Bridgette - Chapter Eighteen: A Push for Answers

This is the last combined chapter for Listening to My Heart and A Ray of Sunshine. 

Unlike the others, it is the exact same chapter posted to each story. It just made more sense to write it this way.  It's been challenging, fun, frustrating, a learning experience, interesting, and sometimes just down right hard; but it's been worth it. Hope you've enjoyed this unique perspective from both Jeff and Bridge!

****Warning: There is some colorful language in this chapter... 

****Jeff ****

It was Thanksgiving day and we were all having dinner at the ASU house. Bridge had never come home for Thanksgiving since she moved here and this one was no different. Rosamund and I had also decided to stay at the university instead of going home.

Rosamund was doing much better physically but she seemed to have good and bad days mentally. One day she seemed to be making strides with feeling better and then the next, she was sad and unhappy. I myself had good days and bad days. I was so grateful that she was alright but some days the heartbreak over losing our baby was so much that I had trouble going to class, let alone doing well in them.

I could hear Bridge and Rosamund in the kitchen cooking as I came downstairs. “What smells so good, besides my lovely wife?” I asked as I walked into the kitchen.

“Oh gross, Jeff. I mean it’s sweet and all but I, being your sister, don’t want to hear such talk.”

I chuckled and gave Rosamund a kiss. “Okay, if you two are going to continue that, then go to your bedroom.” Bridge joked.

Rosamund and I smiled and I walked into the living area. Carson was sitting there getting ready to watch some football. “Dude! Are you ready to watch some football?” I wasn’t the biggest football fan but watching with Carson was always fun. He always got so into it. 

“I kind of feel bad that we’re sitting here and the girls are in the kitchen cooking dinner.”

“I’m just doing what got me my first date with your sister.” Carson said with a smirk.

“Carson Davila, what on earth are you talking about?”

 ****Carson****

“Oh come on Bridge, you remember.” I said as I got up off the couch and walked up to her in the kitchen. “We were at Trent's and my place and you and Julia cooked Thanksgiving dinner our first year here.”

“I remember that part.” She agreed.

“We ate and then sat down on the couch. Julia and Trent started making out, we complained, they went into Trent’s room and made a racket so you invited me back to your dorm room to watch football.”

“So far I’m agreeing with you.”

“We got back to your dorm and started watching TV on your tiny television.” I looked over at Jeff. “I’m not kidding dude, it was so small I couldn’t tell who was what team.” Rosamund and Jeff laughed and Bridge hit me with an oven mitt.

“What’s your point?”

“My point is that we were sitting on your couch watching football, one thing led to another...and I got you to agree to go on a date with me. See, Thanksgiving Day football led to us dating.” Bridge looked at me in disbelief.

“Carson Davila, that is the craziest bit of logic I’ve ever heard.”

“Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. But I do know one thing.”

“What’s that?” She pretended to be annoyed.

“You love my crazy logic.” And with that I kissed her.

“Oh my eyes! I’m blinded!” Jeff complained.

“Now you know what I go through when I see you two kissing.” Bridge teased.

****Rosamund****

 I saw my opening to start a nice conversation with Bridgette. She had been nice to me every since the "miscarriage," but I was still trying to find ways to get on her good side. “Where did you go on your first date?” I asked her.

“You mean once I finally convinced her to date me?” Carson joked. “It only took four and a half years.”

“Four and a half years?! You liked her that long before she agreed to go on a date with you?!” I exclaimed. As I thought about it, it wasn't much different from Jefferson and I.

“Yes, yes. He’s never going to let me live it down either.” She looked over at Carson and he smiled at her. “Anyway, I guess it was worth it to make him wait because he took me to a very nice restaurant here in town and then we went for a moonlit walk at a park near campus. It was very romantic. Where did you two go on your first date?”

“We went to a movie and then to a restaurant. We also went for a walk in the park in ‘downtown’ Appaloosa. I thought it was pretty romantic myself.” I said and smiled at Jefferson.

“Where did you eat?” Bridge asked.

