CreMo goal met!


Jam-packed so let's get to it!





Rhett was not shy about broadcasting how Penny had turned him down cold.
He was more impressed by himself for asking in first place!

He didn't want to be married so it was kind of a relief. But he still wanted credit.
Rhett painted a picture for his friend, it got more elaborate the second or third time over.
"And there I was, down on bended knee mind you..."

Mary didn't want to interrupt but she couldn't help saying, "maybe the baby...?"

"What about her? Ain't that the whole point of gettin' married, it was for her and the baby I asked!"

"Not Una. The, um, the other one."

"That's right," Junior chimed in, "with two of them now," he emphasised with his fingers, "two babies and they're not both hers, it's a tough call."

Rhett should've pointed out that his position wasn't all that different, no matter what line he'd fed is wife. Lookin' at Mary, Candy must've
had that baby months ago, before Proxy was even born, but lookin' at Mary all he saw was Mary. He didn't think of that other stuff 'til later.

"Penny's a mother now," Mary said, "she only wants the best for her baby."

"And I ain't the best?"

"I, I didn't say that, Rhett."


Nah, it was okay. Maybe she's right? He didn't wanna settle down and come home to one wife every damn day.
But if it works for Junior more power to him.



"Kinda early for you, ain't it?"

"Got the afternoon off."

The boy didn't look worried but what did that signify? "Just you?"


"Don't worry. I'm still gettin' paid for the day. I asked when she called up."

Val didn't have time for suspicions, he saw where Rhett was coming in from
and he had to know, "How's everything goin' over there? Mary's happy?"


"Happy, sure. Junior's been keepin' her busy!" Rhett laughed. "Don't look like she'll be comin' to tend to us anymore.
Not no time soon, anyway. It's too bad cuz we sure could use a woman's touch around here, am-I-right, Pop!"

Val wasn't sure just how much Rhett knew or he woulda Pop-ped him for talking reckless. Smart ass.



Goldie overheard their conversation and the main thing that was bothering her, that she didn't understand was how
Rhett could still be friends with Junior. What about Candy? Goldie liked Mary—she loved Mary—but what about Candy?

"What about her? She ain't with Junior. So why should we hold it against him cuz she skipped?"

"But where else would she go? Isn't it his baby?"

"He don't want Mary and his mama to know but, yeah, could be. Or could be...anybody's. Big sis got a way of lookin' out for number one.
And worryin' about somebody when ain't nothin' wrong only makes you feel stupid. Nobody ever asked me but my money's on her sittin' her
fat ass on a crazy big pile o' cash, waitin' for some dumb ol' fart to kick off and leave it all to her and that kid she must've had by now."

Goldie wasn't so sure about the likelihood of Rhett's scenario but she knew there was a whole lot she didn't know.
Still, she felt the need to defend her sister the only way she could. "Candy's not fat."

"Details, kiddo."


~



School is going better for Goldie but she's still kinda short on friends.
She didn't go straight home today and she ran into the stray pooch again. He can be her friend!



David sneaks away from his job as often as he can, the money's okay but standing around seeing only old people or no people? No thanks.
He'd rather go explore around town, figured he'd run into Viola but she's not who he found! David had never paid much attention to Goldie.
How did that happen?



Widespot was supposedly a dry county when Valentine moved here.
He didn't touch a drop for the longest, lost the taste, but after the day he's had...well, he'll learn again.



David was so easy to talk to, it didn't take long for Goldie to open up and he quickly
realised there was a lot more to the shy girl who sat in the back of class all the time.

*Look at that happy face!*


She was even funny! Those stories she told...her family sounds like a riot.



Nobody's heard anything bad to do with the truckers and others passing through but Goldie was still under strict orders
not to be alone out this way after dark. She wasn't technically alone but she knew she should be getting home.

David volunteered to walk her.






She had no trouble getting Poochie to come along and her Pop had hinted that she could keep him.

"So this is your house then..."

"Oh, yeah, this is it. Thanks for..." she got flustered, she didn't know what to say. Thanks for walking her? Thanks for talking to her?


"Anytime. See you later, Goldie," he said, giving her a friendly peck on the cheek.

