Steam engenius

Round 25: Summer 2021

last update/next update

Trent Kirby is 51, Megan is 49 and Rebecca is 12.
(Tate is 51, Tessa is 12, Finn and Victoria are both 20 and Declan is 8 weeks old)

Narrated by Trent Kirby

Not long before Mum died, we made plans to drive up to the university and meet our new grandson. Victoria called Megan and specifically requested that she come. Megan really didn't take Victoria and Finn's news very well and they didn't speak much during her pregnancy.


Victoria was so thrilled to see her grandmother. They've always been close. Grandparents aren't supposed to have favourites, but if Mum had a favourite grandchild, it probably would have been Victoria.

I'm really thankful Mum got to meet Declan before she died. Not everyone is so fortunate to be able to meet their great-grandchild. I wish she could have lived longer to see him grow up but I think we were lucky to have her for as long as we did.

Rebecca is thrilled to be an aunt. I really hope she's content to stay an aunt, at least until she gets out of college.

Megan did come, but she was very standoffish most of the time, especially when we first got there. I don't know if she said more than five words.

I wasn't thrilled that Victoria got pregnant either but there's really no point in harbouring any ill feelings about it. Declan's here, he's still our grandson and I want to him to know us.

We should consider ourselves lucky that Finn is a good guy too. Some girls get pregnant and the guy takes off as soon as he finds out. I worried a lot for Victoria when she got pregnant but I never worried about that, at least.

Megan and Victoria did talk a little later on and it seemed to go...okay.

It only seems to go okay if they avoid talking about Declan. Megan tends to be very critical of everything Victoria does with the baby - she's holding him wrong, he's dressed too warmly for the summer, etc.

I wish Megan would lay off. I think she's just looking for any little thing to pick at, just so Victoria is aware that she still isn't happy with the whole situation. As if she could ever forget.

Finn and Victoria both seem like they're doing fine with Declan anyway. Megan is finding fault where there really isn't any.

I don't understand Megan. She spent half our visit either not talking at all or nagging and then she goes out of her way to hug Victoria goodbye when we were leaving.

Back at home, I tried to talk to Megan about her interactions with Victoria. I know it's really important to Victoria that they get past this. I think Megan wants to but she is so pig-headed sometimes. She hates admitting she's wrong.

I worry that if she leaves it too much longer, Megan might do some lasting damage. I don't want that to happen and I told her so. I know she knows I'm right - she'll just take her time before she finally admits it.

Rebecca took Mum's death pretty hard but that hasn't stopped her from getting herself into trouble.

We didn't find out until recently, but she and her best friend Tessa have been making a game of going to restaurants and then running out without paying.

They tried it at Tate's restaurant the other night (a couple of hours after she was supposed to be home, I'll add.)

Tate's hostess, Vanessa, is like a hawk and she nabbed Rebecca right away.

Tate ended up bringing her home and explaining what she'd been up to. Rebecca stood there looking contrite but I don't know how sincere it really was.

So instead of just grounding her, I'm having her spend every weekend working at the market with me. I never made Claudia or Victoria work there. Neither of them really got into much trouble as kids and Claudia would have enjoyed it anyway. Rebecca though...she's really not enjoying it.

She hates the uniform, she hates the customers, she hates having Arianna breathing down her neck. But I'm hoping that she's also learning how much work it is to run a business and that she'll think twice before trying to get something for nothing from someone else's business.

Notes:

• Title is from Steam Engenius by Modest Mouse.
• Leontine so had a favourite! She and Victoria were always talking and joking.
• I'm having lots of fun with these less dramatic ROSs lately. Rebecca rolled the Cheapskate (take someone out on date and skip out on bill) ROS this round. I had always planned for her to get caught and it turns out she pretty much sucks at skipping out on bills anyway, so it wasn't too hard! She was caught at Julian's diner too. And now you know why I said I was going to do this as an outing instead - Rebecca's a little young for dating right now!
• I'm due to play all my college kids next. I have three households, so that will definitely be three separate updates! I haven't decided where Finn and Victoria will slot into that but I'll revisit the whole Megan/Victoria thing then.
• Just a little aside, but I think Finn is concerned too - he called Megan out of the blue after the visit. He's not even friends with Megan (post phone call, they were at about 35 daily). I love when stuff like happens and it seems to fit in perfectly with what I've planned. If you were wondering, Finn is BFFs with Trent. Trent really does love Finn!