Chapter 1.6 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 1.8

Generation One: Black

Appearance: Black hair, siren-like clothing style
Traits: Evil, Non Committal, Kleptomaniac
Aspiration: Renaissance Sim
Occupation: Collector/Random careers of choice
House Goal: 10,000 worth

Volcanic Words

It’s Winter. So it rains. A lot. I could change it, but there’s no need to be outside.. because the kids seem to take up all of our time. Adding the second child may have been a little premature, but we’ll get by.

Kimber is utterly adorable. And so easy to take care of. She sleeps most the time, and only wakes for bottles and diaper changes. It’s chasing after Austen that takes the longest. He’s always into something.

Lately, what he’s into is making messes. Everywhere. Yesterday, it was in the garden. Who knows where it’ll be today.

I’m still working on my skills for my aspiration. And waffling about changing my job. I know I need to.. but the money is so good. And I want to see space. You know, just once. So I continue to wait.

Rangi has turned out to be such a great dad, taking over when I need time to work on my skills. Which is quite a lot of the time. I try to ease his burden by taking care of Kimber when she cries, but he often gets there first. Maybe he’s just faster.

Austen is learning new things all the time. He may very well grow up to be a Top Notch Toddler, but he has a few more skills to gain before we’ll know for sure.

… And.. apparently.. a few more messes to make. Just can’t keep that kid contained.

Mom stopped over today, and I was so glad to see her. It gave her a chance to meet the next generation’s heir.. and to get to know Austen a little better.

Austen, however, didn’t seem to be interested in socializing. Little Mr. Grump had other ideas of what sounded like a good time.

.. Like playing! I’m sure Mom understood that I had to put Austen’s needs first, and talk to her later. It’s not like she didn’t raise three kids herself.

So Rangi took some time to get to know his mother in law better. I’m glad they seem to get along.

Then.. the worst thing possible happened.

“What in the WORLD is that?! Why is everything shaking??”

… The sky was falling as the volcano erupted yet again. Lava feel from the sky and the whole world went crazy.

“My baby!!!! Austen’s still outside!!!” I screamed. (The broken plumbing from the aftershock barely registered. It could be fixed later.)

Rangi ran to get Austen, who was just standing around, watching the show.

.. And Mom stomped inside, determined to give me a piece of her mind.

“How could you endanger my grand-kids by living so close to the volcano?? WHAT made you pick THIS place, of all the lots available in Sulani!!” she yelled.

I tried to explain that it really wasn’t all that dangerous, but she just wouldn’t listen.

She went on and on about me putting the kids at risk, and how we should move.

.. And I could barely get a word in edgewise.

Before I knew it, she stomped away, yelling about how she was going to get Vaea involved in this.

Sigh. There’s no way we can afford to move, even if that were possible. So she’s just going to have to learn to deal with it.

All the excitement wore poor little Austen out, however, and I hurried to get him into his bed. It had certainly been a trying day.

Then.. the next day…

… it happened again. This time it nearly took out a wall of the house – Right where little Kimber was sleeping, too! I was at work, and it was Rangi who ran to save Kimber and Austen this time. Luckily, Mom wasn’t around to see, because we would have definitely heard about it.

Little Kimber grew up while I was at work. If that’s not a reason to quit work, I don’t know what is. But she’s adorable. She grew up to be an Independent little scamp, and quickly made it known she wanted to learn her skills on her own.

Austen, on the other hand, still preferred help. And Rangi was more than willing to step in, so long as he knew both toddlers were inside and not out playing with the lava rocks.

I finally got to see space! My promotion to Astronaut was exactly the catalyst I needed. So when I got a phone call on the way home from a man offering me a position in the Entertainment career, closer to home, I jumped at it. There was no need to travel all the way to the SpaceY institute for work anymore.

The promotion also allowed us to expand the house.. which was sorely needed now that we had a second toddler. We expanded the main room, added a hallway so the handiness bench could be inside.. and a second bedroom for Kimber. I finally broke down and bought a dollhouse for the kids, too.

Rangi and I “celebrated”, then I went to make dinner in the newly expanded kitchen. Pan-fried Tilapia. Yum!

Austen took the moment without parental influence to destroy the brand-new dollhouse. Only to break down in tears because it was broken. Kids can be so silly sometimes! I quickly fixed the dollhouse, let the kids finish their dinner, and got both of them into bed.

.. Because there was more celebration to be had. Working closer to home was a big thing.. and not having to work for promotions to get to level three of the job was even better. I thanked my lucky stars for the opportunity… and Rangi agreed.

Things couldn’t be much better. Despite the volcano. Now I just had to get Mom to calm down over the whole volcano thing.. and things would finally be back to normal. Or, as normal as they can be when you live by an active volcano.

Chapter 1.6 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 1.8