Goldie turned to hurry inside when he walked away, she knew it wasn't a big deal but she felt flushed all over, she didn't want anyone to see.
Unfortunately, her pooch pal didn't follow, she opened the door and tried to call him in and he took off running. Maybe he'd rather go with David?



Expecting snow, Valentine? (Not very likely during this round.)
Perhaps he was checking for secret signals from Lana's bedroom window (or from someone else who lives in that house).



Goldie didn't want to let her grades slip again, her Pop didn't nag her about it but she didn't ever want to disappoint him.

Rhett had his favourite picture in his room but Goldie wasn't sure what to do with Candy yet.
She'd started sifting through them for a kinda Candy collage but it wasn't finished, it needed something.


She went out walking around looking inspiration, interesting scenes to capture with Ma's old camera Pop gave her.


David was running an errand to the post office for his own mom. It's only a hop-skip, (that's their new house back there)
she coulda sent Sharla, but she gets distracted too easy. Might actually find some way to come back with magic beans.


Not that David wasn't distractable. When he saw Goldie again that was the end of his errand.

"You wanna hang out for a while? Maybe take a walk with me?"


Their walk ended up at the Makeout Spot. (Because where else would they go?)



David was loads of fun to be around. Kinda touchy-feely...but she didn't mind.



He was also willing to strike a pose the second she suggested it, no shyness about him but he wasn't overwhelming either, he was great.

Penny thought it was great, too, that Goldie was out having fun. And with her future step-nephew as she liked to joke. She gave David the
thumbs-up, he could do a lot worse. But so could Goldie. Penny saw the bond he and Dora had, he was a good kid. She left them to it.



Autonomous cleaning, Rhett? Whatever could be the occasion?

*I find it hilarious that he only does this when his baby mamas are around or expected.*


Valentine saw to the door while Rhett was busy.

He was polite, of course, but not very—not very charming. Sandy had never considered what he must think of her! She presumed on his reputation but, yes,
Rhett is his son. And she and Proxima were a complication he didn't need, was too young to handle...well, and she was old enough to have known better.


'What are we doing here, Proxy?'



"Thanks Pop," Rhett said when Val passed by him to (autonomously!) take out the trash.

"Your guests are here," he told him.



"I like you a lot, Goldie. I was just wonderin' if—"


Yes, she liked him, too.



Dixie and Scot weren't getting along great, ever since right before Mary's wedding when they disagreed about inappropriate
behaviour for girls. It only got worse the next time they talked. They were fine with friends or their parents as a buffer
but for the first time ever Dixie really thought her brother was a moron. So she took to spending more time with the other one.


"What the—!" (River followed in silence. Dixie was full of surprises. Sometimes the only thing to do was watch.)









Heels, what heels? Dixie had, had lunged at her! If David hadn't jumped in and caught her...(Feets don't fail me now!) Goldie didn't have time for
sidewalks either, she identified a direct line to her house and she made a run for it, hurdling tree stumps as she went if they got in her way to safety.



She took care to calm herself before she walked through the door, though. Couldn't let Rhett or Pop get wind of
anything wrong. They were too overprotective as it was. But there was another surprise in store for her. A good one.



She was drawn magnetically to the baby. "Can I hold her?" she asked Sandy who handed her over.

"Name's Proxy," Rhett chimed in as he played proud papa...but she already knew that, he told them when Proxy was first born.



Goldie was over at the Weiss house for school everyday so she got to see Una more than any of 'em
but this is the first time Val saw her interacting with a baby. Clearly, she was already smitten.



"Now then. Let's have a look at you."
He wasn't sure if there was any hope for that button-nose but she was a Hart, name and all, and there it was.





This was not a good time to talk, not with Sandy over the house.

"Hey Ma," Rhett whispered, "look what I did!"



David didn't put Dixie down until he was sure Goldie was in the clear. That brother of hers
wasn't much help when she was kneeing and kicking at him to get down, that's for sure.
(In River's defense, he's bigger now but not that big yet, he didn't know what to do but stand around looking confused.)

But Dixie didn't chase after Goldie so what was the problem, why was he still followin' them?

