Dear Daddy,Where are you? I never heard back from my previous letter, and Cale gets weekly letters from his mother. I guess I no longer have that open invitation to move back in with you if things go sour here. Cale and I have had a few fights the last few weeks, mainly because the house is too small
and I'm pregnant again. I'm sure that you think that's not the greatest news, because more children mean more mouths to feed and the need for more space. That was why you and Mama only had one child, wasn't it?
Honestly, I'm beginning to see your point. I'm spending more time working on my career more than my personal goals. We need the money, so I'm selling more paintings than I'm keeping. It makes me so terribly sad, but the good news is that I'm making money from my painting, and that's what I always wanted, and what Mama always wanted for me as well. She wanted me to give her grandchildren as well.
Why haven't you come to see Casey? I think you'd like him. He's like you, a hard worker even if he does prefer my type of work (art, that is) over your type of work. He'd never want to be a mechanic, but I can see him designing cars, you know?
He's a good kid... In a manner of speaking.
My real reason for writing to you is to say that I've gotten another promotion. Now I'm mostly earning money from painting, and soon I'm going to have the choice of whether I want to paint for a living or if I'm going to be a patron instead. I'd like to keep painting, but the money is important. The question is whether or not I can keep painting in my free time. Keeping the paintings in the house is important to me, but they're selling surprisingly well.
You always doubted me.
I want so badly to hear you say that I'm a success and that you're happy with everything I've done. Maybe when I make it to the top you'll let me have that thing I've been waiting for my entire life. All I want is your approval. It's a constant reminder to make sure that I give Casey as much affirmation as I possibly can. He's an excellent artist, and he may be better than me one day. I'll never discourage him from following his dreams the way that you discouraged me, Daddy.
(Casey took this picture. He was laughing about it and insisted that I include it with my letter to his grandfather.)
This pregnancy has been more difficult than my pregnancy with Casey. Cale says that he read that sometimes women have more morning sickness when they're pregnant with girls than when they're pregnant with boys, but I have this sinking feeling in my gut that it's not that.
We can't afford twins, Daddy. I don't know what we're going to do if this pregnancy is more than one baby, because we simply can't afford to take care of two (or three!) babies at the same time. I'm only hoping that the
Watcher smiles down on us and grants us a single girl to carry on the family lineage instead of giving us more mouths than we can afford to feed.
At least we're living indoors now. You won't be able to tell it from some of the pictures that I sent you (since some of our furniture is still on the lawn), but Casey has a bed inside now. It's an improvement, even if it's not perfect.
Cale's music is getting better, and he's using it to make himself some friends. Did you know that if you stand on a street corner and play an instrument that people will toss money at you? He's made some money that way, albeit not very much, and he's had to switch from the violin to the guitar, since people prefer the guitar music over the violin music. His mother has sent the instruments, so it's not like we're paying for those.
She also sent a violin for Casey. It hasn't escaped our notice that you've sent nothing for your grandson. We haven't so much as heard from you. He's so artistically inclined that it seems in some ways that he got these traits from both of us. I love it, and I think Cale does too. He's closer to Casey than I am, so maybe that's why our son chose the violin.
Even so, he continues to work on his artwork any chance that he gets. I'm on him about his schoolwork, the same way that you were always hard on me about mine. I wonder sometimes whether I'm doing the right thing, but at least I help him with his homework every night. He has a B right now, but it shouldn't be too long before we are celebrating his first A homework level. That will be a tremendous thrill for all of us. He's going to be successful at whatever he does.
He says he wants to be a criminal mastermind. I think he's joking, but Cale seems suspicious.
Did I tell you that I think I might be expecting twins? I'm definitely bigger with this pregnancy, but it's also my second, so it's hard to tell how things are progressing. I've included a photo of myself in the first trimester. I'm painting in it. Can you see that I'm painting? Yes, Daddy, I still do that, and I'm even more serious about it now than I used to be in the past. Painting is serious business for me, and I love every minute that I spend at the easel.
What are we going to do if it's twins? Please send money?
No, I'm not really asking. We're doing fine in our careers. It's going to be alright.
Cale is spending a lot of time in town playing his guitar for tips. We call that "busking" and it seems like a rather distasteful term but the activity itself has proven to be fairly lucrative for him. It doesn't pull as much as selling a single painting of mine, but he enjoys doing it and it has the added benefit of allowing him to meet several sims at once. We've not had a party yet, but I think that when we do he'll have plenty of people to invite over.
I wish that first party could be our wedding, but Cale hasn't proposed yet and I'm beginning to doubt that he ever will. Casey's birthday is more likely for all of us, I think. Casey will enjoy it at least. You made sure I didn't get birthday parties when I was growing up, and that always disappointed me. He should enjoy that, even if he has so few friends.
Cale and Casey continue to be quite close. They are so different from one another and yet they have so much fun together that it's hard to explain what attracts them. I don't think they're best friends, but there's something conspiratorial about the way they come together and chatter when I'm just out of earshot. Maybe they're planning something.
Maybe they're planning Cale's proposal? That would be amazing. Do you think that you'd come to the wedding, Daddy?
Everything around the house breaks regularly. This time it was the computer, but it could be anything from the toilet to the shower to the refrigerator. Cale and I are getting so good at repairing things that I've considered (not really) taking on a job as a mechanic or a plumber. Maybe you could come by some time to help us to fix all these problems around the house. Would you do that for us, if I asked you nicely?
I know, I know. You want me to be able to stand on my own two feet without your help, and that's why you've always been so hard on me. I just wish you'd done more to encourage me and to lift me up. I can't imagine being like that with Casey; The way that you were, I mean. It was horrible, growing up that way, without knowing which way to turn and without knowing that I could rely on you if there was a problem in my life.
You offered once to let me come home if I needed to, but I know that I don't need to. Money won't be an issue for very much longer.
Casey's looking forward to having a little brother or (more likely) sister. He's going to be a wonderful big brother, I have no doubt of that. Hopefully he'll teach his brother or sister the ropes and he'll help him or her at school. Friends are important, and siblings are the first friends that we get to have. Casey should be good at that, if he continues the way that he has been. He doesn't have many friends, but the friends that he does have are good.
I sense he might have a crush.
Her name is Courtney, and right now they're best friends, but I have hope for the future. I'd love to have grandkids. Maybe I'm more like Mama than I thought. You're a grandfather, Daddy. Can you imagine being a great-grandfather?
I have to go, Daddy. The baby's coming. Write back this time, okay?
With Love,
Talia
P.S. IT WAS TWINS! We've named them Emilio and Emily. Not my best moment. I've slipped in a picture of them as nooboos!
