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You Are Cordially Invited...
(Not so) quiet reminders of mortality
[Whew, sorry this took as long as it did. Between AGDQ last week and it being the start of the busy season at work, getting the story telling juices going took a moment.]
Time passed pretty peacefully in the Zest-Charm household. Finn had accepted that his mother was an elder, everyone was more than used to and accepting of Teddy's sweaty nature, and Oliver the cat was always around for pets and snuggles.
Johnny and Emilia traded jokes and mixology secrets.
And he tried to keep the paparazzi at bay in order to protect the kids.
And the trio of partners decided to take a Watcher imposed break from continuously serenading one another to work on some puzzles while the kids were at school. Johnny was less befuddled by them than last time.
The boys worked on their homework...
worked on their fitness...
Teddy maxing his out!
and they worked (struggled) on their magic. Looks like Erick took Phoenix's advice to heart!
With prom still inexplicably gone [wn: please vote and comment on this if you can and haven't already], the teens also did what they could to fill their weekends.
Finn was more than happy to hang out with Erick Ember and paint. He was also close to mastering pottery... perhaps it's time to branch out to tattoo sketches?
Teddy... well...
He decided to give bowling a shot while out at the Sweat Shop (a teenage hangout with an arcade, dancing, bowling, and vending machines) with Jax's gamer club.
They were both hilariously bad at it which only served to push the two sweaty competitive boys even further.
After a lot of gutter balls, Teddy managed to get two lucky strikes before the set was ended. Jax raged and swore that he'd beat his boyfriend next time.
The Spice Festival also became a fun outing (that Finn went to as well, I swear) for the boys to hang out with friends, enjoy good food, and engage in a few friendly duels.
Teddy even spent a New Year's Eve with Erick and his family.
Winter was happy to meet him... but not terribly impressed with his competitive tips.
Life in the Zest-Ember household was full of love, light, and laughter.
A bit too much laughter.
The Watcher did not see that Emilia was hysterical until the dreaded notification came up. Darrel was distraught... she had asked him to not resurrect her when she passed, but this was not an old age death.
However, that agreement was with him, and not the kids.
Phoenix had a death flower and confidently presented it to Grim in order to spare his mother.
Emilia was grateful to be brought back, and Finn in particular was happy to not have lost his mom early.
The situation reminded Darrel that a trip to Newcrest was in order...
"It's good to see you again my friend; I'm glad that you decided to stick around."
It would be a few years before him and Johnny would be doing the same with Malcolm Landgraab, and he wondered if Emilia would consider the option herself.
Double Age up!
Dylan and August's son Adrian was a relatively calm baby by newborn standards. Winter had been far more fussy... mostly because she had a very healthy appetite and frequently wanted bottles.
August was still in awe of the little boy. They had never imagined that they'd ever have a child that would be a full alien like themself; and while they never felt truly alone with their little family, having Adrian in their arms made them realize that the newborn filled a part of their life that they didn't know were missing.
The feeling of being the only one, the only undisguised alien they had ever seen, had been buried for years under layers of forced half-hearted acceptance. And now here they were, alone no more.
[WN: If August ever travels to Windenburg, then their whole worldview's going to be rocked by the sheer number of aliens in the Villareal family tree alone.]
Erick was simply happy to have another sibling. He reflected on how he went from figuring he'd never have any actual ones to now having two! He was also glad that Adrian came as quickly as he did so he'd have time with the boy before he graduated. He was still debating on if he wanted to go to university, but there was plenty of time to worry about that... now was the time to finish up high school and hang out with family.
In seemingly the blink of an eye, it was time for Adrian to age up...
A new nooboo
When we left off last time, Dylan was having a revelation:
It wasn't an unfamiliar feeling*, and he and August had decided to actively try for a baby. Still, he was surprised that it happened so quickly.
