Chapter 2

“I told him that too!” Gloria said to her phone about three feet away from her as she harvested her garden. “I told him we can hardly afford to pay for the house repairs, how were we going to pay for him to go to college? I don’t want to step on his aspirations, but how much weight should we put into a whim?”

“I thought you going to the mainland was a crazy dream, but that turned out alright,” her mom’s voice buzzed from the phone. “But, while things can be uncertain, that doesn’t mean that you should wait for certainty. I remember a certain young lady who moved to the mainland hoping that a certain young man would love her? You were the furthest thing from sure.”

Gloria sighed. “I just don’t want him to be unhappy. What if he doesn’t like being an editor? Or what if he can’t find a job? I’ve heard that Simlish majors are a dime a dozen.”

“Seneca is driven, we should let him try and spread his wings, and hope he flies. What you shouldn’t do is try to keep him tied down.”

Gloria pulled more vegetables out of her garden, fighting with her gnawing frustration. “What am I supposed to do while he’s gone?” she asked. Her tone betrayed her, shaking slightly, revealing her nerves and worry.

“Oh, love, you can do anything. What do you want to do?”

“I- I think I want to grow things. I like growing things, and I have this garden, but there is so much to learn. I could learn about cows, about Llama wool, chickens, different flowers and herbs, vegetables, all of it. I’m happiest when I’m working outside.”

“You get that from your father,” Gloria could hear the smile in her voice. “He’s always outside, building things, helping neighbors, fishing. You certainly are your father’s daughter.”

“I’m from both of you, don’t get it mixed up.” Gloria corrected.

“Yes, yes. Well, I think the little humans need dinner now, I’ll talk to you later. I love you,”

“I love you too,” Gloria said. “Bye!”

“Bye!”

The call ended, and Gloria was left staring at the pile of vegetables she had collected, feeling accomplished.

The future was so uncertain, but there was no point in not growing. She and Seneca needed more money, and while it may dig them into a hole now, having jobs they loved would give them a better life in the long run. She knew it was true, but she had never been one for change.

But the time always comes for change, doesn’t it? Life doesn’t stand still, it morphed and changed and nothing could stop it. Maybe it was better to embrace the change than to try to resist it.

~*~

“I want you to apply for college,” Gloria announced as they were cleaning up from dinner. She could have poofed the dishes away with a simple spell, but it was nice to have a team activity where they worked together. Seneca wasn’t one for gardening and bugs made him squeamish, and the dirt always had plenty of bugs, so they didn't’ spend much time together doing that.

He looked up from the dish he was cleaning. “Are you sure?” Goodness, his eyes were like those of a toddler during the Winter Festival, big and full of hope.

Gloria smiled. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

“But you said it was too expensive,”

“I did, but I think that we need to plan for the future and build a happy tomorrow, not just worry about today. You going to college will help us prepare better lives, and you won’t be the only one bettering themselves,” Gloria said with a smirk.

“Oh? What you’re you going to do?” Seneca asked, turning his body towards her.

“I’m going to study at a farm. There are farms in Henford that are always looking for help, and I saw an ad for a seasonal camp to learn the tricks to running a farm. I think it’ll be fun! If not scary…”

Seneca wiped his hands on his pants and held Gloria’s hands in his. “Glo, that’s wonderful. I’m happy for you, it’s what you’ve always wanted.”

She half smiled. “It’ll be hard, being away from you, being away from home, but we’ve got this, right? We’ll be ok.”

“We’ll be ok. And I’ll start applying for scholarships tonight. We’re going to rock this!” He pulled her into a strong hug. “Believe me. Trust me.”

~*~

“You’re distracted,” Midshore observed as she knocked Gloria to the ground for the third time while sparring. “What’s on your mind?”

Gloria huffed and pushed herself back up from the ground. “For once I wish you weren’t so observant.”

“We’ve tried that. You wandered off with an evil, manipulative boy who wanted you to rule a nation with him and we had to rescue you from him,” Midshore arched her eyebrow. “Or when you were having dreams of Seneca? At least that relationship seems to be turning out.”

“That’s all ancient history, we can let that go,”” Gloria dusted herself off, then raised her hands again.

“As you wish,” Midshore said. “I’m just trying to say, you need a guardian sometimes, and I need to pay attention or you could go and do something foolish. That and your footwork is sloppy.”

Gloria hastily shifted her feet to be in proper position. “Ok, I’m ready. Let’s just continue,”

Gloria ended up back on the ground.

“Would you stop that!?” she growled.

“What’s on your mind?” Midshore asked again. “Don’t say it’s nothing.”

“Fine. Seneca is applying for scholarships and colleges and I can’t go with him. We can’t afford to have us both go. Are you happy now?”

“And that’s weighing enough on your mind that you’re this distracted?” Midshore questioned.

“I don’t want to be away from him. What am I going to do without him? I’ve become so codependent that I don’t know if I can live apart from him. I don’t know anymore if I can stand on my own two feet.”

“Don’t be silly, of course you can,” Midshore smirked, pulling Gloria up from the ground. “Have you talked to Seneca about this?”

“I haven’t,” Gloria kicked a stone.

“You two have a special connection that most partners can only wish for, how have you not talked to him about it?”

“Because I’m imperfect. And I don’t want him to see that I’m worried because then he may not want to leave and I don’t want him to pass his dreams for me. You should see him, Midshore. He’s so happy,” Gloria smiled. “He’s bubbly, and he looks at his email every hour looking for updates.”

Gloria smoothed her clothes again. “My nerves will pass. I know that they will, I just have to work on them and have faith.”

Midshore looked at her, mildly concerned. “You’ll be here in this house all by yourself? Maybe you should come home then. So you don’t get lonely. I know people talk to their pets, but I don’t think Taco would be the best conversation…”

“Oh, no! I’ve signed up to be a part of a farming fellowship. Mom didn’t tell you? It’s competitive, but it’ll keep me busy for a few months.”

“Farming, huh? You always did have a green thumb.” Midshore arched her eyebrow. I hope you have a good time.”

Chapter 2! I'm still trying to iron out the formatting for posts on Blogger. They add a space after each new paragraph, and that drives me nuts. Bear with me as I try to get everything ironed out.

Here are a few extra pictures, because unfortunately not everything can (or should) be fit in!

^Seneca helped Gloria do some planting! It was unexpected. and kind.

^Gloria sees what you do and is not proud.

^Proof that lighting in Sims 4 is very nice. Ignore the gap above the window? I'm baffled as to why that's there.

^ I was trying out some poses for the story signature on the forums, to see what I like, and turns out none of these were very inspiriting to me, but they're pretty. They were in their pajamas, don't worry, Seneca is wearing clothes!