"Uh, yeah, sure, no problem Kim, but why would the council ask me? I don't even know anyone on the council.", Edward asked. "Joe Miller volunteered your name, even though he is a reasonable fishersim himself, he told them that you where the best sim for the job, and Mike Miller, his grandson, that you sell your fish to agreed.", Kim explained.
"Yeah, ah, okay, I can do that. Do you, ah, um want to come in for a coffee?", Edward asked. Kim readily agreed, she liked Edward, and as she'd been telling a friend today at work that if she wasn't the Midnight Hollow Chief of Police, that she might even consider kidnapping Jessica and run off to raise her as her own in Appaloosa Plains, well, probably not Appaloosa Plains.
Edward glanced out of the window at the over run garden, he'd been reading 'Gardening For Ding-Dongs', one of the popular series of 'For Ding-Dings' books, but he hadn't managed to brave the physical aspect of actual gardening yet.
"So, um, it's Jessica's birthday on Saturday, and I was wondering if you would like to..", asked Edward nervously. Kim didn't wait for Edward to finish the question, "A birthday party for Jess, I wouldn't miss it for the world, Jess is my favorite little Vampire girl in the world.. Don't tell my sister I said that..", she giggled.
Kim knew Edward had been a loner since he came to town, possibly because of the loss of Jessica's mother, but a woman with a lifespan like hers could afford to be patient and move slow.
"Mornin' Jack, Alice. It's a nice day out for a walk, but shouldn't you oughta be somewhere else?", suggested Bert the postman. "Ya know Chief Diffy owns this place.", he reminded them
"Go on, get on back home before I hafta report you, we bin friends a long time and I don't want to hafta go snitchin on you fer stretchin' ya legs.", he added as he departed for the next mailbox.
Edward took Jessica fishing, he needed to catch thirteen different perfect specimens, which shouldn't be hard, with the abundance of large healthy fish in 'The Hollow'.
Jessica babbled away at her Ragdoll.
Sometimes Edward thought she was singing.
"Wheeew, no wonder the fish stopped biting, that smell must have scared them all away!", Edward gagged when Jessica crawled over to him. "I can't wait for you to learn to talk, so you can tell me when you need to go to the toilet, or when you learn to walk, so you can take yourself!"
"Come here little miss poopy pants, let's clean you up!"
"I wish your mother was here to see how big you are getting. She loved it when I pushed her on the swing.", Edward confided in Jessica after they had delivered the fish for the museum exhibit. "I wish she could see you.. I wish you could see her.", he mused.
Later that night Edward began work on a birthday present for Jessica, while Jessica and Mia coached the local gridiron team on television. A large collection of crumbled paper began to build up next to Edward.
Kim arrived late Saturday afternoon. "I know I'm early, but it is the sunniest day in seventy years, so I thought I'd come early and use the good light to get into the garden. "I thought Vampires had to avoid sunlight?", Edward asked. "True, most Vampires can get a very nasty sunburn in no time at all, but every four of five generations in my family one of us is blessed with the Immortal Gene.", Kim explained.
By the time Kim and Edward had coffee and sauntered down to the garden, the sun had decided it was ready to hide behind the clouds again. "Wow, I'm surprised there is anything still alive and growing here, my sister has a black thumb.", Kim stated as she began eradicated weeds."
Later that night, when Kim went to give Jessica a birthday present, she magically pulled a key from behind Jessica's ear. "Your present is in the boot of the squad car, but you might need your Dad to help you carry it.", Kim suggested. "Did you see that Daddy, Kim is magic!", Jessica enthused, "How did you do that?", Jessica asked in awe.
"A good magician never reveals his secrets.", Kim responded firmly, but with a smile. "I once arrested a pickpocket who used stage tricks as a cover.", Kim whispered in Edwards ear.
"What do you say?", Edward nudged his daughter gently as they Edward placed the heavy trunk on the floor. "Thank you so much for the dress ups Kim.", Jessica gushed, barely able to contain her happiness. "Come see what Daddy got me for my birthday, I can see my Mummy any time I want now!"
Kim felt her own happiness drop a notch. 'I thought her mother was dead, apparently not.', she told herself feeling silly that she was crushing in a much, much, younger man, who wasn't apparently as unattached as he had lead her to believe. Jessica took Kim's hand and led her into the shared bedroom.
"Daddy says Mummy was a ghost, then she died, and she wasn't a ghost anymore, it makes him cry a lot.", Jessica explained.
"And Daddy got me a new grown up bed for Mia and me. Mia says Mr.Bunny can't share our bed, because Mr.Bunny snores to loud.", Jessica introduced her ragdoll Mia, and fluffy toy rabbit.
After Jessica was in bed, Edward and Kim spent an awkward evening making small talk and avoiding the topic of their relationship.
When it was time for Kim to leave, Edward wasn't sure whether to give her a friendly hug, or to shake her hand, or kiss her on the cheek. He didn't know if he was ready for a relationship, but Kim was awfully nice to him and Jess. His hesitation saw Kim leave without any physical contact.
When it was time for Kim to leave, Kim couldn't decide whether she was in love with him because he was so nice, or because her mothering instincts knew he was so broken. Kim had made a career from her investigative skills and being able to read people, but more often than not Edward had proved to be unreadable. If he was completely indifferent to her, why did he smile so much whenever she visited.
"You would not.", Jessica argued, "I so would.", Mia argued. "Would not.", "Would so.", "Would not.", "Would so.", "Would not!", "Would so!". "Prove it then!", pushed Jessica. "Fine after you.", Mia argued, "If you are brave enough!
"See, I told you, are coming up or not, fraidy cat!"
Author's Note:
I forgot to/didn't bother to cap Jess's age up hair, it wasn't as bad as Dolly's, but was shorter than her toddler do. I figured I'd throw this in notes, as there's not a single shot in the chapter that's front on.
Because Edward is such a deadbeat parent the game gave Jess 'frugal' as her third trait. I've always considered Frugal as a filler trait with very minimal impact on actual game play. I was tempted to cheat and change it to something useful like rebellious, but 'Frugal' is easy to write, so I limited my maker super powers to a suitable hairdo and a change of wardrobe. I was still thinking rebellious or adventurous when I did the last five caps....
Edward's LTW was perfect aquarium, there's absolutely no room in the house, I even deleted some flowers to make space for birthday cake. It's a hidden basement under the house, there's 16 bowls there because at 13, I was only seeing 11/13. I'm assuming one or more expansions fish don't count. Afterwards I just
Really EA?, stop trying to mess with my rolls!
Where were the pretty lights last Gen when I needed them !?!?!?
