Testing, Testing,1,2,3.....Jayli, Chapter Four: Elderhood

[Rikki8528]

Yay! Trident's back! *does the smustle*

[Trident]

Georgia, Chapter One: Hi, I Guess

My name is Georgia Frond. Oh, wait, you probably knew that already, since I'm awesome so everyone should have already talked about me.



I bet nobody's talked about the bebé, though. Well, talked about him properly. His name's Pablo. He's really, really annoying. All kids are annoying. I know that because I met some at Dad and Tiõ Wyatt's wedding.

But Madre says I need to be nice to him, since he's my step-brother. So I tried. I really did. I went into his room while he was out of his crib and tried to play blocks and everything!



But then Tiõ came in and got mad at me and picked up Pablo and told me that I couldn't play blocks with Pablo /ever/, because Pablo isn't allowed to play blocks. Then Tiõ apologized for getting mad and let me have ice cream for lunch, so I forgave him.



Later, I asked Dad about what had happened. He looked confused for a second, then said-"Oh, shoot, we never told you, did we?"

"Told me what? Are you guys keeping secrets?" I hate secrets. I want to know things, and secrets are things I don't know.

"Not on purpose," he assured me. Dad thought for a second. "Okay, very long story short-Wyatt, Peggy, Pablo, and Pablo's kid are going to live forever. The rest of us get to help, and then be resurrected and live normal second lives."

I stared at him. "No way."

"True fact. Sent by the Watcher themself and everything." He crosses his hand over his heart. "And there's all kinds of other rules, like they have to supermax a skill and do a bunch of opportunities, and max out a career, and no one gets to move-sorry-and all kinds of other stuff. The most important ones for us mere mortals are," he holds up his hand," One: Don't eat the ambrosia. Two: Be totally awesome. Three: Be even more awesome. Four: Don't move. Five: Die in a timely fashion."

"Wait, why? Why do we have to do this?"

Dad's eyes went extra black, and he looked me right in the eye. "Because we love them. And if we do this right, we get to do it again in our own houses and our own towns without any of this clogging it up. Besides, this is straight from the Watcher. If we don't help, or the Fronds fail-the Watcher's gonna get **ed, and I don't want to find out what happens when the ruler of all gets **ed."

I nodded, eyes wide.

"Also, rook takes bishop."

"Wha-no fair!"


My teen birthday was actually that very day. Since I know that teens are the coolest things ever, I wanted to sneak out and have my party at midnight.

I crept downstairs at 11:15, and was /this close/ to being out the door, when AJ (Aunt Jayli) opened the door from her room and said, "Kid, what do you think you're doing?"

"Um." I sort of stood there awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot. "Sneaking out?"

She blinked. "Cool, can I come?"

"Wha-what are you asking me for, you're the grown up!"



We only went next door, since I still wanted it to count as /me/ sneaking out. AJ was nice enough to bring a cake though.



I aged up in the bathroom on purpose because I was certain I would look hideous, and guess what? I actually didn't! Pretty bad, but not totally hideous. And my new trait stunk.

"No sense of humor?! Really?! I'll tell you who has no sense of humor, whoever's in charge of these random traits has no sense of humor!"

"Kid, I know you were trying to be funny, but it failed. Badly."

"Dang it!"

Okay, so remember how my hair didn't grow into petals when I was a kid? Mom thinks it has something to do with the humidity and the salt hair. This time,it  became something like dried out seaweed.



Now, here's the face that I'm actually going to show the world.



I may have needed some help from Ms. Peggy with the eyeliner. She's really good at it.

AJ helped with the outfits, though.





(I'm not gonna bother showing you the outer wear; it's almost spring, so i don't even need it.)

I had the rest of the day off of school, so I goofed around with Dad. Madre had work.



Dad and I ended up playing chess for like six hours, (and I still. Can't. Beat him.) so I went to bed at like midnight and was late for the bus.

Bonehilda glared at me while I eat my muffin; it means more work for her even though I don't need to eat. I glared right back."

The school bus was quiet. Makes sense, I guess; we live on the outskirts of town, so it was just me. School itself was even worse. I didn't get to talk to anybody, since I was too busy learning all my classes and teachers and stuff. It was boring. I can't wait till I'm old enough to go to University; the Parentals talk about their Uni days like all they did was study. Boring!! Parties, guys, that's where it's at.

