Saturday, November 15, 2014

Chapter 3.9- Shut Up, Close Your Eyes

            “You.are.late. my friend,” Mariah stood defiant as Roger burst through the door.
            His gaze roamed to the space between her fingertips, pulling him up short, gaping. He’d been expecting to get here barely in time to get her to the hospital. Looks like he was too late, indeed.
            “But-how-where-”
            “I have a surprise for you,” Mariah’s eyes sparkled with mischief.



            Roger’s legs were wobbly as he walked forward to meet her. This wasn’t at all what he’d expected. He’d been there for Dove. Mariah was shrieking and sharp tongued in her labor pains. This Mariah was again slim, beaming instead of scowling.
            “You don’t have to look so worried,” she giggled.
            “Where-I-I mean, how-how-where?”
            “Don’t worry about that right now. I have a surprise for you!”



            “Mariah, you called me this morning telling me to get here as quickly as I could,” Roger was slightly disoriented, still trying to figure out what was going on. “So I raced here. Last time I saw you, you were huge. And pregnant. With my baby. Now you’re not. Did you go to the hospital? When?”
            “No. No hospital this time. I didn’t make it. But it’s okay! C’mon!”
            “You-you didn’t make it?!? What about the baby!! Is the baby okay? Are you- have you seen a doctor at least? When!”
            “Don’t worry about that right now. I have a sur-”
            “-A surprise, yeah. But I’ve had enough of one already. I don’t want to see the afterbirth in the bathtub thankyouverymuch, what about the baby?”
            Rolling her eyes, Mariah grabbed his hand. “Just come on!”



            Keeping his hand firmly in her own she dragged a stumbling Roger up the stairs, positioning him directly in front of the door to the nursery.
            “Come here,” she said, angling behind him.
            “Mariah,” Roger’s voice now held an edge. He was ready to see his baby. Now. “I.Do.Not.Want-”
            “-Yes, you do, now come here.”
            Swatting away one of her hands, Roger turned.
            “Mariah, listen to me. I get enough gross surprises on the job. I don’t want to see it right now. I want to know what happened to my child. Now please. I’m done with the games.”
            “Me, too!” Mariah put on a shocked face. “So let me cover your eyes so I can show you the surprise.”
            “Whatever,” Roger shook his head, lowered his hand. “Just tell me you’re okay. Tell me the baby is alright.”
            “Shut up, close your eyes and I will show you,” she said.



            “Okay,” she said once she’d pushed the door open. “I wanna know more about the gross surprises you get on the job-Ouch. Go to your right a little, you ran my elbow into the door.”
            “Sorry,” Roger snapped. “It’s a little hard to steer with you covering my eyes.”
            “It’s.a.Surprise! Let me have my fun.”
            “Let me have my sight and answer my questions woman! Where is my baby?”
            “In a minute! And I do believe you share when it comes to ownership. Geez.”



            “Here,” she said, stopping him abruptly.
            “If you want me to see this surprise, would you mind NOT trying to see how far my eyeballs will go into my skull. Ouch!”
            “Whatever, cover your eyes.”
            “I’m losing patience.”
            “I’m about to show you! Twallan’s PlumbBob, you’re grouchy today!”
            “Answer my questions and maybe I’ll calm down!”
            “But I don’t want to answer, I want to show you. On the count of three you can open your eyes. One-”
            “If I see anything bloody-”
            “Two-”
            “-You will never live it down.”
            “Three.”



            “Surprise!”
            “…”
            “Say ‘Hi’ Daddy!”
            “Are you watching Tibi’s baby already?”
            “No, silly! Tibi’s little boy is at home with her.”
            “Then who’s the other one?”
            “They’re yours!”
            “But-but I-I thought-I-I thought-you-you said-the doctor said-”
            “Surprise! We had twins!”
            “Twins.”
            “Twins!”
            “There are two of them.”
            “That’s kind of what that means, yeah.”
            “Twins.”
            “Yes!”
            “Ceeven?”
            “Ceeven.”



