A hard day's night

Round 3: 1986-1990

Jackie's life is pretty much centered on Denise at the moment. She's gone back to work but spends all her free time with the little one. Denise is taking her first steps unassisted and Jackie is thrilled.

Ryland has gone to work and and he's left a little surprise on the kitchen floor: a pile of garbage. Unfortunately the bugs have already found their way inside the house before Jackie takes the garbage out. Jackie is able to spray the bugs but Rianna has already gotten sick with the flu. And of course Jackie gets sick too!

Rianna and Jackie are both coughing up their lungs. And since Ryland doesn't have the sense to stay away from his wife, he gets sick too.

The next few days Denise is pretty much left alone. The nanny takes care of her while her parents and big sister try to get better. It looks like Denise shares her sister's love for arts although she seems more keen to eat the crayons than to draw with them.

Somewhere between sleeping and coughing Ryland and Jackie are able to teach Denise to potty and also to talk and walk. And not a moment too soon because it's time for Denise's birthday. Even Rianna joins the party even though she's still quite weak. Jackie refuses to let Rianna go to college until she is healthy. Rianna is anxious to start an independent life. She has all the necessary scholarships, her grades are good and she's ready to go!

Denise is a pretty active kid. She loves the activity table and spends hours playing with blocks and drawing. She got an easel from her parents as a birthday present and she's already proven to be a good painter. Denise would love to do more stuff that involves nature but unfortunately there's not much to do on their home since the gardener takes care of the few flowers and shrubs they have. But Denise is quite content in reading about different plants.

Jackie is determined that Denise should get into private school. The headmaster comes for a visit. He already knows that the Whitfields are a well established family but he wants to make sure that Denise is a good student. Rianna has agreed to give the headmaster a tour around the house and also join them for dinner. She's quite restless though because she's leaving for college later that night.

"I'm expecting to see Denise at the school tomorrow morning" the headmaster says and shakes Ryland's hand before leaving.

Finally! Rianna gets into a taxi and heads off to Brixton Academy. She's been accepted to the arts program and she can't wait to start her studies.

Jackie can't help but feel a bit nostalgic when she helps Denise with homework. It seems like yesterday she was doing the same thing with Rianna and Regan but now they've both grown up and are starting lives on their own. The house feels so empty with the two girls gone.


Notes:

• Title from "A hard day's night" by The Beatles
• This update took a totally different direction as I had planned. Rianna, Jackie and Ryland were all sick most of the time and I kept them in their beds as much as possible. I had hoped that Rianna (a romance sim) would get a boyfriend but now she still hasn't even had her first kiss. Oh well, there's plenty of time for that in university :)