Chapter 3: Morty's Tactic

A quick trip to the doctor confirms her suspicions... She is pregnant, and she is terrified.

She hasn't heard a word from Morty since their last date, and she knows deep down that he isn't going to leave his wife for her.

Surprisingly, she is more upset that Phillip hasn't called. She misses him, and she desperately wants to talk to him about what is going on. He always seems so steady, and she could really use some stability right now.

Depressed and alone, Dakota decides to bite back her pride and give him a call. She says she needs to talk to him, but she doesn't give him any specifics. He agrees to come over that afternoon.

She has barely begun to show, but Phillip knows right away.

"Phil, I'm pregnant," she says before he can ask any questions. "It's Morty Roth's child. It has to be. I haven't seen anyone else since him."

Phillip stands quietly in front of her, looking sad and tired.

"How long have you known?" he asks quietly.

"Only a few weeks. Phil, I can't do this." She looks at him with pleading eyes. "Help me. Please. There is no way I am ready to be a single mother."

Phillip sighs and gazes back at her. "Alright Dakota," he says softly, with the same resolve in his eyes that she witnessed the first night they met. "I'll help you. You have my word."

Relieved, Dakota's words start flooding out. "Phillip, you have no idea how clueless I am. I don't know how to take care of a baby! One time I tried to care of an egg, for one of those parenting classes in high school," she rambles. "And I broke it. An egg, Phil." Her face pinches together, and tears begin to pour out of her eyes. "I don't want to break my baby!" she wails.

"You're not going to break your baby," he soothes. "It's alright, Dakota. I'll move in with you, temporarily. To help with the baby."

She freezes. "You will?" she asks, her lips trembling. "But... But, I've been so mean to you lately, and what about your farm?" she looks up at him with weepy eyes.

"You're more important to me than my farm," he says matter-of-factly.

"Oh, Phil!" She grabs him and pulls him close, hugging him tight. "Thank you," she says.

Phillip's heart begins racing. He loves the touch of her skin against his. She is so close he can smell the faint aroma of lilac coming from her hair. She leans into him, her chin resting on his shoulder, her face next to his.

"You know something Phil?" she whispers, her warm breath tickling his ear.

Phillip inhales sharply. This is it. He thinks to himself. This is the moment that she tells me she loves me too.

"Y-yes, Dakota?" he chokes out.

"You are the best friend I've ever had," she squeezes him tight, and then let's go.

Friend. The word hangs in the air like a metal balloon. It can't be popped, and it doesn't want to float. Phillip feels the air whoosh out of his chest. He can't speak for disappointment, so he forces himself to fake a smile.

He moves in the very next day, leaving behind his only source of income, his farm. With the extra money Phillip brings to the household, they are able to expand the upstairs to add two more bedrooms: One for Phil and one for the baby.

"How are you feeling Dakota?" Phillip asks cheerfully one morning.

"Huge," Dakota grumbles.

"And how's our little munchkin doing?" he asks, happily patting Dakota's quickly growing belly.

"You're far too sunny this morning," she tells him. But she can't stay mad at him long when he looks at her with that great big goofy smile on his face. She laughs in spite of herself.

"I am going to head down to the park to get some inspiration," she announces after breakfast. "I can't get any ideas for my next painting," she lies. She called Morty last night and asked him to meet her at the park at noon. She doesn't want Phillip to know who she's going to see.

"Alright. Catch you later?" He smiles at her warmly.

"Sure, Phil," she says as she walks out the door.

"Why am I here, Dakota?" he asks. He doesn't even bother to say hello.

"It's about the baby Morty," she replies defensively.

"Yeah?" he says with an edge in his voice. "What about it?"

"Look, Morty. We haven't talked once since the night this happened," she says motioning to her stomach. "I need to know what is going on with you, where you stand on all of this," she explains calmly.

"Where I stand on all of this?" Morty exclaims. "You want to know where I stand?" he asks, the anger slowly rising in his voice.

"Well. Yes," Dakota responds, confused.

"You seduced me," he shouts. "You made me cheat with you. Then you wind up pregnant with our child, and you spread it all over the tabloids."

"Morty!" Dakota cries out, shocked at his accusations.

