Rocco’s favorite color is actually green, and so the ridiculously blue nursery gets renovated into a decently green bedroom.

(This is actually a screenshot from the future, where Rocco has already went to a school trip and the summer festival, hence, the bento souvenir on the bedside table, but shhh)

The other side of the room features new toys from aunts and an uncle, and a bookshelf that contains all of Rocco’s bedtime stories.

Bedtime stories become a routine after Gaby started doing it on his birthday. Rocco values routines and sticking to it, just as much as his mother values the time they spend together.

Today, they’re reading The Name of This Book is Secret, a book that they only bought just because it sounds so tempting to know its actual title. (They’re almost nearing the last pages and they STILL don’t know what the secret is)

To Gaby, it felt like it was only yesterday that he was born, brought into the house as a sleepy infant. Rocco is growing up so fast, she wonders how long will it be before his graduation surprises her.

Now here he is, making his own food on his toy oven right next to her.

This, too, becomes a part of his daily routine. Rocco doesn’t even bake these for him to actually eat (he’ll just leave it in the fridge for everyone in the house), he just wants to make sure he gets to bake something at least once everyday.

Miranda indulges her grandson in letting him do these baking sprees every morning if he allows her to pinch those cute cheeks. She’s so proud that he always cleans up the mess afterwards.

He doesn’t think it’s a fair trade though.

It’s been a while since Gaby visited this park after her first live show. After going through several live shows and experiencing several mishaps every now and then, the memory of her first time doesn’t seem so embarrassing anymore.

Today, she’s on a mission to give Nicole an “indiscreet” romantic invitation from a fellow proprietor across town.

“You don’t have to audition again, you know,” Nicole laughs while taking the bouquet. “You can just ask me! Una the Great Ballad is free to perform here again anytime.”

Gaby is amused with the idea of playing cupid to the two proprietors, whose way of courting is sweet, albeit silly. Ronald Sikes of Mick’s Karaoke Bar is more amused to see that his lover has responded positively to his gifts.

It’s one thing to play cupid between lovesick teens, but these two are basically her tickets to more job opportunities, so she takes these sing-o-grams with more enthusiasm than she could possibly express.

All this romance happening around Gaby makes her wonder what could have happened if Jayson is still here. Marriage would have been probably the most reasonable thing to do, but she does not regret not taking the chance, nor does she think it would change anything.

At the back of her mind though, she wonders if Rocco is yearning for a father figure.

Rocco finishes his baking sprees earlier today and offers to help his aunt with the gardening, but Ramona insists that he plays instead.

There are a lot of bugs and questionable content in the fertilizer she uses, and she’d rather not deal with Gaby discovering mysterious bites or rashes on her son.

And knowing her nephew’s anxious nature, it’s probably the best to not expose him to the notion of it in the first place.

She’s also aware of Rocco’s increasingly neurotic nature, and gently tries to appease the child’s concerns to let him know it’s okay to play or watch TV instead of doing the dishes for every meal.

Rocco chokes in response, and proceeds to stare at his aunt as if her hair turned into something normal-looking, like black or blonde.

The compulsion to make sure that every plate and utensil is washed clean by his own hands remains strong as ever. Miranda and Gaby aren’t really bothered by it, and sees it as the child having initiative.

“He can wash as many dishes as he wants,” Gaby says when her twin pulls her aside to talk about it. “It’s okay to have a little bit of weirdness every now and then. Remember how you were also weird?”

“I haven’t exactly outgrown the weirdness,” Ramona reminds her, a bit hurt. She also remembers the time when people was treating her differently. It still stings. “Maybe he won’t too, but maybe it’ll be different for him as well.”

Luckily for Rocco and Ramona, family is a special type of friend. The weird compulsions and oftentimes unpredictable behavior are tolerated at best, and Gaby is startled to hear her twin bring out the issue. No one has ever really talked about it, and a guilty pang is felt as she imagines how alone and hurt Ramona must have been since these years.

“We’ll figure it out better this time,” she responds softly, as if apologizing.

Rocco’s aware that his mother grew up with a lot of siblings, but though he is an only child himself, the presence of his many cousins helped make the house feel a bit less empty. Out of his six cousins, he forms a close bond with Araceli Su and Brooks Keaton.

Brooks lets them know that his older sister cleans and scrubs the old gravestones at the cemetery to get paid, and he thinks that THEY should do that too. “Think of the stuff we could buy with that extra allowance!” he insists.

Araceli think it’s a horrible idea, and would rather stick with what her mother already gave her. Rocco just recoils at the thought of touching icky and grimy old gravestones.

Pillow fighting to get rid of that post-homework stress.

