Consolation prizes

Round 22: Spring 2015

last update + wedding mini-update/next update

Galen Clarke is 77, Georgette is 73, Lake Draper is 58, Kendal is 39, Patience is 13, Calvin and Troy are both 12 and Christopher is 9 months old.

Narrated by Kendal Draper

Things in our house have been pretty hectic, as usual but Lake and I have been enjoying raising our new baby son, Christopher.



Lake has been wonderful and he tries to get up for the night time feedings, because he knows I have my hands full with the baby and my classes during the day. Christopher is sleeping with us in our room until we figure out where we're going to put him though, so I usually wake up anyway.

We're definitely planning on stopping with Christopher, much as we love him. We don't really have the room for another baby and Lake thinks he's getting too old for another anyway.

Lake is still running Elias's Earthenwares and is beginning to enjoy it. For a long time, it was really wearing on him and he was considering handing it over to Rose as soon as she graduates. He thinks he might keep it for a little longer now, which I'm pleased about. I don't know if Rose would have wanted the responsibility of running a business so soon after college, when she's trying to get her own career established.

My last couple of term papers nearly killed me but I did it! I am officially a university graduate.

The university even held a graduation ceremony, so I got to wear the cap and gown, finally! I majored in Physics, which left me with quite a few career options to consider.

I'd always wanted to be a teacher though, so I started substitute teaching and after not long at all, I got a permanent position as a high school teacher.

It's been really good to get out of the house, go to work every day and meet some new people. I was actually starting to miss it!

Calvin and Troy are in high school now. I hope they're not too embarrassed having their mum at school with them!

Calvin especially has been such a help with Christopher. During the day, he sometimes hears him crying before anyone else does.

I'm so thankful both the boys get along with Patience. I keep expecting there to be a screaming match with them but our family has blended very smoothly.

Not everything has been going well though, namely with Patience. Lake overheard Patience talking with her friend Josie. I don't know the exact details of what was said but neither girl saw Lake standing there and the conversation made it fairly apparent that Patience was no longer a virgin. She's only 13!

As soon as Lake asked Josie to leave, he went to get me and we all sat down together to discuss exactly what happened. Patience wasn't keen on talking to her father about it but we managed to figure out that the boy was Jacob Weaver. I could tell Lake was furious but was impressed that remained so calm.

Patience knew Lake was angry and she came to me the next day to try to win me over to her side. I don't know what she expected me to say. I can't undermine Lake about his own daughter, as much as I'd like Patience to feel like she can talk to me.

I told her that and I think she understood. She opened up to me a little bit though. Apparently, they had sex because they were curious to see what all the fuss was about but Patience insisted they'd only done it once, last year. And I'm sitting there thinking, "So she was 12 at the time?!?!"

I also found out they didn't use any birth control and Patience didn't seem to know much about her options in that arena at all. I guess that's the kind of thing her mother would have spoken to her about, had she lived. I feel like I might have neglected my duties here, being the closest thing Patience has to a mother now.

I had to let Lake know, of course (Patience knew I would tell him - I made sure of that) and he didn't get too angry. No angrier than he already was, anyway. I think he was just glad I'd spoken to her.

So far, Lake hasn't banned Patience and Jacob from seeing each other but he watches them like a hawk when they're both here. I hope he's not getting complacent about it though, because he can't watch her all the time.

Random pic:I loved this pic when I took it but never found a good place for it in the entry. So you can enjoy it with me here, on its own. ;) I'm mostly fascinated by how their chairs are facing different ways. I don't think I've ever had two Sims drinking espresso at a counter before so I didn't know they'd do that! Still learning new things in this game, 5 years on!

Notes:

• Title is from Consolation Prizes by Phoenix, who I think should be much more popular than they are.
• Yay, Kendal graduated! I'm fairly certain I won't be amending the adult education course any further now because it worked pretty well for me as is. Depending on how Cara goes, any future Sims who enter the course may end up quitting their jobs for the duration. Kendal had a much easier time of it than Cara is having but Cara had a miscarriage, so that's affected her mood somewhat.
• Betsy needs another teacher at Sullivan District High, so that's going to be Kendal. I almost chose Joanna but she's busy travelling right now and the school needs someone now!
• All my 12s and 13s have woohoo turned off in their ACR tokens now because of Patience and Jacob (which all started here, without my permission, if you're a bit lost)! I don't think I actually turned it off for Patience and Jacob though but they were very well-behaved at the Clarke-Draper house.
• This family is kind of insane to play. There's so much going on, with 8 Sims in a house!This might have been one of those updates that would have worked better in third person - I sometimes find that easier when there are lots of Sims.
• Moving onto Summer 2016 tomorrow, so the profiles are all updated. Birthdays won't go up until tomorrow but you can get a sneak peek of Christopher as a toddler in his profile. Spoiler: he's really, really adorable!