4.14 Silently surrender

A wild panick had roared through the city, bringing the nightlife to a halt; causing everyone to stay inside with their doors locked shut. Under the tremendous weight of Skulds return- holding it in her pink fingernails- clawing her way into nightmares and horrorstories.

No one would forget her now, even if she'd left almost as soon as she's showed up. It hadn't made anyone feel safer. Especially since her escape had been overlooked by the police to begin with. A small flaw, where the different districts weren't obliged to inform eachother. And the law enforcement in Bridgeport had kept it from the press to avoid panic. It was almost as if Skuld had forseen how things would play out.

Skuld had known; she had known exactely what she was doing- every single step of the way. A few adjustments had to be made, but it was a masterfully concocted plan. They still didn't know how she'd gotten out; but judging by the few prisonguards that had been fished up around Bridgeport, lead to the belief of an insider. Or it was to throw the investigation off guard; which was just as believable. Thus they still didn't know and probably never would.

Calling her tired was an understatement, as she slept more than she was awake. But it was never that good sleep that left you feel well rested. Maybe it wasn't all to strange with the toll everything had taken on her sense of self. She'd walked on her mothers leash without even knowing about it. Was it because she'd told about dad and Maya as sa teen, and her lie wasn't good enough: the baby... Aino barely woke up as a voice lulled her to sleep: sssh... go back to sleep.

     
 Maybe if she'd never fallen for the lies about finding a doll, dad would still be alive. Because a brick had hit her in the face, when she thought about everything she'd believed about it: someone that looked a bit off, that would never leave her no matter how odd she behaved. Someone that loved her no matter what, and would always stay friends with her; if any doll had come to life, it was in the form of her cats. Mainly Gilbert, the dogfaced cat without a tail. But he was gone now, and so was Sekhmet.

But their children and grandchildren lived- still beeing her friends: the baby.. she...
     
The voice interrupted her again, half drowned in her drowzy mind: it's okay. Don't worry about anything. Go back to sleep 

     
She had to be the dumbest sim to have ever lived; she was her mothers pawn. She'd thought she was the one her mother was after, but she was never that important: the one Skuld cared about was Ian; not her. Ian was the one that had insulted her, the one that had utterly humiliated her by choosing someone else. She was no one to mum, and now dad was dead- they were all dead. Yet she lived

The baby, she mumbled half asleep, just to be interrupted again: it's okay, everything is fine. Try to get a bit more sleep

     
Before she felt she'd have the chance of closing her eyes again, Daniel woke her up: Hey gorgeous. You awake? 

Blinking several times, it took a while before Aino was able to focus properly: Yeah, almost. Her mouth tasted as someone had crawled into it and died.

They'll be here in about an hour, okay? I drew you a bath, so you can just jump straight in.

Thank you. She tried stretching, but was interrupted by her own yawns. Sleeping in the daytime always seemed like such a good idea; though she always regretted it afterwards; because she always ended up feeling more tired that way. Daniel stroked her cheek and patter her rear before exiting the room, leaving her alone again.

    
The invasion of Duckzilla lightened her mood a bit, but it didn't change anything. She was her mothers pawn; she was so dumb. It was like she'd toyed with the entire city- all of simnation- and her. She'd always looked up to mum in some twisted manner, but still she'd underestimated her. Skulds genious had always been underestimated; and now the world could bleed.

She was gone. Vanished from the face of this earth, all traces led to a vast nothing. They would never find her. Never. She was gone, and the city was safe again;even if it had never been in danger.

 
Slightly worried that the sounds from the kitchen meant Daniel was cooking, it turned out he was just pouring some nectar. For the guests no doubt. After all, it was the first time they've done anything like this. She was nervous, but he clearly wasn't. Maybe she didn't have a reason to be, but she was none the less.

They'll be here any minute now. Could you go get her? He didn't even turn around when talking. Maybe he was mad at her because she'd been so lazy? Not that he sounded angry, she was just worried about it.

      
Hey honey! Aino talked with light voice to her daughter as she streched the tiny arms out at her. She loved beeing hugged and cuddled, like all little babies did. She loved her daughter: Today is the big day, isn't it? Are you excited? She kicked around a bit as she grabbed her.

The room solution in the new house was a lot better than the previous, and with their combined income the loan was managable. Dad had left her a pretty nice inheritance, but she'd never looked at it or touched it. She let Daniel take care of the finances, so she didn't have to. It left her with a sickening feeling to the stomach that they were living good because dad and Maya were... gone.

Pushing the feelings back, Aino kept talking to her babygirl: You're growing up so fast! She was. It felt like yesterday she'd given birth, and now she was growing up. Her little baby was going to grow older! Wonder if she'd look like her? It sure didn't look like the nose was as enormous; but all babies looked the same.

    
There are my lovely ladies. Daniel eyed her up and down with a mischiveous grin: You look hot. He was so lucky, despite the gross ammount of cats ofcourse. They hissed at him all the time, clearly not approving of Aino giving her attention to someone else.

This wasn't the time to let that pull the mood down. Wasn't every day a birthday was happening, and there had been way to much death; with Ainos father, stepmother, his own mother and some cats. Yikes.

      
Jack, Daniels nephew, came running into the room before his mum had the chance to knock: Tv? Please uncle. The best kids to have visiting was the ones you could park infront of the tv.

Go ahead. You know where it is. Just show up for the cake, okay? 
     
Okay! He ran straight out again, almost tripping over a cat on the way there.

    
It wasn't that Aino wanted to be rude or anti- social, but she always fell out of their conversations. Daniels siblings were nice, except that his brother kept flirting with her; but she felt like an outsider. It wasn't their fault, because she always felt like that, and when they tried pulling her into the conversation it just felt awkward. Still she felt a bit of pride when they drank nectar that was made several generations ago; by her family none the less.

