Curiosity .... and all that....

Life with the grandparents was... for Andy..... unusual.



And very trying.

Their 'habits', as he'd often noticed, were baffling indeed.

Spending time together, but hardly interacting.


Often sitting reading....

.... separately, with Geoffrey quietly reading indoors in the comfort of the old overstuffed chair,



whereas Nancy would be found outside on the cold hard slatted wood picnic bench. Often screwing her face up in the dim light.



Because of her apparent squint, on more than one occasion, Andy was tempted to suggest she see an optician and get herself some glasses. But, he didn't dare.

After all, in Nancy's eyes, perfection ruled supreme. And she was too proud to admit that her eyesight was starting to fail.

There were times when Geoffrey would find solitude in the garden, pulling weeds, harvesting the fruit and chatting to the plants.





He even tried (unsuccessfully) to dabble in fishing.




More often than not landing on his rump. But at least it got him out of the house and away from his 'taskmaster' of a wife.



This was how retired folks were supposed to live. But definitely NOT Nancy and her aggressive, competitive manner. Oh no. She didn't have TIME to relax. Always finding new stuff to challenge her and getting stressed out if things didn't go down so well.

In fact, she got so stressed out that she'd often be seen downtown, going to the spa for a little relaxation and massage therapy. Much to the shock of Andy's frugal nature. But, Nancy being Nancy. When you're loaded with cash, who cares, as long as you're happy.



Also, the relationship between Malcolm and his mother... was strained. She called him up mid afternoon, knowing that he was home from work. And got an instant brush off. Wouldn't have minded if it had been the twins keeping him busy, but no. He said he was on his way out and to call back in a WHOLE DAY!!!!

However, Geoffrey was having much more success with his daughter in law Sonia. He called her on a whim and got the whole low down on how romantic his son was with her. How he'd bought her a HUGE bunch of red roses and everything.



Yep. Out of the two, Geoffrey was definitely the most approachable.

There was one thing, however, that even Andy couldn't resist.

Despite the garishly decorated walls (that he admitted, hurt his eyes), the treadmill stood in the corner, was too much to resist. And Andy just couldn't help hopping on board, just to see what it was like.




He didn't hear Nancy coming in. But instead of shouting and yelling at him (as he'd expected), she decided to give him a little training, juicing up the power that little bit more and screaming....



"Come ON!!!! FEEL THE BURN!!!"

Nancy had found her newest project, much to the dismay of Andy. And Andy, deep down, wished that he'd never set foot on that darned treadmill in the first place!!!!!

Geoffrey, thankfully, slept all the way through it (or at least he pretended to)
As soon as Andy and Nancy were done, then Geoffrey snuck out of bed to have a quick burst on the treadmill, before raiding the fridge to polish off the leftover apple pancakes.



Never mind the endless supply of health drinks. Geoffrey needed his comfort food.... badly.
Although he wasn't that good a cook and was caught out a few times, fussing over the scorched frying pan.




All in all, things weren't too bad with the grandparents.....
.... just a little different.

But still, Andy would go about his business, school, work, sitting clipping coupons from the newspaper.



Even having the occasional wish to paint. After Nancy had thrown out the old easel, he'd had to save up his hard earned pennies from his part time job, and treat himself to an easel.



It was a small price to pay, for a hobby he dabbled in occasionally.



He just wondered how mom, dad and Jessica were doing coping with the twins, and settling down in that HUGE mansion.

Major Changes

Although they couldn't be there personally, Nancy and Geoffrey Landgrabb kept a constant line of communication to their son and his wife whilst they were at the hospital.

But now, realising that decisions must be made, they put their heads together and came up with a very unusual, but logical solution to their dilemma.

The Landgrabb mansion had been in the family for several generations, and it would be a shame to see it standing empty after Nancy and Geoffrey 'passed' on.

At the same time, both Geoffrey and Nancy needed to retire somewhere fairly quiet, in a place that didn't need much maintenance.

The Beach Villa was perfect.

But for one VERY major problem.

Andy.



He stated early on, before his step dad came on the scene, that he didn't want to move. And he's stood by that decision ever since.

There was NO WAY, he was going to move.
And that was final.

Soooooo.......

Without further ado, Nancy and Geoffrey packed up their belongings and promptly moved in, shipping a rather bewildered, yet excited Jessica up to the mansion to greet the new arrivals.




At first, Andy was fairly accepting.

Until Nancy started adding her own unique 'style' to the place.
Painting the master bedroom shocking pink!!!!



And getting rid of a few 'non essentials'.

She was about to throw out the doll house and the guitar, until Andy put his foot down and stopped her in her tracks.

He soon found out that she was a hard headed woman, and career driven too. Getting stressed out because she hadn't had a promotion in ages (bearing in mind that she was now retired!!!!)



Some nights, Andy would hear the rhythmic thumping of her working out until fatigued on the treadmill she'd installed in the bedroom.




Geoffrey, on the other hand, was a little more approachable. With his love of the outdoors and great sense of humour, they finally (after a lot of awkwardness) found some common ground.



Yes, sometimes Andy regretted the decision he'd made. Life with Nancy and Geoffrey was definitely different to that of his mom and the rest of the family.

But he would try.... definitely try his hardest... in this all new environment he'd agreed upon.

Even if it meant breaking curfew a few times!!!!

The Landgrabb Family welcomes ....

Marguerite



and

Tiffany.



Yep, that's right, TWINS!!!!

And worse still.

GIRLS!!!!!

I was hoping just to have a boy (and so did Malcolm, funnily enough), but I messed up the instructions concerning watermelons and apple. And then fate decided to play a cruel joke on this family.

