The Price Legacy - Generation One - Chapter Fifteen (Part Three)

[pastryqueen]

Part One

Part Two




The front door was locked. Thankfully Marci never asked for his key back.



Inside, it was eerily quiet. Louis must’ve been at school. Someone was home, though. The smell of fresh brewed coffee still lingered in the house, as well as the faint scent of freshly cooked bacon and eggs.



He walked towards the bedroom and slowly opened the door.



Marci was fast asleep, with Joshua.

He backed up and quietly closed the door.



What was he thinking?



Marci didn’t need him.



It was just as well. No one needed Don Lothario. He was good for a laugh, for a quick roll in the sheets, for a story to tell at the parties…but that was it.



He used to prefer this, keeping others at an arm’s length, especially lovers. All of his conquests were fun, but it was easier staying unattached, unattainable, unknowable. Was his behavior cruel? Sure, but the way he saw it, why commit when you weren’t capable of it? Relationships were never easy for him, and this wasn’t just exclusive towards romantic relationships. Despite his active social life, he felt incapable of establishing genuine connections with other people, incapable of letting his guard down, incapable of trusting them or his own feelings regarding them.

All his life, he never experienced true unconditional love, with no strings attached. As far as he was concerned, it didn’t exist.

Marci Price was the exception, the first person to prove him wrong...and he still burned her.

Besides, his presence would be nothing more than a nuisance. What did he have to offer a child? He had no job, no money, no prospects, no friends or family...they were probably better off without him.



Maybe if he pleaded his case, his parents would give him another chance. Let him come home. He might go to medical school like they wanted if it meant he’d inherit the estate and never have to worry about a thing for the rest of his life. After a while, Oasis Springs might be a distant dream in his mind, the details of which he barely remembered…

He doubted that, though.



He was going to leave until he heard one of the twins crying downstairs…







He didn’t know what to do, to soothe Lea…



Then Holden joined her.

Don: “Ah shit. No, no, no. You stop that.”



He tried shushing them, only to realize it was a dumb idea. Babies weren’t dogs!



Upstairs, Joshua was stirred out of his nap when he heard the babies cry on the monitor. He turned it off so Marci can sleep.



He went down into the basement, only to discover the lights were already on. He overheard another man’s voice speaking to the babies. Who got into the house? He rushed to the nursery, his heart racing.



Joshua: “Don! Shit, it’s just you. What…how did you…”

Don: “Marci gave me a key, awhile ago.”



Joshua: “Of course she did. What are you doing here, though?”

Don: “I uh...came to talk to her, but you guys were sleeping. Then I was going to leave, but the babies…one of them cried, and I couldn’t calm her down so Holden started screaming, and—”



Joshua: “Let me guess: you have zero experience with children. Not even siblings?”

Don: “Heh…is it that obvious?”

Joshua: “You look terrified. I felt the same way when Louis was born. I didn’t know what I was doing, either.”



Joshua: “Twins tend to synchronize like this, which is ideal. We need to keep their feeding time as close as possible.”



Joshua: “You can pick her up. She won’t bite.”

It was the first time he ever picked up a baby. Lea was heavier in his arms than he expected - and wiggly. He knew to support her head, but aside from that, he was afraid to move, especially when she kicked with her feet.

Don: “She’s so small…”

Joshua: “Don’t let that look fool you. Lea is a feisty one. Be careful letting her hands anywhere near your beard. She likes to pull on hair.”



Don: “Uh, wait, where are you going?”

Joshua: “It’s about time for them to get a bottle. Keep them company for a few minutes.”

Don: “You sure that’s a good idea? What if they freak out again? I barely know what I’m doing here.”

Joshua: “If Louis can keep watch over the babies for a few minutes without an issue, they’ll be fine with you. I’ll be right back.”



Don was left with little else to do. He gazed down at Lea. She was the spitting image of her mother. Same grumpy brow, blonde hair, her little chin…would their child look like Marci, too? Or him?

