Hi everyone. 🙂 This is the continuation of a story I started back in March on the old Vanilla forum. If you were a regular follower of the 'What Happened In You Game Today' thread, you already know Aurora and her little family. Her save started out as just for fun. To explore things within the game that I never had before. I was just going to share a few screenshots with captions. The original idea for this save was to only be about Aurora and her sidekick, her Bernese, Piccolo.
But I realized a couple of weeks ago that, yeah, it had become a story. And it deserved its own space here on the new forum. This post and the next couple will help those of you who aren't familiar, become familiar. And since the previous updates were scattered over like 75-100 pages of the old WHIYGT thread it's a nice reminder for everyone that had been following along.
The title is also a hint at another change. I'm going to start writing each update like it was an entry in Aurora's diary. I may still write something here and there in a more traditional style with dialogue though. I'm also getting ready to start the reboot of my other story and by writing this one like a diary it's a lot easier to do both and still keep this interesting. So let me introduce you to everyone.
Aurora Westbrook-Carter
Aurora came back to her country roots. Her parents left Chestnut Ridge just as she entered her teens. She still came back to see her grandparents during the summers. She loved those visits and getting away from the city. After graduating high school she went to art school where she honed her painting and photography skills. But she never lost her love for the quiet country life in Chestnut Ridge. Now she's back where she feels most at home.
Tre Carter
Aurora's husband Tre came from an entirely different background. He grew up on the streets of Del Sol Valley just like his father. His mother came from Ciudad Enamorada. Yet Tre has always fascinated by the country life. He has an abiding love for horses too. Even if his first real life encounters weren't exactly smooth.
Piccolo
Aurora's loyal sidekick.
Peanut (l), Nashville(back), and Spirit
Peanut is Aurora's champion American Saddlebred. Nashville is Tre's horse and Spirit is the newest addition to the family.
This is the most exciting update I’ve ever had to share. My pregnancy journey is over, finally! I had my baby last night! It was the most fulfilling moment of my life! It was the most painful as well, but looking back at it now it was so worth it. I still stand by my saying I couldn’t wait to get pregnant. But nothing really prepares you for the experience except going through it and leaning on the advice and support from those around you that have. I tried to keep going with the farm chores and not let my pregnancy slow me down, but the third trimester kicked my backside.
Tre's not really a gardener, but he did his best. Onyx pitched in too. Still we had to scale down our plans and expectations. I tried to keep doing everything I did up to that point. I had to finally admit the baby was making it impossible to do all that stuff. Our baby comes first.
I’m back to wearing glasses. I’m loving them already. They’re so much easier than contacts. My life is getting so hectic that every minute I can save by not doing meaningless chores is welcome. It didn’t take that long to do all the cleaning and stuff with contacts, but I’d rather spend those minutes with the baby and Tre. I’m not that vain teenage girl anymore. I’ve come to terms with the fact that there are people who will say mean things based on how I look. Glasses are the least of what sets them off. Not like it was in school. I don’t care about looking more attractive. I got my man and he loves me unconditionally. Glasses are such a minor thing, but they make me feel confident. While the glasses were an easy change, cutting my hair wasn’t. I chickened out and decided to leave it alone for now. I had to laugh when I told my mom that. She told me to wait until my baby starts yanking on my hair and see if I still feel the same.
I had my baby shower last week. It was a simple affair. It was funny and sweet to watch how fast the guys disappeared when we started talking and laughing. I couldn’t even get a picture of them. They piled in their cars and headed off for a day of male bonding. It's funny to watch them get all uncomfortable at the sight of a group of women seated around a table laughing and talking.
It was just my mom and my best friends. I should say moms. Consuela is much more than a mother-in-law. Most of them are moms themselves. They're such a blessing in my life with their advice and support.
Even if I hadn’t known they were moms, their presents gave them away. They gave me such thoughtful and helpful gifts. I'm always one of the women who buys her friends toys for their little ones. Now I see motherhood from their side. I don’t know if I’m going to be a good mom. I hope will be. If I am I know my mom will be the reason why. I couldn’t have asked for a better role model. I know I'm gushing but she is my heart and soul.
