Gen 4 Ch 7: Expectations

Trent was very useful to have around the house.

And having some company while exercising was quite nice.

Trent often coaxed Dolores away from her work, and to be honest, she didn't really mind.

It must be the hormones, she reasoned.

Yes, hormones. Definitely.

Wait, but this feeling was different... a contraction!

And so the triplets were born! First off, Eric.

Then Emily.

And finally, Esteban. Decidedly Dolores' favorite.

 Dolores' first action as a new mother? A ride on Dancer, of course!
Hey, Trent had said that he wanted to help.

 Freedom. Dolores would never give it up.

Nor would she ever give up having a slamming body!

 As hoped, becoming a mother made the boss take an interest in Dolores. Audra Williams placed importance on family, the only people you could ever really trust in their line of work. Inwardly, Dolores laughed at the woman's naiveté. Trust. It had been the downfall of Big B, and it would be Audra's as well.

 Dolores was even around for the birth Malika Williams' newest child. She was getting in good with the Williams sisters.

As summer drew close, Dolores redecorated the house. In moments between caring for the triplets, Trent picked up the study of martial arts.

As the temperatures rose, Dancer's mood brightened considerably. She revealed more of her own plans to Dolores. Not that she couldn't have guessed it herself, but now that she had mastered every aspect of mechanical engineering, Dolores was instructed to focus her studies on meteorology.

The end result of Dancer's plans was still not quite clear to Dolores, but she could tell that their goals led down the same road. A road towards power. And that was good enough for her.

The triplets were about to age into toddlers and as per tradition, the family was invited.

 Emily grew to look a lot like Trent, but the shape of her eyes and cheekbones was Dolores'.

Eric had Trent's eyes and Dolores' hair.

And Esteban had Trent's dark hair and Dolores' eye color, a remnant from Clover's youth as a PlantSim. But Esteban had so much more of Dolores in him than just the eye color. She could feel it. Yes, he was definitely her favorite, and Dolores made no secret of that.

If things were running smoothly at home, it was even better at work. Audra Williams was in the process of building an all-female criminal enterprise. Men were allowed in, of course, but their tasks usually consisted of lower-level grunt work. The women were the true masterminds, led by Audra herself, under whose direction the Organization was thriving like it never had before. Being a criminal in Hidden Springs had never been more profitable.

Dolores fit right in - all she needed was to keep up the appearance of a devoted mother to continue building rapport with Audra.

As much as Dolores loved having her body to herself again and being able to go for long rides with Dancer, she knew she had to make one more sacrifice.

If only you had spread out those brats of yours more, instead of having them all at once. Then we wouldn't have this dilemma.
"Hey now, it's not like I had any choice in the matter!"

Dancer was right, of course. But what could Dolores do? It felt like Audra Williams placed a particular emphasis on the state of being pregnant for female bonding, judging by how often her and her sister Malika did just that. Dolores just couldn't help that her first three children had all been bundled into a single pregnancy. What a waste, really.

But there was no way around it. At least the act of bringing on the next pregnancy would be enjoyable.

Another stretch of time without being able to ride Dancer.

On Leisure Day, it felt obligatory to host a pool party to invite the family and of course, the boss.

As usual, both Williams sisters were expecting again, and the baby bump worked as intended. Malika inspected it with great enthusiasm.

As did Audra. She too was expecting baby number... who the hell was keeping count anymore?! No one, that's who!
Anyway, she was pregnant as well. Not as far along as Dolores or Malika, but the bonding worked just as well. Dolores was delighted.

Getting to see the extended family was nice too, Dolores supposed. Her half-brother Diamond had grown into a teen and Broccoli's son Sedrick whipped out his guitar, as usual.

After serving up an obscene amount of grilled goods, Trent took a dip in the pool...

... and thus got the pool party started! It was a great success.