Sea Legs (Updated 09*21*19)
After a little encouragement from other players I've finally decided to "move" my story from another thread to this one. Moves in quotes simply because I'm not moving anything, just copying the posts...
Forum Discussion
Connor started his day bright and early, eager to get started on something more meaningful than clever puns and indecorous humor. He could feel something just on the horizon, something big. Perhaps this could be his one true masterpiece. He took in the sunrise from his giant office windows with growing excitement.
Niella, on the other hand, was enjoying a much needed day off. The few plants she had managed to find time to maintain were woefully in need of some tender loving care so that was first on the to-do list. Afterward she took a minute to relax on the deck, remembering what it meant to actually be outside during the day for a change.
https://i.imgur.com/7jyZ4IO.jpg
Karlie and Niella were happy to both be home during lunch to have a nice girl's chat, it had been so long. Karlie asked how Connor's meeting had gone. Niella explained "instead of canceling the contract, Connor is still be responsible for his last two books but Florita is going to arrange a long term extension to the contract on the contingency that his next three books, under whatever genre, will be theirs to publish and that the extension would only be continued if they saw a decent enough profit for whatever genre he chose. It doesn't have to match his sales now, but they still have to be profitable enough to continue putting off his normal blockbusters. So in essence Connor now has 2 contracts. It actually worked out better for us because we now know we have a publisher for his next five books guaranteed instead of having to worry about getting anything new published after the fact. Connor's pretty relieved, really. Especially the whole "let's start a family" thing. Speaking of, your mom was trying to serve us her best aphrodisiac last night according to her. She called it .." "Lady Marmalade," Karlie finished Niella's sentence, chuckling. "She swears by it. She says it's why I'm here." "Oh my! Scandalous!" Niella joked. "So what about you and Raj? Back from the honeymoon, Raj's career is perfect, the Sands is well on it's way... How long until you're drinking a Lady Marmalade?? Huh??" Niella ribbed. "God you're as bad as mom!" Karlie retorted and then, hoping to change the subject, added "So tell me all about the aliens dear bestie..." It worked.
https://i.imgur.com/rqrY9YZ.jpg
Before lunch was over the girls decided to take "Mama Shari" out to dinner at the cute little cafe on the island, Rebecca's, after Raj was home from practice. After they were seated Karlie asked if they still had fried chicken because she didn't see it on the specials board. "Unfortunately ma'am we do not" the new cook replied. Mama Shari peered at Karlie sideways. "Fried chicken?? The only time I ever wanted fried chicken was when I was pregnant with you..." Before Karlie could protest, Connor stepped in to save the day, bringing up his excitement over his new deal. Shari might have been Karlie's mom, but with Raj and Connor having both lost their mothers, and Niella actually losing her mother, Shari had uniformly become a mom to them all and Connor was pretty keen to share his news anyway. Karlie eventually managed to sneak her protest in, however, looking at her mom when their food came, saying "They just use to have really good fried chicken here!" only partially under her breath. Shari looked down and said "yes of course babygirl" and smiled from ear to ear. Niella looked away and snickered. She loved the way Karlie and Shari got along, both of them sarcastic and loving and just completely comfortable in each other's company. It made her miss her dad, and the mom she never got to know, but usually it just tickled her to see them playfully bicker. After a few minutes, Shari asked if either Raj or Connor were handy at all. "I think whoever installed the new dishwasher did something wrong, it's leaking and the faucet's getting half the pressure of every other sink in the house." Both Connor and Raj said they'd stop by the next night to take a look and Shari insisted on making dinner as a thank you. "You can all come!"