So now we get to the best part, our baby. While Consuela was here for the shower she pulled me aside for a little talk. She knew my due date was anytime now so she wanted to give me a little last minute advice. She waited because she didn’t want to worry me too much. She said if Tre was anything like his dad, when I went into labor he was going to lose his mind. She just wanted me to know so I didn’t freak out myself if and when it happened. I was so glad she mentioned it because I had wondered about that. I thought Tre is so level-headed he’ll be my rock. I have nothing to worry about. We were snuggled up sound asleep when my labor started.
Consuela was right. Tre lost it.
While I got dressed Tre regained his composure, sort of. Enough to get me to the hospital safely. I warned him if he killed us I was going to kill him. Yeah I said it. In my condition I can be forgiven. It's not the dumbest I said all day. I still had one more stupid comment in me.
I guess it was seeing the hospital, or Dr. Bradshaw, but reality sank in for both of us. This was happening, we were leaving here with a brand new life to look after, to care for, and nurture. Tre switched gears quickly. I was so happy to see that. And would have been even happier if I’d known what was about to happen. I hope what they say, “the first is always the worst”, is true. Because let me tell you honey, it was no cake walk.
I remember my mom saying she had a long labor with me. Like mother, like daughter. My initial exam showed I was only 2cm dilated. Four hours later I was only 3cm. Dr. Bradshaw had me get up and go for a walk to see if that helped speed things up.
It didn’t. I was still a long way away from being dilated enough. Then she had me use a yoga ball she had brought in.
When that still didn’t work she had me lean on Tre and just gently sway back and forth.
Still not much change. All of that I was only half way. She said she could induce if I wanted. She stepped aside and let Tre and I have a moment together.
We decided to go ahead and have her induce labor.
It worked. Oh Lord, it worked. The contractions got really intense.
Dr. Bradshaw had mentioned there was a small chance for complications from inducing labor so she had me moved to the room next door just in case. I’m happy to say there were no complications.
Just pain.
Lots of pain.
I’m so happy to see the end of swollen ankles, back pain, morning sickness, but every bit of it was worth it when I got to hold little Kya Grace, in my arms. We found the name Kya by accident. Once we saw the meaning it was so perfect for her. It means 'sky diamond' in Swahili. It has many different meanings around the world, but that one just fit. She was conceived on top of Mt. Komorebi after all.
It was such a happy moment. Sure at one point I screamed that Tre was not allowed to ever touch me again as long as he lived. I’m embarrassed I said that, it’s so cliché. I did say I had one more stupid comment in me. The truth is, a large part of me can’t wait to go through it all again. Someday.
Seeing the love and joy in Tre and Kya’s eyes, when he got a chance to hold her was everything. I just wanted to melt. I can already tell she’s got her daddy wrapped around her little fingers. Every time I think it’s not possible to love Tre anymore than I already do, life shows me it is.
“Babe, we’ve had so many wonderful, crazy, beautiful adventures in the short time we’ve been together. This is better than all of them put together. I don't know how else to say it, this is one of the best days of my life. Right up there with finding you."
"I’m scared to death too. I just hope I can be the father and husband you both deserve. Whatever happens from this day on, we'll face it together. Everything I do will be to give you and Kya the best life possible."
It looked like Tre and Aurora had fun with the reveal party! So much is going on in their lives with their upcoming business, the nectar for the restaurant and their family visiting. They sure seem to be handling it all!
I got nervous when I read those who thought girl was in for a surprise lol YAY it's a girl!!!! Being pregnant and welcoming a new baby is sure to shake up routines but I'm confident she'll find her groove after the baby comes. She should just focus on enjoying this time as much as possible!
It is lovely to now find out the gender of the child! 🙂The photos of them cutting the cake are special ❤️ It is great that their selling of their nectar to Dani and Marissa is going well. Their plans for their shop after the birth of the child sound great. It is lovely that Aurora spent a special time enjoying talking with and finding encouragement from the two mothers.
I have so many wonderful things to share with you. I suppose I'll start with the business stuff. I'll get to the baby news in a minute.
Our meeting a few weeks ago with Dani and Marissa went very well. They loved the nectars we shared with them.
