1.14 Babies!

Becca

   "Oh, Ladybug! What a lovely day it is outside! Lets go for a walk!" I cooed, lifting the pup into the air and swirling her around before taking her out on her morning walk. Me and Kody had been together sort-of secretly for a few months now, and I couldn't have been happier. It wasn't that we were avoiding telling people, I mean it's not like Aria and mum hadn't guessed we were together, we just hadn't put a label on it and he was kinda shy about coming around the house. Well, unless it was just the two of us, if you know what I mean...

Nazari

   "Aunt Nazari?" Marlon's voice sounded shaky down the phone.
   "What's up?" I was worried. It wasn't often my nephew called. It's not that we didn't get on, but he was an adult with a teenage son, so we had our own seperate lives really.
   "It's Kenyon. He's only gone and carried on the family tradition and got that Chelsea pregnant!" My stomach sank. I remembered when my own brother, Jordan, had rang me in a similar state over Marlons own young pregnancy. I was constantly paranoid one of my girls would throw their lives away too young like we had, but so far they'd all proved more sensible than myself.
   "Oh, I'm sorry." I sympathised.
   "I hate to be rude, but Abi's in bits. She can't deal with him being around right now, and I know you don't have much space, but it wouldn't be forever..."
   "Yes, he can stay here." I cut him off. "He gets on great with the girls anyway and Aria will ride him and get him into shape for fatherhood." Plus, Kenyon was a handy young lad, and we needed a man around the house to do the little repair jobs Ernesto used to do.
   "Thank you SO much! I'll drop some stuff off for him later, I'll get him to come straight from school."

   Well after school, the girls got straight to their homework, and I collared Kenyon before I headed off to work.
   "So, daddy..." I started, raising an eyebrow.
   "I'm sorry!" He was clearly shaken, not his normal cheeky self. "I just.... I don't know... I don't know what to do, what to say... Chelsea was so happy when she told me, and I was SO not...."
   "You didn't ask her if she was going to keep it, did you?"
   "No, but my face wasn't the excited, happy picture she seemed to be expecting..."
   "Look. It'll all work itself out. You just need to give your mum some space, and you need to talk to Chelsea. Trust me, she's in a really fragile place right now, everyone at school will be talking about her, and by the sounds of your reaction, she's going to need reassuring that you're not about to skip town!" He nodded, touching his pocket where his phone was. "And then you're going to need to get a job. Babies are expensive." I winked at his lost expression. "But do your homework, and don't stay up too late, and we'll speak more tomorrow when I'm off work."

Becca

   "Sorry it didn't work out with Kody." Kenyon had a mouthful of lettuce, boys are disgusting.
   "What do you mean?" I mumbled, trying to work out what X was when Y was 23 and Z was just a letter to me. Kenyon had been here a week or so and as much as it was annoying having a teenage boy living with us, if we were honest with ourselves he fit right in
   "Well I know you never officially announced it but I got the picture the two of you were sort of together."
   "Right?" What was this gossiping about anyway, I was trying to do algebra, dammit! I could feel Aria staring at me.
   "Well I saw him and Elaine today, apparently they've been together a few weeks according to Ethan." Suddenly X was the least of my worries. Kody and Elaine? A few weeks? He must be winding me up, surely? I mean, it was only yesterday we were woohooing in his dads shed....

   "You didn't tell me you'd broke up, Bex..." Aria sounded concerned.
   "You have broken up, right?" Kenyon had stopped stuffing his face. I could feel both of them staring at me. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I knew it was him. Of course he didn't want to make it official. Of course he didn't want to meet mum. It all made sense now. Elaine was his girlfriend, I was just the bit on the side. The easy one. The slut. The one that just bent over backwards to run straight to him whenever he had the urge... The stupid, niave idiot.


