"What?" I gasped, hoping I had misheard him. Fear was spreading to my entire body. Bella's ramblings, her refusal to move... it was all falling into place like a puzzle. A puzzle you never wanted to finish.
"Miss Falls?" The doctor said. "She's not completely blind..."
I didn't respond. I was trying to find words to say to the doctor.
"Bella's eyesight is very bad. She's legally blind, but she's not completely blind, if that makes any sense. It's like seeing everything with your eyes barely open."
"Will it ever get better?" I whispered.
"It may as she gets older, but it's most likely just going to get worse. It won't interfere with her aging up at all. I would recommend aging her up as soon as possible, it'll help us plan our next course of action. By the way, I think one of your kids is crying, so I'm going to get off and let you get back to your kids. Call me if you have any questions." Then he hung up.
I drew a shaky breath as Duncan's cries registered in my mind. I slowly moved toward him, my body still numb from shock.
I did the logical thing after that. I aged the two of them up.
Bella as a child. I got her some glasses to savage the little eyesight she has. She does move around now, but she's very cautious and quiet, just like she was at a toddler. She's kind, but doesn't warm up to just anyone. She's very reserved and shuts people out most days. She does enjoy listening to the radio and has a fascination with the guitar. I wish Kayla was still living with us, she could have given Bella guitar lessons. Music seems like the only way to Bella's heart.
Duncan is the complete opposite of his quiet half sister. The second he ages up into a toddler, he's getting into everything and everything. In a matter of minutes, he turned over the garbage can, scattered the blocks, and broke the toy robot I had bought for him. He does this all while giving me an oh so adorable smile. He's going to be a handful, I can tell.
Soon the kids are home from school and I prepare the ingredients for spaghetti. The triplets don't want to do their homework, but with practiced patience I get them to open their books and finish their assignments. I want to scream at them that their sister is BLIND and their throwing a fit over a spelling worksheet. I don't even open my mouth to scream those cruel words. It's not and will never be their fault that their sister is blind. They don't even know yet. I'm not even sure how I'm going to tell them.
Dinner was nerve wracking that evening. The kids luckily didn't seem to notice when I led Bella to the table. Or when she gripped the edge of the table with some hand as she tried to find her fork. Or when she stuck her hand into her dinner. I guess they just pass it off as toddler habits that haven't gone away yet. They don't even notice that she doesn't say a word throughout the meal.
Bella doesn't hesitate to fall asleep in the bed I placed by the staircase. I warn the kids to keep it down before I go to check on Duncan. They looked a little confused, but agree. I had placed the bed there after I saw Bella's difficulty going up and down the stairs. I'm worried that I'm making life too easy for her, but I don't want Bella to fall and crack her head open.
Sleep doesn't come easy. I'm awake for hours, trying to think of what to do. In a particularly low point of the night, I get the idea to call my mother, but I instantly reject the idea. If my mother can slap Sofia, the sweetest Sim on this Earth, no way would she help me. She wouldn't even listen. She'd just laugh and tell me she knew I would never make it. I didn't even want to tell Sofia. She'd go to pieces, worrying about Bella. I didn't want to burden her. She lived with our mother, no need to make her feel worse.
I don't wake up feeling particularly well rested, which isn't a surprise. Bella isn't up yet, but upstairs, I can hear the shower running. I'm not the only one up early. Breakfast is made and it tastes excellent, even though I wasn't paying attention and scrambled the eggs instead of frying them. Whoops.
But soon, the dreaded moment arrives. I call the kids into the living room for a meeting.
"What's up?" Tyler said.
"Can we make this quick? I want to go paint." Sapphire said.
"I need to shower." Chase said.
"Alright guys." I said, taking a deep breath. The words rushed out before I could think of a response. "Bellaisblind."
"Rosalind?" Luke said, confusion all over his face.
I took another deep breath. "Bella is blind."
Eyes widened, then silence. Then Sapphire spoke in a small voice.
"Will she get better?" Sapphire whispered.
I bit my lip. "We aren't sure." I looked at all my kids. "But, we're lucky that it's not a serious illness like cancer. She can still see, just not that well. So let's treat her like a normal person okay?"
Slowly, all the kids nodded. Sapphire though looked like she was about to burst into tears.
"We'll hold off the aging until tomorrow." I said. "I want to spend today as a family-"
"No." Sapphire whispered.
I looked at her. "I thought you wanted to-"
"I want to stay a child. With Bella." Sapphire said quietly. "Just for a little bit."
