Monday, August 18, 2014

Chapter 3.6- You Didn't, You Couldn't, You Weren't, I Wasn't

            “WHAAAAAAAAATTTTTT??!??!??” Mariah’s screech shook the peace of the slumbering neighborhood. Outside, a sudden rustle of wings signaled she’d even awakened the birds with her pre-dawn cry.



            She’d grabbed a slip from one of the drawers next to her and stuffed it over her head as quickly as she could muttering all the while.
            “I knew it. Bad idea. Such a bad idea,” sliding to sit on the bed edge, back turned on a Roger attempting to put his underwear back on. “What was I thinking? How could I do it? And for it to be followed by… Bad, bad idea. I’m such an idiot.”



            The mattress shifted and she snapped her mouth shut. How could he say something like that? And immediately after… Even that was awful! Two minutes? Maybe? The last time with Andre lasted longer than that! What the hell? She’d gotten barely anything out of it and then that… He’d said that. That! She’d never told anyone that! Ever! Not even her mom! What did he think that had meant? Did he even know? She’d planned on this being something relaxing, nice; she’d tell him later it was supposed to be meaningless. Now… Oh now. Now what?
            Beside her, Roger cleared his throat. She sat stony, silent, seething, wishing she could duct tape his mouth shut before he made things worse.
            “I’m… Im not sorry for saying it,” his low rumble reached her ears and she flinched. “I meant it.”



            “I-I mean it,” he continued. “I really do. I-I-I lo-love you, Mariah.”
            Her only response was to glare at him. Could he make this any worse?
            Roger sighed.
            “I’ve loved you for ages,” his voice nearly disappearing under her glare. “I just… I’ve never been able to tell you since you always seemed so intent on making sure I know you didn’t… you couldn’t-you weren’t-I wasn’t-”



            “So you’ve felt this way for a long time and the time you choose to tell me is right after we have woohoo?” Mariah still couldn’t meet his eye. She sighed. “I just… I haven’t ever thought anything between us could work out. You’re my best friend, Rog.”
            She shook her head, trying to come up with words to convey how she was feeling. His repeated confession had taken some of the fire out of her, but she was still angry. He’d put her on the spot in a way she’d never been before. It wasn’t fair.
            “Sorry,” Roger whispered back.
            “Don’t be,” she answered. “I mean, you were just telling me how you felt right? It’s not like you were admitting that was your first time, too, that those words just slipped out in excitement, that you didnt mean to say it like that.”
            “Ah-uhm,” Roger cleared his throat, again. “Well, you see, actually, that-uhm- technically was my… first… time and believe me that was not the way I had pictured telling... you... that.”



            The *smack* sound echoed in the room, she’d facepalmed so hard.
            “Stupid-stupid-stupid mistake,” with each word she hit herself with her fingertips.
            The mattress sank a little more with Roger’s sigh.
            “No! Not you,” Mariah amended. “Not you, I’m the one who made a stupid mistake. I’m the stupid one. It’s me.”



            “This is all my fault,” she continued, not noticing the annoyance on Roger’s face. “Feeling a little needy, a little lonely too perhaps, I took a gamble. I’m the one who pushed this. And I shouldn’t have. Y’know, I ought to have known that’s how you felt, you should have let me know whenever you figured that out, but I’m the one who put you in a position to blurt it out like-”
            “-Mariah, stop. Please,” Roger cut in. “You’re not helping. At all.”
            “Oh,” she deflated.



            Roger turned, trying to take her hand. “You didn’t force me into anything, okay?”
            But she had turned from him, resisting his pull.
            “I might not have forced it, but I’ve certainly ruined our friendship.”
            “Have you? Really? Ruined is a very strong word.”



            “You haven’t ruined anything for me,” giving up on his attempts at her hand, he laid a hand on her knee. Roger leaned in, hoping she’d hear his words. “You gave me a chance to tell you, to show you, just how much you’ve meant to me for a very long time.
            “According to you I should have told you when I first realized how I felt? You were with Andre then. I didn’t know that at the time, but what would have happened if I’d told you? You would have run off. It would have ended our friendship. I can’t claim to have known that then, but I do now.
            And now? I also know that with what you did, you most likely wouldn’t wholly object to taking what we have now and going a little further.”



