summer song

June 2081 - Patrick Nova is 30, Lara is 28, Raine is 2 1/2. Last update, April 2080.

They're cousins, you know, closer than any other family he has. Jackson just walks over anytime he wants from next door. They're best friends, like brothers even. But Patrick gets kind of touchy when people mess around with his baby grand. Lara even knows better. Patrick says, "Dude, you're using my piano!"

Jackson says, "Sorry man, did you want to play? I figured you spent all day playing, maybe you wanted a break or something?"

Like many other young families in the area, Patrick and Lara are expecting. It's still very early and they haven't even told anyone yet. They're excited and worried at the same time. Lara is having a rough time with this pregnancy, and greets the toilet with a passion every morning. It's the worst morning sickness she's ever heard of, and that makes her worry about something in particular. They're all just waiting to see which of these Nova kids gets hit with the twin-card! She hopes it isn't her!!!

Riley has lucked out twice so far, and so did Hayden. Jack and Nessa have already had their ultrasound, and they're only expecting one. It's only a matter of time, they figure. It's bound to happen eventually.

Raine doesn't really understand what's going on, or why her mommy feels so bad, but just follows gleefully into the bathroom. Maybe Raine shouldn't be seeing this, but have you ever tried to keep a toddler from following you into the bathroom?

But they worry about having another baby for plenty of reasons. Raine is resisting potty training, and they worry maybe she won't adjust to being a big sister.

They couldn't pay their maid this month - and it's not out of lack of funds so much as lack of planning. Maybe they're worried they're not responsible enough for another baby? Patrick would freak out if he saw this scene. She better not dare touch his piano!!!

But she didn't take the baby grand. No, she actually took Raine's piano. What despicable woman would take a baby's toy piano??? Just look at that sad face!

The summer concert season couldn't have come at a better time, and the extra $10,000 sure will come in handy. It's not that they're broke, necessarily, but Lara just isn't the best at budgeting. It's good to have a cushion in the bank account. Patrick hasn't been on tour since before Raine was born, and since he wants to be around when the new baby gets here, he figures he'll just spend this summer working really hard.

City council puts together a little treat for the residents of Lake County (using their taxpayer dollars to foot the bill, of course) - the Lake City Summer Stage Festival! The concerts will be held at the Lake City Sound Stage, and will run June through August.

And who else to headline but local minor celebrity, Patrick Nova?

The program:
piano duet: Jeremy and Patrick Nova
jazz band: Patrick Nova (piano), Dana Gilmore (vocals), Luke Centowski (bass)
monologue: written by Aurora Harris, performed by Bella Bradshaw
pottery and bake sale by the Centowski family (kids can make their own plate to take home!)

Lara brings Raine out for Patrick's daytime show, a piano duet with his father.

Meanwhile, Audrey and Charlotte get the pottery and bake sale going.

Audrey says, "Charlotte, your oven's on fire!"

Charlotte disregards that fire though, and seems quite intent on not letting that burnt cheesecake go to waste. Maybe she should sell it at a discount?

The strawberry pies looked good, but those got snatched up really fast! So Lara buys some pottery while Raine hangs out with Grandpa.

The evening performance is a jazz trio, Patrick again on piano, Dana Gilmore on vocals, and Luke Centowski is playing bass, supplementing his pittance of a salary teaching music camp this summer.

The night is cool but not cold, and the rain seems to be holding off for the moment. There's music in the air, and the faint smell of burned cheesecake. Our governor, Madison Riley is in attendance for opening night, as well as both Patrick and Luke's families.

They restocked the strawberry pies, and Lara runs to get her hands on one of them. Runs, and that is no exaggeration! Pregnant lady coming through! Needs pie!!!

The night performance is a short monologue called "Light," written by Aurora Harris, performed by our own budding little actress (budding in more ways than one!), Bella Bradshaw. She worries this might be her last acting gig for a while, so she gives it her all.

"We are light - he and I, and the way we love. The way we exist with a power that can't be seen but only felt. The way we exist without the physical reality of lovers, but exist just the same. We do love, but we were never lovers, and we never will be."