It seemed impossible, for such a little thing to hold so much potential, but someday this baby was going to be a child, then a teen, and then an adult, just like them. She would go to school, make friends, kiss a boy, move away from home, get a job… or perhaps she would do everything differently. The future was so uncertain. Right now, she was a little tyke who relied on her parents for everything.



This didn’t seem so bad.



Joshua came back with the bottles. He handed one to Don.

Joshua: “Oh good, looks like you calmed her down. I’m surprised. She usually cries when anyone other than me and Marci hold her. Now hold the bottle like this. Be careful how you angle it.”



Don: “Like this?”

Joshua: “Yes, just like that.”

Don: “She’s already spitting some of it out. Is that normal?”

Joshua: “It’s going to happen. Especially with Lea. Marci’s breast milk wasn’t agreeing with her and causing some indigestion, so we’re trying a new formula to see if it works out.”



After she finished drinking her bottle, Lea was content enough and dozed off to sleep. Don gently placed her back in the crib.

Don: “Well, that wasn’t so bad.”

Joshua: “Lea and Holden are easy babies, that’s why. In my experience, anyway.”



There was an awkward pause between them, even more so now that the babies were quiet. What do you say to the husband of the girl you knocked up? How do you even begin having a conversation about that? Don knew so little about Joshua aside from several casual conversations, it was damn near impossible to read his face. He was silently preparing for the worse—possibly a punch to the jaw—when the man finally broke the silence.

Joshua: “Don…I need to say something.”



Joshua: “I don’t get between you and Marci. I don’t approve of what happened when you were here last time, but as far as I’m concerned, she can handle herself. But I’m giving you a piece of advice about this baby: don’t half-ass parenthood. Kids know when you only visit them out of obligation, or when you don’t want to be around them. Louis’ mother stopped seeing him awhile ago, and it still affects him.”



Don: “I don’t want to do that.”

Joshua: “I hope that’s true. I’ll be here for the baby regardless of your participation, Don, but I’m not the father. And I’m not here to take that away from you — if you want this.”



Don: “I thought about this for a long time, Josh. I was wrong to turn my back on Marci, on our baby. I don’t want to be the guy who only talks to his kid once a week on the phone, or doesn’t hear from them until they’re an adult. I want to try.”

Joshua: “Good. That’s all I want out of this.”



Well, with that out of the way...

Don: “You look like shit, by the way. Have you guys been getting any sleep?”

Joshua: “Fatherhood is both a blessing and a curse, especially in this stage. You think I look lousy, take a look around. We’re so far behind on the chores. Louis helps, but he’s just a kid. He can’t do it all, and it’s not his job to take care of us.”

Don: “Why don’t you go back to sleep? I can take care of that.”



Joshua: “I can’t. The babies—”

Don: “Hey, I got this.”

Joshua: “Are you sure?”

Don: “Yeah, man! I mean, Lea already drifted back to sleep so it’s just the one right here. All Holden needs is a diaper change. How hard can that be? I’ll stick around for a while in case they wake up.”

Joshua: “Well…okay. If you insist, then I won’t argue. Diapers and wipes are over there in the dresser. If they give you any trouble, just wake me up.”



Sometime later, Marci stirred awake. She looked at her phone, then realized the alarm never went off.



Marci: “Shit! The babies!”



She rushed out of the room and called out for Joshua. To her surprise, he was passed out on the couch. Did he already feed the twins? Why didn't he wake her up? It was easier to keep the twins on schedule if they fed them together.



Everything must’ve been fine, or else he would’ve come and got her, right? Even so, she decided to go downstairs and check on them.



Marci froze in the doorway.





Don was there, placing their dirty laundry into the washer.



Marci: “Don, what the hell are you doing?”



There she was. Marci Price, his best friend, pregnant with their child and righteously furious with him.

Marci Price, as every bit as psychotic and impossible to please as everyone guessed.

And she was so damn beautiful.



