Round 5, Chapter 24 [Epstein]: A Club to Connect Us All

Writing books didn’t do it for Laurel.

An emotional affair with Bob Pancakes didn’t do it for Laurel.

Throwing her everything into her family and constantly redecorating her home didn’t do it.

What she needed was connection to other people like her. People who came to this part of the world to have a great life. She’d met some interesting people in the months since they moved to Oasis Springs.

Watching her daughter Robyn make a fuss about Hannukah versus Christmas got Laurel thinking. The Sims in their new home were interesting and unique, but perhaps there was some wisdom in seeking out the extra unique ones.

The first obvious choice was Bo Blank. After a terrible first meeting, and a lot of neighborhood jokes about Laurel’s memory, they’d buried the hatchet over a long stay-at-home lunch. The lunch wasn’t at either of their homes, but they’d managed to build at least a cordial relationship on the fact their they were both the stay-at-home parent in their respective relationships.

She didn’t know a lot about the Blanks, except that they’d just moved into a cute little house in Newcrest, but from what Bo said, they seemed nice. Seeing as how she had three Child age daughters, having little Asa and Gem around a little more wouldn’t be bad. The family seemed mysterious but nice.

By all appearances, they seemed perfectly normal. Too normal if you were to be cynical about it. And a little normalcy, even mysterious normalcy, might bring balance to the group, especially considering who else she had in mind.

Her next thought was someone who came off as far less mysterious, and whose energy any club worth it’s salt would be proud to have. She thought of Carmen Butler.

Most married women wouldn’t be so happy to bring a single woman around their husband, but Carmen had been to the Epstein house just to visit, and she’d fit in like an old friend they’d known for years.

Carmen had just moved into a nice home in Willow Creek. That old neighborhood seemed to brighten with Carmen’s infectious happiness. She even had Clara Bjergsen travelling constantly from the shores of Windenburg just to hang in the park eating Breakfast Scramble Clara made on the grill.

The fact that Carmen was all alone in Willow Creek pursuing her dreams with no family was appealing. A housewife like Laurel with a lot of time on her hands could have quite a project helping Ms. Carmen find a husband. Or if Carmen became an accomplished artist like she wanted, Laurel could become a patron of her work. The possibilities were endless.

Going with this theme of picking someone from each of the major neighborhoods in their world means she needed someone from Windenburg. The Bjergsens would make sense and would definitely add another cultural aspect to the club forming in Laurel’s head. But she had another idea.

Her children Robyn and Quincy joined a club. The club was actually started by Quincy who wanted to get to know other Teen Sims. Laurel made him add Robyn. This was right when the twins were born and Laurel didn’t want Robyn to grow up with middle child syndrome. Plus, Robyn would soon age up to Teen, and having some friends already in place could only be a good idea.

The point is that there was a girl in this club who Quincy had taken a liking to. Her name is Daniella Holloway. Over winter break, she and Quincy became quite enthralled with each other. They even exchanged promise rings.

Daniella has an older brother named Luca who absolutely no one knows. At least no one Laurel knows knew him. If Bo Blank is mysterious, then Luca Holloway is the Invisible Man. But getting to know the only family nearby of her future daughter-in-law seemed to Laurel to be a great idea.

The only thing she was missing was representation from San Myshuno. No need to worry about Magnolia Promenade, Granite Falls or Forgotten Hollow. Unless of course you were interested in blood sucking mosquitoes, businessmen, or vampires, which Laurel was not.

The Epsteins had never ventured into the city at all, so she didn’t know anyone. Carmen, however liked to party a lot. She said one karaoke night she met a nice young man who’d just moved to town with his grandparents. His name is Gavin Ralston. His grandparents are from somewhere in the Caribbean.

For reasons Gavin wasn’t willing to discuss yet, he didn’t speak of his parents, but was grateful his grandparents moved to the city with him where he’d find more acceptance. The three of them didn’t have much, but they had each other. Mysterious? Check. Cultural uniqueness? Check. Laurel hoped he’d accept her offer to be in the club.

Now what to call this club? And was now, when she was pregnant with her and Kurt’s fifth child, really the best time to start a new club? As Laurel pondered running to the nearest bathroom to deal with her latest bout of morning sickness, she decided yes, she needed a more well rounded life outside of her family.