A/N: Apologies in advance for toddler spam…LOL JK, I’m not sorry! These toddlers are SOOOO CUTE =D
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By now, you should know all too well what this means…birthdays. And lots of them. But wait, wait, back up, the last you heard Marina and I had just had newborn twins, Daniel was still a young toddler, and you guys…wait, how old are you guys?!
Well you see, as it turns out, having one toddler and two newborn babies in the house didn’t exactly mean free time to scribble away in a journal. It did, however, mean salvaging sleep at random hours of the day (3:27 PM? BED TIME), bracing your eardrums against the constant onslaught of shrieking, and many lost games of rock, paper, scissors in the middle of the night which cost you at least three hours of sleep.
In other words, having so many little ones in the house, while also trying to maintain a full-time job which requires your utmost attention, means you turn into a bit of a zombie…a zombie that is unaware of the time flying by, gets spit-up on them and spends their only alone time in the shower and calculating their next rock, paper, scissors move (yes, yes, I shall use paper next time! She will never suspect it!…three hours later…DAMN IT).
But it’s okay, because as these things happen and as time flies by, you’re surrounded by so much love that in the end, it makes it all worth it. So it’s okay when your rock gets smothered by paper (why am I suddenly rendered ineffective just because I have this awesome coat on?), and it’s okay when your quiet smiling baby barfs on you, and it’s okay when your secretary points out that you have baby powder all over your expensive new tie, and it’s okay when your toddler steals your glasses and then runs off giggling and you end up tripping over a toy rocket ship while you chase after said toddler because you just COULDN’T SEE IT. It’s all okay, because you love these kids, and you love your wife, and you love your mom who always helps out with a smile, and above all, you love your life and would never dream of changing a thing.
So as it turns out, although having one toddler and two newborn babies in the house left little free time and could be more than a little stressful…it was also a blessing. Who knew that I would love being a father so much?
But I digress, majorly, because I was talking about birthdays…and we had five to celebrate between today and tomorrow. Today was Daniel’s birthday….
My birthday….
And my darling wife Marina’s birthday.
Bam-
Bam-
And bam!
Three birthday celebrations!
I should also mention that Buttercup and Tony had a little girl who they named “Tammy” (purely coincidental actually…but we would need to make sure we didn’t nickname Tamara that…) and Aspen and Melody (still separated and dating other people mind you), had a son that Melody named “Rocco.” I hadn’t met either of them, Tammy because she was still too young to bring to the party, and Rocco because…well, Aspen didn’t seem to have much contact with him and he STILL refused to talk to me about it.
I just didn’t understand…how could anyone be okay with being separated from their kid like that?
Speaking of kids though, the next day we threw a private birthday party for the twins, buying each of them a cake to make sure they felt special. Marina was excited, but she seemed sad about it too, and I had to admit, so was I. Our kids were growing up so fast…time was really getting away from us.
Now I really don’t think I’m being biased when I say that Marina and I had the most beautiful little girls that I had ever seen. Okay…maybe I was being little biased, but still! I was already worrying about the boys I’d have to fend off and they were only two years old….
After we all had cake, the girls were too excited to go to bed, so we spent a long time playing games with them and goofing around before they finally got tired. Our girls were truly angels. I almost hoped that they would stay this young forever…though that desire kind of disappeared when they woke up two hours laying screaming that they were hungry. Pfft, had I really thought I’d be getting a full night of sleep yet?
“Babe…?” Marina said one evening as we were getting ready for bed.
“Hmm?” I responded, turning to look at her.
“Do you remember that promise I made awhile back?”
“The one where you promised to stop using ‘bazooka’ in rock, paper, scissors? I know you learned that from my mom, don’t deny it!”
Marina smiled to herself, shaking her head slightly. “No, of course not. Why would your mother and wife conspire against you?” she asked with a smirk. She grew a bit more serious then and looked up at me, “I meant…the one I made after we brought Tamara and Catherine home from the hospital.”
