Wednesday 21 April 2010

Timorous me

Round 26: Spring 2023
last update/next update

Betsy and Kimberly Carmody are both 52 and Susannah is 13.
(Sarah is 18 and Malcolm is 13)

Narrated by Susannah Carmody

Note: for clarity's sake, Susannah calls Kimberly "Mama" and Betsy "Mum".

My parents want to take a family holiday sometime, which I really don't want to do. Who am I supposed to hang out with? There's no way Sarah will want to go and they're not going to let me stay home either.

I thought I'd try anyway and I suggested that they could go away for the weekend and I'd stay here in Sullivan and mind the dog.

They weren't impressed with that idea at all.

But I could totally handle it. It can't be that hard. I'm already preparing dinner every night for everybody.

Both Mum and Mama were quite happy to let me take over that "chore", because they've never been that into cooking. I love it though, and I want to be a chef some day, so I need practice.

I'm only 13, which is too young to legally work but not too young to be used as slave labour in a family business! Every other Saturday, I have to go down to Mama's salon and sweep up hair.

I think I would be really great at the sales portion of the job but Mama won't let me near the customers. I think she thinks I'm going to try to cut their hair myself.

I'd be too scared to do that. What if I messed it up beyond repair? I'm stuck on hair sweeping duty anyway. Next year, I can get a real job!

My older sister Sarah came home to visit and it was so great to see her again! She's pierced her lip which our parents both hate but after they complained about that a little, we had a nice meal together. The food was courtesy of me, naturally!

It sounds like Sarah is really enjoying college - making friends, doing well in her classes and everything. Despite how much Sarah is liking it, I don't think I want to go. You don't need a degree to be a chef, so I don't see much point in going. I'm glad it's several years away for me, because I can't imagine Mum being happy if I haven't changed my mind by then. She really wants me to go.

I couldn't wait for our parents to go to bed so Sarah and I could have a proper chat. When she comes over, she usually stays the night. Mama worries about her travelling at night and her room is still just as she left it, so it's just convenient.

I really needed to talk to Sarah about Malcolm. Ever since he kissed me at school, I'm not really sure how to act around him.

Malcolm is acting totally normal. He hasn't asked me out and he hasn't really been flirting with me or anything.

But I'm starting to wish he would. I never thought about Malcolm as being cute before. Not that I thought he was ugly but I just never thought of him that way. But now it's all I can think about!

So I told it all to Sarah. More just to get things out than to ask for advice. Sarah is much bolder than I am, and she'd just go ahead and ask him out herself.

Which is exactly what she said. I don't know, I just don't think I could ask a guy out. I think I'm just going to wait and hope that Malcolm asks me.

We stayed up so late talking though - past 1am - and I had school the next day so we said goodnight and headed off to bed.

Malcolm came over the next day after school and I could tell he wanted to say something to me, because he kept looking over at Mama as much as I did, like he was hoping she'd leave as well.

What felt like hours later, she finally got up and left the room. If she hadn't, who knows if he ever would have asked me out?

We went to Lost Generation to get something to eat and to hang out. We sat near the window, which looks out onto the primary school. It's so weird to think that we were both students there just two years ago. It feels like much longer ago than that.

It's really cool going out to dinner without my parents. They would never let me order cake. Malcolm ordered salad but I let him have some of my cake, seeing he was eyeing it so much all through the meal!

I was a bit worried that things would be kind of awkward but they weren't really.

We both went kind of quiet at one point (not unusual for me but very unusual for Malcolm!) so we just started playing pool, and that kind of got the conversation going again.

Malcolm kissed me again at the end and he asked me if I'd like to go out again and I said yes. For what was the first date ever for both of us, I think it went pretty well!


Notes:
  • Title is from Timorous Me by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists.
  • Finally Kimberly's adopt a child want has rolled away. She and Betsy are too old to go adding to their family right now and it would make for a HUGE gap between Susannah and #3 and an even bigger gap between #3 and Sarah. I have some pretty big gaps between other siblings in Sullivan but it's not how I generally prefer my families to be planned.
  • Susannah finally made up her mind about Malcolm. The want to go steady with him didn't roll away, so I let them go ahead with it. She never rolled romantic wants for him before they kissed (apart from the date want I mentioned yesterday) but she rolls them a bit now. I use a mod to allow woohoo wants for teens and I was expecting it to pop up for them on their date but it didn't. Good, because I wouldn't have indulged them anyway!

16 comments:

  1. So are they going steady now?

    Good thing the want did roll away, can you imagine that gap? Goodness!

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  2. Apple Valley, yes, they are. Both Susannah and Malcolm had the want, so I had him ask her. I figured she'd be too shy to ask herself, at least at the age she is now.

    Yeah, assuming Betsy and Kimberly got a baby and considering the 18 month to 2 year wait there is for adoption in Sullivan, there'd be at least 20 years between Sarah and #3. That's bigger than the gap between Ione and Elspeth, which is also huge. I think Ione was 18 when Elspeth was born.

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  3. YES!!!!!!!!! I am finally caught up with Sullivan. Now I can give my eye balls a rest. LOL

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  4. When Susannah, age 13, said she could stay home with the dog while her moms went away, it was so true to life and the perspective of young teens! She's one of my favorites of yours, partly because of her freckles. Going steady at 13 is pretty intense, but I guess for a family/pleasure sim that is not surprising. But I definitely agree with not indulging the woohoo for 13 year olds.

    Does inteen cause the woohoo wants for teens, or do you use a different mod for that, if you don't mind.

