Criminal past

Round 37: January 2046 (Summer)

Ashton 1 household profile

Rob Ashton is 45, Patience is 44, Felicity is 13, Patrick is 10 and Gemma is 5.
(Josie is 44, Iris is 12, Andrew is 10 Elisa is 4)

Narrated by Felicity Ashton

Gemma has got it in her head that our family should have a cat. She’s asked Mum and Dad a few times about adding one to the household. 

After more than one explanation, she’s finally accepted that our dog Scotty wouldn’t be especially thrilled to have a feline friend forced on him.

So now that her cat dreams are over, she’s switched focus to Scotty. She spends most of her time trying to train him to do tricks.

I don’t know if she thinks she can train him to like cats or something but they both seem to be having fun, so I guess it doesn’t matter.

Gemma has made friends with Elisa this year - her family lives right behind us.

Gemma can get a little clingy to me when she’s bored, so I’m happy she has someone else to play with now. 

Elisa idolises Gemma, which I think Gemma loves, being the baby of the family. Gemma is the reason Elisa wears her hair the way she does!

Mum took this summer off work and doesn’t start her next film until March, so Elisa’s parents have been kind of using her as a babysitting service!

Mum always wanted tons of kids though, so she doesn’t really mind having a couple of extras hanging around. 

I’d rather have Elisa hanging around than Andrew, who is just as frequent a visitor. 

I can’t stand Andrew but he’s our cousin, so we’ll never be rid of him. 

Plus, he’s Patrick’s best friend and Aunt Josie is our mum’s best friend. 

Jude is fine but he’s old enough to stay on his own now when Aunt Josie visits, so I mostly only see him at bigger family things.

I’ve been desperate to be allowed to babysit for a while now and this year, my parents finally agreed to let me!

I was hoping to get paid a bit more than what I’m getting but Dad shut that down pretty quickly.

He said babysitting a 10-year-old and a 5-year-old for a couple of hours during the day (I’m not allowed to babysit at night yet) is worth exactly what I’m getting and wasn’t open to negotiation.

But I guess it is a pretty easy job. Patrick and Gemma are both good kids, even without Mum and Dad around. 

I don’t really need to tell them off or anything. We just all do our own thing until our parents get home.

I do really appreciate having a bit of extra cash. I’m starting Grade 8 soon and I want to buy some new clothes for school.

This year, my best friend Iris will be at school with me and we’re both so excited about it.

We drifted apart a bit last year, being at different schools and I’m so glad we’ll be able to hang out more now. 

Iris is actually in the grade below me but our school is so small that we’ll end up having most of our classes together anyway. 

Now that our first day is getting closer and closer, Iris is a little bit nervous. 

She’s got nothing to worry about though, because I’ve promised I’ll be there to show her the ropes. We’re going to have an awesome year!

Notes:

• Title is from Criminal Past by Motor Ace.
• Life continues to be a bit crazy here, hence why this is late! I'm trying to get back into a routine with this but haven't been successful so far. 
• Gemma's desire for a cat (I gave her the Cat Person trait as a result) made me realise I've never actually had a cat and dog in the same household, at least that I can remember. So I have no idea whether they have any animosity towards each other in the game. It might be fun to see how that works out with another family. I don't see Rob and Patience as the types to get a second pet though.