Chapter 1.12 - Evil Red Eyes

That same night, Evelyn was invited to attend Teresa’s swimwear party with her family. For the first time since she adopted Mia, Evelyn was finally able to attend parties again without needing to rely on a babysitter.

Teresa lived within walking distance of Evelyn, so she decided to walk instead of drive. It was a beautiful evening with beautiful weather, as it had finally stopped raining, causing the fresh smell of wet soil to hang in the air.

It was a small and informal party as only the closest neighbours of the area had been invited, but there were still enough people that Mia got fidgety. They didn’t stay for very long, but while they stayed Evelyn caught up with Teresa’s husband Nocden, another of her close friends. They spent a long time talking about their children, Nocden showing off their youngest, whom Evelyn hadn’t met before.

For Chantia, the party turned out a bit differently. She had her first meeting with a member of the canine species; the Mendel family’s dog. She had heard a lot about the dog from Joy, but it was only after she met the dog that she finally understood her friend’s enthusiasm.

Joy wasn’t at the party, so Chantia spent the whole time playing with the dog. By the time they finally went home, Chantia was convinced of one thing: she wanted a dog of her own.

“Mommy?” Chantia asked her mother once they arrived home.

“Hmm?” Evelyn hummed to show that she was listening, even though she was busy getting Mia ready for bed.

“Can I get a dog? Please? I promise I’ll take good care of it, I just want one,” Mia begged with pleading eyes. Evelyn deposited Mia in the crib before turning to look at Chantia.

“A dog is a very big responsibility, Chantia,” Evelyn warned the girl. “You’ll have to make sure it has food, water, enough exercise and so on.”

Chantia nodded emphatically. “I know. I’ll take very good care of it,” she promised. Evelyn raised an eyebrow before turning back to Mia to kiss the girl goodnight.

“We’ll see,” she promised.

Chantia gave her a bright smile before turning to her bed. She eyed the dark space beneath the bed apprehensively, suddenly afraid of it. She squared her shoulders and took a deep breath. She was just being silly. There was nothing to be afraid of. There was nothing under the bed.

Still, she wanted to make sure, so she checked under the bed for just in case.

Turned out she had something to be scared of. She stared at the red eyes under the bed for half a second before she jumped away, screaming. She threw herself into her mother’s arms, sobbing hysterically.

“Hey, it’s okay sweetie. I’m here, don’t worry,” Evelyn tried to calm down the hysterical girl, trying to figure out what had caused the girl to scream. Between the girl’s sobs and nearly unintelligible words, she finally managed to figure out that the girl thought there was something under her bed.

 
“Look, there’s nothing,” Evelyn reassured the girl, looking under the bed with Chantia. As she expected, there was nothing, just dust. Chantia wiped her tears away with the heel of her hand.

“B-but it was right there! I swear!” Chantia protested. “It was there, s-staring at me with evil red eyes!”

“Sweetie, there’s nothing there,” Evelyn repeated. Chantia sniffled, looking at Evelyn with a small pout on her face, causing Evelyn to sigh in resignation. “If it bothers you that much, why don’t you sleep on the top bed? I’m sure nothing will be able to reach you there,” Evelyn suggested. Chantia sniffled again before nodding hesitantly.

“Okay,” she agreed.

Evelyn stayed with Chantia until the girl finally fell asleep, exhausted by her busy day.

The next morning was the start of a new week, signalling Chantia’s first day at school. Being in the position she was, Evelyn had to leave for work before Chantia had to leave for school.

“Now be good,” Evelyn reminded the girl. “Have fun, work hard and make lots of friends, okay?” Chantia smiled broadly before nodding decisively. Evelyn felt her heart clench at the sight, causing her to draw the girl in for a tight hug. She wished Gustave could’ve been here to witness his daughter’s first day of school, but she knew it wasn’t to be. Still, it might be a good idea for Evelyn to take the girl to Champs Les Sims. Chantia was half French and it would be unfair of Evelyn to deny her daughter that part of her heritage.