   "Bex?" Aria pushed, I realised I hadn't said anything for ages.
   "Yeah, course, I just didn't think he'd move on so quick." I mumbled, putting my pencil down while the words on the page infront of me began to spin. I stood shakily, knocking the pencil onto the floor. "I'm going for a shower." I breathed, heading to the bathroom before I broke down entirely. I felt sick. For a moment I thought I'd actually be sick as I closed the bathroom door, I had to run to the toilet and bend over, but nothing came up. I used the wall to pull myself back to my feet, and turned the shower on. I stripped off my clothes, being sure to remove my phone from my pocket and kick it across the tiles away from me, before I sat on the floor of the shower. The water pelted my head, making my mascara run black rivers down my cheeks. It didn't matter. I was crying anyway. "Stupid, stupid, stupid." I cursed myself, reaching for the soap, I scrubbed and scrubbed, but nothing was ever going to make me feel clean. I was just a stupid, used, slut. How could I be so stupid?

Aria

   I gave Becca a few days. From her reaction we both knew something unpleasant had happened between her and Kody, but she clearly didn't want to talk about it. It was my birthday when I finally approached her.
   "You know, Bex. Now I'm eighteen I'm very mature and as my baby sister you ought to do me one thing."
   "What?" She smiled, the first smile I'd seen in days.
   "Tell me what happened between you and Kody." Her face immediately fell, and a tear escaped her eye.

   She fell into me and sobbed into my shoulder. She told me all about how she'd thought he loved her and blabbered on about how sorry she was, like somehow any of this might have affected me.
   "It's ok, it's not the end of the world." I reassured her.
   "But I was just a bit on the side." She finished. 'Bit on the side' kind of made it sound like they'd slept together.
   ...Wait...
   "You slept with him?" I asked, shocked.
   "Yes, that's all I ever was to him." Her shoulders were shaking, she'd not been this broken up when dad had died! I suddenly wanted to kill the prick.
   "Bex?" I pushed her away from me, and looked into her tear-stained eyes. "Men are pigs. And Kody - fucking - Anderson, will wish he'd never been born."

Nazari

   I cooed and snuggled my new baby granddaughter. My granddaughter! I was a grandmother! Geneva smiled as she watched me.
   "I remember when you were this little." I mumbled the little cliche, but it was true. And how far had we all come since then? Little Candi pulled on my hair, and I marvelled at her tiny, perfectly formed fingers. I wondered what the world would bring to her, and little Guiseppe, Maria's son. Of course, Geneva and her best friend even did that together!


____________

Well! Gen 1 is over!! Woo! Only 14 chapters, that's not too bad! The guys had an end-of-generation party at the fair.

   Teenage boys stink, remember? Although technically, Kenyon and Aria are both young adults here.

    It worked out quite well that most of the activities are 4-player. But Aria decided she'd rather graffiti the toilet block than play with her family, so we drafted in a stranger.

    Pie face picture!! :D

So who will be heir???
Well, I'll tell you now that Kenyon moved in for a reason: He got Chelsea pregnant for real, that was SP's fault, it seems obsessed with teen pregnancies haha. But I didn't want them to run off and marry because then I'd have to break up a family! I'll tell you now I rolled single with double help, so I'm having Becca, Aria and Kenyon. I'll leave the rest to be revealed as the generation plays out, but that ones tough to do a fun reveal so I just said it. 

As mentioned previously, I am about to have a baby so there will be a (hopefully short) break between generations while I adjust my whole entire life... Peace out!

1.13 Used Up Old Sock

Aria

   "So you and Chelsea, huh?" I accused as Kenyon approached me at the art gallery.
   "Woahh!" He mocked being knocked off his feet. "Someone got out the wrong side of bed today and decided to throw it all at me..."
   "Oh shut up." I punched him in the gut lightly and playfully. "Why do I have to hear it from my baby sister rather that the horses - rather large - mouth?"
   "What is there to tell?" He was being evasive. "A girl and a guy, and, and guy and a girl..." He trailed off and shrugged, with a smug grin on his face. I shook my head.
   "You're acting like it was some sort of quest and you reached the end and... Ugh." I shuddered. "At least I have a constant reminder of why I don't date."
   "What the hell are you on about?"
   "You!" I accused, "Basically saying you and Chelsea did it and you think it was nothing more than that and you're perfectly willing to go bragging about it all over town. Have you given any thought to how she might be feeling? Maybe like a used up old sock?" He laughed a deep, bellowing exaggerated laugh. "Stop it I'm being serious!" I scolded.
   "Chill out. Me and Chelsea are an item. Like proper girlfriend boyfriend. She's not a used up old sock, whatever the hell that's supposed to mean... But yeah, we did bang though."
   "Oh for plumbobs sake! You 'banged', yeah? You just 'banged'?" I glared at him.

