Aftermath
It took awhile, but finally there’s another post for Harrington!
2014: Baptista is 33, Clary is 32, Jared is 7 and Jaden is 4.
They referred to it as “the incident” and for a few days after it happened, they spoke nothing of it, pretending that it never happened and trying to go about their lives as best as they could. If either Jaden or Jared picked up on anything, they never said anything to let their parents know. It was an odd sort of quiet between them, a space that hadn’t really existed before. To Clary, it should have been obvious that she wouldn’t go back to Arthur, and as she sat, trying to get a hold of the budget for her store, she kept an eye on him as he sat on the couch. As he moved to get up, her stomach clenched and she wondered if this would be the time when he finally spoke to her about what had happened. Instead he went for a walk and she sighed, she dreaded the conversation simply because she wasn’t sure if Baptista actually believed that she would go back to Arthur, and if he did, she wasn’t sure if she could trust him to know her. At the same time though, she wanted it over with, whatever happened it would be better than the uneasy quiet that was between them and the unsaid rule about distance. Depending on who worked the latest, she sometimes ended up on the couch, careful to get up and ready before the kids noticed where she’d slept.
It all felt very stupid, irrelevant, somehow. She wasn’t sure how she liked Baptista’s reaction in the first place and she wasn’t sure how he felt about it either. She felt like her life was on hold until they came to dome sort of decision, she couldn’t leave, couldn’t go back to their bed, couldn’t do anything really until they let it out. Until they did she’d continue to walk around, trying to look put-together even if she felt fairly shattered.
For Jared, things seemed to continue on as usual, he’d play with the cat, do his homework and go to school, where Poppy, their headmistresses would often be seen walking around the school yard looking worried and tired, coming home almost felt like going back to school. Neither one of his parents (he had little contact with his father and had come to the conclusion that he might as well call Baptista his dad, after all, they’d done all the dad/son stuff together) ever said anything about anything being wrong. But he just knew, they didn’t really look at each other and rarely spoke. It was oddly quiet (despite the stereo blasting and the cat mewling, his brother singing or crying in his bedroom) in the house these days and so Jared felt less and less like spending much time at home.
Jaden only really noticed that his daddy and mummy never came in to say goodnight together anymore, and they never teased and joked with him when he was sitting in his chair and they were eating their dinner, nor did they play with him together. Mummy would play a little, daddy would play a little, Jared would steal his toy cars, but it was never the two of them at once. He didn’t really know what to make of it, and so, played with his toys and hugged the cat, occasionally looking at his brother curiously when his mummy and daddy simply walked past each other without saying hello.
Baptista on the other hand felt utterly miserable and utterly unsure of what he could do to fix it. He didn’t even know why he’d reacted like he did, it wasn’t like Clary to break a promise, especially not one meant to last for life, and he knew that. Still, it had upset him, much like it had upset him when he found out that she would be having Raiden’s kid, sure, he loved Jaden, but even so he couldn’t help but feel jealous that two men who had no great part in her life had become the fathers of her children, instead of him. They hadn’t wanted kids, he had, and it wasn’t looking much like he’d be getting any for awhile. Not that he could blame her, he knew he should apologise, but he had no idea how, he also knew that he’d thought he’d be a father before he turned 35. But then, Clary was more important and her wishes trumped his, they always had.
Although things seemed to even out a bit, settle into a bit of a rythm, Clary still slept on the couch and they still had difficulty talking without there being an odd barrier between them. Mostly they avoided one another and though Clary knew she should go and face Baptista, something in his eyes made her stop and wait, still, the couch wasn’t exactly comfortable and she wasn’t really certain how much longer she could wait for.
As Baptista put Jaden to sleep that night, he seemed to make up his mind, though when he entered the living room to talk to Clary, he saw her fast asleep and decided it’d be better to wait until she’d gotten some rest. Retreating to their bedroom he tried to shove off the guilt of not asking her to join him, it ended up being a very lonely and cold night, and he didn’t get a wink of rest.
I love the shop! I don’t yet have any stores that sell anything but craftables in my game but I should try it again sometime. It’s easy to keep up with the stock, at least!
As for Baptista and Clary – what a tense household! I hope sleeping in the same bed again will be a turning point for them.
[Reply]
Valneanne Reply:
October 30th, 2009 at 2:54 am
I’ve tried, and failed, with stores that sell craftable items. Perhaps I’m just very bad at judging how much stuff is needed – I don’t know – but it always ends with me switching. I’m thinking of trying it again though, but only with one shelf, taking it nice and slooow should hopefully make it easy enough for me xD
You’ve no idea! I managed to leave out all the angry-faces that Baptista made, but boy, there was a LOT of them! And he really doesn’t have any right to be mad either! While I’m not going to force them to stick together, I hope that they do, I already have too many single castoffs from both Clary and Pomona, I don’t need more! XD
[Reply]
Carla Reply:
November 1st, 2009 at 11:28 pm
The two (I think it’s only two? LOL) stores I have that sell craftables are both very small! I think that’s definitely the trick!
[Reply]
Valneanne Reply:
November 1st, 2009 at 11:36 pm
It probably is! I might attempt it, I just have to find someone who’re more craft-minded than the ones I have right now… Hm…
Who would’ve guessed Poppy for a microwave addict?
I’m the same as you when it comes to building. But minus the neat roofs. Just big boxes. XD I think the store looks great. You need to avoid headesking as much as possible. That stuff starts to hurt after a while.
And wow… awkward update for this household! Could feel the tension between the entire family. I love in the end, they just go back to sleeping together, no talking about it.
[Reply]
Valneanne Reply:
November 1st, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Not me! But she buys dozens of them when she stops by o.O Odd woman.
Thanks! I like boxes, they’re far easier to decorate than houses that have too many diagonal walls (which leads to headdesking) or too fancy floor-separation (more headdesking).
You bet! I pity poor Jared who was pretty much caught in the middle and left to his own devices for most of the time. The end just seemed to suit them, they both seem (to me at least) to be more “showing” type of sims rather than the types to give long speeches as to the how’s and why’s of things.
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