I thought for a moment, my brow furrowed as I tried to remember. Something about….ahh. I looked at Marina, hoping that she wasn’t talking about what I thought she was. She met my gaze with an anxious look on her face, wringing her hands…and suddenly I felt like I had the worst headache ever. “You mean…” I managed to get out, but then trailed off, waving my hand instead toward the kid’s room.
“Yes. The one about agreeing we wouldn’t have any more children.”
My heart beat harder and I took a deep breath, staring up at the ceiling for a moment to avoid looking at the desperate look on Marina’s face. “Let me guess…you want to break that promise and you’re asking me if that’s okay.”
“I can’t break the promise without you,” Marina said with a half-smile, her eyes searching mine.
“We already have three,” I said quietly, looking away from her. “That’s…that’s already a lot, don’t you think? I already have more kids than anyone else at work,” I added with a half-laugh, trying to keep the conversation from getting too heated.
“I don’t care about anyone else,” Marina said emphatically. “I want a big family. A really big family. We have the room and the money. They’re just…they’re growing up so fast, Reed. I’m not ready to be done having children. I thought I was, but I’m not. I want another baby…one last baby.”
I buried my face in my hands, shutting my eyes tightly and shaking my head slowly. Where in the world had this come from? I didn’t understand. I loved being a dad—I really, really did, but I honestly didn’t think I could handle more than what we had now. What was Marina even thinking? I tried to go for another strategy. “But what about work? I don’t get it; I thought you were looking forward to going back. Weren’t you working toward becoming a CEO as well when I met you?”
“Yes,” Marina responded in a quiet voice. “But that goal changed when we had Daniel. The first time I got to hold him…I knew that I would never be able to leave his side. That I could never go back. My job just didn’t matter as much to me anymore. All that mattered was him, and now Catherine and Tamara too.”
“You make a bad feminist,” I pointed out half-jokingly, trying to process all of this as quickly as I could.
Marina rolled her eyes. “I do not! As far as I am concerned, feminism is about equality and having the right to choose what you want. This is what I want, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that! Besides, I still want to work, but not something that takes up so much time. I’d rather work part-time, or just do something I can do from home. I could try painting, or I could help your mother out with her garden. I just…want, more than anything else, to be a mother.”
“And you are one! A wonderful one! To THREE amazing children. Marina…they’re already so much to keep up with as it is. I don’t-”
“Please?”
“Marinaaaaaaa,” I groaned. “You can’t just give me that puppy dog look and expect me to give in to something this big.”
“….please? I mean, what would be the negatives?”
“Death by stress.”
“We could hire a nanny to help out if it got that bad.”
“Death by being trampled by too many kids.”
“Reed….”
I sighed, rubbing my forehead and closing my eyes again. Once again I felt trapped. If this was really what Marina wanted, I’d feel so awful if I didn’t agree, but then again, this was a huge decision that involved both of us, surely I had a say too? And what did I think? I thought three was already a lot of kids…but I also felt too that they were growing up so fast. And despite the challenges, I did miss having a little baby in the house. What was one more kid when you already had three? I also did love being a dad…we had the money, the room…the love to give….
“So this is something you really want then?”
“With all of my heart,” Marina responded fervently, taking a hold of my arm and looking up at me hopefully. “You make such a good father, Reed. You really do. The children love you.”
“Are you trying to butter me up?” I asked, an amused smile crossing my features.
“Maybe….”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Well you don’t have to. We can try for another baby.”
“Really?” Marina asked excitedly, her entire being lighting up.
“Yeah, really,” I said with a bit of a smile. “But I’m going to have to ask you to swear in blood this time that this really will be the LAST one.” Marina squealed, ignoring my comment as she threw her arms around me and kissed me passionately…and kissed me…and kissed me. …and I couldn’t help but kiss her back, pulling her close to me…my fingers brushing against the soft skin of her hip…of her thigh…and before we knew it we were falling into bed and trying again for just one more baby.
And I’ll say at least one thing…for once I didn’t mind losing a bit of sleep….
While we waited to see if any of our efforts were successful, we put more of our time into caring for our kids, making sure we spent at least a little bit of time each day with every one of them.