When I got home, the sound of a chainsaw greeted me. I bellowed,"I'M HOME!!,"over the din. AJ turned off the saw for a second and removed her goggles, grinning at me from across the room. "I knew you'd be here soon! Grab the drafting chair and get over here."



I waved at Peggy and wriggled into a comfortable position, batting at the occasional ice shard that flys near me. I think Aunt Jayli was yelling instructions, but I couldn't hear her over the din. Instead, I watched the ice chip away and become something entirely different; something glorious and beautiful made out of a potential murder weapon. It's breathtaking.

I watched until Dad reminded me to go do my homework. Then I got distracted because my stomach was growling, so I tried to make myself a snack, but Dad and Tiõ were flirting in the kitchen-area, so I hid upstairs listening to a photography podcast. My excuse is that I left my homework in the study-area, and I refuse to walk past them again to go get it.

I was right in the middle of a lecture on sepia tones when Peggy knocked on the door and walked in. I pulled out my earbuds when she held up my blue homework notebook. "This is due tomorrow, right?"

I huffed and fell back onto bed, staring up at the wooden slats of the top bunk. "I don't care. Linear equations are hard and I hate them."

Peggy rolled her eyes and sat down next to the bunk, patting the spot beside her with one hand. "C'mon, I'll help. See, they all just follow a simple formula."



I eventually slithered down out of the bunk and sat next to her, slowly going though the motions of y=mx+b. I may be a genius, but I'm more of a 'every single darned thing except for freaking math' kind of genius. I finally got it enough times that Peggy let me do it on my own, just checking my work here and there until I got to squeal, "Done!!"

Peggy yawned and stretched, slowly standing up. "Good job, Georgie. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go to bed, it's almost 9:30 and I'm an old lady."

Right before she walked out the door, I blurted-"Can I call you Grandma?" She stopped dead and turned, eyes wide. I looked down at my feet, trying not to meet her gaze. "I mean.....Wyatt's my step-dad, and it would be weird if I just have to say 'Oh, by the way, this old lady who's my uncle/step-dad's mom named Peggy did this' when I could just say 'My Grandma did this' or-"

"It's fine," She interrupted my babbling. "No problem. Word of advice though," I look up to see her grinning, "Try to avoid answering questions about your family situation."

[Trident]

As a note, your pollination plan might not work. I've heard very mixed things about love charms working to make out-of-household babies happen.

Yay for a wedding! And this story coming back too.

Eck. Wyatt isn't one for pollination, so love charms and potions are my current strategy.

The wedding was fun to write  . Peggy's reactions during the whole thing were great.

Glad you're back!

Glad to be back!

Yay! Trident's back! *does the smustle*

I got someone to do the smustle?

My life is complete.

[Trident]

Wyatt, Chapter Four: Pablo, Part One

I woke up early so I could be the one to bring Pablo to his cake. It was his child birthday, (the day after Georgia's first day of high school, for a frame of reference,) and Jayli got to carry him last time so I got to do it this time.



"Georgia, what are you doing?"

She stood up quickly and dropped the tools. "Nothing," she said casually, smearing the clay from her fingers into her shirt. "What are doing?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Aren't you only allowed to sculpt when there's and adult present?"

"Maybe."

I sighed and picked up the tools. "I'm taking these."

"That's not fair!"

"Okay."

Georgia huffed loudly. "Well-whatever, so why are you in here?"

"I'm taking Pablo to his cake."

"Sweet!"



"Dada!"

"Hey buddy," I murmured as I picked him up. "Guess who's birthday it is?"

"Miiiiiiine."

"Did Grandma teach you that word?"

"Yeah yeah."

Geez, I was going to miss this. See, toddlers-toddlers are easy. They're sweet and nice and don't have mode swings.

Kids, kids I'm not so great with.

Mom would probably kill me if I tired to keep Pobs a toddler for much longer though.



This first thing he did after aging up was turn to Jayli and say, "Momma, can I have a hat?"



I have absolutely no idea how she knew he was going to ask for one' but she had a hat prepared.

While they were picking out clothes, Mom sidled up to me. "Y'know, for a while there, I thought he had Jayli's eyes. But he doesn't. They're more like a cross between hers and yours."

"Uh. Okay?"

