Chapter 2.33- I'm Alright

          “Why are you reading a baby book?” Tiburcia asked, merely glancing at her father’s book out of the corner of her eye. “I’m not a baby anymore.”

          Smirking, Ignacio thought of just how odd that sounded. This might be a bigger shock for her than he’d thought.

          “But it’s been a long time since you were a baby. I need a refresher.”

          “You’re not adopting Melly’s new babies are you?” Tiburcia frowned, turning fully to Ignacio. Melly Pelly, Tiburcia’s mother, had recently given birth to twins who were very obviously not the children of her third husband. Melly Pelly had recently been through a very nasty public divorce.

          “No, no,” assurance dripping from his tone as Ignacio patted his daughter on the leg and she returned to her book. Taking his cue from her, he also returned to his book even though he wasn’t paying a lick of attention to it. “We’re not adopting a baby. Layla is going to have one.”

          “Oh,” Tiburcia’s answer conveyed none of the enthusiasm he’d hoped she would have. However, she was well aware that babies could be a lot of trouble and nuisance from her visits with Melly. It could just be that clouding her judgment of the situation. 

          When she sighed however, Ignacio was truly saddened.

          “Do you ever feel like some of the butterflies are watching us, and listening? They’re everywhere.”

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          “Merry Snowflake Day!” chirped Layla, getting her breakfast.

          “And a merry one to you Mi Llamita,” smiled Ignacio in return. “Are you ready for my family to come over? When are you calling your dad to tell him the news?”

          “Right after I eat,” Layla and Ignacio had decided to wait to tell anyone outside their home their news until they were sure everything was going alright. In the end though, waiting until Snowflake Day seemed fitting and added a touch of magic to the day for the couple.

          She had just finished cleaning up from breakfast when the phone on the wall began to ring. Instantly a pit formed in her stomach and her jaw went oddly slack hearing it. That phone never rang with anything she wanted to hear. Never.

          Pushing through the lead in her legs, Layla took the few steps to the wall, staring hard, almost breathless. Ignacio’s fork rattled against his plate as he scrambled to get to her.

          “Please let this be Nalleli or Shad, or Lottie, or Sally, Dear PlumbBob, let this be a Snowflake Day Call.”

          “Merry Snowflake Day!” Picking up the receiver, her voice held a tremor no matter her words. “Oh Galen! Hi! Did you guys get our card?”

          Coming closer, Ignacio could feel the tension rolling off of Layla and worried afresh over her ability to cope with anything that might be stressful. So far though, this phone call seemed innocent and he pushed aside his worry to listen in.

          When her body suddenly went rigid a desire to protect her flared up so fast he thought he might explode.

          “Layla,” he said quietly.

          “Oh Galen, no,” her voice trembled as her breathing came more quickly. “No, not today.”

          “Layla,” Igancio repeated her name more urgently. “Layla, give me the phone.”

          “Not Daddy, not today,” she said again as her shoulders slumped.

Ignacio turned impatiently, pacing to the bar, beating himself up for letting her answer that damn phone. He would rip if from the wall if he thought it would help anything. More bad news. Forever bad news. They find a spark, a happy place finally, and it’s shattered once more.

          The receiver clicked softly against the cradle and he missed it. It took the gentle tap on his shoulder to get him to turn around and find Layla in front of him, needing his support.

          “Your father?” He asked. He didn’t need to ask more than that.

          Her response was a tremble of her lower lip as her face worked and she fought tears.

          “At least he’ll stop pining after your mother now. He’s at peace.”

          “But I’m not!” moving into his waiting arms, Layla finally released her tears, to a degree.

          Rubbing her back, cradling her, Ignacio again thought of the phone on the wall. Now he’d need to use it to call his family and tell them not to come over. There was no way Layla could handle having everyone over for lunch.

          “Hang on,” he tried to disentangle her a little. “Hang on, just let me call my family to tell them not to come and I will be right back, ok?”

          Pushing away on her own, Layla shook her head trying to clear her throat.

          “No,” her voice was stronger sounding than she’d expected. “No, don’t. I’m alright. They should still come over. It’s Snowflake Day and family is supposed to be together on Snowflake Day.”

          “Mi Llamita, you are not alri-”

          “I am alright,” Layla said, her jaw jutting as she looked at Ignacio fiercely. “I am just fine. I will not be the reason we’re not all together.”

