Gen 8 Ch 11: Butterflies

Huxley had walked by this place more times than she could count, but she'd never taken notice of it until now. But today, all of a sudden, the display window demanded her undivided attention, bright colors shining against Appaloosa Plain's boring backdrop of browns and greens.

...Much like Amber herself.

Hux had been apprehensive about going in at first--had the business card and invitation been nothing more than politeness?--but when Amber greeted her with obvious delight, she was glad she had come. It had been a while since she'd talked to another adult and Amber seemed to have a way of making every conversation flow naturally. When Huxley mentioned that she was originally from Starlight Shores, Amber beamed.

"You're kidding! I love StaSho! I knew you had a big city feel about you. What made you move here?"

"Eh, it's a long story. I've thought about going back, but... well, to be honest, this place kind of grew on me. And now there's the kids, so..."

"Kids?" Amber's constant smile suddenly faded. At Huxley's questioning gaze, she shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, you just don't seem the type to be married."

Huxley scowled. "I'm not." Great, she had known this was going to come at some point. She was used to people judging her, especially now that she was a single mom. Normally she didn't care, but just this moment it had caught her off guard. But Amber smiled kindly, so Hux decided to elaborate. "I live with my parents and younger sister; she has a son and I have a little girl, Ivy. My sister's husband died and I'm... not married."

"Oh. I'm sorry about your sister's husband." There was a beat of silence. "I'd love to meet your daughter sometime."

"Uh, sure." Huxley was taken aback. "I was planning on taking the kids to the beach tomorrow--you could tag along. They can be a pain in the ass, so I could really use the help of another adult."

"It's a date," Amber smiled.

*

These early spring days didn't exactly bring beach weather yet, but Huxley had been craving some time in the sun.

Even though it wasn't warm enough to play in the water, the children seemed to enjoy themselves. They'd taken over an impressive sandcastle that another early beachgoer had left behind and were making up little stories with the toys they'd brought.

 Amber and Huxley sat on two recliners and watched the children play.

 But with two toddlers there was rarely a moment to relax. Just when Huxley glanced away for a second, Ivy had ripped Icarus' action figure from his hands and was now chewing on its head.

Huxley sighed and made her way over to interfere. She pulled the drooly action figure from Ivy's mouth, wiped it on her jeans and handed it back to Icarus. "She's teething," Hux called to Amber by way of explanation, then turned her attention back to Ivy. "Growing teeth sucks, huh? But what did we say about biting things?"

"Bite!" Ivy grinned.

Hux laughed. "Almost. Don't bite, Ivy. It's not nice."

"Otay mommy."

Huxley placed Ivy back on the sand, ruffled Icarus' hair and went to sit on the arm of her recliner. With these two, there was no point in lying back all the way--Hux would have to get up again soon enough.

"It must be tough, being a single mom," Amber observed.

Huxley shrugged. "People keep saying that, but really, I don't see how having a husband would help. It'd just complicate things, having different ideas of how to raise kids. Nah, I'm good."

Amber smiled. "Yes, you seem to be doing great. The children adore you."

Huxley laughed. "Well, I let them get away with murder sometimes, so the little brats better be thankful."

Before Huxley knew what was happening, Amber was beside her, an arm wrapped around Huxley's shoulder and pressing her body against hers.

"They're lucky to have you," Amber murmured, "You are an incredible woman."

When Amber leaned in for a kiss, Huxley did not resist.

With her ever watchful mother so distracted, Ivy seized her chance to decapitate her toy.

*

Huxley started spending a lot more time with Amber after that day.

She learned that Amber rented a small house at the edge of town...

...that all her clothes were brightly colored and smelled nice, even after Huxley burned pancakes while wearing them.

She also learned that Amber had a tiny birthmark, just below her right ear...

And a second butterfly tattoo...

... down on her hip.

*

The weeks went by and things were good. What Huxley admired most about Amber was her unwavering confidence and how she made everything seem so uncomplicated.

Be it afternoons spent in bed or playdates with the toddlers, Amber smoothly fit into any situation.

Everything was going well, until...

 "I have to say, when we first met, I couldn't believe that anyone would choose to live here over Starlight Shores. Any big city, actually. It took me a while, but I understand what you see in Appaloosa Plains now," Amber murmured between light kisses she scattered over Huxley's shoulder. "It's so different from Bridgeport. There's no culture, nothing exciting to do--"

"Wow, yeah, I can tell you really fell in love with this place."

Amber laughed. "Let me finish! What I was going to say is that... this place, it feels like a home. I never thought I'd say this, but I think I might be ready to settle down. And as luck would have it, I found a great house, and I've been thinking of buying."

"Oh? What's wrong with this place?"

"Well, first off, it's pretty small. It was never meant to be permanent. But now..." Amber paused to place another kiss on Huxley's shoulder. Longer this time, lingering. "I've been thinking I need something bigger. We need something bigger. The place I've been looking at has plenty of space... Ivy could have her own room, and there'd even be space for another..."

