Friday, October 17, 2014

Chapter 3.7- Squeaky Hinge

            It had become an all too familiar sensation. The insistent roiling and churning had been giving her plenty of grief for the last week or so. Sometimes it would last all day, barely allowing her sips of water to keep her mouth moist in between the worst bouts.



            Okay. Perhaps ‘sometimes’ was a bit of an under estimate. Make that most days. All day. Make that every night. And go ahead and tack on anytime she had to change one of Dove’s foul diapers or whenever she cooked or had to clean anything or 5:30 each and every stinking night along with many other on the dot times as well. Dear Twallan. She might as well set up camp in the bathroom and offer to help the Navy keep their famous master clock accurate. If she was on her knees in the bathroom, it must be thirty minutes past the hour. Ugh.
            First thing in the morning she’d dig into the cabinets in her bathroom and grab a left over test. It was still super early but this could only mean one thing: she really was an after-school special. 

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            Wedged as tightly into the corner of the bathroom as she could manage, Mariah stared. Flat surface? Of course not! Timer counting down the minutes while she patiently waited in another room? Who needed that? It never took her long to convince herself it was just another stomach bug. Just another gross virus that would eventually pass leaving her a few pounds lighter as it went. Which is 100% why she was gripping the test hard enough that cracks were appearing in the plastic under her thumb. Her eyes were dry because if she blinked she might miss the magic moment when the word ‘not’ would pop up in the little window, balancing the glaringly bright ‘pregnant’ that had long since appeared.
            Wasn’t this test supposed to take 7 minutes? Surely, it’s only been 3. Could it really have been 10?



            After a full 20 minutes had passed she gave in, sinking onto the edge of the tub, test still tight in her grasp.
            Predictably, her stomach knotted and rolled daring her to calm down, attempting to twist her thoughts from their current bent.
            Pregnant. Again. With Dove barely old enough to toddle around on her little legs. Pregnant. Again. With the man who was out of reach and out of touch. Thankfully, the reasons were different behind the circumstances but still. Mariah grew up without her dad around, now her children would have to do the same.



            Not that Roger could ever be compared to Andre. Roger would most likely be happy, perhaps even excited, to know he would be a dad. His mother would probably be ecstatic even. He’d told her how his mom had been badgering his brother, Benji, for grandkids now he was married and settled.
            Perhaps this would be good for Dove, too. Tibi and Mariah were so far apart in age it didn’t feel like she had a sister, it was more like having an older overbearing cousin. Close in age siblings were supposed to be good playmates, right?



            Pregnant. Hmm. Maybe it wouldn’t be so horrible to be a mom again after all.

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            Or maybe it could indeed be pretty horrible. Being pregnant with Dove wasn’t nearly the nightmare this go around was.



            She was losing weight from being sick so much. And the tired? She could pass out and never wake up and it wouldn’t be enough sleep. All she wanted was sleep! Was that too much to ask? Even with a full night’s sleep she would spend the entire day yawning her head off wishing she could lay down for a nap. Or three.
            And then there were the hormones.



            With Dove in her arms, she prowled the house almost ceaselessly. Haunting memories followed in her wake like shadows, taunting her attempts to find peace.
            Her ostensible mission was to determine a suitable room to put the new baby in. Dove still needed her little crib and Mariah couldn’t bring herself to entertain the thought that Dove could have a toddler bed in a different room. According to all the parenting magazines that room belonged to Dove. It would cause resentment and jealousies between the newly introduced siblings if she were to displace her toddler daughter with the baby.



            She could get that. After all, Tibi and herself were living reminders of how jealousy between siblings could cause rifts. Mariah was jealous of Tibi’s time with their parents. Tibi was jealous of the living child Mariah held in her arms. Though this, Tibi’s fourth pregnancy seemed to be going much better. Their kids would only be a few months apart if this baby managed to hang on.
            From sibling rivalries to cousins Mariah’s thoughts wound round, intertwining with a different set of memories all together.
            She hated this room.
            She'd be back in an hour to cry over how much she secretly loved it.