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          “Those are really unusual gems Layla,” Sabria said uncertainly. “And I’m not sure I’ve ever seen quite so many all together before.”

          Layla merely nodded, forgetting that if Sabria didn’t look at her, she couldn’t hear her nod.

          “I’ve missed you all lately,” Sabria continued, thinking Layla had chosen to ignore her remark on the gems. “It looks like you’ve been very busy, too.”

          “Yeah, very busy,” Layla said abruptly. “I’m pregnant!” Not realizing what exactly she’d just said or how. Ignacio and Layla were supposed to tell his parents together.

          Ignacio stopped in his tracks hearing Layla blurt the news. Shaking his head in amusement he continued on his way to try and get to Tibi. His young daughter had managed to provoke a promise of a snowball fight out of his Father and Brother and he was determined to get to them before they carried it out. She had no idea what she was in for with those two.

          As Tibi, Ignacio, Raul, and Santiago all filed out of the kitchen to play in the snow Layla was continuing to trip over her announcement.

          “And- and I want your help with something,” she had just realized how odd this request would sound, but hoped Sabria would be able to assuage her fears a little.

          Arching a single brow, Sabria inclined her head to acknowledge her willingness to hear Layla’s request.

          “I want to make sure there’s only one in there.”

          Laughing aloud before she’d realized what she’d done, Sabria passed her hand over her face, trying to regain her composure. Is this why Layla was such a scattered mess today?

          “Of course, honey,” besides, touching Layla would let her in on all she had missed with her son and granddaughter too lately. There were big things afoot, and certain events seen hazily long ago seemed to be coming into focus. “But can I ask why you’re so concerned about there only being one? Are you hoping for more?”

          “Oh, PlumbBob no,” blurted Layla. “It’s just my mom was one of triplets, and I’m a twin. I’m not sure I could handle more than one.”

          How had Sabria overlooked that before? Was she not very close with her twin? Her surprise registered on her face and she again tried to cover her reaction by turning it to something else.

          “Of course,” she said. “Would you like a gender, too? It can really help planning things if you know what you’re having.”

          “No,” Layla surprised Ignacio’s mother by saying. “The nursery is done neutrally, green. And I think we’d rather be surprised.”

          Sabria nodded sagely and reached for Layla’s rounded belly.

          Layla waited patiently as Sabria stood silently, touching her. Her left hand was being tightly held as she stood listening, or seeing, or whatever it was exactly she did.

          At long last, Sabria looked back up.

          “Just one,” smiling, Sabria said to Layla.

          “Oh good,” Layla was obviously relieved.

          “Are you sure you don’t want to know the gender?”

          “Positive. Thank you, though.

          “Now,” Sabria’s face softened. “Why didn’t you say your found out your dad had died this morning?”

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          In the front yard, a snowball fight raged with Ignacio and little Tibi losing spectacularly.

          The biggest problem was Santiago kept forgetting that his granddaughter was still just a kid. She might be starting high school soon, but Tibi was still small for her age. So when he’d send a snowball her way he’d frequently fling it so hard he’d knock her back into the snow.

          “Papi! Enough! Go easy on her,” Ignacio called after hearing Tibi cry out in shock at being hit again.

          Flaring her nostrils at her dad, Tiburcia waited for him to throw a nice large snowball that hit Uncle Raul squarely in the chest, exploding in a shower of snow and ice.

          “I’m not so little anymore, Dad! Don’t go easy on me!” And attempting to get up, she slipped and fell right back into the snow once more making the men outside roar with laughter.

          Santiago walked over to his little granddaughter sitting up to her waist in snow. Offering her hand he pulled her up and into a hug.

          “Come on little big girl,” he teased. “Let’s go in and warm up. I bet lunch is nearly ready, too.”

          Despite her reassurances to the contrary to Sabria, Layla was still being hit by wave after wave of grief. It would hit her at the oddest moments. It hit her as they ate lunch with Lottie and Raul. Lottie was just announcing that she thought she, too, might be expecting.

          It would hit her while taking rests.

While doing laundry.

It would hit while cooking or collecting the pretties she still insisted she needed. No one else was appreciating them out there under the snow. And she loved them. They were so pretty.

          In those sweet moments where the soon-to-be new parents would share their wonder over new life it would hit her afresh and she’d pummel it back down to deal with another day.