She gave me a sidelong glance. "I'm just saying, I like how the mix of genes turned out. " We stood there in silence for a second. "So, you know, if you ever wanted to have another kid-"

"Mom!" I hissed, face red. "Geez, Mom, I-"

"I know you're not exclusively into dudes, so-"

"Gnomes and outer space, Mom, I'm not cheating on my husband!"

"Well, fine," she snapped.

"Are you actually disappointed by that?"

"Well, it's just-"

Thank the Watcher for Jesse, because that was when he interrupted her to say, "Uh, guys? We're cutting the cake now."

Pablo sat down in the seat next to me. He prodded his cake for a few minutes, then quietly put down his fork and stared at the chocolate dessert.

I nudged him gently. "What's wrong?"

He mumbled something quietly.

"What?"

"I don't really like sweets."

Jesse's dramatic 'gasp and heart clutch combo' didn't help. I whacked him in the shoulder. "Jess!"

"Ow! Dude, you can't do that anymore, you are a behemoth now and I am a tiny wombat."

Jayli rolled her eyes."Jesse, you're fine. C'mon Pobs, let's get your portrait done before Grandma starts nagging me, okay?" Mom stuck out her tongue and Jay gave her the stink eye right back. Jesse snickered, and CD and I rolled our eyes. Georgie just kept eating.

"Why do I have to get my portrait done?" Pablo asked innocently.

No one moved.

"Did you guys SERIOUSLY never explain it to him?!"

"OH MY WATCHER, Peggy, he was a toddler!"

"I'm not just mad at you, princess, I'm **ed at everyone. Nobody explained it to Georgia either, until I reminded you!"

"Well maybe you should-"

"STOP!" Pablo shrieked, clutching his ears. "Stop it stop it STOP IT!"

Everyone stopped talking and stared at him.

Pablo looked like he was about to burst into tears. "Just-stop yelling. Okay?"

He was acting like a skittish horse. I moved my hand so that he could see it, and started to gently rub his back. It had calmed him down when he was a toddler, and it seemed to be working now.

Jayli muttered an apology.

Mom cleared her throat. "So can I tell him now?"

(It's times like these that make me think I don't like my Mom very much.)



Mom did eventually get to drag Pablo away to the bathroom. Oh, the reason they went in there for the explanation is, apparently, because 'the bathroom is soundproof, so no one can overhear and try to start their own Dynasty."

"I thought you said the Watcher started all Dynasties"

"We have free will, Jesse. Sim-started dynasties have happened before." She paused. "Probably. Oh, by the way, Wyatt, you need your adult pieces done; can you guys get to work on that while I'm explaining everything to Pablo? Thanks."



When Mom finally came out of her room, she closed the door quietly and walked over to the fence around the study. "He fell asleep after I told him everything," she said. "Oh, and Wyatt, you have work in like half an hour."

"Oh, geez, I got to go change!"



Georgie stopped me on my way out the door.

"Georgie, I have to go-"

"Tiõ, this'll take five seconds, I promise."

"Okay, okay, what is it?"



"Can I take the pictures for Pablo's part of the museum? Dad's been showing me some things, so I figured-"

"Yeah, that's fine-"

She squealed and gave me a quick,tight hug. "Thank you!"

"Georgie, I have to go!"

"Oh, right, sorry, bye!"

[Trident]

Georgia, Chapter Two: Pablo, Part Two

After Tiõ said I could take Pablo's pictures, I borrowed Dad's camera and went looking for mi hermano.

He was asleep in Grandma's room. I grabbed a few pictures of him sleeping, and it meant to let him sleep, but the flash woke him up.

"Georgie?" He asked sleepily. "What're you doing-why am I in Grandma's room-oh."

"Uh, what?"

"I was going to ask what you were doing in here, but then I realized I was in Grandmother's room and I didn't know why, and then I remembered why," he explained with a yawn.

"Okaaaaaaaay. Uh, I'm here because I'm taking your photos for the museum, by the way." I held up the camera.

"Oh."

"Now, I wanted to know-did you want to do any kind of pose or something? I mean, since you're already awake we might as well do something more fun than a picture of you just sleeping."

He hesitates, and takes a deep breath. "Um-could I be painting? We can move the easel in my room around."

"Yeah, sure."

I slung the camera around my neck and follow him upstairs.



His room is.....sparse. "Why not decorate it?"

"I'm going to." He didn't  elaborate.

Between the the two of us, we managed to pull the easel into the middle of the room and set it up.

