Chapter 16 - Never Too Early to Prepare

This explains so much.

Ben indignantly left the Sharp household after being sexually harassed by his superior. 

Wasabi handled the rejection relatively well.  

"Men aren't worth the trouble," Wasabi told her daughter bitterly.  

 "But Mom, didn't you love my dad at one point?" Vivi asked.

Wasabi scoffed. "Hmph! I thought I did, but what did I know. I was a young, dumb kid!"

Resting Bitch Face.

"I don't have time for all your pesty questions!" Wasabi said, shaking off her daughter's youthful enthusiasm and bright-eyed wonder.

"I have to get to work!"

Vivi watched her Mom go, questions swirling in her head.  

Instead of being dejected by her mother's rejection, she turned to little Urias.  She had plenty of people who loved her!

"Peek a boo!" she said, covering her eyes and quickly pulling them away.  "Where's Vivi?" she asked, hiding her eyes again.

"You right there!" Urias shrieked and giggled, pointing to his silly cousin.

Now that the children were getting older, Camryn decided it was time to get more mommy-time and make friends.  She greeted Lydnsay and spent the afternoon gabbing about girl stuff and the new Zombies.

 Yes, I know there are still roaches. Go back inside Wasabi.

He really should've started writing his big, controversial article long before now, Xerxes lamented.  He wasn't sure he would even be able to finish before he was an elder and ENC (elder noncognaizance) kicked in.  And thanks to Barx losing her Pet Service job, there was no help for the elderly in sight.  (Thanks alot Barx. I'm looking at you!)

Aw, okay, we still love you!

What's worse than sharing a bed with your mother? Sharing a bed with Wasabi AND a ghost!

 The two cousins were very close.  It made Camryn so happy to see them playing together so well!

Stop coughing on the sandwiches, Camryn. You're going to spread your flu to everyone in the house!

After he saw Camryn hacking up a lung in the kitchen, Xerxes pulled out the disinfectant and gave it a good scrubbing.  They had to get this flu under control!

Feeling better after a little bit of bed rest, Camryn focused on teaching Urias his toddler skills.  It'd be nice if one of her children grew up well!

It was always nice to see a family skilling together.

Wasabi headed to the community center in an attempt to gain more camp followers and volunteers.  She had become accustomed to telling people what they wanted to hear.  Christy wanted to push scientists to figure out what was wrong with the perpetual winter.

"I can do that!" Wasabi announced.

Brandon wanted skilling for all NPC's and townies.  It wasn't fair that only the controllables could skill on community lots.

"I'll look into that!" she told him brightly.

Gretchen wanted to erase the Zombie brain eating stigma that still persisted. "People still cross the street when I walk by and I haven't eaten anyone's brains in weeks!"

"I'm not a miracle worker, you know!" Wasabi grouched.

"Oh wait! Actually, that's doable!" she corrected herself with a smile.

Aw, burned pork tenderloin.

 Xerxes was so disappointed. He was really looking forward to his dinner.

Camryn tiptoed over to the children's bunkbed and kissed Vito on the forehead.  "Sleep well, sweetheart," she told him

A rare moment of mother and daughter bonding.  We can overlook the fact that Wasabi appears to be reading Vivi a story about Freddy Krueger the Bear.  Hopefully it doesn't give the little girl nightmares!  (Also, the action was canceled as soon as I took the pic. No books until Journalism career is lifted!)

Xerxes found a few moments alone with Camryn in the midst of the chaotic household.  They held hands and gazed lovingly into each other's eyes. 

 Wasabi was excited when a beautiful, regal looking dog strolled by her front yard.

She lured it inside by giving it a treat and bathed sweet Allegra with attention. Stroke, feed treat, stroke, stroke, stroke, stroke. 

 Finally, she rubbed her belly, grinning at the floppy dog's long tongue.  "You are adorable!"

But before she could adopt the dog, it got spooked and bolted for the door.  Wasabi flopped on the couch.  Great, even dogs ran from her now!

"Thank you for helping clean up," Camyrn told Vivi as she worked on teaching Urias to walk.  He was close to being able to run wherever he pleased!

 "Honey, can you run to the grocery store? We're almost out of groceries," Camryn asked when Xerxes came home.

"I just got home!" Xerxes complained.  "Plus it was a long day at work!"

"Please?" she asked him.

Grumbling, he headed out the door.

Just a shot of the little 'newspaper' kiosk I added in front of the Produce Stall.  Inspired by plasticbox's Backdoor Lane - Kiosk

Xerxes grabbed the groceries and quickly checked out. He was ready to get home and put his feet up!

"Are you Mr. Sharp?" a blonde asked him, walking up to him and greeting him. "I just love your articles in the newsletter!" she told him.

 Well, Xerxes always had time for a fan!

 Aw, how cute! Vivi is best friends with her little cousin.  What a sweetheart!

Gah! Like father, like daughter!  By the way, totally thought Barx was a boy. It didn't dawn on me until this round that Barx is actually a girl.  I am just that observant!

Aw, look who had a birthday! AND aged up well!

Hm, maybe now that Zombies don't eat people's brains, we should stop putting Zombies as the turnoff.  #equalrightsforZombies

"Now that you're a teen, you can start pitching in towards making this town better! Think about what you want to do with your life and start preparing!" Xerxes told his son. 

Just a cute shot of the next generation of restriction lifters!

Xerxes was so happy about his promotion, he told everyone he happened to run into that he was Level 8 of his career.