Soon though, Evelyn had to leave, allowing the girl to get ready for school. By the time the school bus arrived, Chantia was a mess of nerves and excitement. She looked forward to seeing Joy, but at the same time she was anxious that her new classmates wouldn’t like her.

Luckily, her fears were unfounded. Her fellow classmates were all just as anxious as she, so she wasn’t alone. Her first day was hard, but she still enjoyed it immensely. After school, she immediately enrolled into an afterschool activity. She nearly decided to join the Ballet Club, but after much pondering she eventually decided on the Scouting Club. While ballet sounded fun, she wanted something a bit more adventurous.

By the time she returned home, her mother was already there. As is the fate of the daughter of a teacher, Chantia immediately had to do her homework. She was just glad that her mother was there to help her with it.

By the time she was finally done with her homework, it was time for Evelyn to start with dinner. Chantia told her mother not to make anything for her: Joy had given her a new muffin recipe that she just had to try out!

The blueberry muffin turned out beautifully. Chantia vowed to use her toy oven the next time to bake some cookies.

After dinner, Evelyn made sure to spend some time with her other child. Mia was getting big and pretty soon, it would be time for her to join Chantia at school.

Chantia scowled when she saw her mother play with Mia. Her mother wasn’t allowed to give any attention to that snivelling baby. So Chantia decided to teach her a lesson.

Needless to say, Evelyn was decidedly not happy about it. Luckily, she managed to wash the dye out, so no permanent damage was done, but it was still the thought that counted. Chantia had to be taught some discipline.

After a good scolding session, Evelyn gave Chantia her punishment: she was in charge of doing the dishes every day for the next week.

Before long, life settled into a rhythm. Chantia still hadn’t gotten her dog and Evelyn still hadn’t managed to take her daughter to France, but life was good. Chantia was flourishing at school, Mia was growing bigger and Evelyn was satisfied with her work progress.

Of course, that wasn’t to say there weren’t any rough patches. Chantia didn’t play any pranks on her mother after that first one, but she started picking on Mia again. While it wasn’t anything major, it was enough to cause the little girl to hide away from her sister. The flowerbed in front of the house was her favourite hiding spot.

She loved it to wander outside, but unlike Chantia, she actually paid attention to tangible objects. The strange gnome that had randomly appeared one day on the lot was her favourite. Evelyn didn’t really mind the girl wandering outside, because it was summer, so she didn’t have to worry about her child freezing to death.

Life was good for the Marquel family. Evelyn wished that Gustave could’ve shared in the peaceful life with her, but she enjoyed her independence too much. Her children were a handful, but she loved every second of it. She had never been more thankful for leaving the community she had grown up in. She could just imagine how her children’s lives would’ve been different if they had to grow up under her mother’s thumb.

She smiled, content with knowing that her mother had nothing to do with her children’s lives. Her children would grow up happy.

_~…~_

Mia finally finished the toddler books, so I’m done with the toddler part of Perfect Children for this generation. Chantia is busy with the blocks and the toy oven, so so far she’s still on track. I’m waiting to see what will happen with the afterschool activity, as I’ve never been able to get the children in my other games to reach the top – between the field trips and the free days, they only went to their afterschool activities once or twice -_-.

Chapter 1.11 - Friends, Festivals and Flowers

Pretty soon, Snowflake Day arrived in Sunset Valley. The day was still bitterly cold, but at least it had stopped snowing. Evelyn wasn’t planning on doing anything special that day, just spending some time with her children. She wished Gustave could’ve been with her, but she knew he was just too busy with his work, so when the loneliness grew too profound, she wrote him a letter, telling him how much she missed him.

She spent the day at home, playing with Chantia and reading with Mia. Chantia was a bit moody when she saw Evelyn spending time with Mia, but Evelyn managed to diffuse the tension before Chantia could do anything more than glare at her sister by providing the toddler with food and making sure to play with her when she finished eating.

Evelyn’s efforts with Chantia seemed to pay off. Once again, Chantia became the same sweet girl she used to be, surprising Evelyn one day when she returned home from an errand and caught her two girls chatting happily with each other.

