Wednesday 10 March 2010

Modern love

Round 25: Autumn 2022


Finn Romilly and Victoria Kirby are both 21 and Declan is 1.
(Henry Romilly is 57, Araminta is 59, Trent Kirby is 52, Megan is 50, Claudia is 21)

Narrated by Finn Romilly

Declan's going through (what is hopefully) a stage where he just won't sleep. Testing us out maybe, to see what he can get away with. He doesn't cry or anything. He just sits in his crib, babbling to himself.


Other than that, Victoria and I aren't doing too badly with Declan at all.

He's walking now, so we really have to watch him. We keep the front door locked all the time, just in case he thinks playing in the middle of the street looks fun one day.

We're trying to get him going on the talking thing but he's not interested yet. It's easier to grunt and point right now, I guess.

Declan does love blocks and logic puzzles though. All the same kinds of things I used to like as a little kid. I think he might be turn out to be scientifically minded like me.

He's quite the little artist too. The activity table we got him was a little expensive but we've been saving up pretty successfully so far, so we splashed out.

When we really sit down and think about it, all the things we're saving up for are a little overwhelming. Our number one priority is a place to live once we graduate. Victoria wants to live in Exeter but I think we're just going to have to take what we can get. We've saved a good amount, but not so much that we can afford to be really picky.

Especially seeing that doing my master's is going to cost $8000 in total! That's going to be a huge chunk out of our money. We're not sure if I'll be able to afford to start right after graduation but once we get a house, we're going to look at it again. In the long term, it'll mean higher pay for me which is better for the family but that's really a long way away. So we're trying not to touch our savings too much.

I picked up a little bit of work as a barista and we use the money I get from that for day to day stuff. It's a pretty boring job but there's not much else I can do while I'm still studying.

I start student teaching soon but that, unfortunately, doesn't pay. So I'm going to keep doing the barista thing until graduation.

We invited the whole family to our house recently for a little celebration for Declan's first birthday. It's a few months late but better late than never.

Victoria's mother came too. Thank God we're past the days where her dad would have to demand that she come, like when Declan was first born.

She and Victoria can still be very stilted sometimes. Victoria was really hurt by the way her mum acted when she got pregnant and I think they've got some bridges to mend.

Victoria tends to ask my mum for advice, because she's still not comfortable asking her own mother.

Not that Mum minds. She loves Declan and she really likes Victoria too.

Claudia came, as well as Josie. Josie hadn't met Declan yet, even though we all live on the same campus.

It's kind of hard to catch up with friends while we're watching out for Declan. And Josie tends to spend a lot of time at places we can't really bring Declan. I don't think he'd like the campus bar much, even we wanted to bring him in.

After everybody left, Claudia hung around and handed Victoria a coupon for a free meal at a fancy restaurant. I don't know where she got it but we've hardly been out at all since Declan was born. The prospect of a meal at a restaurant was thrilling.

Claudia insisted that we go right then and there and that she'd watch Declan.

So we went. They sat us by a window with a view of the parking lot but it was still pretty great.

It's not like we were planning to stare out the window all night anyway. And you know...it was a nice parking lot, at least.

Victoria wasn't feeling too well the next morning. I was a little worried when I heard her through the bathroom door.

I went in to check on her and she said she was fine. She thought it might have been something she ate at the restaurant.

Over the next couple of weeks, it quickly became apparent that it wasn't food poisoning. A home pregnancy test confirmed that Victoria was pregnant again.

I don't think either of us are quite as freaked out as we were with Declan. At least this time, we know we're not totally sucky parents. I was worried about everything last time and this time, I'm mainly worried about money.

Things are going to be much tighter for sure and jumping straight into my master's next year is looking less likely. We really need to save every cent for a house now.

We told my parents first. I tried to frame it in a way that made it sound like we had everything under control, so they wouldn't freak out.

I think they're okay with it, or as okay as you could expect them to be. Mum went a little pale and Dad was quiet but we ended up talking about it all for a while after that. Mum's worried they jinxed us by wishing for more grandchildren. I'm pretty sure that's not how Victoria got pregnant.

Victoria was really nervous about telling her parents but it went a little better than last time. There was no yelling, or crazy talk about Victoria dropping out (with less than a year to go, that wouldn't make any sense anyway).

This time it was pretty civil. Maybe because we're a little older or maybe because we've proven we can do it, with Declan. Whatever it was, Victoria and I were so relieved!

Megan was even smiling by the time she and Trent got around to leaving. I'm choosing to take that as a good sign that she and Victoria might start off on the right foot with this new baby!

Very random pic spam:





Notes:
  • Title is from Modern Love by David Bowie.
  • Finn and Victoria have saved up a pretty decent amount of money. They've got about $40,000 right now. Finn got straight As all the way through, so a lot of it is from that but they're also both Fortune Sims with that investment benefit or whatever it's called, so they get a few hundred dollars a day from that too (or lose a few hundred sometimes!)
  • Victoria is due Summer 2023. And can I just say, what the friggin' hell? Another birth control failure?!? How many kids are these two going to end up with if their birth control keeps failing? And Poor Victoria. She's having the worst morning sickness this time. She threw up 8 times within two days before I stopped counting. I have a mild neurosis about vomiting, so I was feeling pretty bad for the poor girl. But anyway, as we all know, Declan is very cute, so I'm looking forward to see what this new baby looks like, even if it has kind of screwed with my plans for these two!
  • Megan actually rolled up some wants for Victoria and Declan, so things are progressing in that arena. I had her talking to Finn for a while and they seem to have found some common ground because there were no folded arms and rolled eyes this time. Perhaps Finn remembered to avoid talking about aliens this time? That didn't go over well!