            While Ceeven gurgled contentedly as though recognizing his name, baby girl let out an angry sounding wail.
            “And this little one is still kind of nameless.”
            “Nameless?”
            “Well, we didn’t really go over girl’s names did we?” Mariah winced as the baby’s cries reached a higher pitch.
            “Can-can I-I-can I-”
            “Yes! Please! I’m not used to holding them both at the same time. Take him so I can calm her down.”



            “Soooo, whacha think Daddy?” Mariah asked, watching Roger snuggle Ceeven. He still looked a little shocked.
            “I dunno, yet,” He admitted. “What do you think?”
            Laughing, Mariah just shook her head.
            “Exactly. And you’ve had a little longer to get used to the thought of having two of them than I’ve had. What happened? Why didn’t you call me before? When you went into labor?”
            “Once I realized what was going on for sure there wasn’t enough time to call anyone. He was here before I could wrap my head around what was going on myself. And it was too late at night to call anyone else. In any case, I did alright on my own. I handled it.”



            Roger didn’t catch too much of her last. Ceeven had snuggled in deep and Roger was too focused on the soft little boy in his arms to hear her properly.
            “Anyway, now you’re here we probably ought to get these two to a doctor or someone who can give them a birth certificate. Those might come in handy for school or whatever.”
            Roger simply hummed his approval.



            “Or maybe a name for this little one first,” the little girl in her arms was determinedly trying to get Mariah’s full attention, pulling at her hair and waving a tiny fist around her face.
            “Compared to him she’s really vibrant. From those first few moments even. He was so laid back and calm, he hardly fussed at all. But she demanded attention and action. She didn’t want to just sit still and let things happen around her. She wanted to be part of it all.”
            “Vivid…” Roger mumbled against Ceeven’s warm skin. “I can get behind that it’s vivid and vibrant. It’s still more of a dream that life like.”



            “Why not Vivid for a name then?” Roger looked up, gauging her reaction to his suggestion.
            “Are you kidding me?”
            “No?”
            “No.”
            “No. Vivian?”
            “Nooo. Vivia?”
            “Vivia. Ceeven and Vivia.”
            “Sounds about right to me.”

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --





            Vivia turned out to fit her tiny daughter perfectly. Ceeven and Dove would still be sleeping peacefully as the sun rose, but not Vivia. If the sun was up, even barely, she was up and wanting to play. She’d gurgle and coo at her mom, doing anything to keep from being put down.
            When she was unhappy, the world knew it. Some of her earliest temper fits left Mariah breathless at the amount of rage she contained. However, no matter how fast her anger had been provoked, the moment she spotted her mother she’d calm right back down again, content to have achieved her aim.



            Inevitably Mariah’s time with only one baby awake would come to an end and she’d have others needing her attention as well.
            She’d been a little scared of having more than one baby at first, but she quickly fell into a routine, learning how to balance and juggle all of their needs and demands.



            Dove had even adjusted to the babies’ presence sooner than anyone had expected. It still didn’t stop her from figuring out how the baby monitor worked incredibly quickly. Often she’d sit as close to it as she could before hollering at the top of her lungs for her Mama. Mariah would immediately put down whichever of her twins she was currently taking care of to run to her side.
            Dove thought it was a fantastic trick.



            And while she found it easier to be a parent to several kids than she’d at first anticipated, there were moments where the kids seemed to gang up on her, trying her patience to the max.
            In particular, if one of the twins cried, the other was sure to start the second she attempted to calm the first one down.



            The very worst days were when Dove heard the melee and joined in. There wasn’t enough of her to go around and not a single one of the kids had any patience with her at all. It was those times she wished Roger were there. Other than that, she was making it. She’d done it with Dove on her own. She was doing it now with three.
            So what if she fell into bed exhausted each and every night? She wouldn’t trade what she had for the world.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --


