Reminder: This is my very first Sims 4 family, which was originally posted starting in 2015. I’m in the process of moving these posts over from my Tumblr page. See more info here!
Adwin and Carla arrive at B & B’s Burger Bar and secure themselves a table. They sit down and waste no time before calling over a waitress to place their orders.
The waitress walks over and Adwin makes small talk…
Adwin: So, how’s work?
Carla: It’s going great! I’m currently an agent handler, well on my way to earning another promotion.
Adwin: Good for you!
Carla: I mean…I’m not as far along in my career as I’d like, but there’s a lot of bias against women in my field. I have to work ten times as hard as the guys to get what I deserve.
Adwin: Either way…I’m low-key happy for you. You went out and followed your passion. You always were tougher than you look!
Carla: Hey! What are you trying to say? Should I be offended?
Adwin: No…not at all. You’ve been through a lot…that’s all. Yet, you were that little girl who didn’t mind playing the princess…as long as you were the one who got to do the rescuing.
(link takes you to Tumblr)
Carla: *amazed* You remember that?
Adwin: I’ll never forget it. But…that’s all I’m saying. You survived being pregnant as a teen. You survived the postpartum depression. Just – you know, so much.
Carla: *emotional* Thanks for that…but –
Adwin: But what?
Carla: *shaky voice* None of that excuses what I did. It’s nice of you to say it, but it doesn’t excuse it.
Carla takes a deep breath and tries to blink back tears.
Carla: I’m so sorry Addie. I hate myself for…for just leaving like that. Leaving my own son…leaving you –
Adwin: It’s okay Car. It’s not all on you. We were kids playing an adult game and we lost.
Carla: *places her head in her hands* I lost way more than you did. At least you found love. I should have given us a chance…I could have given us the time to grow up like you suggested. Instead, I ran away like a child.
Adwin: It was stupid of me to even suggest it. You were having my baby and I was being an asshole.
Carla: *finally lifts her head* Yeah well…I guess there’s no point in looking back. We’re here now…living two separate lives. I have my career and you have a family. *sighs* Nothing we can do about it.
Adwin: Still…I can’t help but wonder what if…what if I’d proposed as soon as I knew you were pregnant? What if we did have a life together?
Carla: Please don’t do that. Please don’t make me start wishing for what I can’t have.
The waitress brings their food during a break in the conversation. It gives Carla a chance to catch her breath and regather her emotions. Adwin processes Carla’s apology but then realizes something…
Adwin: There is no need to apologize. I forgave you a long time ago…and I’m pretty sure Ajay has too.
Adwin smiles as he reaches for his glass…knowing for sure that what he’s said is true. He no longer feels angry at Carla…it’s been replaced with understanding and compassion for what she went through – and how hard her decision to leave must have been.
Carla: He says that he has…he said it back when he stayed with me for the weekend. (link takes you to Tumblr)
Adwin: Then it sounds like the only thing left to do is forgive yourself.
Carla: *grabs her drink* I think I can…now that I know you don’t hate me.
Adwin: I never hated you. Even when I thought I did.
Adwin and Carla leave it at that long enough to concentrate on eating their food for a while.
Carla is feeling a lot better now that she’s gotten so much off her chest. In fact, they both are. They talk and laugh and reminisce on some of the moments that they shared growing up.
Carla: Do you remember that time your old friend Cortez threatened to beat me up after school?
Adwin: *laughs* Oh my Gawd…yes!
Carla: How did you get him to finally leave me alone?
Adwin: You don’t wanna know.
Carla: Yes I do…or I wouldn’t have asked.
Adwin: I told him that you weren’t my friend.
Carla: What?!
Adwin: I said you were my wife-to-be…that our parents had arranged our future marriage and that you and I had to hang out together all the time or we’d be breaking the law.
Carla: *shocked* No you didn’t! How in the heck did you come up with something like that?!
Adwin: I did and you can thank our history classes for the idea.
Carla: And he believed it?
Adwin: He left you alone, didn’t he?
Carla laughs until she almost cries. Then she excuses herself to go to the restroom. Leaving Adwin alone still chuckling over the lengths he went to back then to protect her.
Adwin pays for the meal and leaves a tip, then steps outside to wait for Carla to come out of the restroom.
Carla: *joins him outside* There you are…I thought you might have left without me.
Adwin: No…I was just admiring the view.
Adwin steps forward to get a closer, unobstructed view of the water and sky. Carla follows close behind.
Adwin: Is Windenburg always this magical?
Carla: I don’t know. I never fully opened my eyes to it until tonight.
