Chapter 21: To Stay or Not to Stay
While Sunny is busy being unhappily in love, Christmas is busy with growing up. Having maxed all skills, she is more than ready to become a teenager. As usual Willow had invited everyone in the family over for her birthday.
Having been told she's perfect by her mother all her upbringing has its effects, and Christmas adds perfectionist to her traits.
That doesn't stop her from having fun, however, as she and Sunny spend the rest of the party playing video games on Christmas's new console.
Christmas as a teenager has a lot in common with Christmas the child. She still spends a lot of time with her mother. Dancing to her new favourite genre, S-pop, or just hanging out with her in the kitchen while she cooks.
Come Springster Flower Bunny comes around as usual. But as it's raining heavily, they are confined to the sunroom. No cloudgazing this year.
But Christmas is not the only family member who is developing. In Newcrest, Neo has just maxed out Mischief skill, meaning everyone in the original Creek family has now maxed out at least one skill.
His and Malik's heists are also growing in boldness and stakes. At the Goth residence, Neo steals a computer for them and some other valuables for their bosses, while Malik threatens the rest of the family. Mortimer, while old, does not take it lying down, and challenge Malik to a fight. Unfortunately for him, Malik has no problems getting in fights with the elderly, and while Mortimer has all the guts of a young man he has none of Malik's strength. By the time they leave, Malik has made his first real enemy.
They head over to the gym, where they drop of the money for the heist for Nancy Landgraab to pick up later. Once there, Neo hits the computer to find information about their next hit, and Malik hits the sandbags to make sure he wins the next fight too.
The last experience gave Neo pause, however, and he suggests to Malik that their next heist perhaps should be somewhere less private. "I saw online that they're opening a new conservatory for classical music here in Newcrest" he says.
"So? We don't like classical music."
"Perhaps, but I very much like the price tag on those violins they use... easy to steal, fetches a high value. Nancy is happy about the idea."
Said and done, Neo and Malik dress upp like repairmen for the day. Malik is ready to get going.
The new place is fancy, but looks a bit boring from the outside. "It's a lounge for boring old sods who like classical music, what did you expect?" he asks Neo.
As Malik distracts the staff getting ready for their grand opening, Neo gets to work. The smaller recital room is the most beautiful, with windows opening up to the world outside, bathing the entire room in light. Most importantly though, is the sheer number of violins in this room. Neo is quite pleased.
The bigger concert hall is darker, without any windows at all, but with a large stage at the end of it. There aren't as many violins here, but Neo still tries to steal what there is, until he hears a voice behind him.
"Just what in the world do you think you're doing?"
It's one of the artists, who has come to practise. Malik must have been unable to stop them. Neo runs, calling out to Malik to hurry up as he heads out the door. He heads straight for the gym, depositing the violins there until they can be sold. It was a too close call.
In Oasis Springs, Sunny is ready to age up to a young adult. Rory has prepared a cake, but as proud as he is, he is also feeling a bit... strange. Like time is passing him by too fast.
But today is not a day for change. Sandy has invited her entire family and all of Sunny's friends over, and soon their garden is filled with conversation and laughter as everyone celebrates Sunny's aging up. There is singing, eating, swimming in the pool and a lot of confetti as Sunny gets ready to blow out his candles.
As he ages up, he realises he's a romantic.
Having been told she's perfect by her mother all her upbringing has its effects, and Christmas adds perfectionist to her traits.
That doesn't stop her from having fun, however, as she and Sunny spend the rest of the party playing video games on Christmas's new console.
Christmas as a teenager has a lot in common with Christmas the child. She still spends a lot of time with her mother. Dancing to her new favourite genre, S-pop, or just hanging out with her in the kitchen while she cooks.
Come Springster Flower Bunny comes around as usual. But as it's raining heavily, they are confined to the sunroom. No cloudgazing this year.
But Christmas is not the only family member who is developing. In Newcrest, Neo has just maxed out Mischief skill, meaning everyone in the original Creek family has now maxed out at least one skill.
His and Malik's heists are also growing in boldness and stakes. At the Goth residence, Neo steals a computer for them and some other valuables for their bosses, while Malik threatens the rest of the family. Mortimer, while old, does not take it lying down, and challenge Malik to a fight. Unfortunately for him, Malik has no problems getting in fights with the elderly, and while Mortimer has all the guts of a young man he has none of Malik's strength. By the time they leave, Malik has made his first real enemy.