          Ignacio could tell that she was still grieving, but she refused to talk about it. And when he’d suggested that the baby be named Buck if it were a boy Layla had flown into a fury that had worried him worse than her bottled grief ever did. Even after all the time they had been together, they still seemed to operate as two separate entities keeping so much from each other. Maybe, it was time for that to change.

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Going all the way to the top of this chapter, Melly Pelly is kind of pissing me off with her ways. Mostly because of who husband number four is: Galen. Leave it to SP to finally decide Galen needed to get out there and be romantic with That.

Right now, I’m kind of in love with Pregnant Layla. She’s probably the cutest pregnant sim I’ve ever had. Helen always looked so awful in maternity wear and her features didn’t lend well to an expanded size, so I’m purposely drawing this out just a bit to spend more time with her all cute. She’s just cute like that!

And I know that cut off kind of oddly there, but the next one is a big one so we’ll just let things rest with that.

Finally, as my dearest Buck has passed on at last I have put him and Helen up for download. You can find them on the downloads page up top, or in the post list to the right.

Downloads-Sims- Buck and Helen Sixkiller

Since I am officially unable to use my wonderful founders in my legacy any longer I am releasing them into the wild. So here they are, my beautiful Helen, and my beloved Buck.


Helen is one tough cookie. She's a little hard nosed and doesn't take a lot of crap.




However, she loves to dish the crap out. lol.

Helen was actually the 7th generation born out of my attempt at a Nothing Is Free Challenge. I only say attempt, because though I did build the world up, it essploded after ghost Cyrus tried to use the subway on his way home from the Spooky Day festivities at the festival lot. But anyhow... Back to Helen.

She's sometimes a little short-sighted, and in general a rather selfish woman. She doesn't usually get mad, but when she does watch out! Her somewhat acid tongue is known to leave a mark.

And though I talk a little tough about her, I do still love her. So if you download her to use, please be kind of nice to her. And if you use her in your story (or in your background) I'd love to know! Leave me a link in the comments and I'll even comment back!

Her Traits are: Disciplined, Flirty, Neat, Genius, and Technophobe
Her Favorites are: Pop Music, Hamburgers, and Black
And her Sign: Sagittarius

She requires Generations to look as shown.
CC required to make Helen look right:
Brows by Simmiller: http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=442949

Lips by Sleepy Genius- RomanticRose: http://linna.modthesims.info/download.php?t=481902

And her infamous Purple "Pajamas" from the EA store are here

Download Helen Sixkiller



And then we come to my dearest Buck. I adore my Buck. His death was the first time I've ever cried when a sim died. So I'm begging you, if you download him, please be nice to him. I messed with him enough in my story.
Buck was the oldest of three kids who grew up in Appaloosa Plains on a farm I imported in. Ha! As the oldest he was given a traditional family name that had been passed down for many generations. His father expected him to live up to such a name and be a real "Man's man," if you will. But Buck is kind and gentle, caring and sweet, and very very cowardly. He's a wonderful caretaker and a fantastic father. But don't be fooled! If you mess with his family, you mess with him and run the risk of seeing his temper and rage explode as did poor Trenton who had no idea why the random man was beating him up. Ha!
So if you end up using him in your story, or if you even just stick him in your background because he and Helen make pretty babies (really. I'd love to show you all some other spawn of theirs from a different world/save ) I'd love to know. Leave me a link in the comments and I'll even comment back!

Buck's Traits are: Coward, Disciplined, Hopeless Romantic, Loves the Outdoors, and Hydrophobic
His Favorites are: Pop Music, Mac and Cheese, and Lilac
And his sign is: Gemini

He needs Late Night and High End Loft Stuff to appear exactly as shown along. You'll also need to download his hair "AlfredAskew's Backswept Short Curly Hair Converted" by TumTum Simiolino from here:  http://mybluebookblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/alfredaskews-backswept-short-curly-hair.html

Download Buck Sixkiller

Edited to Add: As per the suggestion by my darling Gemma, I'd forgotten this. Both Helen and Buck (And really, all my sims that feature in the story except Iggy who uses an E-Skin) need THIS skin to look right.

Chapter 2.32-Time

Warning! Graphic Images of Tragic Clowns ahead! This content is not suitable for small children, those with heart conditions, or those with Coulrophobia! You have been warned!

Lol!

  

          “I’m going to school, I’m going to school!” Thundering footsteps echoed around the house as Tiburcia ran around in a frenzy before careening toward her dad.