August was excited that they were already expecting, and the two exchanged name ideas for a while. The two also discussed the best way to explain things to Winter. There was no way she wasn't going to notice her daddy getting "fat", and they didn't want her to be caught off guard with a new sibling either.
As much as August wanted to be there for the discussion, they had to go to work, so Dylan soloed the discussion. He tried to keep it simple, not all daddies could have babies but he could. Her renny and daddy love her very much, and also wanted their cozy little family to be a little bigger. The baby would need a lot of attention whenever it was born, but they would make sure that Winter didn't feel left out.
By the time their talk (and a snack) was done, the unmistakable sound of people coming home could be heard downstairs. There was one other very important person that needed to hear the news.
Dylan was pretty confident that his son would be happy to hear the announcement, but he was touched by how excited ended up being. He really enjoyed being a big brother to Winter and now not only would he have a new sibling to be a big brother to, but he'd also get to teach Winter how to be a big sister.
Everyone made sure to give Winter extra love and attention while answering any questions she may have.
As the pregnancy progressed, Dylan reassured August that he was okay and even invited them to feel the baby knowing they never got the chance to do so with Winter.
August: "You seem so calm... Celeste was tense and angry the whole time."
Dylan: "I suspect that was more of a her thing, but also this isn't my first time so I know what to expect."
It wasn't long before go time was here, and a very panicked August accompanied a more subdued but very uncomfortable Dylan to the hospital. Wait... who's that in the background?
Why, that's Doctor Axel Frost, husband of ace attorney Stephen Landgraab! It's like the game knows we'll be rotating to them soon!
Axel seems very confident in this procedure...
Unfortunately, this is only his second time delivering a baby. It was at this point that August made a hasty retreat to the bathroom to avoid passing out.
Despite a couple of hiccups, the delivery went smoothly and a new nooboo was welcomed into the family.
Dylan had learned with his online research that there would be a chance the baby was a full alien, so he wasn't surprised whenever got to hold Adrian and heard the familiar echo in his little voice.
Once the couple got Adrian home and settled, Winter was eager to meet her little brother. She toddled her way upstairs and happily introduced herself:
Winter: "I'm Winter! I'm your big sister, and we're going to be best friends!"
We've got one more post with our little family here before rotating! It should come out this Friday, 12/5/2025!
*Dylan and Celeste used "magic" (aka the Watcher changing some settings in CAS) to make it to where she could get him pregnant as she didn't want to, so Winter was her first experience with pregnancy and this is Dylan's second time.
Wedding bells and ????
As the wedding QUICKLY drew closer, Winter continued to knock out milestones.
Maxing out her social skill was easy enough, she loves talking and has plenty of people who enjoy listening and talking to her. She also fully learned how to potty and was even "reading" her books!
But she wasn't the only one making some impressive gains.
Erick's gourmet cooking had gotten so good that both August and Dylan asked him to make the wedding cake.
He made two different styles for them to choose from, and was happy whenever they picked out the Sixam inspired one (the colors are his vibe). The happy couple picked out a little ghost couple as a nod to August's horror writings and gothic style.
[WN: There is a cute bat one I almost picked because it has two bats with a smaller one, but that felt like it would exclude Erick, and I knew they wouldn't do that]
Erick's gloom crept up and made him worry that disaster could strike, so he kept the other cake just in case!
The topper was inscribed with a touching message since they planned to keep it on display after the event.
Erick and Takama were now an official couple, and Dylan let his son invite his boyfriend to the wedding both as recognition of this and also because prom had unexpectedly gotten canceled.
Finally! The day was here! And this is where the Watcher would have lovely shots of all the guests except He, in His infinite wisdom, decided to use the benches that Darrel and Johnny already had for seating to make it informal. Apparently, weddings require individual seats for the guests to sit down. Lesson learned.
Kevin not cooperating with his role as officiant was strictly Wedding Stories' fault though.
Regardless of the guest situation, Dylan and August reminded Winter that she'd get to have cake AFTER they were done, and because of this she sat and watched the two the whole time [without a Steady Sit mod either - the toddler was extremely sweet and well-behaved].
