2.7 - The Nightmare before Snowflake Day

Celestine feels like she isn't alone in the room.

Maybe there's a mischevious cat hiding under her bed that woke her up? No, nothing. There is no one here except for herself. 

But the feeling of being watched by someone is still there. 

She leaves her room, an invisible presence drawing her towards the tiny storage room where she normally isn't allowed, because Feli is worried that Celestine might break some of the worthless stuff in there.

Celestine presses her ear against the door, then tries to peek through the keyhole, but she neither hears nor sees a thing. 

She pushes the handle down very slowly and the door opens with a loud creeeek.
Celestine turns the lights on. 

Hm, no one there. No cat, no intruder, no phantastical monster, just a lot of random objects. Among them a weird machine with antennae on each side that rotates autonomously and a few boxes filled with... some kind of colorful gas?

"Woah... what is this?"

Celestine is intrigued by her discovery and quickly forgets the nervousness she felt before she entered the room.

She leans down to read the labels on one of the boxes. 

Name: Sorinoma*
Estimated age: 2000 years
Female druid in ancient celtic society

"Are these... real ghosts?", Celestine whispers in awe. She knew that her grandma was a ghost hunter, but she never really thought too much about it or asked any questions until now. 

Celestine is so focused that she doesn't even notice that the door screeching alarmed Feli, who is now standing in the doorframe behind her.

"Hey, what are you doing here?!", her mom's voice shouts from behind.
Celestine turns around, trying to quickly come up with a good excuse.

"I am so sorry, mom", she says with puppy eyes, "I couldn't sleep because I was so excited for Snowflake Day. I sneaked in here to try to find the gifts... I am sorry."

This sounds more believable and less worrying than "I felt an odd presence and decided to investigate it".

Feli smiles a little in relief and then puts her strict mom voice on: "Hmpf. You will clean the dishes after Snowflake dinner tomorrow!"
"Yes, mom. I am sorry."

"Mh, I should really clean up here. No idea what to do with all the stuff mom left behind...", Feli mutters to herself after her daughter left the room. "How do you recycle ghosts anyway?"

Celestine is too excited to sleep, so she goes outside to look through her telescope. Maybe she can that big special star that is supposed to be visible only during Snowflake night! 

Besides, she also needs some time to think about her new discovery. 

The next day.

"Feli, my old friend, long time no see!", Lutz shouts out and then turns to Celestine.

"And look who we got here, you grew up so much since I saw you last time, little lady! Mhh.. You know, you kinda resemble our old friend Taziano when we were little!"

"Ehhh.. what a funny coincidence!! HAHAHA.", Feli laughs awkwardly. 

"Yeah, don't you think so, Blanca?", Lutz asks Taziano's little sister. "Can't deny the resemblance!"

"That reminds me", says Blanca, "you never told us who the father is, Feli, did you?"

"Uh, I... " Feli looks dumbfounded for a second, then blurts out "ALRIGHT, TIME TO OPEN THOSE GIFTS!"

"Phew", she thinks silently "good save, Feli!"

Celestine got a snowteddy, a wooden pony, and a moondial from her mother.

"I picked out the moondial for you because I noticed you were recently getting interested in astrology", Feli explains.

"Astronomy", Celestine corrects her.

"Isn't that the same? It was expensive, be grateful."

"Thank you so much, mom!"

Next it is Feli's turn to open her gifts. She looks... disappointed.

An Amphicyclops. From Anonymous.

That is not the gift Feli wanted. 

The party comes to an abrupt end as the guests notice Feli's mood shift and make up excuses for why they have to leave now to escape Feli's wrath. 

And thus the guests unfortunately miss the miracle of birth. 
Entei's Snowflake gift to the family was her second litter: one male kitten, called German, and three little girls, called Ghana, Georgia, and Greece. All with pretty blue eyes.

And what are you looking at?

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*Sorinoma is an anagram of Onomaris 

Yes, Feli did in fact get an Amphicyclops. Never had that given as a gift to any of my sims before. I didn't even know this thing existed! It's delightfully ugly.

2.6 - Hibernate

Life is getting more serious for Celestine, as she is now old enough to attend school. Maybe this is why she seems a little down lately. The times when she developed much faster than other kids her age, both physically and mentally, are over.

Celestine leans against her mom's waist.
"I'm so tired, mom..."
"You are always tired these days. What's the matter, do you feel sick? Is everything okay in school?"
"I'll just take a nap, ok? ..."

"You sleep more than our cats!", Feli says while pushing her daughter gently towards her bed. "Are you sure everything is alright? Let me feel your forehead."

"I just hope you're not getting sick! I will make a doctor's appointment, okay?"
"No, mom, I'm fine. Just tired."
"I'll call the doctor."

Feli leaves the room, watching Celestine immediately fall asleep with her shoes still on. This has been going on for days now. Every day she comes home after school and sleeps for a few hours instead of playing outside.

Entei is cowering in the bathroom, having an existential crisis.

Was it really a good idea to hook up with that white cat?
Having kittens means having to share her food with even more cats.
Will there even be enough food for all of them?
Will she have to start hunting her own prey?

Her sisters Eevee and Espeon don't have these kind of problems since they were spayed and neutered. While Espeon enjoys her lazy time in the living room, Eevee is rarely at home these days. 
Feli was wondering where Eevee kept disappearing, until she decided to follow her one day.

Turns out the new neighbours are the family the Koyangis gave Cassie, Celine, and Clone to! The C-cats live there happily with two dogs and two elderly can openers and Eevee has found them - without even knowing that they are all siblings, because the C litter was adopted out before the E litter was born.