“It was at the local diner.” Jefferson admitted and Bridge scrunched her nose up at him. “Hey, it was at home and you know there aren’t many place to eat there. Plus, I was a poor high school student. I did the best I could.”

“I didn’t mean to make you feel bad Jeff. Maybe you could take Rosamund to the restaurant Carson and I went to sometime. It really is very romantic.  Did you two know each other long before you started dating?”

****Bridgette****

I smiled at myself once the conversation turned to them dating. I had heard a ton of info about Rosamund and Jeff’s relationship from Kate and Star and I was curious what they had to say for themselves and how they treated Star.

“Jefferson and I knew each other but we didn’t “hang out” much. It wasn’t until the summer before our senior year that we started hanging around each other.” Rosamund admitted.

That's was the lead in I needed. “Did you know Star very well?” At the mention of Star’s name I saw Rosamund tighten up for a second and then it was gone. I had to give it to her. She was quick at recovering but she wasn’t quick enough for me not to notice. I didn't give a rats ass if it was Thanksgiving, I was going to nail them for what happened with Star.

“Not really. Star and I have very different personalities and alone we probably wouldn’t have been friendly. But since we both cared for Jefferson, we were sociable.” I smiled as I watched Rosamund lie right to my face.  She really needed to learn that I could smell a liar from a hundred feet away. Little did she know just how much Kate had told me over the last year. I pushed her a little more.

“That’s a shame that you two aren’t friends. We all grew up around Star and if you had asked up until this past year, the whole family would have guessed that Jeff and Star would eventually get married.”

**** Jeff****

What the hell is Bridge doing?! How could she be so insensitive?! I saw Rosamund swallow hard and try to regain her composure. I stepped in before things got more heated. “Well then I guess the whole family was wrong. Star was a good friend of mine but Rosamund is the girl that I love.” I said as I put a protective arm around her.

I didn't know what game Bridge was playing but it needed to stop. She got a look in her eye that I was all too familiar with and I knew it was going to get worse. “She was your friend? So does that mean the rest of the family has to stop being friends with her and her family. Heck maybe we should just disown Kate while we’re at it.”

I had seen Bridge be over dramatic before but this was something else. I could feel my anger rising.“Sis, I’m warning you to back off. I don’t know what’s gotten into you but whatever it is, leave it be.”

I looked over at Carson and he had a look of horror on his face. He walked over to Bridge and tried to reason with her. “Bridge, maybe we should all sit down and eat dinner now.”

She smiled and a little too politely agreed. Carson and I exchanged looks while I pulled out Rosamund’s chair and we all sat down and started to eat. All was quiet until Bridge started talking about the weather. “Have any of you heard the weather report for tonight? They say it’s supposed to be clear. I suppose that means we’ll see a lot of Star tonight. Oh I’m sorry did I say Star as in singular. Silly me, I meant stars.”

“Alright, that’s enough! Out with it! What’s crawled up your ass?” I asked her as I threw done my napkin. She was beyond crossing the line at this point.

****Carson****

I looked on in horror as I watched Bridge push Rosamund and Jeff. I had no idea what she was up to but she needed to stop.I had seen her like this one other time and it was when her mom had a hard time after Scarlett was born. I understood it then, but this was baffling me. She was trying to pick a fight with Jeff and that wasn't like her. I was about to say something to her when she continued.

“Do you both really want to know?”

“Yes, I really want to know why you’re trying to attack both my wife and me!”

“I know a lot more than the other family members know about what really happened this year. You forget that Kate is my best friend, and who is Kate’s sister? Oh, that’s right, Star. I can’t tell you how many times my best friend called me last year and told me how her sister was heartbroken by you.” 

 

She looked at Jeff and I knew what was coming. There was no way I could stop it, not when Bridge got like this. “She had to stand by while you and Rosamund started ‘hanging out.’ And if that wasn’t bad enough, you almost kissed her during prom night and then immediately shacked up with her.” She looked over at Rosamund. 

****Jeff****

And there it was. I had never told Rosamund about what happened between Star and I that night and now thanks to my wonderful sister, I was going to have to. I looked over at Rosamund and she turned her head slowly to look at me. “You almost kissed Star?” She asked quietly.

