Chapter 29 - Henry's Role
For the occasion of Henry's birthday, the family opted not to throw a grand affair to mark the occasion. It was nearly midnight Thursday night/Friday morning, and so Iris baked a cheesecake for the occasion, and the family gathered around in the kitchen.
"Make a wish, Henry!" Rose encouraged him, sprinkling the room with confetti.
Henry thought long and hard about what he wanted, though he did wonder what choices he had in determining his own future. He'd had a feeling that maybe his position in the family had been determined long before he was even born.
That wasn't to say he questioned his position. On the contrary, knowing what his destiny was seemed to make it easier - as though he himself was being designed for the role. He also liked the fact that there was some degree of certainty surrounding his future. Here was where he was born, here would be where he would stay.
He may not be a Dynasty
heir, but he was born into a dynasty house, and he was, by and large, a dynasty sim. He had duties within the house. His mother, for one, would rely on him to help her complete her aspiration. And he had solemnly sworn to be Gerald's Partner in Crime for life.
Hmmm, Gerald. He had to consider to what extent he would dedicate his life to being Gerald's 'sidekick'. Sure, it had been fun as a kid, but he was growing up now!
And maybe that was the point of being a teenager: having time to sort these things out before you had to
completely responsible.
"Here goes nothing!" said Henry, excitedly. His family cheered.
Henry took a deep breath, and blew at the candles on the cheesecake as hard as he could.
"Teendom, here I come!" he exclaimed.
Not long after Henry became a teen, however, the family wished each other goodnight and went off to bed.
Henry was given the option to either remain in the upstairs bedroom that he shared with Edith, or to take over Antwan's old bedroom in the basement. Henry opted for the latter, but not without redecorating a little bit, first.
The woodlands look may have suited the old gardener just fine, but it certainly wouldn't do for young Henry. If this would be the place where he would impress the women of Windenberg and surrounds with his class, charm and charisma, it needed to reflect that adequately.
Henry took a look around at his handiwork and sighed, satisfied the women would love his choice. Feeling proud not only of his childhood accomplishments, but of thinking of all he would accomplish as an adult as well, he settled himself between the covers and, for the first time in about three days, settled in to get some proper sleep.
When Friday morning dawned, however, Henry discovered that he couldn't go to school.
Rose apologised, saying it must have had to do with them being unable to submit his highschool enrolment papers before midnight last night, meaning his school was entirely unprepared for him to attend that day. So while Gerald and Edith went to school as normal, Henry was permitted to stay home.
He had hoped to use this time to get an early start on his goals. He decided to follow Antwan's lead and form a club (because that had gone so well for him) consisting of house teenaged girls in Windenberg. 'Henry's Dream Girls' was easily established, but he hesitated to call a meeting, being conscious of the fact that most of them would be at school.
So he instead resigned himself to doing a bit of working out. After all, he certainly wanted to look his best for his 'dream girls'.
Norman also had the day off on Friday (though this had nothing to do with late enrolments and everything to do with his being a level 8 journalist), and Rose had convinced him to spend the day writing. Everyone in the house, she explained, now had a book of life dedicated to them, except for her. She could hardly write her own book of life, could she?
So after plucking up some inspiration, Norman settled in with his desk and wracked his brains to try to write the best story he possibly could. Featuring a duck, of course.
Perhaps Henry's position in the house would be more similar to that of the original pollinators than he had originally thought. Sergio's plants were still mostly perfect, but that didn't mean they didn't still need tending every now and again.
Henry settled in under the afternoon sun to nurse the garden back to full health.
"Quit playing with your phone, please, Norman. You're worse than I am during English lectures," I snapped. "You've written two books so far, both merely excellent. Come on, get to it!"
"I'm, uh, browsing for ideas, Watcher," Norman replied. "Oh ho, what about a mystery?
The Case of the Missing Mallard. Aww, yeah, who doesn't love a title that uses alliteration?"
"Just make it a Bestseller, okay?" I repeat, frustrated.
But Norman didn't make it a bestseller. Instead, he broke the computer in the living room, and took the opportunity to run off and find himself an afternoon snack. Iris reluctantly interrupted her afternoon yoga session to fix it.
"You're lucky you need to stay alive, Gerald," said Iris, "and your handiness is still so low. Otherwise you know you'd be doing this."
"Mwa ha ha, Nana! This is just as I had planned!" Gerald laughed evilly.
"Yeah, well, not for long, if I have anything to do with it," Iris replied firmly.
With Gerald and Edith having returned from school, the rest of the family decided to get a head start on what would hopefully be a productive weekend. Rose coached Edith in swimming until she finished the Rambunctious Scamp requirements.
