The Goth Legacy - Chapter Three
Content warning: This story contains mature themes and is not suitable for minors. For this chapter, sexual references and references to infertility and miscarriage.
As much as Alexander loved their new daughter, he had to be honest that the past month hadn’t exactly been easy. And although Tosha seemed to be much brighter than those first few days, he still couldn’t help but be concerned by the sadness he swore he saw in her eyes when she thought he wasn’t looking.
He could see that she was clearly unwell when he had arrived home with Isabella (or Izzy as they had taken to calling her) but Tosha had promised him she was fine. After explaining what had happened, she assured him he had done the right thing. He had never found out what was wrong, or why she hadn’t been able to answer his phone calls, she only repeated that she was fine.
While Tosha had provided nothing but diligent care for Izzy, Alexander could help but worry that his wife’s ill health, and the unexpectedness of their baby’s arrival, had prevented her and their daughter from really bonding.
While Izzy had settled into her new surroundings fairly quickly, the builders working on the much needed extension to the house, made it nearly impossible to get her to sleep during the day. As such Alexander usually came home to an exhausted baby and an equally exhausted wife. “How are you both?” he asked.
Tosha had been so absorbed in trying to quieten Izzy she had barely noticed her husband’s arrival and found herself startled when he spoke. “Do you have to creep up like that?” she asked light heartedly.
“No choice, there isn’t enough room to run up flailing my arms,” he replied deadpan.
“Oh ha ha,” she replied but still found herself smiling.
“Here, hand her over,” Alexander told his wife.
“You just got home from work,” Tosha argued weakly. Honestly, she wanted nothing more than to hand over the crying bundle, but felt bad enough that she still hadn’t done the dishes and hadn’t even thought about what to cook for dinner yet.
“And you’ve been working all day, it wasn’t a request,” he said firmly.
“Well, I have been wanting to go to the toilet for nearly an hour now,” she joked as she carefully passed the infant to Alexander. As soon as Izzy saw him she stopped crying, looking up in awe at her daddy.
Tosha fought the urge to swear.
But then she looked at her husband’s ridiculously big smile, and found she couldn’t help but be pleased.
This was why she did it, all of it; the lying, the hiding of her grief, the sleepless nights and exhausting days. That joy on her husband’s face, the happiness his baby brought him. That was what made it all worthwhile.
“Now why couldn’t you have done that for your mummy?” Alexander asked once Tosha had left the room.
Isabella just smiled, her eyes focused on the doting face above her.
“She loves you Izzy, you were just, you were just unexpected,” he told her. He tried to ignore the voice in the back of his head asking who it actually was he was trying to reassure.
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The addition of two bedrooms and a second bathroom certainly made life easier for the young family, especially for Tosha who no longer found herself tripping over Izzy’s toys whenever she had to chase down the messy toddler for her bath.
Aside from getting into everything she shouldn’t, Izzy was very active and couldn’t stand being still for a moment. As soon as Tosha would move away after placing her in her high chair, Izzy would let out a loud wail in protest of being contained.
Alexander believed it was because their daughter was so outgoing that she was probably just upset by the idea of being left alone. Tosha believed it was a tantrum because she was probably just upset at the idea of not getting what she wanted.
She didn’t share these thoughts with her husband though. She knew he would have given anything to spend more time with Izzy, even if it was spent coercing her into bed time or bargaining with her to eat her vegetables.
Hence when he was promoted to Ecological Guru, it wasn’t the large pay check or satisfaction of reaching the top of his career that pleased him most. It was the one day a week work schedule that would allow him to spend so much more time at home with his family.
As much as Tosha loved having her husband at home, the truth was, they found themselves getting on top of each other especially when it came to caring for Izzy. Alexander wanted to do as much as he could so his wife was free to relax, inadvertently though, this left her without anything to do and feeling rather useless.
It was whilst idly reading the paper that a notice advertising a position as a playground monitor caught her eye. She didn’t give it much thought at the time, but she found the idea of working, and actually feeling as if she was doing something productive, rather appealing. That night over dinner she brought up the idea with Alexander.
Alexander was highly encouraging and offered Tosha his full support if taking the job was what she wanted to do. She realised she really did, and decided she would apply for the position the very next day.