"Okay, ready?"
 


He stared at the canvas, concentrating. "Yup."

Pablo took to it like a madman, swiping the paint this way and that. I swirled around him with the camera, snapping pictures left and right, dodging flecks of paint. It took us fifteen minutes to finish the 'shoot', and another three to agree on which one is the best. (It was the third to last one I took.)

I stored it safely in the camera's memory, and Pablo set up another canvas. I stealthily took a look at the sculpting station. "Say, would you mind if I?...."

"No." He turned to look at me, cocking his head to one side. "Should I?"

"Nope. Definitely not." If he doesn't know I'm grounded, I'm certainly not going to be the one to tell him.

I got spare tools out of my room, (what, you think I wasn't prepared for someone to catch me sculpting earlier?,) and set up a block of thick clay.

What ruined it was that when AJ called Pablo down for dinner,I smacked my hand with the mallet because I was startled. Since I had already gotten the sculpting stuff taken away, I was grounded.

For two.

Whole.

Days.

I bet Pablo'll never get grounded for anything.






Watcher's note-I swear I had more photos for these updates! Ugh. Apologies.

[Magpie2012]

Yay! I love this family! I can't seem to choose a favourite cuz they're all awesome!

Sent from my BlackBerry 9720 using Tapatalk

[Trip]

Oh Georgia, I think you're the only sim in a dynasty who feels sad upon not being able to sculpt.

[Trident]

Yay! I love this family! I can't seem to choose a favourite cuz they're all awesome!

Sent from my BlackBerry 9720 using Tapatalk

Oh geez, I couldn't even imagine picking a favorite!

Oh Georgia, I think you're the only sim in a dynasty who feels sad upon not being able to sculpt.

I imagine that if she ever meets Agnes Crumplebottom, they'll have a very...... interesting discussion.

[Trident]

Pablo, Chapter One: Outsider Art

Eight weeks and five days after Grandmother arrived here, it was my first day of school.



I met a girl there, who liked red.
{I like red.}
I know, Vincent.
[I like white.]
I know, Michael. So do I.

The girl's name was Janell. She was okay, but a little odd. She said she only had one set of parents. I feel bad for her; what must it be like to only have two people to care for you instead of four?

I came home to find Mama sculpting Dad, and Daddy and Chandell talking about some sort of chemical formula to make 'super paint', whatever that is. (Apparently it had something to do with forgery's?)



I meant to ask, but Mama called me over to do my sculpture.

{You looked ridiculous.}
Shut up, Vincent.
[I think you looked noble.]
Thank you.
{You always look ridiculous.}
I said shut up, Vincent.

Unfortunately, that one shattered, so we made a new one. I got to wear my hat.

{It's a really stupid hat.}
Knock it off.


I had to wake up at 6 am the next day, since I would need to finish my homework. I worked on it while I ate breakfast.



While I was eating, Georgia came downstairs and knocked the brim of my hat into my eyes. (She gets to sleep in because she doesn't eat.) "Hey squirt."

I re-adjusted my hat. "I'm not a squirt."

"Yes you are. You're a little baby squirt, all tiny and cute."

Vincent sniggered in agreement. "Shut up!"

Her eyes got wide. "Geez, squ-uh, Pablo. I was just kidding."

I think she muttered an apology once we got to school, but I'm not entirely sure.


Speaking of school-someone kept poking me with a pencil during history.

"Psst. Psst, hey. Hey."

I tried to ignore them.

"Psssssstttttt." They drew out the 't'. The pencil was starting to hurt.

I turned around as discreetly as possible. "What?"
{They probably want you to pass a note or something. Nobody talks to you. You're the Frond kid. No-}

"Are you working on your homework?"

I flushed. "Maybe."

"You can copy mine, if you want." They put their chin in one hand. "My name's Danica, by the way."

[Michelangelo stuck his tongue out at Vincent.]

"I'm Pablo Frond."

She grinned, and her blue eyes lit up."I know."


[She's very nice.]
{She's probably just talking to you because you're rich}



[Vincent, be nice.]
{What? It's true. We all know it's true. Everybody else ignores him or looks at him funny. And Janell made fun of him for knowing about old artists.}
[Well, yes. But-]
{There are no 'buts'! If Danica's nice, it's because she wants something. That's it. I mean, who would want to be friends with this kid?}
[ I'm friends with him.]
{You and I don't count.}

They wouldn't stop arguing, so I finally gave up trying to sleep and went downstairs. I thought a change of scenery might help.