“You didn’t know?” Bridge acted surprised. “I figured you knew that.” She said to Rosamund.

This made no sense to me; why had Bridge been so nice to Rosamund. "So this whole time you’ve acted nice to Rosamund, for what? What are you getting at Bridge?”

“You and Star have been friends forever. Then all of a sudden this last year everything changed. Look, you know me. I’m not going to hold your hand and tell you what you’re doing is good and okay when it’s not. Jeff, you and I have always been honest with each other. Rosamund you seem like a lovely girl but for sixteen years it’s been Star and then this past year, she all of a sudden was gone; and from what you just told me, it sounds like Rosamund is the reason why. I may be wrong but it seems too big of a coincidence for it to be otherwise. You gave up one of your dearest and closest friends and that doesn’t sound like the Jeff I know; and I'll be damned if I'm going to let you think that no one has noticed because I have."

Rosamund slowly rose out of her chair “If you’ll excuse me, I think it might be better if I go upstairs.” I grabbed her arm and whispered that I’d be up in a minute. As she walked upstairs I walked into the kitchen and tried to calm myself down. There was only one person who could piss me off this bad, and it was Bridge. I heard Rosamund quietly close our bedroom door and I turned around and looked at Bridge. If fire could have shot through my eyes, it would have. I had never been so angry at my sister.

Carson tried to calm me down. “Jeff, before you say anything, maybe we should all take a minute to calm down a little.”

“CALM DOWN! YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN AFTER WHAT SHE JUST SAID TO MY WIFE?!” 

Bridge just stood there and defiantly looked at me. “Damn it, Bridge! I don’t care what your reason is, you can’t go around and talk to me or my wife that way! I’m not friggin fifteen years old anymore! I’m an adult and married now! I don’t need you to hold my hand and mother me! If something happened that caused Star and I to not be friends any longer, that’s between her and me! No one else! I caused our friendship to end, not Rosamund; and you had better never again even hint that Rosamund was the cause!” I started to walk away but thought of something else that I felt I needed to say. “I know how you are, Bridge, but if you ever, and I mean ever talk to my wife that way again, I will stop talking to you. The only reason I’m even standing her right now talking to you is because you’re my sister, if you were anyone else, we’d be done.” I walked up the stairs and into Rosamund’s and my bedroom.

 

****Carson****

I watched as Jeff walked upstairs and I waited till he was in his and Rosamund’s room.“What the hell was that all about, Bridge?” I quietyly asked her. 

“He’s throwing his life away Carson! I’m telling you, that girl is trouble! I don’t know how or why I know that, but she is! You know me, I’ve always been a good judge of character and something about her is off. She’s got  miles of bull following her. She’s always scheming and it kills me to think that Jeff’s supposed to spend the rest of his life with her!”

I walked over to her and grabbed her shoulders. “Bridge, stop it. You are not his mother. . .”

“No, but I’m his sister!”

“Still, he’s a grown man.”

****Bridge****

Grown man? He’s barely eighteen. I huffed. “He isn’t grown. He’s only eighteen.”

“Bridge, I know you care about him but he’s got to live his own life, mistakes and all. Do you want to be a part of his life?”

I nodded my head. Of course I wanted to be a part of his life.

“Then you’re going to have to learn to live with her. Whether that’s in this house or just in general. She’s part of your family now. How mad would you be if we got married and one of your brothers acted towards me the way you just did towards her?”

That was ridiculous. “Carson, that would never happen. Everyone loves you.”

“But how would you feel if that wasn’t the case?”

“It would really hurt me and I would want to beat the living crap out of whoever it was.” He stood there looking at me with a raised eyebrow. I sighed. “So I have to let my barely eighteen year old brother make his own mistakes, and not judge him or her for them, and also get along with her because to do otherwise would cause my brother hurt?” 

“Now you’re getting it.” He always made so much sense. I often felt I would be lost if I didn't have Carson. Still, I hated "acting" nice to people I really didn't like. It was like lying.

