Matthew felt on top of the world. Dorothy agreed to be his totally-official-and-everything girlfriend. At exactly 13-years old he’d had his first kiss; another month and he had his first girlfriend. He was, undeniably, killing it at this ‘teenage boy’ thing.
Winter provided prime opportunities to enjoy his new-found bliss. Not only did he finally have someone to talk to about Aasifa and his real hopes for the future, but he could also kiss and cuddle his best friend! Life was awesome.
On top of it all, Matthew’s first novel, Aasifa Imagined, was a modest hit on the e-book circuit. He knew he’d have to keep improving if he wanted to earn real money as a writer, but for a young teen, he also knew he was – again – killing it. He wasted no time getting started on the sequel, Aasifa Met. Dorothy was a bit annoyed that Matthew was so much more focused on his writing than on her, especially when she was over on the weekend. But she tried her best to be supportive.
She even helped him watch over Mason, which was a huge help when he needed to stay focused!
Aria, on the other hand, resented Dorothy’s presence. They’d never gotten along, and it didn’t look like that was going to change any time soon. Aria tried her best to avoid arguing with Matthew about it, but she worried he was blind to Dorothy’s true nature. Not only was Dorothy awful to Aria, but she wasn’t exactly ‘nice’ to anyone but Matthew.
As a result, Aria spent more time with her younger brothers. The snow melted away as spring made its entrance and the kids quickly took advantage of the warmer weather. Aria would often head over to the playroom in her pajamas, with Mason in tow. He was still a bit wobbly, but could walk over on his own as long as she held the doors open for him.
They usually played well together; their favorites were the animals stored in the toybox and the activity table blocks. Ryker especially loved building “epic” towers. Aria was usually more focused on making sure Mason didn’t eat any blocks.
One morning, still in their pajamas as well, Altman and Matthew went over to the playroom just in time to intervene before a fight broke out over the blocks. Mason had accidentally collapsed Ryker’s tower by yanking out one of the blocks from near the bottom.
“Ryker he wasn’t trying to knock it down,” Aria huffed. “He’s a baby, so you should stop acting like one!”
“I’m NOT being a baby! HE’S being DUMB!” Ryker exclaimed.
Mason was about to start wailing when Matthew hurried in and scooped up the toddler.
“Good morning,” Altman said, eyebrows raised. “Everything okay out here?”
Aria and Ryker glared at each other.
“I’m going to go fishing,” Aria said flatly as she stood up.
“Why don’t I teach you how to play chess, then, Ryker? If you’re done with the blocks for now?” their father asked.
Ryker pushed all the blocks into their spot in the middle of the table and silently moved to one of the chairs at the chess table. Still annoyed, he tried to hide his excitement, but that was hard to do for such an excitable boy.
Altman and Matthew continued to take care of the kids while Bridget, Rukiya and Emery worked on the garden. It was Rukiya’s third growing season with the family, and if her house was finished on time, it might be her last. By the following spring, she hoped to have her own property to focus on.
Sunday newspapers began being delivered again that summer. “Probably by some other kid whose parents think a dumb job will make them behave better,” according to Dorothy.
Aria was the first to notice him. She was painting outside when she glanced up and saw a boy walking up to the house with a bag of newspapers slung over his shoulder. His skin looked tanned; whether it was that tone naturally or darkened by the sun, she wasn’t sure. She set down her paintbrush and stepped off her stool. She looked up at the sun; it was high in the sky. This delivery boy was very late compared to his normal delivery time. ‘Irresponsible,’ she concluded. She looked around. Her parents didn’t seem to notice him; her mom was chatting with Rukiya and her dad was teaching Mason some new words. She’d have to handle this herself.
Aria walked towards him. “Who’re you?” she asked curtly.
“More importantly,” the boy retorted, “why is your dad in his pajamas outside?”
“It’s a free country,” Aria snapped. “You delivering the newspaper now?”
“Duh,” the boy rolled his eyes.
Aria reached out a hand to take the newspaper, but the boy dropped it on the ground.
“Why did you do that?” Aria growled.
“It’s a free country,” he mocked.
Aria clenched her fists. The boy just sneered and walked away.
‘Dumb boys,’ Aria thought. ‘He was so rude!’
After a few silent encounters and dirty looks across the lawn, Aria finally decided to approach the newspaper boy again.
“I’m Aria,” she said flatly.
“Chase,” he said.
Aria crossed her arms. “You were rude to me.”
“You were kinda’ rude, too,” Chase said, rolling his eyes.
He took out a newspaper and handed it to her.
“Thanks,” she said quietly.
He turned to go, but Aria reached out and touched his shoulder.
“Um,” she hesitated. “Do you… like movies?”
Chase rolled his eyes again, but smiled at her. “Yeah, good movies,” he replied.
They debated a while about what made a movie ‘good,’ until Chase said he should probably get going.
“My dad’s going to pick me up soon,” he explained. “But I’ll see you around?”
Aria nodded. “Bye.”
When Aria was painting, she was focused on her art, but when she was fishing, she enjoyed using the time to think. Initially, she wanted to learn to fish because she saw how much her father and older siblings enjoyed it, but now she was grateful she had. There was something peaceful in it; it was calming to go to the backyard pond, cast a line and get lost in her thoughts.