https://i.imgur.com/9K8tR89.jpg
After dinner Raj couldn't resist challenging Connor to a shoot out while the girls played a round of horseshoes. Connor was probably one of the only people capable of eking out a win over Raj now and again, somehow just being a natural at everything from snow boarding to darts. It's one of the reasons they got along so well, because Raj loved the challenge and Connor didn't care if he lost or won. The girls played a game of horse shoes but Niella quickly found herself exhausted. She chalked it up to her first day off in a long, long while. She knew, with the long holiday weekend approaching that she'd have plenty of time to visit. Her dad had finally arranged to come from Egypt for a few short days and he'd be in the day before Leisure day. She knew there'd only be a short time to help her at the lab but she was sure he'd be intrigued enough that he'd arrange a longer stay soon, and even be able to help remotely from Egypt. Just like her, he was driven by a need to know the unknown. After a round of hugs from Mama Shari the gang headed home and shortly after hitting home, Niella was practically comatose.
https://i.imgur.com/BlP0exn.jpg
Just before dawn Niella became aware of an acrid, sour taste in the back of her mouth, behind her tongue. Rousing her from a particularly crazy and incredibly vivid dream about aliens and fortune tellers, she became quickly aware that she was about to be sick. Jumping from bed, the queasiness was overwhelming and she nearly lost everything there on the bedroom carpet. Luckily she made it to the bathroom before she was overcome with a second, unstoppable wave. As the door closed behind her she immediately dropped to her knees and grabbed the rim of the toilet just in time. After she was composed she stood up, and her eyes grew large with sudden realization and excitement. She quickly rinsed her mouth and then slid the vanity drawer with her female necessities open. Her hands shook as she read the directions on the box no less than three times, once the French version just to be sure. After following the directions the timer on the test strip was started and she set it on top of the box on the counter.
https://i.imgur.com/M8TOKA5.jpg
Niella washed her hands and decided it would be a good time to brush her teeth, considering... As the sun rose and she brushed her teeth she couldn't help but wonder about her own mother. Would they have been close like Karlie and Shari? Would her mom have been her best friend? Would she know all of the things about having babies that a father just couldn't know?? What did she even look like?? Lost in these thoughts she almost forgot totally about what she was doing. And then the timer went off. It took a minute for Niella to build up the courage to even put her toothbrush down. It was just a lack of sleep, right? A rough schedule and she knew she was being entirely too hopeful. Couples try for years sometimes and Connor and her had barely just started to try. And it would all be ok, and normal, and totally fine if there was a minus instead of a plus, right? Right?? She just had to look... Right?
https://i.imgur.com/tSTjYll.jpg
Niella stepped into the bedroom to find Connor up and making the bed. "Connor, come here" she somehow managed to get out meekly but by the time he looked over to her she was welling up. Connor was instantly concerned she had heard from her dad and he wouldn't be able to make it after all, or worse. He hurried around the far side of the bed "What's wrong Ny?? Is everything ok???" "No, honey. It's not. Everything is beautiful. I have morning sickness." Niella tried to quell the excitement and only barely managed to do so. "Ooohhh, ok. Whew!" Connor's head nodded back in relief. Then realizing what that meant he choked out "Wait, wait what??" Niella nodded, her entire face beaming. Connor wrapped her up in his arms with a warmth and a tenderness that she had never felt and she knew that even though she didn't have her mother, she had Connor and that she had nothing to be afraid of. He pulled back from her slightly and said "Well this is it, Ny. The first day of the biggest adventure of our lives. The timing might seem hard, maybe a little sooner than we expected considering all of the changes we're going through, but it really doesn't matter. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you. For you two." "I know. I've always known, Connor." Because she had.
