The Dreamer Family pt. 3
Darleen was busy with the baby now and Darren took it upon him to look after Dyson. He returned from work at the time when Dyson was coming home from school and after seeing his daughter and saying hello to his wife, he spend most of the afternoon with him.
Darren wanted all his children to be educated and go to college one day. After they had started to feed him smart milk, Dyson's learning ability had increased, but going to school was a new challenge and he needed help with the homework. Darren was there to offer it to him and he also taught him to study more effectively.
Darleen was still extremly happy about the birth of the baby and she looked lovelier than ever.
The sight of his wife with their daughter in her arms was so beautiful that Darren would have liked her to pose for a painting like that, but of course this would have been far too much of a strain for both of them and so he tried to memorise this picture in his head instead.
Because of his work schedule and because there was another child to look after, most of the care for Dionne was left to Darleen, who did not mind this in the least. Darren made sure of her well-being during that time by cooking most of the meals for the family and seeing that she was getting enough sleep. Darleen was a terrible cook and Darren had nightmares of her setting the cooker on fire again.
They had also acquired an energizer, and he encouraged her to use it, whenever her state of mind did not bear the risk of side effects.
He always looked forward to his days off work though, because on those he could be with his daughter, cuddling her and playing with her, while Dyson was in school (Darren worked on the weekends and had his breaks in the middle of the week).
Dyson profited from the help of his father and did receive the good grades Darren had been hoping for. He was beaming from excitement when he returned from school with his first A+. He jumped up in the air before he stormed into the kitchen to tell his mother and father.
Usually he did not show such outbreaks of emotion. Apart from being exceptionally friendly, he was evenly tempered and had no extremes in his character, neither being too playful nor too serious, neither very shy nor overly outgoing. He listened and watched with interest and the other children in the neighbourhood liked him.
Dionne grew and one day Darren came into the kitchen and said to his wife: 'Come Darleen, you know it is time.'
'Yes, I know', she replied, 'I just wanted to feed and hold her one last time.'
But of course when Dionne had grown into a toddler, Darleen could not imagine anything better than that.
Like she had done before, she immediately started to teach her to walk.
Dionne learned easier than her brother and soon she could walk on her own.
After the initial training from her mother Darren had taken over. He was sad that Darleen did not see the first steps of their daughter because she was already in bed at the time.
He felt that he had far too little time with his daugther until then and since he had some time off work when she was a toddler, he was making up for it at that time and Dionne learned most of her skills from him.
She loved the attention from her father.
She was always glad though, when her mother was around too, snuggling her or helping her with some of those things she had not yet mastered.
With the encouragement of Darleen, Dionne was potty trained and had acquired all the skills which were a prerequisite for a successful entry into the next stage of life.
Before that they wanted her to meet her older brother though and Dirk was invited over from university to stay with them for the weekend. Dionne immediately approached him and wanted him to play with her. Darren had a coffee and watched his two children. Dionne seemed very fond of Dirk.
When he got up to get a coffee for himself, she screamed and did not want to let him go.
'What's wrong, Dionne? Have we not played enough?'
But it wasn't playing she wanted and when he picked her up, she happily snuggled up to him. Dionne had taken to Dirk immediately and they had already become good friends when he returned to college the next day. She was very sad to see him leave.
Dyson on the other hand had always liked his father best and when Darren returned from work he used to run out to greet him. Darren had been promoted and was coming home later in the afternoon, but he also worked less days during the week.
When the time for Dionne's birthday came, Dirk was invited again. They knew that Dionne would be very happy to have her older brother around for the celebration.
He played with her and carried her around for most of the afternoon until it was close to six o'clock.
Then he handed her over to Darleen who brought her to her birthday cake. It was a celebration and they had done their best to give Dionne a good start in life, but Darleen couldn't help feeling a bit sad about her daughter growing up.
Dionne turned into a beautiful school girl and immediately grabbed a piece of cake sitting next to Dirk and talking to him. Dionne and Dyson had a similar personality, but the bond between Dirk and his little sister was stronger right from the start.
