Chapter 9.5 – July 2023: part II – Just a walk in the park..

Sofia needed her sleep and was still in bed by the time Palash had gone down to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for them.. thinking he would change it up a bit by making waffles instead of pancakes, which is what he assumed she wanted to eat.. but he dared not change it up to much, in case he would receive an unfortunate reaction to the meal.. ;)

 

His breakfast making was interrupted by a phone call already. It was his mom, Laranya, who wanted to know everything about how they were doing, and the upcoming baby.. It wasn't just Palash and Sofia who were anxiously expecting!

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Sofia was in a good mood when she woke up this morning, enjoying her pregnant appearance while still in her nightwear.

Palash excused himself for having made waffles and not pancakes, but Sofia didn't mind.. it was almost the same thing anyway, and she was much to hungry this morning to care about such insignificant details.. ;)

Since todays weather was on their side, unlike that of yesterday, the decided to go to the festival park to enjoy their day.

Sofia rewarding Yumi with dog treats after the scary car ride. ;) Yumi is still just a puppy, but she's gonna have to get used to riding cars eventually...

Palash wanted to play the gnubb game, and Sofia wanted to fill up her belly with some deliciously yucky sweet stuff...

She sat down to enjoy it on a bench in front of the Summer Festival music stage. No band was playing, but the speakers still blasted pop music at full volume for everyone in the park to hear. ;)

Sofia went and got herself another ice cream before she went over to the fountain to relish in the deliciously sweet tastes again, when suddenly Palash had to stop his playing.. it was just as if he saw a ghost.. No that couldn't be, probably just his mind playing a trick on him.. Ghosts.. aren't real...

Sofia went for her third ice cream.. aiming for a sugar high for herself and the Unborn one..
"Oh, I know I shouldn't be eating this much ice cream in one day, but I just can't help myself.. there are so many different flavors... and it doesn't matter how many I eat, I always want more..."

Palash was approached by Sol Skurchk. She had noticed him at Mariannes funeral, and now she tried to make romantic advances on him. Doing his best to keep the peace he didn't outright rejected them, but always made sure to turn the conversation onto other things...

Then it was his turn to get an ice cream as well. Sofia got a little upset and blamed him from sneaking in the line as he blocked her from eating her fourth or fifth ice cream in a row..

He was just about to head over to practice some football when his phone rang. It was his mother again.. She wanted the latest update on Sofia.. how was she? Was she showing signs of going into labour? When was the baby going to arrive?

"I've been out shopping.. I just found this lovely bodysuit the other day, and I just had to get it, it was so cute..."

 

"Oh.. yeah, that's great. Sofia's doing good. We're at the park right now, and she's probably on her sixth ice cream by now.."

Yeah, after the phone conversation with Laranya, Palash went over practicing football.. and Sofia ate ice creams...

 

Palash then went for the skating rink..

 

..and Sofia ate ice creams..

 

..until it got late and the festival closed for the evening. The finally met up to discuss the baby once more, before getting in the car to go home for the night.

 

They were still both positive about the baby, no more apparent disagreement about kids.. Sofia knew that it could start any moment now, but so far she hadn't felt anything all day..

The only water that was 'breaking', as far as she had noticed, was the water leaving the faucet as she filled up the bathtub to get a warm relaxing bath before going to bed...

..which would be just what she needed, but... oh, hold on... what was that? Was she getting cramps from eating to much ice cream or was it..? Well, it was probably just the ice cream.. Maybe she overdid that just a little..
    "Oh!".. but then it happened again, this time just a little stronger. She automatically found herself moving her right hand to the lower parts of her stomach region..

"Not now..." she thought, "...can't you wait until morning..?"

..but the baby doesn't wait, the baby does what the baby wants! And right now the baby is probably tired of being second-hand fed a diet of only pancakes and ice cream.. and wants out..

There was no doubt, it was coming. The pain paused long enough to allow her to get out of the tub and put her clothes back on, before it was at it again. This time it was for real. No time to waste, she had to get to the hospital...

Meanwhile Palash was taking a bath of his own, in his own goofy way... blissfully unaware of what his wife was going through, just one floor up..

..but he realized something was up when he heard the front door open.. it wasn't natural for Sofia to go out again at this hour..

"I think my labour has started! I'm going to the hospital...I've already been on the phone to let them know we're coming.."

Palash was in a rush to get inside, and was the only one of them that could run comfortably, so he had to wait in the hallway for Sofia to make it inside..

The way to the maternity ward is through the doorway to the left, then down the elevator or stairs from there, before doing a sharp right turn when exiting the elevator..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The contractions seemed to have stopped again for a while, as Sofia was doing just fine on the way walking there (ignoring some slight back pains, but that was all).