            It’s a short one this time. But there’s only so much you can show of larva interactions and I want to go ahead and let them age up to toddlers so that will be next time.
            Baby Girl has a name! Vivia! I love how she turned out. She has a lot of Sally’s features, but she isn’t a clone thankfully. Ceeven has a good bit of Buck in him, which is exciting to me. I will always love Buck and I missed that jaw. Take a peek:
These two are also up on the family tree now. Eventually I’ll update the Generational Goals to put them on there as well. (PSssst! I still think Dove is prettier. ;) lol)
            Originally I had something particular planned I would have announced here, (I’d hinted at it with Dove,) but with three of them I had to scrap that. It just won’t work with more than two and I’m not ready to announce heirs or spares yet.
            However, I will say that the next generation being born around AP is probably going to get culled very soon. At which point I’ll be looking for potential classmates/romantic interests to put in town. If you have particular sims up for download you’d like to see in the running let me know so I can be sure to grab them! Or send me a link through PM on MTS or Tumblr if you have a private download you’d like to submit, or if you’d like to make a sim just for this that’s fine too. Thanks to anyone generous enough to share!

28 comments:

  1. Eyebrow piercing! Squee! Roger is much hotter as a bad boy ;) (or at least as hot as a collection of pixels can be.)
    He was kinda PMS-ing for a moment there, but I don't blame him. He was worried about the baby,or as he learned babies.

    Vivia... I'm pronouncing that like Olivia but with a V instead of Ol, is that right? Kinda like vi-vee-ah with stress on the vee bit. I think she's pretty, but not quite Dove pretty though. It's Dove's eyes that are the best.

    I... I don't want to know what the 'gross stuff on the job' talk was about, and thank you for no details. Very squeamish, very very squeamish.

    And you know that my sims are always available if you need them ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL at the mention of the eyebrow piercing. I had to download every custom eyebrow I could find to get the piercing to go *around* his eyebrow instead of over and through it. Ha! His eyebrows are so weird. lol. But yes, =D He's my hot pixel baby. He was really upset. He'd been so excited to be a daddy and wanted to have that moment at the hospital and taking care of Mariah and he felt a little cheated of that. Then he was worried since Mariah was a lot happier about it all than he thought she would be.

      Yes, Vih-vee-yuh. I've been laying the stress on the first syllable, but I don't think it matters much. :) I'm more of a Dove fan, but when Vivia isn't all dolled up for a family portrait she looks more bubbly. No matter what Dove has a graceful elegance to her looks that makes me swoon. I love how Dove looks. lol.

      Yeah, it'll probably be referenced a little more next chapter, but it'll still be vague. I figure imagination goes far enough there.

      Yes, but do you have anyone in particular in mind? ;)

      Delete
    2. I don't really mind who you pick, but I do hope to have Alyssa's kids up rather soon-ish (and when I say that, I mean not for a while yet) Maybe it would be fun for you to have a couple of werewolves running around? ;)

      Delete
    3. Do you know I haven't made up my mind on supes in town yet. There are already several fairies and a family of werewolves in town (Mariah's best friend Ida is a werewolf,) and Ignacio's family has passed down the witch trait (not to Mariah though.) There is also a possibility of using this particular roll to open up the story to supes being around, but I haven't managed to pin down whether or not that will happen yet. lol

      Delete
  2. Something grosser at work than afterbirth stuff.... poor Roger.....But his almost hysteria was funny. Mariah was beaming and smiling, and he still thinks something might have gone wrong. I still think you're up to something bad with Roger. There's to many hints, they are to happy, everything is going to well...

    Love the familytree btw, it wasn't that complicated, but I love familytrees. Vivia is a great name, but I misread it as Vivica first :D Mariahs kids are so pretty, but they really had to be didn't they? They've got good genes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, but I'm still putting all my pieces into place. When the quote comes up at the beginning of a chapter you'll know I'm about to start messing with everyone. =D It's coming, and soon. But you'll have to keep a sharp eye out because there will be two parallel lines going on at the same time. It'll be fun! =D

      Yes, he was freaking out. lol Poor guy. Ah well. He'll survive. ;)

      Thank you! It's plenty complicated to me, all the crossed lines and interconnections. But a lot of the sims on that tree are about to be made sterile so I can get new blood in. Ha!

      I can see the font reading as Vivica. THANK YOU! I'm so in love with how they all look this time around. <3

      Delete
  3. Welcome Ceevan and Truvia!
    Actually, sorry Dove, but I think she's prettier. My jaw actually dropped when I saw the CAS pic. Maybe it's the skin, I dunno. But wow. Gorgeous.