“But how do I do that? You know me, Carson, I can’t pretend anything.”

“Find something about her that you can live with or maybe even like and center on that.” Find something I liked? I'd have to grasp at straws to do that.

I sighed again and looked up at him. “I’m going to have to apologize to her again, aren’t I? I just can’t seem to keep my mouth shut around her.”

“Well, you’re just going to have to keep me around to help you.” He joked.

I looked up the stairs and then at Carson. “Come on. You’re not going to want to miss this. . .” 

****Jeff****

I tried to talk to Rosamund about what had happened after Bridge ruined Thanksgiving dinner. She wouldn’t listen to me. I had never thought to tell her what had happened with Star and me since I didn’t think it mattered. I was married to her, not Star. It was in the past and didn’t seem to matter now. But thanks to Bridge I was having to relive what a horrible human being I had been that day.

Rosamund was lying on the bed and I tried to talk to her again.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you. It didn’t seem to matter. Especially since it’s in the past and you and I are married.” I tried reasoning with her.

“You don’t get it Jefferson.”

“Then please try to explain to me.”

She rolled over and looked at me. “Did you tell Star that you and I slept together? Is that why she got so mad at you and you two stopped being friends?”

“That’s part of it.” I admitted.

“So you told Star about you and me but you didn’t tell me about you and her. . .”

“Yes, but I don’t see. . .”

“You told her, but you didn’t tell me.” She interrupted.

“Oh.” I said.

“Yeah, oh.” She said and then rolled back over.

“Rosamund, I should have told you back then. I guess I was pulled in so many different directions that I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“Was Star one of the directions you were being pulled towards.”

“Rosamund, please turn around and talk to me about this.” She sat up and faced me. “What is it that you want to know? I will answer any and all of your questions so there are no more secrets between us.”

“Did you almost kiss Star the night we slept together?”

“Yes.”

“Did you have feelings for Star?”

“Yes.”

“Did you like Star through most of high school?”

“Yes.”

“Did you two date?”

“I’ve answered that one before.”

“You said you’d answer all of my questions.”

“No, we never dated.”

“Are you only with me because she didn’t want to be with you?”

“Rosamund, you have to know that’s not true.”

“Should I? Because from my point of view, you almost kissed her, you then slept with me, she found out, you stopped being friends, and then we ended up together.”

I sighed and reached out and held her hand. “I can see how it would seem that way but let me explain to you what really happened. I went to prom with Star, I took her home and we sat outside her house talking. She had a look on her face I had never seen before. She walked away from me and being her friend, I tried to comfort her. Did we almost kiss? Yes, but it didn’t happen. She walked away and I walked home, where I saw you. You were upset so I invited you in. . .”

“I know this part, Jefferson.”

“But you don’t know it from my point of view.” I continued. “We started talking upstairs and I knew you needed to be comforted. Did we almost kiss?”

“No.”

“No, we didn’t. We kissed and then did other things that led us to where we are today.”

“So what are you saying Jefferson?”

“What I’m saying my dear wife, is that while I may have almost kissed her I actually kissed you. I have always believed that things happen or don’t happen for a reason. I kissed you. I slept with you. I married you.”

She smiled at me. “You are very logical and rational, aren’t you? You explain it and it makes perfect sense, and even in your rationalness you still somehow end up being romantic.”

“How do you know I wasn’t trying to be romantic? And rationalness is not a word.”

She laughed. “I know it’s not. One more question. What was with your sister tonight?”

I rolled my eyes. “Welcome to having Bridgette Hobble as your sister-in-law.” I joked. “Seriously though, Bridge is, well Bridge. She’s testing us right now. It’s what she does. She’s making sure that we’re in this for the long haul and she’s trying to protect me. She’s always been way too protective of me, and in the past, she’s been able to get away with it. But she crossed a line when she pulled you into it. I’m sorry she did that and I completely understand that you’re upset with her because I am too.”

****Rosamund****

 

I was upset with Bridgette. I had never been treated that way by anyone, nor had anyone come even close to guessing what had actually happened with Star. She was right; I had come between Star and Jefferson. It was scary how she could almost read my mind. Even when she was being nice to me I could tell she was skeptical of everything I said.

