Here it comes

Round 31: May 2034 (Autumn)

last update/next update

Gordon Nott is 38, Lia is 37, Annabel and Georgina are both 10 and Gabriel is 7.
(Ione is 38, Maia is 32, Caitlin is 11, Simon is 9 and Francesca is 3 months old)

Narrated by Lia Nott

Things have thankfully calmed down for our family since Gordon finished law school.

It's so nice to feel like a real family again.

The kids are loving it too. When Gordon gets home now, he's free to spend time the kids right away, rather than hitting the books.

At the beginning of the year, things were a bit shaky, because Gordon was looking for work. He wasn't immediately successful, which was discouraging for him.

But he's finally working at a law firm - the same one where he interned. He's so happy at his new job.

Fortunately, we were still stable while Gordon was job hunting. I'm making enough money at the library now that we've paid off his debts from law school and we could support the family on just my salary, if we had to.

I love my job even more than I already did now that I have Ione working with me.

We can't just sit around and chat all day, of course, but I loved that I was able to help her out after she lost her job last year.

I've been trying to convince her to stay permanently but it's not really her dream job. She's currently on the look-out for opportunities to start her own business making toys.

Even Ione admits that's probably not going to be any time soon though. At the moment, most of her non-work hours are focused on Francesca.

Francesca was a huge surprise for Ione and Evan but now that they've settled into a routine with her and the other four kids, it's not quite so overwhelming.

I was cooing over her so much that Ione asked if Francesca was making me want to have another one. Not really, but almost! Francesca is just so darling!

But I'm content to fuss over other people's babies now. I didn't like being pregnant nearly as much as I thought I would.

I'm happy with the three we have now though. They're pretty great kids. I've finally got them into the habit of doing their homework as soon as they get off the bus.

I think Annabel might even be starting to enjoy it. She got all As this term, for the first time ever. I really hope she can keep it up. I want her to develop good study habits by the time she gets to high school.

Gordon and I have been offering some incentives for trying hard in school and they're obviously paying off. If we have a good week, we do something special with the kids on the weekend. My parents got them hooked on the aquarium, so that's a favourite destination.

It's a favourite of a lot of kids, it seems. The place is always full of children on the weekends.

We also walk down to the aquatic centre so the kids can go swimming as well.

It's going to be too cold to swim soon, so we're making the most of it while we can.

Annabel and Georgina are both quite social, so they like to have their friend Caitlin over a lot.

Caitlin is a year older than the twins, so she'll go off to high school next year. I don't know if they'll stay friends past that but for now, they're very close.

They stay out in the front yard for ages just chatting. It's hard to get them to come inside sometimes.

Gabriel is very shy and finds it hard to make friends. Most of the time, I think he prefers being on his own.

He plays with Simon Lane sometimes, who is two years ahead of him at school.

I don't want to begrudge Gabriel a friend, seeing he finds it so difficult interacting with other kids. But I don't know if Simon is a very good influence.

He's always got some mischievous idea or another and I hope he doesn't lead Gabriel astray.

I think because he's a little older, Gabriel looks up to Simon and that does worry me a little.

Maia thinks I should leave it alone and that Gabriel is a good kid. She's right but that doesn't mean he can't be encouraged to do the wrong thing.

I just can't be that laid back about things. Maia doesn't have kids yet but I have a feeling she might be a very different parent to what I am.

But who knows? She's surprised me before. I offered to help her out with the wedding planning so she brought her laptop over. I couldn't believe it but she has a spreadsheet for just about everything related to the wedding.

The venue is set (obviously, seeing it's in our parents' backyard), she's already decided on flowers with Dad. She's even got all of our dresses picked out and we're supposed to go in for a fitting next week. I don't even think she needs much help!

When Maia saw how shocked I was, she just smirked and said, "I do organise functions for a living, you know".

I guess she would have learned a thing or two about planning big events, given she's been doing it professionally for 7 years now! The wedding is not until January but I'm already so excited to see it all come together on the big day.

Notes:

• Title is from Here It Comes by Doves.
• Lia and Gordon are rolling in it now! Well, not quite but Lia is making about $10,000 a week and Gordon's current daily salary is almost $800. They finally had enough money this round for me to stick a fence around their house and re-do the girls' bedrooms (they're teens next round and I always do a new room for teens). I'm going to go totally nuts on this house next time I go in, lol! I didn't get a chance this time as I crashed at the end of the play session - after saving, thankfully!.
• Lia is most definitely done with kids. She didn't roll up any baby wants at all this round but she did roll up a fear! Gordon doesn't seem to care one way or the other. So barring an Evan-and-Ione style oopsie baby, Gabriel will be their youngest.
• I always think it's kind of cool when Sims start acting the way you imagine they would. I see Annabel as a bit like Maia, in that she's prone to daydreaming. While the twins were hanging out with Caitlin on the lawn, Annabel didn't say one word the whole time. She just sat there, staring off into space!
• Poor Gabriel has no other boys in his grade and none in the grade directly below or directly above him either. He's somehow become buddies with Simon, who would probably be Lia's idea of a nightmare child - he's loud, mean and he's rough. Not much like Gabriel at all!