Chapter 17.5 – October 2023 – A good night for Kathrine..

Kathrine was in Mortens bedroom just about to read him a bedtime story when the back pains hit again. She hadn't felt any contractions yet, but was pretty sure it would start soon. This was almost the exact same experience she had when she gave birth to Morten some 13 years earlier..

She still soldiered through the pain to read for him and do her best to enjoy this moment, because she knew that soon he would probably stop asking her to read for him.. She gave him a kiss on the forehead as usual when he had fallen asleep, and went back to her husband to do her best to get a good nights sleep too..

She crawls into bed with her back still aching to lie down with her face towards the ceiling to fall asleep next to the sound of her husband being somewhere out in the forest sawing logs to be used to heat the house for the upcoming winter..

..and as usual this is where we say good night, which also makes this the shortest chapter of all chapters, so.. I hope you enjoyed it.

Until next time.. ;)

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No, of course not! Kathrine doesn't get much sleep, because shortly thereafter she wakes up to an intense pain in her stomach region.. Her groans are so loud they even manage to wake up the lumberjack sleeping next to her and send him into a state of panic as he jolts out of the room to freak out in the hallway..

Jonathan gets a little immobilized there for a while, but Kathrine knows what to do, she has done this twice before already.... She waits for the moment where the pains ease of for a bit, before she calmly walks her way down the stairs and out to the garage to drive herself to the hospital..

On her way there she thinks it's a good thing she has worked so hard to keep her body in shape, or the pains might have been worse.. they are definately noticeable, but she has felt worse.. when Ingrid was born, it was quite a different story. She was much younger than, only two years older than Ingrid is now.. and here she is again going to the hospital... When she was young, she only wanted two children and that was it, but.. that changed after Ingrid moved out...
She feared it wasn't going to work.. this time, but she was happy when the tests could finally confirm that she was pregnant.. once again after all these years..

Jonathan finally stops freaking out to pull his act together and rush to the hospital in his fast expensive car to join his wife as she delivers her third baby..

It takes a long time this time, an excruciatingly long time if you would ask Jonathan, but finally in the early hours of the morning they can leave the hospital again as proud 'new' parents of a baby girl... The name was already chosen, and she was to be called Caroline. She wasn't named after anyone in particular, it was just a name that had come to Jonathan one day when he was working in the garden after ultrasound had revealed it was a girl.. Caroline. Her name was Caroline, it just felt as obvious as plants needing water and fertilizer to grow..

 

Exhausted, but happy they went back home to put Caroline in her crib. It was the same crib that both Ingrid and Morten had slept in when they were babies.. Kathrine was happy now that they hadn't thrown it out yet.. she thought it was as if she knew that it would be useful again one day.. and she was right..

 

Morten wasn't usually a night owl or one that would prefer to be awake during the small hours of the day, but had already been up for a while playing computer games by the time they came home..

..and of course, it is as it usually is when you're the parent of a small one. They tried to get some sleep afterwards, but it didn't take long for Caroline to wake them up again because she was in need of being fed and a little but of attention from either mommy or daddy..

Jonathan and Kathrine was probably going to spend a good portion of the day catching up on sleep in between making sure that Carolines needs were all met.. They say that being a parent is comparable to being in combat, down in the trenches among the mud and the rain.. You have to be a good soldier and sleep whenever or whereever you can, yet always be ready to take action at a short moments notice once you hear the wailing sound of incoming artillery.. but then again, it's not really.. or maybe it is just a little bit..

For most everyone else though, this would be just another normal day of going to either school or work, and the most alarming sound that Morten would hear today would be the school bus honking for him to get ready and go outside..

 

George and Amena was also well on their way, and since this was such a fine morning weatherwise (for once), they had chosen to enjoy some fresh air on their way by either biking or walking.. Indeed this was a fine day, no air raid sirens or sounds of incoming artillery.. Some people actually know what that sounds like..

 

After a while of walking down the road to enjoy the clean, fresh and free air Amena realizes it's going to take to long to get to work this way and stops by the sidewalk to put on her uniform and fetch her car out of her backpocket to drive the last stretch to the police station.. because, of course she does...

Those that don't have to go to work, or sleep in while caring for a baby, are lucky to be able to go out and enjoy this fine October day..

