Friday 5 February 2010

Custom concern

Round 24: Spring 2020
Narrated by Mina Lachance

When I heard about Maria's death, I decided to invite my brother Emil around, together with some other family members. Maria and I never really recovered our relationship after Abigail's graduation party and my relationship with Emil suffered as a result.


Thankfully, it doesn't seem like any permanent damage has been done. We picked up right where we left off.

Because Emil and I are only half-siblings, he wasn't technically related to most of the other family I invited but I want everyone to know each other anyway.

Any excuse to see my grandkids.

Emil brought his own children, Nathan and Hope and they enjoyed playing with Dominic, Audrey and Edward. And with my nephew, Adam, who's like a big kid himself.

Everybody met Mitchell soon after he was born but it's only recently that he really cares about anyone other than his immediate family, so it was nice for him too.

Dominic took to Mitchell right away...

...while Hope regarded him with mild curiosity but kept her distance.

I'm really enjoying Mitchell at the age he is now. I'm home with him all day while Jesse and Abigail are at work, and Nick is at school, so I feel quite bonded to him.

Abigail and Jesse both want another child but I try not to mention too much how I'd like another grandchild. It was so hard for them to conceive Mitchell, eventually having to resort to fertility treatments, and Abigail is very touchy about it.

So I usually just listen, because I don't want her to feel like I'm putting pressure on them. I would really like another grandchild though!

They're not sure why they have such trouble conceiving - they're both in their mid-30s now but
plenty of people have babies at their age. They're planning on trying a bit longer and then having another look at fertility treatments.

Before any new baby arrives, we'll need to move. Nick shares his bedroom with Mitchell (which he's never complained about, I'll add) and he shouldn't have to. I know Jesse and Abigail want to avoid having Mitchell share his room, if they can.

Mitchell's walking now and he's following his daddy around everywhere.

Abigail has to chase him down when it's time for a nappy change or a bath now. Watching them with Mitchell reminds me of when she and Jonas were that age and I wonder how Abigail handled Nick as a toddler, all while going to class.

Speaking of Nick, he now only has about a week left of school before he graduates. There's not much work to do, naturally, so he's just been lazing around.

He'll leave for college very soon in the new year. Classes won't start for a while after that but he's probably keen to have his own space again, even if it's in a dorm.

And of course, the boy actually likes to study! He's very keen to get started with university! I'm hoping he leaves some time for other things, like dating. I hope he finds someone nice while he's away. It would be wonderful if I lived long enough to see him marry and maybe even give me a great-grandchild!

Abigail came home from work the other day saying she had amazing news! The first was that she'd been promoted - she received a tip about a possible game-fixing scandal and she blew the story wide open, which earned her a lot of cred around the paper. She also told me there was one more bit of news but she wanted to wait until Jesse got home for that. I just crossed my fingers and hoped it was what I thought it might be!

And it was! Abigail went to the doctor after work and found out that she's pregnant! I'm thrilled to be becoming a grandmother again but I know Jesse and Abigail are at least twice as happy as I am. They didn't even need fertility treatments this time - it was a big surprise but a very joyful one!

Extras:

Audrey, ever the animal lover, made a beeline for the aquarium as soon as she entered the house and stayed there for ages.

I cannot imagine who she gets that from!

And some family reunion spam that didn't really fit in anywhere!






LOL, those farm kids! You can't play in the middle of the road in the city like you can at home!

Notes:
  • Title is from Custom Concern by Modest Mouse.
  • Mina's family ties are probably a little confusing. Mina's father was Anton, who was also Emil's father. Mina's mother was Anton's first wife, Steffi, making her Nathalie and Petra's half-sister. Through Petra, Mina is also the aunt of Adam and Hanna, even though there's only 5 years between them.
  • Mina had the want for a family reunion, hence the get-together. I always find those fun anyway. Mina's secondary Family aspiration has been much more prominent that her supposed primary of Romance since Pascal died. She's all about grandkids - the ones she has and the ones she wants to have - and nary a woohoo want in sight!
  • And yay for a baby! That's three babies due so far in Round 25 and the round hasn't even started yet! This baby is due at the same time as Ione's - Winter 2021.

10 comments:

  1. Aww! I love family reunions! I need to do more of those... but that would probably involve the entire hood at this point. xb

    It's so true to life, though, that a death would bring all of this about. It always seems to make us want to reach out and be surrounded by family.

    Woohoo for more babies!!

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  2. So Maria is her step mom? Did I follow that right?

    The get together was sweet. Seeing everyone playing. U could tell mitchell was in the spotlight and yeah a baby! I'm glad it came easier this time for them.

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  3. Mao, some of my families are about at that point too! Everyone Mina is related to was at the party and there were 10 - just enough for a family reunion. That's only because a) her dad was a townie, so she only has relatives on her mother's side and b) a lot of her relatives are now dead!

    But yeah, death seems to bring us all together, doesn't it?

    Maisie, yes, that's correct. Or was her stepmother, I guess. Maria was only 7 years older than Mina but they got along really well for a good while, right up until the grad party debacle.

    Heh, aren't the little ones always in the spotlight at family get-togethers? LOL.

    I'm really glad they got pregnant so easily this time. I've never had a couple continually fail to get pregnant while using the Maxis Try for Baby option but Jesse and Abigail did. :\

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  4. "Yay for a baby!" Alright Carla, I'm going to remember you said that, when you end up with another baby boom, hehe.

    As far as the delayed conceiving, I think that it makes it more realistic. Good update!

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  5. Congratulations on the pregnancy, I agree the family reunion looks like a lot of fun, I love how they headed to the fish-cute. I haven't seen that interaction before, so I'll have to try that out.

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  6. The family reunion looks so much fun, I should do those more often.

    Congrats on the pregnancy :)

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  7. I love family reunions, I would love to have some in my hood one day, but I'm not sure I can cope, handling so many sims at the same time!

    Yay on the baby!!! I SimsVille biths seem to come all at once, and then there is a period where there is no child born ...

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  8. Laurel, oh, I love a baby boom anyway! Really, I do!

    I've had couples who took longer, in terms of rounds/years, to conceive (Tate and Zelda took 10 years to conceive Charlie, and Zelda's parents took 12 years to conceive her) but I don't think any of them tried as often as Abigail and Jesse did!

    Cissie, they are heaps of fun! I sometimes forget my Sims are related to certain other Sims, even though I have record of it all. It's nice having them get to know each other (or get to know each other again).

    Tanja, it doesn't seem half as bad having a lot of people on a residential lot, as opposed to a community lot. I remember attempting a family reunion on a community lot once. Never again!

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  9. LOL, the grandbabies! She reminds me of some of my grandmas in LH :)

    Awww, I loved seeing the whole family together! And yay for a new baby! I'm glad they didn't have to go through much trouble.

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  10. Laura, me too! I always feel so bad for my Sims when there's that double baby want and they just can't get pregnant!

    Tate and Zelda still try every time. :( I don't particularly want them to have another kid (even though they make really cute ones) but I'm sad for them anyway.

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