Chapter 8.16: At the end arrives...

§HermioneSims§ corner

As a very short introductory comment, to better follow the next scene, please note that Eva (the girl River and Rick adopted a few chapters ago) is already a teen sim now. She's almost unrecognisable from before, so be aware that she's the blue sixamian with the short turquoise hair ;) 

 <-- Previous chapter

From Rowan's diary

River: Well, what can I say... Congratulations again!

Iris: You never cease to surprise us, for sure!

Caleb: I'm confused, so are we going to have a little cousin soon?

Eva: Switch on the brain, isn't it obvious?

Iris: Eh eh, you're larger than me now!

Juno: C'mon, you're not large! And then I'm sure you don't have anyone constantly kicking you in the belly, right?

Iris: You mean it's kicking even now?

Juno: A little.

Iris: Can I?

Juno: Sure!

Iris: Wow, that's crazy!

Now those two get along better than ever, and talk to each other about absolutely everything. More than once Juno told me that she's a little sorry for Iris, in her opinion "she is such a cheerful girl, but also so unlucky with guys!”. I don't know exactly what she was referring to, but I'm quite confident I don't really want to know more details than this either.

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

Rowan: Did you sleep a little better last night?

Juno: Well, not really... I'm uncomfortable no matter how many times I turn in bend, and every time I fall asleep it wakes me up with a kick, it's not easy...

Juno: After all, being an only child isn't so bad, what do you think?

Rowan: There are pros and cons, I guess.

Juno: I'm saying this because I was thinking that, you see, there are already so many people on this planet, thinking about the environmental footprint and all that… No, I think that just one child will be more than enough, all things considered.

Rowan: (nods)

On the one hand I think she was saying that because this pregnancy is harder than she had anticipated (and even for me it's quite clear why she's feeling this way), but on the other hand I also think that she really believes in the environmental concerns she mentioned. After all, it's not bad to be an only child, that's fine.

Juno: Rather... if you have a moment of time, would you like to take a walk? I'd like to stretch my legs a bit.

Rowan: I still have five minutes of break, so no problem.

Rowan: The air today is even worse than usual.

Juno: Apparently is quite frequent in this area, especially in winter all the smog can accumulate over this bay for days. But you're right, it's so strange to not even see the end of the bridge over there!

Juno: it's New Year's Eve tonight, but maybe we should go out of town. At least to avoid this smog, you know how it is.

Rowan: Um.

Juno: You seem a bit distracted, what's on your mind?

Rowan: I still want to finish writing a legal article and send it before tonight so that it still appears in my December paycheck. But later we can think about New Year's Eve, sure.

Juno: …

Juno: Do you at least have some ideas about where to go?

Rowan: Um… Maybe we could go to Sulani, my cousins mentioned they would go there.

Juno: That doesn't sound bad. Since you're so busy, I'll let you work, I'll try to call them.

Rowan: Uh uh, perfect.

This said, I returned back to my job. I had a lot of ideas for the article I was finishing, and after that I had to check the new information the police sent us about that big money laundering case. And after that, there was the final summary of the clients I worked with this year, and other stuff now I don't even remember. In short, my dear diary, if I want to have some free hours for New Year's Eve, I can't waste any more time, not even to write this.

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

Iris: Are you okay, Juno?

Juno: My back is hurting a lot, but it's the norm now...

So we prepared some grilled food according to local traditions and waited for midnight together.

Rick: Were you already swimming, Caleb?

Caleb: Of course!

River: Who can blame him...

We chatted a lot around that table, and then moved to the nearby bar to follow the countdown to midnight on TV.

Everyone: Happy New Year!

Iris: Well, the festive atmosphere in here is always something else! And he thinks you guys needed some time off too, I bet  Rowan is barely sleeping to get his work done!

Juno: That's actually quite accurate, yes.

Rowan: ...

I couldn't argue, and looking back I couldn't help but admit that they weren't really wrong.

River: Rather, I think that the next time we see each other you will have a little baby in your arms. Well, good luck!

Juno: Thank you! I really hope it won't be too hard...

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

Indeed, Juno's pregnancy was now coming to an end, and the day of labour also arrived just as predicted by the doctors.

Juno: Oh my, can we hurry up? It huuuurts!

I can't deny it has been scary, Juno was in so much pain... But, according to the doctors, the delivery has actually been quite smooth.

And this is how Gaia was born. To me she already looks like a miniature version of Juno, don't you agree, my dear diary?

We still have a lot of stuff to do, but at that moment more than ever, everything we had worked so hard in those months seemed close, tangible. The next few months will probably be the hardest for us, but that's just another reason to roll up our sleeves and work even harder. Isn't it, my dear diary?

Next chapter -->