"So, naturally my wife finds out about it," he continues furiously. "How do you think that makes me look, Dakota?" he yells.

"Morty, it wasn't like that..."

"You are an embarrassment. You are the biggest mistake I ever made," he snarls. "Get out of my life. I never want to see you, or it, again."

And with that, he leaves. Dakota stands there alone for a second, dumbfounded. Then finding her voice, she murmurs to her baby, "I want you. What do we need him for? We've got Phil to take care of us." She smiles at the thought.

To cheer herself up, Dakota decides to take Phil to the salon for a much needed makeover.

"Just don't put me in high heels," he begs as she ponders what look to give him.

"No. No, I've got something better in mind," she replies, teasing him with a wink.

"Very nice, Phil," she tells him. "You clean up well."

"Thanks for choosing the pink shirt. I really love it."

"Well, I know how you adore pink," she giggles.

"Hey! There is nothing wrong with the color pink. It's totally uni-sex," he replies.

"And it looks excellent on you," she says seriously.

As they are about to leave, Dakota goes into labor.

Like any first time parent, Phillip completely freaks out. When Dakota politely reminds him that he needs to take her to the hospital, he finally snaps out of it and calls a cab.

Surprisingly, Morty shows up to the hospital in time to see his daughter born. Unfortunately, he was thoroughly drunk and couldn't put together a coherent sentence. Hospital security ends up forcibly ejecting him due to his unruly behavior, and he leaves before even getting to hold his newborn daughter.

Dakota names her Lily.

Over the next few months, Dakota wraps herself up in her art. She sleeps, she eats, and she paints.

Phillip takes over the responsibility of caring for the newborn. He adores Lily. He has always loved children, but he finds himself growing especially attached to Dakota's daughter. Besides, he thinks she looks just like her mother.

In no time, it's Lily's first birthday. Phillip convinces Dakota to throw the baby a big birthday party. It's nothing fancy, but a lot of the neighbors show up to wish Lily well.

Lily becomes a toddler! She has her mother's hair and eye color.

" The monster is coming to eat your face!" exclaims the batty old lady (Betty Goldstein) to a terrified Lily.

"Waaaahhhhhhhh!"

"Lily, she was kidding," Dakota tries to explain.

After the party, Dakota returns to her art. This is her favorite piece so far. She calls it "Morty's Tactic". She decides to this one for herself.

Challenge Notes:

I named Dakota's daughter "Lily" for two reasons. 1) It happens to be the name of the main character in one of my favorite novels, The Secret Life of Bees. 2) The lily flower symbolizes innocence, purity, and beauty. I thought it would be virtues that Dakota would want in her daughter. I love naming, so I will probably blog a bit about why I chose this name or that name. :)

So funny thing happened when Lily was born. Dakota and Phillip were at the salon, just like in the story. She goes into labor, and I direct Phillip to take her to the hospital. I figured it would make a good photo op to have the two of them pull up together and have him drop her off. But no! Phillip goes into the hospital with Dakota, with the icon thing saying "Be with Mother". He comes out with her, and they both head back to the house, just as if he was the father. Furthermore, he gets the "Gurgling Baby Girl" moodlet, as if he was Lily's father too!

If that is completely normal, then I apologize for my excitement. But I don't remember ever having anyone besides the father go through that whole thing. It was funny, because Morty showed up as well. It was like some odd, twisted love triangle. Which, I guess it is... Lol.

Also, I actually invited Morty to come to the party. He and Dakota are technically still friends (actually, they are technically still romantic interests, but I don't know how much longer that is going to last), so he showed up. I invited like 6 other guests besides him, and they all come into the house, and start eating my food, sitting on my furniture, using my toilet... The usual. Except Morty refused to come inside. He is not enemies with Phil or anything, so I thought it was odd. Then he just up and leaves the lot.

Lol, I find autonomous Sim behavior fascinating, so I'm sorry if I am boring you. But isn't it funny though how they always do something you don't expect? Like actually behaving helpfully?

Anyway, here is my generation 2 roll.

Generation 2 Information:

Name- Lily West
Marital Status- Couple
Number of Children- 1
Heir- First Born
Primary Income- Stylist
Secondary Income- Day Care
Generation Goal- Fulfilled
Miscellaneous Fun- Partier