2:2 Moving On

It had been weeks since Jackson moved away, he called Trisha everyday, but recently she'd seemed more distant. If he was honest with himself, he knew what was coming, but to him long-distance didn't seem so bad when you could call at any time.

"This isn't working, Jack" He had hoped it wouldn't come to this, and although he had prepared himself, it still hurt. "You've grown up, not in years, in experiences. You don't want to be tied down to a child."

"Trish..."

"Don't speak, Jack, don't make this harder than it is."

"How can I just stand here and not speak? You're my girlfriend Trisha. We can work this out. Do you want me to come home? I can come home if you want?"

"Don't be stupid. You need to think of your future, your career."

"What if I want you as my future?"

"Jackson. Listen. We can still be friends. Friends works fine over the phone. It's just... this... that isn't"

"Whatever Trisha." He snapped. He hadn't meant to, she was just making him angry. "Is there someone else?" He was met with silence. He knew what that meant "You could have just said that. Bye Trisha."

"Jack, wait!"  He hung up quickly. He didn't want to hear it. He could hear a car pulling up, and looked outside. Mercedes was being dropped off. He didn't want to talk to her right now.

He shut himself in his room and started on his homework as the door slammed shut. That seemed to be a habit of Mercedes', she couldn't seem to be quiet about anything. He heard footsteps just outside the door and held his breath, hoping she wasn't coming to talk. He heard her bedroom door open and then it too, slammed shut. He breathed a sigh of relief and went back to his studies before settling into bed early.

The next day he invited Lisa Bunch over to do homework together. She was one of the popular girls, but actually spoke to him. He assumed it was either so he could help her with homework, or because he didn't live with his parents and so technically that made him cool, although Jackson couldn't see that.

When Mercedes returned from her lectures, she and Lisa started talking. They seemed to get along well and had a lot in common.

Mercedes soon excused herself though, and went off to run herself a bath, mumbling something about going clubbing later. Lisas' ears practically stood on end hearing that, but Jackson managed to talk her out of going, reminding her they had a chemistry test first period.

They talked for hours, and barely noticed when Mercedes re-entered the room and fell asleep on the sofa in her new dress. It wasn't until Lisa felt her stomach rumble that they realised it was 9 o'clock and Lisa excused herself, saying that her dad would be worried as her phone battery had long since died. Jackson wondered whether to wake Mercedes before he headed to bed, but he didn't have to as she woke up as he was thinking that.

She almost jumped off the sofa and grabbed her phone, dialling as she ran out the door and calling her goodbye to Jackson. He shook his head and wondered how Mercedes ever got into uni. She seemed so disorganised and more interested in her social life than her studies. He decided to call it a night, as he was now alone and they didn't have a TV yet to while away the hours.

_______

Mercedes made it to the dance club, later than her friend. She had some drinking to catch up on and so ordered herself one straight away before ordering some for her and her 'date', Chris. Chris had been a friend for years, since high school. He was already in uni when she graduated, but they had met through mutual friends and hit it off immediately. She had a crush on him. She had done since they first met, and although she wasn't shy, she didn't want to ruin what they had and so had never acted on it.

She found him upstairs and gave him the cocktail she'd ordered him. She was feeling tipsy already. She hadn't eaten since lunch and had drank her last drink very quickly. She gave him what she assumed was a flirty smile as she handed his drink over, but in reality it was probably just a crooked drunken grin.

"Merci, Mercy!" He joked. He'd told this joke so many times that it wasn't funny anymore, but in her intoxicated state it seemed hilarious.

"You're so funny Chris! Totally not even joking right now!" She laughed at him and held onto his wrist for support. Their eyes met and he smiled down at her. She quickly realised she was almost holding his hand, and pulled away. "We should dance, or something..." She turned away and looked at the crowd. She could feel him staring at her and didn't want to turn around to meet his gaze. It was all too awkward right now.

______

The following morning Jackson found her sitting on the sofa in her nightdress and decided to join her.

"Have a good night?" As he looked at her he could tell she'd had little to no sleep, so must've been out quite late.

"Yeah, I did actually. Had about an hour sleep at most, and have to sit in on a surgery today. Ugh." Her voice was hoarse, as if she'd spent the entire night screaming.

"Surgery?? What are you studying?"

"I'm going to be a doctor, I'm on placement at the moment and at the hospital most days. It's weird that we haven't had this conversation yet isn't it? What are you studying?"

"Well, I'm still in high school, so everything, but I'm looking into politics" Mercedes nodded, but quickly changed the subject.

