#domingomorales

[persimmonsimmer]

Later that day, after Miguel had reluctantly parted from the puppies to head to school, the adults opened Cintia's Handmade.

They had a good day. Demand for the woven pieces wasn't as high now that their fellow Panoramans had so many other choices, but plenty of traders from out of town still bought pieces to sell further along their routes.

Nancy: "Have you seen our cradles? You and Leonor are probably gonna need one soon, right?"

Al blushed.

Al: "I don't think that's really any of your-- I mean, we're not even married yet. . . . But maybe I will have a look."

Nancy: "Sorry, sorry! But uh, yeah, and I can even give you thirty percent off a second if you buy two at once. Are you still coming over for dinner tonight?"

Al: "Oh, Leonor wouldn't miss it."

Nancy: "Oww. . . . Hey, Mom, do you mind if I take off a little early? I told Trev I'd meet him at the park this afternoon."

[persimmonsimmer]

[persimmonsimmer]

Word spread quickly. It wasn't as if it was a secret, after all. Not that it would have been an easy secret to keep, with Meda growing larger by the day.

Idara: "You don't think--I heard that sometimes twins run in families. You don't think it might be twins again, do you? Watcher, I hope not. I still don't know where we're going to put even one new baby."

Joanna: “I dunno. I mean, there do seem to be a lot of us twins and triplets in Panorama." She shrugged.

Idara: "But I also heard one of the adults saying once that maybe all the multiple births had to do with something in the water. Maybe now that we have plumbing that won't be an issue anymore?"

Joanna: "Maybe. I guess you can hope. Now throw the corrupted ball already!"

Domingo: "Morning, girls. . . . Idara, how's your mother?"

Nadya: "I suppose congratulations are in order?" She'd come straight over as soon as she heard the news.

Meda: "Yes, thank you. Jeremy and I are very happy. Surprised, but happy."

Nadya: "Please do let me know if there's anything I can do to help you and Jeremy."

Meda: "We appreciate that. I'll let you know, but I doubt--"

Nadya: "I know Mariam had mentioned wanting to apprentice with you, for instance, to learn more about gardening. Would that be at all helpful? I'm sure you'll have your hands full with a baby on top of all of your normal duties, so if taking Mariam on as an apprentice would be too much . . . but then again, perhaps it would be good to have another set of helping hands around?"

Meda: "Perhaps in the spring. There really isn't much for me to teach her in the winter, in any case . . ."

Nadya: "Of course, of course. I'll let her know."

[persimmonsimmer]

Fall was quickly drawing to a close, and so, short as Panorama winters were, this would be the last harvest until spring. Between harvesting, preserving, and prepping her garden for the change of season, Meda was kept busy.

As usual, she dropped off surplus produce for Phoebe to sell. She could have made more money selling it herself, but who has the time? She was more than happy to accept a smaller sum from Phoebe and let the other woman handle the rest.

While at the store, she also took the opportunity to catch up with, and check in on, her neighbors and patients.

She was glad to hear that Domingo, who had been complaining of an ache in his wrist ever since the weather started to turn cold, thought the salve she’d given him was helping.

[persimmonsimmer]

Some time ago I decided to clean up my hair folders a bit and switch to one consistent hair system, and I actually managed to get through my male hair folder! (Whether I'll ever get around to my much larger female hair folder remains to be seen.)

But a comment from @timberllania reminded me of some photos I took when I loaded my game for the first time after doing the hair clean-up, and, well . . .

These three got off all right, honestly. They just don't really look like themselves to me. Domingo's rocking a much cooler haircut in his old age than he ever had in his teens or adulthood. Justin is giving broccoli hair vibes, lol. And I barely recognize long, straight-haired Trevor!

But the sim done the dirtiest, by far, was . . .

Walter.

L-M-A-O

Yeah, that one was bad.

[persimmonsimmer]

Happy times in the Morales household.

[persimmonsimmer]

Nancy dragged herself out of bed just in time for her official birthday party. Not that it was much of a party; she and her mom were sharing. But Leonor and Yesenia had come over to celebrate with them, and even a couple of Nancy’s friends had roused themselves in time to snag a few pieces of cake.