Or maybe they do know? 

Either way, Eevee is best friends with her older siblings and spends more time over there than at home. Maybe it would make sense to ask the neighbours if they want to adopt another cat... Because Eevee has clearly decided where she wants to live.


Feli and Celestine are in the doctor's office. 
"My daughter has been sleepy and just generally... lethargic lately. She says she is fine but I'm worried because she used to be such an active kid, full of energy!"

The doctor speaks directly to Celestine. "Do you feel sick or different in any other way? Do you eat less or is it hard for you to breathe or move?"

"No, I am fine. Just a little bit tired", Celestine replies.

Feli sighs. "This is the only answer I get all the time from her."

The doc asks a number of other questions, then tells Celestine to take off her sweater and sit down for some standard examinations.

"You can put your sweater on again now", he says after a few minutes and then turns to Feli, "Everything seems fine to me. Just make sure she maintains a healthy diet and engages in age appropriate physical activities."

Feli stands up from her chair. "Are you sure? But why is she so tired then?"
"Maybe she needs some time to adjust to her new school, or maybe it's just the weather. Many people feel a little lazy when the temperatures drop. Look, it began to snow while we were talking!"
"Brrr... I don't like snow!", Celestine mumbles behind them, shivering.

Feli's eyes narrow. "Did you just call my daughter lazy?!"
Celestine quickly drags her mother out of the doctor's office before any medical staff gets a slap in the face.

Good news! While Feli and Celestine were out of the house, Entei has given birth to two healthy male kittens: Fineas (skinny) and Ferb (fluffy)!

To Entei's relief, her fear that there might not be enough food for more cats turned out to be unfounded. It seems like humans have truly discovered an unlimited source of food.

Momma is very pleased with her first litter.

It's late in the evening for a first grader and Celestine has fallen asleep without changing into her pajama or at least taking off her shoes once again.

She turns the light on and rubs her eyes sleepily.  

Something feels strange. It wasn't exactly a nightmare... Her mom isn't in her room, and neither is any of the cats, but something, someone woke her up.
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There's more.... but I didn't want the chapter to be too long.

2.5 - Growing like a weed

Luckily for Feli, Celestine is a very uncomplicated baby. She's mostly quiet, unusually well behaved for her age, and grows at a rapid pace.

She has no problem playing alone and only cries if she is hungry. This means that Feli, despite being a single-mother of a young toddler, can keep enjoying her hobbies, going out with friends, and going to work as long as a babysitter is there.

Ralph, a teenage boy from around the neighbourhood, was chosen to be the babysitter after Katerchen approved of him. A two for one deal for Feli: for only a little bit of pocket money, Ralph makes sure nothing happens to the kid when Feli is gone, and he provides exquisite chin scritches for every cat who wants some.

Among all the good qualities Celestine has inherited from... somewhere, Feli's musicality does not seem to be one of them.

When Feli comes home, either from work or a social outing, it's already dark outside. Celestine gets her baby dinner right before her mom comes home...

... and puts Celestine to bed, who is adorably excited that her mom will be the one to read bedtime stories to her tonight.

In short: Life is pretty good for the Koyangis right now and the lack of drama is almost disturbing.

Fast forward. 
Celestine is more child than baby by now, and loves exploring the outdoors in the gloomy fall weather. She spends most of the time in the unused garden, and Feli and the cats have to keep a keen eye on her so she doesn't run too far alone. 

Feli is so proud of her little girl and of her amazing parenting skills that are obviously the only reason why Celestine is growing up so well. Who said being a single-mother is hard?

On one beautiful fall day Feli invites some of her closest friends over. It's Thanksgiving in Appaloosa Plains! Or whatever sims call this holiday. Either way, Celestine is staring in awe at all the food that smells so nicely. Pumpkins, carrots, apples, pears, corn, and more pumpkins! 

Celestine is too shy to approach the adults feasting at the dinner table, but she is very interested without a doubt and watches everyone attentively.

Upon noticing that her daughter woke up from her nap, Feli grabs Celestine and puts her into the toddler chair, so she can enjoy some of the various tastes too.

Needless to say, Celestine is thrilled!

The next morning.
It's rainy and the fog is dense, but Feli promised her daughter to visit the fall festival after seeing how much she enjoyed the festivities at home.

Feli hates water. That includes water coming from the sky. But if Celestine is looking at her mom with her big brown toddler eyes, how could she possibly resist?

At least one of them will enjoy the trip today. The festival grounds are completely empty this day due to the rainy weather, so the two can go wherever they want. And where does little Cel want to go? The "pumpin patch!" of course!

Feli isn't entirely sure what's so great about it, but her daughter is enjoying it and that's what counts.

After spending what feels like an eternity on the muddy patch, Celestine seems to finally have seen, touched, or smelled everything she wanted to see, touch and smell, and is ready to go home.

And that's when Feli's phone rings. Perfect timing!
"Hm? Uh-huh. Art museum? Yeah, sounds fun. Mh-hm. I just spent the morning with her here on the festival! Yeah, terrible weather... I'll be there, I'll call Ralph to watch her tonight. See you!"

And so mother and daughter head home, while Celestine is trying to grab some of those rain drops Feli hates so much. 

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I wanted to stop here, but to show you that I am still following this generation's challenge objectives (one outing per week + one fight per week; this time both on the same day), here are some bonus pictures of Feli traumatizing school kids at the art museum:

There were a lot of children there on this day for some reason. I'm going to assume that it was a school class and Feli was beating up their teacher in front of them!

O_O