And then, as Edith had very few good friends her age and needed to make progress in Social Butterfly desperately, Rose put her best-friendship with Norman on hold just long enough to become BFFs with her darling daughter.
Everyone was hoping that Edith wouldn't have the same mad-dash to the finish that Henry had had with his aspirations (and with her being the only child left in the household at the moment, that did seem rather more likely, though with this watcher's playing no one was holding their breath or anything). With Rambunctious Scamp (probably the easiest one) out of the way, Edith wanted to finish Social Butterfly over the weekend.
And Henry invited over the first of the girls on his list of eligible bachelorettes his age to begin the process of wooing and seducing them all. There's no such thing as 'too early,' right? Karly Behr (Yuki's daughter) certainly didn't seem to have any objections.
There was another reason, of course, for Henry to get started this early. Gerald being, well, Gerald, it was assumed he wouldn't have the time nor patience to go looking for a 'nice girl' to bring into the family as an official spouse.
He had been asked to meet with Anaya Watt - seemingly the only teenaged townie unrelated to either Sergio or Antwan in the game, but as soon as it was discovered that she had the 'good' trait, their relationship ended before it started.
But as predicted, all the girls loved Henry. And Henry knew his brother better than anyone. If there was a girl in all of Windenburg whose traits were…if not ideal, at least not entirely incompatible with Gerald's, then Henry could find her.
Meanwhile, inside, after writing six books in one day and breaking the computer
twice, clumsy Norman finally finished the Bestselling Author aspiration.
"Congratulations, Norman," I exclaimed, relieved. "And what was the winning title?"
Norman smiled proudly. "Oh, ho, you'll never guess! It was a biography," he said. "I called it 'Ducky's story.'"
"I, err, that's great Norman. That's really great," I replied. Now many he never have to write another book ever again.
"So, plans for the weekend, boys?" Rose asked.
"Uh, maybe I'll drink lots and lots of orange juice," Norman replied. Hmm, perhaps the rash he'd developed was some indication of why writing that last Bestseller took so long.
"Eat more of this amazing cheesecake," exclaimed Gerald. He still seemed to have a soft spot for Nana Iris' cooking.
"Nah, seriously though. I'm hoping father will invite his journalism club over so I can make some enemies, and pull some serious pranks on them all. I'm going to make their lives miserable!" Gerald exclaimed.
"Oh ho," laughed Norman, "that's a great idea! I'm sure they'll love that!"
"Well," said Rose, "I was planning on doing some fishing."
"That sounds super lame, mother," said Gerald, "Don't you think so, Father?"
"Gerald, could you please stop duplicating yourself. I, uh, I can hardly concentrate when there's only one of you."
"You're only generation 3," said Rose patiently. "The sooner you get used to doing a lot of fishing, the happier you'll be."
"No way!" said Gerald, "I know! I'll get Edith to find some way of making more and more angelfish without our having to fish for them! Then we'll never have to cast a line out again!"
"No can do," Rose replied, "I know exactly what you're talking about, and it's against the rules."
"Ugh," muttered Gerald, "stupid rules."
"Hey, uh, Rose?" asked Norman, "you never told me we were getting another fridge."
"Norman, sweetie, I think you need to go to bed."
Luckily, Norman obeyed and took himself up to bed. Soon the others followed. But Rose, who had recently purchased the 'never weary' reward, found she wasn't tired, so she decided to get a head start on her fishing plans.
It was little wonder to her that Uncle Sergio had enjoyed this pastime so much. Sure, she loved her big family and busy household - it was all she'd ever dreamed of having as a child. But Sergio had found this to be a welcome escape from the demands of the Dynasty and, if Rose was being honest with herself, from her. He never really had liked being around children very much.
It was a wonderful opportunity for her to spend time thinking, as well. And she had plenty to think about.
Sure, she was on track to becoming Immortal, same as her mother. But she still worried about Gerald. And about the secrets Iris seemed to be keeping from her. And even about little Edith - did she ever feel forgotten or lonely? The only BFF she had was her mother - did that hurt her? Sure, Edith had mentioned she planned on inviting the Rambunctious Rascals over to play later today, and she would focus on finishing Social Butterfly, but why had she been having so much trouble making friends in the first place?
Henry, at least, seemed to be doing well, she thought. He had become quite the Romantic, and was becoming rather popular with the ladies. This was a comfort to Rose, as the only way she could 'have four grandchildren' was if one of her sons had children outside the home. But Rose hoped to have many, many more grandchildren than just four. Henry, it was hoped, would follow in the footsteps of Antwan and Sergio before him, and he seemed already to be taking to those responsibilities like; well, like a fish to water.
Yes, sighed Rose, some things were going well. She simply had to look at the bright side of things.
She tried not to think about the fact that she had just fished through the night without catching a single angelfish.
