2.0 Family

Dot spends a lot of her time now on the phone with her step-mother. Wei passed away in his sleep in the hospital in Isla Paradiso. 

"I miss him so much," Damaris overhears Dot say one evening, "I wish I could've been there with him..." 

Damaris barely overhears the reply, "I miss him too, Dot..." 

Dot looks over her shoulder at her mother and tries to blink away her tears, "When will you come back to Twinbrook?" 

"In a few days to bury him. I couldn't stand a funeral, I'm sorry..."

"No, I understand..." 

Damaris decides to slip out until their conversation is over. 

Elsewhere on the property, Aloiso and Quartz are having yet another argument. 

"Stop wearing my stuff!" 

Alosio looks down at his shirt, "It's a hand me down from you. I don't have anything else to wear!" 

Quartz huffs, "You're just trying to copy my tropical aesthetic." 

"Could you just listen to yourself? "Tropical aesthetic"? Who talks like that?" 

Quartz sighs melodramatically, "No one understands me." 

"I sure don't..." 

When Dot walks in, they stop bickering but glower at each other silently. 

"Am I interrupting something?" she looks warily between them. They haven't stopped fighting since Aloiso entered high school. 

"Nothing important," Aloiso mumbles. Quartz glares at him. 

"Whoa, is that ours?" Aloiso exclaims when Dot heaves a television set into the room. 

"Unfortunately, no. I promised Chase's brother that I'd repair this for him." 

Quartz raises an eyebrow, "Uncle Tay wanted you to repair his TV? Why?" 

Dot shrugs, "I guess this is cheaper than a repair service. He said he trusts family more than 'some repair service'." 

Tay Bayless is the younger brother of Chase Bayless, Quartz's step-mother. Though the Sykes aren't related to them by blood, it seems they've been accepted into the Bayless brood anyways.  

Though Tay doesn't pay her much, pooled with Damaris's tips, gig earnings, and weekly stipend it's enough for Dot to have her own small bedroom. 

Soon after, they can even afford a desk. As a part of her small inheritance from her father, she gets a computer. The rest of his estate and belongings go to his wife and his son with Amy Bull. 

Still, money is tight. Dot is on the hunt for a full-time job now that they have internet and a computer. 

Damaris ends up feeling too anxious to put the twins in the nursery so far away from her. She keeps them in her bedroom for the time being. 

"Does their dad know about them?" Aloiso asks his mother one morning. 

Damaris sighs, looking at Ume, the spitting image of Mark. "No." 

"Just like my dad didn't know?" 

Damaris puts Ume in her crib, "I guess I never told you about your father," she says guiltily. 

She sits Aloiso down and tells him everything she can remember. 

"...so my dad was some old guy who burned his own house down?" Aloiso can't hide his disappointment. Sure, he knew his dad probably wasn't an astronaut like he used to think, but "elderly fire starter" is not what he expected at all. 

"...yeah, that's right. He passed away before I knew I was pregnant with you." 

"What did he even do for a living?" 

"He was an inventor. He made things for the science lab and toys for the school." She doesn't mention that she only found this out after he passed away when town-hall gave her a pile of scrap and some rusty toys for his "next of kin". 

Aloiso wipes tears away from his eyes hurriedly, embarrassed that he's so let down. "I see..." 

"Aw, sweetie..." 

He pushes his mom's hand away. "I'm fine!" He snaps, betraying his true feelings, "Or...I will be..." he deflates, and tries to finish his breakfast. 

When Damaris pats his head, he doesn't resist. 

The kitchen/bedroom quickly becomes crowded. 

I really need to expand this house. 

"We should move that training potty," Damaris scrunches up her nose in disgust. "Away from where we eat." 

Dot is distracted by tickling Ume, "Yeeeeees we should." 

Sometimes Dot suddenly feels cramped and anxious. Taking deep breaths helps. 

(Dot aged up with the unstable trait. It's not a trait I really know how to characterize, since it's so unpredictable. Since in the game it only made Dot take deep breaths every morning, I won't focus on this too much) 

"Are you ok?" Dot asks her brother cautiously when she sits down for breakfast. 

"Yeah, I'm upset, ok!? Mom told me about my dad..." 

"And?" 

"Well, I looked him up... Apparently he was arrested for pick-pocketing too!?" 