   "Alright, sorry... We made luuurve." He wiggled his eyebrows and licked his lips. I fake-gagged and tried to hold in a laugh.
   "You're so disgusting..." I punched his arm playfully.
   "So, Miss Feminist, where's Becca?"
   "She's out with that Kody from prom."
   "Oh yeah? They gunna make luuurve?" He pulled the same stupid face and I could have wrung his neck.
   "Don't you dare! She's my baby sister!!"
   "Hey, everyone does it sometime, I'm just saying!"
   "Yeah well she's not stupid, she wouldn't do anything like that."
   "You never know.." I knew he was just trying to wind me up, so I pushed him towards the door. I had a dare to fulfill.

   "Hey, look, that statue's got his bits out!" I giggled, deliberately making sure I was loud enough to annoy the woman standing behind us.
   "Not as big as mine though!" Kenyon laughed back. The woman tutted, rolled her eyes, and walked off to look at some statue with boobs. Art, hey?
   "That was too far." I scolded Kenyon.
   "Truth." He shrugged. "Stop putting it off." He shoved a spray can into my hand, and I looked around. The coast was clear for now.
   "Keep watch." I demanded.

   After I was done, Kenyon pulled me over out of the immediate area and in a corner.
   "You wrote your own name?? Seriously Aria!" He sounded angry, although he kept his voice hushed for obvious reasons.
   "I didn't know what to put! You didn't specify!" I mentally berated myself. What an idiot.
   "Well obviously not something they can trace right back to you!"
   "Ugh, I'm sorry... Not alot I can do about it now, though, and I expect they have CCTV anyway..." I shrugged. I didn't really care anyway. I was in an art gallery, surely that counted as art?
   "Lets get out of here..." He rolled his eyes as we started walking out.
   "Well your turn now! I dare you..."

Becca

   I was so glad Kody text. He actually text! We met up at the graveyard, which seemed strange until I got here and saw all the pretty fountains. I was nervous though, I mean, it's not like we'd been drinking last night but the atmosphere and the dim lighting made flirting a lot easier than the bright, revealing light of day.

   Something about Kody relaxed me though, made me feel at ease. He was one year above me at school, so I felt kinda special as there were so many pretty girls in his year, but he'd picked me! Plus he seemed to know all the right things to say, and it was fun! Just talking was fun, like a rush! I've never felt like that talking to anyone else, so maybe this is what love feels like?

   Maybe I'm stupid, but I didn't feel pressured, and it all just felt 'right'. I've heard people say that before but didn't realise what it meant until it happened to me! Besides, nobody else was home so nobody would know, would they?

1.12 Getting By

Nazari

   As time went on, and we got used to life without Ernesto, I actually started to like the damn dog. I decided it was probably because it was something he'd been excited about sharing with us, Ladybug was the last piece of himself he gave to us, someone to protect us when he wasn't around. She wasn't so bad... But she did need her fur trimming! It was like having a bush wandering around. I decided I'd have to get Aria on to the matter

   I threw myself back into my career, this was my dream. I had moved to Starlight Shores to become a pop sensation, it was singing that had ended up with me living here, and living here had bought me and Ernesto together, and so by that logic I had to pay back fate by completing my dream. I knew fate and everything wasn't real, but it gave me something to focus on.

   Becca tried to take her fathers place in the kitchen, but she didn't have the natural skill... I was sure she'd get better with time, but for now, with me out performing and Aria always busy with friends, Becca made the meals. Even if they did tend to be so over-seasoned you'd need a gallon of water to counteract the salt...

   Aria did find the time to have the dog trimmed, though. And she looked a lot better for it! Aria seemed to have a natural touch with animals, she just seemed to know what they needed immediately. I wondered if she'd become a vet or something, but unlike Becca who definately wanted to do 'something sciency', Aria hadn't given it much thought, and didn't seem like she was bothered about it right now either.

