Meanwhile, in the Forrest Scott house, Allyssa was winding down after a long day of work and taking care of the home when she heard Braylon entering the living room. “Mom, are you busy?”
She could hear their voice slightly shaking, indicating nervousness. So she looked up from the tv with a warm smile. “No dear, come in!”
“I..need to talk to you about something,” Bray said sitting next to her in the sofa.
Allyssa turned the tv off and looked at Bray, giving them her undivided attention. “What is it, baby?”
“Mom, you know how I have been taking a break, thinking about what the next step in my life should be. I think I found something!” Braylon said while pushing their phone towards Allyssa.
“Really? Uh! What am I looking at? This does not look like a job circular.”
“No, mom. This is the announcement of a bachelor challenge.”
Allyssa looked at her child with surprise. She could not wrap her head around it completely. Of course Bray has grown up. They are 25 now. But, to her, Braylon is still a kid somehow. The thought of them entering a bachelor challenge was alien in her book. So she asked the most obvious question.
“Where will it be held?”
Scene continued under the cut
Braylon’s expression immediately changed to show that this was the question they were dreading.
“It will be in @/akitasimblr's game. Our watcher has been following her for a while and she is a very creative watcher and a nice person. Our watcher believes she will take good care of me, mom.”
Allyssa swallowed distinctly, trying to keep her emotions in check. “Okay… so this is the man you will go after? Xavier Harper..hmm.. Here it says that he is a mean sim.”
“I know, mom. But just because someone has a harsher attitude doesn’t mean there isn’t good in their heart. Xavier seems like a wonderful guy with a deep personality. He is also kinda famous. Her parents are Leo Harper and Judith Ward.”
“Oh really?” Allyssa raised her eyebrow slightly at the mention of Leo Harper. She was actually a big fan of that dude in her young days.
“Yeah mom, and you can’t deny that Xavier is incredibly handsome!” Braylon said, blushing slightly.
This put a smile on Allyssa’s face. “Yeah you are quite right in that regard.”
After a moment of silence while Allyssa read through the whole announcement, she finally spoke again, “I have to remind you that this BC will be held in a different save file in a completely different game. Which means, we may never see you again. Are you okay with it, Bray?”
“Mom I know.. And it breaks my heart. But, I have not found anyone I like here or in Britechester. I have a feeling this is something I need to do. What if this is my one chance at finding love?”
Allyssa cupped Bray’s face with one hand, hint of tears in her eyes, “Don’t say that, baby. You will find love. You deserve all the happiness in the world. If you really feel like that, you should go. Just remember, your family will be here for you whenever you need, okay?”
“Yes, mom. I know!” Braylon said before hugging their mom tightly as they both tried to suppress their emotions from overwhelming.
Beginning | Next
Disclaimer: this is not an official submission, the submission post will be published tomorrow.
When Malcolm came home, he was feeling even worse. Charlotte wasn’t home, of course. And the butler was still nowhere to be found. He took his meds, drew himself a bath and tried to relax by watching some world culture network in his towel.
It got boring pretty soon and he really needed something to do with his hands. He is just different like this. Whenever he feels stressed or anxious, he needs to go out in nature, interact with the natural elements. So Malcolm put on a pair of pants and started roaming through the edge of their backyard.
And sooner than expected, he found a beautiful daisy plant naturally growing out of the sand. He picked the flowers and the smell made him happy. His stress vanished like magic. He decided to plant a daisy in the front of their house near the landscaped flower patch.
Around 9, he started getting quite hungry. So, without many other options, he decided to make himself a salad. And cut his finger in the process! His day is really not getting any better. But at least he had a little ray of peace this evening so far.
Charlotte, however, was too stressed and sad to sleep. She, like her husband, drew herself a bath to relax in. The silence and serenity of the bubbles swelled her with emotions. She didn't know how to feel anymore. Malcolm was sometimes so nice and he took good care of her. He gave her everything she asked for. But then again, he was just so mean sometimes.
