Chapter 8 - Dogs and Babies

The 2nd story loft exterior work was finally finished.  They had even been able to begin putting up a dividing wall for what would soon be their bedroom.

But all the young couple really needed was a bed.

 And maybe their own toilet.

"Morning babe," Orlando said, stroking his wife's shoulder.  "You left bed too early," he added suggestively. 

"One minute..."   Yoshi rushed to the bathroom.

 Home from walking Webster, Yoshi started breakfast for her family.  "Breakfast is ready!" she called.

Orlando was just stepping out of the bathroom when he almost bumped into his fatherinlaw.  "Oh, sorry about that," he said, attempting to side step Craig and get out of his way, only to step directly into his path.  "Oops, sorry," he said.

Craig grunted. "You stay where you are, I'll go around you," he said testily.  He was still trying to get used to having someone else in his house.  Someone that had married his daughter.

 Over breakfast, Yoshi told Dad her exciting news.  "I think I may be pregnant!" she said happily.

"Already?!" Craig exclaimed, shooting a baleful glare towards Orlando.

Orlando wisely became incredibly interested in his pancakes and let Yoshi do the talking.

Calamity Canyon was slowly growing.  There had been a town council called to discuss moving the abandoned Legende Lot to the outskirts of town to open up space for more businesses.  But, nothing had been done with it as of yet.

Before heading to base, Orlando asked if they could stop by Police Headquarters.

"Damn strays!" Craig said crossly when they darted in front of him.  "Someone should really do something about the animals!"

Orlando glanced back at his wife.  "I just need to run in real quick and talk to the Lieutenant.  I'll be right back out," he promised. 

 True to his word, he hurried through the front lobby.

Not seeing him, he peeked into the shabby interview room off the bullpen.

 "Oh there you are," he said when he stepped back into the bullpen, set up with two shared desks. 

"Congratulations on your wedding!" Lieutenant Smith said, clapping his young officer on the shoulder.  "Your young lady must be something special."

"She sure is," Orlando replied.  "I was actually going to ask if I could get some time off for the honeymoon."

Lieutenant scratched his thick beard.  "You know I would give you the time off if I could," he said apologetically.  "But crime doesn't wait for a honeymoon."

Orlando nodded, disappointed.  "I understand, sir.  Not a problem.  See you tonight at 8 sharp."

"That's a good man," Smith said, turning to answer the phone, effectively dismissing Orlando.

"Dad? Are you feeling okay?"

On their way home, the family stopped by base.  "Think about it!" Yoshi told Orlando.  "Webster would be perfect for a security pet.  He doesn't like strangers and he's got a loud bark!"

Orlando glanced down at the pet in question.  "I don't know, babe.  He's pretty friendly and lazy. "

"Just trust me," she said, signing Webster up for security.

Pausing, she glanced around.  "Where's Dad?"  (Literally, where is Craig? He didn't join them on the lot.)  "Boolprop! We must've left Dad at the headquarters! Come on!" Yoshi grabbed Orlando's hand and hurried back to her husband's place of employment.

Thankfully, Lieutenant Smith had found her Dad wandering around in the cell portion of the building and kept him from wandering off.

"I wasn't lost," Craig said tersely on the way home.

"Dad, you scared me! I didn't know you didn't come with us!" she argued.  "What if something happened to you?"

"I wasn't lost!"

"Gah!" she said, losing her patience and storming inside.

 "She's just worried about you," Craig said, attempting to reason with his fatherinlaw.

But Craig wasn't listening. He held a ball in front of his soninlaw's face.  Talk to the ball cause the face don't wanna hear it.

Inside, Yoshi stormily clattered dishes and banged cabinet doors as she worked off her angry.  "Why can't he understand?" she gritted through her teeth.  She'd already lost her mother and now it seemed like her father was losing his faculties, too.

Later that night, she realized why here hormones had been fluctuating so drastically.

 "I'm sorry, Dad," Yoshi told him quietly.  "I just worry that I'll lost you, too," she admitted.

Craig just grunted gruffly.  "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon," he told her.

Her eyes filled with tears that she blinked away and she tried to smile at her Dad. "Okay."