And he was so damn screwed.

Don: “Uh. Laundry, of course. Joshua mentioned you guys were overwhelmed with the chores around here. I thought I’d throw a load in for you.”



She stomped over to him.

Marci: “Don’t play dumb! It’s been months!”

Don: “I know.”



Marci: “Four months, to be exact!”



Marci: “Not one phone call, text, visit, nothing! And, what, you just drop in and do my laundry like nothing happened? Like I have no reason to be pissed with you? Are you that stupid and arrogant!?”



Marci: “I told you, I’m not one of your bimbos that you can drop and pick back up when you get bored! You promised you wouldn’t ghost me! You were my friend! Do you realize how much that fucking hurt?”

Don: “At the time, no. I was only thinking about myself. I shouldn’t have stayed away. I’m sorry.”



Marci: “You’re sorry, huh? Now you’re sorry?! Oh, you’re going to be sorry, you selfish, immature goddamned bastard—”

She raised both her fists to try and hit him in the chest. He caught her hands, though his grip wasn’t so tight that she couldn’t break away; he wouldn't try and stop her if she truly wanted to hurt him. But she didn’t try.



Don: “Marci, you were right about everything — about me. I am selfish. I am arrogant and stupid. And worse of all, I didn’t respect you or listen to what you wanted…”



“…but you were wrong when you said I didn’t love anyone. I love you.”



Marci: “You…you love me?”

Don: “Yeah. I do. It scares me, not gonna lie, but…I know how I feel about you now. About this. I want to do this with you if you’ll let me.”



She yanked her arms out of his grip.

Marci: “You’re a fucking asshole, you know that?”

Don: “Marci, please hear me out—”



Marci: “No, you listen! You love me? So what?!”



“You accuse me of trying to trap you and bail on me…and now you’re in my house, unannounced, claiming you changed and declaring your love for me?”



“Seriously, fuck you, Don. If that’s your idea of love, I don’t want it.”



“You have no idea what the last four months have been like for me. At first, I blamed myself. I wondered what I did wrong, or if I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you in the first place and told you to leave. I waited for you to calm down and come over, or call me…but that never happened.”



“Then it hit me: you went radio silent while I was carrying your baby. Our baby. It didn’t matter what happened to us. I never expected you to drop your life and fill a role you didn’t want, but I never thought you would leave me alone with this entirely — that you didn’t even want to know how the baby was doing.”



“I don’t know if I can ever forgive you for that. It might just be too late for us.”

Katrina was right: he ruined everything with Marci before it ever had the chance to start.

Nina advised him to figure out what he couldn’t stand to lose. Marci’s rejection would’ve been easier if he didn’t care, if he felt nothing, if he truly had nothing to lose anymore.



The joke was on him. Marci was never his to lose in the first place.

Her words stunned him for a moment. He swallowed hard.

Don: “…Okay. That’s fair. I didn’t think you would forgive me, Marci. I…I don’t deserve it.”



He waited for her finishing blow. He thought she was going to ask him to leave and never come back, that she truly wanted nothing more to do with him. When she raised a hand, he anticipated a slap across his face. Instead, she wiped the tears off his cheek.



Marci: “You idiot. Why are you crying? You’re the asshole here.”

Although her words were still cutting, she noticeably adopted a gentler tone.



Marci: “Look…I said I didn’t know if I could forgive you. Doesn’t mean that I’m not willing to try. You say you care about me? That you want to do this with me, be a father? Then be here, every step of the way from now on. No more running when shit gets hard.”

Don: “I won’t.”

Marci: “If you turn your back on us again? We’re done. No. You’re done. I’ll hunt you down and kill you myself, and that’s a promise.”



When he put his arms around her, he wasn’t sure if she would be resistant to hugs. There was still a chance she would’ve pushed him away; God knows he deserved it. Fortunately, she leaned against him, as best she could with the baby bump between them.



Don: “I really missed you yelling at me.”



