This year

Round 22: Spring 2016

Last update/next update

Arianna Weaver is 61, Liam is 53, Jacob is 15, Jonas Lachance is 38, Tatiana is 33, Dominic is 6, Audrey is 4 and Edward is 18 months old.
(Patience and Maia are both 14)

Spring time in Sullivan has always meant love and Liam and Arianna have definitely been overtaken by the spirit of romance this season. They haven't been very effective babysitters for Jonas and Tatiana lately because they've been out on date after date after date.



Since they got married though, Jonas and Tatiana have always been more fond of "dates" at home, as opposed to dates out on the town, so they don't mind so much.

They're thinking about a fourth child. Not yet but maybe in a few years when Tatiana's brother Jacob is out on his own. They're just staying in practice for the meantime.

There's not so much romance for Jacob himself. The adults in the house are all otherwise occupied in the evenings, leaving much of the babysitting to him.

Even when he has the time, there hasn't been much romance of late for Jacob. Jacob and Patience recently broke up. They got too serious too fast and with Patience's dad breathing down their necks all the time now, it had kind of sucked all the fun out of it. Patience is distraught - Jacob breaking up with her has been a fear of hers for a long time now.

Jacob really didn't want to make her cry and he immediately feels guilty. He wants to stay friends with Patience but right now, he's not going to push for it. Give her a bit of time and then reconsider that.
Liam has been on Jacob's back lately about college - this year's almost over and before Jacob knows it, he'll have only two years of school left. It's time to get cracking on those scholarships!

Jacob actually does pretty well in school but he just doesn't enjoy it. He hasn't even really thought about what he wants to do for a living when he grows up and isn't sure he cares. Maybe he'd be perfectly happy working at a fast food joint for the rest of his life? Work is just a way to make money for Jacob.

Maybe that's why Maia Novak has been rather taken with Jacob of late? She's not one for career aspirations herself, so they at least have that in common.

Edward is 18 months old now and Tatiana and Jonas try to spend as much time as possible with him, in between taking time out for themselves, their two older children and their jobs.

Edward is as adorable as can be but he's trouble on two legs. From the minute he started walking, he was getting into everything and going where he wanted whenever he wanted. It's lucky that the street the family lives on is so quiet or they might have had a flattened toddler by now.

Edward is really the kind of boy who needs to be watched and occupied at all times.

Thank goodness Dominic and Audrey are more capable of looking after themselves. Or at least, they have the sense not to walk out onto the road! There's plenty of stuff to do inside anyway.

There's two enormous dogs, who Dominic and Audrey both adore.

And there's Liam's ballet barre. "Girly" pursuits like dance are not really in Audrey's blood though and ballet is quickly abandoned. Jonas and Tatiana probably wouldn't know what to do with a ballerina for a daughter, so that's probably a good thing.

Skipping is more Audrey's thing. Still a bit girly.

Dominic has always been a bit of a mama's boy but Audrey is unquestionably a daddy's girl.

The fact that pre-school doesn't start until noon, coupled with the fact that Jonas doesn't start working until 10, gives father and daughter a little extra time in the mornings and they usually spend it together.

Ever since they broke up, Patience has been calling Jacob quite a lot. He really meant it when he told her he wanted to be friends but she's getting a little bit clingy.

Besides, it doesn't look great to be constantly fielding phone calls from your ex-girlfriend when you might be on the verge of starting something with a new girl.

So far, it doesn't seem to bother Maia.

Jacob's niece and nephews hanging around constantly are getting to be a bit of a drag though.

Fortunately for Patience, Jacob has a learner's permit and occasional permission to drive his sister's car. Jacob's already been much more popular with the girls this year - every girl in school seems to be looking at him with new eyes lately - but the fact that he can drive makes him even more appealing.

Gossip spreads pretty fast in a small school like Sullivan District High and Maia knows all about what happened with Patience. She's made it clear to Jacob that seeing they've only just started dating and she's only 14, she's most definitely not ready for sex.

So as tempting as Jacob might find Maia, he's just going to have to control himself for the time being.

Random pic:
How adorable is Audrey? I think StretchSkeleton makes her even cuter (she's at 0.92, if you're wondering). It's pretty unlikely for a 4 year-old to be on the phone as often as Audrey is, so I couldn't fit this into the update.

Notes:

• The title is from This Year by the Mountain Goats.
• Dammit Jacob, turn 18 and go to college already! I am dying for your sister to have another baby and you are taking up valuable real estate, kid! Neither Tatiana or Jonas have the want but I don't know if they can roll that want if the house is full.
• I know parents aren't supposed to have favourites but I think someone neglected to tell Jonas that. He and Tatiana both roll a lot of wants for their kids but he rolls wants for Audrey twice as often as he does for his sons. It's pretty cute, although I feel like Dominic and Edward might be getting a raw deal here!
• I've been planning on breaking up Jacob and Patience for a while now but Jacob and Maia were autonomous. They'd already become friends when I played Aaron Novak's house, so the flirting just followed naturally. Then Jacob wanted to go steady with her and the rest is history.
• After Jacob and Maia went on their date, Maia's dad called and asked if Jacob wanted to hang out with him downtown! LOL! Clearly Lake has been warning the other dads about Jacob!
• I'm already loving Lost Generation again since I had James sell it back to the community. As soon as an elder or adult comes into the lot, they are zapped away by Visitor Controller which is exactly as it should be. That Customer Selecter just doesn't work for me. :\ I love seeing all my teens showing up. Victoria was actually playing pool with them but she's out of frame.
• And all the girls really do like Jacob more now, though it's because he now has Romance secondary and has the Massive Attraction benefit, not because he has a car. Or maybe some of them like the poor excuse for stubble he's rocking right now.
• Tomorrow, it's onto 2017, with the Round 23 ROS and the Summer 2017 birthdays!