This was made a little easier since Daniel was in school now. He seemed to really enjoy it and could be seen bicycling there every morning, saying that he enjoyed the fresh air and liked biking better than riding the “pollutant emitting school bus,” even if it was carpooling.
As we spent more time with the twins, we also saw their distinct personalities starting to show. Tamara was always the brave and daring one, preferring to get into everything and play exuberantly with her rocket ship over sitting quietly with the logic blocks, like Daniel had tended to do when he was her age.
Catherine, on the other hand, was much quieter, although she seemed to like to follow around her sister no matter what she was doing. My mom and she had already forged a strong connection. I think mom couldn’t help but see a lot of dad in her, so even though she loved all her grandchildren equally, I could tell Catherine held a special place in her heart.
“Ahhhh! The big baby monter!…RAWR!!!!!!!!!!!!….AHHH!”
“Is okay, I no let you be eated.” ^_^
“Did monter go bye bye?”
“Nevar!! OM NOM NOM NOM NOM”
“AHHHH, wun away!!!”
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”
“What’s wrong?!?!”
=(
Sigh. Though I had found myself hoping that Marina would be pregnant again soon, there were days when I almost hoped that she wouldn’t ever be because three kids was already so much to deal with. Unlike Daniel, the girls had a tendency to scream their heads off for no good reason. They would be cleaned, fed, played with, everything, and then they would still start bawling until someone ran up there.
Maybe they just didn’t like being alone, but there were plenty of times when they played quietly with their toys as well, so I figured it was more of a mood thing than anything else. If they didn’t feel like playing with their toys, they felt like screaming.
This was probably part of the reason Daniel started to spend more time out of the house, using the easel that was right by the garden so he could chat with grandma and get some practice painting. I mean, I knew he just naturally enjoyed being outside, like most of us did, but since he spent so much time out there I had to suspect that the screaming was part of it. ….and I really couldn’t blame him for it.
“I has a box.” =D
“….I is inbidible!!!!” 
“Vroooooooooom!! Weeeee!! La la la la la! Ahhhhhhh!! Woooch! EEEEEEEE!”
…..
O_o?
“Ooooooo! Moosic!”
“OM NOM NOM NOM NOM.”
“That’s for playing the xylophone, not eating!” D=
“BLARGHHH!”
Shit.
After we confirmed that Marina was pregnant yet again and I had an unstable moment where I felt as if I were both the happiest man in the world and the most doomed man in the world all at the same time, Marina and I worked extra hard to get into a routine of caring for the kids…and it seemed that our work was finally paying off.
In the morning we’d wake up early to get Catherine and Tamara cleaned and fed, I’d run off to take a quick shower, Marina would make breakfast for Daniel who would sleepily amble downstairs at this point, and then I would run out the door while Daniel was munching on pancakes or waffles. Then when I’d come home from work, Marina and I would tackle the twins together, feeding them again, potty training them, and teaching them more words and how to walk. It was no easy task, but with the two of us working together, everything actually started to work out smoothly.
“Now say ‘mama’ like you did before!”
“Mama!”
“Yay!!”
“Now say ‘birdie’.”
“…….”
“Birdie?”
“……”
😡
“Birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie!!”
“Yay!!!!”
“Now say ‘dada’, Tamara. Say ‘dada!’”
“’arry Potter!”
>:[
“MOM!!!!!!!!!”
Oh man, in all of this home life chaos, I almost forgot to say…evidently my ceaseless hard work had paid off, because I was finally at the top of the top! No one had a position more powerful than mine. That’s right—I was a Power Broker now. There wasn’t a single employee who didn’t respect me, and the competition? Well, they seemed to find me pretty terrifying actually…it was an amazing feeling.
Who would have thought that that awkward teenage boy who watched seagulls on the beach could have become someone so insanely successful?
Now, I wasn’t an arrogant person, but I couldn’t help but gloat just a bit now.
When you have this much money and power…you kind of have to. Otherwise you’re just kidding yourself.
Another thing that I forgot to mention is that when I was leaving work one day, I decided to take a stroll through the park and saw none other than my sister and her family there!