Bad Webster! That was Yoshi's childhood bed!  I actually don't mind that it's gone, but let's not go around destroying priceless family heirlooms!

"Come on, let's go for a walk, you naughty boy," Orlando said, eyeing the destroyed bed worriedly.  He just hoped it didn't set Yoshi off on another crying jag.

 "FOR THE FOURTH TIME, LET'S GO FOR A WALK!" Orlando said, losing his patience.  Every time he made it to the door and paused to slip his coat on, Webster got cold feet and balked at going outside.  "I know it's cold outside, but you have to pee outside!"

Suddenly, Orlando had a brilliant idea.  "Wanna play fetch?" he asked, waving the stick around in the air.  Webster immediately ran outside.

"Come on, let's go for a walk," he said, tucking the stick in his pocket.

Priceless.

The bathtub Orlando had hauled upstairs was a bit in the open, but it wouldn't take too long for the men to put up the surrounding walls. 

Orlando climbed up the ladder and his eyes grew big when he saw his wife reclining in the bath.   "How long until you're done with your bath?" he asked.

"Just a few minutes. Why?" she asked, leisurely washing up.

Orlando headed to the room.  "Hurry," he told her, taking off his clothes on the way to the bed.

Excitedly, Yoshi hurried after him.

It was hard to enjoy life now that his true love was gone.

 

"How are you feeling today, Dad?" Yoshi asked, trying to peer into his eyes to see how alert he seemed.

"Stop  your fussing," Craig said, tossing some food over his shoulder.

Yoshi rolled her eyes. "Dad, did you just throw table food at the dog?"

He shrugged. "The dog's hungry. What's the problem?"

"It's gross and you'll teach him bad habits!" she complained.

 As if on cue, Webster started barking, begging for more food.

Craig sighed. "Fine, it's time for me to go to work anyways," he said, leaving the half-eaten sandwich on his plate.

As he walked outside, Webster trailed beside him.

"No, stay," Craig said, shooing the dog.  The dog trailed him a few more steps.  "Stay!"

Yoshi called, "Come!" from the dining area, but Webster didn't listen to either command.

"Someone needs to teach this dog some commands!" Craig said.

 "Staaaaaaaaay!" Orlando said, cautiously taking a step back. "Staaaaaaaay..." he paused and then 3 seconds later cried, "Good boy!"

Yoshi rolled her eyes as she licked the plate clean.  (How did it take me this long to realize that she is a slob?!) 

"Oh shoot," she said absent-mindly. "I forgot to tell work I needed time off." She dialed the soup kitchen and left a message on the recording.  She really should have gone in and told them in person, but she wanted to be as safe as possible now that she was pregnant.  And the soup kitchen had been known to have wandering Zombies!

<<<ENTER WANDERING ZOMBIE>>>

Orlando was working through some crime scene anaylses using the chess board. When the town had first begun building again, it's focus been on militarizing patrols against the Zombie hordes, feeding the hungry & addressing medical concerns.

Now that there were more people, part of the patrol had split off to give attention to the lawless ones, the local crime family led by Big Louie.  So far Big Louie had been untouchable, but Orlando knew he would slip up one day and then they would nab him!

With that confident thought, he headed off to work.  Maybe tonight would be his lucky day.

Yoshi sighed as she gathered the small, broken pieces of her childhood bed.  She'd hoped one day that her child could have used it.   But one thing you learned living through an apocalypse was that it was the big things that mattered - food, showers, safety, things like that.

 Apparently someone else was feeling nostalgic about losing that bed, as well.

Craig lounged on the couch, as bored as usual.  He felt the presence and stiffened.

It was almost as if he could smell Zoe, her soft, feminine smell. (i.e. body odor. these guys went without showers for close to a decade waiting for Zoe to lift the medical restrictions! Lol)

He jumped up and glanced around the corner, almost certain he would see her.  But there was nothing.

Sighing, he headed back to sit down.  (Oh my God! She's RIGHT BEHIND YOU!)

It was such a strange sensation. It was almost as if he could feel her. 

Slumping on the couch, he buried his hands in his hands and sobbed.  (Oh for the love of God. Scare him already! The poor Knowledge Sim would get a kick out of seeing any ghost, but especially one of his dear, departed wife!)