            Roger slid off the bed and knelt in front of Mariah, claiming one of her hands as he did so.
            “Mariah, you are my very best friend in the entire world. I’ve watched you struggle, I’ve watched you fall. I’ve watched you beat up on little boys who bullied other kids.
            “I’ve been there when your daughter was born. I’ve made my mother help you with your daughter. I helped you ruin a perfectly good cake for that same little girl. I know you better than anyone else can claim to know you.
            “You claim to be a little needy? A little lonely? You say I’m your best friend? Then let me still be your best friend. Let me help you be a little less lonely. Let me fill that need.
            “Mariah Sixkiller, will you take that next step and be my better half, be more than just my very best friend, and be my...dare I ask? My girlfriend?”



            Blinking at his last word, Mariah finally returned his smile. That stinker.
            “Roger Fox,” she said finally meeting his eye. “When you put it like that, I think, maybe, I could be okay with that.”
            Roger beamed.
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            The next morning Roger accompanied Mariah and Dove to go pick a cake out at the local bakery. The minute he walked back in the door that afternoon (he still had to work, new girlfriend or no) Mariah insisted on lighting the candle for her baby girl.
            Mariah was still walking on clouds and wanted the entire world to be as happy, as secure as she was. She'd never felt as calm as she had that entire day, and yet her excitement over Dove’s birthday bordered on giddiness. She was nearly as excited for that as she had been for Roger to return to her home.
            (Sparkle Spam!)
            (End Sparkle Spam)



            As soon as the cake had been cleared away and gifts duly opened Roger pulled Mariah to a seat for a chat.
            When he’d walked back in that afternoon, Mariah had noticed something about him. He was both more buoyant than and slightly more apprehensive in the way he spoke to her.
            She waited patiently, watching Dove chew on one of her new toys.



            “I got called in by the chief today,” Roger started suddenly.
            Mariah waited, sure that the quiet grin on his face meant the meeting had gone well.
            “Uh, when I first started I had requested a particular position, but they didn’t have any available openings at that time and I was put on a beat with Taylor instead. But one of the guys has requested a transfer out of the program to another city. Usually when you’ve been on a beat they don’t want you to do this job, because someone might recognize you, but I’m in. The chief doesn’t think anyone knows my face well enough for it to be a problem.”



            Mariah smiled indulgently figuring he’d get around to saying just what this new job was eventually. It was cute when he was all excited.
            “Now, I know we just agreed to give having a relationship a try, so the timing is-is really, really awful, but I figure we know each other well enough that it’ll still work out well between us even when I won’t be able to communicate with you for a while.”
            “Wait wait wait,” that was enough for Mariah. No communication? What in PlumbBob’s name was he talking about? “You won’t be able to communicate with me?”



            “Yeah,” he turned. His eyebrows shot up when he saw her face. “The undercover guys don’t really get to call home a ton. It could blow their cover if they got caught keeping up with family and friends.”
            “You’re going undercover?”
            “It’s what I’ve always wanted to do, yeah,” Roger’s brows knitted in concern. “I thought you knew that.”
            “I thought you wanted to be a detective,” Mariah shot back.
            “When I was six.”



            “But,” Mariah struggled with this announcement more than she thought she could have. He would be leaving her? Right after they had made such a big decision? “What about what we’d decided? About giving a romantic relationship a try?”
            “I’ll still be faithful to you,” Roger said softly. “You just won’t hear from me every day. You’re it, Mariah. And I hope you’ll be what keeps me coming back. I’ll be pretty immersed. It’s going to be tough.”



            Roger turned wistful eyes on Dove giving Mariah a chance to study him.
            At long last she sighed deeply, drawing his attention back to her.
            “I’ll call the first chance I get,” he said. “I promise. And when I get a chance to visit, I’ll be here before you know it.”
            “Really?” she questioned, eyes narrowed. “Because I’ve seen cop shows. Those guys always hook up with the floozy to save her from the bad decisions she’s made. They forsake their friends and loved ones who are only concerned that the floozy really is a floozy and not the angel the cop thinks she is inside. I’ve seen that episode like ten times now. It must be true.



            Roger grinned, a wicked gleam in his eye.
            “Are you sure you want me to answer that?”
            Mariah smirked. “I’m no floozy. And I’ve only made one bad decision. Ever. If that. And Im certainly no angel,” She shot back, laughing.
            “I’ll come back to you.”
            “How long before we see you again?”
            “A few months,” he replied.



            “Just don’t forget about us,” Mariah begged as he pulled her close.
            “I could never forget about the two of you.”
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<3 Roger. After all these years, he finally got the girl. :D If it wasn't totally clear, the chapter opens roughly half an hour after the last chapter left off.
My toddlers usually come out looking alright at best. Generally their faces are flat and their features indistinct to the point they all look the same. This is the first time I can finally understand the “Toddlerz iz adorbz!” craze with Sims3. Dove is a darling little toddler and I have a lot more spam pics I refrained from posting here. Instead, they are on the bloopers blog with a few other new posts to show that Dove did exist as a larva and a few other goings on during the interval between her birth and now. However, I couldn’t resist using the sparkle shots here. As Im sure you have all noticed, I love the birthday sparkle shots.