https://i.imgur.com/TLgqiY1.jpg
Karlie's day started at City Hall to get the last of the permits signed and construction underway. She then headed to Aléjate Shores. Though most of her time had been recently dedicated to getting the New Sands up and running, she still had one 5 star resort to manage, and a recent review complaining of staff lazing around the pool had her concerned that her absence had sent the wrong message. She looked over everyone's hours to make sure no one's schedule was off and then talked to her staff. Luckily everyone knew exactly the person who had left the review and exactly the staff member she was talking about. The young clerk that worked in the resort's coffee shop did use the pool on a particularly hot day, after his shift had ended and this guest seemed to think that the coffee shop should remain open 24hrs a day. It wasn't the first time someone had suggested that, but it was certainly the first time someone was actually angry because it wasn't, but Karlie knew that there were just some people that felt that if the world didn't specifically revolve around them, then they would just make the world miserable until it did. She trusted her staff, having hired each one herself and building a really solid work environment by paying her employees wages and benefits that not only fairly provided for their needs, but she freely offered all of the resorts amenities to them on their off time. She found that treating employees like you valued their work resulted in valuable employees who's work is hard to replace. Her mom taught her that running the bistro in Sunlit Tides having worked her way up from bartender. Karlie had been craving some of her mother's "comfort food" cooking for weeks so as soon as Raj was done for the day everyone made their way over to Mama Shari's house. Piggygirl was SO excited to see everyone she dropped the stick she was fetching for Shari and covered Niella in kisses.
https://i.imgur.com/82OE0cG.jpg
Before setting to the tasks at hand, Rajan gave his mother-in-law a new invisible fence as a housewarming gift. He knew Shari felt bad leaving Piggygirl locked inside while she was at her new job bartending at the Paradise Pub and now Piggy could have the best of both of her inside and outside worlds. Niella took the opportunity to pull Karlie aside and tell her best friend her news. "Hey now! Welcome to the family little human, high five!" Karlie joked and pretended to high five Niella's stomach. Mama Shari couldn't help but overhear and gasped in excitement.
https://i.imgur.com/eBURMWs.jpg
Mama Shari turned and squeezed Niella. She giggled and said "See? Told you they'd work!" "Oh mother! That was what, like two nights ago??" Karlie feigned frustration. "Well you're just going to have to supervise while Karlie and I put up my new curtains, they just came today!" Afterward Shari exclaimed "Wow they look even better than I thought they would!" The guys weren't quite finished so Karlie suggested a game of Dominoes. Niella's Dad had taught her how to play when they visited him in Egypt and she was eager to get her mom into the game. After they sat down Karlie began explaining the rules when Shari, concentrating on the tiles in front of her, said "I know how to play, babygirl. I learned a long long time ago, before you were born" Karlie shrugged with exaggerated exasperation at Niella "Ya think ya know someone?!" Niella snickered.https://i.imgur.com/zmLs5GT.jpg
Shari made incredible shwarma wraps for everyone with the spices Niella had gotten her when they visited Egypt. During dinner Raj and Karlie took turns filling everyone in on the changes to the resort that Karlie's new plans were making. By the end Connor and Raj both had seconds and Connor was convinced it was better than the shwarma he had in Egypt. Everyone said their goodbyes and Mama Shari couldn't resist rubbing Niella's baby bump, telling it to "rest and get big and smart and strong and brave" and that "Mimi Shari will love them to the moon and back and all of the days in time." Niella couldn't help but be brought right back to her very first thoughts that morning.
https://i.imgur.com/ZfqSZ2t.jpg
Back at the house boat, Karlie unpinned her twist bun into a ponytail, slipped on her pajamas and sat back against the headrest of her bed. She couldn't help but really wonder for the first time ever at what kind of a mother she might make some day. Life had gone crazy the day after they had gotten back from their honeymoon but even before that she hadn't given it much thought, excited about opening the Sands before it was hit by the meteor strikes. The thought was surprisingly appealing to her. Growing up with a single mother really sort of geared her towards a career path and she had never even really expected to meet Raj or to fall in love with the big lug. She had no idea that Raj was pretty much thinking the same exact thing. Karlie opened her mouth to express her thoughts to Raj but what came out was "Hey so that was really quick, huh? I haven't even talked to them about where we're going to live. I mean are we still welcome here? Is it weird to stay? It just feels like a family, I don't know if I want to leave. I mean I would, we would I mean, of course, but I like living with them." Raj, with his incredibly easygoing nature simply said "Whatever's in the stars, K-Bear, we will be good. Remember what I said on the day of the strike? I'm here, you're here, that's what's most important and all that about to happen is destined to happen. And we're destined to go through it together. The universe told us that the day of the meteor strike."
