4.30 For the Children

Charles called on Aunt Shanni as soon as he could get away the next day. He dropped by the Crumplebottom Estate, but Jeanette reported that her mom was at work. Charles dropped by to find her at closing time.

Shanni’s eyes looked empty as he hurried up to her. He suddenly found himself unsure of what to say.

 

“I didn’t expect you to be here,” he said awkwardly. “You don’t need the money. Why don’t you take some time to heal?”

“I’m trying,” Shanni said. Her voice was raw. “It’s just–” She brushed a tear out of her eye almost angrily. “It’s just that work reminds me of Agnes a lot less that home does.”

 

“I’m sorry. You can stay with us for a few days if you need to. You should’t be alone at a time like this.”

Shanni smiled wanly. “I’m not alone. The kids have been wonderful. Especially Jeanette. She’s growing up to be an amazing young woman.”

Then a real smile played on Shanni’s lips. It makes me think of what Agnes said to me when we were getting together. “You’ll do it, and you’ll be the better for it.”

Charles smiled back. “She was usually right.”

Shanni nodded. “And I usually didn’t notice until later. You know thing she said the same day that has helped me through my entire career? ‘The line between trashy and powerful is all about style!'”

 

Shanni was going to be OK.

“Please come home for dinner at least. It’s the kids’ birthday. They’d love to see you.”

Shanni shook her head. “Give them my love. Jeannette and Garry are making dinner, and I think we need some family time.”

 

So the triplets’ birthday was a local family affair, but it was plenty happy for all that.

 

In order of birth, first Forest blew out the candles.

 

 

(Better picture, but without glasses:)

 

Then Hunter.

 

 

Then Sky.

 

 

The partying ran too late on a school night, but eventually Veronica kicked them upstairs to sleep in their newly renovated bedroom.

 

Tomorrow would be a long and exciting day.

 

The next morning, after the hustle and bustle of getting the kids off to their first day of school, Charles heard Veronica calling his name from the yard.

“Oh, Charlllles!” she called. Her voice was almost a singsong.

He found her at the gazebo, engaging in her favorite hobby.

 

“Hey stranger,” she said with a sly smile. “You know, I keep having this dream where we were wicked young things who used to go skinny dipping and worse at all hours of the day. You ever have that dream?”

 

“Once or twice,” Charles admitted.

 

“We did it!” Veronica chortled. “The kids are off to school. Your folks are off at work. We have the whole place to ourselves! It’s been so long I’ve almost forgotten what to do.”

 

“I haven’t,” Charles said. “I’d be glad to remind you.”

 

Veronica sank into his arms with a sigh. “It’s good to get some of our own back.”

 

“They’re great kids,” Charles said, “But I’m looking forward to recovering my hobbies.”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself!” Veronica exclaimed and pulled him down under the water.

——–

Patient readers, the triplets finally grew up!

After the bit with Shanni, which was actually Charles’s failed attempt to get a makeover, I completely redid the lighting at the Salon. I have no idea why nothing I did would make things light up in there. Argh. And now I don’t think there will be another reason for the Samples to go there before they move.

Come to think of it, I had that problem with the dojo when I placed it. There was a lot of lighting in there already, but none of it activated. I had to redo the lighting in there too.

0 thoughts on “4.30 For the Children

  1. Oooh, I am in love with Hunter and Sky!! Forest is cute,too, but I like his siblings a little better. Do you remember where you got Sky's hair from, by any chance?

    I'm glad to see that Shanni is going to be alright after Agnes' death. She seems to be really strong.

  2. Yeah, I thought it was interesting that you brought up Shanni moving in with them because I had a similar thought on how Charles would react. But remember that Shanni isn't alone. Jeannette is almost an adult, and Garry is almost a teen. They both seem like good kids.

    I had a great time making over all the kids to suit their favorite colors and personalities. I love the way all of them came out. The picture of Forest isn't a very good pose, but I think I agree that Sky and Hunter are cuter. I think Hunter is my favorite.

    All the kids' hairs and almost all of their clothes are from the Everyday Kids collection from EA. Since Veronica is black/African American, and that tends to be genetically dominant in the real world, I wanted all the kids to have either dreadlocks, braids, kinky, or very curly hair. This is very hard to find in children's hair for girls and essentially impossible to find for boys. I found ONE set of all-ages male dreads in custom content, and I tried giving it to Hunter, but it was so big it made him look like he would fall over. Hunter's hair is, as far as I can tell, the only dreadlocks for children at all that looks good. I love the fancy braid ponytail that Sky has too.

  3. Oh, yeah, and I like to roll genetics with dice for whether people need glasses, since there's no way for EA to do that. Both Sky and Forest rolled yes for glasses, but then I forgot to give them to Sky. I'm going to deal with it for her when they become teens, but she's probably going to wear contact lenses a lot.

  4. Forest looks so sad in his picture! I love Sky's look, I can see how she and Hunter are the favorites.

    It's nice that the story worked out so Charles could check on Shanni. Family is so important to him that it makes sense that he would worry about her. I'm glad that she's doing well!

    I'll bet that Veronica, in particular, is going to enjoy the kids being off at school… she always was a bad influence on Charles' modesty!

  5. Veronica was always rolling wishes to hot tub, skinny dip, and skinny dip with Charles, but you're not allowed to skinny dip with youngsters on the lot! She sure is a lot happier now that the kids are away on their own sometimes.

    That really is too somber a picture of Forest, and it's not fair because the other pictures are better. I'm putting up the one I took before I remembered he was supposed to have glasses. It's more flattering.

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