The Waldron Woes: Ch. 12

[Ilessthan3TheSims]

Awesome story! Diana is a beautiful sim I never liked Gobias either .....

[MoonsAreBlue]

Ch. 3: Charlie

Over the course of the next few days, Diana spent every waking moment, and a few very sleepy moments, with her son Charlie. How did she ever imagine just giving him away? The day at the hospital changed everything. Gobias held her hand while she sweat and screamed, “This is all your fault!” She didn’t even want to hold his hand. She just wanted to cause him pain. She laughed maniacally as he pulled his hand back and started rubbing the red fingerprints. Then just when she thought she was going to pass out from the pain, Charlie was born. “It’s a boy!” the nurse cheered. Diana started crying uncontrollably and then she did pass out, albeit for a short while.

Upon waking, she saw Gobias speaking with a nurse. Diana sat up too quickly and yelled, “What do you think you’re doing? He’s my son! I want to see him now! Where’s Charlie?” The nurse took that as her queue to leave. Gobias went to comfort Diana, but she wanted nothing to do with him.

“I know what I said before, Gobias, but I don’t care anymore. I don’t want to give my son up for adoption. He’s MY son. I want to see him… Charlie.” Diana stared at Gobias with desperation in her eyes. She knew the nurses must have thought she was crazy after that outburst, but Gobias could vouch for her sanity, couldn’t he?

“Okay, I’ll let the nurse know. Charlie is his name?” Gobias asked.

“Yes… yes, I think so. I like the name.”

“That’s a good choice, Diana.” She wasn’t sure if he was talking about the name or the choice to keep the child.

The nurses soon brought Charlie in, but Diana didn’t see Gobias again for quite a while. 



Diana never thought something so tiny could bring her so much joy. It was hard the first few days. With only her meager maternity leave pay, Diana had to sell the couch to be able to afford the things she needed for her child. But it was all so worth it. She couldn’t have imagined any other way of life. She loved kids! It made sense to have one of her own.



Diana didn’t try to call Gobias. If he wanted to see his son, he would need to come to her. She wasn’t cruel enough to forbid Gobias from seeing Charlie, but he would have to do the work, not her. When the money started coming in (200 simoleans here, 500 there), Diana had expected Gobias to start visiting. He never did, but Diana didn’t hesitate to spend the money on a new couch. If money was going to be his only contribution—well, that and DNA—to his child’s life, that was his decision, and Diana was fine with that.

After a few days of being cramped up in the house, Diana decided to get out. She took Charlie out of his swing and walked next door to Claire’s house. They weren’t really friends, but Diana felt bad for not telling Claire that she had been pregnant and that the baby had been born! Better now than never to do the introductions.



Claire was thrilled for Diana, and she even announced that she had had her own child! A little girl named Angel. “Your Charlie is so precious,” said Claire. “I wish I could introduce you to Angel, but she’s asleep in her crib upstairs. It took me forever to get her to sleep. I was lucky your knocking on the door didn’t wake her!”

They laughed over their shared experiences. Claire was a single mother herself, and Diana realized that she and Claire would definitely forge a lasting friendship. Who knows, maybe their children would even come to be friends!

That night, Diana got an invitation to her boss’s house. Diana contemplated asking Claire to babysit, but she had enough single mother troubles of her own. Instead, she called a babysitter and put on her best dress. Her boss was known to be rather rich, and Diana didn’t want to insult her with too casual of clothing.



“Welcome Diana,” said a somber Agnes. “I was just making supper. Would you like some coffee?”

“Yes, I would love some coffee, Agnes,” replied Diana. Agnes poured her an already brewed cup and Diana sat on the island to drink.

“Diana,” began Agnes, “I hear your son has been born. Congratulations. What did you name him?”

“Thank you. His name is Charlie.” Diana took another sip of the black coffee. She would have preferred some sugar, but she didn’t want to press her host.
“How are you doing financially?” asked Agnes.