          “Daddy daddy daddy! I’m going to school today!” she cried out as he pulled her into a bear hug. He hated the thought of his darling little girl being big enough to go to school but her excitement was so infections he couldn’t keep his laughter to himself.

  

          “And if you will sit still I might have something for you,” Ignacio put the wiggling little body away from him gently, reluctantly. “But you have got to calm down.”

          “Ok, ok,” she breathed excitedly, trying to still the quivering excitement that still ran through her. “What is it?”

          Tearing open the package she gave a squeal. A HelloSimmy umbrella she’d been begging for fell out.

          “For when it rains, so you don’ get your hair wet,” Ignacio said tenderly. “Just be gentle with it, and don’ open it indoors. Tha’s bad luck.”

          Glancing up at her father, Tibi rolled her eyes.

          “Right,” she told him in her most grown up voice. “Bad luck.”

  

          “Thank you, Daddy,” Tiburcia whispered into his shoulder. Ignacio hadn’t been able to not reach for his daughter one more time. She was growing up far too quickly and he felt he had to grab every moment he could get.

          “De nada, mija,” he whispered back feeling a lump arise in his throat. “I am glad you like it.”

  

          The blaring from the horn on the school bus brought them both up short.

          Briefly, there was a pause while a nervous jolt went through both father and daughter. His dread, her anticipation. There would be so many more moments like these as she grew older, and grew apart, from her family. And now it was time for her to take that first step away from her beloved Daddy.

  

          Turning, Tibi ran to the front door remarking on some new bauble Layla must have set out the night before.

          “Tell Mom I like the pink flowers!” Tibi called over her should.

          But Ignacio did not hear. He’d closed his eyes and let memories of his baby girl wash over him momentarily.

  

          “She should get more of those!” Tibi was still calling to him.

          Slowly, Ignacio opened his eyes as his daughter finally slammed the door she had just run through. She had remembered Layla in her parting words and that would please her. Ignacio had asked for those moments with Tibi several days ago and she had obliged. This morning she had gone out early looking for more shiny pretty things to pick up.

Pigtails flying, Tiburcia skipped past the gnomes attempting to block her way to the bus with a joyous giggle.

“I’m going to school today!” She called to the inanimate statues. “You can’t stop me!”

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          “I’m the ‘Fashionista Fairy,’ Tibi said impatiently. “Not the tooth fairy. Please don’t embarrass me. Dad’s already doing that.”

          Layla fumbled with the camera on her phone, frowning heavily at it. Tibi could work it better than she could, and yup Ignacio was embarrassing and that didn’t help her concentrate on the task at hand. She was supposed to be taking a picture before Father and Daughter went out Trick or Treating. Layla was staying home to hand out candy.

  

          “I am not embarrassing,” Ignacio said in a goofy voice. “I am a clown! I am funny!”

          Tibi shot him a withering glance as Layla accidentally hit the shutter button on her phone.

          “Oops!”

          “Do you have a good picture yet? I need a good one for my Simsbook page,” Tibi marched to Layla snatching the phone from her. “Ugh! Let’s try it again.”

  

          Ignacio went back to gazing at the flowers in the corner while he waited for the girls to finish. How the time had flown by! His little girl was growing up so quickly. A Simsbook page? He’d thought she was a little young for it, but she’d insisted. And he’d never been able to deny her anything she really wanted.

          Perhaps it was time to start putting his foot down before she became unmanageable.

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          It seemed like just yesterday they had been getting Tiburcia ready for Spooky Day. Now the trees were totally bare and the neighbors had even put up Snowflake Day lights. Tiburcia had squealed with delight and gushed about them for days making Ignacio and Layla brace for when she’d ask to put them on their home.

          Layla sighed. Looking at the newly fallen snow held far too many memories she wasn’t really wanting to relive just now.

  

          Moving to another window she sighed. The tangle dead branches out this window really didn’t help her either. It just pushed her mother front and center.

          Her mother loved making snowmen and snow angels and had played in the snow with their dad as enthusiastically as she and Galen had. Layla reached for her phone, eager to call her mother and relive the time Galen had made the snow angel face first. He’d come up spluttering and hollering about snow up his nose burning and they’d all laughed.

          She had half dialed the number when, again, the fact that her mother wouldn’t answer intruded on her.

          Maybe another window would have a better view.

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          ‘These are new,’ Tiburcia thought. She had just jumped down from the table after finishing her homework. She’d come home in a such a rush she hadn’t really looked around.

