Monday 23 April 2012

Stove by a whale

Round 33: February 2038 (Summer)
last update/Declan's next update/next update

Araminta Romilly is 75, Finn and Victoria are 37, Declan is 17, Caitlin is 15 and Keira is 7.
(Jessica is 18, Brendan is 15 and Annabel and Georgina are 14)
Narrated by Caitlin Romilly

This is Declan’s last year of high school and his last year here at home with us and I’m kind of jealous.

I’m just so sick of school. I know I’d have to do work at uni as well but it seems like it would be different if it was something I was choosing to study and not boring stuff like trigonometry.

Declan is so excited about it. He’s had his college plan mapped out for a long time now and it’s just about all he talks about.

The house will be really weird without Declan around. I think I’ll actually miss him when he’s away at college next year. A lot of girls don’t get along so well with their brothers but Declan and I are pretty close.

We’re very different, so we butt heads and nag at each other sometimes but mostly, we do okay.

I’m still looking forward to Declan moving to campus though, because it means I get his room! Keira is cool and everything but I am getting a little sick of sharing a room with her.

The whole place is filled with her toys, which at 15, I’m not really into any more.

Well, sometimes I am, when I’m playing with Keira. But generally, I have other things I'd choose to fill the space.

But there is no space. Keira's things take up much more room than mine and all my stuff ends up crammed in the corner.

I’m going to complete redo Declan’s room. I’m keeping his bed because it's awesome, but everything else has to go.

Declan think it’s pretty funny that I’m planning on such a makeover, seeing I’ll probably only have the room for two years. And also because I technically haven’t asked Mum and Dad yet.

That’s true, I guess. I think they’ll be okay with it though. Most of the time, my parents are cool but sometimes they do spectacularly uncool things, so you never know.

Like the “facts of life” talk I was subjected to when I started going out with Brendan. No one wants to talk about that with their parents but Mum is insistent.

She and Dad had me and Declan when they were quite young. She was using birth control too, so she really wants to drive home how careful I need to be and how I need to make sure it's with the right person.

I know it's important but it doesn’t make it any less embarrassing for me though.

Besides, Brendan and I aren’t anywhere near that stage yet. We’ve only been together for five months.

We’ve only kissed and I don’t see myself being ready to go any further for a good while yet.

We’re just having fun together. We were friends forever first, before we started dating and I think that’s made it less awkward than it might be otherwise.

Brendan lives pretty far away - his parents have a farm - so we only go on dates on the weekends. But seeing we’re in school together every day anyway, that’s not so bad.

Ever since Brendan and I started dating, Georgina has been acting a little weird with me. She’s always quiet but she seems quieter than normal.

She hardly ever says anything when I talk about Brendan. It seems to make her really uncomfortable.

She insists nothing’s wrong and that she’s fine. I hope so, but I'm not so sure.

Annabel used to be a little weird about me and Brendan too but that mystery was solved when she confessed that she had a little thing for Brendan.

I was a bit worried about that but she says she’s totally over him now and she’s fine with us dating.

I do believe her, seeing she appears to have turned her attention to Declan.

He’s probably the third or fourth guy Annabel has had a crush on, so I should have known her thing for Brendan wouldn’t last long.

Declan is always nice to her but he’s not actually interested. Annabel thinks he is but I know he’s just being polite. She was the same way with Mitchell and he wasn’t actually interested either. She’s a bit clueless that way.

Even if Declan was willing to date a 14-year-old, he's way too into Jessica to notice Annabel. Jessica doesn’t start her classes at Suffolk until next month, so she’s over at our place quite a bit at the moment.

She’s going to be much busier in a few weeks, so they’re spending as much time as they can together.

It’s giving the family a good opportunity to get to know her too, which has been good.

Jessica was three years ahead of me at school, so I really didn’t know her very well before she started dating Declan. I like her a lot though.

We have quite a lot in common; we’re both “foodies”. Jessica is studying culinary arts, which I’m considering as an option. I might end up doing business or events planning instead, I’m still not sure.

Declan loves that we get along so well, except for the fact he never has anything to contribute to our cuisine talk.

Dad hadn’t seen Jessica since he last taught her in Grade 6, so it's been kind of like meeting again for the first time. He was very happy to see Jessica turned out so smart and is so enthusiastic about starting her courses. Dad’s very big on school, naturally, and none of us will get away with not going to college.

Really, Jessica clicks pretty well with the whole family. If she’s over on a Friday or Saturday night, we’ll often all be around the table together until 1 or 2 in the morning, just talking.