Something in Carla’s voice and tone makes Adwin’s heart thump a little faster. He wishes he could see her face, but he’s afraid to look back.
Carla takes Adwin back to the Windenburg Inn.
Carla: Well, I – uh…guess I’d better go.
Adwin: *turns and walks over to her* Wait…I – uh –
Carla: What is it, Addie?
Adwin: I just…I don’t want you to go. *conflicted sigh* You’re like my kryptonite Carla…my weakness. You always have been…and I don’t know what to do about it.
Carla: Addie –
Adwin: *grabs Carla’s hands* I want you…I want you bad.
Carla: I know Addie, but that’s how we got in this situation in the first place. Not thinking, not planning…not doing the right things.
Adwin: Yeah, but do we have to pay for that for the rest of our lives?
Carla: Maybe, because if we don’t leave it at this…you’ll be hurting your wife and I know you love her very much. She doesn’t deserve that…and I – I don’t want to lose you all over again.
Adwin: You wouldn’t lose me.
Carla: Yes I would because you’d never leave Mina. You’re not that kind of person. I think we both know that.
Adwin definitely knows it, still, he can’t help but search his mind for a way to have it all.
Adwin: *releases Carla’s hands* What am I doing? You’re right…you’re 100% percent right. We can’t do this.
Carla: No…we can’t.
Adwin: Right…I’d better go inside.
Adwin turns and hurries away…proud to be walking away without taking things any further. However, he makes it as far as the stairs before he hears Carla’s voice behind him.
Carla: I’m weak for you too, Addie!
Adwin wishes that Carla had walked away because he knows he’s not strong enough to avoid leading her into his room…which he does. He can’t resist the urge to touch her skin…which he does. And he definitely finds it hard to stop himself from pulling her into his arms and kissing her…which he also does.
It’s only after they walk towards his bed that he begins to rethink everything that’s happened and what could potentially happen. They sit next to each other like a couple of teenage virgins trying to decide how to proceed next.
Carla: Maybe I should go…
Adwin: You should…you know you should and I know you should – but the problem is that neither of us wants you to.
Carla tries to make a firm decision by standing up…but Adwin stops her once again.
Carla: You need to be 100% sure, Addie…because if this happens – there’s no turning back. Everything changes…possibly for the worse and you have to decide if it’s worth it.
For just a few minutes Addie thinks it’s worth it…but deep down inside he knows it’s not. Before things go too far…Adwin finds himself half dressed on the side of the bed in tears…
Adwin: *sobbing* I can’t lose her Carla. I can’t lose Mina…I’d die without her!
Carla wraps her arms around him…ignoring the pain that his words cause her for the moment. She knows he’s right… she knows that he’s no longer hers. He hasn’t been hers for a very long time. Now is the time for her to stop living in the fantasy world where she and Addie can get back together and live happily forever. They have no future.
Carla: I know Addie…I know.
This is it. This is the beginning of the end. Carla and Adwin both know it. Continuing to hold on to old feelings will only lead to pain for both of them. Adwin would never survive losing Mina and breaking up his family. And Carla knows that there would always be a part of him that could never be penetrated by her…because it would always belong to Mina. So they spend their last few hours together living in the what-ifs because that’s all that’s left for him.
Carla: So, you ever regret all that we did? Like…if you could go back in time, back to that day in my bedroom – knowing what you know now…would you do it all over again?
Adwin: *thinks about it* Honestly…I probably would. But I would change one thing.
Carla: What?
Adwin: My response…that day at the docks.
Carla: What would you change?
Adwin: I’d go back and drop down on one knee…right then and there.
Carla smiles, but it’s not a happy smile – it’s mournful and heavy-hearted.
(links take you to Tumblr)
A few hours later, Carla lies down in Adwin’s arms fully dressed…not even bothering to remove her shoes. She closes her eyes imaging the life they would have lived if he had proposed. A few tears escape…landing on his cheek, then sliding down to his chest. He’s not asleep either, but he doesn’t bother to wipe them away. They are like a baptism for both of them. Tears that help to wash away the past. Tears that’ll help them live the separate lives that they are now destined to live.
Adwin has fallen asleep, but Carla is still wide awake. It’s time for her to go and she knows it. She whispers a final goodbye to the deep romantic feelings of love that she has for her childhood best friend. From here on out…he can no longer be her Addie. He’s Mina’s, and she has no choice but to respect that…
♫ It’s morning, sunlight shines across your sleeping face, uh-huh
A new day, brings reality and we must go our separate ways ♪
(As We Lay – Shirley Murdock)
(Dang ya’ll, this scene…the music – I’m in legit tears right now!)
(Generation 7 Chapter Summaries)