Managing to gain some composure, he headed to bed.  "Good night, Zoe," he told her, rubbing her urn.

He slept fitfully.

At one point, he swore he could've heard her calling to him.  

 It must have been a dream, he thought, his mind foggy with sleep.

 Feeling overheated, he paced out the door.  The tingling sensation that he wasn't alone still with him.

Cautiously, he glanced behind him.  Nothing.

"Oh Plumbbob!"  (That startled me.  Why he had to go outside to get scared by the ghost, I have no idea.  But, after he'd walked through the house with her trailing him, I was sure he wouldn't be scared!  Lol)

 Zoe!

"Your mother visited me last night," Craig told Yoshi over breakfast the next morning.

Yoshi turned her worried eyes towards him.  "It must've been a dream, Dad," she told him reasonably.

He shook his head stubbornly.  "No, I saw her!" he said firmly.

He watched his daughter glance across the table to Orlando, who quickly shook his head.  Fine, they didn't believe him.  It was there loss.  He hoped Zoe visited him again tonight!

Exhausted, Yoshi headed upstairs to sleep.  This pregnancy, on top of her worrying about her Dad's mental health, was exhausting.

Webster was only at work a short time period before Lieutenant Smith told Orlando to "get that damn dog out of here!"

(I handled it well, as you can see.)

 Awwww...

Orlando jerked awake, surprised to see Webster sleeping soundly.  He could've sworn he'd just heard a dog barking.  Maybe it was a wolf?  He threw on his coat and went outside to check.

He found the cutest little pup ever.  When he said the poor thing must be half frozen dead, the pup had immediately stood on its hind legs and pretended to be dead.

Although, the only thing you could see of him was his little nose.  The rest of him was buried beneath the snow.

Proud to have completed his trick, the puppy sprung back up and waited patiently for a treat.  "You're a clever little thing, aren't you?" Orlanda asked, scratching the pup under his chin.

Inside, Yoshi called for her husband.  She started to grow annoyed when he didn't come running.  (Sorry Yoshi, he's busy getting a new dog.)

 Welcome to the family baby boy Xerxes!

When he went inside to show Yoshi their new pup, he found her in the kitchen, cuddling their newborn son.  "He's perfect," he said in awe, reaching out to hold the little one's hand.

Quickly, he explained how he'd found the poor pup, Tucker, outside and half frozen to death.

Yoshi had shaken her head with exasperation and told him to quit picking up every stray he ran across.

Makes sense, though.

Yoshi glanced towards where the pup had gone in the livingroom, and complained, pointing, "He's scratching the living room chair! Do something!"

Orlando hurried over and shook his finger at the pup. "No!" he exclaimed loudly, startling the pup, who then glanced up at him with his sad puppy dog eyes.

"Aw, I can't stay mad at you!" he said, dropping to his knee and rubbing the dogs belly until Tucker was wagging his tail and licking his hand.

"Pushover," Yoshi muttered.

 The moment they headed back upstairs.

"I'm glad you and Orlando are getting along better now," Yoshi told her Dad.  "He's a great guy, isn't he?"

Craig shrugged.  "He's alright," he said.  "I suppose he'll do."

Yoshi completely saw through her Dad's bluff.  The boys would often talk about politics, Zombies and repair projects.  She suspected that Dad had grown quite fond of her husband.

What was not in doubt is how much Craig absolutely doted on little Xerxes.  He often hurried to feed and care for the newborn.

"Um, it looks like Tucker had an accident," Orlando told Craig before hurrying out the door.  "Sorry, I'm late!"

Craig just bet he was late!

Yoshi had learned by now not to ask if her Dad was feeling better.  He always accused her of fussing over him.

She watched with amazement as Webster got off the bed and butted her Dad with his head.  Her Dad had immediately stopped, grinned, and knelt down to pet him. It seemed nothing short of a miracle!  Perhaps there was something to having a Service Pet, after all!

She closed her eyes and cuddled Xerxes against her chest with new hope against the evil Elderly Noncognaizance blooming in her chest.