Luckily, it wasn’t a once-off occurrence. It turned into a routine occurrence for the two girls to chat with each other. Evelyn would never complain, but sometimes the girls’ conversations tended to leave her a bit bemused at their choice of topics.

Time passed and winter changed into spring and with it came new problems. Evelyn got another promotion at her work, becoming a Department Head, but with a salary raise came longer working hours. To top it off, Melanie McCoy, the girls’ babysitter of many years had graduated from high school and was no longer able to look after the girls. Evelyn had to find a new babysitter.

The first one that pitched up after Melanie graduated didn’t quite meet Evelyn’s standards, but luckily the second one was a bit more of a success. While he wasn’t to the same standards Melanie had been, his answers satisfied Evelyn enough to appoint him and he appeared to take good care of her children afterwards.

By the time Evelyn managed to adjust to her new position at work, it was time for her child to step into the world as an elementary school student. Since Chantia’s father was unable to attend her birthday, Evelyn decided not to throw a party, but she did buy the girl her own birthday cake.

The little girl puffed her cheeks and with help from her mother, managed to blow out the candles and officially become a child.

“You’re too big now,” Evelyn sighed. “It feels like it was only yesterday when you took your first step and now you’re already old enough to go to school,” Evelyn lamented. “I wouldn’t have minded if you stayed a toddler a bit longer, you know,” she told her daughter, causing the girl to pull a face.

“Nuh-uh!” Chantia protested. “I don’t want to be a baby anymore!” Evelyn merely chuckled at her daughter, causing the girl to scowl more when she realised her mother had only been teasing her.

“I know, sweetie,” Evelyn told the girl. “I was only teasing,” she informed the girl before putting down her fork. “But, talking being a big girl...tomorrow is Love Day, so I’ve been thinking we should go to the Spring Festival,” she suggested. “You’re a big girl now, so now we can go out more. So, do you want to go to the Festival?”

Chantia clapped her hands together at the suggestion. “Yes, please!” Chantia enthused. “I want to go!”

“Then we’ll go,” Evelyn promised the girl. Chantia smiled happily at the answer.

The first thing Chantia did to celebrate her newfound freedom as a child was to buy herself an ice-cream treat from the van circulating the neighbourhood. It was very cold and very sweet, but Chantia enjoyed it immensely.

Later that day, Evelyn’s best friend Teresa called Evelyn to arrange a play-date for their children. Joy Mendel, Teresa’s daughter, was a couple of years older than Chantia, but Evelyn still thought it would do her daughter good to know at least one person in her school, so she agreed to the play-date.

The play-date was a huge success. Chantia and Joy played tag until it was too dark outside to continue…

…where they then retreated into the house to play with the dollhouse. Evelyn and Teresa spent the entire time catching up on each other’s lives and the latest gossip.

It was long past the girls’ bedtime before Teresa finally announced they should return home. Being the proper young lady she was raised to be, Chantia thanked the woman for the visit after saying goodbye to her new friend.

After Chantia went off to bed, Evelyn took the time to express her own gratitude. “Thank you so much for today,” Evelyn thanked her best friend. “I was afraid Chantia might not be able to make any friends, but after today I feel much better about it. So, thank you.”

Teresa laughed and pulled her friend into a hug. “It was no problem at all, Evi,” the woman assured Evelyn. “We haven’t had much time to see each other lately, so it was great catching up with you.”

The next day, Chantia was up bright and early, eager to go to the Festival. Evelyn was in the shower, getting ready for the day, so Chantia decided to get some breakfast. Joy had given her a very good vanilla muffin recipe and she was very eager to test out the new toy oven her mother had given her. She was very proud when the muffin turned out nice.

By the time Evelyn was done, the weather looked a bit ominous to her, so she made sure the girls were dressed warmly before finally setting off towards the Festival. To their greatest disappointment, Evelyn’s suspicions were proven correct when they arrived at the Festival Grounds and the heavens opened up, rain pouring down on them. Evelyn tried her best to convince the girl to let them go home…

…but Chantia wanted nothing of it.