            Not that her emotions were any better in her own room. A grown up now and owning the house and she still slept in the room her mother had decorated for her when she’d been just a child. It was dark and slightly dreary. The bed was too small and she’d for sure outgrown the toys Dove squealed over now.
            Up and down, back and forth; her hormonal tide carried her along until she couldn’t stand it anymore.
            “Come on baby girl,” she announced. “Out you go. Mama’s going to get dressed and then we’ll dress you to go out for a picnic.”

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            Damn hormones.
            Usually the cemetery was lovely and calming to Mariah, today it was just morbid. At least it was deserted, as usual. There was no one staring or being overly loud or rude like they did at the public parks.
            It was also the perfect place to start getting Dove used to the idea of a baby coming to join them.



            “Dove, we’re going to have some surprises coming really soon. Would you like that?”
            Dove tipped her head to one side, eyes bright, reminding Mariah of a puppy, but she kept her mouth firmly closed. It was obvious she had no clue what Mariah meant.
            “Mommy’s tummy is about to get really big and then one day soon a baby will come and stay with us, okay?”
            Again, Mariah left Dove far behind.



            “Would you like a new baby brother? Or what about a little sister? You’re going to be a big sister when the baby arrives.”
            Dove’s eyes wandered from her mother, serenely watching a few birds wheeling overhead.
            “Dooove,” Mariah crooned, trying to bring her back. “Dove, sweetheart, would you like a baby to play with?”
            But she’d already lost her audience causing Mariah’s spirits to sink even lower. Would no one be happy about the baby? If I can’t even handle one kid ignoring me, how would I cope with two? Shoulders sinking she steeled herself. When she got home, she’d do whatever she could to get in touch of the one person who could make her happy.

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            “Hi, Taylor?” Mariah’s nerves made the hand holding the phone tremble. It sank her spirits even lower. “Roger told me to call you if I ever needed him.”
            Needed him. Those words nearly stuck in her throat. She didn’t need anyone. But him. She needed him, right now, before she sank so low she wouldn’t be able to find her way up again.
            “Yeah, it really is kind of important,” why did she have to explain herself to this woman? “Please, I wouldn’t be calling if it weren’t urgent. I know it’s not business hours or whatever, but I waited because I really didn’t want to have to call him in… Thank you.”



            Hours passed.
            Dove had been put to bed. Dishes washed and put away. Floors scrubbed. Baseboards dusted. Windows washed. Laundry pretreated, soaked, started. She’d oiled a squeaky hinge on one of the doors and still nothing. So she’d taken to pacing, fears creeping in as tears snaked down her cheeks and when she’d hit the point where the thought she would explode it finally happened. The doorknob rattled.
            It took only a moment for her to digest what it meant, staring at it hungrily before she could wait no longer and launched herself outside.



            “Hey, sorry it took a liMMMMMMMPPPPPFFFFFF-”
            Mariah had taken a running leap onto a very startled Roger.
            Pausing long enough to allow him to find his balance, Mariah refused to allow him to speak just yet. Her relief in being able to interact with another sim who wouldn’t judge her or try to tell her to be reasonable or calm down was very great indeed. She could wait for his explanation. Besides, she had much more important information.



            “Uhm, that-that was-was, wow, but I-I mean, you-you’re, Taylor said-”
            “-You’re going to be a dad.”
            “…”
            The giggle Mariah let out was so out of character it surprised even her, but how could she help it?
            “Roger?”




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Okie doke. First of all I’m am so incredibly sorry for the absence. I can promise the wait for the next chapter won’t be nearly so long though because I’ve managed to have enough shots for two. Huzzah!

Random chapter title is Random. I couldn't come up with a phrase from the above that cranked my engine so I went with that. Oh well.

