Zoysia missed her Aunt Iris’ reassuring presence with her in the garden. When she got that hollow, shaky feeling as if the big empty sky was about to suck her out into space, Iris could calm her with a word or a gentle squeeze of her hand. How had none of them even known she was sick? The house wasn’t the same without her.
As she hurried to tend to the plants before it got any darker, Zoysia’s thoughts wandered to her other worries. Rogelio had been acting very strange since Iris’ death. Of course, grieving was to be expected, but he was jumping every time someone walked into the room or called his name. He even refused to go visit his brothers and sisters with Camellia when she went to invite them to the birthday party, and that wasn’t like him. He’d always enjoyed going over there for game night.
Ah, the birthday party! Even as big as her belly was getting with their second child, Zoysia and Kurtis had gone all out to make it a festive occasion for the double birthday party. It wasn’t so much for Kurtis, although it wouldn’t hurt his career to invite a few coworkers over, but more for Ivy. The day Iris died, Ivy had cried like a lost soul in her crib, and no one seemed to be able to do anything to comfort her. Zoysia hoped that bringing a little joy into the household again would wipe away those horrible memories from her daughter’s young mind.
Zoysia wasn’t only worried about the older and younger generations; there were also some strained situations in her own generation. Camellia refused to give up on her feelings for commitment-phobic Oscar, and she ended up exasperated once again by their encounter at the party.
And then there was Violet. Zoysia had let her twin sister be her own guide, even when it led her to the bad part of town.
She just couldn’t believe that Violet really was up to no good, until she got a call from the police station one night.
Zoysia went down to bail her sister out, but Violet said she had to stay overnight. Zoysia’s eyes flew open wide, but before she could faint or scream, Violet motioned the police officer over to have a quiet word with them. Violet explained that she had worked her way into the criminal element of Legacy Valley in order to find out the details of their plot to undermine the local sports league, make off with huge amounts of money, and destroy the morale of the town. The local police force had been watching her and decided to arrest her in front of some of the suspected plotters to give Violet some street cred.
Zoysia was astonished but had to admit she was proud of her brave sister. They hugged as best they could through the bars, and Zoysia went home to dream of bars – bars on cribs, bars on jail cells, and lines of pawns marching through them. She awoke in the middle of the night when the marching pawns turned to marching pain.
It was well into the day when Kurtis brought Zoysia and their new baby Nandina home from the hospital. Their little girl showed signs of being an active child as she wiggled in her blanket and waved her little arms happily at everybody before going to sleep.
Kurtis could tell that Zoysia was tired, and he gently embraced her and told her to get some rest, that he would keep a loving eye on their daughters while she slept. Their lives were getting busier yet sweeter.
The proud papa checked in on Nandina as she slept and then watched Ivy play with the peg box. He would have joined her, but she seemed most content when left to figure things out by herself.
Unfortunately, daddies didn’t get the luxury of paternity leave after welcoming a precious new family member, so a babysitter had to be hired. The Foliages had a long history with the Valley’s best babysitting agency, but the one they sent over this time was not exactly the most confidence inspiring.
To say that he danced to the beat of his own drum was no exaggeration – he even danced when there was no music at all!
And he was forever striking poses as if he thought paparazzi were after him. Violet finally decided to have a word with him, but she wasn’t sure it did any good. It seemed as if the top three words in his vocabulary were “babe,” “cool,” and “howYOUdoin’.”
Zoysia enjoyed taking care of her children, and she tried to be there for them anytime they needed anything, but she couldn’t keep from missing her chess matches. She knew her girls were bright, but it was hard to find the same mental stimulation in diapers and peg boards that she found in competing in the chess league. Maybe one day soon she could get back in the circuit again.
She knew that Camellia was frustrated with her slow progress toward her life goals, too, as she was not getting promotions as often as she liked.
She didn’t let that stop her, though. She made a point to chat with her boss every chance she got, and made sure to tell him about a certain opportunity she had received through the Valley Organic Gardeners and Diners Association.
When she told her boss about the cheese seedlings she was coaxing from the soil, he seemed impressed (finally!) and gave her the long awaited promotion! Not much farther now til her dream would come true!
Meanwhile, Violet was moving up in the ranks of the rabble. Zoysia hated the way Violet had to dress to fit in with them, but then Violet had always had a strange sense of style.
If it kept her secrets safe and maintained their trust in her, Zoysia didn’t mind if she wore purple antennae or shiny space boots! Just as long as her sister was safe, skulking around out there in the dangerous places of the night.