Including Iris.

Nancy wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Iris was acting just the same as usual, but Nancy hadn’t forgotten the events of the previous night.

Maybe Iris had the right idea. They were about to be in two completely different phases of life. Maybe this was how it had to be.

Following her mother’s lead, Nancy blew out her candles.

[persimmonsimmer]

Citlali was up bright and early the next morning, unlike her younger sister, who muttered incomprehensibly and put her pillow over her face when Citlali poked her head into her room.

But Citlali wasn’t the only one up and about at this hour.

“Back again, huh, girl?” She cooed at the familiar stray. “Are you going to let me near you this time? I promise I’m not scary.”

She slowly stepped forward. To her surprise, this time the dog didn’t run away.

All it took was a scratch between the ears. The dog leaned into Citlali’s hand, wariness melting into a goofy doggy grin and rapid-fire wagging of her nubby tail.

“Uh-oh. I think I know what this means,” Domingo said, emerging from the house to see Citlali and her new companion. “So, what’s the name of our newest family member?” Peanut looked nonplussed.

"Oh! Hi, Dad. I don’t know... You’re a pretty girl, aren’t you? Maybe... Sylvie? Do you like that? Would you like to live with us, girl? You poor thing, I can see your ribs. It’s weird, though--you didn’t look all that skinny from a distance. Anyway, if you stay, you can have all the food you can eat. What do you think, girl?”

As if in answer, the once-skittish dog flopped over, exposing her strangely engorged belly and wagging her nub even harder.

“I think we’re going to have more than one new family member soon, Dad,” Citlali said. “She’s pregnant.”

“Hmph. You look proud of yourself.”

[persimmonsimmer]

The whole family cheered as Domingo stepped up to his cake.

“Woo! You got this, Dad!”

“Happy birthday!”

“Show ‘em how it’s done, honey! You’re going to make sixty look so good.”

He was content. More than content. In this one room was everything he’d ever really wanted. A wife who brought him happiness every day. Four healthy children. A growing grandchild. A few good friends.

What was a little grey hair, a few extra wrinkles, compared with all that?

[persimmonsimmer]

“Mom, Dad, I’m going to spend the night at Trev’s, if that’s OK,” Nancy announced at dinner.

Cintia exchanged a knowing look with Domingo.

“Oh? Is your girlfriend going to be there, too? Just don’t get up to anything too wild. Remember, tomorrow is our birthday party.”

“Mooom, I told you, Iris isn’t my girlfriend. We aren’t, like, official. And anyway, it’s just gonna be me and Trev.”

“All right, all right, I’m sorry. Will your friend be at the party tomorrow? You know I’d love to get to know her.”

Nancy rolled her eyes. “Mooom. Come on. You already know her. Everybody knows everybody in this town.”

“You know what I mean. I’d like to get to know her better.”

“Fine,” Nancy grumbled. “I guess I can invite her. And some of my other friends, too, so she doesn’t feel too weird. ...Can I be excused now?”

“Have fun at Trevor’s!”

Nancy was out the door in record time. Domingo caught his wife’s eye again. “You know she isn’t just going over to Trevor’s for the night.”

“Psssh, Dom, I wasn’t born yesterday. As my birthday tomorrow will prove,” Cintia laughed. “Let her have some fun.”

[persimmonsimmer]

The morning after Domingo’s birthday, Leonor and Yesenia rose before the sun to finish packing their things. Their new house was ready; it was still mostly bare, but it had the essentials. Al had already moved in. It didn’t make sense to delay joining him there any longer.

Of course, they couldn’t slip out without saying goodbye, even though, as Yesenia pointed out, they were only moving down the street.

“Take care of yourself,” Domingo said gruffly. “And don’t be strangers, all right?”

“Daaad! We’re going to be, like, two minutes away. We’ll be over all the time,” Leonor said.

“--and I added a few warm clothes to your bags. Promise me you’ll wear them? It’s getting much too cold for short sleeves.”

“Sounds good, Mom--”

“And if anything breaks, just let us know. Your dad or uncle Walter can help you fix it or get a new one.”