He didn’t let his concern show, but Alexander couldn’t help but remember the time Tosha had said she felt like working would be like saying she had given up on having children. He knew it had now been much longer than they had thought it would take to conceive but surely she hadn’t given up hope.
It occurred to him that in all honesty, he was too afraid of upsetting her to ask.
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Tosha was successful in her application and began working the next week, leaving Alexander, as he joked, a house husband.
He considered it the best job he had ever had.
While he enjoyed his position advising people on their environmental practices, he also really enjoyed the time he spent at home. It gave him the chance to watch his daughter grow in a way he wouldn’t have experienced working five days a week and he even finally starting the vegetable garden that he and Tosha had been planning for years.
The other thing they had been planning on doing was getting a pet, and eventually they adopted Hecuba, who Alexander named after his grandmother’s cat.
Despite her protests to the contrary, Hecuba was actually very patient with Izzy who absolutely adored the new addition to the family and would play with her every chance she got.
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Time flew by and after much discussion, it was decided that Izzy would not be attending the school where Tosha was working as a Teacher’s Aide but would instead attend the same private school Alexander had.
It had actually been Alexander’s preference for their daughter to attend the local public school; he felt the transition would be easier for Izzy if she knew Tosha was there. Tosha on the other hand felt that starting school was an important first step in learning independence, and that if their daughter became dependant on her being there, she wouldn’t learn that valuable skill.
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Izzy proved to be a very capable student and her teachers were quick to praise her for being eager to learn. They were, however, less impressed by how easily bored and distracted she could be in class and her impatience when she was required to work on activities she didn’t enjoy.
But despite her sometimes disruptive behaviour in class, she consistently achieved top grades which she proudly brought home for her father to see.
Alexander was keen to encourage his daughter’s love of learning and the two often went on outings to museums or galleries.
It had been on one of these visits that they had seen an ancient stone carving of a Cowplant. Izzy had barely believed her father when he told her that they were very much real just incredibly rare. She had been even more impressed when he told her how their milk made sims younger and that her grandfather, his father, had spent his life working on creating a synthetic version of the life extending substance.
Remembering her enthusiasm at the museum, Alexander was excited to be able to show Izzy one in the flesh.
He explained how the previous week he had received a phone call from an old colleague telling Alexander that he had come across a Laganaphyllis Simnovorii in the wild. As he later found out, there was a rather unfortunate accident when the specimen was being brought in for study and as such the research program was being discontinued and the Cowplant was to be destroyed. Alexander couldn’t bear the thought of such a rare life form, and incredible opportunity for research, being extinguished and agreed to assume responsibility for it.
After stressing how important it was to keep the Cowplant a secret, as it could be very dangerous in the wrong hands, Alexander asked his wide eyed daughter if she had any questions.
“Can she be my pet?” she asked with a grin.
Alexander smiled at how unperturbed his daughter was in the face of the sim-eating plant; it reminded him of himself as a child.
Izzy named her Phyllis.
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Tosha had recently taken a position at the local high school, and while she found herself enjoying teaching at a higher level, she was also finding herself increasingly exhausted as the weeks went on.
One late afternoon as she returned home, Alexander noticed just how worn out she was. “Are you okay? I could have gone to the supermarket if you’d wanted me to,” he told her.
“I know, but it’s on my way home. It’s just a headache, I’m still not feeling great,” she answered.
He knew she had been feeling fatigued and even nauseous for weeks and was about to insist she see a doctor when a thought occurred to him. A grin overtook his face at the idea, “could you be pregnant?”
As she mentally added up the symptoms she had been experiencing, she found herself returning Alexander’s smile. While she had never admitted it to herself, a small part of her had given up hope of ever conceiving again, so much so that she hadn’t even considered the possibility.
“I think I better head back to the supermarket,” she replied with a hesitant smile.
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The results of the home pregnancy test were negative. Her symptoms were, as she first thought, brought on by the stress from her new job.
Although they were both disappointed it wasn’t the news they had been hoping for, it had brought their struggle to conceive out in the open and they both found themselves relieved after finally facing the issue and discussing it together. It was an emotionally draining conversation but in the end they agreed that a child of their own was something they still very much wanted and that it was time to seek medical assistance.
They also agreed to never hide how they were feeling again, promising from now on, to face everything together.