Freeman Legacy 1.2

Sergio pulled his daughter close to him and whispered in her ear, "I love you, Helena. I will always love you." 

It didn't matter that she couldn't understand him, it was just important that he said it. Sergio wanted to say it as often as he could, because it wouldn't last forever. In too little time, his baby girl would become a woman, though there was still some time before that. 

Maybe it was Dianna's birthday that had Sergio thinking of aging. She had recently joined him in middle age, though Sergio promised that he could see no difference, just as Dianna had when he made the transition.

Dianna worried about the crowsfeet she found at the corners of her eyes and the deepening lines near her mouth, as well as the extra weight she'd gained since getting pregnant. Sergio had answers for every one of her concerns. Her lines made her look more dignified and he didn't care if she gained weight - it was just more of her to love. But he had the feeling that Dianna didn't totally believe his sweet promises.

Or maybe Sergio was just mulling things over before Helena herself got older. It was her toddler birthday, and Sergio wasn't sure he was ready to take care of a toddler. Babies were pretty easy. They mostly stayed in one place. But toddlers could do things on their own. They could get into trouble when you weren't looking. Stick a fork in an electrical outlet, or fall down the stairs.

But time would not halt its constant flow for the worries of one father, and so Helena grew anyways.

Helena was adorable as a toddler. She had her father's brown hair and green eyes, and her mother's nose. Her vision was horrible, and she needed glasses right from the get-go. Neither parent knew where that came from. Both of them had no need of eye correction, nor did anyone in their close family. But as far as possible problems go, this one was pretty easy to solve.

In fact, Helena was an easy toddler. As first-time parents, Dianna and Sergio couldn't have asked for a better child. She liked to amuse herself, and could often be found on the couch, looking at a book. She couldn't read the story, but she seemed to prefer the pictures anyway.

Helena's independence wasn't always a good thing. More than once, she got into the kitchen cupboards to play with the pots and pans. Fortunately, she never hurt herself or did any damage, but it always scared her parents when they found her holding a pan bigger than her head.

Of course, she was still very young. Helena couldn't do everything on her own and she quickly learned both how to ask for help and how to say thank you. And she loved her parents dearly. Sergio always found his heart warmed whenever Helena would put her arms around his neck and proclaim, "Wove you, Dada!"

Despite the added stresses of having a toddler in the house, Dianna and Sergio made sure to keep their relationship as romantic as always. During Helena's naps or in the mornings before she woke up, the two could often be found flirting, kissing, and spending some quality time together.

All that alone time had some side-effects. Dianna was pregnant again! She was thrilled with the news, and after seeing Sergio with Helena, she was sure that he would be too. Unfortunately, he wasn't. Sergio loved Helena with his entire being, but he still didn't love kids in general. He worried that Helena was a special circumstance, though he didn't tell Dianna these fears.

Dianna had enough to worry about. This pregnancy was taking a higher toll on her than the first. She insisted on working all the way through as she had with Helena, but this baby was stronger and tougher. Dianna's back constantly hurt, and the baby seemed to like kicking her kidneys. She was almost always tired, or had to pee, or found herself throwing up whatever she had just eaten.

Helena knew nothing of this. Her biggest hardship was figuring out how to eat without her glasses, since she would get them dirty almost instantly if she ate with them on. Dianna and Sergio had explained to her that Mama was going to have a baby, but she didn't understand that, and she didn't particularly care.

So long as Mr Stuffy the bear was where she left him, everything was great for Helena. She had everything a child her age could want - stuffed animals, a giant dollhouse, building blocks, books to look at, games to play.

And, of course, parents who were always willing to play with her should she ask them to. Under these conditions, her imagination flourished and she began enacting plays with her dolls and stuffed animals. Dianna harboured secret hopes that Helena would follow her into writing, but she didn't push anything on her daughter that Helena didn't want.

Except for a little sibling, of course.

All too soon, Dianna was back in the room with the big machine. She didn't like it, but her age and difficulty with this pregnancy meant that it was best for her to have her baby under the careful supervision of doctors.

Sergio was exactly as helpful as he had been last time. In his defence, he couldn't help it. All the possibilities of what might happen to his wife were enough to send him into a blind panic. This time, however, Sergio was able to keep himself calm enough to not distract the doctors.

After what felt like an eternity but was actually nowhere near that long, Dianna heard a cry and looked to her right to see a baby lying in a bassinet. Her baby.

Dianna waited exactly as long as she had to - until just after the doctors gave both mother and child a clean bill of health - before she scooped up her daughter in her arms. The girl squirmed and cried. She wanted to sleep, not be jostled this way and that. Despite these protests, Dianna couldn't help but grin from ear to ear as she held her baby.

During the labour and birth, Helena had been at a 24/7 daycare, and she was thrilled to be home with her parents. At first, she wasn't sure what this thing was that Mama was holding, but Dianna and Sergio explained that this was her baby sister, Harriet. Helena didn't know what a Ha-wee-it was, or really what a baby was, but she liked it anyway. Over the next few weeks, it was not unusual to find Helena in Harriet's room, just watching her little sister sleep, or playing with a toy while looking up every few seconds to see if Harriet was still there.

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Here we go! Chapter three of the Freeman Legacy! A lot happened this time, including a new baby! I'm really happy that Dianna and Sergio have two kids now, because it took so many tries for them to get pregnant. It might have something to do with Sergio's Hates Children trait, or it might just be my terrible luck, but it took nearly a week after Helena was born to get Dianna pregnant with Harriet. Poor Dianna had so many sad moodlets from not being pregnant. So Harriet will probably be the last child of Generation 2.

And of course I take more pictures now that there's an adorable toddler. Seriously, Helena is so cute and at least half of this chapter is just excuses to show pictures of her.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and will enjoy future chapters. See you next time!