I finally got to meet Tammy (who seemed to look a lot like Tony except for the curly red hair), and I found out that they were expecting another baby. Buttercup had actually just found out today and they had been on their way to the Bistro to celebrate, which was why they were dressed so formally.
It was great to see them again…and be out to get some fresh air. It’s not that I didn’t like being with my family, no, quite the opposite honestly, but it still felt good to have a little bit of alone time and feel the warm sun shining on my face. I’d have to plan to take the family out someday. I’m sure everyone would appreciate the change in scenery….
Is there such thing as too much of a good thing? The answer is yes…but that would never stop Marina and I from throwing our kids birthday parties. On that note, our kids were growing up way too fast for our liking, and I’d gotten to the point where I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of the last addition to our family. It would be nice to have a little baby around the house again.
But enough on that and more on our little guy, Daniel! Only, he wasn’t exactly going to be so little anymore. God…I couldn’t believe that he was already going to be a teenager. I didn’t feel old enough to have a teenager for a child, but so it was.
He was ecstatic about it too, especially because he said high school offered so many opportunities, like the Environmental Club, for one, which he was dying to join. It certainly seemed like all those hours outside with grandma had given him a special appreciation of the world around us, and he couldn’t wait to get out there and join the cause to make it a better place for everyone to live.
Of course, he’d probably have to fend off the girls first, as I realized when one of Daniel’s friend squealed upon seeing him. Oh god…I was going to have to give him the talk soon. Nooooooooooo!!
By the way, you may have noticed both Aspen and Melody present at our party (they were still acting as odd as ever), and though they didn’t say a word to each other, Melody did bring their son over—Rocco Meyers. Despite having Melody’s last name though, the little guy was obviously a Winters…if the trademark red hair wasn’t a dead give away, than my dad’s bright green eyes certainly were. I also couldn’t help but notice that Aspen barely acknowledged him.
I would have to force him to tell me what was going on soon, but I didn’t have the chance at the party, because we still had to celebrate two more birthdays…the twins’!
Marina took Catherine to her cake while I took Tamara to hers and we all sang one very loud, raucous chorus of Happy Birthday to them before helping them blow out the candles. I couldn’t believe they wouldn’t be our baby girls anymore. It really did seem like only yesterday that we were even bringing them home….
Our girls were beautiful; there was no doubt about that. In fact, upon seeing them Marina burst out into tears…although since she was heavily pregnant at this point the hormones may have had a bit of influence in that. Still, I had to take her into the other room to console her while everyone else stuffed their faces full of cake.
“Everything is just happening so fast,” Marina sniffled, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “I’m just not sure about anything anymore.”
“Neither am I,” I admitted, glancing into the kitchen where everyone was crowded around the table and talking. “Except one thing, that is.”
“What’s that?”
“We’re going to be eating cake for the rest of our lives….”
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A/N: Whew! Lots of time all packed into one chapter! Sorry about that o_o The whole house is so chaotic that I had to just take a bunch of pictures while I was playing and then create the story out of them, so there was less planning involved. On that note, I’ll try to slow things down a bit next chapter. Also, for those of you waiting for Ginger…I THINK you’ll see her next time :X
Happy simming! ❤
Different Winters 
AHHH awesome chapter!!! It was totally made by the “Say ‘dada!’” “’arry Potter!” LOOOOL. And of course, the total cuteness of all the children. I love how unique and different the twins are! They’re pretty much opposites in turns of looks! And Daniel… helloooo! >.< Ahh birthday season – good to see the mound of cakes building up.
Utterly interested to see how you could bring Ginger into all of this, especially as Marina's expecting again!! Loved the chapter and can't wait for the next!!!!! ❤ x
I know! I was so, so thrilled with the twins! I love when my multiples are unique, and these two definitely are. Although, other than coloration, they actually do look alike so far. I think the biggest difference is eye shape. I love them ❤ And Daniel too! Although I'm leaning one way, the next heir is not an easy decision :[
Woooooah, Daniel… ❤ ❤ ❤ He's CUTE.