I blinked, then slowly nodded.
"Well, I want to age up!" Luke declared. "The sooner I get out of school the better!" Chase nodded in agreement.
"I'm staying as a child." Sapphire said.
"Then we'll age up without you." Chase said.
"Guys, enough." I said. "It won't kill you guys to wait a few days before aging up. Sapphire, I'll age Bella up with you guys okay?"
Sapphire nodded, but Chase and Luke looked annoyed. "Whatever." Luke mumbled.
It wasn't easy, but I got all the kids to Central Park for a fun filled day. The words I said earlier rang in my mind. Bella was just had a sight problem. She wasn't seriously ill. I should be thankful that Bella is healthy. She may not be the most active child but I love her all the same. I needed to stop moping and do something productive.
Luke was happy to be fishing in something other then our pool. In almost no time, he had made his first catch, a little minnow. He wasn't thrilled about it though. He was hoping for something bigger, but he kept trying.
Chase decided to play on the playhouse. He's gotten a lot better at balancing his love for the outdoors with his love for computers, which I'm proud of him for. He was perfectly happy to romp around like an animal while his siblings did other things.
Tyler chose the chess board. He's my only genius child in the house, so I think he feels a little left out since Kayla left. He gets along with this his siblings, but when it comes to academics, forget it. He's at the top of his class and the most intelligent kid in his grade. Even Sapphire has trouble figuring out what he's talking about.
I put a smile on my face and taught Duncan to walk, keeping an eye on the other kids as I did so. It was easier then you think, the kids were being very well behaved. Duncan loved to walk, he didn't fall once. Hopefully, teaching him his other skills will be a breeze.
Sapphire and Bella went to the sandbox. Sapphire actually got some words out of her. I couldn't hear their conversation, but I'm guessing it went well since they were smiling when we left. I think Sapphire is glad there's another girl in the house and since she learned of Bella's blindness, she's become very protective of Bella. I did overhear Sapphire say if people pick on Bella, they'll have to answer to her. Bella just laughed and said she'll keep that in mind.
After a hectic dinner at home, the Falls boys bonded over an intense round of video games. They took it very seriously, to the point were they were pounding on the controllers if they messed up.
Sapphire and Bella instead struck up a conversation in the kitchen. They talked about everything to the moon to school. They knew a LOT about what was going on in town, like who was cheating on who, would was rich, who had a baby, etc. I guess school is information central.
"What video game are the boys playing?" Bella asked.
"Some weird racing game." Sapphire replied. "Luke keeps smashing his car into the wall."
"Shut up!" Luke yelled from the other room.
Bella sighed. "Boys like the strangest things."
"Agreed." Sapphire said. "Wanna go dance?"
"Why not?" Sapphire said.
Apparently they really like to dance because they danced until I told them to go to bed. They continued to dance until I turned the radio off. They finally went to their beds with a lot of mumbling and grumbling.
French Toast is on the menu for next morning's breakfast. I can't help but smile as prepare the batter. Things are working out perfectly. Bella's blindness isn't getting in the way like I feared. I was going to have another family outing, but a challenge father is going to come over today. I trust Tyler, but I don't think he can handle four kids, especially a blind one. So the Falls family will be staying at home today.
I'm not going to be bored either. The house needs to be cleaned, the computer needs to be fixed, Duncan still needs to be potty trained and taught how to talk... Strangely, the thoughts don't make me panic. They make me happy.
I also want to invite Victoria, Sofia, and possibly Ivy over at some point. I haven't seen the three of them in a while and it'll be nice to have some girl time.
The challenge father showed up around 10:30.
"Hey!" I said brightly. "My kids are home so-"
"Oh, that's fine." he said.
"Alright. So shall we-"
"Do you mind if we go into the shower?" he said.
"Uh." I said, caught off guard by his request. "Why not?"
But of course, he's incredibly picky, so we get nothing done. I finally tell him to leave after four hours of this. He doesn't seem to mind and says he'll drop by tomorrow.
I start to teach Duncan to talk. At least he isn't giving me problems.
There's this stray that's been living in our backyard. The kids have been calling it Pebble and enjoy petting it. I don't think the poor thing knows how to get out of the backyard. It's evident the dog is NOT happy being stuck in the backyard, so Tyler hoisted it over the fence. You should have seen Pebble run.
