Tag Archives: pregnancy

Chapter 19: This is fine

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.

Chapter 18: Same priorities

Miranda has been itching to go on a trip with the family lately, oblivious to the fact that Lukas has been planning to set one up himself ever since his father died.

But she knows they’re all busy, and it’ll be difficult to set a date where everyone is free at the same time, so she settles with visiting them for now.

Between the time she spent in hanging out with her family and for herself, Ramona spends most of her alone time either gardening or painting.

Neither produce nor painting is sold off at all, and she prefers giving them away as gifts instead of making money out of it. That gained her quite a notoriety in town, but it’s also giving her unwanted attention in the form of admirers. Ramona would prefer to live her life quietly.

Tonight is movie night at the Ramos-Velasco household.

Miranda has always thought that their house is so lovely, and her daughter-in-law is touched to hear that compliment. Tammi spends a lot of time sprucing the house whenever she knows that her in-laws are visiting.

(Her mother-in-law has also noticed the abrupt career change of both women; Vinca has always been dedicated to her craft in the arts, but has apparently switched to the scientific pursuit at some point, and Tammi looks decidedly less stressed working as a stagehand than as a policewoman.)

Brentley has followed his ma’s choice in the scientific field (he calls Vinca “Ma” and Tammi “Mom”, to keep it distinct), and is really dedicated in making the most out of his gardening skills. He tries to invite his aunt to their facility, but she shrugs it off and changes the subject.

“Wow, did you mess with the facility’s growth experiments, or did you just naturally grow taller than me?” Ramona is not pleased to see that her “young” nephew has outgrown her, even though they are technically the same age.

Brentley huffs proudly. “You’re just naturally shorter, Auntie. Not even an artificial growth spurt can enhance it.”

While aunt and nephew bicker in the background, the adults’ movie night stops when the TV unceremoniously breaks on them.

Vinca shoots a knowing look at her wife, as if the latter had something to do with it (which she may have, with all her attempts to tinker every appliance in the house). Miranda is just disappointed she won’t get to see the movie’s ending.

Ramona is arguably more competent in handling this compared to her sister-in-law despite her skill level, so Tammi and Brentley goes to sleep early while Miranda badgers her second eldest with her growing collection of toddler pictures.

Vinca just smiles as the elderly woman continues to talk about their family; it’s a relief to see her mother doing well these days.

One night, Gaby visits her twin in the studio, which already strikes Ramona as odd, since she only does that when something’s wrong. But she waits for her to speak up first and pretends to continue painting.

“I think I’m pregnant,” Gaby tells her after a pause.

Ramona pauses as well, unsure how to take this information. She’s aware of her sister’s lover, whose existence is someone she simply acknowledges. Looking at her twin, she decides that Gaby is better equipped to judge the father of her child, whoever he may be.

She also decides that kids are cool, and won’t mind having a nephew or niece close by. Ramona breaks the tension by gently placing a hand over Gaby’s stomach, even though there’s barely any bump to feel yet.

“What are you gonna name them?” She gives her stomach a long hard stare. It’s bit surreal to imagine Gaby as a mother already.

Gaby finds herself smiling in spite of the heavy feeling she’s carrying, but she starts to relax as soon as she sees her twin making silly faces at her stomach. “I haven’t really thought about it yet.”

Now that she broke the news to her sister, Gaby wonders if the outcome will be as accepting as with her mother, who cheerfully greets her good morning.

Luckily for her, Miranda is just excited at the prospect of having more grandchildren.

Later that day, they go out to attend the Spring Festival together.

Gaby had already called Jayson to meet her here, but she isn’t too worried compared to when she was trying to break the news to her mother and sister. That was different, she reasons to herself. She couldn’t bear the thought of being seen or treated differently by her own family.

Jayson arrives almost immediately, and surprises his lover with a kiss and a hug. Gaby has to fight through a smile to try and tell him the news as seriously as she can, but fails.

“What should we name them?” Jayson looks expectantly from her belly to her face then back to her belly again. She thinks it’s adorable that both her lover and sister have the same priority in mind.