"Who was that girl over yesterday? I thought you had a girlfriend at home?"

"Who Lisa? She's just a friend. And Trisha broke up with me the other night"

"Oh, sorry to hear." She looked like she didn't know what to say next, and was saved by the honk of the school bus swiftly followed by her lift. They both jumped up, realising they hadn't got changed yet and ran to their respective bedrooms before rushing out the door.

At school that day, Lisa had come up to Jackson and reminded him that the prom was that night and neither had a date. Hinting that they should go together. He agreed and assumed they were going as friends, until he got ready and saw the flowers Mercedes' 'friend' had given her sitting on the coffee table and wondered if, in fact, she was asking him out.

Mercedes bounded through from her bedroom, stopped briefly and announced she had a date, before escaping out the front door, slamming it as usual.

A minute or two later, a limo appeared outside and a feeling of dread washed over Jackson. Lisa had thought this as a date. He didn't have the heart to tell her any different, and so joined her in the limo. On the way to prom, he watched her. For the first time he noticed her freckles. Thousands of them peppered her face and made her look... Cute...

Later that evening, Mercedes returned from her date. While they were drunk the night before, Chris had invited her to go see a movie and she had eagerly agreed.

The date had gone really well, and the movie, a romantic comedy, was neither partners first choice, but was definately first-date material.

Jackson returned from prom soon after, and hearing Mercedes whisper the words 'stay' and 'bed' he rushed himself to his own bed to get out of their hair.

He put up his prom photo and thought about the night. Lisa had asked him to go steady, and he'd accepted. They'd had a wonderful night of dancing followed by a few hazy moments of kissing out of sight of their classmates. The memory bought a smile to his face, which was quickly wiped away when he heard Mercedes' bedroom door slam, followed by giggling. That boy was definitely staying the night in her bed. He sighed and settled himself to bed, pulling the covers over his head to try and get a more peaceful sleep.



Next ->

2:1 New beginnings

Ok, before we start, anyone who didn't know some crazy stuff happened and my save game wouldn't work for more than a few sim-hours, but I could save Jackson, sorry for any randomness and hopefully I'll make it through a whole generation!! Also, I'm switching to third person because. Just because. I may also be breaking a million rules because a teen can't live alone (although they could in TS2) but anyway...

Jackson was a ball of nerves as the girl met him at the door. He wished he hadn't left his family and girlfriend behind, but he knew if he was serious about politics then this was the right move. The school here in Sunset Valley had a much better pass rate than the one back home in Twinbrook, and he had a much better chance of making it here just because it was bigger. He didn't have high aspirations and didn't expect to be president of anything, he wasn't even aiming for Mayor. He just knew that he wanted to be a part of that world, and if that meant leaving behind everything he knew, that's what he had to do.

The girl intoduced herself as Mercedes. She didn't look a lot older than him, she must've just graduated high school. She didn't own the house, it was student housing, so he assumed she must be studying at the nearby university, or doing an apprenticeship in one of the local businesses. She didn't keep him outside long, inviting him inside and showing him to his room. Eugh, pink... he thought, looking at the bedsheets. He smiled to Mercedes and thanked her as she left him to settle himself in. He didn't bother unpacking, he just got straight on the phone to Trisha, his girlfriend, back home. She and his mother had insisted he ring as soon as he got there to let them know he had arrived safe.

"Hello? Is that you Jack?" 

"Yes, don't you have caller ID on that thing?" he laughed.

"Yes, but... Well... Your phone could have been stolen and you could've been the robber just calling random numbers in the phone!" She sounded genuinly worried.

"Don't be silly!" he smiled, he thought about her sitting in her living room with her twin brother worrying about him, and thought of what her brother, Leonel would have had to do to try and shut her up. She could talk for Simland, and she proved his point by talking at him for about half an hour before he said that he had to go call his mother and unpack.

After a much shorter check in with Barbie, he unpacked his few belongings. He'd only really bought clothes, as his triplet siblings would use the other things he had, which admittedly weren't a lot. He had tried to bribe his dad to give him the car, but it hadn't worked. He hadn't really expected that it would, but 'don't ask, don't get' definately applied there.

When he left his room, Mercedes had a boy over, and they seemed to be getting pretty close. He decided this was a good time to go and explore his new surroundings, excused himself and walked a short way down the street where there was a huge park.