https://i.imgur.com/9QIhpBY.jpg
And somehow she knew he was right.
https://i.imgur.com/I2v0sjT.jpg
Niella, on the other hand, was enjoying a much needed day off. The few plants she had managed to find time to maintain were woefully in need of some tender loving care so that was first on the to-do list. Afterward she took a minute to relax on the deck, remembering what it meant to actually be outside during the day for a change.
https://i.imgur.com/7jyZ4IO.jpg
Karlie and Niella were happy to both be home during lunch to have a nice girl's chat, it had been so long. Karlie asked how Connor's meeting had gone. Niella explained "instead of canceling the contract, Connor is still be responsible for his last two books but Florita is going to arrange a long term extension to the contract on the contingency that his next three books, under whatever genre, will be theirs to publish and that the extension would only be continued if they saw a decent enough profit for whatever genre he chose. It doesn't have to match his sales now, but they still have to be profitable enough to continue putting off his normal blockbusters. So in essence Connor now has 2 contracts. It actually worked out better for us because we now know we have a publisher for his next five books guaranteed instead of having to worry about getting anything new published after the fact. Connor's pretty relieved, really. Especially the whole "let's start a family" thing. Speaking of, your mom was trying to serve us her best aphrodisiac last night according to her. She called it .." "Lady Marmalade," Karlie finished Niella's sentence, chuckling. "She swears by it. She says it's why I'm here." "Oh my! Scandalous!" Niella joked. "So what about you and Raj? Back from the honeymoon, Raj's career is perfect, the Sands is well on it's way... How long until you're drinking a Lady Marmalade?? Huh??" Niella ribbed. "God you're as bad as mom!" Karlie retorted and then, hoping to change the subject, added "So tell me all about the aliens dear bestie..." It worked.
https://i.imgur.com/rqrY9YZ.jpg
Before lunch was over the girls decided to take "Mama Shari" out to dinner at the cute little cafe on the island, Rebecca's, after Raj was home from practice. After they were seated Karlie asked if they still had fried chicken because she didn't see it on the specials board. "Unfortunately ma'am we do not" the new cook replied. Mama Shari peered at Karlie sideways. "Fried chicken?? The only time I ever wanted fried chicken was when I was pregnant with you..." Before Karlie could protest, Connor stepped in to save the day, bringing up his excitement over his new deal. Shari might have been Karlie's mom, but with Raj and Connor having both lost their mothers, and Niella actually losing her mother, Shari had uniformly become a mom to them all and Connor was pretty keen to share his news anyway. Karlie eventually managed to sneak her protest in, however, looking at her mom when their food came, saying "They just use to have really good fried chicken here!" only partially under her breath. Shari looked down and said "yes of course babygirl" and smiled from ear to ear. Niella looked away and snickered. She loved the way Karlie and Shari got along, both of them sarcastic and loving and just completely comfortable in each other's company. It made her miss her dad, and the mom she never got to know, but usually it just tickled her to see them playfully bicker. After a few minutes, Shari asked if either Raj or Connor were handy at all. "I think whoever installed the new dishwasher did something wrong, it's leaking and the faucet's getting half the pressure of every other sink in the house." Both Connor and Raj said they'd stop by the next night to take a look and Shari insisted on making dinner as a thank you. "You can all come!"
https://i.imgur.com/9K8tR89.jpg
After dinner Raj couldn't resist challenging Connor to a shoot out while the girls played a round of horseshoes. Connor was probably one of the only people capable of eking out a win over Raj now and again, somehow just being a natural at everything from snow boarding to darts. It's one of the reasons they got along so well, because Raj loved the challenge and Connor didn't care if he lost or won. The girls played a game of horse shoes but Niella quickly found herself exhausted. She chalked it up to her first day off in a long, long while. She knew, with the long holiday weekend approaching that she'd have plenty of time to visit. Her dad had finally arranged to come from Egypt for a few short days and he'd be in the day before Leisure day. She knew there'd only be a short time to help her at the lab but she was sure he'd be intrigued enough that he'd arrange a longer stay soon, and even be able to help remotely from Egypt. Just like her, he was driven by a need to know the unknown. After a round of hugs from Mama Shari the gang headed home and shortly after hitting home, Niella was practically comatose.
