* note: I know for us it’s been months since Aliyah took that pregnancy test, but in the story, it’s only been about a week or two. OMG how is that even possible!?!
For Aliyah's birthday dinner, Angelo was taking her to his mom's house.
"I wish I could take you somewhere awesome. Sorry, babe, I am broke as a joke. You know how my client stiffed me?"
Aliyah knew. It was all he'd been ranting and raving about for weeks.
"I can't believe that douchebag," he said. "I worked all summer on that case. I got nothing."
"I know it's not your fault," she said. "But you know I get an employee discount at work?"
"Yeah, babe, but your work is so expensive. I don’t think I could afford a hamburger on discount there. I’ll make it up to you next birthday."
This is my baby's daddy, Aliyah thought. He doesn't even know that he's going to be a daddy, but he is, and he can't afford a hamburger. She let that reality sink in. It sunk into a tiny pocket of dread inside her that grew by the day and now felt like a gurgling pit.
She hadn't told Angelo about the baby yet. She hoped that the dread was just routine anxiety—she didn't know how he'd take the news—and that once she told him, all would be well again. They'd share a celebratory fuck on the couch with the windows open for everyone to hear. She'd been waiting for the right time. She'd been waiting to decide whether she was keeping this baby, or not, and if she wasn't, what would that mean about their future? Did they have a future together? Did he want one?
She'd be fine either way, she decided. Aliyah was an independent woman with a great job of her own. She could afford hamburgers wherever she wanted to buy them. She didn't need a provider.
But he still wanted to see her on her next birthday? That must be a promising sign.
The walk was longer than she expected and she was hungry already. "Are we there yet? Maybe we should have gotten a cab."
"Cabs are expensive as hell," he said. "You sick or something?"
"Eh," she said.
"But hey, we’re there. See that tall building on the far corner? That's it."
He took her hands. "But I have something to tell you, before we go up."
"Wow, before? I actually have something too, but you go first."
The gurgling pit of dread deepened.
"Aliyah, I like you a lot. Like, I always thought that I'd never want to settle down. I couldn't see it happening. But then I met you and, you know, we fuck like dynamite. If I'm ever going to make it with somebody, I'd need to settle down with a girl who liked to fuck. You know, the sexual chemistry. You know it, right? But there's a thing you should know before you meet my family. This isn’t something I tell just anybody. It’s kind of... sensitive, private. You sure you’re not cold? Your hands feel a little clammy."
She let go of his hands.
"It wasn’t a lie, exactly," he started. "I said my dad was 'gone' and I let you assume what most people assume. It’s just easier than explaining on a first date that my dad is in the slammer for twenty years for mafia-level money laundering. You know, a guy doesn’t get many second dates after that kind of bombshell. But not just that, he was kind of a cad. And everybody knew it, he was kind of infamous for it."
"The money laundering or the womanizing?" she asked. She couldn't believe she was asking it.
"Oh, uh, both I guess."
That was not the dreadful thing she expected, yet it was dreadful in its own right. She wasn't quite sure how to process what that meant to her or their future—or their baby's future.
"But, what I mean to say is, that’s my dad, not me. And we gotta judge each other on our own merits, right? I mean, I don't even know what your parents do for a living. Maybe they're in the slammer, too, for all I know."
"My mom is a professor at Sierra Nova and my dad wants to open up an omelette shop."
"Hey, or that. They sound great. Well, anyway, what did you want to say?"
"I’m pregnant," she said.
"Wait, what?"
"Pregnant."
"It’s mine?"
"Of course it’s yours!"
"Well, we never exactly had that conversation, being exclusive or not. You could have been seeing other people still. How do I know?"
"You know because I’m telling you, it’s yours," she said. "We’ve been fucking every day of the week for two months. When was I going to see anyone else?"
"Yeah. Um, we used condoms?"
"That one time, when it kind of slipped."
"Just one time?"
"Are you keeping it?"
Interesting choice of words. He didn’t say “are we keeping it?”
"Sorry, it’s just a lot to take in," he said.
"Tell me about it. And your dad is a super felon."
"So, uh, dinner then. You're hungry. You look hungry, babe. My mom's a good cook, I promise. Let's go have some dinner."
He opened the door for her. "After you. Second floor. Sorry, hot stuff, there’s no elevator. I'd carry you up a flight of stairs, but... you don't want me to try, do you?"
She shook her head.
They hesitated in front of the door. Aliyah smelled something good—pot roast, maybe—it smelled homey and her stomach growled. He didn't reach for the door and the entire world paused.
"Just, um, maybe don’t announce it yet," he said.