Diana choked a little on the coffee but not because of the taste. “I’m, ah, quite fine.”

“I was asking,” said Agnes, “because while it is unorthodox for me to promote someone who has been with the school for well, a day, I can offer you a raise right now for your commitment to stay with the school for ten years.” Agnes looked pointedly at Diana, “Assuming we see no need to fire you.”

Diana’s face flushed with such a forward offer. “That’s a generous offer, but I don’t know what I can commit. Who knows what will happen with Charlie? I’m going to need to stay home with him very often.”

“What about the father? He could stay home with the baby,” suggested Agnes.

Diana adamantly replied, “He’s not in the picture.”

“Hmm…” Agnes contemplated while sampling her stew. “That may be something you’ll want to reconsider.”


 
Diana stayed silent while she sipped more coffee. She knew Agnes was just offering advice, but it’s not like Diana requested it. What right did she have to judge? But the job offer was too good to be true. A raise and a secured job for ten years was just what she needed with a small child to support. She would just have to find a good babysitter.

“So what do you say?” asked Agnes.

“That sounds good to me,” replied Diana. Why not, she thought.

“Good, good,” Agnes continued, “I will be seeing you tomorrow then.”

Diana blinked, “Right. See you then.” She sat down her unfinished, bitter coffee and left Agnes’s home. That woman really gave her the creeps, all dressed in black and so pale.

Diana went home to a quiet house and a happy baby. Her babysitter had done a splendid job. Charlie was fed and changed and he hadn’t even gotten nauseous from his swing swinging too fast. Diana made permanent plans with the incredibly impressive babysitter. Maybe things would turn out okay for them.
 


Diana returned to work the next day. She and Agnes further discussed her raise during Diana’s lunch break. It was going to be a substantial amount, but she had to prove that she could teach her students well enough for them to consistently perform within a certain percentile at the end of five years. She would get the bonus and pay increase when she returned in the fall five years from now. Her ten year commitment would begin after that.
 


She knew this wasn’t part of their deal, but Diana couldn’t predict the future. That raise could be the difference between comfort and struggle, and with the future of Charlie at stake, Diana took whatever she could get.

The next few days passed uneventfully. Diana spent her first days at work worrying about Charlie and checking in with the babysitter during lunch. She soon learned to trust Davy Linnell, and she finally started to truly enjoy her job. She couldn’t wait until Charlie was the same age as her third graders. The children were all so much fun, and they seemed to really enjoy Diana’s class.

But something had really been getting under Diana’s skin lately. Why hadn’t Gobias come to visit Charlie yet? Did he really not care that much? It was one thing to not insist he visit his son; it was another for him to not even try. Diana placed Charlie in his stroller and headed down the street.

Gobias was again in his swimming trunks. Did he ever wear clothing?


 
“Oh, hi Gobias!” started Diana, “So I hear some beautiful broad had your son. How is he? What’s his name? Oh that’s right, you wouldn’t know because you never even see him!”

“Hello to you too, Diana,” sighed Gobias.

“Please, please tell me why you haven’t come to see your son,” Diana sarcastically begged.

“I thought you didn’t want me to see him. You never called.”

“What?” said Diana incredulously, “Of course I want you to see him! Well, I think you should see him, but I don’t really care for your company. I mean, you’d already moved on to flirting with some other chick while I was going into labor.”

“Moved on?” replied Gobias, “I was just trying to be nice to a woman who doesn’t hate me!”
 


“Of course I hate you! You want to know why?” shouted Diana,” You’re a lousy dead-beat dad, that’s why! You men are all the same. You just want women for one reason, and then you leave them to raise your children.”

“Diana, you’ve got it all wrong. You’re the one who didn’t want anything from me. I offered to even try to work things out, but you shot me down!” Gobias went on, “I didn’t want this to happen any more than you did.”


