aftershocks, like ripples in water

February 2080 - Jeremy Nova is 64, Alice is 58, Stephanie is 20. Talin Collins is 65, Abigail is 64.

content warnings: suicide attempt, death mention, grief, depression.

 
A quick synopsis of the Nova family tree, if you need it ;)

• Jeremy Nova, (married/deceased Trista) married to Alice
• (by T.) Patrick Nova, married to Lara
• Raine
• (by T.) Riley (Nova) Hathe, married to Chad
• Liza
• Shaun
• (by J.) Stephanie Nova
• Abigail (Nova) Collins, married to Talin
• Sophie (Nova) Phoenix, married to Micah
• Jackson Phoenix, married to Nessa
• Hayden Phoenix, (married/deceased Rhianna)
• Summer
• Ryanne

People are gossiping in Lakeside Heights, as people tend to do. And what's with these two anyway, army twins or something?

Jeremy and Alice just hang back, pretending they're not listening, which they absolutely are.

"Those poor poor girls..."
"I know, first their mother, and now this. Did you hear his brother pulled him out of the swimming pool?"
"Oh my..."
"It's selfish if you ask me, with two little girls like that. It was because she drowned, you know."
"Really?"
"Uh-huh, he said he wanted to feel what it was like."
"He said that?"
"That's what I heard."
"Oh, those poor poor girls."
"He was committed, you know."
"Committed?"
"Yeah, in the hospital. On suicide watch."
"Their poor grandparents, all they've been through, and now this."
"And those poor little girls!"

Nobody ever thinks that that it might be someone's nephew who was pulled out of a pool, or that it might be somebody's sister who has to raise those grandchildren now, those poor poor little girls... Jeremy has always been mild-tempered man, and he says to Alice, "People are going to talk. We can't stop them."

But Alice is not particularly mild-tempered at all. "What gives you the right?" she demands. "Nobody asked you. Have you no decency?"

Alice is really laying into pink army girl, and green army girl says, "Whoa, crazy! I'm out of here!"

"You just messed with the wrong person, Chicka!" pink army girl says. "Everybody wants to step on the little guy, huh? Well too bad for you, Alice, I work in the home furnishings warehouse, and I'm going to make sure your household pays top dollar from now on!"

(real game quote, lol. must be from Apartment Life.)

Alice is astonished! She's thinking, how did she know my name? That horrible gossiping wench! Can she do that???

Jeremy says, "Come on, Alice, let's just leave."

It's been a traumatizing couple of months for this family, because unfortunately, the rumors are true. Except for the part about him wanting to know what it felt like - that was a rumor. No one - even Hayden himself - knows what he was thinking when he did it.

It was early this February that Jack Phoenix was called out to investigate a case in Lakeside Heights, and maybe it's that Jack is a detective, or maybe just because twins can be telepathic sometimes, but Jack just had a feeling his brother needed him.

And when Jack arrived at their parents' house, he found his brother at the bottom of the pool, and jumped in after him...

... pulling him out with barely a sliver of a moment to spare.

The girls are coping as well as can be expected. Summer is spending a lot of time with her boyfriend, and trying not to focus on the obvious traumas, but instead crying over much lesser traumas - like her grandparents' dog, Betty running away.

Ryanne is a little young to understand everything that's going on, but enjoys spending time with her grandparents, and finds it hilarious that she can outsmart her Grandpa Micah at chess. They're all trying to keep their minds occupied however they can.

***

Abigail and Talin aren't very old, but old enough that they don't enjoy their three-story eclectic home as much as they did in their youth. They've considered putting that house on the market for quite some time now, and finally went ahead and listed it this month.

They live right across the street from Seaside Woods Retirement Village, and as Tad Harris walks by one cold blustery afternoon, Abby asks how he likes it there.

"It's great," he says, "You get to live with your best friends. It's like college all over again."

"Ooh, college was fun!" Abby says. In fact, her old college buddy, Nina Ramirez-Shaw-Gothier has mentioned moving in there too, with her second husband, Benjamin. I think Abby looks sold!

"Do I have to bring my husband?" Abby says. It's a subtle sense of humor Abby has - she's just kidding.

***

Alice really misses having Stephanie around. She never realized how close they used to be, or how much she enjoyed helping her practice for her soccer games after school, and chatting with her at night over hot chocolate. Oh, how nostalgic she is about it!

With everything that's been going on, and maybe a bit of the empty-nest blues, her mind has been in a dozen places at the same time. Her bosses noticed that too. Alice was demoted from her position as Principal of Lakeside Heights Junior High School, and she was offered a lighter gig of university lecturing instead.

And maybe it's the empty nest, or hormones, or maybe she's going crazy, because she's been wanting another baby recently! She's fifty-eight years old! She must be confused, and wanting grandchildren instead, and with Stephanie being so young still, she'll just have to live vicariously through Jeremy's grandchildren.