Camryn was slightly shocked when she saw Vito browsing the help wanted ads.  "Aren't you a little young to be thinking about your future career?" she asked him with surprise.

"Dad said it's never too early to get prepared for the real world!" Vito told her knowingly.

Camryn had to sit for a moment, watching her son hum as he walked off.  Her little boy was growing up!

Vito was so freaking excited when his very first carpool arrived.

 Wasabi said goodbye to her driver and grinned when she saw who was approaching. 

Andres Legende was a big deal around town.  The military, despite him being legally declared dead, reinstated him in their ranks.  She knew many of the Zombies considered him their spokesperson.

"Mr. Legende," she greeted him amiably.  "How nice to run into you!"

Andres shook her hand, swiftly checking her out.

"I'm home from work!" Vito cheered when his carpool dropped him off after his first day.  He completely missed the undertone between the two Romance Sims in front of him.

"That's right! MY FIRST PAYCHECK!" Vito announced triumphantly, basking in his success. Thankfully, he ran off to spread his cheer before Wasabi had to strangle her young nephew.

"I would love to chat awhile.  Why don't you come inside out of the cold," she offered.  

Xerxes was feeling nervous. Very nervous. He was level 9 and still needed 2 friends, 1 charisma, 1 cooking & 2 creativity skills before his next promotion.  And his birthday was 2 days away.  This wasn't looking good!

He hit the canning station, thinking it would be nice to donate extra food to the soup kitchen.

Missed this little guy's birthday! I wondered where the extra kid came from!  Happy birthday Urias!

Wasabi coaxed Andres into her room with the promise of a spectacular backrub.

"That does feel good!" Andres told her, rolling his shoulders with relief.

"I've been told I'm good with my hands!" she bragged.

"Well why didn't you say so!"  he replied with an arched brow.

She patted the bed as she slid onto the mattress, preening when Andres joined her there.

But, after a little bit of cuddling, she fell fast asleep.

Well, that was a letdown, Andres thought.

 "Did you kill those nasty bugs, mama?" Urias asked.

 Vivi bragged about her chess playing skills to her Aunt Camryn.

"Way to go, sweetheart! I know you've been working hard on it!" Camryn praised her.  You could always count on Aunt Camryn to lift your spirits, Vivi thought happily, skipping away.

Teenager Vito was still psyched to be heading to work for his SECOND day!

 Camryn did a slight renovation of the bathroom. 

Moving the door around the corner gave the family more space to play chess together! Simple fix made for a much better floorplan!

"Why don't you come inside while I look for those papers," Camryn told Ben.  He had seemed leery of her since her failed seduction the other night.  She was determined to win him over today!

 Urias wins the gold medal for autonomous cleaning today! He's such a helpful little boy.

The family listened while Urias played 'A Farmer and a Dell' on the fiddle. Badly.  "Could you make that kid stop before my ears bleed?" Wasabi asked her brother.

"Bite me, Wasabi," Xerxes replied.

Aw, siblings!

 "You know, she's really not that bad," Camryn said, sneeking a glance towards Ben.  She had seen him watching her.

He turned to her, surprised by the conversation.  "No, I, uh, what do you mean?" he stuttered incoherently.

"She can come across crass and rude," Camryn said.  "And plumbbob knows she can be a difficult woman," she added.  "She grouches about everything, rarely gives in during an argument, and... what was I saying?" she trailed off, embarrassed.  She'd gotten sidetracked listing Wasabi's faults. Hurriedly, she tried to repair the damage.  "But she's a good woman," she finished simply. 

Ben nodded, unsure.

Wasabi asked Ben to come into her room to grab the papers from her practice podium, then offered him a backrub.

"You look so tense!" she said playfully.

"I've thought about the other night alot," Ben admitted to her shyly. "I don't know why I ran like that."

"It's okay," she told him as she stroked his cheek. "You're just intimidated by successful women!" 

She kissed up his arm and watched him swoon.

  Happy birthday pretty girl Vivi!

Ben slipped out in the middle of the night.  Too embarrassed to wake Wasabi and say goodbye, he hurried from the Sharp house.

Wasabi woke in the morning and felt her eyes grow wet when she stared at the empty spot where Ben had fallen asleep.

 Not knowing what else to do, she threw herself into her work.

 Xerxes woke up, moving slowly.  It was his birthday, the day he'd been dreading. He wasn't ready to age up.

 His gaze landed on the Life Elixir that his Grandma had brought home from University.  His mom had raved about the stuff.  He cautiously poured a small cup and swirled the green drink. 

 "Here goes nothing!" he thought, chugging the drink.

"BLEH! UGH!" he spat the foul tasting brew out of his mouth. It left an awful taste in his mouth and his head throbbed.

So much for that, he thought dismally.

 Into work he headed, praying for a chance card that didn't get him fired.

Meadow Thayer stopped outside the Sharp house and preened, taking an awfully long time adjusting her scarf.  Vito happened to catch a glimpse of her outside his window and hurried down.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked.

"Nada, what's up with you?" she replied. 

They continued their too cool for words teenage conversation.

 Meanwhile, Vivi found the cutest little cat and tried to befriend it.

 Yes, yes, we have roaches. Go inside and quit playing with them!

 Camryn greeted Law Shawn.  She knew her husband needed as many friends as he could get!

"You're home!" she said cheerfully, hugging Xerxes as he exited the carpool.  "Did you get that promotion?" she asked hopefully.

He sadly shook his head.

 Vivi had bold hopes of clearing up some more space in their house.  The place was getting too crowded!

 Look who forgot to take out Risky Woohoo!