Chapter 10: Piece of My Heart

"I'm pregnant," Jasmin cries on Gibson shoulders, "It was just one time, and I got pregnant. What am I going to do?"

"You'll be okay," Gibson assures her, putting an arm around her shoulder, "I'm here for you. Everything will be all right."

"You make every thing seem easy," Jasmin sighs, "Thanks for sticking with me."

"That's what friends are for, right?" Gibson says, "Have you told Dominique?"

Jasmin shakes her head, "He hasn't bothered to call me since that night. I can't believe I was that stupid."

"Sex makes us all stupid sometimes," Gibson says, "Don't be so hard on yourself."

"Crap," Gibson sighed to himself when Brie showed up at Red Shed, the bar he now owns, obviously pregnant. He left his place behind the bar to sit beside her and talk.

"We're having a baby," she said, pointing out the obvious, "I can't do this alone; I'm going to need your help."

"You can move in with me and Jasmin," Gibson offers, foreseeing a lot of tension between the two of them, but not having a better plan.

"I'd rather we got our own place," Brie answers.

"I can't leave Jasmin alone, especially not now, with her baby coming."

"Everything is always about Jasmin," Brie grumbles, exasperated. "You're like a lapdog, following her around waiting for her to throw you a bone. You're pathetic. And I'm pathetic to keep trying with you; no woman will ever have your heart."

"You're right, Brie," Gibson says, "I can't give you that. And I shouldn't have gotten involved with you, knowing how I feel about Jas. But here we are. Move in with us and I'll take care of our baby."

Brie shakes her head, "No, I'm done with you. I'll take care of myself," she says, and walks out.

Jasmin is still awake when Gibson gets home from the bar. "Did you have a good night?" she asks him as she passes by on her way to bed.

"Sure, it was okay," Gibson says. He wants to tell her what happened with Brie tonight, but he can't unburden himself on her now, she's dealing with enough crap already to take on his as well.

Besides her official job in the music industry, Jasmin has also been establishing a reputation around town for her painting. Though she never sells through the galleries, she takes commissions from individual art enthusiasts. It's a surprise when Brie Frye asks her deliver a painting to her house, but Jasmin can't refuse her, and even hopes it's a gesture of truce with  her rival.

Brie seems on edge when Jasmin delivers the painting. "Thanks," she says, not even looking at the art as she puts it aside, "Listen, Jasmin," Brie says, biting her manicured nails, "I didn't really ask you here for a painting. I need a huge favor."

"What can I do for you?" Jasmin offers.

"I thought I could do this, but I can't. It's driving me crazy. Please, take Darius to Gibson. Tell him I can't do it alone, I need him to step in."

"Darius?" Jasmin asks, having no clue what Brie is talking about, "Your father?"

"No, not that Darius; I named the baby after my father. I know it's a lot to ask, Jasmin, but I can't handle it, and I know Gibson can."

Jasmin hadn't known that Brie was pregnant, she hadn't seen her since she went on maternity leave herself. "Why aren't asking Gibson himself?" she wonders.

"We broke up, didn't he tell you?" Brie answers, "I just can't face him, honestly. I feel awful that I'm abandoning my child, but I'm a nervous wreck, and he's so...well, you know him. A rock."

Jasmin brings Darius home with her, feeling sorry for Brie. Jasmin has been going through some of the same fears about single parenthood, but all of them have been assuaged by Gibson's presence in her life. Like Brie said, he's a rock. He can always be counted on. But, why didn't he tell her he and Brie were having a baby, and that they'd broken up? Jasmin had thought they gotten past hiding things from each other when he told her about Sharla and their baby.

When Gibson comes home, Jasmin brings him up to the nursery to meet his son.

"You should have told me," Jasmin accuses, softly. 

"I didn't want to worry you, Jas," Gibson answers, "I was going to tell you eventually."

Jasmin sighs and hugs him. "You need to start trusting me, Gibson. You are always here for me, I want to be here for you, too."

"Your baby will be coming along any day now, too," Gibson says, rubbing her growing tummy. "Our kids will grow up together the way we did. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" he laughs.

Jasmin surprises him with an affectionate kiss. "Everythinng will be fine," she says.

Jasmin goes into labor the next evening.

"Are you okay to walk?" Gibson frets, "I can carry you."

"The hospital is right next door," Jasmin points out, "I think I can make it."

After a few hours of labor, Jasmin walks out of the hospital with a baby girl, Autumn. 

"Are you sure you're okay to walk home?" Gibson frets, "I can carry her."

Just like their fathers did before them, Gibson and Jasmin, each have their own child in their shared nursery.

"You have a baby boy now, I've heard," Sharla says while she prepares dinner, "And Brie has been dating Xander Roth."

"I hadn't heard that," Gibson admits. But then he hasn't been following Brie's activities now that she's out of his life.

"I used to date Xander, you know," Sharla says, "I used to pose for him, too. He's into nude photography. But he's not so into commitment. I hope Brie isn't expecting much from him."

"She expected too much from me," Gibson says, "I just didn't have it to give."

"Oh, you have it, Gibson," Sharla says, "I can see it in you. You're just saving it for someone special."

"For Jasmin," Gibson admits, "I've been in love with her since we were kids."

"Why aren't you lovers, then?" Sharla wonders.

"I wish I knew," Gibson sighs.

"Wow, nice tool belt," Gibson comments as Jasmin sits down to eat after she gets home from work.

"I'm too tired for jokes," Jasmin sighs. Transitioning back to work after maternity leave has been difficult.

"I'm not joking," Gibson answers, "That's an awesome tool belt. I'm jealous."

Darius becomes a toddler.

And Autumn follows.

"I heard Dominique Goolsby has been seeing Patty Frye," Gibson tells Jasmin. For a loner, Sharla is always on top of the town gossip, and keeps Gibson well informed when he visits her and Sherrie, "Apparently she's pregnant."

"I have two half-siblings I've never met," Jasmin sighs. Her mother, Maya, married Philip Grapevine and had two more children with him. "I hate that my daughter is going to have the same broken messed up family I had. I wanted to do better."

"I didn't want to be fathering kids all over the town the way your father did, either," Gibson sighs, "But it's not so bad, Jas. It was weird growing up the way we did, but we weren't the worst family in town. And even if we didn't plan to do things this way, we're still okay."

Challenge Notes:

Gibson owns the Red Shed dive bar now (the only one less that 30k to purchase) for his LTW. He's level 8 in mixology, so just two more skill points for his LTW.

Now I have to focus on getting enough money to buy and improve a park for the Living Green requirement. Something I'm not looking forward to. There are many little parks in this town, and I like them the way they are. "Improving" them means adding furniture and crap they don't really need. So, bleh.

Also, Jasmin needs to have one more child, a half-sibling for Autumn.

I had a really weird bug with Darius. When Jasmin got to Brie's house, she was freaking out like a Neurotic, continually. It was almost impossible to interact withh her. And Jasmin started freaking out as well. I tried resetting the lot, but nothing helped. Then I moved the cursed baby into my house and anyone who went into the nursery would start freaking out, and I couldn't get them to move.

Eventually I had to move the family out of the houses and then back in, that fixed it. I also had to move Brie out of and back into her house, as her freaking out persisted after the baby was gone. It was really weird. The baby doesn't have ant hidden traits to cause panic (he does have Can Apprehend Burglars. I believe his grandfather Darius, Brie's father, is a cop.)

The picture of Jasmin and Brie shows them in freak out mode, in the nail biting phase.

The roll for Gen 3 is Couple, 3 kids. Primary career Medical, secondary Artist. The goal is party to remember and Misc Fun is No Strangers. Autumn is the heir.