He stood in awe of city hall. And realised that when he had finished school this is where he would be working, if all went to plan. He sat on a nearby bench and thought about how much Trisha would love it here, when she was old enough and had graduated herself, they were hoping she would move here too and they could start their life here.

He wandered a bit further away from the house and found a beach. There were quite a few people on the sand, and he decided to go for a swim. It was a hot day so he'd been wearing his trunks underneath incase he'd needed to strip down.

He got a taxi home, and when he arrived Mercedes and the boy were still there. He felt pretty tired from the journey anyway, so excused himself again, this time to bed.

That night he dreamt about flowers. He could only assume it was from the girly bedsheets...

He woke up early the next morning, had a bath, and went to find some breakfast. There was a sticky note on the fridge door from Mercedes.
'Hey. Salad for brekky if you want. Got uni  at 9. Back about 3.30. Mercy'
He helped himself to a plate of salad and thought about his first day at school. He was going to sign up for debate club, as it would be good experience for his career and would help him meet new people. As he was finishing his salad, which was surprisingly good, considering what he'd heard about students cooking, he heard the bath running. He checked the time on his phone, it was 5 to 8, surely she'd need to leave in 5 minutes if she was going to make it to the uni for 9? He washed his plate and heard the schoolbus honking outside.

As he got on the bus, he saw a car pull up and heard the driver honk the horn. Must be Mercedes' ride he thought to himself as the bus pulled off.

He signed up to the debate club as soon as he arrived at the school. He'd had to fill out paperwork with the principal anyway, so he'd be told to skip the whole of first period and found himself with enough time to sign up. They met Monday and Wednesday 2-4, so that meant staying back on his first day, which he didn't mind. When he got home Mercedes was on the phone, they smiled in greeting and he started him homework. When she'd finished her call she sat across the table from him and told him she'd arranged a 'welcoming' party in his honour. He was sure it was just an excuse, she seemed like the kind of girl who had parties most nights but he appriciated the gesture.

Mercedes ordered a pizza, this was more the type of food he'd been expecting, but she insisted it was just because they were having a party.

It wasn't long before the party was in full swing. Some of the guests had bought food too, and he helped himself to some hot wings as he watched the high school and uni students mingle and dance. He wasn't sure how Mercedes had managed it, but she'd managed to invite a few people from his class at school, which meant he could get to know his classmates better.

He was very tired though, and Mercedes seemed to want to party all night, so he went to bed and tried to sleep through the loud party going on just the other side of the door.



Sorry if this one was long and boring. Just thought I should introduce the characters and try to give a feel for what happened that made him move. Should get more interesting next chapter. I've also changed how I do the chapter titles, I think this makes it easier to navigate. Thanks for reading! :)



Next ->

Getting older

It was Jacksons birthday, and he spent the day playing with his younger siblings, teaching them how to build, it wasn't long until their birthday either, soon they would all be at school, but he would still be their older brother and be in highschool when they started elementary.

Me and Ken had just bought our first car. I had arranged to start the day care in a few weeks, and we agreed it would be best if we got a car, incase a parent couldn't pick their child up and I had to give them a lift. It also meant we could teach Jackson to drive, and soon he would be old enough to get his learner license. We wanted him to be one of the first to drive, so that by prom he would easily get a date because he could pick her up in the car.

Jackson had been talking to Trisha a lot. They hadn't gone to the same school for a while, but she often came over and helped him with homework, or read him books while he stared at her, turning his attention to the book when she looked up at him.

So he was pretty excited when he became a teenager. They'd be able to do so much more together now!

 I took Jackson out for his first driving lesson. I was a bit nervous, as I hadn't had a chance to take the car out since we bought it, and I hadn't driven since I passed my test, but Jackson had been reading up on the basics so I only had to supervise really.

After his driving lesson, Jackson invited Trisha over and made his true feeling known.

She felt the same, luckily for him, and she took her out for a meal at the bistro. After that it was the triplets birthday.

 Shelly,

Ayden,

And Holly. The three of them started school the next day, so there were no celebrations, just Jacksons new girlfriend and the family.




Jackson gained the charismatic trait.

Holly gained the good trait. 

Ayden gained the adventurous trait.

Shelly gained the hates art trait. 

I had a lot more planned for this chapter, but the game keeps crashing to desktop, and it has taken me 2 days just to age up the triplets. Grr. Hopefully it will fix itself, because I can't work out what's wrong, I've not got any new CC, mods or patches since the last chapter when it was all running fine...