I realized Jefferson was looking at me to reply. “I’m not going to lie, Jefferson, she hurt my feelings. For you, I will be forgiving though." I really had no choice. I knew that even after this they would remain close.

He smiled at me and then looked serious. “Do you believe me about prom night and that I only want to be with you.”

“Yes.”

 “Good, because you know that I don’t lie.” 

If there was one thing that I was sure about Jefferson Hobble it was that he didn’t lie. We laid on the bed for a while cuddling. I laid there thinking about how he didn’t tell me about Star and him. I wasn’t happy that he hadn’t told me about that. At first it seemed that he had intentionally not told me but I realized, after talking to him, that wasn’t the case.   

I smiled and cuddled closer to him as I thought about how there was no longer a doubt in my mind. Jefferson Hobble was mine. He loved me and no one could take him away; not even his sister.  For the moment, I felt content. 

My pleasant thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. We both sat up and Jefferson opened the door. Bridgette was standing on the other side.  

“Can I come in?”

Jefferson looked at me and I let him know it was okay.  She stood at the foot of our bed and looked down at the floor. “I’m sorry. I know you’re going to be mad at me forever, Jeff; and Rosamund I’m sure you think I’m the worst sister-in-law, but I really am sorry. You know how I am Jeff. I’ve heard stuff for over a year from Kate about, well, things that happened and I was concerned. I know you’re an adult now but it’s hard. I’ve been your older sister since you were born.” Jefferson chuckled at her. “You know what I mean.  I promise I will try my hardest to stay out of your business and to be a good sister who isn’t too over protective and crazy. Rosamund, I’m sorry that I accused you of things. I really overstepped there and I’m sorry. I don’t expect you to forgive me, since I sure wouldn’t forgive me if I was you, but I am sorry.”

 

I watched as she walked out and Carson stayed behind for a minute. He smiled at me. “You know, my girlfriend is many things. But one thing that most people learn first about her is that she’s a tad bit over-dramatic. Me, I personally love that about her. Lots of people don’t.  I know this is going to sound weird now, but maybe in the future you’ll understand it better. You passed the Bridgette test. Welcome to the family.” He smiled, winked at me and then left.

I looked at Jefferson and he started laughing. “What’s so funny?” I inquired.“The look on your face.”

 

“What about it?”

 “You look confused and amused at the same time.” He continued laughing.

“They’re an interesting pair. She’s so dramatic and he’s so laid back.”

“He has to be. Everyone in the family is dead serious when we say that Carson is the only guy for Bridge. The man has the patience of Job. I mean look at how long he waited for her to date him.”

“So what is the Bridgette test?”

“It’s the fight or flight response. Once someone has witnessed one of the Bridge storms, they either fight or flight. You, my lovely wife, fought.  It’s an inside family joke.  Not many people stick around after witnessing Bridge in all her glory.”

“What was I going to do, leave? We are married.”

“Of course not; but you still showed Bridge you weren’t afraid of her. She’ll respect you even more now.”

“Jefferson, I love you, but your sister is strange.”

“Goes along with Carson’s statement ‘Welcome to the family.’”

I still was confused about what had just happened and I was definitely still mad at Bridgette. I looked at Jefferson and he kissed me. “Please tell me that all holidays won’t be like this.” I begged.

“They won’t. Most of them are pleasant.” He smiled and kissed me again. 

Credits:

Poses:

Mypalsims' - 6th Couple's Set , 3rd Couple's Set

Fairstead Sims' - Couple's Couch Poses

 Neelie's - Sadness Pack

Zhippidy's - With Friends

Elexis' - Babymoon

So you may notice that there's a different look to everyone in this chapter. I tried out a new skin and didn't like how it made Carson and Jeff look at all. Near the end of the chapter, you'll see them go back to normal because I couldn't deal with it anymore. Please forgive me for changing their appearance. The girls were okay, but the guys. . . Anyway, just wanted to point it out in case you were wondering if they look different for part of the chapter.  :)