As I cooked dinner, the lights in the living room went out. When I looked to see what was going on, I saw Tyler telling Sapphire a ghost story. I chuckled, then went back to cooking. He sure has some imagination.
I was going to take a photo of Bella getting on the bus, but the stupid shower decided to break, so I had to go fix it before it flooded the entire house. I don't need a indoor swimming pool, or a high water bill.m
Tyler sent me this photo though. The school has a program for blind children, so Bella will be okay at school. Sapphire has assigned herself to be Bella's personal bodyguard, so she was really annoyed when Luke sat next to Bella. There wasn't any fighting as far as I know, just a lot of grumbling.
As promised, the father came back over and quickly apologized for yesterday. I said nothing and just led him to my bedroom. I wasn't too happy with his apology, but I just kept my mouth shut.
I cannot tell you how refreshing it is when your toddler finally says something after you've been trying for a half hour. Duncan was being stubborn, smiling every time I tried to get him to say a word. This lil' guy really knows how to push buttons.
I was incredibly proud of Bella. She had to learn Braille, which wasn't too easy for her, and she managed to get a B after only one day in school. Sapphire was grinning ear to ear, glad that they would be able to age up together.
"If I work hard tomorrow, I'll have an A, then we can all age up!" Bella exclaimed.
"You better get an A tomorrow or I'll-" Chase said. He shut his mouth when he got a glare from Sapphire.
"Touch her and I'll pound you." Sapphire growled.
"Hey!" I said.
"Sorry mom!" Chase and Sapphire said in unison.
I decided to potty train Duncan since the pregnancy symptoms hadn't arrived yet. We could survive on leftovers for dinner. Duncan potty trained with no problems and seemed to enjoy it. Then again, I can't imagine hauling around a full diaper would be enjoyable.
After a night full of vomiting and such, I decided to read a recipe until my bump appeared, I got hungry, or I finished the book. I had been trying to get through the book and I was determined to get through it.
After two days of eating just leftovers, you'd be surprised on how full our fridge still was. I pulled out some french toast and put a bite in my mouth. It tasted delicious, but cold.
After the dishwasher broke when I was washing the plates that had been left out the night before, I decided to tend to our neglected rat. Oddly enough, Bella's usually the one that fills his food. Sapphire helps her clean the cage, but most of the time, it's Bella. I may end up getting rid of Cookie, he doesn't deserve to live like this.
My bump appeared just as I finished cleaning Cookie's cage. I smiled as I rubbed the small bump. This one is bound to be a single birth, there isn't much movement going on. 3 single births in a row... a pleasant surprise.
Just as she said, Bella got an A in school. I promised the four of them to age them up when the new baby is born. Luke and Chase weren't happy, but Sapphire and Bella didn't mind. I didn't want to rush Bella through childhood, no matter how much the two boys protested.
At five, Tyler took off to go to his school dance. He waved goodbye before hopping into the limo. Unlike Jason, he had all of his homework done.
There isn't anything to do the next day, so I hop on the challenge mother chat in hopes that someone's online. Luckily there's a few moms that are and we chat for a while. I know that there's some challenge moms in Sunset Valley, but I don't know where any of them live. I hope I can meet another challenge mom soon, it's hard to talk about the challenges of being a challenge mom that isn't one.
When the kids get home, I bring out the cakes.
Tyler as a young adult. He's developed a happy-go-lucky attitude about everything. He's incredibly intelligent and can't wait to use his smarts in the real world. He plans to be a superstar athlete and will all the working out he did as a teen, he's going to achieve his goal.
Then it was the triplet's turn. Chase and Luke finally got Sapphire to age up with them on the condition that Bella aged up right after the baby was born. I told her that was fine as long Bella still had an A.
Sapphire as a teen. She hasn't too happy about aging up and swears that Bella and her will still be friends, no matter what. I admire her loyalty to her half sister, but I can't help but wonder if it's going to get in the way of her enjoying being a teen.
Chase as a teen. He was incredibly happy that he was finally aging up into a teen. He's really ripped too, which is weird since he didn't work out at ALL as a child. Must have been from all that running around outside.
Luke as a teen. He STILL refuses to let his hair grow! The second he aged up, he ran to the bathroom to shave his head. I didn't even get to see who's hair he got. And no, I'm not going to go dig through our trash to figure out what his hair color is. I would ask him, but he doesn't know either.
I was finishing up the dishes the next morning when the contractions started. The contractions were hard and I was starting to wonder if there was more then one baby.
But nope, I was right.
Colin Falls
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