Darleen had not only been training her children but also taught herself while they grew up. She wanted to be able to help them with their homework and be a good example to them.
She had a way to make learning fun and Dionne was taught to have an interest in her subjects and studying them.
Darleen and Darren had wished to have two more children, a boy and a girl, and this had become true. But when Darleen watched them (being two perfect little beings in her opinion), she often wished to have another child. She was not sure how Darren felt about it, he seemed to be happy with the way it was.
One day Gabriella came by, pregnant with her second child (and, as it later turned out, with her third) and Darren, who was outside watering the flowers, walked up to her and greeted her.
'It doesn't look like you have to wait much longer. How do you feel? I hope you're not too worn out.'
'No, well, of course I'm tired and everything, but it is not too bad.'
Darleen was all over the place about Gabriella's pregnancy. 'You must be so happy', she said. 'I never thought you were the type for family, but it looks like your relationship with Kennedy is going really well.'
Seeing Gabriella in this state, Darleen's wish to have another baby became even stronger.
Looking at Dionne and Dyson had the same effect on her.
At times she wondered if she should discuss this with Darren, but in a way she already knew what he would say and he had good arguments. Pleasantview was growing fast and if the existing families did not stop having more children they would take this chance away from the new generations unless they decided to move somewhere else. As much as she wanted another child, Darleen also wanted to have Dirk living nearby after his graduation. It would be his and the turn of his friends to have a family when they returned from college.
The Dreamer Family pt. 4
So Darleen concentrated on the children she already had instead.
And when another baby joined the family, it was a little kitten called Bailey.
Ever since pets had appeared in the neighbourhood the children had wished to have a kitten and they were extremely happy when they got up the next morning (Bailey had been brought to the house very late in the evening) and found the little cat on the kitchen floor.
They took turns in the bathroom and one of them was playing with Bailey while the other was having a shower.
To make the day perfect Dionne brought back her first A+ when she returned from school in the afternoon.
Darleen ran into trouble with Mortimer Goth a few times. The way their telescope was situated, it offered a good look onto the Goth house and sometimes it was just too tempting to spy on their family life instead of looking at the stars.
Dyson grew older and was spending a lot of time with Joy Broke.
He liked her a lot and Darleen thought it was really cute how he was hugging her all the time. Joy was a very playful girl and Dyson had more fun with her than anybody else. He could not imagine that they would stop being friends when they grew up.
Dionne had a friend over too and Darleen watched them when they were all sitting at the table together. She had not given up her dream of another child yet.
It was around the time of Dirk's graduation when Darleen became unfaithful to Darren.
Darleen loved her husband and would always be grateful to him because he had resurrected her (and later saved her from the grim reaper a second time). Nevertheless she had discovered that there were some men living in the neighbourhood, who were not only very appealing to her but who appeared to fancy her as well.
When the atmosphere in the neighbourhood changed and people became more open-minded in those matters, as well as showing less restraint, she found it hard to ignore her attraction to some of her neighbours. Peter Stratton was one of them.
They had become friends and when he spotted her as he came through the door of the Leisure Centre, he walked up to her and they had a conversation. While they talked, they began to flirt and from the suggestive remarks to the photo booth it was only a short way.
Darleen did not have the impression that Peter had talked her into it, their woohoo was the result of joint efforts.
She could not even feel guilty about it, not yet. It had been a wonderful experience and it was impossible to regret it. If she had another chance (not that she intended to break up), Peter was the kind of man she would like to marry.
Later on, when she was on her way back home, she realised that it would be better not to share her thoughts with anyone. Peter was married and like her, he was not prepared to loose his family. None of their acquaintances or friends had witnessed it and if they kept their mouths shut, their spouses and children would never find out.
She would have liked to relieve herself and tell somebody about her feelings for Peter, but secrecy was a small price to pay.
Dirk Dreamer
When he returned to Pleasantview Dirk moved into one of the modern bungalows to the right side of Main Street. There were still a few things that needed to be done, but Dirk kept the furniture scarce and after a week or so he was finished with the decorating.