She thought about Chase often. At first, she angrily thought about how rude and irresponsible he was, but over time her opinion softened. After their second conversation, she hoped they could become friends… It would be nice to have a friend her own age.
One evening as Aria marched into the backyard with her fishing rod, she saw Matthew sitting at one of the picnic tables near the pond, reading a pink and red book. Aria recognized it from the shelf. She’d read the back; it sounded sappy and dumb. ‘Watcher, is he that in love?!’ she wondered. She tried to push the thought from her mind. ‘It’s not your business,’ she told herself, but another thought retorted, ‘Uhm, yeah, it is! He’s my brother.’
Aria turned her attention to the pond and cast her line where a few fish were swimming. ‘I’m here to practice, not argue over the evil witch,’ she reminded herself.
But as determined as she was to enjoy a peaceful evening of fishing, she was more determined to make Matthew see the truth about his evil-witch-of-a-girlfriend. Her silence didn’t last long.
“So, are you in love with that paper delivery witch?”
“She has a name, Aria,” Matthew replied flatly.
“Ugh,” Aria said, then in a silly voice, “Are you in love with Dorothy?”
“Why?” he asked.
“‘Cuz you’re reading some dumb love book,” she sneered as she reeled in a goldfish.
Matthew scoffed. “It’s definitely a dumb book, you’re right.”
Aria peered over her shoulder at him. “You haven’t answered my question.”
“I don’t know,” Matthew said, as if disinterested. “It’s whatever.”
“UGH!” Aria exclaimed. “Why are boys so dumb?”
“Hey!” Matthew protested, finally actually looking up from the book.
“Well you are!” she snapped. ‘Aria,’ she heard her mom’s voice in her head. ‘What did we say about being civil?’ She took a deep breath.
“You obviously like her a lot,” she huffed. “You’ve been all gross since your birthday. I was just wondering if you think it’s ‘love,’ jeez.”
Matthew looked back at his book. Aria peered over her shoulder again and was displeased to see he’d returned to reading. She sighed. A few minutes passed.
“Just be careful,” Aria finally said, and sighed again. “I don’t trust her one bit.”
“You don’t say,” he said sarcastically.
“Okay, whatever, don’t say I didn’t warn you,” she replied quietly, with only a fraction of the annoyance she felt.
“You’ve made it super clear you hate her, okay? I don’t need reminding,” Matthew scoffed.
“Like you know anything about her,” he added under his breath.
Matthew sat in the awkward silence and tried to read. It really was a terrible book, which made it difficult. But it was the only romance novel in the house, and he was looking for ideas around romantic language for his third novel. Definitely not for his interactions with Dorothy....
Aria caught another goldfish. “That’s 5,” she said to no one in particular. “Don’t want to over-exert our little guys.”
She tossed the fish back into the pond and dusted off her pants, which were a bit dirty from handling the fish. It didn’t help. She began to walk away, but stopped and turned back towards Matthew.
“You’re my brother,” she said.
He looked up, “I know.”
“I love you,” she said.
“I know that, too,” he said more softly. “I love you too.”
Aria gave him a little smile. “Good,” she said quietly, and turned back to continue towards the house.
“I’m your sister, so you better!” she called back to him without turning around.
Matthew smiled, then turned back to his book, and tried to get through it.
The family ended the growing season with a birthday party for Bridget.
Emery and Matthew helped Altman set up tables and a stereo by the pond, while Aria and Ryker were in charge of the balloons. Aria invited Chase to stay for the party when came by with the newspaper, and Rukiya and Dorothy joined them shortly after.
Bridget was inside playing with Mason when she heard the music blaring in the yard. She went outside to see her four older children, her husband, Rukiya, Dorothy and Chase dancing and cheering as she approached.
“Mason will be fine for a while, mom, come join us! It’s your birthday!” Emery smiled.
“We’ll take turns checking on him, love,” Altman added. “Come here.”
They danced away the morning and were ready to have cake for lunch. Matthew lit the candles and stood back. The small crowd erupted into cheers as Bridget prepared to blow out her candles.
Suddenly, the reality hit her: she was becoming a senior Sim! Was she ready for this? How had the day come so quickly?!
It felt as though her body had changed before her eyes. Were those really her sunspot-covered hands? How long had her hair been going grey that there was now scarcely a brown strand on her head?
Not wanting to alert her children to her alarm, she quietly took a piece of cake and allowed Emery to serve the other slices. She glanced back at Altman for reassurance. He didn’t disappoint: his eyes looked at her in the same way they always had, and his smile seemed as genuine as ever. They may have grown a lot together – and now grown old – but their love was still alive and well. As cheesy as it was, the thought comforted her.
Altman excused himself to check on Mason as everyone got their slices and sat down to enjoy the cake. Everyone except Emery, that is. She said she didn’t want any yet because Matthew and Dorothy were making her gag, but truthfully, her stomach had been in knots since Rukiya arrived.