Those were the times that Zoysia depended on Kurtis to keep her mind off her worries…
… and he always seemed to know just how to turn her attention to more positive things.
—
Cheese plants!!!!!!! Squeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!
The word normalcy is always so weird to see written down (well it’s weird to hear as well but even weirder in writing). You Americans and your crazy words 😉
Nandina is a lovely name.
I’m glad Zoysia isn’t too mad at Violet – she’s no Daisy, after all.
Poor Camellia 😦
😀 Scrambled eggs with cheese in the garden!
Yeah, funny words! I wonder where we got them. 😉 (Seriously, do you not use “normalcy?” Do you say normalness? Or normality? Now that I think of it, we talk about abnormalities. I wonder why not normality? Hmmm.)
I’ve been saving the name Nandina for a while. It has two convenient nicknames as well as being a lovely shrub.
We’d say normality. Normalcy sounds very weird in a British accent, as do several American pronunciations. I went to see a game of roller derby at the weekend, which we would pronounce darby, and the announcer pronounced it durby as the Americans would. That did not sound right in a British accent at all.
You don’t have abnormalcy then?
We don’t have abnormalcy. Doctors talk about seeing abnormalities in xrays and cat scans.
The idea of roller derby in Great Britain is kind of funny to me, pronunciation aside! Is it as brash and crash there as it is here, or is it entirely different?
What a lovely chapter!
I always giggle when I see a patty growing on a plant.
Glad to know that Rogelio isn’t quite himself. Miserable jerk.
I so hope that Camilla will do better in the man department than her mama did!
Oh, love the situation with Violet. Such a clever girl and it’s good Zoysia is in the know too now.
LOL at the babysitter. It’s just the kind of guy Atozee would love to meet.
Yay for Camilla moving up the ladder. Those scientist clothes are so yikes! Can’t wait to see her in cool green shades and microwaved hair!
Oi, oi! Is that a mini foliage on the way??? 🙂
Those patties are actually left from Reed’s reign. ~sniff~ They were the last. But maybe Cam will do something about that soon. She has a lot going on, though.
Violet has a different way of thinking about things, and it’s good that she has a twin so someone has a tiny chance of understanding her.
If I could, I’d send that babysitter to see Atozee. He’s really hysterical with all his poses. I haven’t discovered all his traits yet, but I’m sure they’d make a great WYD momma!
Poor Zoysia! She’s so busy and now she has to worry about Violet penetrating the criminal underworld and weird babysitters…thank goodness she has Kurtis to get her to think about other things. 😉
Yay for Camellia’s promotion! It does start to drag the higher up they get…
Rogelio….man. *shakes fist* I wonder if the guilt will give him away?
That babysitter is pretty amazing…I think he’d make a wonderful daddy for Atozee too!
Lovely update! 🙂
Yes, Kurtis didn’t get a very large role in this update, but I’m pretty sure he enjoyed the part he did play. 😉
Camellia has the hardest time getting promotions of any sim I’ve ever played. I’m not sure what the problem is, because she’s a green thumb, outdoor-loving angler in the science career!
I wonder why they decided on those particular uniforms. The criminal one especially doesn’t look good unless their thin.
Yay on the cheese.
A third baby then? Are they on a boy hunt?
I don’t know, Pink. They don’t seem to necessarily match with the title of each level, either. Now that you mention it, I’ve never seen a really obese criminal sim. I guess that’s why the career requires athletic skill – so they can look good in the uniforms! 😉
Maybe… here, have some apple pie! 🙂
Hey DB! Thanks for reading my blog – I’m glad to see that Boolprop got me some new readers 😉
I want to say your blog is beautifully formatted. I haven’t read this update yet, but I plan to start from the beginning right now and begin reading.
Just thought you’d want to know 😉
FortA
Yay! Make yourself at home. 🙂
Your Craig Greene story is great! I really should have been asleep last night, but I couldn’t quit reading it. I’m glad you posted it on Boolprop so more people can enjoy it.
Thank you very much. And don’t be humble – your story is amazing, too!
haha, what a funny babysitter! I always forget to hire one and end of making the social worker all angry. (Although she’s never taken any kid.)
Awww, I love how you describe babies. Makes me want to take one of those little blanket worms and snuggle them.
Wonderful legacy, I will add you to my blogroll lickity split.
Adele
Welcome, Adele! Thanks for the add!
The little “blanket worms” are weird looking until you get close in on them or focus on the interactions their family has with them. They grow up pretty quickly, really. Does the social worker not always take the kids when she/he comes, then?
[…] Previous chapter […]