   Geneva had married Aubrey in a small ceremony a few months earlier. With the death of her step-father leaving nobody to walk her down the aisle, she'd decided the big do wasn't for her. She was Mrs Geneva Browne now, which felt weird to me, but I was happy she was happy. Aubrey was a successful business man, and although they weren't filthy rich, they did have a house made of bricks and a pool out back. She often invited me over on her days off to cool off from the summer sun in her pool, and on one of the occasions she made me the happiest woman alive.
   "I'm pregnant!" She announced, a huge beaming grin on her face. I tried to congratulate her, but all I could do was shriek and hug her. Since Ernesto had gone, all I'd wanted was grandkids, I wanted to know that I would see the next generation, because he couldn't, and now it was happening!

Aria

   "Ner-ner! You'll never score!" I chanted at my sister as I tried to put her off. Sure, she couldn't throw a horseshoe, and she'd decided to wear a dress to play football, but she could kick better than I could keep goal...
   "Ariaaaa!" She whined, I loved that it worked and she was annoyed at me. I stuck my tongue out at her and she booted the ball way over the crossbar in frustration. "Swap." She demanded after I returned with the ball.

   "Actually, no, Aria, I'm scared!" Becca panicked as I lined up my shot.
   "Incoming!" I called as I blazed the ball into the top left corner. Becca cowered and covered her face with her arms. I laughed at her. "Come on chicken, lets go home and get showered for prom!"

   Hours later, we sat down on the sofa to unwind with some TV, our feet throbbing from dancing, and throats sore from shouting over the music. What a rush, if prom was this fun, how great must clubbing be? That was it, I was officially counting down until my eighteenth birthday. I had so much fun I had barely even thought about dad!
   "So did Kenyon tell you about Beth?" Becca asked me?
   "What, that after she dumped him for Marty Best, she turned up with Freddie Worthington?" I asked.
   "Yeah, apparently Freddie's so much more mature." She turned to me. "He has chest hair." She said mock-dreamily, before pulling a face and gagging.
   "Chest hair appeals to me about as much as old lizard lips." I stated, making reference to a guy in the year above me who I'd stupidly kissed when I was grieving badly for dad. Becca laughed.
   "And me, I mean, I have no experiance of mens chests, but I don't get why I'd want it to be hairy?"

   "Does Kody Anderson have a hairy chest?" I poked, giving my little sister a knowing look.
   "I don't know..." Becca blushed, biting her lip as she chose her words. "I don't know if I'd mind if he did..." She giggled.
   "Ew, Becca! Don't lower your standards just cus some guy spends the evening flirting with you!"
   "It's not like that! He was just a really sweet guy!"
   "Did you kiss?"
   "No, he hugged me goodbye and gave me a kiss on the cheek... He said he'd text me tomorrow about meeting up."

    "What about Ethan?" She asked, changing the subject as quick as she could.
   "Nope." I replied. "He spent weeks leading up to prom trying to get me to go with him, well, as you know, I said no because 1, I don't like him, and 2, he only wants one thing... He had this bet with Edgar that he could get in my pants, so I wasn't ever going to say yes to him! Anyway, so when we get there he tries for like the first hour, and then when he finally got the picture, he was off on the dancefloor properly grinding up against a ton of girls like it would make me jealous. I mean no, how disgusting..." Becca pulled a face. "Don't worry. I've sworn off high school boys. They make me sick. I'll get school out the way and then I'm sure I'll find someone. For now I'm fine with just having friends, besides, Kenyon and Daryl are all the men I need right now."
   "Sorry you have such bad luck with boys." I shook my head, I didn't want her pity, I genuinely didn't care. "Oh, did you see that Chelsea went home with Kenyon at the end of the night?"
   "What? Chelsea? I didn't think she was his type!"

Nazari

   I don't know if it was the full moon, or the fact the girls had got in late from prom, but I stirred in the night. Not being able to sleep, I slipped outside for some fresh night air.
   "Ernesto..." I breathed. He was sitting in the sandbox, making sandcastles.