Momma had just gotten home from work. "Wha-hey, kiddo, it's past your bedtime, what're you still doing up?"



I avoided her gaze. "I-I just couldn't sleep." Kids at school made fun of me for having people in my head. What if Momma didn't love me anymore? Plus, she's kind of scary. She's famous because she's a singer, but she's also kind of old, so she can be very intimidating.

"Well, do you want anything? Food, maybe? Watch a couple episodes of /Young Justice/?"

{You should ask her to redo your sculpture. Remember how bad the-}
#You should ask her to redo your sculpture so you can learn how to do it.# This voice was new.
Who are you?, I asked.
#I'm Nemo. You should ask her to redo your sculpture because sculpting is cool.# Nemo sounded much more feminine than Michelangelo and Vincent. The combination of what she wanted and what Vincent wanted became a sharp prodding in my mind, so before I knew what I was doing, I asked, "Would you redo my sculpture?"

Momma blinked. "Uh. Sure. Any particular reason, or-"

"No, I just-um. Just cause."

"Okay, sure. How do you want to pose?"

#You should look awesome.#
{You're gonna look dorky.}
[Would you two be quiet for a minute and let him decide what he wants?]

I took a deep breath. "I, uh. I want to look happy."



I slept pretty soundly after that.



The next day was Love Day, and Grandmother dragged us all to the fair.



Well, except for Momma and Chandell. They didn't have to come for some reason.  I actually asked to stay home with them, but Georgia started laughing and Dad turned red and said no and no one will tell me what's going on.

{I'm telling ya, they probably have some prank planned.}
[They do not and you know it. Chandell and Jayli love him very much.]



"So-what do we do now?"

"Watch and learn, little brother. Watch and learn."



I did not learn anything.

Mostly I just did my homework.

Everybody else had great fun, though. Grandmother played horseshoes with various townies, my fathers danced, and Georgia found Easter eggs.



Oh, yes-here's the seasonal getting card photo.



And here is the car that Daddy and Georgia begged Grandmother for for three hours. All so Daddy could teach Georgia to drive. (Which Dad and Momma were very worried about, since Daddy apparently didn't get his license till after I was born.)

#I wish I had a motorbike.#
[Why?]
#Motorbikes are awesome, man. People who ride them are rad.#
[Who cares about being rad?]
#I do.#



I spent Sunday painting in my room, until Momma told me to come downstairs and spend time with the family and be social. (I didn't tell her that I had called Danica earlier, and talked for half an hour.) Georgia, who was no longer grounded, was happily banging away at a giant mound of clay. Grandmother worked in silence behind her, dropping stones into an alchemy pot. Momma sketched quietly, occasionally giving Georgia advice.



But for a few seconds-for a few seconds, between the shook of a chisel on the clay, the hiss and bubble of alchemy, and the skritch switch of a pencil on paper-Nemo, Michelangelo, and Vincent were actually quiet.

It felt like bliss. (We learned about that word in school. Everybody stared at me when I said that my Grandmother may elixirs with the word 'bliss' on it. The Vincent started teasing me, and then Nemo jumped in, and halfway through math I yelled for them to just shut up, and I got to sent to the principle's office.)

Then Dad came home and asked if I wanted to play chess.



"Why?"

"Geez, I dunno; it's just something I used to do with my dad." He scratched his chin. "Actually, you know my friend Everado? He's my half-brother, so technically your half-uncle. But uh, don't bring it up around him. His mom, Carolina,more try much disowned Dad."

Other than Grandfather Guillermo's name, this was the first I had heard about him.

"......Okay."



{That was a terrible move.}
#This game is soooooo booooorrrrriiiinnnngggg.#
[Both of you hush, he can't concentrate.]
"You okay, kiddo? Everything alright at school?"

"Yes, sir. Everything's fine."

Dad took my pawn. "And what about you, are you doing okay?"

I avoided his gaze. "Yes, sir. Everything is fine."

[Rikki8528]

Aw, poor Pablo!

[Trident]

Aw, poor Pablo!

Honestly, writing some of Vincent's dialogue makes me dislike myself.

[Trident]

Jayli, Chapter  Four: Elderhood


Let's start this off when I'm not old and wrinkled, yeah? Let's start it off with me and Jesse playing video games, because that has actually been a nice constant in my life.