And the baby..she was going to be a mother. And yet she didn’t feel any kind of attachment to the baby growing inside her. Only if Malcolm wasn’t so overjoyed to have this baby, she would totally have gotten rid of it.
Was her situation ever going to improve? How was she going to deal with the upcoming 8 months? Only time will tell!
When Malcolm came home, Charlotte was in the master bedroom, practicing for her audition on the next day. One’d expect him to still be mad from last night’s arguments. But he was actually in quite a good mood.
He approached Charlotte and pulled her in an embrace. “How was your day?” Malcolm whispered in Charlotte’s ear.
“It was alright. But I missed you.” Charlotte replied before planting a kiss on her husband’s lips.
“I missed you too,” said Malcolm, pulling away from the hug. “Charlie, I was wondering if you would be up for arranging a dinner party tomorrow night? I was hoping to invite a potential client and his wife to celebrate Love Day with us in a double-date kinda thing.”
“Nope. I have an audition tomorrow.”
“What's new? You have an audition everyday. And it won’t be all day anyway. You never have time for anything I want to do. When am I going to get some kind of support out of this relationship, Charlotte?”
“My audition’s in the evening. How can I be here for a dinner party?!!”
“Oh wow.. Why would you have an audition at 7 pm on Love Day? Did you forget that you have a husband who might want to celebrate the day with you? Not surprising though.. You are so into your not-so-promising acting career that you wouldn’t even make time to woohoo with me these days. Always making excuses of feeling sick!”
“Think before you speak, Malcolm. I have never made excuses to stay away from you. You want to know why I haven’t felt up to woohooing in the past couple days? That’s because I am pregnant! I have been carrying your baby that I didn’t want in the first place. And I don't even know what to do right now!”
Charlotte, on the other hand, had good news. She actually got the part. However, she wasn’t happy. Her agent told her that she needs to work on her acting skills. A clear indication that she was selected only because of her reputation, not her skills. Charlotte just..can’t deal with these insults anymore.
She made her way upstairs and had a good cry under the covers before Malcolm came around looking for her.
Charlotte’s mood wasn’t much better this morning either. She woke up feeling incredibly ill. This is exactly what she was afraid of. The pregnancy was going to ruin her body in so many ways! There is no way Malcolm could convince her to make peace with this anymore. Charlotte knows she can never accept the pregnancy as a good thing.
However, her sugar cravings from last night had culled a little bit. She wanted to take advantage of it and cook herself a healthy breakfast - which - turned into a nightmare. With her astonishment, the stove caught on fire while she was standing exactly next to it. She ran away in absolute horror and stood there, screaming, watching the fire spread.
The fire alarm caught the attention of the fire department soon though. Two firemen rushed through the door even before Malcolm made it into the kitchen. Not before the stove and a counter nearby were completely burnt though.
Malcolm wasn’t even surprised to hear her words. He has seen people, he understands how girls like Charlotte think. And he knew how to deal with them.
“Look at me, Charlotte. I know you don’t want to be a mother. I always knew that. But I want to be a father and you need the Landgraab fortune to sustain your lifestyle under the spotlight. Why don’t we both make a compromise..meet in the middle? You will take some time off starting in the Summer until the baby is born and off breastfeeding, then you can do whatever you want. I will hire all the nannies and butlers this house needs to take care of everything and I will make sure nothing comes in your way to stardom. All you have to do is give me a healthy heir.”
Charlotte looked her husband in the eyes, weighing her options. No matter how much she didn’t want to, this seemed like her best bet. “We are not gonna tell anyone that it is an accidental pregnancy. And you are not gonna expect me to love it like a mother..ever. You will pay for my acting classes and for any treatments or procedures I wanna get done to maintain my appearance. Oh, also, we will remodel this awful house and incorporate a room to work as my office space. And no, I won't be entertaining your friends tomorrow.”