24 comments:

  1. Oh, Roger. He is so cute, but that was a very dramatic way of asking Mariah to be his girlfriend. After that show, how is he going to ask her to marry him? /pointed look.

    But now he's leaving. :c How cruel! I laughed too hard at Mariah's narrative about him falling in love with a floozy. Roger's too good to do that--or is he too good to not help a floozy?? Will we get to see what his undercover work is like? I'm really concerned about what's going to happen considering you haven't revealed all of Mariah's rolls.

    Dove did indeed grow up to be cute. I'm one of the people who finds all toddlers adorable, though. :p

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    1. Lol. Once she let him get on a roll he just went with it. Also, that was probably the only way he could have gotten her to say yes, otherwise I'm afraid she would have tried to back out again. In her head she would have managed to make such a small thing into a monumental problem. So when he made it monumental then asked for something smaller it caught her off guard.

      Lol! I think he probably wouldn't have fallen for the floozy. He's a lot more shrewd when it comes to 'sim' nature. He sees a lot of what might be going on inside fairly accurately, most of the time. (Kelci comes to mind, lol. But we'll pretend he's matured a little since then.) We probably won't see any of his work since it's not going to be central to the story *at this time.* What he *does overall* is what is most important and will be incredibly influential to what is going on/is happening/will happen later on. =D I'm really having to dance here. Haha.

      Thank you! I guess I just find real kids cuter. Ha!

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  2. *claps* Yay, he finally got the girl. Roger <3 It's good that he can remain calm while Mariah freaks out, lol Love how he "proposed" that they go steady

    I really hope he keeps the girl, yikes, going undercover for months at a time would be really hard on any relationship, especially since he can't really call and talk to her every night.

    Dove is a cutie! =)

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    1. He's good at that isn't he? Always has been really. Even when they were kids and she was on some tirade he was always the one to go "So?" That was probably the only way he could ever have gotten her to agree. Make it big and huge while asking for something a lot easier.

      The good thing is Mariah doesn't get out enough (right now) to be tempted by anyone else. So that will help things. She's also pretty wrapped up in Dove not leaving her much time to get to know someone new.

      Thank you!

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  3. I agree with Owl: if they ever get far enough (depending on those pesky rolls) how will he ever ask her to marry him? He's right about his job though - the timing really does suck. I'm worried for both his safety and his relationship with Mariah. Also, is he going undercover as an IRS fraud accountant or something? I just can't imagine him looking the part of a super bad dude.

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    1. He might rent a bulldozer and fill it with roses to start with. But that might not be big enough, huh? ;) lol

      The timing does suck. And LOL! Yeah. He's not got that usual 'bad boy' look. Though some of the undercover cops I used to get to talk to (as a news producer)- when they cleaned up- weren't quite what I would have expected typically. Not that Roger is on that scale either. Ha! However! I'm totally taking this as a fun challenge and so shall go hunt down some sk8er boi cc later and see how he looks with it all on.

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  4. Pre-dawn cry, eh? Weren't they just baking a cake, though? Unless she was mixing up cake batter at 3am, and he only lasted 2 minutes, there must've been lots of foreplay :D But poor Roger, bless his heart. He finally gets up the nerve to tell her, and she's actually seething about it. I guess I can understand her point that him saying that put her on the spot, though. Totally. Makes me wonder how things would've played out, had he not said it.

    O_O Wow Roger, that was damned eloquent! And very precise in pointing out that now that that had happened, no matter her reaction, there's a little something there. Boy knows how to find traction :D

    LOL, so she bought a cake after all.

    It's nice to see her excited to see Roger :) Not such a great bomb for him to drop on her, though I know it's not his fault. But all the same, her being upset over not being able to even talk to him for so long, must feel good on some level for him. I can't help but wonder how this will affect their relationship.

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    1. I'm going with they made out for quite a while before moving on to the bedroom. And it was pretty late when she started on the cake. I swear it was later than the pics in the kitchen made it look. The sun never properly went down that night pissing me off royally. lol Yay for glitches! :/ It took shooting this chapter to make me realize that's what was going on in the last one.

      Poor Roger indeed! Had he not said anything, she probably would have crushed his little heart once more without a second though and went on her merry little way until she got lonely again. So it broke what had the potential to be a really vicious cycle.