For clarification: Tibi and Mariah are Friends. No matter what I do I cannot get them past Good Friends, which drops back to Friends very quickly. Tibi really has had a lot of phantom pregnancies and I have no clue what’s up with it. I’ve gotten the pop up that she and Henry are expecting 3 times now and every time I save and go back in she’s not pregnant again. This time I used the pollinate option on her and it stuck. Thank goodness.

So stay tuned! There's a birth next time because I want this all to get a move on! Giddy-up y’all!

20 comments:

  1. Yay! New baby! And more pregnancy ickiness? Does that mean she might have twins? Her mom was a twin and Helen was a triplet, so multiples could be possible (I hope I don't jinx it for you now if you don't want more than one sim-babies at one.)

    Dove's a cutie. Mariah shouldn't feel bad or anything for not keeping her attention. Toddlers seem like a difficult audience, especially when birds are around. She might have just been amused that there was something in the sky with the same name as her, you never know.

    I'm glad Roger's happy about the baby, unlike how Andre was. Then again, Roger is nothing like Andre. Roger's sweet and nice (Gah, stupid Lord of the Flies. Whenever I see that name now, all I picture is the little psychopath that followed Jack around. Flies Roger was creepy. This Roger is fine though, as long as he doesn't go all murdery) I like his little bracelet though, and I think I just took away all the manliness from it then. But I still think it's rather adorable :3

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    1. I am one of the few super weird simmers who doesn't care much for a ton of babies. I like one or two kids, reasonably spaced out so I don't feel like I have to juggle needs or grind toddler skills. Which makes this just a smidge daunting. lol. They're a bit too close together to be comfy, but timing is everything. ;)

      Lol. I'm going with Mariah is still learning to be a parent and she was taking everything a little too personally there. Kids have tiny little attention spans and when adults start using big words it gets even smaller. Ha!

      Oh yes. Roger is quite happy. Well, as happy as he can be while worried that Mariah will work herself into the same funk she did last time. There are other worries too, but I'll try to let him say what those are next time.
      LOL! Roger is still very unsure about his new look. He likes it, but he's really anxious that he stands out like a sore thumb. Like everyone around is able to see that it's all very new to him and that he's rather uncomfortable with it all. He likes the bracelet too (Leather! *manlygrunts) But he's worried about the clothes and hair. Other than that, there are shockingly few male bracelets out there. It's quite sad. lol

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  2. Poor Mariah. Has to be hard beeing pregnant when still having a small toddler, and beeing sick all the time. No wonder she's tired.

    It's interesting that she assumes her kids will be jealouse of eachother, like her and Tibi would. But now I just realized that she doesn't have anyone to ask about parenting! That's so sad. Does she really still stay in the room she had as a kid? Poor Mariah needs to come to terms with the past and move on. She'll have two kids soon. If SP doesn't give her triplets or something, (Which would be funny) Interesting idea having a picnic at the cemetary. They're usually nice and quiet, but still a bit... well.... original?

    Dove is so cute, and I can't wait to see the next baby. Bet it/they will be equally cute, and has Rogers blueblue eyes.

    I am glad to see she realizes that she needs some help, and that she needs Roger. Whom, by the way, is adorable with his badboy look. I'm really happy to see you didn't kill him, but he's not done with the undercover work yet is he? Is he one of those sims that looks really different based on what you dress him in/what hairtype you give him? Because he is really unrecognizable with the new look.

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    1. Yup. Toddlers are so tough to keep up with too. They have far more energy than what's good for them. Ha!

      She was indeed still staying in that room. I just couldn't bring myself to put her into Layla and Ignacio's room without redoing it, and the redo needed to wait until Mariah realized it was time to let go of some things. :) You are quite right it's time for her to get over her past. I think she's starting to get that too.