 

In the hallway just behind that door, the midwife was already waiting for her. Sofia was happy that the strange doctor from their last visit was, seemingly, nowhere to be found.. that doctor was a woman she wouldn't want to meet again – ever – and especially not now, when she was about to give birth to her firstborn child...

Sofia felt reassured by the midwife, how she in a gentle, calm and professional way explained the procedures to them, and walked them through the steps of what was to come.. Palash needed to hear everything a second time though.. just to make sure he hadn't missed anything important..

    "They're starting up again" Sofia said as the contractions came back. The first one felt like a gentle push on either side, just below the ribcage.
    "I'll walk you in", Palash said, supporting her back with his hand and guiding her in to the delivery room..

The second one hit much harder, and if Palash hadn't been there, she was sure she would've fallen on her knees... Palash did his best to calm and soothe her, telling her that it would soon be over, or well, atleast that's what he hoped.. This was a scary and new situation for both of them, and though Palash had been reading the books about pregnancy several times over, he still felt lost and helpless..

 

Sofia eventually managed to stumble on to sit down on one of the fitness balls, aided by the two midwifes that were now present. The contractions seemed to have leveled off for now, as they went on for another hour...

"Why isn't anything happening?" Sofia wanted to know. "Why isn't the baby coming?"

The midwives answered Sofias question, saying they would need to wait a little more, but that everything was under control. They calmed her down saying this was perfectly normal, and sometimes it would just take a little longer.

 

The contractions eventually started to get worse, still happening at the same regular interval. "Please help me up.. I want to lie down on the bed..." Sofia said to the midwives "I think it's really starting now.. oh.. I'm so scared... I don't want to do this.. I don't... ow..."

Palash thought he could feel just how nervous she was, he almost felt nauseous and wondered if he should follow them, or run to the nearest bathroom...

..but he couldn't do that! He had to be there for Sofia.. this, this was the moment.. The midwives confirmed, it was now ongoing, as they instructed Sofia to push...

"Oooh, I don't know if I can do it..."

"Just hold your breath.. and push.. we know you can do it.." the midwife said.

"I can see the head! You're doing great... one more push!"

..at this point Sofia was making sounds she didn't know she was capable of.. sounds she would later think of as 'the growls of a walrus', though Palash could assure her, it wasn't all that bad... and as she kept breathing and pushing on, her sounds became mixed with the sounds of a human baby drawing in it's first breath of air..

    "Last one now, oh.." the midwife exclaimed "..oh! Look.. here she comes!"

    "Great job, Sofia! She's out! It's a girl!" the midwife said as she handed over the newborn baby to Sofia. "Congratulations.. mom and dad!" The midwife let Sofia hold the newborn for a while, before she had to quickly (but gently!) take the newborn to a nearby bench to wrap her in a pink blanket, while the other midwife made sure to wrap a hospital gown around the new mother before she was given back the baby...

    "I did it, Palash, I did it..." Sofia said, her pronounciation being a little slurred... "I gave birth... I gave... birth, and it's a girl..."

    "Yes.. you did.." Palash was almost speechless from the relief, the joy and the pride.. there she was, in the arms of the most beautiful woman he knew.. his firstborn child, his very own little baby girl..
"I'm going to name her Rose..." Sofia said "Rose Marie.. after my great grandmother..."
"Then Rosa Maria it is!" Palash said, before kissing Sofia on the forehead. "Rose Marie it is!"

After the parents had gotten some time to calm down and the hospital had made sure everything was good with the mother and the baby, they admitted them to go home to their own house to finally get some rest...

It was around 5 in the morning when Sofia could finally leave the hospital with Rose Marie in her arms..

Palash was as happy as a man could be.. he got two of his wishes fulfilled all at once, to have a child, and to have that child be a girl..

..and though Sofia was very exhausted from having been up all night giving birth, she immediately knew that her little girl was hungry...

Her fathers fire hydrant trophy which she valued so dearly now had to give way to something that for now would perhaps be even more important...

Well, Sofia is still being herself, though, because she decides to go sleep in another bedroom and leave Palash sleeping with the baby alone..

..just in case her baby girl would decide to wake up crying and interrupt her beauty sleep.. of course..

Well, good night... ;)

New Sim: Rose Marie Chitrakaar

Personality traits: Insane, easily impressed.

Date of birth: 29.07.2023.

Parents: Sofia Chitrakaar, Palash Chitrakaar

Grandparents: Laranya Chitrakaar, Deepak Chitrakaar, Pixi Karlsen, Konrad Karlsen II

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Chapter 9.5 – July 2023 part I: The most important thing.