Marci: “Me, too.”



Marci: “By the way, we’re having a girl.”



Don: “Huh.”

Marci: “What?”

Don: “…Nothing. I’ll tell you later.”

This wasn’t a dream. It was reality.



It was new, terrifying, and difficult to face.

A tiny selfish part of him urged him to run away screaming…



...but he ignored it because this was exactly where he wanted to be.

***

AUTHOR'S NOTES

So! Where to begin?

1. Don and Marci's flashback editions were some of my first attempts at pose mods. They were also my first real attempt at taking the legacy's narrative seriously. And honestly, you could tell. The difference between the first attempts versus my current screenshots are staggering.





I mean, obviously Photoshop touched up the screenshots very nicely, but I think I got better with getting the right angles. Also: tears! And body freckles!

2. Marci's perspective is definitely going to get far more attention later down the road after the next update, but not going to lie, tackling Don was a pleasant challenge for me. It's easy (or easier at least) to determine what's going to happen next when you make your characters and make up their own personalities and stories. Tackling a canon character whose roots paint a less than pleasant picture is intimidating as hell. At times, I wasn't sure if I could make sense out of Don's decisions and behavior, let alone redeem him. I mean, when I first played my legacy, he was nothing more than her baby daddy who wouldn't stop coming over and kept glitching outside her house; I only moved him in because I was afraid he was going to starve and exhaust himself, plus Josh legit didn't seem to mind Marci flirting with him. (Seriously, even with the game's lax approach to cheating, the guy didn't get tense or lose romance points with Marci ONCE, and I literally didn't do anything. It was surreal.)

I think what helps is the knowledge that he isn't supposed to be a reflection of the Don Lothario in Sims 2 and 3. I mean, obviously he's that guy, but to what extent? He's a broke mooch at the start of Sims 4. Aside from the household's summary joining him with Katrina and her daughters, he's essentially a blank slate. As much as I like to make allusions and callbacks to his previous iterations, I don't know if the story would've played out the same if he truly was that person. I don't think Marci would've befriended and loved that man.

This Don Lothario might be a touch different from what fandom tends to do with him, but to be honest? I love him like this. I love that he's a hot mess and creates chaos wherever he goes. I love that he's selfish and arrogant and nearly loses everything he can't stand to lose as a result. I love that he can't form lasting relationships because he doesn't know how. I love that he's just as lost and lonely as Marci, and that she's willing to give him the chance to earn her forgiveness.

I don't know if I can say he's my favorite sim, but thanks to this bullshit, he's somewhere in the top five. At the very least, he's fun to mess with.

3. In the initial "flashback edition," Marci was far more forgiving, and the two of them actually shared a kiss.







Which, you know, is lovely...but once I started rewriting and retconning the legacy from the ground up, I realized Marci was going to take a radically different approach with forgiving Don. She wasn't going to be as quick to love him back, because quite frankly, she doesn't trust him yet. And let's be real, thank God, because the new sequence feels more organic. He needed to get told to fuck off. Just because you're ready to change and be vulnerable with someone, long after you hurt them and realized what you did was wrong, doesn't mean that they instantly owe you a relationship.

4. I also tried my best to redeem Katrina Caliente. I realize I've probably been a touch unfair with her from the start, and tbh, I neglected the Caliente household for the longest time in my actual playthrough, so I didn't really try and understand her or her daughters until I stared retconning things. But my feelings about her changed as I developed everyone's personalities. She isn't without her flaws, but she deserves better than an emotionally unavailable boyfriend.

I don't really approach my stories with the question, "Which one is the good person and which one is the bad person?" Katrina is neither a good or bad person. I wouldn't say Don falls into either category as well. They're both immensely flawed individuals who should never have gotten together in the first place and stayed together for all the wrong reasons, but thanks to that, they learned a great deal on what they actually wanted out of their relationships. So, hopefully Katrina comes out of the ordeal holding her head high and putting him far behind her.