"But let me say, I am not unhappy. I have made my choices as he has made his, and we have settled into them. We have grown these lives alongside each other, in proximity, in tangent, bound but undefined. We could have chosen differently, but I don't regret my choices, and he doesn't regret his, because in any other lifetime maybe we would have chosen the same."

"But that does not erase how we exist, and that does not diminish how we love, which is still there, untouchable, vague and powerful as sunshine."

The audience claps for her, and Cameron doesn't think he's ever seen Bella so deep before. It's almost unrecognizable! But then, we suppose that's what being an actress is about.

Blake says, "That was great!"

Aurora says, "Really, you think so?"

"Really great," he says. "Kind of solemn, but not sad."

"I'm so glad you said that! That's exactly what I was going for, I didn't want it to feel sad, but just different, and beautiful for what it is."

"Absolutely," Blake says.

Clarice nods in agreement, but she's only barely paying attention, looking off to where the kids have run to. Joel is confused.

"So, who was it about?"

Aurora says, "Joel, honey, it's fiction."

"Oh," he says. "Fiction?"

The evening wraps up, and the rain held off until after the shows had finished. Elliot has lured Zachary and Raine into a puddle, and it's way past their bedtimes anyway. The festival closes for its first opening night, and I think we can call it a success!

***

Patrick hasn't seen his sister (either of his sisters, actually) for a long while, so he invites Riley out to the city. Raine and Shaun are close in age, so it gives them a chance to play together. Shaun is a year older than Raine, and turning four this summer.

Riley says, "He didn't have a very good birthday, you don't think he'll grow up to be a criminal because of it, do you?"

It might be a little early still to see what Shaun will grow up to be, but Raine likes her cousin! She's only just turning three and already she has her own little posse of friends. No joke - Zachary Harris, Elliot Miller, Laney Thompson, and now her cousin Shaun! And with so many more friends on the way, Raine is going to be miss popularity before she's even in preschool! What does she even need a little brother or sister for?

Well, whether she wants one or not, when he gets here, Raine certainly won't suffer for lack of attention!

And there's Jackson again - he just helps himself over, at least once a day, and as much as he plays the damn thing, you would think he'd be better at it by now!

Patrick says, "Dude, I swear, if you even leave a stray fingerprint on that piano..."

Jackson takes the opportunity to explain to Shaun why he's over here all the time - about marriage, and being married to a pregnant woman especially! He says, "Sometimes when you get married, you just need to get out of the house, especially when your wife is six months pregnant!"

Lara calls to check up on Stephanie sometimes, all she has to say is that being a newlywed is really, REALLY, fun! Lara wants to remind her that they'd better be careful! None of these Nova kids have been bitten by the twin bug yet, and it's just bound to happen!

But it's not happening here. Lara went ahead an got an early ultrasound, just to soothe her nerves, and luckily, there's just one little Nova-bean gestating in this belly! She can't explain how looking at this statue makes her decide the name. Cloud. Patrick asks, "How does that statue make you think of a cloud?"

"I don't know, it just does." She was standing right here when she named Raine as well. It wasn't raining or anything at the time.

"What if it's a girl?"

"It's a boy," she says. "I just know it." He doesn't ask how she thinks she knows that.

Patrick says, "Raine and Cloud, I like it!"

He wants to dance with her, so they do, and they don't need music because the summer has a song of its own. He's so happy he might actually be glowing, or maybe it's her, because when they're pressed together so close, it's kind of hard to tell.

***

notes: Baby Nova #2 is due in February. And for the record, my RL children would all have hippie names if my husband would allow it. That's why we have our Sim-babies, isn't it? :) If Pat and Lara end up with a third before they're finished, they're going to name it Skye - Raine, Cloud, and Skye, lol!

But both Pat and Lara want and fear having another baby, lol! They're family Sims! Get with the program!!! :)

So the Summer Stage Festival lasts through August, and you'll see it pop up in each of the upcoming summer updates. And technically, Elliot and Shaun shouldn't grow up until August, but it's close enough, and I wanted them to look a year older than Raine for this update, so you get a sneak peek ;)

Isn't he just a perfect little carbon copy of his sister, Liza?

And Elliot is a little cutie too :)