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  5. It's official, Susannah is my favorite playable! Ha, I wish would ask my mom, if I could stay home for a week, unsupervised, at 13! She would've laughed in my face, before saying "He-ell, no!"

    Let us know if she changes her mind on going to college. My urban in-hood, Univ of Rockport, has a culinary arts school. She is more than welcome there. ;)

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  6. Ha, 13-year-olds! They think they're so capable of taking care of themselves. I'm not surprised her parents said no.

    Susannah and Malcolm are such a cute couple. I'm glad their first date went so well.

    I just checked and the biggest age gap in Wellington is in the Whitfield family. Rianna was 33 when Zach and Dawn were born. I used a different aging system back then but still! 33, that's insane!

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  7. Malcolm and Susannah are so cute! I'm glad their first date was such a succes. It was so sweet, an actual date without taking it too far for it to be too much for 13-year olds!
    Susannah is so pretty with her freckles!
    I loved it when she said she would stay home with the dog, that there wouldn't be too much to it! It's so the mind of a 13-year old!

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  8. Riverdale, yay! LOL, welcome back to the present!

    Francesca, don't kids that age have an inflated view of their own abilities? LOL.

    Going steady at 13 could be considered intense but I think it's pretty innocent for these two. Finn and Victoria were going steady at that age too and gradually got more serious.

    Much to my chagrin, Inteen does not cause woohoo wants for teens. This is the mod I use for that. It works well but I find that they can be a little quick to roll it up. Like adults on a date, they'll make out and they want to jump into bed (hmmm, that's probably why Susannah and Malcolm didn't roll it - I don't let my 13 year-olds make out). So I still use my discretion.

    LaurelCrossing, LOL, yeah my mum would have reacted the same way. I'm pretty sure I would have thought I could handle it though!

    Ha, aww, I don't think I could ever send one of my Sims away! I'd miss them too much! LOL. The other day though, I was thinking I really should have some kind of technical school in the hood. You don't need university to be a chef, but you do generally require training and here at least, it's not on the job.

    Sari, oh, I know! I remember being that age and you really do think you're much more mature than you actually are! If Kimberly and Betsy went away without her, Anna would probably have to come and watch her.

    Whoa, 33 years! Yeah, even considering a different aging system, that's a big gap. Jackie and Ryland were around the same age when the twins were born as Araminta was when Elspeth came along, weren't they?

    Tanja, yes, no making out or intense groping sessions for 13 year-olds!

    Susannah is fast becoming a favourite. Her freckles help but she's fun too.

    I'm glad Susannah seems typically 13 to everybody. I remember thinking like that myself at 13 but when I wrote it, I was thinking "That's everybody right? Not just me?" LOL.

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  9. I'm glad Susannah is happy, she's so cute :D And good call at no woohoo for 13 year-olds. I think that's a bit much :P Maybe they could adopt a child, instead of a baby... that could work ;)

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  10. Susannah is super cute, and ever so confident of herself. She cooks already, thats practically the same as being a responsible adult all home and alone... right. I still get freaked of noises at night if the husband is gone. lol

    So where are they vacationing to and when? Any chance Malcolm will make an appearance on the trip? Glad he finally asked, and they are a couple now, should make Susannah's nerves calm down a bit.

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  11. Tessa, yeah, I've had 13 year-old woohoo before (without my permission - damn ACR!) and it's not happening again. I turn off woohoo on ACR tokens until they're 15. That's my "magic age".

    And no, no more kids for Betsy and Kimberly! Susannah will be their last. I don't use a same sex pregnancy hack, so I can say that with absolute certainty!

    Maisie, I know, there's a lot more to consider before being responsible for a household than just cooking! Susannah thinks she's set though, LOL.

    Not sure when I'll have them take a vacation but it'll probably be to the Far East. Betsy went camping in college and Cape Elizabeth was where she ran off to with Linnea (this was mostly off camera but I mentioned it at the time - they showed up as non-playables when I had someone else on vacation), so the Far East seems like a baggage-free location that none of them have been to. Not sure how I'd work Malcolm in but I guess I'll see what I feel like doing next round.

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  12. Jackie and Ryland were 53 when the twins were born so yeah, they were about the same age as Araminta. I don't remember if Jackie got fertility treatments but nowadays in Wellington over 50-year-old sims aren't allowed to get them.

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  13. What a sweet date! I think that was perfect and age appropriate for these two, haha! It's like having a bike with training wheels.

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  14. Sari, oh, wow, they were older than Araminta then! She was 51. My older Sims aren't allowed to get fertility treatments either, though I've never nailed down a specific age where they have to stop.

    Lunar, aw, training wheels. That's a cute way to look at it.

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  15. My biggest age gap in my hood will probably end up being Hayden's kids w/ Piper (eventually - no, she's not knocked up yet, as much as she'd like to be, lol!). Summer is already 19, and he and Piper won't be married for a few months still. That's kind of an unusual situation though.

    I remember being thirteen too! I thought I could do anything, lol! But awww, they're a sweet little baby couple! I was never the type to date at that age, but I remember some of my friends having their little boyfriends in middle school, lol!

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  16. Laura, yeah, Hayden was so young when Summer was born and then with Piper being his second wife (to be), it makes sense that there'd be a big gap. The gap between Ione and Elspeth is just crazy, lol!

    I never dated at 13 either but other things about Susannah ring true to me. I definitely thought I was pretty awesome stuff back then. I remember referring to "children" rather derisively, even though they were only about 3 years younger than me!

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