Changes

July 2027

Cyd Roseland is 31; Susan Roseland is 37; Oliver is 3.

Danni Bertino is 17; Pauline Bertino is 16; Kevin Waters is 17; Dennis Waters is 16.

If you had asked them during her pregnancy, Susan and Cyd would have said that they expected some changes.

Some were changes they'd chosen to make for themselves, like moving into a bigger house.



They had four bedrooms now, a far more spacious living area, a yard for Oliver and his future siblings to play in, and even a large basement.

They knew the changes would be hard on Oliver, leaving the only home he'd ever known and no longer being an only child. They tried to make it easier for him in any way they could think of. He was really in to ships and pirates, so they decided it was worth spending a little extra to ensure he'd be happy with  his new bedroom.

The changes were hard on Porthos too - they were near the woods, and it took to get used to their new 'neighbors'

Some of their changes were a little more unexpected. They'd had a bit of time for extra preparations - they had, after all, known for some months that they were expecting twins.

They'd kept the news to themselves, partly because they liked the idea of having a secret, and partly for the fun of seeing friends' reactions when they met Susana and Lydia for the first time.

"Better you than me," Helen said.
"You'd love it," said Susan.

"No, I wouldn't. Really. One at a time is enough."

But even two at a time wasn't enough for Susan. Some time before the babies were born, she had started caring for friends' children during the day. She loved being around children, and it gave them a little extra money.

She continued this after the twins were born, even if it was extremely hard to juggle the needs of two or three active toddlers and two crying babies.

"How's your day going?" Cyd asked.

"What?" said Susan. "I can't hear you."

Fortunately Oliver was well able to entertain himself, as he was somewhat neglected in the confusion.

Susan always made a point of making it up to him by spending time together - no babies - on the weekend.

Cyd's pet shop was doing well.

The high school student he hired to work weekends was leaving for college in a few weeks. Cyd could now justify hiring someone full-time in her place.

Dee didn't have much experience with animals, but she had worked retail before. She also had a young baby, but the baby's father worked mostly at night so Dee was able to take the job without having to worry about childcare.

As much as she was looking forward to college, Danni would miss the shop.

It was her first job and she loved the animals, and all the people she met and chatted to.

After her last shift, Kevin took her out.

They were old enough now to go to bars legally, and she was impressed with the confident way Kevin ordered drinks for them, as if he had been doing it for years.

Then they spent the rest of the evening singing karaoke.

Danni's sister and Kevin's brother were also a couple.

"Aren't you even upset that your sister is leaving for college," Dennis asked.
"Why would I be?" asked Pauline. "I've known for years that she'd go, and she'd looking forward to it. It's not like she's going somewhere unhappy or anything."

"I don't know," he said. "Everything is changing. Kevin's going to college, and Dad has a girlfriend... "

...and... what if they get married or something?"

"Are you worried she'd take your mother's place?"
"Not really... I mean, it's been years, and I don't mind if Dad finds someone else."
"So what's wrong?"

"She has a daughter. I've never lived with a girl before. It just feels weird."

"We're not that strange!"

"You're not, anyway... "

----

That evening, Cyd tidied up after dinner, with some help from Oliver...

... which gave Susan a bit of quiet time to herself.

She enjoyed the quiet while she could, she had so little of it lately. With new babies, even the nights were full of activity.

Susan didn't care. She loved spending time with her children, especially when they were this little. She knew that it wouldn't last for long.

They would grow and more things would change, but for now, she was happy with things exactly the way they were.

----

Well, that was exhausting!

Because Susan was already pregnant in TS2 and you can't speed up pregnancies in TS3, I used the 'instant baby' feature of Master Controller. It asked me the gender of the baby and I picked random, then it asked how many babies. I was going for best of three, but my first two rolls (from two different random number generators) gave me twins, so I guess it was meant to be. Makes sense in story too, as there are twins already in Susan's family (her mother was a remarried Mary Sue Pleasant).

The game also picked their names, and they're perfect - Susana for Susan, of course, and also for her mother, and Lydia works as a shout-out to my other favorite game :) .

She's my first sim in the Daycare career, although she's yet to decide that in-story. With Family Orientated and Nurturing traits, she's ideal for it, and I chose their house with that in mind. I made some minor alterations, including putting in a door to lock them out of the basement, until they decide in-story to turn it into an official daycare. I was worried her laziness (Couch Potato trait) would get in the way but she never stopped moving all day... it was crazy, but fun. I think I'm going to enjoy this career.

Other milestones... the pet shop is the first shop I've started running OFB-style, using the Savvier Seller mod. I tried with Kyle's bookstore when I first moved to TS3, but along with learning the game and recreating my hood, it was too much at one time. Now we're more settled here, I'm trying again. We hired Dee because it seems that you need a clerk in order for the shop to run when the owner's family is inactive. So far, it's not quite working right (problems with opening and closing times), but it's getting there, and I'll be converting all my businesses to the mod now as I play them.