Chapter 2: Some Girls

While Roslyn practices her keyboards, Carey attempts to make waffles, hoping to impress his new girlfriend. This is the first time the stove has actually been used; normally he and Foster live on cereal and bar food.

While he's cooking, Maya Riley, one of Roslyn's roommates, strolls in with a sack of laundry.

"Our machine's on the fritz," she explains, "I saw your clothes on the line outside so I figured I could wash our clothes here."

Carey doesn't quite get her logic, but lets her dump her clothes in their machine anyway. "Is Foster still at your place?" he asks. He didn't hear his roommate come in last night after he and Roslyn went to bed.

"Not in my bed," Maya laughs, "I didn't check anyone else's."

Carey's inexperience with cooking resulted in horribly burnt waffles. Maya helps herself to a plate of them anyway, and tells Carey about her recent date with Butch Barracks.

"He works in the music industry, like you and Foster," Maya says.

"I don't work in the music industry, I'm a musician," Carey corrects her.

The burnt waffles are more than Roslyn's stomach can handle.

Foster wanders in, bypasses the burnt waffles and immediately starts flirting with Maya, not caring that he just rolled out of her roommate Nancy's bed. Maya doesn't seem to care about who he spent last night with, or her own recent date with Butch, responding positively to Foster's advances.

Warm Gun has an afternoon jam at the Reserve Tavern.

Two of Roslyn's roommates, Nancy and Kate, come by to lend their support to the band. Unfortunately they are the entire audience. And Nancy pays more attention to the foosball table than the music.

Kate throws a few simoleons into Roslyn's tip jar, a convenient excuse to check out Carey's ass.

Foster took Maya out to Howl. The club had a sizable crowd tonight, so Foster took a second to call Carey, suggesting he bring his band to jam at a place where there were some actual people around.

So Warm Gun dressed up and went out to Howl to jam.

Though his date seemed to be going well, Maya backed away when Foster suggested they get more intimate.

So Foster decides to impress Maya by joining Carey's band on stage. Talking about being a musician is one thing, being on stage makes you irresistible.

It's the first time he's played for more than two people, so Carey shows off a little.

"You know, if you weren't such a crappy cook, we wouldn't have to live on cereal," Foster snaps. Foster didn't impress Maya enough to get her into bed last night, and he's just learned that Nancy GilsCarbo is pregnant with his child, so he's a little grumpy this morning. Carey just lets Foster's bad humor roll off his back, as he's always done.

"Nancy's pissed at me because she's trying to get serious with Leod McGregor, and my baby is getting in her way. Can you believe her?" Foster continues his morning tirade.

"She sounds self-absorbed and immature. Kind of like you," Carey answers, "What are you guys planning on doing about it?"

Foster scowls, "She says we have to take him, she can't raise a baby and find a husband at the same time."

Carey looks up from his cereal, "We? As in you and me?"

"Well, you're my roommate, aren't you? You're my best friend, you'll help me with this, won't you?"

Carey sighs, "Of course I'll help you." Foster isn't always the best of friends, but he and Carey have been together since they were kids, and Carey has never been the type to desert his friends no matter what they've  done.

Roslyn and her roommates have a little picnic in the park.

Carey has come out to the park to play his guitar for tips. Since his band doesn't get any real gigs, that's the only way he can make any money. And now that Foster is going to be a father, they'll need serious cash to mave into a bigger place with room for the baby.
When he sees Roslyn, Carey greets her immediately, and quickly notices there's something different about her. She isn't her normal, exuberant self, and hesitates before letting him kiss her.
"What's wrong?" he asks.

"Nothing, I'm fine," Roslyn answers, taking his hands.

"No, there's something going on, I can tell," Carey says.

"Yeah, there is. But I don't want to get into here," she answers,  "Philip Grapevine is over there; I've heard he's a pretty good drummer. Why don't you go talk to him, see if he's interested in joining our band? I promise I'll tell you everything later, after our jam tonight."

