Even with her new job making toys for the consignment shop, Tatum now has much more free time than before making the potion that turned Lu real. This leaves her with the chance to get to the bottom of Elias's cagey behavior. After their date his replies to her texts have been erratic; sometimes he gives her one word replies, other times they chat well into the night, and never has he accepted her offers to go out again. But he hasn't outright ghosted her or rejected her. He just...talks to her like their date never happened. What gives? She can take being rejected... she just has to know.
So she runs over to his house, unannounced. She feels like a crazy person...but she needs a straight answer.
Her plan to firmly and directly confront him falls apart when he asks how she's doing. Her grandfather's too recent death causes her to suddenly burst into tears.
Elias is dismayed to see her so sad.
"Hey, it's ok... just let it all out..."
His father hovers uncertainly nearby, not sure if he should offer his condolences or just make himself scarce...
He chooses the latter.
"Plumbob, I'm sorry. That isn't what I came here about," Tatum wipes her eyes dry, incredibly embarrassed.
"Yeah it's whatever," Elias shrugs, now not meeting her eyes.
"This will see like a weird question after what just happened... but I needed to know. What's been up with you lately? You talk to me sometimes for so long, then other times you basically ignore me... and it seems like you don't want to date anymore? I'm really confused. If you don't want to go out with me I get it. I just need to know if you're still interested..." Tatum's rush of words ends with her taking a deep breath and waiting for Elias to react.
His cheeks are burning red and he refuses to look her in the eyes. "It's...complicated."
"I'm listening."
"Let's go inside..."
Tatum follows him in.
***
Lucky interrupts this drama with a bubble interlude.
You may carry on now.
***
Oh my.
Their conversation went...well?
"I'm sorry, about all of the weirdness," Elias apologises again after he pulls a shirt on. "As you can see, I am definitely still interested..."
They both lay down properly.
"I understand... you're still getting over your ex," Tatum forgives him easily. "Just...don't leave me out of that kind of stuff if you want to keep dating... it was really confusing."
Elias nods. "I was acting like an idiot. But really, I want to give this a shot." He smiles shyly at her and she blushes.
Tatum checks her phone and starts gathering her clothes. "I should go home soon, I have a batch of toys I need to hand in tomorrow. But I'll see you tomorrow?" she smiles hopefully at him.
He nods, "Sure. I'll text you later."
She goes to the bathroom to wash up and get dressed, but ends up crying again. Going home to a house without her grandfather in it...it feels so wrong.
Still, she has to. She tries to focus just on the task at hand.
"So that's what all this ruckus is," Dot remarks when she enters Tatum's room.
"Inventing isn't a quiet profession!"
There's a lot of hammering, wrenching, and swearing in this trade. Tatum has stubbed her fingers and toes more times than she can count...
Fishing, on the other hand, is much more silent. Lu likes it. It gives him time to sort out his thoughts. He's not really brooding, but there are many new sensations to process.
Marine life is also just really interesting. As a toy, he couldn't really do anything in the ocean. He'd just get soaked and sink to the bottom if he tried to swim. Now, he can really see and handle fish, scuba dive if he wants to.
"I'll name you Gus," he tells the minnow.
True to his word, Elias sends a text to Tatum asking to see her tomorrow.
She smiles. Things will get better now.
Kaira has been enjoying her life now that she isn't followed every waking moment she's not at home. Lucky's barely seen her since the transformation.
"Hi!" he greets, chipper.
Kaira smiles back, insincerely he notices, "Having fun messing around in the mucky swamp?"
"It's fascinating, really," he pretends not to notice her sarcasm. That always bugs her.
He smiles when she frowns at him. He may be new to this whole "existing as a sim" thing, but he's known Kaira most of their lives. She'll have to try better than that to get under his skin.
Hmm, this is new, Lu looks at his much taller body in confusion.
Kaira is not as surprised. She knew it was her birthday, today.
"I'm sorry we couldn't throw you a party," Dot says sadly. She and Kaira are going on a walk together. Dot still feels too down to have strangers over.
They continue their walk together in companionable silence.
When she's alone, Dot lets herself be overwhelmed by her emotions. Grief collides with melancholy at seeing her youngest become an adult.
"I wish you could've seen it," she says, thinking of Santiago.
Her little one will leave the nest soon...
"Hey there, roomie," Kaira greets, her teeth bared terrifyingly. With Santiago gone, his bed has been removed from the house, leaving just Kaira's bunk-bed for Lu's sleeping space. She isn't too happy about this arrangement and wants to tell him to buzz off.
Unfortunately, he's fast asleep.
She sighs and climbs into bed. She dreams of the adventures waiting for her.
The next morning, Kaira hangs around the house for the last time. She and Janel are going to move into a new place together and then hit the road.
"Where are you guys going?" Tatum asks. She's not too sad to see her sister go, but happy that Kaira will start a new life.
"Far away from here. Far away from this swamp, from crying babies, from weird, imaginary friends..."
Tatum has to agree that living on the same property as a daycare is noisy.
"How about you? Sticking around the bayou?"
Tatum shrugs. "I have a good job here. The bayou is also filled with a lot of interesting plants and animals-,"
"Ugh, not you too. Lu's already told me about the wonders of marine life and all that jazz."
Kaira exhales and fiddles with the domino in her hand. She's never been good at this game. Too much strategy. She prefers to improvise.
"Doesn't staying here depress you? It's so weird here without grandpa around," Kaira blinks away the tears collecting in her eyes.
"It is really sad now," Tatum agrees, "But I also don't want to leave mom here alone..."
"I guess that's fair. She likes having family around."
After a sound defeat in dominoes, Kaira goes to harass Lucky about his future.
"Are you staying here?"
"You make me sound like a pest that needs to be exterminated," Lu protests her tone.
Kaira bites her tongue when she feels the urge to point out that for most of her life, he's practically been a parasite, always attached to her. "Well? Are you moving?"
"...yeah. Now that I can leave the house, I want to see what's out there. I've spent too much time around here."
For once, the two are in agreement.
Later that afternoon, Janel arrives.
"I'm so excited! I can't wait for this trip! It's going to be so cool!" Janel is beside herself with anticipation.
"It's going to be awesome," Kaira agrees. "Just let me get my stuff."
"Take your time. We only have to catch the train at 10."
"What? Why so late?"
"It was the cheapest ticket..."
It's a good thing, in the end, that they have the extra time. Packing takes forever once Kaira and Janel start laughing at some of Kaira's old childhood possessions, like hand-drawn pictures, notebooks, toys...
Even Kaira has to admit that seeing all of that has made her feel a bit nostalgic...
As the time to leave nears, Dot notices Kaira's downcast expression become even gloomier.
"Honey, what's wrong?"
"Well... it's just... it wasn't all bad here," she dares to confess, "I think I'll miss some things..."
Dot smiles warmly. "It's okay, sweetie. We'll still be here if you want to visit. You'll always be welcome."
Kaira returns the smile. Her mom always knows just what to say.
At 9, she and Janel load her things into Janel's car.
Kaira glances at the rear-view mirror as her childhood home disappears behind her.
Dot gets emotional watching Kaira drive off into the distance.
Her kids are all grown up now.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AN: Some house renovation pictures:
Though I really liked Santiago, I'm glad that I could turn the kitchen into just that- a proper kitchen.
I apologize if that was too sappy for anyone. I wanted to actually give my spares a proper send off this time!
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