"Why are you so angry? I don't want you to be mad at me."

"You're fickle as fuck. And shal-low."

"How am I shallow?

"Uh, can you say Goldie Hart. Goldie Hart. And, oh yeah, Goldie Hart."

(River discreetly left them to it.)

"See. I knew it. It's not me that you like, it's her you don't like."

"Nope.

"Okay. But I do. A lot, actually. Does that have to be a problem?"

"Whatever dude. Like I can't tell what you like so much about her."

"She's funny and nice and pretty—"

"And she's a Hart, don't forget that part."

"I don't even know what that means."

But Dixie didn't wanna get into it. She let the silence shift the tension but then she broke it, saying, "Hey, I'm nice!"

"Oh, you're the nicest, Dix...I think I'm gonna have bruises from your damn boots."

They both laughed at that.
"So...yo, there's a pig on the sidewalk. Can I just point that out for a minute—how weird is that?"

"It's fine."

"But shouldn't it be fenced up or something?"

"Don't worry about the freakin' pig, all right. This is Widespot. It's fine."

"If you say so. Man, Sharla would be all over that thing if she saw it. You'd never get your pig back."

"Who said it was my pig?"

"Nobody, I guess, but there's like three more right there by your house. See."

Dixie sighed. "Why don't you go chase after your new girl then? You won't have to see this kinda thing on that side o' town."



Junior strolled by, heading home, but he paused when he saw his sister-in-law goin' in on that poor kid.

"Everything okay here, Dixie?"

"Yeah, Junior. We're fine." Dixie didn't think she was wrong about him and Mary—and she wasn't gonna admit it if she
was cuz Scot was more wrong—but she didn't really warm to him like she thought she would since they been married.

"Jus' checkin'. You know this pig on the sidewalk, kinda in the way. You might wanna—"

Dixie stormed off. Why was everybody going on about the dang pig?
Just cuz her name was Land did not mean she knew what to do about the pig!

Are we cool?" David called after her.

"Yeah!" she shouted back. It sounded kinda very angry but he'll take it.




Warmed over spaghetti is still the best meal Sandy's had in a long time. She couldn't waste money on luxuries like
butter, she realised. She had to learn to save, for her and Proxy's future, and since she wasn't pregnant anymore and nursing
didn't work out for her, she could stint herself sometimes if it meant a few more simoleons for the 'get out of purgatory' tin.



Shortly after dinner Sandy collected Proxy and got ready to go.

"You sure you don't wanna, I don't know, stay the night or somethin'?"

"Positive. We've got to go home."


But, baby, it's cold outside.


Goldie heard a scratching at the door.

"Poochie! You cold, boy? Come on in, poor baby."


"Goldie."



"What are you doin' here?"

"I wanted to see if you're okay. I fixed things up with Dixie—"


"What do you mean? How do you fix cheating on her? You didn't fix it with me. You didn't tell me you were goin' out with her."

"I'm not."

"She already didn't like me and now she hates me! And Scot's prolly gonna hate me now. And Virgie!"

(The woes of an unpopular popularity sim. He wouldn't understand. Goldie's big want was and is to be friends with Virginia.)

"It's not like that. And nobody hates you."

"You didn't see her face. And you're not the one who had to run away! She wasn't after you."

"Okay. But to be honest, Goldie, I'm pretty sure you could take her," he said,
"If you had to...You know...Sorry. Guess that's not what you want to hear."

"No. I think you should go."




"Look, Poochie came back. It's so cold out there—can he stay?"

"The dog, yes. But that boy you're gonna have to send back to whoever he belongs to."

"Pop."
She didn't think he overheard but she felt like that's kinda what she did already. Sent David away. Back to Dixie maybe.

"Who is he anyway?"

"Um. David Ottomas."

"Ottomas? Right. Well, we don't need no more strays sniffin' 'round here. I mean it,
Goldie. No company. And get the dog here a real name. Poochie ain't gonna cut it."



What a long day for Goldie! She found a boy and lost him.
And the dog she lost the other day was found again...