Before anything is said....

NO, she didn't listen to children's radio
NO, she didn't watch Kids TV
And NO, most definitely did she NOT have the fertility accelerator as one of her rewards.

With my experience concerning twins from the last family I played (yes, you'll probably be familiar with the Graystone family), I can't handle them, they're too much.

And I swear, I'd have either fainted, or thrown the entire computer out of the window if there was even the slightest hint of triplets.

*sigh* oh well, I'd better say congrats to the happy couple here.

You know what that means don't you.

Yep, another move.

The beach villa is far too small for them now.

Oh, the Drama ... the Drama

Inspired by Malcolm's new fitness regime, both Sonia and Andrew would be found, either cycling all over the place.....



.... or jogging.



Andrew especially loved jogging to the beach and back. Drawing great gulps of invigorating salty sea air into those young, healthy lungs of his.



For Sonia, however, this was for a completely different reason.
For a few days now, she'd been feeling a little unwell, nauseous, and tired.
After consulting her books, it was confirmed.....

.... she was pregnant again.



Now that Malcolm was more involved in their lives, this meant that she didn't need to swan off to the spa for that long-anticipated deep tissue massage. For even though the poor guy was almost totally wiped out from exhaustion, he'd find the time to massage out those horrid knots that were starting to develop.



He was that enthralled with the progress of the pregnancy, that he'd be found... just standing anywhere... reading all the maternity books he could lay his hands on.




And when they were together, it was ever so sweet, seeing him trying to 'bond with the bump'.




Jessica too, was excited about the upcoming birth and was often found, (taking a back seat this time), chatting to the 'bump' and chattering about her new brother or sister.



Things were going well. Sonia had successfully sold yet another painting and they'd been celebrating by cooking Andrew's favourite dish, Tri Tip Steak - with extra onions.

Sonia was feeling a little grotty and her back was starting to ache. So, instead of bothering Malcolm for a back massage, she fancied a nice long soak in some delicious new bubble bath she'd just purchased recently.

But before she could even reach across the bath, to turn the water on ... she felt a twinge, and straightened up.




'Um ... that doesn't feel like the onions,'" she though, her hands straying to her distended stomach.

It happened again, this time, more intensely.

"Nope... definitely NOT the onions!" she gasped, trying unsuccessfully, not to yell out.



Then there was another ... this time, she didn't hold back.

"Oh bollocks!" she screamed, "dammit! MALCOLM!"



"Everything okay in here?"

Malcolm wandered into the bathroom, a glazed, slightly dumbfounded look on his face....
... and stared stupidly at her.

"DON'T JUST BLOODY STAND THERE!" Sonia screamed, "DO SOMETHING!"



Realisation hit him with full force. That famous Landgraab reserve crumpled in seconds as blind panic hit him.



"HOLY HELL!!" he yelled, "it's... happening... it's .... really ... happening!"

"I BLOODY KNOW IT'S HAPPENING! DO SOMETHING!"




"ANDY!!!! ANDY!!!"

Andrew shot into the bathroom, wondering what the hell was going on.... when he was confronted by a rather red-faced mom, panting rapidly.

He froze.

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap," he chanted this mantra under his breath, "this can't be happening....."



"Trust me son..." his mother gasped between pants, "it is."

By now, Malcolm had just managed to hang onto his sanity and ran out of the bathroom, muttering...

"I'll get the towels.... we can do this...."

Realisation dawned upon Sonia and she barged past her son.

"Bugger that," she hissed, grabbing Malcolm by his shirt, "I'm NOT having a home birth.... and THAT'S FINAL."

"But... but... but... I thought we'd agreed on that!"

"Hell no. You might have... but I'm NOT. NO. WAY. Now call the taxi or I'm getting on my bike and cycling all the way there!"

Malcolm hit speed dial faster than you could say 'Jack Sprat', and within minutes the taxi pulled up.

Little Jessica, in the meantime, had been taking a nap and had missed all the drama. After getting dressed, she just arrived in the living room, to see mommy being shepherded into a taxi, aided by daddy.

She rushed to the front door and stopped dead.

"Mommy?" she whimpered nervously.



She paused, waiting to see if they'd return, but the sound of the taxi's rattling engine, faded out as it pulled away into the night.



She was aghast, standing stock still, her bottom lip starting to tremble slightly. Mommy had never ever left the house on an evening. Not without letting them know where she was going.

Andrew walked past.




"It's okay kiddo, don't sweat it," he said nonchalantly, "they'll be back pretty soon. She's just having the baby, that's all."

He flopped onto the settee, grabbed the controller and loaded in his favourite video game.




"They left me in charge, and a big plate of cookies on the counter top. Help yourself."

Tears soon forgotten, Jessica trotted into the kitchen and helped herself to the plate of cookies, a big beaming smile all over her chubby, crumb-spotted face. If there was just one thing she loved more than her mommy.... it was mommy's plates of cookies. The ultimate comfort food.




Meanwhile, the situation was tense on the journey to the hospital. Although they hardly spoke a word, Malcolm found the atmosphere rather uncomfortable indeed. He was so sure that she'd agree to a home birth. According to his own mother, that's how he was born.




And his wife's mood swings too. They were....
He didn't want to think about it. He just wanted her to be safe and the birth to go smoothly.

The taxi pulled up and they got out.




Just as they reached the front entrance, Sonia suddenly turned and stretched. A smile played on her face.

"This is it!" she said brightly, "are you ready?"




Malcolm sensed that she was putting up a front, that she - like himself - was terrified of the whole process.

He just nodded, put his arm around her and they went inside.