   "Nazari. I've missed you." His voice was small and thin, like it was a long way off, or he was tired or something.
   "I've missed you too, so much!" A tear slipped down my cheek, and his cool hand swept it away.

   "I know it's hard, but you have to be strong for the girls. They're going to need you, and I'll wait until your time comes. Then we can be together again." He pulled me into a hug, and I realised how much more I'd missed him than I realised. But he was right, I had to live my life until my time came, there was no sense moping and wishing he was here, because I couldn't bring him back. I could only live my life to the fullest so I'd have plenty to tell him when we were together again.

   But that didn't mean I didn't miss him. With my whole body too. I guess even ghosts have needs...

   It was just a shame it was only a dream...

Sorry!

...For disappearing again!

So as you know I'm pregnant, due on 20th March. I've been quite ill these past few weeks which is one of the main reasons I've not been around. I have finished work now though, but I'm having to have a growth scan on Monday because I'm measuring small and if the scans show he's stopped growing I'll likely be having him next week, which is scary and exciting and all sorts! I'll be 38 weeks then, so it's really no issue. But at the moment I'm kinda in limbo haha, seeing the midwife every couple of days because my blood pressure is stupid and high, I was actually admitted to hospital last week and hoped they'd get him out of there, but no such luck haha.

Anyway, that makes it all sound like I'm dying, but I'm really not. I'm just tired more than anything and ready to get my body back! I have two chapters written, and pics for one more which I'm off to go try and write now (but I played that stuff back in November so I hope my notes are good haha), and then I'll be on to generation 2! I'm planning on posting the rest of gen 1 before baby is born (obviously if they do decide to deliver next week then that won't be happening), and then I'll likely disappear while I learn how to change nappies and etc, and then once we're in a routine I'm hoping to get back into simming and posting again!

I don't know when I'll catch up on everyones stuff, I'm going to start later today but I don't know how far behind I am yet haha. Thank you all for your continued support! :) xxx

1.11 All Good Things Come To An End

Nazari

   Cereal for breakfast again, but the girls didn't moan. They laughed and joked as they got themselves ready for school. I remembered a day when me and Ernesto would stay out late at night and still be ok in the morning. I was still ok in the mornings, but Ernesto was tired today. I was worried. The girls had got up and gone to school, and I'd cleaned the bathroom and was working on the kitchen before he got up. He came through as I was draining the water from the sink, pecked me on the cheek, and greeted me. He took the binliner from the bin and headed outside with it. I wondered if I should maybe do that job myself now. He needed his rest.

   "Nazari!" He called from outside. I wondered what he could want.

   "Nazari!" He called louder, he sounded panicked now, so I ran.

   My heart stopped when I turned that corner.
   "Ernesto..." I breathed. I didn't even know if he could hear me any more.

   I watched as the scene no sim wants to see began to unfold before me. Ernesto looked... happy. He'd been aching and slowly getting more and more frail for years, I hadn't realised how pained he'd looked until he was no longer in pain. But the only comfort I found in all this was that the girls were still at school and didn't have to witness their father dying as I had witnessed my own fathers death when I was very young.

   "Ernesto..." I don't even know if I said it out loud. The grim reaper shook his hand and then he disappeared. He didn't say goodbye to me so I guess at that stage a sim can't see the real world anymore. The reaper ignored me too. I stood there shellshocked for a while, before I shakily made my way back to the house.

   Of course the girls didn't take it well, but I did my best to comfort them, despite the fact I was broken and it felt like my insides had been through a blender.
   "What was the last thing he did or said?" Aria sobbed. I thought it a weird question.
   "He said 'Morning sweetheart', kissed me and then took the bin out." It hurt all over again. He died as he'd lived, helping me and loving me.
   "That sounds so much like Dad!" Aria wailed all over again.

   "The last thing I said to him was 'Night'! I wish I'd known and I'd have told him I loved him too, maybe kissed him goodbye this morning!" Becca cried.
   "Bex, if any of us had known we'd have all been here and spent our final hours together doing something meaningful. Nobody knows when these things will happen, that's what makes it hurt so much more." I was trying my hardest to stop crying. Our worlds had just ended, and ironically the only person who would have been able to cheer us all up, was the one who had just left. Even that damn dog howled that day.

