Monday, May 26, 2014

Where'd you go now, Sandybeachgirl?

Well. . .It's somewhere where the view out my window is this:





And I get to see this about every other day:





I had meant to get a chapter out before but time got away from me. I may or may not get to one this week, but if not, know that by next week, I'll be back for good. :) Thanks for your patience while my family and I get some rest and relaxation!


Monday, May 12, 2014

George - Chapter Seven: Christmas Surprises - A Surprise Reaction

Sorry this chapter took so long! It's the end of the school year for us and it's crazy busy!  Little warning for language. Thanks so much for being patient with me and thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy!
 
 
****Charlotte****




“Are you ready?” I took a deep breath and nodded. He looked briefly at Steph and then walked to the front door. He paused and then opened the door. The second I heard her voice I started tearing up which surprised me. In all the scenarios I had thought up in my head, I never imagined that hearing her voice would bring tears to my eyes.

“Hi Mom. Let me get your coat.”

“Thanks. Did everyone make it here okay?”

“Yes, they’re all in the living room.” I saw George walk into the room and I caught a glimpse of her reddish brown hair. George moved slightly to the side and that’s when I saw her. I couldn’t stop the tears from falling at that point. When I saw her face I noticed that she too had tears in her eyes. It was like someone else took over my body and before I knew what I was doing, I was hurrying over to her and hugging her.






“I’m so sorry Mom.” It was all I could get out before I started bawling into her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me as I cried. All I could think about was how stupid I had been. Why had I run away all those years ago? Why had I not contacted any of them? George had tried to explain to me how hurt everyone was but it didn’t register with me until this moment. I had been so selfish, so self-absorbed that I didn’t think of how my actions would affect everyone else.



At some point I felt Mom take one of her hands away and then I felt even more people hugging. I didn’t even have to look up to see that the four of us were now hugging.  I had a flashback to when we had all hugged in the hospital when we were waiting to hear about Dad. But unlike then, when it felt like our family was being ripped apart, this time it felt like we were coming back together, except Will wasn’t there. That would have made that moment perfect; if it had been the five of us. 



I have no idea how long we stayed like that but I honestly didn’t want it to end and I was sad when we broke apart. I looked at Mom and she held my head in between her hands. “I love you Charlotte and I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you’re okay, but next time, please tell me where you are.” I started crying again and nodded. She once again pulled me in and hugged me. I eventually stopped crying and looked at George and Trev. The only time I remembered seeing them cry was when dad passed away; as I looked at them, I realized that they too had been crying. I hated that I had caused so much pain and worry. I wished I could go back in time and change the decision I had made all those years ago to leave. 

“Oh my! How thoughtless of us! Your poor friend is having to stand here and watch us all crying.” Mom worried. She walked up to Steph and hugged her. “You must be Steph. It’s nice to meet you!” I almost laughed at the look on Steph’s face. She wasn’t quite sure what to do and I was sure it was because Mom was hugging her. Mom stepped back and Steph looked at her. 






“It’s nice to meet you Mrs. Davila.”



“Oh, please call me Bridge.” 


"Ummm. okay." It was obvious that Steph wasn't sure how to respond. She needed to be saved. There was only one person in the room who was good at doing that. I jabbed George in the ribs with my elbow.




"Ow!" He looked at me and I motioned for him to step in. "Oh, hey Mom, why don't you, Charlotte, and Trev sit down and talk for a bit. Hey Steph, do you want to help me?"
 “Sure!” Steph hurriedly agreed. I chuckled as they went into the kitchen while Mom, Trev and I walked over to the couches.


****George****



Steph and I walked into the kitchen and I immediately turned around to look at her. “Sorry if you felt uncomfortable out there.” I didn’t know how uncomfortable she had been during the exchange between Mom and Charlotte, but it had been obvious that she was when Mom had hugged her.

“It’s okay. After Charlotte explained everything earlier I had a better idea of what would probably happen.”



“You seemed a little. . .unsure when Mom was hugging you. She normally doesn’t act that way with people she doesn’t know very well; she must have been caught up in the emotions of seeing Charlotte again.”

“It’s okay. I’m just not used to hugging.” She said and looked down at the floor. I really wanted to ask her why but this wasn’t the time. Maybe some other time during these next couple days I could ask her about it. She looked back up at me and I nodded.

“Hopefully the most uncomfortable part of the night is over. I do need to tell you something about tomorrow though so you won’t be completely in the dark.”

“What do you mean.”

“It’s something that no one but me knows and although I want the others to be surprised, it wouldn’t be good to keep it from you.” She raised an eyebrow and looked questionably at me.

“What?”

“I promise I’ll explain it later; I guess you’re just going to have to trust me for right now.” 



She smiled. “’Trust me’ says the tiger. I guess I really don’t have a choice.” There was that sarcasm again that always seemed to be present when she was uncomfortable.

“I guess you don’t, Sunshine.”

“Sunshine? Is that in reference to my love of pie?”

“That, or could be a sarcastic reference to your sarcastic personality.”

