Lacey’s Chapter 3

I had every intention of sleeping for hours — maybe days — after getting home. My body felt like it had been stitched together with pine needles and campfire smoke, and the only thing I wanted was unconsciousness. But the universe, as usual, had other plans.

I’d barely settled into my tent when I heard voices outside. Neighbors. Checking on me. Of course. At least they brought a fruitcake, which feels like the traditional “Welcome to the neighborhood, please don’t hate us” offering. I crawled out, tried to look awake, and made polite conversation for as long as my brain could manage. Then, when I hit my limit, I did the only reasonable thing: I left them standing on the lawn and went straight back into my tent.

They didn’t take the hint.

At some point, one of them started a fire in my firepit. I’m not sure if it was meant to be helpful or if they were just bored, but the smell of smoke dragged me out again. I grilled a fish I’d brought back from Granite Falls and ate it alongside the fruitcake — which, surprisingly, wasn’t terrible. Yunus Emre Pancakes seemed to enjoy the chaos, at least. Eventually the neighbors drifted off, satisfied that I was alive, and I finally got the sleep I’d been craving.

When I woke up — hours later, maybe days, time is a suggestion — I headed over to meet my nephew, Brice. Mara had done a decent job building Emily’s house, but walking through it made it clear a few things hadn’t ended up where they were supposed to. Mailbox inside the house, for example. Not ideal.

Emily introduced me to Brice, who stared at me like I was a suspiciously shaped tree. Not sure he likes me yet, but babies are fickle. Maybe he’ll warm up to me once I stop looking like I slept in a tent for a week. Which… I did.

We made a quick trip into build mode — moved the mailbox outside, added a bed for Brice, fixed a few things that were driving me quietly insane. I put Brice to bed, though he didn’t stay there long. Emily swooped in almost immediately to take him back out. New mom instincts, I guess.

Emily and Janos visited with me for a while, catching me up on everything I’d missed. It was nice, but exhaustion was creeping back in, and eventually it was time for me to head home. I’d see my parents and my new baby sister, Sienna, tomorrow.

Back on my lot, I finally built a basic house — “house” being generous. It’s a bathroom and a combined living/kitchen space. I’m still sleeping in the tent for now, partly because of my aspiration and partly because I can’t afford a bed yet. I planted a small garden with everything I brought back from Granite Falls, hoping it’ll grow into something useful.

I used all my savings building the house, and now I have to figure out how to bring in more money. The bills are coming in a few hours, and I’m pretty sure my remaining simoleons won’t cover them.

Welcome home, Lacey. The forest was peaceful. Real life… not so much.

Once I’d recovered enough to function like a semi‑awake human, I finally made it over to my parents’ house to meet my new baby sister. Derek greeted me at the door with that soft, proud‑dad smile he always gets around newborns. He introduced us, then handed Sienna over like she was a fragile heirloom.

Sienna, for her part, was not impressed. She stared at me with the wide‑eyed suspicion of someone who has just been handed to a complete stranger and would very much like to file a complaint.

I sat with Derek and Trinity in the living room, bouncing Sienna gently and trying to look like I knew what I was doing. She fussed, then wailed, then fussed again. I’m not sure she took a single breath between cries.

Out back, Mara was playing chess by herself, so I carried Sienna out to her. Mara took her from me with practiced ease and then put her down, so I let her feel my belly. I’m due any day now, and she lit up the way she always does when the family grows. It’s comforting, in a way — no matter how chaotic things get, Mara treats every new baby like a small miracle.

Inside, Sienna continued her campaign of constant crying. I tried everything — rocking, pacing, humming — and eventually managed to coax her into a short nap. A very short nap. Mara and Trinity sat with me in the living room, chatting over the sound of Sienna’s ongoing protest against existence.

At some point, I grabbed food from the kitchen, and in the middle of all that, Trinity somehow got stuck inside the bar counter. Just… inside it. I blinked at her for a moment, wondering if sleep deprivation had finally broken me, but thankfully it was just a temporary glitch. She popped back out like nothing happened.

Sienna, meanwhile, was still crying. Constantly crying. Always crying. Maybe she needs a bed or something, but honestly, that was not my problem to solve today.

Because right then — right in the middle of the noise and the chaos and the general Crislip energy — I went into labor. I headed straight to the hospital, where I gave birth to twin girls: Mia and Ava. Twins. Of course. Why have one baby when you can have two and absolutely no money.

I managed to pay the bills this week, but my bank account is now a barren wasteland. I have no simoleons left to build the twins a room. Thankfully the weather here is nice all the time, because for now, we’re all still living in a tent.

Money was already tight, and with two newborns depending on me, I needed to stretch every simoleon until it begged for mercy. So I did the sensible thing: I bought the Free Services trait, the Frugal trait, and Stoves and Grills Master. If the universe was going to hand me twins, I was at least going to hand myself a discount.

With Free Services unlocked, I hired a nanny — and of course it was Lionel, the immortal nanny who has apparently been caring for children since the dawn of time. He showed up, took over the twins like he’d been waiting for this moment, and handled a full shift before disappearing again, probably to go tend someone else’s screaming infants.

While he was there, Finn stopped by to meet Mia and Ava. I was out in the garden, trying to coax my plants into growing fast enough to keep us fed and solvent. Finn chatted with me while I worked, and it felt good — grounding, familiar. I need this garden to thrive. Chrysanthemums to sell, herbs for potions, ingredients for remedies. My whole future is basically sprouting in the dirt.

When Lionel returned for another shift, I took the opportunity to head back to Granite Falls. I needed parsley for one of my remedies, and the only place I knew to find it was the Deep Woods. I biked through the forest, followed the familiar path, and found the parsley growing near Ronan’s cabin. I didn’t stop in. That chapter is closed. But I did find a random infant just… hanging out in the woods. I’ve been seeing random toddlers every time I load into a new location. Something strange is happening in this world, and I’m choosing not to think too hard about it.

Back home, Lionel had left, which meant it was just me and the twins. They cried. A lot. I tried diapers, cuddles, bouncing, shushing — and then finally realized they were hungry. Once they were fed, they settled down long enough for me to check the garden and start brewing remedies to sell. I need money, and I need it fast. As much as I love the outdoors, babies should probably have a house to sleep in.

I got so focused on making remedies that I didn’t even notice the twins were getting bigger until they were suddenly… not babies anymore. Ava is cautious — all soft greens and careful glances. Mia is intense — bright orange energy and zero hesitation. They’re identical, which is going to make this interesting.

The good thing about twins is that they’re happy to entertain each other. They stayed outside, cooing at each other in some kind of secret twin language, while I kept working. They didn’t come inside to find me, and I didn’t realize how long they’d been out there until I finally looked up and saw them exploring.

Ava went straight for the trash on the ground, studying it like it was a rare artifact. Mia crawled around the house like she was mapping the territory. Eventually they both crashed — Ava curling up on the ground outside, Mia flopping onto the floor inside.

That’s when Emily showed up to surprise me, and Finn arrived shortly after. We chatted for a bit, the kind of easy conversation that makes the chaos feel manageable. But exhaustion hit me like a wave, and I finally crawled into my tent to sleep.

The twins stayed exactly where they’d fallen asleep — one outside, one inside — peaceful for the first time all day

Simmers!

If you’re interested in writing and/or reading sims stories, participating in fun competitions and events, joining a friendly and welcoming community, completing legacies and challenge and earning medals, or just having a great place to discuss Sims 2, Sims 3, or Sims 4, then there is a place for you at the