          “Aaaaaand those are new, too,” Tiburcia looked in front of her, really looking around. A lot of new flowers had appeared today. Mom must have really been working hard to find those all buried under the snow.

  

          The doorbell ringing made Tibi gasp. Looking around, quickly she noticed a few of the gems were scattered on the floor as though they had been dropped instead of placed and she had a moment of embarrassment. She’d invited the most popular boy in her grade over and things weren’t as tidy as they usually were. Hopefully he wouldn’t notice.

          She let Henry in out of the cold thrilled that she was entertaining someone of such importance. With any luck he’d let her give him a makeover.  That was the real reason she’d invited him over. The green of his sweater simply did not do justice to his eyes and she’d like to remedy that. If he’d let her.

          Unfortunately, the first thing he did was glance around at the things around the room warily.

  

          But before she had an opportunity to distract him her Mom came in. She’d heard the doorbell and wondered who their guest was.

          “Hi!” Layla chirped brightly.

          Tiburcia smiled up at Layla and introduced Henry to her Mom. At least Mom was okay with her inviting someone over without asking. Emily’s mom freaked when she’d invited Tibi over without asking her first.

‘Their house was way messier than ours though,’ Tibi thought  completely missing the somewhat stunned look on her Mom’s face.

  

          Looking at the little boy Tiburcia had introduced as Henry had brought her up short. He looked rather familiar to her, and yet she couldn’t quite place who he reminded her of.

          And then, she looked, really looked, at his eyes.

  

          Phedra’s eyes. This was Phedra’s son. And he was old enough to be in school with Tiburcia? Had so much time really passed that Phedra and George had gone on the research expedition?

          A stab of guilt twisted in her stomach. Maybe she shouldn’t have told Phedra it was alright to go. This little boy was darling, and his mother should know him.  She’d have to send a message out to Phedra to get her to call. It had been a while since the sisters had spoken, and Layla now wanted to take back what she’d told her so long ago. If she didn’t, she was afraid those eyes would haunt her forever.

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          Tiburcia had been steeling herself for this moment for weeks now. All of her friends were in the ballet class after school and she wanted to go too.

          Also, she wanted to start going to Emily’s after school to do her homework. Emily had a desk in her room they could share that was more comfortable than doing her homework on the table or floor here. The desks had had too much stuff on them for weeks now, so she couldn’t use them.

  

          “But then we wouldn’ get to see you as much,” Ignacio pled. He didn’t feel like they got to spend nearly as much time together now that she was in school. He missed his little girl.

          “I’ll still be home plenty,” she said. “It’s just to do homework, and the ballet class is only after school two days a week.”

          “Well, if you are sure,” relenting was bittersweet. Surely doing homework with a friend would be good for her grades too, right?

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          “These are new,” Tiburcia said. “I like the pink heart one.”

          “My mom has one on her dresser that looks almost exactly like it,” Layla answered over her shoulder. “Only I suspect my mom’s is glass. That one is a real pink diamond.”

          Nodding, Tibi’s gaze roamed the other gems that had popped up on the cabinet’s shelves recently with a sigh.

  

          “They jus’ look like big rocks to me,” Tibi heard her dad say. She had to agree. The small boulders the adults were looking at were hideous.

          “Really! I ran the analysis on them myself. They’re meteors,” Layla gushed. “Just think, these could be off of the meteor that killed off the dinosaurs!”

          Ignacio looked at Layla silently. She was gazing at the meteors as if they were the most wonderful things ever.

          Was there something wrong he was missing? He’d noticed she occasionally slipped and referred to her mother as alive which had bothered both him and Tibi. But how did someone bring that up?

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          “It is nice to have you home,” Ignacio said quietly to his daughter. “You know I love helping you with homework, maybe you can do your homework here from now on?”

          “It’s only because Emily is sick, dad,” Tibi was short. The floor was really uncomfortable for working and she missed the comfort of the desk, no matter how messy Emily’s house was.

          Behind them, Layla toyed with what was left of her dinner. She hadn’t been feeling too well lately. It had even cut into her ‘collecting.’

  

          “What is wrong with Emily again? Sick to her stomach?” Ignacio had been really worried about Layla. She’d never been ill before and he’d never seen her slow down for anything, including the death of her mother. But today she’d only been out picking wildflowers for a little bit before returning home to bed.

          “No, she’s got strep throat,” Tibi answered.

