to occupy themselves without my help.

I was a bit embarrassed that I had no real food to serve them but no one seemed to mind.

It was a shame I wasn't out there to stop Emil from flirting with our guests! All the women there were much too old for him.

Once Caleb and David turned 5, they continued their toddlerhood habit of following their older brother around. I'm surprised he never snapped at them, considering his temperament but he didn't seem to mind.

One of my favourite things about being a parent is watching my kids develop their own personalities and interests. Emil loved Games, like his stepfather. Caleb was developing an interest in Cuisine, so I showed him how to use the chocolate making machine, which the previous owner of this house left on the balcony.

David, meanwhile, was more interested in Science. We have a huge telescope in the front yard but I banned him from it during winter. He stays out there for hours on end until he's blue, so he contents himself with playing chess with Emil. Emil takes advantage of his little brother's trusting attitude and cheats.
Oops. I guess Filippo and I haven't been as careful with the birth control as we should have been. I should have known, because I fell pregnant so easily with the twins when I was already in my mid-thirties. Being several years older now, I really did think I'd be a little less fertile. We definitely need to move. Three kids in this house is doable, four will be impossible.

Random funny:
I just love Adam's expression here. Or maybe I just love Adam.

Notes:

• And five kids in this house will be a nightmare! Maria is actually pregnant with twins. Damn Family Sims!
• I honestly don't know if Emil has a friend outside his family. He's a grumpy old man at the age of 16 (one nice point, if you're curious).
• I have no idea what the hell Maria did with all her life insurance money. She wasn't doing too great financially before Filippo came along, so it's not all his fault. I downloaded the Bigger Bills hack, which is making it worse! The bills come every day and they're higher than normal. I really recommend it to anyone who's sick of their Sims making so much money.