After that deeply emotional moment, we stood there briefly, holding hands like we held onto hope. Out of nowhere, her voice pierced the silence, asking if we could do some more product testing. It was so random and unexpected. All I could do was laugh, and it felt so good. Woohoo was honestly the furthest thing on my mind, but I would never turn her down.
That was one of the most amazing nights we ever had. I think we were both eager and determined to make something happen. Things got a little rough; it was so hot. We woke up the next morning, smiling and smirking, confident we had been successful. I mean, with all that we did, how could a baby not be floating around in there?
But that was a worry for another time. We needed a break from stressing about this baby, and since we weren't able to go to the lake last time, I thought we'd try again. But first, we stopped at our house. I wanted to see it again and make sure it was still available. This time, we walked around the property and peeked in all the windows to get a sense of the house and envision ourselves in it. We even climbed the trellis to the master bedroom balcony.
"I wish we could see the smaller rooms," Sophia said. "I've been thinking about how to decorate the nursery."
"Oh yeah?"
"I don't want to wait until we find out the gender to decorate. I want the whole house done at the same time. And I don't want pink or blue either."
"So gender neutrals? Yellow? Green?"
"Nah, let's go neutral neutral. Shades of beige, wood tones, and a little white."
"Whatever you want is fine with me. This is not my area."
She frowned.
"But you're gonna try, right? I don't want to decorate this entire house by myself."
"Yeah of course! I just meant I don't have style preferences and things, so if you do, I'm cool with it. It was fun shopping with my parents...minus my mom being extra. Can't wait to do it with you."
Her smiled returned, and the entire conversation excited me way more than I expected. Finally, we were in a place where moving into this house would be a reality and not just a dream. A warm energy spread across my body and I couldn't help but shout.
"It's finally happening, Sophia! This is our house!!"
Mama called and invited us over for dinner that night, so Sophia and I discussed whether we would share our news when she inevitably asked us about her grandchildren. We knew she could handle it, and would offer to help any way she could, but we decided to keep it to ourselves for the moment. I didn't enjoy keeping secrets from my mother, but letting the world in felt like defeat at this stage. Sophia had only just begun the treatments. She could be pregnant by tomorrow. It wasn't time to worry everyone, especially when they weren't suspicious yet.
But to both of our surprise, we got through the entire evening without one question or comment about babies. Not even Alessia, who was even nosier, said anything. Without a story to fabricate, we ate in a semblance of peace with our secret between us, hoping one day this would be a distant memory added as a footnote in our story.
Back at home, I caught Sophia sneaking out of the bathroom as I headed for bed. She froze like she got caught stealing when she spotted me, but then the disappointed took over. I sighed, not because I knew what she did in there, but because of her tenacity. I loved how she wouldn't give up despite how much it hurt. But I didn't want her to end every day disappointed if these treatments didn't work, so I grabbed her by the hand and led her into our room.
"It's okay, you know. Maybe it takes a while for it to take effect."
"Or maybe it won't work for me."
"Don't say that. It'll work. And even if it doesn't, it's not the end. We'll just move on to the next thing. Regardless of how it happens, very soon, we'll have our baby, and we'll be in our new house, and everything will be great."
She sighed, nodding in agreement, but I could tell she struggled to believe.
"Is it bad that I hope we don't have to adopt? Does that make me like my parents?"
"Not at all. I think everyone prefers their own blood. It's natural."
"It's just that... You have all these beautiful family ties. There's only me. I don't want my existence to be just a blip on the radar, here one day and gone the next, forgotten and unimportant. I want to leave a piece of me behind so my life matters!"
I couldn't hold it together anymore. The dam broke, and tears flooded my face. I hated how much those idiots who birthed and raised her affected her life. She arguably was the best sim to ever walk the earth; The star in my sky; The light in my darkness; The gummy bear in my pancakes! No one else mattered to me quite like she did.
"Sophia, you do matter! You matter to me! You matter to this family! My life has been a thousand times better because you're in it! And when we're finally able to hold our child, whether it's ours or not, you'll matter to him too! Her. Whoever! You're gonna love the hell out of them, and they'll think you're the best sim on earth. Right?"
She nodded through her tears.
"Yes. I love it so much already! I haven't even met it yet."
a recreation of this moment it was only when I looked at the original post when I realized I left out a little bit of dialogue but it's okay, because I got the heart of the moment there regardless.
Mia: God, Ivan.. you’ve spent this whole holiday moping.
Ivan: Ain’t you s’posed t’be able t’do whatever y’want on vacation?
Mia: [sighs] I guess, but you’re bumming me out.
Ivan: Sorry.
Mia: I’m tryna make you feel better, is all. No one said I was any good at it.
Ivan: Thanks for tryin’-.. you’re doin’ pretty good.
Mia: I reckon you just needed some time to think, y’know? You can sit down n’ hash it all out once you get home.
Ivan: I know him well enough by now t’know he’ll be gone by the time I get back. I’m done, either way-.. he made his choice n’ it ain’t one I can get behind.
Mia: Well, it’s hard to understand without the full story but I’ll take your word for it.
Ivan: I thought about askin’ him t’marry me at one point…
Mia: Why didn’t you?
Ivan: Maybe I could tell his heart wasn’t in it by then-.. maybe it was daft t’think we actually wanted the same things. I dunno if I’m even surprised the more I think about it.
Mia: Don’t think about it then.
Ivan: Easier said than done, ‘specially with Tilda rubbin’ salt in the wound-.. gallivanting all over the place with Triss.
Mia: I’m sure you’ll find someone else to gallivant with one day.
Ivan: Nah, I’m fuckin’ cursed.
[Mia sighed as Ivan launched into a self-deprecating tirade about his miserable love life and the many, many failed relationships and subsequent breakups he’d been through that were all his fault. By the time he’d reached his teens, she’d had enough]
Ivan: Oi, I’m talkin’ here!
Mia: You’re ranting.
Ivan: I was singin’ your praises for helpin’ a second ago n’ now y’fuckin’ off?
Mia: Cutting this pity party short is helping, so keep singin’ em!
Ivan: [scoffs] It ain’t a pity party.
Mia: Time heals all wounds, you’re amazing, you’ll find someone else-.. byeeeee.
Ivan: Tch, not likely.
Pixie: What?
Ivan: Nothin’, petal.
Pixie: This couch smells rank.
[Ivan chuckled as his imitating lil lady joined him, fond as always-.. maybe none of it mattered as long as she was happy]
Ivan: It really does, huh?
Sophia tended to the tree and went back inside. She didn't speak to me, and that was perfectly fine. I saw everything I needed to see and knew we would be okay no matter how our situation resolved itself. The worse case scenario might hurt for a while, but in the end, we'd be okay because we were strong.
After yoga, I harvested the tree to see what we were working with. It gave me §8,000 in cash! I couldn't believe it. At that rate, we could move into our new house within a day or two! That was enough to make me very happy and push me through the day. It certainly propelled me through my jog.
I thought about all the possibilities as the wind tussled my hair. We could cover several rounds of fertility treatments, IVF, and adoption fees with just one harvest! The world was truly our oyster.
When I got back home, Sophia greeted me at the door again in much better spirits. Actually in very high spirits from the way she was looking at me, if you know what I mean.
"I started the treatments this morning," she said.
"Oh...that's great."
She stepped closer to me, sending a surge of energy you know where.