   Geneva came round that evening, she told us she'd got engaged that day. Her boyfriend Aubrey had proposed. There was a pang of happiness as she told me, and the hope of grandbabies... But that was soon replaced with the realisation that Ernesto wouldn't be there. He'd miss Geneva's wedding. He'd miss Aria and Beccas graduations, he'd miss their first days at work, their first dates, their prom, their weddings... It was all so surreal. I hated it.

   Of course, life went on. The house was empty, and none of us smiled much for the first few days. The girls had their school work to focus on, and I had a tour to complete. Probably the strangest part of someone dying, is the way that the world doesn't end. It's strange to think that one sim could mean so much to you, but everyone you pass on the street has no idea.

   I'd often hear the girls talking about him. What he'd be saying in this situation, what he'd do when they'd done this... It was sweet, and I guess that was their way of coping with it all. It helped them, and I was glad they had each other.

   I prefered to be as close to him as I could. We'd had him buried in our garden, the garden he'd slaved over after I'd been annoyed about the dog. He spent a lot of time outside, when the kids were young he'd play with them, and then as they grew up and he grew older, he'd spend most of his time tending his plants. I just came out here to feel close to him. I didn't really touch the garden except to water the plants occasionally.

__________________

:'( I knew he'd die one day, obviously, but I was so glad he'd had a good weekend with the family before. It was like he was hanging on until he'd spent time with everyone, his age bar was full for a week, and yes, he really did die emptying the bin!

In personal news, we found out last week we're having a little boy! No pictures, because in true male fashion he was sticking his head in a stupid position so we couldn't even complete the detail anomoly scan, let alone get a good picture... He also does nothing but kick and spin and somehow he tickles me and makes me itch inside. It's a bizarre sensation, and if you think about it too much it freaks you out... But anyway, thought that would cheer you up after a depressing chapter (and no we're not going to name him Ernesto, lol)

1.10 Weekend

Nazari

   "Have a good day..." I called after the girls. Aria started high school a week ago. Becca would be joining her soon. Geneva was all moved out, and soon to be alone as Maria was engaged to Nigel Martin, some guy I didn't particularly like that Maria was infatuated with... Geneva had a little moan about him every time we talked on the phone, he wasn't exactly an awful guy, he was just weird. Geneva seemed quite happy that Maria would move out with him soon, at least she wouldn't have to put up with Nigel being around every night. I hoped she'd find herself someone soon, I knew how dangerous it could be living alone, and even if she was a superstar police officer, I worried for her. Thinking how grown up my kids were, I felt old. Nearly as old as Chip, the chipmunk we'd had for like ten years now. If I'd knew how long he'd live, I'd never have agreed to getting him! But at least Aria got enjoyment out of him, the girl was animal-crazy. She prefered horses, but knew there was no point even thinking about asking for one, how the hell could we afford or look after a horse??

   But no matter how old I felt, Ernesto made me feel young again. And not only because he was older than me, but because he was always there. I don't know how I could have handled life without him, he'd been a rock to keep me steady, and although he'd never proposed to me and we'd never married, I found I was actually ok with that. By never having a real commitment, it made it more obvious we were both in it because we wanted to, not because we had to pay a lawyer to end it.

   But part of loving someone, is accepting their flaws. Chip died. Obviously Aria was devastated, even I was a little upset, the critter had become part of the furniture... That wasn't the problem.

   When the girls were at school, and I was out doing promotional stuff for my newest album, Ernesto went and got a puppy. He sent me a picture message, and I thought it was a joke. When he told me it wasn't I flipped. But it was too late. He'd already got it home and bought it a ridiculously pink bed and food bowl and some toys... We were stuck with it.

      But of course, both girls were delighted. Aria named her Ladybug, which I thought was a rather ridiculous name, except from the fact that the dog did have bug-eyes, so it fit a little.

   To make it up to me, Ernesto spent a few weeks clearing the wild brambles from the yard, and building a fence, and even planting a little garden. It was really sweet, and really made the trailer look more homely. I half wished we'd done it sooner.