They head over to the gym, where they drop of the money for the heist for Nancy Landgraab to pick up later. Once there, Neo hits the computer to find information about their next hit, and Malik hits the sandbags to make sure he wins the next fight too.
The last experience gave Neo pause, however, and he suggests to Malik that their next heist perhaps should be somewhere less private. "I saw online that they're opening a new conservatory for classical music here in Newcrest" he says.
"So? We don't like classical music."
"Perhaps, but I very much like the price tag on those violins they use... easy to steal, fetches a high value. Nancy is happy about the idea."
Said and done, Neo and Malik dress upp like repairmen for the day. Malik is ready to get going.
The new place is fancy, but looks a bit boring from the outside. "It's a lounge for boring old sods who like classical music, what did you expect?" he asks Neo.
As Malik distracts the staff getting ready for their grand opening, Neo gets to work. The smaller recital room is the most beautiful, with windows opening up to the world outside, bathing the entire room in light. Most importantly though, is the sheer number of violins in this room. Neo is quite pleased.
The bigger concert hall is darker, without any windows at all, but with a large stage at the end of it. There aren't as many violins here, but Neo still tries to steal what there is, until he hears a voice behind him.
"Just what in the world do you think you're doing?"
It's one of the artists, who has come to practise. Malik must have been unable to stop them. Neo runs, calling out to Malik to hurry up as he heads out the door. He heads straight for the gym, depositing the violins there until they can be sold. It was a too close call.
In Oasis Springs, Sunny is ready to age up to a young adult. Rory has prepared a cake, but as proud as he is, he is also feeling a bit... strange. Like time is passing him by too fast.
But today is not a day for change. Sandy has invited her entire family and all of Sunny's friends over, and soon their garden is filled with conversation and laughter as everyone celebrates Sunny's aging up. There is singing, eating, swimming in the pool and a lot of confetti as Sunny gets ready to blow out his candles.
As he ages up, he realises he's a romantic.
What he isn't, is in a hurry to move out. He finds life with his parents rather convenient. He knows he wants to move eventually, but the place he wants to move to - San Sequoia - is expensive, and there is no way he can afford a house there alone. So for now, life continues on as it always has.
Sandy keeps working on her handiness and fitness skill, having already mastered logic. As a fully fledged Astronaut, her hours are different than Rory's who is stuck at cadet level, and somehow that is starting to bother him.
All of a sudden, Rory finds that Sandy's constant wish for self-improvement, one of the things that he has always admired in her, suddenly annoying. He's more fit than most men, but his wife is more fit than him. He is handy, but no where near as handy as Sandy who is maxing out her handiness skill. He's a genius, yet his wife is still smarter than him. He's the astronaut in training, but she is the astronaut...
Other husbands have wives that cooks and cleans and have plenty of children. He has a wife who fix things, works out and goes into space while he is left behind tracking satellites. He knows he's not being fair, but he can't help but to long for something else, something different.
Should he just focus more on connecting to his family, or should he realise that things have reached and end and get a divorce? Maybe find a younger wife? Someone who wants kids? Start over with a new family and fill a house with children now that his only son is old enough to move out?
Rory doesn't really wan't a divorce. Does he? Now that the idea is there he cannot stop it. He walks around feeling tense. He tries to connect with his family, but dinners feel strange and he is feeling restless. When Sunny shares the news of getting a job, the realisation that he will soon be moving out and it will only be him and Sandy left hits Rory hard.
So maybe it isn't so strange that he remakes the counter into a bar in their house, and spend some time learning mixology? And that when he meets a young beautiful woman at work, some harmless flirting isn't a horrible thing (although she doesn't seem too impressed).
He has more luck when one of their new neigbors come knocking, and as Sandy - as usual - is busy upgrading something or another (their alarm system), he doesn't even think before he flirts, only to see a major backslash as Sandy turns around and sees him.
Aparently the neighbor in question was less impressed than he first thought. At least this mess was something she did not want to get into.
But as Sandy leaves the room, locking herself into the bathroom, Rory has second thoughts. He didn't mean to- it was just harmless flirting- surely she... but Sandy feels betrayed and has no interest in his apology right now, and she most definitely does not want to "redefine her romantic boundaries" to allow flirting with others, and as she gets out of the bedroom she tells him this in no uncertain terms.