As if they had known it some neighbours came round that day to greet him. To Dirk it seemed slightly ridiculous that he was welcomed into a neighbourhood where he had lived most of his life, but then someone moving in was always a good opportunity to meet new sims. Matthew originally came from Bluewater and Sharlene had lived downtown as a teen. He never met her until she moved back to Pleasantview after her graduation although she was a good friend of Charlene Layton.
It was also the day he had invited Emmy and she arrived shortly after the others. She was close to complete her studies, but he had not made up his mind yet whether he wanted to live with her. What he knew was that he missed her badly.
The other visitors were sitting on the roof of the house where he had placed the hot tub that had been his share of the goods from college. Ivy Copur had come by as well and was upstairs with the others.
Meanwhile Dirk was in the bedroom with Emmy, finding out just how much he had missed her. Decorating the house had kept him busy, but now he wondered how he had managed to do without her for more than a week.
Emmy stayed on after the neighbours left. While he was preparing dinner Dirk was thinking about her and the fact that he needed to do something about the lighting in the house, because he could hardly see what he was doing.
With regard to the lights Dirk decided to go to the shop the next day, with regard to Emmy he didn't get much further. He was not afraid to loose his independence and even if they did not live together he was certain they would see each other a lot. What made him unsure was that she was so easygoing. Of course this was not a bad trait as such, but Emmy appeared not to worry about a thing. He had expected her to react at least a little bit jealous when she caught him with Lilith during Lilith's party, but like everything else thay might depress her she had simply ignored it. And now although she would soon graduate she never talked about her plans for the future.
Later on he wondered whether he was doing her injustice. Just because she did not talk about it, it didn't mean that Emmy was never serious about anything. She had always made it clear that she cared a lot for him and he found it hard to say goodbye to her.
A few weeks later Dirk was at home learning. It had not taken long to find a job in the career he wanted to pursue, but he was looking beyond that. Since he had chosen hedonism as his path for life he had wanted to become a professional party guest, convinced that this was surely the easiest and most enjoyable way to earn money. But he was already planning a new future life. While he had not made a choice yet, he knew that he was not going to remain a pleasure sim forever.
Emmy had only been able to visit him a few times because she had to work for her exams. She had been over the day before though and Dirk was in a great mood. It would be safe to use a thinking cap for studying and he did not see why he shouldn't make use of modern technology. After reading for a while he noticed that it had a very unusual effect on him.
Maybe it was due to the recollection of Emmy's visit mixing with an incident that had occured a few days ago when Orlando Centowski had married his Gretchen. Despite some indications that they had reasons to get married quick it was a very romantic wedding and everyone felt very happy for the couple.
'Everyone' stood for Orlando's housemates from the dormer as well as Lauren, who had returned from her holiday a short while ago and Dustin and Charlene. When they looked into the wardrobe he and Willow had both discovered that their choice of clothes for formal occasions was very limited, but they did not let it spoil their fun. It was nice to see everyone together.
He had to admit that he did flirt with Lauren, but it was innocent and he was surprised how angry Ben got. He had a go at Lauren, who first reacted with disbelief and still smiled when Ben started shouting at her. Dirk had already turned away to chat with Charlene, but turned again to watch the argument and he could see that Ben was deeply hurt.
Maybe it was at this moment that he realised that their college time was over.
After only a few minutes he could not concentrate on his book anymore, because the thinking cap was producing thoughts that circled about babies, engagement and marriage.
Although Dirk had more or less made up his mind about wanting to live with Emmy those were issues that he had never before considered of any importance for his own life.
He was battling with his mind, but he could hardly finish a sentence before he was thinking about one of those subjects again.
It was as if the thinking cap functioned as a reprogramming device and after a few more failing attempts to get some mechanical knowledge into his brain, he decided to take it off and get something to eat.
As he had already suspected the thinking cap, though it may have increased their intensity, proved not to be responsible for his thoughts, because they continued after taking it off. Dirk began to accept that despite trying for a light hearted approach he would always remain a rather serious sim.
