Chapter Four: But That's Not All

Luke bent down to smell the tomatoes. What were ripe tomatoes supposed to smell like?

He shook his head as he continued to make his salad. "You know that I'm the only person I know at my school who makes his own dinner?"

"Good for you," his father replied proudly.

"How is your school work going?" his mom asked at their next dinner time. Again, one where Luke had prepared his own meal.

"It's okay," he replied.

"Just okay?" she pushed.

"I mean what else can it be. I'm up either practicing the violin, strategizing chess moves, working out, cooking! I have no time to do what I want!" He burst out.

They remained quiet for the rest of the meal until his mother excused herself.

"You guys expect so much from me," Luke admitted to his father.

"I know," he said solemnly. "Both your mom and I are so proud." 

After dinner, Luke went on his normal jog to help improve his fitness skills. 

"Do you think we're pushing him too hard?" Clarissa asked Déshì.

"No," Déshì replied, "well I don't think so at least. Do you think he's ready?"

Luke was definitely burning the candle from both ends. 

He became an absolute master at multi tasking, and it was rare when he was found without a cup of coffee in his hands.

(He actually became a little too accustomed to the habit.)

Unfortunately, both Clarissa and Luke experience the loss of his father. 

Déshì passed away from natural causes.

Clarissa was absolutely grief-stricken. Yet, she still pushed Luke to improve his skills and excel in school.

Though it wasn't too long before Clarissa joined her partner.

Luke was orphaned. He was responsible for running the home, paying bills, going to school, and trying to make his parents proud (wherever they were.)

Finally, Luke decided to take a day off and throw a party.

It was perfect timing since it was his birthday.

Even though Luke had to celebrate without his parents...

...he was not alone.

 

Luke Chen-Clark

DOB: 04/10/20XX

Genius

Creative

Active

Mentally Gifted

Morning Sim

Gym Rat

Night Owl

Quick Learner

Great Storyteller

End status level 136 

Link to Luke

Chapter Three: Then Comes a Baby

Baby Luke joined the family.

He was very cute...

...most of the time.

Clarissa and Déshì put their savings together in creating the best boys room they could possibly imagine. They wanted to make sure that anything Luke needed would be available.

Unbeknownst to him, every toy that was purchased for Luke was to help improve a skill-set. 

Since Déshì had discovered that his girlfriend made $19 more an hour, he now had a lot of time at home to help Luke grow.

There was definitely a major advance in Luke's mental skills, but he also worked on improving his creative side.

When Clarissa wasn't at work, she was also contributing the Luke's learning. 

Of course, anything that Luke did was being closely tracked. 

Luke Chen-Clark

DOB: 04/10/20XX

Genius

Current development status level 67

Source: The scoresheet was created by SimmerDownSouth and here is the link: scoresheet

NEXT

Chapter Two: Then Comes Marriage?

Clarissa swore that the harder she tried the more Déshì pulled away. Whose idea had it been to pair them? They obviously went together as well as oil and water. 

Déshì couldn't understand why he and Clarissa weren't pairing together better. Was the issue him? Or did he just expect chemistry that would never be there?

"Let's look at the stars tonight," he told her leading her outside. 

"I'm wearing my night gown."

"It will be fine he promised," as they plopped down on the grass next to one another.

"Do you think that we're going to fail?" Clarissa asked shyly.

"I don't fail," Déshì said confidently, "and I doubt that you do either." He then let out a chuckle, "there's the north star."

"Ah, and look we can see Saturn," Clarissa sighed pleasantly.

They spent the rest of the night naming constellations. 

The next morning they went out on the patio and looked up at the clouds.

"That one looks like a fish," Clarissa giggled.

"Well that one looks like a turtle being chased by a mongoose," Déshì  replied.

Clarissa let out a snort, "I guess I can see that."

From then on, their conversations became more natural. No longer were they only two people brought together by a government order. 

Déshì and Clarissa actually did have chemistry. 

They even decided to become officially boyfriend and girlfriend. 

"I think I'm ready," Clarissa told Déshì.

"Me too," he agreed.

It was very awkward at first, but Déshì and Clarissa soon got into the swing of things. 

Plus, as a bonus, this meant no more sleeping on the couch!

As soon as she possibly could, Clarissa took a pregnancy test.

I wonder if this is it, she thought as she waited for the result to appear.

She bit her lip nervously. If a little plus came up, this would mean their lives were going to take a whole new direction.

"It's positive," she smiled as she announced the news to Déshì.

"Well let's celebrate with pancakes!" 

Déshì overdid it a bit, and the couple had their first kitchen fire.

...which they shared in the extinguishing of.

Life went by pretty normally after that, Clarissa's stomach grew as the pair worked on their separate careers. 

"What do you think it is?" Déshì asked one night.

"Do you mean the gender?" Clarissa clarified.

"Yeah," he added, "I'm hoping for a boy."

"I really haven't thought about it," Clarissa admitted. "Honestly, I was thinking once we have he...or she...which one of us is going to have to stay at home?"

"What do you mean?" Déshì inquired.

"Well it'll be impossible to fulfill our duty with both of us working full-time."

"Well I love my job," Déshì added.

"As do I," Clarissa smiled. "So what's going to be best for baby?"

"Well we can't both not work...that would be bad for baby."

"Definitely," Clarissa agreed. "I never thought of that as a possibility. Babies are expensive."

"So, I guess logically, whoever makes less money should be the stay-at-home parent."

NEXT