We started out bringing them two crates a week. They proved so popular we’re up to four crates a week now. Tre’s strawberry nectar in particular is a huge hit.
We’re still working out the details for selling our produce to them as well. My pregnancy is putting a bit of a damper on things at the moment. It’s difficult for me to do all the work I’m used to. Once I have the baby then I can get busy planting more crops.
We also got great news from the county planning commission, we can go ahead with our shop. While that is great news the timing isn't. We've decided to go ahead and open it after the baby arrives. But we're just going to have a couple of tables in the barn and possibly around town for the remainder of the growing season. Over the winter we'll stop and renovate the barn and have a grand opening next spring. We've got so much going on right now that it felt like the best plan. For the time being we'll scale down our idea while we navigate parenthood.
Now that we knew our baby's gender we could have our gender reveal party. We wanted a cozy, intimate get together with our parents and closest friends. Our moms arrived a couple days early to help with the set up. It was the first time they'd been here since I really started showing. Naturally they couldn't resist feeling the baby moving.
I have to say, the first time I felt the baby moving I got a bit jumpy. On the one hand it's an amazing feeling knowing you have a little life growing inside of you. On the other hand I wondered if that guy in that old movie, 'Aliens', had the same sensation I did right before the alien thing sorta popped out of him. I admit I watched too many scary movies when I was a kid.
Our dads arrived at the same time but they made themselves scarce. They grabbed Tre and went fishing. I think having a bunch of talkative women in the house scared them off. Not that it was Tre who was skittish, it was our dads who were. They knew it was only a matter of time before we started talking about them and laughing. Funny how things like that can make them so insecure. I say that with all due love and respect. We spent an afternoon around the dining room table talking.
Consuela and my mom are a treasure trove of advice. They were both especially concerned about how much Tre and I had on our plates even without the baby. They gave me a lot to think about. Looking at my mom really made me stop and think. I've seen old pictures of her when she was my age, before I came along. She had long, gorgeous hair, she was always made up, and like me see wore contacts. That's a little fact most people don't know about me. I wore glasses until middle school. I switched to contacts hoping boys would like me more. It worked.
But as my responsibilities pile up and free time dwindles it would be nice to save all that time and effort and put it into other things. I'm starting to feel the same way about my hair. I couldn't help noticing in old pictures Consuela and my mom both went for short hair not long after becoming new moms. I've already set up an appointment to see the optometrist in a couple of weeks. My stylist is only three blocks away...
Enough yada, yada, about my looks. Now for the best news of all. As the time for my latest checkup with Dr. Bradshaw got closer Tre and I settled on names for our baby. So going into the appointment I was so excited to know which one it would be. We got right down to business. Dr. Bradshaw performed the ultrasound. We had other tests and procedures to do so I made her swear that she wouldn't reveal the baby's gender until the very end of our visit. The love I felt looking at that blurry image is beyond words.
Good news, the pregnancy is going splendidly. Everything is right on schedule and the baby is developing as well as it was possible. . Dr. Bradshaw handed me a folded piece of paper as we finished up. Written on it was our baby's gender.
Our moms were due to arrive the following day. I hurried home so I could finish getting ready for them and to start setting up decorations for the reveal party. I splurged a little and bought some baby bump headphones recently. I love spending some quiet time on the couch in the evening playing music for the baby.
As soon as our moms arrived they started trying their best to trick me into revealing the secret ahead of time. Not a chance. Dr. Bradshaw, Tre, and myself were the ones who knew. It was going to stay that way. The morning of the reveal Tre and I got busy cooking. I made my secret recipe gumbo and Tre made his lip smacking barbecued ribs. I made a honey cake and a chocolate cake as well.
I've been stalling a bit, trying to build up the suspense. I suppose it's time to just come right out and say it. But first I wanted to say I was surprised that so many guests thought our baby was going to be a girl. Only Tre's mom and my friend Juniper thought it was going to be a boy. Well I guess the majority who guessed girl were in for a surprise.
So now for the big reveal, boy or girl? Isn't the suspense delicious?
Speaking of delicious how about this little buffet? Oh, and the four bottles of our best nectar set aside for this special occasion.
