Lynx's daughters grow quickly.
Solana is the brown haired one, mostly taking after Mariposa in face structure.
Laurel is the little Brooke clone.
And Lydia, with her large green eyes, has Brooke's nose and dark hair but mostly takes after Lynx.
Epiphany was right. The children are much harder to deal with as toddlers than they were as babies.
They need to be entertained more now, and they need potty training, and encouragement in learning how to walk and talk. They still don't have a regular sleep schedule, keeping their father up all night juggling their diaper changes, feedings and skilling.
Lynx assumed they'd all be more or less the same, but as they grow he notices the girls are developing distinct personalities.
Laurel is sweet and agreeable.
Solana is endlessly curious. She picks up on skills the fastest, and is fascinated by small details.
And Lydia...
...um...
Well...
Lydia is cute, right?
At least when Lynx looks at Lydia's face, he doesn't see the ghost of an ex lover staring judgmentally at him.
I don't think I can stress enough how little sleep Lynx is getting in all this.
Laundry goes undone. Dishes pile up. There's never enough time for proper cooking; he's subsisting off of instant ramen and stubbornness.
On the bright side, Mariposa isn't randomly putting lavender in his mac'n'cheese or plasma fruit in his pancakes any more. There are definitely pros to cooking one's own food.
Anyway. His social life drops off the face of the Earth, and he's always on the verge of passing out, but at least he makes time to shower and get dressed up nice for work.
He's an executive producer, now, and looking important has become part of the job. He's no longer allowed to show up in jeans and graphic tees, no longer allowed to curse around the office and hang out as if he's one of the peons.
He has mixed feelings about the change. He was never big on socializing to begin with, but he's also not into the pretentious clothes, and he's definitely not a fan of having to watch his tone.
At least since his daughters came into his life, he has practice sounding kinder.
A sim with the loner trait rarely gets lonely... but sometimes it feels weird, to not have Mariposa chattering at his side.
He wonders how she's doing.
He worries about how she's doing.
She's out there, somewhere, and someday she might come back and make a problem.
Lynx is surprised when Valter checks in on him one weekend. "So, I think we may be able to get the group started again," he says cheerily, "but obviously you don't really have the space for it anymore, so... Anneka's place? You remember her, right? And you could stick with C.F. if you want, we're doing a Spelljammers campaign though."
"I don't know if I have time, man. Maybe when the kids start school?"
Valter nods. "Mine just started school. The free time I have now feels unbelievable."
Lynx can't remember if Valter's kid is a boy or girl, and he feels bad about that. He does remember that Valter married Pippy's friend Embla. They seem happy together at every company function.
"After the things Brooke said, I assumed everyone in the office hated me..." Lynx mumbles.
"What are you talking about?"
"She insinuated I didn't deserve my career success. She said she and you worked exactly as hard, but you weren't even considered."
Valter stares blankly. "Do you think that's true?"
"I don't know." Lynx says.
"Well, I'm happy for you. You're doing a much better job up there than the last guy. Way less B.S.. I hope you make Studio Head. Then you'll listen to all my ideas, right?"
Lynx doesn't laugh. He seems bothered by the joke. "She also said she was only nice to me because we're coworkers. And then she quit her job and cut contact."
"I see..."
"Would you absolutely hate me if I wasn't your boss?"
"I don't hate anyone, Lynx."
"Right, then." Lynx glances around at his computer room. "I told myself I'd clear all this stuff out today, so. I don't have too long for a social visit."
"Redecorating?"
"I have three daughters and only two spare bedrooms. It's get rid of this setup, get rid of the arcade cabinets downstairs, or make two of them share a room. And... I'm not that evil. I have standards."
"Do you want help moving things?"
Lynx would love to accept help, but as his friend's boss, it seems too awkward to accept. "Nah, I got it. Thanks though."
It's a tight squeeze, but over the course of more than one day, Lynx gets everything set up in his bedroom instead. It's not the fancy home office he's always wanted, but at least it will be minimal steps from his bed to his desk?
His prom picture with Mariposa still sits on the dresser, where she left it.
He keeps thinking he should throw it out, or hide it away, but he can't even make himself touch it.
It's all he has to point to when Solana asks about her mother.
The babysitters continue to do a fantastic job...
Luckily we don't have to endure this much longer! The kids age up to child stage.
Solana is eager to start school.
Lydia would prefer NOT to start school.
RNG assigned her the coward trait, after her father collapsed of exhaustion too many times to finish teaching her to walk before she aged up.
Laurel experienced the dreaded age up glitch that forced her to be default face. I was able to use MasterController to re-roll her genetics as a mix of her parents, and it got close to her initial look, but now she has green eyes and a different chin and mouth.
We'll just have to pretend this visual discrepancy doesn't exist, because I don't feel like writing a convoluted excuse for it in the narrative.
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Etc.: I hate that glitch so much.