The backyard may not have been fancy, but the money trees provided a lovely backdrop for the arch and the vow exchange. Dylan was especially happy because he had always wanted an outdoor wedding, but eloped the first go around after Celeste mentioned she didn't want her dads' celebrity status to cause distractions.
Their vows were simple and short, but reflective on their friendship, love, and the family they had forged together.
The ring exchange went off without a hitch, and August surprised Dylan by sweeping him into a passionate kiss to finish things up.
The two fed each other cake before making sure to grab a slice for Winter who had so patiently waited. She was delighted!
Takama, in an attempt to apologize to the Watcher over the whole seating situation, autonomously cleaned up after everyone proving that he is a keeper for sure.
With the ceremony over and Winter and everyone else very tired, the family + Takama headed back to Glimmerbrook
Aliens, who most assuredly were watching the wedding, abducted poor Kevin. Maybe they wanted to ask him why he didn't officiate like he was supposed to. Thankfully, being an elder, nothing came of it other than an angry moodlet.
Erick and Takama, seemingly oblivious to what just happened, decided to watch the stars together. Maybe they were also keeping an eye out for Kevin?
The next day, August and Dylan started talking about potentially having a honeymoon, but it looks like those plans might change...
👀
Deep Conversations and Wedding Prep!
Erick's part time job was fun at first, but after a while it started bumming him out. There would be no more promotions, the hours were bad, the pay was worse, and it left him very little time to hang out with his family and get his schoolwork done.
Dylan wasn't going to force his son to continue to hold a job that he'd be quitting for something better upon graduating anyway. He knew he could use the time preparing for the job that his Grandpop Darrel had told him about, so Dylan's one request was that Erick spend time with his little sister whenever he wasn't doing schoolwork or skill building.
Not only were Erick and Winter happier with the arrangement, but it made Grandpa Kevin happy as he wanted to make sure he got to spend more time with the boy while he could.
Wedding planning was underway, and August had an important question for Dylan...
August: "I know we wanted a small family only wedding, but would you be comfortable with me inviting Darrel and Johnny?" Dylan: "I don't mind, but why?"
Their reasons were very personal, and they didn't want to risk the kids overhearing and being upset, so they asked if Dylan minded talking about it outside. After a bit, August started to speak:
"Darrel and Johnny are the closest I have to family besides what I have here. They befriended me whenever I was with Celeste, and were there for me whenever everything that happened with her... happened.
You may not have seen one before, but the bassinets the hospitals use for alien newborns have a device inside that allows the sim to send them back to their sire's planet. In case they don't want them...
My parent did that. They pushed the button. They didn't want me.
But the device failed, and the bassinet pod landed in a park in Willow Creek. A passerby saw it, heard me crying, and managed to open it and save me. I was taken to an orphanage and lived there until I aged out of the system.
Whenever I was a child, I was curious about why I was so different and how I got there. An older kid helped me break into the social worker's office at night, and I found my file. That's how I learned all of this."
August was quiet afterwards, but Dylan could feel their sadness. After some time, they quietly spoke again:
"I know that you mentioned that Celeste wanted to reconcile with you, and I don't mind... but I can't. I can't forgive her for abandoning Winter. For making me relive the pain of finding out how I was abandoned. For finding out she did similar to Erick."
Before he could respond, August sounding a little shaken asked, "Dylan, why is the sky like this?"
"The sky shimmers weirdly here because the magic used to conceal and seal a rift between this world and an alternate version of it. It's easier to notice here in Glimmerbrook. If the glamour magic were to ever drop, then you'd be able to see the circle of runes in the sky, the rift, and a glimpse of what we've called PAX-1.
Also, a lot of Sims would panic.
The Sages at the time sealed the rift after an incident where Max Villareal nearly got sucked into it. They managed to cast Duplicato to clone themselves, which the rift swallowed up instead. The cleanup on that was rough - memories had to be altered for the whole household.
