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Round 13: Autumn 2020


Ben Cooper is 42, Denise is 34, Riley is 10, Liam is 8 and Brady is 1.
(Ryland and Jackie are 69, Cal and Elissa are 58.)

Narrated by Denise Cooper.

Ben was very busy at work during summer because his boss Bobbie took some time off after her sister's death. She got back to work recently and said that she might as well have stayed away because Ben was doing such a good job. I'm seeing this as a sign that she's thinking of retirement which would make Ben the head of the architect office. Ben tells me that I'm just imagining but I know that he wouldn't mind being the boss.

My career is currently on hold. I decided to stay home with Brady for a few extra months. Initially I had planned to go back to work after Brady's first birthday but it's just so wonderful to be able to spend time with him and watch him grow.

I have to admit I've gotten hooked on soap operas too. I watch tv every day - now that we have one - while Brady plays on the activity table. He seems really interested in playing with blocks and Ben is sure that means he wants to become an architect one day. I think it's a bit premature to make that kind of assumption.

I'm still a member of the City Council so I have to attend the meetings and also do some paperwork at home. I usually get most of my work done in the afternoon while Brady is taking a nap and Riley and Liam are still at school.

Mom comes over quite often too. She's great at entertaining Brady while I eat with Riley and Liam and talk about their school day with them.

The boys make a lot of noise when they play but honestly I'm going to miss these moments in a few years when they'll be in high school and won't play together anymore. They look so much alike especially now that Liam has glasses too. We noticed a few weeks ago when we were visiting Ben's parents that he practically had his nose pressed on to the tv screen when he was watching cartoons. We took him to the eye doctor and he got glasses. At first he was really reluctant to wear them but he's gotten used to them now.

Liam is kind of disappointed in his grades. He gets C's even though he always does his homework and seems genuinely interested in school stuff. I guess it's just harder for some kids. I always tell him not to worry. After all, he's only 8 years old, he has plenty of time to stress about his studies later.

Riley on the other hand gets good grades pretty easily. He usually finishes his homework pretty quickly and then comes to watch cartoons with me.

Ben plays with boys in the evening after he has come home from work. He also spends time with Brady in the morning so that I can take a shower and get Riley and Liam ready for school.

We love inviting people over now that we're settled in our house. The other night we invited our parents over for dinner. Ben let them in while I cooked the meal.

Of course I burnt it! I knew I shouldn't try a new recipe. I felt really mortified especially because I'm always nervous to cook for mom since she's a chef in her own restaurant.

My parents and Elissa and Cal are all too nice to say anything so they just kept chewing even though the food tasted pretty awful.

We talked about the upcoming governor election. The whole election actually kind of shriveled away when I decided not to run. Deacon Burrows is the only real candidate and even if I had decided to run it would have been really hard to beat him especially since he just announced that we get two tax-free years because the government has enough money for all planned projects. It's hard to compete with that! All in all I think Deacon's done a tremendous job, building the hospital and supporting several businesses.

I think dad was kind of disappointed about my decision. He's leaving the Senate after this year and he was kind of hoping that I would follow in his footsteps. It's definitely still my goal but not yet. I'm still young and have plenty of time to work my way up in the political field.

Everyone else seemed really happy but even if everyone else disapproved I would still take time off because it's what I want to do.

We didn't tell them the real reason why I won't be going to work for some time though. I'm pregnant again! We haven't told anyone yet, not even the boys because it's still very early. We decided to try for another baby and I got pregnant right away. I love our boys but I'm hoping this one is a girl. I want to buy all those cute dresses and a doll house!

I watched the boys play together on the activity table the other day and my heart was filled with love. Some people might say we're crazy to have another child but to me my children are my greatest accomplishments in life.

Extras:

I had never thought of giving Liam glasses until I saw this picture in the previous update for Cal, Elissa and Josh.

Notes:

• Title from "Show me" by John Legend.
• This is definitely going to be the last baby for Denise and Ben. But who am I kidding, I love sim babies! The baby is due in Summer 2021.
• This is the last time we saw Riley as a kid. He will be a teenager the next time I play this family. I can hardly believe it, I had to check again after I had written it down ;)
• Deacon will continue another term as the governor. I couldn't come up with candidates so there won't be an election.
• Almost done with round 13, only the Grundstrom-Robinson wedding and the round summary left.