Chapter 7 - All Grown Up
The day before the twins birthday also happened to be the day that Bjoern brought home an A grade on his report card. This gave him a new resolve to succeed - he would be a teenager at the end of the week, and he still needed one more kid friend and two adult friends before he could finish his aspiration!
He invited Stuart over to watch cartoons and the two had a bit of a chat, too. Bjoern already knew Stuart really well, and was actually wondering how it was that he didn't already consider Bjoern a friend.
Two jokes and a hug later, however, their friendship was sealed.
"Dad, Dad!" Bjoern shouted, tearing out the front door, across the deck and down the steps to the street. "Dad, I need to make two more, all-grown-up friends! Can you introduce me to some of yours?"
"Hey, there champ," Mitchell replied with a laugh. "I sure can! This here is Bella Goth."
"Oh wowee!" gasped Bjoern, "My Mom says you're a very famous sim! If I become friends with you, I'll be friends with a celebrity! This is so great! Thanks, Dad!"
Bella laughed, flattered and also a bit curious about the enthusiasm of the child.
"Come inside," said Bjoern, "and I'll show you our twins and also my computer. I have a pretty high score on Blickblock. I bet you can't beat me!"
While Bella was busied with Bjoern's Blickblock score, Stuart was infatuated with little Cecelia.
"Mr. Childer, sir. She's crying and I can't get her stop," he said, waving his hands over the child's bassinet to try to calm her down.
"Stuart, babies cry when they need something, and right now I think Cecelia needs to be fed. Could you maybe play with Daniel for a bit so I can feed her?"
All afternoon, Bjoern focussed his attention on the woman in the red dress, determined to make her a friend. She was friendly enough, too, that Bjoern had little difficulty doing so. By the end of the night, the two of them were indeed friends, and Bjoern needed only one more adult to officially declare himself a social butterfly.
"You okay lovely," Mitchell asked his wife that night. "You've been a little bit down lately, I've noticed."
Astrid managed a smile. "I'm okay, just...tired. I feel like we do the same thing every day, and I'm also looking forward to a full-night's sleep."
Mitchell chuckled. He could completely relate to that sentiment. No sooner was one of the twins fed, changed and entertained than the other needed attention. Neither Mitchell nor Astrid could remember the last time they had felt fully rested.
"Well, I suppose we can all look forward to tomorrow when both you and the twins will be aging up. I expect we'll be throwing another big shindig?"
"We will be," Astrid sighed. Of course there would be a birthday party - no birthday would pass without a party in this legacy as long as she had anything to do with it. But she just wasn't sure if she really wanted one.
The following day, her home was filled with the expected motley crew of townies and townspeople, and Astrid, Mitchell and Bjoern found themselves working harder than usual to complete all the requirements for the party.
Mitchell, for instance, had to brush up on his Mixology skill which, after lying dormant since he moved in with Astrid in the first place, was a little bit rusty.
Astrid baked the cake herself, as usual, and blew out the candles to much fanfare.
And though should couldn't have said, exactly, that she was looking forward to this particular party, something about the fanfare and celebration left with a slight sense of optimism for the years to come.
Her young adult years had been years of exciting changes and new beginnings. She had met and married Mitchell, and given birth to three beautiful children - so what if there was a little bit of extra flab around her belly as a result? She could lose weight later. Even still, she sometimes couldn't believe that she had made them. She had started on a lawn with nothing, but now after a mere 20 days, she had a 3-bedroom house with paint on the walls and all the comforts of home.
She was feeling quite accomplished. The first years hadn't been easy (nothing worth doing ever was), but they had been good years. Now, Astrid was all grown up, with even more time to seize and claim as her own. There was so much more she wanted to accomplish, after all.
And she and Mitchell had, of course, once again obtained a gold medal birthday party.
There was one more thing to do before the party was fully complete, however, and that was to welcome Cecelia and Daniel into the world of "Thank plumbob you can pee in the toilet and feed yourself now."