His mother's resurrection had never completely cured the pain he felt when she died and it had greatly influenced his development and his attitude to life.
The next day he invited her, which of course did nothing to diminish his family orientated thinking. Her dream was to see all her children graduate, but he was convinced she would be very happy to see him getting married too.
Lauren arrived not much later, he had invited her after speaking to her on the phone and noticing that she sounded very sad. They all sat upstairs in the hot tub talking to each other. Lauren was still upset about the scene at Orlando's wedding. Darleen remained silent while Lauren explained again that it had only been a harmless flirt and not woohoo in public even though Ben had reacted as if it was. She was determined that neither her son nor the rest of her family was ever to find out about her encounter with Peter Stratton.
When they sat in the kitchen for a meal (with Dirk remembering that he had planned to buy new lamps) Lauren managed to talk about lighter subjects again and he had an enjoyable evening with her and his mother.
It wasn't hard to guess that Lauren kept thinking about Ben though. Shortly after he heard that Ben had moved in with Lilith and that she was pregnant by him. He wondered if it had happened afterwards or if Lauren had not mentioned it that evening because she still hoped he would reverse his decision.
Their kiss when they said goodbye proved how unfounded Ben's jealousy was. He only wanted to cheer her up and had no serious intentions.
Only a few days later Dirk got his first promotion. He did not understand what influence she had in his profession, but someone hinted that Lilith had pulled a few strings for him. He thought it was very nice of her even although it didn't make up for not keeping in contact.
He had dinner and played bass and then it was evening already.
He became aware how many days had passed since his last woohoo with Emmy and he called her and asked if she was free to come over.
They didn't waste time when she arrived and not even two hours passed before he was sitting in the hot tub with her, holding and kissing her. They were making out and then Emmy put her arms around him. 'I got my exam results today', she whispered into his ear, 'I graduated'.
It was something in the way she looked at him when she came out of the bathroom that made him feel that this was the right moment to ask.
'I don't even really need to ask, but you haven't rented a house or an apartment yet, have you?'
Emmy shook her head.
'And do you agree with me that it would be a much better idea to live here, together?'
Emmy smiled at him and nodded.
Dirk asked her to move in straight away since she had almost nothing she needed to pick up at the dormer. As soon as they finished talking Emmy stepped back and her age transition began. Dirk watched her, thinking that it looked really nice how the sparkles where dancing around her before she started to swirl as well.
The sparkles exploded in colourful clouds and behind them Emmy reappeared, looking not much different apart from suddenly wearing a different bikini.
Like most others Emmy wanted a change of style and a new set of clothes and since Dirk had a day off soon after her move-in they went into town for some shopping. They met Ben and Dirk informed him with a happy smile that he and Emmy were living together now. She was talking to Marisa, Ben's stepmother and Dirk was thinking how much he loved her. He was still unsure what would happen if he ever decided to change his aspiration, but somehow he couldn't imagine to find her less desirable.
Then he turned to Ben again, unable to restrain himself from making some comments about him and Lilith. 'You see I'm moving on with my life too, just not quite as fast as you. I never had any real doubt about you being a family sim, not like you did, but I still expected it would take a bit longer before I hear of a child. To be honest I still don't get what is going on between you and Lilith.'
When they returned home Emmy changed into her new clothes and then watched Dirk who was cooking.
Dirk's suspicion that she was too superficial was wrong. It was true that she did not often tell what moved her, but this was because, contrary to what Dirk believed, she was very shy. He had experienced her as an outgoing sim only because she felt so close to him right from the start. In the days since her move-in it had been unnecessary to tell Dirk how she felt though, because her smile was clearly showing how happy she was.
She soon proved to him that she was aware that daily tasks were a part of life as much as fun and entertainment and although she was not a very tidy sim she was trying her best, knowing that Dirk cared about it.
What else came with living together was rather good too.
Even though Dirk was working now they spent more time in bed than they did when they were at college.