https://i.imgur.com/BlP0exn.jpg
Just before dawn Niella became aware of an acrid, sour taste in the back of her mouth, behind her tongue. Rousing her from a particularly crazy and incredibly vivid dream about aliens and fortune tellers, she became quickly aware that she was about to be sick. Jumping from bed, the queasiness was overwhelming and she nearly lost everything there on the bedroom carpet. Luckily she made it to the bathroom before she was overcome with a second, unstoppable wave. As the door closed behind her she immediately dropped to her knees and grabbed the rim of the toilet just in time. After she was composed she stood up, and her eyes grew large with sudden realization and excitement. She quickly rinsed her mouth and then slid the vanity drawer with her female necessities open. Her hands shook as she read the directions on the box no less than three times, once the French version just to be sure. After following the directions the timer on the test strip was started and she set it on top of the box on the counter.
https://i.imgur.com/M8TOKA5.jpg
Niella washed her hands and decided it would be a good time to brush her teeth, considering... As the sun rose and she brushed her teeth she couldn't help but wonder about her own mother. Would they have been close like Karlie and Shari? Would her mom have been her best friend? Would she know all of the things about having babies that a father just couldn't know?? What did she even look like?? Lost in these thoughts she almost forgot totally about what she was doing. And then the timer went off. It took a minute for Niella to build up the courage to even put her toothbrush down. It was just a lack of sleep, right? A rough schedule and she knew she was being entirely too hopeful. Couples try for years sometimes and Connor and her had barely just started to try. And it would all be ok, and normal, and totally fine if there was a minus instead of a plus, right? Right?? She just had to look... Right?
https://i.imgur.com/tSTjYll.jpg
Niella stepped into the bedroom to find Connor up and making the bed. "Connor, come here" she somehow managed to get out meekly but by the time he looked over to her she was welling up. Connor was instantly concerned she had heard from her dad and he wouldn't be able to make it after all, or worse. He hurried around the far side of the bed "What's wrong Ny?? Is everything ok???" "No, honey. It's not. Everything is beautiful. I have morning sickness." Niella tried to quell the excitement and only barely managed to do so. "Ooohhh, ok. Whew!" Connor's head nodded back in relief. Then realizing what that meant he choked out "Wait, wait what??" Niella nodded, her entire face beaming. Connor wrapped her up in his arms with a warmth and a tenderness that she had never felt and she knew that even though she didn't have her mother, she had Connor and that she had nothing to be afraid of. He pulled back from her slightly and said "Well this is it, Ny. The first day of the biggest adventure of our lives. The timing might seem hard, maybe a little sooner than we expected considering all of the changes we're going through, but it really doesn't matter. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you. For you two." "I know. I've always known, Connor." Because she had.
https://i.imgur.com/TLgqiY1.jpg
Karlie's day started at City Hall to get the last of the permits signed and construction underway. She then headed to Aléjate Shores. Though most of her time had been recently dedicated to getting the New Sands up and running, she still had one 5 star resort to manage, and a recent review complaining of staff lazing around the pool had her concerned that her absence had sent the wrong message. She looked over everyone's hours to make sure no one's schedule was off and then talked to her staff. Luckily everyone knew exactly the person who had left the review and exactly the staff member she was talking about. The young clerk that worked in the resort's coffee shop did use the pool on a particularly hot day, after his shift had ended and this guest seemed to think that the coffee shop should remain open 24hrs a day. It wasn't the first time someone had suggested that, but it was certainly the first time someone was actually angry because it wasn't, but Karlie knew that there were just some people that felt that if the world didn't specifically revolve around them, then they would just make the world miserable until it did. She trusted her staff, having hired each one herself and building a really solid work environment by paying her employees wages and benefits that not only fairly provided for their needs, but she freely offered all of the resorts amenities to them on their off time. She found that treating employees like you valued their work resulted in valuable employees who's work is hard to replace. Her mom taught her that running the bistro in Sunlit Tides having worked her way up from bartender. Karlie had been craving some of her mother's "comfort food" cooking for weeks so as soon as Raj was done for the day everyone made their way over to Mama Shari's house. Piggygirl was SO excited to see everyone she dropped the stick she was fetching for Shari and covered Niella in kisses.