“Did you. . .No, I don’t believe it! You used sarcasm!” She said sarcastically.

“I sure did, Sunshine.” She playfully narrowed her eyes and was about to say something when we heard Trev.

“Damnit George! We’e hungry.”

“Trevor. . .language.” I heard Mom say.

“Sorry, Mom.” Trev apologized. Steph and I both laughed at Trev getting scolded by Mom. I plated the food and the Steph and I carried the plates into the dining room. Mom, Trev and Charlotte were already sitting at the table and when Steph and I sat down Mom scolded me.



“George, you should know better than to have a guest help with dinner. She should be sitting down, not serving.”



“Hey, I tried to convince her of that earlier and she insisted.” I defended myself.

“Well. . .still. . .” She gave me a scolding look but smiled at Steph.“So, I’m glad you were able to join us for Christmas, Steph. Charlotte’s told me how you’ve become a good friend of hers, which I have to admit, I’m relieved that she’s made some good friends where she is.” Mom and Charlotte smiled at each other.



“I’m just touched that she invited me and George and you have opened your houses to me.”

Mom smiled. I was just waiting for her to start asking personal questions. That was one thing that hadn’t changed about Mom; she still had this desire to know if people were truthful. I had often wondered if my wanting to figure people out had been something that I had inherited from her. 



“I was sad to hear that you might have spent Christmas alone. Have your parents passed?” And there was the first of the personal questions. I couldn’t blame Mom, though, to her it seemed like an innocent question but the rest of us sitting at the table knew it was a touchy subject; even if we didn’t know exactly why.


Monday, May 5, 2014

A Little Peek of Things to Come. . .

While I'm getting the next chapter ready to post (it's been written for awhile but I'm just now finding time to finalize it), I thought I'd give you a peek of what's to come. :D My sim friend, Blythelyre, recently did this and I loved it!

Most of them, it's pretty obvious who's talking but what might not be so clear is what they're talking about. Some, are just cute snippets of dialogue between characters. In either case, I hope you enjoy them!

I also have done this for Jeff's story and you can find it here.

***If you don't want to have even a small hint about what's coming up in the story, you might not want to read these. They are pretty vague but they do hint at what's to come. :) Also, there is some language.****


*****



“Ummm. . .okay.” It was obvious that Steph wasn’t sure how to respond. She needed to be saved. There was only one person in the room who was good at doing that. I jabbed George in the ribs with my elbow.

“Ow!” He looked at me and I motioned for him to step in. “Oh, hey Mom, why don’t you, Charlotte and Trev sit down and talk for a bit. Steph, do you want to help me?”


*****


Mom smiled. I was just waiting for her to start asking personal questions. That was one thing that hadn’t changed about Mom; she still had this desire to know if people were truthful. I had often wondered if my wanting to figure people out had been something that I had inherited from her.


*****


“She’s pretty, isn’t she?” I turned to look at her.

“Wha. . .?”

“Weren’t you thinking about her?” Mom smiled.

“Yes, but about her and her family. . .”

“Oh, well I just figured you would have noticed how pretty she was. . .”


*****


He leaned forward and rested his arms on his legs. “I can kind of relate to that.” I gave him a questioning look. “When people find out that my dad is dead, how he died, and how old I was when it happened. . .I get that sometimes from people. They get that look on their face; the “Oh you poor thing!” face.”


*****


He nodded and then pursed his lips. “What?” I asked.

“Nothing.” He answered quickly. He looked over at me and raised an eyebrow. “It’s just. . .I was wondering where Tony fit into all of that.”


*****


“I’m Steph. Nice to meet you too.” I said and then watched as his uncle and him talked for a moment. I kept looking back and forth between them and was floored by how much the two looked alike. It was almost like his uncle could have been his dad.


*****


“'Dr. George Davila.' I’m guessing this is your office.” I smiled at him and he smiled back.

“That it is.”

“It looks nice.” I peered inside and noticed that it seemed very bright and cheerful which was the complete opposite of what I would have guessed a psychologist’s office looked like. I turned around and looked at him.  “So are you going to tell me why you started running?”


*****


“Oh God. . .” She said and I heard the crack in her voice. I pulled into the driveway and turned around.

“You okay?” I asked as I reached back to grab her hand.

“Yeah, I was just. . .surprised by how emotional it was to see it again after all this time."


*****


“It’s almost time for the surprise.” I told Steph. “I hope it goes well.”

“Why wouldn’t it? From what you told me, it should be a happy surprise.” I nodded. I just hoped that it didn’t push Charlotte or Mom over the edge. I looked at my watch and saw that it was a couple of minutes till noon. 

“Better head downstairs.” She nodded and we walked downstairs.


*****


“Well, Trev could always go without eating. I mean he eats a ton so he could stand to skip a meal.” I joked.

“What the hell you little shit! I’ll have you know that it takes a lot of food to fuel this football working machine.” He joked back.

“Trev! Language!” Mom said and we all laughed at him for getting scolded by Mom again.