Shutterbug

Round 30: June 2032 (Winter)

last update/next update

Tate Benton is 62 and Zelda is 57.
(Josie is 30, Troy is 29, Charlie and Jack are both 20, Sophie and Camilla are both 19, Grace and Everett are both 2)

Narrated by Tate Benton

Since Grace and Everett were born, Zelda and I have been visiting Charlie and Camilla on campus at least once a week.

Grace and Everett weren't born into the best of circumstances but I can't say I haven't enjoyed getting to know them and being a grandfather.

They really are such sweet kids. I can't wait for Charlie and Camilla to move back to Sullivan so I can see them all more often.

Zelda has reallly taken to being a grandparent as well. She never really got over wanting another baby and I think Grace and Everett have helped fill that void for her.

Charlie has adapted quite well to fatherhood, considering he's barely out of his teens.

He's never been the most focused guy in the world, so I'm proud of how much he's grown up.

Now that he's getting used to being a parent, I just wish he'd nail down some realistic ideas for his future career.

Charlie still has ideas about going into entertainment and he just doesn't see why I don't think that's such a great plan.

That would have been all well and good before the kids came along but he has a family to support now. He needs something more stable.

I think he'd be better off doing what Zelda did. Get a regular job and then later on, once he's in a better position to do so, he can quit and do what he really wants to do.

It worked out well for Zelda. She's doing extremely well with her novels now but we couldn't have lived on that income when she was first starting out.
Zelda has spoken to him about it as well, so I hope he at least considers what we've said.

I'm hoping Charlie and Camilla will make things official and get engaged. I don't expect them to get married while they're still in college but it would be nice to know it's in the works.

Zelda still won't let me say anything to Charlie about it though. She feels the opposite way to me and would rather that they not even think about marriage for a good while.

We don't visit Jack at his dorm, because it's fairly easy for him to just hop on the train and come back home on the weekend.

Jack brought his girlfriend Sophie with him last time he visited and it's amazing how seemingly carefree their lives are, compared to Camilla and Charlie's. They just have to go to class and the rest of their time is completely theirs.

Sophie's just made plans to go on spring break. She and some of the other kids are going camping at the beach.

She's been trying to convince Jack to come along but he thinks it's going to be a big party the whole time, which he's never really been into. He keeps saying he'd rather stay on campus and relax for their break.

I got the impression it was a bit of a sore spot between them, so I quickly changed the subject.

I've asked Jack if he would like to take over the restaurant once he's out of college. Maybe not once he's fresh out but eventually.

I love it now but I'm not going to be able to do it forever.

I could just sell it but I put a lot of money and work into doing it up when I first bought it. I'd rather it stay in the family.

Jack doesn't think he'll take as active a role in the restaurant as I do but he's interested.

I'm so relieved. It'll be in good hands. Jack is the best choice, really, if I want the restaurant to stay in the family. I wanted one of the kids to have it but I didn't want to place it on Charlie's shoulders. I know Josie wouldn't be interested either.

Josie really loves being a doctor. She's just started her maternity leave, as she's due any day now, and she's already missing the hospital.

She's bored out of her skull at home, so she visits a lot more often now. When I get home from work, she's usually here.

Josie hasn't especially enjoyed pregnancy. She had bad morning sickness in first trimester, has had insomnia since her second and now she's experiencing a lot of back pain.
Zelda has told her it's all normal and that she went through the same things but Josie's pretty miserable.

She can't wait to get that baby out of there and is beginning to wonder why anyone would choose to go through pregnancy a second time.

Zelda's trying to keep her spirits up. She's so close to the end now and once the baby is here, she might feel differently about getting pregnant again. At least, Zelda and I hope so! We'd like to get a couple more grandkids out of Josie and Troy.

This is so different to Camilla's pregnancy. We weren't exactly excited about that. Zelda and I (and I know Camilla's parents as well) just worried through the whole nine months. We still worry.
But then Josie and Troy are in a completely different situation. They've been together for ten years, they're married, they have a house. We just aren't worried about Josie like we were about Charlie.

It's very nice to have this to look forward to. I really hope to have a whole load of grandchildren one day.

Now that it's just Zelda and me in the house, the place feels so much bigger. Too big, I think.

I'd like to downsize and get a smaller house with a bigger backyard. This place is huge but there's no garden in the back at all.

Zelda is hesitant though. She's saying it'll be nice to have a big place for the grandkids but I think she's mainly reluctant to leave the house we raised the kids in.

I guess it's not something we need to make up our minds about right away. We have plenty of other things to occupy our minds at the moment.

Notes:

• Title is from Shutterbug by Veruca Salt.
• This update was such a pain in the ass and I finally just had to get it out there, so I could was my hands of it! All the Sims fought me at every single turn every time I tried to pose them. Gah. I had a bunch of shots of Josie and Troy and they pretty much all turned out rubbish. :\ I'm hoping I have an easier time with Rob and Patience.
• No joke, Zelda is 57 years old and she rolled up the want for a baby! Nuts! But it rolled away when she visited the twins.
• Josie has already had her baby in game, which satisfied Tate's "Get a Grandchild" want. He hasn't even met the baby yet but he's already rolled up the same want again. So Tate and Zelda are both kind of nuts. ;)
• I can't see Jack enjoying a big trip with a large group of people. He's a Popularity Sim but he's an odd one. He doesn't get a ton of party wants, nor does he get the want to make friends with every single person he meets. He's Outgoing, so it's not that; I just think he's the kind of person who prefers to be one-on-one or in smaller groups with his friends. Other than that, I'm still figuring out how I'm going to do this spring break ROS (who'd have thought I could make such a simple ROS so complicated?) I have so many students right now and they can't all go.