 

It takes a while for people to show up at the park and the ongoing autumn festival, but eventually people show up to go for a stroll with their toddlers, have fun with apple eating contests or if they are daring enough – go for a few rounds in the ghost house..

Helene once again tries to teach Anton that ghosts aren't really all that scary by showing him the ghost house.. They are quite used to hearing the ghosts at night, as they do live right next to the graveyard and mauseleum downtown after all.. ;)

 

Later in the afternoon – in between caring for the baby – Kathrine and Jonathan had gotten enough rest and retreated down to the kitchen to flirt for a while, before Jonathan shared some about his latest research project from his job at the Landgraab facility with her, which involved bugs, microscopes and nuclear radition...

Amena was done with her workday at the police station, and the kids had just come home from school. George, being the good boy that he is, had sat down to do his homework immediately when he came home. Or maybe it was because Amena had instilled in him the idea that he had to always finish his work before he could play if he wanted to amount to something in life.. You may think that sounds strict, but Amena only had her nephews best interest in my mind.

 

Morten was allowed to roam free a little more.. Not because his parents didn't care about his academic performance, they certainly did, it was more because they knew him and trusted him to be able to finish his homework at one point during the day without them explicitly demanding it of him..

However, playing alone on the seesaw wasn't excactly working, so he called up his best friend that was his age, which just happened to be George. Though George hadn't finished his homework, Amena allowed him to visit his friend, and he promised her that he would finish it while he was there instead.

With George out of the house visiting his friend, Amena didn't want to sit there alone being bored, so she got in her car and drove to the Amundsen and co. Cartoon Store and nerd hangout to.. umm, hang out and play some arcade games.

Kathrine had noticed her son being alone in the garden and had gone outside to play with him on the seesaw while he was waiting for George to arrive.

When George came to visit he was very fascinated by Kathrines medical career and asked her plenty of questions about it. George didn't yet know what he wanted to be when he became an adult.. or maybe he wanted to be an author, since he was so fascinated by books..

 

He had heard from his aunt though, that being a doctor at the hospital was a very good and prestigous thing to be, so when he had the option to talk to someone whom he actually knew was one, he would use that opportunity to learn about it..

He eventually joined Morten to finish his homework while they talked about his new home, what Amena had planned to do with the garden and her career in law enforcement. Being a police man was something George didn't consider at all, and Amena hadn't really encouraged him to go down that way either...

 

After finishing his homework Morten felt the consequence of being up so early in the morning, and wanted to go to bed, ironically leaving George outside alone on the seesaw...

..but fear not, for George knew how to entertain himself as he climbed up in the treehouse that Kathrine had bought last year around the time when Ingrid moved out...

It was one she bought in anticipation of her next child.... way before she got pregnant.. She had wished for a new boy or girl since then... and finally she got a new baby girl in her life...

..but of course, she had not forgotten about Morten, who was now the middle child, and was happy to get the opportunity to read him another bedtime story. ;)

 

Once he was asleep, she got a phone call from her sister Helene. She was hosting a swimsuit party, and wanted her to join. Kathrine was a little unsure.. would she look good in swimsuit now, after having given birth three times? But it was her sister calling, and she couldn't turn her down, so.. she decided to go, and who knows.. she might even have some fun. ;)

After she rang the doorbell it wasn't her sister that came out and opened the door for her, but one of her friends Maria Rodriguez that lived up in the New Town Area. She said she had gotten an invitation her party when she met Helene at the library in that part of town, and that she would come down soon to host the party, she just had to finish reading a book first..

 So I check where Helene actually is to see if Maria is telling the truth, and she is.. because there's Helene at the New Town library reading a book while simultaneously hosting a swimsuit party in her own house... :P

Anyway, in spite of the host not being present, the party seems to be going good as the guests gather in the dining room to dance and have fun. Kathrine hasn't had this much fun since before she got pregnant. It actually feels really good to dance and let loose in her beachwear without having such a big belly and near constant back pains..

Maria is slow dancing with Ahmed Mohamed and the guy dancing to the right is Hogne Nielsen who is Ingrids boyfriend.