   "I need some money for Saturday." Aria stated, scribbling something in her homework book. I was eating my dinner, I had a gig that night.
   "For what on Saturday?" I asked, it wasn't like Aria to ask for money, infact, none of my children had ever asked for much, I guess I'd been lucky.
   "Well it's Bex birthday on Friday... I want tickets for us to go to that spring festival in town on Saturday." I had to hold back tears. My girls were so close.
   "Oh cool, I saw an advert for that, it looks good!" Becca chirped up, smiling at her sister. I agreed to lend her the money, and listened as the two talked about the posters around town and what was going to be there.

   Soon enough, Friday arrived. My littlest girl became a real life teenager, and I felt like maybe I could be ok with that. It had been a rough ride raising them, but grown up kids are a true joy!

Aria

   "Twallan, you're crap at this." I teased. My sister is more of a book person than a sports person.
   "Yeah, whatever." She grumped. "So I can't throw a horseshoe? Big woop. Like my life is over right now." I laughed at her. She could get really moody sometimes. "Don't laugh at me, you try!"

    "All you have to do," I explained, taking a horseshoe and aiming. "Is work out how hard to throw it. And then it's just a case of keeping it straight. It's all maths really, should be easy for a brainbox like you."
   "Yes, well, it's not exactly a maths I understand." Becca watched me as I threw it and, predictably, hit the mark first time.
   "Ta-daa!" I grinned.
   "Yes, well done. You're every boys wet dream, you."
   "What?" I asked, confused as to why she'd suddenly mentioned boys.
   "Oh! Speaking of boys!" She mocked surprise and lowered her voice as she nudged me: "Isn't that Daryl Whitfield over there?"
   "Yes." I rolled my eyes. "Oh look, it's the same Daryl Whitfield that's dating Cathleen...." I gave Becca a look.
   "Yeah, since like yesterday. He clearly likes you!"
   "Yes. As a friend. He's with Cathleen." I didn't even like Daryl more than a friend, it was just Becca and Kenyons little joke. Kenyon is our cousins kid, he's our age, we hang out a lot. "But I am going to go talk to him, seeing as you're pushing me to him... But only as a friend!" I reminded her as I walked towards my friend.

   Daryl and I chatted and played horseshoes until it got dark. Becca played chess with random people, I didn't have the faintest idea how to play it, so this worked well for us both. Daryl was a bit older than me, but only by a few months. He'd still graduate before me though. Eventually Becca came over and told me we'd ought to get home. It was nearly curfew, but that's why we worked so well as a team. I have no sense of time and never know when to stop, but Becca has her head screwed on. None of us know where she gets it from though...

   Sunday morning we puzzled over our breakfast.
   "It's just not like him to not do breakfast..." Becca muttered, slurping the last of the milk from her bowl. Call us spoilt, but Dad has always cooked us breakfast. He's always up before us sorting pancakes or waffles or something, so us sitting at the table eating cereal is odd.
   "He's getting old Bex, maybe he's just tired today." I hated the thought, and quickly changed the tone. "Besides, we kept him up late last night because he wouldn't go to bed until we were home, and Mum wants us all out tonight at her gig, so he needs some sleep." There, that felt better.
   "True." Becca agreed, putting her bowl in the sink. "Wash my bowl please? I need a shower before we go out." I sounded an agreement through a mouthful of cereal, and she blew me a kiss as she headed for the bathroom.

   Kenyon stopped by to get the bus with us. We were going to Rodeo-a-go-go because they had a free bull ride day, where we could all ride the mechanical bull for free. We thought it'd be a fun change of scene before the concert tonight.

   And damn, was I good at it!

   NOT! But it was so much fun. We were definately coming back one day!

   And actually, seeing my mum perform was the perfect way to end the perfect weekend. It was almost a shame to have to go back to school, but I'd seen how tough life was without education, so if nothing else, I was getting that high school deploma!


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Yes, I spelt 'diploma' wrong. I just now noticed as I do my final proof-read before posting, but it's so hilariously ironic I'm keeping it.