#skipjr

[pixuou]

Beau, using Darren's painting easel to commemorate a rare moment in time when he and Junior played together in the garden without nagging each other.

[pixuou]

Brandi: The summer holidays are coming up, and I could use a hand with the boys.

Dustin: Mum, you work evening shifts, and Darren stays home, when even would you be needing childcare you didn’t need during the school year?

Brandi: It’s not really about watching over them, sure, we can watch over them, but they’re active kids, they’ll get so bored in the house all summer, I’m just looking for some activities for them.

Dustin: Active kids? Don’t make me laugh, Beau will be entertained for literal weeks inside just watching Darren paint flowers on a canvas.

Brandi: Well, that’s exactly why I want to get him outdoors! He needs to make some friends and move his body a little. And Junior needs something to tire him out. If they both stay indoors together, Junior will just torment Beau all day.

Dustin: What do you need from me? I have my own life, and I can’t just bring them over to Angela’s parents’ house with me…

Brandi: I was thinking maybe you could take them to the beach from time to time, or to the football fields. You have a car now. Remember, ours got stolen.

Dustin: You absolutely don’t need a car to go to the football fields, there are ones within walking distance.

Brandi: But they need someone to go with them. They’re 8 and 12, I can’t let them go on their own.

Dustin: I was walking everywhere on my own at 8!

Brandi: No, you weren’t! For one, the playground is not “everywhere”; for two, times have changed! It’s more dangerous for kids out there now.

Dustin paused for a second. He knew the real reason he spent so much time on his own as a child was because his parents preferred to do other things and didn’t care that much about where he was. He knew if he brought this up to his mother now, she would get defensive and say it was just because they trusted him, when in reality, it was negligence. And if the argument got heated, she would go on a tangent about how they were poor and too young and still did the best they could. What really annoyed Dustin about these excuses is how he thought Brandi just couldn’t be honest with herself – she still couldn’t admit to herself even after all this time that Skip had always been a bad influence on her, and becoming a teen mum wasn’t what she wanted or planned, but rather something that she felt she had no control over and just had to go along with. As time went on and Dustin saw his mother give Beau and Junior the attention and care he never got from her, in a nice suburban house with a patient, present and kind husband, he realized just how vulnerable Brandi had always been to the circumstances, but how deep in denial she still was about it. It would have been so easy – Dustin thought – for her to use her late husband as a scapegoat now whenever a discussion demanded blame to be thrown around, but she never hesitated to come to his defenses. In fact, Dustin had a theory that maybe – despite being married to a good man now – Brandi was still deluded by her love for Skip, and maybe, but just maybe, the reason she kept asking Dustin to help out with the boys was because she saw his father in him, and by having him fulfill these parental duties and keeping him close to the little ones, it was a bit like Skip was still there, watching over his children with her.

[pixuou]

And Gordon King is back. The wanted burglar took a couple things from the Broke-Dreamers, including the family's brand new car they could finally afford after a long time saving up, and then got away, by feet, ironically. I guess you could say they really are just broke dreamers at this point.

Darren: Son of a... My favourite own painting! And now that llamawooer is going to sell it himself and get rich from it!

[pixuou]

Skip Junior turns 6 and ages up to a child!

Now he can play console games with his stepdad too.

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[I saw someone maybe on Twitter name their unborn baby Broke the same thing I did, Skip Broke Jr., and they were calling him just Junior, and sadly I don't remember who it was so I can't give credit but I'm totally going to steal this idea and refer to him as Junior from now on, sorry! It just makes perfect sense.]

[pixuou]

Sunday lunch family reunion with the eldest boys and their girlfriends.

Brandi: I have some quick and easy recipes perfect for college meals, let me show you some!

Angela: Thank you but I already have a repertoire of recipes of my own. And the others say I'm a good cook!

[pixuou]

Despite Mortimer's "offer" to him, Darren had no intention of leaving Brandi and his new family. Cassandra may have been a flame in his life, but Brandi was safety and comfort. And he wouldn't do to Brandi what Don has to Cassie.

And imagine how mad Darleen's ghost would be if she saw Darren move on to yet another woman!

[pixuou]

Dustin quickly realised that the arrival of little Skip meant that more responsibility fell on him when it comes to taking care of his little brothers, especially Beau. He wanted to make sure he didn't feel excluded or left behind now that he was the middle child and Brandi focused her attention on Skip. As much as he loved his brothers, Dustin kept growing frustrated from time to time – he was the only breadwinner of the family and he also had to keep his grades up because he dreamt of going to college. Suddenly having to act like a parent meant he had no time left for friends and barely any for his girlfriend Angela. Seeing as the family barely had enough money for bills and for a new crib for Skip, Brandi mentioned to Dustin that she was considering taking up a job herself.

Dustin: You can't leave the house while I'm not home during the day, Mum... we really can't afford to hire a nanny.

Brandi: I know, but I was thinking of like a night job... or an occasional one, where I could go whenever I had the chance.

Dustin: Do those even still exist around here?

Brandi: Yeah, my friend Nina just told me about this one she did a day at, the elementary on the corner often needs playground monitors, you don't need to have much experience or a lot of commitment for that...

Dustin sighed. If Brandi was to leave for work on the afternoons he had off, that would mean he'd have to stay home locked in with the kids. There was just no way out for him – it was either work or... unpaid work.

[pixuou]

Children grow up in what feels like a heartbeat. Brandi quickly started noticing Skip's thick blonde hair growing out at a fast pace, just another one of those things that reminded her of her late husband. [I accidentally chose the same hair for him older Skip had as a toddler in The Sims 3 and it just makes perfect sense].

Beau grew into Dustin's old clothes and was ready to start elementary school, excited to learn and see more of the world than the inside of their refurbished trailer. Bored at home, he often picked up books and the newspaper to look at the letters he couldn't even read yet.

"Tell me what good news did you read?" – Brandi often joked with him. Beau would always make up some silly story about monsters and superheroes and pretend he could make his mum believe him.

Dustin and Brandi upgraded Dustin's old bed with an upper part and a ladder so that Beau had a place to sleep in Dustin's room and they got to sell his toddler crib at the flea market. "It's okay, it's not too long until I get to move out for college anyway..." – Dustin told himself to make peace with even more of his personal freedom being taken away.