It was a bright summer day for Palash and Sofia, with only a few seemingly distant clouds on the horizon, and they were just about to enjoy it by relaxing by the pool in their backyard when of course..

..the heavens opened and it began to rain. "I think we'll have to wait it out inside instead" Palash said. "I'll go turn on some music... I don't want you to catch a cold." How sweet of him, always considerate and thoughtful of his wife, and of course he would be.. she is, after all, carrying perhaps the most important thing to him right now, right there inside her belly....

Sofia still had her craving for pancakes, which she would feast on now, as often as she could... but still on occasion, she would get nauseous and need to make a run for the nearest bathroom shortly after eating..

..before commiting to the same routine all over again..

The pregnancy hasn't been a smooth ride for Sofia. She would deny it in the beginning.. no, she wasn't pregnant, that couldn't be, she was just.. sick.. but as time passed, and her belly grew, there was no more denying..

..she went into a period of rapid mood swings, from eagerly awaiting her child, to loathing the thought of being pregnant and in the future raising a child, so much so that yes, she did consider to go to the hospital and have her pregnancy terminated, but still.. something in her knew she couldn't do it, not for herself.. when she thought about what it would do to Palash, the love of her life.. how it would crush him if she would ever do such a thing.. and after Laranya had learnt about the pregnancy too, following her father-in-laws stay at the hospital just last christmas, it became even harder to do it.. so it was never really an option, though the thought would sometimes still be there...

..and maybe, if she would dare to dig a little deeper, maybe she would find that she would enjoy it, too.. atleast it would like it, considering that all the conversations the couple was having about their future seemed to revolve around this one thing.. and they were all positive.. the toys, the clothes they were going to buy.. the cute, tiny little shoes..

Later in the evening Palash spoke to Sofia about their neighbours funeral last month.. or rather, some of what was said during the event..

    "The weirdest thing happened at Mariannes funeral" he began "I had just retreated to their backyard swimming pool to practice some guitar when Max approached me.. and he was furious!"

Sofia listened attentively. She didn't want to attend the funeral herself, especially not now when she was pregnant, as she had always had an iffy feeling about the Skurckh family since around the time of her mothers sudden disappearance..

As a young child her fathers explanation that she had ran away with another man seemed convincing enough.. for a while, until she started questioning why they never heard anything at all from her since then. No phone calls, no letters, no visits, no child support.. had mom abandoned them completely? Wasn't Sofia her child anymore?

    ..and none of this was made any easier by her dads tendency to bury himself in work, spending more and more time at the fire station – seemingly – then at home caring for his daughter, his only child... 'He had to do it to pay the bills....' he would always say, only stopping by at home to dump another useless toy on her.. when all she wanted was a little bit of affection and attention from dad.. the fancy, expensive toys and the constantly rotating cycle of teenage baby sitters was a very poor replacement...
She knew this now, in her adult years.. but as a child, and eventually a teenager and young adult.. the search for fulfilment through increasingly expensive items, clothing and make up started to feel more and more hollow as time went on..

    "He threatened to give me a beating..." Palash said "..unless I got out of there and went home to you.."

    Somehow, she wasn't surprised by Max's fury.. Of course, he was a grieving man, and she had felt the same fury herself when her daddy died... The autopsy had confirmed it was a heart attack, and it was speculated that it was due to stress, given his relatively young age of being only 53 years old in combination with the heavy work load he put on himself.. in order to, according to his own words, pay the bills for the house, take care of Sofia.. and...?

    "He said if I didn't get off the property, he would dump me in the river..but the most shocking thing he said.." Palash continued.. "..was that they should've done you in too!"

That's why she began to not trust the Skurchk family.. she suspected they were behind something else.. that they were responsible for her mothers death...and that they were somehow blackmailing him for money.. but she had never figured out a way to prove it... perhaps until just now...

    "..it was just as if he admitted to having murdered someone! What on earth could this be about!? Does this make any sense to you!?"

    Sofia knew very well what Max meant... but she couldn't tell Palash, not now.. She was so close, contractions could start any minute.. It was probably best not to.. It was probably best to play along for a while, then try to deflect it and hope he would forget about it.. like she always used to do whenever he delivered one of his far out conspiracy theories.. except she knew of course that this was more than just a theory..

    "Oh, wow.. did he really say that?" Sofia said, pretending to act surprised. "That's really quite shocking – even for a grieving man!"

    "I know, that's what caught me so off guard!" Palash said "I wasn't expecting that!"

    "Yeah.. I wish I knew how to explain this one!" Sofia said, not needing to fake her honesty "I mean.. everybody sort of knows that they're not.. that they probably have some skeletons in their closet one way or another, but I always thought... I don't know..."