And the twins are adorable, both as toddlers and children. ❤ 8U
Great chapter. 😀
ARGH MY COMMENT GOT CUT OFF!!! *reposts*
Woooooah, Daniel… ❤ ❤ ❤ He's CUTE.
And the twins are adorable, both as toddlers and children. ❤ ❤
I love how you use little smileys and things, by the way. It makes me giggle all the time. ^_^
Ohhh, a possible Ginger. D: When Reed's rather stressed about the new baby. D: D: D: D: If you do anything bad, Reed, I will hunt you down with avada kedavra! *angry face*
Great chapter. 😀
Lol, your comment rage made me laugh. I hate when that stuff happens!
And I’m glad you like the smilies! lol, I’ve found the more casual and fun the chapter I’m writing is, the more I use them and since the bulk of this was birthdays and toddler spam, it called for lots of smilies!
I shall send Reed your threat, hehe 😉
“I just didn’t understand…how could anyone be okay with being separated from their kid like that?”
Hehehe, this made me laugh. Maybe it’s because I’m currently playing Parker Rain and I looked over at the computer to check on it and there was Travis. Hahaha. Yeah, I don’t understand how parents could just not care about their kids like that. . . hehehe.
Oh and the “Arry Potter” part made me crack up. Poor Reed, his kids are gonna keep that nickname alive.
Love the baby spam, I always love baby spam though. 😀
Not gonna lie, when I wrote that line I TOTALLY got an image of Travis in my mind!! Only in Aspen’s case it’s a total Story Progression fail, pfft. I don’t what the game is doing with him, lol.
And yay for playing with Parker, because that probably means you’re working on a chapter!!! =D
LoL Travis has a bad rap. Poor guy, lol. Actually I had all the photos for the chapter last night, just was finishing off his China trip today. SP Fails a lot IMO. My favorite Tragedy couple I made it broke them up towards the end of their life span. I was shocked!
““Now say ‘dada’, Tamara. Say ‘dada!’”
“’arry Potter!”
>:[” LMAO, that cracked me up!
Aspen’s whole situation is very weird. I’m assuming that’s a story progression fail? >< I'm one of the minority who doesn't want Ginger to interfere with all the happy things going on. :O Unless it's just to say, "Oh, hi again! Looks like you've done well for yourself. I'm happily married and expecting my next child. Well, see you later!" XD
^lol that’s exactly how I feel about the Ginger thing!! :L
LOL. That was literally how I was going to introduce Ginger back in before, but I couldn’t get it to occur naturally and not feel…completely random. But I think I have a better idea now. That part of Reed’s story simply needs closure…or something….I’m not saying yet! 😉
And yes, Aspen’s situation is a huge story progression fail. Usually when I see that sort of thing happen some kind of shot-gun marriage occurs, but nope. Nada. Just weirdness. Aspen was like…chosen as the game casanova or something. Not cool, SP, not cool!
Daaw! Aww, I loved this so much.
***
“Now say ‘dada’, Tamara. Say ‘dada!’”
“’arry Potter!”
>:[
***
I just died laughing. Oh, keep writing. You are so amazing!
Aww shucks, haha. Thank you!! ^_^;
And yeah, Aubrey was having a bit of fun teaching the twins new words, hehehehe. Poor Reed XD
Absolutely amazing chapter, Reed’s personality had me in a fit of laughter as always. Everyone grew up so nicely too, I especially love Marina’s new hair style as it suits her so well. I hope the little one on its way is kind to her bladder this time around!
Thanks so much! I’m going to miss writing as Reed D= But he still has a couple more chapters, so I must savor them!!! And gosh yeah, these kids are fantastic. I couldn’t resist having them have more, hehehe.
oh the kiddies are so adorable! i can’t beleive that daniel is a teen already! yeah, he’s going to need “the talk” soon because he’s gorgeous. 😉 also, there’s no need to apologize for toddler spam, they’re too adorable not to spam!
I see you have the “try for baby” bug. Welcome to the club.
