Wednesday, July 24, 2013

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.



20 comments:

  1. LOL! Layla the hoarder! I couldn't stop laughing every time we saw a new angle of the house! I actually didn't expect the pregnancy at first, either! I thought for sure she was making herself sick by going out in the cold collecting more than she could carry and bringing it back.

    Can't even imagine how long it took to do all that clutter-ing! I bet you can't wait until Iggy snaps and clears it all up, either.
    Are you even making any money? She can't have much to sell with all that around the house!

    But YAY! 32 chapters in and a baby finally on the way!
    I see that if it's a boy there is a clear winner for the name, and if it's a girl it's still pretty close! I guess we'll have to wait and see :)

    Tibi was really sweet! It's great to see her making friends and starting school! I feel bad for Iggy, though, he really is upset that she's growing so much :(

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    1. Lol. Nope. She's not ill from overwork.

      CanNot wait. OMG it's driving me nuts. She's selling some stuff. Like, I've got enough moonstones to actually make a roadway that stretches from the moon and back so I sell those and the space rocks (usually.)

      Yes! Baby is finally on the way! Yup. You'll have to wait and see. I know what I made her eat right off the bat after chimes were heard, but I'm not telling. (Also! The heir has arrived! So I really know now!) Lol!

      He's not ready for his baby to grow up. No one is. It's hard to let go when they've been by your side for so long.

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  2. Well, if Iggy's worried about his little budding fashionista growing up, at least he will soon have another baby =)

    My goodness, all the clutter! More in every screen shot! Tibi noticing it every time really underscored how much Layla is accumulating. And her slips about thinking her mother is still alive makes you wonder how much of this collecting and hoarding is a way of keeping her mind off of the traumatic events in her life thus far. On the other hand, they will be stinkin', filthy rich when all of that is finally sold!

    Did you change skins on Layla? In the shots where she woke up sick, her face just looked different for some reason.

    I'm so looking forward to meeting the baby! And maybe having the baby will snap Layla from her fugue a bit. After all, it can't be safe to have all those towers of terrariums and piles of gems around a baby.

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    1. Yup! One may be moving along on her merry way, but there's another one who will need him just as much coming.

      Gosh, I can't wait to sell it all too. They need a car! She's absolutely using her stuff as a wall against the cold cruel world. If she gets more shiny pretty things to look at, maybe she won't have to think about any thing unpleasant.

      I didn't change her skin, but the hair is a different "Shine" so the color is different. The Everyday hair is AS, while the Sleepwear hair is EAS.

      Towers of terrariums. lol. No, it's not good to have all of that around a tiny being who lives exclusively at the reaching level of all of that, but I'm not positive she'll be ready to let go of it all at that point.

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    2. She still needs some will-o-the-wisps to round out her collection ;)

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    3. I think so too! Maybe I'll get her to go out late one night and find a few. ;)

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  3. Layla's weird hoarding is weird! That girl has issues!
    But yay for finally getting the larva! And, wow, Henry is a kid already! Where the heck is Phedra? Did she really leave her son for that long?

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    1. Lol. That about sums it up! Lots of issues, and things are (figuratively as well as literally) building to a point where something is going to have to give.

      Yes! It's a huge yay! He is. Phedra is still off and away with George. It's been a long time, too long. And it's why Layla is feeling a little guilty just by seeing him.

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  4. Do you secretly watch Hoarders episodes? lol (I do--it helps me get in the mood to clean house, like scrub the floors with a toothbrush clean!) Hoarding usually starts after a personal tragedy of some kind. I had no idea those terrariums were stackable, you learn something new every day! =)

    Iggy was pretty sweet, with all his, hey wait, don't grow up! You're supposed to stay by my side forever!

    And yay for baby!

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    1. I don't even do it secretly! lol. And I watch both Hoarders and Hoarding: Buried Alive for that very reason. Let's clean out the attic! Let's clean out closets, or the laundry room, or the garage! It's great motivation isn't it?

      Yes it does. I have an aunt who is an extreme hoarder and a lot of what's going on here mirrors a lot of what happened to her. And the hoarding actually is what put me onto the fact that even Layla's character is very like my aunts.

      Lol. Yup. He's a good Mommy... er... daddy. ;)

      Yes! Yay! Finally! At last! *skips and dances!