      Lol. The picnic at the cemetery... .well.. She rolls a wish to go there at least every other day. She also rolls a lot of wishes to take Dove for a stroll. So to the cemetery they go! lol It also gave me an opportunity to show that she's not shutting herself up in her house like she did last time. Also, she doesn't have the same views of the world and what might be acceptable as the rest of us. Childhood events have skewed her perceptions a bit. We'll get more of that later too. :D

      Hurrhurrhurr. You'll see babies next time, since it's my 10th generation of this family and I previewed YA Dove I'll show the YA results of this also. I'm slightly partial but I rather like how this pregnancy turned out.

      Oh yes. It's about time she realized that she needs the balance he provides her. It's also a great way to show that she's growing up a bit. Yes, she can do it all by herself if she wants too, but sometimes you need that other person to pull you out of your own head.

      Nope! Roger's not dead! yay! lol. And no. He's not done with it just yet.

      He is super versatile with his look. I didn't think he would be because his dad is so goofy looking and he made such a great nerd as a child/teen. But yowza. He really looks good in the badboy look. Mariah is also fairly versatile.She also looks really good in Emo. But I tried her as a pinup girl and nope. No Dita Von Teese there! She didn't pull that off at all. lol

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  3. This is probably mean of me, but that first pic made me smile. Ohhh yeahh, Mariah's having Roger's baby! ::dances:: Yeah, I think it's safe to Roger will be happy about this. And I'm glad to see Mariah's not in such a big fit about it after all. However, I did notice that her first reactions had nothing to do with a more solid future with Roger.

    A picnic at the cemetery? LOL.

    Yowza, look at that haircut on Roger! I think you're remiss for not giving us more pics of him. Very remiss. And I can't wait to see more of his reaction. And I want to hear about what he's been up to while on this undercover assignment. I assume he's already been gone a few months by this point, how much longer will he be gone?

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    1. You would like the pic of her suffering. Ha! Oh no. She's done it long enough on her own with Dove that she's not worried about a parental partner. And with her survivor mentality it's how she's going to deal first, the rest of the world comes later.

      Hey now. Cemetery's are nice, lovely places that offer lots of... erm... ground (*facepalm) for setting up a picnic. Besides, she was only sitting on Layla there. *giggles

      We shall see more of him with that hair next time, though it won't be staying. It's all part of his metamorphosis. (lololol) That and trying to find the right look for the passing of time. :D

      I'm going with he's been gone about 2 months at this point. As to what he's been up to, meh. Right now it's just the usual. Getting the gangs and local branches of the mafia to trust him and let him in. As for how much longer he'll be gone? I dunno yet. We'll just have to wait and see. ;)

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  4. I'm sorry for Mariah that she's so stressed out and that she's almost alone, with Roger being absent. But I'm happy, too, that she's having a baby. And that Roger is happy about it.
    I loved the picnic scene.
    I also didn't quite recognize Roger at first with the haircut and thought 'Who's Mariah throwing herself at?" lol, but I figured it out.

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    1. Mariah does call Tibi on the phone about every other day. If she dosen't Tibi calls her. lol. She's just making a mountain out of a mole hill. She's got to quit letting the past mistakes get to her. And she's already starting to get that. She'll push through.

      Oh yes! Happy father for once. :D

      I couldn't resist. She's always rolling wishes to go to the cemetery and to take Dove for a stroll, so why not take baby on a stroll to the cemetery! lol

      Yeah. That's just a passing look too, it won't be back after next chapter. And she figured out he looks different right about when you figured out who he was. She got lucky that the person on the other side of the door is who she thought it was. Ha!

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  5. Yay! Roger and Mariah baby! =D

    Mariah, you poor girl! She is filled with so many anxieties, you can really see the trauma from her childhood coming out now. I'm glad that she has (finally!!) acknowledged that even she needs someone, and even better, that she needs Roger.

    And a graveyard? O.o Interesting choice there Mariah!

    I love how she greeted him, lol Now that should do his heart good! And his reaction to the baby news was so sweet! I can't wait to see what their baby looks like--or babies! lol

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    1. Yaaas! Roger and Mariah baby! Woot! lol

      Yes! She is moving forward with figuring that out! She's also about realize that she's in charge of her own life. She'll get there. And much earlier on than her mom did too. She'll also probably be a little more relaxed with life once there is more than one kid around. You know how that second baby mellows you.