"I see... I'm sorry, Alo." 

Aloiso grimaces, "No, don't be... I'm just kinda...down? I don't even know why, he didn't even know about me..." 

"Well, he didn't live up to your expectations, even if he didn't know about them. So you're still disappointed," Dot guesses, "It makes sense to me." 

Aloiso still looks upset, so Dot rubs his shoulder. "Give it time, you still have to process it." 

"I hate it when you do that therapist thing," he grumbles. 

"I'm just speaking from experience," she admits. 

Aloiso sighs, "Let's talk about something else." 

"I've been thinking of setting up a daycare in the nursery. Mom doesn't use it anyways, and Twinbrook doesn't have a daycare yet... what do you think?" 

"That sounds like a good idea. You're really good with kids," Aloiso approves her plan, "And at least this way you'll actually get paid for babysitting..." 

Feeling good about her plans, Dot decides to go out. She meets up with Notzo, whom she hasn't seen since they were both in school together. 

Unfortunately their entire outing together is filled with sims phasing into them, so I didn't get many pictures. 

Later she meets up with Tay Bayless to give him back his TV. 

"Thanks for fixing it for me, it's nice to have someone I know to do this sort of thing, you know?" 

"I'm just happy to help. So, how are you doing?" Dot asks conversationally. 

She finds herself trying to console him when he admits his father recently passed away. 

"It's a huge loss, I get why you feel shocked. I'm feeling the same way about my dad," Dot comforts him. 

"The house just feels so weird without him," Tay confides, "He taught me how to fish...we had a fish-tank with the things we caught together. Now it's just empty!" 

Dot gives him a hug. After a moment, Tay pulls away. "Thanks for listening to me, Dot." 

She smiles, "Anything for family, right?" 

Meeting Tay makes Dot think of her other extended family members. She meets up with Betty, her half-brother's half-sister. She's the daughter of Amy Bull and Robert Castor. Though she's not blood-related to her at all, Dot lets her know that she's a part of the family.

Betty agrees easily. "Looks like my family is pretty big. Neat!" she has six half-siblings in total, three from her mother and three from her father. 

Dot also runs into Notzo's sister, Bunny. 

"Congratulations! I heard you and Parker tied the knot." 

Bunny smiles, "Yeah, our honeymoon was wonderful! It also left us with a little surprise..." she rubs her belly. 

"Wow! I'm happy for you guys. Would it be sleezy if I casually mentioned that I'll be opening a daycare soon?" 

Bunny laughs, "Well that depends... does it come with a casually mentioned discount too?" 

"I'm sure we can work something out." 

While Dot shamelessly promotes her developing business, back at home Damaris tells Pancho about the time she went to Birdgeport. 

"The smog was like a blanket covering the entire city," she embellishes, "I could barely see the people around me, except for the vampires. Their eyes glowed in the mist!" 

Pancho swears that he will never go to Bridgeport. 

Dot is chatting with Buddy Ball-Bailey when suddenly a brawl breaks out behind them. 

O.o I didn't know adults could attack teenage sims. That is Betty being beaten up by an elderly Dennis Racket. 

Why is no one reacting???

Dot comes home early in the morning only to find the shower sabotaged. 

"I'm going to kill him..." she doesn't know which "him" it is yet. But she will find out. 

For now, the twins are still too young to pull pranks. 

Una looks exactly like Damaris, except for having Mark's brown eye colour. Ume, on the other hand, looks nothing like Damaris. 

Deep breaths... 

Today's Dot's first day of work. 

She practices her "soothing smile". Right now her facial muscles just feel too tight, though. 

Goodwin Goode drops off his son, Judd, and  Buddy and Gala Ball-Bailey's youngest child, Lawanda. They weren't expecting to be parents again, their two other children almost in high school. Now finding it harder to match a toddler's energy and needing to work full-time, they eagerly make use of Dot's daycare services. 

Goodwin himself has four kids, though three of them in elementary school already. Him and Jenni are both working again. Jenni's parents are both elderly, so he and Jenni decided for their youngest to give her parents some rest and put him in daycare.

At least Judd will have other kids to play with, Goodwin thinks with a smile when he sees little Lawanda, No need to worry... He still feels a bit anxious about leaving his son without him or Jenni. But as with Jaron, Jaimie, and Rico before, Goodwin has to make this adjustment. It's still not easy. 

