
Tonight, Jayson stays over at the Ramos household to catch up with his reading. He plans to remain vigilant for any incoming babies.

Unfortunately for him, he jinxed himself into actually dealing with an incoming baby right this very moment, and he hasn’t even gotten past the introduction.

While the panicking couple fumbles for the car keys to drive to the hospital at midnight, Ramona goes out of bed to have a midnight snack.
She can’t really go back to sleep after witnessing all that ruckus from the next room. In fact, she would have love to join them to look after Gaby, but their mother called a cab for them and they already left without her.

This is fine, she reassures herself with her sandwich.

(Can you spot a baby with all this blue?!?!)
Several hours later, Gaby and Jayson return home with a healthy baby boy named Rocco. (Jayson had skimmed through a baby name book he bought at the last minute)
She’s tired, and she really wants to sleep right now, but as Gaby gazes at the squirming infant, she is overwhelmed by a wave of affection and an urge to protect this child, and instinctively snuggles him closer before placing him on his crib.

Miranda also renews her motherly affection for her 7th grandchild, Neal Keaton-Ramos, who was born a few months after Rocco.

Gaby and Jayson have more time to go on dates outside again, but the heavy rain forces them to stay inside today instead. Not that they mind, as long as they still get to flirt around each other.

Gaby sighs fondly at this man. Sure, she has been getting subtle hints from her mother to set a future wedding date, but she just doesn’t find it necessary. Neither makes an attempt to push their relationship beyond what it already has.
With no qualms about raising their kid without marrying the father, and with the way that their easygoing relationship has been simply resumed after her pregnancy, she feels content with this overall set-up. Gaby just hopes that things don’t have to change from what they have right now.

With Gaby back on the job, the calls from rich teens asking for sing-o-grams have returned. Today’s rich teen is her very own niece, Rissa, who has aged up into a perpetually bored teenager.
While she may not look like it, she is actually fascinated with her musically-inclined relatives and listens attentively to her aunt’s excited chatter.

She has her own artistic capabilities as well, but leans more towards the visual arts. Gaby thinks that she might get along well with her Aunt Vinca more in that regard.

Though the presence of an actual rock star and a hit composer in the family might get the teen a bit more excited and give her something cooler to brag to her friends about.
Despite being retired for a long time now, Eva Ramos will NEVER not grab the opportunity to play for her unsuspecting fans, and they LOVE it.

On the other hand, the retired hit-movie composer spends most of her time at home shaking her head at the official soundtrack of a recent movie. She wonders if the local cinema is starting to get lenient with quality.
Rocco is still too young to understand his grandmother’s disapproval, and so he simply babbles in response to the TV.

(I was bored at one point so I left the household on their own for several sim hours, and would you look at that! A broken sink, a stressed Ramona, a lonely Miranda, and a starving Gaby, all in mere minutes.)

Having pancakes for dinner, Ramona thought she’d seen the last of her sister’s weird cravings.
After Gaby shrugs her off, she goes on to ask her real question. “What’s a good guitar for a beginner?” She has considered borrowing either her mother’s or sister’s guitars to continue practicing, but she thinks it’s too much of a hassle, especially since both women are particularly fond of their instrument.
Gaby nearly chokes on her pancakes, and slowly recovers, trying not to sound too excited at the prospect of working together with her twin. “A-are you planning to take a job at the cinema?!”
“Nope. That will definitely not happen.” After seeing Gaby explicitly express her disappointment, she rolls her eyes and makes up for it. “Fine, I might jam with you if I get better enough.”

Ramona bought this simple black and white guitar despite Gaby’s insistence for the cooler electric guitar. She just wants to practice, that’s all.

She wakes up one morning to see her mother using her guitar, which completely defeats the purpose of buying her own to stop borrowing other people’s guitars.
And on top of that, Miranda looks cooler with it too.

It’s a bit petty to get back at her elderly mother, who also tends to use her computer even with the family computer sitting upstairs, but she makes sure that this will be the last time.

Miranda gets the message quickly enough, but wishes her youngest could have just talked to her instead.