Although, the downside of having dogs was all the puddles she was finding around the house.

"Of all the places in the house to pee, you had to pick Mom's special rug, didn't you?!" she said with exasperation, glaring at the tiny dog that was watching guiltily.  "Oh I know you did it," she told him.

When Tucker flattened his ears and tried to look pitiful, she shook her head.  "Oh no, that doesn't work on me!"

Thankfully the dogs got along well together.  "Careful!" she called as Webster's wagging tail knocked the living room armchair over. 

 "Hey babe, how was your day?" Orlando asked as he walked in. 

He immediately crossed the room and kissed her hand. She loved how attentive and romantic he was!

Tucker whimpered pitifully for attention.  

"You hungry boy?" Orlando asked, pulling a treat from his pocket.  He'd started carrying around a handful of treats for the dogs all the time.

"Orlando!" Yoshi complained.  "You're going to spoil them! He has food right there! Let him eat that."

"Aw, it's fine, babe," Orlando told her.

Yoshi headed upstairs complaining about her Dad feeding the dog table food and Orlando spoiling the dogs.

Tucker just looked up at Orlando with a big grin on his face.

Although Lieutenant Smith didn't think Webster made a good security pet, Webster stood watch on the family's porch, watching over his Sims.

 When he finally headed inside to go to sleep, he found the little pup in his bed.

Huffing a sigh, he turned and hopped up on the bed next to the gray-haired one.  Craig sleepily reached out and stroked his back once before falling back asleep.

One trouble of getting older was not sleeping as much.  He was lying in bed awake when he heard a slight noise.  Craig headed into his daughter's room to check on the baby.  He could feed his grandson and have him back to bed before Yoshi woke up.  

When the door closes, Yoshi woke up and glanced around.  "Did Dad take Xerxes?" she asked with alarm.

"He's fine," Orlando said, rolling over to try to go back to sleep.  "What time is it?"

Yoshi hurried downstairs.

"Sorry if I woke you," Craig said.  "I was just gonna feed this little guy for you."

"Dad, what if you'd fallen!" Yoshi admonished him slightly. 

 Craig rolled his eyes. "He's fine? See?"

He held up his grandson for his daughter to see, then had to adjust quickly as the baby started squirming.

Yoshi reached out, "Here, let me take him Dad."

Yoshi headed back upstairs to change Xerxes diaper.   "There, there," she said soothingly, patting his back softly.  Soon, she'd lulled him back to sleep.

 Meanwhile, Craig sat on the floor, mumbling to himself.

(He'd tried to pet Tucker and because Tucker was hungry, he growled at Craig. Poor Craig had a mental breakdown over it. lol)

 "You can quit looking at me like that!" Yoshi said sternly.  She hated it when a dog begged at the table for food.  She pointed.  "You have a good dish right over there!"

Sighing with exasperation, she reached for one of the dog treats her husband kept everywhere.  "Fine! Here!"

"I don't know why you're being so picky!"

Determined to ignore the whining dog and not give in to irrational behavior, Yoshi started to work out.  She wanted to lose the baby weight and get into fighting shape.

Meanwhile, Craig fed the baby.

 Oh my goodness! Did you just drop the baby?!

"Yay! Snow!"  (I don't know why Craig is so excited about snow anyways. It snows EVERY! DAY!)

Sighs. Dogs! They were worse than children sometimes! 

When Yoshi walked into the kitchen, she was horrified to see Xerxes on the floor and her Dad sitting on the couch, staring off into space.  "Dad! You just left him on the floor?"

 Craig looked up, perplexed. "I thought I put him in the crib," he said with surprise.

Yoshi whisked the baby upstairs, worried about her Dad and her son.

"What if he accidentally hurts him, Orlando?" she worried.  "I know he wouldn't mean to. But, sometimes it seems like he doesn't know what he's doing!"

"Maybe we should talk to him," he told her, smoothing the sheets.  "Especially if we want to have another baby."

Yoshi looked at her husband with surprise. "Another baby?" As though the thought had never occurred to her.

"You do want another baby?" he asked.  "I would love a little girl!"

She smiled and scooted closer to him.