 

Ingrid is also at the party, though she is busy playing video games while Anton is watching. Helene is Ingrids aunt and they're good friends, so she probably got the invitation that way, and decided to bring her boyfriend along. Though I suspect that Ingrids relationship with Hogne isn't the best as they do not interact at all for the duration of the party... unlike Maria and Mohamed, which appear unable to focus on anything else but each other...

 

I don't know if they're in a relationship or not though, because I haven't been paying attention to their lives, but they certainly must have some kind of chemistry going. :P

Erland Sollid and Tori Kimura-Frio also seem to have some chemistry as they leave everyone else behind to go out on the front porch to watch the stars on the night sky...

Kathrine is really enjoying her time inside dancing, and she's having so much fun she could probably be doing this for hours on end. ;)

 

Though eventually she decides to go to the balcony upstairs – passing through Helene and Knuts bedroom – to sit down and practice chess.

Downstairs Ingrid has discovered Ahmed and begins to flirt with him, something I suspect isn't going to fall on good soil with Maria..

 

Well, Ahmed knows to turn the attention back to Maria and just in this instant the host of the party finally makes it home too, only to stand in the corner to point and laugh at Maria.. for some reason which I currently can't explain...

Then Helene figures out she wants to entertain everyone with a ghost story.. It's a little early for Halloween, but other than that it's atleast the right time of year..

Not that many want to listen to it though. It's only Maria and Thornton Wolff that wants to lend her an ear. Maria finds the story to be quite terrifying, but Thornton is more intrigued as he sits there listening with a keen ear.

Ahmed then thinks it's a good idea to give flowers to Helene. Maria doesn't seem to mind this to much, so maybe this is just a 'be nice to the host' ritual since this seems to happen a lot when they throw parties and there's not to much meaning behind it than that.. Well, either way, Helene happily accepts the flowers, before she joins her husband in bed upstairs to go to sleep. :P

Now this is probably where the party should have ended, since everyone who usually occupies the house is in bed and asleep, but Tori sees no reason to leave this party now that everyone is having so much fun, and neither do the other guests really.. Just like Amenas party last month, nobody really wants to leave. ;)

 

..and of course, the kids can't be left alone in their bedrooms either, as Thornton and Hogne walk upstairs to pillow fight in Bjørn-Yngves room..

Maria is petrified from hearing the sound of the ghosts from the nearby graveyard, and hopes that it's not the scary clown from Helenes story that has crawled up from the sewer to come and get her... That would be very terrifying if it were to happen!

 

Ingrid is happy to see her mom at the party and to talk to her about books for a while, but somehow Kathrine actually doesn't seem all to amused at her daughter..

Like, come on, what's up with this face? :P

 

Then finally Bjørn-Yngve woke up from the noise of the music and the guests still there and went downstairs to shoo them and tell them to leave and go home. Party's over... you gotta leave now..

 

Kathrine stops for a while in the garage once she is back home to think about Ingrids boyfriend Hogne for a while. Like me, I suppose, she's not entirely convinced he is the right man for her niece, but then again.. it's neither of ours business of course.
Ingrid is an adult now, and can do what she wants, though she is still very young.. it's probably best to let her figure things out for herself, and if it proves to be a mistake, well.. it will be a lesson learned...

 

So she goes inside and upstairs to go to bed, only to hear someone from inside their little office space behind their bed..

    "Morten..? What are you doing there, why aren't you in bed?" she says to her son who had snuck into their bedroom to practice chess..
"I'm sorry mom, I was so excited for my birthday tomorrow that I couldn't sleep!" he said as he ran out of the little office room "I'll go to bed now, I promise! Good night mom!"

    "Good night Morten, and don't slam the doo-" she started, but it was already to late as the door to their bedroom slammed shut behind him. She glanced over at the crib to make sure it didn't wake up Caroline, but the baby was sleeping like nothing had happened. Kathrine let out a slight sigh of relief before she crawled underneath the sheets to fall asleep...

Good night.. for real this time. ;)

 

New Sim:

Name: Caroline Kråke-Karlsen

Date of birth: 4th October 2023

Personality traits: Friendly, Absent Minded.

Parents: Kathrine Kråke-Karlsen, Jonathan Kråke-Karlsen

Siblings: Ingrid Kråke-Karlsen, Morten Kråke-Karlsen

Grandparents: Lucie Karlsen, Asgeir Karlsen, Egil Kråkesen, Frida Kråkesen

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