          “Oh,” he said. “Well, I hope she gets better soon. Strep is no fun.”

          “Yeah,” Tibi said sourly. The flowers were no longer organized or straight along the wall in front of her and their vases were dusty too. Maybe Layla wasn’t feeling well because of the dust and dirt in their home.

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          It was just after 2am when the nausea became so bad it woke her up.

          “Uuuuugh” she groaned quietly, holding her rolling stomach as if trying to hold it in place. She was convinced that if she could just throw up she’d feel better.

  

          Maybe she’d get her wish. Tightly clamping her hand over her mouth she made a dash past a sleeping Ignacio for the bathroom.

  

          Climbing back in bed she was thankful her assumption that if she’d just vomit she’d feel better was correct. Her stomach had been upset off and on for days now. And she was so tired! All she wanted to do was sleep. But today she had barely gotten anything done, and tomorrow she really needed to hit the ground running.

  

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          But the next morning was no better than the last despite her intentions. She’d barely been out of the house for an hour before nausea overcame her along the roadside and she was forced to give in.

          There was one thing to be thankful for though. At least no one saw her.

  

          Ignacio was incredibly worried when she’d reappeared before noon, looking green and pathetic.

          “Are you sure you are alright?” he asked again. He’d asked a million times lately and she’d always denied feeling less than perfect.

          But this time was different.

          Watching her gag and groan alarmed him at first, until he really looked at her.

          Blinking in confusion and wonder Ignacio tried to catch her eye.

  

          Just as Ignacio reached for her arm though, she turned tail and ran toward their room.

          Watching her retreating backside he decided he’d better follow her. Perhaps they needed to have a talk about this.

          “So,” he said the moment she reappeared. “So when are you going to the doctor?”

          Layla stood a moment blinking at him leaning against the desk.

          “Why would I need to go to the doctor? I feel fine now.”

          “But you didn’ a moment ago.”

          “And it passes the moment it all comes up. Right now, I could climb Mt.Simverest and be just fine,” she laughed a little to try and prove it, But her laugh turned into a violent yawn she couldn’t hide.

          “Being tired and sick is not like you at all,” Ignacio said patiently. Obviously, he’d have to walk her through this. “And not only that, it has gone on now for over a month.”

          “And?”

          “And I think it’s something more.”

          Shyly, Layla looked down at her hands. Ignacio blinked in surprise. Did she suspect the same then? Why hadn’t she said something earlier?

          “Yeah,” she said slowly, with a deep breath. She felt nervous and shy and had no idea why she felt that way. “Yeah, I kinda think so too.”

  

          Hurrying to her side, he kissed her shoulder tenderly.

          “Mi Llamita, you need to go to a doctor for sure then.”

          “But I’m not sure, I’m only guessing,” she told him.

          “You are going today,” he said firmly.

          “Oh, for pity-”

          “No. Today.”

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          She’d insisted on going alone, much to his consternation. So instead he’d gone out to take care of some business. When he’d arrived back home, it was obvious Layla had been redecorating again and he stopped to look at the clutter all around.

          “Ignacio?”

          Spinning on his heel a wave of relief washed over him when he saw her. At least she looked fresher than she had that morning.

  

          “We’re gonna have a baby!”

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Dear JESUS that took long enough! So this chapter took me ages and ages to get all the shots for and then putting it together it took me far longer than it usually does to get written up. And I had to redo a lot of it over, and over, and over, and over. If you follow the thread at MTS you’ll know that the latest patch gave me a LOT of grief. Of course that had to happen while I’m trying to get this put together. But Hurray! There’s a larva on the way!

Ok. I know it was a bit jerky, but it's just to show that we're skipping forward a bit here. Ok, we're skipping forward a lot, about a week in game. So instead of trying to find random things to do for filler, I touched on a few of the highlights and showed how things are going.

Ignacio was the tragic clown after an unfortunate trip on the LLAMA. It was just coincidence that happened on Spooky Day. How could I not use it?

The next chapter is a smidge bit delayed coming out since the patch actually borked my savegame making it really difficult right now to get what I need. And with over a hundred OMSPs on the lot currently the game is really slow so it's taking longer to move this forward. (That and the pool. Yeah, we live by our pool and I'm not dragging my pc outside just to sim and swim.) So once this story arc is through there will be another delay as I clean up the mess Layla is making and then move the principal characters to a clean AP.