~


*Daytona left the sound system, a proper woohoo thank you, which was promptly sold because they already have one.
David left the flamingo for Goldie, which somehow seems like a really cute gift so she's keeping it.*

~


In the morning, Goldie found and designated a place for her bird. She liked pink and she liked animals.
It was exotic and, well, weird and it made her heart beat faster thinking about what it might mean.



"Whoa. Guess we got a dog."



"What's your name, buddy?"

"Ain't got one yet." Val said, heading for the stairs. Bonding with the dog wasn't on his agenda.
But it was still better than that old cat Candy had. Prettiest little thing but mean.



"Lana? No, no, don't think I'll be able to swing that today...Little busy that's all," Valentine lied, "How 'bout I give
you a call later, hun...Now that does sound—but another time...Oh no, I definitely won't forget. All right now. Bye-bye."

Like hell! Never again.



Mary used to keep their fridge stocked with all sorts of good stuff but they were running on empty now and, while
Goldie didn't mind picking up the slack, she was definitely not going out to the Lands' with Dixie there!



Goldie's resolve not to see him was pretty much gone once she picked up the flamingo with the 'For Goldie' note
on it this morning but there was still the little fact that Dixie had tried to attack her, that couldn't be all for nothing.

She paid for her things and tried to leave without saying anything. Like David was going to let that happen.

"Goldie, wait."

This was awkward, she had to go. But today her legs wouldn't move.

"Poochie! Come on, boy. Now where'd he get to. Oh, hi," she said.

"Did you get my gift? I had a really good time with you yesterday. Even though we didn't get to, uh, finish."

"The flamingo? Yeah, it's...it's pretty and, um, well, it's really unique.
And it matches my room. I like it a lot—do you have any dog food?"


"Not here. But we've got some at the house. Our critturs won't touch it."

"You have dogs?"

"We do now. You want the food? Let's go get it."

"But you've got customers."

"What's two minutes? I live right there across the street. Come on," he said, eager to get her alone now that he had the chance.

But Goldie stood firm, she couldn't let him leave with these people here. Plus if his dogs were big they might be mean to Poochie.

"There you are, boy!"

It started to snow and David got the bright idea that was enough excuse for him to close up.


Then Gran showed up! Even better. He could get her to watch the shop while he ran to the house with Goldie for a minute.

"It's for the dog," he said, "she needs food for him. And Danny and Sarah won't eat it."
David knew Gran would understand!



"Here boy, wanna biscuit? It's bacon-flavoured," he said to Goldie, "and the dog chow is Grade A stuff, they just won't touch it."

*If I'd had my wits about me I'd have put them back in their outerwear here. Oh well.*


With the Poochie pretence out of the way, David started in on what he really
wanted to get Goldie alone for...and then his mom walked in. Great.

"Hey Mom. This is Goldie. Goldie, that's my mom. And Jim."

"What a pretty name that is. Goldie," Samantha said, thinking like a third-trimester pregnant mother of three boys and two girls.
Goldie Ottomas. Lovely. "I'll be getting out of your way," she said, taking a hint from her son, "It was very nice to meet you, Goldie."

"You, too, Mrs. Ottomas." Goldie's voice quavered a bit with new people.
She turned back to David. "I didn't know you had another little brother."

"And another little sister, too. They're twins. Mom!"

"I'm going, I'm going." Sam didn't mean to linger, it's only that she never
saw him so worked up over one of his girlfriends before. So precious!



"And there's another one on the way!"

"Goldie—"

"What's the other twin's name?"

"Tammy-Faye. Goldie, I was—"

"It must be nice to have such a big family around."

"Sure, it's nice. Most of the time. But I don't wanna talk about my family," David said, "I wanna talk about you."


He grabbed her hands. "Look, I know what you said but you gotta believe—it's nothin' with
me and Dixie—we're just friends. She's not my girlfriend...I want you to be my girlfriend."

"Really?"





*And thus a true triple-bolt couple-dom was clumsily begun.*

~



Damn dog!




"You know how much that chair cost? You keep your paws and those chompers off the furniture, y'hear!"


Poochie took refuge with his ball and his Goldie.

(Nope, he never did get a real name.)