To say that Jayson is nervous to meet Gaby’s mother is understatement, because he can definitely feel his hands sweating more than usual. The poor guy is almost always nervous; it’s a wonder he stayed working as an acrobat.

He gets invited into the house to have pizza for dinner. Pizza is definitely something he is less nervous about.

Gaby insists on cooking her own meal though, and won’t be convinced to stop.

Ramona raises an eyebrow at her sister, and at the huge serving that she’s preparing. “You know you don’t have to cook tonight,” she reminds her.

Gaby shushes her. “I want autumn salad right now.”

“Okie-dokie.” She reaches over to grab a slice of pizza and joins in her mother as she talks with Jayson. Looks like the cravings start early.

Ever since that night, Jayson has been visiting the house more frequently. He’s starting to become fond of his lover’s family, who are patiently waiting for the couple to officially tie the knot.

Ramona still gets calls from insistent admirers who keep asking her out for dates, and is really starting to consider changing her phone number.

Gaby becomes considerably moodier during her pregnancy. She pouts as she tries to wait for her mother to finish her call so that they can have breakfast together.

Jayson is attentive to her needs, and listens to her patiently as she voices out her concerns about her job after she gives birth.

“I haven’t even landed a steady gig yet,” Gaby frets. “And it’s been so long…”

“It’ll be okay Gab, you can take the time to settle back into it again once your body recovers,” he reassures her.

Her room has considerably changed a lot since the last time Jayson was here.

For starters, it’s smaller now, and there’s a ridiculously blue nursery. Her bed has replaced the spot where her DJ booth used to sit (which she has placed in storage somewhere).

Gaby is extremely grateful for the massages; pregnancy has given her more back pains in addition to the ones she already have from running around for work.

The family goes out to have barbecue on the beach, which is a decision made partially on Gaby’s behalf, since she’s craving for hot dogs this time. (Jayson isn’t here because he’s been asked to perform in front of the kids at school)

In the end, Gaby decides to grill tofu hot dogs on Ramona’s behalf. Her twin has adopted vegetarianism ever since graduation, and she wholeheartedly supports her twin’s new lifestyle.

Behind them, their mother bumps into Rissa’s grandmother, Justine Keaton, and they launch into small talk.

Justine has lost Marty just this morning, and is greatly devastated, having made plans to go to the beach together.

Listening to her experience the same pain that she has suffered from after losing Stanley, Miranda tries her best to offer reassurance.

The twins overheard their conversation, and both become silent as they eat their tofu hot dogs.

Gaby is determined to not finish eating these dogs on a sour note, and starts to talk excitedly about being able to hold her kid’s hand in the future.

Ramona stares at her as she continues to chew. “That’s oddly specific.”

“But it’s a cute idea,” Gaby protests, then continues to gush about her plans concerning her and Jayson’s future.

Gaby had too much tofu hot dogs and she wants to sleep it off in one of these lounging chairs. She hopes Ramona won’t prank her and pretend to leave her behind if she does end up asleep.

Meanwhile, Miranda and Justine have an intense battle of chess as the sun sets behind them.

Ramona wants to learn how to fish to gain more resources for fertilizer, despite her aversion to consuming animals.

A nearby rental shop in the beach allows her to borrow one of their fishing poles for free, seeing that she is one of Miranda Ramos’ kids, and by extension, one of Eva Ramos’ nieces.

She was deep in thought before she realizes that someone is calling out her name.

Ramona squints at the approaching figure and doesn’t attempt to wave back. However, now that she can see their face more clearly, she is embarrassed to see that the pretty girl was Karina Street, one of her old classmates whom she had a huge crush on.

Maybe she still does? She’s not too sure, as she quickly places her clothes and fishing pole aside when Karina asks her to swim with her.

(From a distance, Gaby sees all of this happening, and can’t wait to tease her about it later)

Author’s note: Here’s a chapter that I’ve written mainly so that I can proceed to the next one! Hopefully by the next time I update the 3rd gen heir will be born. (Gaby only needs to have 1 kid, which is a bit of a change from the 1st gen’s rolls)

And since the roll is single parent with help, I don’t think Jayson will stay with the family for too long. I’m still not sure how his exit will make sense in the story, but we’ll see.