"How about we play a game? Does that sound fun?" Dot bounces Lawanda in the air. 

"Hungry!" Lawanda protests. 

Dot feeds the hungry toddler, and starts making rounds to the other children. Judd seems lonely, so Dot scoops him up and sings nonsense lullabies to him while she walks around. 

She insisted that her younger sisters stay with her during the day, too. Damaris gets to work, her sisters get to meet other kids, and Dot gets to spend time with them. Win-win! 

Quartz chooses to do his homework in the nursery. Totally not to play with the kids instead of studying. Not at all! 

"Do your homework first," Dot says in her best "mom voice". She's had years of babysitting to perfect it. 

Quartz grumbles and complains, but complies. 

Buddy comes by to pick up Lawanda. 

"Holding down the fort?" Buddy jokes when he sees the four kids toddling around and animatedly playing with their toys. 

"You could say that! The kids are all so energetic! They really keep me on my toes." Case in point, Dot chases after Una to change her diaper. 

"Still, Lawanda seems happy. Thanks for doing such a good job with her." 

"It's no problem, Lawanda's so nice to have here! Bye, Lawanda!" she waves enthusiastically. 

Lawanda looks up a little shyly from her father's shoulder, "Bye bye." 

"Is that my baby brother?" Pancho asks excitedly when he finishes his homework. 

Dot reaches down to hug him, "Afraid not, kiddo. He's the son of one of mom's friends." 

"Can I name him, at least?" 

"He has a name, silly! It's Judd." 

Pancho looks at the toddler. "Hi Judd." 

Judd replies by smacking his block against his peg-box. 

"He can't talk yet..." 

Renee, Jenni Jones-Brown's mother, comes to pick up her grandson. 

"He was great today-," Dot beings telling Renee about Judd's day, but she waves her off. 

"I'm not the one paying for him to be here, so you can spare me the report." 

Dot blinks, surprised. "I thought you'd like to know what he's been up to today, that's all..." 

Renee snorts, "He's a toddler, he doesn't do much." 

Dot shakes her head after Renee's gone out the door with Judd. 

Quartz steps in when Dot goes to eat dinner, his homework finally finished. 

"Aw, are you hungry? What're you feeling today? Lobster? Quiche?" 

"Ba-ba." 

Dot's first week goes by quickly. 

Pancho likes to play with the kids sometimes when he's done with his homework. 

"Are you suuuure he's not my brother?" Pancho asks. 

"I'm positive, kiddo." 

"Hmmph." 

Meanwhile, Damaris is killing it at work. 

Sometimes, a little too well. 

She accepts the flowers, but doesn't comment on them. Goodwin is married and that's all she needs to know. 

It feels really weird when Damaris has to give him a bouquet of flowers herself... one from Jenni. 

She makes sure to make a quick break for it when she's finished singing, "Apple of my Eye" for him. 

"I didn't order a sing-o-gram," the dishwasher complains, clearly confused when Damaris gives him an empty gift-box and throws confetti. 

"Just go with it," she hisses, "Most people pay what you make in an entire shift for these." 

It took a while, but Pale Vamp's songs are coveted by the city! 

Even if this one guy doesn't seem to agree... 

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AN: Aloiso and Quartz argue a lot. I think it's because of Quartz's diva trait. 

So some roll reveals and other miscellaneous information. 

Dot: 

Career: Day care

Miscellaneous fun: Social bunny

Generation goal: Live your trait

I chose her social butterfly and charismatic traits for live your trait. Any social wish Dot has I will fulfill! 

Dot's traits are: 

-Unstable

-Social butterfly

-Charismatic

-Family oriented 

-Nurturing 

Quartz 

-Diva

-Family Oriented

-Brave

-Ambitious 

Aloiso 

-Friendly

-Family Oriented

-Over-emotional

-Great kisser 

Pancho

-Artistic

-Family oriented

-Party animal 

Una

-Family oriented

-Neat

Ume

-Family oriented

-Excitable 

So for one of the kids the potential roll I had for them was "runs in the family" and I wasn't sure which child to pick for the heir, so they all have the family oriented trait. Who knows if this will lead to a population explosion in Twinbrook...