“No! You promised we’d come! I’m not going home!” Chantia protested. After numerous unsuccessful tries, Evelyn relented, but warned the girl that they wouldn’t stay long. That was enough for the girl to immediately get started with her planned activities for the day, which included searching for eggs…

…redeeming festival tickets…

…and picking wildflowers. Unfortunately, it turned out that she was mildly allergic to pollen, so the rest of the day wasn’t quite as pleasant as she’d hoped.

By the time they arrived home, Chantia was sulking over her allergies and the short time she had been allowed at the Festival. Her mother immediately sent her to the shower to get out of her wet clothes. It was only after Evelyn promised her that they’d go to the next festival – the Summer Festival – that she finally stopped sulking.

_~…~_

About that first babysitter...he remained standing outside the whole day, never taking care of the toddlers, so I had Evelyn fire him. It was only later that I realised he didn’t come inside the house because I locked all the doors to prevent Chantia from going outside. Oops.

So, Chantia is finally a child! I feel bad, but I laughed so hard when Chantia got the allergic reaction from the wildflowers. I was thinking that Evelyn probably wouldn’t allow her into the rain at all, in case she got sick, so when she actually got sick I found it rather ironic.

Chapter 1.10 - The Golden Girl

After the second time she found her child outside, staring at nothing, Evelyn tried her best to keep an outlook on the girl, but to her greatest displeasure, Chantia constantly tried to give her the slip. The moment Evelyn turned her attention away, Chantia made a beeline for the door.

Eventually Evelyn just gave up and made sure to lock the doors, unwilling to let her child roam around outside in the cold. Unfortunately, she still had to work, so she couldn’t constantly keep an eye on the wandering little girl. She warned the babysitter to lock the doors, but one time the teen forgot, allowing the little girl to slip outside while the babysitter was busy with her sister.

It was a couple of minutes after she slipped away from the babysitter when Chantia finally saw the strange moving thing she had seen in the kitchen again. She stared at it, her eyes wide with fascination. The golden figure hummed a soft song as her fingers flitted across the leaves of the plant she was caressing.

Cautiously, but curiously, Chantia approached the figure. The figure ignored her completely, continuing to hum softly. Chantia was enraptured with the beautiful melody that filled the air around the golden girl. Somehow, the song sounded almost familiar.

The song suddenly stopped. The golden figure glanced at Chantia before standing up, her colourless eyes fixed upon the little toddler girl.

“Who are you? Are you looking at me?” Her voice was soft and lyrical, again reminding Chantia of the song the figure had hummed. Her voice was silver notes and a gentle autumn breeze, folding around Chantia and disappearing into the wind and never-ending snow. Her voice was even prettier than Chantia’s mother’s.

Wordlessly, Chantia nodded, unable to tear her gaze away from the golden girl. The apparition smiled slightly before she approached the toddler, coming to a stop right in front of the girl.

“Ah! So you can see me! It’s been many, many years since I’ve been seen by the living,” the translucent girl stated and crouched down slightly. “What is your name, beautiful little girl?”

Chantia closed her mouth and dipped her head slightly, staring shyly at the figure in front of her. “Chantia,” she offered shyly, a small smile appearing on her face. The golden girl smiled brightly before she laid her hand on her chest.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Chantia. I am Charlotte. Charlotte Ainsworth,” she introduced. “It’s been a very long time since I’ve spoken to someone like you.”

“Why?” Chantia asked curiously, cocking her head slightly to the side. Charlotte looked at Chantia with a small, sad smile on her face, her colourless eyes soft and gentle.

“You’re a very special little girl, Chantia,” the translucent girl replied. “If you can see me, it means you’ve been exposed to the Song when you were at your most vulnerable,” she stated with a slight smile on her face. “But you are still too young to understand what it means. One day, when you are a bit older, you will be able to understand my explanation. On that day, I will appear in front of you again,” the long-forgotten girl promised. Chantia said nothing, merely blinking up at the golden girl in confusion.

With another sad smile, the apparition faded, drifting away into the wind and the snow. Chantia remained standing, staring into the swirling snow until the frantic babysitter found her and took her inside.

