Just Waiting 04: Now an Adult, not A Dolt!Hello! Takao, the Gen8 heir, here.
Like others in the household, I really love working in this garden.
And now that Watchette has
finally finished our downstairs spa room and party room, this no-ceiling sunken area fulfills the second of its original purposes at last.
Of course, its first purpose was to hold the garden and microscope, which it’s done since the start.
But its second purpose was to provide a garden view from the spa.
Along the hallway on the right are doors to the hot tub, sauna, and a bath.
And, obviously, that’s our sunken garden through the windows on the right.
This is the view of our home spa as you step inside from the downstairs hallway.
On the left is the massage table area. We're leaving the massage chairs upstairs.
Watchette also built us a new room to partay, even though we don’t need any more gold-medal parties.
Here’s a view of the room from the downstairs hallway.
When planning the pool, Watchette built this room first, then wrapped the pool around it.
Lol, yes, this room has been left unfinished THAT long.
We moved our DJ station and dance here from the west patio on the first floor.
Why wait until now to finish these rooms, you wonder?
I imagine that Watchette became concerned about the game lagging and became focused on deleting inventory rather than adding new furnishings and clutter.
Here’s a shot of the bar.
Gen3 Grandma Naomi once told me how hard she’d worked to reach the top of her career because she’d wanted that Settler’s Bar career award.
I really wish that bar and the kitchen career awards came in more colors instead of just matching the chef career awards.
Sadly, the Settler’s Bar is too meh to suit our new home club.
There’s also a mini-kitchen next door for emergency party needs.
Hey, Watchette, it’s great that you finally finished these two rooms last week. Why now?
W: What other reason could there be for a new party room?
In three days, you’ll be celebrating your birthday! Soon, you'll be and adult, you dolt!! Oh right!
I spend the next day with Stephanie. She’s gotten quite huge!
You can’t tell from the screenshot, but the other day my entire family descended on this house like a horde of locusts, doing every kitchen, electronic, and bathroom upgrade possible.
We hadn’t expected them to do that—they said it was our wedding present! So thoughtful and practical!
Steph’s been moaning and groaning since morning.
I briefly had an attack of pre-natal panic but it went away, so I don’t know what to think.
You think she’s going to have the baby today, Watchette?
Watchette: I really can’t say. Sorry, but I wasn’t keeping track of the days.
Let’s see, you proposed to her last Sunday afternoon at Granite Falls and today is Friday morning. You eloped on Monday and spent time with her after that, too. Watchette, didn’t you read somewhere that a pregnancy takes four days if the woman doesn’t do a pregnancy test?
W: Yes, I vaguely remember that, too. In that case, today might be the day. She’s looking so uncomfortable!
I’m starting to feel really worried.
It’s 2 p.m. now and she’s been groaning and doing that huffing thing since 6:30 a.m.
We can’t go the hospital so I really don’t know what to do. I could have retired in two days, but I decide to quit my job and stay by Steph’s side.
Watchette: Ooops, emergency at the dynasty house. Gotta run! Be right back!
Osamu (The Founder): So, Watchette, we are eating ambrosia once again.
W: It would have been nice if you’d just eaten at the table where I’d laid out your servings.This is the first time Gen7 Nanami is joining us.
W: Stop your yakking all of you. Takao just quit his job so he could be with Steph during labor.
Then I suddenly get a notice that Koetsu’s time is near. When I checked, two of you already had bubbling age bars, so I raced over here.
First, you take your sweet time ambling over to the sofas and now you’re chatting instead of eating your ambrosia. Please hurry!
Osamu: Hey, quit cancelling our chat interactions!
W: Satoshi just got home, so he’s eating his ambrosia now. Stop chatting with him, so he can finish eating. I have to fly back to Takao and Stephanie.
Oh, forget it. I just got a notice that Stephanie had twins. Thanks, guys. (I hate all of you!)Osamu: Well now that you don’t need to rush back, tell me. How many more times we have to eat this foul-smelling stuff, anyway?
W: Sorry, I’m going to go check on Takao and Steph, then I’ll get back to you on this matter. It’s important!
Osamu, The Founder: Oh, you’re back already!
Watchette: Yeah, Steph had another pair of twins—a son and a daughter—then left for work. Our boy Takao is still there, looking after the newborns.TF: So, what about the Ambrosia?
W: Hmmm, Takao becomes an adult in two days, meaning he’ll age up to elder 22 days from today.Then, if he meets his friendship requirement…
TF: I get it, I get it. I’m old, not math-challenged. We’ll need to eat ambrosia three more times at least, plus one more for Takao.
Okay, we’ll make sure that there’s, let’s see…, at least 32 servings of ambrosia prepared, just to be on the safe side.
W: Yeah, safe is better than sorry.(Later that same day)
It’s 1 a.m. on Sunday and I’m phoning in my adult birthday party.
Let’s break in the new party room, y’all!!!
This is officially the most party horns we’ve ever had at a birthday party!
You go, Poppy!