    "Look! If it's really true that they've murdered someone.. I would think that someone must've found the body already.. and that someone would have.. that someone would have reported someone as missing..."

Sofia had to swallow at what she just said.. Reported missing.. If mom had been reported missing.. then maybe..

    "Yes, probably... " Palash said in response as if he could read her thoughts... "...well.. I'm not gonna press charges for them on this during this time, but.. I think we should probably keep our distance from them now.. just to make sure..."

    "Isn't that right, daddys little one?" he said as he bent down slightly to talk to Sofias belly.. "You don't need to worry" he continued with a baby like voice "Mom and dad is gonna keep you safe, away from all the bad people and neighbours.."

"Peek-a-boo! Here's daddy! Kick your legs if you can hear me!"

"No no, Palash.. no leg kicks, please.." Sofia chuckled "Daddy's being a silly man! Yes, he is!"

Palash was much easier to distract than she had thought.. what a blessing this man was. ;)

He was still the same quirky goofball she first fell in love with..

 

A peculiar man with a good heart, who knew to value family above everything else.. She knew this was the man for her.. there couldn't be anyone else..

Good night. ;)

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Chapter 9.4 – June 2023 – part III: Grandma..? Who was grandma?

The morning after the funeral in Dudleifs household...

Nishit was the first to wake up to have some leftovers of one of moms salads for breakfast. Udisha being a very busy woman would often go for making simple, fast and effective, but healthy meals..

    Nishit had eventually figured out that the grandma he had never met or known had passed away.. Dad hadn't spoken much of her, only saying that she wasn't 'a very good woman', and that she was 'self-righteous', 'manipulative' and 'deceiving'. Nishit wasn't sure yet of the actual meaning of all these words.. was grandma really this bad? Why? What had she done? Why couldn't they visit her, like they would go visit Laranya and Deepak? Why didn't they even go to her funeral...?

    When he tried to ask his mom about it, he didn't get much wiser.. Apparently his grandma must have done some terrible things, but what? The only answer he really got was 'You'll learn when you get older...'. As if that was an answer... why are adults sometimes so annoying, only saying stupid things like that..

    The answer to Nishits ponderings came to him in the form of a question from a kid in the grade above him during recess at school one day.. a scrawny looking boy with freckles and dark blonde hair that in a few years time would become the terror of the schoolyard, before he mysteriously and suddenly had to change schools which lead to his family moving out of town never to be seen again.. but that's another story...

    "Why does your granny kidnap and murder people?" the boy asked while he tried to pull up the sleeve on the left arm of his shirt, that appeared to be just two sizes to big..
Nishit was bewildered at the question.. His thoughts immediately went to Laranya, whom he knew as his grandmother.. "Granny isn't a murderer!" he shouted back at the kid.

    "Yes, she is. Don't you know?"
    "Granny is not a murderer!" Nishit shouted again.
    "Yes, she is. I heard daddy say it." the kid with the oversized shirt said. "She has dead people in her basement. Everybody knows about it."

    "She does not! My granny isn't a murderer! She's a musician! She makes music for the cinema!"

    "Not that granny! Your other granny!" the kid with the white shirt explained.
It just so happened to be that both of Nishits grandmothers where celebrities, with Laranya being a famous hit movie composer and Marianne being.. well.. who she was..

    "What? I only have one granny.." Nishit said, now even more confused.. Laranya was grandma to him. Marianne was just.. 'dad's mom that he never talked about'...

    "Nobody has only one granny! That's impossible!" the kid said. "Don't you know about your grandma?"

    "She's not grandma. She's just mom's dad." Nishit said, having finally understood what the other kid was getting at...

    "That's what a grandma is" he said. "They're parents of your parents. When my dad gets angry, that's where I go..."

    That's when Nishit learnt that he had a grandma that was possibly a criminal.. a criminal that murdered people? Could this be true? He had asked Dudleif about this one day.. was his mom really like that? Did she keep people in the basement? Questions to which Dudleif, a man usually not prone to anger, snapped at him for as he shouted "Where did you hear that!?".
    "J- Justin told me" Nishit said. "Justin from school.."

    "Oh.." Dudleif knew about Justin and his family, as he had himself gone to their door while on duty after the police station had received a concerned phone call from a neighbour about some family quarrel going on inside their house...

    "Well.. you probably shouldn't believe everything you hear.. That thing about the basement.. is not true.."

    "So.. your mom isn't a criminal then?"

    "Well.. she's got her ways, she's umm.. if I could prove she was a criminal, I would have her in jail..... now, don't you have homework to do?"

