Chapter 1.32

Chapter 1.32- How to Escape

            Buck will never, ever, EVER get used to anyone growing up. Ever. And today it’s twice the horror. His twins are aging up.

            Both of them are hoping that this birthday will be the beginning of a new chapter for the family. Phedra will be aging up soon and moving on which makes the twins feel that they will have to take care of their parents. Something they want to do well.

            In reality, though, Galen is the one pushing the whole “Taking care of Mom and Dad” bit. Layla isn’t so sure she wants to stick around here forever. She's imbibed a lot of Phedra lately.

            Galen knows that Layla would like to move on after their next age up.  But, there’s so much that could happen between now and then. The teen stage of life can be tumultuous at the very best of times for any sim. If he gets everything to work right, he hopes Layla will never want to leave.

            Layla just doesn’t know how far Galen's plans go.

            Sparkles!

            Galen gets hair he can flip around.

            Buck gets visions of premature heart attacks on the horizon.

            And don’t think Layla doesn’t know it.

            Gobbling down birthday cake in an effort to get to the computer lab at the library Galen is stopped in his tracks by Layla’s topic of conversation. No one in the house had brought up Buck going fishing in any way since Cyrus had left. Cyrus and Buck had went to fish together at least twice a week. Buck hadn’t been since becoming without a partner, and no one had suggested he find one.

            “Mom,” Layla was a little nervous about this actually. But she had a plan, too. And Galen had no idea. “Mom, you know, you should go fishing with Dad sometime. It’s so peaceful, and the pictures you could get would be really lovely.”

            The collective intake of breath around the table was swift.

            “Come on, Layla,” Buck finally managed to speak. “Your mom doesn’t want to go fishing with me. She’s outside enough as it is with her photography. She doesn’t need more time. It’s your birthday, let’s talk about something else.”

            “Why wouldn’t I like being outside more than I am?” Helen was a little surprised that what she was really put out by is the assumption that she wouldn’t like to go. “I like being out there. And it’s true that I’ve never given much thought to fishing, but shots of fishing are always wanted as souvenirs and momentos.”

            “Come on, it’s the kids’ birthday.”

            In the background, Galen is in shock. Why on Sim Planet would she suggest such a thing? And why is Helen considering it?

            “Maybe he’s just afraid you’ll fall in and he’ll have to swim in to get you,” Phedra chuckled.

            Everyone stopped. The dead silence awful and intimidating. It’s the first time a joke has been attempted at the table in so long, no one remembers if they get to laugh, or if they’re supposed to be offended. Galen actually runs into the bathroom to escape. He’s not going to stick around to see what kind of a mess Layla started.

            What he missed by running away is Helen’s smile, Buck’s low chuckle.

            “That’d sure put me in a quandary, now wouldn’t it?”

            “A dilemma no politician would want to solve, for sure.” Phedra adds.

            As Buck finishes his cake, he realizes that this is the first time in a long time that the family has joked together. That it was light. It also finally hits him that Phedra had smiled and attempted to join in without turning it into something about herself. And it dawns on him that they’ve all moved on.

            Helen has watched the family finally begin to relax again for a while. What she didn’t realize was that Layla was coming out of her shell a little bit, that she had initiated all of that. And honestly, Helen wouldn’t mind a little alone time with Buck. It’s been too long since they’ve had any. The kids are nearly grown now, and they can take care of themselves. Maybe it’s time they took care of each other instead.

            Never one to slack off, Layla heads outside soon after the dishes are washed up. Tomorrow will be the first day of high school and she’s going to need this time alone to prepare for the day. She also wants to reflect on the fact that she successfully managed to get her parents to think about spending more time together again.

            Now, she’s just got to figure out how to escape from Galen’s plans for her life.

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It’s choppy and I hate it, but they had to grow up. Blah. Also, I love the shots of them around the table all together. Silly Galen had to run off and ruin it, but it’s nice to see the family all in one room again. It’s been too long. And for the record- Layla's hair is going to change. That's an unfixed Rose hair and the roots- the roots- are driving me nuts! And yes I know Helen has bad roots, but oh well.
ETA (11:30 AM CMT 2-11-13): Layla is now up for download under the Generational Goals tab at the top. Just scroll down until you see her picture. There is a CC Free version and one that is her as she appears in my game currently. This means her hair is different than the above, but there is a link to this hair there as well. If anyone would like any other family members, please let me know.