The conversation left him nervous and jittery. Carey won't be easy until he knows what's going on with Roslyn. But since she won't tell him now, he has no choice but to do as she suggested and talk to Philip Grapevine. Warm Gun does need a drummer.

"Join your band? I'm so in!" Philip enthuses, "I can't wait for our first gig!"

"Yeah, gig," Carey mutters, unable to meet Philip's eyes at this point in the conversation. Warm Gun has never had a real gig, and there's no guarantee they'll be getting one any time soon.

That night Warm Gun jams at the Red Shed. For the first time they are complete band.

As she promised, Roslyn let Carey in on her secret that night after their jam. Like her roommate Nancy, she's pregnant. Unlike Nancy, however, she has a boyfriend who cares about her and the baby they've made.

"Let's get married," Carey offers, "I promised Foster I'd help him with his baby, but we could get a bigger place, and you could move in with us..."

"Carey, I can't marry you," Roslyn answers, "I'm already married."

"You're what?"

Roslyn sighs, "It's kind of a long story."

"I'm listening," Carey answers.

"I grew up in Barnacle Bay," Roslyn begins, "It was a really small town with a small population. And when my sister and I were in high school, girls outnumbered boys by some ridiculous ratio. My mother was extremely competitive, and she put a lot of pressure on Allyson and me to get boyfriends right away. She even adopted a boy to sort of siphon off our competition. So, I went after Juston Mosely, the only other boy in school who wasn't a first cousin or my sister's boyfriend. And like every other couple in town we married right out of high school."

"Did you love him?"

Roslyn shrugs, "We got along okay, I guess. We did what was expected of us. I never questioned that, or thought things could be different or better. And then my family just disappeared one day, and everything changed for me."

"Your family disappeared?" Carey asks, trying to get his head around this, "Like into thin air?"

"Kind of, yeah. My sister's husband returned from China; he traveled a lot for his work. Then the next day they were all gone. My parents, my sister and her husband, and their son. The house was empty, they took everything. They didn't tell anyone where they were going, not me or my brother, not my aunts or uncles, no one knew where they went. They didn't try to sell the house, they just abandoned it. Any attempt to find them lead to a dead end. And I guess it just shook my whole perception of the world. I looked at my life and realized that without my family, I had nothing to stay in Barnacle Bay for, that the life I was living was all about pleasing my mother, and doing what I was supposed to do. Suddenly free from that, I decided to leave, and I had no desire to bring my husband with me. So, like my family, I just disappeared."

"Do you think you'll ever go back?" Carey asks, afraid of her answer.

Roslyn shakes her head, "For the first time I'm actually living my own life, not the life someone else wants me to live. I'll never go back."

"What about divorce?" Carey suggests, "If you're still married, you aren't completely free to move on," And marry me, he thinks.

"Maybe," Roslyn sighs, "But even if I did get a divorce, I'm not ready to get married again. I love you,  Carey,  but I just can't tie myself down like that again, not yet."

Carey is a little heartbroken to hear it, but she hasn't dumped him completely, and where there's love, there's hope. "I'll be here for you, Roslyn," he promises, "If you ever are ready."

Roslyn smiles, "I'm counting on that. Having a baby scares the hell out of me, and I'll need you."

Carey's park performances have been drawing bigger crowds and pulling in bigger tips. Every simoleon is needed so he and Foster can buy a place big enough for them and both their children.

Impending fatherhood hasn't changed Foster's outlook on life one bit. He's already put the mother of his unborn child out of his mind, and has finally got Maya Riley into his bed.

Challenge Notes:
Roslyn's story actually happened in my last legacy, the McDermott random legacy. I'm happy about the way it tied into this legacy. Poor Carey rolls wishes to propose to Roslyn all the time. I so hate doing this to my poor Sims. Foster has Commitment Issues, so he never rolls these wishes, lol.
Warm Gun hasn't gotten any gigs, so I'm going to use master controller to make those opportunities happen now that I've got a full band.