Days 59-61. A Growing Family

The morning after Arthur moved out, Ophelia felt a little depressed and she decided it was time to go out to the park and meet some new people.  She kept a sharp lookout for interesting features because she was ready to continue her experiments.  To her great surprise, she was able to find three men with amazing skin colors–and they had just moved to Sunset Valley.  Their names were Bradley Blue, Garrett Greene, and Rory Redd.  Each of them had been born with the skin colors they had, and that made Ophelia very happy because such a trait might actually be inheritable.  She was also happy to meet a local fireman named Agustin Proctor, and thought he might be able to give her another shot at a child with a dark skin color.

Ophelia’s crops were doing well, and Einstein kept getting great opportunities around town that allowed him to earn extra cash, so they purchased a trampoline.  It was supposedly for the children, but Ophelia was amused to find Einstein on it almost as often as any of the kids.

Even with Arthur gone, the house never felt empty.  There were simply too many children for that!  The twins were so close to each other that they didn’t often talk to Conrad, so he started playing with little Delores.  Ophelia was sure that it was only because the twins were so much older than him–he’d only reached childhood, and they were about to grow into teens.

On Thursday, Ophelia decided to visit Arthur at his father’s house–but when she arrived, he wasn’t there!  Arthur Sr. informed her that Arthur Jr. had decided to move in with his high school sweetheart, Trish, instead.  Ophelia was shocked because Arthur Jr. hadn’t even told her this.  She knew that he was an adult now, and able to do as he pleased, but she’d hoped he’d still let her know about the big changes in his life.

Ophelia called Arthur as soon as she got home.

“When did you plan to inform me that your address had changed, son?” she asked in a stilted tone.

“Oh!  Mom, I’m so sorry!  I’ve just been so busy with the move and getting a job.  I was going to tell you today, I swear!” Arthur said, obviously amused.  He’d moved in with Trish and her family because he’d just started a job in the medical profession, and her family’s house was next to the hospital.

Ophelia felt a little better about that, until he told her that he and Trish had married.  Ophelia was happy for him, but sad that she’d only found out after it had happened.  She almost told him so, but shook her head at herself–she was acting like a sentimental ninny, instead of the rational, focused scientist she once was.  She wondered if being a mother simply did that to a person?

Tripping over her bruised feelings prompted Ophelia to go out and make some real progress on her experiments.  She rode her bicycle across town and made her way to Garrett Greene’s front door.  When he answered and let her in, Ophelia noticed that he had company–some strange man (in a speedo, no less) and a toddler.  Ophelia offered to come back some other time, but Garrett insisted she stay.

Ophelia began to regret staying when Garrett tried to kiss her right in front of his guest!  She staved him off and felt horrible, because if they had been alone that would have been exactly what she wanted to happen.  But Ophelia was all too aware that she was a married lady now, and she had to be more discreet.

Maybe Garrett’s guest could tell something a little strange was up, because he picked up his toddler and left almost immediately after the incident.  Ophelia could only hope that the man wasn’t the type to spread rumors.

While Ophelia was trying to woo Garrett, her twin daughters were turning into teens!  Bianca was the first to have her birthday, and she had been playing in the sprinklers in Ophelia’s garden at the time.  She wondered where her mother was as she inspected her new frame critically.

Beatrice’s birthday took place in the bathroom, just as she’d finished a bath.  She looked very much like Bianca, save for the hair color.  It was certainly obvious that the girls were twins when they wore their hair the same way.

“This will never do.” Beatrice said to Bianca, when she came running into the bathroom moments after she’d aged up.

“No, it absolutely won’t!” Bianca said.  The girls resolved to do something to differentiate their appearances the next day.

Meanwhile, Ophelia had completely forgotten that it was the twins’ birthday.  She was much too busy making out with Garrett in his bathroom.  Once his guest had left, Ophelia used her hard-won charisma skills to rouse his romantic interest.  She suggested a few times that they go to the bedroom, but Garrett had turned her down flat.  She decided to give him a bit more time, and left for home.

After school on Friday, Bianca and Beatrice had both changed their hairstyles and gone shopping for new clothes.  Beatrice’s clothing choices favored comfort and practicality–and she’d chopped her longer hair off.  She’d inherited Ophelia’s bad vision, and she chose glasses over contacts because she just couldn’t wrap her head around the idea of intentionally sticking something in your eye.

Besides, her glasses could double as goggles while she honed her mechanical skills at an invention table.  She loved getting out of school early because that meant she could spend more time inventing.

She learned the hard way, however, that inventing is not without its risks.

Bianca was too busy chatting up Sam Rider on the phone to help her poor sister out.  She’d decided to let the reddish hair that she’d inherited from her father flow in waves and curls, and her look was decidedly more feminine.

“Sam, you’ll never believe what just happened–Beatrice just caught her butt on fire.  No joke.” Bianca laughed.

As Beatrice climbed out of the shower, she wondered how in the world she’d managed to catch her butt on fire, of all things.  Her hair she could certainly understand, but her rear end?  It didn’t make any sense.

Ophelia was out of the house as usual when Beatrice had her little accident, but this time she was visiting her son.  He was extremely happy to see her, because he had some very good news.

“Mom, Trish and I are having a baby!  We found out yesterday, but it was late and I couldn’t call.” Arthur announced.

“That’s wonderful, Arthur!” Ophelia said.  She could hardly believe her luck.  Her studies of Sim genetic inheritance could be expanded to include the offspring of the next generation!  Ophelia couldn’t be happier.

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