Time for another Hart to Hart with Rhett and his Pop.

"But you said—"

"I know what I said."

"And you were right. I don't want no wife."

"What the—didn't you just go poppin' the question to Penny?"

"That was different. She was mad at me."

Damn it, Rhett. "Okay then, look at it this way. She don't need you. But that other one does.
And you can't afford 'em both—well, I can't afford 'em both. You can't afford neither one of 'em."

"So you're serious?"

"As a heart attack. You didn't tell me she was in such a bad way. But that baby is my blood and I ain't gonna
let her live like that. If you don't go get 'em, I will. But, I'm tellin' you now, if I do it she'll never respect you."



Valentine gave him a day to think it over, this was gonna change the boy's life, all their lives. He couldn't blame him
for draggin' his feet. Couldn't' blame him for wantin' to get out of the house and whoop it up while he could either.



"Come on if you're comin'."



Rhett has been trying to convince him to take him on at The Dugout but that won't help their bottom-line none.
It didn't half cover his baby-making expenses but at least workin' for Daytona enabled him to make some
kinda contribution. And Val sure as hell didn't need him underfoot 24/7. Still, he agreed to let him tag along tonight.







Rhett was on bar, yakkin' it up with Ottomas and his wife when Val spotted him and came over.

"You're Valentine Hart! Man, I am your biggest fan!"

"That right? Well, it's always nice to meet a fan. I been retired quite some time now."

"You're a legend. I covered your Hall of Fame induction. I was a sports journalist for The Times, once upon a whenever. Man. Valentine Hart! When my
ma told me you were in Widespot I didn't half believe her. And then when I found out you ran this place, I had to come check it out with the missus."

"That your wife there? Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Ottomas," Val said, stepping over to Samantha, "My son here makes a mean virgin piña colada if you're so inclined."

"Why, thank you. I think I will. What do you think, Pete?"

"Oh, yeah, honey, sure. If you want."

"So tell me, what do you think, Pete? Of The Dugout, I mean. We're startin' to generate some buzz and with spring around the corner I might need some
help once we open up the gift shop and the party deck upstairs if the tourists start flockin' in like a friend o' mine is predictin'. It ain't journalism but..."

"Say the word and I'm your guy!"


*Okay, so he won't hire Rhett but he might hire Peter.*


*Here's one reason why walking in now...Rhett's the other.*

Val swaggered over to Daytona, not a little smug about setting up the steal of her MVP.
It wasn't any of his business or anything what she got up to on her own time...but still.

Daytona, however, was convinced it was her business what he did and who with. She came out tonight to stake her claim,
on the lookout for Lana Mann. She didn't concern herself with Peter or anybody else, if she even noticed him (with his wife).



When they got back to hers, she blind-sided him in her bedroom.


"Oh, you're gonna get it now."

"Wait, wait, wait, Mr. World-class Athlete. You're gonna hafta be gentle—Ha-ha! Sucker. Take that!"

They went on for quite a few rounds with the pillows, there was a lot of unspoken stuff they had to resolve.
(And why talk when you can hit and it doesn't even hurt.)


After the play-fighting, Valentine grabbed her up in his arms.
"You know how I feel about you, don't you? Time's too precious to waste sweating the distractions."
(In other words, the other folks in their beds.)


She was too exhausted to finish what they started but for the first time ever Valentine settled in to stay the night.
It just so happens to be also the first time ever they were together and no woohoo. But this is nice, him and Daytona.



Valentine eased out of bed early the next morning. There were kids in this house he didn't
fancy runnin' into and his own kid to get home to. "Day, hun, wake up. I got to go now."



Rhett gave some thought to what his Pop said and he was right. He went to see Sandy before work.

"Eyes up here, remember."

"Yeah, nah, it just...looks like they shrank or somethin' since the baby."

"Rhett!"

"Nah, it's nothing bad, I love my buddies, it's just the baby days were—"

"Rhett. Focus. Eye contact. Not ogling. We talked about this."



"Hello."

"Hello back at ya. You look good from every angle, all's I'm sayin'. Nobody sexy and classy as you
should be livin' in this dump. Definitely not with my kid. So whaddya say we get y'all moved in with us?"

