Monster hospital

Round 25: Spring 2021

last update/next update

Filippo Moretti is 66, Emil Collins is 49, Anna is 43, Nathan is 11 and Hope is 10.
(Arianna Weaver is 66, Nick Moretti is 18)

Anna is never quite sure what to do when people are blubbering. She could comfort them but it feels so insincere when she does it. Even when her own sister was going through her separation, she was always at a loss for what to say.



It's especially awkward for her when they're sobbing about people she didn't even like, like Maria. Anna was not Maria's biggest fan and as she's not sure she could muster up any kind words about the woman, she's biting her tongue. For once.

However, everyone else in the house is still feeling the loss, even now, six months later.

Even Emil was unusually quiet sometimes.

No one felt it more than Filippo. It wasn't easy to get used to sleeping alone again, after more than 35 years of marriage.

Now, Filippo's true joy in life is his grandchildren. Including Nathan and Hope (who were really his step-grandchildren, not that he ever bothered to make the distinction), he had 13 in all.

Even so, he wouldn't mind if he had a few more. He wasn't planning on getting pushy about it, even though that was usually Maria's tack, but if one of his kids blessed him with another grandchild, he'd be ecstatic.

Filippo just genuinely enjoys spending time with his grandchildren, especially Nick. Maybe it was because Nick was Filippo's first grandchild, or maybe it was the mere fact that he was the oldest, meaning they could talk in a way Filippo couldn't with the younger ones. Or perhaps it was because being away at university didn't stop Nick from faithfully visiting every single week, just as always. Filippo would never admit out loud that he had a favourite but he did.

Hope and Nathan are 10 and 11 and on the cusp of puberty, so the house will soon be overrun by hormones. For now though, things are fairly calm for the Collins kids.

Already, their differences are becoming apparent. Nathan has already grown out of Hope's silly talk about aliens and wizards, though he still listens patiently.

Nathan's main interest is school. He's very excited to be starting high school next year.

Emil and Anna were already wondering how Nathan would cope at high school, with all of the "big kids". He was lively enough at home with his family but tended to be a little withdrawn around anyone else.

Hope is getting a little ahead of herself about starting high school but she was excited too.

Hope is still very much a little girl. She still takes naps with her grandpa in the afternoon...

...and her favourite toy was still her doll house.

Filippo has tried to get Hope and Nathan interested in the vegetable patch he's started but neither child has even set foot out there yet.

Before he started, Filippo visited his sister Arianna for some advice. Filippo had somehow managed to grow up on a farm and not learn a thing about gardening but it was something Maria had always toyed with doing, so he thought he'd start a little patch in her memory. Seeing Arianna had been running the family farm for decades now, she must know a little bit about it.

Filippo's tomatoes still haven't come in but the Sullivan Garden Club was most interested in visiting for an inspection.

Filippo was glad when they finally thought his garden was suitable enough to grant him a membership.

It's a good thing Filippo was so content with the grandkids he had, because it doesn't look like he'll be getting any more soon, at least not from Emil and Anna.

At 43, Anna doesn't feel like there's a huge chance of her getting pregnant. But every time she thinks about forgetting about the hassle of birth control, the thought of Araminta Romilly having a baby at 51 comes to mind. That settles it. Anna will continue to deal with the inconvenience of contraception until she's well and truly sure pregnancy is no longer even the remotest of possibilities!

Extras:

I don't know if I've ever seen Anna have a conversation with anyone (except maybe Emil) where the other Sim isn't left completely exasperated! She just sits there chatting quite calmly but no one seems to react to whatever she's saying very positively - it's really funny to watch. Evan and Filippo both have 10 nice points and Anna has 1, and I wonder if that has something to do with it, as well as perhaps clashing interests.

Notes:

• Title is from Monster Hospital by Metric.
• Geez, with the blubbering! I don't usually get a lot of crying when my elders die. Filippo looks sad even in his sleep!
• I just noticed that Nathan only has one outgoing point! I don't know how Emil and Anna (he has 7 outgoing points, she has 10) produced this child but I'm interested to see what he turns out like as he gets older. He has a really similar personality to Eliot Lane, so I'm thinking the one nice point might not play out as actual meanness, like it does with my more outgoing mean Sims. I think of those sorts of Sims as a just a little bit anti-social, as opposed to mean.
• Emil finally rolled away the baby want! He seems to have passed it onto Filippo though, who wants 20 grandchildren and another baby. Um, yeah...neither of those things will be happening!