8.27 Private Conversations – Part II

Alayna and Roland’s conversation in the park Saturday afternoon…

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Alayna and Roland took a seat by the water and listened to it splashing against the rocks. The song that the birds sang was soothing, but not enough to slow Alayna’s racing thoughts. She had something rather pressing on her mind, but she really didn’t want to interrupt the moment. After all, she brought everyone out there to enjoy nature. However, her topic of conversation had a timestamp on it, so she had to bring it up soon.

“Roland…”

“Yes, dear?”

“We need to talk.”

“Okaaay. Did I do something?”

“No!”

“Oh. Well, good. What’s on your mind, baby?”

“I need to have a conversation with my brothers, but I need to discuss it with you first to make sure you’re ok with it.”

“All right…ok with what exactly?”

She always knew this time would come but never imagined it would be this hard. She knew what she needed to say but still struggled to find the right words. Everything she began to say sounded more like a command than a suggestion, but ultimately her mind was made up, and there wasn’t anything he could really do about it.

“I think we need…no, we’re going to have to…ok…it’s time for us to get our own house.”

“Really? Why? I mean, I’m not opposed, but why now? I know you grew up here, but now this is our sons’ home too.”

“Think about it! The house is almost full, and now that Viviana lives here, you know there’s gonna be a baby soon. And then, what if Owen finally gets his head out of the sand and gets married? It’s technically his house anyway, and there won’t be any room for his family.”

“All of that makes sense, and if you really want to leave, I’m all for it. But…why us? Why do we have to be the ones to leave? I would think that with your affinity for all things family and knowing the history and all, you deserve to stay.”

“I’m flattered, but this isn’t a popularity contest. I mean, there are four of us, Roland. We take up half the occupancy of this house. It only makes sense for us to go, but that’s not the only reason. It’s because of my knowledge of the family that we should go. I have a historical reason why it should be us.”

“School me.”

“In families like ours, you have the heir who is the one who will inherit everything and is expected to carry on the legacy. But, there is also the sibling, or siblings, called spares. The spares are the other eligible siblings who could become heir in case something happens to the heir.”

“Heirs and spares…sounds like some medieval board game or something.”

“Our family is a strict traditional patriarchy. That means that only natural born males are eligible to be the heir.”

“So, that makes Brady the spare, and you…”

“That makes me nothing. I’m pretty much in the way of the family’s progress.”

“Do you really think that? It’s not true at all. If it wasn’t for you, the family history would die. You are progressing the family!”

“I appreciate that, but…logistically speaking, what I said is true. You know about these zoning laws here. There can only be a maximum of eight Sims per house. If we don’t move out, the legacy will end, and it will be my fault! Sisters in this family have been in this same situation for eight generations now. I’ve always known I was going to have to be the first to leave. Honestly…I thought we would have been gone by now.”

“Why?”

“Well…I love my brothers, I really do, but I wasn’t confident that they would get their act together–namely Owen. I mean, I’ve always rooted for Brady, but…you know…things are different with him. But yeah, so I thought there would be room for us to stay until we wanted to leave on our own. I guess after a while, I just got comfortable. I wasn’t really thinking that we would need to leave so quickly.”

“So when do we tell the boys?”

“Let me talk to my brothers first, but in the meantime, let’s start looking for a house. When we find one, then we can tell them.”

“Ay ay, captain! You seem to have everything under control.”

“You know I do…especially when it’s a win-win situation. Owen and Brady get their families, and you know what we get?”

“Privacy!”

“Just think…when the boys aren’t home, we will be completely alone.”

“And we can play as many games as we want! Oooh, I can’t wait!”