Everyone thinks that my paren [Morgyn Ember], Simeon Silversweater, and L. Faba all left the Realm and the sage role for personal reasons, but it was so they could maintain the seal."
After talking, the two stood up and embraced. Dylan made sure to let August know that they didn't have to forgive Celeste.. and maybe he'd think a bit more on reconciliation himself.
The next day, Dylan and August invited Darrel and Johnny over to their house both so they could spend time with Erick and Winter, but also so they could announce their engagement and ask them about the wedding.
Darrel was thrilled that his former son-in-law was getting married and even offered to allow the two to use his back yard as their venue. It was fenced in which meant less random people showing up. Dylan gladly accepted, and then excused himself to tell Erick the good news and also ask him to be his sim of honor. After a quick hug, he found his dad outside and asked him to be the officiant.
Meanwhile, August was catching up with Johnny before asking him to be his sim of honor. He was delighted!
Winter made sure to get hugs from both Johnny and Darrel before they left. She definitely seemed to connect with Johnny more.
[WN: It's fun to see her with them and to know which one of them her various features have come from. Her (and Erick's) eyes match Johnny's, and her (and Erick's) freckles come from Darrel. Her hair color also comes from Darrel]
A couple of days before the wedding, Dylan and August decided to explain to Winter what was going to happen.
Winter: "Wed..ding? Renny*, what is wedding?"
August: "A wedding is a big party where your daddy and I will tell everyone how much we love each other and that we're officially family now."
Winter: "Cake?"
Dylan: "There will be a big cake! Bigger than you've ever seen before!"
Winter: "Yay!!"
With Winter happy, all that remained was making that cake and tying the knot!
*Renny is the parental honorific I am using for August (who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns). Ren would be the formal version of this, and it's derived from the word parent (much like Morgyn's paren is). Renny is on par with Daddy or Mommy.
Milestones galore! Pt 1
While Celeste was learning to love herself, Dylan's household was buzzing with a different level of activity.
Erick had finally worked up the nerve to confess his crush on Takama Aether, and found out that it was mutual! He's not had eyes for anyone else, so will this be a relationship that lasts?
He also got a part time job and was quickly promoted in part due to his cooking skill. He's got home style cooking maxed out, so now he's working on gourmet cooking. Both are needed if he wants to be a food critic, and his Grandpop Darrel recommended learning what he could in advance to make promotions come that much quicker once he was in the career.
Meanwhile, Winter was cruising through her own milestones - though crawling was taking some time. With her birthday coming up, Dylan was taking advantage of his ability to work from home to spend time working with her.
And it was paying off! Winter especially seemed to enjoy standing up and dancing [her dancing was so cute!!].
Dylan wasn't the only one spending time with Winter of course. Erick was trying to be the best big brother he could be making sure to play with his little sister and show her lots of affection. He may not have been sure about having a sibling at first, but now that she's here he couldn't imagine his life any other way.
August and Dylan's relationship was progressing really nicely too with the two of them [on the same day no less] realizing they wanted to have another child.
Other folks had noticed how happy the couple was as well and made sure to lend their thoughts on the matter.
August wanted to propose, but there was one person they wanted to speak to first.
August wanted to make sure to speak with Erick about the proposal first even if they felt that he would be okay with it.
The teen wasn't surprised at all about their wanting to take the relationship with his dad to the next level, and he was happy to give his blessing to the sim who not only made his dad happy, but also made sure that he never felt ignored.
A week later, the day before love day, it finally happened - Winter learned how to crawl! Her newfound mobility meant she could also follow her big brother and take a nap next to him [I know letting her sleep on the floor isn't great, but her napping next to Erick was cute].
August [and the Watcher] knew that a Love Day proposal might be cliche, but they didn't care. The ring they crafted may have been basic, but the love behind it was far from it. Dylan was more than happy with the ring and said yes!