      He knows Mariah so well. And knows what it takes to get her to calm down. She's awful at making mountains out of molehills and bringing herself to a standstill because of it. And he'd gotten a little something in return from her for once, he wasn't about to let that go.

      Yup! =D

      Yeah. Now she's over her own fear of commitment she's pretty normal. Once Andre had broken through her defenses she was the same then also. With her you just have to get through that wall and she's putty in your hands. Oh it does. Total gratification. That was a nearly perfect day for him. I imagine the separation will probably send Mariah right back to her usual, crusty ways regarding him and it will probably drive her to be closer to Dove. But we'll see just what happens. ;)

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  5. Oh Roger <3. I love his awkwardness. His speech to Mariah was great though, once he got past his initial awkwardness. But yay that he's finally completely out of the friendzone!

    I'm a little worried about his undercover work though. :/ I might not have watched the same shows Mariah did (about rescuing floozies etc. >_<), but I've seen/read enough to know how easily things could go wrong. :( Mariah already had a hard enough life.

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    1. No more friendzone for Roger! Yay! He is an awesome ball of awkwardness isn't he? :)

      His undercover work... This is a toughie without giving too much away so I'm going to quote what I said to Owly: "We probably won't see any of his work since it's not going to be central to the story *at this time.* What he *does overall* is what is most important and will be incredibly influential to what is going on/is happening/will happen later on. =D " So for right now, he's okay. I'll go ahead and say that. As to Mariah's tough lot... Yeah. ;) :( I cannot wait to get to the point of the story where I can release these rolls. lol

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  6. I thought the 2 minute thing was about him... ah how shall I put this? Shooting early? I think that's a good way of putting it. I think Roger/Mr Two Minutes kinda did but Mariah on the spot a little bit though. Imagine if she said no though! Yikes, but I knew you'd never do that.

    Speaking of which, I'm glad he finally learned how to say 'I love you'. It took him long enough, but how will he follow up from his speech (which I'm assuming he's had ready for a while now) if he ever wanted to propose propose? I honestly did think he was going to properly propose at first, and I couldn't help but cringe a little, just in case.

    Dove's cute, however I do wonder what will happen to Roger because of the undercover thing. I see bad things happening but you can't be that mean, can you? Please don't be too mean to him. I do wonder what the rolls are though... Is it just single? Or is it couple with some twist in the miscs? I half think you may have a half siblings roll if it is couple, that or it's single and you're going to kill off Roger. Kill him nicely though, and don't get him hit by a blimp, okay? Okay.

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    1. The two minute thing is indeed about him 'shooting early.' =D He, uhm, was a little over excited seeing as it was something he's only dreamed of. Oh, that sounds just as bad doesn't it. Ha! He did indeed put her on the spot. But to begin with he wasn't thinking, he was just happy. In the middle he finally realized this was his shot. And in the end he saw how to proceed.

      Yes.It.Did! It's about time! lol. As to for real proposing he knows Mariah well enough that I think he'd know just what to do. And I'm glad you cringed! It was supposed to be "Oh gawd!" awkward. Roger is pretty low on suavity. Ha!

      LOL. Oh you guys! This generation is going to be So.Much.FUN! Even more so now everyone's on the lookout for skullduggery. I'mma have to balance everything really well (which I did NOT do this chapter, can you tell?) =D ROFL. OHohohohoh. I will not kill him with a blimp. I can indeed promise that. However, that's just about all I can promise right now. Just know that I cried when I rolled Mariah's roll way back when Layla's generation started. I knew then how this was going to play out and it made me sad and now I love it and I'm going to make it the very best story I possibly can. Also, hopefully, when it's all said and done you'll see a little of WHY what happened in generation 2 happened as it did and why generation 4 will be as they are. That's how big this is. So. I'm sorry I can't promise anything more! Really! I think you'll like it once it all plays out.

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  7. I facepalmed at the end of the first part :D Oh Roger, just has to do everything a bit different an awkward. And he's supposed to go undercover? Oh boy... let's hope he's not as spontanious then. And keeps away from floozies.

    You're going to kill him aren't you?

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    1. Lol! Yeah, he made that moment WAY more than it needed to be, didn't he? Poor Roger. xD Yup. Usually he's not quite so spontaneous. I just hope he manages to not blow his cover with his dorkyness. Ha! As for keeping away from floozies? Well... lol. Nah. He's got higher standards I hope. ;)

      ROFL!!! You guys are cracking me up! I feel bad now, lol. You just gotta wait to see what happens here. I'm really doing my best to keep the story moving as quickly as I can. I'm aiming to be able to do a roll reveal of at LEAST one of the rolls in roughly 5 chapters, so that ought to help some of the anticipation. xD After that, I was actually just organizing some needed things for what is coming up just the other day and I'm so excited for you all to get to see what is happening.