Rocco discovers that he’s not the only one with strange issues when Brooks lets him know his discomfort about seeing the TV on.

“We can play outside instead if it makes you feel better,” Rocco offers kindly, which his cousin really appreciates. He’s used to not being taken seriously that this surprises him.

Meanwhile, Araceli sneaks inside the art studio to find her artistic aunt on the verge of dropping to sleep.

(Levar Vasquez, head chef of the bistro and fellow fishersim at the beach, commissioned her to make 15 paintings after learning about her noteworthy skill, and poor Ramona hasn’t rested properly in a while)

Ramona gets her rest back soon enough, when she finishes all 15 paintings just in time for Levar’s retirement party. She was even invited to witness the grand reveal to the public, and receives Levar’s hearty thanks over and over. He is pleased to see the bistro decorated with lovely paintings of fishes just before he leaves the establishment.

It’s strange to have her skills acknowledged by the people like this, and even making new friends along the way, but it’s not an unwelcome feeling.

Gaby wants to become more active so that she can run better and faster in heels, and so she joins her mother at the gym for a quick run together.

Gaby’s 2nd time on the treadmill is a fail.

“I’m okay,” she grunts as she ignores her mother’s giggling. Luckily for her, they’re the only ones using the gym this morning.

Across the gym, her twin is having a better time playing soccer with Rocco.

Araceli, Rocco, and Brooks spend their recess running over to the park to play soccer together, barely getting back to their classes right on time before the school bell rings.

He’s definitely getting better at it — and smug about it too.

Eva’s next random visit to the family turns out to be her last.

The sisters were supposed to go out to the karaoke bar together while Gaby, Ramona, and Rocco were at Lukas’ house.

She recalls the memory of Stanley dying in this very room, and sobs even harder. Eva seems to be so immortal, so full of life, Miranda almost forgot that her sister is much older than her or Stanley. It doesn’t make the loss any less painful though.

The loss plunges the family back into grieving again.

All these recent events confused and overwhelmed Rocco, and he’s not sure how he feels about the whole thing. He isn’t close with his rock star of a grand-aunt, who spent the remainder of her life traveling by herself again, but the loss still disturbs him, and he wants to push the discomfort away as far as he can.

By the time Gaby gets home, she finds her son on her bed, as if waiting for answers.

Instead of facing questions about mortality and the afterlife, Rocco surprises her with a different query in mind.

“Gerald was telling me that celebrities are always fighting with their partners and their marriage never last,” he starts. Then a pause. “Is that why I don’t have a dad? Because you didn’t get along and he has to leave?”

Gaby frowns, mostly at herself for not explaining his father’s death any sooner, and at the teen who’s giving her son weird ideas. “No, it’s not like that, hun. Your dad isn’t here because he died from a fire accident,” she says softly. “He was a dedicated acrobat, but a little clumsy at times,” Gaby smiles sadly at the thought.

Rocco’s eyes widened in surprise with this information. Then he looks at her more seriously. “Why didn’t you talk about him before? Why doesn’t anybody talk about it?”

“I think his loss still affects me,” his mother admits. “Dying from accidents feels…different from dying naturally. It would have been better if he’s here to see you grow up,” she adds wistfully. “Do you want to see pictures of him? I can tell you more stories about Jayson.”

Rocco nods in response. He can’t wait to let Gerald know how wrong he was about him being left behind by his own father.

Her sister’s passing made Miranda more aware of her own mortality, and she dedicates this newfound energy to write an autobiography about two of the most important people in her life. She doesn’t want to forget them, ever.

The draft is entitled Stanley’s Garden. It’s a simple story, but she takes her time in writing it.

In an effort to lighten the mood, Rocco surprises his mom and aunt by being the one dragging them to the park this time. To his delight, his efforts are appreciated.

As a reward for his thoughtful initiative, Aunt Ramona offers to buy them food. Rocco is having a hard time choosing between the funnel cake and the chili cheese fries.

Their stay in the park becomes longer because of an all-out water balloon war.

Betrayed by her own son and sister! Too bad Miranda isn’t here to avenge her.

Ramona pilfers from these apple trees while mother and son bond together on the skating rink.

All seems to be forgiven over Rocco’s ‘betrayal’, since we see the pair trying to pull off a spin together. Rocco is impressed to know that his mother actually knows how to roller skate, and completely puts his trust on her skills as she leads!

Gaby’s “sorry” is muffled by the floor this time.

(From a distance, Ramona’s laughter can be heard nonstop.)

(Author’s note: Just a lot of things happening! So many pictures! So many text! I want to flesh out my sims’ narratives more but I’m not sure if this is a good way of doing it? Please let me know!)