First up was Cecelia, who must have been rather inspired by the hours her brother spent at the computer playing games, for she, too, appeared to have the same love for games and knack for collecting that Bjoern had. Though rather than collect friends, as Bjoern had, Cecelia fancied herself quite the sportswoman and chose to devote her childhood to spending as many hours on the monkey bars as possible.
Cece was followed closely by Daniel, who proved to have more brains than anyone in the family, but was also inspired by his mother's love of the line and colour and would devote his childhood to artistic discovery and development.
And once the party had cleared up, the kids were allowed to select their desired looks, and then they got to play with their new toys.
"But Cece, that's meant to be
my activity table!" Daniel scoffed.
"So what?" Cece replied, "You can share. I'll let you play on the monkey bars, too, once Mom and Dad buy some. I want to colour."
"Okay, fine, but as soon as you finish with that picture, it's my turn!" Daniel demanded.
"There, happy now?"
"Yes, Cece, thank you."
"Hey you two," said Bjoren tentatively. "What are you up to?"
"Just drawing an' playing with our new toys," answered Daniel, reaching for a new piece of paper and some glitter.
"What are you up to, Bjoern?" asked Cece.
"Oh," said Bjoern meekly, "I was, um, just going to...dance for a bit. To raise my fun."
"That's silly!" exclaimed Cecelia, "why don't you play with some toys, too?"
"Um, no thanks, Cece," said Bjoern, "I think I'm going to go play instead."
Bjoern hadn't had toys. He supposed it was because they weren't really necessary. He'd had computer games and a chess board and lots of friends over to dance and play with. Mom and Dad had always told him that they couldn't right now 'cause they didn't have the money.
So why did the twins get shiny new things? It didn't seem fair to him.
And then when they got home from school together on Friday afternoon, Astrid and Mitchell were both still at work. So instead of getting the leftover french toast out of the fridge like Mom had told them to, Cece and Daniel decided to eat chips.
"Mom told us to eat the leftovers when we got home, Cece," Bjoern tried to tell her. "Why are you two eating chips?"
"Leftovers are gross, right Daniel? I like chips better anyways,"
"But Mom said to eat the French Toast," Bjoern protested.
"Relax Bjoern," said Daniel. "It's not like Mom's going to do anything."
Bjoern stiffened. He was very confused.
Why did he dislike the twins so much, yet love them at the same time? Cece was infuriating and Daniel was just so calm and it annoyed Bjoern immensely.
"I don't understand it, Mr. Andersen. I mean, I care about my brother and sister, but sometimes they make me so mad. Like when I was littler the only toy mom bought for me was the violin. So I had to dance or play chess or play games to have fun and build my skill. Now suddenly Daniel gets a drawing table and a toybox and Cece gets a set of monkey bars in the yard and I still don't have nothing. Plus Cece misbehaves some, and Daniel listens to her and not to me!"
"You're right," William said with a slight sigh, "that doesn't really seem fair."
"But I still love them."
"Of course you do, kid. They're your family. And sometimes life doesn't seem fair - sometimes the other kids seem to have it all so much better than us, don't they? But that's why you shouldn't worry about what other people think or have, kid. You should just worry about being yourself, accomplishing your goals and being the best you that you can possibly be.
And at the end of the day, it's all about your attitude, kid. 'Cause I promise you that this ain't the first time life's not going to treat you fair. It's gonna happen again and again. And if you can accept what happens and move on, or face life's problem's with a good attitude, you're gonna be a whole lot better off. D'you get my drift?"
Bjoern nodded solemnly.
"I think so, Mr. Andersen," he said. "So I should try not to be mad at Daniel and Cecelia because they have nicer things than me, and just focus on me being me, yeah?"
"That's what I'm saying kid. You're a good kid. You're smart, you get all As in school and I can tell you know your stuff. I've been friends with your Dad for a long time, and I know he's pretty darn proud of you, kid. I think you'll do well in life, whether you stay here, or choose your own path."
"Mr. Andersen, you're really smart. Can I get a photo with you? I think I just finished my aspiration 'cause we're friends now, aren't we?"
"We sure are kid," William Andersen replied. "And if you ever need me, you know where to find me."
"Thanks again," said Bjoern before holding up his phone. "Say Angee!"
"Angee!"