 
“You didn’t want what to happen? A child? Well, it’s too late! You’re the one who started all this!”

Eyebrows furrowed, Gobias just stared at Diana for a moment. Then he said, “You’re the one who came to my house, Diana.”

“Whatever,” said Diana. “Charlie’s birthday is going to be in a few days. I’m going to have a party for him. You better be there.”

Gobias sighed, “I will be.”
 


Diana didn’t know why she was always so angry around Gobias. He really only was trying to help. And when she thought about it, he did tell her to call him when they were at the hospital together. But she just felt so used, and how could she not? Maybe she should give Gobias a chance, though. Maybe Agnes was right. She should reconsider a life with Gobias.

Just as Diana said, a few days later, Charlie had his birthday. There were only a few guests, some uninvited, like Cycl0ne Sw0rd. Diana was excited about Claire joining the party. Claire had somehow miraculously gotten Angel’s father to watch her for a few hours. “How did you get that dog to do it?” laughed Diana, “Did you have to blackmail him?”

“No,” said Claire with nervous laughter. “I just asked him.”


 
Before the night was too late, Diana took Charlie over to his cake. The cake was more of a formality and a treat for the guests. It wasn’t as if Charlie could even blow out the candles. The guests didn’t seem too interested either.
 


Diana decided that if Gobias actually showed up to the birthday party, she would apologize. She had been nothing but terrible to him, and he was just trying to not anger her, which failed anyways thanks to her own temper. However, when Diana went to approach him, she saw him dancing with another woman. But who could blame him? It was like he said; he was just looking for the company of a woman who didn’t hate him.
 


Diana set herself to just not speak to Gobias. It was enough that he had shown. But when Diana saw that Gobias was just watching television and eating cake with the other party-goers instead of playing with his son on the floor, Diana had to really fight to keep her mouth shut.
 


The party soon ended, and Diana reflected on the many things that had happened in the past few months—well, it had actually been two years since she moved to Sunset Valley now. Two years? It was hard to believe all that had happened. Even now, things seemed hopeless between her and Gobias. Maybe he would choose to have a relationship with his son, maybe he wouldn’t. But Diana knew for sure that she wouldn’t be able to have a relationship with Gobias. After seeing him dancing with Jamie, Diana could tell that Gobias just wanted to move on.
 


So she should just move on too.

[alex51299]

Great update! I hope things work out for Diana, and I'm glad you used Claire and Agnes. They are two of my favorite townies. Charlie is adorable! 

[xFezIsAFreakx]

Great update! Diana should totally just move on! Charlie looks so cute, can we have a close up please?

[MoonsAreBlue]

Bonus photo of Charlie close-up. There's more close-ups of him in the next update, but I won't make you wait.

[Phantome-A]

Oh yay is Diana going to get a boyfriend? I love this story so much.

[Ilessthan3TheSims]

I love Charlie's eyes! They're gorgeous

[MoonsAreBlue]

I love Charlie's eyes! They're gorgeous

He got them from Gobias. I bet a lot of people don't realize he has pretty blue eyes.

[xFezIsAFreakx]

He is so sweet looking! Wow, never expected such a gorgeous nooboo from Gobias! Of course, Diana's beauty certainly played a part.

[loveSims]

Charlie is so cute! I hope she find someone nice. I can't like Gobias even if I try lol.

[Spork-tastic]

So adorable! Love the close up picture!

[Figwit]

Lovely story. I never liked Gobias anyway so I am glad she is moving on.

[MoonsAreBlue]

I can't help but smile at everyone's speculation, especially because I already know what's going to happen. Thank you for all the wonderful comments. The next chapter will be up later this afternoon at around 4.

[MoonsAreBlue]

Ch. 4: Sensibility

Diana found moving on to be rather easy, especially because Gobias still never visited. She knew not having a father would be detrimental to Charlie in the long run, but he was still young enough to not know the difference. Diana was ashamed to admit that her selfishness had a play in Gobias’s non-visits. She never called him or invited him over, but Charlie seemed happy even without his father around. That was all that really mattered to Diana.
 