Bahahahaha, I do XD But but, they BOTH rolled the want, I-I couldn’t deny them!! haha XD
Ah… new chapter with ‘arry potter. HAhahaha… too funny! Daniel grew up very handsome! I really like your writing style… must add you to the blogroll! If that’s okay if you 🙂 and yay, more babies for Reed!
Thank you! Daniel is indeed really handsome- so cute! And yes that would fine, thank you so much! ^_^;
As I was reading this chapter, I couldn’t help copying and pasting some of my favorite lines but… then I realized most of my comment would be quoting yourself back to you so I deleted them. I will tell you though that I was laughing my head off the entire time!! Oh my gosh you are just too funny xD!
I, for one, cannot wait to see Ginger again. I’m very curious to see what she’s been up to all these years. And as for Aspen, at least he wasn’t engaged to the girl. That’s how Rosie came about. Dem and Matthew were excited over the pregnancy and then, next thing I know, they broke up! Weird.
Oh and Daniel? Total cutie. All of Reed and Marina’s children are absolutely gorgeous. I can’t wait to see the new baby~ Great job!
OMG, so much cake. LOL. It is kind of annoying that you need an entirely separate cake for each Sim because then you have the “eating cake for the rest of our lives,” problem. Daniel’s an environmentalist, hmm… hopefully he’ll be one of the good ones, and not the really annoying ones that just like to yell at people for ‘ruining the earth.’ LOL, no offense to Daniel, environmental-conscious people just kind of have a bad rep in my head. Congrats to Reed for being a Power Broker, that’s so cool. 😀 I’m a little less annoyed with Marina for her wanting more kids because she’s proven she can survive childbirth now. LOL. I hope Reed can handle the extra screaming. o.O At least his other kids are somewhat independent now, that probably helps a lot.
There are loads of things about it I don’t like, but actually one nice thing about The Sims 4 is that you CAN re-use cakes. After one sim blows out the candles on it, as long as no one’s already grabbed a slice, you can stick another set of candles on it and simply repeat the process. Meanwhile, in TS3, my fridges are filled to bursting with cake, rofl.
HAHA I know exactly what you’re talking about. I am all for being environmentally conscious because RIGHT we only have one earth, but some of them can be completely….well, ineffective in sharing their views -__- Like wow, I even agree with some of what you’re saying and yet I still feel like punching you right in the face; that is a problem!! Hahaha.
Also, LOL. Literally laughed out loud when I read that you were less annoyed with Marina now that’s proven she can survive childbirth. She can indeed, lol, but I think we can both still say Reed’s worries were completely warranted!
That does help a lot, but still you’re right, it’s definitely a lot more to handle….
“As far as I am concerned, feminism is about equality and having the right to choose what you want. This is what I want, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that!”- YES. Feminism is based on the principle of equality of the sexes and I like Marina’s definition, however I’m still a bit frustrated with the promise breaking… I’m relieved that the second pregnancy went smoothly, but that doesn’t keep me from being a teeny bit terrified that things won’t go as well for her the third time around, though I am one of those analytical, over-thinking types, so I’m probably just doing the over analyzing thing…
I like Marina’s definition as well, but the promise breaking is definitely frustrating. She just doesn’t quite seem to understand Reed’s fears and hesitations, even if she says she does. It’s a bit selfish actually, but thankfully that hasn’t come to bite them in the ass….yet.
Great chapter! The kids do really grow up too fast! One quick question, one sims blogger to another, how do you get rid of the thought bubbles and progress bars? I’m using a mac so if you use an editing program it might not work for me. Thanks!
Oh I know and with so many of them it feels like it is always someone’s birthday.
Oooh it’s actually very easy!! You just enter the cheat ” hideheadlineeffects on ” and voila, no more thought bubbles or plumbobs! As with all cheats, you’ll need to activate it each time you start it up and of course, you can always input “off” in order to get the bubbles back. No editing program required! ^_^
I know how you feel, with four kids and now two grandkids it feels like someone is always aging up!
