3.7 Kids

Evan is finally able to get the food synthesiser to work. It produces average quality crepes. 

"Is there no way I could just graduate early?" Vincent pleads before school starts, "I already know I want to be a painter. Why do I have to bother?" 

This is certainly a blast from the past. Evan can very clearly remember skipping school because it "just wasn't worth it". 

"Trust me, passing and getting a diploma saves you a huge headache later in life," Evan manages after a moment. "I basically had to bribe my bosses to take me on because of my crap scores." 

"But it worked for you!" 

"Only because I had 'Vice-President Silverly' to back up the bribe." 

Vincent frowns. They so rarely talk about their mother, the woman in the old photos in the red bedroom. "Oh..." 

"Plus, I'm not so bad with physics and astronomy, I still had to pass their entrance exam. I was lucky that worked. You need something to fall back on. If that hadn't panned out... I'd probably still be a part time employee at the bookstore." 

"Save your sappy garbage," Vincent rolls his eyes. 

"Hey- that 'sappy garbage' about my life is the only reason we're all sitting in this house with our own bedrooms, and not all hot-bunking in two rooms. The money I got from the job I was lucky to land made all this," he gestures around the room, "affordable. It's also the reason you don't need to work a part time job."

"Alriiiiiiight, dad. I get it. Spare me the speech." 

Evan smiles, "I dunno, I thought it was a pretty good one. Been waiting to bust that one out for a while." 

Whatchya doin' there, Olivia?

Oh. I see. 

After the fire and destruction, Olivia thinks about her wedding ring. Evan insisted on giving her a pretty moonstone ring despite the high price. At the time she thought he was being sappy, but now she likes it. 

Poor Kipper. He basically has to swim through all this snow to get anywhere. 

A neighbour's cat runs by, seemingly mocking him. 

Being newly-weds, Olivia and Evan can hardly keep their hands off of each other. 

But Olivia manages to break away for her animals. 

Hawky listens to her quick update on her life with interest. 

Evan and Olivia are sure to make time for Lincoln as well. 

And Kipper! 

Kipper is a very good boy. 

Vincent thinks about what Evan said, having something to fall back on and everything. 

Sculpting is separate from painting. That counts, right? 

The Elvis wanna-be from Olivia's bachelorette party texts her one day, asking to hang out. She's surprised to find out it's Max Cantina-Lin, a thuggish looking young man, not as young as Vincent but younger than her little sisters. She's intrigued by his offer, however, and agrees to meet up with him. 

"So...do you just hang out with older people for fun?" she asks a few minutes after starting their game. 

He shrugs. "I had fun at your party last time, and I don't have too many friends nowadays. I thought it would be nice to hang out." 

Olivia frowns. "You're not going to hit me up for money or something, are you?" 

"Nah, I have plenty of that. It's just that... the only people I know are my co-workers. Oh, and Stephanie. She was the one who invited me to your party. But, uh... she's a bit..." 

Olivia laughs. "Short tempered?" 

He nods energetically, "Pretty scary. But if this is weird for you..." 

Olivia feels a bit sorry for him. He could just be lonely... "No, it's alright- ha! I won!" she destroys his last ship while he's distracted. 

"No fair..." 

They have a pleasant outing. Olivia hangs a new photograph. 

Another school dance. 

Before he leaves, Olivia ropes Vincent into some strange gardening conversation. 

"Do you have a date? I could have planted some flowers. It's really not too complicated..." 

"Mom, it's fine. I'm going solo." 

She gives him a hug goodbye. "Have fun, Vince" 

"I will."

Meanwhile, Kipper takes this chance to befriend the youngest household member... 

He doesn't have the same scent that Olivia does. Hmph. Kipper's a bit disappointed. 

Lincoln, on the other hand, is delighted! Such a cute, fluffy dog! "Woof!" he tries to communicate with Kipper. 

Too bad his father has other ideas for the evening. For whatever reason, his dad is insistent that he master this simple game... 

The books, at least, are engaging. Evan tries to read with him, but Lincoln waves him away. He can figure it out himself, thank you very much. 

Evan is sure to give Kipper some love, too. 

Olivia just wishes they would play somewhere else... 

It took some time, but Olivia finally comes around to the sonic shower. It's nice when she's too lazy to change and run the normal shower. 

With all of Evan's promotions and Olivia's steady flow of pet rescues, they're able to buy some new furniture. No more tiny dining table... 

And they finally get a TV!

They also start building a new bedroom for Lincoln, though it's not finished yet. 

Olivia finally gets the computer she wanted. 

After the computer repair, the same guy asks her to fix his stereo. She wonders why he doesn't just call an electrician... 

Vincent's pretty happy about the new computer. 

"Thank the Watcher, our family's not in the stone age," he exaggerates a little, "Too bad I'll be graduating and moving out soon..." 

Olivia quirks an eyebrow. "No one's asking you to leave." 

Vincent shrugs. "I figured it would be best. I want to see what life is like on my own...and if I have my own kids-" 

Olivia chokes on her crepes. 

"Someday, mom, not any time soon! I'd rather have my own house, you know? You and dad added on so much to this place himself, I want to make my own home too." 

A little emotional at the prospect that her son will be leaving so soon, Olivia gets Lincoln to join in on watching Vincent play the guitar. 

At least Lincoln's still young, Olivia thinks, there's still time. 

"What'dya think of my little concert?" Vincent asks his younger brother. 

Lincoln takes a while before answering, mulling over his words. "It was very pretty music," he finally answers, "I liked it." 

Evan's feeling a bit choked up himself. Kids. They grow up so fast! 

-------------------------------

AN: Lincoln's a child! His traits are: 

-Eccentric

-Genius

-Brooding 

Evan should be graduating and moving out in a few sim days!