A shot in the arm

Round 21: Spring 2013

Lake's last update/Kendal's last update/next update

Galen Clarke is 75, Georgette is 73, Lake Draper is 56, Kendal is 37, Patience is 11 and Calvin and Troy are both 10.
(Rose is 18)

Narrated by Lake Draper

When Kendal moved in with me this spring, I was expecting there to be some teething problems with Kendal's boys Troy and Calvin and my daughter, Patience. But they're all still getting along famously, just like they did when we were living apart.



Some nights we have to go in and force them to go to bed because they're still up playing and making lots of noise.

Kendal thinks Patience has been a good influence on Troy. She was having trouble getting Troy to do his homework but because Patience does it without a fuss, Troy does too now. He likes to play video games with her and she knows I won't let her play until the homework's done.

Kendal started her course through the university this semester. She can complete it at her own pace but she's on track to be done within 3 years. She's already thinking of her major - probably physics or biology.

Kendal is exactly the kind of person who's cut out for studying by correspondence. She actually enjoys researching for her papers.

She's usually still at the computer when I get home.

She's a hard worker but she's pretty good about taking time out to relax as well. She got burned out at her last job so she's careful not to overwork herself now.

When I offered to have Galen and Georgette move in with us, I only really gave Kendal the option because I wanted her to move in with us and I knew she wouldn't unless she was satisfied they were taken care of. But it's actually worked out great - Georgette has an artistic streak that I don't have, so she's been giving me tips on the pottery I'm making for the store.

The store is doing pretty well. Elias built up a loyal customer base over the years and they've all continued to shop here. We're turning a nice profit.

I don't know though, I just don't enjoy it. It might be different if it was a business I'd built from the ground up but the only reason I'm still running it is because it was so important for Ottilie to keep it in the family.

If Patience or Rose ever offer to take it over when they're older, I'll gladly give them the reigns.

If you asked me just six months ago if I ever saw myself marrying again, I would have said no. I was terrified when I married Ottilie but I managed to stay faithful to her until she died. I didn't want to tempt fate, I suppose.

But living together is almost exactly like being married and all of the reservations I had about marrying Kendal have disappeared.

I think Kendal was pretty surprised when I proposed, because it wasn't something we'd ever discussed.

It was definitely something that had been on her mind, though Kendal told me later that she had given up on me asking. I sort of surprised myself too!

I've changed my mind on a few things lately. Kendal and I aren't exactly trying for a baby but we're not preventing it either. If she gets pregnant, we'll be thrilled but we'll be happy just raising the four kids we already have between us too.

I think part of the reason for my change of heart is seeing how quickly Patience is growing up. She'll be 12 in a matter of months and she's not going to be interested in racing out of the house to give her dad a hug any more. I guess I just think it'd be nice to go through that stage at least one more time.

Rose came home from campus to visit us for her spring break. She's so grown up now and she's about to enter her sophomore year.

We announced our engagement to her and she was very gracious about it. I hope that's what she's really thinking and that she's not bottling anything up inside. Although she never hesitated to tell me exactly what she was thinking when she was living at home, so I think I'll just take what she said at face value.

Rose stayed up talking to Kendal long after I went to bed, so it seems like they're getting along as well as I always hoped they would.

Notes:

• I've got it all jotted down in her bio in-game but I believe Kendal has completed 5 or 6 of the required 14 papers to earn her degree. So she's doing pretty well and has plenty of time to do other things too. I have another Sim I'm going to put through this course now (you'll find out who tomorrow) so it's been good to test it out on Kendal first. I think it's working pretty well as is and I won't need to adjust it too much.
• Kendal rolled the want to marry Lake when I played her old house. Lake rolled the want to marry Kendal this round and you'd better believe I locked that as soon as I saw it! He had the fear of marrying her very briefly but it rolled away and hasn't come back. His biggest fear right now is Kendal's death. Which is understandable, given what happened with Ottilie.
• I have Lake and Kendal's wedding scheduled for Autumn 2014. I might do a very low-key wedding for them. Neither of them have any family apart from their kids and they've both done the big wedding thing before. I need to download a city hall or something, for weddings like this. I need somewhere to put that job board anyway, so it would be a multi-purpose lot. It'd be a good workplace setting for Sims in the politics career as well.
• Neither Kendal or Lake have the want for a baby but they were trying autonomously with ACR, so I took Kendal off birth control. We'll see if they conceive. Kendal's 37 now, so she's not as fertile as she once was. The man's age doesn't affect fertility in ACR, does it? I've had older men than Lake become fathers pretty easily in my game but I've never been sure if I was just lucky or not.
• Patience has aged to teen (because I'm moving into 2014 now), so don't be too shocked if you happen to check her profile.