“Got it--”

“And if you ever want to come home for any reason--”

“Mom. Thanks, really. But we’re going to be fine. I promise.”

“I’m going to miss you.”

“Lali! Everyone’s acting like Yessy and I are moving to the moon. I’m going to be over here all the time. And you can come visit us whenever you like. OK? Seriously, if you ever want to talk--”

“Thanks, Lele.” Citlali gave her closest sister one last squeeze. She knew it was silly to be feeling so emotional about such a small move, but still, it did feel like the end of something. They were moving on.

“See you guys!” Leonor called over her shoulder on her way out the door.

Then the door swung shut behind them and they were off.

[persimmonsimmer]

No, when it came right down to it, Domingo felt as good as he ever had. If the next phase of his life was anything like the last, everything was going to be just fine.

Once the cake was eaten and (nearly) all the plates cleaned and put away, the rest of the Morales clan conveniently found excuses to vacate the kitchen, where Domingo and Cintia were locked in a slow dance.

(It was good to know that their parents were still in love, but no one had asked for a demonstration!)

“Didn’t you like the sweater I knitted for you?” Cintia murmured, pulling back slightly to look into her husband’s eyes.

“It’s great, honey. I just thought I’d save it for special occasions.”

“Are you just saying that? If you are, it’s all right. Maybe Leonor’s boyfriend will like it. Or I can save it for Miguel...”

“Cin, you know I think everything you do is amazing.”

“Aww. Right back at you. ...Did I mention, you look just as handsome now as you did that day in the forest when I first met you?”

“Now you’re the one who’s just saying things,” Domingo chuckled.

“Oh, I’m going to do more than just say it. Come here, you silver fox.”

[persimmonsimmer]

Citlali knew she wasn’t the only one in her family preoccupied with their personal affairs. Yet here they all were, cheering and blowing noisemakers in unison as if nothing were more important that celebrating Miguel’s birthday.

There were, however, two noticeable absences. Citlali felt a stab of guilt. It wasn’t fair to keep Hannah and Phoebe from celebrating Miguel’s birthday with the rest of the family just because she was ashamed to face them. It wasn’t fair, and yet they had agreed, for her sake. Everyone was being so much more considerate of her than she deserved.

I have to try harder, she told herself.

“It can’t really be your birthday already, can it?” she said to Miguel. “Didn’t we make a deal that you’d stay little forever?”

“…No-ooo?”

“You mean I forgot to make you promise never, ever to grow up?” Citlali heaved an exaggerated sigh. “Too bad. … So, do you have a wish? On the count of three…”

[persimmonsimmer]

The guests gathered around to watch the twins blow out the candles

“Let’s do it at the same time! Are you ready?”

“One sec. I have to think of a wish.”

“Whoops--I already blew mine out.”

“Aww.”

“Oh. Woah, weird. I'm all tingly. I don’t remember it feeling this weird last time. --Hurry up, Farah, or I’m gonna grow up without you!”

[persimmonsimmer]

Everyone in town was invited to Mariam and Farah’s birthday party, and a smattering of guests trickled in and out of the house all day.

“GrrraAAH! You did NOT just hit me in the face with a water balloon. You’re going DOWN.”

“Ha, nice. That is a pretty good impression of Idara. Here Iris, do another one for Dom...”

“I did pretty well on my geography test, but I forgot what the capital of Old SimNation was! I felt sooo stupid.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it, Farah. Plenty of smart people aren’t good test takers.”

“…and Ms. Chen said she was really happy with my progress, and that if I keep it up I could maybe be at the top of the class soon!”

“That’s awesome. I wish I had your brains.”

“My mom says success is more about hard work than innate brilliance.”

“Ha. That makes sense, I guess. …But you know, we can talk about things other than school. It’s your birthday!”

“Oh. Yeah. Umm…”

[persimmonsimmer]

Phoebe began opening the farmstand on a regular basis again. Business was good. Everyone loved to tell her how much they’d missed her fresh produce while the stand had been closed. Mercifully, most also knew better than to bring up Griff. While Phoebe was doing her best to follow her wife’s example, any mention of their missing son was still wont to bring her mood crashing down.