      
Eventually the birthday proceeded, and the age up even lured Jack away from the tv. His mother was so proud of him, she barely knew what to do. To think that cake could actually lure her son away from cartoons.

Irena grew up to be an adorable toddler, with her mothers eyecolour, and dads cheeks. As it turned out, Aino got pregnant about the time Catherine dissapeared. She hadn't had the same opportunity to mourn as others, as she'd been trying to get through a pregnancy at the same time. She'd loved the baby from the start ofcourse, even if she'd felt guilty because of Catherine.

      
So how is it that your daughter is getting older, and you're not Aino? Andrew was all to happy serving some cheezy lines to go with the cake.

As much as she hated admitting it, it still felt a bit good when she wobbled around. Blushing, she tried to pretend it wasn't flattering: Guess it's all the cake that does it. 

Well, you are absolutely glowing. She blushed again at his comment. Which was probably not a good thing to do, but she still did. Like her outfit wasn't red enough to begin with.

Watching the scene unfold, Daniel wasn't sure what to think. Sure, his brother was single again. But, was he flirting with his wife? Nah, probably not. He was just imagening things. Andy wouldn't flirt with his wife, they were brothers. Ofcourse, if it had been the other way around; he'd flirt with his brothers wife just to annoy him... But that was different.
 
Hey Dannyboy. I bought a little present for your daughter. That couldn't be good.

Aw, that's so sweet of you. Aino interrupted before Daniel had the chance to warn her.

Unsurprisingly it was a noisy drum that Irena absolutely loved. Big brothers sucked

Angela wondered how in simplanet a pregnant woman was able to walk around in those heels. Why wasn't her feet swollen into oblivion and back again? Not that she didn't look cute, but it was still a mystery.

      
So how long until your wife pops? Andy didn't know a lot about pregnant women, other than it was a shame more of them didn't dress like his sister- in- law

Any day soon. They had been a bit surprised at the newest pregnancy, but that's what happened when they weren't careful. Ofcourse they'd both wanted more children, just not right after the first one. Yet, here they were, pumping out kids like there was no tomorrow. He'd been worried sick about her after her daughter disappeared, but she was just not one for talking. And she seemed to be dealing pretty well.

As long as she didn't talk, he didn't want to make her either. He was still not sure what to do or react to any of what had happened. Andrew interrupted his mind: If you need someone to look after Irena when the birth sets in, just give me a call okay?

Daniel would rather have Angie watching his daughter, because Andy was a pushover when it came to kids. But Irena was still to young to be spoiled, right? Or maybe not: Sure, I'll do that Andy. But she still has a few days to go.

Exhausted by the birthday, Irena was put to bed a bit earlier than usual. She fussed a bit, but not worse than other kids would when they were tired: Good night sweetheart. He didn't expect his wife to carry the kid around as heavily pregnant as she was. That long look his daughter sent him whilst walking out the door made him terribly guilty all the same.

     
How are you doing then, mum? Daniel was sure he had the hottest wife ever, and he loved the way she dressed whilst pregnant. Sometimes he was certain that she dressed this way to drive him mad, though she seemed completely oblivious to the fact.

It's kicking a lot. Just like with their daughter, they hadn't wanted to know the sex of the baby.

He stroked her belly a bit, enjoying the feel of their baby kicking inside her: You look hot today. 
     
I know, you told me that already. A compliment was always nice, even if she thought her belly looked better when she wasn't pregnant.

     
She started giggling when he tried pinching her belly: what are you doing? It's tickling. 
     
I'm reading the babys fortune. Ssshhh... it's okay, just relax. The spirits are with us. Aino giggled again. Usually she didn't think it was funny, but she was pregnant, so her sense of humour was a bit out there: I foresee a... handsome boy... Looks a lot like his dad! It would be nice to have another girl ofcourse. But he already had one of those: It's time to come out now baby. Come out, we're waiting.

     
You know, he tried getting her onto his lap, but failed so eventually she had to help a bit; I've heard having sex helps starting the pregnancy. He'd actually put a baby inside her. To think that something so cute could become of something so.. well, something not so cute.
     
You have now, have you. She was so tired all the time: Yes, and I think we should try it. It's worth a shot right?
     
I'm really tired baby. Aino just didn't want to move more than she had to.
     
You don't have to do anything. He was all to happy helping with the daunting task of starting the pregnancy.

      
I'm up. I'm up. Daniel groggily woke up from Aino poking him. It was probably Irena that needed to be fed or something.

     
Sinking in pain, Aino whined instead: It's time. The baby is coming.

Like a real husband, Daniel panicked the second time around to. Had to keep the count up. What am I supposed to do?!! Women had NO IDEA how hard it was watching them beeing in pain!
     
Call your brother! Idiot. The first thing they needed was a babysitter!

Was he going to do this every single time? Men were hopeless: When he shows up, you take me to the hospital...
     
Right!! Hospital!

She wanted an epidural this time around, damnit! Natural births sucked: Daniel.... put some clothes on and get the bag... 

In way to many hours, they welcomed baby Niko to simnation.

Daniel was thrilled, he now had a girl and a boy, a sexy wife, a nice house, and cats and dogs. His life was officially perfect. This couldn't get any better.They also agreed on one thing; a boy and a girl was just perfect. They didn't want any more children now. Two was just perfect.

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pose: mypalsims, skylar, simpurity,

Timejump, to get a move on the generation.
 
Andrew keeps flirting with Aino, invited her over and sends her gifts. He's a better match for her than Daniel. They are already bestfriends. She's not yours Andrew, and she never will be; give up already!

thanks for reading