They were interrupted when her Dad wandered in, acting oddly.  He was waving a ball around and muttering.

They would definitely need to talk to him, soon.

"Dad, could you knock first please?" she said, shooing him from the room.   Plumbbob, two seconds later and he would have seen more than either of them would have wanted!

When she heard the dogs whining for food again, Yoshi figured there was something horribly wrong.  Checking the food dish, she found that someone had actually set it down facing the wrong way.  She'd give you two guesses who that could've been, and one of them was wrong.

She moved the dog food bowl into the master bedroom next to the dogs beds for convenience.

Tucker wondered why Sims ran in place inside and pretended to run when they could just go outside and actually run.  Silly Sims.  He sleepily squinted his eyes.

While Yoshi worked out, Orlando worked on his reasoning skills. 

Yoshi sighed when she walked into the kitchen and found Xerxes on the floor with spoiled milk bottles surrounding him.  

Irritated, she picked him up, checked him over for marks and put him to bed.

Before heading up, she'd asked Orlando to clean up the pigsty.  He jumped up and started cleaning, starting in the bathroom.  It'd been awhile since anyone had really scrubbed it clean. 

"I JUST CLEANED IN THERE!" Orlando shouted when Webster walked in after him and peed on the floor.

It was finally time to have The Talk.  She started off by explaining that she and Orlando had talked and they would like him to stop going in their room to get Xerxes by himself.  "Just let us know and we'll go get him," she told him.

"You don't think I can take care of my own grandson?" Craig huffed indignantly. "I raised you well enough, didn't I?" he asked.

Yoshi reached for her Dad's hand.  "It's not that I think you'll hurt him on purpose," she said, trailing off when she saw the hurt in his eyes.

Yoshi worried she'd hurt her Dad's feelings.

"What's the alternative, babe? You brought up your concerns.  And your dad's reasonable. He'll make the right decision."

Yoshi nodded.  "I just wish he would talk to me and admit he's having cognizance problems instead of pretending like everything is the same."

Orlando nodded sympathetically, having seen firsthand how she'd struggled with caring for her elderly parents.  "It can't be easy for him, either," he pointed out.

 Aw, happy birthday Xerxes!  He's the spitting image of his daddy!

 "Poor guy got your nose!" Craig teased as he snuggled with his grandson. 

Yoshi was just falling asleep when her eyes popped open with worry.  "Do you think we should make some sort of baby gate?" she asked.

"He's fine," Orlando said sleepily.  "It's just one square foot. He won't fall."

(In retrospect, a toy 2 feet away from a full story drop probably wasn't the best place to put the toddler toy.)

Poor Craig continued to have his existential crisis.

Yoshi wondered if they would soon have the second baby on the way that Orlando so desperately wanted.

 D'awwwwwww....

Uncomfortable and sore, Yoshi laid on the couch and watched Xerxes play with the Wobbly Wabbit.

She headed to sit down with him and pulled the ear with him, laughing with him as the wabbit made a noise and wiggled it's eyes.  "You're going to have a little brother or sister to play with," she told him.

She knew he was too young to understand, but it felt good saying it out loud.

"Mommy's going to have another little baby!"


*AN - Oh my goodness, I feel so bad that Craig is a moment's notice from aspiration failure all the time! Poor guy!

I loved the scene where he kept watching Zoe's ghost.  I kept waiting for her to scare him, but I was starting to think it would never happen!  She literally rode his ass, following him and nothing! Then, she hovered over him in bed and he got out of bed, I thought for sure she would scare him.  I decided it wasn't going to happen. I thought he was going outside to play with a dog. Lol.  Then all of a sudden she jumped out and scared ME almost to death!

Xerxes is the spitting image of his Dad, but with his mom's coloring & pretty blue eyes.

I know I spammed Tucker and Webster pictures, but they are such cuties! They look at me with those puppy dog eyes and I melt! Lol. I am firmly with Yoshi on the giving them people food, though. 😂

I could've cried when Webster lost his security dog position.  I knew I would have to adopt another dog.  Then, it seemed like moments later Tucker passed by. Serendipity!  Only thing that would've made it more perfect would've been if Tucker was a Tuckerette! Lol