2.6 Family

"Hey, you're getting big now!" 

Evan smiles at his father. "Dada!" 

Even though it's Evan's answer to everything he says, Calvin still smiles back. "That's right."

After Evan goes down for a nap, Calvin starts tidying up around their room. He sees a stray book on Naomi's desk and reaches to move it. 

He gets distracted by the trophies. Even though he cleans the house regularly, this is the first time he's really just...looked at them. 

He's been living here for nearly two years and went to the same school as Naomi all of her life, but he doesn't know much about her childhood still. He knows her mother was hard on her, but he's never really asked about stuff like so you did ballet? When was debate club? 

He sighs and turns to their prom photo. 

Strange how complicated it was back then... they couldn't even call going to the dance together a "date". And now they have a son! How the time flies.

Naomi enters the room, pulling Calvin out of his thoughts. 

"Sorry, were you cleaning in here? I can come back when you're done," Naomi apologizes for her intrusion. 

Calvin shakes his head. "Not really. Hey, can I ask you something random?" 

Naomi starts rummaging around their dresser for her clothes, "If you make it quick. I have a business call in 30 minutes." 

"Aw, really?" 

"Yes, really." 

Calvin winces, "Sorry, that came out harshly..." 

Naomi looks at the clock, "I'm sorry, Calvin, I have to get ready..." 

"The clothes are in the washing machine." 

Naomi sighs and Calvin frowns. 

"That would've been nice to know before. I guess I'll stay in my PJs, then." 

Before Calvin can reply, she's already out the door. 

Naomi tries not to work on an empty stomach. 

***

After her phone call, Naomi can't find Calvin. She wanders around before toeing her way into the nursery. She's met immediately by Evan's cries. 

She gingerly picks Evan up and cradles him. Uncertainly, she pats him on the head. 

"Um...there, there..." the usually smooth, friendly Naomi is out of her element here. Evan continues to cry. 

Naomi's thoughts are a panicked blur. How does Calvin normally deal with this? Evan doesn't smell bad, so it can't be his diaper. Food? Sleep? Sick? Just crying for no reason??

Babies are so annoyingly mysterious, Naomi thinks, absently rocking Evan back and forth. Am I even holding him right? 

"There, there..." she's not sure if it's just her voice or the rocking or what, but Evan's cries diminish. 

Calvin walks in and smiles. 

"Aw, some mama-son time, finally? Maybe I shouldn't intrude..." 

"You don't have to say it like I'm never with him." 

"It's not like you're in here much, either." 

That was the wrong thing to say. 

"I'm trying my best!" Naomi snaps, "Stop acting like I'm a terrible mother just because I have work to do!" 

"Whoa, what? I never said that!" 

"But you think it!" 

Why does every conversation we have turn into an argument? Calvin wonders, a surly expression on his face. 

"Don't put words into my mouth." 

"You just said I'm not here much! How else am I supposed to take it?" 

"Bad choice of words." 

"But it's true, isn't it?" Naomi deflates, "You think I'm a bad mother." 

Evan begins to cry, shattering their argument. 

Calvin rushes to tend to him. Naomi looks sadly on. 

"So where were you?" she changes the subject. 

"Raking leaves outside. My parents called so it took longer than I thought. They want us to come visit." 

Naomi sighs, "I have work to do, Calvin." 

Now Calvin pouts. "But it's Sunday." 

Naomi pinches the bridge of her nose. Why does she keep having to explain this? Politics doesn't stop on the weekends! 

Eventually Calvin leaves with Evan in tow, leaving Naomi with the peace and quiet she needs to work. 

He'll understand eventually, Naomi tries to soothe herself, he has to! 

***

Calvin's mother takes Evan out of the car before Calvin has even unbuckled his seatbelt. She shoos him away when he tries to help, so he goes to greet his father. 

"How's everything here? The mood-swings driving you crazy yet?" Calvin half-jokes. His brother, Igor, and his sister, Susannah, both have the over-emotional trait. Their fights were as legendary as they were trivial when he was living at home. They've both long graduated high school, leaving just his little sister Sadie in class. 

His father, Sherman Broke-Bagley, just sighs. "You know how they are. At each other's throats one day, begging for forgiveness the next. We're just hoping we all survive until Sadie's graduation." 

"How are things at home with Evan and Naomi?" Sherman changes the subject. 

Calvin can't stop himself from scowling. "They've been better," he admits, "Work for her is busy right now." 

Sherman notes his son's expression, but chooses not to comment. "Yeah, I saw Salvatore Crosby's campaign speech online when it came up. He seems...quite trendy." 

Calvin raises an eyebrow. "Didn't know you followed politics around here. They're so..." he struggles to find a word other than "boring" to describe his girlfriend's career. 

"I check up on things once in a while. Besides, he's Heather's son. Hard not to check." He and Heather Crosby, Naomi's former debate coach, are good friends. He doesn't mention that he also checks to see if any of his mother's favourite corrupt politicians are making it into governance. His mother, Ma Bagley, was the head of a criminal empire when she was alive. She might be long gone, but her influence is not. Thankfully, he's pretty sure the Crosbys aren't even aware of Ma's true occupation. 