Next ->

Family life

 Soon it was time for Jacksons first day of school. He looked slightly nervous as he got on the bus for the first time, and seemed to sink down into his seat, trying to be hidden from the new classmates playing noisily around him.

It wasn't long until he met people though, Leonel and Trisha Robison. They were a few years ahead of him, nearly ready to graduate elementary and head off to high school, but they saw this new boy was scared and invited him over to their house after school. It definately made his first day easier.

Meanwhile, I was knee-deep in dirty nappies, potty training, and making sure my triplets didn't hurt themselves, or each other. I was shattered. I just wanted to collapse in bed but i couldn't, I found myself going stir-crazy, just wanting to go somewhere, anywhere!

Luckily for me, Ken had the next day off, and took over entertaining the tots while I had a much needed lie-in.

He insisted I go out and do something, while he stayed home and cleaned the house. I was thankful for the opportunity to do something other than clean or keep my eyes open for missing blocks, or anything else that the triplets could fit in their mouth.

I went to the salon, and had my hair done, it felt so good to talk to the hairdresser! She was an adult like me and didn't constantly put dirty things in her mouth or wet herself (though I would have been worried if she did...). It felt like I'd just had a week off when I got back, and couldnt wait to play with my babies again.

Jackson made it onto the honour roll! He was our little genius, he's very quiet, but I think it was partly because of his siblings sucking up all of our attention, we tried to make sure at least one of us ate dinner with him every night, but I knew it wasn't enough, I think he understood though. There wasn't long until he was a teenager, and I hoped to be able to spend some more time with him before he ran off into the world.

The triplets were getting older too, they were playing together and having their first conversations with each other. All three of them could walk, talk and use the potty by themselves now, and the other night they had all slept at night for the first time ever, and, none of them work up until nearly 5am! The best nights sleep I ever had! It wouldn't be long until they started school too though, and then I could start my little daycare business. I couldn't wait, all the joys of raising children, without the sleepless nights!





I realised nobody knows any traits or skills, so I'll do a list here and add on as they gain, or edit each chapter, depending:
Ken:
- Military career level 6 (he's only had 2 in the story, because realistically it can't have been more than 8 years since he started work, and nobody has that many promotions...)
- Athletic level 6
-Handiness level 4
- Handy, easiliy impressed, nurturing, artistic, friendly.

Barbie:
- Logic level 5
- Cooking level 4
- Good sense of humour, great kisser, family oriented, nurturing, friendly.

Jackson:
- Logic level 3
- Good sense of humour, clumsy, genius.

Holly:
- Virtuoso, artistic

Ayden:
- Absent minded, easily impressed

Shelly:
-Hates the outdoors, loner.

Also, Barbie and Ken had their birthdays, and became adults, but considering we all have more than 6 birthdays in our lifetimes, i didn't put them in as there is no visible change and it seems pointless to the story, its just picture spam as there are so many other birthdays to come, and they didn't celebrate because they were too tired/busy.

Next ->

Birthdays

It felt like my entire life was spent running around after babies, and playing with Jackson was a welcome break, because he could almost have a conversation, enough to make it more interesting than crying babies, anyway.

Of course, I did love my children, I just didnt seem to have enough time for anything, I would have to quickly shower, or make a sandwich, and I occasionally almost forgot to feed Jackson, as he'd happily play alone with his toys and could use the potty by himself now, so no smelly nappies for him!

I didn't seem to see Ken really, not properly, when he got home from work he would take over the babies, give Jackson his dinner and put him to bed, while I got some much needed sleep. I did all the night-feeds, as I had decided to put off the day care for at least a few years, I couldn't cope with my own children from time to time, let alone throwing a few other peoples into the house.

But, there was an end in sight, Jacksons birthday. Meaning he was near his first day of school. Also meaning it was nearly time for the triplets to begin crawling and walking, I didn't want to think about that right then...

But Jackson was growing into a gorgeous little boy, with Kens hair and nose, and my eyes. He was very thin, but Ken decided he would train him up and bulk him out by the time he was a teenager.

The next day was the triplets brithdays, Ayden went first, looked a lot like Jackson.

Then Holly, she also looked like Jackson, but a girl...

And finally Shelly. She has the brown hair, but she has her fathers green eyes rather than my blue ones.
And so all my little babies were growing up, things looked like they would be easier now in some ways, but definately harder in the fact I now had 3 little terrors crawling around!



The awkward moment when the baby glitches out during age transition and you have to reset her, but her parents dont realise she's now a toddler and carry her like a baby...

YOU BROKE HER NECK, KEN!!





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