    Roger is so goofy. Why on earth would he think she was going to show him the afterbirth, lol. I do wonder about what 'gross surprises' he gets at work.
    But my my, I do still love his makeover. :: smacks lips:: dat eyebrow ring tho.

    Hehehe @ Dove's fantastic baby monitor trick :D I'm glad Mariah's taken to it fairly easily, but it's still got to be hard. Wouldn't she rather Roger be around more? Wouldn't *Roger* rather be around more? What's so important with his work that it could keep him from his babies?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Truvia. *snort. lol. It'll grow on you. :D To me, they look SO different in the vibes they give off, but her skin for sure is awesome. Roger's skin. <3 Thank you Eskin! Ha!

      He entered the house in panic mode. Then when he figures out that what he'd been expecting was nothing like what was really going on his imagination went into overdrive. lol. Poor guy. That eyebrow ring gave me such grief! ha! I had to find a custom eyebrow that would work with that ring without meaning I needed to change his genetics. His eyebrows are so wonky. lol. And I think he could use a new tat or two. Gotta find some I like first.

      Oh yes. Dove is a smart one! She knows what it takes to get Mama all to herself. ;)

      Mariah is still trying to prove that she's 100% in control of her world. All by herself. Hiding anything that could be unpleasant. As for Roger and his rather's and work perhaps I'll let him show you himself next time. ;)

      Delete
  4. This was such an adorable chapter, I loved it. <3 Roger and Mariah are so much fun! I love how excited she was over her surprise(s), and he was all dubious and show me the kid, haha! I'm so glad that she's taken to motherhood, while it's a struggle at times, it's always worthwhile.

    Dove, she's got things figured out, lol :P

    Vivia, wowsers! She's so glamorous! What a beauty. (I think she's prettier than Dove too, though Dove does have those gorgeous blue eyes.) She does glamor really well, yet I love how her favorites are mac and cheese and hip hop, lol What a contradiction! I bet she is going to grow up very interesting!

    Ceevan is very nice looking too, he looks very aristocratic---he ought to be a Lord or something, he can totally pull it off!

    I hope Roger is able to be home more often, so that he can get to know his kids. Stay safe Roger!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yay! I had a lot of fun with this one and wanted it to read as fun. Yes, Mariah has realized that it's a lot of work, but to her the rewards are unconditional love, something she craved as a child . To be able to give it and receive gummy smiles, toddler cuddles and acceptance in return makes her world a brighter place.

      That's right! Dove is a little smarty pants! lol

      Yes, with Vivia. lol. These are glamor shots, set up completely to show how pretty they all are. Her favorites made me snort because they are super perfect for how she is in my head. She should prove to be a lot of fun to follow around. Ha!

      And then there's Ceeven. lol. Yeah, he looks so much more refined to me than Vivia does. I loveloveloveLOVE how he turned out. I love how they all turned out, but Ceeven's looks captivate me in their own way.

      As soon as the quote pops up at the beginning of a chapter you can worry. lol. Though I'm not going to say you ought to worry about Roger. That's just when I'll start messing with things. Ha! I'll let him show you his world again next chapter. ;)

      Delete
    2. Quote? That sounds both mysterious and ominous!

      Forgot to add that day---you're more than welcome to use any of my sims---they are all in my section at TFM's site (you have to be registered though to see it)--http://simsasylum.com/tfm/index.php?/forum/226-ts3-sims

      I have legacy and non legacy sims there. I might even make one just for fun---but when would you need them by?

      Delete
    3. Yeah, it's been a while since we've had one of those hasn't it? lol

      Ah, I'll probably need them before March. lol. Uhm, I'm moving super slow. I.Want.Jack. My intent had been to just see who my sims picked themselves, but damn. I need Jack. lol. If you'd like to make one, that would be just fine too. =D

      Delete
  5. aww so cute, and his reaction was priceless :) loved the names as well

    ReplyDelete
  6. I loved Mariah insisting on surprising Roger. Vivia's name is lovely and gosh, doesn't Ceevan look handsome when he grows up!