Keira really likes Jessica and is always annoyed Mum and Dad force her to go to bed when Jessica’s still here. She always gets a special goodnight to make up for it.

I’m hoping it all goes as smoothly when Brendan meets my family, as Dad keeps insisting he must do.

Dad says he’s let it go longer than he might have normally only because he remembers Brendan from school and he works with Brendan’s mum, so he knows he’s still a good kid.

There’s no getting out of it, so I’m not even trying. I’m really nervous about it though and am praying Brendan doesn’t get grilled too badly!

Notes:
  • Title is from Stove By A Whale by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists.
  • At the moment, I'm still using scholarships to figure out which Sims will go to uni and which won't but I've developed a new system, which I'll put a post up about soon (I've been talking about it at N99, so some of you would have already seen the draft there). Declan did really well under both systems though, so obviously, he will be attending Suffolk next year.
  • Caitlin and Brendan are pretty adorable together. They haven't rolled any woohoo wants, despite many wants to make out, so it's all very innocent for the timebeing.
  • And yes, Annabel still hasn't rolled any wants for Brendan, so I'm thinking her attempt at kissing him at school this round was a spur of the moment thing and not after a long crush. I don't expect her infatuation with Declan to last very long either.
  • Jessica went over way better with Declan's family than Dixie did with Abigail, so that was nice. Still feeling a bit bad for poor Dixie! They can't really roll romantic wants for each other, because Jessica is a YA and Declan is still a teen but they seem happy together and they now have less than a year until Declan will also be on campus. :)
  • For those wondering about Georgina and Brendan, Georgina has quite the crush on him and has so far watched him pining after Annabel and now dating Caitlin. I wrote a bit about them here and then a little more in the high school update. Thanks Starr, for the reminder to link!

16 comments:

  1. So what's Georgina's deal? I think I missed it. So glad Declan is doing just fine and it's still weird that Finn has a kid about to go to college and that he's such an "old" father and meeting his children's dates, yikes

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Ah, that was in the last Nott update and I touched on it again in the high school update but I'll add a link in the notes. Georgina has a raging crush on Brendan and Brendan starting to date Caitlin has not lessened it at all!

      It is very, very weird for me that Finn and Victoria are old enough to have kids who are dating, let alone going off to college! I imagine it's quite weird for them too though. ;) Their kids would probably be quite small right now, if their family turned out the way they were imagining!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  2. LOL at Caitlin's embarrassment! I remember you posting a picture about finding a proper overlay for it and it really does work. She looks like she wishes the ground would open up and swallow her whole right there!

    Poor Georgina. It isn't easy watching a friend be blissfully happy with someone you think YOU could be blissfully happy with, as well. Hopefully she finds someone else. :(

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    1. With the way their family started out, I just cannot imagine Finn and Victoria not subjecting their kids to that kind of speech and frequently! Of course Caitlin doesn't want to hear it but she might be thankful for it some day!

      I hope Georgina finds someone else too. She thinks Brendan is her perfect match. She may be wrong but she's 14 and she's allowed to be. ;) Who knows what will happen in the future?

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  3. Aww, poor Caitlin. :) Declan and Jessica make a very pretty couple, I'll keep my fingers crossed that things continue to work out between them in college.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Caitlin's got it pretty good, really, embarrassing conversations with her mother aside, LOL!

      I should be playing this week sometime, so we'll see more of her and Declan then. :D

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  4. I couln't believe it when both Declan and Caitlin became teenagers, and now I can't believe Declan is already heading for university!! I can't believe he's old enough for that already!!

    Caitlin is stunning, I can't believe how pretty she is! Lol at her embarasment when her mom was talking to her. Seeing what happend to Victoria and Finn when they were young, you can't blame her for being overprotective in that area!

    Declan and Jessica are so sweet to together, and it's nice to see the whole family likes her!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I can't quite believe it myself! Time has gone by so fast with Declan and Caitlin (and I'm sure their parents are feeling the same way!)

      Oh, you didn't even see all the close-ups I took of Caitlin, just because I love her face so much. She looks like a real person to me. But yeah, Victoria and Finn are probably more aware than most parents that even good kids can get pregnant/knock up their girlfriends, so they're very vigilant about discussing sex with their kids. You can be assured that Declan got a similarly embarrassing talk with Finn!

      Declan and Jessica do make a cute couple. I'm hoping they can last at least a few years. :)

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  5. I really love Caitlin. Just looking at her, she has turned into a beautiful teen, I can't wait to see how she looks as an adult. I mean, they have three very nice looking children!