https://i.imgur.com/82OE0cG.jpg
Before setting to the tasks at hand, Rajan gave his mother-in-law a new invisible fence as a housewarming gift. He knew Shari felt bad leaving Piggygirl locked inside while she was at her new job bartending at the Paradise Pub and now Piggy could have the best of both of her inside and outside worlds. Niella took the opportunity to pull Karlie aside and tell her best friend her news. "Hey now! Welcome to the family little human, high five!" Karlie joked and pretended to high five Niella's stomach. Mama Shari couldn't help but overhear and gasped in excitement.
https://i.imgur.com/eBURMWs.jpg
Mama Shari turned and squeezed Niella. She giggled and said "See? Told you they'd work!" "Oh mother! That was what, like two nights ago??" Karlie feigned frustration. "Well you're just going to have to supervise while Karlie and I put up my new curtains, they just came today!" Afterward Shari exclaimed "Wow they look even better than I thought they would!" The guys weren't quite finished so Karlie suggested a game of Dominoes. Niella's Dad had taught her how to play when they visited him in Egypt and she was eager to get her mom into the game. After they sat down Karlie began explaining the rules when Shari, concentrating on the tiles in front of her, said "I know how to play, babygirl. I learned a long long time ago, before you were born" Karlie shrugged with exaggerated exasperation at Niella "Ya think ya know someone?!" Niella snickered.https://i.imgur.com/zmLs5GT.jpg
Shari made incredible shwarma wraps for everyone with the spices Niella had gotten her when they visited Egypt. During dinner Raj and Karlie took turns filling everyone in on the changes to the resort that Karlie's new plans were making. By the end Connor and Raj both had seconds and Connor was convinced it was better than the shwarma he had in Egypt. Everyone said their goodbyes and Mama Shari couldn't resist rubbing Niella's baby bump, telling it to "rest and get big and smart and strong and brave" and that "Mimi Shari will love them to the moon and back and all of the days in time." Niella couldn't help but be brought right back to her very first thoughts that morning.
https://i.imgur.com/ZfqSZ2t.jpg
Back at the house boat, Karlie unpinned her twist bun into a ponytail, slipped on her pajamas and sat back against the headrest of her bed. She couldn't help but really wonder for the first time ever at what kind of a mother she might make some day. Life had gone crazy the day after they had gotten back from their honeymoon but even before that she hadn't given it much thought, excited about opening the Sands before it was hit by the meteor strikes. The thought was surprisingly appealing to her. Growing up with a single mother really sort of geared her towards a career path and she had never even really expected to meet Raj or to fall in love with the big lug. She had no idea that Raj was pretty much thinking the same exact thing. Karlie opened her mouth to express her thoughts to Raj but what came out was "Hey so that was really quick, huh? I haven't even talked to them about where we're going to live. I mean are we still welcome here? Is it weird to stay? It just feels like a family, I don't know if I want to leave. I mean I would, we would I mean, of course, but I like living with them." Raj, with his incredibly easygoing nature simply said "Whatever's in the stars, K-Bear, we will be good. Remember what I said on the day of the strike? I'm here, you're here, that's what's most important and all that about to happen is destined to happen. And we're destined to go through it together. The universe told us that the day of the meteor strike."
https://i.imgur.com/9QIhpBY.jpg
And somehow she knew he was right.
https://i.imgur.com/I2v0sjT.jpg