    If you want any of my sims feel free, I don't think I've uploaded my current youngsters yet, but if you want any of them I can upload them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had a lot of fun with that, so I'm really glad you enjoyed it too. Yaaaaas! I love how handsome he is! It makes me happy. <3

      I will for sure be grabbing Dory! I've always thought she's so pretty! And I've got an eye on several others of yours as well. ;)

      Delete
  7. I'm late to the baby party but I swear it's (at least in parts) due to Blogger's eating of my comments/not recognizing my wordpress profile. Which happens a lot lately. Can't comment on Urunwa's blog at all anymore, for instance.

    Three babies all at once! Oh lawd. I have to admit, I don't really like having lots of kids either. It's fun to see the different genetics, other than that... no. The twins will be beautiful, obviously, Ceevan is probably my favourite just based on looks.

    I had a friend who called her unborn baby Mötley, and her grandmother wouldn't understand what she said, so she asked "Why is she calling her belly mört?", which is Swedish for minnow. So even after he was born he was called Minnow for a while before they settled on a real name. They even considered naming him Minnow, as a middle name, but then didn't (thank the lawd). It would have been pretty funny though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gah! That sucks! *kicks blogger. *kicks blogger again for good measure. Stupid Blogger.

      Yeah. I set it up this way too. Obviously thinking it would be a toddler and a baby, though. So I'm kicking myself. At least that's it for babies though. Yes! I love how Ceeven came out. Not that I don't love Dove and Vivia's looks, but Ceeven. <3 He makes me happy. lol

      Lol! That's awesome! I have a cousin and an aunt who no one remembers what their actual names are because of that. Though neither of them have one as good as Minnow.

      Delete
  8. I'm so sorry for taking so long to comment! I enjoyed this chapter far more than I probably should've. I love Mariah. She's simply brilliant. XD

    Vivia is gorgeous! I'm going to go ahead and say I also think she's prettier than Dove. I think she's going to be an interesting character to follow.

    I don't have a lot of sims up for download, but I would love to see Mia running around in your town. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No! It's fine! Life happens. lol. Yay! I enjoyed it a lot too. It's nice to do something fun and happy for the characters and it's right up Mariah's alley to think this was something to keep from him as a surprise. lol. She's such a mess. Ha!

      Thank you! I love her bunches and she's going to be a handful I think.

      Oooo! Mia! I... um... already have her in my bin. =D She's soooo stunning! I had to when you put her up. I've been super excited to see her and her beautiful genes in town. <3 Thank you for her!

      Delete
  9. I love it! Mariah has blossomed and grown! She's handling surprise twins alot better than I would have! And I loved how mischievous she was when she showed the twins to Roger!! :)

    You are going to have a hard time picking your heir!! Dove and Vivia and absolutely beautiful. Ceevan is so handsome - there's a lot of Roger in him!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mariah is really finding herself now she's not having to take care of her mom, but has someone she's meant to mother instead. lol. Boy, that was confusing. She always resented how the roles were reversed with her own mom, but she grew into that mother mentality very early. So this is something that feels natural to her, and she thrives on that and loves how her love is returned through her kids.

      Oh gosh yes! Those three are going to make choosing tough for sure!

      Delete
  10. Don't know if that was the right way to spring that on Roger. He was already afraid for her.
    LOL twins. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PFfft. Nope. Deffo not the right way to spring that on Roger. lol. Poor guy thought he was about to see afterbirth or dead baby or something else signalling she'd lost her mind.

      Yeah. There's laughter now. Not so much then. Ha! xD

      Delete
  11. Oooh, Ceeven and Vivia are going to look stunning! Aren't you glad you had surprise twins now? I actually think it's kind of nice that Roger got twice as many kids with Riah as that jerk Andre did - even if you sound like you still favor Dove :D

    I like the way you're handling the single parent roll (I'm just assuming that this is what it is now). Roger is not a completely absent dad - he does care a lot - but the work still falls to Riah. Good idea!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vivia really started talking to me a LOT about here. And then things happened in other simmers games and she's... yeah. I'm so happy she happened now! <3 I'll always love my Dove, just because she was the first time I attempted 'something' in game and I love that I did.

      LOL. Who says it's single??? Maybe he's just hiding in the bathroom? O_o. lol. xD

      Delete