Speaking of talking, Miranda is determined to get to the bottom of it when she spots her other daughter being uncharacteristically gloomy today.
Her date with Jayson was going well, and it would have ended well too, if only he didn’t decide to indulge one of his fans with his latest trick in fire juggling.
One moment he was still there, laughing and showing off, the next he was consumed by the fire that had suddenly spread from his batons. He had died on the way to the hospital to have his injuries treated, and Gaby has not been the same since then.

It pains her to see her own child, someone who was always with a bright smile and an infectious laugh, deal with such a heavy loss herself.
Gently grabbing her limp arms, Miranda says, “He was a wonderful man, and I’m sorry that he has to go like this. We’re all here for you, Gaby.”

To get her mind off of it, she redecorates the nursery and makes it considerably less blindingly blue with Ramona’s help (though with her own room being blindingly yellow, it’s probably not too good of an idea).
Gaby cries to herself upon acknowledging that Jayson will never get to comment how weirdly out-of-place the throne chair looks.

Nor will he ever get to marvel at how cute their child has aged up into.
Rocco never likes it whenever he gets placed back in the crib; it means play time’s over, and he tries to show his mother that he isn’t as sleepy as she thinks. But she just smiles and kisses him on the forehead instead.

He looks so much like his father, and it still hurts to see that.

Rocco is a joy around the house, and takes simple pleasure in surprising his aunt and grandmother with his little antics.

Aunt Ramona finds him hiding behind the karaoke machine, and is starting to wonder if he takes after his mother’s interest in singing.

Nah, he just wants a hug.

When she’s not singing out her sorrows on the karaoke or singing outside to an unwitting passerby, Gaby does her best to spend time and play with her son, never keeping him out of her sight.

Losing Jayson gave her a new fear: losing Rocco. She can’t bear the thought of that ever happening, and tries hard to make sure that nothing goes wrong again.
As the months pass by, she hopes that she’ll be in a better place when it’s time to explain his father’s death to her son. Rocco’s excited squeals remind her that that time isn’t now, and forces her out of her thoughts.

This new wound, though starting to heal, had reopened an old one. When this loss reminds her of the time they have lost her father not too long ago, Gaby seeks comfort among the garden that he used to tend for.
Today, Ramona finds company among the plants, but doesn’t question it, and lets a comfortable silence hang instead.

With Gaby’s insistence that the high chair stays beside the stove, so that she could look after Rocco properly while she cooks, Ramona takes it upon herself to upgrade the appliance to ensure her nephew’s safety.

Several seconds later, everyone finds out that the fire alarm works just fine!

Ramona REALLY hopes that this incident is enough to convince her sister to revoke her faulty decision to have her child near dangerous kitchen appliances.

Letitia Rains arrives just in time to see that these people aren’t incompetent enough to just panic and let the fire spread this time.

She didn’t know that this is Miranda Ramos’ house though, and is OVER THE MOON when she does find out. This is the best work day ever!

Though she would have preferred to take a selfie with the aging composer instead, she politely listens to the older woman boast about her only grandchild who has inherited her blond hair genetics.

Before Ramona could check on her sister and niece, heck, before she could even say anything, Gaby rushes towards her with the tightest hug she could possibly give. She is half-crying, half-laughing, and half-mumbling apologies and thanks into her twin’s shoulder.
“Thank you,” she says once more after lifting her head off her shoulder. “I would never forgive myself if I lost him too.”
Ramona gives her a reassuring squeeze. “No way in hell you’re gonna lose someone else again.”
Author’s note: 3rd gen is finally born! Rocco has easily impressed and heavy sleeper. I’m really surprised about his brown hair??? Is this one of those mutant hair color incidents???
The fire incident shocked me, but in a good way. I was having second thoughts about the high chair staying next to the oven, but thankfully Ramona somehow triggers a fire AFTER making it fireproof to prove my worst fear? It was really funny. I didn’t give them any time to panic at all, because I don’t want anything to burn after I spent all that time renovating the place.