While Diana was at school, the babysitter Davy Linnell took excellent care of Charlie. Really, Diana couldn’t praise this young teen enough. Every day, she came home to a happy toddler.
 


Davy even taught Charlie how to play the xylophone, but Davy admitted that Charlie didn’t seem to need much help. He was a natural.
 


The perk to having a happy child was that teaching him his skills was so much easier when the happy child could focus. The first thing to go off of Diana’s checklist was potty training. She wanted to stop changing diapers as soon as possible.
 


It took many days before Diana taught Charlie all of his toddler skills. She only had the evenings with her child, and she also had to grade her students’ book reports, homework, and tests. Diana was especially overwhelmed with the amount of book reports she had to grade, but she should have expected it when she assigned the report to a class of twenty-five students. However, she found herself easily relaxed by plopping Charlie in his stroller and taking him to the library to read.
 



 
Teaching Charlie to walk was Diana’s proudest moment. Her smile was even bigger than his when he realized he could wobble a few steps without falling down. Tears welled up in Diana’s eyes. Charlie was growing up so fast.
 


Diana convinced herself she could do this. Charlie was going to be a child soon, and Diana steeled herself for the future. She would be enough for Charlie. She would love him, care for him, and support him, without any more help from his father.

But Diana desperately wanted another child. Was it wrong of her to want a child but not want to work towards a relationship to have one? Thinking back at the idea of adoption, Diana felt terrible knowing that she wouldn’t love an adopted child as much as she loved Charlie. It would be the sensible thing to just not have another child. Who would she have another child with, anyways?

Later in the week, some calls were arranged for Charlie’s birthday. Among the invited were Gobias, Davy, Agnes, and Claire. The celebration went off without a hitch. Diana bought a cake, everyone attended, and the guests cheered as Charlie blew out his candles.
 

 




There weren’t enough chairs at the dining table for everyone to eat cake. Some people ate at the couch. A few people went to the outside table. Diana found herself at the dining table with Charlie and Davy. It was odd how much Davy looked like an older Charlie. Their hair color was almost the same. They both had bright blue eyes. It was like Davy was Charlie’s older brother. Diana wanted to give Charlie another sibling. She hated being an only child herself.

She needed to be sensible, though. Charlie wouldn’t get a sibling.
 


But then… Gobias was friendly. He was nice. When the party died down, he even game Diana some flowers.
 


“Diana,” Gobias began. “I’m sorry for everything. I know you don’t want to be with me, and that’s okay. But I want to be in Charlie’s life more. I’m… getting old. I should know my son.”

“You’re right. You should know your son,” replied Diana.

Gobias plunged right into the real question, “Is there even a chance you want to be with me, Diana?”

She sighed, “No, Gobias. I love Charlie, but that doesn’t mean I love you. I don’t even know you.”

“Then let’s get to know each other. Let me take you out. We’ll tell each other our favorite colors and songs. I don’t know the songs younger people listen to today, but I can learn.” Gobias looked at Diana earnestly. “We could both learn.”
 


She could learn about Gobias. She could make sure he and Charlie spent more time together. She could date Gobias, even marry him someday. Have more children if it felt right. It would be the sensible thing to do, but that’s not what she wanted.

Diana wanted to live in a house full of kids. She wanted to play with them, get frustrated with them, and help them with homework. She wanted to give them romantic advice even if she didn’t know what she was talking about. She wanted to give them her blessing when they finally found “the one.” She wanted to be there for the births of her grandchildren, and she wanted to die surrounded by the family that she single-handedly raised. It was selfish, but she didn’t want to share that accomplishment with anyone else.

But when it came down to it, Diana could only have one of these things.

[mackendall2]

Great update!  I never knew Gobias had such pretty eyes.