Huxley tensed and shifted slightly, but remained silent.

"Do you want to check the place out later?" Amber nudged, "The real estate agent said we could swing by anytime, so..."

At this, Huxley rapidly disentangled herself from Amber's arms. She sat up on the side of the bed to reach for the pocket of her jeans, which were lying on the floor. She pulled out her phone and stared at it.

"Oh crap, I've gotta go watch the kids," she lied.

"Hm? I thought your mother was watching them today."

"Yeah, but... something came up. I've got to go, sorry."

Amber moved to sit up "I'll come with you--"

"No! No, don't... Ivy has some kind of stomach bug. She's puking everywhere--it's really gross. You don't want to catch that." Huxley was hurriedly pulling on her clothes as she talked. "I'll call you."

And with that, Huxley was out the door.

She jumped on her bike and sped off, not knowing where she wanted to go. All she knew was that she needed to get away.

Why did people always have to make things complicated? Everything had been fine, and then Amber had to go and make it weird...

Huxley had never consciously thought about it, but in the back of her mind she'd taken comfort in knowing that what she had with Amber was purely temporary. Amber was going to go back to Bridgeport eventually. And now, all of the sudden, she wanted to move here? Buy a house? Have Huxley move in with her? Was thinking of more children?

Huxley gripped the handlebars tighter, digging her nails into the leather. How could Amber just assume that Huxley wanted any of that? Things like that never went well. Relationships always just fell apart, people got hurt... Her head was swimming, with rage, she thought, but there was an underlying note of fear...

Huxley needed to get her mind off of things.

She went for the first distraction she saw...

...and lost herself in it, just for a short while.

*

The next day, she ran into Amber on main street. After the way she had left the day before, Huxley expected Amber to rage, but instead there was only concern and confusion.

"I tried to call you last night, but I suppose you were busy with the children. How are they? Is Ivy better?"

Huxley scratched the back of her head and avoided Amber's gaze. "They're fine."

Amber's brows furrowed and she moved to stroke Huxley's arm. "Are you feeling alright? Did you catch that stomach bug? I know a great tea that might help--"

"Hello there, sweet cheeks." A slap on Huxley's behind took her by surprise and both she and Amber turned to gape at the man in the leather jacket. His grin grew wider. "Back for more? Maybe next time you can invite your friend here too."

Laughing, he walked off before either of the women was able to say a word.

The utter surprise on Amber's face was quickly replaced with suspicion. "What was that about?" she demanded.

"Nothing."

"Please don't insult my intelligence, Huxley. I'm not an idiot."

When Huxley did not reply, Amber slowly shook her head and a myriad of emotions ran across her face. "Don't tell me you... with that guy?"

"So what if I did," Huxley suddenly snapped, "I don't have to answer to you!"

The hurt on Amber's face was obvious, but any regret Huxley may have felt was erased by Amber's next words, "I don't believe it... Huxley, you cheated on me! The least you could do is own up to it!"

"Cheated," Huxley scoffed, "What, you think we're married already? What I do is none of your business! We never said we were exclusive. I don't belong to you!"

Amber looked taken aback, utter disbelief evident on her face. "I thought..." She cleared her throat, but her voice was shaky when she spoke, "We spend almost every day together. You sleep at my house more often than not. I've met your daughter, for plumbob's sake!"

"My daughter meets a hundred randos every day."

"'Randos'? Is that what I am to you?"

"No, of course not... it's just that..."

"We're not exclusive," Amber stated dryly.

"No."

"And this isn't going anywhere."

Huxley shrugged.

Amber bit her lip and shook her head. "I'm sorry, I... I wasn't trying to force anything on you. Being the crazy stalker girlfriend--sorry, 'rando'--is not my style. I just felt that... I thought we had something special, Hux. But I guess I was wrong." She blinked several times and then shook her head again. "I better leave. Goodbye, Huxley."

"Amber, wait," Hux began feebly, but Amber turned on her heel and walked away.

It was the last time Huxley would ever see her.

In the days to come, as it always was, Huxley regretted what her impulsivity had made her say and do, but it was too late.

Amber's house was empty and so was her shop.

As suddenly as Amber had popped into Huxley's life, she was gone again. And the worst part was...

Huxley sat on her bed, tears of frustration streaking her cheeks. "Why do I have to be so fucking fertile," she hissed.




__________

An entire chapter from Huxley's point of view, just because I thought it'd be something different :) Turns out it's not that different.

Anyway, Amber's butterfly tattoos are from Owly (and so is the feather on Huxley's arm.)
 
(This is my excessive planning biting me in the butt, by the way. I planned this story out ages ago, built the shop, made the sims, took all these staged pictures... and now that I've reached this part of the story, I'm not feeling it anymore. I've cut a lot of Hux and Amber's romance, but since Hux can't just get pregnant out of nowhere, I had to include it!)