When Rukiya joined them that morning, she quickly caught Emery in a hug. Before the teen could say anything, Aria turned up the music and Rukiya pulled Emery over to dance. Caught up in staring at her beauty and trying not to stare, Emery hadn’t managed to utter a word before her mother came outside and everyone began to cheer.
Now Emery felt a bit sick to her stomach. She’d become more and more certain over the past year that she had a major crush on Rukiya. Days like today always had her thoughts racing. ‘Could this just be a friendship-type love? Rukiya is someone I care about and look up to, not to mention one of the only people I know outside of my family… But it feels like more than that, right? How do people know? Does this mean I’m gay? How do people know what their sexual orientation is? Should it be more obvious to me?’
She wished she could talk to Matthew and ask him how he knew he liked Dorothy, or at least for his advice on how to admit to someone you liked them. He had a girlfriend and had begun working on a romance novel, so she figured he must have a better idea than she did. She felt utterly uninformed.
Unfortunately, Dorothy was flirty as hell, and Matthew ate it up. When they were together, they were inseparable. Any questions Emery had would have to wait.
After all the excitement, Bridget was exhausted by the late afternoon. She went inside and changed into a nightgown. As she climbed into bed for a nap, Altman knocked lightly and came into their bedroom.
“You alright?” he asked softly.
“Just tired,” Bridget smiled. “Could you make dinner later, if I’m still asleep?”
“I can make it either way, hon,” Altman replied.
“May I join you for a minute?” he added.
Bridget nodded, so Altman sat on the bed and adjusted the pillow. He lay next to her and offered her a place under in his arm. She smiled and leaned onto his shoulder.
“You sure nothing’s troubling you, Bridge?” Altman asked with a knowing smile.
She thread her fingers into his and looked up into his eyes.
“Was it selfish of me, to raise our family here?” she asked quietly.
“You know I worried about the kids meeting others their age. If I thought we’d be happier and better off moving, I would have let you know… The kids have all had great childhoods, with a lot of freedom,” Altman said. “They may not have had the same education as we did, but they haven’t been idle – they’ve all explored their talents and developed skills… I still worry that they may struggle to make friends and about how they would handle a traditional workplace, but they communicate well and they’ll have each other for support.”
Bridget still looked unsure. “I don’t know if I’d still choose to live here if I’d known there wouldn’t be others moving here, too. I feel like I isolated them, and now that they’re growing up… the impacts are clearer.”
“We can’t predict the future, Bridge. You can’t blame yourself for that. Were you only thinking of yourself when you chose to live here?”
She looked down and said nothing.
“Doesn’t sound like the Bridget I know,” Altman continued. “As I remember, part of why you came here was to raise a family away from the small towns you hated growing up in.”
“I didn’t want them to grow up in a town so small that no one else lived there, either,” Bridget scoffed. “Some neighbors would have been nice to have.”
Altman smiled at her. “There’s nothing we can change about how things played out. You can’t blame yourself… your intentions were good.”
“I suppose,” she said quietly. “My intentions don’t change the fact that the only kids they’ve met have been delinquents whose parents force them to deliver newspapers, though,” she chuckled in spite of herself.
“Chase isn’t always the most polite, but I think like Aria, its more of a defensive wall than an actual behavior problem… and Dorothy… well, I’m not sure what to think about Dorothy,” Altman reflected.
“Calling her a ‘piece of work’ is putting it nicely,” Bridget said, sitting up and rolling her eyes. “Do you think we need to talk to Matthew about her?”
Altman sighed. “I don’t think anything we say will change his mind. He’s head over heels for that girl…”
Bridget sighed, too. “I was afraid you’d say that. I hope he gets to know her before he makes any big decisions. She’s awful with the younger ones.”
“Matthew’s sweet, maybe he’ll be a good influence on her, yet,” Altman thought aloud. “Besides, they’re still so young. Who knows if their relationship will go anywhere.”
Bridget nodded. “So young and yet growing up so fast,” she said with a sad smile.
“Hey,” Altman said softly, sitting up. “You’re a great mom… We’ve prepared our kids as well as we could, and that’s all we can do. They’ll be alright.”
He guided her back to relax into his shoulder, kissing her temple as she sighed and snuggled in close.
“We’ll have to start thinking about getting Em and Matt their own places soon,” Bridget said quietly.
“We have a few years for that, still,” Altman chuckled and squeezed her arm. “No need to age them faster than they’re already growing.”
Bridget smiled up at him. “I know, but we should talk to Rukiya’s work crew before they’re finished with her place, to make sure we can get them for Emery’s. If she wants to stay in Appaloosa Plains, of course.”
“I’m sure she will,” he replied. “Especially with Rukiya here.”
Bridget returned her husband’s smirk. “I think it’s sweet! Rukiya is a much better choice for a crush than Dorothy!”
They smiled to themselves and enjoyed each other’s company for a moment. They both knew they’d miss this one day – each other; being close. It had been long enough now that being close to one another wasn’t just a comfort taken for granted, but something they recognized as a gift. Their children weren’t the only ones getting older; not the only ones whose company they should savor. Their love and marriage had passed the tests of time, and for that, they were both very grateful.
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