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  8. Aaaand I'm nearly a week late again. Hmfph. You know why, my life is like a bad movie right now. lol. *hugs*

    Well. Uh oh. A quick fumble and a slip of the tongue may have just set this friendship back again...

    *SQUEEEEEE!!!!!*
    *chants* Roger got a girlfriend, Roger got a girlfriend hehehehee
    Awwww, so happy. About bloody time!

    Oh.... But... That wasn't what we needed... Such awful timing.... :( I trust Roger, but does Mariah? And does she have the strenght to go on without her rock by her side physically? She seems surprisingly ok with it right now, but I know she's emotionally far more fragile than she'd like to admit and needs a bit of extra support.

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    1. I know. And that's what makes me so happy to see you here. <3 *hugs back

      *chants with Gemma: Roger got a girlfriend! Roger got a girlfriend. lol

      She has Dove to look after, so she's not sitting around the house bored and pining. That'll help a lot. And (I know I haven't shown it) since Roger first pulled her out of the house, she does get out more, even without him. So it won't be too bad. However, if anything were to throw a wrench into that (*shifty eyes, lol, j/k) it wouldn't be good for sure. She is a lot more fragile than she thinks. Honestly, I'm not thinking anything will go so badly awry that she'll fall to pieces or anything.

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  9. Well hooray, at last! I'm glad Roger managed to persuade Mariah to be his girlfriend, but I worry about what will happen to him with the undercover work - I don't think his head will be turned by a floozy, but undercover work is dangerous...

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    1. Hooray! Yup! He got that out and we can move forward. Yeah, his head won't turn. lol.

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  10. Pah, 2 minutes. Oh Roj.... *sniggers*

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  11. You like sparkle shots? Really?? I never would've guessed.
    :P

    Well, crap. 'Detective goes undercover therefore has to disappear for a while.' If you ever read 'Uncomplicated,' please don't think I'm copying you. :/ Like you've said before, it's the rolls. I've painted myself into a corner with that one (well, 10 chapters from the one I'm releasing tomorrow), and that came to me in a moment of insomnia. I guess great minds think alike? :) I'm putting a twist on it that I haven't 100% figured out yet, though. Pretty sure I AM going to cameo someone from my Cutest Lil Jazz Singer story. Anyway...

    Roger's LEAVING?! :'( Just when everything's getting good and comfy. Well, screw that. Comfy is boring. Hehe.
    2 minutes?! Oh, man, that's embarrassing.
    I was freaking out trying to figure out what Mariah was yelling about. It figures she'd balk at him telling her that. I am glad that she came around when he pretty much explained that he didn't expect her to suddenly catch up to where he was, that he only wanted the next step: a relationship.
    Dove is adorable, but we knew that would happen. ;)
    I am REALLY sad that Roger will have to disappear for a while. YOU'D BETTER NOT KILL HIM! Well, not like I could stop you.
    You've done well with Rog. I've felt exactly what you've wanted me to feel about him: at first, pity; next, irritated and annoyed; next, more pity with a bit of annoyance; next feeling like I'm his cheerleader and wondering how he suddenly got hot; then, happy. So, please don't kill him. Please? Pretty please? *pause for effect* PLLLLEEEAAAASSSSEEEE?
    (Lol, remind you of anyone?)

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    1. Haha. I use them everywhere don't I? xD

      Don't feel bad. Melissa's had the undercover cop in her Stardust story for ages before I used it. lol. It's an idea with a lot of mystery and romance and it comes SO in handy when you need it to.

      Yup. But he can't stick around. Rolls/rules yo.

      So embarrassing!

      Mariah is so far behind isn't she? lol. And anything different takes a lot of energy for her to accept.
      She's.So.Darling! <3 *sigh!
      LOL! I have plans for Roger! Plans! You'll have to see just where life takes him. ;)

      Teehee. I really messed with how Roger looked as a child/teen. But isn't that the point of our pixel dollies? Dress up? xD

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  12. Dove really is cute!

    Now please don't tell me that something bad is going to happen while Roger is undercover... I can't take another loss like Ignacio :,( (No, I will never stop mentioning that. You scarred me for life </3)

    I can't wait for Riah to get started on her career! Come on, let's see how she scams some naĂŻve sims! XD

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    1. Thank you!

      Uhm... You'll see! O_o lol. xD

      Me too! Ha!

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