"Did you steal this?"
"Maybe.
"Nice."



"You filthy son of a llama!"
"See, this is why we can only play online when the kids are at school."
"We're old, aren't we?" He glanced at me sideways. "Well, you're kinda really old. Since you're almost an elder and all."
"Gnomes, can we not talk about that?"



"Y'know, Jay, it's not like not talking about it will make it go away."
I huffed. "Yeah, yeah, I know. It's just-gnomes, living here....living with the Dynasty makes you figure out your own mortality a lot faster. I feel like the second I turn old Peggy's going to start hovering over my shoulder so she can cheer when I die."

"Jay-"

"Tell me that's not gonna happen. I triple llama dare you to tell me that's not exactly what will happen the second I turn into ectoplasm." Well, that was fun to say.

"It's not exactly what's going to happen the second you turn into ectoplasm."

I gave Jesse a half-hearted glare.

"I'm serious, Jay. Look-you might not be a rock star yet, but you've done some pretty cool things."

"Like what?"

"A couple of your paintings are up in the gallery."



"You had that one record deal," he added after a second of thought.

"Which fell through."

"That's true, but now you get to ride around in a tour bus."

"That isn't exactly a perk."

"Psh, whatever. The point is-you've done some cool things, Jay. You've left a mark here. Plus, you have a kid who has your hair and eyes, which will probably annoy Peggy for the next seven hundred or so years that you aren't her to annoy here."

"You know, if someone had put it like that I might not have been so reluctant to have a kid."

"I feel like that should make you a terrible mother, but somehow you're actually good with kids."

"Pablo's easy, I just talk to him about art. He really like learning about the Old Masters."



Speaking of kids, I made sure to have a hand in teaching Georgie how to drive.



"No, brake! BRAKE!"
"I'm going to take that to mean hit the gas!"
"GEORGIA FROND, THAT IS NOT WHAT IT MEANS!"


Did anyone mention that Pablo and I almost shared a birthday this time?

No?

Whoops.

Well, anyway-yesterday, something related to that happened, which was....intresting. I wasn't eavesdropping, by the way I was getting something to eat and Peggy and Wyatt were talking right in front of the door.



"Hey Mom, I'm going to Everado's to get Pablo's present."

"Didn't Carolina threaten to burn our house down if we ever showed our faces there?"

"Yeah, but it's fine, he's going to give me the cat discreetly-"

"Woah, woah, woah, he's going to give you the what?"



"The cat, Mom, I'm getting Pablo a cat for his birthday."

"That's a terrible idea, we already have a horse," Peggy said dismissively.

"So?" Wyatt's face got pinched.

"So, we don't need another pet."


And those were the words that finally got Wyatt James Frond to snap.


He looked at the ground. "You're right, Mom. We don't need another pet. Pablo needs a friend." Wyatt looked up at Peggy, eyes the color of lightning. "I asked him if he wanted a party, and you know what he said? He told me that he didn't want one, because he knew nobody would show up." Wyatt was halfway to yelling. "Watcher, Mom, kids at school don't talk to him because of the crazy things the rest of us have done, or they make fun of him for have four parents and a crazy homewrecker for a grandma! But you-you don't care, and you probably wouldn't even notice that he has a hard time talking to people until it was time for him to make friends for his requirements! And even then, you'd just tell him to throw and elixir at someone, because you don't believe in actually dealing with your PROBLEMS!" He shouted the last word.

For a second, the entire world was silent except for Wyatt's harsh breathing. Then he ducked his head and muttered, "Excuse me, Mom," brushing past Peggy and walking out the door.

Peggy finally noticed me standing there, jaw open in shock. "What?" She snapped, voice a little thick. "Are you gonna gloat?"

Watcher, is this pity? "No, actually," I said quietly. "I'm going to go talk to my son and ask why he didn't tell me he's having trouble at school." I put my plate down and walked upstairs.



"Hey, kiddo."

"Hi, Momma." Pablo turned from the easel with a small smile on his face. "How can I help you?"

No sense beating around the bush. "Your dad sort of told me you're having a hard time making friends."

His face fell and he avoided my gaze. "Dad told me he wouldn't tell anyone."

"Why-", I had to take a deep breath before continuing, "Why wouldn't you want us to know?"