Oh, he didn't want to tell his mother about the baby. That was sensible, maybe. She hadn't told her own mother yet, either. She needed to tell her mom. She hadn't seen her mother since June, before she met Angelo, before they fell into their passionate two months of fantastic continuous sex and her mother left her two voice mails that she carelessly returned with texts, and now this. What was this anyway? She felt an overwhelming need to go back home, right now, and tell her mom everything.
"It’s too early," she said.
"That’s what I’m saying," he said.
"I mean, It’s too early to meet your mom."
"What?"
"It’s just, too much. It’s too soon, and too much, and I have to go. I have to go pack. I forgot I have so much packing to do. I'm going back home for a week. It's my brother's birthday next week, too, and I told him we'd celebrate together."
"I didn't know you had a brother," he said.
"I have two brothers," she said. "There's probably a lot we don't know about each other."
—
"I'm so sorry, sweetheart," Angelo's mother said. "I was so looking forward to meeting her. You've said so much about her. Well, anyway, dinner won't eat itself. Will you go find your sister? She's been so doe-eyed over this boy down on the first floor. I can't pry her away from him."
"Leave my sister the fuck alone, you slimy cum weasel, or I’ll cut off your pecker and shove it so far up your own ass that you'll taste it. And for fuck’s sake, put a goddamn shirt on!"
"Jesus, Angelo, try being somebody else’s dad. You’re sure as hell not mine."
—
footnotes: their first date // the preggy test
gameplay notes: true story, that boy never wears a shirt and I don't even know how he lost it, lol!
So, Angelo has commitment issues, as we have known of him since he was about twelve. But this interaction surprised me. I've never had a sim use it autonomously, even Angelo. "Discuss Fear of Commitment." And he sprung it up three times in the space of about an hour as they were walking to his mom's house.
(click for bigger)
He just kept saying it, over and over again. It was kind of off-putting, to say the least. Especially considering the news she had, and on her birthday!
But I suspect he meant it in a bumbling positive light. Like, "I've never thought about settling down before YOU..."
More notes incoming on Aliyah! She does have a family, two parents and two brothers. They magically materialized as I was writing this piece!
***
October Birthdays:
2: Luis Talbot is 23
5: Marlie Alonso is 30
6: Heather Huffington is 44
7: Aliyah Sylvester is 26
8: Bentley Booth is 24
9: Julia Lind is 7
11: Raquel Herrera is 21
14: Marcus Sylvester is 18
15: April Hutchins is 23
17: Payton Quick is 12
18: Levi Bachman is 52
25: Leigh Turner is 42
25: Charlie Roseland is 22
28: Alexander Trudgen is 12
October anniversaries:
10/2/2066: Cabe & Ashley Deppiesse — 20 years
10/15/2072: Blake & Clarice Miller — 14 years
10/18/2059: Cynthia & Robert Kim — 27 years
Health Strike:
— everybody’s healthy this month!
Lot damage:
This is Evie and Summer's apartment, by the way. I spun my camera around and closed my eyes, clicked on random objects until I got something appropriate. It was…
RIP, mini-fridge.
I'm glad Aaliyah's going to be ok whatever happens with Angelo...I'd hate for her to depend on him, with his commitment issues and his apparent anger issues. But maybe it will work out between them. No matter what, she's a great character. I felt sorry for his little sister. That was super embarrassing.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame they didn't have a chance to explore being a couple for longer, because I do wonder if they have something worth trying for. The sexual chemistry was certainly good, but I suspect they could work on a personality level, too. Who knows if Angelo might have pulled his head out of his ass? But now they're both kind of spooked.
DeleteHa ha, poor Devon. She needs to slow down though. She's only fourteen and I feel like she's going to be so much trouble!
I forgot Angelo had a sister! She was just a baby in LH, wasn't she? I loved Angelo's reaction to that weird shirtless guy, lol! Oh gosh, that last line from Devon though! I imagine that would have been a bit alarming for Angelo. ;)
ReplyDeleteYikes, that "discuss fear of commitment" thing! Aliyah doesn't look thrilled, does she? Who could blame her? I just can't wait to see what happens with these two and the impending baby. It's going to be very interesting.
Devon was one of my first babies born on the LH blog, but she was about 7 by the end of it. I did tweak their ages a bit for this blog, in relation to everyone else, but Angelo was always nearly 10 years older than her.
DeleteHa ha, I can't believe that "discuss fear of commitment" isn't a very negative interaction for sims. They look so pissed off, but it's pretty much neutral to their relationship, not much gained or lost. Or maybe it depends on traits, actually. Maybe a family-oriented sim would take it very badly.