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  5. Poor Layla. She needs to deal with her issues before this baby comes along. I'm excited for the baby. You'd think the name poll would have alerted me it was coming but I was starting to think Tibi would be the only child!

    Also, poor Henry. I can't believe Phedra is still not back. I can't imagine how she will feel when she returns and realizes how much of her son's life that she has missed.

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    1. Lol. There was a time I flirted with Tibi being the heir since the roll was one child. But I really wanted the name and genes to carry on. So, the heir is here! Coincidentally born the same day as the future British King. Ha!

      Yeah, it will be a lot for Phedra to deal with realizing her son is really more her brother's son than her own. Henry has never known a mother or father outside of Olivia and Cyrus. With any luck Layla will manage to get ahold of Phedra and get her home before too much more time passes. At least Layla now realizes that what she urged Phedra to carry through with was not really the right thing to do.

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  6. Poor Layla. I really like the way you built up the hoarding issue. At first, it didn't seem like a big deal. Flowers there, a few gems here. No biggie. And then, the house is just cluttered from wall to wall with all of the shit she's been collecting. Really well done and captures how overwhelming a problem like that can be.

    I also have a family member that is hoarder and again, at first it was small things. Now he collects old computer, old cars, textbooks, even freaking beds. His house is a mess and no one really knows how to help him. It's sad. :(

    Anyway - Tibi is adorable! And I can't wait for the baby. <3

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    1. Yup. It's just a little bit at first, and no one is quite sure where it took on such proportions, but it did.

      It's really hard to know how to help if they don't want help. My mom went and visited my Aunt a week or so ago and found a tin of Sweet Potato Bon Bons she had made and sent to my Aunt for Christmas. My mom asked her why she didn't throw them out and my Aunt told her they were still good. So my mom broke one open to show her it was rotten and my Aunt still refused to throw them away. What do you do then? Really? It's their choice, as hard as it is to see a loved one living like that.

      I love my Tibi too. And Yes! A baby! Finally! It's been forever since I've had one of them I can hardly remember what to do with them. Ha!

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  7. Wow, Iggy needs to have an intervention because Layla is a hoarder! My brother-in-law is a hoarder, too, and it's actually pretty sad because it causes a lot of arguments. How much are their bills? With all those gems around, it has to be a lot.

    Tibi is adorable. I love that she's on the precipice of being a teen--it really shows.

    I am ashamed--I actually forgot about Phedra and Henry for a bit. I feel really bad for him. I hope Phedra takes responsibility soon.

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    1. There haven't been any 'arguments' yet, but that's only because everyone is tiptoeing around the issue. Though there will most likely be an off screen intervention and purging when the story allows it. She may not let me get rid of everything, but I am for sure not letting her keep all of that forever.

      Uh... I think it was right around §2800 last time? A lot of those are lower level gems actually, lol. Cut em big and they're brighter and can be confused with the nicer ones pretty easily in pics. Ha!

      Yup! She'll be a teenager before you know it.

      Yeah, that's why I had to bring him to the house to show him, it's been too long. After that... I can't say anything without giving spoilers. Ha!

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  8. Helen would have a conniption with that "collection." She wouldn't see it as a collection; she'd just see a big mess.
    Wow, so Phedra's son, huh? So does that mean she's still getting snubbed by Cyrus?
    I like all the "these are new" things that Tibi was doing. Lol.
    Aw! A baby. Took me by surprise too.

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    1. Yes.She.Would! Ha! And notice Layla's use of 'something Helen had' as a justification/reason for what's going on.

      Phedra's son. It's not so much that Cyrus is snubbing her, as Layla is hiding from the rest of the town. Aaand Cyrus still isn't used to family being around enough for him to take time out of his life to acknowledge their existence.

      Lol. Yeah, lots of new deco that chapter.

      Yes! Finally! Their ages were finally all aligned where it was time for those two to make like a legacy and procreate! (that didn't work quite like I wanted it to. lol.) baby!

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  9. Wow, that's a lot of flowers! So Layla is nesting? XD Or is that her way of dealing - or not dealing - with the grief?

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    1. LOL! It was a t o n of flowers! Before she died and I sold the majority of the hoard it brought it several hundred thousand simoleans.

      Layla's hoarding was her way of not dealing with her grief. Too bad she wasn't the type to nest, lol. Though before this she loved to keep her house spotless.

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