Awesome thanks for the tip! 😀
Here I thought Ginger was a thing of the past and never to be heard of again…but then you mention her in the author comments XD
The twins are really adorable! And another baby?? Damn you two 😀
Hehehehe….That’s exactly what I want you to think! *cue maniacal laughter* XD
LOL I KNOW RIGHT. SO MANY BABIES. I have to accede that this MIGHT have been my fault though because Reed and Marina had such amazingly beautiful babies that I couldn’t stop myself from continuing to click “Try For Baby.” In my original drafts they only had 1-2 kids. BUT WHO NEEDS PLANS? LOL GONNA GO NOW. BYE.
1-2 kids?? No, that would not have been okay. All their kids are too pretty.
Indeed, plans? The definition of the word isn’t true to its nature.
LOL, exactly. EXACTLYYYYY.
They are really very cute! ♥♥♥
Thank you! ^_^
Daniel was such a cute kid! And a cuter teenager! Seeing them all age up is the best. Although I’ll be honest, Marina did tick me off quite a bit this chapter. I know it’s more of a personal thing that anything else, because I am super anti-children IRL, but it bothers me that she promised him she wouldn’t ask again, saying she was happy and that their family was perfect, just to turn around and pull this /crap/ later on. This is now the second time she’s had to coerce him into having more kids. Like I understood his hesitation before, but this time it seemed like Reed was perfectly happy with the family the way it was. He always agrees in the end, but that moment of doubt is enough for me to scrunch my nose at her a bit. It does seem like she’s changed the things she wants a lot, which is perfectly acceptable, it’s just that when your partner has been believing one thing for years and years, don’t expect them to jump on board with your wild ideas each time. From your author’s note, I can’t tell what to expect with Ginger being introduced, but now I’m kind of hoping it’ll stir things up a bit because I’m a spiteful little witch like that lmao. I felt so bad when Reed had that thought that he hoped Marina wouldn’t actually get pregnant, and then when she did, feeling instantly worried. Poor guy. It was super funny to see the return of the Bazooka again LOOOL I hope that carries through all the gens lmao!
Hehe, yes, Daniel is adorable! Lots of Aubrey’s traits there too. Seeing sims age up is definitely one of my favorite parts of the game. There aren’t a whole lot of other games either where you get to watch your characters grow up like that.
Also, no worries, completely valid to be a bit ticked off. Marina did promise not to ask again, but she changed her mind and couldn’t help but bring it up again anyway. Her priorities and desires in life have shifted a lot since becoming a mom. She took to parenthood like a duck in water, which was a very fulfilling feeling for her. Especially because, before this, she struggled to advance in her career and often felt like a failure because of it—like she wasn’t good enough or something, but with motherhood everything felt different. In her eyes, for once, she wasn’t falling short—she felt like she was good at this and wasn’t ready to let go of that. Of course, one never stops being a parent, but with her children growing up so fast, it also felt like that feeling would disappear soon with it, and she didn’t want that to happen yet. That’s how she viewed it, anyway.
Reed, however, never had any aspirations toward having a large family or anything, nor does he now. He was happy with the way their family was, but Marina wanted more, and he could see how much this meant to her. I think that’s also where the “ehhhh” SCRUNCH NOSE feelings come in because it’s clear that he agrees more because he knows it’s what Marina wants, rather than because of any desire of his own.
That being said, although his feelings weren’t as strong as Marina’s on this, they weren’t strongly in the opposite direction either. He had his reservations, but he wasn’t completely against the idea, which was another reason why he agreed. Perhaps if he felt more strongly that this was absolutely NOT something he wanted, he wouldn’t have agreed and Marina would have been upset, but ultimately come to respect it because the last thing you want to do is force children on someone who doesn’t want them x_x Still, no matter what it does feel a little iffy and the worry is there that it might all completely backfire, but hopefully not!
“Because I’m a spiteful little witch like that.” LOLOLOL, eh, who doesn’t like a bit of drama….and Ginger’s re-introduction will certainly bring that… 😉 Also damn it, I don’t know how long the Bazooka bit lasts actually but I haven’t brought it up in ages so maybe it was eventually lost…A SHAME FOR SURE LOL