By the way, our first pair of twins aged up to teens today. Garrett’s in the red long-sleeved shirt and Sheila’s in the purple gown.
The Nishijimas are hogging the dance floor.
The Founder and Gen3 Naomi are completely useless tonight as mixologist and caterer, respectively.
What’s with the weird eyes, people?
The Holidays walked out during that group dance, so I follow them upstairs. In fact, everyone leaves the new party room and comes upstairs.
Hmmph, everyone’s so old school! Guess we didn’t need the new party room after all, eh, Watchette?
W: (at a loss for words...)
Well, since everyone’s here, take a look at this great shot of our twins—Sheila and Garrett.
They’re not identical twins but they’re some nice-looking kids.
As a father, I’m totally biased, but I think Sheila is a knock-out.
Last week, I’d received a message from my alien ex-girlfriend, Yasmine Hunt, informing me that she’d given birth to a son.
Thinking back, that hot-tub escapade with Yasmine seems like eons ago. Could the boy really be mine?
After I received Yasmine’s message, I checked my relationship panel and was shocked to note the infant (named Branson Hunt) is described as both "Friend" and "Known alien." But I’m only a quarter alien!?
I’ve never, ever seen a newborn listed as a “Known alien” before.
With so much going on the past week, I hadn’t checked back on Branson Hunt.
Today I see that he’s aged up to a child and decide to invite him out to Magnolia Blossom Park.
Watchette and I are as surprised as you are!
Coincidentally, his mother Yasmine Hunt is already there, playing chess.
After chatting a bit with Branson, I go to greet his mother.
We autonomously do the alien’s Secret Handshake.
Garrett Holiday (my son with Steph) could do that Secret Handshake since childhood but, for some reason, Branson can’t.
However, Branson speaks in that high-pitched, tinny voice characteristic of aliens. So mysterious!
Branson looks just like a bald alien, but with human skintone.
I take Branson home to Mom (who’s 50% alien) and, after some small talk, she takes Brandon to the closet to see if she can change his clothes.
She can’t select any pre-styled outfits, since the category displays the error message “Disabled for aliens.” He can wear one-piece outfits or top-and-bottom combinations, however.
Watchette resists the temptation to play his household and see if he can change his disguise. Probably not, since his skin is flesh-toned.
Also, Mom forgot trying to give Branson hair.
Might he be a hybrid dressed in that alien garb? It’s more complicated than that, I think. Look at those eyes!
I’d always thought only two pure aliens could give birth to an alien child.
But Branson is not a pure alien child, technically speaking, since he can’t do the secret handshake, right?
Is Branson a miracle of nature or is Watchette’s game simply experiencing another glitch?
Is there some trigger that would enable Branson to do the Secret Handshake in the future?
And by the way, among my six kids with the human Stephanie Holiday, only Garrett can do the Secret Handshake.
The Founder: Oh, is that a new room?
W: Yup.
TF: What happened to all the rest of the stuff in that third-floor room—all the potions, essences, and serums? What about those useless unidentified herbs you’ve been hoarding.
W: Lol, I had Takao identify all 10 herbs, then I put aside the ambrosia you see here then deleted the room.
Weird thing is, Takao skyrocketed from Herbalism Level 0 to Level 8, just by identifying those 10 herbs.TF: Well, yeah, Takao’s been a skilling machine since he was a boy. You’re not being too optimistic about the ambrosia?
W: Don’t think so. Once Takao becomes an elder, there’s enough for him to take nine more days to meet the friendship requirement.
If that’s not enough, we can just make more. You still have tons of ingredients and reward points.TF: Well, no offense, Watchette, but we immortals are all getting pretty tired of meditating and fishing.
The outdoor movie theater’s great, but we’ll be watching reruns in a few weeks.
We’ve all got our fingers crossed for you, Watchette. Let’s do this!
W: I hear you, Osamu. Let’s cross our toes, too, just to be sure.Takao: Can you believe? In fourteen more days, I'll age up to an elder!
But I'll be checking back with you all one more time between now and elder birthday, okay?
Watchette Sez:Since I’ve gotten rid of so much other “stuff,” I thought it might finally be safe to finish the home spa and party rooms. Not that the family will get much use out of them. And I’ve learned that a basement party room next to the pool looks fabulous (to me and my lower building standards, lol), but the guests took forever to walk there from the front door.
Takao spends most of his time with his wife and his kids. He just selects club activities, helps the kids with homework, and otherwise just lets everyone do their thing.
The children are all very cute and so it’s somehow more fun than monitoring the elders while also keeping the Family-Oriented Takao very, very happy.
Although not directly related to my dynasty story, I couldn’t resist sharing the news about the alien child. And though I didn’t like having Takao cheat on his wife, I did have him conceive another child with the alien woman recently.
This latest newborn also appeared, immediately after we got the birth notice, as “Friend” and “Known alien.” Takao and I will be visiting her after she becomes a child.
These last couple of chapters haven’t been narratively cohesive, I know, yet I don’t want to rush directly to Takao’s elder birthday.
As always, thank you so much for reading! <3