    Since Finn is so keen on education I wonder how he would react if one of the kids (minus Declan) decided not to go to college?

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I was a bit worried about Caitlin when I aged her to toddler (though I grew to love her face), so I actually aged her to adult temporarily to check her out. I've completely forgotten what she looks like but I remember she was pretty. Keira is a bit awkward at the moment but she turns out quite pretty as well. :)

      I think Finn would struggle if Caitlin or Keira decided not to go to college, or didn't get in. If they had a plan for what they would do instead though and actually followed through with it and worked hard, I think he'd keep his disappointment to himself. If they just sat around on their bums, then I think they'd hear about it!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  6. I keep drawing parallels between Caitlin and her aunt Elspeth in the way of behavior. I remember them both being rather dramatic when they were kids and them becoming very mature and sensible later on. I do feel a bit bad for Georgina though, but she'll be alright. I'm glad to see Jessica fits in the the Romillys and know Brendan will be fine once Caitlin finally gets him to come over to meet the parents.
    She appreciates the talk now, I think but it's still generally not something you want to discuss with your parents, especially not at that age. Am I the only person who noticed the wedding chapel in the background when Caitlin said her relationship was in the early stages and got a kick out of it?

    ReplyDelete
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    1. That's interesting! I hadn't thought about Elspeth and Caitlin in relation to each other, apart from thinking I need to get those two to hang out again. They're quite close, so I can see Caitlin trying to emulate Elspeth in some ways, consciously or unconsciously. I think they're both still prone to drama but it manifests itself in different ways now. Elspeth's all about inner turmoil these days. ;) There's a lot going on in her brain!

      Honestly, sex isn't something I want to discuss with my parents in too much detail even now! At 15 though, when your world experience is rather limited, it's about the most mortifying thing you can imagine. And I noticed the wedding chapel while I was taking the pic but I didn't think to tie it to the words I was writing. I'm not clever enough to do something like that intentionally but I'm glad you enjoyed it!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

      Delete
  7. Caitlin is so gorgeous! I've said it already but I had to say it again. I like her new 'do. I bet it is hard for a 15 year old to share a room with a 7 year old but she doesn't have long til Declan moves out. I can't believe he's almost a YA!

    Love the pic of the "facts of life" talk Victoria and Caitlin were having. I'd be just as paranoid, too, if I got knocked up twice while on BC while in college and had a daughter approaching that age. My brother-in-law had his son when he was 18 and now that his son is 18, he's been freaking out all year lol.

    I'm glad Jessica gets along so well with the rest of the family. I hope they can stay together until Declan starts college. I want to see how things go when they can spend most of their time together on campus. I installed the teen woohoo wants a while back, at least I think I did, but I haven't had any teens roll up the want. Do a lot of your teens roll the want to woohoo?

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Caitlin is really one of my favourites. I adore her face! She's got big plans for Declan's room and I'm sure Keira might have plans of her own for the one corner of their shared room that she hasn't crammed with her own stuff!

      Finn and Victoria have no intention of becoming grandparents before they're even 40, so this is all stuff Declan and Caitlin (and Keira, when she's old enough) will have to suffer through! Caitlin will thank them when she's not knocked up at her high school graduation. ;)

      I'm playing Jessica tomorrow, so we can see things for her side a little (maybe! I'm not sure if I'll have her or Emma narrating) As for teen woohoo, my teens very often roll woohoo wants on dates but rarely in other situations. So far, my only Sim who has rolled a woohoo want while not on a date was Lucy Gray. She was very keen on Edward, obviously. ;) He's a sweetheart, so who could blame her?

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  8. Brendan and Caitlin are very cute together. :)

    It's still so strange to think that Declan will be going to college so soon! He grew up so fast. I love that Victoria had "the talk" with Caitlin--it's definitely believable, given her own history. How nice that Jessica gets along well with everyone in the Romilly home. It will make things easier if she and Declan get super serious in college.

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    1. Yeah, I'll admit I wasn't too thrilled about Brendan and Caitlin getting together at first but they're very sweet. So I forgave them very quickly. ;)

      Declan going off to college is weird for me too, especially seeing I just finished with my uni kids for the round. It feels like it's creeping up really fast now!

      "The Talk" would have been mortifying for poor Caitlin but I can see her being quite diligent with that kind of thing herself one day, with her own kids. The difficulties of parenthood before you're ready would be a frequent topic of conversation at the Romilly house and I think it's the kind of thing that sticks with you.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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