Gen 2 Ch 12: Moments

The following days were a blur.

It felt as if Bloom could hardly close his eyes before one of the babies would wake him again with a pitiful wail. Did they know that their mother had abandoned them?

Bloom did his best to give them everything they needed. He could not bring himself to get rid of Matilda's guitar, even if it was a constant painful reminder of his own stupid rash actions...

But somehow, even though he knew he had been wrong to just assume that Matilda wanted children, he could not regret the decision to plant the seeds. He loved the little sprouts with all his heart and he could not imagine life without them anymore. Cypress, Citrus and their sister Clover meant the world to Bloom.

Still, being without Matilda felt like a piece of himself was missing.

He lost count of how many times he tried to call her. She never picked up.

On those rare occasions when all three babies were quiet, Bloom would drop into a cold, empty bed. Matilda's side remained unmade, just the way she had left it. Bloom did not dare touch it. He did not want to remove the last sign of her having been here.

Even when it was quiet for once, he wasn't able to sleep. His moments of rest were spent in a haze, somewhere between wakefulness and dreaming. Of course, all his thoughts circled around Matilda.

Was she still in Bridgeport?

Where could she have gone to?

What was she doing now?

But every time, an ear-splitting cry from the room next door would tear Bloom from his half-dreams.

One day melted into the next, as Bloom lost all sense of time between wailing babies and restless nights. He took unpaid time off from work and extended it several times.

Bloom had been so consumed with taking care of the infants, that he had not told his family what had happened at all. They must have gotten very worried, because one day Arthur stood in front of Bloom's door, with his siblings and their families in tow.

They had come all the way from Twinbrook to check up on him and meet the babies for the first time.

Bloom was about to ask how they had known, but when Broccoli and Aria's son pulled out his phone and took a picture, it all became clear. Of course, being as famous as Bloom was, every little piece of information somehow made its way into the news. Bloom found out that there had even been false accusations going on about him having gotten into a fight. But the scandal came and went, without Bloom leaving the apartment even once.

Sedrick was so nervous and shy to meet his famous uncle for the first time, but Bloom got him out of his shell quickly by pulling a silly face. Aria and Beryllium watched them happily. Beryl was pregnant with her and Bismuth's second child - they had left their infant daughter Ginny back home with a babysitter.

Video games had always been about bonding in the Wyman household.

Soon they were interrupted by the sounds of a crying baby upstairs. All three had been sleeping before and the visitors had decided not to disturb them. But now it was time for everyone to meet the babies. Bismuth seemed to be the most excited of all!

Bismuth was really good with the babies! He managed to calm them down instantly. If he was being perfectly honest, Bloom had still been weirded out by the fact that his brother and sister were married and had children, but now he was starting to see things a little differently. Good for them, he thought. They seemed so genuinely happy together.

They all fussed over the babies for a while, but when they fell asleep, it was back to the games. All too soon, it was time for Bloom's family to head back home.

"I know things must be difficult for you now. Losing your mother was the most painful thing that ever happened to me, but at least I had her for years and we raised all of you together. But you... Oh my dear son, you have grown so much from the little sprout you once were. In so many ways. You are so strong. You can do this. But know that we will always be there for you. Just give us a call!"

The next day, Bloom received a call rather than making one. Arthur had passed away soon after returning home to Twinbrook.

Bloom hired a babysitter and was off to Twinbrook to be with his siblings. It worried him to leave the babies alone for the first time since the day they were harvested. He hadn't dared to leave them out of his sight since then, but this was a trip he had to make.

This time there was no Matilda to wipe his tears away, which made it all hurt even more.

It was a relief to see that the babies all seemed alright when he arrived back home.

Even though Arthur had been living far away, knowing that his father was gone made Bloom feel more lonely than ever.

In the rare moments when the babies weren't demanding his full attention, Bloom often burst into tears.

His father's advice had helped Bloom so many times. He felt so lost knowing that Arthur wouldn't be around anymore.

The bright little faces of Citrus, Cypress and Clover did always managed to cheer him up though. It helped that they constantly demanded attention and took his mind off of his otherwise gloomy thoughts.

Cypress looked just like Bloom as a toddler.

Citrus looked a lot more like his mother.

But little Clover reminded Bloom of Matilda most of all. She even showed a great interest in her mother's old guitar and could often be seen grabbing for it before Bloom managed to pull her away.

They were all growing so quickly! When they became toddlers and needed much more space to crawl and waddle around, Bloom moved their cribs downstairs into the living area. All three of them loved being outside, regardless of the weather or time of day.

After a while, Bloom started going back to work and entrusting his children to the babysitter for a couple of hours each day.

Bloom wasn't sure if it was meant as a revenge for his long absence, but he was asked to promote Simtendo's new game in various clubs around town. HOT_DOGS was an action-adventure about a vigilante using tofu sausages to obtain people's personal information. Bloom didn't mind. It actually felt good to be out and about again, even if it was in this ridiculous get-up!

Bloom even started painting again! He decided to paint a picture of his three little children, playing outside among the potted plants, as they loved to do. They were growing so quickly and Bloom wanted to capture this moment in time, maybe hoping in the back of his mind to show Matilda what she had missed when she came back. She had to come back.

When the children's birthday rolled around, Bloom tried once again to reach Matilda. He only reached her voicemail.

"Um, hi Matilda. It's me. Today is our chil-- uhm... It's Citrus', Cypress' and Clover's birthday today. We're having a little party at the apartment. I... I'd love for you to come, Matilda."

One of these days it would have to work...

It was great to see his everyone again, even though Kaitlin and Arthur were still sorely missed. Broccoli and Aria's son Sedrick was a teenager now. Beryl and Bismuth had left their little Ginny and the new baby boy Tyree at home with a babysitter.

Bloom couldn't wait to meet his niece and nephew for the first time, but today was all about his own little toddlers! Clover impressed everyone with her mastery of the Xylophone. It had become her favorite toy once she had accepted that Bloom would not let her have the guitar upstairs.

When she blew out her candles and aged into a child, Clover sprouted a little blue flower on top of her head. Bloom couldn't help but think about his mother Kaitlin - oh, how she would have loved to see this and record it for her research! She had only ever known male PlantSims, so her granddaughter Clover would have been a delight to her.

Next up was Cypress.

And finally it was Citrus' turn, with Clover and Cypress cheering him on.

Clover was a very friendly girl, happily striking up conversations with everyone, including her cousin Sedrick. Citrus was extremely excited to receive his birthday gift - his very own camera!

In the hopes of helping his children with making friends, Bloom had invited the only child their age he knew. Darwin was the son of Hannah Smyth, whose aunt Katrina Pala had died in the tragic meteor strike. His father was the former teen star Lil Bling, but according to Hannah he had never helped with his son's upbringing.

Clover and Darwin hit it off immediately! Bloom was glad to see that his children did not seem to have any problems with shyness the way Bloom had had.