And on top of everything, now she's made a new "friend" with army girl...

Jeremy and Alice have a little bit of the family over, and a little bit of the Nova family is never a small gathering. It might seem illogical, but being scared half to death by the ghost of their old cat and peeing her pants is a pleasurable experience for Aunt Abby.

Sophie and Micah are taking the evening off from everything, and walk over from across the street. Ryanne is visiting friends for the night, and Summer is over at Tyler's house (not for the night if her grandparents have anything to say about it!)... and well, Hayden is still in the hospital on suicide watch.

Abby and Talin have quite a bit of money to spare, having had no children of their own to spend it on, and they've already promised Sophie that they would help Hayden get back on his feet when he's ready, and to help pay his medical bills which are sure to be substantial.

Stephanie and Patrick drive in from Lake City - Stephanie doesn't bring Jeremiah, and Patrick doesn't bring Lara - Patrick doesn't bring little Raine or even any baby pictures! She'll be two this summer, she must be getting so big! This is just some brother and sister time.

Abby tries to favor each of her five nieces and nephews equally, but to be quite honest, Stephanie has always been her favorite. Abby is fond of Stephanie's quiet sweet spirit, and that she never seems to get into much trouble. And in fact, she thinks Stephanie has grown into such a fine young lady, she says, "I think you should take the cabin. I know how much you love it there, and I'm getting too old to travel."

Stephanie is shocked and excited. She says, "Really? Like to keep?"

"Yes, to keep!"

Alice is just as shocked as Stephanie is, but not exactly in a happy way. Lake City is far enough, and she dreads the thought of her daughter even further away.

As the night winds down, that pesky ghost cat is still wandering around, and Alice wasn't looking forward to peeing herself. And that was Jeremy's first wife's cat, which they kept around for Patrick and Riley after their mom died - but Patrick and Riley have been out of the house for nearly ten years now, and Alice figures it's about time the damned cat moved on!

Sophie isn't really the type to believe in ghosts, and she just thinks Alice is a little weird. Even if she has been in the family for twenty years, she still wonders what exactly her brother sees in this woman?

Meanwhile upstairs, Stephanie has something to say that she didn't want to say it in front of her mother, since her mother is usually so intense about quality education. So she cornered her father in the bathroom and says, "I just don't know about school, Dad. I wasn't even going to go. I wanted to travel, rather than spend time sitting in college lectures. I just don't think it's working out for me."

Well, what can he say? Stephanie is a grown woman now, and free to do as she pleases. But Jeremy knows her mother will be disappointed for more reasons than her just dropping out of college - they might grow up, move away, or get into a world full of traumas, but they never stop being your children.

***

Gameplay Notes on the "Suicide Card", and the Psych Ward

I've mentioned the "suicide card" before. The thing is, I've never actually had it come up until now. After Rhianna died, Hayden rolled it TWICE, and at 1/20 chances, that's pretty darn fated! But once I finally drew it, I totally wimped out on it! LOL! Just the fact that I rolled it twice means that I wimped out on the first roll. And even when I rolled it again, I just couldn't bring myself to kill him off too, after Summer and Ryanne lost their mom already.

You know, people start CAS families all the time where both parents are dead and the kid and teenager are orphans, but it's a WHOLE different story to create that situation with already established families. Ugh, I just couldn't do it! So I had him pulled out of the pool, and had him committed instead, lol!Maybe I'm not quite as morbid as I thought ;)

And maybe I'll never be able to do it, but I'll keep the depression roll still, which is normally very fun to play: 10/20 chance they snap out of it, pursue their biggest want, no matter what it is (that can cause all kinds of other problems); 9/20 chance they stay depressed, mope around, feel sorry for themselves; 1/20 chance of what we'll call "suicidal tendencies." Whether anyone ever goes through with it has yet to be seen.

This is done with Hook's RandomStuff "dice rolling" program, by the way.

For storytelling purposes, I'll bring/teleport Hayden (or any future psychiatric patients) to the hospital. This is the psych ward - pictures of garden gnomes, for their cheerful nature; a noodlesoother, and shock therapy, lol! (neither of which will actually do him any good until he's already feeling better, go figure.) He obviously can't really stay here though...

In reality, Hayden is staying in an attic room above his parents' house. I use the move objects cheat to bring the girls or his parents up to visit him. The enclosure is just to keep up the illusion that he's not there while I'm playing his family.

bonus pic: Summer and Ryanne, putting on brave faces. Actually, neither of them have even cried once (that I didn't have to make happen) over their very traumatic situation, lol! But you know, they're Sims - or just very cold little girls - or just bottling it up so that they can have eventual breakdowns in a couple years?... ;)

I don't know if I've posted any good pictures of Ryanne on here, she has really pretty big blue-green eyes, I think the same color her grandma Sophie has.