Pablo stared at the floor and mumbled something.

"What?"

"Vincent and Nemo and Michelangelo are my friends." He said softly. "Well, maybe not Vincent. But definitely Michelangelo and Nemo," he said after a moment.

They didn't sound like normal imaginary friends, and if they were real, Pablo would have told Wyatt about them."Who are they?" I did my best to keep my tone light.

"My friends."

"Where are they from?"

He takes a deep breath before answering, "My head."

For the second time that day, the world goes quiet.

I've heard of crazy sims. I know that there's a crazy mer-person who lives on the shore. But I never thought that crazy would show up in my family.

"Do they tell you to hurt people?"

Pablo looked up, startled. "What?! No!" He hesitated. "They....they just live up here, and, and they aren't evil or anything-well, maybe Vincent is-but Michelangelo is nice, and Nemo likes to draw."

"Is that why you like to draw?"

He shook his head emphatically. "No, I like to paint. Nemo likes to draw. She also likes motorbikes and protests and thinks you and Georgia are really cool."

"Um." Well if Pablo was crazy, it was an okay kind of crazy, the kind of crazy that required support instead of treatment. Besides, maybe once he got some friends, the head-voices would leave him alone. Maybe. It could happen. "Thank you?"

He grinned. I think it was the first time he'd ever done that. "She says 'You're welcome.'"

Pablo went to elementary that day for the last time, and I did my last portrait before my eyes started to fuzz over.



I signed the back with a flourish, and silently asked the Watcher to hang the painting in the museum, just like I do with all the other paintings and sculptures. This painting, titled Last Days, disappeared, just like all the other ones before it did.

Wyatt came home not five minutes later. The second he stopped foot through the door, Peggy walked out of her room and breezed past him. She didn't say where she was going. Wyatt looked stricken.

"Mom-"

"Wyatt, I really wouldn't talk to her right now."

"You wouldn't talk to her ever," he said with a faint trace of amusement. Something meowed inside his jacket pocket and he winced. "Oh, yeah-this is Pablo's new kitten."



The yet-unamed kitten was put into Pablo's room with food and litter. When Jesse woke up, he was practically begging to play with it, but I smacked him on the back of the head and told him that we were not having the therapy cat imprint on him.

"Why do you guys always hit me, huh? And what do you mean therapy cat?"

Wyatt explained about Pablo not having any friends, and I followed up with the head-voices thing.

It was agreed to let Chandell take a look at him.



But first, there was my elder almost-birthday party, a celebration of my final day as an adult. (I did NOT want to have a party on the day I stopped working.) It happened to fall on Pablo's birthday, but he said that if we were all happy, he was happy, so we threw the party anyway.



And then this girl showed up.

Jesse was the one to greet her; she had rung the doorbell and shook Jesse's hand when he answered it. "Are you Pablo's dad?"

"I'm one of 'em."

"Cool. I'm Danica. He said his birthday was today, I didn't want to miss it."

We assigned Georgia as their (very grumpy) chaperone, and continued to party the night away.

Now hey, I know a rainy party isn't everyone's cup of tea, even with the bonfire and juice. But honestly?



I wouldn't change it for anything.


Oh, that chick Danica had to leave early, by the way.  But I'm pretty sure she and Pablo hung out for a bit. He was a little preoccupied with his birthday present, though.



Pablo aged up naturally halfway through the party.



I excused myself to go help him pick out new clothes.



Oh, and I aged up maybe five hours later.



Did you know hair dye is magic? Because hair dye is magic.





Also,since Jesse started laughing when he saw my automatic hairstyle, I'm totally pranking his shower.







Happy late Thanksgiving, everyone!

[Trip]

Kitty!

And yay for insane children.

[Trident]

Alright, so.......

This pains me. This really does. But I just don't think I can continue this story.

It's not you guys, it's me. It's a combination of losing intrest in sims, the computer needing space, some soul searching, (the reason for the radio silence on my part,) and just life in general.

I am, so, so sorry.

Thank you for reading this and keeping up with the story. Comments made my day every time I got to read them, and this story really was a blast to write. I love my characters and I appreciate all of you but I really don't think I can do this anymore.


Again, thank you for reading and I am so deeply sorry.



P.s-I keep trying to change the name of this topic to 'please move to graveyard' and it won't let me I don't know why.

[Lisa46]

Change the name on your first post.