From then on, Chantia never managed to slip outside again. Both the babysitter and her mother firmly locked the doors and Chantia was forced to remain inside, where she had to remain in the company of her attention-stealing sister.

Mia looked at the book lying behind Chantia, her eyes lighting up with interest. Chantia glared at Mia and angrily jerked the book away from the younger girl.

“Mine!” Chantia declared, glaring at Mia and daring her to protest. Mia’s bottom lip trembled slightly before she burst into tears. Chantia smiled at the sight, happy with her success.

“Chantia! Be nice to your sister!” Evelyn scolded the toddler and picked her up, separating the girl from Mia. Chantia continued to glare angrily at her sister until her mother distracted her with The Claw.

Mia immediately took the chance to pull the now-forgotten book towards her, eagerly leafing through the pages.

However, it was only a temporary distraction. No matter what she did, Evelyn just couldn’t get Chantia to be nice to her adopted little sister. She always seemed to glare at or fight with her sister.

Especially when Mia wanted to look at a book. The books were Chantia’s!  

Evelyn bought more toys for the girls, hoping that Chantia would stop picking on her sister if she had enough toys to keep her busy and her attention away from Mia. Unfortunately, even that didn’t seem to work, as Chantia routinely tried to chase Mia away by hitting her with a doll.

Finally, Evelyn couldn’t take it anymore. She simply didn’t understand why her daughter had started to become so mean towards Mia. In tears, she called one of her friends, Xernand Kernar, who had two toddler girls of his own and might be able to offer her advice.

Xernand listened patiently to her while she lamented about her problems with Chantia, waiting until she finished before he offered her advice.

“Are you spending less time with her than you did previously?” Xernand asked her. Evelyn blinked in surprise and paused, trying to remember if she was spending less time with Chantia.

“It is possible,” she eventually stated, looking at the two girls playing with their different toys. Chantia had recently finished reading all of the books Evelyn had bought the little girl and was happily playing with her xylophone, while Mia was eagerly paging through the said books. Ever since Mia had aged into a toddler, Evelyn had spent quite a lot of time with Mia to teach her her essential life skills.

“It might be that Chantia thinks you’re ignoring her in favour of Mia,” Xernand suggested. “Make sure you spend as much time with Chantia as with Mia.”

Evelyn pondered his advice for a moment before agreeing that he might have a point.

From then on, she tried her best to spend more time with Chantia, even though her time was still very limited.

Since Chantia was still a very young girl with the walking skills of a toddler, it wasn’t unusual for her to fall when she tried to move faster than her little legs could carry her. Whenever that happened, Evelyn was quick to comfort the girl, wiping away her tears.

To Evelyn’s greatest relief, Mia didn’t appear to have any problems whenever Evelyn gave Chantia extra attention. She was quite happy to play on her own, often getting lost in her own thoughts.

Unfortunately, Evelyn couldn’t spend all her time on Chantia, as little Mia still had to learn some vital skills, like walking.

Still, to Evelyn’s relief, the advice Xernand had given her seemed to work. Chantia soon calmed down and eventually consented to sharing the dollhouse with Mia, instead of chasing the little girl away. She was still not entirely happy with sharing, but at least she started to allow the younger girl to play with her. Evelyn still wished the girls would get along better, but at least it was a start.

 

_~...~_

Chantia finally finished reading all of the required toddler books, so she’s finally done with the toddler part of the Perfect Children requirement. Mia has learned her three essential skills, as well as the xylophone and the peg box, so now she’s busy with the books. Because Chantia is done with her requirement, I generally leave her alone, so the only thing she does the entire day is explore the house. Or outside, which apparently she prefers, so I actually did have to lock all the doors leading to the outside to keep her inside.

About Charlotte, the ghost: in my mind/game, I play the Mummy’s Curse ghost as a ‘Death by Disease’ ghost. So Charlotte didn’t die because of ‘Mummy’s Curse’, she died due to a disease. I dislike the idea of Death by Mummy Curse immensely, as well as Death by Haunting and Death by Jelly Bean, as realism is quite important to me and those three deaths are just a little too unrealistic for me.