Their romance bar goes from pink to dark red in one go and they now have a "bad romance". Apparently Rory isn't the only one contemplating a divorce right now.
But the angrier she is, the more Rory tries to apologize. He might have been contemplating moving on, but he hadn't really meant it. It was one thing when divorce was just a possibility he could choose rather than something that might happen regardless of his own wishes. "Don't leave," he tells Sandy, but she gives him no answer, instead she just tells him she's going to take a walk and heads out the door. She needs to think. And to be alone.
She walks far, and find herself at the park, and then behind it, until she comes by a place she's seen before but not really thought more about. Is today the day she will finally break the opening? It is, and so she heads inside, onto a climb that is stupid to take on your own, but she just needs to breathe a little. To think. And the coolness of the mind sharpens her focus.
Sandy keeps working on her handiness and fitness skill, having already mastered logic. As a fully fledged Astronaut, her hours are different than Rory's who is stuck at cadet level, and somehow that is starting to bother him.
All of a sudden, Rory finds that Sandy's constant wish for self-improvement, one of the things that he has always admired in her, suddenly annoying. He's more fit than most men, but his wife is more fit than him. He is handy, but no where near as handy as Sandy who is maxing out her handiness skill. He's a genius, yet his wife is still smarter than him. He's the astronaut in training, but she is the astronaut...
Other husbands have wives that cooks and cleans and have plenty of children. He has a wife who fix things, works out and goes into space while he is left behind tracking satellites. He knows he's not being fair, but he can't help but to long for something else, something different.
Should he just focus more on connecting to his family, or should he realise that things have reached and end and get a divorce? Maybe find a younger wife? Someone who wants kids? Start over with a new family and fill a house with children now that his only son is old enough to move out?
Rory doesn't really wan't a divorce. Does he? Now that the idea is there he cannot stop it. He walks around feeling tense. He tries to connect with his family, but dinners feel strange and he is feeling restless. When Sunny shares the news of getting a job, the realisation that he will soon be moving out and it will only be him and Sandy left hits Rory hard.
So maybe it isn't so strange that he remakes the counter into a bar in their house, and spend some time learning mixology? And that when he meets a young beautiful woman at work, some harmless flirting isn't a horrible thing (although she doesn't seem too impressed).
He has more luck when one of their new neigbors come knocking, and as Sandy - as usual - is busy upgrading something or another (their alarm system), he doesn't even think before he flirts, only to see a major backslash as Sandy turns around and sees him.
Aparently the neighbor in question was less impressed than he first thought. At least this mess was something she did not want to get into.
But as Sandy leaves the room, locking herself into the bathroom, Rory has second thoughts. He didn't mean to- it was just harmless flirting- surely she... but Sandy feels betrayed and has no interest in his apology right now, and she most definitely does not want to "redefine her romantic boundaries" to allow flirting with others, and as she gets out of the bedroom she tells him this in no uncertain terms.
Their romance bar goes from pink to dark red in one go and they now have a "bad romance". Apparently Rory isn't the only one contemplating a divorce right now.
But the angrier she is, the more Rory tries to apologize. He might have been contemplating moving on, but he hadn't really meant it. It was one thing when divorce was just a possibility he could choose rather than something that might happen regardless of his own wishes. "Don't leave," he tells Sandy, but she gives him no answer, instead she just tells him she's going to take a walk and heads out the door. She needs to think. And to be alone.
She walks far, and find herself at the park, and then behind it, until she comes by a place she's seen before but not really thought more about. Is today the day she will finally break the opening? It is, and so she heads inside, onto a climb that is stupid to take on your own, but she just needs to breathe a little. To think. And the coolness of the mind sharpens her focus.
She is rewarded by the most beautiful cave she's ever seen and a memory of another world she saw once as a child but can't fully remember. Here she can rest, breathe, think without anyone interfering. She lies down on the ground and looks at the swarms of bats overhead. Can she get over this betrayal? Or maybe she doesn't need to make a decision right away? Maybe she can just stay down here and not make a decision at all. At least for a while. Although it is getting a bit chilly and Sandy has always had a preference for heat. Still... just a little while longer.
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