      Mariah is a hoot. I've never had a sim roll a wish to go to the cemetery as much as she does. And if it's not a wish to visit the cemetery it's to go to the cemetery during the full moon. lol. She's still got that little morbid curiosity she had as a little kid. I think it's the supernatural skeptic trait. Ha!

      She's got it bad, doesn't she? heeheehee. It did his heart a world of good. Especially since he gets a call that he's needed at home and that's the greeting he gets. We'll see next time! I only need to go in game to get some info that I forgot to get for the spoiler cards and it should all be ready to go. I think the results are really awesome. =D

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  6. I'm heree! I'm only 100 years late! (sorry :'( damn multi-billion-pound companies damaging my mental health)

    Aw, poor Mariah, but I like the way she sort of talked her self around, picked herself up rather than wallowing in misery like most people would. She's a tough cookie that one!

    I think if I was Mariah, I'd have moved. Then again, that house holds memories of her parents and happier days even if she doesn't remember them. I can see why she wants to hang on. But a little redecoration wouldn't hurt...

    Lol, yes, a cemetry! Perfect setting to tell your daughter she's going to be a big sister!

    Awwww Rogey <3 Me luff him. He's SOOOO not Andre. She shouldn't have ever got with that douche.

    Looking forward to baby, and Tibi baby! Sim miscarriages are rare, but do happen. My poor Rose Mattell had one at 8 months. Traumatic, right? Apparently sims don't have incubators and a premie can't survive :'(

    Hope to be back soon :( I miss this world <3

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    1. Damn those multibillion pound companies! (To an USA'n it sounds like the company weighs a ton and sat on you. And unfortunately that's kind of what they did. lol)

      She had to pick herself up! She's not her mom. ;) Yeah. She sees the links to the past within the home and it is home to her. No matter the memories she had to go back while Layla wasn't there. She lived through taking care of her mom and Andre. As much as it hurts, I don't think she'd know what to do with herself anywhere else. It's the only home she knows or can imagine. She will for sure redecorate though. lol. Cheer it up a little bit.

      That's right! "You're life an an only sibling is over!"

      She was naive and stupid with Andre. But it was something else she accepted and moved on. And she has Dove because of him and she does love her Dove.

      Yay babies! lol. I'd forgotten about that! Poor Rose. Poor babies! That's awful!

      I want you to come back soon! Come back soon! Please? We miss you too. :'(

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  7. Oh my goodness! I was worried that guy that she threw herself at was Taylor instead of Roger! That would've been a huge awkward moment! Lol. Love Roger's make-over. :)

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    1. Lol! Yeah, he got a makeover for sure! Take a peek at how it started: http://sunnyssims.tumblr.com/post/95596329968/so-after-reading-the-last-chapter-of-the

      And he'll have yet another new look for the next chapter coming up as well. ;)

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  8. YAY FER BABIEEZ!

    Also, I read my own comment, because I like doing that. Rose's late miscarriage... PAGAAGGAHUasgvhadvjskfsyuGJKFDHB OMG SO FUNNY! But not because miscarriages are traumatic, but pixel miscarriages are weird.

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    1. Lol! Your save had really borked by that point hadn't it? They're SO weird. So so weird.

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  9. LOL! At first, I thought she'd kissed some random guy that showed up at her door.
    He looks happy, and I wanna read. :)

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    1. LOL. He does look awfully different now doesn't he? Teehee. But that will be addressed more later on. ;)

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  10. Yay, Roger's back! He wasn't even gone that long - Riah isn't even showing yet! Oh, he'll be so happy to hear the news :3 Maybe now they can become a full-fledged family <3

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    1. Yes! He's back! Though it's still supposed to be a few weeks in between there. Still... Yeah. lol.

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