Sophia was an incredible gift. Despite knowing I still needed to heal, she excused me and accepted my feeble substitute for “I love you.” Still, I felt compelled to give her something in return. She claimed not to mind that I didn’t say it back, but who wouldn’t want to hear those words? It almost felt obligatory to reciprocate when someone expressed their love. Although I couldn’t utter those three words yet, there was one thing I wasn’t afraid to do. I earnestly wanted her to be a part of every aspect of my life beyond our cozy little bubble in Oasis Springs.
“How would you feel about meeting my dad? Is that too much too soon?”
She gasped, and her entire face lit up.
“Really? Are you sure?”
“Positive. You’re important to me, and so is he. I want you to know each other. Plus, he already knows about us and was very instrumental in getting me to this place.”
“I would love to meet your dad! Your mom too!”
I groaned, and she frowned.
“You don’t want me to meet her?”
“Of course I do. I want you to meet everybody. But Mama? She’s gonna act up.”
Sophia laughed so loud it startled me. I wasn’t trying to be funny, but…well, at least one of us found my mom’s behavior amusing.
“Luca! Don’t talk about your mother like that.”
“What? I’m serious! She’s gonna meddle and start planning our wedding and pester us about babies! Are you ready for that? Because I’m sure not.”
She hesitated, opening and closing her mouth as if to weigh her words.
“If I said yes, would that be a problem for you?”
Once again, I was like a deer in headlights, frozen, mind blank, flabbergasted. I guess it shouldn’t have surprised me she’d be ready for the next phase right now. She’s had more life experience than me and was more mentally and emotionally mature than I. And she was doubly sure about us. It all made sense. I guess I was just hoping she’d be on my side on this one.
“…Oh…well…uhhh…no…of course it’s not a problem. I just, uhhh… My mind isn’t there yet. Does that bother you?“
She sighed.
“I know you’re going through things, and I want you to heal and grow past them so we can be the best versions of ourselves together. I don’t want to take that away from you or rush you through it…”
I sensed a very huge but incoming.
“But just remember…I’m older than you. Marriage and family are things I’ve been looking forward to for a while. And as a woman, I don’t have all the time in the world to have children like you do, and I’d prefer to start a family while I’m still young. So, yeah, I want to support your journey, and I won’t rush you, but at a certain point, I’m not gonna be able to wait any longer.”
I sighed and slid back onto the couch. It wasn’t because I didn’t like her answer, but because I had so much more to consider now. I had my own stuff to work through and other sims to think about. And half of them didn’t even exist yet. We would need a bigger house soon, but I was no closer to stabilizing our financial future. I would figure it all out, of course, but this journey through manhood was getting bumpy, and I had only just begun. My simple life of ease was definitely over.
I needed time to process everything and come to terms with my own readiness for such commitments. The ball was in my court, and until I was ready, there was nothing more to discuss. With those considerations weighing on me, I decided to shift the conversation to a lighter topic.
“So like…I know this is an extremely weird and random place to interject this, but how do you feel about dogs?”
She gasped, and again, her face lit up.
“Do you want to adopt?? I’ve seriously been thinking about that all summer!”
“No way! Me too! I really got used to having Tofu around, and I missed her a lot when I moved in with my dad. Mama had dogs when they met, and I brought Tofu to his house once. He didn’t seem to mind her, but he wasn’t overly excited about her either, so I never bothered asking him if we could get a dog.”
“Well, I definitely want to!”
“Cool. Let’s have dinner with him tomorrow. Then, whenever you have time, we can look at the adoption site.”
“It’s a date!”
Life was changing. And fast. I couldn’t help but feel a mix of excitement and apprehension. Even without the struggles I faced, life was just plain scary all by itself. The unknown was like a creepy basement. You could look down the stairs into the darkness all you wanted, but there was no way to find out if there really was a monster down there without taking the first step. I was so lucky to have Sophia in my life, taking those steps right along with me.