Both Dylan and August made it a point to tell Erick as soon as they could. Even though he knew it was going to be happening, he was still excited for the two of them and what it meant for their little family.
Part 2 is here!
Winter wonderland~
I got to show off baby Winter, yesterday, so I wanted to show her off some more (and also show how everyone else is doing of course).
I alluded to Tomax being the one to extend the invitation to move in to August after learning about them being dumped by their fiance right after having a baby. What he didn't realize, of course, was that fiance was Celeste. Dylan also knew that Celeste had been engaged and had gotten pregnant, but knew who her partner was.
Any awkwardness that may have arisen from this quickly melted away once everyone got to meet baby Winter.
Dylan was a bit worried how Erick, who had been an only child for so long, would react to having a baby half-sister, but soon realized there was no need for any concern. Erick adored Winter and happily joined in caring for her, but also sometimes would [autonomously, I might add] go watch her while she slept which always made him happy. Dylan was so impressed, that he made sure to tell his son how proud he was of him for how much he had grown.
August happily accepted any parenting tips that Dylan offered, and the two spent many long nights swapping stories about their mutual ex, times they got abducted, baby milestones, cooking, their shared love of gardening, and whatever else came to mind.
It wasn't long before August realized that they wanted to build upon the family they started, and Dylan found it hard to deny the feelings that he was starting to have towards his newfound friend. But whatever he felt, his primary concern was making sure to continue to provide support and stability for his son.
Erick, however, had already noticed the little glances, the smiles, and the time the two spent together. In the past, he worried about his dad getting into a relationship fearing that there would be a repeat of how things were with his mom originally. However, Dylan had consistently proven that he was serious about his efforts to be a better parent. Not only that, but August also frequently spent time with the boy and was genuinely interested in getting to know their daughter's big brother.
So Erick made it a point to invite August to help with his school projects so his dad would see how well they got along. They were happy to help out, though robotics wasn't a subject they knew anything about. Still, it reminded them to show Erick the pictures they took of Winter sitting up while he was at school.
It was a genuinely kind and thoughtful gesture that didn't escape Dylan's notice.
Later, he spoke with his parents about the situation. He wanted to know if it would be weird trying to start something with the sim that was his own ex's ex. Morgyn pointed out that Dylan shouldn't focus on their shared ex but rather their deep friendship and the genuine love the two had for their children. Kevin agreed - if August felt the same way and things worked out, then they'd be bringing family together.
And so Dylan worked up the courage to confess his feelings to August who was happy to admit that they felt the same way. The two agreed to take things slowly - Dylan wanting to not be a rebound and August already knowing what it felt like to be one after moving too quickly. One thing was certain, they were 100% on the same page with how they felt about family.
Speaking of rebounds, word travels fast both in Glimmerbrook and through the magical gossip circles, so it wasn't long before August and Dylan started receiving messages about their relationship.
Celeste seemed to have forgotten that she was the one that broke up with August; meanwhile, Dylan's niece was much nicer about everything.
Winter, of course, was oblivious to the drama. The worst thing that was happening in her day was gas and being confined to the playmat away from the big stuffie she wanted to check out.
Once she was able to fart and convince her renny [August] to let her onto the floor, she scooted over to the large stuffie and happily stared and coo'd at it.
Her playtime was interrupted by Dylan who noticed that it was time to eat. He had pulled the highchair out of storage so he could help her explore some flavors beside formula.
The first thing to try out was... Smashed Lemon.
Morgyn warned Dylan that Winter probably wouldn't like the flavor, and they were right. The poor thing hated it, and between that and still being annoyed about not being held, Winter was ANGRY.
Dylan laughed, but also genuinely felt a little bad for upsetting the girl that he was quickly starting to regard as his own. To make up for it, he let her try some ice cream which she loved.
In fact, she loved it so much that she was practically wearing it afterwards. 💖