"Are you sure? What about your father?"

Pop told him he'd look better if he did this on his own so Rhett took his advice
and didn't let his Pop be brought into it by her either. "I'm sure," he said.


It wasn't the best proposal she's ever gotten but it was a decent proposition.

"What do you think, Proxy? I know it was my idea at first but is it a good one? Should we go?"



"Rhett! Did you steal the tweezers?" Sharing a bathroom with siblings was probably not ideal but Goldie never knew any
different. He was always picking stuff up and not putting it back where he got it, that's why Candy hoarded her things. "Rhett?"

He wasn't in. She checked. Goldie was always hesitant about knocking on Pop's
door, just in case...stuff, but she did and he wasn't in either. She was all alone.


Ah, but she wasn't all alone, there was Poochie! She's gonna hafta leave him alone, though, gotta get to school.

"No time for breakfast, Poochie, don't tell Pop. But you go on and eat up, that's a good boy."


Her boyfriend was waiting to walk her to school.

*Good thing he lives on "this" side of town now. When he lived on the same block as Woody and Dixie would he have walked all the
way over here every morning just to walk back? Funny to think of his girl preference as being a function of location, location, location.*



"So, uh, here we are. There's Goldie's room and Candy's room behind you and, uh, my room."



"Thanks," Sandy said, heading off for the vacant room.



Rhett carried in Proxima's sleeper...thing and Sandy got settled in.
He was relieved she chose Candy's room but surprised.

"I'm late for work so, uh, I gotta get going. You gonna be okay?"

"Of course we will."



"Good morning," Val said, coming in from his night with Daytona.

"Good morning," she repeated sheepishly.

Well, wasn't this gonna be awkward as hell.

~





This is quite a Goldie-centric update, mostly because layering the Beeches and Harts meant I couldn't very well show any Goldie/David in Part 1 before David/Dixie/Virgie/Scot in their Part 2 because it did happen afterward; once David noticed Goldie that was it, totally infatuated. It was always my intention to hook them up but I wasn't expecting instant triple bolts, this means regardless of what happens this relationship will stick with them, no forgettable teen fling here. That kind of chemistry will force Goldie to confront the Hart side of her personality and David's instinct to protect her is interesting, his dedication means he'll have to reckon with just how much he's his father's and his mother's son. And, yes, I surely did plop the Critturs in with the Ottomi, as if they weren't chaotic enough!

Dixie's outburst...I could not help myself ;-) With all the running Goldie does with her Pop, though, even without David holding her back, there's no way Dixie could've caught her. Dix is mostly mellow but impetuous and she does not like Goldie, period. It's that thing where she interprets her shyness as snobbishness. She doesn't like Woody either but, as a boy, she reads him differently. His personality + aspiration inspire him to try, and keep missing, so she writes him off as a weirdo. (Of course, having grown up with her always, Mary is just Mary.) But Dixie is pretty easy-going so with the heat of the moment passed, I doubt she'll try to attack Goldie again. Yet she is determined not to like her. For the later scene, well, okay the pig convo is kind of non sequitur. But not entirely. That's where it was and if you 'move objects' them they disappear, until they get good and ready to pop back again, if they do. So there was a pig in the road. It had to be acknowledged! :-D

Sandy's moving in I didn't decide until I played the Harts, that big empty room was bugging me and all my ideas to fill it would be wasted at this point in the story. And once Val met Proxy and realised how they were living he wouldn't be able to hold out. Also, Sandy being romance secondary sort of belongs here, the drama potential is ramped up and, financially, it is actually 'cheaper to keep her'.

The tension-relieving activity alluded to in the last update with Daytona/Val was the pillow-fight, no other activities that night. And as for Rhett's asking who had the baby since Sandy was out and about, it wasn't a question but an accusation. Val had the baby. And he'd had her all day while Sandy was out enjoying her freedom. It's not often he gets the chance so Rhett got up on his high horse about it.

While Val may be off-screen a bit, clearly he's been up to stuff (the Lana convo); Rhett is more what you see is what you get, as far as this update goes. Thanks for reading!