2.43 – Babies and a Bit More

Thomas’s PoV

Darlene moved in right after the wedding. She’d been over a lot anyways, but it was still a big deal. I was married! Then she sprung some news on me.

“Hey, honey, can we talk?” Darlene waved me over.

“What’s up?”

“Okay, brace yourself.”

Every bone in my body suddenly liquefied. What’s wrong?! What could be wrong?! Was it something I’d said? No, she’d gone to see the doctor recently…was she sick?! Was it cancer? Oh, god, what if it was cancer?!

“I’m pregnant.”

“What?”

“That’s great!” Oh thank god, it’s NOT cancer!

Then every other thought was pushed out of my head. I’m going to be a father. “Oh god! I need to go read pregnancy books!”

---

Chloe’s PoV

I knew that Thomas would have children at some point. That was something he’d always wanted, particularly with Darlene. I just hadn’t expected it to be so soon. Especially considering that they had only recently been married.

I stared at the room. I’d been working on it for some time now. Darlene’s abdomen had increased in circumference by 24.75 inches. A somewhat excessive amount, but they were expecting twins.

Darlene moving in had not been an issue with any of us. Thomas had been such a support for the last several years, that all our siblings agreed that we would support him in any decision he made going forward. Darlene made him happy. And we all wanted his happiness.

Which was why, as soon as Thomas and Darlene had announced that they were expecting, Medea and I moved all my furniture down to the basement. Lucy and Donovan had drawn up a list of necessary items, then Shaye and I had taken that list down to the store.

The result was a rather pleasing nursery.

I nodded to myself. A job well done. I had told Thomas that I was working on something incredibly unstable in my bedroom and not to go in or allow Darlene anywhere near the door. My words had the desired effect. But now, it was finished. My siblings and I were planning on showing Thomas and Darlene the room today.

But they were out at the moment. Darlene had a check up today, and Thomas had driven her. In fact, no one was really around. Shaye had taken Lucky out to the dog park.

Medea had spent the last week with her young man, Humberto. They were making plans for the future, possibly moving in together soon. Any other moment she spent working out, striving for physical perfection, or training Darlene. Because, why not train a pregnant woman?

And Lucy had mentioned something about visiting the art museum. She’d met a young man recently and taken to him strongly. I knew Thomas was a bit worried about her. After Medea had entered a stable relationship, and Thomas’s wedding, Lucy had spent most of her time on dating websites or with her nose stuck in romance novels. He was worried she had simply latched on to the first available man to come along. I wasn’t particularly concerned. While quite a bit dreamier than the rest of us, Lucy was incredibly resilient. Our years abroad had demonstrated as much.

Donovan spent his nights hunting ghosts and his days tutoring at the elementary school. His career seemed to be going rather well, as the Mayor had awarded him several service awards. And he enjoyed educating children. He sometimes spoke of switching his career to education.

Alone in the house at last. But it wasn’t to continue. My phone buzzed. And the caller ID brought some pigmentation to my cheeks.

“Hello Mortimer!” I couldn’t help smiling. He could always do that. Make me smile, that is, over the most trivial of topics.

After Thomas’s wedding, Mortimer surprised me by showing up at the house one evening.

He began by stating that Thomas had promised to see a performance across town. I had told him that Thomas had recently taken Darlene to the hospital for a checkup since she was pregnant. He had sighed, scuffed his shoe along the pavement, then requested that I attend in Thomas’s stead. I found myself agreeing.

And enjoying myself more than I thought I would. I felt a bit awkward upon learning that it was a Renaissance fair, as I wasn’t outfitted accordingly, but Mortimer made me feel right at home. Besides, seeing him bedecked in leather armor was a rather distracting sight in itself.

We even danced a bit! I’d never danced before.

It became a regular occurrence. Whenever a Sim Fest was being hosted, Mortimer would show up at the house and we would go out and watch.

I found myself neglecting my research, simply to spend the day with him. I wasn’t exactly sure why, but I couldn’t bring myself to look closer at the emotions involved. I was enjoying these moments and didn’t want to risk destroying them with excessive analyzation.

However, the solution did eventually present itself to me. Surprisingly, in the form of Lucy.

“Oh, Chloe! You sound like you’re in love!” She sighed happily and closed her eyes.

“Love? Preposterous! We’re simply good friends.” I’d never really had friends. There was Malcolm, but we had mostly just studied together. And played World of Warcraft, of course. Mortimer felt like that. We played online games together and attended Sim Fests. Certainly nothing like Thomas and Darlene or Shaye and her many friends. Yes, Mortimer is my very good friend.

But now, as I watched Mortimer approach my park bench, I wondered if Lucy might be correct in her hypothesis.

---

Sorry for nothing last week, guys, but last Monday was an important day for me.  My boyfriend and I celebrate a kind of anniversary that day, celebrating the first day I ever played a video game and the end of our first year living together.  But we’re nerds, so we mostly celebrate the first part!  XD

So far, Chloe & Mortimer don’t share any traits, but she’s constantly rolling wishes for him: pillow fight, give gift, learn 3 traits and, more recently, kiss.  😉  We know he’s Grumpy and Artistic, which I find endearing.

Thanks for reading!  ^_^