Calvin, equally unaware of his father's family history, easily accepts this answer. "Where are Delia, Susannah, Igor, and Sadie anyways?" 

Sherman points to the house. "In there. I'm sure you'll trip over one of them," he jokes. They live with not just their five kids, but also one of their nieces from the Broke side of the family. 

Sure enough, Calvin runs into his sister Sadie as soon as he comes inside. 

"Sadie, it's too cold to swim," Calvin chides his sister. 

She sniffs indignantly, "I wanted to go diving into the leaf piles outside. I need the proper equipment." 

Calvin has long stopped trying to figure out his sister's logic. 

As usual, he tries to bring her back to reality. "The leaves are smelly and rotting, anyways. You don't want to get dirty, do you?" 

Sadie sulks. Everyone's always trying to burst her bubble. Why is it so bad that she gets excited to do things? She just doesn't understand. 

But she relents. Calvin will just get mopey if she doesn't listen to him. 

"So what brings you back here? Bad energy over there?" 

Calvin sighs. His sister strongly believes that places have "good" and "bad" energies based on arbitrary things like patterns and textures of furniture, shapes, and sometimes smells. The only place she has no qualms with is their own family home. This obsession only started once she began high school. 

"No, everything's fine. Mom and dad just wanted to see me and Evan." 

"You should just stay here. The chairs are plaid." This only makes sense to Sadie. 

It doesn't take long for her brother to be boring again. 

Sigh. 

Calvin wanders outside to talk to his father again. 

"You need some help?" Calvin offers. At his old age, Calvin worries that yardwork will be too hard on his dad. 

"You don't have to," Sherman tries to wave off his son's concern. 

Calvin does so anyways. 

One of his many cousins has come over to visit, too. 

Eventually his older brother comes home. 

They catch up. Igor now works for the police department. 

"I thought you wanted to buy a boat and live at a port city?" Calvin is confused about Igor's change of plans. 

"Yeah, that was the plan. But then the boat sale went through. The guy was trying to scam me. Good thing I caught on, or else I would've stuck myself with something that isn't even sea-worthy. What an asshole! Ruining my dreams!" emotion overtakes Igor, bring angry tears to his eyes. 

Calvin pats his brother on the shoulder. "That's really rough. At least you got to keep your money." 

"And there's nothing wrong with staying here," Sherman cuts in, "Save up some more before you go off sailing the seven seas and all that." 

For old time's sake, Calvin and Igor play a game of catch. 

Calvin gives us a rare smile. 

His brother catches the football easily and throws it with impressive force. He could've played with the local football team, if he'd wanted, but turned down the recruitment offer before he graduated. He really wanted that boat. 

It's good to be home. 

***

Naomi bites her nails nervously. The mayor, Salvatore Crosby, suddenly called her for an emergency meeting. Did she mess something up? Not send out enough promotional emails? Maybe the date I suggested for the fundraiser doesn't work? Am I being fired? 

Salvatore enters the library, breaking Naomi out of her worries. 

"Did something go wrong with the campaign?" Naomi asks nervously. 

"Wrong? No, no don't worry about that. Everything's going well. Really well!" Salvatore calms his panicked employee. 

"It's just that we were looking at the next fundraiser. We need another set of eyes for the planning. Our current campaign manager is out of town until spring. How would you like to run it?" 

A promotion? Naomi is so surprised she can hardly speak. 

"If this is a bad time for you, I understand. We've loaded you with enough responsibilities as it is," Salvatore begins outlining how they can try to find someone else. 

"No! No, I was just surprised is all. I would love to do it! When do can I start?" 

Salvatore smiles. Just what he likes to hear. "Well, I was thinking of tomorrow morning, but since we're already here, why don't I bring you up to speed over dinner?" 

Naomi accepts without hesitation. 

It's quite a long dinner. Salvatore wants to take a more ecological angle for his campaign. Where other contenders are focusing on technological advancement, he wants to protect Riverview's diminishing nature. 

It'll be quite the task to pull this all off, but Naomi would never back down from a professional challenge. She listens eagerly. 

Calvin comes home well into the evening after his own dinner with his parents. He checks his phone and frowns. No texts or calls from Naomi. 

Where could she be? 

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AN: This generation is progressing at a snail's pace! I would really like to speed things up, especially since I started playing the save file again (which is already in generation four!). 

Some sim trivia: 

-Salvatore Crosby (Naomi's boss) is avant-garde, light sleeper, perfectionist, and a technophobe. He and Naomi are friends. 

-Calvin is one of 5 kids from Ruby Broke, four of her children (including Calvin) are from her marriage with Sherman. 

-Igor has the athletic, over-emotional, angler, sailor, and friendly traits. He would've made an ideal fishersim! 

-Sadie has the excitable and insane traits, I have to look in the family tree to see what other traits she had.