23 comments:

  1. Oh wow! You could knock me over with a feather. I think there's something seriously wrong with the BC pills you're sims are using.

    Declan is such a cutie and Finn and Victoria seem to enjoy parenthood so maybe it's just a good thing.

    I'm interested about this master's program you have. Tell us more :)

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  2. Finn has such a calm, quiet voice. I really like him. Especially when he said, "I'm pretty sure that's not how Victoria got pregnant." (From wishing for grandchildren :-)

    $40,000 is a lot. Maybe he'll even be able to go straight into grad school with that much. You could build them a custom low cost house or let them move into an apartment maybe, right? :-) They have been very industrious, and not just in the baby-making, that's for sure.

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  3. Whoa, Victoria and Finn oughta sue thier birth control manufacturer. Obviously it doesn't work. Wow. I think Finn is right, wishing for more grandchildren didn't make Victoria pregnant, it was Claudia's evil coupon :P

    Gosh! They saved that much while still in school? I'm with Francesca, let them get an apartment and send Finn to school. That's a lot of savings for two students.

    You find the most interesting things. The open crib, the sippy cup, the animal crafting table, all so very cute! Gosh, you need to publish another custom content post soon.

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  4. OH, God! ROFL are we sure that Victoria and Lilly aren't getting their birth control from the same doctor. Geez. Well at least this baby will be cute and loved! I can't wait to meet him or her.

    I'm also glad that things have been smoothed over between Victoria and her mother. I just hope she won't get standoff-ish once the new baby comes.

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  5. I'm going to take a page out of my Victorian sims' lives; Abstinence is 100% foolproof :P

    But yikes, two kids in such a short span of time with so much on their plates already! I truly don't envy them that! Good thing they don't pay for monthly check ups (or whenever they are), vaccinations and kindergarten as well -that- would really stretch their budget to the max!

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  6. Thanks everyone!

    Sari, I was stunned when I heard that lullaby! I think there are certain Sims of mine who the BC just doesn't like - both of Max and Zaria's kids were birth control failures and Finn and Victoria are having the same bad luck so far!

    I can't say I'm too upset though because they're both very sweet with Declan and he's just adorable.

    Inspired by Laura's career post from a few weeks ago, Finn (who has the LTW to become the education minister) will need to complete his master's degree before he can progress past a certain level in that career. I'm not positive what I'll be doing with it yet, except making Finn pay an assload of money to get it. ;) It will probably work similarly to how I do the correspondence course initially but I may expand from there. Finn will be my guinea pig. Josie wants to be a doctor, so she's going to need to do some extra study too.

    Francesca, Finn is unflappable - he's one of my favourite Sims but you guys already know that. ;)

    Ha, building low cost housing is not my forte! I think they'll probably have to rent. I have some already-decorated apartments in Exeter that might be perfect for them. They're only two bedrooms but they're big bedrooms so it should be okay for them in the meantime. I use Pescado's apartment hack, so the security deposit is going to hurt, but they'll get it back if they move out.

    Hmmm...I haven't had a family living in an apartment for a while, now that I think about it!

    Apple Valley, LOL! It must have been the coupon! They went to the restaurant and came home feeling all amorous and then things just happened from there.

    About $10,000 of the savings came from Victoria, the automatic amount Sims put away with Monique's computer when they age up to child. The rest of the $30,000 was grant money and some interest from Victoria's account. I probably will send Finn back to school straight away, because I'm kind of anxious to get started with it!

    I'm planning on doing some more custom content posts soon but I'm doing one for clothing first (a very detailed one!), so the objects one will come after that. I'm going to do them all categorised so stuff will be easier to find.

    Riverdale, LOL, I was, again, thinking of your Lilly when this happened! This baby can definitely be assured that it will be well taken care of and feel very loved and wanted, oops baby or not.

    Megan regrets a lot of what went down between her and Victoria but by the time she came to realise that, she was too proud to admit she'd been wrong. I'm not finished developing this but I'm still deciding exactly how I'm going to tie it all up.

    Valneanne, LOL, this is true!

    At least now Victoria will be finished with school and they can both get a real job and earn some proper money. That's going to be a load off their minds right there.

    Eventually, I'll develop some kind of healthcare system in Sullivan but for now, I imagine it works somewhat like the one here in Australia does. Most of the stuff you mentioned is free (or rather, paid for through the tax system). It saves me having to think too much about it for the meantime!

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  7. LOL, these two are the oldest 21 year-olds I've ever known! Two kids and $40,000 already! Wow! I'm thinking BC just doesn't agree with Victoria, lol!

