Chapter 1.16 - Gifts

Life settled back into a routine after their vacation. Chantia remained true to her word and stopped pulling pranks on her mother. The relationship between Chantia and Mia had also increased slightly; not much, but enough that the girls worked on their homework together whenever they were both at home for an afternoon.

Unfortunately for Mia though, Chantia’s promise to her mother didn’t include the younger girl. While it didn’t happen often, Chantia liked to prank her sister every now and then. In general though, Mia didn’t mind and Evelyn knew it was just harmless fun, so she let it slide. Nothing ever seemed to faze the quieter child of the two.

It soon became apparent that Mia loved books just as much as she had as a toddler. The younger girl was very inquisitive and most of the time she could be found reading up on advanced logic and obscure philosophical theories.

The turning point in the two girls’ relationship came one day when Chantia exited the school after her Scouting Club activities and saw five girls picking on Mia, Mia’s book lying on the ground. Mia didn’t say anything to the girls surrounding her, but Chantia could see the hidden sadness on her face as the girl stared at the book that had clearly been thrown on the ground. The girls surrounding Mia were all either laughing or mocking the younger girl.

“- going to say anything, huh? Too bad your precious books won’t be able to get you out of this situation,” the leader of the bullies, Debbie Childs, mocked Mia. Chantia scowled heavily when she heard that statement and saw the expression on Mia’s face. While she didn’t like her sister, nobody was allowed to hurt her! The only one allowed to mock Mia was her!

She ran towards them, eager to give them a piece of her mind.

“Back off, you harpies!” Chantia ordered vehemently as she threw herself in front of her sister. The girls immediately closed ranks as they assessed the new threat that had appeared.

Debbie cocked her head and planted her hand on her hip, giving Chantia an arrogant stare.

“Or what? What are you going to do, huh? I bet you’re just as useless as she is,” the bully stated. Chantia scowled heavily before she lashed out. She was a couple of years older than the brats in front of her and there was no way she was going to let them get away with their words.

She lashed out at them, calling them every name in the book and insinuating that they were both too ugly and too stupid to let live. Every retort from them she countered with additional insults and threats until the girls finally decided they had had enough.

“If I ever hear about any of you picking on her again, you will regret it so much you’ll wish you were never born!” Chantia snarled at them, causing every single girl to scowl at her. “Now bugger off!”

After another couple of insults, Debbie tossed her hair over her shoulder and walked away, apparently tired of the confrontation. The rest of her pack stalked off with her, leaving the two sisters alone.

Chantia scowled after them for a second before turning around and facing Mia. She picked up the book lying on the ground and offered it to her sister. Mia stared at her with a shocked expression for a couple of seconds before hesitantly taking the book from Chantia.

Her voice, when she finally spoke, was very soft and hesitant.

“Why?”

Chantia gave her an are-you-stupid look and a nonchalant shrug. “Because you’re my sister, dummy,” she declared. “I’m the only one allowed to hurt you.”

Mia looked down at the ground again, but a rare smile appeared on the girl’s face. The girls didn’t say anything else, but that was okay. They understood each other. As they walked home, both of them knew that something in their relationship had changed.

It wasn’t long after that event that they became best friends. Of course, neither of them was willing to admit that they saw the other as a friend, but it was obvious to anyone who saw them together. There were still a couple of rough patches, but unlike before, the girls actually started to enjoy spending time together.

Evelyn was beyond happy with the development. To celebrate the achievement, she bought the girls both a gift of their choice. Mia was obsessed with all things science, so she got a set of vials and chemical solutions. At first, Evelyn was a bit hesitant to buy such a dangerous object for the child, but Mia’s calm attitude and her knowledge of standard lab safety practices eventually persuaded Evelyn to buy the set. Needless to say, Mia took to it like a fish to water.

Chantia on the other hand, finally got her dog. They were limited on space, so Evelyn placed some limitations on the size dog Chantia could get, but Chantia was happy with the conditions. After visiting a couple of breeders and shelters, Chantia finally made her decision and Luna joined the household.

Little Luna was still a puppy and very clumsy, routinely tripping over her own feet, but Chantia loved the puppy to bits.

Of course, the gifts Evelyn bought the girls brought their own problems. Although Mia had perfect knowledge of lab safety and none of the chemicals were too dangerous, Evelyn still had a minor heart attack the first time Mia’s experiment blew up in her face.

With Chantia, it wasn’t long before Evelyn found the puppy chewing on the furniture. Chantia believed that Luna couldn’t do anything wrong, so it fell on Evelyn to scold the puppy.

Still, despite the problems the gifts caused, Evelyn could honestly say she didn’t mind. The girls grew closer every day, apparently having settled on fighting their disagreements out with pillows or water balloons.

Soon, the end of summer arrived. Evelyn suggested going to the park to visit the summer fair, but both of the girls were more than content to stay at home. Evelyn made sure to spend time with each of her children, playing chess with Mia while discussing obscure topics that Evelyn didn’t really understand and helping Chantia get rid of her excess energy when the girl challenged her to a pillow war.

By the time the sun set and dark settled over Sunset Valley, Evelyn allowed her rigorous rules to relax slightly and decided that it would be alright to have cake for dinner. They talked about everything and nothing, including the subject of table manners of performers. They concluded that said performers should go back to school to study some.

The rest of the conversation was dominated by giggles and laughter, bringing a smile to Evelyn’s face.  For the first time in a long time, the Marquel house was filled with laughter again.

_~…~_

I originally wanted the conflict between Chantia and Mia to go on for longer, but they both conspired against me. -_- They had a relatively bad relationship (not terrible, but bad enough that they disliked the other), but whenever I took my eyes off them they would do their homework together, chat or play tag, which meant their relationship would improve drastically. So I gave up making them hate each other and allowed them to reconcile. :P

About the summer fair: I kinda forgot that Evi promised Chantia that they'd attend the next fair, so when the summer fair arrived I just ignored it. None of my sims rolled the wish to attend in any case, so I think I can get away with it >_<.

I never mentioned the girls’ traits, now that I think about it. Chantia is Brave, Friendly and Virtuoso while Mia is Brave, Genius and Bookworm.