Nishit realized realized that was probably a good as answer that he would get.. his other grandma, Dudleifs mom, must've been up to something.. why else would he be willing to put his own mom in jail..? It had be that way.. that's why people were saying these things.. That's why they never went to visit.. that's why they didn't go to her funeral.. That's why Nishit only really had one grandma...

Dudleif didn't want any of his kids to visit the old Skurchk household.. he couldn't, because he knew there would be no warm welcome.. and he wouldn't, because he didn't want any of them to have a bad influence on his kids..
    Dudleif wanted his kids to do good in life, in whatever path they would choose, as long as it was on the right side of the law.. and it may well be something creative, music or arts, like most members of his wifes family.. or business, like his wife or that one weird brother she has that he hasn't quite understood..

Upstairs the youngest member of the family had woken up her mom to let her know she had just dropped a major stinker, and was in need of a bath..

    "Well, good morning..Smelling lovely today." Dudleif said in a playful banter as Udisha came down the stairs
    "Funny..." she said sarcastically, as she turned around to take Madhunisha to the bathroom..

    "Looks like mommys a little grumpy today, isn't she?" Dudleif said to Ole Christian while preparing another spoon of his breakfast. "Open up, here comes another one! Atleast us guys can have a good time, can't we?"

..but who's to say the ladies can't be having a good time? After the dirty diaper has come off and most of the filth has been washed off, taking a bath can also be good quality time for mom and daughter. ;)

..and speaking of mom and daughter, here's another one! Gerda Botnen, the frontwoman, singer and guitar player of the band "The Bushweeds", just gave birth to a lovely little boy called Øyvin. She has chosen a less common form of the name 'Øyvind', omitting the 'd' at the end, citing that it just isn't necessary as it nobody pronounces it anyway. (The 'd' at the end is silent.)

New Sim: Øyvin Botnen.

Date of birth: 24.06.2023

And as usual with every new birth, the town council steps in to provide a crib for the newborn and the mother, so that she doesn't have to worry about her baby resting comfortably while doing other things, such as preparing a simple meal to herself in the kitchen. :P

 

Nishit wanted to hangout with his friend from school again, and called over Elen to hang out.

Now that his neighbour Emilia had become a teenager, they had somehow began to drift apart and their friendship fade, so it was time for Nishit to find another 'girlfriend' to spend time with. ;)

Elen wanted to make a good impression on Nishit, talking fondly about the theatre and conduction music, since of course, she knew (and was impressed by) his good grandmother being a well known composer and all that.

Nishit likewise wanted to impress his new friend by handing her a gift of festival tickets he had collected. ;)

Dudleif was inside teaching Madhunisha to talk and the value of being a good person to make friends.. not enemies...

The always ambitious Udisha was busy preparing another business plan to be presented at her job the next upcoming monday...

Nishits old friend had now found her first romance in Notzo Curious. When the message popped up, she was hanging out at the junkyard with her brother Atle.

Notzo was at the park downtown with Tay Bayless.

Oops, Madhunisha created another stinker. This is what you get for poking fun. ;)

Udisha evaded this one by going outside for some fresh air and talking about the theatre with Nishit...

Family life was good in this home, in spite of smelly and stressful times, much laughter and joy was also heard..

After Dudleif had given Madhunisha another bath, Elen came in to say hi to the little toddler and play a game of peek-a-boo.

Elen had gone out to find the spring rider as Nishit had decided to continue his painting of a chocolate cake, or whatever that is supposed to be. :P

Dudleif was taking Madhunisha out to show her the playground area in their backyard.

"There you go, you stay here and have some fun while daddy goes back inside to do some private business.."

Hmm.. I'll call this dubious parenting, leaving a one year old kid alone in the backyard like that late at night, but then again, maybe this is how Dudleifs own parents raised him when he was a kid.. which wouldn't be to surprising...

Ah, but luckily Madhunisha is both resourceful and indepent for her young age, as she immediately heads over to the spring rider. ;)

What a smart kid. She climbs on top of it with ease and intuitively knows just excactly how it works without anyone there to assist her in anything. ;)

Inside again Udisha just finished feeding Ole Christian and takes him upstairs to the bedroom so that he can go to sleep for the night..

Dudleif is finished with his business too, and goes outside again to pick up Madhunisha, leaving the spring rider for Elen to enjoy once more.

Nishit is still painting his candy coated work of art while Udisha passes him on the way back to the bedroom after she went downstairs quickly to empty another stinker from the potty...

Madhunisha got her last meal of the day on the couch while Nishit had realized he couldn't stay up painting all night and decided to go to bed..

..and soon everyone would be sleeping tight again once more. Good night. ;)

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