    I'm glad to see Megan taking the news better this time around!

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  8. Laura, I know, they've definitely got a jump start on their family! I'd imagine they might be afraid to ever have sex again after two BC failures!

    This pregnancy wasn't the huge surprise the first pregnancy was - Megan's had plenty of time to get used to the idea that her daughter is an adult, and now a mother. I still think she needs to make it up to Victoria more than she has though.

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  9. Holy cow! You need to find them some better birth control :P
    Thats quite a good amount of money, but with two young kids it probably won't go as far as people think. Congrats to the parents!

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  10. Tessa, indeed! It's a shame there's no other option for Sims! Well...I could set Victoria to "Can't Get Pregnant" with ACR but that's a little cheaty for my liking. ;)

    I'm hoping the $40,000 can at least get them a furnished apartment! That should last them a while, hopefully.

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  11. Maybe Finn just has superhero swimmers? No birth control can stop them! lol ;)

    I was surprised to see they're pregnant again, but I'm not worried. They've already proven they can handle it. :) I'm glad Megan had a better reaction to the news this time!

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  12. OMG, I'm wondering the same as you do right now; how many kids will they have when their birth control keeps failing on them?!
    But Declan is such a cutie, I can't wait to see this baby.
    They will manage! After all they also managed getting through everything with Declan, and this time her parents are as supporting as his!

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  13. Shana, I think they must be! Two birth control failures resulting in pregnancy is pretty rare. Though it's happened twice in my game, so maybe it's not that rare!

    I think of all my college kids, Finn and Victoria are the best equipped to handle a couple of kids right now. I cannot imagine any of the others being ready for a baby yet, let alone two!

    Tanja, my goodness, I'm really hoping that next time they have a baby, it's planned and preferably a few years into the future!

    It'll be a lot easier for them this time, hopefully. They're more experienced, they have Megan on board and they'll be back in the hood, so they'll have their entire families around. :)

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  14. At tbe start of this chapter, I was thinking, "Wow, things're going great for them. They're handling everything so well. What happens if they get pregnant again?"

    Oh dear! haha, the only way to protect them is to have them practice abstinence, lol.

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  15. Lunar, I know, right? Victoria and Finn are insanely fertile! I'm hoping they've just been unlucky. I wouldn't mind them having one more but hopefully it'll be on their terms next time!

    Abstinence - yeah, no chance with these two! I had to keep stopping them from heading up the bedroom while I had the parents over so they could reveal their big news. So inappropriate!

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  16. LOL! At least they didn't attempt to do it on the sofa while parents were over!!

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  17. Luckily, the new ACR cuts down on the couch woohoo! They'll only do it if they're alone in the house now. So Finn and Victoria did it when Declan was a baby but they don't do it now that he's a toddler.

    I just remembered that Trent and Megan tried to woohoo on Finn and Victoria's bed too (I usually make my visitors selectable, so this sort of thing happens a lot). That is GROSS! Even when they were teens, Finn and Victoria never did it on her parents' bed (her dad's truck is another story), so the role reversal is sort of funny to me.

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  18. Wow I saw this on the front page with her starting trimester two,,, and wow. speechless!

    At least the parents took it better then last time.

    Maybe find a cute townhouse style, like my Hazel and Jude live in. (Plasticbox) on MTS is where I got it. You have to put in real apartment doors, but it's easy and they have several bedrooms.

    You know, I just have to say that whenever I get "out" of the sims and playing, I just have to read a few of your posts and I'm right back into it! :D

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  19. Maisie, I know, it's crazy, right? They'll have two babies by the time they're 22! Argh!

    I have an apartment ready for them. I checked the rental price + security deposit last night and it's going to work fine for them. Finn will even have enough to pay for his master's in one lump sum if he wants to.

    And that's awesome - I'm glad I can encourage you to get back to Simming! I feel that way when I read all my favourite blogs too (yours included!)

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  20. I just had to comment that I was laughing out loud here at work reading everyone's comments. "Evil coupon" and "superhero swimmers" lmao. I knew they had a second baby coming because one day I accidentally clicked the banner or something on your blog and it took me to your most recent update, which was a picture of Finn, Victoria, Declan and a little tot. I didn't realize it was so soon though since I quickly closed the window lol! I need to get these 2 fortune sims to save money for me. That is a decent amount of money to have saved up while in college since there aren't a lot of ways to earn money.

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  21. Danielle, heh, yeah, Finn and Victoria got kind of a jumpstart on their family! They both have Family secondary though, so ultimately, I guess they don't really mind!

    Finn and Victoria are both sensible types, so two kids in college probably couldn't have happened to a more prepared couple! Right now, they're doing better than some of my responsibility-free Sims!

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  22. Oh my goodness.

    It's kinda funny, just because...I mean, if this sort of thing has to happen to anyone, at least it's happening to your most sane, stable, responsible couple, right? But still...it really throws a wrench into a lot of their plans!

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  23. Rachel, ha, I know! If ever there was a couple equipped to handle a baby (or two), it would be Finn and Victoria. I would have been far more worried about Claudia getting pregnant. She really, really wasn't in a place to be raising a kid while she was in college.

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